egypt says it's in a state of war of more than 30 soldiers are killed in northern sinai. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera, live from london. also coming up . . . >> the progress we marked today is another demonstration that we don't have to be imprisoned by the past. >> the u.s. and cuba resume full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than 50 years. the greek prime minister confirms a bailout will go ahead on sunday as he offers concessions to creditors. i'm andrew thomas diving on

australia's great barrier reef. it is at risk. i'll explain what farmers are doing on land that is largely to blame. ♪ hello, we begin in egypt where the prime minister says his country is in a state of war. sinai is now on lockdown, and getting images out of the area has been difficult. here are two very grainy images the egyptian military released early on. there is an armed group calling it's a the sinai province has been attacking military check points and ill ill -- installationings. the muslim brotherhood says nine members have been killed by egyptian security forces outside of the capitol cairo. it is said to have happened in a

district called sixth of october. one dead was a prominent muslim brotherhood lawyer. our correspondent has a full report on the day's violence. >> reporter: the attacks come a day after egypt buried its public prosecutor who was killed in cairo on monday. the president has ordered his cabinet to change current laws to face what we calls terrorism. since the military deposed president mohammed morsi nearly ago, violence in sinai has increased. groups like this carried out a number of attacks, killing dozens of soldiers. that group became known as province of sinai, and carried out more attacks and proved to be one of egypt's biggest threats. the military intensified its

security campaign carrying out attacks against what it says was terrorist hideouts killing dozens of fighters and injuring many more. the egyptian government has demolished hundreds of houses near the boarder with the gaza strip and israel it says it is creating a five kilometer buffer zone to prevent weapons smuggling. hundreds of families have been forcibly transferred out of their homes. residents there complain of government negligence unemployment, and poverty. many feel they are treated by the government as second class citizens. more about this joining us is the founder and chairman of the british network.

thanks for coming in. on these attacks. this is an an area that has had lots of violence in the past. how significant is this? >> obviously it's a huge tragedy and to be condemned, but at the same time it will be difficult to jump to conclusions and just think it's isil or seem to me various extremist groups have conducted such an attack and it's really turning egypt into a higher degree of turbulence more than what was say a few months ago. >> and the military they have militarized it very much in that area, haven't they? do you think they are going to shift any of their strategies? or do you think we're likely to see more soldiers being sent into the area as a result? >> i think the government has to

work more to create atmosphere of stability, confidence inside egypt, and outside of egypt too, because seems to me there is a problem regarding human rights problem regarding the rule of law, and this is bound to create some instability, so i think he needs to move really broader than what is happening now, because egypt really is going into some danger zone unknown future. >> what about the fact that we understand that nine muslim brotherhood people have been killed by egyptian security forces outside of cairo, is this is a part of the government's response. because in the past they have wanted to lock together anybody who opposes the government with what they call terrorists. is that part of that? >> i can imagine it's part of it. but the muslim brotherhood is a brood organization. it's not a -- homogenous

organization. so i think they have to work together. because long term it's not good for egypt's stability or future. >> you talked about trying to draw people in but at the moment in -- the province of sinai will they try to bring people in or have those people been disillusioned and are not likely to help the government? >> i think there is a dissolution with the government handling of the situation, and the security forces in egypt and army is quite large to be able to secure the country and the borders, and i think that's why they have to have different narrative than what they have at the moment. >> thank you very much indeed for coming to talk to us. thank you.

♪ now the u.s. and cuba are set to opium bahsies in each other's capitols restoring diplomatic ties in over 50 years. president obama announced the deal from the white house. the former cold war rivals promised to normalize relations just over six months ago. >> when we shuttered our embassy in 1961 i don't think anyone expected it would be more than half a century before it reopened. after all our nations are separated by only 90 miles. but there have been very real profound differences between our governments, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped by a certain way of doing things. for the united states that meant clinging to a policy that was

not working, instead of supporting democracy for the cuban people our efforts to isolate cuba had the opset effect. the progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that we don't have to be imprisoned by the past. >> let's go live to washington, d.c., and kim berly hall cut who is there for us. what will this mean in practice? >> reporter: we also here from secretary of state john kerry who said that what this means is we're going to see a u.s. secretary of state in havana raising a u.s. flag with the opening of the embassy. in that underscores how dramatic the change is that is taking place. in terms of practical reality, we're going to see a higher level of diplomatic relations,

while there are still sharp differences, there will be some key areas where the two nations can partner on the issue of law enforcement, transportation emergency response. the two countries are separated by about 120 kill only -- kill only tiers. >> presumably there are some people who don't like the idea. >> reporter: there are definitely people that don't like the idea. we have seen a lot of excitement around the cuba intersection here, this is what served as the de facto embassy for decades now. this is where the flag will be raised, the cuban flag for the first time in more than half a century, so there is a lot of excitement surrounding that. we have seen a new flag pole people walking by expressing

their excitement. but there are members of congress that are not that happy. there is going to be a lot of pushback to the president. many say until there are advancements of freedom of assembly, and freedom to move around the country, that the u.s. should not do that. so that is going to be a challenge for president obama, as well as the appointment of the u.s. ambassador needs to be approved by the u.s. senate and we can expect pushback there as well. the greek prime minister has reaffirmed that a referendum will go ahead on sunday. and he surging citizens to vote no. he is always reaching out to creditors a day after they missed a payment. he said that athens could accept the bailout offer if some conditions were changed. he asked for a 29 billion euro loan for the next two years.

he is under growing political pressure to end the standoff. here is more of what he said in an address to the nation about the looming referendum. >> translator: no is not just a slogan it's a resolute step for a better solution which we aim to sign straight after the result on sunday. it's a clear choice for the people for how they will live the next day. no doesn't mean a split division with europe but a return to european values. no means strong pressure for an economically viable agreement that will give solutions to the debt. >> barnaby phillips has the latest from athens. >> reporter: this man has a difficult job, telling pensioners they have to wait. they are allowed into the bank one by one to collect some money. they have been here for hours. all of this is not helpful for the greek government in the days before the referendum.

it says it still wants a compromise with creditors. sgljs we are trying to remedy the situation. we are trying to keep the channels of communication open because we want an agreement, because we think that an agreement is good for both sides, where the lack of an agreement is going to be devastating, we think, both for the euro zone and for our country. >> reporter: the greek prime minister has suffered new concessions. but the german's say there is nothing to talk about until after the greek referendum. >> translator: we're waiting for the referendum talks can't take place before the referendum and it isn't possible anyway because it would require approval of the [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: what do tourists think? tourism is vital to the greek

economy. >> i heard that the bank may have been closed so i just brought some cash from home basically. >> i know there's problems over here but just carry on as normal as far as we're concerned. >> reporter: for the greeks themselves the situation is much more worrying and yet for all of the tensions and disagreements, the vast majority of greeks have dealt with the situation with great calm and patience. leila gives legal advice to bankrupt greeks. but what can she possibly tell them now? >> even as -- as lawyers, we are afraid about what will happen next. there is a lot of insecurity and uncertainty at the moment so we just say wait and see. we'll have the referendum at the end of the week. maybe some things will happen.

maybe not. we'll see. >> reporter: somehow amidst all of this greeks have to make a momentous decision in the coming days about their country's future. let's go live to athens now. john within the last hour the euro leader says he sees little chance of progress after the prime minister's latest speech. what is the expectation about what is going to happen next? >> reporter: well i think at this point, since we know the referendum is going ahead on sunday, we just have to wait for that point to be reached. that's the new data that europeans are waiting to receive. they want to know what the feeling among the people is. do they want to stay within the framework, or reenter one at this point, or are there other more confrontational mind set like the government, and do they want to sail off into a different direction. monday is the day when we will

have a significant new leap forward in developments, i think. this is what the prime -- prime minister said. he said this situation is temporary, salaries and pensions will not be lost. i assume the responsibility of finding a solution immediately after the referendum. i think this is why creditors don't think there has been a lot of progress. he hasn't essentially changed his message. he still believes his european creditors and the international financial institutions that they are attached to in this greek bailout, are essentially hostile to the welfare of the greek people and to his government, and he still wants this no vote to use as a battering ram to break through the austerity logic that governs these bailout

packages for greece. so even though he has put out the current proposal as the object of this referendum surely he will attempt to improve upon it if he gets his no vote and surely creditors will in turn attempt to make it an even tougher deal for greece if they get the yes vote. >> okay. let's cross live to frankfort. dominic they have been discussing this in the german parliament with some pretty tough language especially from the finance minister. >> reporter: that's right, lauren. there with two meetings taking place this afternoon. one in the building behind me here the european central bank where a non-monetary council is discussing the potential of making the collateral that greek banks offer in turn for the ela we have been talking about this week making the collateral they

offer, making them offer more. that could have a profound effect indeed. with some suggesting that some way go to the wall if that will happen. there are provisions that government the eab that make that possibility remote, but it is being discussed. and then the finance ministers, as you mentioned, [ inaudible ] will be taking part in talks with his counterparts. but we know that yesterday they rejected the proposals, so again, there's a sense of uncertain city of what decisions might by taking place. we also know as we heard in barnaby's piece, mrs. merkel says there can be no negotiations until the referendum, but other countries around the euro zone have not necessarily shared that sentiment. the french government thought that negotiation could happen

prior to the vote that referendum on sunday, but of course we have always heard from the italian prime minister who said as others have that the greek people face a vote which will be entailing chooses between the drachma, or the euro, that again shows you the sense of uncertainty that euro zone voters share and feel. >> thank you very much indeed. still ahead on the program talks inch closer to a final deal on iran's nuclear future. and calls for help in this yemen as the u.n. says 20 million people need aid. ♪

hello again, a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. egypt's prime minister says his country is in a state of war after an attack left more than 30 soldiers dead in sinai. president obama has announced his country is restoring full diplomatic ties with cuba. and the greek prime minister has reaffirmed that the referendum will go ahead on sunday. he is urging citizens to vote no. nuclear talks between iran and six world powers are continuing to make progress according to the iranian foreign minister. negotiations are ramping up as the head of the u.n. atomic agency visits tehran.

under the agreement in april, iran would scale down his program and agree not to build nuclear weapons. james bayes is in vienna. so how are the negotiating going? >> reporter: it's clearly moving forward, but very slowly. that's because there are still difficulties but also because this is supposed to be the final agreement, so they don't want any misunderstandings. we have had further meetings with the u.s. secretary of state and the iranian foreign minister. we're expecting other foreign ministers to come here in the next few hours. the idea is to give this whole process momentum. perhaps more importantly on thursday, we have a visit from the head of the international at atomic energy agency to tehran

to see the president. key in this if there is a deal they have to police the deal. where would their inspectors be allowed to go in would they go to military sites. also they have been asking for details about iran's past nuclear activities and they haven't had the answers that they want to those questions, and some would say if iran won't come clean about its past how can you trust them in the future. and they wanted to talk about the deal on embassies regarding cuba. it was interesting that he linked the two issues saying what could be achieved with leadership in the world. and president obama only has about 18 months left in office so very much these two works in progress, cuba and iran are being looked at i think, by the

administration as the possible items that could be his foreign policy legacy. >> james bayes thank you very much indeed. now the u.n. has raised its emergency response to the humanitarian situation in yemen to level 3 the highest. a will be in place for the next six months. more than 1400 civilians have been killed by fighting since march. as many as 20 million people need aid. at least 16 civilians have been killed and 25 wounded in the city of aden. officials say houthi rebels fired rockets into the treatstreets. caroline malone reports. >> reporter: a trail of blood after a houthi attack in the city of aden. rocket fire began before dawn when many were outside preparing for daytime fasting for the

muslim holy month of ramadan. more rockets hit later in the morning. >> translator: there were thousands of shells and rockets that landed in the area. it's an area packed with civilians. it's not a military area. >> reporter: on tuesday night, houthi attacks hit other parts of aden. last week they blew up an oil plant. this is where president hadi lived before the left for saudi arabia. >> translator: the residences are suffering a lot because of the smoke billowing for days. >> reporter: the government says the international community has not done enough to help the people. >> in fact in aden now the world food program ship has been prevented, in fact attacked by the houthis, and not allowed to

unload its shipment of milk for children medicines, food for aden, and the civilians. >> reporter: the united nations has called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of aid to areas that are difficult to reach. by neither saudi-lead air strikes, nor talks have been able to stop the violence. five police officers have been killed in gun violence in burundi. people are burundi are waiting to hear the result of monk monday's parliamently elections. the search for survivors in indonesia's air crash is over. 122 were in the plane and 19 on the ground have been confirmed

dead after the military transport plane came down. the air force is investigating claims that the c150 hercules was illegally carrying fee-paying civilian passengers. poor water quality, pollution, and climate change mean the future is bleak for australia's great barrier reef. that is the report from unesco. the reef is the world's largest living ecosystem. >> reporter: when you are diving on it, most threats to australia australia's great barrier reef aren't that obvious. although half of it has disappeared over the last few years, choose your spot carefully, and there are still beautiful corral and fish. the but one threat is all too

obvious, the spiky crown of thrown star fish. they feed on corral and can be toxic to fish. this is one of a team of people fighting back injecting the star fish with poison. it works, but is a huge effort. >> the amount of damage they can do to the coral is quite amazing. the coral is facing enough threat, this is something we can actively do something about. >> reporter: the star fish are thriving because of the increase of plainton that they thrive on. one star fish can produce up to 60 million eggs a year. there have been outbreaks of the star fish in the past but this latest is the worst, and it's human activities on land that are largely to blame.

growing sugar gain is big business here. it's farmers use fertilizers but when the excess washes into the sea, the fertilizers feed the plainton, this man has changed his fertilizing practices. >> basically we are only applying chemical on 40% of the area. >> reporter: but once you would have put it everywhere. >> oh, yeah. yeah. >> what we do on this land does effect the reef. >> reporter: but this is a relatively young farmer around here getting his older neighbors to change their practices too isn't easy. when barack obama came here last november, he told students he was worried about the great barrier reef. his concern echos the united nations, action globally and locally is needed for the reef

to survive. plenty more stories for you any time on our website. the address is aljazeera.com, and of course details of the attacks in egypt and all of the breaking news, aljazeera.com. a new era for relations between the united states and cuba. president obama makes an historic announce about reopening embassies. plus a new offer from greece as it tries to hammer out a deal to repay its debt. what the greek government is proposing. and the puerto rico government manages to keep the power on but the moves may not be enough to overcome their financial crisis.