african leaders meet in johannesburg for a summit dominated by the crisis in burundi. >> hello, this is al jazeera live from doha. also coming up - doubts over u.n.'s backed peace talks as houthi representatives are yet to arrive in geneva britain withdraws spies from overseas operations after russia and china crack edward snowden files. supporting a family on $10 a day. why this rohingya migrant in thailand is one of the lucky

ones heads of state are gathering in south africa. the theme is women's empower: the political unrest in burundi is expected to dominate the agenda. leaders want dialogue to end the civil war and are calling four unity over xenophobic attacks. >> there is questions over who is attending. the international criminal court asks for the arrest of this pan. sudan's president basheer. let's take you live to johannesburg. our correspondent is at the commence. what do we expect to happen

today. >> as you mentioned a lot of attention is paid to who is attending the summit. a lot of controversy around the arrival of sudanese president basheer, and to get you up to speed on the organization what they are saying they want south africa to respect the obligations of the i.c.c. to the statute, and they want an order from the court. so far the court is yet to make a ruling. they want the department of justice to prepare for that. that will be heard later in the afternoon. until then the court said the president basheer can't leave the country. we are waiting to see the developments in that area. there's a number of other issues, and we are talking to oxfam about the development and issues at the african union.

looking at resolution in burundi, what is your response to how the african union handled that, what is your response to how the african union handled that so far. >> look our particular issue about burundi is that they - the attacks on civilians have to stop. the african union has to act decisively to stop the situation escalating and the humanitarian situation from escalating. we believe that it's very important that, you know civilians are not caught in the crossfire. the impression we see where the media have been cut off have to stop. we believe the summit has to take decisive action to prevent the situation escalating. >> looking at the humanitarian situations across the continent.

of great concern is the number of lives lost. the au is not happy with the reactions, they want the situation resolved as soon as possible. is it likely. >> i think the au has to stop the crisis escalating further in the sudan. more than 800,000 civilians are facing hunger and more than 6,000 civilians have been displaced. it has got to stop. this summit must take decisive action. it's important that the au gives support and adds pressure on the practice in south sudan, to resolve this. particularly for civilians and the impact on them. >> thank you for your time. oxfam are wanting urgent action from the african union saying it's imperative. and a major issue of women

empower. at risk of being side lined because of these issues across the continent. >> fahmida miller live in al-shabab. al-shabab issued a number of attacks. killing many people 11 members of an armed group. let's go live to katherine soy near to where the attack happened. what's the latest? >> i've been talking to the spokesman who have been pursuing the government. and put out an announcement for anyone injured or people looking for medical hep, that they see now this is coming at a

worrying time. what is happening behind me is an interfaith memorial service for people, men, killed in a series of attacks starting here on 15 june last year and they are worried. it's been overshadowed by the latest attack and people are saying why - why are the say tacks happening in lamu what happened happened not near from here 100km at a place. the gunmen went in into a mosque and preached against the government, and kenyan troops present in somali for been an hour went to a dispensary stole medicine and went to a school and burned mattresses. the security is precarious. people are afraid. joining me to ask yous this is a member of parliament. thank you very much. perhaps start by telling me what

are the concerns. >> well the concerns for now is that the attacks took place last year in june. the victims have not been compensated on the loss of their properties, they are living in poverty and are urging the government to compensate them to they can catch up with where they are. >> there are security concerns the attack that happened. what are your concerns. they tried to attack some place in squa lamb u and expect that to happen. and the security were able to intervene, and not get to the targeted place. >> there is has been security problems in lamu as a whole.

how has this affected business particularly in the tourist island? >> well especially people have suffered security, because they no more co of course, it affected -- no more coming. it affected the businesses, because it benefitted the constituency. so far for now. they are not doing well at all. >> thank you very much. that was an mp from this area. just back to that attack. what stood out about this attack and about those who were killed by the military. 11 suspected al-shabab fighters were killed much the fact that two of those were killed were caucasian and this was credited to the witness reports.

we have been hearing from previous attacks. some of this gunmen were foreigners. this is worrying to a lot of people, and people have been asking where do these people come from. do they come from somalia, 200km from here. from where the fresh attack happened. do they come from somali. a statement by the military was not specific. it's a big expanse in the area where the government said that some of these fighters have been hiding in the forest. there's been a military operation. people here are concerned. not just mpeketoni. but people in kenya are concerned and the fact that there are al-shabab in the country, there's active recruitment, and most of the people are kenyans thank you, catherine soi in

mpeketo nirks u.n. brokered talks to end the talks in yemen are in doubt of the the houthi delegation hat not left. the fighting on the ground continued. 7 houthis have been killed. further north houthi fighters are report to have taken the provincial capital near the border with saudi arabia civilians in yemen are paying a heavy price. many are killed in tiaz. and fighting around the area is cut off basic supplies as david bartel reports. >> reporter: a tanker of water arrives on the streets in tiaz. and the rush of children and their mothers follows. most government services have been cut because of fighting around the city. still to shut power is down supplies running low >> translation: there is a war, we have to stay home where it's

safe. it's chaos. no one can live in such decision. this man has a generate in the city. people pay him to charge appliances. they know who they blame, former president ali abdullah saleh, who joined forces with shia houthis with the president in exile abd-rabbu mansour hadi. >> president ali abdullah saleh destroyed life in the city. >> reporter: there's little fuel donkeys are used more and more. queues for bread grows. rubbish is strewn on the street corners. tight security is a restriction on normal life. forces continue to besiege the city, they have been here since march. further north in the capital sanaa, residents clear up after an air strike by the saudi-led

coalition, and appeals by aid groups for an end to the fighting and civilian suffering are growing. still to come on al jazeera. i'm here in azerbaijan, where the government says there's no political prisoners, but dozens of journalist human rights journalists and activists are behind bars. we meet tamils in sri lanka finding it hard to rebuild their lives after decades in the civil war.

hello the top stories, african leaders are meeting with the crisis in burundi at the top of the agenda. the international criminal court called for the arrest of basheer who is attending the talks attacks on an army base in eastern kenya. several killed including 11 members of the armed group including two members of the kenyan military. several groups have been killed fighting. peace talks appear to be held in geneva. the houthi delegation for the talks has not left yemen as scheduled iraq's military says that fighters from the islamic state of iraq and levant have blown up three car bombs targetting an army base. it happened at a village south of fallujah. 13 soldiers are said to have been killed, including an army commander.

hundreds of syrians gathered at the turkish border to escape fighting between i.s.i.l. and kurdish forces. more than 13,000 syrians crossed the border into turkey in the past two weeks. it is giving shelter to 1.8 million refugees. almost 350,000 syrians are living in camps in turkey. others are struggling to survive on their own. al jazeera's bernard smith has been to a town with the highest concentration of syrians in turkey. >> reporter: this person's juice store is one of the latest syrian-owned business to open in a turkish town. most of the customers are syrians. this person is catching up with his family before going back to his new job designing stationary. this person is taking a break from a turkish language course.

the turkish government defines the syrians as guests, rather than refugees, they are expected to eventually go home. but learning turkish is one example of how syrians put down roots here. >> translation: as long as there's no international way to remove i.s.i.l., despite the hundreds of thousands of people killed and barrel bombs, we can't go back. we have big hopes to go back. the facts show we caned. - we cannot >> there are half a million syrians in the province. all are escaping the war back home. >> translation: we are a 5-member family. i had a new baby, for any family, the situation was hard because of a lack of work. i don't think of leaving turkey to go to europe and waiting for a chance to go back to syria. syrians know that they are here for the long haul.

>> translation: of course we had to set up business to lie and to leave and adapt to turkish life. if you don't work, you can't leave. we all know the situation is syria, we don't know when we'll come back. >> reporter: turkey hosts half of the syrians that have fled. turkey has been supporting the syrians, spending $5.5 billion and only expected the revolt against bashar al-assad to take a few months, not years. the ethnic make up of towns on this side of the border is changing - perhaps for the long term a british newspaper says that russia and china cracked top secret information from whistleblower edward snowden, forcing british spies to be recalled to london. edward snowden was granted asylum in russia two years ago after revealing secrets from the

national security agency. the sunday times said it could allow foreign government to identify british spies. more from al jazeera's rory challands in moscow on russia's reaction. >> the russian government an unlikely to shout too loudly. the "sunday times" article names unnamed sources. it's not the official position of the u.k. government. until it is official, the russian government is unlikely to say too much about it. the russian government does not make too many comments about intelligent matters. if it has got access to a large supply of intelligence from edward snowden, it's going to want to use that to best effect and that is not really saying candidly what information it

has, and what it doesn't. thirdly, russia said its hosting of edward snowden is a humanitarian gesture, not to do with intelligence gains that may come along with that. as dubious as that position may sound, russia will be unlikely to blow that story. if russia says anything about this it's probably going to be along the lines of this is a smear campaign from the british intelligence services and government against edward snowden, to cover up for british intelligence's own intelligence gathering misdeeds. given the paucity of the information contained in the report, it should be easy to make the claim. >> poland is in talks with the united states which could result in equipment stored in warehouses in its borders. a plan will be outlined to send

heavily weaponry to the baltics. the u.s. is one of many countries taking part in exercises on the baltic coast. it shows n.a.t.o.'s determination to defend the region in azerbaijan, a leading critic of the government has been escorted out of the country by switzerland's foreign minister. the activist spent 10 months at the embassy trying to avoid arrest. there has been calls to boycott a sporting event because of its human rights record. the european games just opened. dozens of journalists and activists are said to have been gaoled for criticizing the government. away from the european games on the other side of baku is the detention center. many prominent critics are locked inside. this is one of them.

seen here on the way to gaol. it's a famous investigative reporter. still embarrassing the president as he hosts the games, colleagues continue to research into billions that the first family owns in assets and offshore accounts. her mother is proud of her daughter's achievements. >> translation: she loves me very much. she would not give up her fight to protect me. when i was in the prison, she agreed. she said she would not give up the fight even if they threaten to kill me. >> i know that. >> reporter: relations are strained over the imprisonment of more than 80 journalist, human rights journalists. one that was spearing arrest was given refuge, but now is free, escorted by the swiss foreign

minister, here to attend the opening ceremony of the european games. the authorities resisted calls to free prisoners of conscience, as defined by the campain group amnesty international. >> reporter: will azerbaijan release the political prisoners. >> translation: there are no political prisoners, there are people in prison for criminal offenses. judicial courts take decisions on the cases and no sovereign state can interfere. >> reporter: european leaders stayed away in protest, azerbaijan is a valuable energy partner, and the european union is unwilling or unable to extend their will. these leaders suggested there are other partners they can rely on operations have been

suspended at a large hospital at the center of an m.e.r.s. outbreak. 70 cases were linked to the samsung clinic in seoul. 17 have decide as a result of the virus. thousands of protesters marched in hong kong ahead of a key parliamentary vote. people are angry at beijing's refusal to allow free and fair elections. they vote down china's proposal. only candidates vetted can stand for election when debated on wednesday. >> rohingya have been fleeing myanmar for decades. many tried to enter thailand. for those that settled there, life can be a struggle. scott heidler travel d to a city to hear a story.

>> reporter: a rohingya, mohammed fled myanmar 20 years ago, he runs a roti stand and makes $10 a day to feed his family of five. like many of his fellow muslims, he left because of persecution. and left before violence spiking in numbers of migrants. he left because he attacked undercover soldiers who were beating his father before taking him to prison. years later the incident is raw. >> i never saw my dad again after he came out of prison. i fled to bangladesh, myanmar and ended up in thailand. >> reporter: we are not showing his face, his work permit is for construction, not selling rotis. he's better off than recent arrivals. >> translation: rohingya that came 30 years ago can probably work with permits. the ones that just arrived over

the last coupleful years probably can't. they don't have any documents. myanmar's government doesn't recognise the rohingya. viewing them as illegal immigrants from bangladesh. chang high is a multicultural community, thanks to its location along the trade routes. the rohingya that came, fleeing violence and persecution hide the identity. the mosque was founded over 100 years ago, the congregation has been growing. >> we can't identify if it is rohingya. they told us they are not rohingya, but burmese muslims. >> for safety, mohammed does not tell people his background. there are many buddhists living in chang high. the violence in his former home has drawn along ethnic and religious lines. he can't go back.

>> they should stay and fight. not with guns, but with law, and prove that we belong to that country, according to that history. >> as mohammed watches the fight from afar, it will be a difficult one. as mean mar's governments shows no sign of changing its stance on the rohingya. hundreds of tamils in sri lanka have been given back their ancestral land. the government used the area as a high security zone during the civil war. as reported people make many challenges trying to make the area their home again. >> reporter: this person got ancestral land back 1.5 months ago. she and her family have to stay in a community hall until they can rebuild. >> we moved here with the children and put them in school to get the place ready to live in.

it's not easy. we can't afford to hire labourers, we have to do it ourselves. >> reporter: she led us to her land through heavily overgrown vegetation. the family worked hard to clear the space. throughout this area, i met people clearing their land, getting ready to return. 25 years has taken its toll. this family showed me the area clogged up with roots and soil. it's something that those heading the local council can help with. they say people are happy to be back after many years, but points out that much needs to be done to make resettlement possible. >> the road network is almost non-existent and overgrown. basic infrastructure like housing, sanitation, clean drinking water must be provided.

the minister of resettelment told al jazeera that the minister is working to improve facilities. the previous government returned some private lands after the war ended, but fertile locations were retained by the military for commercial use. for the tamils, returning home is a relief. settling down on conditions like this is difficult. >> barbed wire fencing marks the new boundaries of the high security zone. the new government says it's negotiating to release more land provided it is not affecting security, owners of the area will be hoping they don't have to wait longer. to georgia, the country, not the u.s. state. dangerous zo escaped after flooding in the capital. a hippopotamus has been cornered

and tranquilized escaping with lions, tigers bears and wolves after flooding damaged their enclosures. special forces have been called in. people have been warned to stay inside more real news from al jazeera at the website at aljazeera.com. hello, i'm richard gizbert, you are at "the listening post". here are some of the media stories we are looking at. the disaste