only on al jazeera america. >> saudi arabia says it's carried out a isil sweep inside its borders arresting 400 people. welcome to al jazeera. also ahead why iran's neighbors are concerned about the nuclear deal between tehran and world powers. greece remains in the european union, but it is seeing another kind of grexit. people leaving athens and relocating to america. and shipment containments from rubbish from canada are at the

center of dispute in the philippines. saudi arabia has arrested more than 400 people it says have links to the islamic state of iraq. they are accused of plotting suicide attacks. >> reporter: with raids and seizures of guns, money and computers, saudi arabia's interior ministry says it's dealt a massive blow to isil. saudi security forces arrested 431 people. they say they are tied on the armed group. >> translator: within the past few weeks we have put an end to isil in saudi arabia, a group that threatens our society. >> reporter: the suspects are from across the middle east and africa. they are believed to have been involved in the bombings of

mosques in which at least 33 people were killed. security forces say they have also foiled six other attacks being planned against saudi targets. >> translator: isil is trying to create a rift in the kingdom. they want to create chaos which includes the citizens from saudi arabia and other countries. >> reporter: saudi arabia is hoping they have squashed the ability of isil to recruit more fighters. a professor of near eastern studied says these latest arrests won't be the last ones. >> he know that the islamic state is trying to promote its propaganda and it's use in saudi arabia and targets saudi arabia. temperature wants.it wants to take over two holy

mosques. it's put out propaganda against the royal family. i know that the ministry of interior has been diligent in trying to find its supporterings and to hunt them down and arrest them. this is not the first set of arrests. i suspect it will not be the last. moving on to other news, the government in egypt have killed seven soldiers. fighting broke out after the assault. fighters used rocket propelled grenades against soldiers, but the military bases were attacked earlier in july when an armed group calling itself south of the province. there is fighting against the rebels. reports say forces loyal to the exiled government are advancing. earlier they took control of the

southern city before the fightersfighters were killed. several ministers loyal to the exiled president have been meeting for the first time since they were pushed out of the port city. they are trying to find ways to take control of other provinces under rebel control. north koreans are heading to the polls to vote in local elections. they are held every four years to vote for city council. these are the first local elections since kim jung ung came to power. we are joined from seoul. given that there can only be one name on the ballot papers, how important are the elections? what's the point? >> there are a number of reasons to have this. of course, the country itself is called the democratic people's

rub ofrepublic of korea. we might see these in other parts of the world. there is more than one party in north korea but they come under the leadership of the workers party. and there is only one name on each ballot paper. what it does allow for the leadership to put in place people it wants to that owe allegiance to kim jung ung. this is the first time the elections have taken place. last year there was the full parliamentary elections which are much more senior in nature. it allows the government to keep an eye on people. it's essentially a census. people are expected to vote.

last time this took place 99.97% turnout. this allows the officials in the local areas to see people that are where they are supposed to be, they haven't crossed the border into china for economic reasons or defection. so it does enable the leadership to keep tabs on people. one other thing the newspaper of the north korean state said each vote that is cast in election an expression of the loyalty of the people of the republic and upholding the thoughts and leadership of our respected marshall. >> in terms of the legitimacy, he has put emphasis on the economy. how successful has that been? >> well, certainly he has spoken about the economy and the need to energize the economy since he took over from his father. that's not entirely a new thing.

i think there is a sense of urgency in that under kim jung ung, some of the reforms haven't come to fruition. there is modest economic growth. south korea's national bank that does an estimate of the figures they use the intelligence agency and other sources it said on friday that north korea was experiencing its fourth straight year of economic growth, 1.1% last year, which is fairly mod evidence. it's a falling down from the year before. but the agricultural, fishing industry up 1.2%. but it's still a tiny slice of the economy we see here in south korea. it's about 2% valued at 30 billion u.s. dollars. but what is happening behind the scenes is important.

both the regime and the people of north korea recognized the only way to make a living and to keep going is to indulge in private markets. so the north korean regime, although those sorts of markets are off the books and illegal there is recognition that they are very important to the find of informal trade with china across the border and the informal markets that happen across north korea are an important part of the north korean economy even though it still resists the official opening up, the chinese style opening up, that china continues to recommend. >> thank you. to greece now the prime minister has sworn in new ministers into his cabinet. the reshuffle saw nine changes including labor and energy managers. cabinet members who opposed the

austerity. one of the cabinets' first job was to sign off the reopening of banks. they will open doors on monday. people will be allowed to take out 420 euros per week. transit abroad is still restricted. many greeks are going abroad. it's estimated 200,000 have left since the start of the financial crisis. we report from new york,. >> reporter: she has been making stuffed grape leafs. the traditional food he cooked he makes at a market in new york's greek neighborhood. >> the job is slowly, too much customer don't have money to eat

in the tavern. >> reporter: his wife says they are among the lucky ones able to come to the united states legally thanks to relatives who are u.s. citizens. >> family, two daughters. and when you see the situation the economy situation it's difficult. thinking about your child. >> reporter: here news of the greek financial crisis is followed closely. everyone seems to know someone from the old country who is struggling. this new york neighborhood looks like a second wave of greek immigration. the first one happened in the 1940s and early 1950s after the greece civil war. the most recent was 2010 with the financial crisis. since then the number of greeks seeking legal residence in the united states has gone up nearly 60%. the numbers overall are relatively small.

less than 2,000 greeks came legally in 2013. but those who work with immigrants say they are also seeing an increase in greek whose come on tourist visas and try to stay and work illegally. >> people want to do the right thing, they don't have family here. unless you are related to a citizen or resident, it's difficult to come here legally whether through neighbor base, visa lottery. >> reporter: are petro was born in the united states but raised in greece. he came back at the start of the crisis reluctantly. >> the plan is to make enough money and go back home. i consider greece home. >> leaving home and family and friends is hard. >> better economy i go tomorrow. >> but no one has plans to move back any time soon. south african president is

in hospital. he was admitted for a scheduled procedure to have gall stones removed. he's expected to be discharged on sunday. saturday would have been the 97th birthday of late south african leader nelson mandela. thousands of people have been honoring his legacy around the world. his former wife paid tribute by donating blankets and food to the elderly. mandela died in 2013. still to come, how iran's new nuclear agreement could bring it out of isolation and into big business. and small businesses in venezuela blame the government for tough times.

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>> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrap-up of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global

perspective on the news. weeknights on al jazeera america. >> good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. saudi arabia has arrested 431 people suspected of having links to isil. it's prevented suicide attacks on mosques security forces and diplomatic mission. north koreans are heading to the polls. in most districts people will only be able to choose a single candidate. south korean media said it's compulsory. greece has sworn in new

ministers. members who opposed austerity measures. two of iran's leaders have spoken out about the deal with world powers. iran's supreme leader tried to appease hard line supporters. he said the anti-u.s. policy won't be changing. iran's president struck a more conconciliatory tone. there is skeptical reaction from two of the u.s.'s allyies. >> reporter: so you did i deputy crowned prince getting a tour of the u.s. aircraft carrier roosevelt patrolling in gulf waters off iran. another effort to reassure the

saudis that their seven decade long alliance with washington remains stedfast. it's an attempt to reinforce that message. the saudis reached more than $90 billion in weapons deals with the u.s., sales that include war planes, a are mored vehicles and bombs. some of that hardware has been deployed along with its partners in their involvement in yemen's war. the u.s. is providing the saudis with intelligence and logics against the rebels. >> we are supporting their operations in yemen in the way i described earlier. the objective there is to restore a political process there in which a legitimate government can be established.

>> reporter: but that cooperation hasn't quieted saudi anxiety over what they call iran's mischief across the region. the military lifelines to assad. >> this comes back to the rivalry and the idea that the u.s. isn't pushing back hard enough on iranian influence in the gulf. >> reporter: as for israel which is developing advanced weapons carter will follow up his boss' message to israeli prime minister netanyahu last week. >> i'm prepared to go further than this administration has gone before in providing them additional security insurances. >> reporter: they are unspoken, but not enough to keep netanyahu from giving up his appeal to the u.s. congress to reject the deal.

we have a professor of world studies at university of tehran. good to have you with us on al jazeera. are saudi arabia's anxieties warranted? >> i don't think so. the.it's iran's nuclear program. the nuclear program is going to be monitored heavily it's going to be reduced in size. they should welcome the agreement that would lessen iran's nuclear capabilities. the real problem i think saudis and israelis have is about iran's economic benefits, some of the sanctions lifted or suspended. they don't mind seeing iran's

nuclear program limited but seeing iran does better economically. i think that's what they are worried about. >> iran is involved in the region, it's involved in syria and yemen. what about the concern that by restoring iran's potential access to billions of dollars in frozen funds around the world the agreement won't free it to finance what they see as a campaign of aggression in the region. >> i think it's correct statement saying that when iran is able to access economic markets or is able to access its own money in international banks, iran's economy will be in better shape. that part of the statement is accurate. iran, the second part of the statement about aggression and terminologies like that i think

is naturally what we need to hear. if iran was not opposing syria you would have isil controlling syria. if iran was not helping iraq, isil would control iraq. >> but assad has killed more people in syria than isil has. >> the problem we had in syria about four years ago the united states government and some of its allies in this part of the world are paying money and giving weapons to whoever was fighting assad. that's the creation of isil. what is happening in iraq is the result of the continuation of isil. isil originated from all this money and weapons that were given to it by united states and some of the countries in this region. we cannot only blame the assad

government for killings in syria. i think both sides are responsible for the deaths that you see in syria. in order to stop that type of killing, a serious change in u.s. policy needs to happen. instead of invading countries in yemen they are killing 200 civilians every day is not really a good idea. as long as these wrong policies continue, i think you have difficulty iran is not going to sit idly. it's going to use its influence to fight back. this agreement will help iran to do that. >> thank you very much for your time. thank you. >> thank you. the nuclear deal tsunami enabling iran to restore normal trade with countries one is

germany. a delegation is due to arrive in tehran in hopes of securing new business. we look at what opportunities might now exist in iran as western sanctions are gradually lifted. >> reporter: there is a flip side to years of economic isolation and that happens when you finally emerge from it. with its population of 80 million people waiting for foreign input businesses are keen to engage with iran. this is no sudden thing. the steps have been taken in the past year as these nuclear negotiations have been happening. it means already iran is finalizing oil and gas deals with the world's biggest crude producers. tehran needs 400 new aircraft worth up to $20 billion. germany expects to sell more cars, more chemicals renewable

energies to iran. exports could start at 10 billion euros from 2.4 last year. apple is looking for a distribution partner in iran. the tech market there is estimated to grow to $16 billion annually from just 4 billion now. all told that iranian population we mentioned of close to 80 million people is likely to spend $176 billion this year. there is an annual disposable income at stake of $287 billion. the key to tehran's door looks like it might be a long one. we are getting breaking news from gaza. there have been a series of explosions in the gaza strip. palestinians have been injured in six car bombs. security sources say the blasts took place at the same time. the cars are believed to belong to officials in hamas its military wing and the group

islamic jihad. we'll get you more information on that as we get it. venezuela is facing one of the worst economic crisis in its history. some struggling business owners are pointing the blame at tight government controls. virginia lopez reports from caracas. >> reporter: the end of the book is something some experts predicted could happen in this digital age. in this small book shop, technology could end that which they love most. venezuela's inflationary economy, the business of culture is at risk from disappearing from years of government controls on the flow of money. >> translator: the government has been incredibly obtuse in economic matters. no economy can benefit from stodge controls. >> reporter: facing the issues it does including a chronic

shorteddage of paper it's all that more surprising. >> investing in venezuela is risky mainly because of these negative or hostile attitude by the government toward the private sector. that's the main reason why private production has declined in venezuela severely. that is contributing to create scarsty problem in venezuela. >> reporter: large companies have the financial muscle that smaller companies lack. hosting lectures and staging cultural event part of the strategy they have conceived of to survive. theirs is a business model based on resistance. >> translator: it affects all of the supply chain even the cultural sector. our only means of survival, one that has gone hand in hand with culture has been to reclaim spaces people abandon.

>> reporter: but not all business owners have been as happy. the crippling effects of the economic crisis can be seen her in the multitude of shops that have closed and in these whose shelves lay bare. the country loses cultural institutions that keep its memory alive and could help to rebuild it. protesters in the philippines are talking trash about dozens of garbage containers that were dumped in their country over two years ago. >> reporter: waste management often means big business. for the philippines it means struggling to dispose of rubbish. now it's expected to deal with another country's garbage too. more than two years after the seizure of these containers of garbage brought into the country from canada by a private

company, the waste still remains here. environmentalists say it is unacceptable to make the philippines carry the burden of chemical impacts. >> it's not only an environmental problem. for other nations developed countries to dump their illegal waste here in the philippines. >> reporter: the containers have been at the center of a dispute. the philippines customs impounded the shipment over concerns that the contents were under-declared and undervalued. they are calling on canada to take the containers back. currently there is no law which the government of canada can apply in this case to compel the ship tore return his container to canada. >> both canada and the

philippines are signatories to the convention which stops countries from exporting waste overseas. the philippines government filed charges against the local importer but the canadian exporter remains uncharged. it has become a national issue here. this is a hearing in the provincial office in the northern part of the philippines. a senate hearing is expected to happen soon. >> i can't imagine anything, what garbage problem. >> reporter: the philippine government's bureau of customs and environmental offices have allegations of corruption and negligence. just three of the 55 containers were inspected. they were chosen by customs officials. six other containers remain

unaccounted for. the dispute over which government agency is to blame is continuing. for most people here, it's about the indignity of accepting rubbish from a richer and more powerful country like canadian. on "america tonight", the weekend edition, cosmic cash, buying in on the most valuable souvenirs from space. >> you orbit the moon, or did it go to the moon and land. if it landed on the moon, was it taken out. >> "america tonight"s adam may with the lowdown. and gearing up... ..the pentagon's most expensive weapon system. off.