♪ after four years of civil war in syria, the u.s. says only negotiations with president assad can end the conflict. hello there. i am felicity barr. you are wells fargo bank watching al jazeera live from london. also, coming up ukrainian-backed malitias join the offensive against isil in tikrit tikrit. 14 killed and dozened injury when talibani bombers target two churches. devastation where cyclone power may have left 60,000 children needing immediate help.

hello. it's four years to the day since the incident which triggered syria's civil war. on march the 15th 2011, the syrian government began cracking down on demonstrations. >> month, five protesters in the town of dara became the first victims of the conflict. in july, a group of army defectors turned weapons against the government and announced the formation of the free syrian army. the next month, hundreds of people were killed by government forces in the town of hama. they formed a syrian national council. and then by the following summer, the islamic state of iraq in the levant had taken territory in the north and declared when it called a caliphate.

the u.s. formed a coalition and commenced airstrikes among the armed group. a group of people in rebel-held areas of douma. the town just outside damascus. dozens more have been record killed and injured in the last three days as the air force steps up attacks on the area. four million people have fled syria since the conflict began with many seeking refuge in neighboring lebanon. so many in fact lebanon now has more refugees per capita than any country in the world. as you can imagine it is a desperate situation. zena hoda reports. >> 1.5 million wretch huge ease in lebanon struggle to go survive and the lebanese government is struggling to survive for them. these people cannot survive without international aid and they complain that it's not enough. these people just want to go

home. the syrian war is entering its 5th year. they have lost a lot of hope. they want the international community to remember that there is a war in syria. there is a struggle for freedom because people here have been saying the international communities just focused on the fight against the islamic state of iraq in the levant. they say people are dying on a daily basis. so they have lost a lot of hope and they want the world to do something. them that there is no military solution to this conflict in the past four years, no side can clearly claim victory. >> that's why they want a political solution but at the moment there is no meaningful political process underway. >> secretary of state john kerry said there must be a political, not a military solution to the conflict in syria. he said pressure may be required to persuade president assad to negotiate. kerry is on his way to switzerland to zarif on iran's nuclear program.

our diplomaticested, james bays joins us from. let's deal with what kerry said earlier. how significant are his comments about negotiating with the syrian president? >> i think it's quite significant. you heard what zena said. there is no meaningful political process underway. what john kerry wants and i think there is quite a lot of international civil servants and diplomat diplomats is to find a way to get that political process going. the u.s. has been involved in the geneva process graying the syrian government and opposition around table that. failed a year ago. what he is talking about now ishas not happened before which is the u.s. sitting down directly with other international actors and the assad government. let's listen to what john kerry had to say. we are working hards with other interested parties stosew if we can

because everybody >> there will be increased pressure on assad. >> kerry of course right now, james, on his way to where you are in lusanne. how close are they to some sort of deal? because time is running out. i would say we are at a crunch moment. we have had crunch moments before. but when they got to the end and haven't come to a deal they have extended. now, the iranians are certainly saying they think it's virtually bossible they will get an extension beyond the current series of talks. they are talking about no way beyond the deadline of the end

of june what we have coming up at the ends of march is a deadline for the political framework to be done the main part of the deal. there will still be some technical work after that. it's fair to say they are extremely close close earn they have been before. when you are in a negotiation like this, you leave the hardest parts to the end. there are still significant gaps. of course, if they could get the iranians? this sort of deal if there is a deal here, it could mean on what we were talking about in syria. miniteling me in new york they want to restart a process with all international actors. they believe the idea of a local process have this freeze plan. most believe that's dead. they are going to try a process of bringing back the international actors and if you get the iran talks and deal maybe iran can be around that table with the u.s. and others

to try to get a solution to what has meant so many deaths and so much dismay to the people of syria for the last four years. >> james, many thanks. fighters loyal to the shia clerkic are on their way to join the offensive in tikrit. al jazeera obtained exclusive footage showing the counter terror unit close to the city which isil holes about half. in report from baghdad. 5 kilometers northeast of tikrit, this group is pinned down by sniper fire. is isil specializes in explosive. heritstudes deadly effect. this badge last week is an indication why taking dikrit is slow going the counter terrorism battedallion is an elite unit u.s.-trained. they have been deployed from nearby camp spiker to clear the

road for advancing soldiers and militia men n just a few minutes, they lost five of their men on the battlefield. seven were injured. this is a side of the war not normally seen. military and militia did won't disclose how many have died in battle. to flesh out isil gunmen, the troops set fire to the fields. new evidence of a massacre has emerged. near the villageaj iraqi human rights and health ministry workers. they believe are some killed near camp spiker last august? >> we have come to lift the remains and transfer them to baghdad. we will take them to the forensic labs to get their dnas and match them with the victims' families. >> the malitias who took back this down flirn kilometers say there are 400 bodies spread

across four grave sides. they are believed to be some of more than 1,000 unarmed military recruits left undefended who are killed by isil. making it not only a tragedy but a huge political issue in bag baghdad baghdad. unlike the iraqi army collapse when isil rolled symbol iraq last june, no one is running from this fight. in the past two days t the shia cleric has reactivated his dormant militia to reinforce fighters in tikrit. camp spiker is a rallying call they chant, we are going to avenge our brothers four fold referring to the dead recruits. they are just setting off. they haven't seen the fighting yet. iraqi leaders are confid he want they can retake tikrit. u.s. officials share that view. vict odors like this come at a high cost the unknown hundreds

of soldiers and militia men who have been killed in battle or at the hands of isil. the uncertainty of how far the desire for revenge will go. jane araff, al jazeera, baghdad. >> at least 14 people have been killed and dozens more injured in two bomb attacks on churches in pakistan. taliban fighters claimed responsibility for the attack which took place in lahor. the pakistani taliban timed its attacks to apparently cause maximum did he have station. the two churches in lahor were packed with contact licks and protestants attending sunday services. there was chaos in the moment after the bombs exploded within minutes of each other. >> i was on guard inside. a small gate was open. insurgency there was a sound of the blast and the gate was turned around. i gurned around and splashes of blood fell on my clothes.

defense the worst on the community after the double suicide bombing. killed more than 80 people? time the bombings were in the uhanabad neighborhood home to more than 100,000 christians. >> we demand the government provide protection of all places of all religions including muslim prayer places and pakistan minorities are insecurity and we want security. lahor is the capital of punjab pakistan's wealthiest province. it is generally considered peaceful but attacks have been kin creasing after the government's failed attempts to hold piece talks with the taliban last year. christian community leaders say the government isn't doing enough to ensure their safety and that the attacks like this

show they are a target. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> camille hyder sent this update from islamabad. >> the attack by the taliban, against the churches in lahor is an ongoing strategy of starting not just the security forces but the minority is there pakistan. there have been deadly attacks against the shia community, and christian community. the two bombers were not able to get inside the churches where there would have been even heavier damage and more loss of life. they were stopped at the gate: the explosions were so powerful that the gates were ripped out of their foundations and thron several meters away. now, interestingly, after the attack there was considerable anger. the christian community coming out on the street. the government then negotiating with them to try to diffuse the

situation. they showed they are trying to say it can strike soft targets across the country and target the minority community, then pakistan. >> still to come on the program, thousands protest on brazil's most famous beach calling for the country's president to be impeached. find out why it's the cost of living and not security which is dominate can this year's elections in israel. so what... >> dangerous... >> we have shackles with spit bag... >> 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

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top stories here onnays. activists say up to 20 people have been killed in a series of government airstrikes in syria. the attacks came as the conflict enters its 5th year with john kerry saying there must be a political not military solution to the conflict. fighters loyal to the shia cleric on their way to bolt sister the fight against isil in tikrit. the battle continued on sunday with request clashes close to the city hospital. the pakistani taliban said it carried out an attack on two churches in lahor. many others wounded. the aid agency unicef says 60,000 children are in need of immediate assistance after tropical cyclone pam tore through the island nation. eight people are known to have died so far with a large number of homes thought to have been destroyed. kim vanell reports.

>> this was a study house. this is all that's left. it had with stood two previous cyclones but after cyclone pam, this family is homeless. it's a scene reported over and over across port vila. the roof of this home has been torn off completely. from this hill position the scale of the devastation becomes clear. jalene's family owned what was a water-front shop. everything has been destroyed. >> thousands are homeless folk focusingfolk tusking on trying to survive.

within aid agencies believes 90% have been damaged t many believe the death toll are will rise. >> we need to make contact as soon as possible so we can really get an idea of the sense of the devastation that these islands, but what we have seen in port vila and how port vila gives us a good benchmark. we can assume complete devastation know that the winds are dying down help is starting to arrive with 65 islands to assess, the task ahead more made homeless are expected to arrive. this tink island nation is coming to grips with what's

called one of the worst disasters in the passific. he script's president marked the final day of an economic conference which has drawn millions dollars of investment. $11,000,000,000 worth of pledges were made for infrastructure projects. gulf arab nations awe announced 12 and a half billion dollar aid package. sisi fixed on restoring the economy. >> egypt needs $300,000,000,000 in order to rebuild to give a hope to the 90 million people of egypt to live and work. still, we are waiting for more. >> that's why i encourage to participate. >> israel holds elections toon tuesday. security normally dominates the

choices a report. >> yoni schoe put together gift packs. the carefully chosen sweets are more expensive this year. >> everything costs so much now. you go to the market to buy something and you have to stop yourself because if you buy this item or that you will be short of money the following week. >> schneo says he isn't only struggling with the rising cost of food but rent. >> according to a recent government survey 4 out of tennisisis struggle every month. part of a problem is the shortage of affordable housing. >> we are showed around the family's 40-square meter apartment which is about to get more cramped with a new baby due in five months.

>> my wife and i both work. we make average incomes, but our rent is so high. even if we made more money, it would still be difficult. we can't even think of buying a place and getting a mortgage. the high cost of living has led to small street protests in cities like tel aviv in the weeks ahead of the march 17th general election. it follows massive protests in 2011 when hundreds of thousands of israelis rallied against rising costs. since campaigning began, the leading labor party has struggled to offer voters an economic reform plan while focusing on the key issue of security. >> this has become a symbol of government's ineptitude economic

analysts put much of the blame on israel's and high important taxes on farmer. a lack of land reform in israel while the government spends billions inside the occupied west bank pike like yoni and his young family will continue to struggle to make ends meet. waiting waiting madura who says it is to defend it against hostility from the united states. saturday saw the start of a 10-day military drill involving 80,000 venzuelaan troops and

20,000 civilians. after venzuela was designated a national security threat. al jazeera's virginia lopez. is madura expected to get extra powers then? >> he calls it the en ailing law. he says he needs this the right to rule by decree in which he stops the anti-imperialist law to defend venzuela from recently being branded from the u.s. as a national threat u.s. sanctions were targeted saplings against essentially officials basis upon either human rights violations or corruption. and this has been completely sidelined by maduro who made this more about a national

threat on the national security he is insisting he needs these extra powers. how has the opposition responded to that? this has been many reactions. some say madura needs to focus on soaring inflation and the mounting crime that affects regular venzuelaans and that he is saying, you know, he is arguing that there is an imminent foreign threat just to use an excuse to mask the domest domestic problem. other opposition figures are genuinely concerned maduro might be using the special powers to silence dissent. he is intolerant even from within his own ranks. that's a growing concern for opposition figures. also, we are ahead of parliamentpal e legs close in about 6 months. so there is also the added worry that

garner. >> unpopular budget cuts also fueling the discontents. in brazil 54 passengers have died after their bus plunged down a ravine in caterina carrying evangelical christians in a neighboring state. at least six survivors are being

treated in hospital. the kosher supermarket in france where a gunman killed four people in january has re-opened. the attack in patiencis happened two days after the assault on the charlie hebdo newspaper which left 12 people dead. those events didn't put shoppers off with scores of customers rushing to stock up on kosher products in preparation for the jewish holiday of passover. the opener said he re-opened the shop in honor of the victims of the attack. myanmar has denied carrying out a bomb attack in china. the bomb fell in a sugar kanefield killing four people. china says the myanmarese aircraft dropped the bomb: myanmrrv has been battling the forces since february. >> the chinese foreign ministry and chinese military have made stern warnings to myanmar.

we have the capacity to safeguard stability between each country and protect the life and property of our people. two planes crashed in a malaysian air show. the pilot ejected to safety. >> they are part of an aerobatics team. more than 100 defense and civilian companies are due to attend the air show that begins on tuesday. now the world's second biggest economy is struggle to go meet growth target did. chinats premier says the government has failed the people in the fight against smog. a a at the annual session of china's parliament in beijing, adrienne brown has more details. >> in the opulent setting of the golden hall of the great hall of the people another sober assessment of china's economy by the man who runs it.

premier lee set a target of 7% growth, the lowest in a quarter of a century but now he says even meeting that will be difficult. we estimate a growth race of 7%. >> is much slower compared with the years before but, in fact it will be by no meansize. >> the prime minister also had another target in mind: the government's own by accurates n blunt language he said reforms to reduce the state's role in some of china's biggest industries will be painful. >> this is like taking a knife to one's own flesh. pain is only natural. however painful it might be we are determined to keep going

until our job is done. >> the job of china's national people's con congress has been done for another year. at the finale of his tightly controlled gathering, the 3,000 hand-picked delegates approved the plans. >> it's rare for journalists to be given access to the inner sanktum. the authorityts aim is to demonstrate this is not a rubber stamped parliament with a pre-arranged outcome. >> for delegates, there were two dominant themes, campaign against corruption and pollution. the premier vowed to punish factories responsible for excessive emissions and said everyone needed to do more to clean up the environment as well. but his strongest words were on the economy wheree are in the new normal, he said although to many china's economy feels anything but. adrienne brown, al jazeera,

beijing. >> and you can find out more on all of of our stories over on our website. usually around to click on to is aljazeera.com. aj.com the best place to get up to date with international news and sport from pretty much wherever you are in the world. crazy. we can see their ranking in fifa is going down, going down, going down. but every game in the stadium, 80,000 people, 90,000 people. >> even local competitions turn