the cleanup begins in the wake of deadly cyclone pam which smashed vanuatu with winds of 150 kilometers an hour. hello, you're with al jazeera, i'm martine denise. plans unfail as egypt's negotiable financial summit. india's prime minister sets off to visit the tamil heart landil heartland.

venezuela's embattled dilma rousseff. united nations emergency teams are being rushed to the south pacific island of vanuatu. jerald tan has the latest. >> the tropical cyclone pam has tornado off roofs and downed power lines. villages and remote islands damage will be steven. communicatescommunication is down. so it will take a very lock time. >> he has been a very

destructive cyclone. hitting a country that has a lot of traditional housing so they are vulnerable to this kind of damage. we are poised for worst case scenario. >> reporter: the approach of the cyclone was terrifying. the seas swelled as driving rains an winds swept into vanuatu. >> everything is blowing around pretty seriously and it is shaking up to be a long night in the country. >> reporter: the government issued a nationwide red alert. people boarded up homes and shops before designated

shelters. offering to help what's already been described by the u.n. as possibly one of the worst weather disasters in pacific history. jerald tan, al jazeera. >> the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon was in japan when he expressed his condolences. >> i just met the president of vanuatu this morning and i conveyed my personal on behalf of the united nations deepest condolences, as well as our hopes for solidarity on vanuatu. >> four people were killed when the aircraft dropped a bomb inside chinese territory. myanmar says it is targeting rebels in the kokang region along china's southern border.

>> fighting began in the kokang region more than a month ago. more than 100 people killed but this latest incident was serious enough for chinese air force to say it is stepping up operations along the border. summon the myanmar ambassador so he could launch oformal protest. he said he would like myanmar to investigate the incident, punish whoever was responsible for the intrusion into chinese territory. this latest air strike comes about a week after a shell from myanmar landed in its territory. it does suggest there is heavy bombardment in the area. the kokang region has been in the state of emergency since mid

february so there are few independent reports coming out thereof but these reports suggest there is very heavy fighting going on this this area. this is not the first time that fighting in myanmar spilled out into china. there was fighting between myanmar and kochin fighters. this will make china increasingly worried because it does not want to deal with a refugee problem and it will complicate its position of noninterference in its neighbors' affairs. >> narendra modi has already met leaders of the tamil alliance.

the former stronghold of the contaminateil tigers who were defeated six years ago. >> reporter: this visit by the indian prime minister, very much making a point of finding the time to come up here to the northern province, becoming the first indian leader to do so. essentially prime minister modi saying he supported sri lanka's independence movement, years back supported by india building bridges between the singalese and tamil community efforts to build a future that includes all communities including the

minority tamil community that will ensure justice and equality for all these sections of the community. so all in all not just a feel good factor but an important part of have i have i sri lankan associate. housing built by the indian government for those who had been displaced by the war. >> talks of parliament have been postponed for five days after one side failed to show up. absence of the government based in tobruk. members from the trib li based national congress were concerned about the appointment of renegade appointment of chalifta

hafa. yemen's houthi rebels, captured one area, similar protests in yip ibb and ta'izz. >> passed through dardanelles strait in northern turkey. refugees who were trying to reach italy had been taken to the nearby town of galibalu. cairo will not be the president of egypt forful longer if egyptian plans are completed.

megaannouncements by government leaders, during an economic conference. some of egypt's gulf leaders have pledged more than $12 million. president abdel fattah al-sisi hopes all these pledges will be confirmed. >> reporter: president abdel fattah al-sisi thanks all for their supports. >> translator: i would like to thank kings brothers and presidents of arab states, giving us lots of honor to be 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 civility of the whole region. we need to make sure that these power will be for the benefit of the stability of the nation and for the region. >> reporter: it started off well with billions of dollars pledged by some of egypt's richest neighbors. the aim is to secure billions more. the egypt they want to promote: clean, easy flowing traffic businesses and industries ready for business. group claiming responsibility for explosions blamed all members of the summit. slogan being used: egypt is not for sale. the muslim brotherhood now

deemed a terrorist organization by the government, will not be pleased to see the summit succeed. president mohamed morsi was deposed in 2013. and growing violence in the sinai peninsula plus i.s.i.l. affiliated groups in the sinai peninsula, low foreign investment. this may be an economic plea and egypt's economy could certainly do with a cash injection but this is also about president sisi's political legitimacy. the head of the international monetary fund and the u.s. secretary of state. >> how egypt fares in the coming years and how it restructures its economy will not only affect the country's 90 million

citizens but millions throughout the region who aspire to a better future. that is why we are gathered here. we all have a stake in egypt's success. >> the level of international support president sisi and his policies l hold hold. stefanie dekker, al jazeera. >> getting help from a neighbor it doesn't want the world to know about? plus a show of support for the brazilian president dilma rousseff as she deals with a corruption scandal.

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>> hello again let's have another look at the top stories at al jazeera. at least eight people are dead after cyclone pam hit the island of vanuatu. 50,000 new homes to people who lost those during the civil war. narendra modi will be the first leader to visit the former home of the tamil tigers deposed six years ago. series of megaprojects announced by government leaders during an economic development conference in egypt aimed at

attracting more investment. now in the wake of destruction of cyclone pam the importance of disaster preparedness is being highlighted. the united nations says the only way to prevent widespread damage is to spend money. but many are not able to make that kind of investment. scott heidler takes to an area that is still damaged from floods in 2011. >> reporter: they call it the great cyclone from 2011. this person had a front seat. she owns a shop and lives right next to a flood gate on the outskirts of bangkok. four years later there was still flood damage. the government was not prepared for a flood like this. angry governments opened flood gates, by side her home in 2011.

suffering so parts of bangkok could be spared. >> translator: i think the government can only help us a little. i don't have high hopes. in 2011 the number of people affected was high. we are not a rich country. the government can only do things here an there. >> translator: and there. >> translator: we all learned a lesson from that disaster. every time we learn they listen. >> reporter: here in asia due to a number of factors. the geography population growth global warming change weather patterns and poverty. in thailand's ancient capital they are building a flood gate

to help from disaster. the u.n. estimates if $6 billion were invested globally in disaster risk management it would safe $360 billion in disaster losses over the next six years. >> we are usually in power for four five years so they probably say it is not going to happen to me so wait to invest until actually now. >> reporter: but the people who live on front lines of disaster-prone areas do have provision, they are waiting for the governments to make the investment for the future of all in their country well beyond the next election cycle. scott heidler, al jazeera bangkok. >> days away from taking away

saladin province from i.s.i.l. an iranian general who is rarely seen on camera is leading the militia man as osama ben javid reports. >> iraqi forces making headway despite suicide attacks and booby trapped buildings. >> translator: i think a side has turned in tikrit and with it be libertied soon. >> reporter: many believe they deserve more credit for capturing land from i.s.i.l. instrumental by general sulemani

sulemani influence goes beyond the battlefield. many believe he is used as a propaganda tool on social media. forces battling i.s.i.l. >> translator: the shia need experts, they need mujahideen? in the future you will be able to help more the suppressed people of yours the iraqi people. >> reporter: the u.s. led coalition is relying on iraqi boots on the ground to take back areas but without the support of shia militias, iraqi troops have struggled against i.s.i.l. iraq's sunni neighbors allege these arms are an extension of i.s.i.l. militia. >> translator: iraq must build a status for cousin sulemani for

what he has done for us. the iranians are helping us in exchange, for nothing. >> iraq's government has been trying to address the fears of the sunni population but they want more than speeches. >> we hope that the words will be turned into actions and all those who attack civilians and their properties in tikrit should be punished severely. >> taking back areas of tikrit, the battle to overcome iraq's bitter divisions is fears. osama ben javid, al jazeera. soldiers of fortune are playing a vital role on the front line as haydir yafir

reports. >> collect things and if the political weight we dispatch them. >> they show the cache of weapons as success. turning the tide against boko haram. but the fight isn't being won alone. the government dismiss admits it's getting support from what it calls mercenaries. >> the u.n. government actually

has explanations that they can stick to because for one thing they will say that the neighboring armies, niger cam roonlcameroon and chad, boko haram has targeted them also. we cooperate with them. as they say for the others foreigners from south africa and elsewhere say these are training trainers. so they have their story down. >> nigeria and its neighbors it's killed thousands of people in the past six years in a campaign to carve out an islamic state in nigeria. nigeria insists it needs no more soldiers to combat boko haram

as the nation heads towards general elections later this month some say the government's use of mercenaries is a push to turn into votes. haydir al abazi al jazeera nigeria. >> an unnamed person from sierra leone is the 11th person to be treated for ebola in the united states. investigating several new leads in their hunt for the gunman who shot two police in ferguson.

more violence following the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white officer. adam rainey reports from sao paulo. >> supporting brazil's state oil company petrobras oil workers we're not corrupt protests across brazil. corruption scandal swirling around petrobras could lead for calls for its privatization. >> translator: look, there's always been corruption in petrobras. the guilty parties need to go to jail. they need to be removed. >> critical of the government's

austerity measures are against any efforts to imfeature president. in brazil's largest city, protesters occupied a block on one of sao paulo's biggest avenues. dating back to rousseff's predecessor, luis de silva. >> especially for the working class. >> she was elect end democratically so because of that we have to defend president dilma, definitely so that's why we protest in the streets. >> reporter: hundred of riot police were called out but the demonstration remained peaceful. bolstering rousseff's popularity at a historic low. shrinking economy high inflation and a weaking currency.

never attracted the tens of thousands of people that organizers were hoping for across brazil being turnout was lower than expelled. president rousseff has instructed her cabinet to stay indoors over the weekend and register destiny impact it play have on the government. adam rainey, al jazeera, sao paulo. >> former president of the maldives was sentenced to terrorism charges. he denied ordering arrests. laheed which was the maldives first democratically elected president. >> swedish prosecutors say they are ready to fly olondon to

question julian asange. jonah hull reports. >> reporter: at the ecuadorian embassy, from his almost three year confinement inside, julian asange is said to have welcomed a swedish prosecutor's request to question him here. allegations of rape he's always denied saying the sexual encounters in question were consential. >> we say this is evidence that we were right all the time, that the prosecutor was wrong all the

time and we welcome her neive. >> ininitiative. >> in 2012, asange requested a sighasylum while on bail. >> it isn't clear when this meeting will take place bus chief prosecutor mary ann nye hopes to be able to interview julian asange and to stay a swab sample of his dna. he could then 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 been filed

in sweden while in britain his embassy watch so far has cost the british taxpayer tens of millions of dollars. >> find all the latest on al jazeera's willaljazeera's website aljazeera.com. >> flash point ferguson, a community coming apart at the seams. with foyer top city officials already gone, there's talk about disbanding the police department, even city government. i'm here to talk about wiping off ferguson city government might be better for the people living there. san some aren't buying the top kremlin critic, you don't want to point the finger at vladimir putin. the cold war with russia i'll