french and german leaders are heading to moscow in the latest attempts to solve the ukraine crisis. ♪ ♪ you are watching al jazerra live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead jordanians rally behind the government as amman launches new air strikes against isil to avenge the killing of its pilot. the world health organization expresses concerns over the rise in new ebola cases in west africa. plus. >> reporter: i am kristen saloomey at a new york state prison facility. coming up find out why the city university of new york has started a college program here.

♪ ♪ the leaders of germany and france are heading to moscow for talks on the crisis in ukraine. now, it's the biggest push yet to resolve the 10-month conflict which has killed more than 5,000 people. talks in moscow are being seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid the u.s. arming ukraine in its battle against pro-russian rebels. simon mcgregor wood reports. >> reporter: the sudden tense at this of diplomacy shows just how serious the situation is becoming. first it was secretary of state john kerry meeting president poroshenko and then the prime minister. pledging u.s. backing and pointing a finger of blame at moscow. >> russia and the separatists are seizing more territory terrorizing more citizens, and refusing to participate in serious negotiations. let there be no doubt about who

is blocking the prospect of peace here. >> reporter: significantly he said president obama would decide soon whether or not to supply ukraine with lethal weapons. later francois or ho lande and angela merkel came in. the talking comes as the fighting he escalates in eastern ukraine which everyone here blames on russia and its separatist allies. in brussels, nato defense ministers put the finishing touch on his their new response force and its spearhead of 5,000 troops deployable in days. it will have six command and control centers in eastern europe. russia is meant to notice that. >> we are taking these steps in response to our changed security environment. they are defensive proportionate and in line with our international commitments. >> reporter: they also talked about russia's decision to upgrade its nuclear missiles and

apparently lower its threshold to use nuclear weapons. this is a day when western leaders are trying to get new peace talks started for fear the situation may spiral out of control. while they do so, nato is working on how to respond to the crisis if the talking fails. simon ma mcgregor wood, al jazerra. >> and russia has warned against any u.s. military support for ukraine. foreign ministry spokesman alexander says such a move would be seen as a direct threat. >> translator: this is not only fraught with the escalation of the situation in the southeast of ukraine but this also threatens the security of the russian federation whose territory, as you know, has been repeatedly she would from the ukrainian side. certainly if this position is put in to practice it could seriously harm relations between russia and the united states. >> we go now to rory challands who is standing by in mass could you. now, rory what is merkel and

hollande expected to push for at this meeting in moscow. the short answer to that is that we don't know yet. there is so very little information that's come out about this meeting. and considering that many people are talking about this as a last chance the final opportunity to avoid something much more serious, much more deadly and violent in eastern ukraine a wider conflagration it's surprise that go we know so little and compare it also to the talks that happened in minsk last year in september that ended up with a ceasefire being declared. that was being trailed in advance by all sorts of plans and documents and things like that poroshenko's 12-point plan. this we know very little about. as much as we know is what is being rumored or what is being hinted at. and there are a few tantalizing tidbits of information coming out. one, there has been -- that has been talked about here, these two leaders merkel and hollande will essentially be playing good

cop to the united states' bat cop. say to vladimir putin try to freeze the conflict here with the frontlines as they are at the moment. not how they were at minsk. if you don't do that, there is nothing that we can do that will stop the united states arming the ukrainian army, the military and therefore that's an escalation this gets much, much worse. let's be sensible about it, let's stop it here. there are also hints about what putin might have on the table. and those are to do with u.n. peacekeepers. he apparently has submitted proposals to hollandee to merkel, they came through a few days ago according to john kerry and so they have been looking at those. it remains to be seen, though, of course when these three leaders actually get together, what is discussed, what is on the table. >> now rory, there have been several rounds of peace talks and we have seen this go through several times. this has been seen as the last-ditch attempts.

what's been the obstacles to this prior to the moscow dialogue. >> reporter: the main problem with the peace talks as they have been so far is that there aren't many parties in this conflict who feel like they have got what they are after. certainly not the ukrainian government petro poroshenko is looking at a mass insurgency in a reasonably serious portion of the east in his country a territorial violation as he sees it. so he will not be truly satisfied until that is pushed out completely. the separatists want to take more territory than they have at the moment. they talked about opening up land corridors to crimea. push on the ground to odessa, taking essentially the whole of the black sea coast of ukraine. they haven't managed to do that. and the russians don't really see that they've got what they are after yet at the moment, or at least not sure that they have. their ultimate objective is most likely the halting of any

ambitions that ukraine might have to join nato. so despite that, putin -- sorry poroshenko has been talking about ambitions long-term ambitions for eventual nato membership. so it seems that at the moment, nobody has got what they are a but the real question is do people have enough at the moment to be satisfied. are they willing to make the comprises necessary to achieve some sort of peace? >> rory, thank you rory challands on the upcoming peace talks in moscow. let's get news out the jordan now where demonstrations are expected in the next few hours in support of king abdullah's campaign against the islamic state of iraq and the levant. jordan has stepped up air strikes against ice nil syria in response to the killing of jordanian pilot. the military has deployed dozens of plane to his carry out raids and troops have moved closer towards the iraqi border. isil released a video on tuesday

showing the killing of the pilot who was taken hostage in syria last year. let's go now to amman where our correspondent is standing by. earlier on many jordanians had opposed their nation's involvement in the coalition's fight against aisles. i guess the death of the pilot has changed all of that? >> reporter: yes, a lot of jordanians are saying that one of the positive things that came out of the tragic death and the murder of the pilot as they say is a major shift in public opinion. people say they are now speaking with one voice that they are more united than before. those who had been wondering what -- why jordan decided to be part of the international coalition against isil now have their answers. those that didn't encourage that role for jordan, are now saying that they do. and those who still think jordan shouldn't be part of this international coalition against

isil are coming under fire and are being criticized for what people are describing as an unpopular opinion at this time. so jordanians are very angry they have said that they want revenge, the government has promised revenge and they are showing their solidarity with the government and with the king and with the army and are seeing that this war is justifiable because they now finally see the war against ice immaterial isil as their war whereas before they didn't really see how isil affected john dar and would harm john dar. now that they have, they say this has become their war. and the george jordanians are a very proud people. they wouldn't accept defeat in front of another state let alone an armed group. >> all right. now, just detail for us how exactly is jordan contributing militarily to the coalition's efforts against isil. >> reporter: well, for the first time on thursday the army issued a statement saying that jordan

carried out its own air strikes against isil targets. on thursday. outside the framework of the international coalition jordan before had been going with other air forces from other countries to carry out these air strikes for the first time, the jordanians carried out their operation on thursday which they called the martyr operation. they said that 10s of fighter jets struck isil targets these targets included weapons storage facilities as well as training facilities. the army said all of these targets were destroyed and the fighter jets returned to jordan safely. the army said in its statement that this is only the start. it warned isil that they will eventually know who jordanians are and that they are making all of the efforts to annihilate isil and that they are working with other countries and other forces who are fighting on the ground including the iraqi army as well as the kurdish peshmerga

forces and the moderate syrian opposition which jordan had been reluctant in the past to support. >> all right nisreen, thank you for updating us on jordan's fight against isil. let's stay with news on the coalition fight against isil. the u.s. is deploying aircraft and troop to his northern iraq to improve its ability to rescue pilots downed in rebel-held territories. now, it says it is repositioning some of its assets following the killing of the jordanian pilot. the move is expected to shorten response time for search and rescue teams. meanwhile, syrian government air strikes have killed more than 70 people in rebel-controlled areas near damascus. the attacks follow rebel shelling and rocket attacks in which at least seven people in the syrian capital were killed. now, a rebel group calling itself the army of islam has

claimed responsibility for shelling this city. now, the group was form towards years ago and is now made up of 50 smaller armed factions. its leader has declared damascus a military zone and a target. its events attack was in retaliation to government air strikes in the group's strong hold which is near damascus. well still to come on the program, the collapse of crude. while falling oil prices are causing more pain for nigerian consumers. and at this bet's spiritual leader attends the public event with the u.s. present ruffles feathers in beijing.

>> the death toll could be much higher than anyone'd known. >> posing as a buyer to get in there. >> 10,000 people are already dead mr. president, who should answer for those people?

♪ ♪ welcome back a reminder now of our top stories the leaders of france and germany will head to moscow and push for a peace plan to end the 10-month conflict. it comes as the u.s. considers arming ukrainian troops against pro-russian rebels. in jordan demonstrations are expected in the next few hours in support of king abdullah's campaign to did he fight isil. jordan has stepped up fighting against isil after the killing of a pot lot. syrian government air strikes have killed more than 70 people in rebel-controlled areas in damascus. the attacks are coming after an attack that killed seven people

in in damascus. more on the top story now. while the diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in ukraine enter a key period, fierce fighting continues on the ground in the east of the country. hundreds of thousands of residents have been forced to flee their homes. charles stratford is in there would. and a warn that go you may find some of the images in his report disturbing. >> reporter: tatiana and her children are lucky to be alive. as the shells exploded around their home near thousand town, volunteers braved the artillery and mortar fire and braved the hostility. >> when we were evacuated the rockets starting raining down on us the volunteers told us to get down and cover our childrenses' heads. i took the risk because i had to save my children. >> reporter: tatiana and three of her four children are staying at a shelter set up by volunteers. her exhusband and eldest daughter are still hide something a basement in their besieged hometown. there are 50 other people here

who have also fled the violence, the makeshift dormitories are cramped the air is stale because the children get cold if the windows are open in the winter. >> translator: i am scared. i feel lost. it's hard, but there is no way we can go back home. >> reporter: it's estimated that more than 900,000 people like tatiana and her family have been forced to flee their homes. and as the fighting gets worse the number of civilians killed or wounded in this conflict increase buys the day. there has been a sharp he is escalation in the fighting while the government and the separatists blame each other for repeated failures in truce talks talks. the ukrainian military pour in more troops. and it seems the increasingly more well equipped fighters do the same. russia continues to deny the

separatists -- supplying the separatist with his soldiers or weapons. hospitals on the ukrainian military side of the frontline are full of wounded soldiers and saville i didn't i didn'tcivilians. none of these people could ever have predicted the violence they have been subjectedded subjected to. tatiana is praying her eldest daughter will make it to safety and join them soon. charles stratford, al jazerra eastern ukraine. germany's finance minister says he's skeptical about the greek government's plan to cut its massive debt burden. a showdown took place in berlin when he met his new greek counterpart. the two sides are still divided over solving greece's financial crisis and both men said they would agree to disagree. baghdad's decade-long curfew is due to end on saturday as the government tries to improve life in the iraqi capital. some form of curfew has been in place since the u.s. entered iraq in 2003.

hampering commercial activity and the movement of many of its civilians. in spite of the war some neighborhoods have become more stable and that's encouraging invest. jayna rav has more from baghdad. >> reporter: you might think this traffic jam is made up of iraqi trying to leave baghdad they are just trying to get to shops and restaurants in one of the most fashion act neighborhoods. during the civil war here almost a decade ago iraqs mostly stayed in their own neighborhoods. but as attacks declined, investment increased. there is now so much money at stake in this predominantly sunni neighborhood. some people say protect the area from bombings. here within a few blocks is almost everything fashionable iraqis could want. there are no american chains here but some try to come close. while in other neighborhoods jewelry stores are still a target of attacks these have

been immune. it's the first time she and her family have been in baghdad since they left for syria and then the kurdish region two years ago. >> translator: the situation has improved. so we were encouraged to come and visits. i didn't before because i was worried about terrorism and concerned about my daughters and myself. >> reporter: people here make the most of the hours leading up to the midnight curfew. iraqis love going out particularly in baghdad. even when there are explosions in other neighborhoods the streets here are filled with people shopping or going out for dinner or just getting out of the house. although 2 million iraqis have left because of the violence, those who have stayed have adapted. on this bustling street corner, they cater to iraqs getting an early start on valentine's day. this being baghdad, there is a attention-getting twist. restaurants and cafes are

packed. iraqi investors open this franchise of the turkish chain last year. they plan to open 13 more. >> iraqis now have money and they want to spend it. >> reporter: and there is more to come. this 33-story complex in the neighborhood next to monsieur, will include a shopping mall, a hospital and a luxury hotel. it's the biggest private sector project in iraq. across the city are huge projects started by sadam hussein and abandoned when the war came. business men say the future of iraq lies in private investments. and enough stability to make them work. jayna rav, al jazerra baghdad. taiwanese authorities say they have identified 31 of the 36 people killed in wednesday's plane crash. the government says it has also begun paying compensation to families of the dead. seven people are still unaccounted for. 58 people were on board the twin

engine aircraft when it plungeed in to a river after clipping a bridge. let's go now to harry fawcett who joins us live from the capital taipei. we know the aviation authorities are holding a press conference updating the situation on the recovery operation. what else -- what did they have to say? >> reporter: well, i just stepped down the corridor from that news conference onto this balcony. so far i have to say not a great deal has been said. what the executive director of the air safety council was saying was really outlining the nature of the investigation introducing investigators from both canada and france respectively the countries where the engines and the aircraft itself were manufactured. and saying that any country with involvement in the incident as well obviously the other main country involved is china because 31 of the people on board were from china. that they will have involvement in this investigation as well. so far no clear information as

to exactly what has come from the black boxes. we were hoping to hear an initial appraisal of what those black boxes had told them about the cause of the accident. the big questions are about the port engine which appeared to not be functioning in those amazing dramatic images of the plane clipping the overpass and then tumbling in to the water. also questions as to whether the facility allowing the propeller to move and not act ace brake whether that was engaged. exactly what the pilots who have been hailed as heros for apparently being able to miss buildings, exactly what their actions were as welling. we have been hearing five more bodies have been pulled from the water today. two of them young brothers, still in their seats. still in their seat belts. so more grim news coming out from the river today. >> more grim news for a nation that's still reeling from shock. harry, thank you. harry fawcett speaking to us from taiwan. the world health organization says it's concerned about the rise of new ebola

cases in west africa. 124 cases were confirmed last week. that's up from 99th week before. the first time the figure has risen this year. unsafe burials and other risky practices are hampering the attempts to contain the it. >> at the end of february we will start running out of cash already, which means two or three weeks from now. the one thing we can be sure of, there will still be ebola in two or three weeks. we cannot be sure that we will have the money that we need to make sure that we stop that ebola. nigeria has the largest economy in africa and is the continue net's biggest oil producer. but the falling prize of oil has seen its currency lose 10% of its value. a report from the cap allah pwaoupblgcapital abuja. >> reporter: shopping for troy

toiletries. the price have his neater doubled. the local currency has lost nearly 10% of its value against the dollar. making the goods more expensive to import. and so sellers have passed the increase costs onto customers. >> it's ridiculous, i came to the market today with intent of spending 7,000. i ended up spending 9,000 when i was asking the man most of the things i used to buy for like 1,500 were now 1,800 1,850. or some evening 2,000. so everything they had added money to so many of the mod at at commodities -789dz. >> reporter: the nigeria creps central bank has reduced the value month more than 90% of the nation' income comes from exporting oil and oil has lost near 60% of its value over the last six months. at stores like these in abuja they have been preparing for the increased cost of importing

goods. >> bringing in most of the goods from abroad. has kind of slowed down. we kind of expected it. because of the drop in the price of oil. it's justify simple business. >> reporter: but the situation is a little harsher for consumers who have to buy dollars when they travel abroad. and they are having to spends more to get dollars. economies say the falling value is an important lesson. >> we should be more responsible. we should save a good size. if you look at some of the arab countries, you know, they are also oil rim. they have diversified their economies away from oil. >> reporter: nigerians are hoping the price of oil stabilizes so prices can come down. there could be more pressure on the currency just around the corner. the presidential election is being held in just over a week and there are concerns that if there is any insecurity that,

could further weaken the currency. al abuja nigeria. al jazerra journalists bahar mohamed and mohamed fahmy have now 2405 days behind bars in egypt. they along with correspond end peter greste were accused of spreading false news. peter has arrived back home in australia after being released earlier this week. bahar and mohamed however are still in prison. u.s. president and program and the dahle los angeles dalai lama: it was being closely watched by beijing, china ab ox to his foreign leaders meeting the dahle los angelesdahledalai lama because they seem him as a separatist. more than 1.5 million are he behind bars in united states. and statistics say three-quarters of them will land in jail again but as kristen saloomey reports a new program

is aiming to reverse that trend. >> reporter: at first glance it looks like any college english class. >> are you ready we will read just that quote again. >> reporter: but the manned standing guard and the barbed wire outside the windows are a constant reminders. this lesson on shakespeare's macbeth is taking place inside a correctional facility. and most of the students are inmates. 34 year olds matthew wilson is near the end of a 13-year sentence of armed robbery. he joined the class for one reason. >> change. i knew i had to change. and edge indications a part of that. education opens up doors. >> reporter: students from the outside also participate in the class. they say they are learning from the inmates as well as their instructor. >> understanding how much they really care about their education, how much time they put in to it. puts all the college kids put everything off after partying. >> reporter: this is sponsored by john j. college of criminal justice here in new york. what makes it unique is that it

guarantees inmates a spot here or at any city university after they are released. the idea is to provide an education that continues not only beyond prison, but also beyond the classroom. robert tate is now pursuing a major in english after serving 10 years for rob rim he says the program is a lifeline. >> my thing was when i came home find a job find steady housing, find steady income. and you know, get back to family and start to build my life over again. so i was starting at 30 years old as a 17-year-old. >> reporter: the program provides assistance with all of those things and more. >> specifically for a population coming back to the community after having served time, it's vital to reestablish community. and a new community maybe from the one that you left behind. and so the campus becomes that place to find a new self, find a new community, and build a new after prison.

>> reporter: the new program has yet to see its first graduate but participants say they appreciate the second chance to expand their minds and opportunities. kristen saloomey, al jazerra new york. you can get more news on our website aljazerra.com. on america tonight. >> how do you describe yourself? is. >> a mad junk yard dog. >> are little pieces of god's green acre here. >> that green acheser here in the valley of western pennsylvania. in the lake night teen 50's the local steel mill was taken over by a company contracted to build nuclearle bos. >> it was a nice town, and then this industry came in. >> welcome to florida, 2015 i thought that we live