>> the egyptian president's plan to save his country's economy with billions of dollars from his gulf allies. hello, watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the fight against boko haram. confirmation that mercenaries are helping nigerian forces. the source of ebola. tracing back the deadly virus to the first person infected. police say they have new leads in the shooting of two

officers in the u.s. city of ferguson. >> after four years of political turmoil, the economic plan has been unveiled for egypt. at a global financial summit egypt's gulf neighbors legend pledge $12 billion to help the egyptian economy. stephanie dekker has our report. >> reporter: world and business leaders all here to listen to egypt's pitch despite years of turmoil we're open for business. in his opening speech president el-sisi personally welcomed many of the heads of state present here for their support. >> i would like to thank all our brothers and presidents of the

arab states that are giving us honor here in egypt. the egyptian society is 25% of the population of the middle east stability in egypt is a very important role for the stability of the whole region. we need to make sure that these power will be for the benefits of the stability of the nation and for the region. >> it started off well with billions of dollars pledged by some of egypt's richest neighbors who aim to pledge millions more. this is the egypt they want to promote. clean easy-flowing traffic and businesses and industries ready for investment. but the reality is a little more complicated. an explosion hit barclay's bank in alexandria. the group that claimed

responsibility of those taking part in the summit. the slogan egypt is not for sale. the muslim brotherhood now deemed a terrorist organization by the government won't be happy to see. thousands of activists and political opponents have been arrested and prosecuteed since president mohamed morsi was deposed in 2013. there is growing violence in the sigh sinai peninsula. all difficult issues for the government to attackel alongside high unemployment and low foreign investment. this may be an economic plea, and the economy could do with a cash injection but this is also about president sisi's political legitimacy. >> how egypt fares in the coming years, and how it restructures

its economy will effect not only the country's nearly 90 million citizens but it will affect millions of others throughout the region who aspire to a better future. that is why we're gathered here. we all--all of us have a stake in egypt's success. >> who is present here, what is said and what is pledged will be an indication of the level of international support president sisi and his policies hold. stephanie dekker, al jazeera. >> nigeria's government has admitted it is getting help from what it calls foreign contractors in its fight against brock. boko haram. we know that troops have been officially deployed to the region. but reports that there are south african mercenaries on the front line as well as contractors from the former soviet union. there are no specific details of

which countries they are. the nigerian government said that foreign contractors are simply helping with training, but witnesses on the ground suggest that they're involved with direct combat operations. >> according to senior western official, who works here as well as a senior non-commissioned officer inside the military was injured by boko haram. both of them say that the 40 or so villages that the military or nigeria, i should say have recaptured from boko haram was done in part or at least because of the help of foreign mercenaries. we've spoken to many senior military officials as well today and over the last few weeks as we traveled throughout this region, and they insist that the tied is turning against boko haram, not because of the mercenaries, but because of the

combination of new arms, more political will as well as that help of neighboring country. >> iraqi forces have paused for reinforcements to retake tikrit from the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the operation appears to have stalled after iraqi soldiers backed by militia and sunni tribesmen took territory on wednesday. they said they would not move forward until isil reach tikrit, which isil holds about half of. turkey's coast guard has fired on a cargo ship carrying more than 300 refugees trying to reach italy. turkey shot at the ship as it passed through the strait and ignored warnings to stop. the refugees have been detained,

including 85 children. [music] activist videos posted online show the aftermath of who government attacks in syria. children were among the victims of an aerial bombing of damascus as rescuers comb through the rubble looking for survivors. the civil defense worker said that the suburbs were targeted by a scud-type surface missiles. syrian kurdish fighters are afternooning the u.s.-led coalition to launch new strikes on isil. they want them to help them in the northeast where fighters are said to be on the offensive. but the u.s. is worried about being seen as helping kurdish fighters linked to what it considers to be a terrorist group. these are kurdish forces in syria, the people's protective

unites or the ypg. they've been on the front line in the of the els islamic state in iraq and the levant. theythe group's political winning is the pyz. >> it is the center of the coalition to support us. but the support we're getting is limited oh airstrikes. it made us stronger, no doubt but we're not receiving any weapons or ammunition. >> the u.s.-led coalition does acknowledge the ypd's advances and the air support that it provides but it's careful to avoid identifying the fighters as the nyd. they're called the anti-isil forces. there may be a reason why. they are considered to be the syrian branch of the kurdistan

worker's party the pkk an organization on u.n. and u.s. terrorist list. >> you could say it's a local affiliate and the area is called little--they are linked. the pkk is still listed as a terrorist organization in the west. >> clearly that is a complicating factor. the pyd will not be among the opposition groups, even though it is organized and has been engaged in direct combat with isil. >> the kurds are the majority. before isil is found into the region they were enjoying relative individual.

the battle for the border town of kobane was the first time that the u.s.-led coalition coordinated with a fighting on the ground of syria. it was the first time that it did so. it's it an alliance born of necessity, not choice. al jazeera beirut. >> lawyers have failed to stop an appeal in south africa's supreme court that could see him of murdering his girlfriend. they will decide if the sentence given to the olympic athlete as being too convenient. they claim the judge misinterpreted the law when ruling. scientists have recently discovered where the ebola epidemic started. they traced it back to a two-year-old boy who died in a

village in guinea. they report on how life in that west africanville village changed. >> these people are not taking any chances. it's ored that locals ate bats from this tree and contracted the ebola virus the beginning of the largest outbreak of the virus ever recorded. >> we've decided to burn this tree so that no bats will bring ebola. >> the government issued a press conferencingreport in a the bats from the beginning of ebola. >> in the beginning i doubted myself and i thought my families with killedfamily was killed.

i was the first to lose all of my family. my one-year-old son and my daughter and wife, too. >> the ebola virus has killed 10,000 people mostly in west africa with sierra leone being the worst hit. a vaccine is being tested and it is modeled on the ring vaccination approach, which was used to irradicate small box. both guinea and sierra leone are reporting new cases every week, and the number of deaths taking place outside of hospitals remain high. that suggests people wary of seeking help are hiding patients. >> the pope is predicting he'll only be head of the catholic church for four or five years. in ofteninin an interview in

mexico he said that the violence and drugs was caused by influence. questioning the wikileaks founder julian assange over sexual assault allegations. >> they're still having nightmares >> if you can't straighten out your kids... >> they're mine >> al jazeera america presents camp last resort on al jazeera america

>> this is the true definition of tough love

>> welcome back. a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. the egyptian president has received a vital boost to his ambitious economic recovery plan. 12 nations pledge $12 billion in in the economic conference. nigeria admits that foreign contractors are helping in the fight against boko haram. mercenaries were south africa are thought to be taking part in the fight against the armed group. burning the tree that is thought to be home of the deadly virus. a. police in the u.s. say that they have several leads in the case of two police officers who were shot in the city of ferguson this week. the man hundred dollars is underway for the suspects. the shooting took place just a

week after the release of a department of justice report. reports indicated racial bias in the police system. on the the latest update, they could not say for sure if an arrest is eminent. >> we have an active investigation. i said yesterday that that investigation was our number one priority on the police department. you know what, it's critical. but really the number one priority on the police department right now is to make sure that we continue the tempo of service and protection and relationships in the ferguson area to make sure that they don't have a regression of everything that we have been able to accomplish. one of the more remarkable things that in st. louis county,

i would argue perhaps in the nation, i don't feel like we can affording to back. >> al jazeera's kristen saloomey join us from ferguson. tell us about the latest with the investigation. >> reporter: well, the chief said that they have been getting good cooperation from the community, and they received a couple of dozen tips. clearly they need more. he asked for more tips from the communities, a national organization known as crime stoppers has asked for an award for any information that would lead to an arrest of the gunmen in the shootings an award of $10,000. now at this stage the chief couldn't say if the gunmen had any connection with the protesters, which is an interesting point. also when asked about whether or not it was possible that whoever fired the weapon was shooting at protesters he said that that was something he wouldn't rule out. earlier in that evening the

situation between the demonstrators had got. very tense. that led to a question from one of the reporters at the press conference, and it was a change of tone from the police chief who had originally called it an ambush. clearly there are unanswered questions at this stage what information the police department have, they're keeping very close to the vest. >> we know that there is an investigation. but also taking over security in those demonstrations, why is that happening? >> well, i asked that question. what i was told by the st. louis county police department was that the officer gus police department had requested them to take over the investigation. they do have a close relationship and county often steps in with the municipalities that are within a jurisdiction to help out on big cases or in

emergencies where they're needed. that is how that happened. the demonstrations are now also being policed by the county officers and state police officers as opposed to the ferguson department itself. again, i think this was an attempt to put some distance between the police in ferguson and the demonstrators in what is a very sense situation. we saw evidence in the change of tone out on the streets last evening with them there less confrontation alton that many are hoping will continue. >> kristen in ferguson, thank you very much, indeed. talks and the political stalemate between libya's rival governments have been delayed once again. the delegation from the u.n. that recognizes the government from tibruk did not show up in morocco.

it is concerned that tibruk's commander. >> delegations from the recognized government tibruk has not arrived yet. they say they need more time to talk with their own leaders about the details of the political settlement. in the meantime, representatives of the tripoli based government they told him that they're not happy with the recent appointment of general haftar as army chief. the top military commander who launched a massive military operation against the western half of the country last summer. they say that haftar is someone who should never have a say in their future of libya. a political settlement in libya

definitely has a long way to go. to agree on forming a national unity government, and forming a national unity army is going to take some time. now the concern of the international communities are the following. if the political divide continue, groups affiliated with isil will take advantage of the situation and further expand in different parts of the country particularly the east. this is exactly why they're determined to have both the east and west set their differences aside and agree on a political settlement. >> leaders and pro government cruise groups groups are rallying to show support for the leader. former executives of the brazilian-run state company petrob ras are under

investigation for scandals. prosecutors have now said they'll investigate three members of brazil ace ruling coalition. adam rainy has the latetress sao paolo. >> well, here in sao paolo it's relatively small a few thousand people. a few organizers were hoping for tens of thousands of people, and it may not have reached that level nationally. in rio de janeiro there were some counts by officials and police say there were a thousand people on the street. the protests were characterized by two elements. elements of people saying no to privatization of peroleing ibros. they say the can exactly it scandal is a distraction you also see at these protests, people out saying that dilma

rousseff must stay in power. on sunday tens of thousands are expected to march across brazil calling for the impeachment of dilma rousseff. it is unlikely that she would be impeached, but she's one of the most disliked president at this time of her term. concern about the e.u.'s agriculture and fishery policies led to problems for finland's finland's-e.u. membership. prosecutors have previously

refused to travel to london during assange assange accusation in in 2012. >> from his almost three-year confinement inside, julian assange is said to have welcomed a swedish prosecution request to interview him here. it's ledge that had assange committed sex crimes including rape involving two women in swede no one 2010. allegations he always denied saying the sexual encounterers in question from consensual. >> we see this as a victory for assange. we see this as evidence that we were right all the time, that the prosecutor was wrong all the time and we welcome her initiative. >> in 2012 assange lost a supreme court appeal to prevent his extradition to sweden,

instead seeking asylum in the ecuadorian embassy while on bail. they want to come to london now because some of the crimes he's alleged to have committed will reach their statute of limitations in august. it is not clear when this meeting may take place but the chief prosecutor will now hope to be able to come here to london to the ecuadorian embassy to interview julian assange and to take a swab sample of his dna. if assange were to face trial in sweden, he then could be extradited to the united states, where an investigation is ongoing into wikileaks' 2010 release of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic files. no charges have yet to be filed in sweden. and so farr it has cost the british taxpayer tens of

millions of dollars. >> it's been nearly two years since floodwaters swept through a chinese village at the time the government was criticized for being unprepared and contributing to the high number of deaths. >> the river that runs through is a trickle now as winter keeps its grip on northeastern china. but the destruction it left in the summer of 2013 is still visible. we arrived four days after the flash flood to a town full of grief and anger. they were accusing the authority authorities of covering up the true extent of the death toll. >> once again the police are stopping us from talking to him. >> we've come back to find out what really happened here. on the august 23, 2013 the local government said that 38 were dead and several were missing. it never released another

figure. the lifetime resident said that was always an under estimate. >> for the whole of the town, it's at least 170 or 180 dead. i know because i know this place very well. in 2013 we met li, who said then that officials reassured people that the water would flow past the town. now she lives in newly housing estate down the road in a free apartment far superior to her old home, but she does not change her story. >> they did not expect that the flood would be so big. nobody told us. if they had the damage wouldn't have been so bad. >> the nearby village suffered similar damage, but no one died here. the difference locals tell us a concerted effort by officials to get people out of danger. there are two things we've heard throughout this visit, firstly that people believe 200 people died in this disaster, not the

88 the official government figure. and second, they say there was a lack of an evacuation order, and they simply didn't know what was heading their way. >> so was it minimized so that the officials would escape punishment? they insist that they did warn residents, so how many people died here? >> i know nothing about this. >> you don't know how many people have died in your own town? >> i'm just in charge of reconstruction. all this talk about the death toll the injured, statistics reports, i have no idea. >> after weeks of rain in the summer of 2013 which filled the local reservoir beyond its safety limits, it was hit with a half meter half it's annual rainfall in less than a day. but this was also a man mate disaster. officials accused of doing too little to save lives and

stopping death. they now say that 134 people were killed, they just never thought to make it public until now. >> we have much more news on our website. the address. www.aljazeera.com. >> its been six years since the financial crash that sent the global economy into a tailspin. devastating the us housing market. predatory lending and a poorly regulated financial system were at the root of the crisis. but now, housing sales in some parts of the country have picked up. >> it really started in 2010 2011 in the wake of the housing bust and the foreclosure crisis that ensued. >> there were markets that were totally devastated. >> you had an unbelievable number of foreclosed homes.