. the u.s. air strikes has government troops fight to retake it from the taliban. hello, i'm here with the world news from al jazeera. barack obama says the battle against isil is not a conventional one. in the line of fire, u.n. peace keepers come under attack. south korea's national sport has a new martial arts rival.

we begin in afghanistan where a counterattack against the taliban continues. fighting is focused around the city's airport, one of the few places under government control. they have launched air strikes to protect troops trying to keep it in government hands. stephanie has more. >> reporter: there are no government troops here. taliban fighters are not in control. here, they are symbolically raising their flag in the city square. the afghan government has announced a major operation to recapture kunduz. >> translator: in the first place, we should take care of the civilian casualties. they have conceded heavy damages, including the air strikes and operations. i don't want to go into the detail of the operations.

>> reporter: special forces have been brought in and the u.s. military confirmed an air strike on tuesday morning. it is proving difficult because the taliban has set up booby traps along the way. talbn gun -- taliban released inmates and they have issued a statement, telling residents not to worry. that will be difficult with a major military operation underway. it's one of the most significant territorial gains. it coincides with the present and they are facing the taliban alone, after they pulled out last year. a counterterrorism operation remains. this recent move is the boldest by the taliban to take more

control of the country. a strong message to whoever is watching that 14 years after being deposed, the taliban can still take control of a major city in less than 24 hours. well, let's talk to al jazeera reporter who is traveling. he joins us live from there. bring us up-to-date on the latest on the fighting, what have you been hearing? >> reporter: what we are hearing this morning from kunduz city is both sides are trying to plan an attack. afghan government are saying they are planning to launch a big offensive to take the control of the city. in the mean time, taliban are claiming that they are trying to plan a military attack to take the control of the airport from

afghan security forces. reinforcement of soldiers cannot advance farther towards kunduz. one of the main reasons, their lack of leadership. and lack of coordination among them. no one wants to take the lead and also taliban have set up a couple of ambushes along the road and yesterday, they tried to advance full time and they were facing a very strong resistance from taliban and suffered a number of casualties. they are waiting here, they cannot advance to go towards kunduz city. >> how much pressure is the afghan president under to show he and the army can take the city from the taliban? >> reporter: it is a -- when

the taliban are giving a message not only to afghan government, also to international community that after 13 years, they are stronger. they have capability to take control of the capital. afghan government are putting pressure on their security forces to retake it. there are many problems that they are facing, including the lack of leadership and the lack of coordination among their forces. >> thank you. there have been gun battles between u.n. the latest wave of violence is catastrophic. let's take a look back at what started the violence. they took over towns in 22012. a christian was overthrown by

rebels. 13,000 troops has been struggling to curb the violence. >>reporter: the u.n. isn't welcome. residents kept putting up road blocks to keep peace keepers out of their neighborhood and u.n. troops kept taking them down. >>translator: the population is desperate and doesn't believe in these anymore. >> translator: international forces who do absolutely nothing, we want those who have done crimes to be tracked down. >> reporter: they said they could always do more, but they are fully engaged. the spokesman says they are working with community leaders and government officials to put an end to communal violence in

the capital. a muslim taxi driver was killed, nearly 40 people were dead and tens of thousands left the capital. 500 prisoners escaped from the main jail. >> as bad as it is, hundreds of people are being killed in the east. we're only scratching the surface on that. we're traveling out in the bush and we're coming across villages in which civilians are being killed and homes are being burned and it's not being documented. >> reporter: they demanded the president resigned and the army be rearmed and deployed. they have accused former president and his allies of

trying to take her power away. when rebels took away the government, they assassinated democracy and the country is reeling from the consequences. barack obama says he'll use all means available to defeat isil. it will be a long-term campaign. james reports from new york. >>reporter: a special meeting at the u.n. to boost the coalition against isil. >> i believe we have the emergence of global movement that is united by the mission of degrading an ultimately destroying isil. >> reporter: if you listen to the words the president chose, you see the problem. there has not been as much progress on the ground. >> this is not an easy task. we have isil taking route. >> reporter: taking route

across large areas of syria and iraq. iraq's prime minister said they were making progress. they did retake tikrit. foreign fighters have been streaming in. >> no end to this that my government has introduced against fighters since 2011. we have 20,000 names from over 100 countries. >> isis success is attracting more people because it has created that state-like entity and the inability of the united states is the biggest strategy. >> reporter: there's not unity among the international community. russian's foreign minister did not take part.

iran was not invited. they will discussed issues. one central point of disagreement. the russians say everyone should join with the president to fight isil. the u.s. say they are part of the problem, not the solution. it's the one point that's hindering isil. james, al jazeera, united nations. that special meeting that james is talking about coincides with a new congressional report. 30,000 foreigners have traveled to iraq and syria to fight since 2011. the government's failing to stop its citizens from joining isil. it is unprecedented speed. >>reporter: even as u.s.

president barack obama appealed for help abroad. a report at home finds that the united states lacks a national strategy to deal with this issue. some 30,000 foreign fighters have flown into iraq since 2011. it fiends that the unite -- it finds that the united states law enforcement is not keeping up with the pace. they are using secure websites and apps to recruit americans and other. the reports found that 4,500 came from western countries. 250 of them, from the united states and it calls for better coordination. that is one of the things that president obama was looking for in convening this meeting at the united nations. a strong show of support for

a health care group facing drastic funding cuts in the u.s. >> argentina is set to set off it's satellite.

welcome back. a quick reminder of our top stories here on al jazeera. the pentagon says more strikes have been launched. taliban fighters seized most of the city on monday.

there have been battles with u.n. troops. they have been patrolling the situation that has killed 40 people. barack obama says he'll use all means possible to defeat isil. he says it'll be a long-term campaign. israel's defense minister, after russian president, vladimir putin, called for discussions on the matter. >> translator: israel is situated in this region and we should respect the interest of the state of israel. it is not indifferent what is happening in this country. there are questions that cause certain concerns about air strikes. all of this should be discussed

by the experts and this will continue on a bilateral basis without creating any structures. the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko, highlighted open and unprovoked aggression from moscow. >> despite the fact until now, russia refused to admit it's military invasion. today, there is no doubt this is an aggressive war against my country, against ukrain. russian leadership orders to take off in signias and mark of its military equipment and abandon its soldiers captured and used mobile to eliminate traces of its crime. the president gave his address to the u.n. assembly.

>>translator: the people oppose as well as in other cities in yemen. the people have upheld the law, i would like to welcome the national resistance and the armed forces who are here. he says he's hoping for a referendum that will give autonomy to people in the south. >> we believe he is genuine and he has shown that in the past and he continues to say -- to show that. he has also shown a great deal in the international community. resistance fighters have been eliminated. we are seeing very positive

signs and we do believe that after this conflict, the political process will require that the resistance fighters on the ground and leaders on the ground work with the current state, with the president for stability, for security. in return, we hope that will give us the opportunity for referendum for the southern people to decide. they have strongly condemned the attack at a wedding in yemen, which killed 131 people. this is near the red sea port. the video has been broadcast by a tv station. al jazeera was unable to verify it. they have strongly denied that they hit the wedding. it has satellite evidence to prove its forces weren't in the

area. hundreds have been killed. intense clashed were reported on tuesday evening. operations have resumed at the main oil refinery. the facility's been closed since they began bombing yemen in march. they are producing 150,000 barrels a day, half of its previous capacity. there have been protests across dozens of cities in the u.s. over the possible shutdown of the planned parenthood organization. it emerged the organization sold fetal tissue. >>reporter: the president of planned parenthood faced off with lawmakers as she justified why she believes that the

organization, which is the network of health clinics, that provide abortion that should receive funds. this became the target of conservative lawmakers because of videos that suffered surfaced that show executives offering fetal tissue for research for sale and potentially profiting from that. this outraged many lawmakers because it does abortions. she faced tough questioning as she made the argument that planned parenthood does a lot more than provide abortions. they came to capital hill, don't defund planned parenthood. they say for many working-class

americans, it's their only form of health care. she was suffering from endometriosis, she could no longer afford medication. >> i worked hard to get in this graduate program and i need to get a job and i won't be able to study for this one reason. i was able to get the medication. >> reporter: not everyone in congress sees planned parenthood as benevolent organization. after video surfaced reportedly exposed executives openly discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. many in congress are incensed and are threatening to cut $450 million federal funding and demanding answers from the

president of planned parenthood. >> the outrages accusations are offensive and categorically untrue. >> the taxpayers have a right to know how this money's being spent and if taxpayer dollars are being used to free-up services that you provide, that are aberrant. >> reporter: others say the hearing is nothing more than political theater and an attack on women's reproductive rights. >> what's really under attack is the right of women to control their own bodies. their own reproduction. >>reporter: courtney agrees. she came to tell congress, abortions are just a small part of what planned parenthood does. because of her medical

condition, her chance of motherhood would have never happened without its support. this debate is unlikely to end and is part of a wider ongoing debate over how the federal government spends its money. it's a partisan debate. democrats tend to favor more funding for domestic and entitlement programs. republicans tend to favor spending on defense. as a result, planned parenthood is the latest target in the wider debate. the public opinion seems to be on planned parenthood's side, 65% of americans believe they should receive federal funding. i can also tell you that president obama is backing planned parenthood. he says that any legislation that comes out of capital hill in either chamber that attempts to defund planned parenthood, he

will veto. at least three people have been killed in clashes in peru. farmers began protesting against a chinese-owned project. police opened fire on the group with tear gas and shotguns. argentina is counting down to launch a satellite into space. it will compete with other countries. as the excitement builds, daniel visited the factory. >>reporter: it's a treme that's become a reality, a reality that's brought investment, education and independence. they are launching its own communication satellite, improving mobile phone reception, television signals and gps. >> this, of course, is important

for the country, not to rely on technologies that comes from abroad, but to do our own technology, particularly adapted to our needs and labor and engineering. >> reporter: this was launched into orbit 36 kilometers from earth last year. after being moved by transport plane to the launch site, work a already underway here. a private company, financed by $250 million of government funding. with all the excitement and expectation is focused on the launch, work is continuing on satellites like this one, that will be launched into space in 2017. from the andes mountains,

several hundred kilometers into the sky. more than ten kilometers of cable go into the satellite. the hope is it'll operate for up to 15 years. the launch and operation from a control center. >>translator: it's a source of employment in the country and a lucrative resource. it retains the professional talent in argentina where they can develop and grow. >> reporter: they have invested years in the project and many from across argentina will watch the rocket go into space, broadcast live on state television. excited and nervous to boldly go where only a few have gone befor before. typhoon hit southeast coast of china and killed at least

three people. winds of more than 100 kilometers an hour hit coastal areas. it forced fishing boats to return to ports. china's national weather report says it is starting to lose strength. despite 18 million people around the world practicing tae kwon do, it is on the decline. >> reporter: in the hills, a tae kwon do prepare himself. he's become a master of another martial art. >> it is very strong, but the movement is very soft and looks like dancing. so, very comfortable. always my instructor emphasized to me, always practice with

natural mind. >>reporter: there is some argument over the history, whether it began more over a game. it brings him closer to his country's cultural heritage. it is still rooted in its history when tae kwon do has moved to a point-scoring point. it's a martial art to be practiced in studios and olympics. it has extend the global reach, but it's used of point-registering pads stump the martial arts. >> it cannot be changed. we have to be respect and we have to keep the -- all the

traditions. but, as a sport, special olympic sports, you have to change. >>reporter: the spiritual home is underway, on the mats, the knocks can be hard. >> translator: it brings me closer to my friends and i think it's good for my future as well so i'm working harder. >> reporter: these kids are something of an exception. the numbers of children is declining. >> in high school, they are more focused on studying and going to get into good universities, so i think that's why the junior high and high school tae kwon do is not very popular as elementary schoo school. >>reporter: it can't compete with numbers and profiles. no pads, no points or replays.

just a kick to the head or a throw to the floor and it's all over. and a quick reminder, you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website. there it is, on our screen. i'm ali velshi, on target - back fire, dirty secrets exposed in the volkswagen pollution scandal. world powerless, how the united nations failed to accomplish its main mission the fact of volkswagen reprehensible behaviour are familiar but cannot be repeated enough. the german automaker installed software on 11 million cars designed to cheat on pollution