at least 12 people are killed by a suicide bomber who targeted a diplomatic convoy in somali's capitol. ♪ hello there, i'm felicity barr and that is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. history lost isil destroys two muslim shrines in the ancient syrian city of palmyra. the french president phones barack obama about revelations that the u.s. spied on three french leaders. plus -- i'm nicole johnson,

reporting on how afghanistan's highly prized lamb pelts end up in finland. ♪ hello, at least 12 people have been killed in the somali capitol after a bomb attack on a convoy of cars by the armed schoop al-shabab. none of the diplomatings were injured. caroline malone has more. >> reporter: witnesses say a pickup truck was completely destroyed. it was part of a convoy carrying diplomats from the united arab emirates. members of the armed group, al-shabab are claiming responsibility for the attack. the somali government is also getting support from the 22,000 african union force which is fighting al-shabab.

it wants to overthrow the government and is behind many similar attacks. on sunday four fighters were killed as they tried to detonate a car bomb and shoot their way into a national intelligence agency training center. they have lost territory to government forces since an offensive to push them out began last year. we are joined by a journalist who has worked expensively in somalia. thanks for being with us. why would the uae be targeted by app shabab. >> the uae is supporting the government. and earlier this month, the uae's foreign minister was in mogadishu in show of support to the somali government. they not only physically have an embassy in mogadishu, but also

financially support the budget. and just a few weeks ago they also provided military support. so al-shabab see uae as a legitimate target in somalia, and they have made it clear. >> i know yourself just got back from the somali capitol, how did you find it there? and what were people saying to you about the situation? >> i just returned last week just few days before the start of ramadan. it was at the same time when al-shabab said they would increase their attacks across somalia, and it seems they have been true to their words. this week there was a car bomb attack in the capitol. we also know there have been at least ten assassinations linked to al-shabab gunmen in mogadishu. so there was a feeling -- there was a tension, so to speak, everyone you spoke to was not

looking forward to possible attacks during ramadan, and it's not just ramadan, it's a trend we have seen for the past few years, where every ramadan is increase of attacks linked to al-shabab, increase in somalia. >> thank you. ♪ the islamic state of iraq and the levant has attacked syria's cultural heritage blowing up two islamic shrines in the ancient city of palmyra. it's feared the destruction may be only the start with isil fighters reported to have planted other explosives and mines around the ruins on friday. a few months ago isil destroyed monuments in the iraqi city of mosul. >> reporter: this is what many feared would happen when

fighters from islamic state of iraq and the levant captured palmyra a few weeks ago. it was not the first time they have destroyed ancient monuments. fighters blew up two ancient shrines they consider unislamic. the shrines are not from the roman era. there are concerns about the fate of the unesco listed world heritage site. >> it's entirely possible they are destroy all of the historical remnants of palmyra, they started with the shrines that have islamic resonances a shrine to a companion of the prophet muhammad and a medieval mystic. >> reporter: activists reported that isil fighters had placed explosives around the ruins.

>> i think those photos were part of the original set that were associated with the blowing up of the shrines. i -- i have not yet seen any substantiated evidence any photos that show mines being laid around the ruins themselves. >> reporter: they have destroyed history in syria and iraq. dozens of sloans have been blown up. in march isil used a bulldozer to destroy a 3,000 year old assyrian city in northern iraq after also smashing artifacts in the museum. they are not just destroying monuments, precious antiques are also being sold. >> translator: isil is just like the syrian regime it is destroying history and syria's civilizations, this is especially true in the east and in palmyra, that isil stole many

artifacts. >> reporter: isil fighters aren't the only ones targeting ancient sites in syria. its best known mosaic city was hit by barrel bombs earlier this month. the museum is in an ottoman compound also housing an historic mosque which was also hit. so many treasures in syria and iraq are long gone. it is not clear what the international community can do to protect what remains. >> army forces loyal to yemen's exiled president have seized a border crossing into this saudi arabia, but fighting is intensifying around aden and doll la. >> reporter: this marketplace is getting busy yemenese are able to leave their homes. the town was under siege of

houthi fighters and their allies, now fighters who were defending the town control it after fighting back but the enemy is persistent and still powerful. houthi fighters and their allies are targeting many places. >> translator: it's strange that they tear cake of the prayer times and that indicates that they are near. >> translator: vala is recruiting hundreds of more volunteers who are preparing for another battle. the town is north of aden and is considered key to controlling aden and other southern towns. in the center of aden houthi fighters shelled this residential area killing some people and injuring many. the government says the fighting is going according to plan. >> translator: saudi-lead coalition provide only aerial support and we thank them for their efforts and successes they

have achieved. the effort is still ongoing on the ground. they are battling on the ground and coordinating operations exactly as planned. >> reporter: back in vala the humanitarian situation is tough. its people are suffering from a lack of water and basic services. it could be a while before life turns to normal both here and across yemen. greece's prime minister is back in brussels for another round of talks with international creditors. he needs to secure a debt deal by the end of next week to avoid a default. international tenders want greece to improve his tax measures before allowing vital aid to be unlocked. they need $8.1 billion in bailout money. lawrence lee has been following the developments in brussels and joins us now. we know tsipras has been in

meetings all afternoon, those are going to be very difficult talks, lawrence? >> reporter: that's certainly the way it has proved. and on the face of it looks a bit like the inf and the european central bank are trying as hard as they can to break tsipras. after all he and his party pledged that they wanted to restore dignity to greece and weren't prepared to put up with more cuts and austerity. the greeks put forward this raft of measures which they say would allow them to claw back some of the moneys through things that are deeply unpopular at home tax rises for pensioners increasing the penceable age, and this sort of thing. that has gone down badly domestically in greece.

but what has happened today is that it has been leaked this afternoon that the counterproposal put forward by the creditors has enormous red lines all the way through some of the proposals that the greeks put forward. and the creditors are saying we want more cuts potentially more taxes as well and you have got to go a lot further. that places the prime minister in an difficult position because if he caves in he is going to lose his entire support base at home. they are supposed to come to an arrangement of some sort within the next 50 minutes, because that's when the european finance ministers are supposed to meet and present the agreement by friday. at the moment it's absolutely not clear at all if any of that is going to happen and because they have these two completely different and polarized

positions with greece saying you have got to restructure the debt, and the germans in particular saying no way, we need more cuts and reform. and it's very difficult to see at the moment how they can square those positions off. >> lawrence we keep talking about these meetings but is this the real crunch in that greece will default if they don't actually agree to a deal? >> well the short answer is if they can't find an agreement by friday then technically it looks like greece will default. it doesn't mean it's over. they might find a negotiating position. but bare in mind this thought, this is just one repayment that greece is trying to organize. that's about a third of what they are trying to pay back over the courseover this year. >> yeah reminds you just how

tough the situation is? greece. thank you. still to come a landmark victory for climate campaigners. i'm catherine soi in western kenya, where scientists and researchers are focusing on fishing communities like this one, to help reduce malaria. i'll be telling you how. ♪

♪ hello again, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera.

at least 12 people have been killed by a suicide car bomber in the somali capitol. the convoy was a diplomatic group from the united arab emirates. and greece's prime minister is back in brussels for another round of talks with creditors. the french president, francois hollande has phoned barack obama to discuss allegations that the u.s. spied on hollande and two of his predecessor predecessors. earlier during an emergency meeting hollande said france would not tolerate acts that threaten its security. the white house says it won't comment on specific intelligence

allegations. france's foreign minister gave this reaction. >> reporter: these sorts of practices are a serious violation of the spirit of trust we must have. the united states must not only admit the danger that such acts have on our freedoms but also they must do everything quickly to repair the damage in the relaw shunship between our countries and between the united states and france. >> neave barker joins live from paris. how cross and upset is the french government? >> well as you probably gleaned there, the french government are being careful, but they are certainly outraged by the claims made in wikileaks and repeated in the daily newspaper here. a sign of how annoyed they are was probably given away by the fact that they quickly convened that emergency defense council meeting early on in the day. out of that several different actions were initiated.

the first was the decision to send senior intelligence officers over to washington to ask more questions and gather more evidence, and really verify the extent of the claims that are being plead. secondly the u.s. ambassador to france has been summoned to the french foreign ministry. we believe that talks are now taking place there as i speak. but this of course all comes at a rather awkward time for both france and the united states. back in late 2013 early 2014 president hollande went over to washington and specifically asked barack obama not to spy on france. that request came in the middle of claims made by edward snowden, the ex-nsa worker turned whistleblower that the nas had been tapping the phone of the german chancellor.

although the claims made in this recent leak date between 2006 and 2012 what it seems to suggest, though is barack obama may well have known what the nsa was up to in spying on france at the time in which he was having those key talks and key meeting with hollande over in the united states. it also comes at a very awkward time for the french authorities because this is the day that their new surveillance law was meant to come into force. a law that was specifically designed to counter the threat of home grown violence but what it does show is that the authorities here may well still be disposed to spying from so-called friendly nations like the united states. >> neave in paris. thank you. opposition politicians are accusing the pakistani government of failing to respond to a severe heat wave crisis.

nor than 780 people have now died. and many elderly patients are rushed to hospital. >> reporter: they sleep on the streets to stay cool. many residents here are finding no retrieve from the heat and frequent power cuts mean they can't use fans or air conditioners. >> translator: our houses are small. nobody has taken care of the situation. no one from the utility company is taking notice of the complaints. people are falling sick and being rushed to hospitals. >> reporter: hospitals are overwhelmed, the searing heat has stretched medical services in pakistan's commercial hub to the limit, and morgues are filled to capacity. the army and paramilitary rangers have set up emergency camps across the city to help treat people. >> translator: when we heard the name of the pakistan army we

rushed here because we were sure the treatment and care would be better than anywhere else. >> reporter: health workers are urging everyone to drink enough water, but many muslims observing the annual ramadan fast forgoing food and water from sun up to sundown. >> translator: the federal minister for water and power has given a statement saying that karachi is not his mandate. it's part of the federation and his responsibility is the whole of pakistan. >> reporter: and there's frustration on the streets. people in one neighborhood angry at yet another power cut. gerald tan, al jazeera. the dutch government has been ordered to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% in the next five years to help fight global warming. it comes after the government's environment altar gets were labeled as inadequate and illegal.

simon mcgregor-wood has more. >> reporter: the court's verdict declares the dutch government's climate targets illegal. [ applause ] >> reporter: it told the government to cut its carbon emissions by 25% by 2020 up from the current target of 17%. it was great news for supporters of the case. >> it's now obvious at least the judges in the netherlands feel that liability law has a role to play in addressing the climate problem. >> reporter: the landmark ruling says the dutch government must protect itself people from the effects of climate change, and it's current plans simply don't go far enough. it said, the state must do more to avert the eminent danger caused by climate change. also in few of its duty of care to protect and improve the living environment. the state is responsible for effectively controlling the dutch emission levels moreover the costs of the measures

ordered by the court are not unacceptably high. the case was brought by the agenda foundation which insists on a limit of global temperature rise of 2 degrees. dutch carbon targets have lagged behind other e.u. states using law to force the government's hand is a break through. >> we are the first in the world to do this. we are being looked 59 everywhere, all of the countries doing negotiations for the european union on climate change are watching. this could be helpful for everything. >> reporter: the case could set an important predent, with the e.u. targeting cuts of 40% by 2030. the dutch government says it needs more time to study the verdict, and it does have the right to appeal but it has just lost a crucial case in which its own policy decisions on climate change have been judged to be in

breach of the law. demonstrations against electricity prices are continuing in armenia for a third day. a central avenue in the capitol remains blocked as crowds stage a sit-in. they are angry about plans to raise the electricity tariff by up to 20%. the company is owned by a russian company. hungary has suspended european union asylum rules. the country is often a trans transroute. jonah hull spoke to many migrants on the hungarian border town. >> reporter: they could be tears of pain relief or exhaustion. for more days than many can count, they have traveled crossing borders by any means

fleeing civil war in syria for the safety of the european union. this is the welcome they get. >> yes, i see, yes yes. >> reporter: another group arrested this time from pakistan. they just walked from serbia into hungary, the latest leg of a slattering two-month journey from islamabad. where do you want to go to? >> italia spannia, germany. >> reporter: why? >> working. >> reporter: the dense forest provides good cover here and most escape the local rangers who follow their tracks through the woods. the government plans to build a 4-meter high fence to seal this 175-kilometer stretch of the border something the mayor describes as a new iron curtain, a necessary solution to stop the

influx of what he says are mainly muslim asylum seekers. >> translator: we're talking about a totally different culture. a muslim culture, a world that will collide with our european christian civilization. >> reporter: the men are answerable to him with police powers and weapons. >> translator: i'm not happy about the iron curtain because i will see it from my farmhouse. file like i'm in jail but it is necessary, because what i am worried about is this migration will push hungary into conflict terrorism, and tension. >> reporter: these people hardly resemble terrorists. this man lost his sister and her two daughters in the chase. i tried to explain that we believe they were captured a little earlier, and that we'll be reunited with them soon. so they have made it into the european union, only just into

the european union, this group of men from syria, women and children are also in the police van. they are all in the hands now of the police. and they'll be handed over shortly to the immigration authorities who will decide whether to grant them asylum or not. most of these people will be housed in an open refugee camp able to come and go which means that most will resume their journey westwards, soon to become another country's problem. jonah hull al jazeera, hungary. the falling price of afghan lamb skin is affecting the country's export industry. nicole johnston reports from northern afghanistan. >> reporter: under the harsh midday sun, this man is trying to feed his sheep. without much success. >> translator: we don't have grazing land.

this sheep is very thin. there's no grass. we don't have water. they drink at a garbage dip and get sick. >> reporter: these are sheep highly regarded for their meat wool and lamb skin. when times are tough, and farmers can't afford to raise the lambs, they kill the newborns for their pelts. from the farm the pelt is sold in the market to these export traders. a lot of bar againing goes on to try to secure a deal as well as checking the qualify of the skins. this man has brought skins to sell, but he can't get the price he wants. neither can this man. he walks out in disgust. farmers say insecurity across the north has made grain prices more expensive. and prevents them from taking sheep to the mountains to graze. exporters have problems too.

>> translator: our business here has almost collapsed exporters sold only 10% of their stocks this year at a loss. a skin we bought for $40 later sold for only 10. it is a crisis. >> reporter: thousands of people are employed washing, drying and sorting the pelts. last year over half a million were sold. it sounds like a lot, but not when you consider that 30 years ago, afghanistan was selling over 1.5 million a year. regardless, the country's largest exporter is -- ♪ we're interrupting our colleagues in doha to take you live too though white house. >> -- terrorism for privacy, for these innocent men and women, journalist journalists, humanitarians, it's

a horror. for their families and for their friends, it's an unrelenting nightmare that the rest of us cannot even begin to imagine. as a government, we should always do everything in our power to bring these americans home safe and to support their families dedicated public servants across our government work tirelessly to do so. our military personnel, risk their lives in dangerous missions such as the operation i authorized last year that attempted to rescue americans held in syria and yemen, and there have been successes, such as the rescue of captain richard phillips held by somali pirates and jessica buchanan rescued from sewomalia. more than half have ultimately come home. tragically too many others have