>> syria accuses israel of carrying out air strooibldz on two government held areas around damascus. ikes on two government held areas around damascus. >> this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up: the nusra front's deadline passes for lebanon to release the wife and children of its leader or it will kill two more solids. typhoon hagiputh lashes the philippines but spares it from major damage plus. >> in the peruvian rain forester

t illegal harvesting of the rain forest. syria's army says israel has carried out airstrikes on two government-held areas near the capitol. the state news agency said the attacks caused damage but foone was hurt. there has been no immediate reaction. this is how it was announce odd syrian state television. >> translator: the enemy has struck and aggressive attack on syria targeting two peaceful areas in suburb of damascus. there has been no loss of human life. >> these are the areas syria says were hit by the airstrikes. as you heard there. it's not the first time israel has targeted locations in syria. in june, this year, it carried out airstrikes on a number of military targets inside syria in response to a cross border attack that left an israeli teenager dead. last year, it launched a number of strikes targeting russian and iranian made missiles in latakia

and in damascus. a sign research center was targeted and a convoy carrying weaponryitsis said was intended for hezbollah intended to cross the syrian lebanon border. activists say nusra front is in full control after military compound in dara. this footage reportedly shows fighters targeting the quarters of soldiers and officers in the syrian army. nusra front fighters are a step closer to azara, one of the last areas controlled by the government before dam avengeus province. let's get more from jane ferguson in beirut in neighboring lebanon. what more can you tell us about the effect of these astrikes? >> lauren, we have heard there from syrian state television this announcement that there were two strikes. since then, some activists on the ground inside syria have said that there are, in fact,

more strikes than that. some say as many as a dozen or more at the minute the syrian government are saying just two strikes, but in those areas around dama and near the international airport. now, the syrian army did release a statement shortly after the attacks and in it, they said that those attacks were the response by israel to victories by the syrian army. they are referring to what they see as victories in recent days and weeks in variousaries across syria. they also said that they accuse the israelis of basically helping what they see as terrorists. they have said that before in the past when the israelis have conducted airstrikes in inside syria. they have also said that they will respond how they see fit. they haven't said exactly what that would take and whether or not that would be any military response. again, the syrian government have said that before, that they will respond. however, the army sees fit but they haven't responded militarily. >> jane, do stay with us.

in the meantime we are going to turn to lebanon where the nusra front says it will execute two more of the lebanese soldiers its captured unless the wives of the senior members are released from detention. the deadline is just passed in the few minutes. 29 members of the lebanese execute forces were kidnapped in august, after a major battle in assal on lebanon's eastern border with syria. four have since been killed and another died from wounds. the rest have been held by the nusra front and isil since then. on tuesday, lebanese authorities con firmed they had arrested the wife and children of al shishani and the wife and child of baghdad e 10 days earlier. they responded by killing a lebanese policemen on friday. now, lebanon's interior minister admitted that publicizing the arrests of the wives and children was a mistake. he it was said.

the arrests will draw the attention of international organizations and religious figures to us especially since we do not have proof that the detainees were planning an operation. their contact with terrorists is not something that a case can be built on. give us a chance of the human response that there is to this, jane. >> reporter: yes. there is a very strong human response in the capitol in beirut as well as sol of the villages where some of these soldiers and police officers are from. now, of course, this is a huge international spat at the minute. it involves the syrian war t valves fractious politics across the lebanese spectrum about these soldiers come from variouvarious backgrounds and their families have been going through a draw attic time over 4 months as a protest, to keep pressure on the government to try to secure their release. what their families have been doing in the capitol is closing down some of the roads as a

protest months. we have spoken to the families at those protests. they say they feel entirely pourless the they don't know what else to do to try to secure the release of their loved ones. they receive calls occasionally from their loved once, but they often receive text messages and contacts, they say, from the captors, themselves, taunting them and pressuring them, saying that they should continue to keep up their protests in the capitol, continue to pressure the lebanese government. otherwise, their loved ones will be executed. some of them showed united states some text messages from the captors, themselves. it's been an ongoing nightmare for those families. they really just want 2 to see an end to this. it's worth pointing out that at some of those protests, we have seen family members of the hostages come from across the spectrum in lebanon, sunnis, shiias, christians and family members out there a united front, people who want to see their loved ones home.

>>. >> jane ferguson, thank you very much for that live update from beirut. the threat of isil has been on the agenda of talks between iran and foreign ministers in tehrat. it is said the two must work closely to combat the armed group. >> there is a strategic threat to both countries. the threat is the presence of isil on the iraqi territories and this necessary he istates the importance promoting our nations to the maximum and to have the maximum coordination in order to face isil. >> iran confirmed it carried out airstrikes on iraqi soil. the offensive was apparently requested by the iraqi government. it could further alienate iraq's sunnis who are accusing the army of push the out sunni on isil.

jane arraf has more from bad daring. >> these iraqis walk to go karbola have faced attacks every year but this will be the first commemoration since isil gained strength and seized large parts of the country. the ceremony marking the 40th day of mourning for the killing of imam hussein 14 sentence trees ago is central to shiia identity. shiia has been isil's biggest target. >> there is a clear-cut military deployment to protect pill gims from any possibilitytac. i saw the district commander, officers and soldiers deployed along the road deployed to karbola. >> many tied to iran in the fight against is limit. iran has launched airstrikes in iraq. after initial denials, the

iranian government has acknowledged it launched the attacks at the request of the iraqi government. it is so sensitive, the iraqi minister of defense continues to deny iranian air involvement. >> if they are supporting this, there are some beneficial effects. iran has clear security interests on its boarders, protection of its boarders, protection of its people and isil is not simply a threat of iraq, the people of syria, but the people of iran as well. so, i wouldn't be surprised if there are images and if there is involvement in the air the way there is clear involvement of the iranian revolutionary gafdz corps personnel on the ground. >> in diallah prove incident, so somesunni officials say they believe iran and pro-iran iraqi forces are using the battle as an excuse to move out large numbers of sunnis. >> the central government in baghdad is totally silent. we fear there is a foreign

regional if to changing diallah. we have met with the security commander. no positive steps have taken place on the ground. >> iraqi officials say when people have been ordered from their homes after military operations, it's because security forces need time to clear the area of explosives. iran and shiia malitias have played a controversial role in iraqi. iraqi officials may make clear with weakened iraqi security forces, they couldn't take on isil or secure baghdad without them. it's left the iraqi government treading a fine line between relying on iran for help and maintaining its independence. jane arraf, al jazeera, baghdad. >> saudi arabia's interior m ministry says 135 people have been detained on what it's calling terror charges. the government says 17 of those arrested were also responsible for riots and violent acts in a village in the eastern katif region. 109 of the suspects are saudis.

46 are foreigners including nationals from syria, yemen and egypt. less than people including a woman and a 10-year-old boy were killed during a failed raid to free two western hostages in yemen sar. u.s. photo journalist luke somers on the right and pierre corkie were killed in shabba province. kor kuchlt ie's body will be flown to south africa to of on monday. south africa says they do not blame the u.s. for carrying out the attempt. >> 344 days, three al jazeera journalists have been jailed over false allegations that they helped the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they are appealing against their convictions and jail sentences mohammed and peter were sentenced seven years. bahra had a spent bullet in his possession he picked up at a

protest. >> the tie off and on is continuing across the central philippines and is moving west. at least three people have been confirmed dead and close to 900,000 are still sheltering in evacuation centers. tacloban devastated last year has seen damage and flooding. while hagipuht is not as strong, scott hideler reports. >> addison napping next to the radio, his family's connection to the outside world and news of tie off and on hagipit. he and his mother are here with 1,000 other people huddled in the hallways of this government building. mostly women and children that came from villages near the abua prove ven i believe xaptol. >> three families came to this shelter. it's noyes and if you will of loud children. we always evacuate for every typhoon because our house might

be blown away. >> two days before haguput made landfall, thousands were directed to shelters like this. >> the government says it's all about preparation. that's something he knows very well, and because of that, he is confid he want his province will have zero casualties. >> we have been preparing for this for the past 20 years. over the past 20 years, this province has achieved zero in 18 of the 20 years. and every year, we have five typhoons. so we have made it a religion essentially. >> the govern is worried about the economic impact mainly from the strong winds of the slow-moving storm. >> en though they are not as strong as last year's tie off and on haiyan, these winds will stay longer, ripping down electricity lines, destroying properties. the panda bakery was the only shop with doors open in the main market. to the owner, it was a risk worth taking.

>> we are afraid of the tie off and on but we have to could not working so we can earn something. we heard reports that it would be as bad as haiyan, so we put rocks on our roof. >> en though the governor is confident people are prepared, no one will know the damage to this community caused by tie off and on hagiput until the sunrise osmond morning. the philippines. >> more to come this half hour, dna tests confirm the body found at a mexican dump is one of the currents tree's 43 missing students. more on why maldivians are trying to get more clean running water and still having to wait. ♪

>> the top stories here on al jazeera. activists in syria say the israel military has launched 16 airstrikes on facilities inside syria. earlier, syria's state news agency confirmed two airstrikes, one near the main airport in damascus and the other west of the capitol. the al-qaeda linked group nusra front said it will execute two more unless the wives of 7 ario members are released from detention. the deadline they gave passed in the past half hour. iran carried out it confirmed attacks onnis ill on iraqi soil. offensive was paishlth requested by the iraqi government. the u.s. government has released six guantanamo bay tee tainees.

the four sirrians, one tuneesian and one palestinia had suspected ties to al-qaeda but were never charged. according to the human rights organization reprieve, which represents 15 prisoners, the u.s. has acknowledged holding 779 people at the cuban prison camp to date. 6 years after president obama pledged to close guantanamo, there are 136 inmates, 67 of whom are cleared from release. the u.s. authorities say they can't send them home because it's too risky or their home countries are unwilling to take them back. since 2003, 52 countries have openly accepted guantanamo detainees while 10 were transferred to unnamed countries. let's good more from andy gallacher in miami for us. is this significant? >> reporter: it is significant. it's the largest release of detainees from gauvent guantana

guantanamo in the est with earn hemisphere. many of the men in this case were cleared years ago to leave guantanamo bay. the hardest thing has been for the u.s. government to find hosts nations. that was the problem with these men. it took awhile with your gay. there were political concerns in both of those countries. these men have been released and will live as refugees in uruguay. >> that's the central point here, is that it takes so long for the u.s. to find host countries for these detainees to live. >> and andy, does it mean that gua guantanamo bay will closesoon? >> at its height, guantamamo had more president. these men were cleared for release years ago. the paperwork sat on desks while the u.s. authorities tried to find host nations and that's a difficult thing. i think with 136 men left, it may take months or probably more likely even years before

guantanamo bay is closed as president wants? >> andy gallacher, thank you very much indeed. forensic experts identified the body of one of the missing students in southern mexico. alex andro moro's bodies were found near a garbage dump lat month. the four 3 students went missing. after police reportedly handed them over to gang members. it is a major blow to relatives an friends who have insisted the remains do not belong to the missing students. in the last hour, mexico's attorney general has spoken promising tough action. >> translator: we must ' allow anyone i am punitive because we can't allow something like this to happen again. the office of the attorney gent recall won't start with this investigation until all of those arrested, those who are guilty and those are responsible, are convicted without a doubt. .

richard knewman joins us from mexico city. what other news did the attorney general have to offer? >> reporter: hello, lauren. it was interesting. attorney general jesus morio said apart from the identification of one of the students, mora, there was, quote, more evidence that he said would not be made public until family members were as the authorities had promised to do. this would seem to indicate that there has been more positive identifications. bur again, he has not confirmed that as of yet. he also said that now, the number of arrests as risen from 76 to 80, members of the local police in guerrero and members of the criminal organization all believed to have been i am mrib indicated in the kidnapping and presumed killing of the 43 students. another thing, though, is at the ends, we asked his spokesman why the press was not allowed to ask questions as is usually the case at news conferences given by the

attorney general and his answer was, because we have no answers. lauren? >> lucia, what's likely to be the reaction to the announcement? >> reporter: you know, i think all of this is going to continue to fuel outrage in this curreou with the authorities on the state and local and national level have become -- have been completed discredited it comes to execute and police. the attorney general has promise today get to the bottom of this, not to rest until justice is done but mexicans are very, very weary. they just simply do not trust their institutions. so it's going to be an uphill battle. i don't think this is going to go away. this has opened up a real can of worms here where mexicans are demanding that their officials are more accountable, more transparent and that there is less impunity. that's going to take a long time, if at all, if it can be done for mexicans to feel happy about that situation. >> okay, lucia, thank you very

much indeed. now, the preservation of the amazon rain forest is considered central in the battle against global warm, one of the key topics at this year's climate change conference taking place in peru. it's one of the worst cull prisonprits for illegal defor t deforestation. nick clark went to the amazon forest to find out more. >> reporter: illegal logging is so commonplace in the rain forest, romela sanfran doesn't care about us filming what he does. stealing trees from forbidden areas with impunity. >> it is illegal. we shouldn't really be doing this. the police make us do all of this paperwork and we have to pay them off. they are constantly pressing up

obstacles. >> reporter: this is where his trees go, three hours' boat ride away to saw mills of pucallpka. much winds up in the u.s. and china. 3s trees 100 years old and more destined to become someone's hand word floor or garden table. >> it is a world of forged documents and fake inveteranies. it is on a massive scale. indeed, the world bank estimates 80% of perus total timber exports are harvested illegally, eight out of 10 of these trees, i will illicit. >> one after the other, pucallpka's river banks, taken legally from concessions supposedly but cut from prote protected forests. >> these markings are officials codes for permits that the forest striauthorities give out to transport and sell wood.

>> they are all ficticious? >> yes. mostly, they are ficticious. >> the independent environmental investigation agency found that the forging of paperwork and corruption is indemic. >> nobody has been sanctioned for this. none of the people, and we have all of the names of the people that were involved in producing the fake inventories, in approving the fake events vents toebz, the mobile aidsation of this timber. nobody has been investigated. >> illegal logging on this scale is very bad news for global warming. living trees suck up co2 to survive hoping to alleviate cashbon emissions. this has entirely the opposite effect. here we are, a little more than an hour's flight from the climate change conference in lima. nick clark, al jazeera, pucallpka, peru. >> yemeni security officials say

a boat carrying african my grants has capsized in high winsdz and rough seize off the country's west coast killing 70 people. most of the my grant were thought to be from ethiopia. tennessee of thousands of migrants risk lives making the change dangerous journey to the horn of africa every year. italy's coast guard rescued 6 my grantsd off of the coast. it ended the rescue mission but the coast guard responded to sos calls from my grants with at slight phones in the sicilian channel. migrants were taken to putsalo in italy. students and activists have clashed at an opera opening night. flares have been thrown at police in milan at the la scala stage add performance throwing bottles, eggs and fire crackers, they were protesting against a

new law that will make it easier to sack wokkers, demanding better social housing and more funds for education. the maldivian government says it could be seven or days before the plant is back up and running. in the meantime, nicole johnson reports from male. drinking supplies are precious. >> water has become the most precious commodity at all in male. it's the one thing everyone is talking about it how to get it, where to buy it and when will it be available again? the army and police are handing out free bottles. three liters a day for everyone. >> we don't get enough water. we have to drive everywhere to collect it. it's very difficult to carry. i live on the fourth floor. it's heavy to take up. we are living in very difficult times. >> every afternoon, long lines form. some distribution points are

open all day. still, the city needs 13,000 tons of water every day. it now has less than 10% of that. >> the real problem isn't drinking water, though. it's water for washing and cooking. people here don't have enough to clean with. some are starting to get frustrated. >> this is male's desalination plant. it's stopped working after the control panel caught fire. the parts have arrived to fix it. but not the expertise. >> the current estimate is at least seven to 10 days before we can have the machinery up and running. and if you will resumption of normalcy, i think, is looking to be probably minimum, a week, but probably could be longer than that, as well. >> for many people, that's not good enough. >> water every day. ten days which is too long, and i think the government should have contingency plan for water.

>> there is no baku plan. just help that's been flown in. there is 40 tons of water on this military plane from india. it's also sent a ship with a desalination plant on board. china, the u.s. and sri lanka sent aid as well. it looks like people will have to put up with this bottled water for a while longer. the island city is surrounded by the indian ocean. but at home, the taps run dry. nicole johnston, al jazeera, male in the maldives. >> a nasa probe has been work to go explore pluto. >> we have ignition and liftoff of nasa's new horizon. >> the probe was launched a long time ago, an it's now in our galaxy 4.8 kilometers away from oath. pluto is smaller than our moon. signits want to know how it's

been classified as a dwarf planner and exist beyond jupiter. it will fly closest to pluto next july. you can always catch up any time on our website. the address for that is aljazeera.com. ♪ >> the wonder of the world's forests... is often found in the creatures that live in them. but the most rare and precious of animals are increasingly falling prey to poachers. the u-n now classifies the trafficking of exotic wildlife... as second only in scale to the illegal drug trade... so vast and lucrative is this black market underworld.... that authorities say its driving more species than ever into extinction.