the fight for iraq's oil riches. the government of kirkuk has issued a plea for help against isil. hello welcome to al jazerra, we are live in doha. i am martin dennis, automatics coming up in the program, south african runner oscar pistorius gets five years for killing his girlfriend. his lawyers says he could be out of jail within months. the u.n. announces a second inquiry in to israel's actions during its offensive in gaza. and two new studies find a link between alzheimer's and a

common virus. ♪ ♪ but first, kurdish officials want the u.s. to launch air strikes against isil in the northern iraqi city of kirkuk to save it from falling. now, the city lies on the main road between baghdad and erbil and it straddles the contested border between the kurdish north and the arab south. kirkuk's frontline extends to the down of dibbs to just south of the city close to the counsel the daquq. fighters are only 500 meters apart in some places, zeina has a report now from kirkuk. >> reporter: the kurds control the oil fields in can i coo kiry not able to protect them for much longer the threat fro ther. kurdish troops replaced

government forced here when isil pushed them out of many cities in june. since then, it's been a struggle to hold this territory. that's why the governor of the city is asking the u.s.-led coalition to launch an intense and sustained assault against the group. he says isil wants we are cook's oil fields. >> that's the point i tried to make to our american friends when i was in washington and when i talked to them here. that's why it's so important for the united states and for the air strikes to focus on kirkuk. we want more. we want to keep these people away. drive them away from kirkuk. >> reporter: coalition air strikes against isil began in august, but there haven't been many in this corner of iraq. and the problem is kurdish security forces don't just face isil fighters on the battle ground, this checkpoint is considered to be a frontline. it is the main entry point to kirkuk from the south.

thousands of iraqis cross this checkpoint daily. despite the security, some of isil's members are able to infiltrate the city where they already have some support. >> we have fought terrorists among us. we have even among students who come to take their exams, they were planning to do whatever isis does, explosives, suicide bombers. >> reporter: this checkpoint has already been targeted twice by suicide bombers in the past four months. but what kurdish officials fear the most is if the armed group decides to push through this defensive line and storm the city. zeina, al jazerra, kerr took. and dozens of people are being killed during another day of violence elsewhere in iraq. in ramadi, 12 people were killed and nine injured in an attack by isil fighters. iraqi army shelling on neighborhoods held by anti-fight

nurse fallujah has killed at least 14 people. at least 18 people killed in car bombings in mainly shia neighborhoods in the capital baghdad. iran's president, meanwhile, has extended his report to iraq. i made the offer by the prime minister on a visit to teheran. >> reporter: on a two-day visit to iran he's in teheran at the moment. he's already met with president rouhani and likely to meet with the heads of national security council with the heads of iran's foreign policy brigades. and going to meet with other relevant other dignitaries. what the prime minister will be looking for is reassurance that his iran has the support of iraq when it comes to fighting isil and vice versa, that's very crucial. also he will be looking to find out exactly what iran is doing

when it comes to helping fighting isil, they do have a small number of ground troops here on the ground. also who will be seeking reassurances about the iranian relationship with the americans, clearly there is no love lost between those two countries, but they are both involved against the fight with isil. however, he's also going to be looking for -- to see what's going to happen next. the iranians are very concerned about the shrines within iran. very key shia shrines are here within this country. for iran, that's a red line. if they get attacked, that will be the iranians will have to send in troops in large number. that's something that the iranians do want to avoid so they will be looking to reassurances from the prime minister that those shrines are protected. beyond all of that, there is another concern that both partners will be looking at, both leaders will be looking at, rather, and that's slumping oil prices, it's had a huge impact on both of the country's foreign currency reserves and looking at ways to get the oil prices to

rise. meanwhile, across the board never syria, isil fighters say they have taken u.s. military aid which was meant for kurdish forces in the besieged town of cobane. this videos shows them with military ammunition, kurdish forces have been struggle to go fight co ban foy several weeks. if kobane falls to isil it fighters would take control of up to 400-kilometers of land of syria's border with dirk i bernard smith is there with this report. >> reporter: isil fighters launched a new assault on kobane town on monday night but kurds defending kobane say they were able to hold their lines with the help of the new ammunition and new weapons they received in that u.s. air drop. however, there remains still something of a stalemate. the kurds haven't gained territory and isil fighters haven't gained territory either.

positions the same as they have been in the last few days really. we understand from the presidency of the kurdistan regional government that they are ready to send iraqi fresh herring a fighters to aid the kurds in kobane despite the peshmerga's only challenges. they remain in negotiations with the turkish government about how much aid huma humanitarian and military aid they can send with the fighters and the route the fighters take as they transit turk any to kobane. now, the pakistani taliban says it's removed the group's influential spokesman. that is after he reportedly leased an audio message pledging allegiance to isil. announcing his dismissal pakistani tell ban reiterated support for the afghan taliban leader. the group blamed for several attacks in pakistan has been decided is into in different

factions. nigeria saying there was an agreement by boko haram? doubt there have been a number of attacks by the group since the weekend. the violence has also raised questions as to whether more than 200 girls who were abducted by the group six months ago will be released soon. the government official had indicated that the girls may be freed by tuesday. well, the head of nigeria's information center and he has been speaking to us from the nigeria capital and he says insuring the return of the girls is still the government's main concern. >> the highest priority of the government of nigeria and all the citizens of nigeria is the rescuing of those girls and establishing peace. so anyone who wants to impugn motives we'll not drag ourselves in to those, we are concentrating on making sure that our citizens are returned back to us and the parents, most

importantly. and that anyone who has anything to say, they have the right to their opinion, people have the right to choose what they want to believe, but this is the position of the government of nigeria. now, at least 68 houthi rebels have been killed in fighting in yemen, they were battling al qaeda fighters and tribes men in the town monday. five yemen tribes men were killed. fighting also continues in nearby

>> he seemed resigned to it. the judge added a three-year does spended sentence for firearms. he could serve as little is 1/6 of his sentence or just 10 months, afterwards he may have to serve out his sentence under house arrest. >> we accept the judgment.

oscar willam brace this opportunity to payback to society. >> receive a steenkamp mother said in court that the sentence was right. >> he's going to pay something. >> the model bled to death after pistorius shot her through a bathroom door. he thought she was an intruder. at times it seemed as it if south africa's justice system was on trial. some feel he should have been found guilty of murder not culpable homicide. >> we respect the charge but we are saying for now as the mpa has done their job, we are calling for an appeal. >> reporter: others outside court disagreed. >> for those who are not satisfied, i understand them, yes, but respect the law. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: the judge's decision brings an end to what has been a dramatic 7 1/2 month long trial and one of her final

comments to the court the judge said she hopes the sentencing brings some closure to help the grieving process for both the steenkamp and pistorius families. after a trial in which every moment has been watched and dissected by millions around the world, finally an end. and the privacy of a prison cell for oscar pistorius. tonya page, south africa. an egyptian court has set the first of january to consider whether to allow an appeal of three jailed al jazerra journalists peter agreer, has now been in prison for 297 days. they are wrongly accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood and are appealing against their convictions. al jazerra continues to demands their immediate release. >> translator: the al jazerra network was completely a credited in he just in egypt.

all it's channels were accredited when a certain entity tried to a null that accreditation, an egyptian court forced them to renew it. the accreditation that we now have is valid until 2016. we have that court document and we believe that lies are being disseminated by certain media outlets about the alleged violation of al jazerra in egypt. we don't think the matter even needs to be discussed. still to come here at al jazerra, an experimental ebola vaccine is on its way from canada to the world health organization in geneva. but no deal in hong kong to end the weeks of protest. but is there hope for a compromise? compromise?

only on al jazeera america

hello again. let's have a look at the top stories here at al jazerra. the governor of kirkuk in northern iraq has called on the u.s. to launch air strikes against isil to save his oil-rich city from being taken by the group. isil has pushed out iraqi forces earlier this year leaving kerr dish peshmerga to defend the city. a ceasefire that nigeria's government says it's reached with boko haram appears to be in doubt. attacks by the group has led to some doubting its credibility. oscar pistorius could spend just 10 months in prison after being sentenced to five years for shooting dead his girlfriend on valentine's day last year, his defense team believes much

of the term could be served under house arrest. now, israel is facing two inquirieinquiries base of its an gas actual the u.n. human rights council has set up an inquiry in to the conflict that ended on august 26th after the deaths of more than 2,000 people in gas a now the u.s. secretary general has decided to proceed with a second board of inquiry in to attacks on u.n. schools and other facilities. the board will also be tasked with investigating claims that hamas hid rockets inside u.n. facilities. >> nothing could have prepared me for what i witnessed in gaza. i saw mile after mile of wholesale destruction. i am planning to move forward with an independent board of inquiry to look in to the most serious of those cases as well as instances in which weaponry was found on u.n. premises.

now, the world health organization w.h.o. said it could start ebola vaccine trials as early as january. it's currently waiting for results of potential drugs being testified. there are three experimental vaccines being fast tracked at the moment in response to the world's worst outbreak of he bowl a while those drugs are being tested quarantining the actual suffers is still thought to be the most effective way of stopping the spread of the virus. for weeks at a time that means confining people to their homes where they complain of having little food and no way of earning an income. now a report. >> reporter: this is usually a busy trading hub in central sierra leone. now it's deserted. shops are closed indefinitely. farmers that usually come to the market to sale their fruits and vegetables are staying away. >> some people died of hunger.

because of poor. [ inaudible ] not to ebola. they are hungry. >> reporter: more than 20 homes in the town are cordoned off under quarantine. all people living in-house holds where somebody has died of ebola or with someone who has had contact with a person confirmed as positive are required to stay inside their homes for 21 days. it's a measure health officials hope will stop the virus spreading, but it comes at a price. >> reporter: aid groups have been supplying food for some of those under quarantine, but for many who are already poor it's been a desperate time. alfred recovered from the virus to find that 12 of his family members had died.

>> reporter: in neighboring liberia, the president has said she fears ebola will result in a lost generation of young people in west africa. she says the deaths and illness along with what is being described as an economic catastrophe will be felt in the region for decades to come. terrik bassly, al jazerra. hong kong protest leaders have been holding talks with government officials but couldn't agree on how to end the weeks of demonstrations. the key sticking point is the activist demand that hong kong be allowed to elect its own leaders without interference from china. that is a position which the government continues to reject. now an explanation from hong kong there may be some room for compromise. >> reporter: the protesters here would say that the talks have fallen flat, but the government says that they are trying to compromise. they have said that they will try to wind the nominating

committee that will eventually choose the candidates for hong kong's chief executive in 2017. they say they will make the process more transparent and more representative of hong kong's public. now, at the heart of the issue is that these protesters want to directly choose their chief executive. they are also calling for hong kong's government to be more representative of them, to take their concern to his beijing. at the moment they say, hong kong's government is representing beijing and instead telling them what to do without any regard for their concerns or their issues. national budgets for internal security are being boosted around the world because governments are increasingly alarmed about threats, not just from outside their borders, but from inside as well. cyber surveillance, border security and protection of infrastructure, are big priorities. an internal security ex-ba tinges here in qatar, erica wood

reports. >> reporter: testing out the latest equipment built not so much with foreign theaters of war in mind, but for security challenges at home. the protests being staged around the world, governments are looking for the best ways to maintain security. >> all the industries are concerned by internal state security. then if you have a lot of the shot, you will find from the shoes to security people to the most advanced technology. >> reporter: here we have protective clothing, bullet proof cars, gas masks. the latest riot gear, tear gas, arian drones and 3d imaging of battle zones. >> the ability of this software to pinpoint a sniper and see his area of operation. >> reporter: most of what is displayed here is promoted to protect countries from the inside. and often in close confines.

wars like iraq and afghanistan have shown that things have changed. and customers are now demanding more than just protection for their troops, the case of this armored personnel vehicle, they are also looking for speed and agility. that's because a lot of the fighting is now street to street in the urban environment. all of this equipment and technology a tracks the attention of governments and big business. >> they are also here to sign big contracts. in fact, in secrecy it's always like a secret. >> reporter: and it's not just hardware their investing in, surveillance software is big too. protecting major infrastructure from cyber threats. >> people now see cyber as a real challenge to the future. countries and regions wants to protect their airports, board he should financial security areas, they are seeing trends in future investments, much more thinking ahead and looking towards new technology. >> reporter: so while state

institutionses may say their airports, borders and public spaces are safer, us these means they are increasingly watched and controlled. >> governments wants to protect their sovereign interests, but somewhere down the line there are legal policy issues as much as any and every surveillance it's a part of arsenal of any sovereign nation, the fact we mains, that any and every surveillance does violator inning finning civil liberties and privacy rights. >> reporter: governments are getting better at protecting themselves, not just from threats from foreign elements, but also from their own people. erica woods, al jazerra, doha. now russian investigators say the air crash that killed the boss of the oil joint was caused by criminal negligence. christof died in moscow when his private jet collided with a

snowplow while attempting to take off. now, reports have also merged that the driver of that snow ploy may havsnowplowmay have bee influence of alcohol. bulgaria is refuse to go give up a russian human rights activist to moscow according to bulgaria media a critic of president putin was indicted by russian authorities for alleged fraud. in july he was arrested. a magistrate says he could be put in what's called an aggravated situation if he returned to russia because of his political beliefs. pilots of the german airline have gone on a one-day walk out at frankfurt airport. they went on strike on monday. more than 1500 flights have been canceled. simon ma agreeing ore-wood reports.

>> reporter: on tuesday the strike expanded to include long haul flights as well. at frankfurt airport some of the 166,000 passengers effected tried to read book. on the boards, evidence of the 1500 canceled flights. the dispute is about the company trying to cut the pilots' pension. now they can retire at 55 on 60% of their full pension. they say in the cut throat world of low-cost flight it's far to expensive. >> competition in our industry has become stronger in the recent years with the low cost on the one hand side and the gulf carriers on the other hand side. on the short haul as well as the long haul business, we are really under pressure and we need to change our cost structures in order to face this kind of competition. >> reporter: the pilots say given the huge responsibility of their job, their early retirement deals should be respected. >> translator: when colleagues

say i cannot do this job responsibly anymore, and, of course, this job needs the performance that is 100 percent, they need to have the option to choose early retirement. this is important. and should stay that way. >> reporter: there are fears long-term damage is being done both to the airline and the german economy. europe's strongest he come m ecs wobbling somewhat. some predicting low growth next year and some say may tip in to recession. the strikes are not helping. >> reporter: this follows last week's train strike that was over pay this. recent wave of industrial strive has some politicians threatening new laws which would prevent small german unions causing such widespread destruction. >> it's a hit to the corporate culture of germany because we have smaller groupings, individual groups real why want to press their individual interests onto the economy and this is certainly a further milestone in turning down the

limited growth potential of germany. >> reporter: it's challenging german image of the resilient powerhouse that gets to set the economic agenda for everyone else in the e.u. with more strikes on the way, german authority on all things economic begins to look less convincing. simon mont mcgregor-wood al jaza at frankfurt airport. scientists in sweden say they have found a clear link between the herpes sim plex virus the one that caused cold sores and the risk. research says a person had doubled the risk of developing alzheimer's. the finings confirm what -- findings confirm what expert long expected a weakened immune system among the elderly creates opportunities for the virus to spread to the brain. now the majority of people carrying herpes time one as i

say is responsible for cold sores, scientists say the great benefit of these findings is that it will hope focus effort on treatments to stop the disease. we have been speaking to dr. simon ridley from alzheimer's research u.k. >> alzheimer's disease is complex, it's unlikely it's a single causative agent or infection, so i think the many factors which feed in to the two. alzheimer's disease, the biggest of those is age. and there are a number of other factors which may play a role in modifying that risk. and so infection, we know that in the brain the immune system gets activated and involved and it's possible that other activators of the immune system may contribute to this. so i think it's interesting, but as i say 90% of people carry this in some form and 90% don't get alzheimer's disease that, suggests to me it's not a major cause if it is one at all. now, the world of fashion is

mourning the death of the design oscar de la renta who was famed for dressing some of the world's most high-profile women. he was known as the sultan of suave. he was 82 and his designs have frequently been worn by america's first ladies dating back to jackie kennedy in the 1960s. hi, i am lisa preacher and you are in the stream. the nation's top domestic security threat may not be who you think. >> oh, my god! oh, [ beep ] >> hear why a new study supported by the department of homeland security found the sovereign citizens movement to be america's leading security threat. plus a look at new recruitment tactics being used by white sue supremacists, are they gaining