>> venezuela-u.s. relations deteriorate. caracas recalls its top diplomat after washington declares it a national security threat. welcome to al jazeera, live from our headquarters no doha. i'm elizabeth puranam, also ahead. the coalition against boko haram makes headway. forces recapture two towns in north-east nigeria. jordan hands out harsh prison sentences to those joining around groups in syria, and

republican senators in the u.s. write a letter to iran saying the nuclear deal pushed by president obama will not last long the united states has declared venezuela a national security threat and imposed sanctions on seven venezuela officials. it's a sharp downturn in a tense relationship between washington and caracas. late last month venezuelan president announced meshesures to limit documents here. rosalind jordan has more from washington d.c. >> a worsening economy, and security forces cracking down. in light of the arrest of nicolas maduro's political aappointsa aappointsa aappoints -- political processes.

no travel to the u.s., their assets seized. >> certainly there are sanctions against individuals. separately we put out information about what will be required to travel to venezuela in terms of visas, given restrictions in place. there's a couple of things happening at once. nicolas maduro accused the u.s. of overthrowing the government. mentored by chavez, made to popular acclaim. with the price of oil falling, more venezuelans are blaming the president. the u.s. senate that wrote the law authorising sanctions praised obama saying:

caracas in washington has been fighting over the number of u.s. documents in venezuela. the madura government says documents are spies and wants most of them to leave. president nicolas maduro has responded by appointing one of those officials. as the new minister of the interior. the u.s. is trying to topple his government. >> president obama put himself into a box with no way out. he has decided that he wants to be remembered in future like jay nixon and president bush. president obama, you don't have

a right to attack venezuela or declare that it is a threat to the people of united states. you are a threat. you decide to kill, to finance terrorism in the world. >> other news. a joint offensive by troops against boko haram retook two towns in north-eastern nigeria, they recaptured two towns, killing hundreds of boko haram fighters. they crossed into borno state in north-eastern nigeria. this is the latest offense of countries inside nigeria. on friday they approved the creation of a regional force with 8,000 soldiers. we have been following the developments from the nigerian capital ab uma. usualing -- abuja. >> this is a huge victory for regional forces. so far the coalition forces reclaimed more than 30 towns and villages from boko haram. to chad niger and cameroon

recapturing the trades is crucial. there's the fear for the economy, and that the group, if left unchecked will expand its area under control and become a bigger threat to the region. and nigeria, which has been unable to crash boko haram says it has the hardware for a military victory. >> our government has taken the steps long enough to ensure equipment arrives. they take the decision and the challenge. because of the nature of the approach, we have the equipment at this time. >> the military asked in february for six weeks to clear the north-east to boko haram fighters for elections to be held. the offensive against boko haram forced the group to resort to

the old tactic of suicide bombing. attacks killed more than 50 and injured 100. the group's leader placed allegiance to i.s.i.l., and this is causing concern in the region especially nigeria. >> to the extent that my country will be taken over by incidents and a group of people i'm not worried. >> many here want a quick victory before groups like i.s.i.l. come in. friday, the african union endorsed a fours of 8,000 troops to combat boko haram. this is expected to strengthen the effort of a task force taking on boko haram. nigerian forces are gaining ground in the fight against boko haram. they have retaken areas seized by the group. and military says it will son

wipe out boko haram. >> we have reclaimed all captured territories. as we are speaking it is just a few areas to be recovered. shortly it will be recovered. so normalcy has been restored. iraqi forces are facing strong resistance as they try to retake the area from tikrit. the battle is crucial in an advance towards mosul, a second-largest city that has been under-i.s.i.l. control. this video is from alalam. iraqi forces took over the area which was under i.s.i.l. control for months. i.s.i.l. fighters have set fire to some oil fields to try to divert the attention of government forces. meanwhile, kurd forces are

attacking i.s.i.l. positions around an oil-rich city. the kurds have been advancing from several areas, seizing villages. the city is under control. i.s.i.l. controls areas around it. in baghdad, u.s. and iraqi commanders does kuffed joint efforts to destroy i.s.i.l. >> i.s.i.l. will be defeated when it can't move around with impunity when supply lines are cut. that is happening right now at great sacrifice by iraqi security force, and coalition members. >> we are fully convinced that mosul is the last stronghold for the terrorists, and they'll fight fiercely there'll be fierce resistance in this province. >> in syria bombs dropped by

government forces have killed more people. civilians have died and many have been injured. it's one of many cases tart by barrel bombs despite u.s. security councils. also a camp with plil yin refugees has been hit by shelling. four people inside the camp believe to have been killed and 20 others have been injured. >> armed groups in syria, like i.s.i.l. and al nusra front are made up of fighters. most never return home, but those who do face harsh prison sentences. we have this report from a recruiting ground for fighters. >> reporter: this man fought in syria for five months when he returned home he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. he was with a group allied with al nusra front. he was found guilty of joining a

terrorist organization. his father said it came about when the armed groups fought each other. he called one day and said he wanted to come home. his mothers and siblings insisted it be returned he said he wanted to come back because of free syrian army and al nusra front were fighting each other and decided he wanted to fight for free. >> pt southern departure shocked his family. it was through facebook from his home that he connected with the syrian fighter. he used moneys his parents had given him, paid fees to buy a plane ticket. from there he got to syria, when he returned to jordan he was arrested at the airport. more that 2,000 jordanian fighters in syria came from across the country. the most from any single area.

>> it is the home town of former al qaeda and iraq and home to other fighters like hum. whilst poverty and unemployment pushed religious men who don't feel marginalized many also decide to leave their stable lives and families behind motivated by their belief in establishing an islamic state. >> many selafis see syria as a launching bad for their project to erase borders from the region and impose law. for men growing, fighting and conflict is a career path. others blame government areas that made government home to fighters. >> it is the home of poor people. most that leave have no jobs no

education, many are deprived of jobs, and with no future martyrdom is the goal and priority of these men. >> reporter: his father hopes a court appeal will reduce his sentencing saying his sons was distorted and misled by the ball the. >> four people have been detained including a police woman over attacks in january. they are expected to have links to coulibaly, who took hostages. there's no word on connection to the kouachi brothers who killed five people at the "charlie hebdo" magazine. authorities say all signs point to the fact that more and more heroin is entering the u.s. from mexico. coming up we look at what border agents are doing to stop that

harassed standing up for one's rights, we'll have more from an artist forced to do no hiding.

good to have you with us i'm elizabeth puranam in doha these are the top sorry the united states declared venezuela a national security threat and imposed sanctions soeften venezuelan -- seven venezuelan officials. the venezuelan president says president obama is trying to topple his governments. soldiers have retaken two towns

from north-eastern nigeria. boko haram had control of the town since november. iraqi forces have taken over the town of alalam. it was under i.s.i.l. control for many months they still face resistance from other areas. republicans in the united states are taking a stab at scuttling a deal with iran and they are doing it in an unusual way. a white house correspondent patty culhane has the story. >> first the white house tried to scuttle negotiations with iran inviting a foreign leader to criticize the u.s. president's policy to a joint meeting of congress. the upper house now is giving it a go. releasing an upper letter to the iranian leadership giving a kind of civics lesson saying her only making a deal with the

current president, not the united states writing that president obama leaves office in january 2017: president obama accused the opposition party of trying to kill the deal. >> it's somewhat ironic to see some members of congress wanting to make common cause with the hard liners in iran. it's an unusual coalition. republicans have made it clear, they don't want to make a deal leaving iran with nuclear capability. >> the u.n. if they fail to contain it and one day they get a bomb when they say they are not trying to build a dom - i think they are lying

right now the white house are thinking they can make a deal without the approval of congress. some in congress believe they can change that. it's not sure if they have the votes to make it a reality. >> iran responded to the open letter in a statement. and said: moving to libya, forker general khalifa haftar has been sworn in as the army chief by an internationally recognised government in tobruk. the ceremony took place, it is controlled by rival militias. >> reporter: to a rival

government with the bagging of the courts the khalifa haftar is a war criminal. he has been leading a fight against the revolutionaries in benghazi since last year. and as he was, will continue battling terrorism. >> we will continue fighting terrorism all over the country until it is eliminated so the people can live in peace. >> while libyan rivals are trying to form a national unity government, through the united nations sponsored talks, and khalifa haftar supporters are rely on him to set up military institutions many libyans believe the promotion will lead to more bloodshed. >> the appointment of khalifa haftar as the general commander and promoting him to brigadier general adds to a dominant role in keeping militants in all the

battle fronts. meanwhile the air crafts have to continue the attacks. the latest tart was the main airport. and continuing khalifa haftar's forces. and the council of revolutionaries. under the name of operation dignity. it's taken its toll on his troops. >> most of the fighters are wasted by the war. we are not an army united by our will. many questions have been raised. and they may continue war against enemies, fear is rising that this can tern into military escalation hurting efforts to end the crisis. >> yemen's so-called communities have managed to retake a city in

the southern province from al qaeda. three people were killed this the fighting. al qaeda fighters received control of the city. saudi arabia - they say it has accepted requests by the president to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in yemen. it's not clear if the houthis will take part in the court. a top leader accused the saudis of trying to destabilize yes ren. >> an olympic boxer has died in a helicopter crash in north western argentina. the sport stars are amok 10 people killed when two helicopter collided mid air during filming for a reality control. weather conditions at the time were good, and the cause of the crash is being investigated. it's one of the biggest challenges facing drug enforcement authorities in the united states. how to control the surge of cheep hoir.

it's believed that during cartels control smuggling. they use exiting distribution for crystal meth cocaine and marijuana. and seizures of heroin have tripled in the past five years. border agents have told al jazeera so it's a tiny fraction was brought over the borders. it can be carried in smaller amounts strapped to the bodies of individuals crossing the border. >> the second part on a series of the corridor. adam raney reports from the u.s. mexican border. you can put in heroin from here. >> reporter: they call it the trophy room where officers are taught how to spot drugs secreted in cars on the way to the lucrative market. >> soft drink bottles, gas tank and firewood used to stash

heroin. on the job officers have a few minutes to decide if a vehicle could be searched. it's clear that heroin, coming from mexico is the biggest challenge right now. >> we have seized doubled the amount of heroin that we did the entire year last year and we are only, what six months of the first call year. >> alerted to a drug certainlyingure, this time on the road into the united states. this is a special ate with homeland security. the task to dismantle smug lick rings. he's seeing the same pattern. >> in 2012 we have 5 kilos, and 2014, 200, there's a weapon inside the vehicle. his team intercepts every day like they did when he rode with them. it doesn't stop the flood of heroin that swapped american

towns and cities feeding a boom and direction. with so much funny in play the cartels are watching two. >> that will be separated by the border fence. as you can see. those buildings, the houses the residences have a direct line of flight into the operations of the port of entry. they can see what is going on who has been in who is leaving. >> smugglers told us there's many ways to get their drugs past the wall. sometimes tunnelling under it. sometimes walking across. >> and heroin is so valuable you don't have to take it over the border in cars. more and more are walking it from mexico to the united states. sometimes it's strapped to old people's bodies and young children. >> custom homeland security and local police with a dozen agencies tasked stopping the

flow of heroin. some on the front lines admit the battle cannot be run because the market is insatiable. >> from every pound that we stop from coming into the united states. there's 100 pounds more that we don't stop. it's a drop in the bucket. >> the deputy says he's one of those on the last line of defense before drugs pass the border area, a route that delivers heroin for users across america there has been protests in the knapp ollie capital after two girls were attacked. according to a report gender based violence has increased by 33% in five years. the only public space in the city are two buses running during peak hours. we have more for several days young people have been rallying to

support three young women who were attacked with acid last week. >> the punishment is a fine of $20 and 4-month sentence. this is all that the government will charge. >> as attacks are rare in the past. and this incident provoked renewed discussion on violence. according to a study gender base violence increased by 33% in five years. the current state of impunity might have something to do with increasing violence criminals are let off easily on bail, and that added confidence to criminals. most cases of gender base violence are never reported. >> there are no places where they can feel safe. public places are dominated. in public transport it is worse.

>> i feel like one guy standing to the back of me it was rubbing towards me. a private bus service, perhaps the only public space in the city where women can travel without feeling harassed. we are planning to expand the routes around the city the government has to see how to expand this. so far the bus service only reaches to women travelling on to routes in peak hours. while the service has been appreciated. solutions to stopping attacks is in changing attitudes, not segregating men and women. >> an artist has gone into hiding after a daring protest against sexual harassment. he walked through the capital in an iron sued. it was one of mean emoted rites.

>> this woman was four when molested by a stranger. it was on the street and the first of many such attacks. she remembers wishing her underwear was made of iron. 20 years later, she's making the point in the most public way possible. walking through a part of kabul where he says she was actually harassed as an adult. many were outraged by the protest. >> i had people saying "are you ashamed of your sexual parts?", >> reporter: some in the crowd threw stones. many afghan women enjoy a lifetime of being pinched and prodded by strangers.

abuse is common. eight out of ten afghan women experience physical or psychological abuses. women's rites have improved. not quickly enough for some. like this group who donned pushingers last week to demand an end to the crimes. >> take care of afghan women, don't accuse them or treat them in a bad way. >> reporter: they don't have to hide. cubra on the other hand has received death threats and is reported to have left her home in cab ute out of fear now, a wedding ring belonging to a british pilot killed in world war ii was handed to his family at a ceremony in albania. it was handed to his sister. she received a box containing pieces of his plane that crashed in albania in 1944.

a local man found the artefacts 55 years ago. before he died he asked his son to find the owners family just a reminder you can keep up to date with all the news on the website at aljazeera.com. conclude >> one of hillary clinton's wall street donors could cost her in the 2016 race for president. especially in the democratic primaries, the robots stealing your job should you do anything to change it? and better yet, should you?