al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... chaising bail only on al jazeera america >> heavy fighting in three syrian cities as rebel groups launch major attacks. hello, this is al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead... >> we are one step for from famine. >> the united nations warns tens of millions in yemen are at risk of starvation new talks between greece and its creditors get under way as negotiations break down and... >> i'm nicole johnson in

afghanistan. i'll take a ride with the only female taxi driver - finding out what challenges she faces on the road. rebel groups in syria launched major attacks against government forces in aleppo at a city south of damascus. after two years of fighting for control of the strategic square in aleppo rebels say they have seized the area. they have also taken control of the surrounding government barracks. further south rebels attacked government-held areas in deraa. heavy fighting has been reported in that area overnight. fighters from the islamic state of iraq and levant have entered the syrian town of kobane for the first time in six months. 12 people have been killed and 70 wounded. according to kurdish fighters from the y.p.g. i.s.i.l.

entered the sworn side of kobane and i.s.i.l. fighters stormed al-haas anger in north-eastern syria and seized several areas, and a suicide bomber attacked the city. we'll go to our correspondent, monitoring our costs. let's start with kobane it's a matter of months since the end of a long battle for that border town when i.s.i.l. was forced out, allowing people to return to their homes. >> exactly. just five months ago kurdish fighters helped buy the u.s.-led coalition kick out all i.s.i.l. fighters from kobane. following a fierce 4-month siege. now we understand the city ever since, it has been under kurdish control and sources. i.s.i.l. fighters - a number of

i.s.i.l. fighters entered kobane early on friday described as kurdish fighters and free fighters -- free syrian army wearing uniforms and took several positions in the city and they were able to blow up themselves, using explosive belts, and carried out a car bomb close to the border crossing with turkey and there were many many casualties we understand the fighting is going on, and the kurdish sources appear confident that they'll complete what they are describing as a cleansing campaign to push out i.s.i.l. fighters and eliminate them from kobane. since this happened kurdish activists blamed turkey for allowing i.s.i.l. fighters to use their territories. actually turkey responded and said that it had evidence that the i.s.i.l. fighters did not

use turkish territory, they were actually able to enter from aleppo inside syria. >> speaking of aleppo what do we make of these attacks in aleppo and deraa. are these coordinated attacks? >> well some of them are carried out by rebel groups and others are carried out by i.s.i.l., an advance by i.s.i.l. is made east of the country. we understand that they were able to get to see some parts and push government troops out. that's who they are battling over there, government troops aided by forces that are loyal to santa barbara's government. they were able to take control of some neighbourhoods in the neighbourhood, and the fighting is ongoing, and in some areas the fighting pushed some of the government troops to the heart of the city. in aleppo it was rebels belonging to the free syrian

army that were able to seize the strategic square giving them access to parts of the city that are controlled by the government as well as the intelligence brands close. and as for deraa, we are talking about 51 different rebel groups uniting together to start the southern storm. the groups include f.s.a. groups, and chose that describe themselves as islamic, al qaeda affiliated, as part of this battle. they are trying to retake what is left of deraa city. deraa city is contested. half under the control of the government, the other half under the control of rebels we understand that the government responded harshly by dropping tens of barrel bombs on rebels in the areas where the fighting is happening. so far no one that is really made an advance.

>> all right. thank you nisrene in ayman meanwhile a u.s. senate committee has been told the battle to defeat i.s.i.l. will take years. alan fisher reports from washington. >> reporter: from the panel of you, the american strategy is the right one, it's not enough. >> the best option is the partnered approach because indigenous ground forces are required to defeat this formidable enemy in a lasting way. the ways and means applied are inadequate. >> president obama has been determined to put u.s. combat troops into the battle with i.s.i.l. sending advisors to coordinate the battle. from the conservative think tank, the institute that supported the invasion, the suggestion that america needs a bigger commitment. >> are we in this or not. is this our war or isn't it. if it is we need to be prepared

to work along side of iraqis. >> the subcommittee has been tackling i.s.i.l. and has taken time to define. >> 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, to the details of that are not yet worked out. >> while there was no drive to have sunni tribes involved there's a warning that successes have to be backed up. >> sunnis are making life and death calculations about which side do they throw their support behind. if they see that. if they believe rising up against i.s.i.s. six months from now, they are not going do that. there needs to be a consistent perception of progress being made. >> the white house would have had these arrangements before

and will listen to any recommendations the committee makes. the policy for the fight against i.s.i.l. is driven by the president. for the moment there's no change in yemen, the saudi-led coalition launched attacks against houthi fighters in the southern provinces. the u.n. envoy warns that the country is close to famine. >> reporter: the streets of sanaa are pitch-black at night. power cuts leave the capital in darkness. citizens say it's never been this bad before. >> the first time that the yemeni period are going through a period where there's lack of water, electricity, oil or petrol. the prices of food are high. >> reporter: in daylight the situation is not any better. the capitol is littered with rubbish. sanaa has changed. after three months of attacks by

the coalition and fighters. the humanitarian situation is dire. there's long queues for almost everything here. there's no running water, and many rely on tankers. it's often hours before one ashes. petrol is also difficult to get. motorists wait hours in the son to get a refill. before the war more than half the population live below the poverty line in the poorest country in the arab world. the u.n. is warning of famine. >> we are one step far from famine. we have 21 million yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance. it was 7 million two years ago, it's 21 million. >> yemen is a step closer to starvation and appears on the brink of collapse greece's prime minister is due for more talks with creditors to try to avoid debt defaults. late-night talks failed to find

a solution as debtors rejected the latest reform from alexis tsipras. greece needs to rebay $1.6 billion euros by next tuesday or risk default. more from jon in and athens saying the greek side has shed some of its demand that the e.u. leaders will not ignore. >> the greek delegation issued a statement last night the the summary of the day's proceedings. creditors proposed a deal which shifts the burden to salaried workers and pensioners. the greek side has such a direction that's where things are left. at this hour as we speak, the greek delegation is going back into a meeting with creditors. four hours from now there's another meeting of the eurozone finance minister. we have a repeat more or less of yesterday's schedule. tonight we also have a summit

that will wrap this up. we know what creditors are asking for. they are asking for 4 billion in savingsment the greek side shifted. at the beginning of the month, this is a future budget. there was no cuts or savings at all. on monday there were very significant shifts. the greeks were proposing $720 million of savings on pensions, and another $750 million of increased taxation or consumer tax. we don't know how far that position shifted since then. yesterday morning mr alexis tsipras was unhappy as he left for brussels on the back of this proposal that the ced tars pay, saying then that the creditors do not want to deal or are colluding with the opposition at home to prevent him striking one

still to come on al jazeera. >> i'm in hebron in the occupied west bank. as palestinian officials submit their first complaints to the international criminal courts. we look at the key issues. >> and an indonesian volcano bursts back to life forcing thousands from their homes. we'll tell you more. jean-michel cousteau. >> we are visitors and we need to respect that. >> surprising secrets of the ocean. >> if it wasn't for the ocean, we would have a lot of problems today. >> and the harsh reality facing our planet. >> enough is enough. >> i lived that character. >> we will be able to see change.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the sound bites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". only on al jazeera america. hello again, the top stories - i.s.i.l. enters the syrian town of kobane for the first time in six months. they entered from the sworn side

of the border town. rebel groups made advances in the syrian cities of aleppo and deraa. the u.n. envoy to yemen warns that it's a step away from famine. 21 million people have been in urgent need of humanitarian health after months of fighting between houthis, rebels and allies. talks between greece and creditors are about to resume after late-night talks failed to make progress. greece could default, and risks being pushed out of the eurozone if it does. >> there's finally slight relief in southern pakistan. if the temperature starts to drop. more than 1,000 people have died in the heatwave. we'll take you live to islamabad. the pakistan cap hall kamal hyder is there. it's the worst heatwave in terms of the number of people that have died in pakistan's history.

why have so many people succumbed to the heat? >> well that's a very good question, as you correctly said. it's not the first case. there has been worse heat waves in the past. the heatwave this time claimed so many knives. partly because the government was not ready. they don't know what sort of consequences this heat we've will have. most of pakistan's television stations are normally concentrating on the ramadan programme and entertainment. this is little attention about given to trying to inform the people that they should avoid going out into the sun and advisories. some good news but because of mother nature no superperformance by the government. because yesterday some of those parliamentarians from the

provincial government decided to shout slogans against the electricity company for about 15 minutes and dispersed. in this case the only good news for the people of karachi is the fact that mother nature is now at least helpful with the south-westerly winds blowing you mentioned ramadan people are fasting and not taking fluids as well as water during the hours of daylight. i suppose the heatwave was bad timing. what criticism has the government come under because it wasn't, as you say, prepared? >> well the government here - i mean the problem here is that whenever a catastrophe happens, a provincial government likes to blame the central government. the central government blames the provincial government, but the ground reality is the

parliament moved an amendment giving autonomy to the provinces, it's the blame game going on. this n country has seen terrible disasters, it parse they have learnt noing from the past. >> the boston marathon bomber apologised to his victims. three people were illed. 200 injured by dzhokhar tsarnaev and his older brother in 2012. erica pitzi reports. >> reporter: for the first time since police named him responsible for the boston marathon bombings dzhokhar tsarnaev spoke to the court saying:

before he finished his statement he asked allah to bestow mercy on him and his family. >> i wish he had done it before. >> i think it was a lot to me. >> not all survivors feel the same way. >> i feel very reassured he acknowledged our suffering. it meant a lot to me. >> dzhokhar tsarnaev's words came a couple of hours after gut-wrenching testimony from the families and victims. amputees limped up to the podium to detail suffering and pain over the past two years. many talking about physical and emotional loss. many suffer from nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks. some took the opportunity to hold dzhokhar tsarnaev available for his brother tamerlan tsarnaev, dubbed the mastermind. the mother of krystle campbell who died on marathon monday said: the family of the youngest victim, 8-year-old martin richard who wanted the jury to give dzhokhar tsarnaev life

instead of death so he would be forced to reflect on the crime he committed said this about the boston bomber: >> throughout all of the statements, dzhokhar tsarnaev stared blankly at the floor. the final victim to speak was young amputee rebecca gregory. she refuses to call herself a victim. she was the only speaker to face tsarnaev and look directly at dzhokhar tsarnaev saying: palestine is submitting documents to the international criminal court in the hope of bridging war crime charges against israeli officials. it's the first time prosecutors will see the palestinians formally take action against

israel's breaches of international law. we have this report from imtiaz tyab. >> reporter: this is as close as this person can get to land his family oned for generations. when israel built the settlement considered illegal, an electrified fence was built. he shows me how it prevents him accessing his property. he has not lost hope of regaining his land one day. >> translation: we want to cultivate. i'm glad i'm going to the krill international criminal court, i want a solution to stop them occupying my land. israel makes up a key comment to the palestinian criminal court. dozens of settlements have been built and are home to 600,000 israelis. a key argument is against article 8, section 2 of the

i.c.c.'s roam statute stating the transfer of a civilian population into territories it occupies is illegal. the file is broken down into three main categories of complaints. the first deals with illegal settlements, and the second the status of treatment to palestinian treatments and the final, last summer's war with gaza. israel is accused of breaching the international rules of law during the 50 day bombardment of the gaza strip. more than 2,200 palestinians were killed mostly civilians. a u.n. report published this week found israel and hamas may have committed war crimes. the palestinian commission was alleged dozens of violations of international law. >> our goal is wore crimes and crime against humanity our goal

is to help the i cc initiate an investigation as soon as possible. >> israeli officials refused to provide information requested by the i.c.c. saying the court has no authority to vet investigate complaints because in its view palestine is not a state. approximately be up to them to decide whether there's enough evidence to order an examination. a process that will no doubt be long and complicated. only individuals can be indicted by the court, not states which means prosecutors will have to determine which israeli military and government officials could be prosecuted for war crimes, or not a volcano in western indonesia has become active forcing thousands from their homes. the mountain has been spewing

ash and lafa once considered dormant vol gaino, it erupted -- volcano, it ersupted. >> reporter: mt sinabung had an active morning. seven eruptions before 9 o'clock. it's been calm. there was a rumble earlier on but there's a hot ash cloud spewing from the top of that volcano all day. she's been active, really since june the 2nd. the government has been quick to set up a danger zone 7km to the south-east and the south. and 3 kilometres to the other end. the mountain is populated. people use the area for cultivating land have livestock and they live there. 10,000 people have evacuated over the last few weeks. they've been set up in the camps. an issue is they go back up the hill, up the mountain during the

day to tend to the crops. that's a deeper. no one knows when the volcano will erupt again. this is one of 130 active croll canos in indonesia. it shows the challenges when dealing mother nature. at the moment they seem so have the situation here under control. for the first time a court ruled that the government has the legal responsibility to protect citizens from climate change. the ruling was made by a dutch court that climate change campaigners are calling it a milestone. simon mcgregor-wood reports. >> the court's verdict declares the the target is illegal. the judge ordered it to deliver 25% cuts on its 1990 emission levels. up from the current target of 77%. it was great news for supporters

of the case. it's obvious that judges in the netherlands feel that liability law has a role to play in addressing the climate problem. >> the landmark ruling says the dutch government must protect its people were the effects of climate change. current plans don't go far enough, saying: the case was brought by the agenda foundation, acting on behalf of 900 citizens. they want to government to limit global temperature 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, in a low-lying country concerned about rising sea levels. >> we are the first in the world to do this.

we are being looked at everywhere. all the countries doing the negotiations for the european union, those in the climate treaty are watching. this will be helpful for everything. >> reporter: the case could set a legal precedent with similar prepared in other countries, and the e.u. targetting cuts of 40% by 2030, the dutch government has not commented on the verdict, and has the right to appeal the decision. a woman is taking on afghanistan's male-dominated culture. she has become the first female taxi driver. al jazeera's nicole johnson flagged her down in the northern cities. >> reporter: it's a typical day for this woman. quick look under the bonnet much wipe away the dust.

and she's ready for her shift driving a taxi. this job is anything but typical for a woman in afghanistan. >> translation: i feel happy behind the steering wheel. how can i say it i'm proud. i share this with other women. i want to give them more courage. >> reporter: this driver is like a sister to us. it is better to drive with her than a strange man. sara borrowed money and bought her first taxi two years ago, after her brother-in-law were killed. she was determined to support 15 people in her family. >> translation: many male taxi drivers tees women or girls, giving them their phone numbers, check them out. other women encouraged me to become a driver. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine 30 years ago during the communist period there were whim i'm in kabul driving electric public buses.

now it's rare to see a woman behind the wheel of a car, let alone a taxi. >> in this dusty field on the outskirts of town she's giving driving lessons. sara says 20 women told her they want to learn. >> translation: my message to the brothers that won't allow women to dry is they should allow us. how long do women have to sit at home in dark houses? >> reporter: changing society's attitude about women driving will not happen quickly. >> translation: a woman can't be a taxi driver here or in any other city because there are security problems. >> reporter: still, sara says nothing will stop her, not even threats. >> translation: they punctured four of my tires, scratched the car and stole registration plates. other drivers cut in front of me on the road. >> reporter: if she's afraid,

she doesn't show it. anyway sara is too busy picking up passengers. there's more real news that affects real people like you and me. at our new-look website. take a look - aljazeera.com. [ ♪♪ ] this time it's not a federal scientific agency, a set of scholars or the united nations warning about the danger of climate change. it's the head of the roman catholic church, pope francis. does the leader of more than a billion catholics around the globe have a different audience, a different impact when he tells the world it's time to make big changes in our daily lives.