the syrian army launches a major offensive north of the strategic city of homs. hello, welcome to al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead israel tightens security around occupied east jerusalem in a bid to counter an upsurge in violence. seeking peace - myanmar's government signs a deal with armed troops, but divisions remain and a controversial campaign

sparking arguments in mexico, as the government tells people to stop complaining the syrian army launched a long-planned defensive in northern homs province, the fighting focused on two areas. both are part of a rebel area, where a major highway passes through. zeina khodr is live from beirut. a strategic area with a major highway - how is that battle going? >> well, fierce fighting on the ground as well as heavy air strikes. according to activists on the ground, they suspect these are russian war planes, and as well as that there's government shelling. this whole rebel-controlled territory in the northern homs countryside is coming under fire. there are reports of casualties, a number of them fighters, but a number of them civilians as

well. this is a populated area. tens of thousands of people live there. a lot of these people are displaced people that moved from other areas in syria to escape the fighting. what we understand from activists on the ground is that people are afraid. according to them, there's no way out. we know that the northern countryside of homs has been surrounded by government forces for years. there's a few routes out. they lead to government controlled territory. people that are wanted or fear arrest will not go to the areas. civilians are fought in the middle of this offensive. this is the second ground offensive of its kind as of late. we are seeing a coordinated air and ground assault. the syrian military sources quoted by syrian state television talking about a ground offensive, mentioning that air strikes and artillery

shelling over the past few days weakened the defenses of rebels, allowing them to push into this area. >> how does this fit in with what we are talking about, bigger offensives planned in aleppo and idlib and so on? >> well, at the end of the day, it seems that the plan, the military strategy is to pressure the opposition on more than one front. a few days ago they announced a major operation in the hamas countryside, north of homs. like i mentioned earlier in the friday, the main north-south highway, the government wants to capture that back from the opposition, they want to use it as a supply route. a major operation, pushing the rebels back, protecting the government stronghold of latakia. this stepped up military campaign has clearly one objective. it's not going to be easy to

hold that territory. many analysts believe what is happening is putting military pressure on the opposition in order to get diplomatic and political games. to get them to surrender and accept some sort of peace deal. the opposition has been releasing statements say that we will not accept a compromise with the government, we are going to fight back. even the russian president vladimir putin said the aim of the objective is to pave the way for a political solution. seems that this is the aim of the objective, put military pressure, in the hope that they get political gains. >> zeina khodr, thanks for that. the u.s. says a final push to retake the iraqi city of ramadi is eminent. iraqi forces say they've been making advantages to take back the city. ramadi is the capital of the largest province.

imtiaz tyab has more from baghdad. >> well, a fast-moving situation around the western iraqi city of ramadi, a city that has been in the hands of i.s.i.l. since may of this year. it was a stinging blow to the iraqi security forceless, who had to beat a hasty retreat when the armed groups seized the city. since then the iraqi prime minister promised to retake ramadi, but there's about significant delays to major operations to retake the city. one of the key issues is a bill he'd like to pass, effectively giving legal cover to sunni fighters, sunni tribal fighters in anbar to be a part of the anbar security forces as they retake the city, similar to the legal cover given to shia militia fighters as well. the reason we had to step up is the deep-seated divisions,

sectarian divisions seen in iraq. that, of course, led to the deadlock we have seek in parliament. mr ramadi is left with a decision to make. does he go ahead with the offensive to retake ramadi without that building past, or does he try to unbreak the deadlock. at this stage we don't know what he's going to do, but he seems to be under a lot of pressure with the u.s. saying now is the time to retake ramadi. >> the u.s. says secretary of state john kerry is planning to visit the middle east soon to calm tensions between israelis and palestinians, security around the area has been tightened up. 32 palestinians, and several israelis have been killed in the past two weeks. on the wednesday israeli forces shot dead two palestinians after reported stabbing attacks. one incident involved an israeli woman stabbed at a bus station.

she was taken to hospital with what was described as moderate to serious injuries. students promise to step up political pressure on the israeli government. hoda abdel-hamid spoke to some in the west bank. >> reporter: it's the youth at the forefront of the unrest. a generation that grew and believes in the prospects of a peaceful solution. now university students are taking the lead and vowing to keep up the pressure we participate in any action, whether it goes to demonstrations on social media or speaking to the media. we'll use any means possible to send a message to the world. we can't call this an inte forwarda, it's an outburst that could lead to an intifada. binyamin netanyahu imposed an intiff arda on us, he has the power at the core of the anger is land grabs that they witnessed

over the years. with the latest crisis brewing, tempers spilt over. >> nearly every palestinian faction is represented on campuses. none is taking the lead in the uprising. a show of immunity, but so far the leadership has been unable to reach. >> the youth say they want to move away from political divisions that crippled the cause. this was a graduate student wounded during the process in ramadi. hit by live ammunition that went through her left shoulder, damaged a lung and lodged near her spinal cord. she's in spain when she breathes. from her room she monitors event unfolding up around. >> i'm scared. when i go to protest there are snipers, we were looked at the generation, the negotiation generation. look how young some of the protesters are. i did not expect people younger than me to be aware, more than

my generation, and the one before me. they are fed up with the leaders and what the palestinians are going through. >> the israeli government announced it will not return the body of anyone palestinian involved in an act of the violence, a new measure it adopted. they'll be buried in an off limits military cemetery or cemetery of numbers as known among palestinians. this includes any protestor who dies of his wounds whilst in custody. >> it's nothing new from binyamin netanyahu. nor is it a surprise that such measures were in place during the first and second intiff ardas. >> despite the challenges, a new general eights is emerging, one that wants to breakaway from the past and write its own future. >> iran is facing a key deadline to submit information on its nuclear programme.

the parliament and higher council approved an international deal, limiting the nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief. the nuclear document verified and they want iran to provide more details by thursday, which should be released by the end of the year. >> the united states says it's sending 300 troops and surveillance drones to cameroon to broker fighters. they are blamed for suicide attacks killing nine and wounding 38. nigeria is leading a multinational force in the fight against boko haram. >> the myanmar government and eight armed groups signed a peace deal. the ceasefire is aimed at ending more than 60 years of still war and resolving tensions. the deal was far from comprehensive, with groups staying away. >> the ethnic diversity is at the heart of the conflict,

there's more than 130 groups, with eight prominent minorities, eight have armies, and dozens more are fighting government forces. conflict began in 1949 when power was unexpectedly handed to the people, excludeing ethnic minorities. the country has been in civil war with tens of thousands killed and wounded. myanmar has one of the highest numbers of child soldiers in the world. earlier myanmar's president hailed the new peace deal. >> today is an important historic day for myanmar. we have been able to launch a new road for a peaceful future. there has been armed conflicts in the country since we won independence. tens of thousands of troops from both sides lost their lives. hundreds of thousands have suffered immensely from the fighting. >> wayne hay has more from bangkok and neighbouring

thailand. >> this nationwide agreement has been a key priority of the president, since he took office four years ago. what he has ended up with today will not be what he was hoping for, given that less than half of the rebel army, rebel organizations have not agreed to sign this deal. one of the most significant groups that is not present is the independence army, which controls large parts of the north of myanmar, and has been involved in some of the worst fighting with government troops over the years. further south in sharon state there has been fresh fighting in recent days, there's a lot of skepticism about the deal, a lack of trust in some of those areas between the rebel army, the rebel organizations and the government, and its soldiers. after this agreement is signed, between those groups, they'll immediately begin work on a

framework for politic still to come on al jazeera, sweden and its long history of accepting refugees. some syrians that fled the war say they are receiving a cold welcome. and we report from yemen where conflict pushed the banking system to the brink of collapse.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera. the syrian army launched a long-planned offensive in northern homs. the fighting is focused on two

areas. both are part of a rebel held area, a strategic highway that leads to northern battle grounds. the u.s. says secretary of state john kerry is planning to visit the middle east to try to help calm tensions between israelis and palestinians. israel tightened security, following an upsurge in violence. >> the myanmar government and eight groups signed a treaty. several groups have not signed the deal german chancellor angela merkel urged the european union to show solidarity in tackling the refugee crisis. lee merklinger made the plea in the german parliament ahead of a summit in brussels. european leaders are expected to step up support for turkey, in an effort to deal with the refugee influx. many are fleeing syria's war.

sweden received the highest number of applications in its history. 86,000 registered so far this year. jonah hull revisited a family seeking refuge we catch up with this girl and her father deep in the countryside, in cramps accommodation. it's a long way from al jazeera's first encounter with the family in the september bustle of budapest train station. it is not the sweden she imagined. >> the future here, i didn't think it would be like that. >> reporter: she shows me what appears to be bullying threats from on immigration official. >> what is problem to go to house. it is not... >> no, we don't need. >> you don't need, okay... >> every day new rules. >> you hate them. >> no. >> if you hate it, go somewhere

else. >> he argue with this guy from damascus. he told them give me the money and i can do everything - i lo throw you out of sweden. >> reporter: he said give me your identity card and i will throw you out. >> yes. >> reporter: i put all this to the immigration minister in stockholm. >> this is really a problem. so many people are coming right now, and it's really a challenge for the authorities to be able to set up proper housing for people, and to have proper control of what is happening with them. this is - we are not dealing with this so good as we should do right now. >> reporter: you've got to travel a long way into the middle of nowhere to find the camps, for want of a better word. people waiting months for asylum applications to be processed. living in conditions they didn't

expect to find. one day life will be better. this country with a long history of welcoming refugees from hungry, from the prague, from the wars of the former yugoslavia, is finding it hard to cope. >> do you think that the compaghts of sweden and swedish people has limits? >> no, i think the opposite. because when i could see, we started to collecting here for clothes and shoes and so on. it was streaming to us so much. >> so people care. >> people care. they do. >> as we talk about the past, her father breaks down. >> he spent his life in syria,

he didn't want to go out. >> reporter: a reminder that this is not the life they chose. volkswagen has been ordered to recall almost 2.5 million cars. the motoring watchdog is ordering checks on vehicles fitted with software to cheat the emissions test. it has wiped billions off the value of the company. >> protesters in northern spain are protesting outside court. there's questioning after the referendum on spain, held in defines of government leaders in madrid that said it was illegal. he is under investigation for disobedience, abuse of funds and obstructing justice. and faces disqualification or a

year in gaol. >> the ongoing war in yemen pushes the country into an economic crisis. a blockade put a stop to oil exports and cash flow. almost seven months into the war, millions of yemenis are not able to get their salaries. hashem ahelbarra reports. >> reporter: this is aden, the port city in the south, recently recaptured by government troops. the government and the central bank relocated here. employees have waited for month to get their salaries. >> translation: i have not received my salary for two monthless. bank officials say they were running out of cash. >> a woman died lining up to receive cash. >> reporter: houthi rebels withdrew 2 million from the central bank to pay fighters. now bank officials are left

grappling with how to solve yemen's financial crisis. >> we need almost 100 million to pay. >> aden and others are under government control, which means millions of yemenis in other cities have to wait until the political crisis is over. yemen is divided. the north and the capital sanaa are under houthi controls, and set up their own government. the south is under the control. reof the internationally -- -- under the control of the internationally recognised president abd-rabbu mansour hadi. many are worried yemen will go bankrupt if the war drags on the united nations general assembly is preparing to vote on its nonpermanent seats for next year. ukraine, egypt. senegal and uruguay are running

unoponds. diment i can editor james bays looks at how they could create such a situation. >> reporter: the war in syria, after 4.5 years, a human catastrophe with 250,000 dead, and a major failure of global diplomacy. the u.s. and allies oppose bashar al-assad, and russia, a strong supporter, find themselves directly involved carrying out air strikes in syria. >> this is not the only reason u.s.-russian relations are the worst since the cold war. after annexing crimea from ukraine, russia stands accused of backing separatists in eastern ukraine. all this has soured things around the security council table. >> those against... >> with russia using the veto some seven times in the last five years. now the situation around this table supposed to have the final say on international peace and

security, is about to get more complicated. after an election by the u.n. general assembly, running unopposed. ukraine will join the council. one person that understands the dynamics of the security council is rosemary di carlo, acting u.s. ambassador. she was president of the council in july 2013. >> i don't think it's a new cold war. it is a bumpy relationship between the west and russia, it's a bit chilly. i think, however, some of the issues are serious that we cannot resolve with the russians, or have not been able to. ukraine, syria, we had disagreements over u.s. and other interventions. unfortunately the disagreements are spilling over to other issues. that is unfortunate. >> reporter: not only is ukraine due to join the council - meaning two players in the

conflict - ukraine and russia will be sitting around the top table of international diplomacy, an interesting factor is the arab seat on the council. the u.s.'s strong ally, jordan, will finish its term, and is due to be replaced by egypt. yes, it's a u.s. ally, but recently abdul fatah al-sisi has been making overtureses to moscow too. things are likely to get more complicated. the turkish media named two suspected suicide bombers in the killing of 99 people in ankara on saturday. the paper says one of the attackers is believed to be the brother of an i.s.i.l. oflinged bomber. the ankara bombers were known to intelligence agencies. security agencies in australia say a 12-year-old boy is being monitored connection with the

murd ever of a police employee, he's among a number of suspects that could have been involved in the killing. andrew thomas has more from sydney. >> reporter: this boy who shot dead a police worker on the steps of a police station two weeks ago was 15 years old. police are investigating who may have helped him. they have arrested various adults. among his wider group of friends who may have encouraged or helped him in this crime was a 12-year-old boy. the police commissioner of australia has said he is shocked that someone as young as that could have been involved, and australia prime minister said is highlights how important it is to engage with children before they are radicalized. wednesday malcolm turnbull hosted a meeting of police chiefs and intelligence agencies to discuss ways to deal with that. >> as we deal with these threats and the people that seek to turn children into terrorists, we

have to be as agile as they are. >> reporter: as well as training teachers and community leaders to look for signs of radicalization, the government is pursuing a parallel approach, planning to lower the age in which so-called control orders apply. control orders give police the ability to monitor people if it helps to prevent a terrorist attack. they can monitor people, photographing them, children can be banned from contacting friends and using the internet. >> we will have no tolerance for extremism, violence, terrorism wherever it may occur, or whoever it may seek to perpetrate. >> some say targetting chin is likely to make them more radical and not less. the government says monitoring children is necessary to protect the community.

>> aism public service advertised is causing controversy in mexico, saying they should stop complaining. that led to complaints, as john holman reports. >> reporter: this is a promo video the mexican government put online and took down after an outcray. a carpenter tells a workmate mowing about the government's reforms, and ends a lecture with what the p.r. department thought was a killer line. >> translation: enough already of your complaining he says in slang. >> reporter: that angered many mexicans. >> translation: how are we not going to complain when there is so much wrong with the country. >> it's like they are mocking us because they know a lot of people will get annoyed. a lot of people say the reforms are helping. >> if they are tired of the

complaints, they should do their jobs. if they solved the problems they wouldn't complain. >> twitter jumped on the theme in a country where corruption and impursuant yit dominates. within hours, the video was gone. >> it's the latest setback for the president, who served to power a wave of orchestrated appearances on mexico's subserviant tv channels. >> the online world is difficult to tame, as more mexicans are elected, it proves a launching pad for corruption and inept attitude. no more so than the abduction of 43 students. marches were organized online, the government was slow to react. subsequent attempts to turn social media in the president's favour, like this light-hearted post to disprove a resume or that he ran a marathon in mismatched socks bombed, leaving

him echoing the words of his administration spot - enough, already, of your complaints if you want to keep up to date with the complaints and stories we are following, head over to the website. there is the front page - aljazeera.com is the address you need. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, friend or foe: the key american ally in nato that seems to be playing boat side i sides in the fight against i.s.i.s. . what a difference a year makes. especially when it comes to power politics in the middle east. last year turkey was a relatively stable country. it also seemed to be sorting out a decades-old conflict with its largest ethnic minority, the kurds.