>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ and welcome from me david foster to this news hour. this is the point where usually i run through the headlines and invite you for 60 minutes of global reporting and analysis. not today, because it is 300 days wince our colleagues, peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed were arrested in egypt accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood, charges that they reject absolutely. they have endured 300 days in a

cairo prison simply for doing their job. so we will mark each of those days with a second of our air time. [ clock ticking ]

>> okay. we're at about one minute so far, and if that seems like a long time, well, imagine this minute is the equivalent of one day. this is the equivalent of 72, 73, 74 days behind bars. [ clock ticking blkts cloo [ clock ticking ]

>> roughly 3.5 minutes down now. 216, 17 seconds, 220 days in a tiny prison cell for a crime you didn't commit. and the knowledge that you could spend at least 2,000 more cooped

up in there. [ clock ticking ]

>> and if you want to join the campaign to get our journalists released, use the hashtag free aj staff on twitter. and you can go to our website, just click the banner on the right-hand side of the page at aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com, marking 300 days for the imprisoned trio. ♪ >> at least 26 people have been killed in a coordinated attack

targeted soldiers in egypt's sinai peninsula. one bomber is believed to have rammed his vehicle into a security check point and blown himself up. armed men then stormed the checking point using rocket-protelled grenades. and the air force is carrying out raids to hunt down the perpetrators. hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed in that area since the overthrow of president mohammed morsi last year. in september of last year, one policeman was killed in an assassination attempt on the interior minister. the following december police were the main target. 15 officers were killed in a booing. a month later the main police headquarters was one of four places hit. and in july 21st soldiers were

killed in an attack in the desert near libya. the president al-sisi has been discussing the attack. let's talk to a former deputy editor of [ inaudible ] middle east news agency now political analyst with al jazeera's arabic channel, and he joins me live in the studio. who would have carried this out and why? >> well, nobody knows until now who is the perpetrator, or who is responsible for this bombing. nobody has held themselves responsible for this car bombing. so far we have not yet get information information about the whole circumstances of this bombing. i [ inaudible ] soldier in the egy egyptian army. i know the check points not exceed 15 to 12, 15 maximum of

soldiers at any check point, and the question is how this number of victims come? now we are talking about 30 has been killed, roughly 30, and scores also injured. >> can i just try to isolate. the attacks we talked about there were not all in sinai. this is sinai and there has been an awful lot of attacks there in the last three to four years. >> yes. it's an area that the egyptian authorities if they ever had control, appear to have lost control of. for what reasons? >> let me say [ inaudible ] the place of this car bombing is like hell. this is the highest position in the whole region. so the bombing came in the daylight. it is not in the dark, and so they have sensors, they have

everything. how this -- the perpetrator managed to get his car into this check point on the road of the checking point in the daylight and with all surveillance equipment in the whole area. this is a very big question mark they have to answer. also the egyptian army didn't wait to take a position at the national security forum, but they directly hit the place. >> but we don't know if the air force has hit the place. we don't know exactly what the prones of the egyptian authorities is going to be. >> i think the whole circumstances is still not clear enough to decide what exactly has been happened there, but we can say that there is huge problems in sinai. the -- the government in cairo

didn't deal with these problems with a package of solutions. it only depends on the security solution, using army, using police crackdown. now the result of this crackdown is [ inaudible ] after this bombing. now we can see the complete results of the military crackdown on sinai. so this question has to be raced and have been asked to the government and to al-sisi himself. >> thank you very much indeed for that. well egypt's government isn't just facing a campaign of violence from different sources, there are regular protesters despite a ban on organized demonstrations. in the north more than eight separate rallies taking place. the protesters calling for a

repeal of the ban of protests on university campuses. in cairo, demonstrators calling for the overthrow of al-sisi's government. and others protesting power shortages and high fuel prices. and in alexander, hundreds of people rallied in support of ousted president mohammed morsi. coming up, six people have been killed by tunisian security forces ending a standoff ahead of this weekend's elections. a far right french pollation stoking tensions in the city facing migrant crisis. and european football's governing party hands down its

punishments. ♪ kurdish fighters in kobani have recaptured territory with the help of air strikes by the u.s.-lead coalition. they have retaken an important piece of higher ground to the west of kobani. kobani has changed hands several times in recent weeks. isil controls vast swathes of syria and iraq. bernard smith reports. >> reporter: u.s. air strikes on a small hill west of kobani, occupied for two days by fighter from islamic state of iraq and the levant. after this kurdish fighters took back control. in full view of the world's media, kobani has become a test for the u.s. strategy against

isil. a strategy that relies on air strikes and often ill equipped local forces on the ground, a u.s. failure here might prompt questions of its entire plan. >> if they were to fail not only would it look bad for the u.s. coalition, but it would look good for isil. i think the attention these other towns didn't get because of its location, because it's in a dip, you can see the town. you can see on the other side the attacking forces. and you can see from the safety of turkey what is going on. >> the battle is being played out in front of a force of kurds. turkey is hosting almost 200,000 refugees from kobani. but has refused to allow weapons through to the town for fear they could be used by

separatists kurds the intense fighting is destroying much of kobani. only an emergency air drop of weapons by the u.s. help to keep what is left of the towns in kurdish hands. and only after that did turkey allow forces to join the battle against isil. turkey has been a reluctant partner in the u.s. battle against isil. largely because the government here believes that the ray sheem of syrian president bashar al-assad is just as big of threat. it wants washington to add assad to its target list. it won't. so turkey has yet to give permission for the u.s. to use air bases here. bernard smith, al jazeera, on the turkey, syria border.

isil now controls areas north of bagdad. it's a big challenge for the soldiers there. imran khan reports on a bomb disposal unit working to clear the way for the offensive. >> reporter: a controlled explosion is still quite a thing to witness. roadside bombs and booby troops kill too many people in iraq. nowhere is that more evident than here as they attempt to retake the towns of tikrit and bajii continues. the commanders have taken matters into their own hands and are coming up with ever-more creative solution. one of the tactics is to shell empty villages to explode hidden devices. >> translator: the process of clearing the main highway is ongoing, we aim for us to clear the main highway and then clear

the nearby villages close to the main highway from land mines and other hidden explosive. by this mechanism, we guarantee the safety and also give the chance to hold the strategic supply line, inch by inch. >> reporter: and it can sometimes be inch to inch. this is centered around the town of tikrit, one section is fighting towards the north towards bajii. that's the home to one of the largest oil refineries. isil fighters want to challenge the army. this defensive is designed to try to cut isil in half and allow them to disrupt their supply lines. this is just one more day on the

front lines and one force that is crucial against the battle against isil. but isil fighters are resourceful, leaving these men with no choice but to be ever watchful. the iraqi army has retaken an area south of bagdad. hundreds of isil fighters are said to have surrendered. the army launched the offense tlif in september. it's 50 kilometers from the capitol bagdad. from where imran khan reports. >> reporter: this operation began in the early hours of friday morning, and has taken the main highway leading into the town and all of the villages along the way. this is the furthest south isil fighters have got. so they don't have a huge amount of fighting forces within the town itself. the town itself is very strategic. if you control this town, you

can get into the -- the towns where the key religious holy sites for shia muslims are. that's a red line for the iraqis and the iranians, the iranians say if those towns are under threat they will have to send in troops. the iraqi army to looking to take the town itself within the next 24 to 48 hours, and very confidently will be able to take it. >> tunisia's security forces say they have killed six suspected armed fighters after a long standoff. five of the dead were women. police and soldiers have been launching raids on groups they suspect of trying to prevent this weekend's elections. >> reporter: when the standoff came to an end, five women and a

fighter were dead. the police say they negotiated for hours for the surrender of the armed group, but it didn't work. instead one of the women holed up in here opened fire. at that moment, special units from the army and the police stormed the building. >> translator: one of the women was carrying a weapon and a child at the same time and then opened fire. special units managed to get inside. we saved a child but another one was unfortunately hit in the head. we could have launched the attack earlier but we were concerned about the safety of the children. >> reporter: officials are not revealing the identity of those killed, but over the last three years, the government has repeatedly blamed one group for launching a string of attacks against security forces. the group is thought to be

affiliated with al-qaeda. they have a group operating in the mountains near the border with algerialgeria. fears of more attacks are on the rise. >> translator: i feel unsafe in the streets. this is becoming a big problem. >> reporter: tunisians are set to take part in their second free election since sparking the arab spring four years ago, and many hope it will pave the way for more democracy. when tunisians cast their vote on sunday, with uncertainty about the future, it will continue to be a prime concern. now an update on the first case of ebola to be reported in mali in west africa, the world health organization is now saying the patient, a two year

old girl may have been exposed to many people because she traveled on a bus while she was sick. she had recently been in neighboring guinea. mali is the sixth west africa country to report ebola. the world health organization says that ebola vaccine trials in west africa could start in december. hundreds of thousands of doses should be ready by the beginning of next year. three experimental vaccines are now being developed, human trials are underway. one of two nurses who contracted ebola in the u.s. is now free of the virus and has been released from hospital. she has been receiving treatment in the northeastern state of maryland. she was transferred from dallas about a week ago. pham was part of a team that provided care to thomas eric duncan, a liberian who died of

ebola in texas. new york's mayor is reassuring people who live there about ebola-containment measures. dr. craig spencer, a remember of doctors without borders had recently come home from guinea. they say he would have not been contagious before he went to the hospital 1234689 >> the health department has a team of disease detectives who have been at work chasing all of the contacts. european union leaders have completed a two-day meeting. it was funding issues regarding the union that members wrestled the most with. at a two f-day summit in brussels, decisions were taken on ebola and climate change, but

the atmosphere took a turn when britain and the netherlands made an unpleasant surprise. david cameron's anger was palpable. britain receiving a bill for almost 2 and 3/4 of a billion dollars. >> of course it's a technical adjustment and that results in this bill that everyone has to pay. well, no that don't. we have invested in this organization, we're a leading player in it, and you do not join an association that suddenly thumps you a bill for $2 billion. the three countries have challenged the demand, and there will be a special review next week, but for david cameron in particular this was especially un unpleasant. this was a gift for his

opponents. it wasn't all bad news for the british prime minister. he is credited with urging though e.u. to adopt more ambitious measures to fight ebola. it doubled existing funding. and on climate change they agreed to a 40% emission target reduction by 2030, and a 27% reduction with renewable energy and cost-effective energy. >> climate change is one of the biggest challenges of man kind. >> reporter: the meeting also set europe against itself, united on foreign policy, but with a potentially furious battle over budgets ahead.

>> stay with us, if you can, still to come on the news hour, we're hear from the families of al jazeera's journalists jailed in egypt. plus -- i'm paul brennan in paris with the reopening of an expanded new picasso museum. and the aussie cricket are following the footsteps of any world's greatest ever batsman. ♪

♪ you are watching the al jazeera news hour. i'm david foster, and these are the global headlines. at least 26 people have killed in egypt in an attack targeting soldiers. a suicide bomber blew himself up, and then armed gunmen stormed the chenning point. 300 days now since mohammed fahmy, peter greste, and baher mohamed were arrested in egypt

accused t of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera continues to call for their immediate release. kurdish fighters have recaptured territory with the help of coalition air strikes on the syria/turkey border. they have retaken an important piece of higher ground to the west of the town. for more on the attack in egypt, let's bring in the former director of northeastern north africa. also joining us live from portland in the u.s. state of oregon. we don't know at the moment who carried this out, but do you think it's likely to be somebody with grievances against the egyptians in sinai, or somebody from the outside who is perhaps trying to destabilize the area? >> i believe it is the former, and there are two possible

sources, one of them is regionally sinai has been neglected by just about everybody. the government in egypt, which normally controls the sighny is looks at egypt as consists of the nile valley. and i have lived there for a number of years, and when i went to the sinai to lecture at the invitation of their ambassador, i learned to my surprise that the arabic spoken in the sinai is very different from the egyptian and to though palestinians. and the people there have their own identity. they feel neglected, marginalized, and ever so often there has been a sporadic attack on a government facility, and nearly always started by police. and the other one, if i may add.

hello? >> please, do, sorry. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. the other explanation which is more likely is anger at the fact that the leader of the muslim brotherhood is still imprisoned, that more than a thousand people were killed at the time of the mill sar crackdown last summer, summer of 2013 that removed the brotherhood from power, and the name i have seen in a source is suggests supporters of the muslim brotherhood. i have not -- >> help those of us who don't really understand the nature of the sinai per se, why the egyptian security forces invest so much of their time in protecting sites there. why is it so vital to the country? >> historically, the sinai has been a buffer between egypt and

the rest of the middle east. it's a forbidding terrain for most of it. but if you go along the coast, which was a traditional route of invaders, and that's is where the accident occurred -- or the attack occurred earlier today. that is flat, and there's a little bit of humidity there, go you can grow a little bit of fruit, but not much. >> may i just can you about the -- the possible response. we have already been told by egyptian state media, that the air force there is taking some kind of action. one wouldn't be surprised if army forces were sent in.

would it be a sinful job to isolate those people in an area that is so barron? >> well, in this town they would be able to be hide among family members. and the egyptian government -- >> but if they are not -- if they just went to the town, how easy is it for them to slip into the background? those that survived and the others that support them? >> it would be quite easy. but the egyptian military is very, very large, and they would be able to surround the town and go house to house if they know who -- who did it. and i would assume they would rely on informers. >> we'll leave it there.

thank you very much indeed, talking to us about events inside of sinai, and egyptian soldiers being attacked. we shareholder you about our correspondent being imprisoned in egypt for 300 days. and that has taken a toll on their families as well. we talked to baher mohamed's wife, and she talked about how the imprisonment has affected them. >> translator: first we face huge difficulties in the journey itself. it is more than 1.5 hour's drive. i bring my three young children with me. age four and three years, and the youngest is only two-month-old. aalso bring clothes and good

food. i have to stand in a long queue nor than 2 hours. then i and the children are subjected to strict searches at three different stations before we get inside. by the time we are in, the children and i are all exhausted. we go through a final search. our journey starts from 8:00 in the morning, and we come back at 5:00, although the visitation is only 30 minutes. during the visitation we are surrounded by guards and don't even have the liberty to talk. i will always tell him to remain patient as relief is looming large, we are sparing to efforts in terms of legal proceedings orallying popular support. >> the next significant date is

january 1st, 2015. they have been in jail since 2013. that's when a review hear willing be held in cairo. >> reporter: the last time peter greste was in sidny is was september of last year, when he was reporting on the australian election. now his parents have traveled from their home in brisbane. of course the course of this year, you have become campaigners, haven't you? howe has it been? >> tough, really tough. it's a constant thing all the time. >> we really haven't had another life this year. it has been campaign from morning through night, from friday to next friday. >> did you ever envision that peter and his colleagues would be in prison for 300 days?

>> no. no. absolutely not. i mean -- it's been 300 days too long. >> there have been some pretty dark momenteds along the way, i can imagine. what were the darkest? >> clearly the darkest was the day of the sentence. >> one of the other darkest days was seeing him first time in whites -- >> in the cage. >> in the cage. >> that pains me even to this day. >> reporter: how was peter doing when you saw him? >> he was very strong. remaining strong, really, and doing everything that he could to keep himself mentally,

physically, and spiritually all together. >> now? >> well, he's still strong, but staring into the abyss of what is to come, there were moments when i thought i saw some cracks. >> your feelings going forward? >> i am optimistic ander have faith in the upper judicial level in achieving a fair decision. >> optimistic, but also a little bit tense about what might happen. >> thanks very much. now let's tack to the swedish journalist who was prisoned to 11 years in ethiopia on terrorism charges. how much do you think 300 days

in prison will have changed these three? >> i mean, it's 300 days that has been robbed from them and robbed from the loved ones, but my strategy in prison was to think that every day is one day closer to freedom. and what strikes me in reading the letters is you can chain the person, take away his clothes and physical fry.com, but they can never take the right to determine who you are, and these three guys are journalists, and that means they will just continue their work, so they can find within them the strength. >> it isn't necessarily as simple as that, is it? your job may be one of the reasons why you want to get out. but it math have changed you as

a person. it might have made you more fearful or angry. how were you when you karm out? this >> when i first skam out, the fist -- first thing was to tell the world what i had been through. the most crucial thing you need to win this battle is support from the outside. it's really the outside support that makes you go up every morning, and makes you manage the days, and the outside support is more important than food, water, and medicine, because then you know you are there for a reason. that you are suffering, and it has a meaning. when i was in prison and received letters and greetings, i lived on those words for weeks and months, and to see this

solidarity campaign is growing and growing, it is hopeful and the light in this dark situation that people are stepping up, that this is an attack on us all and an attack on democracy. >> you say a significant number of increase of journalists takes place after 9/11. why? >> i think what we are looking at now is one of the lesser-known consequences of the war on terror. george bush said you are either with me or you are against me. and that made it dangerous for journalists. and i see now, country after country, using his terrorist

plans as an attack on journalists. now we are there, now country after country are jailing us for doing your job, and if this doesn't stop, if the united states and u.n., and owes don't step up to stop this practice -- i mean it should be a crime against humanity for doing this. and it's an sir and cheap form of sensorship that countries are inspired and seeing well, it doesn't have any consequence. >> martin we thank you for sharing your experiences with us. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. these are live pictures from

seattle in washington state in the united states. there have been reports of a shooting there at a high school. their court tv is saying at least two people have been air lifted to hospital. i would damage that is the school itself down there that they are zooming in on. we will bring you more information just as soon as we receive it here at al jazeera. authorities in north urn france are looking for solutions as they deal with a growing tide of hungry and desperate migrants. as much as 200,000 have thought to be in the area. nadine barber went to cally. >> reporter: daybreak in cally

and as some people head off to work, dozens of migrants head for the sort. >> no life. no home, and no eating, and no clothes. and no shower. i have two months now not showered. and in the day i eat one time. >> reporter: he sleeps in what is known as the jungle, a home to up to 200,000 migrants. most have stories of trying to make it to britain. some told bus they had been beaten by the police fl france. now france is sending 100 extra police to patrol the area. camps like this have existed in

cally for many years now, and given the migrants determination to reach the u.k., the security measures are unlikely to stop more from coming here. that's something the leader of the far right national front agrees with. they say france is being too soft and should send the migrants back home. but not everyone agrees, and i put it to her that her campaign would inflame the situation. >> translator: it's too easy to say that. that is saying that woe should shut our eyes to the problem here. and leave the cally population to fend for themselves. it's not fanning the flames, rather it's row affirming our republican values. >> the real problem is that we have a government who makes

people living like animals in a jungle. and every minute we think things can explode. and we need help. return help could come next month. but these camps are likely to remain. >> we have sport coming up, meeting the football team that could win asia's biggest prize just two years after being started. stay with us, if you can.

♪ here is andy. >> thank you very much, david. barcelona's coach has confirmed that saturday will see the return to competitive action of loui suarez who has served that ban for biting an opponent at the world cup. he said he will definitely get some minutes. they are playing real madrid, and even their coach said he is looking forward to seeing suarez. >> doesn't change your our tactics of the game with suarez or without suarez, so i think that for football it's good news that suarez can play in the spanish league.

and the football federations of serbia and [ inaudible ] has their match has been abandoned last week when a fight broke out. a drone flew over the field carrying an albania flag in response uefa has awarded serbia a 3-0 win, however, serbia will be docked 3 qualifying points, and will have to play their next two games behind closed doors, and both federations have been fined more than $120,000. uefa's decision has angered officials in albania. >> reporter: the word being heard most often here after the decision is scandalous. people are upset because they

don't understand how the albanian team could be punished when their players couldn't physically finish the match. many believe the decision encourages reasons, and because there is know evil punishment for those that attack and those that retaliate. >> it's not -- balanced and doesn't reflect what has happened. >> reporter: when it comes to the drone that carried the banner of albania above the pitch, the officials say there isn't a shred of evidence that links any of the officials or journalists in the albanian

government. the asian's champion league will be held on saturday. the wanderers were only founded two years ago, but could claim the biggest prize. >> reporter: one thing western sydney wanderer's fans are not short of at the moment is confidence. >> 2-0. >> 3-0. yeah, of course. >> reporter: those fans were predicting the score of a match last weekend against sydney fc. they lost that game, but this man had a biggest contest in mind. >> it is the biggest thing that happened to australian football in 20 years.

>> three years ago they didn't ebbs cyst, but in their very first season, they topped the a league and it wasn't a fluke. they did almost as well in their second season, but now have the chance to top the lot. the final with saudi arabia offers them a shot at glory and a cup showdown with real madrid, potentially. >> i think they have got together a terrific bunch of players. he knows what he wants out of the players. the players have bought into his philosophy. >> reporter: for the players the possibility they could be crowned the best in asia after so little time as a team is yet to sank in. >> it's indescribable. it's just the bond between us players that nothing could break

it. and it just continues to get stronger and stronger. >> reporter: traditionally sport in australia has been dominated by ahsy rules. last week there was a domestic a-league game, and had the largest ever tv audience. they now have the opportunity to become asian champions, a football fairytale that is close to a very happy ending. pakistan have taken control in dubai. david warner becomes just the second aussie to score 3, in 3 consecutive innings. and australia were on for 303. pakistan finished the day 38th, with a lead of 189.

okay. plenty more sport for me later, but is that it for me now. >> thank you andy. a museum that is dead skated to the artworks of picasso is finally reopening in pairs. >> reporter: picasso is perhaps the most recognizable and revered of the 20th century artists. by the time of his death his personal collection had 70,000 pieces. renovation of the museum has taken five -- turbulent years.

under the new museum president prefers to look to the future. >> my hopes is to make this museum alive not to make it like a tomb. i think this museum should be alive, should be a place where people are happy, and that's my main task during the next five years. >> there seems huge cause for optimism. the reopening is seen as symptomatic for a rider resistance. paris's art collectors have tended to own discreetly behind closed doors, well times are changing, and with it new excitement in the art district. a hundred years ago, artists flocked to paris, now the buzz

is returning. another flagship project opened in the french capitol this autism. it's the foundation's new museum and gallery space commissioned by the friend -- frenchman. >> you have a climate here which is very favorable and shows commitment and not only shows the to public sector, but also to private sector what this is doing. and i think [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: and as dealers and galleries search for new talent, the biggest beneficiaries could be the art uses themselves. 70,000-plus pieces of art. that's aer very busy man.

do stay with us, i'll be back in just a couple of minutes.

>> maman bashir alex niev camila karamova di dai jin peng pan sunatillo i am sorry if i pronounced your name wrong. >> it was not a choice for us, for the children to come here.