been made in the shooting of two officers in ferguson missouri that happened earlier this week. the county prosecutor says that there could be more arrests coming. again, we will continue to cover the story. join us at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on al jazeera america. thank you so much for your time. do keep it here. >> after four years of civil war in syria, the u.s. says only negotiations with president assad can end the conflict. >> you are watching al jazeera. i am david foster. good to have you along. in the next 30 minutes: at least 14 people are killed. dozens are hurt after pakistan taliban bombers target two churches. thousands of brazilians take to the streets calling for president russef to go.

cyclones 60,000 children in need of immediate help. josh carry is saying there must be a political not a military solution to the connell conflict in syria. he said that pressure may be required to persuade president assad to even negotiate. mr. carry arrived in switzerland for talks with iran's foreign minister mohammed zarif on iran's nuclear program. before leaving, kerry raced the prospects 69 direct talks with the assad government saying the sdmrus would have to negotiate to the end with assad. . >> we are working very hard with other interested parties to see if we can reignite a diplomatic outcome. why? because everybody agrees there is no military solution. there is only a political solution. but to get the assad regime to

negotiate, we are going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating. >> that's underway right now. and i am convinced that with the efforts of our allies and others, there will be increased pressure on assad. >> those comments four years to the day since the incidents which began syria's civil war. march the 15th 2011. the syrian government began cracking down on demonstrations. in terms of casualties the u.n. believes now more than 220,000 syrians have bren killed more than seven and a half million forced out of their homes. they have stayed in syria in what are known as the internally displaced. another four and a half million are trapped in averages that have besieged hard to reach. put those two together. in all, more than 12 million

syrians are in need of help inside their own country. almost 4 million others have registered as refugees in neighboring countries. lebanon shouldered the largest number of refugees from syria. the situation is worsening by the week. zeina hodr reports. 1 dots 5 million refugees struggle to go survive. the lebanese government is struggling to provide for them. they cannot provide without international aid. they explain 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 that the international community is focused on the islamic state of iraq in the levant they say people are dying on a daily basis. they have lost a lot ofhome hope and they want the world to do

something. no side can clearly claim a victory. >> that's why they want a political solution but at the moment there is no meaningful political process underway. >> zaneina hodr. so has james bays in switzerland where those talks between the united states and iran are taking place and what are the feelings there, james, about any possible break through? >> john kerry arrived here he will sit down with his iranian counterpart and i think there has been a long period of controversy the international community and iran right now are closer than they have ever been before. david, when you are doing any sort of negotiation, you know

how it is. you leave the most difficult bit to the last. there come gaps scomplrn it's spathes to be done by end of this month. >> so we can keep an eye on these negotiations, so that we can spot what the difficulties might be, tell us what the stumbling blocked appear to be. >> one of the things that's happened throughout this is they kept all of the negotiations well away from the press. they did not want to give us a running commentary on exactly

what they were negotiating. but i think one of the areas is exactly how you reduce those sanctions on reinke and the process for that the. also, the time lines of this deal. some saying it will be a deal lasting 10 years when iran will be subject to inspections and vir fixed efforts. who will do that? i think it will be the iaea the paytonic energy agency but these questions are what are being discussed. a great deal of detail anything on or aboutations between the glus and iran. among those and the team come here from the u.s. is their man from new york from the u.s. mission in new york who deals with security council sanctions, those sort of details being looked at. >> we will canbe back with you

later james vanell. thank you very much. james bays. now we turn our attention to iraq. there, fighters loyal to the shia clerk are on their way to join the offensive against isil in tikrit. al jazeera managed to get ahold of exclusive 23509age showing the country's counter terror unit trying to out fighters close to tikrit. isil holding about half of that city. jane arraf sends us this report from baghdad. >> five kilometers northeast of tikrit, this counter terrorism unit is pidnned down by sniper fire. is ill specializes in the snippers did he have does he have is ill i boshthe this is an indicate of why taking tikrit is slow going issil specializes in the snippers did he have does he have is isil i the this is an indicate of why taking tikrit is slow going is the counter terrorism is the om unit u.s.-trained. they have been deployed from nearby camp spiker to clear the

road for advancing soldiers and militiamen. in just a few minutes, they lost five of their men on the battlefield. 7 were injured. this is a side of the war not normally seen. the military and malitias won't disclose how many have died in battle. to out is isil gunmen the troops set fire to the field. as isil retreats from around tikrit, new evidence of a massacre emerged. near the village, iraqi human rights and health ministry workers on saturday found some of those believed killed near camp spiker last august. >> can he have we have come today to open up the graves appear left remains and therefore them to baghdad. we will take them to the forensic labs to get dnas and match them with the virg i see' families. >> the malitias who took back this down saw there are 400

bodies spread across four grave site did. they are believed to be some of more than 1,000 unarmed military recruits left undefended killed by isil. making it not only a tragedy but a huge political issue in baghdad. unlike the iraqi army collapse when isil rolled into iraq last june no one is running from this fight. in the past two days, shia cleric alsadr has sent members of the peace brigades to reinforce fighters in tech crete. camp spiker is a rallying call. these fighters 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 military leaders are confident they can retake tikrit. the u.s. officials share that view. but victories like this come at a very high cost. the unknown hundreds of soldiers

and militia men who have been killed in battle or at the hands of is isil. the uncertainty of how far the desire for revenge will go. jane arraf, al jazeera, baghdad. >> the former u.s. for metal east in the iraqi capital right now. he told al jazeera the battle for tikrit slowed down a bit in the last few days because of the nature of the fighting. when you are talking about street fighting city fighting urban fighting you are talking about a slow battle in any sequence. you don't have the wide open spaces where you can move quickly. when you start getting near the city with the number of ied did that is isil has been using, the careful north shore and the care that most be taken by the forces to clear all of those naturally, it's going to be a slow fight, but i think we are seeing tremendous progress even though it slowed down considerable y. by and large, there seems to be a modis de investigates vendi

where the malisha and advisors are working one side and the iraqi forces are working independently and u.s. air craft are above the sky, both in the south with the iraqi security forces and in the north supported the peshmerga. i think everybody is certain the next objective is going to be molies. some fighting between but that is a major military objective, the second largest city in rex and a major political objective as well. while the west along the euphrates for the most part has been somewhat abandoned over the past few years, the anbar prove inc. acknowledged it's a sanctuary for terrorism. what has happened in mosul and the region along the tigris is relatively new. >> i think the new government of prime minister abadi recognizes that not only for military reasons but for politicalngs reasons, he needs mosul back in

the hands of the iraqi government. >> at least found people have been killed and dozens more hurt in churches in pakistani. taliban say they were behind the attacks which were in lahore? >> victory i can't gatenby reports. >> reporter: the pakistani taliban timed attacks to apparently cause maximum devastation. two churches were packed with cathlinse 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 opened. suddenly, a sound of the blast. the gate was turned away. all of these splashes of blood fell on my clothes. after that we got byrd with the regi u efforts. >> sunday's attack was the worst on the community since the devastating double suicide bombing in the northwestern city of peshmerga in 2013 kill more than 80 people. this time the bombings were in

the uhanabad neighborhood, home to more than 100 christians. >> we stroveningly condemned the act and demand the government provide protection for all places of worship including muslim prayer places and pack pakistan mineority did are insecurity. we want security. >> lahor is the capitol, pakistani's wealthiest prove incident. it's generally considered peaceful compared to other areas of pakistan but attacks have been increasing after the golfts failed attempts to hold peace talks with the taliban last year. >> christian community leaders say the government isn't doing enough to ensure their safety and that attacks like this show they are target did, victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> coming up here, is it bye-bye bibi israel's prime minister

looking to secure a 4th poll. the opinion polls show his party trailing far behind. kenya's two teams. rights across france to police face court.

scrunch. time to recap global headlines. john kerry says et cetera to find a political solution to end syria's civil war, not a military one. >> kerry made comments after 30

people had been killed in a series of government airstrikes in douma. the conflict is entering its 5th year. pakistaninstan taliban said it was behind an attack in two churches in lahore. 14 people died. there were many people washeded. children's aid agency unicef says 60,000 children are in need of immediate assistance after the tropical cyclone pam which tore through the island nation. eight people are known to have died with a in charge number of homes destroyed. kim vannel has the latest. >> reporter: this was a study traditionally built house in port vila. this is all that's left it haul two previous cyclones after cyclone pam, this family is homeless. it's a siege repeated over and over across the capital port

vila from this hill position the scale of the devastation becomes clear. jehlen's family owned what was a water front shop. everything has been destroyed. thousands are homeless focus the on trying to survive. >> reporter: one aid agency beliefs up to 90% of homes in port villa have been damaged. the worst damage, it's thought, will be on the outer islands. rescue workers warned the death toll is likely to rise i didn't need to make contact so we can

get a sentence of the devastation. what we have seen in port vila and how it is affected gives us a bench park and we can only assume complete devastation. >> now that the winds are dying down, help is starting to arrive with 65 islands to assess the task ahead is daunting. >> a quick recon answer is flight to have a look at how badly the small island has been hit and on bound to port vila thousands spent the night in shelters but more made homeless are expected to arrive this island nation is coming to grips with what's being called one. worst disasters in the pacific. kim vannel al jazeera. >> for more from the front line of what's going on there, we spoke to alice clemments from the children's charity unicef. we began by asking her how difficult it is to go about

proving how much damage has been done? >> we have seen aerial surveys, the few light aircraft that survived the storm have taken off, scouring the skies, looking down on this archipelago that extends 1300 kilometers to understand just where its worst affected and what we are looking at here the description from the president of vanuatu is that the pilots said some areas are simply flattened. this will i creases over time. i can't stress enough the complexity of getting aid through to this country. it comprises more than 80 islands, some are inhabited. some accessible by boat. they are all damage in the storm. so getting a sense, i assure you

government is leading simultaneous action on all fronts at the resort city and conference is believed to have drawn millions of dollars of investment. saturday $11,000,000,000 in pledges were made for infrastructure projects in egypt gulf arab nations announced their 12 billion package. al-sisi staked his legitimacy on restoring national security. >> theisitsi prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been talking at a right-wing rally ahead of tuesday's election hoping to secure a fourth term in. opinion polls show his party is trailing the center left zinist union. ♪net facing increasing opposition at home and abroad.

a recent speech to u.s. congress straining relationships with barack obama but the israeli leader remains defiant. [we protect the unity of jerusalem. we build in jerusalem. true, this is not the way of the left. it's not livny and herzog's way. the presume primary of israel must stand strong at the gate even if this means disagreement with the governments of the best of our friends. this is how i acted in the past and this is how i will continue to act. with your help and with the help of god. >> it's thought nearly a million protesters took part in cities across brazil calling for the impeachment of the country's president delma roussef. about 15 here on the streets, the president facing criticism over the petrobras corruption scandal. 4 dozen politicians from her

governing coalition were implicated in kickbacks at the oil company. taking place in sao paolo, the biggest city. our correspondent sent us this update from sao paolo. >> thousands of people have arrived here in central sao palo in this national protest. many are calling for her impeachment. they are angry over the swirling controversy and corruption journal around the state oil company and upset about the state of the economy k it's high inflation people say her government are income pettent. people are wearing yellow and green, the national colors because they are trying to paint themselves as patriots nationalists doing what they are doing for the

country's good list a victim of the military regime that ruled until 1985. she, herself, was for tortured. it's ironic people are calling for her to go. what you see, not many but have youible signs very unlikely to happen because 2015 is not the same as 1985. country has changed as well as the regions. >> two police officers are going on trial in france in connection with the death of two teenagers in which two boys died of electrocution triggered weeks of rioting in the suburbs of paris. the officers are accused of come failing to come to the assistance of a person in danger. it's 15 kilometers outside paris.

it's a world apart many people in france the suburb is synonymous with unemployment poor housing and social problems. ten years ago, these streets erupted into violence. night after night, protesters set fire to cars in public buildings. the riots spread to other suburbs. the government declared a state of emergency. they had been playing ball with friends when a police patrol pulled up. thinking the police were after them, the boys ran in to an electricity substation to hide where they died of electrocution. the death of the teenagers shocked the whole community. it also raised broader questions about police behavior. the lack of isn't tralling government investment in these communities mary ann sesse was the cousin of one of the victims. the experience led her to become a community leader and today,

she is deputy mayor of kichisubwa. >> to die because you are sfrooed of the police that should not be happening in the 21st century. the police are supposed they are here to proepth people not to make them afraid. the government has started addressing the roots of some of the social problems. these blighted power blocks have been condemned, their windows bricked up waiting for demolition. buildings on a more human scale have replaced them. >> people here often feel uneasy when they see a film crew because in their experience the mainstream media has tended to res represent them. the thought of a camera is greeted with suspicion or hostility. a new school building will

provide badly needed places for young children starting their education. so, it has taken a few steps on the road to reyenration but many problems remain notably the high rate of unemployment. the future 40 the children of the suburbs remains uncertain jackie roland al jazeera. now, the second biggest economy anywhere in the world is strulingly stomeet its own growth targets. china and the premier there is is aking government failed the people china's parliament from the national piece of paper's progress in beijing, adrienne brown reports. >> in the opulent setting china's economy by man who runs it. premier lee has set a target of

7% economic growth this year the lowest in a quarter of a century. now, he says even meeting that will be difficult. >> the estimated growth rate for china's economy of 7% this year. >> number is much slower compared with years before. in fact, it will be by no means easy to hit this target. >> at his only news conference of the year the prime minister also had another target in mind: the government's own bycrats. in blunt lang he said reforms to reduce the state's roll in some of china's biggest industry did will be page painful. . >> this is like taking a knife foone'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 congress has been done for another year. at the finale of this tightly chromed political gathering, the 3,000 hand picked delegates approved the prime minister's economic plans. >> it's rare for journalists to be given access to the inter sanktum. this is not a rubber stamped parliament with a pre-arranged outcome. >> the continuing 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. we are in the new normal he said although to many china's economy feels anything but. adrienne brown, al jazeera,

beijing. >> go to our website. find not only the main stories there about syria and the beginning of the conflict there but background for our correspondent. adrienne brown, for example, his thoughts on what's happening in china. aljazeera.com. >> for more than a decade, the world has witnessed seemingly endless violence in afghanistan. many tell me the daily reports of the attacks, and the daily killings have ceased to hold much meaning. but for those living in this land, torn apart by war, there's no more important of a time than now. after years of trying to drive back the taliban, most of the