late night talks between greece and its creditors break down after a day of disagreements. you're watching al jazeera. coming up the man sentenced to death for the boston marathon bombing apologizes for the first time. >> victory for climate change campaigners. a court orders the dutch government to meet its carbon cutting target. nepal's government is appealing for billions of dollars to help rebuild the country after devastating

earthquakes. greece says it won't accept anymore cuts than it's already offered. now, the declaration comes after late night talks with its creditors broke down in brussels. last ditch efforts to stop greece from defaulting on an imf loan payment are due to resume thursday morning. >>reporter: the future of greece is decided. the prime minister arrived in brussels with barely a word. not a shred of warmth. all the concessions offered were not enough for his country's creditors of the european central bank and international monetary fund.

they want either more cuts or more taxes or both. and there's no way on earth he can sell all that to his supporters back home. >> we're in a process of conversations, making progress but there are still some issues to be resolved. >> don't measure the value of the agreement in prices. obviously it's about politics and money. i would be very positively surprised if we would get a deal tonight. there's been a lot of back and forth between the technical and political level. we have not seen a concrete proposal yet. >>reporter: back in the country which gave the world the philosophy of stoicism. nothing shocks anymore. >> i think the situation will improve but we'll still go

through a difficult time. >> it's better the way we are. even if it means we are a bit strapped. at least this way a path leads somewhere. there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. >>reporter: bear in mind too that the bill athens is trying to pay now is less than a third of what it's supposed to pay back over this year. it's impossible really to see how they can conceivably do it. creditors expect greece's economy to grow when the debts are leaving people more and more impoverished.

lawrence lee, al jazeera. brussels. the islamic state of iraq appears to be reinforcing its syrian strong hold of racca after losing ground to kurdish fighters. isil fighters have begun digging trenches around the city. meanwhile, a u.s. senate committee has been told that the battle to defeat isil will take years. alan fisher has the story. >>reporter: from the panel of the american strategy is the right one, it's just not enough. >> the best option is -- indigenous ground forces are required to beat this enemy in a lasting way. however, the ways and means currently applied are inadequate. >>reporter: barack obama has been avoiding putting combat

troops into the battle with isil instead sending them as advisors and coordinators. there's is suggestion america needs a bigger commitment. >> are we in this or not? is this our war or not? if it is we need to be prepared to have our people serve along side the iraqis. >>reporter: the subcommittee has been examining the -- >> we don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place. how that training takes place. so the details of that are not yet worked out. >>reporter: while there's no -- there's a warning that successes have to be backed up. >> sunnis are making life and death calculations about which side to support and if they see

that -- if they believe that after rising up against isis six months from now isil will be back. they're not going to do that. therefore, there needs to be a consistent perception of progress being made. >>reporter: the white house will have these arguments before and listen to any recommendations the committee wants to make but the policy for the fight against isil is being driven by the president and for a moment there is no change. u.s. president barack obama has announced a new policy in americans being held hostage. the government says it will work with the families of the hostages and negotiate directly with the captors but will still not pay ran somes. >> the boston marathon bomber has apologized. the attack in 2013 killed three people and injured 264 others.

he has now been formally sentenced to death. >>reporter: for the first time since police named him as one of the people responsible for the boston marathon bombings two years ago, he spoke publicly saying to the court i'm sorry for the lives i've taken and he said i pray for your relief for your healing, well being, and for your strength. before he finished his statement, he asked allah to bestow mercy on him and his family. >> i wish he had done it before. you know i think it was too late. >>reporter: not all survivors feel the same way. >> i did feel very reassured that he acknowledged our suffering. >>reporter: his words came just a couple of hours after gut wrenching victim statements. many talked about their physical

loss and emotional losses. many still suffer from nightmares, flash backs, and panic attacks. the family of the youngest victim, martin richard who wanted the jury to give him life instead of death so he would be forced to reflect on the crime he committed said this he could have stopped his brother, he chose hate he chose destruction, he chose death. throughout all of the statements, he stared blankly at the floor. the final victim to speak was rebecca gregory who refuses to call herself a victim. she was the only speaker to face him and look directly at him

when she said terrorists like you create mass destruction and you know what mass destruction really does it brings people together. we are boston strong. we are america strong. so how's that for your victim impact statement? in the u.s. a prison guard has been arrested after two convicted murders broke free from a new york state jail. he is accused of conspireing to smuggle tools into the prison. the convicted murders escaped from the clinton correctional facility after cutting holes in the steel walls of their cell. palmer is the second prison employee to be arrested. france has announced plans for a new widespread surveillance law. the government has voted to legalize large scale monitoring of suspected so-called extremists. critics say the law will allow

the authorities to collect massive amounts of data. the secretary of state has been trying to allay fears that the united states is tapping the communications of its allies. france is said to be outraged that revelations that the u.s. has been monitoring calls and e-mails of three french presidents. >> i don't even know what the date is that it starts at. i'm just telling you point blank we are not and will not target the conversations of any friendly president. anybody that i know of. and certainly not the president of france or the french ministry. that is not happening for the first time a court has ruled that a government has a legal responsibility to protect citizens from climate change.

>>reporter: the court's verdict essentially declares the dutch government's climate targets illegal illegal illegal. it was great news for supporters of the case. >> it's now obvious that the judges in the netherlands feel that liability law has a role to play in addressing the climate problem. >>reporter: the landmark ruling says the dutch government must protect its people from the effects of climate change and its current plans don't go far enough. it says the state must do more to avet the imminent danger caused by climate change. also it's must protect and improve the living environment. the state is responsible for effectively controlling the dutch emission levels.

moreover, the cost is not high. >> we are the first in the world to do this. all the countries are looking at us. they're watching. this will really be helpful for everything. >> the case could set an important legal precedent with similar ones being prepared in other european countries and the eu targeting cuts of 40% by 2030. the dutch government has not yet commented on the verdict and it does have the right to appeal the decision. bob wood is from the research institute on climate change and the environment at the london school of economics and he says the ball is now in

the dutch government's court. >> the 886 citizens and agenda brought this action on the basis of human rights and argued that dutch citizens are threatened by the impacts of climate change and the dutch government has a duty to protect its citizens and it clearly wasn't doing enough. the dutch government argued that because action on climate change needs to be carried out around the world, it didn't need to be anymore ambitious but that argument hasn't really worked and as i mentioned, the dutch were planning to be less ambitious than the average in tex u. the message is clear that the dutch government has to do more. and the court also pointed out it's not going to cost very much more in order to be more ambitious. lots of measures will

essentially pay for themselves. so it's really an issue of political will hungary's plans to build a wall across its border with serbia to stop people from coming over. and we're in the southern philippines where a new generation of child soldiers is emerging and they're more violent than ever before.

>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. quick recap now on al jazeera's top stories and talks between greece and its creditors

will resume on thursday after late night negotiations failed to make progress. greece could default on a $1.7 billion payment due next week and risk being pushed out of the euro zone. the islamic state of iraq appears to be reinforcing its syrian strong hold of raqqa. isil fighters have begun digging trenches around the city. the boston marathon bomber has apologized to victims of the 2013 attack in a court hearing where he was sentenced to death in armenia, plans to -- armenia's only power supplier is controlled by russia and protesters accuse it of taking advantage of its monopoly. >>reporter: it's optimistic and

relaxed. people generally want to see an end to corruption and the monopoly. protesters say this is not about a protest against russia. it's a protest against the russian company that his gone too far and has a monopoly on electricity here. they are implementing a 16% price hike and people here cannot afford it. one-third of the population live below the poverty line. the other day police tried to fire water cannons at protesters

>> britain is taking steps to tighten border controls in response to the hundreds of migrants who have taken advantage of a strike by ferry workers. people have been trying to cross the channel by illegally riding on trucks heading for britain. britain says it may increase the number of patrols and dog teams at the border to stop them from getting in meanwhile, hungary has made a u turn on its policy for illegal immigrants. it says it will allow them to come in but will have to deal with the backlog and they will also build a fence on the border. >>reporter: they could be tears of pain or relief or exhaustion. they've traveled crossing borders by any means, fleeing civil war in syria for the safety of the european union.

this is the welcome they get. another group arrested this time from pakistan. they've just walked from serbia into hungary. where do you want to go to? >> italy, spain. >> why? >> working. >>reporter: the dense forest provides good cover here and most escape the local rangers who follow their tracks through the woods. the government of hungary plans to build a fence to seal this 175 kilometer stretch of border a new iron curtain, a necessary solution to stop the influx of

what the mayor says are muslim asylum seekers. >> we're talking about a different culture, a world that will collide with our christian civilization. >>reporter: the rangers are the mayor's men with police powers and weapons. >> i'm not happy about the iron curtain because i see it from my farmhouse. i feel like i'm in jail but it is necessary because i'm worried that migration will push hungary into conflict and terrorism. >>reporter: these people hardly resemble terrorists. this man lost his sister and her two daughters in the chase. they've made it into the

european union only just. this group of men from syria, women and children are also in the police van. they're all in the hands now of the police here and they'll be handed over shortly to immigration authorities who will decide whether or not to grant them asylum. most of these people will be housed in an open refugee camp able to come and go meaning most will resume their journey westward soon to become another country's problem. people living near shanghai in china protested over news that an approximate toe chemical plant was being built in their neighborhood. 5,000 people protested outside a government building on wednesday night. some relief in southern pakistan as temperatures are finally starting to drop. more than 800 people have died since the region's worst heat

wave. an international donor conference is being held in kathmandu -- almost 9,000 lives and left hundreds of thousands homeless. so far, only $150 million has been given to the government to help rebuild. >>reporter: visitors just outside kathmand have been waiting for the government to build temporary homes. rains have started. with the help of private donors some homes have a roof. residents say if the government had been more helpful, they would have more housing by now. >> with the foreign groups trying to help us they have

been struggling with authorizations they need from the government. the government has not even given us $150 promised by the date. the government should look to encourage foreigners offering help by regulating and monitoring their work. >>reporter: government leaders announced anyone who wants to help their relief efforts had to go through the prime minister's front. construction. a few days before the conference, the government announced a new body a special authority. >> we are now creating a special

authority. and even to simply hide. with this authority given by the prime minister special authority and implemented by the government and outside the government. i think any concern about government and management would be the result. >> over the past two months long standing international development partners have also been criticized as well as the government. now both sides are hoping to move forward in the spirit of collaboration. >> the international community hopes that it's possible.

it's very clear standard operating procedures. mechanisms for accountability and transparency. >>reporter: villagers are not holding their breath and say that life has to go on. with or without government help. but they want to have a say in how their village will be reconstructed. >> the southern region of the philippines has been plagued by violence for decades. several armed groups operate in the area and they're recruiting children. in the second part of our special series from the southern philippines, we report on the battle to save a new generation of child soldiers. >>reporter: he's been living a quiet life but he says his past remains just as vivid. he was a child soldier at the

age of 12 encouraged by his four brothers who were parts of the first recruits of an armed group operating in southern philippines. years later he's too afraid to show his face. >> what happened to me is done. i can't go back to it now. but i don't want my children to go through what i went through. >> he grew up in an island in the most southern part of the philippines held back by poverty and armed rebellion. >> the number of child soldiers recruited here is still unknown. the government admits the problem has remained in the back burner for too long and as a result a new generation of rebels has emerged. ♪♪ >>reporter: in this exclusive video, a new group of fighters is presented. and they are getting younger.

they're called sons of martyrs because most of their fathers were also members of this group and were killed fighting the government. some of these recruits are as young as 14 years of age. according to the philippine military, they're involved in kidnapping exing torsion, and terrorism and are far more violent than previous fighters because they're also involved in illicit drugs. they say there was no escaping their future. >> we're trying to save the next generation. we cannot save the present generation because they already have their experiences since the 70s. they grew up in war. so what we're trying to do is to cut the cycle and try to save this generation from experiencing war and giving them

hope. >>reporter: these children also come from the villages -- but for these boys from warring communities, futbol is now a unifying symbol. most of them are also back in school. this center has been organized by the community. for the first time children here have an idea of what it's like to be a normal child. their parents are grateful. they hope that this means their children will grow up playing with toys instead of guns. and in part three of our series from the special reports from the southern philippines, we find out how a local tradition is giving women a chance to rebuild their lives. that's on friday right here on al jazeera. in colombia, a mother and her baby boy have been found alive several days after the plane they were in crashed in the jungle. they were rescued on wednesday.

search teams found the doors of the plane open and suspected survivors had climbed out. it took several days to find them. they've been taken to hospital with only minor injuries. you can always get to our website at aljazeera.com for the latest news. >> on "america tonight": special correspondent soledad o'brien, brings us the story of an american hero who stared death in the face to bring back a fallen comrade in vietnam. >> you take every effort to get surrounded. you doing what you got to do. that's it. >> is that your motto? >> that is my motto, do what you got to do. >> also tonight. >> if there's an ep disemmic that's growing why would the