♪ this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, you are watching the news hour live from doha and these are your top stories, widespread destruction near iran embassy. >> and i'm live from the site of the explosion and scenes of devastation charred and i will bring you the latest. >> afghanistan president wants to stop u.s. soldiers searching afghan homes and the security pack may be at risk.

>> tacloban is enough is enough. >> reporter: determined to recover, we look at how the philippines is trying to rebuild after a devastating typhoon. ♪ welcome to the show, we begin in lebanon where there have been two massive explosions in the capitol. at least 23 people have been killed including an iranian diplomate. it happened near the embassy in southern beirut and unclear what caused explosions but thought at least one of them was a car bomb and it happened in a neighborhood a few hundred meters away from the iranian embassy and rob reynolds has the latest details. >> reporter: the explosions were so powerful they turned cars into twisted piles of metal, tour the facade off buildings and gouged craters

outside the iran embassy and smoke rose from burning vehicles. firefighters rushed to the scene trying to help the wounded. there are conflicting reports about the source of the blast and some saying they were caused by rockets and others by car bombs. al jazeera's zana reported from the scene. >> this country is divided and those who support the regime and those who oppose and the explosion is the iranian emergency is the target. >> reporter: this is the latest spill over from syria's civil war and iran is a backer of bashir al assad and fighters trying to over throe and and it's a stronghold and no group has claimed responsibility for

the attacks, rob reynolds al jazeera. >> we will get the latest from tehran but first let's go straight to dana in beirut and she is at the site of the explosion and tell us what the latest is that you are hearing and seeing. >> well we arrived at the site of the explosion a few minutes after the bombs went off. there were really chaotic scenes, ambulances rushing, we are hearing up to 17 people were killed including the cultural atashay of the iran emergency and dozens were wounded as well. and we understand and these are initial reports from the national news agency this was the work of suicide bombers the news agency saying one bomber approached the embassy on foot and the other approached the embassy in a vehicle and two explosions and what we heard from witnessing on the ground when we arrived is they heard two explosions and iran embassy the target and we will talk more.

sir, what was the target, what was the message today? >> i think the target is very clear, the iranian embassy and the information i gather because we are 100 meters from the explosion that a person walked to the entrance of that embassy and exploded and a car followed. and they tried to enter the embassy and i was told that there is some casualty from security guards at the embassy and we know that cultural atashay of the iranian embassy has been killed in the explosion and the message is very clear, this is a regional war and it has been known that iran is part of it and we know that these are a part of it and this is expected to see this biggest escalation at the start of a major operation, what has been expected in the area which is adjacent to the lebanese.

>> reporter: can you explain to us, this is a major security breach, the iranians know they do have enemies and there are local allies and they stepped up security in areas they control areas where their supporters live. how could this happen? >> well, i know this area very well and know the embassy very well. if you like take it and compare it like american embassy, there is not heavy security around the embassy. there is maybe a couple guards at the entrance and there is a couple like a blockade here and there. but not to represent a major security measurement that should be taken at maybe as an embassy of the iranian embassy especially in lebanon. >> no claim of responsibility as of yet. >> there is none and it's known

and you probably will see they will come and say we did it or maybe al-qaeda associate or some of the syrian opposition probably will claim responsibility for what has been taken. and that is maybe most of an indication it's the war in syria. and the impact on lebanon as a couple months ago and maybe six months ago. >> reporter: this is not the first time an explosion like this has happened, a few months ago like you mentioned is a stronghold and civilians were killed in a massive car bomb and they said we are not changing our position and will continue to fight in syria. do you think we can see any change in the positions of hezbollah since they are stepping up? >> i heard a statement from the iran ambassador saying this will not change our direction. they will be on the same message they have been on for a very long time and they took a clear

position when it comes to the war in syria. this is the regime of al assad and known at the iran leadership to the president to the ministry to every level in the iranian establishment and have been backing bashir al-assad and sometimes the war comes to you and at this point the war came to the iranian embassy in beirut because of what it represents and signifies. but by no mean this will change the politics of the iranian or hezbollah to that end. >> reporter: the government condemn the explosion. you mentioned the battle and it's the northern country side of damascus and adjacent to lebanon border and how do you think the battle is related to the explosion we saw today if

there is anything? >> well, for a very long time the opposition in syria and the opposition in syria wanted actually to stop the war or involvement of hezbollah in syria and said that hezbollah should withdraw from syria and blame them for the victory that they are gaining in the past few months and they are saying if it wasn't for hezbollah it probably would tumble and al-asaid would not be leader of syria and opposition would claim his position. so hezbollah in their estimate has been a major factor in the war in syria and hezbollah actually declare and very clearly that this is -- it's not only the syrian battle, it's his battle. >> reporter: his battle, yes,

and we heard the lebanese minister that came to the site of the explosion and said this is very dangerous for lebanon. what can we expect in the coming days, weeks and months? they are in the syrian war and what can we expect? >> we expect there is a tough road ahead because we know the war in syria is not going to end any time soon and the battlefield will be open for a very -- for a longer period of time because nobody really can settle the situation in syria, not the regime and not the opposition and this will have its bad days in lebanon as well, we seen today and probably what we saw before and, you know, we could see the same casualty all over the country. >> reporter: thank you for your insight. so people really warning that this could just be the beginning and lebanon clearly embroiled in the syria war and fears that we could see more attacks like the one we saw this morning.

>> reporter: thank you for that. we will come back to you later on this hour but for now zana on the site of where the explosions took place, thank you. we have also been talking about how lebanon has long felt the ripple effect of syria's civil war, fighters from lebanon traveled across the border to fight on both sides and attacked each other on lebanese soil as well and on one side the iranian group based in southern lebanon and the legiance and trained by lebanon and key to winning the strategic town for the syrian government and in other battles as well and fighters from the muslim population who had in the name been fighting alongside rebels inside syria and we are live in tehran, any reaction in

the events in lebanon today? >> there has been a very brief reaction to here from the iranians of course and it's probably a little bit early, very conflicting reports as to what happened, who carried it out, what type of bombing it was. but the iranian ambassador who survived the blast blamed israel and the blame squarely at the foot of the prime enemy in the middle east. in the blast iran cultural killed in the bombing. and he was standing outside the embassy compound at the time and one of these attackers tried to enter the compound. sources say the iranians prevented him from entering the compound further for more iranian deaths or security personnel who were working around the embassy. definitely the culture atashay

killed in the attack and the iranians blaming israel at this point. >> reporter: this is a pretty major crisis at the time when he is trying to make a deal with the west and facing criticism back home from hard liners, this could split the government further. >> absolutely. and speaking to analysts and, in fact, members of parliament over the last couple days about that exact topic, their point is any kind of hard line or radicalism is really going to feel further radicalism on the point both in iran and the other side in the talks and with the israelis as well. so iran is not going to view this incident as any kind of positive, very important diplomatic mission there in lebanon, very important regionally for the iranians and they will have to search what it

means and what implications it's going to have. >> reporter: stay there, we will come back to you later on this hour and for now in tehran and we will go to joseph, he is a political analyst with the gulf news and joins us from beirut now on the phone and it's great to have you with us on this hour and very complicated story but the question everyone will be asking soon is how might iran or hezbollah respond to all of this? >> they will not respond in any shape or form because obviously it will be barbaric to respond with a bomb to another bombing and hezbollah officials will reassess what is going on but as the previous speakers business of long-term proposition we should not be surprised these kinds of bombings are taking place and the country is divided and the syrian civil war has come here and we are not going to have a peaceful settlement

any time soon which means many people are going to be surprised at the reaction and repercussions of this particular bombing and it will go on for a while. >> reporter: joseph, how do events like this outside of syria, not on syrian territory actually effect the war inside the country? >> we have a number of outsiders who are fighting on both sides really. there are so called extremists sunni fighters with the opposition and of course hezbollah and iranian operatives who are fighting on the side of the government of al-asaid and they are talking about the battle here and perhaps in the future we will talk about the battle of aleppo and this is an on going proposition and we will

talk about battles one day and another battle another day. that means that in lebanon itself since we are talking about this particular issue officials in this country on both sides of the aisle must really decide if they want to be part of the syrian civil war or whether they want to respect the government's decision to disassociate itself with the war. a lot of young people on both sides sheha are going to syria to die on the battlefield for somebody else's war not lebanese war. the civil war in lebanon is not a concern of lebanon, it has never been a concern of lebanon despite what hezbollah operatives are saying. time will tell whether or not the lebanese will be able to put their house in order and prevent their young men to go and fight in syria. >> reporter: joseph, thank you.

>> my pleasure. >> reporter: meanwhile arab and african leaders are gathering for a two-day summit in kuwait and this is the first since 2010 and they will discuss iran and syria as well as today's blast in beirut and we are live from kuwait city and there is meant to be an iranian delegation there and representatives from lebanon and clearly they will speak about what happened today and i guess what happened in lebanon highlights how a conflict in syria is going to increasingly effect the countries represented where you are. >> well, definitely, the blast in beirut southern suburb brings to the fore the concerns here that if violence continues in syria, we will cross and this is something that has been voiced

by the mayor of kuwait when he urged both sides, the syrian government and the opposition, to negotiate a deal in geneva and something that has been going across the border because we have many countries now believing that neither side can have a victory and therefore they have to be a political solution to this problem. many countries attending the summit will voice similar types of concerns, for example lebanon is going to ask the international community to step in and provide a financial assistance to help with the influx of thousands of syria refugees into lebanon. but at the same time they are going to also raise the issue of instability and the risk that if violence continues in syria you would see many countries in the area to save lives. this is something that is putting more pressure in some of the key players that are taking part in this summit hearing in kuwait and iran and saudi arabai

which are aware and providing some sort of support to different parties in syria and a pressure that is mounting from different sides. it's time to establish a political solution to the crisis in syria otherwise it's just going to stoke further sectarian violence in the region and stabilize many neighboring countries. >> reporter: what else is on the agenda, it's a to-day conference, isn't it? >> well, this is a summit that was meant to be purely about economics. when the africans create a platform where business can flourish and where the arabs can use some of their huge revenues of oil to invest in africa with the potential that africa and kuwait announced a $1 billion in aid to africa. but with this summit the last

meeting which was in libya in 2010 there was optimism that what you are going to see or what is going to follow is going to be something similar to the european where you have finally the arabs and africans coming together with a potential market of $1 billion and $200 million flourishing in the same. but this is not finalizing. there are huge problems about instability in the region and the africans say do you know what the arabs need to understand we are prospering and developing and it's time for them to try to discover new visitors in africa. >> reporter: all right, we are speaking from kuwait city and thank you for that. as you are speaking we are looking at the latest pictures from southern beirut. the site of these massive explosions. we don't quite know what the source of all of the explosions are, we understand there was a car bomb and reports that rockets exploded.

these are our pictures sent to us by the time on the ground there and you see injured being shuttled into ambulances. we also heard from people on the scene who have been talking about just how huge those explosions were and how they rattled buildings and of course also hit and damaged part of the iranian embassy. let's hear from a victim of the explosion that is being treated in hospital. >> translator: i am syrian, i work opposite the iranian embassy on the way to work the first explosion took place and minutes later the second took place and i was unconscious and woke up to find myself in the hospital. >> reporter: the minister gave an update a short while ago as well. >> translator: the ministry put the nearby hospitals at full preparedness, all injured have been rushed to hospitals and dead bodies recovered from the road. we are also inspecting the surrounding buildings and the damage is huge. the number of victims is high

and we will disclose the actual number once the total damage is assessed. >> reporter: fast-moving developments in lebanon and we will get you up to speed of what we know so far of the cultural atashay and at the embassy in beirut has been killed and 22 others and no one has claimed responsibility. the areas of stronghold of hezbollah which supports al-assad and it's not clear if it's related to the civil war, plenty more on our website and go to al jazeera.com and you can find up to date information on what is happening right now in lebanon so do check it out. ♪ let's move on now egypt is set to face more unrest on the second anniversary of a week of

deadly street protests in cairo, 40 people died and hundreds were wounded during confrontations with security forces in 2011. the protests became an important milestone for post egypt and led to the first democratic presidential elections and we report. >> reporter: on november 20, 2011 his life changed forever. he decided to join the protest in central cairo. they started when security forces forcibly removed a person on the square organized by relatives of the victims of the 2011 revolution. >> translator: the last thing i saw was an armed vehicle and bashed wire and a man with a helmet pointing at me and then a red light. i did not feel anything, there was no pain, i was not screaming, i was aware but the light was off. >> reporter: protesters were calling to an end of military

rule and early presidential elections and also tried to reach and storm the interior ministry's building on the other end of the street. for six days it was transformed into a battlefield. and riot police opened fire with bullets and ammunition and it was a split about who once stood together united in call to bring down mubarak and condemning protesters. >> they made fun of us and our blood on death street and we remember our own suppression and remember our friends that have been killed or snipered with absolutely no punishment for the people who did that, who still see the police officers and the snipers who did that still have been running with absolutely no

trial. >> reporter: to years later mohamed talked about the bloody event it witnessed and like now calls for dignity and social justice remains the same. eye patches were a symbol of police brutality and many others, that police brutality is the last thing they ever saw. al jazeera cairo. >> reporter: an explosion has injured at least three people outside a polling station in nepal where people are voting for a new national assembly. it happened in the heart of the capitol catmando as they were outside of a polling station, 100 political parties are running with none of the three main parties to win majority and hope it will end a six-year political deadlock that failed to produce a new constitution. in december 2007 the country

abolished the peace deal with rebels and 7 months later they led a coalition government and were writing a new constitution and it's not finished. in 2011 the fifth prime minister was voted into power and vowed to complete the constitution. but he failed as well. and dissolved parliament in may last year and finally in march this year, the chief justice of the supreme court was put in charge of an interim government ahead of the crucial elections and we are live from catmando and there is a lot of pressure on the politicians to make this election work. how are they handling it? >> a great deal of pressure certainly. it has been showing over the past few days and politicians out on the streets making sure that the voters do collect their new id cards and verification and details to make sure they

will be able to vote in the election. less than an hour to go now before the polls close and the counting begins, it has to be said that with the exception of the one incident that happened earlier in the day, polling day has remained and been quite peaceful and even the threat by the 33 party coalition that wanted national strike and a boycott of the elections doesn't seem to have transpired at all, talking to a u.n. official earlier in the day, he said his observers were saying the turn out was quite high and we will know in a few days how high the turn out was. we had a few problems at al jazeera as we broadcast earlier in the morning as the polls opened. security officials very nervous about cameras anywhere near polling stations and tried to stop us filming and the chief for eu, former french presidential candidate was not

impressed by what she saw and the u.n. heard about what happened to al jazeera and we were threatened and also our equipment confiscated unless we left the premises. we managed to film before we left but certainly not a great start to election day. but certainly as far as the officials are now concerned they are saying that they think election day has gone off as peacefully as possible. >> reporter: how important is this national assembly because the previous assemblies we were telling viewers in 2008 did not accomplish its task. >> no, the whole point of the constituents assembly back in 2006 when they were first elected was to exactly formulate and write a new constitution having abolished the monarchy the democratic republic needed a constitute and they are facing what type of government and parliament do they actually want, do they want the british

system with power with the prime minister or an american system where they have power or a french system, the president and prime minister have joint power. this has been a major problem. the politicians on the whole have all been saying in the press and on television they will work together and they want to make sure they have a result, this has also been related to the international community through former president jimmy carter who is also said that he senses a real determination by politicians to get a result within a year of this election finishing. 601 seats are available in the constituent assembly, and quickly, 240 of those seats are for mps and 240 constituencies, the rest of the seats are being voted on through proportional representation and the vote count will take time, mp vote will be finalized by the 26th of

november. the ballot paper vote by the 6th of december. so they can vote for the local mp and also voting for a party that can represent them or their issues on a wider level within the constituent assembly. so polls close in about 45 minutes and expect the first results possibly early on thursday morning. >> reporter: okay, so thank you. we are in catmando. still ahead for you just how much did typhoon haiyan cost the philippine government, that story coming up. ♪

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hello again, the top stories on al jazeera, more than 20 people have been killed in two explosions in the lebanese capitol, it happened in a residential area near the iranian embassy in southern beirut and we will get you up to speed on what we know about the explosions, he has been killed along with 22 others after two bombs went off near the compound and the explosions are by car bombs and no one claimed responsibility. the area in a stronghold of hezbollah which supports the president is not clear if this incident is related to syria's civil war and dana is live for us at the scene in beirut where the explosions took place a few hours ago. we will go straight from the studio and tell us what is happening and there is chaos around you right now. >> yes, it seems some people are trying to reach the site of the

explosion and security guards are preventing them. i have to point out that it's not just the lebanese army and internal security forces that are on the ground who have people belonging to liberty nice parties, hezbollah and the movement in lebanon who are securing the site. so it just shows you how tense and chaotic the situation is on the ground. you mentioned that the bombing happened a few hours ago. we were here. we saw scenes of devastation. we saw charred bodies on the floor. people were no hands, legs, it was a massive explosion. what we do understand is that as the national news agency is reporting that this was the work of two suicide bombers and two explosions as we have been reporting from the morning, and according to the news agency one bomber approached on foot and the other was in a car. the iranian embassy clearly the

target and this is what people here believed and like you mentioned early the culture atashay killed and other civilians as well. we saw people arriving to the scene searching for loved ones, not knowing whether they are dead or alive. on the political level, the bombing has been condemned by a number of officials. the defense minister was here a short while ago and what he said was that the bombing is really dangerous for lebanon and the defense minister also pointed the finger at what he called groups which are extremist groups. that could be considered a political accusation simply because there has been no claim of responsibility. and the defense minister is seen to be close to the lebanon which supports hezbollah and that is alliance and they are divided along political lines and people worried that the security situation will deteriorate. >> reporter: i was going to ask

you that dana because when we look at scenes like you showed us around you, chaos, people fighting, it really goes to highlight how events like this will go to further and deepen divisions in lebanon. >> yes, they are divided on the political and sectarian level as well because those who support the syrian opposition are mainly sunnis and those who support the government are mainly shiat and the armed groups is participating in the battles in syria and publically acknowledged this and they have come under attack, two massive car bombings in july and august this year, civilians were killed in their stronghold. mortar attacks hit shiite areas and they come out and said this will not phase us. we will continue to fight in syria because we see this as a strategic decision.

other lebanese criticized them for dragging them in the conflict in syria. and it's the same sectarian makeup in both countries and at the same time lebanese factions, those who support the opposition for example or those who support the regime have taken sides and the official policy in lebanon is one of disassociation. >> reporter: as you are speaking there we are looking at the pictures your team is sending us on the ground and injured people being shuffleled into ambulances and the scale of the destruction is clear from the images that we are seeing. i want you to stay there because we just heard from the lebanese defense minister and spoke to us in the last hour and this is what he had to say. >> translator: it's an organized act of terrorism, orchestrated by extremist with links to israel and we should all be conscious and aware and

harming not only the entire country and people but also the premises of a friendly state's embassy. this terrorism will take a toll on all of lebanon. >> reporter: and defense minister there reiterating what we have been speaking about in the past hour or so, this danger this poses to lebanon, the spill over of the conflict and he called it an act of terrorism, what do you make of that? >> we are trying to show you how people are armed in the streets. that man for example does not belong to the army nor to the official security sources. this is a country that is divided and the country as well where many groups are armed. and going back to your question, yes, the defense minister man seen close to the syrian government and close to hezbollah and pointing the finger at groups with links to israel and the groups meaning sunni extremists. so far this is a political accusation because there has been no claim of responsibility,

but during the last bombing in august, previously unknown group with -- the name really had connotations and claimed responsibility for the attack and hezbollah said we are in open conflict with the sunnis and that is why it's so dangerous here because it has become a sunni, shiit divide and the car bombing in front of the embassy and a message for iran change your position and do not support the government and a message to hezbollah we can target your strongholds as well if you fight along the regime but most observers believe attacks like this really will not change the political position of iran nor hezbollah's position. >> reporter: the site of the eggs -- explosions in southern beirut. we have a political analyst with

tehran and is live from there and i want to start with a question that dana just asked the end of her live shot is in what way could what happened there in lebanon today and the fact that the iran embassy was targeted in what way could that charge iran's policy toward syria? >> well, if it becomes clear that governments and the persian gulf like saudi arabia carrying out attacks i think the implications will be very significant. i think one should keep in mind that the iranian position and the position of hezbollah is nonsectarian if you look at iran media, they have never made sectarian accusations or created sectarian hatred, the hatred we see on a daily basis comes from tens of tv channels broadcast on

satellite tv funded by countries like saudi arabia and others and speak of a certain blood loss for minorities and christians and sunni whose do not think like extremists. i think an important point to take into account for example is that the iran ambassador today claimed israelis because the irans and this is what the hezbollah has done in the past too, they want to believe and want people to believe this is not a sectarian issue and that this has nothing to do with ordinary sunnis and shiites and i would like to add when we use a term hezbollah stronghold we basically legitimize terrorism because these were ordinary people that were slaughtered by extremists and when we saw stronghold it sort of legitimizes, so i think that the media should not use such terms. >> reporter: and of course we have been making it clear that civilians are among those who were injured and we don't know exactly the identity of those

who were killed. i want to ask you about the new president because he is in an interesting situation now and has to appear very strongly to what has happened especially if there are iranian diplomates involved and injured and at least one killed. how do you think he will respond? >> well, i'd like to as sort of footnote to point out that the iranian who was killed was a personal friend and a civilian. he was a person who was responsible for cultural affairs. has nothing to do with politics or the military. so even the iranians who were killed were ordinary civilians and president rohani, and we have extreme like saudi arabia who has hatred other than the own regime and sectarian and this is something that united states and western countries

have been silent about for decades and international and human rights watch which are tools of western governments. >> reporter: i'm asking you about. >> they have been silent. that is the point i'm trying to make. >> reporter: response, go ahead. >> exactly, that is the point i'm trying to make. that we have a major problem in this region and that is that regimes in region that have no elections, no legitimacy and advocating sectarianism and hatred and allied with the regime and if the united states wants to improve relations with iran and if they are sincere in improving relations with iran they should ban satellite channels from advocating hatred and murder and warn regimes to stop this extremism, extremism will not be narrowed down to lebanon or syria. these extremists that are being well funded will find their way into europe and the united states and this is an

international problem and he has a major problem convincing western countries that their alliance will do them a great deal of harm as well as harm to everyone else. >> reporter: and great to get your thoughts on the news hour. thank you. and of course you can get the very latest on what is happening in southern beirut, the latest death tolls and information that we are getting, you can get, from our website, just go to al jazeera.com. ♪ now, should u.s. forces have the right to search homes in afghanistan as part of a u.s., afghan security pact and the president karzai says no and the deal is at risk, searching afghan homes by u.s. soldiers is one of the main sticking points that president karzai made it clear no homes is be searched by american troops. the u.s. says that it will

maintain exclusive jurisdiction over soldiers and contractors after the draw down in 2014. the u.s. afghan draft that will be presented exempts the u.s. government and companies from afghan taxes and guarantees that americans can be tried in afghan courts. let's hear from jane ferguson in kabul for us, why is this such a controversial issue and what else will be covered by this proposal deal? >> almost everything in this agreement has been controversial over the past year. it really has moved from one controversy to another and as you just mentioned immunity from u.s. soldiers from afghan law and to be continue to be subject to u.s. law is a talking points, how many bases there would be, how many u.s. soldiers would stay in the country, every single point there has been particularly controversial.

and really last night and this morning the news broke that hamid karzai raised an issue about american soldiers entering villages and homes of afghans and there is a lot to be discussed here about whether or not when they do operations will they have permission from the afghan government and permission from elders, how will that work if they want to enter people's houses to search and hamid karzai is increasingly concerned about his legacy here in afghanistan. he has less than five months before the elections to elect a new replacement leader for the country. what he is really doing is handing over issues to a lawyer here in the capitol. essentially handing it over to several thousand civil representatives to make a final real decision on what they think about this agreement. and al jazeera has followed two representatives from very different end of the country on their journey to the jorga.

>> in kandahar leader called a meeting with village elders to make a decision, should he support a security agreement to allow the americans to stay after 2014? there is a lot to discuss. >> translator: if a foreign soldier commits a crime in our country where do you think he should be put on trial he asked. he should be tried in our afghanistan, if a crime set committed here and tried in america i don't accept that. and he is in favor of the security agreement with the u.s. but with clear conditions. >> translator: the sight of them they should stay in their own bases and should not tirade our villages and pay the salaries of forces and pave our roads. we want them for this. we don't want them to come out

on their bases and tirade our villages. >> reporter: and this is one of over 2500 going from the capitol to the lawyer and a traditional afghan way of making decisions and will debate whether to sign an agreement with the military talking about keeping bases after next year and community representatives are making the same trip and the biggest gathering of its kind in years. in the northern city of sharif they are also getting ready to leave. walking under a karan is a blessing before an important event and this part of the country benefitted more from development since western forces arrived and speaking to al jazeera before leaving he said he worries mostly about securing that for the future. >> translator: this agreement needs to be signed because if there is no international community support for our government we cannot stand on

our own feet. we have a young army and young police force and need to be equipped and we are not able to fund our budgets. >> reporter: he hopes the agreement will be signed soon. some people in the country have pointed out that most of those chosen to attend the jerga are progovernment and not representative of ordinary people. but as the 2500 delegates arrive for the event may may be the close they come to a consensus, jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul, afghanistan. >> reporter: philippine officials say it would cost around $6 billion to rebuild the areas devastated by typhoon haiyan. the government wants the country to return to normal following the devastation caused by the powerful storm. but more than ten-days after it struck harry shows us why that is easier said than done. >> reporter: as far as restrucks goes it's pretty

meager but it's something, the government is trying to get some street lights functioning again in tacloban and power lines rehung and generator installed and two stations are opened with lines forming outside of them, the main bank is due to open thursday and if a bank official told us he did not expect much demand yet for services. >> they are targeting to open. >> reporter: inside the hall they are on the phone to tacloban community in exile and many fled to manila with early days of the disaster. >> inspire the people and give them the signal that, hey, we will get backup, hey, everything is going back to normal. >> reporter: the president and says the government is talking about a new priority a push for so called normalcy and persuading businesses to open at least on a limited scale and getting cash machines installed as well. but for many people here this is now what is the normal and

doesn't look like changing any time soon. no prospect of a business starting at the fishing port laid waste by the storm surge and people are finding something like shelter even here and a few meters away the telltale workers signifies another body found. and he worked at a day laborer for a fish cage owner and lost his wife, mother of four in the typhoon and doesn't know when he will be able to earn money again. >> translator: my boss doesn't know what to do yet. he would need to set up cages first because they were all washed away. >> reporter: uncertainty and sadness in the fabric of the town the effort is on to give its people something to stay here for, harry in tacloban central philippines. >> reporter: now if you have taken a picture of yourself with your camera phone recently you are not along, the practice is so common there is a word for it, a one that is quickly very

much part of everyday speech and gerald tan explains. >> reporter: bench watch, bit coin and twerking and words that the dictionaries listed as 2013 international word of the year. so which is the winner? let me demonstrate. you guessed it, it's selfie, it's a digital self portrait, a photo of one self using a smartphone and uploaded on the internet to share with friends and the dictionary said the term appeared on an online alls tral -- australia in 2002 and it spiked about 17,000% since this time last year and it's so popular that spin off terms such as shelfie taken in front of a bookshelf and it's not just humans taking selfies, the mars

rover caught this showing late afternoon shadow on the red planet and of course not all pictures are created equal, check this one out by japanese astronaut, we see the sun, deep space and of course our planet. a mirror of humanity that could very well be the ultimate selfie. >> reporter: editor for oxford dictionary and live from oxford what is the criteria for a word being able to enter the oxford dictionary? >> well, and we use both our judgment and we use science and in order to decide which words should go into our dictionaries we collect huge databases of language and we use various databases particularly for the word of the year and analyze the oxford new monitor for which we collect 150 million words each

month of text from internet. so we are able to analyze that and see which words are becoming common. >> reporter: common ware and common on instagram to hash tag selfie and magazines to talk about twerking but not using in everyday life so when you say it's common where is it commonly found these words? >> for this year's words of the year and we did choose selfie as you say and really for the words of the year we choose a word that it may not be brand-new but in our judgment has really hit the mainstream that year and become a really widespread term. and i think all sorts of different people know the word, maybe that did not really know it a year or so ago and as you said in your introduction it actually has gone up 17,000% just in the last year.

although the thing that to me is very interesting about selfies that it has been around since we think 2002 is the first example we found so ten years, it lurked around in the background and as you said it was more of a niche term on the internet, just in the last year it really hit the mainstream. >> reporter: i think it was used in 2002 by a man in australia trying to show people his injuries that he had incurred when he fell down and the picture wasn't focused so he then said excuse me, it's an selfie and it caught on and it's interesting how the words catch on be it after miley cyrus twerking or this man taking an selfie and it's an interesting phenomenon. >> and quite recently one of our brilliant researchers found that

2002 example from australia and suddenly it all made sense. the e ending of selfie, i should probably be aware it's a characteristic australia when people talk about barbies or cans of beer or ralies for relative and that really puts it in its context, it's an australian term that takes place alongside lots of o-australian terms and spread across the world. >> reporter: in oxford and thank you for your time. we will move away from selfies for a second and go to sport. >> thank you so much, egypt will hope for a miracle when they attempt to overturn a deficit against gahna in the second world cup playoff and kicks off in cairo on tuesday, the home site of a difficult task ahead of them after they were 6-1 by the black stars and the first time two years in international match will be held in the

egyptian capitol under pressure coach bob bradley says the game is a chance to show unity at a time when the country is going through political unrest. >> we represented egypt and we represented egyptian football in a strong, proud, good way. 90 minutes in kamosy did not change that, yes it was a terrible result, we accept that. but it doesn't change the way these players and the coaching staff have represented egypt during a tough time in a way that i think people can still feel good about and now we understand how much is at stake as we get ready for this game against ghana on tuesday. >> reporter: the association said it's satisfied with the security plans ahead of the game and the earlier request of having the match moves to a mutual venue were refused. other african qualifier al jazeera host hoping to overturn 3-2 deficit from the first leg

of the playoff and they qualified for three world cups in the history and the latest being in south africa back in 2010 and opponents are yet to reach the finals but could make history on tuesday. former world cup winners france will hope for a better effort from their players as they take on ukraine in the second playoff match. on tuesday in paris they lost 2-0 and in danger of failing to qualify for next year's world cup and they have some hope and scored 9 goals in the last two home games against australia and the defeat to portugal as two strikes came face-to-face. this is the first match up since defeated last season and clippers star chris hall took a light to the face and resulting in tony allen being ejected from

the game and zach rudolph had 26 points, 106-102 to the grizzlys. alls trustralian jason day spok saying his relatives were killed in the typhoon and he released a statement on monday after learning 8 of his relatives including his grandmother were killed when typhoon haiyan hit the country. >> it's a real tragedy. i called my mom and she was just in tears and i -- it's so hard because i could not hold my mom or hug her or anything like that. so, you know, it was really tough. >> reporter: and that is all your sport for now and back to you. >> thanks, plenty more ahead and we will have the latest on the blasts in lebanon and in beirut

and do stay with us. ♪

>> relief efforts are well underway here in cebu. >> we have a problem with no homes to go back to. >> clean water, food, medicine, all vitally required. >> the australian medical team arrived. >> this is a government warehouse that is preparing relief for the families most effected. >> al jazeera america is there with continuing live coverage. >> the water rose to half-way up to the second story. >> to find out how you can help, go to aljazeera.com.

picking up the pieces in the midwest where dozens of tornados caused widespread devastation, the loss of life may have been minimized thanks to early warnings about the impending storms. food and supplies are pouring in to the typhoon ravaged philippines but 12 days after the storm some areas have not received help. a blast in beirut and leave two dozen people dead. and more unusual antics from the mayor of toronto and ford goes on a rampage after tit