federal law. that's the show tonight, tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. f we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> surprise visit. >> we are making good progress against the enemy and sometimes it's hard to see because it's incremental. >> defense secretary ash carter goes to baghdad to offer more military support to reluctant iraqi leaders. broken truce. yemen's day old ceasefire and peace talks are in danger of collapse with both sides blaming the other. rates rising. >> i think it's important not to overblow the significance of

this first move. >> the federal reserve raises interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. markets around the world are reacting. and back on display. why the mask of king tut needed a face lift. ogood evening i'm antonigood ev. this is al jazeera's international news hour. the fight behind the fight of i.s.i.l. defense secretary ash carter made an unexpected trip to baghdad acknowledge he said he was there to help but he received no new commitments. foreign secretary phillip hammond told parliament that russia continues to target syrian rebels with air strikes.

only a quarter aimed at i.s.i.l. targets. and there are signs that i.s.i.l.'s economic engine is starting to sputter. the u.s. military says it's finally seeing a drop of i.s.i.l.'s oil revenues. jamie mcintire is at the pentagon with more. >> reporter: antonio, here is a phrase that kept coming up during the visit to iraq. we want to accelerate the pace of operations but with iraq answer permission. carter was saying, we want to do more to help and baghdad's response was, essential, we'll get back to you. when he eventually met with his iraqi counterpart, the u.s. defense secretary quickly launched into his pitch that the u.s. wants to see faster progress on the ground. >> the united states is eager to do more to accelerate the move to mosul and victory over daesh in iraq. that is -- that will be your

victory and it is your advance. but we look forward to opportunities, increased opportunities at your request with your permission so assist you. >> carter last been pressing iraq to accept more help from above in the form of u.s. apache attack helicopters to complement iraqi ground troops, especially as they begin to close in on the dug in i.s.i.l. defenders in ramadi. he described his talk with haider al-abadi as very productive but for now abadi is rebuffing the offer of fire power. >> did not in connection with ramadi. however we did discuss the possibility that circumstances in the future might cause our commanders to advise and his commanders to advise and him therefore to approve us doing

more things. >> reporter: fighting in the key iraqi city just 70 miles west of baghdad has intensified as thousands of u.s. trained iraqi forces are slowly closing in on an estimated 700 i.s.i.l. fighters still holding the city center. the u.s. frustration with the slow moving ramadi offensive is tempered somewhat by what the top u.s. commander says is incremental but significant progress. >> although they have their ways of doing things and it is not always our way it is in the end becoming increasingly effective as they push the enemy out of that very important city of ramadi. >> while many in congress continue to call for more boots on the ground, iraq is resistant to an increased foot print. also got a push back from iraq.

secretary carter offered to embed more u.s. commandos with iraqi ground units to provide on the spot advice an offer the iraqi prime minister politely declined for now. antonio. >> thank you jamie. saudi presence and defense minister ben salman made the announcement, officials in pakistan, malaysia and indonesia said they had yet to decide they would sign oon. the u.s. government is expressing confusion as to what russia is doing in syria. russia's air campaign is helping i.s.i.l. more than it is hurting it. >> with our coalition partners including the united states we will continue to urge the russians at every opportunity to focus their fire solely on

daesh. ss unacceptable that russiait i. >> hammond called on russia to direct its fire on i.s.i.l. instead of the more moderate syrian rebel groups. oil is a life line for i.s.i.l, coalition networks have targeted i.s.i.l.'s oil network. an iraqi government crack down is also trying ocut off the group's cash flow. >> reporter: this is a road in northern iraq that is used to transport illegal oil for i.s.i.l. the group had been able too sneak its trucks in among other legitimate tankers. thousands of barrels can mover through the city of kirkuk.

>> they also use side roads. we cut all the roads off by digging a ditch around the whole area. i.s.i.l. is now forced to send their oil to mosul. >> reporter: crude oil is a major source ever money for the armed group. in the past it's used mediators to sell its oil internationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> about a year ago we learned that huge quantities of crude oil were being smuggled overseas from i.s.i.l. held areas through the province. 15 people were arrested, one of them committed suicide or play have been killed in prison. the government didn't seize outcomes to the public. >> syrian town of raqqa, to mosul, to trptd th transport th. means not only sit harder for i.s.i.l. to get oil revenue but

it's more difficult to for the armed group to transparent weapons and fighters too. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> about 100 gunmen have kidnapped qatarese officials. according to the regional governor. there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the last kidnapping. a large scale search is underway pap. amid disagreements over syria. u.s. secretary of state john kerry will chair the conference beginning tomorrow. gaps of russia and iran on the fate of bashar al-assad are still very real. she insists the u.s. position remains the same. assad must go. but u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon says that should remain up to the syrian people.

>> this is unacceptable, to hold the syrian crisis and the solution to the crisis has to be depending on a pressure of fate of one man. that's not senl. >> now some countries are considering that assad may have to stay around for some months to ensure a stable transition. president of one of the parliaments say the people signing for his tripoli based government have no legitimacy. the pact would bring together two rival administrations, the tripoli and tobruk governments. the agreement would establish a unity government. yemen's ceasefire is in danger of collapse with both sides

accusing the other of multiple violations. the ongoing fighting is also creating a difficult environment for u.n. sponsored peace talks in vienna. zeina khodr has more from biel in switzerland. >> we have to point out that is not what the yemeni delegation at the talks has been demanding. what they want is for a prisoner swap involving high ranking officials including the defense minister who remains in the custody of the houthi rebels. there have been reports of incidents of violence ever since the ceasefire took place at 9:00 p.m. gmt. none have declared the ceasefire dead, and that's the question i

put to the yemeni ambassador to the united nations, this is what he has to say. >> if we are declaring all the fest option he of the ceasefire, that willen the assess fire. buceasefire. >> there is still deep mistrust between the two sides. what we understand is that houthi rebels and their allies want to talk about a ceasefire, permanent ceasefire. the yemeni government says no, this will only allow them to we consolidated on the ground. they are accusing the rebels of buying time. we do know that the united nations is pressuring two sides to reach some sort of an

agreements. the security vacuum, chaos in the country, playing into armed groups like al qaeda. the fact that we are in this is the first time since the conflict began that the two sides are talking. >> zeina khodr in geneva. pakistani prime minister nawaz slifs attended sharif atl service. >> operations are r has broken the back of the terrorists. their totally wiped auto in every corner of pakistan will become peaceful.

>> the atake leads to the integration of mill tri courts. austrian officials are investigating two arrested in a migrant shelter, they are suspected of participation in a terrorist network. the satirical association is turning over $4.5 million in donation to the french government. charlie hebdo was targeted. it will be up to the french government to decide decide. israeli soldiers and police fired at some marin palestinian

assailants even after they were wounded and posed no further threat. 115 palestinians and 14 israelis killed. israeli government last rejekded claims. why somewherthe iaea concluded d conduct nuclear weapons development but last not done so since. >> this is proven that the iranian government has been treating the nation and the world as a whole with honesty. it hasn't told any lies and neither will it apply, it always

honors its agreements and if it made a deal it will stick to them. >> rouhani now hopes sanction he will be lifted in january. the iaea chief yokuno imana says that might be upon if the final inspections go smoothly. italy's mateo renz irvetion, italy standards to benefit should the relationship recover. italy's energy industry has close ties to russia and damaged economy. chinese officials are furious at vice foreign minister says it

will severely harm and threat bees, and while the u.s. maintains a so-called one china policy, washington is committed under the taiwan relations act to ensure taiwan can maintain a credible defense. protesting against impeachment in brazil. why people in dozens of cities came out against process. even though they don't support president dilma rousseff. and calling for the president's resignation.

o. >> travel between the u.s. and cuba could soon be an even more regular occurrence. the deal allows negotiations to begin between cuba and u.s. airline companies. it could take months before regular flights begin but when they do, the difficult chartered flights to cuba should become a thing of the past. the brazil supreme court should rule tomorrow whether dilma rousseff could face impeachment. breaking spending rules to bolster her reelection bid last year, the election committee was rigged by a secret ballot so it would be filled with rousseff's

opponents. only brazil's senate has the power to remove her completely from office. the country is divided away to do. people protested against the impeachment process, but thousands of others say they want rousseff gone. natasha guinane reports. >> that is dilma rousseff's political party and forms basis of her supported. there are a lot of people here who say they don't necessarily support rousseff but what they do support is the democratic process and they say the impeachment effort underway is not that. they are calling it actually an attempted coup. there is no evidence of wrongdoing on rousseff's part, she is accused of figure in

budget gaps but this impeachment talk is purely political. >> we must respect the democracy. i'm not here because i love dilma. i not love dilma. i think there are lots of problems. >> you'll see a lot of signs here with the name e edwardo cu. he is a huge rival of rousseff. he is accused of bribe i, people say it is hee who needs to be removed from office. >> translator: we we know his past. >> the idea of impeaching a president is nothing new for brazilians. in 1992, fer phelan doe de

medicalo, resigned, facing allegation of corruption. >> natasha guinane from rio de janeiro. >> sealed involvement for his involvement new mexico in the cocaine trade. long ally of hugo chavez. tomorrow, two of president nicholas maduro's nephews are expected to face charges. hundreds marked across south africa for reconciliation day. supposed to honor peace and equality after apartheid ended. jacob zuma is blamed for a badly deteriorating economy. >> reporter: zuma must fall

march in johannesburg. they say president jacob zuma must step down. glue he's associated with corruption, corrupting individuals. the actions he took last week in sacking a respected finance minister are considered to be very, very reckless, have done great damage to our economy. >> president zuma shocked the nation and the markets when he fired his finance minister last week replacing him with an unknown mp who only held office for three days. on sunday he was replaced by yet another finance minister. prompting ratings agency moody's to down grade south africa from stable to fleg. crossing nelson mandela bridge, it is a statement, global icon

style of leadership, his integrity and authority this country needs. like most south africans, supporting the anc, the party of nelson mandela is a powerhouse. >> it stands for better lines for our people, stands for better, youth development, a better society. >> in the face of unprecedented protests, anc's relationship, weakened by the fiasco of changing finance ministers as one opposition group described as if they were underwear. as the group crossed nelson mandela's bridge, he didn't march because he doesn't think it will work but the university student worries that he won't get a job. >> ever since he has stepped up as president the economy has fallen on a low, there hasn't

been a lot of job creation and a lot of houses promised to a lot of people haven't been built. >> it's reconciliation day in south africa. more significantly he also enjoys the support of his party's leadership. tanya page, al jazeera, johannesburg. >> the federal reserve has raised its key interest rate for the first time in almost a decade. raised between 25% and one half percent. wall street rallied after the announcement and asian markets jumped early on thursday. big impact on property owners and those looking to buy homes. al jazeera's rob mcbride reports from hong kong. >> in the city of notoriously

high property price he an interest rate like is viewed with some trepidation. home prices have seen a more than threefold increase over the past 12 years driven largely by cheap money. now attempts to tackle property speculation, coupled with the slowing economy here and across the border in mainland china have seen the interest rate cool. that ironically could be good news for some of the many people here who still desperately want to own their own home. it is one of the factors that needs into the general level of discontent by the young. property ladder only thousand to be facing higher mortgage repayments on properties that some predictions say could tumble in value by as much as 6%. >> al jazeera's rob mcbride in hong kong.

still ahead on al jazeera america, an in depth look at how people around the world are responding to the campaign and the candidates. also looking for unseen. china's latest space mission in search of dark matter.

>> welcome back to pladges, i'm antonio mora. coming up in this half hour of

international news what life is like near fukushima, japan, nearly five years fog the nuclear melt down. the u.s. has a new way now to warn americans of potential threats. homeland security secretary jeh johnson announced a new level to the national terrorist warning. dhs promptly issued its first bulletin after the news conference. james comey, discussed terror threats facing the country. contrary to reports syed farook and tashfeen malik did not have

a network. >> we have is found no evidence of posting on social media by either of them at that period of time or after reflecting their commitment to jihad. >> discussed idea of and jihad m before they ever met. >> paul beban reports. >> nine presidential candidates, donald trump's plan to bar muslims from the united states drew fire from all other candidates but jeb bush was itching for a fight. >> he is a chaos candidate and he would be a chaos president. he would not be the commander in chief to keep our country safe. >> jeb doesn't believe i am

unhinged. he said that because he has failed in the campaign. it's been a total disaster. nobody cares. >> trumtrump and bush were not e only two sparring. >> senator cruz. judge i have never supported legalization. >> do you rule it out? >> i do not intend to support legalization. >> new jersey governor chris christie saw an opening there. >> this is a difference between having been a federal prosecutor and doing something and spending your life as one of 100 debating it. let's not talk about which bill each one of these guys likes more. the american people don't care about that. >> the tone of the debate seemed to be set by fear, looking for a leader fierce enough to take on terrorism an hillary clinton. >> like all of you i'm angry at what's happening to our

inflation. citizens it's time to take our country back. >> paul beban, al jazeera. >> for tonight's global view segment, we take a look at how u.s. news outlets across the world are reacting to various events. the herald points out that even when people can lose their careers over unintended offenses, the popularity of donald trump and marine la pen are based on being offensively honest. the paper writes that while many american jews who are republican dislike trump and cruz for their social policies the paper argues that they most closely align with israeli conservatives when it comes to war and defense. both support using force to defeat enemies then leaving

rather than nation building. to israel, that leads to stability in an area where revolution can lead to 6 chaos. pravda says, proves the sheer poverty of america's political system. the main motivating factor is ego and a system that encourages candidates to say nothing of substance, trump isn't afraid to say things nobody else will. for tonight's in context segment, we put together a panel. we're joined here in our studio by fredericko lampini and, from washington we're joined by robert valencia a contributing voter of latin voices. its good to have you here. fredericko i want to start with

you. you guys had a long time prime minister that has an awful lot of similarities to donald trump. >> we invented berlusconi. i've never been a fan of berlusconi cohn, no not at all. as a politician he was much more moderate. never been an anti-immigrant xenophobic demagogue. trump should probably pay us some royalties. >> following in the footsteps of berlusconi. france has similarities, since there has been a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and marine la pen's party debt

awfully well, especially in the first round. and there are some similarities we're seeing here than you did in france. >> marine la pen and donald trump are cashing in on the same malaise. the french press were struck with the similarities of the malaise in the middle class of france, the fear of the unknown, of the outside world, actually could compare the comploitation thaexploitationof drumple donala pen. >> especially with mauricio m macri being elected in argtd. argentina.

>> thank you antonio for to invitation. certainly latin america is paying close attention to what's happening in washington. however, latin america will pay much closer attention once we know who the official republican candidate and the democrat candidate is going to be. of the candidates on the republican side, very few of them are known in latin america, as opposed to hillary clinton, for example who as secretary of state, managed to travel across latin america, from mexico, colombia and other countries in the region. of course you mention mauricio macri from argentina. from you're gay, you have miche.

>> especially a little nervous, the cubans who have gotten closer to the united states over the past year and the venezuelans who have the close relationship with cuba. >> that's correct. and one of the interesting aspects that you just mentioned is that the united states is in a unique position in only -- i mean for the most part in a decade where they're seeing a friendlier approach. i think the fact that president obama reestablished relations with cuba, has brought a positive image across the region. let's not forget, you know, a couple years ago, even a couple months ago, when we had the summit of the americas in panama, the countries refused to sign a treaty because cuba was not included. of course this was not the case in panama this year. of course with the plummeting oil prices and now increase in the fed interest rate, now we will see that the emerging

economies in latin america will face steep declining economies they might have some turmoil but the united states will influence -- it will influence in latin america. >> if the u.s. sneezes latin america catches a cold. fredericko, conservative countries, marine pla pen la per party in france, the northern league i believe it's called, said trurch trump was heroic. was there much of that feeling? >> not much. certainly the european league doesn't represent such an important mainstream political force like the mainstream in the u.s. in italy, such a position is on the fringe of the political system. and also, italians like many

other europeans, have considered america for years as a model in terms of integrating immigrants. we have seen america as very dynamic economy. its technological prowess to attract immigrants. >> and more welcoming to immigrants to much of europe not so much in france philippe, i know the french have not been big fabs of george w. bush or barack obama. are they paying attention to the republican field? >> actually i have a harder time now than ever publishing stories on those debates.

it's called the city season it's true for a reason, actually it cast a very in my opinion in france a bad image of the american politics. and also, it's one of the factors a that contributes to te distrust of europeans, especially the french, towards american politics, in general. there was george bush with the freedom fries and then the aloofness and distance by barack obama and now, the virtual unknown what would come out of the elections. around the problem of becoming xenophobic when america was seen as the mother of integration. >> robert, as philippe was calling about the image of the united states and fredericko

also, president obama promised to improve the image around the world. has it in laborin latin america? >> to some extent yes. we had gaps along the way when president obama called venezuela a trort nation, when in reality yoterrorist nation.you can't cae terrorists. the fact he was called reporter in chief by national la raza here in washington, d.c, it reported a negative image. for the most part however, president obama has done a better job compared to george w. bush, who pronounced brazil, oh brazil was so big, when he visited brazil, that is intairve

thaindicative that bush was not very knowledgeable about the region. >> france has seen its share of influence, especially in calais, where there ha has been lots of encampments trying to get to britain. >> it adds to the uncertainty. you have to remember that the french especially francois hollande our president was deeply disappointed by barack obama on syria for example in 2013. barack obama was rallying europe for a whole summer for bombings in retaliation of the gassing of his population by bashar al-assad. and all of a sudden for internal political reasons it stopped. barack obama renounced and changed his stance leaving france totally in the dark and

hollande in the reason. who wilreason -- arena. who will carpet bomb doesn't promote a coherent policy. >> i have the same question for you, italy and greece has been the two entry points for all these refugees. what is the reaction to these get-touch policies in the middle east? >> and of course the inflow of refugees is linked to the civil war in syria. >> right. >> so we have europeans and americans have a common enemy in that area, it's the islamic state, and many european countries are still looking to the united states for leadersh leadership. what they saw yesterday in the republican debate was not reality anything reassuring. on the contrary. statements like ted cruz saying that he will carpet-bomb the islamic state into owe blif i don'oblivion,this is not a fore.

it is as if these candidates were briefed on foreign spoil by hollywood script writers. it is posturing. >> only have a minute left so i want the two of you, robert already mentioned hillary clinton being better known in latin america. in france, would she be received better or worse do you think than any of the republicans? >> she is hugely popular in france and also she's gained a reputation, a good reputation, as a seark secretary of state a. she's a familiar figure in are france since the clinton era and respected in a sense and most french don't really understand the bad image she may have for part of the population in u.s. >> what about in italy fredericko? >> i agree. most europeans not all of them but most europeans still look for competence, expertise, know

how as qualities in a president. they see hillary clinton, not in any of republican candidates, at least what they were showing yesterday evening. >> interesting discussion listening to what people around the worls ar world are thinking. fredericko, philippe, thank you. surrounding the nuclear power plant nearly five years after the melt down. also star wars fans around the world get their first glimtion of thglimpse ofthe force awaken. and leading to violence and cooups aftecoups around the mid,

after the arab spring.

>> the prime minister of spain was assaulted today while campaigning. the sucker punch left mariano rohoy stunned with broken glass he and bruises. the prime minister was not badly hurt. he continued on to his next campaign stop. police arrested the attacker apparently a teenager. people are slowly moving

back to a town close to the fukushima nuclear power plant. naraha was one of the first to be evacuated. al jazeera, harry fawcett talked to some people who have decided to return. >> for more than four years, nature has been slowly reclaiming the town of naraha, around the fukushima power plant. >> i came back here as soon as possible because i wanted to help the reconstruction effort. i called residents who are not still sure about coming back to help them out. >> 830-year-old buddhist temple have decide he to return. he's done so on his own, seeing his wife and two children only

at weekends. >> the village is quiet and so is my home. it feels busy throughout the day with all the work trucks. what we need is the smile and laughter of children. >> local government education program, building a new school up to capacity of 900 students. even he is not sure whether this is the right place to bring up his own children. there's a huge amount of energy of money being poured into this process. the test of japan's ability to recover for one town for it to be a success for a sense of real life, they must convince people who spent years away it's worth coming back. >> 600,000 bags of decontamination waste stored at the outscirs of town. outskirts of town.

the main problem is passage of time. >> it's been four years and eight months. the people who have evacuated have already rebuilt the foundation of their plieives lis outside. >> desperate that the disaster will not kill off his way of life, an $11 million project is underway to divert into a new hatchery. they have been able to harvest the eggs of the returning fish. >> hatching the eggs is our biggest goal. i'm so happy that this spring we'll be able to release the hatchlings. >> constant stream of workers but this is all a big gamble. a long term bet coaching an old

town back to life. harry fawcett, naraha, japan. china currently has extensive internet monitoring and censorship. xi says a system that reflects the wishes and interests of all countries would help prevent online crime and terrorism. human rights group amnesty international is asking to restrict free expression online. china is also reaching further into space, a spacecraft with a detector designed to examine the cosmos for dark matter. >> reporter: china's dark matter particle explorer is designed to give a view that no one has had before. orbit the earth at a speed of

five kilometers per how. using a series of decorator det. evidence of what's known as dark matter which has never been seen or directly detected. but by looking at the movement of galaxies, scientists have concluded it exists and makes up 80% of the mass of the universe. >> the distortion of lights of galaxies which is playing with the light of each other, foreground and back groungrowd d

galaxies. >> it's expected to send data back in the next few weeks and it's hoped that these images will provide scientists a new and yet unseen part of the cosmos. >> new installment of the star wars saga appeared in the u.k. the favorite star wars actors walking the carpet. and england isn't the only country feeling the star wars fever. gerald tan in france. >> finally released to the public. it is fans in france are among the first in the world to see the film where more than half omillion people have already prebooked their tickets.

>> it reminds us of our youth and watching the episodes again with our children our teenagers that's nice. and then catching the rest of the movie with them that's even better. >> translator: we're wondering what it will be like even with harrison ford in it. we'll go see it, we love him. but the franchise is it going to turn a really great saga into something bad? >> the film's creating ripples of excitement. ahead of a u.s. launch on friday. it's not just ticket sales that are generating the big bucks. merchandising will bring in billions of dlafer dollars of re for to disney company that bought the rights years ago. >> i watch the trailer so many

times and every time i watch, i cry. >> in a galaxy far far away, it has turned into a cultural phenomenon. >> who are you? >> a force showing no signs of stopping any time soon. >> i'm no one. >> gerald tan, al jazeera. >> so far it's getting great reviews. what's the most likely the most famous egyptian relic is king tut's mask is now held on by bee's wax, apparently what the ancient egyptians would have used. tomorrow, baltimore has a mistrial in an officer who has

been accused of freddy gray's death. i'll be back in a few minutes.

i >> good evening. i'm antonio mora. this is al jazeera america. mistrial. jurors in a case of the baltimore police officer charged with the death of greg, could thought reach a verdict. rate like. the federal reserve raises a key interest rate for first time in nearly a decade pap what that means to your bottom line. defense secretary