iraq's army fights back as isil fighters mount their biggest defensive in weeks. hello. you're watching al jazeera. also coming up, all eyes on vienna as diplomats watch iran's nuclear program. >> it will only encourage more people to come here illegally. >> u.s. republicans hammer obama for his immigration plans. plus, marking an anniversary, ukraine takes time

to remember an event that changed its political and territorial landscape.

>> if you take a look at anbar province as a whole -- quite the size of this attack like this one a concentration of air strikes within that area, what we are saying is that they will push isil fighters back as i say but isil through their social media sources

there's a glimmer of optimism in vienna that talks about the nuclear plans. what more have you heard about this? >>reporter: well, it does look as though there is a bit of momentum back in these talks, nick. they've been described by the parties as tense, somber. british foreign secretary left the building behind me a short while ago and said significant gaps still remain.

a new proposal has been put to the iranians. one that they want technical teams to test for viability before possibly taking to his capital. that may, yet, happen, we understand and mr. kerry's plans we're told have only been put on hold until saturday.

for the fall the, there is no closure or peace until those who pulled the triggers are tied. our country is civilized. we must investigate and punish those who are guilty. events a year ago have set in motions events that have claimed more than 400,000 more lives.

ukraine's new president visited to pay his respects, but he w was -- he is getting support from the west. this time in the form of a visit from the u.s. vice president joe biden. we spoke about the threat to ukranian sovereignty and territorial integrity posed by russian aggression. it's simply unacceptable in the 21st century for countries to attempt to redraw borders by force in europe or anywhere for that matter. but appeals for hardware to equip forces have been refused. the conflict in the ukraine has only been escalating in recent weeks and in the past 12 weeks, dreams of change and prosperity

have been changed and blunted by the economic difficulties. under the circumstances, this is more of an occasion to mourn than to celebrate. a republican leader of the u.s. congress has made a scathing attack on the president's immigration plan. john boehner. >> the president repeatedly suggested that he was going to unilaterally change immigration law, and he created an environment where the members would not trust him and trying to find a way to work together was virtually impossible. and i warned the president over and over that his actions were making it impossible for me to do what he wanted me to do. >> here's more on that story now washington d.c. >>reporter: there are more than

11 million undocumented immigrants in the united states. with this announcement, the president will give a temporary reprieve to less than half. lifting the threat of deportation for those in the country for more than five years and who have children who are american citizens. >> what i'm describing is accountability. a commonsense middle ground approach. if you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. >> but it's temporary and the next president could overturn it in january of 2016, leaving the government with a list of people who could be deported. the move is controversial a lot on the on the part of the president saying he cannot carry out that action on his own. now the white house says the president can act without congress. republicans are threatening

revenge. >> we're considering a variety of options, but make no mistake, make no mistake, when the newly represented people take their seats, they will ask. >>reporter: there's probably very little republicans can do to stop the president on immigration but they can make him pay in other areas. white house officials admit they could but are betting they won't. in columbia -- it's one of the poorest parts of columbia and often regarded as abandoned by the state. >>reporter: it's in this maize of waterways and jungles that he is being kept by farc rebels leaving peace talks on holds.

decades of centuries of undevelopment has left more than half its population in extreme poverty. he says they have no roads, electricity, or running water. >> look at the condition in which our community lives. i just hope all this can bring some investment that can help improve our community. >>reporter: for now though, that attention is only complicated things even after an agreement for the release was announced. people are still too afraid to leave the village. >> none of the residents of this community have been able to work. we are afraid of moving until this is over. we cultivate in the foods and fish but it's too dangerous to go out. >>reporter: the lack of government has turned this place into a breeding ground for para military activities and rebels.

the people here are the victims of a conflict in which they have nothing to gain from. many don't even know why there is fighting in their territory. one local historien -- historian -- >> he was getting involved with the people and building upon the vacuum of local and national policies. nobody believes a peace deal with the farc could solve all the issues affecting this region but many hope it could be the first step? turning around a long history of violence and neglect. a glimmer of hope that can shine

again once the captives are free. still ahead, scuffles and tear gas have some nigerian law makers on the run. makers on the run.

>> at the height of the cold war >> we're spies... intercepting messages from embassies, military bases... >> one of the america's closest allies... >> we were not targeting israelis... >> suddenly attacked >> bullet holes... ...just red with blood... >> 34 killed... we had no way to defend ourselves >> high level coverups... never before heard audio... a shocking investigation >> a conscience decision was made to sweep it

under the rug... >> the day israel attacked america only on al jazeera america isil fighters began their

largest offensive in iraq. they are in anbar province now. diplomats continue to talk in vienna to reach a deal about iran's nuclear program. the republican leader of the u.s. congress has made a scathing attack on the u.s. president's immigration plan that provides temporary legal status and work permits for millions of immigrants living in the country in syria, government fighter planes have continued to launch attacks against rebel held areas. four attacks in northeast damascus. meanwhile, rebels are set to carry out an offensive. a teenager who travelled to

syria to marry an ices gee has haddist fighter is in a dutch court. her mother reportedly went to syria to bring her home. she left her home city back in february and traveled to the isil strong hold city of racca. the director of the center for terrorism and counterterrorism says that there's a rise in the number of young girls from the west heading towards areas including syria. >> it used to be rare until a year ago but especially this year more and more girls have joined fighters in syria or went on their own or accompanied by some people to syria and that number has grown dramatically. currently it's about 20% in the netherlands. same figures for, for instance,

france. we're talking not about one or two examples but probably dozens of girls and many of them are very young. two weeks ago, there was a girl, age 16, arrested in hungry on her way to syria. so we have more and more of these examples and unfortunately very few who have returned let alone by a courageous mother that dared to go all the way into is territory to get her daughter back. bah rain is holding its first elections since it cracked down on protests in 2011. the opposition says the government has failed to address any of the grievances that sparked those demonstrations in the first place. >>reporter: these are more than the 260 candidates fighting for 40 seats in bah rain's election. it's the first since a protest

movement in 2011. >> what a failure it is for the government to beg for a vote from a people who are marginalize by them. the government is looking for the impossible from any rational person. >>reporter: the 2011 protest made their neighbors nervous. the saudi military played an important role in clearing out protesters. authorities then arrested thousands of people. real power comes from bah rain's unelected political leadership. as international condemnation increased, the king created an inquiry into abuses by security

forces. while some progress has been made on police reform, rights organizations say abuses continue. >> we have arrests on a daily basis. we have people being taken from their homes being interrogated, being threatened. usually elections mean that you embra embrace people, embrace the opposition. in bah rain, we have people being tortured and the government trying to silence any type of opposition right before the election and that's how they're preparing for it. >>reporter: the government and its supporters say they're trying to reach out to the opposition. >> the door is open to them. there was an invitation for dialogue. a second invitation for dialogue. but they refused to participate because in their mind bah rain should be delivereded to iran. >>reporter: the government accuses of iran for trying to stir revolution in bah rain. the revolution says they just

want a greater role in politics. rights groups say the u.s. is not doing enough to protect human rights in bah rain. the u.s. fifth fleet is based there. it's been four years since bah rain's arab spring moment. it is unlikely that these elections will help with any meaningful reconciliation in this deeply divided country. al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three journalists who have been jailed for 328 days. they're appealing against their convictions. they were each sentenced to seven years in prison. and one was given an additional three years for having a spent bullet in his possession which he picked up at a protest. there have been 119 cases of

the plague in madagascar. the w.h.o. has confirmed that the democratic republic of congo is now ebola free. it is separate from the west african outbreak of ebola. at least 45 people have been killed in an attack on a village in northeastern nigeria. officials in the area say it was a reprizal by the boco haram group. meanwhile, a government request to extend that state of emergency has been rejected by the country's lower house of

parliament. it came amid chaotic scenes at the national assembly on tuesday. >>reporter: these are elected nigerian politicians trying to enter the national assembly. inside a controversial vote was taking place to extend the state of emergency in nigeria from boko haram. he was stopped at the gate. security forces defended their actions.

the assembly has now been closed down. >> i have decided that i will shut down the national assembly until tuesday next week. >>reporter: the opposition mps did manage to enter the building and the chamber held a brief session before the parliament was shut down. it rejected the government's request to extend emergency rule in the northeast. those special powers are now expired. the ruling people's democratic party has struggled to rein in groups like boko haram. >> how many people will they

kill. how many people will they kill? >>reporter: as the political leaders appear to be in a state of chaos, nigerians go to the polls in february. in zimbabwe, 11 people have died during a stampede at a church service. dozens more were injured when thousands of people tried to leave through the same exit. at least 61 indians have been arrested for fishing in pakistani territory. maritime security handed them over to the police there. they say they accidentally entered pack stand's borders and by only two kilometers. one of china's best known

journalists has gone on trial for allegedly leaking state services. we have details of today's proceedings. >>reporter: the veteran journalist's fate is being decided behind closed doors in this anonymous building on the outskirts of beijing. she's been jailed twice before, serving a total of seven years. after her arrest six months ago, state television broadcast her taped confession blurring out her face. she's accused of leaking state secrets to a german news organization but her lawyer says the confession was obtained under duress after police threatened her son. he was detained on the same charge but later released and was denied permission to attend the trial. also turned away today, foreign

journalists. not allowed to stand in the court stood on the streetout side. human rights say the case displays a tightening of control since the president took power two years ago. today journalists are being prevented from even standing outside the court to report on this case and we've now been told to leave the area. >> i think the chinese authorities want to send a message that they are in control of ideology. they can control who says what and what type of information is allowed to circulate. >>reporter: on the other side of the country, the fate of another discy dissident vote was sealed as well. he was convicted for advocating separatism. human rights groups say both cases are proof that rule of law

is applied selectively in china. we're just stepping into the cultural palace where you can see the palestinian president addressing the assembled crowd. listen to what he's speaking about. >> we know that most of our guests have suffered occupation at certain times have suffered the armies of occupation. but they have succeeded in getting with those occupations and the only people who is still under occupation is the palestinian people. you're most welcome. in palestine, you're most

welcome. dear guests. here in palestine. the palestinian people have always the friendship feelings towards you and your attendance in this international conference under the auspices of the united nations. . >> that's the president of palestine at the cultural palace talking about issues affecting israel and palestine. let's bring in stephanie decker

at this point in time. just give us a view of what he's been talking about. >> the main message is that he says we palestinians want to live like everyone else which means no occupation which means feeling safe in our homes, not being threatened by the constant attack. when he talks about that, he means specifically here, for example, in the occupied west bank. you can have raids by the israeli army, attacks by settlers. so he's saying is it too much to ask is it a very simple thing which is for us to live like other people which means giving us our state to live independently side by side. we do know that the peace process is not looking anywhere near the table so it is a very difficult situation. the president does intend to go to the u.n. security council to try to get a resolution through

that will put a timeframe to this but we know certainly it will be very difficult. >> all right. thank you very much indeed. >> dadu, souer