midterms only on al jazeera america >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha, coming up in the next 60 minutes. going to war, a convoy of heavy weapons and kurdish peshmerga forces head towards syria to fight isil. an international aid conference is held in berlin to discuss the plight of 3 million syrian refugees. and al jazeera calls on egypt to release our colleagues from prison.

i'm here are all of the sports. fifa has named their 23-man short list for player of the year, and it will be another duel between the two main men of spanish football. ♪ our top story, kurdish peshmerga forces are on their way to iraq to help defend against isil. a convoy is already on its way to the northern syrian town. peshmerga fighters travelling by air are expected to land in turkey in the next few hours. we have reported in iraq and turkey in a moment to bernard smith on the turkey syria border,

[ technical difficulties ] >> they are really on unequal fighting with isil fighters who have tanks and mortars and have been using that sort of artille artillery, so with that fire power, the kurds believe that could help them make the difference between the stalemate that we have seen persevere for now more than a week, they believe the heavier weapons could help them push the isil fighters out of kobani town. >> all right. bernard smith thank you.

now the situation in kobani is just a small part of one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in human history, more than 3 million syrians have fled to neighboring countries. nower that 1.1 million people are living in lebanon, another million or so are in turkey, and more than 600,000 are in jordan, around 200,000 in iraq, and 140,000 in egypt. berlin representatives from 40 countries are meeting. nick spicer has this report. >> reporter: several representatives called it the biggest humanitarian disaster of our time, and the flow of refugees is threatening more disaster. for example, the syrian conflict has caused lebanon's population to jump by a quarter, putting a

strain on water supplies, schools, and hospitals. >> translator: unfortunately part of the whole truth is that the civil war in syria is not yet over and people keep fleeing. that's why today's conference in berlining intends to send a message of consolidarity to the refugees. >> reporter: there was certain because the conflict has changed shape, seeing the emergence of the group known as isil, or islamic state of iraq and the levant, spilling the violence over the border into iraq. this is a refugee treatment center in berlin. it can house up to 500 people. around 100 of them now have fled syria, an increasing number have come from iraq. this kurdish grandmother remembers when isil came to her village in iraq. >> translator: we had a peaceful

life in our village and then the war came out and isil came. they forced us to convert. they killed people in front of the children, shooting and decapitating them. >> reporter: as the law stands now, refugees fleeing isil will have a harder time getting asylum in germany than syrians. proof that the politicians always seem to be struggling for a solution to a crisis with no end in sight. >> nick you have just come out of the press briefing from that meeting. tell us what has come out of it. >> nothing substantive. there was one number on the table, which was 500 million euros announced by the german government, that's 637 u.s. million dollars. when questioned about whether that was new money, it really didn't become clear. what was not mentioned either number wise was western

countries accepting to take any quotas of new syrian refugees. what this seemed to be all about was a changing of perspective to use the gorman foreign minister's formulation, which is to say we have got to focus the money that is already there, and the money we will spend in the future on the host countries in the future, lebanon, turkey, iraq, and egypt, in order to introduce stability in the region. and the lebanese foreign minister made a very poignant comment when he said look, we have 110 refugees per square kilometer in our country, and we can't take anymore people however desperate their situation is, and just think what will happen to lebanon as a model of stability and morality of cultures if things should blow up. so the lebanese and the jordanian foreign ministers

making the pointing that more western aid was needed for long-term infrastructure projects, water, schools, and so on, in order to just keep their countries going again. >> indeed highlighting the desperation of these refugees. nick thank you very much for that. that's nick spicer speaking to us from berlin. al jazeera's director general has reiterated the network's demand for egypt to release three al jazeera journalists from prison. they have now been detained for 304 days on charges widely regarded as politically motivated. his intervention follows interpol's rejection of egypt for an international arrest warrant against an al jazeera journalist. they say the decision reveals problems with egypt's justice system. >> translator: the interpol decision is a victory for free

journalism in the world, and for all free journalists worldwide. any journalist should be able to work freely without being chased as long as interpole is projecting the rights of journalists. whether again it's our al jazeera staff or any other verdict issued. >> earlier my colleague, sami zeidan spoke with al jazeera's director general, and he began by asking about the significance of interpol's decision. >> yes, i believe it means that since he is found to have been sentenced on political reasons, not for any crime he committed, it also means the kind of accusation that journalists are having all over egypt are baseless. they are politically motivated. therefore, it makes the whole

world understand that the egyptian authorities are looking for ways imprison journalists in order to opresz the media. it means that the accusations of these three also are the same thing. they are politically motivated. we always felt, and we -- we are convinced that these accusations are false. our journalists have been doing their job, only their job, not more, and none of them has committed any crime. we hope the egyptian authorities realize that the rest of the world is understanding what is going on, and reacting positively towards al jazeera, and certainly, the egyptian

authorities have to rethink what they are doing in order to keep the -- their -- their legal system in particular away from any political pressures. >> do you think they will rethink, though? and what if they don't? >> al jazeera has been campaigning order in to free its journalists from the egyptian prison, and in order to make the world aware of the reasons behind this campaign against al jazeera journalists, we always believe this is not about al jazeera only, it is about the media. it is about freedom of the media. it is a campaign of terrorizing the media so they make them so afraid, they cannot say what they need to say. they cannot reveal the truth that is supposed to be revealed. they cannot communicate the

facts, and whatever is happening as it is happening to the audience, to the readers, to the rest of the world. i hope that maybe with the egyptian authorities feeling a little bit more, maybe secure in their chairs now, f after the elections of participate agen agency -- president sisi, maybe they can review their position and start thinking in a more freeway. because on pressing freedom of the media means stopping any kind of credibility for any kind of democratic process. there is no democratic process without freedom of the media, and without the liberties that the citizens need to have in order to develop that kind of society. >> are you looking at legal options here? >> al jazeera keep looking for all options. if there are legal options to be taken in relation to these

issues, then al jazeera will take them. but at the same time we believe the international community is standing with al jazeera, because they know what al jazeera is doing is just our job, it's our professional job. at the same time we -- we do have certain issues in courts that are going to be dealt with, or we are dealing with, and at the same time, we will be looking for other ways to -- to deal with the issue. i cannot tell you exactly what they are going to be done, but as long as our journalists are still in prison, we will continue struggling. and as long as these sentences that are against our journalists, the i believe six or seven who have been sentenced in absentia for years in prison for doing nothing wrong, as long

as it's still there, they don't cancel them, so we will keep struggling to get things right, and to get our people out of this unjust situation they find themselves in. >> and lots more to come on the al jazeera news hour. we will tell you which countries are failing to push for gender equality. and we report from madrid on what is being described as the biggest anti-corruption investigation in spanish history. and a date in the diary for 2022, how two sports chiefs promise not to spoil each other's big event. details with jo in sport. ♪ >> now to the u.k. where the government is defending a decision to stop supporting search and rescue operations for

migrants in danger of drowning in the mediterranean. britain says much operations only encourage people to attempt the dangerous crossing. amnesty international as condemned the decision. it is estimated that over 3,000 people have died on the risky journey this year alone. nathan gill is a member of the european parliament for the right-wing u.k. independence party, and joins us live from north whales. thank you for making it on the show. first of all i would like to get your take on this decision. do you support it? >> well, you know, we believe it's the job of the government to do just that, to govern the british people. and every single day the british government is giving 21 million pounds in foreign aid, but where is that money going to? so the fact that they are saying now that they want to stop and -- financing and helping

with search and rescue in the mediterranean seems to me like it is probably the wrong decision, because ultimately the government represents the british people and our ethos and take on the world, and we are compassionate people, we always want to say we can help people in need, but at the same time we have got to make sure that the message is strong to people who get on the boats in the first place -- >> at the same time, though, nathan, your party does support the australian model of stopping the boats. on the one hand what you are saying it is against the british ethos, but your party does support the stop the boats policy. >> it sounds contradictory but it is true. australia makes it very clear that anyone who tries to enter illegally cannot stay there -- >> but it hasn't actually stopped the boats at all, has

it? we still see thousands of people getting on rickety boats. i just want to quote you, this measure will not stop the refugees boarding a rickety boat in libya will seem a seemingly rational decision if you are running for your life if your country is in flames. >> of course it will. but we need to be very firm that if you enter europe illegally, you will not be allowed to stay. up until now the mess sage blurred. people know if a boat gets in trouble they will be helped. >> what then would you suggest be the alternative then? i mean people are fleeing these war-torn country, fleeing bloodshed and threats to themselves and their families, what if you were in that

situation would you do? >> as a nation as i say, we are lending money, borrowing money to give 21,000 pounds a day in foreign aid. this money needs to be targeted at the areas where it is going to effect britain as well. there's no reason why we can't protect people in these areas whilst their situation is sorted out. we have spent millions to help these people. what is happening if all we're doing is opening up the borders so people can just come here when we have $30 billion black hole -- >> right, your party also supports, as you say setting up camps for these refugees, however, you will send them back. send them back to what? more bloodshed, war, threats to their lives and their families? >> listen, it's not the job of

the british people to be the boy scout of the entire world -- >> no, but being a developed first world country, it is your job to set a human example if you will. >> uh-huh. absolutely, but then there are third-party nations that would help with this. we are a very small island, we have huge stresses and strains on our infrastructure already. and people who come into europe eventually make their way to the united kingdom, as we have seen recently this week -- >> right. and of course they are coming to the united kingdom for opportunities to try to improve their lives and the lives of their families as well. how much, nathan is this opposition -- >> let me just stop you is there -- >> how much is this tied into perhaps british genophobia?

>> it is not the job of britain to provide homes for people who want a better life for themselves. >> but isn't the job to give them a save haven? the >> legitimate asylum seekers yes. but you should seek asylum in the first country you arrive in, which in this case would be italy, not the united kingdom. >> right. thank you very much for sharing your incites with us. well a new report names and shames countries that are losing the fight for gender equality. countries in northern europe appear to be doing best on the world economic forum list, iceland once again takes the top spot as the country achieving the most equality. the u.k. came in at number 26,

just below the u.s. at 23. that's well below some developing countries, including rwanda which was 7th, and the philippines at number 9. yemen came in last in all four categories. france appears to be making progress towards greater gender equality, but as jonah hull reports from paris, there is still a long way to go. >> reporter: in france there's never been a better time for a woman to enter government in historically one of the most sexist realm of french life, women take an almost equal place at the table has the men. there's brand new gender equality laws considered among the most comprehensive anywhere. but is it enough? >> translator: our main message to the government is for them to invest in the rights of women. we have a very good law, which

has been promulgated and which is progressive, we need courage and to go further, in other words to really attack the inequalities between when and women. >> reporter: in august france passed a bill that attacks all gender equalities at once. it really is sweeping legislation, tackling the wage gap, domestic violence, gender inequality and makes it easier for women to get an abortion, and encourages men to take maternity leave. but there's a long way to go. women in france earn on average 25% less than their male counterparts. they hold around a quarter of seats in the legislature, and only 3% of french chief executives are women.

there may be near parity in government, but in the workplace, many women like this one, still feel outnumbered. >> i think there is still a long way to go. for example, if i try to enumerate my women entrepreneur friends, it's very difficult to make a long list, whereas if i enumerate my men entrepreneur friends that would go a long way. >> reporter: the law may be increasingly on the side of women, but attitudes will take longer to change. jonah hull, al jazeera, paris. we are joined by the author of the world economic gender gap report and joins us live now from london. thank you making it on the show. what i was surprised to find was the u.s. and the u.k. fell below the 20 mark.

why weren't they in the top 20. >> the u.s. just barely makes it into the top 20 this year, but in the case of the united kingdom is it's because its performance has stayed pretty much constant in the nine years we have been doing this. >> at the same time, though, we have developed countries like philippines making a lot of progress there. what -- i guess the question is what is the secret behind trying to close the gender gap? >> so one of the things that we're looking at is how are countries distributing resources and opportunities between women and men. whether they have a lot or little resources. you see countries that make it into the top ten. what -- what appears to be consistent across all of the countries is whether they have the right kind of enabling

environment for women and men to be able to combine work and family, and whether there are other laws and policies in place that help create the right structures that lead to gender equality. the other thing is looking at in particular the developed world where health and education gaps have been closed, are they able to use their female talent adequately. >> i see yemen and saudi arabia are still towards the bottom of the list. how much does this have to do with culture? >> so, culture of course, plays a role in how sfamlys, communities are making decisions. but some of the countries that are towards the very bottom, are actually amongst those that have made the most relative progress compared to where they started out. so yemen has made one of the most impressive leaps compared

to where it started out, and saudi arabia has made the biggest leap compared to all 111 countries in the last nine years. culture may have been a barrier in the past, but given any right emphasis and reasons for women to be integrated, change is possible. >> so the battle between the genders have been ongoing forever, now, since adam and eve shall we say. but i'm going to put you on the spot. do you really think that gender equality can be achieved throughout the world? >> so let's take a look at the countries 59 the very top. the nordic countries. they occupy the top 5 ranks. they still have a long way to go too. but they have also moved up by almost 10 percentage points in

just the last nine years, so if we look at where acceleration and change is happening, and that seems to be happening, corresponding to a lot of efforts made by these countries, it does appear when the efforts are put in, it is possible t. >> thank you for joining us on the show. >> thank you. still to come on al jazeera, botswana's president has been sworn in for a second term. we look at the hurdles he will face. and we'll have the latest on the volcanic lava flow that is inching ever closer to homes in hawaii. in sport as one australian club prepares for the most important football game in their history, find out why only 14 of their fans will be able to attend. ♪

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