-- and defied the minsk protocol. if they wanted it to be legitimate, they failed. instead, the world saw the elections for what they are -- a shameless attempt to validate territory seized at the barrel of a gun. a gun provided by russia. in keeping with his efforts to escalate rather than de-escalate at every turn, rather than condemn the separatist sham election like most of the international community, russia encouraged it. the foreign minister even try to argue that the elections were part of the minsk agreement which clearly stipulates that the elections be local and conducted in accordance with the law of ukraine. russian and separatist actions in eastern ukraine currently have nothing to do with improving the humanitarian situation or decentralizing power is called for in points 3 and 8 of the minsk protocol. the town was ruled by a local warlord. his powers maintained by a group of armed cossacks who he calls his great edon army and his flags fly russian and rebel flag. asterisk authority came from, he told t

chose to act in breach of the minsk agreements. we are very much concerned by the position of the russian federation which manipulates with the rights of people for self-determination. once again it has as we saw in crimea and now the only one and create priority to conflict in sovereign states create bid russia in its interests. that is why ukraine and the community will never recognize the illegal referendum in crimea and in other areas. and whatever outcomes of these elections. ukraine leadership has already expressed its deep concern in violation of these by russia and ring leaders it controls in the east of ukraine. illegal elections continues so far regime violations by militants as well as sharp increase in illegal supplies by russian federation of weapons and movement across the border have seriously undermined this process of peaceful settlement. it questions the trust to those significantries who do not keep their word. nevertheless, kiev confirmed its commitment to continue to observe the regime of ceasefire in line with

minsk is in jeopardy. one of of aambassadors spoke of thebulb disregard for commitments under take then minsk. of russiann reports supplied reenforcement including heavy weapons and tanks moving the front lines in eastern ukraine. the chief minister, chief monitor has just described three sightings by o.s.c. monitors of such convoys. we must also be seriously concerned that these further escalations in eastern ukraine russia's ongoing violations picturely --ol, particularly its refusal to personnel.s and the osce has been prevented monitoringed akuwaitly the russian troops again appear to be massing in big numbers. the border isure a threat to peace. this is all ominously reminiscent of the situation prior to russia's purported annexation of crimea. seen this positioning before. these recent developments come against the back drop of so-called elections in eastern ukraine. swritment sue do -- electionste psuedo rejected. australia welcomes the parliamentary let ex-s that were held on 26 october. forward to

if you want peace abide by the minsk deal. in order to have guarantee to have peace, we need guarantees. >> and ukraine's ruled out talking to the separatists. >>> there appears to be a brea breakdown of the minsk agreement, and it could lead to the resumption of all-out fighting. more than 4,000 people have been killed in the conflict since mid-april. we have more from the support city of marypol. >> this goes along with harsh commentary from kiev in recent days and weeks. i think it reflects the negotiations they have been holding. they are angry at russia for having recognized those elections. there is equal anger on the other side. we poke to an official in donetsk on tuesday, they're saying that the ukrainians have broken the accord by cutting off payment to state services, and threatening to take away access to the central bank and banking services in their region. amid-all of this the low-level fighting goes on, especially around places like the airport in donetsk, and we've had video emerge over the last couple of days

a ceremony that could threaten the very survival of the minsk concord signed in september.nian president chose his words carefully. aimed as much to the separatists fighters in the east as the planners in the kremlin, widely believed to have orchestrated the break away. the president threatening to end the special status to donetsk and luhansk. >> translator: we demonstrated to the whole world that we are sincere in our desire for political settlement. the militant refused this opportunity, holding fake elections that have undermined the law. we are ready to provide brood powers to any legally elected government not to the ban be it who crowned himself. >> reporter: the results said the russian president should be respected, but stopped short of recognizing the breakaway regions. 4,000 people have already died in the war, which created the biggest diplomatic crisis since the end of the cold war 23 years ago. and hours after the poles closed, the fighting started again, with heavy bombardments reported outside of donetsk. the security chiefs are now meeting in kiev to plan t

the skaild so-called elections contradicts the minsk agreements which were signed by ukraine, russia an organization for security in europe because there were no mention about the so-called elections there, vice versa, there was a mention about local elections. which could be held there, but according to ukrainian law december, so, again, the step which is done now by russia contradicts through the minsk agreement and shows who is standing for peace and who is trying to undermine it. >> polls also open in roommate mainia where the prime minister is set to win the first round of presidential elections. he enjoyed a comfortable lead over 13 candidates despite fears he could reverse reforms. he has feuded with his bitter rifle, the out going president. days out from the u.s. mid-term elections. one of the tightest battles for control of the senate has been wage did in the state of incono carolina. democrats can trying to hold on to one of six seats. republicans want control of the senate for the first time in a decade. tom ackerman has more on thely race from raleigh, north carolina. >>

to the separatists in ukraine, violating an agreement that he agreed to just a few weeks ago, the minskeement that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas and make -- providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution, then the isolation that russia is currently experiencing will continue. >> more now from andrew thomas our correspondent who has been covering the g20 in brisbane. >> reporter: the focus at the ends of the g20 summit should be entirely on this. the three-page communique focus to the point that australia's government on how the world can improve its economic performance over the next five years, potentially create $2 trillion more of growth that could create millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of new jobs, but this communique has been overshadowed frankly by the early departure of vladimir putin. the russian president having been up snubbed by many leaders here in brisbane over his country's alleged involve in ukraine, some world leaders literally turned hick back on them on tuesday, he delivered a snub of his own by leaving on sunday. b

there is a minsk agreement in place which has a timetable for certain things to be done in a certain period of time in december. we're concerned the recent russian statement about supporting the separatist elections on november 2, that that's outside of the minsk agreement and we would not view those as legitimate and could be problematic. but they just got a gas deal in the last 24 hours between ukraine and russia. there has been some indication of troops moving away and some reduction of violence, but it's very, you know, start and stop. it's not sufficient yet to satisfy anybody, and i think we're concerned. but the sanctions have held, the sanctions are having an impact. the ruble is at the lowest level it's been against the euro since the euro was introduced in 1999. they spent billions of dollars trying to support the ruble. oil is down hovering in the low 80's, somewhere in that vicinity. that has a profound impact on the russian budget and the russian economy. their g.d.p. is going backwards, not forwards. growth. and so they have some serious challenges. our desire is to see

and with minsk. you cannot reach a solution if one is committed to it and you cannot implement a road map with parties who, like the russians and separatists they back, so consistently fail u to keep their word. we have seen russia's playbook in crimea, so the question is not what russia will try to do in eastern ukraine. the question is what we, the international community, will seek to do to prevent yet another frozen conflict in europe manufactured by russia. the agreement was brokered under the international community, as such there must be consequences where russia flouts the commitments it made and destabilize its neighbor. russia has not earned the good faith that we would wish to bestow and even when russia claims as the foreign minister did today, the ined a miz misblt of the cease-fire agreements actions are all that matter. and actions alongside these words show intentions. the airport has come under artillery and arms fire attacks four times in the last 24 hours. and in the last day, ukra

if you want peace, abide by the minsk deal. in order to have guarantees to reach peace, we need a format acceptable to the world and ukraine. >> al jazeera's harry fawcett joins us from the port city of mariupol. ukraine seems to be taking a harsh line in the public statement at the moment. why is that? def . >> it reflect anger of what they see as the minsk agreement. they say the elections which took place on november the 2nd were a breach of that. there could have been local elections carried out in eastern ukraine and ukraine proper at the assault, and angry with russia for having recognised the elections. this is somewhat of a rebuke to that. in donetsk we spoke to an official, on tuesday, and he was saying that the ukrainians were breaching the terms of the agreement by cutting off state support to agencies, threatening to end banking services to the area. both accusing the other of breaching concerns, and there's concerns about the longevity about the shaky ceasefire. >> you are in mariupol, harry. tell us about the situ

thought it would achieve that with the so-called minsk agreement between putin and ukraine.hat is what is unrattling. the russians thought were serious about deescalating and that is important information about the moving of weapons. >> given the reality on the ground what our correspondent just mentioned and what we're hearing in the corns of the diplomatic world should the u.s. not have ruled out military action over ukraine. >> oh, i think, i mean, whether to trumpet it or not is a different matter but there's never been serious discussion about a military involvement in ukraine and that i think is right. but i do think there's been some what of a you know as david said, a hope that this minsk accord would work but it was always for russia to kind of consolidate its gains in eastern ukraine and then they had these mock elections and it sounds like they are bringing more material into that region. they are consolidated their position while we have not responded to it so i think at this moment it requires response from the west, united states and our allies both to put in p

these elections not towards reintegrating, reunifying ukraine which is what the peace agreements in minsk foresees but, instead maybe taking a step away from that process and further isolating themself towards independence within ukraine and so that's the big concern from the various parties, watching this -- this is a step away from reunification and step towards some kind of frozen conflict in which the ukrainian government, kiev, will never be able to effectively regain control and authority in those rebel controlled areas of luhansk and donetsk so that's why these elections right now and voting has begun in these rebel areas from about three hours ago now voting is under way in about 400 polling booths across the region. a couple of polling booths being set up, as well, inside russia apparently in refugee camps that are housing a great number of people that have fled the fighting inside eastern ukraine. so that's the big concern for the people and for the interested parties particularly in the west that are watching these elections unfold. >> and what might be the consequences, matthe

belarus,gn in minsk, never completely too cold. in some places, the fighting died down. the main airport where government forces are holding out against militants, it's is bad as ever. thewith extra fighters in region, the fear is that the situation will grow even worse. >> they remain high and are rising. the firing has not ceased. >> schelling in and around the city is also increasing. the war shows no signs of ending. it may soon enter an even more dangerous stage. >> worrying signs that the fighting may be the worst again. killing more than 300 people, they have been sentenced to 36 years in prison. he was cleared of culpable homicide. our correspondent has the latest for us. ever since he was arrested, he has deep regret. he simply said he wasn't a murderer. in court, judges accepted that. but not with deliberate intention to kill. ships filmed abandoning while passengers stayed the ground. emerged that the wall was overloaded. side andd to one toppled the ship over. the company owner later fled and was found dead. the search for the sunken ship has been organized s

continues down the past hpathhe is on on violating an at that he agreed to just a few weeks ago, the minsk agreement, that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas, and make-providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution, then the isolation that russia is currently experiencing will continue. >> andrew thomas has been covering the g-20 let's talk about this communique. it seems quite specific, quite targeted and there seems confidence amongst the leaders that this can actually do something. >> well, this is communique. three sides are, tony abbott said right from the get go, that these should be short and to the point. he wants it to be all about economics. all about growth. this commitment from the g-20 countries to increase the overall gdp of the world by 2 percentage points more than it would be in five years. as you say that could create 200 million jobs. here are the outline proposals how to do that. of course it will be up to domestic politicians in domestic countries to get their own initiatives to. it's okay to agree to this commitment here but t

the ongoing attacks are threatening a truce struck in minsk in september. >>> we go live to donetsk. why have they issued this decr decree? >> well, there is an interesting question. it really does in a lot of ways cement the situation on the ground. there has not been any mechanism to provide these sorts of services since luhansk and donetsk set up these self-declared republics. it does not change the situation per se but it is a high profile way of making a point that these republics are on their own and they can't expect any assistance from the ukrainian government in kiev. it's not to say that it won't have any effects as well. there is some pressure obviously trying to be exerted on this region. it will have the impact, for example, on state sector employees. president poroshenko is saying that they'll be relocated in western regions of ukraine. where they will go, what jobs they will do, and how they will be paid in an economy tradition is struggling has yet to be answered. in banking and finance, they've saying they want to end services provided to institutions and companies i

none of this looks good for the minsk peace accord.ou have vladimir putin and petro poroshenko paying lip service to that's fire that was agreed to in september, but there are many people who aren't saying what we're looking at is the rapid unraffling of that agreement. >>> up -- supporters of the former president in yemen have been rallying for him. >> reporter: this is the biggest show of support for the previous president since the popular uprising forced him to leave office almost three years ago. these people came here to protest against u.s.-proposed sanctions against their deposed president. if the sanctions come into effect, heing won't be able to travel abroad and his assets will be frozen. >> translator: the u.s. sanctions are baseless. the u.s. ambassador is a diplomat. doesn't he know that sala is backed by millions of people. >> reporter: the cleric who lead the friday prayers told the crowd the u.s. is colluding with a sunni party to destroy yemen. for this crowd, he remains the only -- legitimate leader. >> translator: w

if you want peace, abide by the minsk deal. in order to have peace, we need a deal that's accessible to the whole world. we need guarantees. >> harry has more now from the southern port city of mariupol in ukraine. >> these reports go over kiev over the recent days and weeks, and i think that it reflects anger over what they see as the breach, september 5th, and the ceasefire has been holding, and the leaks that they declared, the people's republics, held on november 2nd, they broke the accord, and they are angry with russia for having recognized those elections. there's equal anger on the other side. and we spoke to an official in donetsk on tuesday, saying that they cut off officially any payments to state services, and also threatening to take away access to the central bank and banking services for their region. in the midst of all of this, the low level fighting good goe, especially in the airport around donetsk, and we had video emerge taken by a local television station, and a drone being sent up over the airport. and da

there are a growing fear of the breakdown of the minsk agreement could lead to more fighting. >> policeomments from ukraine's prime minister go along with increasingly harsh commentary from kiefer recent days and weeks. i think it reflects real anger at what they see as breaches of the minsk agreement of september 5th which led to the cease-fire which has just been holding since then. they say that the elections that the breakaway separatists self declared doneesque's people and luhansk people's held broke the accord and they are angry at russia for having recognized those elections. it was equal anger on the other side. we spoke to an official on tuesday who was saying that the ukrainians had broken the accord by cutting off officially any state payments to state services and threatening to take away access to the central bank and banking services for their region. in the midst of this, the low level fighting goes on around places like the airport in donetsk. we have had video over the last couple of days taken by a local television station, a drone being sentence up over that airport

like of which we can see in transnnistria, increased military activity there and what happens to the minsk protocols? the eu says that these elections are a violation of those protocols and there is a suspicion in moscow there may be more sanctions on the way. >> it is the final day of campaigning before tuesday's crucial mid term elections in the u.s. the outcome will shape american policy for the next two years. let's look at what's at stake in the vote. control of both branches of congress are up for grabs. all seats in 434 house of representatives seats, and the 36 seats in the senate we'll be watching closest. the democrats got through 53 seats of their own plus two independentindependents who hav. the republican party needs to win six more seats than it has already got in order to take control of the senate. remember, republicans already control the house of representatives, if they get a majority in both houses it would make president barack obama find difficult times. >> one of the biggest ones for example many a bill, there is a good likelihood that there are enough republicans an

kiev has been saying that it was an illegitimate vote going against the minsk agreement, whereby the separatist enclafs were allowed elections. that's not what the separatists did. they went their own way. there's also a lot of apprehension, whether it's here or in kiev, that the high intensity conflict may resume. there's a lot of movement from russian convoys along the road carrying military equipment. this is worrying a lot of people here who many believe that just after the vote there could be a resumption of this conflict >>> thank you for that hoda abdel-hamid >>> still ahead on al jazeera - find out why thousands of russian health workers are protesting, and we'll tell you why hundreds of native americans are taking aim at a professional football team. >>> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera. 55 people have been killed in a blast on the india pakistan border. the bomb exploded in the car park at the wagah crossing near lahore. the pakistan taliban claimed responsibility for the attack >>> kurdish forces from iraq joined a battle against i.s.i.l. in syria and are trying

international recognition, and we know the west and the u.n., for example said that the vote went against the minsk agreement. on the other side moscow said it would recognise the vote, even though it stopped short of indicating whether it would recognise donetsk and luhansk as independent regions. students across egypt held protests. the international development center says 185 of these took place at 25 universities. the most popular demand was the release of gaoled students. al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of journalists who have been detained in egypt for 309 days. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are falsely accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera rejects the charges against them. >> november 2nd marches the first international date to end impunity for crimes against journalists. human rights and press freedom have been meeting, making a call for the release of al jazeera staff. >> unfortunately, this is not the first case, not only here, but in either place. of course, we have to discuss with the egyptian authorities in this case,

there have been heavy casualties since that minsk cease-fire deal was put in place. now we're hearing noises from the rebel leadership that they want to take more territory. they have read between the lines and they believe that the boundaries of their territory goes further, where right now the ukrainian military has control. they believe they can take that ground as well and some people here begin as a matter of time before they do so. >> kitty logan reporting from donetsk. thank you very much for that up eight. -- update. around the world, shia muslims in nigeria and iraq were the targets of deadly attacks while marking the festival of ashura. a suicide bomber killed and injured at a gathering. >> and at least 200 shiites have been killed in amhara province. security has been boosted. karbala is the destination of shiite pilgrims for ashura. many refugees have added to neighboring countries, but others are seeking shelter here in europe. >> today another sad reminder of how treacherous that journey really is. at least 24 migrants lost their lives trying to escape

and what happens to the minsk protocols, the e.said this is a violation of these protocols, and some say there are more sanctions on the way. >> the death sentence has been given to an islam party leader convicted of war crimes dating back to the country's war for indians in 1971. two other senior members have been sentenced to death for similar crimes. >> visiting the memorial for victims of war crimes during the struggle for independence. during the war this man's entire family were killed. father, mother, and siblings were killed. >> i always said with the last two breaths before i day, first i will say a prayer to allah, and then the second breath i will see that they are punished for what they did. >> destroyers estimate 500,000 people were killed in nine months. by the pakistani military and it's collaborators. many of these collaborators have continued to live as free man as something that angers many. one of the prime minister's election promises was that she would finally bring war criminals to justice. however the war cri

their view he has more power and when he goes to another round of talks and negotiations supposedly in minskwould have stronger position as elected leader and most people we spoke to told us it was not really about the personality or the person they were voting, they wanted some from donetsk given a mandate to try to end the conflict. i think this vote is also mirrors the alienation that has grown between the people who are here and the authorities in kiev. so that is what it's all about now. >>> still ahead on al jazeera we report from the least popular state in the u.s. on why campaigning is so fierce, ahead of tuesday's mid term elections. plus eyes in the sky, mysterious drones fly over france's nuclear plant and who controls them and where are they coming from? ♪ ♪ welcome back, recapping the headlines, 24 people thought to be migrants drown off the coast of istanbul after their boat sank and searching for survivors in waters north of the striets and the boat was reported to carry migrants from afghanistan and syria. there has been more intense fighting in the syrian town of kobani. kur

to the separatists in ukraine, violating an agreement that he agreed to just a few weeks ago, the minskeement that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas and make -- providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution, then the isolation that russia is currently experience will continue. >> andrew thomas has been following all of u this for us n brisbane and i spoke to him early. >> reporter: this is the communique. tony abbott's prime minister said right from the start of his g20 summit that he wanted the final communique to be much shorter than previous ones, short and to the point. , he said. and he wants it to be all about economics, all about growth. this commitment from the g20 countries to increase the overall g.d.p. of nine world by two percentage points more than it would already be in five years. as you say, that could create 200 million jobs. and in here, are the outlined proposals on how the countries planning to about that. of course, it will be up to the domestic politicians and domestic countries to get their own initiatives through. of co

putin's temporary paying attention to the minsk agreement, over how to deal with the problem in ukraine. not beautifully, not perfectly, not without exception, some of that is happening. if we could get the europeans, four 40 and 50% on russia's hydrocarbons, get off that, giving them the opportunity to say to the russians, our off take is so low, we request suspend it, find other sources to. do that, we have to find other sources for the europeans. iraqi oil is undisturbed and growing, gone from a million barrels a day to almost three and a half. that if we have an agreement with iran, iranl can get up to 3 million barrels a day, it is down on to a million because of sanctions, that can fill in the losses, in other places in the world, they are beginning to look at exploitation of shale. not all of it is as good as ours, that will begin to change some of the oil availability that we can see. so, maybe we can convince the europeans germany has to lead, germany so far is not readies to move. germany is getting rid of the nuclear, not until 2021, 2022. we as well a chance with germany to

my guess is that if we could find this, what he would say in one word is let's do minsk.and what he would do in one word is let's do this. in other words, he is playing a double game and he's getting away with it and he will continue to play the double game as long as he gets away with it and we have to keep them from getting away with it. >> okay, if there are two front-line states in this conflict, they are latvia and estonia. two nato allies who deserve and have the protection of article five, and we have the ambassadors here. so maybe i will start with you. >> thank you. i want to thank all and i think you have contributed a lot personally to the achievements of the people in the region and we celebrate this anniversary of the fall of the wall and i would like to express my appreciation to all of you and i know what you have done. so i appreciate your thoughts today and i think that i have two comments and one question. and i think that where we are today is not as bad weather but a climate change. so it's really difficult to reverse the climate change, as we all know

it is in tune with the minsk agreement, and they have the backing of moscow earlier in the week. the foreign minister clearly said that he would recognise - moscow would recognise the vote, even though he stopped short of saying whether they'd recognise donetsk and luhansk independent states once the vote is over. >> hurricane odile -- hoda, thank you for that update from makiivka a city another donetsk >>> there has been conclusive evidence that humans have altered earth's climate. the new report is touted as a comprehensive assessment of climate change undertaken. these are live pictures coming out of a meeting taking place in copenhagen. let's look at what the report says. in it scientists say they are more certain than ever that greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants are the dominant cause of global warning. the intergovernmental panel on climate change says reducing the greenhouse gas emissions is the key to limiting risks of climate change. although the impact has been felt on all continents, the least-developed countries are especially affected. >> for more, we join

hitler planned this enormous museum in minsk near where he was born in austria. number one.umber two, they knew the great collections of the jews. the jewish -- the owners of the great jewish galleries in amsterdam and all of the these cities, they went right there almost immediately after arriving they went right there to take the paintings out. didn't make any difference what they were. and they sold a lot of these paintings on the open market in switzerland in order to get cash for the third reich. besides that there was a art they've thought was degenerate, influenced by jazz or africans or african-americans and a lot of that art was taken and put into the museum -- used to be the museum of contemporary artists, now moved to paris, and there they burned a lot of it, but they also were very canny and especially gathering took a lot of it himself. i think he made something like -- i forget the number -- 20 for trips on his special train to paris during this period, and took back a lot of art. fortunately a woman who worked there kept track of every piece of art. the film "

if you want peace, abide by the minsk deal. we need a format that is accessibl acceptable to the whole world. >> there are fears of a new cold war. but the weapons of this war are not fighter jets or rocket launches but things we all depend on, oil and apples. ali velshi reports. >> these polish apple farmers are on the front lines of an economic war raging between russia and the west. sparked by the real war in ukraine. polish apples became a casualty after moscow slammed the door on most agriculturel imports from the european union. a tit-for-tat response for the sanctions slapped on russia. russia is inflicting major pain in this farming community, an hour's drive south of warsaw. arch arrests for as far as the eye can see grow this. the famous apple. poles love these. but so do other people. in fact, in 2013 poland exported 677,000 tons of apples to russia. that's 56% of all its apple exports. but that all ended on august 1st. there is nobody to buy those apples now, and that is going to cost polish apple growers $659 milli

so i think that's very fair to say yes, the minsk protocol and the agreement that they have on the cease-fire is tenuous at best. >> and the separatists in the east held an election 37 vladimir putin has recognized the election but not the idea that they have their own state. what is that game? a lot of people are sort of wondering whether putin is going to say, hey, just like crimea, you voted to be part of russia, and they'll take that over, or is this setting a different message. >> it's a complicated situation in the east. i think its akin to what happened in crimea, it's increasingly small as time goes on. this is now an area that has been completely devastated by war. it has a population that is now in poverty, and really sort of searching for any kind of help that they can get. and for russia now in this situation that it is in, with all the sanctionser for it to take on officially yet another obligation to take on that area and revitalize the area may not be prepared to do. but what putin may be prepared to do is leave in ukraine a frozen conflict. akin to what happened in georgia aft

. >> are with fighting intensifying in recent days, the ceasefire agreed in minsk appears to be dead. russian army is preparing for increase beining violence. >> how could we react to their acts, i see it as my aim to be ready to fight. >> that's rory challenge. an immediate meeting of the security council over this conflict. u.s. ambassador samantha power says: >> russia's done nothing to restore ukrainian government control. russia has continued to flout ukrainian air space with its helicopters and uavs. it continues to send so-called humanitarian convoys, something it will not allowing to be searched. >> they do not reflect the situation on the ground. president obama in myanmar tonight the second leg of his asian trip. he's there to attend the eastbound asia summit on -- the east asia summit. relations have been strained as the country's transition from military rule to democracy. early reforms have stalled and even reversed course. gop leaders have condemned a new climate deal with china. today lawmakers return to capitol hill where a domestic agreement is taking shape. libby cas

into a frozen conflict the like of which we can see in trans mis transmystrt happens to the mingt minsk prot? maybe more sanctions are on the way. >> the historic iron gate from the first nazi concentration camp in germany has been stolen. prisoners had to pass the gate on a daily basis. 41,000 were killed then. guards were on patrol when the gate was stolen but said it was impossible to secure such a large site. >>> france says it's baffled by mysterious drone flights over its nuclear power plants. doesn't know where the drones are coming from or who's controlling them. tim friend investigates. >> all over france drones have been spotted hovering over power stakes, like this one 100 kilometers east of paris. no one has claimed responsibility for the flights, often at night. a leading nuclear safety expert who's advised the french government, told al jazeera the was genuine cause for alarm. >> there's absolutely no doubt that one can easily paint a scenario that would be a complete catastrophe, because these small engines are pig enough to carry small quantities of explosive materials.

but it is another sign that that minsk agreement signed in september has come to very little. ultimately because the fighting has never stopped. we got a sense of this when we visited what is effectively the front line of the ukrainian positions, one of their most forward military positions, facing off against the separatists just a short distance away. this is what we saw. fighters in the mist. this armed camp is an exposed outpost of the ukrainen military. about 30 men, volunteers from the capital, defending a narrow finger of land. their tanks, weapons and defenses point to the east, south and west. their enemy is close, somewhere through that haze. they say the pro-russian separatists regularly attack. >> this they say is shrapnel. came into this position just yesterday. they say two men were killed here yesterday, 40 in the last month. to these men, september cease-fire means nothing. so do russia's denials about sending fighters and weapons across the border to help the separatists. they say they know they're fighting russians and they expect a major attack very soon. to

and what happens to the minsk protocols. the e. usaid that these elections are a violation of these protocols, and there is a suspension that more sanctions are on the way. >> there is the midterm elections in the u.s. let's look at what is at stake. both branches of congress are up for grabs. all 4 435 seats in the house will be contested as well as a third of the senate seats. the democrats have a ten-seat majority there right now. they've got that through 53 seats of their own plus two independents who have joined them. republicans have 45. now that means that the republican party needs to win six more seats than they already have in order to take control of the senate. remember republicans already control the house of representatives, so if they get a majority in both houses it's going to make life very difficult for president barack obama in his two remaining years in office. well, young voters played a decisive role in obama's election victory in 2008. in midterm polls many younger people typically don't bother to vote. we ha

breakaway republic here has said that united states is responsible for breaching the terms of the minsk agreement and is responsible for the conflict here. for the first tile, russia has been firing from its own side of the border for the first time. whetheit is brings a question tw long the ceasefire can continue. in terms of how people here are reacting to this, we went to the local bus station, which is the scene of many people making trips out into ukrainian controlled territory to get access to cash, back the banking system here is crippled. they didn't see much to celebrate, but it has changed the government in western ukraine but only brought war and nothing else for the people here. >> thanks very much indeed. >> the u.k. prime minister is vowing to win back a parliamentary seat. his party lost in a local election. cameron's conservative party were beaten by the opposing party. >> i want to congratulate the forecasters and i'm determined to win this seat back at the next general election. anything other than a conservative government will put our recovery at risk away i'm more d

none of this looks good for the minsk peace accord.till we have vladimir putin and petro poroshenko paying lip service to that's fire that was agreed in september, but there aren't many people now who aren't saying that what we're looking at is the rapid unravelling of that agreement. >>> still to come here on al jazeera, army chiefs from myanmar are accused of war crimes in their fight against separatists. >>> and a major lantern festival comes to north korea. >>> the sixth, seventh round i realized i was in for the fight of my life. >> one of the most famous boxers talks to al jazeera about arguably the most famous fight. >>> united nations human rights offices are accusing sri lanka of trying to sabotage its war crimes investigation. sri lanka's ambassador to the u.n. says the allegations are misplaced. >> sri lanka has in my view done more in the last five years since the end of the conflict to address the very issues that are being raised now than any other country coming from similar circumstances. we also feel that this inquiry

. >> with fighting intensifying in recent days, the ceasefire agreed in minsk appears to be dead. both the rebels and the ukranian army are preparing for increased hostilities. >> translation: we are seeing more power coming into the hands of terror groups than russia, we see the movements, positions and are waiting for them to act. how can we react to their acts. i see it as an aim to be ready to fight. >> lawmakers returning to capital hill are taking up the debate against i.s.i.l. u.s. military operations cost hundreds of millions. the white house is asking for billions more. rosalind jordan reports. [ explosion ] >> reporter: while iraqi forces retook control of a town in sala hootin province, military providers went to the anbar airbase to see if it's a good place to train forces. the u.s. is expanding the train and assist region. deploying 800 around the country. the enrique pena nieto insists that this is still a support mission. nothing more. >> there's no intent to put the trainers out in the field with these units once they are trained. nothing changed about the policy,

it reflects anger over the minsk agreement, led to the ceasefire, has been just about holding.ce then they say that the elections that the break away separatists, self declared luhansk people's republics held broke the accord and they are also angry at russia for having recognized those elections. there is equal anger on the other side, we talk to an potential in donetsk on tuesday who said the ukrainians cut off the accord by cutting off state payments to state services and also threat 96 to take away access to the central bank and banking services for their region. in the midst of all this the low level fighting goes on. especially around places like the airport in donetsk. and we've had video emerge over the last couple of days taken by a local television station, a drone being sent up over that airport. and the damage and devastation of months of fighting, this sort of attritional shelling that's been going on. as ukrainian positions are trying to hold onto that airport and donetsk people's republic forces trying force theam out. them out. the sheer devastation of the airpo

to the separatists in ukraine, violating an agreement that he agreed to just a few weeks ago, the minsk agreement that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas, providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution, then the isolation russia is currently experiencing will continue. in my meeting with european leaders, they confirm their view that so far, russia has not abide by the spirit or the letter of the agreement that mr. putin signed or agreed to, and as a consequence, we are going to continue to maintain the economic isolation while maintaining the possibility of a diplomatic solution. it is not aware preference to see russia isolated the way it is. we would prefer a russia that is fully integrated with the global economy, that is thriving on behalf of its people, that can once again engage with us in cooperative efforts around global challenges, but we are also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles. one of those principles is that you don't invade other countries or finance proxies and support them in ways that break up a cou

to the separatists in ukraine, violating an agreement that he agreed to, just a few weeks ago, the minsk agreement that would have lowered the temperature and the killing in the disputed areas, and providing us a pathway for a diplomatic resolution, then the ice laying that russia is experiencing will continue. and in my meeting with european leaders, they confirmed their view that so far, russia has not abided by the spirit or the letter of the agreement that mr. putin signed, or agreed to. and that as a consequence, we are going to continue to maintain the economic isolation while maintaining the possibility of a diplomatic solution. it is not our preference to see russia isolated the way it is. we would prefer a russia that is fully integrated with the global economy. that is thriving on behalf of its people. that can once again engage with us in cooperative efforts around global challenges. but we're also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles. one of those principles is that you don't invade other countries or finance proxys and support them in ways that break