but as you say, there are great fears about what the situation in mariupol is.ainians say there is a buildup of fighters and artillery there. difficult to say to what extent this is happening, but there has been concerns for some time now that mariupol could be the next target of the russian-backed rebels, because it is a very strategic port in the southern part of the donetsk region. >> as you say, it's a very important occasion isn't it? but over in moscow david, we've also been hearing some strong words and important words from sergey lavrov the foreign minister reacting to comments from the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, and others about some possible new sanctions for russia. >> well that's right. it's a continuation if the situation on the ground is becoming quieter, the rhetoric the war of words, justice at the same level of intensity, if not higher. we have been hearing from the americans and other western leaders in recent days but in particular from mr. kerry. he says that the new sanctions have been teed up if there is a worsening of the situati

there is concerns rebels are moving forces to mariupol. it's important to capture the port. paul brennan explains. >> reporter: east of the city of mariupol the ukrainians delivered franks to the front line and the continuous souped of artillery and tank fire further forward is why. while it's true this the guns have fallen silent along portions of the line of conflict. it's not happening here. bombing every day and we can't give him ... >> reporter: you can't reply with fire. >> we can't. >> reporter: we were taken further forward along dry dusty lanes, passing abandoned houses and weaving between ukranian military positions. there are tanks and gunning, and no intention to withdraw them. >> translation: these tanks are on the second defensive line. do you hear the sound, it may be shelling or a ground assault. if it's an assault i must be able to withstand it or make a reply. not just stand and watch. >> reporter: a few hundred meters from the front line the sound of tank fire is continuous. the ukranian army is digging trenches. >> there's a backdrop of the sound of explo

we're just 40 kilometers from mariupol. that parents take them us at the bus stop. the besieged city has them in its clutches again. >> there were attacks and firing. you can hear the impact of the shells. that's everyday life these days in mariupol. people go to work and the children go to school. that's our life nowadays. >> 16-year-old david can't wait to get home. his mother is terminally ill with cancer. medical care here in eastern ukraine is catastrophic. many doctors have left mariupol and the health care system is on the verge of collapse. >> i was very worried about mum. >> when he said he'd be away for a month, i was very worried i'd die before he was back. >> daniel tells her what impressed him about germany. >> in germany you can drink water out of the tap that you'd have to buy in a shop in ukraine. >> the next morning we drop in on jegor. the 11-year-old normally lives here. but when money is short, his mother takes him to the local children's home where he can get food and a warm bed for free. he is growing up against a backdrop of poverty and war. w

. >> ukraine's ceasefire deal struggles to hold in the city of mariupol. >> all about crime scene investigation. >> the u.n. special envoy to syria is in turkey trying to secure opposition support for a ceasefire in aleppo. trying to agree to ceasefire for six weeks but around aleppo they are unlikely to observe any ceasefire. a conspiracy that would allow syrian government to launch more assaults. then there's the disconnect between the syrian opposition in istanbul and fighters on the ground. they may not comply. zeina khodr is on the ground. it's not going to be easy is it? >> for months he has been trying to broker a deal in aleppo city. what he calls a freeze in the fighting. there has been little progress since october. shuttling between the damascus deposit and rebel groups in turkey. there is little details emerging from his meetings in turkey. we're not sure which rebel groups he is holding talks with but like you mentioned the syrian government promised to stop air and ground bombardment for six weeks. but he is not under any illusions, it is going to be difficult. he needs to get the

paul brennan, al jazeera mariupole ukraine. >> ton hunt for the president houthis say he is wanted. the rebels then placed him under house arrest, hadi fled the capital over the weekend and headed to the southern port of aden. he has now withdrawn his resignation. >>> meanwhile a french woman who has been kidnapped in the capital of sanaa the 30-year-old was traveling in a taxi with a yemeni driver on her way to work when they were intercepted by armed men in front of the government building.. >>> to nigeria where 22 have been killed in suicide bombings in the northeast. the explosion happened when people were boding a bus. president goodluck jonathan has blamed the armed group boko haram for attacks. meanwhile the fight against boko haram continues. the nigerian military released a video which shows an operation against armed group. air force ground troops took place in the northeastern part of the country. >>> straight ahead on al jazeera: we have more on the spy cables. why a group claiming to be israeli cyber-warriors threatened south africa. plus awe eyes on japan's prime minis

. >> we told the russians clearly if there was an attack by separatists in the direction of mariupol, things would be drastically altered including in terms of sanctions. >> the ukrainian army is boosting defenses. it hopes to keep out pro-russian separatistses. it's strategically important capturing it would give actions to the adul sea as paul brennan explains. >> east of the city, cranes delivered fresh tanks to the front lines tuesday and the continuing sound of artillery further forward is why. while its true that the guns have fallen silent along large sections of the line of conflict it's not happening here. >> bombing every day from separatists, and we can't give -- >> you can't reply to the fire. >> we can't. this is fire only in one way. >> we were taken further forward along dry dusty lanes passing abandoned houses and weaving between ukrainian military defensive positions. there are tanks and guns and there is no intention to withdraw them yet. >> these tanks are on the second defensive line in case the enemy break through the front line. we need to have anti tank armor. d

fighting continues to get closer to the city of mariupol. france gets ready to roll out the red carpet for its equivalent of the red carpet -- of the oscars. american actor sean penn is set to receive a lifetime achievement award. time now for the business news. we are starting out with talks in brussels. >> it will be the third round of talks in just under a week. the greek debt crisis -- greece formally requested six-month loan extension, a proposal that was rejected by berlin. the country described it as a trojan horse. germany said it would -- greece called it a starting point. >> a very carefully worded text. greece sent this letter to the eurogroup, requesting a six-month extension on their loan program. using the terminology, the letter made no mention of the word bailout, because that would entail more austerity measures exactly what alexis tsipras' government hopes to avoid. it requested an extension of the loan program. reese hasn't asked only for more time -- greece has not asked only for more time, they have made other requests.

we know that there are mar tar attacks on the out-- mortar attacks on the outskirts of mariupol. they started around 8:00 a.m. this morning. they say the firing comes from pro-russian separatists. of course, what you have on the ground is you have both sides blaming each other for any escalation that could take place. again, the ukrainian forces are saying they have plans to withdraw heavy weapons from the front line but they're not going do that as long the violations of the cease-fire continue. of course, both sides are saying that. you have the situation here in mariupol and then you have another situation which is even worse up in the town where it's unclear whether or not the cease-fire is holding there. and generally, whether or not both sides are adhering to the minsk grammy. the pro-russian separatists, of course saying they believe the town should be their territory. whereas the ukrainian military that's essentialed holed up there -- essentially holed up there say no this place should remain ours. and the russian separatists, pro-russian separatists have no right to be g

. >>> we also report from the ukrainian port of mariupol where preparations are being made to protect the city from pro-russian separatists, despite the cease-fire. >> we've been told there is fighting going on about two kilometers down the hill from here in a village, but even these freshly dug positions here outside mariupol came under shell fire this morning. >>> this is the moment that joan mills heard sound for the first time. >> saturday sunday. >> it was an amazing moment. it makes me cry every time. joan is joining us in the studio and is taking your questions on her groundbreaking operation. >>> welcome to the program. aaron's here talking about a scandal that's rocking brazil. >> lucy it's the world's oil giant, involved in the biggest bribery case in brazil's history. allegations of senior executives bribing contractors with $4 billion going missing over the past decade. yes, we're going to take a look at how this has got the country in an uproar and whether these allegations could reach the highest level in government. >>> we start "gmt" with breaking news. after months of

there's a backdrop of explosions here in the trenches east of mariupol. we've been told not to reveal the location of the trenches but you see the urgency with which the soldiers dig them. they have zero confidence that the ceasefire is applying here. the city of mariupol, with the huge steelworks and busy seaport was controlled by separatists last may, before being recaptured by the soldiers. the power gives it significant importance. in the city the markets operate, but the uncertainty is creating anxiety. >> of course, we feel anxious, but i stand here on the market every day and i see ukranian military vehicles heading to the front line to help the army. i think mariupol will not be surrendered. >> translation: of course we are worried. when you live on the border of donetsk, you wonder where people will flee to a lot have fled the city. >> translation: we hope the soldiers defend us and other allies support us. it would be better if they gave us weapons to defend ourselves. >> reporter: international monitors expressed concern about mariupol, but dip

diana magnay reporting from mariupol in eastern ukraine. many thanks. >>> the spokesman for russian president vladimir putin spoke to our own christiane amanpour, denying accusations that moscow's backing rebels. he shed light on future relations between russia and the u.s. listen to this. >> let me ask you finally to reflect on the status of your relations with the west. i ask you this because a couple of years ago when last interviewed you you talked about america being an important partner of russia that america and russia working together of important for you know solving many of the world's difficult and intractable problems. you know this going back a decade or so when president putin of first president, there was close cooperation on a variety of issues. do you believe that president putin hopes to return to that kind of status or has he given up on that for good now? >> well quite unexpectedly let's be frank. quite unexpectedly lots of water has passed under the bridge since that time. [ laughter ] we have witnessed tremendous chang

fears are growing that the city of mariupol could become the latest battlefield.aul brennan has seen yuan ukrainian soldiers digging new defensive positions. >> reporter: the ukrainians delivered fresh tank to the front line on tuesday. while it's true that the guns have fallen silent along large sections of the line of conflict it's not happening here. >> bombing every day from separatists, and we can't give him -- >> reporter: youing can't rely. >> we can't. >> reporter: you are under orders. >> the fire is only one day. >> reporter: we passed abandoned houses and waving between ukrainian military defensive positions. there are tanks and guns and there is no intention to withdraw them yet. >> translator: these tanks are on the second defensive line in this case the enemy breaks through the front line. do you hear the sound, it might just be shelling or they might be preparing a ground assault. if it's an assault i must be able to withstand it or make a rely. >> reporter: just a few hundred meters back the sound of fire is almost continuous. the ukrainian army is

the city of mariupol was briefly controlled by separatist fighters last may before being captureed by soldiers and volunteer battalions. it's power gives it strategic importance. in the city itself the markets still operate but the uncertainty is creating deep anxiety. >> of course, we feel anxious. but i stand here on the market every day, and i see ukrainian military vehicles every day to help our army, and i do not believe that mariupol will surrendered. >> of course we're worried. you see donetsk and worry what could happen there. it could happen here. a lot of people have fled the city. >> we hope that our soldiers will defend us. we also hope that our other allies support us. it would be better if they gave us weapons to defend ourselves. >> international monitors have expressed deep concern about the situation east of mariupol. the diplomacy has done little to silence the guns here. paul brennan al jazeera, mariupol ukraine. >> still ahead eurozone's finance minister agree on a last-minute deal to prevent greece from defaulting on its debt. >>> plus the threat of attacks. but i

but we have also been hearing about continued firing around donetsk and mariupol.more details can you give us? >> there has been some fighting going on during the day. on the line from donetsk toward mariupol the ukrainian military claims there have been attacks from the separatists on three different sites. the last three days, the fighting lessened. but it never really stopped. it lessened enough to call it a cease-fire. but both sides are pulling back their weaponry. but it is not really clear if they really are pulling back, or if it is just a regrouping. and the osce is fearing that they might be just moving around and fogging a regrouping of their weaponry. >> sounds like it could still go either way. thank you very much. >> police in the u.s. state of missouri are investigating a spate of shootings that left eight people dead. >> the missouri highway patrol says the shootings happened on friday morning inside for houses in the town of tyrone. they say the suspect in the shooting a 36-year-old man, was found that in a neighboring county after apparently commi

yesterday, five ukrainian forces killed in the region where i am in mariupol in shelling in mariupol. other places further north, shelling as well. pro-russian separatists are blaming ukrainian forces for shelling. both sides laying blame on each other. at this point, the cease-fire is still holding. at least that is what the ukrainians are saying. it seems to becoming more and more difficult for the cease-fire to homicidetoday. both sides are to withdraw heavy weapons from the line. neither side is doing that. from our sources, pro-russian side it seems more gear is moving in there. i have seen ukrainian forces fortify their portions. it is a very difficult situation here on the ground. >> fred, you will cover that for us and bring us any word on how that truce is holding. >>> time for an early start on your money. stock market closed for presidents day. the s&p 500 sitting at a record high after friday's rally. the dow back above 18,000. >>> huge bank heist. this could be the biggest ever. hackers reached in and stole about $1 billion. that's $1 billion right from the banks. accordi

bbc news in mariupol, ukraine. >> it doesn't look much of a cease-fire, does it?n other news around the world, dismissing claims that the president covered up the alleged iranian involvement 20 years ago in a bombing. the special prosecutor was found dead last month, just hours before he was due to testify to congress against him. coordinated bomb attacks by suspected militants where 17 people died. 15 people died when three bombs were thrown in quick succession from a car. it has been six months and the cease-fire was brokered between israel and the palestinian militants in the gaza strip. 2000 were killed in the seven weeks of fighting last summer. fears are growing that it could happen again. if it does tension -- attention will be focused on tunnels that, has been using to fight. >> the threat of war is looming again in gaza. these are the men of palestinian islamic jihad. six months since their last battle, they have rearmed and replenished in expectation of their next confrontation with israel. >> whether it is under the ground or over the ground, we are pre

they could be eyeing the vital city of mariupol.agnay reports. >> reporter: pro-russian rebels pull armor back from the front. it's not following protocol. they haven't said what's going where, but it's a start. on wednesday they said it will toughen sanctions on russia if pro-russian rebels target mariupol feared next in line if the cease-fire fails. and there's still fighting in a nearby village. this is pretty much the easternmost point of mariupol. the shelling 15 kill normt that direction. this area -- kilometers in that direction. this area has been shelled and many kill around the corner a few weeks ago. you see some of the strafing on this building. if you live in this block of flats, there isn't much to protect you beyond a concrete wall and some glass. we were here in september. then a family asked our advice where best to hide from incoming fire. we're surprised to find them still here. most other families have left. seven in the stairwell. "when the shelling's than loud it's okay," she says. "when it's louder i get scare

we have cnn's frederik pleitgen in mariupol ukraine. fred what is the situation?rter: it is tenuous. it is fragile. it looks like it could go either way. there have been infringements on the cease-fire. the ukrainian military said there have been over 100 infringements by what they say are pro-russian separatists. most in the town of mariuplol where i am. there is a town north of here where there is artillery fire. five ukrainian forces have been killed in the past 24 hours. at this point, both sides are accusing each other of not sticking to the cease-fire. the pro-russian separatists are saying the ukrainians are moving artillery. the ukrainians are saying the pro-russian separatists are moving artillery in that area. they are supposed to be moving out this morning. >> we are losing fred pleitgen's shot. he is reporting from mariupol. fred reporting the cease-fire could go either way. announced this weekend and already in danger. >>> 49 minutes past the hour. the standoff with homeland security funding. the house speaker john boehner says he is not to blame. fin

mariupol will be a different strategic target. it is much bigger. mariupol is about 500,000 people.o stay mariupol than anything else so far in this conflict. any other towns that have fallen into rebel hands. that is where i am in donetsk. there has been significant damage here. there is still the sound of artillery in the distance near the airport and we have been hearing small arms fire over to my left. the rebels have the airport pretty much even circled. that is why despite the cease-fire, there is still fighting around that village. the rebels want to circle the airport. the airport being a key area. that is why they are saying they are not withdrawing the artillery because they are fired at by ukrainian positions. there is still both sides keeping their heavy armor around donetsk airport. this morning, we followed the dnr, the donetsk people republican pulling out some of the grad missile systems from the center of donetsk. yesterday, we saw the ukrainian military do the same. it does appear that both sides are trying to make good on the minsk agreement. >> diana, thank you s

there is a village along the coast, 20 kilometers to the east of marion pull -- of mariupol. some ukrainians think it is a sign that they are preparing for a large-scale attack on mariupol others think they would not dare attack such a large or city -- large port city, because it is so well defended. the other places under attack have been ukrainian-held villages to the north and west of donetsk. and a factory was hit this morning. clare: thank you very much for bringing us all the latest there. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, and his iranian counterpart met for two hours in geneva on sunday. just five weeks remaining before the march 31 headline for western powers to try to reach a political claimant -- framework with iran. observers say the negotiations have reached a sensitive stage with divisions remaining over uranium enrichment and removing sanctions. six french citizens have had their passports confiscated after allegedly planning to travel to syria. security sources say it is the first time the measure has been used. meanwhile, there is continuing evidence tha

fighting was to the south, near the town of mariupol. something the rebels deny.olunteer battalion loyal says it captured several villages in the area, and pushed forces back to forces with russia. fighting flared up when rebel forces launched on offensive in an attempt to cease mariupol, and other areas. the fighting visited more depth and destruction. in all, 5300 people have been killed since violence probing out. a million people in ukraine fled their homes. the economy is in ruins, in the last week the french president travelled to kiev, moscow and washington to press for peace. it is exposing a rift between merkel and president obama. the president considering $3 billion in military aid to the government. merkel and francis hollande plan to convene a summit in minsk, the canal bell awe ruse, with the presidents, and both ukraine and the west accuse the russians of helping the rebels on the ground, a charge the russians deny. russian military officials concede that volunteers from russia crossed into eastern ukraine to fight on the side of rebels. charles str

there are reports there has been an attack near a city called mariupol. a small town east of it. this is -- this has seen fighting since late summer. if debeltseve has been taken by the rebels, if there is an attack near mariupol, that could create more of a frontline and therefore ukraine could argue cease-fire is not being met and the rebels are advancing in and therefore we cannot follow the cease-fire as well. genie: thank you for that. reporting from kiev. luke brown was just outside debeltseve when troops were pulled out wednesday. he sent this report. luke: ukraine's army beats a retreat from debeltseve. intense artillery fire hastening the flight. >> you call this a cease-fire? they shelled us. luke: after weeks of resistance, the withdrawal takes hours. ambulances rushed to reach the combat zone. many barely escaped with their lives. >> we almost died twice. twice we were resurrected. luke: having fought their way out of debeltseve, the survivors' relief is mixed with euphoria. >> i cannot believe i survived. >> he is a senior sergeant, head of the unions and not married

i personally think mariupol will be surrendered. >> of course we are worried. when you live on the border of donetsk, you worry that it can happen here, and a lot of people fled the city. >> our soldiers defend us. we also hope that our other allies support us. it would be better if they gave us weapons to defend ourselves. international areas in mariupol - diplomacy has done little to silence here. >>> john kerry accused russia of outright lies. the u.s. congress that it is in a remarkable period overt and extensive proppa glandsa exercise since the height of the cold war, going on to say that russian authorities have given preparations lies about activity to my face and the face of others on many occasions. >> iran's foreign minister warned the u.s. that during nuclear talks, it will lead to negative reactions, they follow comments by the u.s. secretary of state that washington would lead the talks. if they take a productive decision to improve the nature of the programme. the u.s. wants tehran to stop atomic production in exchange for relief. >> india is on

>> yes when you mention mariu mariupol that happened right after the president's speech, and you should point out that mariupol is past where the where the operation point was established, so innocent lives were hurt. the main target is debaltseve and parts northeast closer to the areas that were taken back by the ukrainian army in the summer when they were reclaiming the land captured by the russian terrorists. >> some fear this could be the start of a major assault by russia. >> well, this has been an assault after assault. throughout any of the cease-fires, whether it was the june july ten-day cease-fire that there was constantly had constant artillery fire. and now we can clearly see through the announcements of the military commanders on the ground that the russian forces have no desire to stop, and why would they? ukraine has not been able to stop this without any further help from the united states or other countries. >> well, on that note the u.s. president nominee for defense ashton carter has been speaking about ukraine in his senate confirmation hearings. please stay with us,

lasting near mariupol kiev forces say russian separatists continue to target.e says they have pulled back as for the cease-fire agreement. an liable for terrorism, a u.s. jury has said the palestinian authority and the plo are responsible for tax years ago. hundreds of millions of dollars have been awarded to american families who brought the case. time now probably dave of the day's business news. stephen carroll is here. it has been a deja vu. >> such an improvement on toy for hours ago, the list has been sent we are told -- such an improvement on 24 hours ago. the list has been sent. they're queuing over the details before they speak over phone and 45 minutes time for stop is six-page document from the greek government makes more risks, cuts down on corruption and save money on public spending, but it also sees the syriaza government running back promises and raising the minimum wage. >> a step in the right direction, greece presented its list of proposed reforms to its european partners just before the monday night deadline. if the list is approved, greece

. >> if mari ruvell --mariupol falls into russian hand, it could establish a land border. the counselors are trying to salvage a fragile peace deal. greg should there be an attack on mariupol, which some fear, it would obviously completely change the basis of the minsk peace agreement. and we would face a new situation. greg -- >> but even the best intentions in pairs mean nothing unless the come -- the parties are moving toward a cease-fire deal. but while speaking of the conflict parties let's go to ukraine to the capital where our course on and is standing by -- our correspondent is standing by. separatists are saying they would -- they are withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline. what will it take for the ukrainians to do the same? >> well, the ukrainian government is deeply skeptical about the assertion of the separatist that they indeed started to withdraw their heavy weapons. the military spokesman said they will only start to withdraw the if the cease-fire last a full two days. we have not seen that yet. quite clearly, kiev is afraid that the separatists will

i think the main thing to watch here is the city of mariupol in the south. it is a strategic important hub in the potter city. it's one of those viable options to supply crimea if necessary for russia. so if we see increased fighting in mariupol, that is a clear sign that the minsk will not hold. there are just too many uncertainties right now. ukraine is not supposed to regain it's sovereignty over the border with russia until the end of 2015. so if russia wants to escalate things, there is nothing really preventing them from sending more weapons and perhaps support troops into eastern ukraine. perhaps it's too early to tell. we'll have to monitor the situation. but right now it looks promising. >> yes, in terms of monitoring the situation one of the things in a was reported to that u.n. security council was the difficulty of verifying a lot of this information because of lack of access to key areas. how difficult is that going further down the road? >> yes, the monitoring again it's been a key issue. they're supposed to send monitors into debaltseve. they'

the mare mariupol has bulls hit.hting is its most intense currently in a major transport hub between russia and ukraine and that's where charles stratford reports from. >> reporter: ukrainian army fire a volley of grad rockets towards the frontline. the separatists say they have surrounded the town under teaming. volunteers like this man are trying to drive civilians to safety. >> translator: you can hear shelling and shooting at night it was very intense he says. >> reporter: i have to go says this man. it's bad in there. very bad. we followed a bus along the mud roads in to town. attempts at negotiating a temporary truce for safe passage had failed. >> push, push, push. go. go. go! go go, go. catch them. catch them. >> reporter: the shelling is intense. the very few people on the street run for cover. what sound like or artillery or mortars fires towards targets we cannot see. there have been -- there have been repeated efforts at trying to get some of the wounded out of the town there. have been calls for she's fi

here in mariupol where i am there's been infringements of the cease-fire.as fighting going on but it is considerably more quiet than it is in -- than it has been over the past couple of days. also here as well we don't see any sign of either side pulling away its heavy weapons from the front line. appears at this point in time especially with the situation in some places still contested, neither side seems to have the trust and faith to start pulling back. >> fred pleitgen live in mariupol ukraine, as we sit and wait to see if the buffer zone does in fact come in to place, if we see each side pull their weaponry back. today is the day when that needs to be seen and verified. as fred said there, for the most part, the cease-fire is holding. they want to know about some of the last details. >> everyone sort of weary and cautious. back in september, it didn't last for very long. >> that's right. >> holding our breath and hope that it does. >>> let's take a short break now. still to come here on cnn "newsroom," a live report on the huge celebration for one of n

they say both incoming and outgoing artillery could be seen on the city of mariupoll.otion given its location to the sea. cnn international correspondent fred pleitgen has the story. >> reporter: it's a city on the edge. we drove through the streets here earlier, what we saw, many checkpoints also patrols going around the streets, checking vehicles. the people here saying that they had believe the city may be infiltrated by pro-russian separatists. one of the things that's been going on here there is a reasonable force of those pro-russian separatists situated just outside of the city several kilometers away. what's happening here and not happening in other places along the front line here it appears to be the pro-ukrainian forces that have the initiative. one of the things that happened a force the italian volunteer force, managed to make gains 10 to 15 kilometers outside of mariupol although there was considerable fighting along the way. we know on friday there was a tank battle that took place where tanks traded shots for a while. we heard from the battalions that t

we will see who is right about mariupol. clapper: i think that they will wait until the spring before they attack mariupol. mccain: he is not getting any increase in sanctions. the ukrainians aren't receiving defensive weapons. if i were him i would do exactly that. he has plenty of time. yesterday, the secretary of state said that our world today is, despite isil and the horrific killings, we are actually living in a period with less daily threat to americans and people in the world. and yet, just today the director of the fbi and others said that there are threats to 30 states in this nation. what is your view of the threat to the united states america? clapper: this will be the fifth year in my 50 years of the intelligence business, that i have never seen as many threats around the world. i am worried about the safety and security of this country for a lot of reasons. not the least of which is the impact that sequestration is having on the intelligence community. we didn't get a pass. the same rules that apply to the depa

in mariupol it found 31 strikes in a small area. dozens of people were killed there. human rights watch say that the rockets were filed from separatist territories from the east. but the fighting has spread instead to more civilian areas. civilians are in the cross fire there again, too. >> a semi final match at the africa cup of nations had to be temporarily suspended after violence erupted in the stands on thursday and it spilled out on to the pitch. near the end of the second half when angry fans began tossing bottles and trash at ghana fans and players. >> what happened was that the team was given a penalty early on in the first half. and then from there it went haywire. there were bottles of water being thrown from the north western side of the stadium. there was a small pocket of fans in the stadium who were accosted and beaten and in some cases stoned during the game. that was when the helicopters had to come in and disperse them. what has happened is that the fans had to be moved from where they were on to the field and then had to be stopped. >> players from

they pushed on towards mariupol and they've also been trying to encircle the strategically important town of debaltseve. this town is between luhansk and donetsk, sits on a railway line. it's an important part of the jigsaw buzzle of the east of ukraine, and if the eastern territories, if the rebel enclave of donetsk and luhansk are to be future, you know, future proof if they're to be strong and as resilient as turn autonomous region, railway hubs like debaltseve are important as are ports like mariupol. >> all the while, of course, president putin is away in a completely different region to show that he has outside friends. >> yeah, he's in egypt at the moment. now, any foreign visits by any leader from any country in the world is an attempt to show they are friends. al sisi and putin are certainly leaders you can describe as cut from the same cloth. they are people who favor security in their own countries over such things that they might dismiss as western trifles like human rights, and that sort of concern. what we have at the moment is the, i suppose the expansion of a friendsh

objective is support of mariupol. he has a land bridge to the black sea and a true russian state carved out of the -- out of the heartland of the ukraine, and he'll go right back and repeat the formula and we'll do nothing to stop him. there is great danger that next objective will be ethnic russians in estonia which is part of nato. i believe putin believes the west will do nothing to stop the next stage of his aggression, lori. it's all bad news. lori: well it was enlightening speaking with you nonetheless. general bob scales. pleasure, enjoy the weekend. >> tu. lori: have a look at online poll results. whose assessment of the islamic state threat is more accurate? president obama or james clapper. 94% said clapper. here's tonight's poll -- cast your vote at loudobbs.com. >>> two bald eagles taking to the sky after being shot last year. the eagles are going through physical therapy at the tulsa zoo where they've been since thanksgiving. veterinarians hope to release them back into the wild. authorities are recoverin

it's a place that's of absolute strategic importance because if the separatists manage to get mariupoly would have a land corridor from russian territory to crimea annexed by russia last year. cnn, ukraine. >>> gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a mosque in pakistan during friday prayers killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens more. the pakistani taliban claims responsibility and vows to carry out more attacks as we learn more. >> reporter: bloodshed in pakistan. an attack at a shiite mosque. police say up to five attackers stormed the mosque firing into the crowd during friday prayers. among them one suicide bomber who blew himself up. police say another was stopped by worshippers and held boy the throat before he could detonate his explosives. >> translator: the pakistani taliban released a video taking responsibility saying this of a revenge attack. >> translator: the doctor was hanged to death, so i am sending these young men ready to give up their lives as suicide bombers and dare you to try and stop them. >> reporter: the militant affiliated with the pakistani taliban was

sanctions and possibly more weapons would be if russian back separatists took the strategic city of mariupol which would bring the forces a land bridge to crimea. >> so the measurement now is are we on a downward track to actually seeing an implementation or is there now a mariupol or some other effort that may be taking place that would immediately merit a much more significant response? >> kerry session russia's creeping land-grabbing is ended. >> general breedlove says it's knot clear what vladimir putin has in mind as far as a military objective, but he characterizes his goal of keeping ukraine out of russia and russia out of ukraine. >> a report suggests the taking over of crimea may be more premeditated than could tell, what can you report? >> one of the few independent voices left in moscow, it purports to have uncovered a memo from an unnamed russian oligarch that laid out the disunity in ukraine predicted the ouster of then president yanukovych and suggested it would be in moscow's advantage to annex crimea and parts of eastern ukraine remarkably similar to what has played out in th

objective is support of mariupol.he black sea and a true russian state carved out of the -- out of the heartland of the ukraine, and he'll go right back and repeat the formula and we'll do nothing to stop him. there is great danger that next objective will be ethnic russians in estonia which is part of nato. i believe putin believes the west will do nothing to stop the next stage of his aggression, lori. it's all bad news. lori: well it was enlightening speaking with you nonetheless. general bob scales. pleasure, enjoy the weekend. >> tu. lori: have a look at online poll results. whose assessment of the islamic state threat is more accurate? president obama or james clapper. 94% said clapper. here's tonight's poll -- cast your vote at loudobbs.com. >>> two bald eagles taking to the sky after being shot last year. the eagles are going through physical therapy at the tulsa zoo where they've been since thanksgiving. veterinarians hope to release them back into the wild. authorities are recovering a stolen picasso missing

are battling in eastern ukraine heavy shelling continues in donetsk and luhansk and the city of mariupol is being hit by violence the major transport hub between russia and ukraine. that is where we report from. >> ukrainian army fire rockets towards the front line. the separatists say they have surrounded a town under siege. volunteers like this man are trying to drive civilians to safety. >> you can hear shelling and shooting at night it was very intense, he says. i have to go, says this man. it's bad in there very bad. we follow add bus along the mud roads into town. attempts at negotiating a temporary safe truce for passage had failed. the shelling is intense. very few people on the street run for cover. what sounds like mortars fire at targets we cannot see. that being repeated efforts to try to get wounded out, there have been calls for ceasefire. some of those ceasefires have been ignored. we followed a humanitarian aid convoy into the city to try to deliver aid to the people trapped here. the men tell us they are going to an area that is too dangerous for us to film. >> we are tr

on the other hand the rebels declared they're going to make mariupol which is a strategic town on the sea. >> do you support the idea of spending lethal defensive aid. lethal defensive aid to ukraine. >> i'm not supporting it not that ukraine does not deserve lethal defensive aide. we know that putin would see it as an attack. if we're serious about de-escalating the conflict, it's a bad idea. >> have i heard you say this? his end game is that he wants to be assured that ukraine is under his control. >> he wants to be assured that ukraine is not outside of his sphere of influence. it does not necessarily mean that it's going to be invaded by russia but it's enough to have frozen conflict there or or donetsk as a trojan horse so to speak. >> would that be enough? or does he want to know that ukraine is in his sphere of influence. >> that would be enough because they have industries that russia relies heavily on that industry. and he need more land. crimea's annex indicationization would not be in vain. it's making sure that ukraine is does not get out of the russian sphere, and does no

we're in a village near mariupol where the shelling is nearly constant. this is the last front line position of the ukrainian army. they tell us that the separatists are about 1,000 yards in that direction. they also say the separatists have tried to overrun this position several times but have been repelled every time. the ukrainian army deployed additional armor to the front line sometimes hampered by old, run-down equipment. meanwhile, the killing continued. this 58 year old is literally shell-shocked, after a rocket landed next to her house, killing her neighbor. she believes it was fired from a ukrainian position. we don't need the ukrainian army here she says. we don't need any army. everyone who came with weapons started wars please make them go away from here. but ukraine's army has dug in. they don't believe any truce will hold. we know about a so-called cease-fire. the accept lastseparateists have broken them frequently. de-escalation sounds different than what we heard on the eve of a cease-fire. cnn, ukraine. >>> in washington the u.s. state d

will impose sanctions if rebel fighters attack mariupol. the comments come accusing him of lying to his face. kerry told congress that russia hadn't been engaged in such propaganda since the cold war. >>> soldiers from chad say they have killed more than 200 boko haram fighters. niger and chad are part of a military campaign to helle nigeria. they released this group. the offensive in the nearby region. now, people are planning to protest. it is effecting them. those that don't have a generator can be in the dark for 12 hours every other day. >> these workers - it's a 24 hour temperature controlled operation on the outskirts of the capital. using generators more and more because of a grid. power is 5% of the gross overall for the business. it's almost doubled. it puts a strain. >> citizens are experiencing no power for days at a time. there's not enough supplies to meet demand. the power plants have the capacity to generate more electricity. >> the ability is to call on demoned, demand and supply. that's why we need to improve on the cultur

. >>> in ukraine there are reports of battles in the government-held port city of mariupol. in yemen talks continue between houthi rebels and former president ali abdullah saleh. >>> we go to copenhagen. peter, what's happened? >> there was a debate--talks in copenhagen. apparently the copenhagen police just told one of the attackers came into the scene and open fired with an automatic weapon. three policemen from the copenhagen police have been wounded. the hunt has gone on in the northern part of copenhagen, and the rest of the city as well it should be two or three men that the police are looking for right now. >> so they are on the run. what do we know--some of the policemen have been injured. what do we know about this meeting? if it does, indeed, involve the artist we know that he has been under security some time since depicting the prophet prophet muhammad in 2007. >> eyewitnesses say that there were a lot of intelligence people there. there was a meeting with a lot of security around. people were being frisked when they entered and a lot of the intelligence service

we have mariupol, a key strategic city on the coast. there's other cities, and the question is how does one get back to a ceasefire and stop vladimir putin, they are coming across the border, it's a porous border with russian troops on the ground. this is an invasion of an independent sovereign state. it's extremely significant. what we see today proves that vladimir putin cannot be trusted because the words and documents were signed in minsk, or the minsk mark ii documents is not working. they are not keeping to their word. they are focussing trying to push, push, push as far as they can. what happens in terms of a tactical move, it can be seen that it wasn't a positive move for the ukranian army. in terms of moral, it will be difficult to sell this back to the ukranian people. it looks like the ukranian army has lost a strategic town. >> let me jump in there. you talked about francis hollande and german chancellor angela merkel, and their attempts to stop the fighting. that was going on at the same time there were louder and louder vo

the city of mariupol has also been hit by violence. fighting is at its most intensive, which is the major transport hub between russia and ukraine, that's were charles stratford had this report from. >> reporter: a volley of rockets fired towards the front line. the separatists, a town under siege. this man tries to drive civilians to safety. >> you can hear shelling. at night it was intense, he says. "i have to go" says this man. "it's bad in there, very bad." he followed us along the mud roads. it was a hope of attempting a temporary truce for safe passage failed. >>> shelling intense. few people on the city. sounds like mortar targets that we cannot see. there have been repeated efforts to try to get some of the wounded out. some of these ceasefires have been ignored. they are going into the city to try to deliver aid to the people trapped here. >> they tell us that they are going to an area too dangerous to film. >> we are trying to deliver aid to people at risk. we could nod organise a temporary truce to come here. approximately 2

for instance in the south, the port city of mariupol? that's the concern.he hope is they've got the territory they want now, and that will be enough. it means the cease-fire can be implemented. the concern is there may be more land grabs in the days and weeks ahead. >> so how russia responding to the call for u.n. peacekeepers to get into the contested areas there? >> reporter: they have pretty much rejected that. diplomats saying there's already a peace deal on the table that provides a mayor-electnition for monitoring the cease-fire to the organization for security and cooperation in europe. and they've actually criticized kiev for even suggesting that u.n. peacekeepers and european union peacekeepers are sent there as well. they say it undermines faith in moscow that they can't be serious about implementing the minsk agreements. also it's important to remember that given that at the hesitation, reticence on the part of the russians unlikely any kind of u.n. peacekeeping force will be deployed or will require a sank from the security council, and, of cour