the notion that the west is at war with islam is an ugly lie. >> the u.s. president calls for the world to standing up to what he calls violent extremism. ♪ i'm live from the al jazeera headquarters in doha. also ahead. [ explosion ] the u.n. recognized government in libya asks the security council to lift the arms embargo against the country. germany rejects greece's request time.

president barack obama says the u.s. will continue its fight against al-qaeda and isil and announced a joint digital program with theited arab imrates >> obviously there is a complicated history between the middle east the west and none of us i think, should be immune from criticism in terms of specific policies but the notion that the west is at war with islam is an ugly lie.

and all of us regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it. >> rosiland jordan has more now from washington. >> reporter: barack obama's message to delegates at the final day of the white house's summit on countering violent extremism is this: it's not just enough to confront the enemy with weapons. you have to confront them both with actions within our own countries and with counter messaging. the president's speech before delegates at the state department on thursday was quite heart felt because he said that what members of isil of al-qaeda, boko haram, and other groups are doing is essentially harming the very people that they say they are standing up for. more than one billion muslims who live around the world. the president also said that countries need be honest with themselves and take a look at how their societies are actually constructed and try to heal the

divisions that make it easy for disaffected young people to be attracted to the message put forward by these groups. and he said this is a fight that could take generations, and that it's going to take the resolve of people who may not personally know muslims to get to know people and actually act on their best instincts and not hide behind their own prejudices. libya's u.n.-recognized government has asked the security council to lift an arms embah go to help in the fight against isil and owe armed groups, but western diplomats are cautious about sending weapons into a war zone where many factions are fighting for control. the thirst group backs the u.n.-recognized government based out of tobruk. their main bases are in the east of the country. but a second one, fights under the libya dawn banner and is

supporting the rival government based in tripoli. they have made advances in several cities on the tu indonesia border. control of benghazi is split between rival militia groups. the growing divide between both camps has given isil a chance to increase its influence, and has recently gained ground. our correspondent reports other armed groups are fighting back. >> reporter: the fighters had lead the battle for sirte and captured moammar gadhafi. now they are ready to redeploy to the sea side city to fight isil fighters. >> translator: we should cure all of libya. we should not keep silent after we made sacrifices. >> reporter: they have been given orders from the court-recognized government based in tripoli.

sirte is also being patrolled from the coastline. foreign fighters and weapons are said to have reached sirte by sea. it's somewhere in this area that isil recently killed 21 egyptian coptic christians. it prompted egypt to launch air strikes in a town where some fighters had declared alee g&as to ilz in october. the u.n. recognized government welcomed them. the egyptian military said it carried out raid against isil camps, training centers, and weapons depots. some egyptian workers are estimated around 1 million even though there is no official count. these people are said to have rived in the country illegally, caught by the authorities. they are about to be deported. >> translator: regarding the

seven fish american who are with us they came by sea. they do not have any documents. we transferred them to tripoli in preparation for their deportation. >> reporter: others are said to have been advised to stay in doors for their own safety. both the underrecognized government in tu brook and egypt have asked the security council to lift the arms embargo in libya. but there is certain that more weapons won't contain the spread of isil or its affiliates which are taking advantage of these divisions. qatar has recalled its ambassador from egypt for consultation. the decision follows comments by

the egyptian envoy to the arab league about qatar backing terrorism. something that qatar strongly denies. the secretary general of the gulf cooperation council says gulf states are voicing support for qatar. the nigerian military says it has bombed training camps and weapons stores belonging to the armed group, boko haram. the camps are in the northeastern borno state. it is thought some of the 200 schoolgirls kidnapped last year were taken to the forest before being moved again. mr. boko haram fighters were killed in the bombardment. germany is rejecting a greek request for more time to pay back its massive loan to the european union. the newly elected government submitted a letter to the euro group earlier on thursday asking for a six-month extension. the euro group is meeting on friday to consider at than's

behand. john psaropoulos filed this report. >> reporter: there is a stalemate at the moment. the greeks have said they have submitted they request to the euro group for an extension of the loan agreement. they have said that the euro group meeting tomorrow has only two choices to accept or reject the greek request. now we will discover who wants the solution and who doesn't. this in response to a german statement earlier in the day, that the greek request was inadequately phrased. it is not a proposal that leads to a substantial solution. what was the greek request? they have asked for a six-month bridge period a truce if you will which its creditors would finance. that means they would meet greece's debt schedule the repayment that is owed to the central bank monetary fund and other european countries, and they would allow greece that days by period in which to

renegotiate several things. however, the germans have rejected that and, the greeks are saying let's see what happens in the euro group. in an effort ef identifily to see whether they can isolate the germans who have been the most hard line negotiators with the greekings for this five-year austerity period nfrjts there has been more fighting in eastern ukraine. as many as 13 ukrainian soldiers were reportedly killed in heavy combat in the town of debaltseve that was taken over by pro-russian separatists on wednesday. paul brennan is at a check point near debaltseve and filed this report. >> reporter: i'm at place about five kilometers from debaltseve. debaltseve is down the road in that direction. we have been prevented from getting any closer because the woed mined, we're told by the separatists fighters. but i wanted to give you an

example of how desperate the conflict has been in the past few days even after the ceasefire was declared. the trees for example, are shredded by the shrapnel and bullets that have been flying arrange here. the burned out vehicles -- here is a burnth out ukrainian tank, absolutely blackened by the intensity of the fire and the fighting. there are more vehicles here. a further tank down on the far side two bodies are still lying in the open over there as well. now the president of ukraine has said that he wants the osce monitors to be allowed in. the osce wants to get in. and the other suggestion that has been put forward is that the u.n. peace keepers can come in and try to bring some degree of calm to this very tense situation here but as you can hear from the distance sound of grad and artillery fire there is still no ceasefire in place here in east ukraine. well the continuing violence has prompted further

international efforts to reinforce the minsk agreement. leaders spoke by phone on thursday. >> reporter: what the four leaders were discussing on the phone earlier on thursday we have heard from them many times before. an ga legal merkel petro poroshenko francois hall lande and vladimir putin were talking about the ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons, release of prisoners, and allowing the osce in to monitor and facility the implementation of these measures. they are still being talked about now. despite the fact that fighting is still going on not the least around debaltseve but also down on the seacoast near mariupol. i went to a press briefing at

the russian foreign ministry earlier today. and i asked him what this fighting meant in whether the separatists were trying to take new territory? >> translator: active plans on the expansion of military action are now being developed by the militias, but the representatives of the military command of ukraine, including the top level of ukrainian authority, this is what their statements are indicating as well as their actions at debaltseve. >> reporter: also on thursday the ukrainian army has been trying to count its losses at debaltseve. they they 90 of their troops were captured. 82 are still missing. those numbers are a massive variance with what the seep separatists are saying. they say they have at least 300 troops in captivity and thousands more were lost on the battlefields. but thursday feels like is a collective drawing of breath after the trauma of the last few days where everyone takes stock and tries to work out what comes

next. plenty more to come on al jazeera, including -- [ cheers ] released from prison in egypt. now honored in the u.k. al jazeera journalists speak up for media freedom. plus -- >> i'm phil lavelle in los angeles, home to the heist concentration of war veterans in the united states of america. find out why they are getting extra attention at the oscars this sunday. ♪ ♪

♪ you are watching the al jazeera news hour. a reminder now of our top

stories. president barack obama says the u.s. will continue the fight against al-qaeda and its affiliates in afghanistan, yemen, and somalia, and announced the creation of a joint digital monitoring center with the united arab imrates. the u.n.-backed libyan government is asking for the security council for lifting the arms embargo in the down try. germany has rejected greece's request for more time to repay its massive loan to the european union. well unrest appears to be spreading in myanmar's northeast, government leaders are accusing three more ethnic rebel groups of fighting the army. veronica reports from thailand. >> reporter: they are supposed to be celebrating the chinese

new year. instead ethnic chinese in myanmar are either trapped by fighting between an ethnic minority rebel army and the myanmar military or fleeing for their lives. now that marshall law has been declared people are worried it sets the stage for a new push by the myanmar military to end what they see as a threat to national sovereignty. >> translator: we saw two helicopters and airplanes shooting. we ran away we were so afraid. >> reporter: the new battle between the eat nick national dmeic alliance army and the myanmar military is just one incident in decades of wars between the central government ate nick minorities. the military-dominated government has agreed ceasefires with some groups but the reality on the ground doesn't match the peace rhetoric. >> we have a ceasefire with the

government [ inaudible ] january 28th and -- but this has been violated by the burmese army for about 400 times. in 2014 alone, in 11 months from january to november there have been 102 fractions. >> it can happen in any ethnic area given the fact that they are expanding their presence their control, in almost everth nick areas that they have ceased fire. >> reporter: there could be serious implications for neighboring countries as the arms struggles continue. the prolonged fighting between the armies and the government has meant that hundreds of thousands of people have left the country, not just to china, but also here in thailand. there are possible political

consequences too. this is a crucial election year a test of the true depth of reform in myanmar, but the ballot can't be held in areas under marshall law. al jazeera has sought a reaction from myanmar's government on the recent events but so far they have not responded. moving on thailand's former prime minister has been charged for negligence in a rice scheme. the thai supreme court will decide next month whether she will stand trial. security has been stepped up across pakistan following the taliban attack on a school last year. 150 people mostly students died in the violence. over the past four decades there have been similar attacks on schools in pakistan and anywhere

else in the world. snipers are now seen on roof tops and some teachers have been carrying guns to the classrooms. >> reporter: after the deadly attack on the public school the government put in new security measures to enable the institutions to meet the threats. the taliban have warned of more such attacks. and that has prompted the police to in part basic weapon handling and tactics to the teachers in order for them to be able to meet the first crucial minutes of any attack and feel that they have some security. now the police action force will be on stand by. the government hascalled on weapons to now be carried by teachers and the boundary walls will have to be raised by several feet and

of course topped off with razor wire and the fact that everybody will be told to remain vigilant including the teachers and public at large to report any suspicious activity. >> but putting these security arrangements now we feel that college teaching learning environment have become more safe, and our students and faculty feel that they can learn in a very conducive learning environment. >> reporter: these are tense times in pakistan but the authorities are adamant that they will meet whatever basic security measures are needed to protect their educational institutions. thousands of people in india have been infected are swine flu with more than 660 killed so far. that's more than double the death toll from last year. and the outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down.

>> reporter: swine flu has filled medical clinic and hospital wards across india. already this year the h1n1 virus has killed more than 600 people, and over 8,000 have tested positive. >> there's no cause for panic. but there is cause for worry, and we have to be careful and keep track of this because usually, usually, the season ends by this time as the temperature increases, but this time unfortunately, it hasn't done so yet. >> reporter: swine flu has claimed the largest number of lives in two states but cases have also been confirmed far north and northeast. the health authorities say the air-born nature of the illness, and dense population of india's towns and cities means outbreaks like this are hard to contain.

increase has health workers here worried. they have decided to take preventative action now. that means educating millions of people particularly the poor about the illness and what symptoms to look out for. with cases rising by the day, health workers say they are struggling to reach people fast enough. >> translator: people have very little knowledge of this disease. they take it to be a regular fever. they take genetic fever medicines and do not get the right anything -- diagnosis in time. >> reporter: awareness has grown particularly among the wealthy, and so too have the number of people coming forward to be tested. while some expects say that is good others fear drain on resources. >> there's potentially more

panic. only patients who have [ inaudible ] disorder like hypertensive or pregnant women, or chest infections et cetera they need to be treated, or they need to be taken more care of. >> reporter: doctors have been careful not to call have an epidemic but what the authorities describe as a seasonal outbreak is again testing india's health system. it also highlights the vulnerability of millions of people. peter greste was in london on wednesday night to accept an award from the royal television society. they honored peter along with mohammed fahmy and baher mohamed, the three al jazeera journalists were held in jail in egypt. peter says he was truly humbled to accept it. barnaby phillips reports. [ cheers and applause ]

>> reporter: from an egyptian prison, to london, for peter greste it has been a whirlwind two and a half weeks. ♪ [ applause ] >> reporter: how different to the courtroom and prison where he spent all of last year. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: peter's enjoyed his release, tempered by the knowledge that his colleagues must still fight their case in an egyptian court. >> it weighs on me enormously. i left them behind in prison. that was a very difficult moment for me. we always knew it was -- it was possibility. we discussed it at the time and we all acknowledged that this would be the right thing to do. but still to leave them behind they have effectively been my brother, the people i have lived to closely with for the past 400

days, was very very difficult. >> reporter: journalists in britain, as in so many other countries across the world, have campaigned for the release of the al jazeera three. >> we believe we must be allowed to do what we do. ask questions tell the stories about issues that matter. the hashtag that around the world, journally. is not a crime, but must not stop saying it. >> it could have been any one of us. and it's the principal that journalists are not terrorists. we're there to tell a story as honestly as we can. and when something like that happens, everybody, whatever organization they are from whether they are -- you know british or egyptian or south african, some together to defend a principal. >> reporter: 2015 will no doubt be another challenging year for journalists in many countries,

but if anything positive has come out of this case it's a this sense of solidarity for those who seek to explain our troubled world. changing tacts now, and it is awards season in the u.s. and hollywood is gearing up for sunday's annual academy awards but the spotlight is firmly on l.a. county's war veterans. phil lavelle tells us why they are big news at this year's oscars. >> we have a solemn responsibility to provide our veterans and wounded warriors with the care and benefits they have earned when they come home. >> reporter: that was the promise, but the reality -- >> then why the hell are you making things so damn hard. >> reporter: mike served in iraq survived bombings saw friends die, and they are still dying. it's posttraumatic stress disorder which is taking them

now. >> now that it is hitting on a global scale, more veterans are killing themselves now than they ever have been. refeel remorse, you know what i mean? it kills us. >> reporter: ptsz big news in hollywood this year "american sniper" is in focus right now, because the man on trial was it's claimed suffering from the disorder. and there's a strong dose of reality in the best documentary shorts category. this film a stark look at the men and women who man telephone help lines, talking suicidal war veterans out of killing themselves. there are around 22 million war veterans in the united states. in fact their represent just under 10% of this country's homeless population. los angeles county has the highest concentration, and it is a hugely political issue. the mayor has vowed to get them

off of the streets and into a home by the end of this year alone. they are 50% more likely to commit suicide than non-veterans especially within three years of returning home. as for mike there have been dark times, but it is getting easier he says that is down to bain who never leaves his side and helped save his life. >> i had already planned out how i was going to exit this world. he got on the knife and shrugged down a little bit. so i'm screaming at him, get off of the knife, and he didn't do it. he looked at me and i broke down started crying and grabbed him real close and promised i would never do it again. and i told him i was in pain. and thank you. >> reporter: the oscars may help show ptsd to the wider world,

many will still struggle in silence. for mike at least, he is trying to close the door on his experience. phil lavelle, al jazeera, california. a quick reminder you can always keep up to date with all of the latest news and analysis on our website, at aljazeera.com. tells us what works and why the west win doesn't seem to know the difference. muse, treatment and tripping. >> masterful mystery tour pack to the 60's. >> and later, gaming with a purpose, a else's shoes. what it means to experience the news.