been >> the taliban targets compounds in the afghan capitol. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up israel resumes its policy of demolishing the homes of palestinians who carry out attacks. a suicide-bomber kills six people in erbil. one of iraq's safest cities. new pictures show donetsk airport in ruins after months of fighting. and after days of smog-free skies for the summit, beijing is

now covered in pollution. >> hello, we start with breaking news out of a where the taliban has carried out a brazen attack. it began with an explosion outside of a heavily guarded complex in the so-called green village, which is known for housing foreign contractors. the deputy interior minister said that four attackers are dead. the taliban launched a similar suicide attack in kabul on tuesday. the bomber struck at an entrance killing two afghan guards. let's go to a journalist over at "the l.a. times" based in can ball. you were there at the time of the attack. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: i wasn't nearby,

but i heard the explosion. the attacks began with a low-baring truck full of explosives, and then the attackers basically went in and traded gunfire with the guards at the greenage. and then they updated that there were three suicide-bombers and others were involved in gunfire at the village. >> what is the significance of attacking this place in particular? >> this is the third time in about three years that the green village has been attacked. and clearly as it's always been, i remember that a year or two ago that they had tried to climb the walls of the village. this time it was a car bomb. it's the same sort--you can't get into the community, it's

very difficult to get in to the community, so they have to try to get in through a car bomb. there are military contractors, u.n. contractors living there. when you get inside the compound you definitely get a sense that you're in a very different place. there are billiards, pools, cafes, and it's a very specific sort of environment that is very reliant on security. to go in you have to show your passport, you have to be reregistered to get in. you have to give up your cell phone to get in. up to be an invited guest. this extreme security. clearly there are guard posts and things like that, but it is not completely ostentatious. it's relatively unassuming.

it's not a huge, giant, concrete compound from the outside that you can see. >> okay. thank you very much for the latest there on the attack in kabul. israel is being accused of collectively punishing palestinians for a number of violent incidents, including tuesday's synagogue attack that killed five people. the israelis demolished the home of a palestinian man who they claim killed two people at a bus stop. >> a family home now in ruins. early the israelis demolished this apartment. it was destroyed on the orders of the israeli government who say that this man deliberately rammed his car into a crowd of people at a light-rail station a few weeks ago. two people were killed including a three-month-old baby.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said these houses will be destroyed next. they belong to the family whose members gather inside to mourn the deaths of two who were shot deadly israeli police after they attacked a synagogue on tuesday, killing five people. his mother tells me she's worried. >> we pray the israelis don't demolish our house. if they do, what can we say? what can we do? >> the demolition of palestinian homes has been an israeli government policy since 1967. it's intended to serve as a deterrent. kill israeli civilians then you'll lose your house. but it was scrapped after a review deemed it counterproductive. president benjamin netanyahu brought it back this year after three young settlers were killed

in the occupied west bank. >> when netanyahu spoke last night, he talked to restoring deterrents. >> palestinians and human rights groups say that the policy amounts to collective punishment and incites further anger and it's also illegal under international law. although the israeli government did not use it as a punishment for nearly nine years, 2,000 homes were still demolished during that time. palestinians owners did not have the proper building permits, but many say it was a form of punishment. whatever the latest round of demolitions will do little to calm months of tensions. israelis and palestinians are beginning to talk about a third palestinian up rising, and while it's too early to say whether one has started, the lack of political will aimed at trying to stop the increasing violence could very well lead to one.

al jazeera, in occupied east jerusalem. >> well, andrew simmons joins us from west jerusalem. we heard there has been a threat of more home demolitions. how is that playing out? >> well, it's not going very well at all. the tension of the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has made it quite clear that he's going to do this, and the report of the controversy of these demolitions dates way back, and dates back to the days of the british empire when the british demolished homes as a means of intimidating jewish insurgents. and the whole process is a legal one now, even though it was suggested in 2005 that it should be outlawed because it wasn't acting as a deterrent, but the over-all view at that time was

that it was really cutting against the whole attempt to cut down on violence. and now what we're seeing is netanyahu insisting that he wants to progress this. not only that, the whole mood here, this is a city that is not a stranger to violence and fear, but it's reaching a new depth now. a really depressing atmosphere on the streets, lauren. >> andrew, in the meantime time more news of the israeli settlements being built or homes being built. what can you tell bus that? >> that's right. the municipal council here in east jerusalem has announced that it finally approved another 78 housing units in occupied east jerusalem. now this is obviously not helping a very tense situation in which palestinians are

literally frightened to drive out at night now because of the situation where they're perceived to be possibly going to drive their vehicle at a crowd. this is a whole new depth, as i said earlier, of fear. people looking several times before they cross the road, worried that a car might be driven at them. this is the depth we're at now here. a real sense of desperation on the part of the palestinians, and a sense of fear amongst israelis not seen for a while. not only that, the disturbing aspect of the religious nature of this conflict deeply set now and getting more in that direction over time, it would appear. >> andrew simmons, thank you very much, indeed. >> five people, six people, i

beg your pardon, have been killed in a suicide attack in a city of erbil in iraq, the capitol of the semi autonomous kurdish region, until now has been relatively secure. we have reports from baghdad. >> reporter: fire crews on site after a a driver drove explosives in an erbil compound. security officers fired on and then it exploded sending shrapnel and smoke in the area. the governor of erbil was in his office at the time of the attack and said that isil are a force they need to deal with. >> they're pushing back and they're ready to protect. and agencies are working very hard, and they will try to protect these people. >> reporter: attacks like these are rare in this part of iraq. there have been two since 2013.

already questions are being asked, how could a vehicle like this full of explosives get so close to a government building? how could an attack like this happen? particularly when the islamic stat islamic state in iraq and the levant have made threats on the kurdish region, particularly the capitol city saying they would send a volley of suicide-bombers to erbil. al jazeera, baghdad. >> six fighter jets are being sent to jordan to target isil. two citizens appear in a video showing the beheading of an aid work and 12 soldiers. thnow a thousand french fighters are thought to go fight in syria and iraq. 15 people including children have been killed in a drone

strike in thecy of raffa. the attack left seven people dead. security and officials say that they were killed in gun fights between armed groups and the egyptian army. initiative by gulf states to ease diplomatic disputes in the region are taking affect. egypt has been called to normalize ties with qatar. they agreed to return their ambassadors to the cal the capitol of doha. they are drew their am backorders in what theambassador s from doha, who they say supreme court muslim brotherhood. three al jazeera journalists have been jailed for 329 days. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were sentenced

to seven years. bad er received an extra three because of a spent bullet in his possession that he picked up at a protest. protests of conditions are being held, we explain what life is like inside one prison in. video said to have been smuggled out of one of egypt's prisons appears to show men with barely an inch to move. inside their packed cell. for months inmates have complained about unbearable conditions, torture, and waiting too long for their day in court. an egyptian activist group alleges more than 19,000 political prisoners went on a hundred degree strike oa hunger strike on tuesday. on social media their supporters spoke out as well. from prison cells to the streets of egypt and europe, people have

held hunger strikes over the last few months. they're drawing attention to the misery inmates say that they're enduring. >> i'm on a hunger strike for my son, who has been detained since august 13th. >> amnesty international said that reports of torture inside of egyptian prisons are steadily emerging. dozens of people are held inside secret military prisons where they're allegedly forced to confess to crimes they didn't commit. and they're denied access to attorneys. in march a few prisoners shared their experiences with al jazeera. >> they said they would bring my mother here and rape her in front of me. because of the torture and threats they made, i told they will that i would say whatever you want. >> egyptian government has not responded to these allegations. human rights groups estimate that since morsi was removed at least 91 people have died inside

egyptian prisons because of torture or negligence. if those things don't change the number could very well grow. >> libya's renegade general haftar saying that air, land and sea offensive will stop for three hours. it will allow humanitarian aid into the besieged city. still to come in this half hour, not so secret any more, we'll show you video of the swearing-in ceremony for an italian mafia syndicate. and how regular mexicans are turning into forensic experts to help find missing people.

on

>> friday, legendary photographer annie leibovitz. >> of course it wasn't as easy as you think to take that picture. >> the world renowned artist joins al jazeera america for an exclusive interview. >> i look back at my work, i

can't pick a favorite picture. >> primetime news. friday. 8:00 and 11:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> hello again. a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. the taliban has launched a suicide attack on a complex housing foreign contractors in the afghan capitol kabul. the interior minister said that four attackers are dead. israel is being accused of collectively punishing palestinians for attacks, demolishing the home of a man they say attacked a rea rail stop last month. a car bomb exploded trying to enter the governor's compound

in iraq. in burr seen in a fasso's general zida is named prime minister. we have more on the events in the capitol. >> it was a very short statement. one line. saying that general zida is the prime minister. they talk about it in the newspaper. he said that they would make him prime minister. the army nominated a man michel kafando to take over, and people in the streets say the reason why he was made prime minister is because civil society, religious groups and opposition parties all agreed in meetings

to make him prime minister. the moving up was made. there was quick action on the radio stations. people calling in and wanting to know how did this happen. they say they believed the decision process was to be led by civilians. they say there was a transition clause that said that the prime minister could be a civilian or a soldier. and in the interest of peace they decided to just accept it, but they did warn that they're watching very closely. if he steps out of line. >> italian police obtained video a secret swearing in ritual for a mafia ring. the video filmed in northern italy is prove of how the group is spreading beyond its region. >> this is a rare glimpse into

the secretive world of the italian mafia. >> this video obtained by italian investigators shows for the first time the ritual of the most powerful and violent of italy's four ma ' four mafias. what makes the video more remarkable is that it was shot hundreds of kilometers fourt north of their stronghold. prove that they have spread to northern italy, where they're known to launder money, gang, prostitution, drugs, arms trafficking. the video was part of evidence that led to the arrest of 40 people, but it also shows that

while they have moved on to more modern ways of making money, it's core is rooted it ancient traditions. other italian ma i can't organizations have not been spared by the authorities. [ sirens ] in palermo the police arrested 16 clan members linked to the leader of the sicilian ma i can't on the run from the authorities since 1993. for italy's authorities it means they are another step close for catching the italian ma i mafia agency real-life godfather. al jazeera rome. >> in eastern ukraine people living nery donetsk airport have been caught u up in battle as fighting continues. the airport has been devastated by the fighting. despite a two-month-old truce the violence has intensified between the separatist and

military. >> we will not hold direct negotiations with russian terrorists. i translate into russian. we will not hold direct negotiations with your mercenaries. 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 taken by a local television station, a drone send up over the airport and the damage and devastation of months of

fighting, this attritional shelling that has been going on as ukraine is trying to hold on to that airport, and donetsk people's republic is trying to force them out. the shear devastation is seen from that. in these isolated outbreaks of fighting will be replaced by a wider break down of the cease-fire. if that were to hope, then this city that we're in now, mariupol, could be in the crosshairs. >> mexicans are giving samples of their dna to see if their loved ones are among the bodies found while looking for students. but it's not the government, but the people. they believe that the government has failed to act in the thousands of people who have disappeared amid drug violence. >> reporter: dozens pay tribute

to policeman luis who disappeared. presumed dead, his body has never been found. investigators told his mother that they're not magicians, and not to expect much. so she started searching, even collecting soil samples at a crime scene that might contain blood and dna. >> it's not that we want to stop being housewives and become detectives. it's the circumstances that we're in that led us to find out the truth of what happened. we're learning to do what the government didn't doing. >> rodriguez has joined this group of the families of the missing. with the help of two young mexican academics based in the u.k. they're launching citizen-led forensics, a web database of dna from families of those who are missing.

freed from police interference the data will be stored abroad to keep it face. this man's father has been searching for him since he was kidnapped in 2007. he helped to find the ranch why th the "stew maker" dissolved thousands of bodies in acid. >> the liquid remains that we found of bodies thrown in a pit, the government has not been able to find dna. >> protests in the 30,000 who have disappeared in mexico. >> the chants you're hear something no more disappearance. no more missing. after years, people say they're finally fed up. >> in the search for the

students other bodies have been found. >> what is going to happen to these others bodies? they're going back to the mass graves without an identity? >> ernesto, one of the group's founders, is convinced that it is mexicans themselves that have to lead the way. >> the state commits the crime, and then you demand the state to bring you truths? >> a truth that has long been buried in mexico, and now citizens themselves might be the one toss unearth it. adam rainy, al jazeera, mexico city. >> a harsh winter has arrived early for those living in parts of new york state. those living in buffalo has received record levels of snowfall. a state of emergency and travel ban are in effect across the area. at least five people have died as a result of the storm. scientists say that the philae lander detected carbon

and hydrogen on the comet that it touched down on before it's battery ran out. one of the aims of the mission is to discover whether carbon carbon-based compounds that led to life on earth were brought here by comet. scientists are hoping that more data when enough sunlight gets through to reload philae's batteries in the coming months. >> we have to be a bit patient right now. originally we felt we could more immediately continue in this phase, but now since we are in an area where there is a lot of shadow, and not a lot of sunshine we have to wait probably a few months until the lander gets enough sunlight as the comet approaches the sun, so we can reactivate it. >> china hosted last week's apec summit hosting world leaders,

beijing had blue skies. and now it's all covered in a thick layer of smog. let's take you to our website. hopefully you can see the pictures on there. www.aljazeera.com. that's updated 24 hours a day. >> dadu, southern pakistan, just a few months ago. a man is caught burning papers