>. >> israeli bombings continue in gaza with talks in cairo on the verge of collapse. hello there. i'm laura kyle. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead - more u.s. air strikes in iraq. president obama warns the fight against t against the islamic state may be a long one turks go to the polls to choose a president. the golf industry booming in china despite a ban on building

new courses. . >> israel is bombing gaza. the palestinians are threatening to leave talks unless the israeli group continues. since israel began a military assault on gaza more than a month ago, 64 israeli soldiers, and three civilians, including a thai national have been killed. the health ministry says air strikes and artillery attacks killed 9,111 palestinians. the united nations says 73% are civilians. add to that 10,000 palestinians have been injured, and more than 220,000 who are living in u.n. shelters. andrew simmonds is in gaza city and sent us this report. >> persistent attacks by

israelis on the gaza strip. nine dead on saturday. another man died in the early hours of sunday of an air strike. the situation became intense not just because of military pressures, but because in cairo, the palestinian delegations are saying if the israelis don't arrive for talks, then they'll walk out. hamas said that it's gone far enough. they want unconditional agreements for talking. the israelisies are saying that they will not attend the talks while rockets are still coming into their territory. and they are. they may be shorter range rockets than earlier in this conflict, but nevertheless they are being fired. it has to be said that the violence is on a lower grade status than before that 72 hour

ceasefire, but nevertheless it's persistent and it seems that the two sides seem a long distance apart, and a breakdown is possible now. nisreen el-shamayleh is in west jerusalem and has more on the talks in cairo. >> the israeli prime minister is coming under pressure certainly and externally. he is due to have a cabinet meeting with his government on sunday to discuss further steps regarding israel's participation in the ceasefire talks in cairo. internally he's coming under pressure from israeli communities who evacuated their homes for a month and returned following the instructions of the army and the government to find a resumption in fighting. they say the government did the complete its mission in gaza and wants the job finished. binyamin netanyahu is coming under pressure internationally

with the international community, urging it to return to cairo for the ceasefire talks. a lot of pressure on the government. it's clear, as far as we know, that israel is not interested in returning to cairo yet, as long as it says it is coming under the rocket fire from gaza. >> u.s. fighter jets and drones have carried out a new round of air strikes targetting fighters from the islamic state of iraq and levant. president obama warned that it may be a long battle, insisting baghdad is ultimaty responsible for pushing back is. >> i don't think we'll solve the problem in weeks. the important timetable is the iraqi government being finalised. in the absence of an iraqi government, it's hard to get a unified effort by iraqis.

we can conduct air strikes, but there won't be an american military solution. there'll have to be an iraqi solution that americans and other allies support. let's bring in jane, live from erbil. more u.s. air strikes. what exactly have they been hitting? >> they have been hitting islamic state group targets, including mobile artillery, convoys of fighters on installations, as well as - sorry, as well as points where they are threatening the kurdish capital erbil. what president obama was referring to was a wider effort, and that's what the air strikes are. they are the initial effort to crack down, feed back the is rammic -- islamic state group

fighters so the iraq your forces are in a position to go in and do the fighting. it's a long way away. the international effort, including britain and france is focused on humanitarian aid and the political situation. in a new development parliament in baghdad is meeting, expected to produce progress towards coming up with a new prime minister. >> you mentioned humanitarian efforts, aid drops have been accompanying those military strikes. what is happening to the thousands of people besieged in the mountainous areas. >> many of them are still on the mountain, and the problem with that air drop and the problem of the location is it's been safe for them, exclusively because it's a remote location, making it very difficult to get the

airdrop aid to them as well. they are spread out over the entire mountain range. the united states has been dropping food and water, other countries are getting involved, and kurdish forces say in the last 48 hours they managed to open a corridor to the mountain so that some of these people can walk dawn. -- walk down. there was 5,000 of them, they are being relocated. a lot of these people are without food and water, children included for days. it's a desperate situation. >> thank you very much for the update there from erbil. iranian state media is reporting that 48 people have died in a plane crash. the small passenger plane went down near mira bad airport in the capital. the editor-in-chief and iran diplomatic magazines joins us live from tehran.

thank you for talking to us. what exactly happened. >> the aeroplane collided and hit the wall that was around the airport. its engine burnt. the aeroplane crashed beside the airport. and close to a class factory. it fell before the crash from the plane, but seven workers of the factory and normal people were also injured in the accident. until now, the passengers and

the people are dead. >> there's a lot of talk surrounding the state of iran's air fleet. they have a poor safety record; is that correct. >> excuse me, i didn't hear the question. >> what is the state of iran's air fleet. a lot of the planes are reportedly very old. >> one of the planes should have not been allowed to fly because it was very old. as the traffic cameras recorded, the reason for the crash, was because the plane collided.

>> thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us and tell us a little more about the air crash in a suburb of tehran that killed 48 people. >> a trial against a former egyptian president is due to continue. there is a retrial on complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising in egypt. >> the u.s. was mooted as being behind the revolution of mubarak, what he called the middle east plan. >> 16 people, including four children, were killed in syria's largest city. a government helicopter attacked a residential part of the city of aleppo. caroline malone reports. >> one of the children killed at home by a barrel bomb.

an internationally condemned weapon because it kills indiscriminately. witnesses say a helicopter dropped the bomb here. according to a neighbour, many casualties are from the same family. the boys were asleep. the grandfather is the only one that came out alive. at least he did. he has three married children. one has six daughters and the other seven children. there's no sign of them or their mothers. >> the neighbourhood is under opposition control. people blame the government led by president bashar al-assad. >> there is not a single fighter here. it seems that the front line is safer than a city. it's evidence that bashar al-assad wants to target civilians, will the children, the women and the elderly. >> youngsters are dying on all

sides, killing a group of children on saturday. [ explosion ] >> reporter: in february a united nations security council resolution demanded government forces stop using barrel bombs in populated areas. >> human rights groups say many more of the explosives have been used in the last five months. barrel bombs are cheap to make, filling tanks with explosives and metals. >> translation: we don't have a death toll. we are looking for survivors. the effects of barrel bombs can be devastating. something the civilians experienced for themselves. still to come here on the programme - social media stands down. a university withdrawing a job offer to a president that spoke out about israel.

and a ferry that is the only travel option for people in bangladesh - concerns as to safety.

hello again. a reminder of the top stories this hour on al jazeera - israeli bombing of gaza continues with the talks in cairo on the verge of collapse. negotiators say they'll abandon efforts to achieve a long-term truce, unless israel results talks without conditions. spokespersons for binyamin netanyahu says they will not

return to the talks unless rocket fire from hamas stops. president obama warns that it may be a long battle against islamic state, and that baghdad is ultimately responsible for pushing back islamic state. and iranian state media reports that 48 died in a plane crash at an airport in the capital tehran. voting is under way in turkey's first direct presidential elections. recep tayyip erdogan, the president, is the front runner. he wants to change the ceremonial post of president into something assertive. a power for the prime minister is able to be appointed. recep tayyip erdogan wants a president who sweats and runs around.

at least four civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing targetting an n.a.t.o. convoy in afghanistan. police say the attacks targeted the convoy on a main road in kabul. around 20 people have been wounded. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. a university in the united states is accrued of withdrawing sa job offer to a professor after he criticised israel. the professor made a number of comments on social media condemning the israeli attack in gaza. some believe it could have cost him the job. >> as the body count rose over the past few weeks, the emotion in the tweets crew more charged. like this one sent out on july 19th nth. if binyamin netanyahu appeared on tv, would anyone be

surprised. he was said to begin a professorship at the department of american-indian studies. the appointment was blocked. the university said it was a personnel matter. many believed his tweets cost his job. he has an active twitter presence and it has been since since 2 august. his views on the middle east conflict, his criticism on the state of israel and zionism can hardly be a secret. he has written 6 books, including "israel's dead soul." others wrote in support of the chancellor's decision. >> i think the tweeting is aggressive. there's an invocation of violence there. he is seen at times to step over the line into what some feel is anti-semitism.

there has been support for an online petition, demanding that the quote be reversed. garnering 11,000 signatures. the american association said in a statement last week if the job offer was voided due to tweets. that would be a clear violation. and an affront to free speech. >> this is a growing trend on college campuses, debate about israel and palestine. it's essential in this case to recognise that stefan is not alone. >> reporter: nelson says there's a difference between protecting the academic freedom of a cole eke and what is acceptable from a job candidate. >> most of this is protected, you are not required to give someone a job if you don't think they'll work well in the community. >> for now he appears to be a

professor without a classroom. >> let's go back now to the turkish presidential elections. our correspondent jamal joins us, from a polling booth in ankara. this is the first time that the turks have been able to choose their own president. are you getting much of a sense of enthusiasm there? >> indeed, laura, it is. it will be the first time, as you say. it will be the 12th president since the turkish republic was founded. there is a lot of enthusiasm. some of the voters we spoke to said they cut the summer holidays short to come back and vote. there are not huge queues, there's a high turn out. the process is simply, easy. one ballot paper you go in and mark an extra person. you will not have the clogging

up of the corridors. i want to ask you, what are the main issues that you are voting on here. >> the main issue that i'm voting on is if recep tayyip erdogan is elected as president, the regime of the country will change. it will become a presidential system, and this is something i do not want. and it is somebody that we cannot afford to have as a president. >> what is it that you believe is providing an alternative to recep tayyip erdogan. my personal opinion is that ekmeleddin ihsanoglufebruary 2 is a good candidate, someone that can embrace the whole country. i think he ran sa good campaign -- a good campaign, and gave the right message, whether to lib rals or conservatives. ekmeleddin ihsanoglufebruary 2 was open and was a good

candidate. >> that is a few obviously. turkey has a plethora of different views. this polling station is in the main stronghold of the opposition party. there are two other frontrunners, recep tayyip erdogan, and a kurdish candidate, a huge step forward for the diversity of turkish politics. i want to take you inside a polling room. just so you can have a sense of how things are here, people queueing up to take the ballot papers, they go behind the kurd ans here to fill them -- curtains to fill them up. it's a straight forward process, but it is one that is transparent, and if anything, the positive that is taken out of these election that many people point to of the processes is that despite the polarization in turkey, there's that institution of democracy that

allows for free and fair elections to take place. >> thank you jamal, reporting in ankara. the world health organisation says clinical trials of vaccines for the ebola may begin next month. in west africa despite raped warnings some are eating animals suspected of carrying the virus. we have this report from lagos in nigeria. this person has been selling game meat for the past 30 jeers. she runs this restaurant outside lagos, nigeria's commercial capital. on the menu is monkey and ante lop. she prepares the meet for customers that may not come. >> still come. like a day. only one person or two come and buy. before, everybody used to buy. >> bush meat, as it's called is suspected to have been what caused the deadly disease to go

from the animal world to the human one. all it took was a transmission from animal to human, caused by handling fresh animals to humans. game meat is the good of the ancestors, and they have been consuming it for as long as anyone can remember. at times like this when the consumption is discouraged, it can be available in almost every street corner. the chairman of nigeria's national association of hunters - he's live ied. >> -- livid. >> if they don't want bush meat, don't eat it. but they cannot say we should not eat it, and they cannot tell the public not to be eating it. >> for now, though, it's only the brave and most ardent of game meat consumers who demand for it. for them, abandoning the tradition is out of the

question. >> i continue to eat the bush meat, because i like it. i have been enjoying it, and i wish to continue to do so. >> knowledge and superstation in the communities, poor health care and movement contributed to the spread of ebola in west africa. there's concern that the refusal by some to believe that bush meet is not safe will undue progress made. last monday's ferry disaster in bangladesh that claimed dozens of lives has drawn attention to the boats' safety record. there has been 28 ferry accidents in as many years, and four fatal cap sizings this year. we went on the longest ferry route in the county to bola island. >> reporter: people waiting for the bodies to be found - it's a familiar site.

a ferry cap sizes once a year, killing hundreds. thousands died in the past 28 years. it's not just the deaths. the ferry system is a mess. people wait for hours, sometimes days to get on the ships. that's a reason the ferriesar overloaded with passengers and officials. a ferry capized, carrying close to 20,000 people. how many of our brothers, sisters, must die before people do something. rich people travel by plane, so they don't have to care about this. recovery operations are slow. over 100 passengers are missing. the same is true for a ferry that capsized in may. the water is bad in that area. our own vessels are being thrown around. it's diff for us to carry out the rescue operations.

>> translation: when they stay afloat the ship causes problems for people. >> reporter: this is the ferry to bola island. it's the longest ferry route and takes three hours to get from one port to the other. it's nothing compared to the waiting time to get on or off the vessels. sometimes the group will come with a dead body that they hope to bury. the court will be catching, waiting for the ferry. that is the hardest thing. >> truck drivers spend days waiting to board. it's not unusual for the entire load to go bad. >> there are 60 to 70 trucks waiting in line to get to the ferry. i've been waiting for four days >> reporter: it's the same story year after year, and nothing gets done. most ferry pepping passengers are -- passengers are among the poor. some are convinced nothing will

change. it was once condemned as a boouj war pastime, but china's new elite are taking up golf in record numbers. rob mcbride reports. >> it can boast about the world's biggest golf resort. there are hundreds more courses to come if growth is accurate. china likes its golf. there are more young people playing, and it's becoming more popular since becoming an olympic sport. weekends are busy on the course. but weekdays there are more people playing. >> growing at an impressive 10% a year, it's estimated china is a country of 1 million golfers. given the population, it's a huge participation for growth, especially when it's so easy. making it look easier, and without cheating are ever younger players, with parents able to afford summer coaching camps like this one.

>> probably we'll see around 1,000 throughout the next two months, and i have turned up in countries and never seen them take to golf like this. >> condemned as an elitist sport by the leaders, golf club membership is highly prized by the chinese upper class. a 10-year-old ban on new course instruction to protect the environment has been largely ignored, and the industry has boomed. development has been patchy, with a number of failed projects as evidence. parts of china are facing an oversupply. resort developers believe in the long-term vision of china as a golfing superpower. >> there's opportunities for cost development is lim itless. 1.4 billion. all it takes is 3% of the population to play the game.

40 million golfers, the buildingest golfing country. with so many players, courses are hosting future chinese champions. >> much more news 24 hours a day on our website, aljazeera.com. >> the far north of europe - a place of extraordinary beauty - home to an astonis a