tension on syrian border you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up. the death of a supreme court justice triggers a fierce power battle in the u.s. the pope celebrates mass in a

crime-ridden part of mexico and criticizes the country's rich elite. plus >> reporter: i'm jonah hull with the soldiers of odin, patrolling the streets of finland protecting, they say, the citizens here from refugees the turkish prime minister has told the german chance letter angela merkel his country will continue to strike back at kurdish fighters in northern syria. turkey wants the kurdish y.p.g. fighters to withdraw from areas they captured in northern aleppo. the y.p.g. who have the support of the u.s. refuse to give up their gains. they refuse to push back. >> reporter: the battle for syria's northern corridor. opposition groups are still

holding out. the government's ground forces are a few kilometers away and the kurdish armed group the y.p.g. is approaching from the east. turkey stepped in. for a second day it shelled positions of the y.p.g. and its allies causing casualties. the bombardment is not just to a group to a terrorist organization but for them to retreat. >> translation: the y.p.g. withdraw from azaz and the surrounding area. it will not attempt to shut that corridor ever again. it will not have delusions of using the base to attack the opposition. >> reporter: over recent days the y.p.g. and its allies captured ground from syrian armed groups backed by ankara. the group is taking advantage of

its groups across the province. the u.s. which is allied to npg has called on the kurds to stop taking ground. >> translation: we captured the air base and we are close to capturing ute. we aim to reach the i.s.i.l. territory. we want to fight this group. turkey want us to retreat. this won't happen >> reporter: the advances are putting pressure on the opposition. many people believe the y.p.g. which is drawn from syrian kurds is linked to the p.k.k. in turkey. syrian opposition fighters know that alliances could be shifting. >> translation: way are being stabbed in the back where the p.k.k. and its ally, they took advantage of the fact that we were fighting on two fronts against the regime and i.s.i.l. >> reporter: turkey's policy in syria has been clear from the

beginning. it wants regime change in syria and it wants to prevent a kurdish state from being created along its border. it wants a safe zone along the syrian side of the border to serve as a buffer to protect its interests, but so far the international community has not accepted that demand. turkey's latest action $serve as a message that it will stand by its red lines. >> reporter: for the government one of those lines is azaz, a few kilometers from the border. officials have promise to protect the area which is homes to tens of thousands of displaced syrians. ankara has few options because russia controls the skies the fighting is continuing in syria days after leaders agreed to work to acis sayings of-- acisation-- a sessionation of the fighting.

the syrian credit crescent say there's supplies on the way to douma. iraqi armed groups are involved in renewed fighting outside the city of tikrit. groups declared victoria against i.s.i.l. fighters there but they're saying they're coming under daily attack on the outside skirts of the area. >> reporter: tikrit had been taken in the country. outside this city this is now the scene. i.s.i.l. which still controls the countryside mounts attacks on the oil fields there. the battle over tikrit is crucial for iraqi force $in their advance towards mosul, the second largest city which is controlled by i.s.i.l.

it is an important hubs because it is on the main highway. the oil fields can produce up to 25,000 barrels a day. that revenue is crucial. i.s.i.l. hasn't managed to take control of the oil fields but is proving to be a difficult foe for the people >> translation: every day we have an attack by i.s.i.l. you can see them over there. they are using suicide car bombers and motorcycles. yesterday we had a suicidal motorcycle across the canyon but we repelled the attack. >> reporter: further north i.s.i.l. is firmly in control of the town. some have fled but others remain flapped. the escape for those that got out wasn't easy. >> translation: we left in a hurry with total fear. we then managed to escape from i.s.i.l. and thank god we left >> reporter: the civilians who fled are in a village in a maul

village. with i.s.i.l. mounting attacks on oil fields, how long they will be say there is not clear >> reporter: there is no doubt they're taking advantage of the fact that iraqi army is stretched and fighting on multiple fronts. these are simply i.s.i.l.'s last stand and they will be dealt with soon israeli police have shot and killed two palestinians after they opened fire at damascus gate in jerusalem's old city. it followss incidents across israel and the occupied cities. in hebron a palestinian woman was shot and critically wounded after she tried to attack an officer with a knife. a 17-year-old was killed at a check point near bethlehem after trying to stab a security guard. in jenine a funeral for two

15-year-olds who are shot dead. vote counting is underway in the car where voters have been deciding between two former prime ministers in a presidential run off vote. the election is being held after more than two years of fighting between muslim and christian communities. >> reporter: there was frustration with delays for voters where polling stations did open on time but they were busy. in the first round in december the turn out had been strong with nearly 80%. that was seen as a rejection by voters as a split. sunday's vote was also a rerun of the parliamentary election in december. its results were anulled due toer regular latters.

- >> translation: we will have a good laugh in the end. >> reporter: no 2013 france sent troops to try and restore order to car after mainly muslim fighters toppled the president. christian fighters responded by attacking the muslim minority community. thousands of people have killed. one in five has fled. two christians are facing off as candidates in the run off ballot. the first has promised to tack emcorruption, the other said he will bring investment. both are former prime ministers. whoever wins will have the challenge of extending state authority beyond the capital. muslim fighters control the north east of the country while christians hold sway in the south west. weapons are easy to get hold on. accordingly to human rights watch, a grenade is cheaper than a can of coke the question of who will

nominate the next justice to the supreme court is ouching democrats and republicans after the death of justice scalia. he was a consistent conservative voice pushing in favor of the death penalty and the individual right to bear arms. the vacancy means the supreme court is now evenly split with four liberal justice and four conservative. let's look at some the top potential successors. lync, srinivasan is an appeal court judge and there is where garland is a just. katyal is a law professor. j, honson is homeland security under obama administration. another could be verrilli is

solicitor general. there is also holder who served as u.s. attorney-general during obama ace first term in office. the white house has said it will nominate a replacement for the justice in due time. once senate returns from research, but during their latest debate the republican hopefuls says the decision on what replaces scalia should be made after obama leaves office >> the senate need to stand strong and say we're not going to allow obama to make one more liberal appointee. >> i think he will do it whether i want him to or no. it's called delay, delay, delay >> i think we ought to let the pt to decide speaking before thousands of people in one of the mexico's violent districts. the pope has urged followers not

to be destroyed by what he described as dealers of death. the pope told mexicans not to leave their country but to stay at the front lines and forge their future. the pope ask on a five-day trip. our correspondent was at the mass. >> reporter: we heard a pretty strong not so veiled message moments ago in the mass. he warned mexicans to resist the delve and temptation for wealth and corruption. that was part of this ongoing message he delivering, trying to tell higher up to the church, tell his flock here in mexico, which numbers in the tens of millions, and politicians that they must rid themselves of corruption and of this plague of criminal violence of this ongoing drug war. the mass is well underway and he had that warning in his last statement. it is clear that the message two

days run now is resist temptation to easy money, resist temptation to a life of crime and, perhaps, all working together, that is the church, that is the state and that is the millions of people who want a safer mexico. perhaps everyone working together might resolve this crisis for in country still to come on the prog m program, anger in india over the arrest of a student leader. protesters queues a accusing the government of cracking down on decent. plus. i do not i'm in london where it is british's film biggest night, baftas 2016.

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories. the turkish prime minister says his country will continue to strike back at kurdish fighters in northern sir. the white house says it will nominate a replacement for justice scalia once the senate has returned from recess. pope francis has urged mexicans to shun the delve-- devil as he separated an open air mass. haiti's new interim leader has been sworn in. he will be fill the power vacuum

that was created by the step down of the previous president. he will serve for just 102 days. our reporter has more from the capital. >> reporter: we're here at the national palace where he was just sworn in. you can see the celebration that is ongoing here behind me in what he said during his speech is what happened here is exceptional circumstances, that the people should learn to it. he has a very, very interesting history. he was the minister during the government to the former president. he was detained after the coup when one was accused of killing political leaders. he said he was a precedent of the senate. he has close links to the former

president. he is considered moderate and has the support of one of the strongest parties in haiti. now his biggest challenge is to guarantee stability and also to guide this country towards elections former u.n. secretary general says africa has an urgent challenge to tackle unemployment. speaking at the annual meeting on international security policy in munich, he said combatting unemployment would help to prevent young men from joining rebel groups or migrating from the continent. he said al-qaeda and al-shabab continue to act as a destabilizing force in africa. >> we cannot ignore that the flood of jihad is being raged. more than a dozen subsaharan

countries are concerned and tens of thousands have already died. boko haram actually killed more people last year than the islamic state. attacks in many places are a daily or a weekly occurrence. extremist groups are now linking up with each other across borders and even going global by signing up to franchises of al-qaeda an islamic state, precisely because of these affiliations, they are generally seen through the prison many of the-- prism of the global war. this neglect, what they have in common with other insurgences, on the continent, which have nothing to do with islam air strikes by the saudi let coalition in yemen have killed a number of people. a warehouse and a nearby

tabbingry were hit last night. the houthis say 11 civilians were killed while other reports put the death toll at 2. a united nations report says more than 11,000 civilians were killed or injured in afghanistan in 2015. that's an increase on the year before. most deaths were caused by groups opposed to the government, including the taliban. >> reporter: more civilians were killed or injured in fighting in afghanistan last year than at any time since u.s. and international forces invaded in 2001. the statistic released in the u.n. report on civilian casualties in afghanistan. according to the report, more than 11,000 civilians were killed or injured in 2015. among those casualties more than 3,500 died. the u.n. report blamed the

taliban and other anti-government forces for 62% of the casualties. 17% of deaths and injures were caused by afghan and international forces. the head of u.n. assistance mission in afghanistan told a news conference here that he wants all parties to the fighting to make an effort not to harm civilians. >> until we have a peace agreement, we must call on all those parties engaged in the collect who have it within their power to reduce the number of civilian casualties to commit to taking every step that will avoid harm and injury to civilians. >> reporter: the report comes as the afghan government is pushing to negotiate with taliban factions who want peace while promising to fight who they don't. a record number of civilian casualties that coincides with an increase in afghan troop casualties injects another

lement of insecurity to fight off the insurgency thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of india's capital new delhi following the arrest of a staunt leader. they say it's a part of the crackdown on dissent. the government says it is cracking down on what it calls anti national elements. >> reporter: this is one of the most liberal and socially diverse universities in the country and it's known for students to voice their opinions and vocalise their voices. they're saying they're worried about speaking their mind after one of their student leaders was arrested on sedition charges. they say it is a serious crackdown on speech >> there is fear of repression. every day we go back to our hostels, maybe tonight there

will be a problem. the state want to generate everything. >> reporter: the general public has joined students and teachers to form in human chain. it's not just this university that is concerned. the whole country is watching these protests very closely. they say these arrests are just the latest example of a growing intolerance under this governments the film the revenant has scooped three of the four main awards at sunday's baftas in lon. it won for best film and director and he was the best actor. our correspondent has been following automatic the issues. the revenant was the clear winner >> five awards. it is one of those nights where the critics were reluctant to give predictions. they were giving you two or

three options. the revenant gained most. people love his films or hate him. it was expected it would take one award. five is a good return for the investment. di caprio was great. other nominations. it was a goodnight for him. it was a feeling it was to be his year. redmiane was it for last year. the danish girl which is his film wasn't in the league. it is going to be a good nature for leo. he lost out last year, so it is a victory for him to come back for the second year and saying i am going to take it and hopefully i will take the oscar as well

how much of an indicator is it for the oscars >> you have all different awards, golden globes, loads of them, they say we are the precursor for the oscars. we're going to be telling up. the bafts are seen as the front runner. it is the british titles. it is such an international nature that you have dicaprio an american, others, you have all these international stars. that gives you an indication that it is such a broad talent of people that you many see at the oscars too. there have been news where baftas have gone slightly away. one did not take the bafta and one was vocal about that. there are variations, but you will see the same films, the same actresses.

cate blanchett lost out to bre, larson. she was chomping at her heels. cate is looking down thinking two weeks until l.a. and that oscar better have my name on it thank you very much. finland's government announced it will deport around 20,000 nominees. finland has instrumentaled to deal with the volume of asylum seekers. prospects there are now will go grim. the influx is causing unease among some locals. >> reporter: name after a god of war, the soldiers of odin take their self-appointed mission seriously, patrolling the streets of finish towns keeping women and children safe from

refugees >> translation: about 80% of the refugees are men of fighting age. to me it doesn't look like they need help. >> reporter: back in their clubhouse in the woods they insicht they're just concerned citizens, although the nazi-type items suggest otherwise. >> translation: we only use violence to depend ourselves. if somebody attacks, of course a person has the right to defend himself. if we see a crime taking place, then we intervene. >> reporter: finland is in economic trouble and the soup kitchens are busy. a cautious welcome in the summer has turned frosty. it's now far more almost than not that asylum seekers will be turned down >> the main thing is to make good picture for refugees. we are good in helping and we are good people. >> reporter: this man helped hundreds of refugees who crowded

into this concert hall before formal reception centers established. he regrets the change in mood. >> translation: i've heard hundreds of stories of why they come. some are true and some are lies, but who has the right to decide. that makes me sad. especially as a christian. we should help all people. >> reporter: as the public mood seems to be hardening here in finland towards the refugees, it seems that the prime minister himself has been forced into his own about-turn having said that refugees were welcome to come and stay here in his country house in the north of the country, he has now said they can't. ostensibly for security rens. the house is said to be too public-- reasons. at a refugee center the tightening controls are sinking in. >> our society have some good people and bad people. even refugees, there is good

people and there is bad people. >> reporter: will you respect if it comes to it, a decision to send you home? >> if they send us back, i will respect that, but, you know, we will face death there. yeah. >> reporter: you have to wonder why they want to live in the freezing cold anyway. such is the desire tore safety. jo-- for safety i want to bring you breaking news out of libya because a television statement has been put out saying that the presidential council has announced a revised a unity government under the u.n.-backed plan. cuba has returned a missing missile to the u.s. after it was mistakeningly shipped there in june 2015. it was sent to europe for training exercises two years ago. it was then sent to paris where

it was supposed to be flown back to florida, but it ended up on a commercial air france flight to ha havana. it was not listed on the cargo manifest. much more on our website, at aljazeera.com. this is third rail.