this is al jazeera. ♪ hello. welcome to the newshour live from headquarters in doha. coming up, egypt's president says his country's resolve will not be dented following the deadly attacks on the sinai peninsula. south of the capitol of sinai. >> the ebola virus spreads to

another west african country and the search to find people who were in contact with the young patient and... >> hearing sound for the very first time, we will meet these afghans who's lives of silence have been turned into one of pleasant noise. we begin in egypt where president he will sisi has warned of a plot against the state. he addressed the nation one day after a deadly attack. friday, 28 soldiers died when a car packed with explosives rammed into their security checkpoint. just a few hours later, three solids were killed when gunmen opened fire at another checkpoint. he script has imposed a state of emergency in the north of sinai and closed the could cross into gaza. no one has claimed responsibility for friday's

attacks. >> i am addressing all egyptians. be vigilant. a plot is being woven against all of us. all that has happened has been expected. we have raised these issues before. we and all egyptians must join forces to address the challenge. the army is up to it. we cannot be shaken. our resolve cannot be dented. do not think we are not feeling pain for those who have fallen to defend egypt. many have fallen. many are expected to fall. tas huge war. he script is facing a huge war. >> sinai has seen a spate of attacks. all five soldiers on board were killed. the following suicide bomb detonated in july fighters in sign nigh, military posts and the proof incial capitol killing seven civilians and one solid.

these attacks ahave been you waged on a group that has historically targeteditsisi posts but has shifted attention to the security forces in recent months. a senior lecturer in the study of islam in the ms.lim world at i know college joining me life. it is good to have you with us on al jazeera. why are we seeing -- why are we seeing these attacks in the sinai? it has historically a doneamics of its own. it's an add-on. it has been occupied by israel for a while. also, the population consists mainly of people of bed win origi origins. there is a big divide for what has been divided. but the local population

prophets is questionable. the north has been neglected and subject to a securetization because of the proximity to the gaza strip. this, of course, has brought concerns with the local population. >> has led to people actually opting for islamist agendas or siding with people with these kind of attitudes. >> who, then, could be behind these attacks? are they linked to what you say is the islamization of some of these bed win tribes in the sinai? and what are the motives for these attacks? >> the sinai for all observers and analysts have been a black hole in the sense that the local dynamics are very difficult to ascertain. because of the securityization, research has also beenization, research has also been there is this mick-up of people who are of local tribal origins but now

there is this overlade with apparently habitslamist agenda where organizations suthat have either claimed responsibility or been blamed for that. >> well, the egyptian president has said that thwas a foreign funded operation. what do you think he is basing that on? >> security is, of course, of paramount interest for any national government. although for the he will sisi government at present, economic forces are very important. you cannot even start doing that if the security situation remains precarious and you have instability. at present, that is, of course, the case. certainly in the northern sinai and that is a potential danger, not only for the tourist industry in the southern area.

>>. >> argues continues to demand the immediate the immediate release.

>> the city of radaa signature of sanaa is at the center of a battlefield. it is fighting on multiple fronts. al-qaeda fighters and tribesmen are confronting advancing shia houthi rebels who took control of the capitol last month. for the first time since then, government forces have bombed al-qaeda and tribesmen's positions there. it follows u.s. drone attacks against suspected al-qaeda fighters in a number of areas. tribesmen and the fighters say the yemeni government, the u.s. and the houthis are in alliance against them. >> sentiment is only increasing tensions, and it could turn bo a wider sectarian conflict. there is also fighting in the western prove incide province.

houthi rebels are confronting rival it forces. but they remain in control, making more gains and consolidating their positions. in southern yemen, there is no fighting, but there is an increasing separatist movement. they have set up a tent camp two weeks ago and is promising to escalate the sit-in protest until the south achieves independence. the political negotiations so far have failed to form a government of national unity to end the fighting. yemen is facing an existential threat with increases fears of a wider sectarian conflict. in the south, it could be a matter of time before it breaks away. al jazeera. adan. >> soldiers have been killed north of baghdad. the attacker detonated explosives as troops scwere at

camp territory from isil fighters and have rene taken zuma and vijz o a highway that connects isil to mosul and to territory in syria. monitoring development from us in erbil in northern iraq. >> reporter: it seems to be victory for peshmergaforces in northern iraq. we have spoken to a field commander in the area who says his forces have taken control room of around five villages around the town of zuma as well as zuma, itself and he said the pesh, now, special units of them are going through the area sweeping through looking for ieds. it's worth noting al jazeera and the al jazeera team were there about a month ago. the peshmerga was struggling to take control back of that town and were complaining of being under armed. and the town, itself, has fallen under control of isil and peshmerga. it swapped sides on a number of occasions. but it's significant because this area lies on al supply

route from syria for isil forces. it is close to the sinjar mountains where we have seen fighting there between the peshmerga and isil trying to retain -- trying to regain control there and protect the ziti community in there. as i say, a significant victory to the peshmerga. it remains to be seen whether they can maintain control of it. >> the kurdish town of kolbane fight continues. a boarder crossing again on saturday, with one mortar landing on the turkish side. street battles continue in the south and east of the town in northern syria. much attention has been focused on the attack against isil in kolbane. activists believe their fight against bashar al assad has been forgotten. >> the syrian region has always controlled the air here, but as the eyes of the world and the u.s.-led coalition fire power

continue to focus on kolbane, there has been a significant increase in airstrikes on rebel positions by syrian president bash arrest al assad's air fo e force. >> he is busy and has priorities to achieve military success. it's his first private priority is damascus, the second, the city, of course and the roads between damascus and that place. he is now taking advantage. this time to intensive his military operations. >> since monday, it is reported there have been at least 450 government nt .

>> want to join isil. this woman said it is in the cities of aleppo and the damascus countryside. >> from this time, to gain on the land, when they will arise to say: sit down at the table. he can have strong parts. time is running out and he is very interested to gain on the field on the land before sitting and starting to discuss any political solution. >> sirrion opposition is divided

politically and when it comes to the many different groups fighting on the ground. there may be an international coalition that is fighting isil, but there is no such agreement on how to end this almost 4-year war, a war that, according to the u.n., has killed over 200,000 syrians and displaced millions. stefanie dekker, al jazeera, beirut. >> lebanese troops have launched attacks on gunmen hold up in a historic northern city of tripoli on friday. the violence is seen as a spillover of the civil war in syria. sunnis, inspired by al-qaeda and isil crossing into lebanon. ir iran has haged a woman who killed a former intelligence official she said was trying to rape her. >> that's despite despite international condemnation. human rights groups say she was acting in self defense when a man tried to sexually assault her. they urged iran to halt the

execution. the u.n. has been critical of what it describes as deep flaws in her trial. still to come on this news hour, as ukraine heads to the polls, the parliamentary elections, it is wondered who can bring stability to the country. >> the impact of proceed hong kong's proceedtests on the city's tourism and find out were serena wasn't too happy, the racket she was beating in singapore. but did she? joe will tell you in sport. sgrafrnling the number of intoolz cases in west africa has passed theebola cases in west africa has passed the 10,000 mark. sc scan. the latest country to be affected, health officials are trying to find people who may have been in contact with a

2-year-old girl who died from the disease. in response, moritania has closed it's border with mali. >> reporter: mali's first confirmed case of ebola was brought here to the dusty town of kayes. now, the country has its first victim. >> translator: well, i can say it's a two-year-old girl who traveled accompanied by her grandmother. it's possible these two people arrived when the symptoms were not detectible but that the illness evolved. >> malian health officials say the girl may have contracted the disease in the very place where the first case of ebola was reported in december of last year in the town of kisaduku in southern begguinea. they say she was likely contagious when she traveled by bus with her grandmother. dozens of people who came into contact with the girl on her engineer have been identified and isolated. officials say there could be hundreds more. there are fears mali, one of africa's poorest countries is

ill equipped to contain the disease. the world health organization staffers were already in mali should it occur. >> i trust the malian government and the world health organization. i think they will find the necessary resources he. >> people must watsh their hand with soap. this is the first plans. we are waiting to know what we should avoid doing. on that point, we don't have much information. >> ebola is spreading rapidly with experts warning the rates could reach 10,000 per week across west africa. with such a high risk of occasion posew in mali's first ebola case, the country will have to work hard to contain it. rand dolf nogal, al jazeera. >> the world health organization is also warning that ebola could spread to the ivory coast, which is near three countries battling the virus. b mali became the 6th west african country to be affected by ebola.

liberia, sierra leone and guinea remain the worst hit. nigeria and senegal had cases of ebola but have been declared free of the disease. >> security has been stepped up in ukraine ahead of sunday's parliamentary elections. areas around polling stations are on high alert. these will be the first since president victor yanukovych was forced out of office earlier this year. many people in ukraine hope the elections will be a turning point after what's been a year of turmoil. in november, last year, they announced plans to sign a deal with the european unionw but then abandoned them in favor of closer ties with russia. >> brought protesters out on to the streets. crowds gathered in kiev's independence square, growing to 300,000.

protests continued. in february, they erupted into deadly fighting with police. president yanukovych pled kiev in the process of building a new government began. in march, russia annexed and eastern ukraine followed by violence between russian-backed separatists and government troops. a truce was signed in september, but the hostilities continued. the u.n. says over 3,500 people have been killed in over six months of fighting. our correspondent, barnaby phillips is joining us live from kiev. barnaby, what is the importance, then, of these elections? >> reporter: well, i think many of the people who are involved in the overthrow of the yanukovych in the square behind me have been frustrated by the low space of reform in the subsequent months. the same old parliament, hispal parlor, if you like, has -- his parliament, if you like, has been there. it has been successful in sometimeying. the idea that a stronger government could emerge and put

ukraine on a more pro-western path could be popular in kooech at least. a short time ago,iev at least. a short time ago,. i spoke to pavlo phmkin and asked him why these elections matter? >> we have a new president. we have new government. but why do we still have that same parliament who supported different initiatives by previous regime, by yanukovych, and in the opinion poll, showed that we have more than 80% of ukrainians in favor of new elections in the sense that we should have new parliament. >> all of this 457ing, barnaby in the context of an ongoing war in the east of ukraine. >> must make it difficult to hold elections.

>> reporter: yes n areas tharl controlled, there will be no elections. 27 seatst are controlled, there will be no elections. 27 seats will remain vacant. the ukrainian government would like to retake those areas one day, but it's difficult to see how that is going to take place in the short-term and ukrainian authorities are coming under criticism for their conduct of that war. just this week, the human rights group, human rights watch, has accused the ukrainian army of using cluster bombs in built-up areas. so, that was another question put to minister klinkin. is the ukrainian army using heavy artillery bombs in cities in eastern ukraine? >> there were no cases from the ukrainian army. and we investigated actually any sort of accusation, any sort of accusation. there were no cases of shelling, of firing into the direction of

blocks where the people live. >> difficult commission situation affecting the situation here, the elections. >> i think the part of the economy puts pressure on whichever new government emerges. gdp may shrink by as much as 10%. there is the cost of running the war, fighting the war. there is the loss of industrial output from the eastern part of the country. there is a sliding currency, i am porpts getting more ex -- imports getting more expensive. hanging over this country, of course, is its reliance gas from russia as we enter winter. let me tell you, it's already very cold in kiev. all of that, a big complication for a new government, getting ukraine's economy back on track in difficult circumstances.

>> barnaby thank you for the update. >> that's our correspondent, barnaby phillips joining us from kiev there. brazilians will head to the polls on sunday in a run-off in a pick to be the next president. the two leading candidates beat their competitor three weeks ago. what do they stand for? delma roussef has been the president for the past four years. state intervention and the economy has been her main focus. brazil's second most popular state's can dade said they need more brings friendly policies. our correspondent is joining us. gabe, both candidates went head to head in a heated televised debate last night. what impact has that had for either of them?

>> the candidates were throwing accusations of corruption against one another and also, really trying to win over the last few undecided voters. it was a very contentious debate and the reason is because this is one of the most fierce 20 ye >> now, it is split just like the rest of the country. this is what we found there. >> sitting over an old fashion

loom, weaving together cloth, stitching together blankets and rugs. like many other families here, he works in a small shop. it making hand made rugs from the region. but they can't escape the election in brazil. a t.v. played in the background and their eyes were drawn to the final campaign commercial for del dela rouseff. >> roussef helped a lot of people who need resources. >> with the douma government and the government before her, things happened tt people have more opportunities. >> don't think for a moment that every way in the town is in agreement. they are not. in the first round of voting

october 5th, roussef and nevez both received 43% of the vote. down the street, andre brito and rosangele are we'ving a blanket in their shop. each one takes at least four hours to make. they are silently working with lots of time to think. like many brazilians, they are not much in to politics, but their vote is for sure. >> translator: my candidate is nevez, the best of the worst options we have. this is a small town. many times, federal government benefits don't reach us, or if they arrive, they are late. >> whether it be in small towns like this or big cities, people seem to agree on one thing: if brazil today is a much different kuntztrine than it was 10 or 15 years ago. the question is: is it better now or worse? and who is best to fix the problems that still exist in this country? >> the question that's divided so many people here and why this

election has been one of the most contested and unpredictable of the last two decades. >> the artisans in this town remain united in their love for their work but absolutely divided on their politics just like the rest of the country. >> remind us, gabe, what are the problems that need fixing or the main issues at stake in this election, in this run-off. >> reporter: well, this is a complex country, and there are lots of them. but it really boils down to two that have been talked about a lot: number 1, corruption and the economy. first on corruption, it was just yesterday that a major news magazine here in brazil published a front-page report saying delma rooussef knew about corruption at petro brass. >> that's a big, big claim, and delma roussef denied it appeared

said it was electoral terrorism. that's been an issue, corruption on both sides. del ma'am a roussef has been hitting back saying his party is just as corrupt or has had many corruption problems. corruption has been a key issue. and, also, the economy. it's interesting on the economy. the economy is not growing right now. it's technically in a technical veeings. however, unemployment is only at 5%. they are working. so one side, the country is not growing and on the other side, the president saying we are not growing as fast as we want. however, people are working and the fundamentals of the economy are strong. so these are the key issues, really, that brazilians will be going to the polls to decide on, what vision of the country going forward is the one that they want for their lives. >> gabe, thank you very much for that update, our correspondent gabriel elazondo.

still ahead on the newshour. not welcome. south korea ian activists heckled over plans to send propagan propaganda to the north. h.

what would go into a sharp cut in greenhouse gases. what would work differently? it require sacrifice, or benefits we with haven't even imagined? it is inside story.