we could not organize a temporary truce to come here safely. >> reporter: approximately 25,000 people used to live here. after weeks of heavy fighting, it's not known how many are living here now. only the very brave remain. i walk to deliver aid to people every day shouts this woman. as another shell explodes close by. this is of strategic importance to both side in the conflict. it's a major railway hub linking territory the separatists control with russia. it's believed after 8,000 ukrainian government troops have been deployed to try and defend the town. they are suspicious about what they say are separatist spies. this armored personnel carrier blocked our path as wrist town, the soldiers questioned us

before letting us drive on. this road is the only way in to from the ukrainian military-controlled side. and while the fighting intensifies, it's the only route out. for many civilians who remain inside. charles stratford, al jazerra eastern ukraine. now, investigation underway in taiwan to find out why a plane crashed shortly after take off killing least 31 of the 58 people on board. rescue crews are continue to go search for those who are still missing. the audio recording between the pilot and the control tower has been released. the pilot could be heard shouting mayday, mayday, engine flame out before losing contact. trans asia airways has dismissed suggestion is that there were problems with the planes engine even before take off. now the latest from the scene of

the crash. >> reporter: soon became a recovery operation over a thousand personnel from civil emergency services and the military involved in the operation. a pontoon has been erected on the river if & from there motorized dingies containing drivers take it in turn and shifts to try to locate the number of people that are still missing. 31 at the moment are confirmed dead. 15 injured, nine seriously 12 bodies still missing and they have been scouring the riverbed overnight. it also required two large heavy lifting cranes, that weighed over 500-tons to lift up that fuselage out of the river shortly after that. it was a two-hour operation shortly after that. the cockpit containing captain copilot and navigator was found. but it's taken longer to find the wings of the plane.

now what has been found are the two black box recorders they will now be analyzed and it will hopefully reveal what happened to the plane shortly after take off from the airport. for the moment it's a recovery operation and taiwan remains in shock. >> al jazerra journalist peter greste has been speaking about his relief at being released and his joy at returning to his family in australia. after spending 400 days in an egyptian jail. speak to this press in brisbane he thanked all of those that worked for his freedom. andrew thomas is there. >> reporter: it was just after midnight in brisbane. when peter greste landed back on australian soil. 45 minutes later he merge today cheers and hugs, he said he was ecstatic and his thoughts of colleagues left behind. >> it feels absolutely awesome to be here with my family, with you guys.

but, of course, this is all tempered and i will say it a million times it's tempered by a real worry for my clerks, no mohamed familiar me, bahar mohamed. if it's fight rite for me to be free it's right to all of us. >> reporter: peter left the airport for his first night in australia well over a year, a freeman and home. on thursday at a more formal press conference and surrounded by his family, peter talked about how their support and knowledge of the global campaign to free him and his colleagues, helped get him through. >> you always have your dark days and i often closed my eyes and let my mind drift to where it wanted to go. almost invariably, it went to the beach. to the coast, to the sea in some form. we me, andrew, mike and my sisters we all went sailing on sundays in 2013, and i always went back to those days. on the boat.

>> reporter: in cairo, it was also fellow prisoners who helped. >> and i all want to pay credit to my colleagues in there. we would support one another very very directly. we knew that people had their ups stuff -- excuse me, their updates and down days and we were very careful at helping one another out. listening to one another talking to one another supporting one another and at the same time getting space when we needed it. we have all grown very close as a result of this process as a result of the experience. >> reporter: the same deportation law that saw peter freeded from jail is also an option for his colleague mohamed fahmy. the al jazerra cairo bureau chief has renounced his egyptian citizenship as part of intense diplomatic efforts to have him deport the to canada. but that path to freedom is is not available to egyptian producer bahar mohamed. he's expected to remain behind bars unless his retrial starts. but a crucial written judgment for the court that ordered it has yet to be published. while in prison, the father of

three, missed the birth of his son who was born last august. his wife, can't understand why he shouldn't be free too. >> translator: i don't know why he's still in prison. i really don't know. his colleagues are being released, they were declared innocent. the new law was only made to set the foreigners free, to give them an opportunity to leave jail. but for him being an egyptian is the price he has to pay. is he still in jail for being an egyptian? >> reporter: the scenes in brisbane are ones peter greste hopes already repeated elsewhere soon. so peter greste is back once he's completed a long list of media interviews, he will celebrate with his family. but his thoughts still very much with his colleagues who can't two al jazerra journalists still unfairly behind bars, andrew thomas, al jazerra brisbane. the jordanian king has vowed to escalate the assault against

the islamic state of iraq and the levant after isil killed an i've force pilot it was holding hostage, king abdullah has been meeting senior military and security officials in the captain amman. on we understand, jordan execute towards iraqi convicts in retaliation for the pilot's murder. rula a mean reports. >> reporter: king' dull a of jordan vow thed a relentless war against isil owe their own territory. the king cut short his trip to the u.s. and in met with his military chiefs. we will hit them in their own ground the king was quoted a day after the islamic state released a video appearing to show a jordanian pilot being burned alive. the killer will not stop jordan from playing an active role in the international row defense against isil. jordan already launching air strikes against isil. now military efforts may be

intensified. >> nobody was talking about ground troops, we are talking about helping the iraqi military talking about helping the syrian moderate opposition or the peshmerga troops in order to fight on the ground. but we are talking about a collaborative effort between coalition members in order to intensify our efforts and work to stop extremism and terrorism and to undermine and degrade and eventually finish. >> reporter: jordanians lined up to give condolences to the family. the brutal killing of the jordanian pilot has shifted the pick lick opinion here from pressuring the government to give in to isil demand, pressuring the government to strike against isil and punish it for its crime. the government is trying to mobilize the public against the armed group and use the momentum to rally support for its decision to take part in the international coalition against

isil. but some of the jordanian opposition is not aboard. >> our message from the jordanian government to pull out from the international coalition and we should have no involvement with a war led by america in the region. >> reporter: but the rain at the horrifying killing has people more focus on the revenge than politics. rula spares amin. we are much more than to come clawing. >> reporter: i am rob reynolds in los angeles with the latest on an outbreak of measles that began in disneyland. >> the communications breakdown that is hurting the most vulnerable we'll tell you why text messaging has been banned in the drc.

black history month coverage on al jazeera america

>> weeknights on al jazeera america. >> we're still here every night, just a little bit later. we're still taking a hard look at the most important issues out

there to get you the answers you deserve. >> "real money with ali velshi" at its new time. 10:30 eastern. >> we're just doing it a little later every night. ♪ ♪ held going, i am martin dennis and these are the top stories here at al jazerra. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is on his way to ukraine for talks with president poroshenko about the wasserring violence pro-russia separatists continue to battle government forces in the east. investigations are underway in taiwan to find out why a plane crashed shortly after take off kill at least 31 of the 58 people on board. this is the scene live at the river just outside of the capital taipei, where rescue workers are continue to go search for missing people. al jazerra journalist peter greste has been spoken to his relief at being released and his joy of returning to his family in australia after spending

four hound days in an egyptian jail. he says he will continue to fight for his jailed colleagues bahar mom ham he had mohamed and fahmy. let's get to the situation in eastern ukraine john kerry along with the vice president of the u.s., joe joe biden are going to kiev for talks with president poroshenko. currently the obama administration is considering whether it should provide weapons to ukrainian forces. roslyn jordan has more from the u.s. state deem. >> reporter: the fighting in eastern ukraine shows no sign of ending. and the u.s. and the e.u. blame russia. >> russia knows what it can do need there on be of helpful and we hope they will. >> reporter: in other words stop sending russian tanks guns and soldiers across the border to backup separatist fighters from the south north to donetsk luhansk. it's been a year of turmoil in

ukraine, the ball of victor yanukovych. the russian invasion and annexation of crimea. the downing of a malaysian airlines jetliner allegedly bicep test fighters. the response, i can canning moscow out of the g8 and imposing sanctions on key politicians and businesses. the theory, the russian economy mill will sufficienter and president vladimir putin will change course. that hasn't happened. so far the u.s. has only given ukraine helmets body armor and other nonlethal equipment. but the u.s. reportedly is now considering giving them legit the weapons as well. >> we haven't taken options on or off the table matt it's an ongoing discussion, we take in to account events on the ground. but i don't have anything to lay in to you in material of internal clip vagues. >> reporter: analysts say the west shares blame to the crisis, going back to its in the 1990s to get ukraine to join the even u. and nato. steven of the german martial

fund says western policy makers didn't consider how russia would react. >> they tended to make it a zero sum game either or choice, either you are part of the our asian union rauch or the european union, i don't think they tried to find a solution that would make both sides happy and not force the ukraine in to a choice of one or the other. the problem with ukraine it doesn't belong to one side it belongs to both. >> reporter: both president poroshenko and diplomats say the obama administration need to pro surprise lethal aid to the military the. pentagon is focused on giving the troops more training. as secretary carry meets with the ukraine leaders they are trying to decide what is enough. but seeing the facts on the ground might not be enough to persuade the obama administration to change course.

boko haram fighters have will wantedly killed more than 100 people in northern cameroon. the armed group attacked the town that is on the border between the two countries. meanwhile, a major regional offensive is underway to try to flush out boko haram armies from chad, cameroon and indeed nigeria are using ground troops and war plane to his hunt down the armed group. boko haram has stepped up violence affidavit february 14th election. so with just over a week to go until that presidential ballot. political parties are in a final race to convince undecided voters but their campaigns are being somewhat overshadowed by tensions and sometimes violent divisions between the parties and the main lex to recall body is concerned that the country may not be ready for the election to go ahead. a report from the capital abuja.

>> reporter: it's the peak of the election campaign season in nigeria. and politicians are in a desperate push for a vote. at rallies like these through the media and at public spaces, they are looking for support. but there have been acts of violence during this campaign. it was attacked by supporters of a rival party. >> translator: a gang of youth detached itself from a convoy heading to a political rally and attacked us. they tossed posters of our candidates smashed cars and beat us up. >> reporter: it's all because of these, posters and campaign materials. some party supporters target offices, vehicles and each other. this is despite an accord signed by the major parties to hold a peaceful campaign and election. political party offices and billboards like this, have been attacked or destroyed in various parts of the country and there is a fear unless the parties

control their supporters it could lead to more violence during ask after the elects. despite the agreement to conduct a peaceful campaign, nigerians continue to see act of violence across the country. but the politicians say their supporters are not to blame. >> very rarely have you heard of or seen pdp supporters throwing stones orin flicking violence or injuring members of the a.p. c or a.p. c leaders it hardly happens. it's unheard of. maybe once or twice. >> it's an important revelation for us and for the entire world to know that the governor of the leading party -- off the ruling party in the country has himself come out and say look, leaders of the apc are not responsible for the violence. >> reporter: but it's not all gloom. publishers and printers are cashing in on the opportunities of the season. but most nigerians say their biggest concern is having a peaceful and fair election.

al jazerra abuja. now, the greek finance minister is due to meet his german counterpart in berlin on thursday. germany is one of the toughest critics of new greek government. the greek government for its part says it's optimistic about reaching ideal to reduced it's $360 billion debt. but the european central bank is getting tougher on athens, restricting finance in to the country's banks making borrowing even more expensive. greece is facing payment deadlines at the end of february and then again in may. gunmen in libya have killed four men and abducted nine others at an ale field. the nigerian and filipino workers were kidnapped from the oil field. there are reports that they are carrying isil flags. the oil field has a partnership with the french oil company

total. afghan refugees in pakistan are being forced to leave the country in record numbers. the expulsions have increased ever since a taliban attack on a school in december. as jennifer glasse now reports even after begans with proper documentation are being forced to cross the border with nowhere to go. >> reporter: the bored crossing between afghanistan and pakistan always busy. is even busier than usual. in january nearly 24,000 afghans returned from pakistan. the international organization for migration says that's more than came back in all of last year. it's been 36 years since he lived in afghanistan, about a month ago pakistani police raided his home, jailed his olden son for 10 days basically keeping him hostage he says. >> translator: we had to give them a guarantee that we would leave in 15 days time the pakistani police seized our houses. >> reporter: his son has never

even been to afghanistan he and us family are legal residents are pakistan, registered to the united nations and entitled to stay until the end of 2000 fine at least. they say that didn't matter the pressure started after the attack on the army public school. 145 people, most of them students were killed. 2222 off begans were said to be among the attackers now they are being forced out. if they have even lived in afghanistan at all. so when they get here they have to start whole new life. he says he doesn't know know what that life will look like or even where he will set. he doesn't have the fair to get his family on the bus to the nearest city. >> i don't have anything except my children and these are all of my belongings. now whenever god puts me in my country, i will survive. 67 afghan officials say they

know returning families are vulnerable. but the government doesn't have the resources to help them. >> translator: there is not aid at the border here. all we can do is register them and give them a form. >> reporter: and only about 10% of afghans who have crossed can get help here. u.n. center where they are registered and educated about the danger of land mines. children are vaccinated and the u.n. gives them money to start over. between 180 and $220 a person. many people here don't know how long that money will last them. and say it's small compensation for lives they were forced to leave behind. jennifer glasse, al jazerra afghanistan. now, in the united states a man has been convicted of operating an underground website that sold illegal drugs. ross william was found guilty of seven charges including drugs and money laundering, as well as a kingpin charge, which is

usually reserved for drugs cartel leaders. all brick is due toalbrecht is due to be sentenced in mae may and could receive life in jail. the democratic republic of conger opposition groupings are frosting against the president who they think is trying to extend his rule. his government has blocked text messages and mobile internet services for more than two weeks now. and as malcolm webb reports it's hitting one group particularly hard. >> reporter: at this school for deaf children in the city, it's time for physical education. students here use sign language to communicate with each other and their teachers. beyond that they depend on text messages and mobile internet. to the government switched off those services two weeks ago following anti-government protests. he says people use them to instigate violence and looting. and the children that we meet are not happy about it.

phone calls television and radio are still on, but are of no use to them. they say they are completely cut off. >> translator: my parents live far way from here. i have not been able to communicate with them for two weeks. i ask the government please, to reopen the text messages. i am really crying. >> reporter: they write sign to his show us, this boy is inspired by the protests against the charlie hebdo attack in france last month. the children here learn skills that help them to get work when they leave. these girls are learning how to sew. normally the things they make are sold to raise money for the school. but they depend on text messages to communicate with the buyers. now they can't so there is no business and the completed garments are left hang hearing on the wall. she learn today sew at the school when she was a child. now she runs a sewing wing op wing co-op for death women. she's not able to talk.

>> translator: communication by text message is one of the only ways we can make money so because we are not communicating now, we have lost a lot of money. >> reporter: the deaf community here in congress so is struggling and there are many there is accurate data but it's estimated over a million. untreat infections during pregnancy and childhood often cause loss of hearing this association for the death has more than 500 members throughout the north province, but without text messages or internet the only way they can meet or ask the group for help is if they walk around for hours looking for each other. >> translator: sometimes our members have accidents and need help. for example if someone is hit by a war kuyt sms he can't contact us or his family to come to the hospital. >> reporter: the group secretary says he wants to watch this store on line, he won't be able to hear we say and won't even be able to see it either unless the internet comes back.

deaf people need it more than most there are few services to support people with kiss bills. the children here are luckier than others in the villages, one of the few things that makes a hard life easier has been taken away. malcolm webb, al jazerra in the democratic web republic of congo. >> on "america tonight": >> the manor of his death how does that play -- >> i think the jordannians are infuriated. so there is going to be a backlash. >> his blood is the blood of the country and i demand the revenge be bigger than just executing prisoners. >> when jennifer and dave simon took their six month old livia to the doctor for a cold, they were shocked that she might come home with some