it was an audacious bid to capture a city in the southern philippines and tone it into a province of leisel. with rai left a smoking room is asia the new battlefront when east investigates at this time on al-jazeera al-jazeera is a very important force of information for many people around the world when all the cameras have gone i'm still here go into areas that nobody else is going to talk to people that nobody else is talking to and bringing that story to the forefront. kurdish fighters say they feel betrayed as a rocky forces claim the whole of kirkuk province from peshmerga forces.

and welcome to al jazeera live from my headquarters in doha with me in the purana also ahead. so assad bombers target two mosques in afghanistan killing more than seventy people plus. they have broken the rule of law a basic principle of the european union in just a few hours spain is expected to unveil details of its plan to take control of catalonia. and a new report says more vans die every year from air pollution and dirty water that in the world's conflicts and natural disasters combined. iraqi forces have claimed control of the whole of critical province after intense

fighting against kurdish peshmerga forces the army says they captured the last town corporately which is situated near had a beer with the help of shia militias stephanie deca reports from the front line where some peshmerga feel they've been betrayed. a new front line opened early friday iraqi forces together with have still shabbier shia militias move towards peshmerga positions not to the kurdish it's around thirty kilometers south of erbil on the road to kirkuk. yes they're attacking it out uncoupling and they're attacking from dbase also and there's nothing we can do about it only on the coalition forces to come in and help as it hit the peshmerga no doubt we have martyrs that. a steady stream of reinforcements were sent throughout the day blankets and mattresses packed in with the soldiers ready to defend their positions many here feel betrayed by iraqi government leaders in

baghdad some fellow kurds and the international community. in reality when we used to fight everyone used to play the peshmerga they are brave they are fighting for the world and now they have done this plan they are attacking us as i see right now everyone is turning their backs on us. mortar shells machine guns were fired throughout the day well it's going to everyone here is tense. there's a heavy presence of ambulances here waiting to take any of the injured. back to our . prime minister has ordered iraqi forces not to enter abele and to stick to what he called the two thousand and three lines this is all about disputed territories longstanding on resolved issues between baghdad and are below about what the

peshmerga gained more territory since two thousand and fourteen is pushed out of many areas the iraqi army used to control and last month's referendum on secession seems to be the final straw for the iraqi government and neighboring countries who oppose kurdish independence the irony there were very similar scenes just a year ago as the peshmerga iraqi government forces and shia militias all moved in to ward a common enemy eisel but now their guns are turned on each other stephanie decker on the road to kirkuk. well kurdish peshmerga forces continue to hold positions on the outskirts of. everybody of the situation escalates further. nobody at all are going to want to cook and have the county i'm not there on the other side of the river and the shelling our frontline from their side and we're defending that we don't care about them if they cannot be more aggressive than saddam's regime i've been a peshmerga for thirty seven years my hair has grown gray while being

a peshmerga god willing we will break them michael patient is a former adviser to the forces and more fellow and he has the latest fighting shows that hard fought independent kurdish state might be a thing of the past this is a very serious situation now dad is actually treating the kurdish population of iraq like they are there isis in a way they're actually conducting military operations against the peshmerga when there are so isis pockets in and around we just. so this is this is this is move laterally to to punish the kurds for this peaceful lot and then they're surprised that the united states didn't back them up and the k.p. barzani's party of surprises the puke a case that would be that i don't want to. kurdish regional government. you can cook you know federal forces we keep hearing federal forces are moving in but we

need to find these sort of forces there counterterrorism forces and hospitals shall be hired you see back to melissa's not just symbolises but commanded by customs full of money lieutenant audio armory and on many on one hand it's so how do we use counterterrorism forces against the kurds and then the u.s. state department says we're not taking sides live you're not taking sides you're actually taking a side you're taking baghdad side and you're actually taking to iran side. i sill has claimed responsibility for one of two attacks targeting mosques and have gone this far more than seventy people have been killed in one attack a man who walked into a shia mosque in the capital kabul and detonated an explosive vest killing at least thirty nine people and injuring dozens of all those the mosque was packed with worshippers attending friday prayers the second. has more from kabul.

the attacker made his way into the in mom's amman mosque in the middle of friday prayers he placed himself in the middle of those prayer growers' now that of course is a shia mosque in western kabul and then he detonated his bomb killing scores of people injuring scores of others this is one of a number of attacks that have happened against the shia population the vast number of these attacks though against shia have been claimed by the islamic states in an increase as they kind of increase their offensive here in afghanistan at the same time as that was happening here in kabul in central afghanistan and province another attacker another bomber detonated a bomb in another mosque this is a sunni mosque now his attacker his target quite different a local militia commander and his men but these two attacks kept off a very very bloody deadly week across afghanistan where we've seen not only these attacks on friday but across afghanistan the taliban have killed at least one

hundred fifty people in the north in the south in the east in the southwest of afghanistan give you an idea of the challenges the afghan security forces face the afghan government determined to bring the taliban to the peace table but not only is the afghan government facing a resurgent taliban you also have other anti-government forces as well creating unrest in afghanistan. well it's like a closer look at the recent attacks and of garm some forty three soldiers were killed on thursday after the taliban stormed a military camp in my one district setting off two suicide car bombs before gun battle fighters also attacked a police headquarters in the southeastern province of guzzling on thursday the group was responsible for an ambush in the northern bulk province which killed six police officers on wednesday on tuesday parliament for the side bombers carried out a wave of attacks targeting police compounds and government facilities killing at least seventy four people well ahmad some of the former afghan ambassador to france

and canada and he says the attack shows afghan security forces have been ineffective the afghan issue is becoming more complex there are more regional players involved i think there are reports that the russians have a new agenda that the iranian now feeling more heat from washington may also alter some of their agenda. the baggage that is apparent in the job there were many years which has not helped afghanistan find stability and security and what the afghan government needs to do is on one hand to make sure that there is better management it believes are seated at the head of the security forces and also in middle management. the commanders need to make sure that they protect their forces to protect their bases i think that is absolutely crucial and the same time the project of strengthening the afghan pauses in order to protect afghanistan and to stabilize afghanistan needs to go on at least thirty police officers have been

killed in a shoot hard in egypt the attack took place and al will head to our body a district and the gazer governance southwest of cairo and we'll bring you more information on that as a becomes available. the u.s. will shift as counterterrorism strategy to focus more on africa defense secretary james mattis met with members of congress on friday to explain the change comes as the white house has been under pressure to be more forthcoming about the deaths of four american soldiers in the share two weeks ago senior republican lindsey graham talked about the u.s. strategy after the meeting the war is morphing you're going to see more actions in africa and less you're going to see more aggression by the united states toward our enemies not less we're going to have decisions being made not in the white house with out in the field now i support that entire construct so the rules of engagement are going to change when it comes to counterterrorism operation we're

going to move to status based targeting so if you find somebody who's a member of a terrorist organization then we can use lethal force they don't have to present an immediate threat the king of spain italy the six a has attacked what he calls an unacceptable secession attempt by catalonia has comments come just hours before the government office details of plans to take back some of the region's power. this is by unison must continue while the mystery story and in recent decades spaniards have honored our history and our sovereign decision to live together in democracy we've lived and shared successes failures triumphs and sacrifices which have united us in joys and sufferings we cannot forget it we do not want to give up what we have built together i mean while cattle and separate us are now calling for a new kind of protest anderson as reports from. an online message from a pro independence campaign group saying peaceful direct action shows the power of

the people. the core was to take some money out of banks that are moving their registration out of catalonia in case of independence withdrawals of one hundred fifty five euro the number of an article in the constitution being triggered to impose direct rule on catalonia by madrid why because this spanish dictatorship is unbearable to look at the manipulation i think putting pressure on is a good move with thousands of people doing the same thing if there is one rogue i mean some ed symbolic the government still has no mood for any compromise. in catalonia there are movements that want revolution so they want civil disobedience today there was a call to withdraw money from banks. then came a message from the prime minister himself saying the crisis was at

a critical point and his party in the main opposition were agreed on action. they have broken the rule of law a basic principle of the european union they have deprived the representatives of the opposition of their right to exercise control and government imagine if i decided to close parliament so nobody could question me it would be a scandalous situation. article one five five from. one nine hundred seventy eight constitution will take power away from the regional government here it could mean elections it could mean a formal declaration of independence it might lead to public disorder in barcelona and now you really sense a fear of the unknown on both sides of the divide in this crisis by politicians and the people alike we fear that we are going to need. so too near of the danger and that maybe we will not be able to push back when we are there and that's

a feeling that they sing we all in barcelona half right now. on saturday will hope it will hold an emergency cabinet meeting it's unlikely to calm the situation right now and there's a risk it could mean calls for peaceful direct action could turn into something more dangerous andrew simmons. still ahead on the. pan prepares to hold elections on sunday. and has and will tell you why one of the biggest slashing production of what's known as the motor city in the u.s. . from the waves. to the contours of the east. lots of pleasant sunshine now across the middle east a chance of

a little bit of cloud just spilling out of russia just pushing down towards the black sea towards the caspian sea which is one of two spots of rain as we go through saturday and sunday elsewhere the sun will continue to be down warm sunshine there in kuwait city thirty three celsius thirty three celsius thirty four karate so it's warmer than that's across the raeburn peninsula here in doha of around thirty seven degrees on saturday. what about you as we go on into sunday so you can see if i see sunshine continuing its present sunshine now if a little on the human side as we go on into the evenings meanwhile a fair amount of sunshine into southern africa but a fair amount of rain as well just around the cape pushing up into southern parts of missouri and be easing up into some areas of zimbabwe we've seen some very hot weather into zimbabwe recently temperatures easing a touch over the next day but from this we are getting up into the low forty's so that's something of a change for amounts of cloud there into botswana and also into maybe a with

a chance of some spotty rain coming through meanwhile the showers continue across central parts of africa the even further southwards a few showers for kenya i'd also nigeria. the weather sponsored by katz on race. valued as a gem of africa nairobi has gone through many changes over the past decades. to al-jazeera travels to the kenyan capital to hear from those who witnessed the city's progress to becoming a metropolis and discusses where it's heading now at this time on al-jazeera.

good to have you with us on al-jazeera these are all top stories iraqi forces have claimed control of the whole of kirkuk province from kurdish peshmerga forces the army says they captured the last town. which is situated the edge of being with the help of shia forces. has claimed responsibility for one of two attacks targeting mosques and of gangs more than seventy people have been killed in the twin suicide bombings the attacks happened in a shia mosque in kabul and a sunni mosque in the central province of course. the u.s. defense secretary has told senators that the military is counterterrorism efforts will focus more on africa matters was made in the senator's to discuss the death of four u.s. soldiers at an ambush and earlier this month. now kurdish fighters have helped drive out of iraq and syria say the people of the city will determine its future

the syrian democratic forces have handed over control to a council of local officials and tribal elders. capital and under their control since two thousand and fourteen most of it has been reduced to rubble and less than one percent of the pre-war population of three hundred thousand people still live there. was that. the future of iraq will be decided by the people of iraq. this is where the important. and the family of the governing rate will administer thereafter as by themselves. every country and every peace loving people and every peace loving organization to come and take part in the reconstruction rebuilding of the city and its countryside

well elsewhere in syria rebel groups have signed a cease fire covering east and go to on the outskirts of the capital damascus the deal is fragile the rebels are words being used as an excuse for the government to start a major push to recapture the strategic area. explained from heartache in neighboring turkey these are fighters from firelock a román a syrian rebel group that's controlled. a neighborhood on the outskirts of damascus the area is a rebel stronghold. they engage almost daily in skirmishes with government forces the army has been trying hard for years to take back these areas to help secure the capital and yvonne and i thought alina the government is tightening the siege to break our resolve but it will never happen we're not scared of days strikes the daily shelling and the army's reinforcements we are committed

to fight to the death. the rebels are digging tunnels that run from the rest of eastern. these tunnels are vital lifelines for the rebels who are short of ammunition and may not be able to defend their territory for long. this is home means a lot to me my family my loved ones my memories are all linked with this i will fight here to the death he still has been under government siege says to thousand and thirteen u.n. aid convoys have only been allowed in a few times. civilians have nowhere to go. and food prices on the rise. we suffer daily the army attacks us with missiles rockets warplanes the seizures made our lives hell for the time being the fighting

has stopped in this area but no one knows whether the ceasefire that was recently we would hold. was the focal point of the two thousand and eleven anti demonstrations in syria it became a. what six years later the army backed by russia is gaining ground using sea as a weapon to force the civilians out of their area or they might with facing starvation. on turkish border with syria to japan now opinion polls suggest promises. as a gamble to hold sunday snap a general election most are expected to give him a landslide victory to become the longest serving leader and japanese history sarah clarke reports from tokyo. it's kerry much first foray into japan's political arena disappointed by the current government the harvard graduate

decided to run for election and says the party of hope she stands for often is a credible alternative. if they are just doing it for the certain people not all the public i think we have to change it and if people want to change the governor of tokyo you. ricoh quake eight launched the party of hope last month pledging popular policies and a nuclear free japan the party was initially considered the most prominent rival to prime minister shinzo law by its hold on government but on the eve of the general election polls showed voter support has filed to gain ground and any hope of challenging his parliamentary majority is unlikely body of hope doesn't have a policy platform is different from the current warming party on top of this governor created the party is not running for the prime ministership so it looks like a very strange situation prime minister abbott has played the strong and stable caught

in the wake of escalating tensions with north korea telling everyone to vote for experience analysts say that campaign strategy has also paid off. has been lucky more than having played its cards right. when there's a national security crisis if you're only helps the incumbent government. on top of this the opposition party the democratic party were so weak that you turned it up in loading. despite polls predicting by returning to power projections could still change forty percent of voters reported to be undecided which candidate or party backing mother you did i haven't been able to decide at all. i'd support stability of an administration but at the same time i wonder if everything should remain the same with. the latest opinion polls suggest that shinzo ruling coalition

party could secure as many as three hundred of the four hundred sixty five states up for grabs plus a two thirds of the majority held before the election if that's the case his decision to call a snap election could pay off paving the way for him to potentially become the longest serving leader in japan's history sarah clarke al-jazeera talk e r. well it's been one month since how can maria head to puerto rico and eighty percent of the island is still without power crews are working around the clock to try to fix hundreds of kilometers of power lines but the governor of puerto rico says it could be another two months before power is restored due to a lack of money and workers the u.s. government has been criticized for its slow response to the crisis. pollution is killing more people than war and natural disasters according to a new report from the medical journal the lancet almost fifty international researchers were involved in a two year project and the results show that pollution played a role in the deaths of one six people in two thousand and fifteen charlotte

ballasts reports. from civil wars to ethnic disputes from hurricanes to earthquake we're all to aware of the deadly impact of such atrocities but a new study has revealed a more devastating death toll than war and natural disasters combined. medical journal the lancet says pollution causes nine million premature deaths every year in twenty fifteen filthy air was linked to some six point five million deaths in contaminated water accounted for one point eight million the study blamed pollution for one in six premature deaths worldwide and twenty fifteen sub-saharan africa had the highest rated deaths per capita by somalia chad and central african republic but india had the highest death toll almost a quarter of all deaths there some two and a half million or blamed in part on pollution this is the air quality in new delhi

nearly twenty times higher than accepted levels are common with. my eyes are burning as if someone put it chilly in them and i'm having difficulty breathing. it's the result of a night of fireworks celebrating the hindu festival of the wyly a ban has been declared on the sale of fireworks but celebration takes precedence over pollution despite the ban of the government doesn't have a political will we need to do more because we can't afford to live in a situation like this. india has taken steps to reduce pollution limiting the number of cars on new delhi's roads entire. standards for vehicle and factory emissions the root cause of most global deaths environmentalist say the crisis is preventable governments just need to take the issue seriously it's shocked all of us when we saw the numbers and we need commitment at national and local level to

just get in and do it because the solutions exist beyond the human cost pollution accounts for four point six trillion dollars each year in losses or six percent of the global economy this is the most comprehensive global study to date and research has concluded pollution threatens the continuing survival of human societies ballasts al-jazeera pros conservative congress has passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana the bill was passed by a wide margin allowing cannabis oil to be imported and commercialized president petro pablo kaczynski has proposed the measure after a police crackdown on a growth in the market is making cannabis oil in a makeshift laboratory to treat their epileptic children. today congress has taken a historic step towards a more just society today we've given an example of how empathy information and

compromise can overcome fear and prejudice this is the great lesson of today one of the world's biggest car makers general motors is cutting production and and jobs at a plant near the u.s. city of detroit they blame changes in the auto manufacturing industry john hendren reports from detroit. a slowdown in motown has general motors cutting back. auto sales in the u.s. it dropped nearly ten percent so far this year but it g.m. the fall is nearly double that this plant makes cars buicks cadillacs and chevy volt hybrid but it's s.u.v.s that are selling now so the detroit hamtramck assembly plant has gone from two shifts to one this month it's slowing down production they very quickly don't use of facilities and do what they want downtime to to deal with

excess amatory so they're quicker to riyadh yes. they don't play with them one on nov twentieth this plant will shut down entirely until january while demand catches up with production and when production restarts it will do so with two hundred fewer of its eighteen hundred workers alternative fuels may be the way of the future volvo is going all electric or hybrid by twenty nine teams and america is slowly working its way in that direction but americans love their big cars and they have cheap gas and as america goes so goes detroit. this was once one of the busiest plants in the u.s. but automakers have moved their plants from the detroit area across the u.s. and the world is cars have morphed into what are effectively rolling computers manufacturing is required fewer but more tech savvy workers with the demands that they're going to have for the. technical expertise i think the manufacturing

is going to be more concentrated in the u.s. . simply because that's where the talent is i mean you need to produce the kinds of technology that they're working on now you have to have a very highly educated workforce. that workforce to bear the brunt of the cutbacks as g.m. and other automakers deal with an ever changing market that will see thousands of jobs being lost john hendren al jazeera. the headlines on al-jazeera iraqi forces have claimed control of the whole of kirkuk province from kurdish peshmerga forces the army says they captured the last . debate and what the help of. the u.s. has urged calm from the iraqi government and to avoid further clashes i saw has

claimed responsibility for one of two suicide attacks targeting mosques in afghanistan more than seventy people have been killed and the attacks happened in a shia mosque in kabul and a sunni mosque in the central province of course. right after the cleric started the prayers i was passing by the mosque and the explosion happened there was chaos amongst the people all the windows of the mosque were shattered the police from a nearby checkpoint arrived to try to control the crowd all the wounded victims injured by the shattered windows were taken to hospital by ambulance and the dead bodies were lying on the us will shift his counterterrorism strategy to focus more on africa defense secretary james mattis met with members of congress on friday to explain the change that comes as the white house has been under pressure to be more forthcoming about the deaths of four american soldiers and two weeks ago saying of publican lindsey graham talked about the u.s. strategy. the war is morphing we're going to see more actions in africa and less

you're going to see more aggression by the united states toward our enemies not less you're going to have decisions being made not in the white house but out in the field now support that entire construct so the rules of engagement are going to change when it comes to counterterrorism operations we're going to move to status based targeting so if you find somebody who's a member of a terrorist organization then we can use lethal force they don't have to present an immediate threat. puerto rico and eighty percent of the island is still without power because of working around the clock to fix hundreds of kilometers of power lines with the governor of puerto rico says it could be another two months before food policy restored due to a lack of money and because those are the headlines talk to al-jazeera is coming up next.

where ever you are. welcome to talk to al-jazeera in the field with me barnaby phillips in the ken.