Deal. And well look at how safe people feel in abou ja. Im tim frengd friend in rome, where the major is appealing for millions of dollar from donors to help save the historic sites. Ukraine has joined georgia and moldova in joining theeu. The pact will bind the three countries more closely to the west both politically and economically. Vladimir putin is warning of serious consequences. He said making ukraine choose between rush a the eu would split it in two. But ukraines president called it his countries most historic day since independence in 1991. But he now needs to decide whether to extend the ceasefire due to end in one hours time in Eastern Ukraine. Reporter it came down to a simple flourish of a pen, a signature on a page. But this Association Agreement will fundamentally alter the economic prospects of millions of people. Getting to this point has cost hundreds of lives and severely strained democratic ties. It has brought ukraine to the brink of civil war. The president said his country had said the highest possible price to make her dreams come true. Of course all of us would have wished to have signed the agreement under different, more comfortable circumstances. On the other hand the external aggression faced by ukraine is another strong reason for this crucial step. By signing this agreement, ukraine takes enormous commitment, but it is a document on joint ownership, and joint responsibility. Reporter this treatly is not without cost, ukraine now benefits to having access to the european market, but it must make significant reforms. Full eu membership is still a long way off. And russia continues to express its anger, the kremlin predicting grave consequences. In moscow, president putin said the Kiev Administration had created a rift between the ukrainian people. Translator the anticonstitutional coup in kiev and attempts to artificially impose a choice between ukraine and russia have pushed society towards a split and painful confrontation. Reporter the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people from fled from Eastern Ukraine into russia this year. Fearful of the conflict and perhaps the future. The ceasefire may be extended though in reality it has been almost meaningless. On thursday separatists openly attacked International Guard units. In the early hours of friday morning, armed separatists released a fourman team from the International Monitoring group. The osce. The timing of their release appeared politically motivated, it was a relief nonetheless. We welcome the return of our four special Monitoring Mission teammates after 31 days. But four other members and dozens of other hostages still remain in captivity. And paul joins us live now. Paul what is the feeling there in donetsk in would prorussian separatists be willing to extend a ceasefire . There has been a second meeting of this group. It stopped short of being proper peace talks, but around the table are representatives of kiev, russia, the osce, and the separatist movement, and what they have agreed this evening is that they are prepared from their side to extend their ceasefire, and it is important to remember, this was not a joint ceasefire between army and separatists. They were two separate ceasefires. The separatists have said they are prepared to extend their ceasefire to monday. And it seems all of the attention will be on monday. There will be a telecall between the german chancellor, the ukrainian president , and the russian president on sunday. And although the ukrainian president said he wont make his decision on the ceasefire until he returns to kiev, i think its almost unthinkable that he wont join the idea that this can be pushed forward until monday and then a decision will be made as to whether there should be sanctions against russia, and perhaps a allout military assault to dislodge the separatists that have taken control of these areas in the east. Paul thank you. Now georgians have reacted positively to their countrysing a agreement with the eu. Reporter that signing between the European Union and georgia as well as moldova and ukraine is now over. The Prime Minister of georgia said that the doors to europe were now open, and it was now georgias job to get on with the reforms necessary to be fulfilled as part of that European UnionAssociation Agreement. This now formallizes the relationship. And at some point in the future will have an Enormous Economic impact. With the European Union being open to georgia producers, and there is a lot of concern about now how to react to what the kremlin has been saying, which is that there could be serious consequences to signing this agreement if it affects the russian economy. Georgias involvement or impact on the russian economy is likely to be negligible. It is the other way around that really counts. Georgia has faced the consequences of poor relations with russia. It has had an embargo or two tonight experts. And that ban was lifted last year. A lot of concern that russia could now seek to disrupt that level of trade in punishment for georgia choosing this european path. And also russia is still very much able to control things down to the fact that it has troops on the ground in two territories internationally recognized as georgian. Joining me in studio for a bit more analysis on this, what is going to change between rush and kiev now that the president has signed this pact with the eu . The everything. Were talking about breaking up an economic relationship that of the 20odd years of ukraines and russias independence or well, since the demise of the ussr, brought ukraine 250 billion in the form of all sorts of price discounts on gas, on lowcustoms tariffs or no tariffs, so that isment co co is coming to a close, because the rules say that ukraine will only deal with eu now a russia doesnt have a role to play. But in the short to medium term this will hurt ukraine more than russia . Absolutely. What ukraine or the eu for that matter dont realize or try not to talk about is that in the short to medium term, the gas prices and Energy Prices in ukraine in general are going to shoot up. They perhaps they dont talk about it openly, they want to hail this as being an historic agreement, but there does seem to be that acknowledgment on the part of the government in kiev that we are going to have to go through reform, but we want to be the masters of our own political destiny. Well, they have been. I think they are largely overstating the influence that russia has been having on ukraine. If anything i mean, i just mentioned the 250 billion. Thats a pretty positive influence in my books. So they are going to lose that . Okay. Russia is losing out on some of the industrial economic links with quite a few enterprises in ukraine of course russia has threatened ukraine with serious consequences. What what do they mean by that . Well, serious consequences is just what i said, that they are losing out on the economic privileges that they enjoyed, and have not been particularly but is russia likely to take more punitive action . No, i dont think we are talking about that at all. No biting economic measures well we already know they have to pay a much higher price in natural gas its not a higher price. They are being they were enjoying preferred prices. Now that is going to stop. Market prices. Yes. How is this going to affect the political situation in Eastern Ukraine . The situation is difficult, and i think it is not going to be rectified certainly not by the signatures that he put down today. It is a split country and it is staying split. Thank you for your analysis. Coming up this news hour, not wanted by britain and hungry, eu leaders elect the next head of the european commission. And fears of the ebola virus spread across africa and well have the latest in sport with sonia. Now iraqs top shiite cleric has urged the countrys political blocks to appoint a Prime Minister and president before Parliament Convenes on thursday. Currently nouri maliki is fighting to keep his job. Hoda abdel hamid reports now. Reporter it was a tough sell for William Hague convincing the kurds to take part in a government under the leadership of maliki. The kurdish president says there is no going back to june 10th, the day the city fell. Translator we have waited for more than ten years for the Iraqi Government to address and solve the issues of these areas covered by article 140, but it was to no avail. The Iraqi Government forces have withdrawn, and it was necessary for the forces to go in to provide protection. Reporter the, remarks came a day after he made a surprise visit to the oilrich city under rebel control. With an order of u. S. Made f16 aircraft on hold, the iraqi recently purchased secondhand jet fighters from russia and belarus should arrive in the coming days. Maliki blamed the u. S. , saying it is the lack of air cover. But sunnis say a military solution will only increase the problem, and blame the Prime Minister for narrowing down the rebellion to a fight against isil. If they didnt accept our political solution, they will face just isis and destiny. [ speaking foreign ] translator and that clearly would be division of iraq. But not its not the our our decision. Thats a different decision. Reporter parliament is due to reconvene on july 1st. But the fighting is now at the doors of bagdad. Hoda abdel hamid. As it stands now in iraq, Kurdish Forces are in control of the oilrich region, while rebel fighters lead by isil hold large parts of anvil province. Sunni rebels are also consolidating their hold on key targets including a major Syrian Border crossing and an airport. But iraqs military is fighting back, sending another 200 troops to defend the oil refinery, and launched an offensive to retake the town of tikrit. Reporter Iraqi Military aircraft high in the skies over tikrit. In a battle not reported by authorities or in state media, elite commender units are aledged to have tried to get a foothold in the town. Witnesses reported fierce fighting and two of out of the three helicopters used were downed. People say the military hit targets indiscriminately. Translator there is no isil here. You can film the whole area here, and youll see its a residential area. Families live here. Translator they dropped barrel bombs here. We were home and all of a sudden two blasts took place. There is no militants here in the region. Translator the families were displaced. They all left. The situation is quite difficult here, theres no gas, water, or electricity. Reporter the government havent released any information about this operation, but they have told al jazeera they are in control of the university. Tikrit is a crucial town. Its not only the hometown of saadam hussein, but it is seen as being one of the key towns in the sunni heartland, and isil dont want to give it up easily. Isil also says it has captured many military equipments. Photos were released by the fighters, but further investigation is difficult because of fighting. Weeks into this crisis, iraqs politicians still havent been able to agree on a united solution. And hopes of stability remain just that. Imran khan, al jazeera. The Charity War Child says childrens rights are being violated in iraq, and its concern they are being targeted for recruitmentment for young groups. Its warning that young people are extremely at risk. And humanitarian access isnt getting to those most vulnerable. Talk me through your biggest concerns about children in iraq right now. Thank you. We just released a report this week, based on the testimony and research that our teams in iraq have been doing over recent days, and it does paint a really horrific picture of the flairup in sectarian violence. And there were those children who were directly caught up and living in and amongst the violence that has flared up in areas of iraq, and those that are displaced. And you also identify two groups of kids or identify children being at risk of being targeted by armed groups, but then on the other hand they are also at risk of sexual violence. Thats right. How did you come to that conclusion. Those left behind, there are reports were getting from people we have met who have been displaced, are at risk of attacks on their schools and hospitals, a risk of recruitment l. Theres plenty of evidence of that already. But also witnessing the horrific violence against their families and communities. You say the International Response hasnt been adequate. There is a huge problem around logistics. How do you get around . How do you ensure people get the help that they need. What can be done . With half a Million People on the move at least, and a huge proportion of those being women and children. Arriving into Northern Iraq where there is a crisis upon crisis, because theres already a quarter of a million Syrian Refugees in this iraq, they need the full range of humanitarian support. The funding isnt there at the moment. The appeal launched in february, is only 6 funded. So the basic needs that children require arent met. In particular, though, in a crisis like this where the levels of violence are so extreme, and the trauma that children experience is so extreme, we think an added protection response is really needed. Access to the displaced children is certainly there why the kurdish areas. Dan thanks very much. Thank you. Well, events in iraqer were front and center as the u. S. Secretary of state john kerry flu to saudi arabia where we held talks with the saudi king. He also met Syrian Opposition leader, and he asked for more foreign aid for the campaign to oust president assad. Thats despite president obama seeking half a billion dollars to train and equip moderate opposition groups in syria. The middle east [ inaudible ] has resigned after the collapse of palestinian israeli peace talks. This came after they failed to reach a comprehensive Peace Agreement this spring. Two palestinians have been killed in an israeli air strike on gaza. They were killed when the car they were traveling in was hit on a coastal road. Israel says the men were involved in firing rockets into its territory. This comes as israelis military continues to target hamas in retaliation of the abduction of three teenagers. And protests are going on in the northern town. They were demonstrating against israelis policy of detention. Palestinians expected of security offenses are jailed without trial. So jane, why dont we start first by discussing martin resignation. How is that likely to impact a Peace Process that was really shaky at best, some would say nonexi nonexistent. Reporter it was a Peace Process that eventually didnt lead to anything. People here wont be very surprised at the resignation. The deadline for any kind of signed agreement came and went at the end of april. There were huge challenges, either side managed to really edge closer to one another. Some of the nails in the coffin were of course the continued expansion of illegal settlements, as well as issues over prisoner releases. The palestinians wanted more prisoners to be released from israeli jail, and the last batch were not released. Return the Palestinian Leader ended up signing 15 treaties internationally. And that enraged the israelis. Essentially the talks collapsed before april. They were not going anywhere by april because of the issues i just mentioned. So his resignation doesnt come as a huge surprise to people here. And of course there have been clashes as well between palestinians and riot police because of this pollty of administrative detention. A great deal of anger. Just take us through exactly what has been happening. Well administrative detention, is again in the headlines here. Just over two weeks ago, three Israeli Settlers went missing. Two of them are 16 years old. One of them 19 years old. Now its not clear what happened to them when they went missing. They are presumed kidnapped by the israelis. The israelis are k actually saying that hamas did this. Nonetheless ever since there, there has been the biggest Israeli Military operation across the west bank in over ten years. Hundreds of people have been arrested. It has been largely a crackdown on hamas. Well over a thousand houses searched. And those detentions are in the headlines because so many more have been detained since then. There have been clashes between the palestinians and the israeli army. And five palestinians were killed by live fire over the past two weeks. Those raids have calmed down now. They are still go ing, and the search operation is still ongoing, but they have pulled bah k from the intensity from what they were, probably in an attempt to try to calm tensions. Jane ferguson, thank you. Three al jazeera journalists who were sentenced in egypt on monday have been in prison for 181 days. Peter greste and Mohammed Fahmy were given seven years in prison, Baher Mohamed was sentenced to ten years, because he had a spent bullet in his possession which he picked up at a protest, it was a spent casing. In pakistan dozens of journalists have demonstrated against their jailing. And there was a letter submitted supporting their release. Yup i dont know says pakistan and egypt are both suffering an attack on media freedom. The lawyer for a sudanese woman freed from death row and later arrested over forced travel documents remains in custody. She was released late on thursday after being detained at the airport, but is unable to leave the country. Translator the prosecution continues to charge maream. We proceed to try to present her defense. Still to come on the al jazeera news hour, thousands died in one of the bloodiest battles of