talks ramp up at the u.n. on the war in syria. but the sticking point that no one can agree on is what to do with bashar al-assad. ♪ ♪ from al jazeera's headquarters in doha, i am sammy zeidan. also coming up. israeli security forces storm the a al-aqsa mosque compound in occupied east jerusalem. ♪ >> jubilation in spain's catalonia region. separatist parties win big in parliamently elections. and a double dose of moon magic,

star gazers across the world get a rare liner treat. ♪ ♪ let's begin, though, with a developing story coming out out of afghan that where there has been they have fighting after taliban fighters carried out an early morning raid. they have entered the northern city from four different directions. it's said to be in lockdown. as afghan security forces attempt to fight back. joining me now on the phone line from kabul. what's the situation there right now? who is in control? >> reporter: well, sammy, taliban have launched their attacks at 3:00 a.m. overnight from western northeastern southern parts of the city. somehow security forces managed to push back the taliban from the city, however sporadic

gunfire still continues and we also hear reports that there are clashes between afghan forces and taliban in three other districts. now, officials and police in k unduz are not confirming any casualties, but we are hearing that there are a number of taliban and afghan force that his have been killed. but no one is confirming any details. k unsuz is one of the volatile provinces in northern afghanistan in the past one year taliban have managed to control three districts in the past three months. the roads have been blocked from several directions afghan officials say more forces are on

their way but have not reached the city. eyewitnesses have seen more helicopters in the air trying to fight back the taliban. but still the city is on lockdown, shops are closed. people have seen taliban flags raised in the city and some police stations are surrounded by taliban fighters and the situation seems tour very tense right now. >> no doubt. we'll come back to you later to talk about how things develop from there. talks about how to deal with syria's four-year conflict. world leaders are gathering in northern. dispipe much -- gathering in new york. despite the talks there are no agreement on what to do with bashar al-assad. >> reporter: france has been involved in strikes on isil targets in iraq for over a year. but now for the first time the french president has ordered his air force in to action over

syria in what he told reporters has an act of self-defense. >> translator: france struck this morning in syria against a training camp of the islamic state of iraq and the levant which was threatening the security of our country. this operation was to protect our territory. to prevent further terror attacks, to act in self-defense, our forces reached their objectives. the camp was totally destroyed some. other strikes could take place in the coming weeks if necessary. still with the same goal. >> reporter: france is part of the u.s.-led coalition against isil. but in an interview with the u.s. network cbs and p.b.s. press putin said that and the training of opposition forces in syria is illegal because it's not authorized by assad's government. which still holds the country's u.n. seat. >> translator: and it's my deep wbelief that any action to his

detroit the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now in the other countries of the region or other regions, for instance in libya. wwhere all the state inter tuneses are disintegrated. we see the similar situation in iraq. and there is no other solution to the syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism. >> reporter: now russia has sent troops to syria and its foreign minister told his u.s. counter part that it's set up a military coordination center between its forces, iran, iraq, which is supposed to also be a u.s. ally, and controversially the assad government. u.s. secretary of state john kerry was quick had suppress his miss giving. >> all of the efforts need to be coordinated. this is not yet coordinated. i think we have concerns about how we are going to go forward. but that's precisely what we are meet on the ground to talk about now. this is the beginning of a

genuine effort to see if there is a way to deconflict but also to find a way forward that will be effective. where there can be a secular state with peace. >> reporter: in an interview with al jazeera the u.k. prime minister said in his view it's not a case of choosing which enemy to fight first. >> no, what we are saying is we want a zooer i can't without eitel aura sat. both of them have been butchering ordinary syrians. i don't think it makes sense to say that you have to have one before the other. what needs to happen is both needs to go. >> reporter: all of the key nations say they want to defeat isil and say there should be a political solution. the bad news on the key point that stopped any political settlement in syria for 4 1/2

years, the future of president bashar al-assad there is so far no agreement. barack obama has called on wealthy nation to his do more to help hundreds of thousands of refugees escape the conflict in syria. >> some 60 million men, women and children have been forced from name homes. many by conflicts in the middle east and afte africa. these are humanitarian crises and refugees that we cannot ignore. and we have to deliver the urgent aid that is needed right now. but our efforts must be matched by the hard work of diplomacy and reconciliation to end conflicts that so often tear societies apart. meanwhile, refugees keep streaming in to europe. this was the scene on the border between croatia and hungary on sunday. more than 1,000 people boarded trains in hungary that will take them to all industry and then

onto western europe. more than secretary thousand people. many fleeing the war in syria have cross ed in to croatia in the past week. separatist coalition in spain's catalonia region has won a landmark election. they took 62 seats out of 135 in the regional parliament. if they join force with his a pro independence least wing party. they'll have a majority that much will allow them to pursue independence. jonah hull reports from barcelona. ♪ >> reporter: it looks and feels as if nothing can stand in their way. independence, hungry catalans in full cry. >> this is insane. nothing like that has happened in europe in the last years. >> catalonia decides the future and the future is the only way is independence. >> reporter: who will deliver it for them? a coalition of parties from the right and the left likely to include the far left with nothing in common whatsoever

except a promise to pave the way for independence in 18 months time. >> translator: we have a lot of would, to do. and we are not going to relax. we have a democratic mandate and we know what that means, we know how we have won. we have won against the odds. >> reporter: there may yet be trouble ahead on the road to independence. not the least the full way to the spanish constitutional court deployed by the government to block any move towards independence, but also the fact that this incredibly precarious political coalition will, in fact, have to stand together and govern. there is every possibility that in politics such an opportunistic arrangement will fracture and fall in the meantime, battle lines will be drawn across a country just emerging from economic crisis that can ill afford to lose one of its most prosperous parts. >> well, i think catalonia belongs to spain and now

independents that we are, i think there is no sense in trying to separate it from spain. it would not bring anything good for us. >> it's only in the interest of the politicians. >> reporter: and secessionist movements elsewhere will be watching closely. >> it's a big flam. flemish plaque, catalans flag, basque flag. wales, scotland. britannia. and we want catalonia to be free. it's up to the catalans to decide that. but we think that they at least have the right to do so. and spain so far has only said no, no, no. >> reporter: what happens next may provoke a constitutional crisis not just in spain, but possibly in places far beyond. jonah hull, al jazeera, barcelona. there has been more intense fighting in the contested al-aqsa mosque compound in occupied east jerusalem.

the tension comes as jews celebrate a holiday. security forces fired stun grenades at palestinian worshipers, some barricaded themselves inside. the site is sacred to jews and muslims jews are allowed to visit but not pray in the mosque compound to avoid tensions it. imtiaz tyab joins us live from occupied east gentlema jerusale. we talk about this a lot these days, imtiaz, what triggered trouble on monday? >> reporter: well, sammy, what we understand is that israeli security force forces and palesn worshipers effectively these confrontations erupted even before the 7:30 sort of time which allows people from various denominations to enter the al okay is mosque compound, we understand this was a preemptive measured carried out by these israeli security forces, they came inside to the complex area

and that's when they started confronting those who were inside the mosque. now, we understand that at one point windows of the mosque remember broken and that stun grenades were fired inside the mosque itself. and we also understand that a large metal barrier was set up in front of the mosque door to -- from what israeli police told to us prevent this kind of projectiles to be fired out of it. whatever the case, these confrontations have now ended but the situation in that complex or in the al-aqsa mosque compound area remains extremely tense. >> imtiaz, there is a place for jew to his pray at this whaling wall and a place for muslim to his pray at al okay is mosque compound. why do we keep seeing friction then. really at the heart of it is this deep concern amongst palestinian worshipers that there is this movement to change what is known as the status quo. something you alluded to in your

introduction which is that inside the al sock is mosque compound as part of a an agreement reached with jordan after israel occupied palestinian territories nearly 50 years ago, that the a al okay is mosque compound would only be for muslim to his worship in. we know the jews are allowed to worship at the western wall. but there is a growing movement here in israel. something that is gaining momentum is which is allowed juice to pray signed the al-aqsa compound. we have seen a number of fairly senior political leaders come in to the compound and we have a agreeing number of rabbis advocating for juice to be able to pray inside the mosque compound and that, of course, is deeply concerning to many palestinian worshipers who say that they don't want to share this religious space because they fear that it will be taken overall together. >> all right, imtiaz tyab there,

thanks for that. thousands of tourist have his been evacuated by taiwan's green and/or kid islands ahead of a typhoon. the storm is expected to make landfall within hours, the country's main railway networks and several domestic flights have been suspended. rob is following the storm for us, so what is in store, rob. >> meteorologist: it's falling on the heels of the storm in august, a similar typhoon hit a similar area. and taiwan is particularly vulnerable. taipei is on the north of the island, that's more or less where this thing is headed. it's quite a big storm again. it's got a very obvious eye to it. and the worst of the weather is always around the eye wall. the cloud is covering all of taiwan at the moment. the potential from the storm is quite nasty the wave heights are already 12 meeters and stay at that height. the rainfall potential is at least 300 millimeters and the storm surge is lifting as the ocean water as the egos over.

it's at 1.8 meters, once it goes across taiwan, it goes across the straight towards the chinese mainlands, similar courses in august so not that long ago, currents position of this typhoon as it makes its lands fall in the 76 hours or so is a category three. winds over 200-kilometers per hour, gusting 250. traveling northwestward unsurprisingly. it will, by this time tomorrow, probably be in the chinese mainland by which time it will fall apart. clearly it's potential to bring quite did he have -- quite a lot of devastation for the amount of rain is really quite big and, of course, all along the shore we have this along the shore with here, the storm surge and the height of the waves will potentially cause some damage. now, the chinese are used to this as they are in taiwan and there will be a lot of evacuation going off. it's the infrastructure that you have to be careful of. of course landslides are

virtually inevitable with that amount of rain. >> thanks so much, rob. still to come on the show, pope franciscan clouds his historic visit to the u.s. by addressing thes issue of sex abuse in the church. and eyes in the skies, south africa recognizes the rising potential of drones. ♪ ♪

welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera now. taliban fighters have carried out an early morning raid in

afghanistan. they have entered the northern city from fountain different directions said to be in lockdown as afghan security forces attempt to fight back. russia's president vladimir putin says moscow now to help syria. earlier john kerry held talks with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. more clashes at the mosque compound israeli security forces. some of whom barricaded themselves inside. fighting between pro government forces and houthi rebels continue in yemen. despite the u.n.'s effort to negotiation a peace deal the authority rebels and seven soldiers loyal to president hadi will killed in street to street fighting. seven rebels were killed when

saudi jets stuck. you have covered this conflict extensively and the situation in yemen, where is the fighting leaving some of. key places now like taiz? >> reporter: the reason we have fighting concentrated in taiz is obviously for one reason it's on the highway that links the southern city of aden and the capital is now and it's crucial for both parties fox, hadi if he captures taiz he can easily push forward. >> on the road to sanaa. >> exactly. the former president saleh and the houthis are still entrenched they have deployed many fighters there, with advanced weapons and they would like to continue the fight because for them, maintaining a presence is taiz is a signal that they are still capable of putting up fierce resistence to the coalition forces and to the government. >> it this a bake are make or break ba battle for the huge and

pro saleh forces. >> basically they will be we sieging the capital sanaa and the push for sanaa will be an easy task for them. >> while the battlefield situation is fluid and changing, doesn't sound lying the two sides are any closer to peace talks, though, does it? >> the problem we have so far is that both parties don't seem to be really willing to negotiate a political settlement. the houthis say we are a legitimate authority, we still control a huge area from saada in the north to taiz in the south. government on the other hand says that we would like to have a settlement, but before we get to that particular point, we need to see the houthis surrender, pull out from the areas they control. a demand that has been completely rejected by the houthis. my colleague james bays sat with the prime minister and this is

what he had to say about diplomacy. >> this militia group have to understand now they have to comply fully with the unites nation resolution 2216 and to withdraw and stop violence and to recognize that there is no solution in yemen unless they return back to where we started before the 21st of september last year. >> a lot of this is going on against a wider regional backdrop of change. you know, the united states making over tuesday t overtureso solve the mess in syria, resolving the nuclear issue. how is this wider regional change impacting the conflict in yep then. >> we definitely have a huge impact on how both parties will move forward in the near future. united nations has been trying to convince the warring factions in yemen to negotiate a political settlement but because

of the huge political divide they are not ready for that. now, the -- now, the u.n. is looking for different options which is basically inviting regional players, particularly the saudis and the iranians to help come to that point. the only problem that you have here is that saudi arabia, for example, is very skeptical, worried that the houthis are trying to sort of bring yemen in to the orbit of iran. and this is why they say that we don't want the iranians to have a particular say, iran is trying to mediate a political settlement, but as long as we have the sectarian divide, we have huge problems between the iranians and the saudis over many issue, iraq and syria will definitely continue to have the same problem playing out in places like yemen and the potential for a political settlement seems very remote for the time being. >> all right, great stuff there, thanks for that. pope francis is heading home after a world wind six-day trip to the united states. in an address to congress he

reminded poll tickets to his care for people and encourage religious freedom and immigration, he also promise today hold accountable clergy who sexually abuse children. alan fisher has been following the upon tiff' pontiff's visit. >> reporter: with a smile and a wave pope francis ended his first-ever trip to the united states. a tracted crowds and affection, but this was also a visit from a pope whose political points he believes tied closely to his fate. and on his final day in an address to bishop, he talked about child sex abuse in the catholic church. he revealed that he met victims and heard their store and offered his prayer. 2002 many allegations of child sects abuse by clerics in the catholic church became public, it's estimated there may be as many white sox 100,000 victims in the u.s. and many more worldwide of the pope the leader the world's 1.2 billion

catholics promised there would be no hiding plates for the guilty. >> translator: these things cannot be maintained in secret. i commit to a careful oversight and insure youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable. >> reporter: for many victims. they have heard this before. >> this meeting today protects not a single child, it exposed not a single predator and it does not deter a single cover up. >> reporter: victims say the church is refuse to go hand over any details of any internal investigation in to child sex abuse to the authorities and claim they are doing that for financial and legal reasons. meanwhile they insist the guilty go free and the victims continue to suffer. >> i think he's handling it in a christian way, in a loving way, as jesus would do, as god would forgive. >> reporter: the pope attract aid huge crowd to a final mass in the largest public events of his visit. but there were thousands more

turned way as they failed to get through security. the vatican will consider this visit a success but many will wait to see if the pope's actions match hits words, alan fisher, al jazeera, philadelphia. the president of the maldives has escaped unletter from an explosion on his speed boat. the government says it may have been a problem with the engine but too early to say. his wife and several others on board were injured. he took power in a disputed election in 2013. south africa has become the first african country to legalize the flying of commercial drones. it started issuing licenses to pilots, they are not sure that's good idea. >> reporter: the buzzing sound of a drone. often associated with military use, but flying drones for commercial purposes has become

increase increasingly popular and south africa has legalized it. >> there are tremendous benefits in use this is technology, we think there will be a rapped growth in south africa. >> reporter: this drone try pilot is only the second instructor in the country since licenses were issued. he says drones will create more opportunities for pilots. >> we had an opportunity in a park with runners to help protect them with the drones. and that's where we really started operating the drones and instructing people. >> reporter: once a camera is attached drones with also be used in industries ranging from agriculture to mining. so far the highest demand for drone licenses has come from the local film and production industries. the civil aviation authority expects interest across a number of sectors to grow substancely shaly because using a drone to fill sam cheaper than using convention the aircraft. to insure the unmanned aircraft

remain safe. laws regulate how close drones can be flown to buildings and roads. >> they are made from consumer grade electrics, mean that go their failure rates are yet to be determined. there is a lack of engineering and scientific data and they could fall at any time. one could attach a firearm, a bomb, a chemical, by clog collar radiological weapon and fire it in to a group of weapons or persons or even in to an aircraft. >> reporter: out africa is the furthers country in south africa to issue drone licenses. this vet vet rat pilot wants those licenses recognize ahead cross the nation. >> the amount of regulation requirement, the amount of detailed work that is required to insure that there is a safe standard, because what we are talking about is mixing in our air space the safety of man flying with unmanned flying. >> reporter: while flying commercial drones remain illegal

elsewhere in africa, south african pilots say the benefits outweigh the risks. al jazeera, johannesburg. in mexico, relatives of 43 missing students have traced the path the group followed when they disappeared. the walk has been held to mark one year since the trainee teach teachers vanished the witnesses say the students common deared buses that were heading for a protest and later were attacked. a rare so-called blood moon has been opportunitiesing the night sky red. it's a total lunar eclipsed and hasn't been seen since 1982. these are pictures from outside the planetarium in argentina. in this eclipsed the earth is passing directly between the moon and the sun, that blocks out certain high frequency light waves leaving only the lower frequency waves turning the moon red. here sky watchers gathered on beaches in rio to see it.

the moon is also at its close it point to the earth which makes is looks up to 8% bigger. that's called a super moon. and here is the view from tripoli in libya. the combination of a full moon eclipse and the super moon won't be again for the for another 18 years. >> this is "techknow". a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity, but we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science... >> oh! >> oh my god! >> by scientists. tonight: techknow's journey to the arctic. 13 days... subfreezing temperatures... endless sun. >> it is passed midnight right now and the sun just is not gonna set. >> climb on board the u.s.