casual observer it's pretty mind-blowing. the fbi accuses north korea of hacking hollywood movie giant sony pictures. ♪ hello there, welcome to al jazeera live from doha. i'm shiulie ghosh. also coming up on the program, kurdish forces report more gains against isil after breaking a siege at sinjar mountain. fifa agrees to release the whole corruption report. and we'll meet the woman who

has three husbands in nepal. as we start, the fbi has -- says it has conclusively linked the north korean government to a devastating h&king attack against sony pictures. this is the first official statement blaming the country for the attack. officials say they found similarities between the tools used in the sony attack and previous hacks linked to north korea. it forced sony to cancel the movie called "the interview" before it's planned release. we are joined now live from washington, d.c., and just what is the fbi saying? it is saying there is no doubt that north korea are behind this? >> reporter: yeah, i have that statement in my hands now. for some reason printed in very small type to bear with me. but it says as a result of our investigation, the fbi now has

enough information to conclude that the north korean government is responsible for these actions. while the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based in part on the following, technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in the attack. the fbi observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the u.s. government has previously linked directly to north korea. i'm summarizing some of this. separately the tools used in the sony attack has similarities used against south korea last year that was carried out by north korea. we are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack. and it reaffirms that cyber attacks pose one of the greatest

dangers. malware used experts say that is never conclusive because malware is shared, but clearly the fbi feels this is one of the fingerprints of north korea's role in this attack on sony. >> and just to put it in to context, this was a movie, a comedy, totally fictitious movie about a planned assassination of the north korean leader. and it had to be canceled because the hackers were making aggressive threats towards some who might go to see this movie. >> and some say it might be used as a diversion for hackers to use a vulnerability in sony anywhere. because north korea has denied being a part of this attack,

however, he said it was a righteous move. but yes, that movie has been canceled. there's uproar in hollywood and the commentary out of the usa that we have given in to terrorism. >> so what might the u.s. now do in retaliation if they really do believe this is north korea's work? >> how much more can you isolate north korea is one of the questions that has to be asked. we have heard from white house spokes people and others in the last few days that any response would be proportional. it just so happens that president obama is giving his end of the year press conference in a couple of hours, so i'm sure he will be asked. so various theories are being floated around. but there is that question, one how much more can you do to north korea, and also we have got to remember from edward

snowden's revelations about how many cyber attacks the u.s. carries out each year. edward snowden said the u.s. carried out 231 offensive cyber operations alone against many countries, including russia and north korea. so does that mean that other countries have the right to retaliate against the u.s. >> thank you very much. now kurdish forces in northern iraq have retaken more ground from isil. it comes just 24 hours after they broke a siege around the sinjar mountains which has lasted for months. let's take a closer look at that fighting. kurdish forces have fought their way to iraq's sinjar mountains where thousands of people are trapped. they gained what was isil-held territory along the route. there has been fighting between kurdish forces and isil gunmen

around a town north of the mountains. kurdish forces are now said to be marching towards isil's main artillery base in the area. victoria reports. [ explosion ] >> reporter: kurdish forces are on the offensive, determined to secure the significant gains they have made against isil in the sinjar mountains. it's where at least 1,000 families from the yazidis community have taken refuge. there is a corridor that has been opened through which the yazidis can escape. >> this hand under the auspices of the president himself to move all the way to mount sinjar, to liberate a vast area, and also to be able to rescue those yazidis people that are trapped on mount sinjar. >> reporter: kurdish forces have

gaped nearly 700 square kilometers. this opens the way for families to leave but they have to navigate through land mines planted by isil fighters. about 50 kilometers away is this village. burn-out houses and bullet ridden walls are evidence of the fierce fighting. kurdish forces are now said to be marching towards isil's main military base. they have also retaken ground from isil near the west of mosul, but they say they can only do so much alone. >> we do not want peshmerga to be the only one goes into areas to have political ramifications. liberation of mosul will require our forces and the iraqi government military. >> reporter: at least 8,000 peshmerga fighters were involved in the operation, and the success has boosted the morale

of its forces, but they know that isil can change tactics switching from front line battles to insurgency fighting. so as they advance, kurdish forces are also preparing for a possible backlash. syrian opposition fighters say they have discover bodies in a village in the northwestern countryside. fighting has been going on there for weeks. the area was recently captured by rebel, but government forces are fighting hard to prevent them from advancing towards damascus. the state has lost control of large areas of the country, but doesn't have the soldiers to win it back. >> reporter: more often than not this is how the government fights back. it attacks rebel-held areas from the skies. it hasn't been able to win back all of the territory it g gos -- lost to the opposition. it chooses its battles and fights on one front at a time.

>> north of aleppo, in my opinion doesn't give -- doesn't take any -- doesn't present any importance, vital importance, for the syrian regime. aleppo is important for the regime. but it is engaged for two years the first priority. now it has [ inaudible ] on it. why? he made military success on the field. >> reporter: over the years the state has managed to recapture and protect strategic areas to survive. even though estimates say it now controls a near 30% of syria, but the amount of territory is not as important as which territory. it is still in charge of its seat of power, and damascus is not isolated from other major urban centers understate authority. it is connected to the borders of lebanon and jordan. the central city further north, and the divided city of aleppo,

as well as the coastal region in the west. it also has a presence in other contested provinces. asaid from an area controlled by islamic state of iraq and the levant. a lot of the area is desert and countryside, and now the conflict is more complicated, because rebels are at war with each other. al-nusra front, syria's al-qaeda branch has just taken over government bases in the southern out skirts of idlib. it has consolidated its grip on the province off it pushed some of the so-called moderate rebels out last month. >> translator: neither side is winning because of the presence of al-nusra and isil >> reporter: the southern province is a strategic front for both sides.

the army has reinforced its positions to prevent a rebel advance at the doorsteps of damascus. the rebels recently captured a town where they found many bodies of civilians who used to live there. they blamed the government for what they called a new massacre. this is a war that neither side is likely to win, with battle lines continuing to shift. for now, however, the state managed to hold on to territory that it needs to stay in power. 1 million people have been wounded during the war in syria. it says over half of public hospitals are out of service. diseases are spreading as medicines and vaccinations fail to reach those in need. more than 200,000 meme have been killed during the conflict, which began in 2011. breaking news from pakistan,

the country has just executed two men convicted of terror offenses, just two days after the moratorium on death sentences was lifted in response to the devastating attack by the taliban earlier this week. 148 people died in that, most of them children. the death sentences were handed out yesterday and the first two people have been executed, who were convicted of terror offenses. now pakistan's detained one of the men suspected of planning the 2008 mumbai attacks just 24 hours after releasing him on bail. they complain zaki ur rehman lakhvi shouldn't have been released. he is now being detained on a public order act. 166 people were killed during the 60-hour siege.

now football's governing body, fifa has agreed to publish an edited version of a report into allegations of corruption. last week they released a summary of the report. but this week the man who carried out the investigation, michael garcia, resigned after saying his findings were misrepresented. the report is to be released, though some legally sensitive details will be withheld. the report cleared russia and cat tar of corruption. however, it did say computers rented by the russian team have been destroyed. and criticized the bidding process of england and australia. lee wellings explains. >> reporter: well, on first inspection this looks like a climb down or humiliation for fifa, and for seth blatter, but it's nothing of the sort.

in fact they are coming out of a very, very difficult position as well as can be expected for them. remember, they wanted closure for this. and set and set blatter constantly refers to looking to the feature. now it lookss as if they are being transparent. but when the report is published more fully, and it won't be the entire report, of course, when it is published more fully, it won't be as damming as some people believe. in fact qatar and russia are looking safer than ever. michael garcia who was hired by fifa was proving to be a real thorn in their side. so they don't have to worry about him at the moment. and we're in a situation of seth blatter coming out of a really

difficult position, and actually continuing to be at the helm and find a way to carry on. still ahead, turkish prosecutors make a move against the president's arch rival. and we'll show you why some children have travel to another area to get an education in their mouther tongue.

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giant sony pictures. the hackers leaked tens of thousands of emails with sensitive information, for revenge over a comedy about the assassination of its heard. u.s.-lead air strikes have destroyed a isil tactical unit. and they now control the entire area east of the sinjar mountains. fifa has agreed to publish a report into allegations of corruption. this week the report investigator resigned after saying his findings had been misrepresented. tushish state television has reported that an arrest war rent has been issued for the cliric fa houla gulen. he has been living in the u.s.

since 1999. bernard smith has more from istanbul. >> reporter: the request for the arrest of gulen comes exactly one year after widespread, wide-ranging corruption allegations first emerged against people close to then prime minister, now president, erdogan. a couple of ministers were forced to resign. erdogan said that gulen and his supporters were behind allegations of corruption. in the months afterwards, members of the judiciary connected to the organization were forced to resign, fired or reassigned. and then exactly a year on, media organizations sympathetic to gulen were raided, people were arrested, and four of those people arrested after those

raids. the united states and the european union earlier on this week spoke out against what it saw was a threat, perceived threat to media freedoms here in turkey. erdogan dismissed those suggestions and said the judicial process should be allowed to run its course. in greece a politician says he has been offered an $850,000 bribe to vote for the government chosen president. >> reporter: this cd has the potential to make a general election inevitable, an election the government would be unlikely to win. independent greeks, a small opposition party says it has recorded secret talks in which one of its mp's was offered a bribe of $850,000 in cash.

in return he would have to vote for the government's choice of president. >> translator: we recorded the meeting at the plaza hotel, where the middleman spent 1:14 detailing his proposal that in return for a bribe he votes for a presidential candidate. the middleman talks of various other attempts at bribery. >> reporter: a second meeting was arranged, but on the appointed night, the middleman called to cancel the transaction. perhaps suspecting a an ambush. the ruling party is trying to win over 25 opposition mp's to elect a president, it has so far one over just five and time is running out. if the bribery allegations are substantial at itted they could put off any other mp's the party could attract. the recording was handed over to the police, but it suspects the authorities are trying to sweep

the matter under the rug. >> translator: the media today essentially delivered [ inaudible ]. i do not know what information journalists are going on. >> reporter: the government says the entire affair is a despicable show designed to scuttle the presidential election, but independent greeks are sticking to their guns and threaten to make the material publish. u.s. president barack obama has spoken to egyptian president abdul fattah al-sisi, about the three al jazeera joernallists who were jailed in egypt. they have now been held for 356 days. and are appealing against their convictions. the deputy spokesman says in the phone conversation, obama raised the imprisonment of the al

jazeera journalists and: u.s. president barack obama signed a bill to impose more sanctions on russia over the crisis in eastern ukraine. after big falls in the value of the ruble, additional economic sanctions would put president vladimir putin under more pressure. ukraine isn't the only place where russia is accused of interfering. just across the border from ukraine, transnistria, is recognized by russia as an independent republic. but the state exists outside of the international system. that is having a major effect on those who live there. robin forestier-walker explains. >> reporter: these peoples from transnistria take the bus every

day with their teachers. it's a journal the deputy has been making for 12 years. today is a good day, no hold ups as they cross the boundary line, and the idealogical divide into territory controlled by moldova from the break away republic. their destination, this village. the school shares its classrooms with the pupils so they can learn in romanian. >> translator: it's good that you can learn your mother tongue. you learn about your mother land. it's better this way. >> reporter: teachers say the school was shut down for refusing to teach. >> translator: they obliged to teach in russian history, russian geography, russian language.

it's not our language. and it's not our history. >> reporter: the villagers have problems of their own. they are losing the right to farm their own land. on the 14th of october, farm herders came up here and discovered their access to farmland has been completely blocked by this mud bank after a digger was brought in, and now the authorities has stationed a police car permanently here to stop anybody trying to cross. vieira says she has lost access to 90% of her farm. >> translator: i feel really bad because people have been left without work, earnings, without anything to support their families with. >> reporter: landowners like her want to sue the russian federation, and they have grounds for optimism. in 2012 russia was held liable for violating the rights of

schools. but the 1 million euros in damages is as of yet unpaid. like the money, the problems remain outstanding. the u.s. state of colorado is being sued by two of its neighbors over the legalization of marijuana. nebraska and oklahoma have taken their case to the u.s. supreme court. they are arguing that colorado has failed to contain the drug within its borders making it harder to enforce their anti-marijuana laws. colorado voted to legalize the drug back in 2012. nebraskian authorities say that policing it is draining the state's resources. the nigerian government says it is outraged and deeply saddened by the apparent kidnapping of more than a hundred people in the northeast. boko haram fighters abducted at least 172 women and children on sunday. around 30 people also reportedly killed. the village is just over 20

kilometers away from the village where boko haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in april. a -- candle lit vigil is being held for eight children who were found dead in australia. the mother of seven of the children is in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. in a remote district of nepal, families follow an age-old tradition where brothers can all marry the same woman. but the younger generation is moving away from that custom. >> reporter: this woman is married to three brothers. but none of them are around. one is working with their cattle, one is a trekking guide, and one has taken the move to [ inaudible ] bordering china. in the remote district, these people of tibet an ancestry say

that marrying brothers or polyandry as its known is the only way to ensure they have enough food. >> the produce from the land here is never enough. that's why brotherings have to live together. if each had to manage their own, it would never be enough. sometimes even living together like this, there is not enough food. >> reporter: with all of the brothers married to the same woman, their land remains intact, and families can din on as farmers and traders. but the tradition is fast disappearing. >> translator: times have changed. sometimes even my husbands talk about getting married again. they are still young. i tell them no. >> reporter: an increasing number of younger generations of tibet ans get educated in kathmandu and most don't want to come back. hardly any youth can be seen here. old people are accompanied by low landers from neighboring

villages. this woman and her younger husband have a large farm to manage. her older husband and four children are all in kathmandu. there is just too much work for the couple, and they have had to hire people to help them. and their children show no sign of coming back. >> translator: we worked hard to educate our children. now that they are educated they don't have to go to the highlands to work and find food or go to the low lands. wherever they go they find jobs and buy food. they will marry and stay there. >> reporter: they have sold most of the cattle. land has gone to scare croppers, and they wonder where they will end up. now a knew planet has been discovered, or more accurately an exoplanet, a planet that orbitz a star rather than the sun.

the space telescope spotted it 180 million light years away from earth. the telescope has discovered close to a thousand planets since its launch in 2009. and you can get more new on our website, aljazeera.com. ♪ >> i'm mei-ling mcnamara in canada here to discover how the great bear rainforest is being protected. >> i'm amanda burrell. i'm in london to find out how to make old houses green.