prisoner exchange, pro-russian rebels make a swap with ukraine. it comes as vital bus and rail links with crimea are canceled. ♪ ♪ you are watching al jazerra live from our head quarters in doha. automatics coming up. severe flooding in out east asia rescue workers struggle to reach the area most affected. plus. >> some there has been doctoring and still very. [ inaudible ] >> the painful months for the families left behind following the malaysia airlines disaster.

and. thousands march in mexico's capital to demands justice for 43 students who went missing three moos months ago. ♪ ♪ hello. the ukrainian government and pro-russia separatist have his exchanged 368 prisoners near the rebel-held city of donetsk. it's the biggest such response? eight months of fighting in eastern ukraine. peace talks in the belarus capital were expected to resume on friday but now postponed indefinitely emma hayward reports. >> reporter: representatives from both sides make the final check for the hands over of prisoners in eastern ukraine fox, some here the ordeal is over. and they are finally able to come home. >> they picked me up at the check point of i came to visit

me brother and they picked me up. i ended up at the airport where they tortured me. >> reporter: this is a step forward in easing the hostilities that engulfed eastern ukraine for months. it's taking place against a backdrop of a garage ill ceasefire. in a conflict that has left more than 4 1/2 thousand people dead. moscow has long denied backing the rebels who are still in control of parts of eastern ukraine. kiev says it's still fighting against what it believes is russian influence. >> translator: they have transformed ukraine from their extrstrategic partner to their a teaming i object enemy. we will not forgive them. neither the annexation of crimea or the victims in the east of ukraine. what is also interesting in the doctrine is that russia considers social movement as a threat to its security. it means that russia is transforming in to a police state. it means the totalitarian state is now officially putting on

record that they are a totalitarian state. ukraine is ready for such challenges. >> reporter: russia's annexation of crimea in march this year is still then a source of deep anger in kiev. ukraine have stopped transport take to crimea. visa and mastercard say they are no longer support bank cards being used in crimea because of u.s. sanctions imposed earlier this month. weighs talks have started and ended over ukraine. this prisoner exchange signals some kind of progress. for the families of those involved a sign of hope for the future. emma hayward, al jazerra. meanwhile, russia's president vladimir putin has signs a new military doctrine which names nato as the country's number one threat. it also says russia could use precision weapons as part of a new dete deterrent.

peter sharp has more from moscow. >> it's interesting because it gives you an idea of what the president sees as the threat they are facing his country as we move in to 2015. and first and foremost as you said in the introduction, is nato. since the fall of the berlin wall, nato has added 12 eastern european countries to its membership. and that blue tide really is coming closer and closer to russia. and really, putin and the kremlin are not happy about this at all. they see this as a potential, real potential threat in the possibly in the years ahead. so that's his first concern. the second concern is more of an international fear, basically he's very unhappy with the u.s. prompt global strike program. this is a conventional, not

nuclear, but a conventional program in which it would enable the u.s. to deliver a conventional strike anywhere in the world within one hour's notice. and the kremlin isn't happy with that for obvious reasons. and finally, he's talking about the possible unsettling destabilization in russia itself. he doesn't mention the region but he's probably talking about the caucuses where there has been trouble there and also warns of possible terror attack. well, heavy rain has caused major flood ago cross parts of asia, forcing more than 200,000 people from their homes. malaysia has seen some of the worst flooding in decades. rescue workers are struggling to reach areas worst hit. at least five people have been killed in the state some flood victims are accusing the government of being too slow to respond. prime minister has cut short a holiday in the u.s. because of that crisis. and the neighboring thailand at least 13 people have been killed

there. the government has declared disaster zones in eight provinces. the hardest hit areas in thailand so far are in the south. the provinces are expecting more flooding in the come is hours as water is released from by nearby dam. veronica pedroza is following. >> reporter: in the far south of thailand the dam is now at 99.34% capacity because of the heavy rainfall that we have seen since mid december. its record rainfall and that means that villages downriver from the dam that had already been flooded are being warned that they will be flooded again this time as a result of a human decision, not the natural rainfall. this is the message that we are getting from thai authorities, indeed on friday the prime

minister himself mentioned that the reason why the floods are particularly bad this year is because of hydro management problems. rain is -- this is a seasonal occurrence, this kind of heavy rainfall. it is heavier than usual. and it is putting unprecedented pressure the hydro management system. and that is why it's very bad. the prime minister is saying that the roads that were built in southern thailand were not built wit with accompanying watr drainage systems. and that's something that they have got to look at. for the time being you are looking at whole cities that are heavily populated and they are waist deep in water. nevertheless, people are taking it pretty much in their stride. the government is providing food and helping people get to higher land. and they are pretty relaxed about it. the police are just warning people, according to the thai language newspapers this morning, not to come and have a

look. because that would cause traffic problems and apparently the kids are playing in the flood waters, so it's a pretty relaxed reaction to what is, in fact, a rather serious situation. and at least 14 team have been killed in landslides in heavy rains in sri lanka. 10 people are missing, flooding has forced more than 80,000 people from their homes over the past week. the alleged planner of last week's school attack in pakistan has been killed by security forces the man known only as saddam. was killed on thursday night in a raid. he was also ladies and gentlemen italy involved in attacks on polio workers. >> translator: the dead terrorist has been identified as the most wanted commander, his name is saddam. saddam was the operation commander of the taliban in pakistan gator group. he was the most wanted and dangerous terrorist. saddam was the meister mind in

many terrorist attacks. saddam has been blamed to be involved in recent attack on the school. he was the. [ inaudible ] the intelligence are investigating this. and an arrest warrant has been issued for one of pakistan's most senior clerics. he is wanted after allegedly trying to justify the taliban attack on a school. after protests against him he issued an apology. meanwhile, civil rights groups, civil society groups in pakistan are voicing concern over government measures following that school attack. it follows a decision to lift a ban on executions for terror-related offenses. rights activists say some of those convict odd terror charges are innocent of the crime. mohamed adow reports. >> reporter: they are begging for mercy at the court gate. their brother has been on death row for years. now he could be hanged at any moment. >> translator: we are knocking

on every door to seek justice for my brother to save his life. but there is no hope in my & my brother will be wrongfully hanged by authorities. >> reporter: behind me is one of the many courts in pakistan that have issued death sentences for thousands of suspect across the country during the last few years. now with the lifting of the moratorium on death penalty, those suspects are facing execution. he is on a list that has been select today immediate execution. he was convicted by an anti terrorism court in for he 2004 for calling boy but his families and lawyers deny the crime and say he was 13 at the time and the accusation had nothing to do with armed groups. >> he was a juvenile and tortureed in a false convention. so it really goes to the height of the government's decision to lift the ban to lift the moratorium and resume executions under the pretexts that they are hanging tar ou terrorists and tt

dangerous. in fact he is none of that, he's 13, a juvenile. >> reporter: the lifting of the moratorium on the executions following the taliban attacking the school killing 149 people most children. a company of days later several death row convicts were hanged. he was to be hanged last tuesday, but she plead today a grace period, hoping to be able to reverse the sentence. his brother had this to say. >> translator: i can't bare that my innocent brother will be hanged by the government without a fair trial. and if they do so, i won't keep silent. and i'll take revenge for my brother. even if i have to join a terrorist group. >> if his brother has committed a crime and been convicted, he is not free to do this. there is a state. therthere is a law discuss lambs very clear on that. >> reporter: justice delayed is just denied. but he also recognizes that justice hurried is justice buried. between the two, pakistan is

facing some hard choices at the moment. mmohamed adow. here is what is coming up next. goals that including ending worlds hunger. and we'll also meet the nigerian women who have hemmed their country's beauty business turn in to one of the fastest growing industries in africa. ♪ ♪

>> we were talking to a young lady saying she just wanted her voice to get out there. >> by the thousands, they're sending their government a message. >> ahead of 'em is a humanitarian crisis where tens of thousands of people are without food, water, shelter. >> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. monday 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america.

♪ ♪ hello again, you are with al jazerra. here are the top stories. ukraine and pro-russia

separatist have his ex-changessed 368 prisoners. it's the biggest such swap in eight months of fighting in eastern ukraine. torrential rain and flood ago cross southeast asia has killed at least 18 people. more than 100,000 have been displace third degree malaysia in some of the worst flood goes there in decades. an alleged key planner of the attack on the school in pakistan has been killed. he was killed on thursday night. in egypt two gunman shot and killed a policeman. egypt's state news exactly says the two officers were guarding a bank. the two attackers escaped on a motorcycle. meanwhile, protesters rallied in the streets of cairo against the government of precedents el-sisi. protests also reported in other egyptian province on his friday. demonstrators are calling on the government to release political prisoners. and al jazerra continues to

call for the release of our three journalists who have now been in prison in egypt for 364 days, peter greste, mohamed fahmy and bahar mohamed were falsely accused and convicted of helping the out loud muslim brotherhood. they are appealing against their convictions. in bahrain, thousands of anti-government protesters have been rally on the ground a highway that links the capital to a northwestern town. opposition leaders and demonstrators marched alongside prominent activist. he was recently released from prison after spending two years behind bars for organizing and taking part in frosts. the demonstrations started three years ago calling for bahrain sunni leaders to implement reforms. two iraq where isil still controls parts of sinjar despite the gains made by peshmerga forces. kurdish troops they are pushing towards the certainty of sinjar

but isil still controls many neighborhoods, they took much of the town earlier this year. mean while, peshmerga forces defending erbil, that's the capital of iraq's kurdish region says they need more heavy weapon to his help them in their fight against isil. ma mom he had a dow reports. >> reporter: as figh nightfallsn the country side, fighters take up their positions it's under the costs of dark than isil attacks and they can't afford to lower their guard. this is perhaps their most important frontline of their fight against isil. erbil is just 60 miles way. >> we will continue defending and we will defending because in erbil, that's our, you know, big city. and we must be let a family to

be safe. >> reporter: but protecting erbil is a dangerous task. two days ago isil fighters carried their most daring attack on this peshmerga base. using a combination of suicide bombers and vehicles laden with explosives. they took over the base for a few hours before the kurdish forces recaptured it. as the fighting gets more intense, the tactics are getting more desperate. it's the first time isil fighters have used a tank for suicide bombing. and the peshmerga say it's the ability of isil to strike deep in kurdish territory that has them worried. some of the peshmerga tents are burned down, body parts litter the camp. the general is a peshmerga commander. >> it's the first time to have the armored cars, the tanks with the tnt and suicides people they coming to our frontline. they are trying the last chance to have -- to push the mesh pese

back but they cannot do. >> reporter: we drove across villages and towns spar slamly held by isil. the residents long gone. they have made modest gains against ice nil recent days, but their weapons they say are old and no match for their opponents. >> we need weapons, we need heavy machine guns, of course, because all what we are using is very old. it's from iraq and iran war, it's very old. and the newest went is 25 years old. but still, the ammunition is good, we have it from the coalition. >> reporter: they call for more action against isil group. the peshmerga remain the group's most formidably opponent on the ground. they say they need meaningful help or isil could come charging again across northern iraq. mohamed adow al jazerra. in northern iraq. in sear in government air strikes in the northern province

of aleppo have killed at least three people. they targeted areas controlled by isil fighters in a town it's part of an ongoing air campaign there. at least 36 people were killed in government air strikes around there on thursday. and syrian air force jets have also hit the refugees cam south of the capital damascus killing at least two people. the kamphauses palestinian refugees. fighting between government forces and opposition fighters was reported in that area on thursday. activists are saying the air strikes hit mostly residential parts of the refugees camps. a catholic priest in the mexican state of guerrero has been found dead with a gunshot wound to the head he was allegedly abducted by a gaining on monday. he's the third catholic priest to be killed in the state this year. the priest's death following the disappearance of 43 students in that same region three months ago. these students relatives continue to protest their disappearance in mexico city.

and in iguala where the students disappeared, distraughters attacked a local army base, investigators say the students were taken away by local police and then handed over to a drug cartel. mexican government says the gang then killed them and burned their bodies. in mexico city parents of the missing students joined thousands of people gathered in protests. al jazerra's david murcer was there. >> reporter: there is a real feeling of anger, frustration and disbelief that three long months after 43 students were taken by police and handed over to drug traffickers, their parents still don't know what happened to them. thousands of people have joined the parents here today in mexico city. the 40 time people have marched in the nation's capital, drawing attention to the fact that information still hasn't come out and that the wave of violence here in mexico continues. this case hasctions like this, until they see that justice is

being done. as 2014 draws to a close, al jazerra is reflecting on the year through the eyes of four families caught up in major world events. malaysia's national airline has been forced to deal with two disasters, which together killed more than 500 people. now, the families of the victims continue to struggle with their loss. tphroerpbs louiflorence louie r. >> reporter: a daily ritual brings a small measure of peace to a father whose son was kill killed. he was a crew member on board malaysia airlines flight 17. which was shot down over ukraine in july. >> he is gone. what have i got left? we are just living our life and. [ inaudible ] there has been very, very doctoring and -- torturing and it's still very torturing.

>> reporter: all 298 people on board were killed. access to the crash site, the bodies and their return had to be negotiatedded by governments. the months that followed were painful for the families left behind. >> you went through hell. we have very bad memories. and sad thoughts. both me and my wife, though we had a constant flow of friends and relatives coming to console, there were times we just wanted to be alone. >> reporter: it was the second major tragedy for malaysia's national carrier. still recovering from the loss of a passenger jet that had gone missing in march and still hasn't been found. the two disasters proved too much for the company. which had been steadily losing money over the years. less than a month after mh17 was shot down, a state-run investment company announced it was taking malaysia airlines off the stock exchange and putting it under government control.

it put in place a restructuring plan that includes job cuts and new chief executive. the airline is essentially been nationalizes it may yet return to profit. perhaps in several years. but for him and his family, it's difficult to imagine recovering from something like this. his grandson, he says, has been deeply affected by the loss. >> he's very khaoefl. very talkative, but now he's very quiet. i speak to him, he called me dada, that's parental grandfather. he says dada, i don't know, i don't have anything to talk now. >> reporter: their family is left with only memories and photos to hold onto. florence louie, al jazerra, wall los angeles lumpur. on sunday we'll take to you iraq's capital baghdad to meet a family that always been displaced by fighting yet again and this time by isil. 14 years ago the u.n. set an

en thighs as tick plan for mankind called the millennium development goals alleviating poverty and access to clean drinking water were some of the items on that agenda? so what has been achieved as the 15 year deadline now approaches our diplomatic he ha editor jams has this report. >> reporter: at the dawn of the mmillennium the then u.n. president kofi an nap launched a plan to improve the state of the world's poor. >> within the next 15 years i believe we can have the population of people living in extreme poverty and insure that all people, girls and boys ali alike. particularly girls receive a full primary education and halt the spread of hiv aids. >> reporter: that was 14 years ago. the targets he set became known as the millennium development goals and had a 15-year

deadline. with one year to go, it is a mixed picture, significant progress has been made on reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty, but work is still needed on maternal mortality rates and on feeding the world's most hungry. there is no doubt the nbg's forced world leaders to take action that led to some significant progress, so now the u.n. is creating a new set of goals to pick up where the old ones left off. diplomats are still working on the wording, but active vivs say need to be ambitious. >> we think they have the right things no them. commit to fightin fighting and i quality. that's really important. commit to tacklin tackling clime change that's important. the trick, though, is that because they are now grappling with today's real problems, they are much more complex and presence i have than the original goals. and that makes them harder to sale. >> reporter: that selling intense diplomatic wrangler is now in the final stage think the new targets known as the

sustainable development goals will be adapted by world leaders of the u.n. in september. james bays, al jazerra, at the united nations. a brawl has broken out between government politicians and their opposition rival in georgia's parliament. the fight started during an argument about the selection process for delegates to international bodies. some m.p.s even tore microphones from their desks and used them as weapons. falling oil prices have hit nigeria's currency but the economy overall is expected to grow as is one industry in particular, hair. from lagos, we look at the big demands to extensions, weaves and wigs. >> reporter: on the corner of a busy lagos place women are in the market for beauty. it's a common site across nigeria, a booming demand to hairpieces, braids, weave on and wigs. >> it makes us look smart, beautiful, confidence.

we look good when we make our hair, you are carrying your own natural hair looks rough at times. >> reporter: she comes here twice amos to have the braids attached she doesn't minds the two hour processor the 15-dollar bill. the search for good looking hair is a serious business. the only fix tubes of the informal economy is the highly competitive industries that attracts investors from around the world. this is one of the largest factories producing synthetic hairpieces in nigeria owns by a mumbai based company. it makes two of the most popular bronze, ray an is imported from japan and processed here in to what is called dry hair. the industry runs in to hundreds of millions of dollars in nigeria by some estimates up to $6 billion across africa. >> the knee year vinnie lady and african lady has to throw it away after three weeks, four weeks, with the growing population your product will grow on its own, you add on

fashions and you have a win-win combinations. >> reporter: the h editor of the lifestyle magazine pride, she says african women across class lines have always been clean on glamor. the internet and globalization have exposed them to more trends and better quality product in the last few years. i think of stars are now more attainable. >> people perceive you by how well you look. you are more respected, more regarded, you know, you are just like more in. and everyone wants to be in. >> reporter: and being in comes in all shapes and prices. from street stalls, to luxury malls, hairpieces go from $15 to up to $3,000. the closer the hairpiece looks to natural hair, the price year it gets. walking on the street in nigeria, you would be hard press today find a woman without a hairpiece. >> we get it, we just know what to do. we know how to turn out. i think it's just innate, it's so innate in the nigerian women. >> reporter: those in the industry most certainly agree.

al jazerra, lagos. just a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website. aljazerra.com. >> they check credit weather a person is of right mind if they committed a crime. they check if a defendant is mentally capability to assist in in their defense. should they determine if a person is mentally capable before an execution date is set? this is "inside story."