techknow >> we're here in the vortex >> only on al jazeera america >> polls open in ukraine's parliamentary elections, despite hold in rebel controlled areas. hello and welcome to al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead. tunisians get to vote. after overthrow. rawrk'iraq's army says it'se

substantial gains. >> bicycles on the main road is affecting livelihood and the environment. >> after months of conflict and instability, polls have opened in ukraine's parliamentary elections. ukraine is facing difficult times with russia's annexation of crimea. poms not takinpolls not taking s controlled by pro-russian separatists. polls have opened just one hour ago. pro-russian separatists say

they'll block voting in 14 districts. they want to hold a separate election in early november when a ceasefire was find at the beginning of september, this was the area controlled by the separatists. since then there have been several violations by both sides with the rebels now controlling more territory. hova slovkin reports. >> accused of helping ukrainian troops, accusing her of being a traitor and a child killer. now irinia is running as an independent candidate. >> translator: honesty will be my main priority. i'll be a new kind o of politician. we need to decentralize

authority. >> for three months slovyansk was the center of the pro-russian separatist strong hold, replaced by the blue and yellow of ukrainian flag. but beyond this makeover, there is anger here. especially among those who lost their homes. and it's directed towards the government in kiev. they don't want to talk to us on camera but they said they don't want to vote, they say any prospects of a united ukraine is impossible at this stage. in the past the pro-ukrainian voices were low, they are trying

to be as discrete as possible now. for two months, pro-russian fighters were spotted near tatiana's home. she has decided to give her vote to a pro-moscow candidate. >> translator: because they are the only ones who stayed with us when we were shelled and help us create from the city. people are afraid now, there is very harsh oppression. the army harasses relatives of pro-russian fighters. >> few here in slovyansk feel the elections will heal the divisions. many here wonder how long it will be before the ukrainian national colors are once again removed.

abdel hamid, al jazeera, slovyansk,. now, polls opened, barnaby phillips, how are the polls going? >> there's a steady stream of voters in this polling place behind me. the vast majority of the country under the control of the government, the voting has gone on smotly. ismoothly. i a big test will be what sort of turnout in those parts of the east that have reenlts come back under -- real estate come back under control. in crimea there will be no voting. that doesn't mean that people who have been displaced from those areas will not be able to

vote. we've met displaced people here in kiev who have fled from rebel held donetsk and they will be able to vote. they were able to register here. the government says it has made provision for some 200,000 displaced people to vote. we'll have to see whether they're actually able to realize that ambition throughout the day. >> our correspondent barnaby phillips joining us from kiev on election day. let's move on to other news now. tunisians are voting for their parliament. the 2011 uprising that toppled former president ben ali and started demonstrations across the arab world. >> violence and stability loom large in a country set to cast an historic vote. security forces track a group of

people with explosives in a house in the separatist capital tunis. police officials say five women were armed and planning to disrupt the country's political process. the raid happened just as millions of tunisians are getting ready to elect a new parliament. a party that's likely to make significant gains. members of the former government and of president ben ali are also taking part of these elections. serve as prime minister under ben ali. >> my focus is determining to fix the economy and building strong ties with the

international community. >> morjan and the sepsi face a significant challenge. no party is likely to win a majority. for the leader, consensus is the only way forward. >> translator: the lesson that we learned from egypt and other countries is that in a transition period a simple majority won't be able to solve the country's problems. you need a substantial victory and to get that you need consensus. >> violence and stables an inst. >> tunisia will basically stand on the outcome of this election as a country with some kind of opportunity to rebuild society,

to rebuild the state. and i guess to be the shining model. >> reporter: tunisia's future will be decided by 5 million voters. and according to recent opinion apologize, half of them are undecided. this is where four years ago, thousands of tunisians, gathered to demand freedom from oppression. the world will wonder whether tunisia will again become the example of democracy. >> nasaneen nashiri is joining me. what is the atmosphere like naz. >> people have been queuing here, and the turnout is pretty

high. i was here in 2011 when the turnout was massive. so people are coming out to vote. many of them, people here in tunisia right now younger people aren't going to come out now. but can you just tell us what's important for you today? have. >> it's a very important day, historical day, second election, free election in tunisia. what is important for the next few years, five years, the economy, the security, these are the main points and liberty also, of course. >> do you think the goals of the revolution which involve dignity, freedom they've all been achieved today or is there still a lock way to go? >> unfortunately, there's still a long ways to go and the previous three years have shown

lots of issues and hopefully this will be less. >> thank you. jobs and security issue, it's quite a complicated process. there are thousands of potential candidates and so many different parties. but the two main blocks that are expected to do well have already spoken about a potential coalition. >> naz, thank you for that update. we will be staying with our coverage of the elections in tunisia throughout the day. retaking the state from the islamic state of iraq and the levant, the biggest gain by the iraqi army in most, it's hoped that it will stop the i.s.i.l.'s

move towards the capital. violence of spillover of civil war in syria, with sunni fighters crossing over into lebanon. stephanie decker is following. steph, what's the latest for the fight in tripoli? >> battle going on, a neighborhood in tripoli, further north in a neighborhood, this is where the army has surrounded the home of a sheik, where some of his men are believed to be hiding. earmt helicopters -- army helic,

clashes before between those who support the revolution and those who support the president. we have heard a statement from one of the saliphi sheiks, calling for jihad across lebanon. this all kicked off thursday dawn when the army raided an apartment, belonging to a man who was recruiting for i.s.i.l. also, the al qaeda associated nusra front, soldiers and people captive alone. given the lebanese government just an hour from now to stop the siege or they say they'll kill one of the soldiers. >> and steph, why are we seeing

this situation? police have asked people to call regarding suspicious people in tripoli. >> when you look at tripoli, this is a city that isn't new, as i said earlier, two neighborhoods opposite each other, one sunni neighborhood, one is muslim which supports fighting before. it has been quiet in recent months and the people talking before do think -- >> i do apologize we seem to be losing -- >> for this change in dynamic. can you hear me? >> i'm sorry we're going to have to leave 30th with stephanie decker. that's a bad connection. we have lots more to come on al jazeera.

protesters in hong kong, vote whether to continue their sit-in or agree to government proposals to end it. >> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation...

>> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy,

>> good to have you with us, i'm elizabeth corada in doha. these are the top stories. first polls since the overthrow of president viktor yanukovych earlier this year, in

ukraine. in the northern city of tripoli at least six have died. and residents in tunisia have pen voting to elect a new parliament. and the brazilians are also voting, the senator and former state governor, a latin america editor lucia newman has more. >> even buying or selling a coconut at this busy market is a chance to show allegiance. in brazil's most fiercely fought elections in decades. a former e left wing gur guerila

leader. ung like her immensely popular pred says, she's seen as an iron lady, who nonetheless represents the political party who in the fast years, neves who promises business friendly policies. married to a model, now, technically the economy is in recession. brazil's capital away built in 1960, literally in the shape of

an airplane. and in the cockpit is the presidential palace you see here. taken off under the prevention government but under the president gilma roussef, has been losing altitude. >> there is a roman god called janus. he has two faces, looks to the future, looks to the past. and the middle class, look to the future and they're not sure juma will give them the extra mile they want. >> roussef's strongesting support is from the middle class, that's not case for much of the middle class that has come to expect more.

>> it hasn't been all bad but there's too much corruption and bad health services. we need to renew things. >> in the end, the outcome will be decided by the middle and new lower middle classes that have not given up on the dream of their giant nation taking flight once again. lucia newman, al jazeera, brazil. >> protesters in hong kong are also casting ballots on sunday. the two day vote will determine whether the supporters continue their sit in or agree to government proposals and end it. main downtown and other project sites. they don't want the 2017 elections be be preapproved by beijing. it isn't for or against

democracy. as marga ortiz explains. >> police try to stop another confrontation between protestersers and police. blocked some of hong kong's busiest areas for more than a month. many think it a nuisance. he has worked this corner for 70 years and has never seen anything like this. business has been slow since the protesters moved in. >> hong kong will never be like china. hong kong has democracy. nowhere else, as good as hong kong. >> the rights to free expression and public assembly which although restricted are not available at all to their countrymen in mainland china.

last week, the police tried odisperse the crowds by tear gas. only brought more attention to the demonstrations. people grouped like this on the street engaged in heated debate over hong kong's future. one thing they do agree upon is the protesters have sparked an awakening had a wasn't here before. those who want the protesters gone call themselves the silent majority and are now gathering signatures to prove i.t. they say they don't necessarily disagree with the demonstrators cause but the wait they are demonstrating it. >> they are the ones ignoring our freedom or the rule of law. the rule of law is basically what democracy's backbone is. you take that away, what do we have? >> reporter: all sides insist they're standing up for hong

kong with each calling the other unpatriotic. the government has now put itself in the middle hoping not to look ineffective to either the people in hong kong or china's ruling party watching closely from beijing. marg ortiguez, hong kong. stops in guinea, liberia and sierra leone, the countries hardest hit by the outbreak. in an effort to stop the virus, soldiers are helping locals to treat patients. now 100,000 cases worldwide. many countries lack the facilities drugs and equipment to deal with some diseases. tanya page reports on a push to

improve health care. >> government partnered with a private consortium to build and operate it. >> this hospital is well organized. i come i get a number and i see a doctor. that didn't happen in the old one. >> it has the country's first intensive care unit which offers surgeries like hip replacement that patients had to travel to south africa for. there's no doubt it's saving lives. this baby was born at 22 weeks, full term was 40 weeks. if she had been born in the old hospital she wouldn't have survived. oxfam legislation i allegation g much, much more. >> it is an 18 year agreement, that the government is locked

into. the fact that it takes 51% of the health budget and it's consciously increasing would mean that ultimately there isn't going to be a health budget for any other facilities. >> the government admits dmits there isn't enough money left for rural clinics yet that is where the hutu lives. the government is making too much money out of the hospital and that the world bank should not be promoting the model as one for other poor countries to follow. >> it is a good hospital. it is a good model. meaning the infrastructure is good, the services and fields like that, but how you use it to benefit your own society is very difficult for me to say this is the best to bring to another country. >> the support has brought much

needed from africa am people but far from perfect. it's been more than one year since the indian city of cal calcutta introduced their bicycle ban. but their livelihoods have suffered over the past 12 months. >> calcutta's roads are brimming with all kinds of vehicles, just like any other city, with one difference, there is no bicycles. it is especially hard for those to use a cycle to make a living. for him the ban means traveling longer and working less. he estimates his income has gone down from $200 a month from before the ban to just $80. >> the ban has affected my

family heavily. if the ban goes on for a longer time, i don't think i can make ends meet. >> business is also bad for those who repair bicycles, since other bicyclists have transferred oother modes of transport about. >> before the ban i used to have 20, 30 cycles to fix. now i'm lucky if i have five to fix. imagine if it keeps going on. >> in past media statements police have said general safety and traffic congestion were the main reason for the ban. since banning bicycles from these main roads, traffic flows faster. however critics say that besides affecting the livelihood of those whose form of income is

the bicycles. >> 50% of calcutta's air pollution comes from cars. and banning bicycles willing make this worse. >> if you allow more and more vehicles to come on ca calcuttas streets, it means the air pollution will only rise and if you don't look at more sustainable forms of transportation, it's only going to continue to be a problem. >> others who use their bicycles for work, they want to symptom sitting idle and start moving again, with the city. fez jamil, al jazeera, calcutta. >> the picasso museum has reopened in paris. one of the moss extensive collections in the world,

featuring thousands of picasso's works. death in 1973. the $66 million project took five years to complete. just a reminder that you can always keep up to date with all the news on our website at aljazeera.com. with spectacular landscapes- new zealand is a pristine paradise- ranked the freest country on earth. but this south pacific nation has the second highest imprisonment rate in the western world.