>> regional neighbors help attack boko haram and recapture the town of damasak. also coming up in the program iraqi forces drive out isil in a key tune in the city of tikrit. greece meets with finance ministers in brussels, and cycling governing body admits they covered up lance armstrong's positive drug tests.

soldiers from niger and chad have joined the fight against bomb in boko haram in nigeria. they helped to retake the town of damasak in borno. this is latest offensive by neighboring countries inside nigeria. on friday the the africa union reinforced the contingent with 8,000 troops from cameroon and benin. >> security forces have confirmed that the town of damasak has been arrested from boko haram's control. troops acrossed into nigeria yesterday supported by air and ground forces and then arrested control in other areas as we speak. now sources say that the battle

has been fierce and a lot of people have been killed, many fighters on the side of the boko haram have been killed. now with this development especially in the states of born o and yurba it has been shrinking. there is likelihood that boko haram will be pushed back if not defeated completely. but there is fear that boko haram will resort to its old tactic of launching gorilla guerrilla warfare. >> protest against "n" aleppo against cease-fire in the city.

>> this is what the united nations was hoping to stop. but it has failed to freeze a conflict in syria's second largest city. barrel bombs have been killed hundreds of people in recent months. >> more than a million used to live in the rebel areas. now there is 300,000. there was mass exodus because there was a time when dozens of people were dying every day. >> the syrian government told the envoy that it would temporarily stop air and military bombardment on the city. the opposition rejected that deal. >> it has been a difficult process from the start the

warring sides this agreed on the scope of the u.n. proposed cease-fire. the government wanted it to be limited to the city. the opposition wanted to extend across the aleppo countryside all the way to the turkish border. interest was no agreement. the u.n. tried to save the initiative by suggesting a trial cease-fire in one of the battleground districts in the city. >> but the people accuse the u.n. of caving in to the demands of the government. they want a comprehensive settlement that would involve the government stepping down and aqueous fire that would be enforced across syria. >> first we wanted to free the fighting in a aleppo province. then just the city and now just the district. we reject the initiative.

we reject the leadership. >> the u.n. can only do so much without the backing of regional and international players who support the warring sides. al jazeera beirut. >> meanwhile u.s.-led coalition airstrikes on syria have hit an oil refinery controlled by isil. it's in the northeast near the turkish border. 30 people are reported to have been killed in the strike, including refinery workers and isil fighters. the fight against isil continues in iraq. government forces are still facing strong resistence as they try to retake the northern city of tikrit. the battle is crucial for iraqi forces in their advance against isil. these are the latest pictures from the town alalam just 18 kilometers from tikrit. iraqi forces say they've liberated the area and isil

fighters have set fire to some oil fields to try to confuse government forces. as part of the iraqi armies advance on isil-held positions troops have begun to amass outside of the town of anbar province, trying to push forward to the city of fallujah. fallujah has been under isil control for several months. [ gunfire ] meanwhile kurdish forces are attacking else positions in kirkuk in northern iraq. fighters have been advancing in several areas, seizing villages as they go. the city itself is under kurdish control, but isil still control some areas nearby. and the influential iraqi shia cleric said that his militia will help in the offensive to recapture mosul from isil. his forces fought against the u.s. military after the 2003 invasion of iraq, but now his

fighters may work with american forces. juan coal is an expert on middle eastern history and he asked that the u.s. not be involved in the campaign. >> this is not unprecedented. the peace brigades as they call them, i have been involved in operations in the past, last fall where the u.s. gave close air support, but he suspended his militia operations in mid-february after the assassination of sunni tribal leaders in baghdad. apparently he's having problems with discipline. he has announced he wants to join the fight in isil and he has called on the u.s. not to participate in that campaign. >> there are a series of attacks

targeting huty fighting. seven huty fighters were killed. and the arab league foreign ministers meet in cairo. a political analyst and fellow of middle eastern studies. >> the consensus is that the national security requirements of yemen the territorial integrity of the country must be maintained at all cost. we'll see a prolong prolonged series of negotiations to find out whether or not some kind of negotiations could be started

once again but both sides are holding on to very strong positions, and they're not willing to concede. the league of arab states are going to want it to occur some place in the region, but that's a toss up, and nobody really knows what's going to happen. >> russia eyes the man accused of being the main perpetrator in the murder of opposition leader boris nemtsov. he has confessed to the murder. he's one of five people suspected of in the involvement of the shooting ten days ago. shooting five days ago. 40 miners died in the disaster in donetsk that is blamed on the probably build up of gas. the owner has been mine director

has been arrested. egypt said its ready for foreign investors but is it violating human rights. >> as the government tries to revive its property market, i'm reporting from the town of yingkou. it has buildings it has roads. it just doesn't have people. hi, i'm matt mccoy. how long have you had your car insurance?

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>> there's more to financial news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, could striking workers in greece delay your retirement? i'm here to make the connections to your money real. >> "real money with ali velshi". tonight at 10:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. a. >> hello again welcome back.

a reminder of the stop stories. regional neighbors have joined nigeria in the fight against boko haram. residents from the rebel-held area of aleppo are protesting against the u.n. plan for a temporary cease-fire in the city. but both sides could not agree on what would be involved. it comes as syria enters war in the fifth year. now let's take you to where a giant solar powered plane

. it's wider than a 747 but weighs as much as a car. two swiss pilots will take turn to fly over the next five months. there go. landed inland for the first leg done. now greece is clamping down on tax dodgers to help pay its debts. the government wants to convince the eurozone that it's proposed reforms are enough for creditors to restart loans. they're discussing those reforms as they meet for the first time since an agreement was reached to extend the greek bail out. >> two years ago an anonymous whistleblower left customs documents on the door step.

they show that some of the companies in the petro business could not account for the delivery of thousands of tons of fuel. fuel that was effectively lost, along with the tax that should have been paid on it. papers had been drawn up for a court case into tax fraud which never happened. these documents were hid no one draws for years. they didn't come to trial. this is one way of taking care of business when faced with indictments, stuffing things in draws until the statute of limitation passes. >> tax is normally paid at i'll refinery unless it's intended for export, shipping or aviation. but that tax free fuel can be diverted back on the the streets of greece. fuel tax brought the government $7 billion more than 12% of its tax revenue. but tax evasion is estimated to cost the government as much as $1.5 billion more. that's equal to almost the entire health budget. >> the new government is rushing through a law to stop it.

>> there is no system of what flows in and out of the storage tanks. in fact, we don't even know how many tanks there are. they don't have the tracking devices. once we put the whole system under surveillance we know that nothing is getting past us. >> the oil refining companies are ordered to fit gauges, but they say they need more time. time now is in short supply. pressure for change is growing. >> tax evasion is connected to corruption. it is corruption that leads this country to bankruptcy and national humiliation. money that is not flowing into state coffers are strengthening other areas of influence. >> well, let's take a look at how far greece has to go to

balance its books. the government's total income in in 2014 was $56 billion. more thanthe 2014 tax revenue was $48 million, leaveing a shortfall of $4 billion. john, this crackdown on tax dodging, it sounds good on paper. can the government make this work? >> it can because it's made progress in the past. it has shown he where there is political war it can make enormous progress. taxes did rise despite the salary shrink but they say it is time for high income earners to pay their fair share. what they're going to do is start comparing bank deposits to

tax declarations. they've already started doing that last year. the independent money laundering authority, that information has now been handed over to the tax authorities, they think they can collect $2.5 billion to $3 billion this year from that work alone. but there is also work to be done on small and medium-sized enterprises on the street. the government is big on clamping down on value-added attacks, vat. the income from vat is simply enormous. of the $48 billion mentioned earlier, the total tax revenue last year, some $15.5 billion was from vat. the government thinks it can significantly raise that income by insureing that merchants issue receipts. it is going to encourage greek taxpayers for a sort of lottery

system whereby they'll receive an award simply by being consciousness. >> and moves like this help greece persuade creditors to give them more loans? because that's what greece needs right now isn't it? >> that is, in the longer term it is. but i think tax collection and clamping down on tax evasion is the one area where this left-wing government here in athens and it's creditors agree. it's just that this government, it's fallen to them to clamp down on the most difficult corner of tax evasion, which is that kind of tax evasion which is large multi national corporations and high network individuals engage in. that requires political will. but this government has unveiled series of proposals a subset of the longer list of proposals

center of the euro group on the 23rd of march. this subset now seems to be focusing on precisely that area. >> john, thanks for that in athens there. now egypt's counting on foreign investors to inject money into its economy. ment some report that egypt is putting foreign investors' interests before it's own people. >> reporter: egypt is hoping that foreign investors will pump money into its struggling economy. the ministry of invest produced this promotionnal video for its economic development conference that begins on friday. but a new report from egyptian center for economic and social right says that egypt's quest for foreign money is violating human

rights damaging the environment, and allowing companies to get away with theft and tax evasion. new laws give multi national companies immunity and shield them from prosecution in the courts when allegations of corruption and embezzlement arise. the center for social rights says that it's crushing workers rights. the government's message to potential invest certificates despite the turmoil since the 2011 revolution, the country is a safe bet. >> it is stable, back and ready to receive investments. >> but bombings have become an increasing threat for egyptians. once confined to targeting police stations and military posts, armed groups are now attacking commercial areas killing and injuring civilians. egypt has implemented some reforms. all foreign companies will now have to pay a 25% tax on profits

but the report says that the country must tip the balance in favor of its citizens, so they can begin reaping more of the benefits of foreign investment. natasha gange al jazeera. >> warplanes reportedly attacked the last functioning airport in the capitol. it's controlled by a rival government based in tripoli. fighting has killed hundreds of people this year. >> the family is in morning mourning. they lost two of their sons. abdul wahab was killed in july. and abdul aziz, a doctor was killed in december. he was triting the wounded when

it was shelled. >> the shelling and. >> the family blames this man former general haftar the appointed army commander of the government of tibruk. his operation known as "dignity" started in may of last year. [ explosion ] his men have taken large swaths of territory and he said's going after fighters in the region linked to isil. his rivals in tripoli are also accused of bombing installations in the east. the anapa family is also torn between sadness and pride. >> abdul wahab was fighting a war. i expected him to be a martyr, but not abdul aziz.

he was treating patients. he was not involved in the fighting. >> it's not difficult to find victim of the violence here. this exhibition documents hundreds of faces and names of people who have died. there are now many front lines across libya. and the fighting has been fierce. many here hope the u.n.-led peace talks in morocco can end the political crisis and this conflict. al jazeera. >> the families of two australians facing execution in indonesia have visited them on death row. it's the first time that the families have seen the men since they were transferred to an island prison, where they're due to be shot. they were arrested in 2006 attempting to smuggle heroin. china's prime minister is looking at ways of stabilizing the property market after a major slump in prices. harry fawcett reports from the potter city of yingkou.

>> there is not much construction going on at the construction site. the state agent said that it's a seasonal pause while the ground is frozen, but she admits they decided not to put any apartments up for sale yet. >> a few years ago some developers ran away with their investors' money. that's why people are nervous. our boss is a local man. he wants to finish everything before selling to try to reassure buyers. >> this is how it's going to look. hopes for government workers perhaps when the local government moves here. but for now there is little more life on the streets of yingkou than there is in the model. the government was having to cover 1 point of billion dollars in bad debt as developments failed. if the present is the future, then there can't be much prospect of getting that money back. so it's sunday afternoon in yingkou's main park, and i've got the place entirely to myself.

the government has been betting on grand projects just like this one. and across china ghost towns just like this one has been emerging as a result. since al jazeera was last in yingkou in the summer, the national government has been trying to tackle the problem of oversupply and falling property prices. but two interest rates cuts later selling property in yingkou has not gotten easier. the bustling old town with sky scrapers up the road. >> the new town is not as convenient as the old town. >> i want to live in the old town. it's more convenient here. the new town is too far away. >> in fact, it's here that you find the successful mega project, one of china's biggest developers is spending nearly $1 billion on a mall, office, and apartment complex 900 apartments sold already. the management said they never would have invested here if they felt that the government was

going to relocate. if the government stays put then yingkou looks resigned to its fate. now the task is to stop the collapse from being repeated across shaky property sector. harry fawcett yingkou china. >> the head of international cycling has admitted that it had actively helped lance armstrong cover up his drug use. >> a sport that has carried a black eye for more than two decades takes another hit. a panel known as the independent reform commission compiling a 227-page report attacking the sporting he body that appointed them to find out how cycling lost it's way. the conclusion was that a culture of doping still exists, and the uci has helped it happen. under particular scrutiny, the

manner in which they allowed lance armstrong get away for doping, and actively covering up a positive test of cortisone in 1999. >> i think it was a demonstration that uci was always going to prioritize the image of the sport over the integrity and honesty of the sport. that was a bad signal given out at that time. frankly, if we didn't have that decision, we would be having a different landscape in our sport at this moment. >> the fight against doping in cycling, and it's a common problem that you see in many sports internationally is that these sports are too close in forming and development of athletes. >> the american was stripped of his seven tour de france titles after admitting to doping in 2013. he spent two days of being interviewed as part of this investigation and issued a

statement saying i'm deeply sorry for many things that i have done, however, it is my hope that revealing the truth will lead a bright dope-free future for the sport i love. brian cookson was brought into power promising a clean slate for the organization. but the report is highly critical of former president pat mcquaid, who will be asked to give up his honor presidency. he's accused of prioritizing image over action. anti-doping policy was, the report says, was to give the impression that the uci was tough on doping rather than actually being good at anti-doping. >> there is a degree of denial in certain cases and they'll face what we're facing up to in this report today. >> cyclists have had many

so-called fresh starts, but this is another test in the long-running battle to restore faith in a clean sport. >> you can keep up to with all the news all the time on our website, 1-855-730-9674 www.aljazeera.com. >> no other sport can kick off mass emotion in indonesia like football, even if the national team languishes near the bottom of world rankings. >> indonesians, they're really crazy. we can see their ranking in fifa is going down, going down, going down. but every game in the stadium, 80,000 people, 90,000 people. >> even local competitions turn