kabul seems like a relatively poor city but a busy overcrowded teeming lively city. it is not barricaded the way that baghdad was during the worst of the violence in iraq. it is not a city that evades or sort of you know emanates fear. it's a city that seems to be going about its life. these attacks are targeted at the places where they are can calculated to do the most public relations damage. they are serious it is true and our hearts go out to all lives that are lost. but i have to say for most afghans, kabul is a reflt relatively safe city. >> even if the city isn't that barricaded, the serena hotel is less than a mile from the presidential palace, it has multiple request security checkpoints. how could an attack have taken place in one of the most secure places in the country? >> thathat's a good question. the last big attack in the serena hotel they boofd up security after that -- beefed up security after that time. and they had a stretch of relatively stable ongoings. they have beefed up their protection against car bombs and weapons going in. apparently these

we'll go straight to your correspondent in kabul. what more do we know about the attack? >> what we know is a number of attackers. taliban attackers have taken position in a building in front of the election, and they are firing from that building to the compound of the election office. eyewitnesss from the scene are telling us that these attackers are equipped with ak-47 and rocket grenades. it is still going on. afghan forces rushed to the scene, and they are trying to engage with the attackers, and taliban's spocks men have -- spokesman have taken responsibility, and they said target is election commission office. >> this is a number of attacks that have taken place in kabul over the past week, close to the elections. >> i have raised the question this morning to one of the afghan ministerial commission officers. they were not surprised and said taliban are disturbing the upcoming election, now the big question will be answered six days from now, on saturday the day of the election. after all the attacks - if afghan comes and participates. >> that report from kabul on

scenery contrary to our friends nate and i into a full blown war the election commission's compound in kabul is a type of messages on twitter to all the chains and ashamed i discovered the head of afghanistan's crucial presidential want. no one wanted to make light of a live fish as much as forty minutes. the west wing string to have lunch was at the united nations. it's so cold. sixty two lincoln chafee to the legal rule has become. many if any men star of ancient times and was criminal in kiev on the cheek to come to the job or prosecute a jungle of the crime the center of it the goal. not seem to not smoke. the czech government is a web based apps and he can teach you to reveal in daring to suggest a plane to eating a greasy react. an enormous allspice and fourteen of the secret meeting between top tech ish officials discussing a forceful on corporations that would appeal. sassy were in town the prime minister's saddening car in conjecture and face it i must be seen as an opportunity for us. house in form and from sitting across from the tips of makeup and calls for war by ordering a miss

we have this report from kabul.agedn special forces five suicide attackers as 64 nationals were trapped inside. the taliban targeted this guesthouse used by an anti-landmine charity. both sides exchanged gunfire. andr the sound of gunfire explosions, police evacuated more than 24 nationals from nearby homes. in this mainly residential alsoborhood in west kabul, popular with westerners, local resident gave this account. >> i was sitting at the office when the explosion happened. windows shattered over me. i don't know which target -- office was the target, but there is still fighting going on. afghan girl was killed as she was playing in the street when a suicide attacker detonated a vehicle packed with explosives. her body was found by the police for hours later. the attacks have been described as a clear intelligence bill you for the government. for now, kabul remains on high alert. >> tense scenes in afghanistan. today, people can see the biblical epic "noah." the same cannot be said for people in the middle east.

of fun at times in the run up to the presidential while those were the main election commission in kabul coming under gunfire in the latest incident. this is o.t. international coming to live from moscow hello and welcome to the progress on the turkish government as red faced after a likud build an alleged daring plot to justify invading neighboring syria and enormous source posted or would you call this secret meeting between top officials discussing a false flag operation that would appear as a singer in a time of the leak on you tube in few rated prime minister atta one who rushed to blow the site and he is an extract from the tape. yes you got on the prime minister say that in current conjuncture and this attack must be seen as an opportunity for us. i'll send four men from syria this is that's what it takes i'll make up a cause for war by ordering a missile attack in turkey the discussion surrounds a possible attack on the tomb of silly man shah in northern syria a sacred site for take a which is permanently guarded by soldiers this month warned it would retaliate against any assaul

live to kabul and washington, d.c. we'll have the latest news. i'll see you in just a few moment's time. >> good morning and welcome. we have a look at today's stories. search teams in oso, washington, will pause today for a moment of silence one week after that deadly mudslide. the death toll is 17 but rescuers say they supposed more body that simply aren't accessible yet. teams are working around the clock in hazardous continues to find people. >>> gunmen stormed election building headquarters. it comes one week before the national election.

in the air a correspondent who was outpaced by accident as alonso had made the action often see in kabul. russia's foreign minister reveals the inner workings of the evil politics accusing the west of putting the un and asean to isolate russia stand up to eat its foreign policy to include etsy please read what suc the people in kiev. that is until i somewhat from brussels the show. call. it seemed to actually love the bath once a week weeks time. government is the red face stopped and he can be peeled and less debt ridden plots to justify invading neighboring syria. an anonymous source a pace agility of a secret meeting between top turkish officials discussing a false flag operation redwood mp as the syrian attack me on youtube in theory didn't find this and want to brush it off the side he is an extract from that tape. i am trying minister said that in car in conjunction or if they sometimes be seen as an opportunity for us. toss in form and consider the poetics of makeup cause for war by ordering a missile attack in turkey. they discuss is iran a possible attack on the team also a one

. >>> teenage gunman shoot dead nine people, including women and children in kabul. >>> and turkey's president challenges the block on twitter imposed by the prime minister. >>> nearly two weeks after the disappearance of flight mh-370, reconnaissance planes are searching a remote location in the southern indian ocean for a second day. australia dispatched three military planes to the area. one has already returned. a specialist u.s. navy jet, ps-8 poseidon had also participating in the search. these are the satellite images here taken five days ago that sparked that search. both seems to be awash with water. it is possible they have sunk. this is the area they are of course still searching. they are flying low level to try to carry out visual checks. so far they are so far from the base they can only search for about two hours before they have to go back to perth simply because they have run out of fuel. malaysian authorities say while the search continues in the southern indian ocean they are still checking areas to the north. >> they have not found anything. er waiting to use a st

the election commissions compound in kabul is under attack from militants. machine guns it's coming just ahead of afghanistan's crucial presidential vote. on the power of diplomatic and economic might. russia's foreign minister is out of the west for pulling strings ahead of crunch vote at the united nations. the so-called cutie. to the queen of. japan and. she took up the job of a prosecutor general in the crimean republic. a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at r.t. international. latest world headlines the government is red faced after a leak on you tube revealed a lot to justify invading neighboring syria an anonymous source posted all over a secret meeting between officials they are discussing a false flag operation that would appear as a syrian attack. you know you've got a prime minister that in current conjuncture and this attack must be seen as an opportunity for us. i'll send four men from city and that's what it takes i'll make up a course for war by ordering a missile attack in turkey now i took a provocation against syria could lead t

and by introducing the market town in central kabul is touched up the gun battle with the kinky forces. in terry missed officials initially said the point of this week killed and it is to take the gospel movement. survey finds that the cats the hotel is called come on for next stop was at the japan international cooperation agency usually stop that. the official state he actually did all the snow from the hotel of containing information in terms they could be attacked. the two teams was sitting in the run up to a presidential election in april. the taleban has threatened to disrupt the balance and the opus dei goodman group attacked a police station a nice enough to stop killing eleven people dosage so scary lor it is in the southern indian ocean but they still haven't located and had tremendous indonesia airlines jet. this image is being concentrated on the coast of south west to north canyon. images taken on sunday showed two large objects floating in the ocean well measured about twenty four meters long and the other about buying meat eggs. australia and the united states and send a

the election commissions compound in kabul is under attack from militants. it's coming just ahead of a crucial presidential vote. on the power of diplomatic economic might. russia's foreign minister at the. head of crunch to the united nations. the so-called cutie. to the queen of. japan and one.

ur gunmenme day, for stormed a luxury hotel in kabul. undeterred by the violence, tens of thousands of afghans are .egistering to vote on april 5 analysts say it will be a test of democracy in the country. the current president is not eligible to stand. >> search crews looking for the missing malaysian airline flight say they have spotted new objects floating in the indian ocean have not been able to recover them. the strike in maritime safety authority says the international search for the flight has wrapped up for the day. australian say the object earlier thought to be from the plane turned out to be unrelated. rescuers were returned -- will return on sunday. here's a round up of other stories making news around the world. of thousands of antigovernment protesters have marked -- marched through the thai capital bangkok. it comes a day before a crucial vote to elect a new senate heard in california, a magnitude five earthquake has shaken los angeles. the epicenter was 30 kilometers southeast of downtown. damage was minor and there have

in theere was corruption kabul municipality regarding the had onehe kabul mayor week to criticize themedia. after that one week he became quiet. i just want to add a few words on this. i think the media consortium is a great beginning here in the world of investigative journalism in afghanistan. the problem was that previously, -- or still, if a single media outlet goes and covers a sensitive corruption case, then what happens is that the media outlet or that particular journalist comes under the radar of either the government or the warlord or anyone who has been responsible for the corruption case. doesthe media consortium is -- and at the same time, six or seven media outlets broadcast the same story. so then in that case, if it is as government or a warlord the perpetrator, or whomever, they cannot do much with six media outlets. because what they do is they come to, for example, pajhwok, and pajhwok says they got it this one and that one says it got it from another. this is a very good way of going journalism,igative and a very good start. >> at very good. the audience we are try

. >> the taliban has attack election headquarters in kabul. this is the second attack in 4 hours and comes a week before presidential elections. al jazeera's charles stratford has more. >> reporter: and week before presidential elections. the target this time, the headquarters of the independent election commission in kabul. at least four fighters were disguised as women when they entered a house close to the election building. afghan special forces and police reinforcements took their position. >> you forces have entered my house. i had three guards. two outside and one inside. i don't know what is happening right now. the attackers are wearing wome women's burkas. >> reporter: a witness told al jazeera that taliban fighters were armed with assault rifles and grenades. this is the second attack in 24 hours and the fourth in just over a week. the distances between the targets show how the taliban can still seemingly strike where it likes. on march 25th, an attack. two police officers and five taliban were killed in the gun battle. three days l

this is the third attack in kabul in the last seven days. it follows a taliban assault on a luxury hotel and an attack on the building. all connected to the taliban's promise to do its best to disrupt presidential elections on april the 5th. >> another body has been found after the mudslide in the united states a week ago. 18 people are thought to have died in the disaster in washington state. that number is expected to rise. 90 people are listed as missing. emergency teams are searching through waste-deep mud near oso. >> russ cue workers say -- rescue workers say their primary mission it to find people alive in the mountain of mud. it's been seven days, and the chances of finding people are increasingly unlikely. this mission is likely to turn soon into a recovering mission and identification has become a problem. medical workers are not releasing new numbers of dead until they have identified those people, and you can imagine the difficulty of doing that when these victims have been inside ohms crushed by -- homes crushed by a sea of mud.

embassy has over 60 people last time i looked in kabul. i don't know how many a.i.d. has.there is their own press strategy to try to get ahead of us and god only knows how many people in the pentagon. could you probably balance the budget by just cutting that shop. but i got two people. if i'm -- and i know they're good and they like this because they all figure they can get a pay raise because of this. if they're able to change the entire american opinion on afghanistan by our audits, geez, we're probably the best agency in the world. but i don't think so. i don't think the american people are changing their views on afghanistan based upon an audit on the water system in afghanistan. or on the public school number six. american people are making a decision because they want facts. we're speaking the truth and we're speaking facts. the american people want an honest assessment of what is going on over there and i think that's what we do. i don't know if that answers your question. i think i went around it. >> i'm taking down names and hopefully we'll get to everyone in the

taliban attacks again, the target this time the headquarters of the independent election commission in kabul. at least four fighters were disguised as women when they entered the house close to the commission building. afghan special forces and police reinforcements took their positions. >> forces in my house. i had three guards, two outside and one inside, but i don't know what is going on right now. the attackers are wearing wome women's burkas. >> reporter: the taliban fight percent armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. this is the second attack in the afghan capitol in 24 hours, the fourth in just over a week. the distances between the targets show how the taliban can still seemingly strike where it likes in the capitol. on march 20th taliban gunmen shot 20 people dead including two girls on march 12th. in another attack five were killed. three days later a girl was killed by a suicide-bomber. four gunmen were killed. the taliban seems to be doing all it can to scare people away from the polling stations in next week's vote. >> this is a very political event in afghani

suffering here but of course as we count down to election day a lot of tension especially here in kabul where until recently the taliban had appeared to have trouble mounting successful attacks something that's clearly very much changed as the last few days have shown reporting in kabul for r.t. . well the beginning of the war on terror had initial success the u.s. and its nato allies managed to rid afghanistan of most of the taliban by the end of the year but the frog mant of movement vowed to retaliate and in the following years they regained confidence two thousand and six was the deadliest year since the war began and over fifty thousand troops were sent to afghanistan to battle the growing insurgency now the next year president karzai admitted making attempts to negotiate with the taliban with no success and four years later the us has followed suit establishing its first official contact with them but the influence and power of the overthrown enemy kept growing and they even opened an office in qatar there was a pullout from the wartime state is now only months away more than a de

this is the third attack in kabul in the last seven days.follows a tall ban assault on a luxury hotel and an attack on a building of the election commission. all to do its best to disrupt presidential elections on april 5th. bernard smith, al jazeera. >>> president obama as arrived in saudi arabia on a trip that is being regarded as important for mending strained relations. the saudis have become wary of how washington has handled syria's civil war and iran's nuclear ambitions. patty culhane examines the issues. >> reporter: a lot has changed since 2009 when president barack obama received this warm welcome to saudi arabia. many of his foreign policy decisions have since angers the saudis. the president calling for mubarak to step down, negotiating with iran, and then threatening to act against bashar al-assad and then changing his mind. all leaving the saudis to take the unusual step of questioning the president's credibility. the president's job on this second visit, to restore the trust. xrts say although the u.s. is importing significant

i just wanted to think a number suicide bombers attacked an important election sent to kandahar to kabul. it is reported that the key is to stay at three suicide bombings. it expands its inside in front of campbell bank one ofs because banks east and could not province. the stay at the three security guards were killed and two other employees who did a ton of honor threatening to derail next month's election when the campaign of bombings and assassinations. the poll is intended to facilitate the country's democratic transfer of power. a stunning government has recently received and strikes along the country's border with aniston is seeking to put up a suspected hideouts of the extremist attacks and driving more and more ordinary . i hope it comes to see country and neighboring regions. he was with aki stood out reports. the deal was shown in a town in the tribal. several shops and malls were reduced to rubble the dummies was told by the time of the attack. and as extremists. you need to be hiding in the area the threat of violence has seen increasing numbers of adults and people fleeing

attacks and build one up to its presidential vote our correspondent can witness the latest incident in kabul. where just the road down is the independent election commission office that is where the taliban insurgents had staged and it's hard to very tense outlets feel here hear the gunfire in the air. also this hour russia's foreign minister reveals there in a wire kings of global politics accusing the west of ruling out a u.n. members into isolating russia. and a change of tune the e.u.'s foreign policy chief condemns ukraine's oh radical right sector group the key driving force behind the of he will in kirkuk which has enjoyed support from brussels all along. this is our senior national coming to you live from moscow hello and welcome to the program. the turkish government has red faced after a leak revealed an alleged daring plot to justify invading neighboring syria an anonymous source posted on here of a secret meeting between top turkish officials discussing a false flag operation that would appear as a seal or an attack the leak on you tube infuriated a prime minister at a one who re

jane ferguson reports now from kabul. >> reporter: gunfire inside kabul's most prominent hotel.ting diplomats, government officials and journa journalist. it's close to the presidential palace. afghan secure if security forco the hotel. but four attackers had already opened fire on civilians in the restaurant. >> the attackers were killed in three hours by the security forces, unfortunately, nine people were also killed by the attackers. four of them foreigners from new zealand. one from canada, pakistan and india. five afghans, two children, two women. and they were six others wounded in this attack. >> reporter: people nearby said that they were worried about the growing intensity of attacks in the past few months. >> translator: we want the government to pay serious attention to the security of our people and nba the capital and provinces because recently our enemies have increased their attacks in the country which has resulted in the killing of our people. >> reporter: the hotel was full, with presidential elections in two weeks, it's a business time for hotels like this. a

four gunmen stormed the choice to remain hotel in kabul. nine civilians including two children die. election monitors were among the hotel's guests that time undeterred by the violence tens of thousands of afghans are registering to vote on the ankle the fifth. i must say there will be a real test of democracy in the country current president of the concert is not eligible to stand. says crews are looking for the missing malaysia airlines flight and they should three seventy state that they house policies of new objects placing in the indian ocean but they haven't been able to recover them yet the australian maritime safety authority says of the national center for the flight is wrapped up for the day. the australians save the dates. he is going to be from the plane turned out to be honest. rescuers who will return to the sectarian east of australia. to the bus from the us australia on sunday it was coming up in a memo to the class is around to some other stories making news ever looked. tens of thousands of anti government protesters have marched through the thai capital bangkok. t

reporting in kabul for our tea and the sea captain of. well the beginning of the war on terror had initial success the us and anthony van nuys minus two lead up to sign up most of it undermined by the end of the act but for me to admit men vowed to retaliate and in the farming as the weakening confidence two thousand and six was the deadliest yet since the war began and at the fifty thousand troops when sent to afghanistan to battle the growing insurgency the green cause i admit to making it tends to negotiate with the kind of bond with next sucks and forty as late as the us has put st establishing its first official contact with them but the missile and send polity of the throne and he kept going and they even includes an office in contact he was of poor laptop from the wartime state is now only months away more than a decade fight scene has came the lives of almost three and a huff thousand coalition troops in up to twenty thousand civilians. and with no end to violence inside it looks like the us and its allies. secondly the stock tank

embassy has over 60 people last time i looked in kabul. i don't know how many a.i.d. has. there is their own press strategy to try to get ahead of us and god only knows how many people in the pentagon. could you probably balance the budget by just cutting that shop. but i got two people. if i'm -- and i know they're good and they like this because they all figure they can get a pay raise because of this. if they're able to change the entire american opinion on afghanistan by our audits, geez, we're probably the best agency in the world. but i don't think so. i don't think the american people are changing their views on afghanistan based upon an audit on the water system in afghanistan. or on the public school number six. american people are making a decision because they want facts. we're speaking the truth and we're speaking facts. the american people want an honest assessment of what is going on over there and i think that's what we do. i don't know if that answers your question. i think i went around it. >> i'm taking down names and hopefully we'll get to everyone in th

there are tens of thousands of drug addicts in kabul alone. visit. the shoe shop. kerry win. he explains daddy keeps the heroine with a lighter on the details to be used as nice as it relaxes him helped him forget his worries yet our god and i came to kabul some have died in western afghanistan to look for work. but there are no jobs. i was in despair when i started taking drugs when i smoke my sadness goes away. estimates put the number of candidates in afghanistan and up to one million. forty percent of the adult population. this is what summer looks like in afghanistan. poppies blooming everywhere. business is booming. about three quarters of global hair when production is based on a canny opium. in areas where the german army was stationed production has increased by twenty five percent since they pulled back. be polite or muhammad has contributed to the increase. he used to grow grain crops note rose opium poppies. nor the crop is anywhere near as profitable. muhammad has six children. with the money from opium sales he can afford to send them to private schools the fami

for those of you here in the house, we have "an american bride in kabul," and we also have a selection of

rocked by taliban attacks in the run up to its presidential voting with the made election comedy in kabul coming under gunfire in the latest incident opera's pond is close by very tense atmosphere here hear the gunfire in the air. right also russia's foreign minister reveals the inner workings of global politics accusing the west of bullying other u.n. members into isolating russia. a change of the e.u. foreign policy chief condemns ukraine's radical right sector group the key driving force behind the op evolving here for she has enjoyed support from brussels all along. a very warm welcome to you if you just well just joined us here on our team to national pardon me i'm to one would say let's take a look at the news. the turkish government does read faceoffs legal revealed and alleged daring to justify invading neighboring syria an anonymous source posted already of a secret meeting between top turkish officials discussing a false flag operation that what appear as a syrian attack the leak on you to syria prime minister added one who rushed to block the site here's an extract from the tap

especially here in kabul. there have been four major attacks over the last two weeks.ents. it's not a car bomb and then it's over. in each case there were sustained engagements and long gun fights when the taliban attacked hotels with foreigners inside and attacks the electoral commission here. eventually in each case the afghan security forces responded and after hours of battles managed to kill the taliban militants. what we didn't see and visited the scenes of several of these attacks. we didn't see american troops deployed and see american troops leave their bases and there are still thousands of americans here in kabul and across the country. instead, they stayed in their bases and they are trying to advice and assist the afghans. in one sense it shows the afghan security forces are more capable than they were in the past but also shows the level of violence we're seeing in kabul. >> thanks to richard engel. the "washington post" and the kiser family foundation have been polling more than 2.5 million iraq and afghanistan veterans, the results are sobering, more th

. >>> in afghanistan, the taliban takeover of a building frequented by foreigners in kabul has ended. two people were killed. a suicide bomber first blowing through the gates of the compound. afghanistan is holding its presidential elections next week. >>> nato is getting a new leader. he will take the reins in october. the former prime minister of norway will replace rasmussen as secretary general. an eboli outbreak has the medical community concerned it could spread to neighboring countries. this is the first time that eboli has been diagnosed in west africa. >> reporter: taking in the latest warning, one of the deadliest viruses nobody to man has reached their capitol city. news of eboli's spread is striking fear into the residents. >> translator: since i heard about this disease, i have been afraid. everyone has to protect themselves when drinking and eating. >> reporter: people are being told to take precautions, the government banned public funerals for victims to stop it's spreading. >> translator: this is the first time we have had thissi thissing -- this kind of disease in gu

reports direct from kabul with the latest. plus a change of tune with the e.u. foreign policy chief condemns ukraine's radical right sector group the key driving force behind the people in kiev which has enjoyed support from brussels all along. planned live from our studios in moscow this is r t i'm sean thomas glad to have you with us now turkish authorities have launched an espionage investigation into a leaked recording purporting to be a conversation between two top officials it revealed an alleged plot to stage a false flag operation that would appear to be a syrian attack the leak on you tube infuriated prime minister erdogan who rushed to block the site here's an excerpt from that tape. you got on the prime minister's that encouraging conjuncture and they say it's time to be seen as an opportunity for us. i'll send four men from syria it's what it takes i'll make up a cause for war by ordering a missile attack in turkey. the discussion surrounds a possible attack on the tomb of the shah in northern syria a sacred site for turkey which is permanently guard

but the camp is just one of over 50 refugee settlements in kabul. four or maybe five thousand people live in jamani babrak alone. and every day the number rises. people from all over afghanistan are pouring into illegal settlements like this one. they come because they fear armed conflicts or because rural areas can no longer feed the growing population. people at rock bottom trust nobody. it took years before the aid organisations caritas and terre des hommes could convince people that sex education is a good thing. even in miserable circumstances there are hierarchies. first come the men and then, at the very bottom, the women. what are the stages of childbirth? this is education using the simplest of means. >> i had no idea how birth took place. we just had children. and i didn't know how important hygiene was. we're poor, uninformed people. we hardly have enough money for food. how are we to pay for doctors and medicine? the aid workers take care of us. it's a blessing. >> only now that the mortality rate of mothers and babies has been reduced b

we've seen a tacks in kabuls and especially in the hotel area own areas.nt to sabotage this election and been putting online, articles where they are saying look at egypt. muslim brotherhood won the election and military took over. you'll never be allowed to rule. it's not true because abdullah abdullah and others are saying we can stabilize the country and make a deal with the americans and we can transition to a better place. >> i can tell you, all of these damning things being thrown around about the united states role in this and the way they prop up that 10% mentality -- we close our eyes but it's hard to find alternatives. local institutions are not always up to snuff. i was on the team that richard holbrook led, i can tell you everyone hoped more money to these government institutions on the afghan side would mean more capacity. it doesn't work that way. >> at the same time, when we promote democracy, the idea we want to bring democracy and freedom and liberate women and other issues then 2009 election. then we close our eyes on karzai stealing the

and it's been clear that historicically kabul and anybody who has led from kabul has been relatively weak and not capable of a centralized tight control over the rest of the country. but this isn't to say that afghanistan hasn't been a nation. it's been a nation for hundreds of years and it also isn't to say that afghanistan hasn't known better time. it has. earlier in the cold war, afghanistan was relatively in better situations certainly far better than it is now. and way way better than it was under the taliban. so there are degrees of failure and afghanistan could succeed marginally better than it has. i think just as one measure of how bad things were under the taliban life expectancy inside of afghanistan has gone up by 20 years over the past 10 years in terms of an average afghan will live 20 years longer now. this is an enormous shift. and so anybody who suggests things couldn't get considerably worse i think is quite wrong. on the drug trade, i think this is one of the most significant problems that we will leave behind in afghanistan. in terms of the broader economy the dru

. >>> two people were killed in kabul. a suicide bomber blowing through the gates. afghanistan is holding its presidential elections next week. >>> nato is getting a new heard. he will take over in october. the former prime minister of norway will replace the secretary general. >>> many with mental health illnesses are now finding the doors closed. tom akerman has more. >> reporter: kathy says she underthe meaning of helplessness as she watched her son struggle with schizophrenia. >> he felt like i'm doing fine now. i'm taking my medication. i'm doing great. and that's when he quit taking it. >> reporter: that's when she learned that he could no longer be held against his will. in the state of virginia, such a person must be released within just six hours. >> doors were slammed in my face every which i turned because family members have no right. >> reporter: it partly explains why so many seriously mentally ill people live on the streets. this was how public mental hospitals used to be proer traded and enlightened and humane. >> all gathereded together in a modern

. >> han attack outside election headquarters in kabul today.fghan officials say security forces killed four armed men in kabul's fourth attack in eight days as that country prepares to choose a new president. charles stratford has more. >> under a week until presidential e elections, the taliban attacks again. this time, the headquarters for the independent election commission in kabul. four fighters were disguised as women as they entered the house close to the let's go commission building. afghan special forces and police reinforcements took their positions. >> i had three guards, two outside and one inside, but i don't know what's happening right now. >> the witness told al jazeera the taliban fighters were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. this was the second attack in the afghan capitol in 24 hours, the fourth in just over a week. the distances between the targets show how the taliban can still seemingly strike where it likes in the capitol. on march the 20th, taliban gunmen shot nine civilians dead including two gir

we don't need large amounts driving up and down the streets of kabul.hat we do need is a significant amount of trainers and advisors behind the scenes, continuing to mature the afghan forces so they can handle these kind of situations, which they are not handling now. >> so are you optimistic that possibly the new leader in afghanistan may reach a security deal with the united states? >> yeah. i rameally am. i think president karzi is doing this. he does not want to be the next naji bullah inside of afghanistan if things go wrong. he will pass it on in what can only be considered a political move to the next administration with afghanistan. i certainly hope that the united states and nato are as eager to maintain a presence, albeit a small presence, but a vital presence, inside of afghanistan, and we don't allow to have happen in afghanistan what happened after the departure of the soviet soldiers in the '80s and quite frankly what we are seeing right now in iraq. >> a big concern. a lot can change over the next couple of days, especially with that elec

the election commission headquarters in kabul disguised as we need for sale. i mean it just broke into a building overlooking the heavy forced to fight commission to detect it was seen dancing grenades security forces rushed to fifteen. and it did encounter some fun age. nothing several al is one electro really new in stock a different compounds. i know far more qualified individuals wearing a dark as enter the building the bed. fortunately they were killed by air force's only too pleased with this point any other fatalities ninety civilians nor our security forces into lebanon to go and get more. it was that the titanic sinking tumbled this week. on friday sentenced guilty people including a child. whilst on a new guest house keys by the us anti landmines taxi three days any yet. taliban militants killed four people in an attack on another election commission office in the capital. the radical islamist group is now a campaign finance disrupt presidential elections scheduled for april and that is will choose a successor to president karzai in afghanistan. and

if there's hope for peace, the government in kabul must find a new way of engaging in islamabad. president often refers to the taliban as brothers. >> they are our brothers and sisters. those committing suicide attacks and mass killing people, how can a leader call them beggars. >> for more than 13 years afghanistan dominated the foreign policy of the countries that had troops stationed here. it is changing. the next president will need billions in aid and a foreign policy to keep the money flowing. >> china announced it is boosting the defense budget for this year, increasing it by 12.2%. the military spending is second to the united states. the u.s. announced it would be shrinking its military, reducing troop numbers, $496 billion. china's current budget is paling in comparison to the united states. it will increase that to $132 billion, a 10% increase in military spending last year. the budget announcement was made at the ends of the national people's congress. protesters were driven away by security officers. >>> as china increases military spending its rival is cutting back.

this is the second attack in kabul this week.ons running very high in the city prior to the upcoming electionings. >> we'll bring you further details when we get more information here on al jazeera. >>> meanwhile there have been more protests in brazil against this year's world cup, but police outnumber the demonstrators by 2-1 in san pall low. protesters spoke out against the cost. they say investment needs to be made in education, health care, and public transport instead. >>> and in rio the army is being deployed into a community of shandy towns. >> reporter: brazilian soldiers are on patrol in one of rio's largely lawless shanty towns. the army deployment was approved by the country's president after a surge in gang violence, revenge killings and attacks on police outposts. larger numbers of troops are expected to be brought in the coming days. the government says the show of force is necessary to keep the violence in the slums from spiralling out of control. >> translator: we have to show them that we are stronger than they

. >> kabul, afghanistan. afghan president hamid karzai's refusing to sign a treaty leaving a small n.a.t.o. force in the country. if nothing changes, all foreign forces will leave by the end of this year. in secret hamid karzai has been negotiating with the taliban to avoid a full-blop civil war -- full-blown civil war. since 2005 the taliban has clawed back territory, dominating a large part of the county. approximately an hour's drive, over the mountains is logar, and there there is a war going on. i wanted to see what the war looked like to the other side. in the district, a region that has seen many clashes in recent years. through trusted sources we contacted the taliban there. i hoped it would offer a rare glimpse inside the insurgency. we were told that we would get a phone call if a few days. >> i'm on my way to see what the taliban are up against. i'll visit a training center for the afghan national army. >> while the national army is around 2,000 strong, it's reported to be plagued with disassertion

when there was a corruption in kabul municipality regarding the road, kabul mayor try for one week to try how to criticize media or how to response to that. after one week he become quiet, and which is, you know, a power -- [inaudible] >> yeah, yeah. najib? >> well, i just want to add a few words on this. i think the media consortium is a great beginning in the world of investigative journalism in afghanistan. the problem was that previously if -- or still -- if a single media outlet goes and covers a sensitive corruption case, then what happens is that media outlet or that particular journalist comes under the radar of're the government or the war lord or anyone who have been responsible for the corruption case. what the media consortium does is at the same time six or seven media outlets broadcast the same story. so then in that case if it's a government, if the perpetrator's the government or warlord or whoever, they cannot do much with six media outlets, because what they do is if they come to, for example, basra, basra says it's 8 a.m. we got it from 8 a.m. so by this the pressur

. >> reporter: west kabul is never entirely safe for foreigners and assassination-type killings are rare especially in this part of the town and all of these houses around here will have security guards and at least one per house and westerners have offices or live in the area and it's essentially diplomatic area and today the security would have been fighter than ever because the vice president passed away recently and today is his funeral so there is security around the entire area. the journalists was believed to have been walking down the street here when he was gunned down and you can see right here there are bullet holes in this car. he was taken to hospital and later declared dead. >> reporter: and this is one of africa's biggest country with electric power and two thirds of the population live without electricity in the homes and part of our series examining the quest to bring electricity to all of africa, mohamed traveled to investigate. >> reporter: this factory manufacturers electricity meters, the chinese built it but the people do the work and the out put exceeded capacity a

the taliban get through the security at kabul. >> finding the missing airliner. planes from the u.s. and new zealand join the search for objects spotted on satellite. >> thailand's constitutional court ruled that last month's general election was invalid. the vote was unconstitutional because elections were not held. opposition supporters prevented candidates registering in these areas. the government was called on to step down. their campaign started in november over plans for a new amnesty law. the bill could have allowed former prime minister thaksin shinawatra to return without punishment. he's the brother of current leader yingluck shinawatra. by november there were demonstrations by pro and ain't-government protesters. that month elections were held, but the protesters boycotted them. there were thouses of demonstrations outside polling stations. zeina khodr joins us from outside bangkok. how has the court come to this decision? >> the constitutional court ruled that the election was invalid, unconstitutional because according to them it was not held across