>> some much needed help arrives for kurdish fighters battling i.s.i.l. in syria. hello, and welcome to al jazeera. i'm sammy zaidan live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up. more violence in iraq as multiple attacks kill dozens. nigeria is a country declared free of the ebola virus and

mourning loved ones. will politics get in the way? >> well, we begin with developments in the syrian border town of kobani. that's where syrian kurdish forces are battling the group i.s.i.l. helping take control of the town and now u.s. forces have dropped weapons and medical aid. turkey is also offering help. says it will allow kurdish fighters to cross into the town to reinforce the fighters. bernard smith is there. >> medical aid on the beleaguered kurds trying to defend kobani. an indication of a sea change in the u.s. approach to the fate of the town. an indication that the u.s. and

its coalition partners are wanting, to actively stop kobani there falling into i.s.i.l. hands. the help they have received is really, really good. they might be enough to allow them to push i.s.i.l. out of kobani town. and while the u.s. led coalition gave those air drops, a complete change also in turkish policy, having resisted for four weeks, opposition from coalition be partners, now the turkish foreign minister saying that turkey will allow kurdish peshmerga forces to transit through turkey to help to fight for that town. >> translator: we are actually assisting the peshmerga forces to transit into kobani. we want the people who have escaped from kobani to be able

to move back into their town and live peacefully. >> street fightings building to building, street to street, but only managed to take two buildings from i.s.i.l. fighters overnight, showing how much they are relying on these new weapons to help them make a decisive break against i.s.i.l. forces. >> for more on those air drops and that turkey announcement we have more from zena hoder in erbil. tom ackerman, what are they saying about what they're doing in the future from the pentagon? >> the pentagon c-130s dropped 27 bundles as they described them of arms and other supplies. they said that these were not u.s. made weapons so that apparently they come from stock piles of soviet era russian made weapons that were in the hands

of nato members. and in addition to that, they didn't indicate where these c-130s originated from, where the flights originated from. it is doubtful that it was the turkish base that the u.s. has prepositioned supplies at because only on sunday president erdogan had indicated he was still not likely to allow any of these operations to originate from turkish soil. however u.s. secretary of state john kerry talking to reporters in indonesia today tried to down play the significance of this operation, the first time that the u.s. is directly supplying the kurdish forces fighting i.s.i.l, saying that this is a momentary humanitarian measure, just to use his words, this is a momentary effort.

what we say very clearly is help us to get the peshmerga or other groups in there who will continue this and we don't need to do that. and i think that's very much the objective. our hope is that kurds who have proven themselves very strong and valiant fighters will take the fight on and won't be necessary to have the delicate reach in terms of people's interests. proceeding this however, president erdogan did have a phone calm with president obama over the weaned. weekend. the white house did not indicate the content of that conversation other than to say the president thanked erdogan for the humanitarian efforts they had for the refugees from the conflict stricken area. >> thank you tom ackerman. zena hoder joins us from erbil in northern iraq. have kurdish forces confirmed

that they are going to send in extra forces to help their syrian brothers? if so when? >> reporter: not so sammy, they are not confirming that they are going to send further forces to help kobani. the peshmerga is also at war with i.s.i.l. and they lost territory in the east of the country today, and what we understand from reports on the ground is that there was a suicide truck bombing that targeted one of their checkpoints close to mosul dam. they have been appealing for more weapons and they too are appealing for more u.s. air strikes to protect the kurdish point in the northwest. he was under a lot of pressure from the streets, kurds were wondering why leaders were not helping their brethren in syria

but at the same time, while this will be a very difficult addition for krg to make, there are those that feel that this is just a symbolic measure from the kurds, what we understand from the pyd which is really the force fighting i.s.i.l. in kobani, what they don't need is men, fighters, what they need is weapons, and so far turkey is not allowing weapons to reach them. >> zena hoder in erbil. 48 people were wounded when devices went off in aneighborhoods, baghdad, subpoena people were killed when a suicide bomb are attacks in a mosque, after midday prepares. imran khan is in baghdad with more. >> we are likely to see much

more of this kind of sectarian violence as this month goes on. this is holy month of maharam the beginning of the islamic calendar. in years gone by this signals the increase in violence. we are expecting this to be a much more bloid mont bloody monn years past. nearly 100 people have been hospitalized, at least 60 people have been killed across the country and this kind of statistic is getting people worried here in iraq. i.s.i.l. are no fans of the shia, they have all long said that the shia are a target for them. and they are using sectarian language and sectarian violence to further their gains. in this month, we have i.s.i.l.

fighters making gains in places like ananbaue anbar province. that is a very worrying signs. the air strikes are making some difference, particularly iraqi air strikes have beat back people in various parts of the province. they are still a force to be reckoned with there. they don't have the base in order to be able to attack this city and that's likely to be their next track, to get somewhere to give them a base to come inside baghdad. >> the world health organization has declared nigeria ebola-free that comes as leading health officials and politicians meet in berlin to discuss the outbreak which has killed over 4500 people. nigeria's president goodluck jonathan said this happened

because people took precautions. >> we must be mindful of handshakes, we should not move coughs unnecessarily. practice of and so on. practice in that period, then this shaking peek across individual organizations within that period. nigerians become mindful. >> families who lost loved ones are still grieving. hara moutassa reports from abuja. >> she became a nurse because she wanted to help people. but the last person she helped had ebola. she became infected. she was 30 years old and pregnant with her first child. her husband can't accept that she's dead. >> this was not planned.

i had so many things i wanted to achieve. we had so many things we wanted to do together. i feel lost. i feel left alone. >> reporter: the man who infected justine came to nigeria in july. he collapsed at the airport in lagos. and came to her hospital. measures were put in place by the government to try to contain the virus such as screening at border posts and airports. it is a process everyone has to go through. this machine takes your body temperature. if the temperature is 38° celsius or higher the machine will beep.

after six weeks without any new cases the country can be declared free of ebola. that's twice the maximum incubation period for the disease. there was relief in nigeria. these health care workers did dozens of daily follow-up visits. it's good news, cautious even though the president has already announced the country is ebola-free. >> it's not yet over until it's over and that means it has to be over in liberia and guinea also in fact anywhere before we can relax. >> it is an achievement he is not ready to celebrate. he says it will not bring back his wife. hara mutassa, al jazeera, lagos.

>> still to come. a party for the people's president, the streets come alive in jakarta. >> plans are in place for two of the largest marine parks in the world but will geopolitics get in the way? terrorist. >> america votes 2014 on al jazeera america focusing on what matters to you >> what are the issues that americans need to

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>> welcome back.eera america let's recap the headlines in al jazeera now. syrian kurdish forces continue to battle for the town of kobani. kurdish forces says it will

allow crossing of troops to enter the fight. sources in iraq say at least 17 people have been killed in bagz after a suicide bomb at a shibaghdad. >> can be contained, it's declared the country ebola-free because there have been no reported cases of the disease for six weeks. well, a formal deal has been formed in the yemeni province the deal comes days after the houthi rebels took control of the town which is just 100 kilometers from the border with saudi arabia. yemen's population is largely

loyal to the houthis which are sunni. houthi rebels there are fighting both sunni tribesmen and fighters from al qaeda. so why is yemen so divided? doc nick canee explains. cane explains. >> this is the town of ibb. a glance at the map of yemen shows how divided the country is. to the north and the west are the shia houthis. they are opposed to the government in sanaa which they accuse of marginalizing them. in recent months, the houthis have extended their influence south. using well trained forces to take territory. in the center is the capital sanaa. it has proved to be unable to contain the fighting in recent

months. another force is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. taking advantage of the fighting to the north. and then there's the wider geopolitical situation. the government in iran is now openly backing the houthis. on sunday, a spokesman for its supreme leader was quoted as saying, islamic republic of iran supports the houthis in yemen and considers the movement part of the successful islamic awakening. that concerns the mainly sunnies. they backed the yemeni government's efforts to back the houthis. the saudis are worried what a new group effect might have on the arabian peninsula, finally, there is a secession movement in

the south of yemen. dominic kane, al jazeera. >> libya's supreme court has delayed a decision on the legitimacy of two rival parliaments. moammar gadhafi's death was supposed to usher in a new democracy in the country. in may gunmen burst into government headquarters in tripoli during a protest to suspend bounty payments for those who fought against gadhafi, various militias. and in september a u.s. ambassador and three other americans were killed when armed

militants swarmed the consulate. all in all militias became more powerful and more violent. in may of this year a renegade general launched and assault to wipe out of islamist dreamt extt groups he called. in tripoli with more. >> the decision of the coorn constitutional division, in light of the hearing that went all the morning between the two sides, the legal representatives of the mps who are boycotting the parliamentary sessions in tobruk the meetings happening in the city of tobruk, they argue, are illegal. however, the other side, the legal representatives of the libyan mps were meeting in the

city of tobruk have argued for an adjournment because they claim there is an initiative to broker a deal between the two sides. the decision of the two courts have been received by anger of some people who support the dawn of libya forces, who support the initiatives that have started over the last few days, actually calling for dissolving the tobruk parliament and shouts against the court were heard just outside of the room. on the front line, the western side of the front line there has been exchange of artillery fire, between forces loyal to the dawn of libya and forces loyal to the ren gatrenegade general. in the city of benghazi there has been a quiet period of time in comparison with the heavy

fighting, heavy skirmishes that went on between the two sides over the last few days and there is report of a u.n. brokered initiative trying to broker a ceasefire typically around the city of kikla and tala to allow for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the civilian population and evacuation of the injured and the other people. >> 132 students in egypt have been arrested since the academic year began just over a week ago. that's according to human rights watch. at cairo university students chanted slogans against the government, demanding return of students that were taken in an earlier rally. al jazeera continues to insist on the return of its journalists, peter greste,

mohamed fahmy and baher mohamed, have been imprisoned for 260 days. appealing their convictions. sri lanka is holding an election. the government spokesman says the exact date has yet to be decided. expected to run for a third term there. indonesia's newly elected president has been given a festive welcome by supporters, joko wozodo was given a great welcome. >> his supporters have promised him a great party and that's exactly what he got. welcomed to the capital for thousands of supporters. >> joko wododo has promised a

revolution and that's what we need. our corrupt mentality has got to change. >> reporter: included a hostile opposition against the president ever since he lost the election. >> translator: i say let us all work hard together, shoulder to shoulder, because this is an historic moment. we need to move together to work, work, and work. >> they call him the people's president and the people are throwing him a huge party. a party of unification of the country hopelessly divide he for many months. and that's when the real hard work will start. unpopular measures will likely be taken soon, including cutting fuel subsidies and improving the country's lagging economy. the government will face a serious challenge. >> definitely there will be opposition, especially some from the public and also from opposition political parties. but i think what joko is doing

here, he is at a peak of his public opinion, very needed for indonesiaian economy. >> for now many are celebrating what they call the start of a new era. president joko wododo has been given five years to improve the life of the indonesians. >> poor cabinet choices, the country's ministers were forced to resign after accusations they misused funds. promote women in politics. michael penn is an american journalist based in tokyo. >> in many ways it's the first major stumble of the abe

administration. he's had a remarkable run since he came into power the second time in december, 2012. and for the first time you can see some political oxygen being given to the opposition parties which they haven't had for a long time. even though we're seeing two ministers step down over campaign finance scandals today, it isn't so much a reflection of the fact that japanese politics is deeply corrupt. it's more a reflection of the fact that the japanese public is completely allergic to any hints of corruption. and both of these ministers themselves may not have actually done much wrong. it may have been just people in their offices making mistakes about but they're taking responsibility as the japanese public would expect them to do. >> a strike by pilots of

germany's biggest airlines luft lufthansa, 35 hour strike over retirement benefits. it's just the lathest staged in recent months. the strike will mainly affect short and mem-lengt medium leng. could affect 200,000 passengers. wanting to create two of the largest marine reserves in the world. they are afraid geopolitics will get in the way. environmental reporter nick clark reports. >> life in the southern world is great, nutrient rich waters of antarctica. it is a living breathing driver of life on earth. >> antarctica is a huge

reservoir of ice and fresh water. and the cold water that drains off antarctica provides the circulation of the entire planet. it's like the heart of the entire earth. >> thing is you guessed it, change is happening. fishing boats are hauling up vast quantities of critical and other fish, like the antarctic tooth fish. scientists say the tooth fish is being caught in unsustainable numbers, sold as chilen sea bass. so lucrative it's known as white gold. the recent film, "the last ocean" documented the story. >> there's no socially redeeming value about taking a foot fish out and serving it up on a platter in the most expensive restaurants in north america. what is that? >> have you heard of chain chila

bass? >> i have. >> antarctica is very important i mean the ross sea is one of the most intact for large ecosystems remaining on the planet and i think we have a chance now to keep it that way. >> now though, factoring in foreign policy in the world of conservation, russia has given increasing tensions with the west will be no different. but compromises have been made on the size of the mpas and with the growing movement for the preservation of this unique environment -- >> you are destroying an ecosystem. >> we have a chance to protect it or to lose it forever.

>> scientists hope that conservation may prevail. nick clark, al jazeera. >> well if you want to keep up to date with the penguins and the other stories we are following just head over to aljazeera.com. you can see our front page there. >> for more than a decade... the world has witnessed seemingly endless violence in afghanistan... many tell me... the daily reports of attacks... the daily killings... have ceased to hold much meaning... but for those living in this land torn apart by war... there is no more important a time than now. after years of trying to drive back the taliban... most of the nato and u-s troops