>> egypt declares it's in a state of war. the military says 17 oranges who were among 100 people killed in battles in northern sinai. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up from the program. more queues as the prime minister urges voters to reject the international bail out deal. >> the progress we mark 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 54 years. >> and the damage they can do, and i've seen it firsthand is quite amazing. >> and wreaking havoc on australia's great barrier reef. can be stopped welcome. >> thank you for joining us. after a day of fierce fighting egypt's prime minister has said his country is in a state of war. 17 soldiers and 100 fighters died in the battles in the northern sinai. earlier reports from medical sources suggest that as many as 30 soldiers have died. meanwhile in cairo the muslim brotherhood said nine of its members have been killed in a crackdown by egyptian security forces. >> these pictures are taken from the gaza strip. showing the egyptian town of rafa. they've put the area in lock

down. in a statement aired on state television egypt's military leadership said that 17 soldiers were killed, but that the army had also inflicted heavy casualties. >> and the armed forces personnel in the north of sinai supported by air forces hunted down and destroyed the highlights of the operatives, killing not less than hundreds terrorist operators and wounding dozens of them. >> it comes a day after egypt buried it's public prosecutor, who was killed in a car bomb attack in cairo. president allah fattah el-sisi has charged his cabinet to change laws of what it calls terrorism. violence in sinai has increased. groups have carried out a number of attacks killing dozens of soldiers. in 2014 the group became known

as province of sinai and swore allegiance to the islamic state in iraq and the levant. it carried out more attacks and proved to be prove it has killed dozens of fighters and arrested many others. approximately 700 people, fighters, soldiers and some civilians have been killed this year alone. the government has demolished hundreds of houses along the border of the gaza strip and israel. it said it is creating a five kilometer buffer zone. hundreds of families have been forcebly transferred out of their homes. but sinai's problems are not new. residents complain of neglect under development, unemployment and poverty. many hearsay that they've been treated as second class citizens by consecutive egyptian governments. al jazeera. >> the increased violence in

egypt began with the killing of the state prosecutor on money one of the dead is a prominent muslim brotherhood lawyer. they say that the brotherhood members were armed, something that the banned organization has denied. we spoke over the phone to muslim brotherhood spokesman. he gave this description of the police raid in cairo. >> we had a meeting with a group of persons from the committee responsible for supporting the families of victims. they were in the meeting. they were all assassinated in cold blood. this failed president killing and detaining many is now murdering those who support the families of those victims. the members were merely supporting the bereaved mothers

children and children of the victims. among the victims was engineer abdul ibrahim and the deputy head of the bar association. he is a legal adviser to the detainees. they both, along with the other fellow committee members were murdered. they were not armed nor were they engaged with any fighting with their assassins. they were following the affairs of the families of the detainee detainees. they murdered them instantly without warning. >> in studios we have lecturer of security studies and associate fellow at the think tank in london, thank you for joining us. let's focus on the sinai. we've seen similar clashes before. how different is this as an

escalation, and what can you tell us about this group the province of sinai? >> this is probably the largest operation so far. 15 targets, and many of them are hard targets security check points. military check points using heavy artillery 150 mortar shells, and using anti-tanks, guided missiles. and before that hey also used anti-aircraft guided missiles. today they used it again. it's quite sophisticated attacks. they have controlled their way into the counsel for a few hours, then they retreated. when they retreated i their pathways were difficult to trace them. the group has it's main routes go to 1020 period, and most of

their operations have been concentrated in the northeastern sinai, in three cities, and the villages surrounding them. but in august the crackdown they would become more or less avenging and it expended its operation to include the northwest, and then after that, the northwest and then in cairo itself. and even all the way to the western desert and the north of upper egypt. it's been expanding in its scope. the scale of operations expanding. and certainly this is egypt's most powerful armed actors in a very long time. >> it's interesting we heard from a military spokesman a few hours ago. and saying very much the military was going to pursue them until they found them. how difficult will it be for the military especially in the sinai peninsula.

geographically how easy is it to hide from the military? >> most of sinai is not that targeted. it is flat land. it's based on heavy crackdowns, widespread attacks on mainly suspects herding thousands into detention centers and torturing them until they get answers. the sinai has been mistreated since 1992 onward. the discrimination in the bureaucracy, media and policies and so on and so forth. they're fostering the ripe environment for insurgency.

this country's policies need to change. so far there is no oversight and there is more of an idea of they canthey can bomb their way out of this. >> thank you for joining us. thank you. >> thank you. >> the greek prime minister has reaffirmed that the referendum will go ahead on sunday on the country's bail out condition. and alexi tsipras is urging people to vote no. in a letter he told lenders that athens could accept their bail out offer if some conditions were changed. they asked for $29 billion loan to cover the debt repayment for the next two years. he's under growing political pressure to end the stand off

here's barnaby phillips. >> reporter: this man has a difficult job telling pensioners they have to wait. they're allowed in the bank one by one to collect some money. they've been here for hours. these scenes are not helpful for alexis tsipras just days before the referendum. but he's telling greeks that their money is safe, and they should vote now to strengthens greece's position and negotiations. >> no does not mean a split division but a return to values. no means strong pressure for an he economic agreement.

>> i always kept to what we agreed on, what our rules are what we agreed on in europe and what our national rules are. if everyone had done the same greece would not be in such a desperate situation looking for a culprit outside of greece may be helpful in greece, but it has nothing to do with reality. >> while europe's leaders bicker, what do tourists think? tourism is vital to greece's economy. we found them trekking up to the ancient acropolis. some of them oblivious to the financial crisis, some taking takingtaking it into their stride. >> i heard that the bank may be closed so i brought cash from home basically. >> we knee that there were problems over here, but now to carry on as normal as far as we're concerned about snore the greeks themselves the situation is much more worrying. they can't escape their country's financial crisis. and yet for all the tensions and disagreements in this country the vast majority of greeks have dealt with the situation with

great calm and patience. >> lela gives legal advice to bankrupt greeks. 120,000 have declared bankruptcy in the past five years. but what can she possibly tell them now? >> even as lawyers we are are afraid of what will happen next. there is a lot of upset at the moment, so we just say wait and see. we have a referendum at the end of the week. maybe some things will happen, maybe not. we'll see. >> some how amidst all this greeks have to make a momentous decision in the coming days about their country's future. barnaby phillips, al jazeera, athens. >> let's go to athens now and speak to john psaropoulos. any sort of talks going on behind the scenes or is it really the referendum on sunday

the next thing we all have to wait for? >> that really does now seem to be the thing that everyone is waiting for. earlier today the greek prime minister alexis tsipras said that it is a no vote does not mean no to europe. it does not mean no to the euro. what it means he says, is no to an unjust solution. it means that it will help put pressure on creditors to reach a solution that does not burden salaried employees and pensioners. but earlier this even after another eurozone meeting the second in two days, the chairman of that group said that we are not prepared to open up renewed talks for the greek government. he said give the rejection of the standing offer on saturday by the greek authorities and the fact that they have advised people to vote against the latest package of austerity

measures we see no grounds for discussion at this point. we shall simply await the results of the referendum on sunday, and then take that into account. this is in line with what the german chancellor said. in other words, they have turned what was meant to be a tool to bring leverage against them, they turned that against the greek government. the greek government has to hold this referendum and hope for the best. >> john psaropoulos with the latest from athens. thank you. 16 civilians have been killed and 25 wounded in rocket fire in the yemeni city of aden. health officials and eyewitnesses say that houthi rebels fired rockets into the street. they said they have fired rockets and mortar rounds into homes in other areas of the

city. the hospitals say they're overwhelmed and they're working around the clock. yemen officials have set the security response to level three, the highest. as many as 20 million people now need aid and a large proportion of these are minors. we have reports now on the flight of children caught in the conflict. >> this young girl is inconsolable. [ sobbing ] >> shocked by what's happened in the homes in her neighbor. houses that hours ago were still standing. >> why did they do this, she asks through her tears. in yemen devastation has become the norm. >> the situation in yemen is very critical especially for those who are must vulnerable

groups. >> a collective trauma, physical and emotional, that grows by the day. >> we don't have any protection environment to live in. they feel scared. they feel very insecure. >> hundreds have died since the start of the fighting. some from wounds into a treatable if only they had had access to better healthcare. >> the crisis here says this nurse gets worse because of the fuel shortage, because children like this don't have access to transportation and can't get to the hospital when they need. >> in this shelter for the displaced boys and girls recite the occur ran. praying for the end of a war that has brought more misery upon them. like the shortage of water in a

country already running out of the precious resource. and a population already without enough food. a situation so dire that the u.n. warns that yemen could be on the verge of a famine. the misery is difficult to see and hard to miss. the pain in their eyes is easy to recognize as the bruises and burns in their bodies. then there are the others. their youthful appearance hides a suffering no one their age should endure. mohamedmonth al jazeera. >> still to come on the program close for a final deal in iran's nuclear future as talks in vienna continue. and more violence in burundi as they await the results of parliamentary elections.

>> time now for the top stories on al jazeera. egypt's prime minister says its country is in a state of war after attacks left 17 soldiers dead in northern sinai. the muslim brotherhood claims nine of its members have been killed by egyptian security forces outside of the capital of cairo. one was a prominent muslim brotherhood lawyer. the greeks prime minister has reaffirmed that the greek referendum will go ahead on sunday. and alexis tsipras is urging citizens to vote no.

the u.s. in cuba are said to open embays is embassies in each other's countries. we have the announcements and implications from washington. >> a very public act of diplomacy. the u.s. representative in havana presents a letter to the interim foreign minister. washington restores its ties with the island nation after more than 50 years. >> on cuban state television a presenter reads a letter from president raul castro to barack obama, and that it's embassy will be open for business. in washington obama said that day was long overdue.

>> this is an effort to mobilize relations between the government and people. >> in the short term reestablishing ties mean that there will be increased business and personal travel between the two countries. but the process of normalization will take much longer. they want guantanamo bay returned to its control. and the u.s. embargo cannot be lifted without an act of congress, something that the president will find very difficult to achieve. >> yes, there are those who want to turn back the clock and double down on isolation but it's long pastime to realize that this approach does not work. it has not worked for 50 years. it shuts america out of cuba's future and makes life worse for cuba's people. i would ask congress to listen to the cuban people and listen to the american people. >> the move to restore ties between the u.s. and had havana

have been years in the making. senator marco rubio is threatening to block the nominee to any ambassador to the island. in havana they're focused on what this means to them. >> including today it's five times i've come to this embassy. i think it will be better yet. >> we've been in this situation for 56 years. and i think this will benefit the country in certain respects, and i think it benefits those of us who want to see our families and children who are there in the u.s. >> a turning point in diplomacy and perhaps in the lives of millions on both sides of the straits of florida. rosalind jordan al jazeera state department. >> we're live from miami. so obviously a huge cuban population in miami. what kind of reaction has there been to this yet another set

with the full normalization of relations between cuba and the u.s.? >> well, i think it's worth taking a step back in time. about ten years ago i stood on this exact spot when fidel castro ceded power to raul. talk of normalization then would really have just freaked people out. it was not even on the radar. but in the proceeding years it's been a real change here in part because of a new younger generation of cuban-americans and we've been talking to plenty of people here in little havana, even the older generations see this as progress and engagement as opposed to isolation as a good thing. there are some who are deeply opposed to even any normalization. they see obama sitting down with castro as an act of treason. but having lived here for ten

years i can see a change, and for the most part cuban americans look at this as something of a positive step after 50 years of really nothing moving forward. and i think that they're greeting it with a cautious optimism. >> andy gallagher, thank you. 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. and iran would greatly scape down and not try to build nuclear weapons. in turns sanctions would be lifted. james bays has more now from strengthen i can't. >> the details negotiations go on here. still some sticking points, and a great deal for them to get through because this is specified to be the final

agreement. they have great deal of detail to make sure that neither side of this gets done this has misunderstanding and that it gets done. the leader of the iaea, necessari' on his way to tehran to meet with president rouhani. the iaea is key because they would police any deal. and there are controversial aspects of this. for example would inspectors be allowing to everywhere in iran? would they have been allowed to go to military sites. also there are questions that the iaea has been asking iran for years about their past nuclear activities. there are some say who iran does

not come clean about what it has done in the past, how can you trust it in the future? >> let's go to brunid where five people have been killed in gun plat. it is the result of weeks of unrest. they were boy boycott and wildly condemned internationally. the survivors from the air crash in indonesia is now over now they're focusing on what caused it. the military transpore plane came down in a city, now they're investigating claims that the plane was illegally carrying paying civilian passengers.

hong kong's hand over to china has been marked by dragon dances and protests. tens of thousands demanded democratic reform on the territory. the turnout was lower than last year when around half million took part in the administration. some call for wrong congress' leaders to step down. poor water care has created danger for australia's coral reef. the 200,000 kilometer leave is the world's largest living eco ecosystem. >> when you're diving on it, most threats to australia's great barrier reef are not that obvious. although half have disappeared over the last 30 years choose your spot carefully and there

are bright corals and fish. and the cold ports being built are from here far out of sight. but one threat is all too obvious. the spikey crowd of thorn starfish. there is a plague of them down here. they feed on coral and can be toxic to fish. a team of people are fighting back injecting the starfish with point. it works but it's a huge effort. >> the amount of damage that they can do to the coral, and i've seen it firsthand, is quite amazing. the crown thorn starfish is something that we can actively do something about. >> the star fitch are thriving because of the increase in the sea of the micro plankton that their larva feed on. they can produce 60 million egg a year, far more are surviving

than there should. >> it's human activities on land that are largely to blame. >> growing sugar kane is cane is big business. the fertilizer runs from the farm down through the rivers and into the sea fertilize the plankton. >> apply chemical to 40% of the area. >> so once you put it everywhere everywhere. >> yes, yes run offs on our properties end up in the saltwater. what we do on this land does protect the reef. >> but he's a relatively young farmer around here getting his older neighbor to change their practices, too isn't easy. when barack obama came to speak

and said that he is concerned about the great barrier reef and wanted it to be there for his yet to be born grandchildren. >> al jazeera, australia's great barrier reef. [speaking spanish]