♪ tensions ahead of friday prayers at a mosque in jerusalem with weeks of violence we are there live. ♪ hello there i'm julie and you are watching al jazeera live from doha and also coming up, on the program the syrian army backed by russian air strikes launches major offensive in homs and aleppo. u.s. sends military mission in afghanistan as taliban attacks intensify plus. ♪ reviving relations between

america and cuba through music. ♪ united nations security council will be holding an emergency meeting following weeks of violence in occupied east jerusalem since the first of october 35 palestinians and seven israelis have been killed, the muslim friday prayer will begin at the mosque compound this hour but not all muslims can continue with restrictions of men under age of 40 to take part and mike hanna reports on the tense situation there. >> reporter: intense security at entrances to the old city, police ordering palestinians to lift their shirts and some instructed to remove their shoes but this group waving israeli flags passes through unchecked and this is related to anxiety of jewish israelis.

false alarms about impending attacks sparked panic in a number of locations in israel and several reports of israelis with dark complexions being attacked by fellow jews after they were mistaken for palestinians. >> our security forces work together with members of public who have a wide and large understanding of the security issues involved and also are aware of the tense period we are in at the moment, there is definitely not panic. >> reporter: even the police spokesman is wearing a vest. >> safety is important and i walk with a religious man and therefore have to be careful both being jewish, religious and a police officer that could be targeted. >> in occupied east jerusalem a number of neighborhoods have been sealed off and passing through checkpoints. this barrier adds at least an hour of commuting time for those needing to go to work or university. only a handful of individuals have been involved in the

attacks and the dominant emotion of residents here is anger that so many are being made to pay for the actions of so few. mohamed is a prominent community leader here and he voices the frustration of his fellow residen residents. >> was putting pressure on the palestinian people and the people of jerusalem, this pressure will create a bigger explosion, it won't calm things down, to calm things down you need a political decision, not a security one. >> the warning that this punishment of the people, the structured humiliation may threatening the very security israel contends it is designed to enforce. >> and we are live in occupied east jerusalem and friday prayers getting underway and what is the situation there now? >> julie once again restrictions have been imposed on those wishing to worship at the

compound, on this day the age limit is 40, only men over the age of 40 are allowed to enter, all women are allowed to enter but the checkpoints you see behind me here that comes after a series of other checkpoints that are scattered throughout occupied east jerusalem, just up the road is one, down the main street through the occupied east jerusalem is another one and by the time people get to this particular check point they have been through a large number in the immediate vicinity and i look in the neighborhood as i reported there concrete blocks placed in a number of east jerusalem neighborhoods and difficult for people to get out of those particular areas and to get to the mosque compound, all the residents and all the traffic being funneled through checkpoints on the peripherys of each of those neighbors so to get to pray on this friday a lot of processes to go through, a lot of checkpoints to pass through jue julie.

>> they are discussing the occupied territories and is there optimism that anything can be done that is going to reduce the tensions? >> well, speaking to residents of occupied east jerusalem yesterday, one person was saying that, for example, it was supposed to happen this week. however, they cancelled at the last moment and he says by cancelling they give the netanyahu government a green flag to go ahead with imposing whatever stringent security measures they need. his argument very strongly that the international community basically has thrown up its hands in the situation and stifled condemnation of actions and little one has heard from the international community as a whole, the united states in particular. so from the palestinian side very great desire for greater international involvement, for greater demonstrations of international concern, not being

forthcoming and certainly there will be some expectation and perhaps not necessarily valid that something comes out of the security meeting to go to the palestinian public as a whole there is concern on the international community of what has been happening here in resent weeks. >> mike thank you for that, mike hanna updating us for the situation in east jerusalem there. syrian troops backed by russian jets attacked rebels in the south of aleppo. on thursday at least 75 people were killed in another offensive by the government in homs. that fight focused on two areas, rustan on a highway that links the provinces of homs and mama and needs the route to bring supplies to the north in idlib and aleppo and wants a corridor along the coast and the capitol damascus and zaina is live and

this is supported by russian air strikes, what can you tell us? >> well, the syrian government and its allies undoubtedly expanding their offensive against the opposition opening this new front in the northern province of aleppo. what we understand is that the government is targeting the opposition south of the divided city. activists on the ground confirming that the army is pushing forward with the help of russian air strikes. we understand that they were heavy air strikes overnight that actually paved the ground for the army to move in. now, this area is strategic. why? because it lies on a main highway that links the northern city of aleppo to the south of the country, particularly the capitol damascus and this is really what we have been seeing. they have opened an offensive against the rebels in aleppo and

the homs countryside as well as hama countryside and all of their aim really is to clear supply routes and clear the highways and they are not just fighting to recapture territory, they are fighting back to capture strategic territory which is vital if you want to send reenforcements to launch further campaigns. >> i don't know if you were able to shed any light on this but there are reports that the syrian army is being supported by iranian troops as well as hez in hezbollah, are you hearing any of that? >> the shia armed movement does not shy away from that and sent thousands of fighters to syria, so far we have no official confirmation from iran that iranian troops are on the ground but proran -- pro-iranian

sources are on the ground and show pictures of rallying troops on the ground but at the end of the day there is a concerted effort by the government allies to score victories on the ground because even vladimir putin said the aim and goal is to find a political solution and believe by putting military pressure on the opposition then the opposition will make political compromises and they are able to make diplomatic gains but the longer the syrian government and its allies are not able to score any victories on the ground and right now the rebels as well as opposition politicians refusing any talks that risks gets higher for russia to be involved in what could be a long and costly battle. >> zaina in beirut. barack obama says the war won't end before he leaves office and

american soldiers will stay on until 2017 and says it's necessary because of the security situation. patty reports from washington d.c. >> reporter: it was the central foreign policy issue that helped then senator barack obama stand out from a crowd of candidates. he was opposed to the iraq war from the beginning and he vowed if he was elected president he would end the wars in iraq and afghanistan. in 2008. >> we will end this war in iraq, we will bring our troops home. we will finish the job. we will finish the job against al-qaeda in afghanistan. >> reporter: during his reelection campaign in 2012. >> we are bringing our troops home from afghanistan and i set a timetable, we will have them all out of there by 2014. >> reporter: and this in 2014. >> by the end of 2016 our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in kabul. with a security assistance component just as we have done

in iraq. >> reporter: now he says that is not going to happen after all but the president is trying to down play the decision. >> this decision is not disappointing continually my goal has been to make sure that we give every opportunity for afghanistan to succeed while we are still making sure we are meeting our core missions. >> reporter: the white house says keeping the status quo is proof the strategy is working but many analysts just don't believe that. >> i don't think you can easily call in the result of a success and i think, again, the fact of the timing comes in now after the fall of kunduz and looks like a reaction to the fall of kunduz as opposed if the same decision had been made in march when all of the same elements that president obama listed a cooperative government, an army that will fight and so forth were all in place in march. >> reporter: it's now clear the next president will decide how long u.s. troops stay in afghanistan and it will now

become a campaign issue with the majority of republican candidates expressioning a willingness to stay. >> it's clear when we withdraw as we have done in iraq a dangerous situation becomes more dangerous. >> reporter: president obama has had some foreign policy successes but when he leaves office critics will undoubtedly point to two promises not kept and the prison in guantanamo bay and the war in afghanistan going on, the longest war in history will be left for his successor to deal with, patty in washington. still to come here on the program we will take you to the annual trade fair in china which is a lifeline for many in north korea. writings on the wall, how graffiti artists use their skills to criticize a hit television show. ♪ >> those investments will spark

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affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target ♪ welcome bark, i'm julie prayers will begin in the next hour and restrictions of men under 40 of taking part and the u.n. security council holding an emergency meeting with the violence between the israeli forces and palestinians and attacked rebels south of aleppo and army targeted is close to a main road heading to the capitol damascus and 75 were killed in an offensive by the government in homs. the u.s. is shifting policy in afghanistan and president barack obama says american soldiers

will stay there until 2017 and helped withdraw all the troops before then and said the extension is necessary because of the fragile security situation. two suicide bombers killed 30 people in northern nigeria and targeted a mosque on the capitol of borno state and no one claimed responsibility for attack and expected that the group boko haram may be behind it, on wednesday seven suicide bombers killed people. >> reporter: the multi national joint task force at the moment is still awaiting the u.n. mandate to launch and so far the nigerian military has kicked out boko haram in most of the areas they occupy, it has bombed their enclaves and chased them into the forst and some of them are rumors to be on the showers of chad and cameroon is stepping up and chad is also stepping up operations but over the past few

weeks what we have been seeing is that boko haram is stepping up its operations as the military ramp up against boko haram and using bombs like this suicide bombs and roadside bombs at strategic locations where a lot of people gather so as to cause maximum damage and have seen these in a number of ways. what people are hoping now is with the presence of the american troops and the drones there probably they will be better intelligence and better at a crisis and they hope this will be shared with troops of the region in their fight against boko haram. researchers found that the ebola virus can remain in bodies of survivors up to nine months and the early findings are inconclusive but cannot rule out sexual transmission of ebola and questions of which the ebola has been contained and we have more. >> reporter: hundreds of ebola

survivors may be at risk of carrying the virus for much longer than previously thought, two new studies says the disease can exist in the semen of survivors for at least nine months after the initial infections and further breakouts bisexual transmission cannot be ruled out and researchers found a woman was likely to be infected by a survivor six months after he was effected and a study by the world health organization and sierra leone said this was out of 33 survivors. >> this does not happen extremely frequently because of all the cases there have been in the epidemic but we do want to make sure that this is something that is really addressed as much as we possibly can because any new case of ebola could spark

another epidemic. >> more conclusive results expected later and cannot say how long signs of ebola exists or if traces of what is in the body are infectious and cannot say if women survivors can also carry the virus. >> sweat and vaginal fluid and breast milk and would like to look at all these different fluids to be able to understand if virus might be present in them after a person has recovered from ebola virus disease. >> growing concern of relapse after a british nurse from sierra leone was critically sick again but her condition is being treated as an exceptional case and doctors have not recorded any other survivor who had a relapse. the ebola epidemic killed 11,000 in guinea, liberia and sierra leone and people who lived through the out break the fear

that the virus returns still remains, al jazeera. al jazeera journalist baher mohamed released from an egyptian jail has been welcomes to the headquarters here in doha. [applause] he was pardoned in september by egypt president along with fahmy and peter greste deported and they were accused of spreading false news and originally sentenced between 7-10 years in prison and other al jazeera journalists who were not there were not pardon and al jazeera demands their sentences be overturned. china and korea and as we report the economic gulf between the two countries. >> reporter: the trade fair which brings together businesses from both sides of the border illustrates just how far apart

they are. chinese schools are bold and brash, china's consumerism on show. the contrast is still mired and a war time economy with little to sell and looks like not much sense on how to sell it. sometimes with nothing to sell at all. still from the crowds attending this year's event the hope is north korea is learning from china's relatively free market ways. >> translator: these are the biggest crowds i have seen. more business people than ever before. >> translator: i think from now on there will be more trade between china and north korea. >> reporter: says trade is brisk. >> translator: we have sold a lot to the north koreans and business is good. >> reporter: all around there is evidence of development but

little of that business drive seems to reach the other side of the liver and into north korea. dan is home to the sign of korean friendship bridge, an economic lifeline that helps north korea survive, a new bridge project further along the river remains stalled. the bridge now stands as a symbol of the troubled relationship between the two neighbors and work on it was completed a year ago paid for by china and by now traffic should have been running across it and today there is still no sign of it opening. infrastructure on the chinese side is complete and satellite images from the north korean side show the bridge ending in a field. chinese businesses at this event know this will not be a quick sale. >> translator: we came here to sell to north koreans. we have the right machines and we are hopeful we will sell. >> for the moment this is a bustling partnership of

unequals. rob mcbride, china. volkswagen said they have checks on nearly 2 1/2 million vehicles which were designed to cheat tests and the scandal first uncovered in the united states wiped billions of dollars off the german company. eu and turkey have agreed on a joint plan to address the refugee crisis. eu leaders say they will ensure turkey is not used as transit point heading to europe and topped the agenda at a summit in brussels as lee barker reports. >> reporter: european leaders arrived in brussels facing multiple challenges. the war in syria, conflict in ukraine and the aftershocks of the greek bailout saga put the 28 block under strain but the unrelenting refugee crisis that continues to dominate european

politics and more than half a million people and refugees from syria arrived in the eu this year and traveled from turkey to europe's shores and now a preliminary agreement with turkey to help reduce the number of people attempting to make it to europe. >> translator: we received a report very early this morning that there had been an outcome of the negotiations and we were then able to reach an agreement this evening with regards to the exact shape of the joint action plan. >> reporter: under the draft plan turkey would receive $3.4 billion in aid in return for clamping down on the numbers of people crossing it's territory heading towards the european union and the money would be used on tightening security but it would also be used on creating greater incentives for people to stay in turkey. greater levels of integration and better living conditions also. but as well as the money there is also talk of liberali zing

them entering and not everyone in the eu is prepared to accept including the french president. >> translator: we cannot have a situation where in exchange for turkey they hold back refugees and lib like liberalize it and we cannot check for ids and conditions attached and it's normal to discuss with the turks but france and other countries will pay attention to make sure the conditions are not only set but also respected. >> reporter: but with europe under pressure to come up with a lasting solution to the refugee crisis, the eu may have little choice but to concede to turkey's demands. >> willingness to contemplate and reflect this on the part of number of states to extend the

arrivals of the eu and would like turkey to play a role because they are geographicicily speaking doing that. >> with help with the refugee crisis the european unions promised to start new talks with turkey about eventually joining the eu but in the short term there is a question of where billions in aid will come from and the eu suffering from the effects of the ur euro zone and they will have to dig deep for the border. five died in italy from flooding from rains and a man was killed in his car when a river near rome burst its banks. two people died in the eastern region and two others killed near naples. and triggered flash floods in california and storms brought huge downpours in towns north of los angeles and forced parts of the highway to close and

firefighters have been rescuing drivers stranded in their cars. artists hired by the u.s. t.v. show home land to write graffiti on its set there are written messages criticizing the show and asked to add authenticity of a camp in lebanon but the producers of the show did not check what was written and one says homeland is racist and one says homeland is not a series and another reads black lives matter and one of the artists involved says it sends a message against stereotypes. >> there is no doubt that the show is incredibly well produced with great actors but that is kind of besides the point. it's still important to address this idea that stereotyping and an entire region of people, a huge region of people to a very shallow and one dimensional perspective is something that is potentially dangerous and we

wanted to use this opportunity in a way to claim back our image. for the first time in more than 50 years the white house hosted musicians from cuba and the concert by the club orchestra marks the end of its 20th year of touring and also the revival of u.s. and cuba relations and tom ackerman reports. ♪ more than 500 invited dignitaries swayed to the group's afro cuban ribbons and opened with the signature toan chin-chin calling it the farewell world tour. >> for nearly two decades this group has been a symbol of the strong bonds between the america and cuban people, bonds of friendship and culture and of course music so i just hope they enjoy their stay and i hope i look at good as they do in a few years. >> reporter: 1999 documentary

that won an oscar nomination and talked about the musical golden age that predated the 1959 revolution, since then the group has performed several times in the u.s. though not without attracting anti-castro protesters and even bomb threats, the command performance of the white house followed last july's and opening in havana and led high level officials to havana and taking more steps to improved economic relations and nine u.s. governors from both parties backed obama by urging congress to lift the half century old trade embargo for the benefit of american farmers. ♪ meanwhile the havana government has signed a deal allowing sony to distribute over 30,000 cuba

recordings including the catalog for worldwide sale. tom ackerman, al jazeera, washington. and you can keep up to date with all the day's news and sports on our website. the address al jazeera.com. detention centers. plus, how college courses can help turn even the most dangerous inmates around. the unmistakable stench of politics pervades immigration across the country. there is no escaping the smell of