the united states says it's ready to help iraq step up the fight against i.s.i.l. welcome to al jazeera. coming up in the next half hour the first steps on towards justice over a massacre carried out in the philippines six years ago. 21 police officers face sanction. christina kirchner says goodbye to argentina. we take a look at what challenges lie ahead for her divided country. a world first, a new vaccine

against dengue fever gets approved in mexico. the united states says it's ready to step up the fight against i.s.i.l. in iraq. the defense secretary ash carter has offered to send personnel and equipment to help iraqi forces push i.s.i.l. from the city of romadi. it is about 100 kilometres by baghdad and was captured by i.s.i.l. in may and it was seen as an embarrassing celt back for iraqi forces >> the u.s. are prepared to assist the iraqi army with capabilities to help them finish the job, including helicopters and personnel going to imran khan in northern iraq. just remind us of this fight for romadi. what's the situation on the

ground there now? >> reporter: well, right now what they've done is they've taken a number of key bases and territory within the city. this is an operation that was led by the counter terrorism forces backed by the iraqi army. they have gone into the south-west. that is a significant chomping of the town itself. the south-west is linked by a series of bridges. they have pushed towards those bridges and they have taken some of them. these are key if you want to go into the center itself. this is where the bumming of i.s.i.l. is. there is a key command center that was used. for a number of years they lost that in may when if was taken over by i.s.i.l. these are significant victories that the iraqis security forces, led by as i say these counter terrorism forces, have made.

america has offered close air support. this operation began during the summer and the prime minister said it was going to be over in a matter of days or weeks. it has taken months for them to get this far. it is being seen as being very significant in terms of the territory they've taken in the last 24 to 48 hours, but this has been a very long time coming bringing in what ash carter says, this offer of help, the iraqi prime minister is currently in a row over ankara in the north. how is he going to react to this offer? >> reporter: there's a big disconnect here between what the iraqis want and what the americans are willing to offer and what they will end up giving. what they need is not boots on the ground. what they need is help with intelligence gathering, heavy weaponry, heavy machinery and

they also need air support. the air support has to be maintained by the americans of the that's something that the iraqis don't have, the kind of pilots and military capability to do themselves, but the rest of it they say they're able to take this fight and to take this territory from i.s.i.l. themselves. really there is nothing changed. the surprising thing about this is ash carter's comments itself coming at this stage. it is going in and taking territory from i.s.i.l. and this has been a bloody fight for the iraqis and suddenly the americans are like they're willing to offer more. that's what the prime minister has been asking for since i.s.i.l. took over. he said there is specific help they they need and if they don't get it, there will be a long time to get to where they are. there is a disconnect, that the americans are playing to an awed yens, we're willing to do exactly what we want to cause the fight against i.s.i.l. is playing big in the politics, p

particularly with the republican candidates making a variety of statements against i.s.i.l. during their speeches. so it's likely that this is much more to do with domestic american politics than it is to do with a message to the prime minister. he has been asking for help since the fight with i.s.i.l. began thank you for that. defense secretary ash carter also addressed the crisis in syria. he asked middle eastern countries to do more to contain the armed groups saying saudi arabia and the gulf states were preoccupied with the war in yemen. our state department correspondent ross jordan sent this update. >> reporter: there are a couple of reasons why the u.s. defense secretary ash carter called on the members of the gcc and other middle eastern countries to do more militarily against i.s.i.l. the first is to try and combat the perception that the u.s.-led air strikes against i.s.i.l. are

really u.s. air strikes against i.s.i.l. they want to underscore the point that other countries have been taking part in the air war and certainly the countries that were there at the beginning, including jordan and the united arab emits should be more engaged in terms of going after i.s.i.l. fighters. the other part is this, it's to push back against domestic political pressure here in the united states where notably a number of congressional republicans want to see a more robust u.s. military operation against i.s.i.l. both in syria and in iraq. carter's mission before the senate armed services committee on wednesday was to try to persuade the senators that the u.s. military could theoretically carry out a large-scale operation against i.s.i.l., but that from a long-term practical standpoint

it would be extremely ill advised the conflict in syria has been high on the agenda over gulf corporation meeting taking place in saudi arabia. the king opened the summit asking leaders to work together to restore stability in the region. he also said he remains committed to a political solution in syria. the summit is being held in riyadh at the same time as the talks between armed and political opposition. >> translation: regarding the syrian crisis, the kingdom of saudi arabia is hosting the syrian opposition in order to help in finding a political solution according to the geneva accord. the international community has a joint responsibility in fighting terrorism and extremism and the kingdom of saudi arabia has e irritate a lot of-- exerted a lot of effort in regard. we will continue with cooperation and coordination with our friendly countries because our islam rejects

terrorism and extremism the death toll from a taliban attack on kandahar airport has riven to more than 70. the gun battle between afghan forces and the armed group lasted more than 24 hours. the attack happened as a major conference in pakistan got underway. the afghanistan's foreign minister called on peace talks to recommence with the taliban. jennifer, this was a very brazen and devastating attack. the question is does it show the taliban's growing strength or is it a reflection of the weakness of the afghan forces? >> reporter: i think it may be a little bit of both. certainly the fact that the government doesn't know exactly what happened. they have launched an investigation this morning to figure out exactly how those taliban attackers got into

canada bihar-- kandaha airfield. one general was killed in that attack. there may have been some sort of infiltration by the taliban. they released a video that show the troops. they are not sure if they got past those check points. you do have to pass several check points. the area where the attack was carried out is an area where families live, families of serving or former military officers. as you said, that battle went on for more than 24 hours. it shows the kinds of challenge the afghan security forces are facing against the taliban. they had their biggest military victory in 14 years in september when they retook a town and held it for more than two weeks.

so it's really showing that the taliban illustrating they can make these big very, very public attacks, and it certainly has afghans concerned thank you. that's jennifer glasse reporting from us from afghanistan. 21 police officers in the philippines have been dismissed over their involvement in one of the country's worst mass kimings. this-- killings. they were sacked for failing to stop the son of a plight kaeng war lord from-- political war lord who shot many. these officers have been dismissed. several others have been suspended. it shows the police were complicit in what has been the single deadliest attack on journalists had history. >> reporter: that's right. these police officers have been in detention for a few years now along with the alleged mass

mastermind of this crime. the actual believed mastermind who is accused and stands trial here has actually died while in detention from cancer. many of the victims' families feel that in a sense justice has alluded them in that aspect, but then several of his sons are also still in detention, all believed to have been involved directly in the actual killing of these 58 people. the police, as you said, not just believed to have turned awaned looked the other way while the crime was being perpetrated, some of them are accused of having participated in the actual ambush these murders occurred six years ago. why is it the case still dragging on for so long?

going-- renowned for going very slowly. a case of one suspect can take 10 years. in this particular case there are over 100 main suspects, all involved in the one major trial. analysts have said going by those figures, really, it could take a century before any kind of resolution can be seen. however, the president promised that there would be a conviction by the end of his term. however, his term has only got six months to go and they're nowhere near nearing the end of this trial thank you for that. still to come here on al jazeera, how an sms message from syria helped identify one of the paris attackers. plus a cause to celebrate ethnic diversity in ethiopia.

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>> 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. you're watching al jazeera. a reminder of the top stories. the u.n. says it's ready to step up the fight against i.s.i.l. in iraq. defense secretary ash carter has offered to send advisers and attack helicopters to help iraqi forces push i.s.i.l. forces from the city of romadi. erdogan has suggested that his forces were invited to iraq last year. he said they were requested to train fighters against i.s.i.l. iraqi prime minister wants them

to leave immediately. 21 police officers in the philippines have been dismissed for their involvement in one of the country's worst mass killings. they were sacked for not stopping the killing of 58 people in the southern province of makinder now six years ago. french investigators say a digital clue help them identify another of the men suspected of carrying out last month's attack in paris. this man was one of three who killed many in the bataclan theatre. >> reporter: this man was a french national who travelled to syria to fight with i.s.i.l. but instead became a mass murderer at home in one of france's most violent attacks in a hundred years. his father says he would have killed him if he had known. >> translation: i didn't know he came back. i knew he was in syria. he left two years ago. of course i'm surprised. i would have killed him before

if i'd known what he would do. >> reporter: he was identified by d.n.a. are shared with the police by his mother who lived in hann area just north of strassburg. she is reported to have received a text message from his wife in syria saying "your son died a martyr with his brothers on november 13". his farmer neighbour said he would never guess he would be involved in such violence. >> translation: the guy always said hello to me. he was always respectful. what i mean he was a sweet guy. i know him. not more than that. i don't know what to tell you. i'm shocked. >> reporter: he left syria in 2013 with you to 12 men from the same area. six of them came back in 2014 and were arrested including his brother kareem >> he was in touching with his mother and brother. he always told him that they wouldn't come back to france and that he would go to iraq.

>> reporter: it's not clear how he got back into france without being detected by security services. but he became part of a group in the bataclan theatre who killed most of the 130 people who died on november 13 argentina's outgoing president has made her last public address before handing over power. christina kirchner addressed her supports. her successor macri will be sworn in on thursday. she has refused to attend his ceremony. he won in a run-off vote in november. >> translation: these are the greatest things that i have given to the argentinan people, the empowerment of people, liberties, rights, thank you for so much happiness, joy and love. i love you all.

you will all be with me forever in my heart and know that i will always be right there with you. thank you everyone macri is facing tough challenges ahead. a report where people hope that he will be able to deliver on his promise to improve the economy. >> reporter: on the streets here to send a message to argentina's new president. this man is the leader of the workers union and says he is ready to confront the parliament in the policies hurt people like him >> translation: we are worried because macri is a representative of the right. if he doesn't give poverty and other promise then we will be on the streets >> reporter: he is taking office in a divided country.

there is still many others who support the former government's message. political and economic sovereignty and social justice. >> translation: the election marked the fight between two models of a country. one goes with a free market model, and that's the model of macri. the other one is with all problems. what we are waiting to see is what the next government will do. >> reporter: that depends on the state of the economy president kirchner is leaving behind. macri says one of the first issues he will be tackle will be the inflation and the monetary market. that could cause inflation to

spike. this is the former chief of the central bank and says that the situation is more complicated than the outgoing government would like to admit. >> all the cough coffers are entry. if you look at the central bank, there are no dollars or reserves. if you look at the treasury the deficit is bigger and bigger. basically the new government will try to open the drawers and nothing will be there. the key is how would you reconstruct a base of resources so you can make a new start for the economy. >> reporter: the challenge will be to do it without hurting argentina's most vulnerable china has lifted the highest smog alert for beijing. the government says restrictions on traffic and industry has reduced pollution by 30%.

strong winds also helped to clear the air. the a lawyer for a pilot on trial in russia says she won't appeal against the verdict if she is found guilty. she is accused of murdering two russian journalists in eastern ukraine last year. >> reporter: on some days she is allowed to see her sister down this foreign town streets at the steps and into the court house where she is on trial for murder. because she might soon testify on this day, she was kept out of the courtroom. weep weren't though. for what seemed like a brief minute we could film a political prisoner. she has hopes, probably in vein, might be acquitted. >> translation: i'm an opt middle of the, so sometimes i-- opt middle of the, so i--

optomist, so i dream that the judge says witnesses are lying and she can go home. the judges take orders here. >> reporter: this is what she is accused of. last june two russian journalists died in an attack in eastern ukraine. the army helicopter pilot had been fighting in a voluntary unit. the charge is that she was the are till respoter-- artilley spotter who called in the device. her alibi is strong, but necessity expect her to be convicted anyway. >> the problem is it's not a trial at all. we may predict that the court's final sentence will be as severe as it could only be. >> reporter: another burning issue is how she came to be in russia at all.

the prosecution says that she crossed the border from ukraine illegally, posing as a refugee. nonsense she says. she has insisted that after she was captured by separatists, she smuggled into russia by intelligence agents. the european union agrees saying that she was kidnapped. the prosecutor refused to speak to us. there is limited sympathy for her on the streets. most people want the trial to be wrapped up quickly and the town left in peace. >> translation: of course she should be punished, but it's such a lengthy process, so expensive for the country. it's taking too long. >> translation: i think it's political. i think russia and ukraine should make peace and stop war >> reporter: assuming he will be convicted-- she will be convicted, maybe a pardon or deportation to ukraine or a prisoner swap, but that is a decision that won't be made here. it will be made in moscow

german chance lair cans lore merkel has been named person of the year. i.s.i.l. leader was second on the list and u.s. presidential candidate donald trump came in third. the world's first vaccine against dengue fever has been approved by authorities in mexico. the world health organisation says more than 400,000 people are infected every year. one professor says this must be widely used in order for it to significantly reduce the number of dengue cases.

>> this is going to be a unique which is made for dengue endemic country. this is to be given over three vaccinations. it will be given to people older than nine years and above. the evidence from the clinical research trials is that this vaccine can prevent particularly importantly prevent hospitalisation in around 80% of those who get vaccinated. so this is good news. the profile of this vaccine tells us that it would need to be very, very widely used to cause a very major reduction in the prevalence of dengue. what we think it will do is reduce the impact of dengue as a public health problem in endemic countries. it will reduce the number of

children and young adults who end up in hospital with the illness, but it won't eradicate engee. so we will-- dengue. so we need traditional responses to mosquitoes to prevent infection more than 80 tribes have come together for a celebration but there are deep divisions and grievances. >> reporter: rhythms like this reach back deep back into the history of the ethiopia. thousands of people from more than 780 tribes gathered together. the ancient language is the national language but most of these tribes have their own separate languages too. their dress, music, dances,

cultural identities are distinct from one another. this annual event organized by the government is their chance to voice their grievances and celebrate. >> translation: we live in the remote forests. we need schools, health centers, roads. we want to have all these things. >> translation: i'm happy to be here. this tries to unite the country. it shows the courage of building your own nation. >> translation: i'm so happy it's happening here. we hope this helps to strengthen the unity of the country. >> reporter: inside a football stadium the prime minister sat next to his guest president. he said the meeting of the tribes here today shows unity and the diversity of this country. the fact remains that some of these groups have serious issues with the government and each

other. there are disputes over land and encroachment on ancestral areas by farming for example. the largest group are demanding more economic and political rights. activists queues police of recently shooting at least three protesters dead. the celebration marks the day the current constitution was adopted 21 years ago. the same party has been in government ever since. >> they are start to take on liberty. this is a work in progress. still we have a long way to go to make sure that will happen. it is a force measure of the freedoms and liberty.

>> reporter: it will remain a challenge for a long time with every voice in this incredibly diverse voice is to be heard we've got all the latest news and analysis on our website. our address is al jazeera.com >> "america tonight's" sarah hoye and another search for justice against the law. thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. this year it's become a center piece of focus our conversations about the police and the communities they serve. officer involved shootings especially whether the victim is a person of color have ignited protests, led to federal investigations and forced us all to consider how much it takes to bring a suspicious person under control. although it has been a key headline over the last year and