welcome back. the top stories - hezbollah says it's responsible for an attack on an israeli convoy nearby shebaa farm and is in response to a strike inside syria that killed some members. there are conflicting reports on casualties. some have been injured. >> jordan will release an attempted suicide bomber it is holding on death row if a jordanian pilot is released. i.s.i.l. said it will not release the jordanian pilot. >> kurdish forces recapture the town of kobane from i.s.i.l. fighters. they are not allowed to cross back because it's too dangerous. the battle for sinjar city is far from over. that's the city beneath sinjar mountain where the kurdish forces pushed out i.s.i.l. and

thousands were trapped in air strikes. it made a difference. >> reporter: this is the only way we can approach sinjar city is controlled. and sniper fire is constant. i.s.i.l.'s main supply line that links strongholds in syria and north western iraq runs through the outskirts of the city. the group cannot afford to lose it. >> it's now in its second month. >> it is a vast area 100,000 people used to live here. before the fight is over a new battle has started. iraqi kurdish peshmerga troops are not facing i.s.i.l. their brethren came from across

the border to help a common enemy. it appears to be a party linking to the p.k.k. the iraqi kurdish leadership which had a long history of rivalry accused them of wanting to oppose law in sinjar. >> we welcome anyone's help. it seems p.k.k. has a plan. they want to benefit politically. sinjar belongs to the iraqi government. >> for now kurdish forces are cooperating. the fighting is street by treat. fighters are here to help the yazidi. suspicions run team especially since an autonomous region was established. >> translation: we never talked about the enclave. sinjar will belong to the

kurdistan regional government for the baghdad government. >> sinjar is a minority yazidi community, and they remain on a mountain, where they were trapped before the i.s.i.l. siege was broken. they too, are an armed force. some peshmerga defend sinjar others blame them for allowing the area to fall to i.s.i.l. >> translation: the iraqi government and peshmerga are here. >> i.s.i.l. has control of many villages on the outskirts of sinjar land disputed by the kurds and central government in baghdad. it is the case. now there are more vying for control here. let's return to the skirmish along the israel border. >> nicole what more details do

you hear. bring us detail about what happened? >> from the hezbollah, it is not a confusing picture. they released their first statement. we would expect to get more updates through the afternoon. they said that the marters of kinatra brigade targeted the convoy. there were officers and soldiers on the vehicle. they destroyed several tanks and a number of soldiers were killed and injured. it gepd how large scale the attack would be. and how many have been killed and injured. the information is they are getting hezbollah. >> nicole. for those that don't know the

border area talk us though the geography of the area and why it is so contested. >> well this territory is occupied. it's a small area in essence. it's a territory disputed between here and lebanon. it's not the first time that hezbollah carried out these types of attacks, and attacks in october. large-scale attacks. it's retaliation for israel's attack on hezbollah inside syria. the attack was carried out in an area and that seems to be why

hezbollah called the brigade the martyrs of kensar brigade, who now carried out this attack on the soldiers. >> nicole johnson in the capital. for the time being thank you. >> nisrene, hezbollah came out and said they are behind the attack along the border between lebanon and israel. the picture seems confusing in terms of the casualties on the israeli side. what have you heard in jerusalem? >> well the picture is still confusing when it comes to the casualties. twice earlier, what has been confirmed by the army was an antitank missile fired at an israeli army vehicle along the israeli lebanese border. there are many reports suggesting that a number of soldiers were wounded, and some reports saying they were killed. we are not getting confirmation

from the army in terms of casualties. we have heard reports that the army responded by firing back into shebaa farms, and we have heard a few lines from the israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu, who was insisting today with southern israeli communities, close to the border with gaza. that was before he made his way to tel aviv where he was holing a meeting with top -- holding a meeting with top security officials, and he made a statement saying he would respond to events in the north. he said "to everyone trying to challenge us i recommend for them to look at what happened and not too far away in gaza. hamas took its hardest hit since its formation, and the army appears to act strongly and on all fronts. this is the line they we hear from the prime minister and the government. and it will respond harshly to

the attacks. it will not tolerate breaches of sovereignty. there's a lot of analysis out on tv channels local israeli tv chapels. they'll be calculating the best way to respond, a response that is not so wide or heavy, that they will end this recent round of violence. since the attack on israel 10 days ago. many say israel may not be interested in an open explanation with hezbollah, but will respond, but in a way that will contain and end this and some analysis suggest that it's not interested this action. that's why it didn't fire at civilians, but targeted a clear target. there is a chance that really

this may not lead to an escalation but you never know. analysis suggests that both sides may not be interested right now. especially after israel only recently came out of a long drawn-out war with hamas and gaza and that we'd see an election in israel at the end of march, which prime minister binyamin netanyahu hopes to win again all right. nisrene nisrene, thank you we are getting mixed reports about a prisoner swap. let's bring in rula. this is to be the release of an iraqi female prisoner possibly a jordanian fighter and a japanese hostage. why was the female held.

>> she is an iraqi woman in her 40s. she was arrested here in 2005. after a failed suicide attack she had a belt around her, and was taking part in an attack that hit jordanian capital in 2005. her husband was killed. the belt failed to detonate and she was arrested arrested since 2005. i.s.i.l. is saying they are willing to release the japanese hostage if the jordanian government releases the woman. the jordanian government says it will release her if the i.s.i.l. group releases not only the japanese hostage, but the jordanian pilot captured by i.s.i.l. when he was taking part in raids and bombarding factories in syria. that's why it's complex. what i.s.i.l. is offering is

they want her released. the jordanian they want released. if not, i.s.i.l. says both will be killed. >> even though the public face of the deal is the japanese government in terms of international media. jordanians hold the power. possibility net. what pressure was the government under for this deal? >> well they were under a lot of pressure immense pressure. the family of the jordanian pilot is telling the government that you have to do everything you can to release them. earlier they wanted him reduced. now they are saying if releasing him would mean sparing his life that's the final card the

government has to negotiate a release. just now the jordanian information minister said they are willing to prrls. but only if the japanese and theored an nan pilot are released. >> that is not the deal i.s.i.s. is agreeing to the filipino president aquino addressed the nation in respect to a botched raid. heavy fighting brock out with rebels in the -- broke out with the rebels on sunday leading to the highest death of security in decades. let's cross to the philippines capital. this was the biggest single day loss of life for security for years in the philippines, what did the president or are the police saying about it? >> indeed it was. as you can imagine the response amongst the public has not been

good at all. in his address to the nation many questions were asked as to why has it taken three days to address this publicly. what he did do was end the police action. he could, he said come out of an inquiry. he asked that those that spread rumours stop from doing that saying it could contribute to the situation, and asked the government to stand with him and the government to formalise a separate muslim entity in the southern philippines. he doesn't want the violence to escalate and spread to other portions of the island and will contain it in a way to get questions answered. >> number one how is it possible that friendly forces government forces and a rebel group signed a pass deal with the government managed to get

into a gun battle to begin with. if it's what presidents are saying why did this last 12 hours and lead to the death of at least 44 members of the special forces. why are the rebel forces still armed. the government says it's in the process of decriminalizing the rebel groups. complicating the situation, these are not the some groups with weapons. there are private armies and rebel groups that signed a peace deal. >> we'll have to leave it there. >> now aring afghanistan's parliament is voting on whether to accept president ashraf ghani's cabinet nominees there has been controversies about many of the choices. afghanistan - the confirmation

process in parliament is a complicated one. only 18 of the ministers. >> not many went to a vote. none of the three women were nominated by the president. they have been long to say they were contesting sit zin ship. and in one case candidates about the documents. of the cabinet nominees they never made it to the cabinet vote. afghans are waiting to get ministers in place. as soon as a minister is confirmed, they go in office

tomorrow. that is already in place. afghans will welcome that. the economy has been at a standstill. they've been basically nonfunctioning. it's been four months since the president and his chief executive were in a unity government. it is the first government of its kind, and afghans are watching. it's some indication of how difficult things will be. president ghani asked for six more months to institute real reforms in the ministries. we won't have a full cabinet. parliament will go on recess before they look we have more from berlin

and a look at the dark intrigue. >> a former headquarters of germany's police. the floors preserved in its original position as the inner sanctum, communist state repress. this is the head of state security. >> all that dribble about no death sentence. nonsense. execute, if necessary, without a court verdict. >> from the desk he ordered a clampdown on dissent. these are the faces of those enscripted oven against will into spying on neighbours and friends. this is the start of the training video. with instructions on - inside each one of the doors is an

interrogation chamber. the system was given over to one thing - making the prisoner confess. in early days they'd use depravation, beatings and torture. called operative psychology. i found in in their own secret service university that to get more information not from beating people buts from fooling them into thinking they'd be treated better. >> gilbert was arrested and gaoled for producing subversive material. and faced repeated interrogation much. >> i was imprisoned here. i put emotions on hold. i was afraid that i would be at their mercy. 25 years ago, a few weeks after the collapse of the war, east

germans stormed the headquarters. today the new museum gives much to the thousands of files. a museum owing more to darker times. greece's new prime minister is holding his cabinet meeting. the leader of the left ring syriza party alexis tsipras told his group that the world is watching it see what they will do next. >> translation: if we didn't have elections last week all we'd talk about today is the previous government how it fire employees, cut, and other austerity measures. no one in europe and the world would be talking. >> we have more on the meeting in athens. >> he has reinforced the tenuous

but balanced position that syriza went into the election with saying that we'll do all we can, with inherent positioning. what he is trying to do is satisfy both his domestic audience reassure the audience. he isn't coming into power with a de facto confrontational position. he intends to have dialogue with creditors. we can't have dialogue without compromises. those two are contradictory. >> there is a first test as it were a first meeting of the leadership with the creditors on friday when the euro group president. the dutch finance minister will come to athens. it is a gesture of goodwill if

you like but also an invitation to the greeks to hurry up. and what sort of plan they will count in order to pay down the debt or extend it into the future. there's a lot of different elements on the table. syriza is moving a pace already. we had stated openly by ministers who received the portfolio, about an education excluding students remaining on campuses. when they are allowed to return. that is a demand of the left of the perennial students proteges of the left wing. another demand is satisfied - the public power corporation, which the troika's demanded privatized that we are told is

no longer on the cards. >> the attorney-general has, for the first time, declared 40 students who went missing in september are dead. the government says they were killed by a gang who mistook them for rivals. many don't believe that account from the government. adam raney reports from mexico city. >> mexico's attorney-general said there's no doubt what happened to the 43 students. the students were kidnapped, killed burnt and dumped in a river. he cited 39 confession including this man, felipe rodriguez, who said the gangs called him to dispose of the students on the night. the conference was completed with slick-produced videos and reenlentments to add -- re-enactments, all to add weight to his argument. it was unlikely to convince the

sceptical country. protests like this on monday called the government art into question. so far forensic experts identified the remains of one of the students. fire experts and parents say there's no way 43 people were burnt at this dump. >> we don't believe it. they want to close the case. >> the conference came after the president gave a speech on tuesday and said mexico could no longer be held back by the awful crime. >> translation: there needs to be punish the for those responsible for these unfortunate event. we need to move forward to ensure that we move forward. >> reporter: many mexicans don't want to move forward, believing that the federal police and the army participated in the attack.

he didn't say case closed but the attorney-general made clear he was convinced he had all the necessary facts to prosecute. in the coming days that certainty will be called into question by a skeptical public. sri lanka's new government is taking a closer look at its relationship with china. china had become the partner of choice for the former president, securing millions worth of development projects. as reported. critics accuse both of widespread corruption. >> reporter: proof of close ties between sri lanka and china. here at an action in colombo chinese porcelain and goods.

>> the former president took the relationship with china to a new level. many saw it as payback for china helping sri lanka fight the tamil tigers during the civil war. the new government has different plans. >> china will continue to be a friend, but corruption will be eliminated. >> reporter: china won presents the port international and expressways. >> china gave the kind of support the last government was grateful for. but some analysts accuse them of taking financial shortcuts and the lack of transport. analysts say huge loans, at high interest, and secrecy surrounding the deal is in question. >> whether chinese were willing

and able to provide what the former president was alleged to have taken. were they underwriting or subsidizing dynasty itself? >> history was made with an election ring drawing this response to beijing. >> translation: the cooperation between the two countries is based on mutual benefit in line with interests of the two countries. we hope and believe the relevant cooperation between china and saga will continue with stable development. >> it's that stable development that they want for all investments. >> business will go on without problem. that's a very very serious

future. to eliminate corruption. >> it is reviewing all the deals. now, it's something that has not happened in years. a painting by the italian master is going on sale. it's called "the boy peeling fruit", and is up for auction at christy's in new york. it could fetch between $3 million and $5 million. the last time it went on sail was 1976. back then it sold but for more this time. to keep up to date there it is on the screen. aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. i'll be back with more news at the top of the hour.

stay tuned.

>> i'm joie chen i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because that's aljazeera.com.

>> hezbollah attacks an israeli convoy on the israel, lebanon border. israel has fired dozens of shells back into lebanon. >> hello, also on the program in japan and jordan, negotiations for the release of their citizens held by isil. >> people celebrate in the syrian town of kobane.