night. claims that i.s.i.l. fighters are using chlorine gas as a weapon. hello, live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next 30 minutes houthi fighters in yemen make a deal with iran for economic aid. cyclone pam kills eight people. >> i'm in a working class neighbourhood. people have backed the party. tough times made staying loyal

harder. iraqi kurds say they have evidence fighters from the islamic state of iraq and levant are using chlorine gas. tests prove that soil and clothing collected from the sight of a suicide blast contain the toxic chemical. >> reporter: the accusations have been around for months. now they say the proof. it's these plumes of orange smoke exploding into the air which iraqi officials say is chlorine, and proves i.s.i.l. fighters are using the gas against them. iraqi fighters filmed the video near tich raid claiming i.s.i.l. was driving an oil tanker. one of the leading experts says

he's not surprised the agent is being deployed by i.s.i.l. the islamic state was attacked in december last year using chlorine, and that stopped them in their tracks. i.s.i.l. saw how effective chemical weapons and chlorine have been in syria, and it was a matter of time before they use themselves. in january, an attack on peshmerga forces contained levels of the chemical ate. a lorry loaded with gas cannisters exploded on the highway. the kurdistan regional security sample says samples were tested and showed weapons grade levels of chlorine. the toxic chemical causes choking and is banned under the 1997 chemical weapons convention. kurd were the victims of one of the deadliest attacks under saddam hussein. now it seems they are facing a

similar threat from i.s.i.l. >> douglas is a retired u.s. army officer. it can't be independently verified that i.s.i.l. is making chem cam weapons, they say it is plausible. >> we have to be careful the the likelihood of chemical weapons, the likelihood is low. to make chlorine gas, we use it for swimming pools, and water pure iffic aches, to get enough and bring it to a toxic level is not difficult. we can't verify it here in washington, it's certainly plausible. >> in libya, there has been fighting between i.s.i.l. affiliated fighters and an armed group backed by the government. a map has been killed and two others injured. the gunfight tomb place in the coastline east of cert. the tripoli government is accusing the i.s.i.l. affiliated

fighters of being loininged to muammar gaddafi. the egyptian state media reports 285 have returned to cairo. 1500 resume. the egyptian media is reporting that 41 judges will be forced to retire. a disciplinary court ordered the retirement on saturday. it's seen as a crackdown on political dissent. the judges can appeal against the decision. in yemen, shia houthi rebels took over the capital, saying they reach an agreement with iran, the new collision has been formed against the houthis, the aids remain in the southern city after scoping house arrest last month.

we have this report on the continuing political standoff. >> there's a power vacuum in yemen. iran appears to be capitalizing on it. since the houthis forced the president to flee the capital, iran has counselled a willing partner. a houthi delegation returned from a 2-week mission. a houthi spokesman says ryan is pledging to expand a port. help build power perhaps, and provide yemen with enough oil to last a year. the houthis say pledging support will boost the economy and bilateral relations. a spokesman for the government says the only ones getting a boost from the deal are the houthis. >> inference is nearly about military support to some militia group. iran never supported any country. the most important point here is the yemeni daily $8 billion

consumption much oil. i think iran can't afford to offer that money. >> the agreement announces a flight. they brought aid workers. the yemeni government fears it will bring more weapons to marm harm the houthis. >> yemenis continue to protest the power grab. a new coalition has been formed in sepah to fight the coup. it's called the national alliance for rescue. and the president is in aden clinging to power as yemen parse to slip towards civil war. >> the u.s. embassy in saudi arabia cancels consular services because of security son seriousness. the -- concerns. the u.s. citizens have been urged to take precautions when

travelling around the country a state of emergency has been declared in vanuatu, after the pacific nation was hit by one of the most powerful cyclones recorded. 8 are dead. aid agencies warned death toll could be higher. villages have been destroyed. richard martin has more. >> it's more than 24 hours since cyclone pam hit the nation. 270km an hour. tore through homes destroying livelihoods. quarter of a million who live here were forced into shelters by a second might. with powerlines down and remote villages unreachable the full scale of the disaster is unclear. >> there's a destructive cyclone. >> using a lot of traditional

shelters. >> speaking in japan, vanuatu's president was visibly moved by the destruction. he's calling for international help. >> i'm speaking with you today with a heart that is heavy. i do not really know what impact cyclone if pam had in vanuatu the united nations is sending emergency units to the area. the first priority is to bring food and shelter to those in need of help. the cyclone wreaked havoc in other islands, including kiribati and the solomon islands. as it makes its way south across the pacific, it's thought to pass close to new zealand in the coming hours. olivia zinc significant is with save the children australia. teams are on their way to vanuatu to assess the damage caused by the cyclone. >> at the moment we don't have a full account of the damage in

vanuatu. we are hugely concerned for some of the more remote islands which we haven't been able to gain access to. hopefully teams are making their way there today to see what the damage is there, and really to see the scope of this - of the impact. we do expect is to be - to be huge. children and families are going to need support in the coming days and weeks ahead. >> china's most important political gathering wrapped up. thousands met in beijing to pass laws approve policies and discuss the direction and the economy. let's get more on the meeting. curtis browning is live in tiananmen square in beijing. china's premier giving his only media conference of the year. what has he been saying? >> well that media conference is winding up. the focus, as you might expect has been on the economy.

when the congress opened, premier gave a target of economic growth of 7%. today he said significantly, there's no guarantee of reaching the target of 7% as the economy continues to slow. he says he expects there to be more acute pain as the system the programme of economic reform continues. when he refers to reform he's talking about the state-owned enterprises, and those that dominate the large sectors. as they are dismantled we'll see more and more lay offs and touched on the area of the shadow banking sector. the underground banks exposed to huge debts at the moment. also of concern, some $3 trillion and touched on the issue of retail sector saying

there are too many empty apartments in too many cities across the country. one thing that came through is it this is a prime minister that faces enormous economic challenges in the year ahead, and there'll be pain. he touched on the area of providing insurance, people with bank acts. deposits. that -- bank accounts. deposits. that is something that hasn't happened. that minutes at concern about the worry of banks about to go under. . >> there was talk of the environment and anticorruption campaign. what about those issues? >> well corruption and the environment have photoured during the prime minister's press conference. he said the campaign against corruption had yielded ruls and would continue. there'll be no let up in his words. nobody should be above the law in this country.

big tigers and flies have something to fear as the campaign intensified. when it comes to the environment. he said that there'll be more stricter fines imposed, punishments. the problem in china is this - you can force laws or introduce laws. the problem is one of compliance. adrian brown live in beijing for us thanks for that now, still ahead - local companies are competing to bid for oil production licences in southern nigeria. but the population there is divided. we'll tell you why. plus... [ gunfire ] ..~ syrian war entering its fifth year, we look at how the conflict began with peaceful protests.

hello again. you are watching al jazeera, the top stories. kurdish authorities in iraq have evidence i.s.i.l. is using chlorine gas as a weapon. iraqi fighters filmed the video near tikrit and say the plumes of orange smoke are clor heen gas. -- chlorine gas. >> yemeni houthi rebels have reached an agreement to boost the economy. the president remains in the southern city of aden after escaping house arrest last month. the president of vanuatu is calling for international help after cyclone pam left the island nation in tatters. eight have been killed.

aid workers feel the death toll is higher. a state of emergency is declared. >> the syrian crisis entered its fifth year. what started as a peaceful protest developed into a war that spread across the country. 220,000 have been killed. millions displaced. we look back at how it all began. >> reporter: these are the images that helped to spark the revolution in syria. people raising their voices against bashar al-assad four years ago. when we took to the streets, each felt a resolution simmering inside of us waiting for the right moment, and we can feel free. the fear barrier collapse the. we all are mother brother and

family. we used to chants. the yelling came from the bottom of the heart. smee is an activist living in beirut. she cried looking at the videos of the earlier demonstration, it's hard to contemplate now home are starving. four years after the revolution they insist on hiding identity. she is afraid of the government which still controls parts of government where her family live. we were there for this rare moment four years ago, when people's hopes were high. they believed they would be able to overthrow the syrian government. many hope the army should turn within the community and it would come to the rescue. that is not how events unfolded.

the revolution turned into a civil war, and syria a battle ground or international forces to fight for their own agenda. more than 2,000 syrians have been killed and 3.5 million became refugees. 80% live in poverty. across the country, visitors. >> syrians are exhausted, frustrated. so much daily suffering. too much blood. the bill is high the bloodshed most stop. most syrians are lost don't know where things are heading and they know they've gone out of their hands. >> fighters flooded into syria, ipp . to add to the complexity.

the islamic state of iraq and levant controls parts of syria. many. activists who rose up found themselves targeted by i.s.i.l. >> now the problem is not with bashar al-assad. the foreign fighters fighting each other on our land. this changed the course of the revolution. >> during the early days of revolution the country was split between supporters of the syrian i suppose and the regime. it was an us or them approach. but the conflict today has many players and dragged on with no winners. only losses on both sides. as the majority of syrians, including those that started the uprising are left to watch the solution from the sidelines. >> in north-east nigeria, the army says it's foiled a bomb attack in a camp for displaced people. boko haram is thought to be behind this and the soldiers

set off a controlled explosion of the device so no one was injured, one person was arrested. a multi national force was fighting. more than 13,000 have been killed and 1.5 million homeless since 2009. in southern nigeria. local oil companies are bidding for licences to restart production in the river state. the population is divided over whether oil extraction should resume. 20 years ago it caused environmental damage in the region. we have this report from goy. >> reporter: this man used to fish here. but the fishing waters were destroyed by oil spills caused by the oil company shell. they kicked shell off the land 20 years ago. now the government is issuing new licences to nigerian companies to operate. some are worried they could

cause damage. a naman oil company may get the licence. >> it is important to to have the operation here. when are people going to see it. if they mess up. >> i will installations like this are a reminder of a devastated pollution. this one has been abandoned by the company. locals say they received no pngs. shell say they'll clean up and agreed to pay in facts. they are anieded whether oil production should be included. a traditional ruler says it's

the only way to fight poverty. people are yurninging. there are a lot of benefits. $200,000 of oil could be produced from the oil in this area. they are promising to give 10% to the community. sun dreads of million. >> since going through, we take full responsibility of anything on the ground. i will not blame a company. we'll have to take full responsibility of fixing the soil. this is my region. all companies broke promises.

the of hope is they'll be more accountable venezuela's military is ready to defend the country from u.s. invasion. the government is scaling large-scale operations. it was a 10-day drill that started on saturday. the show of force comes as an association of south american nations rejected a decision to label venezuelan a security threat. >> 32 people died when the bus they were on plunged off a ridge. workers are working to reach the survivors. tens of thousands expect to take part in nation-wide. it made the president more

unpopular. >> reporter: here, a working class area the president dilma rousseff has been supported. it's places like this across brazil that the party could count on turn out from their candidates. duff tough tips chipped away at loulty. this man has installed carsteros. things have never been slow. >> i used to have six or seven cars a day, now i'm happy to make one. his half-brother had a steady paying job. he's been unemployed for six months and helps at the shop when there's work. he voted twice for his predecessor, whom he credits with making a living. he supported rusev.

>> i voted for dilma, believing in her. i voted for her. now, unfortunately, she's abandoning us. >> over the past 12 years, the workers party policies brought millions out of poverty. >> that became clear in the election. >> the poor voted for the government. it enables them to be more middle class. >> reporter: a reason they are losing them is high prices.

they are telling us oil, coffee. ecks. they are going up 15-10%. they will not be fighting to support them. >> wikipedia found that julian assange may be questioned over sexual abuse. he's been asked to be seen at the embassy. they asked he travel back to sweden. the killing of a black teenager by police triggered months of demonstrations. protesters say they have suffered years of police practices and were vindicated when a department of justice

support found ferguson's police force targeted a community through traffic violations. christian sal umy was more. how much do you figure you owe in tickets. >> i am sure it's almost $2,000. >> at 31 years old, he had more than 30 traffic violations starting with not stopping. >> when they stopped me the cop was rude. >> when he couldn't afford to pay the fine he had late fee, ending with a suspended licence, and that led to him being arrested and thrown no gaol. >> i know at the stop i was calling it he was rude to me. the start wasn't the first pleas. it will lose every time. he might be tempted to dismiss

the treatment if not for the fact that they are so common in ferguson, missouri. a report from the u.s. department of justice criticized the city of ferguson the police department and the court system for putting profit before public safety finding that police pulled over motorists, putting in undue hardship on the vulnerable residents. >> the department of justice ground although only two-thirds of the population is black. blacks are given 90% of tickets and pulled over. this year revenues from tickets are projected to act for 23% of a city budget. wesley is a resident and a judge in another city. >> there are some that are abusing what they should be doing, and the mandates what they should be. it's something that needs to be

addressed. the mayor did not respond to al jazeera's request for comment. the former major did not agree with the finding. >> what is left down is the other side of the story, you hear the department justice. it has taken to video taking the encounter with the police. >> it's that anger that continues to fuel the police demonstrations in ferguson. and blair says more reforms are necessary before he and others will stop protesting a record set for the highest recorded bird flight for a man made structure. flue to the top of the world's tallest building. video was live streamed as it

swooped more than 800m to its trainer on the ground. it was the highlight of this endangered bird of pray? for those in united states joining us on al jazeera america, "talk to al jazeera" is next. more on the website. this week on talk toays, ku klux klan, david duke. >> when i was a young man enjoying controversial organizations, you know, i grew up from that. there is no question about that. but at least i did what i thought was right. >> he is recently been back in the news with reports that house majority whip representative steve scalise spoke at one of his organization's eve