a day off to yemen government takes office and fighting intestifies in the town killing more than a dozen people. ♪ hello and welcome to al jazeera, i'm sammy live from our headquarters in doha and coming up, a live report from nigeria where there has been a deadly attack at a school, plus fighting and we bring you exclusive pictures as iraqi forces try to break i.s.i.l. hold in the home of the country's biggest oil refinery. setting aside differences leaders of china and japan meet

for the first time in two years. and waiting for answers, dutch investigators want to start retrieving the wreckage of flight mh 17 in ukraine. ♪ well, we begin in nigeria where an explosion has gone off at a secondary school in the northern state and dozens of people have been killed and dozens of students gathering for a morning assembly when it happened and they are under a state of emergency with similar attacks from boko haram in the past and al jazeera is joined live from legos and where does the casualty toll stand? >> well, the police are confirming that 47 people have been killed and 79 injured but hospital authorities are expecting the figure to rise and

usually when they come in they are conservative estimates and people are facing deaths as a result of the bombing in the state and actually suicide 3w gathering with students before classes start and detonated his device with the students and killed more than 47 people as the official figure stands at the moment. >> school attacks are becoming more frequent and why and what is happening with the security situation there? >> well, over the last few months, so far just to say that so far no one has claimed responsibility but boko haram is known to have operated in this area for a very long time and this is one of the state's under like you said a state of emergency in northeast of nigeria and the security situation there despite the state of emergency declared by

the nigerian government the attacks by boko haram continue and this year we seen several thousand killed by boko haram and lost by security forces to boko haram and even yesterday the boko haram leader issued another video boldly addressing people in one of the towns captured by boko haram telling them that this is now under his control and that they are willing to expand and denying they have an agreement with the nigerian government. >> live from legos. and in yemen intense fighting in the city of radan and the province between sunni tribesmen and shia houthi fighters and the area has seen fighting for weeks now and we are joined now live from the capitol and the houthis still expanding territories and the bottom line from the fighting? >> yes, sammy, they are

expanding in those areas and men in checkpoints controlling small villages and also district and this is raising concerns among the sunni community because in general this is a predominately sunni province area. today tribesmen backed by al-qaeda fighters launched counter offensive to push the houthi fighters from the area. it's a very delicate issue for the yemen in general because this is an area where the fighting can degenerate into sectarian war out of the view the houthis are there to spread ideology with backing of i ran and also an area where al-qaeda has been active over the last few months. when al-qaeda was pushed back they were neighbors of the province and most of al-qaeda fighters moved there and now one of the area's targeted by u.s.

drones and one of the top al-qaeda commanders and killed in a joint attack two days ago. >> all of this coming the first day after the new government takes up its responsibilities there, how is it for a certain authority though? >> this is the thing, sammy, now, the prime minister basically you would expect the prime minister to talk to defense minister and give him orders to deploy the army in those areas to prevent further clashes and the houthis and the tribesmen and the army is divided with different loyalties and units loyal to the president and units loyal to the houthis and some to the president and talking about a political reality and to think this is the biggest part of the new government basis and putting together a united front and

yemen to move forward to maintain order and peace and put an end to violence and sectarian divi divide. now the iraqi army says it reached the center of the northern oil producing town and trying to break a siege by i.s.i.l. fighters of iraq's biggest refinery and it was captured in advance across northern iraq and we have this exclusive report. >> reporter: just a day ago i.s.i.l. was said to be firm will ily in control and today the graffiti tells the story and they took large parts of the town from i.s.i.l. fighters and the taking of the oil refinery was a victory for i.s.i.l. as they swept through parts of iraq in june. once again this victory is for the iraqi army and the

deployment squad fighting alongside them. >> translator: let all the young men join the armed forces whether the army or the popular mobilization forces and let them come here and join arms with their brothers to defend the country and expel i.s.i.l., if we don't act now i.s.i.l. will sweep us so we have to have big support for the youth to join fight with the providence as it's considered the breaking point for i.s.i.l.'s advance towards baghdad. >> reporter: fighting continues for the rest of the town. very early on i.s.i.l. established as a commanding control center for all of the territory that it controlled inside iraq but it wasn't just about military strategy, it was also about business acmen and they control the lucrative oil smuggling operation which netted them millions of dollars. they used helicopters to push i.s.i.l. fighters from center of the town when they entered from

south and west and the oil refinery is the next big target and i.s.i.l. is in control of parts of the facility but they are cutoff from the town itself and are surrounded by iraqi forces, i'm with al jazeera in baghdad. the u.n. envoy for, syria likely to meet assad on the final day of the trim and going to homs and they held talk with the foreign minister on sunday which they said were constructive and wants to have freeze zones to stop fighting in areas and it's the third time he visited syria since replacing bahani in july. activists in syria reporting that five nuclear engineers have been killed in an attack. anti-government fighters ambushed in the northern suburb of the capitol and one was an

iranian national. bombs struck three cities killing at least ten people and taliban says they are behind at least one attack where a suicide bomber blew himself up and seven police were killed and another one in an rickshaw was killed and explosion at the university wounding three people and it's unclear who is behind that blast. chinese president ping and japanese prime minister have held talks for the first time since they both took office two years ago and met on the sidelines of the asia pacificorp summit in beijing and scott reports. >> reporter: the first major development during the summit did not take place at the conference, it came from the sum

mid sidelines, a handshake, two years in the making and the president ping and japan's prime minister met for the first time since the leaders came to office. the two nations have been at odds over territory worsening and deep historical tensions and freeze on relationship between the two large economies and global concern over regional stability. >> patch up and to find modis apperandi and this is the first occasion where the two will at least shake hands and exchange at least a few words. >> reporter: agreement between china and japan is outside the asia pacific region and could be relief for the ally the united states which is bound to military protect it but america needs to keep a cordial

relationship with the huge trading partner, china. the summit is this the sprawling complex in beijing built back in 2008 for the olympics and the president is using it as a showcase as he hosts the biggest event since taking office and talks on the sidelines expected over the next few days including the fighting in eastern ukraine and the prime minister abbot said he will talk about the downing of an airline where 38 australians were killed and china and u.s. have rival trade pacts they are pushing and leaders will have a private meeting on wednesday plotting out the relationship for the next few years. >> over if next five years half of the growth over the united states is projected to come from asia and makes this region an incredible opportunity for creating jobs and growth in the united states and any serious

leader in america whether in politics or commerce recognizes that fact. >> reporter: the apec summit brings global and regional leaders together for face-to-face but too big to achieve anything significant in the name of asia pacific cooperation and they use it as a case to push agendas and i'm with al jazeera in beijing. coming up, after the break informal vote of independence, catalonia shows it wants to rule itself and families wait for justice after south korea per redisaster that triggered national outrage. ♪

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welcome back, let's recap the headlines on al jazeera, an explosion ripped through a secondary school in the northeastern state of nigeria and at least 47 people have been killed and dozens injured and students were gatherering for morning assembly when the blast happened. iraqi army reached the center of the northern oil producing town and i.s.i.l. captured this in june after advance across northern iraq. chinese president ping and japanese prime minister held their first face-to-face meeting since taking office two years ago and the meeting on the sidelines of the apec summit is seen as the first step of improving relations between the

asian super powers and heavy shelling on the outskirts of the eastern city of donetsk and threatens a delicate two-month-old ceasefire between the government and separatist fighters, 4,000 people have died in the conflict in eastern ukraine. a memorial service will be held in the netherlands for an air disaster that touched the they nation for a plane that crashed in july and 298 passengers aboard flight mh 17 died, more than half of them were dutch. and simon mc-greger wood is live from amsterdam and no doubt a very somber day there. >> reporter: yes, absolutely, flags across this small nation flying at half mast on monday and less than an hour the ceremony will start, it's the first national memorial to try

and commemorate the 196 dutch citizens who were killed on board mh 17 and led by the king and queen of the netherlands, mark, the prime minister is sought to open the address in his own words to try and articulate, to put into words, the grief and the sense of loss felt by the relatives of those who died, 1600 relatives will also attend this event in this huge conference center behind me. there will be music from popular and classical dutch artists and a moment of silence to commemorate those who died. >> simon, what is happening with the investigation, the world's attention seems to have gone away from that but that is part of the basic problem. >> reporter: well, as we reported just before you crossed to me, heavy shelling in eastern ukraine gives you a clue as to why no independent investigation

has started. there are dutch investigators in ukraine but they only have been able to visit the site on a few occasions and no formal process of staking out the area and beginning a proper forensic investigation has started. we understand that there was going to be an attempt to start trying to retrieve pieces of the wreckage today but that again has been cancelled all because of the ongoing political and military uncertainty in the area of concern and this of course is a huge problem for the relatives. they are continuing to mourn at a personal level, their grief continues. in terms of rebuilding their lives and finding the answers that many of them are desperate to have, the answers only given with a full investigation and eventually hoped a trial of those who perpetrated this terrible crime and that whole project has not even started so as a continuing sense of frustration i think felt here among the relatives many of whom

are already inside waiting for this event to start. >> simon mc-greger wood thanks so much. nearly # 90% of votes counted in spain and show 80% of those favor a split. and in barcelona have been celebrated the similar and hope this is for the future and they oppose the unofficial poll and we have more from barcelona. >> on monday both spain and catalonia were wondering what a ground breaking and similar symbolic vote will mean for spain. on sunday more than 2 million people showed up in makeshift polling stations to answer two questions do you want catalonia to be a state and do you want the state to be independent? more than 80% answered yes to

both questions and surprisingly 10% answered no to the second question, do you want to become independent. this is surprising because the fear was that most catalan fear they would be kicked out of europe if they are independent. what is next? they say this as mandate to ask the central government to hold an official referendum on independence and central government replied this mode was fruitless, useless and only political propaganda and options the local government has is to bring all proindependence parties under one umbrella and calling the elections and asking again all the voters do you want catalonia to become independent but this time it will be legally binding. >> the chairman of the african union expected to meet the new military leader, the west african nation under pressure to

return to civilian rule after opposition protesters forced the president from power earlier this month. on sunday opposition and community leaders met to discuss the details of a transitional government. and al jazeera's harry has the update. >> reporter: people expect it to be tense between africa and the colonel leader and last week says if he does step down and go to a civilian government they will have sanctions and saying people shouldn't interfere with the internal affairs and when he is ready he will layout a plan to step down and if he does he is not concerned about sanctions and people have intense meeting today and what did au say to him to sit down and hand over power to civilian governmentment on streets people watching negotiations going on over the weekend and charter drawn up between parties and societies and religious groups and have a national assembly with members

of military, p opposition and former ruling party et cetera and people want to know when the finalro s ro sero ses -- proce is asking to take away things and handed back and it will be clear if he will go to government or hang on to power as long as he can. >> reporter: formal investigation of using taxpayer money for personal purposes, $23 million was spent on upgrades to his homestead but he says he had no knowledge of the work which included the construction of a swimming pool, visitor center and am by theatre. and spaghetti juncti al jazeera of the journalists in prison for 317 days and accused of helping the out lawed muslim brotherhood

and appealing against their prison sentences and peace keepers leading liberia will be shipped to an island off manilla and monitored for symptoms of ebola and will withdraw troops because of the outbreak and spend 21 days in manila bay before returning to the homeland and james bay reports. >> reporter: keeping the peace in liberia but not for much longer. philippines in the mission for a decade but are pulling out and no one taking their place. and 6500 cases of ebola, about half the current total of 13,000 cases across west africa and for now other troops in liberia are staying put but are concerned.

>> we have more than 500 troops right in liberia and we have a hospital there, number two hospital. so we are not alarmed and not panicked because we have taken measures to keep our troops so that they remain safe. >> reporter: all three countries most effected by ebola are places that were already facing huge challenges, u.n. troops are still needed in liberia and still a troubled country after a devastating conflict, the u.n. peace keeping mission in sierra leone may have closed over a year ago but it's a nation suffering from the aftermath of its own civil war and guinea is also an extremely poor county with coups and conflict in resent past and at u.n. there is deep concern not just about the medical emergency created by ebola but also about the threat of a break down in security. >> the crisis of this magnitude,

this horrible situation can at any time give rise to breakage in the law an order and in the stability of the country. as i said institutions are still not very strong and strains are, enormous. >> reporter: u.n. security council and general assembly will be meeting in the next few days to talk about the on going ebola crisis. james at the u.n. a verdict expected on tuesday in the case of a south korean ferry that capsized in april killing more than 300 people and most of them school children and prosecutors seeking death penalty for the captain and rob mcbride reports saying the court's decision will bring little comfort to the families of the victims. >> reporter: their numbers dwindled over the months but not the strength of feeling and groups come from all over south

korea drawn by a tragedy that touched the national psyche. >> translator: as korean citizens we have to come to pay respects to families and victims and also to wish for justice. >> reporter: slipping out of the port these are some of the grieving family members that still make the daily trillion to the site of the wreck and for them justice will mean a guilty verdict for the captain of the vessel seen here leaving his cap sizing ship early. he could get the death penalty. his crew faces lesser sentences and mobile phone footage recovered from the wreck shows the passengers and most youngsters remaining below decks at the instance of the crew. the grief and pain here has ebbed as most of the bodies have been recovered and families have returned home. just a few relatives remain at the town's gym which has been turned into a temporary

dormitory. the court case will provide them with little consolation. >> translator: i don't think the death penalty solving anything, families still here don't have emotion left. we are numb to the trial. >> reporter: what will ease their pain, the recovery of their loved ones bodies looks less likely with time. resting up turned in waters with strong currents the search of the wreck has to be limited to a few hours per day but with the seas getting colder and with the chance of the vessel breaking up so even that is getting harder to maintain. there is now growing pressure to end the search and raise the wreck, even after that what happened here and the memory of it will play on the national conscience. robert mcbride, al jazeera, jindo, south korea. >> survivors of the gas tragedy in india have begun hunger strike and say they will fast

until the government offers additional composition to victims of the industrial accident, in 1984 a pesticide truck released 40 tons of deadly gas in the city killing about 4,000 people. military operation in pakistan was displaced hundreds of thousands of people. some suggest the number of people internally displaced by the fighting has reached one million, and we met some who feel the government has turned their back on them. >> reporter: these are the latest victims of another military operation dubbed cause hieber one going on in the hieber agency and hundreds of thousands effected by the renewed fighting when the military moved into that area but the real emergency is the plight of the people who were given no warning and told to leave their homes without their belongings. most of them are now sitting out

in the open. it is already winter here in pakistan and they need urgent help. >> translator: we lived in homes due to military operation and now we don't have money to buy food for the family and there is no help from the authorities. >> reporter: the only help that is being provided is on a very limited scale by organizations such as the islam and the government made promises to help these people has not been able to deliver and the government it seems is not interested. >> translator: the government has completely failed to provide help and assistance for our displaced people. despite all claims and left thousands of people at the mercy of god. >> reporter: at the time military busy which led to the displacement of over 800,000 people. if you combine that with a number of people that are now being displaced under the agency

that will go beyond million mark, an emergency that pakistan needs to tackle and tackle it as soon as possible. >> reporter: if you want to keep up to date with all the news head over to our website, al jazeera.com. the energy boom created hundreds of thousands of jobs. dropping prices threaten that. >> $4 million compared on the elections, that could be chump change compared to the presidential campaign. not a single person announced a run, but tens of millions are being spent the air in new york is special. you won't believe what people are willing to pay for what is above a building.