burundi's opposition is going for a unity government to avoid conflict today after a controversial presidential election. we're li hello there. i'm in doha and also coming up on the program. trying to ease fears after the iran deal. u.s. defense secretary ashton carter travels to saudi arabia on the third leg of his middle east tour. we look at how that iran deal could lead to an arms race across the region. plus. >> get on the floor. i will light you up.

get down now! >> this shows the arrest of an african-american woman who died in jail three days later. a murder inquiry is underway. a leading burundi opposition figure is calling for the formation of a unity government following a controversial election. the vote was boycotted by some but the electoral commission says preliminary results show a 74% voter turnout. the incumbent president is expected to win a third consecutive term. let's speak to harry. what's interesting about this call for a unity government is the president says he doesn't oppose that. >> reporter: exactly, it's true. the talks about the unity government went on before the election happened but the

president wants the election over and done with first and wants to be sworn in for the third term. it's only under the condition he could serve out the next five-year term. will all those that are part of this unity government the opposition members will they agree to this? if they do who else is in it? what roles do they play? there are many opposition leaders. what roles they will play the ones that fled the country, are they going to be allowed back in? what is clear is a lot more talks and dialogue needs to go on. key officials, those that know that's the only way to avoid the conflict, they seem to agree they need to talk. once they start talking, how quickly will they get to forming this national unity if it's formed. >> could this be a solution to averting possible violence? do unity governments work in africa? >> reporter: well mostly let's look at kenya in 2008.

they formed a unity government. then in zimbabwe you had a unity government with his rival, and he was president and he was prime minister. it was a temporary compromise. it seemed to work for at least five years. some critics say when the five-year term ended, the opposition parties that joined the then unity government left weaker than when they started. they were eaten up by the ruling party by the people in charge at the time. some people are concerned. the key thing is of course the issue is not just slapping people together. these opposing sides use differences between themselves as politically, ideologically and whatever the iesh yous are. putting them together may not be the solution. it may be a temporary compromise. is it a long-term, lasting solution. >> thank you for that. human rights watch is

accusing south sudan's army of committing war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. in its report the rights group says soldiers crushed people with military vehicles as they were fleeing violence. it also says members of the army gang-raped women and burned people alive. the allegations are said to be based on interviews with some victims and witnesses from unity state. there's been fighting in south sudan since december 2013. let's speak to philip, the spokesman for south sudan's military. he joins us now on the line from duba. philip these are very serious allegations against the south sudanese military. allegations of crushing civilians and gang-raping women and burning civilians alive. what is the response of the south sudanese military? >> first of all, if you look at the time frame of the reporting, it's the same report that was

mentioned by the united nations. this is by human rights and if that's the report in the same period and the same place of reporting, there's still a command by saying we're investigating into these allegations, these reports. we're conducting the reports and the organized forces. it's where the united nations agencies are on the ground will be part and parcel of the investigation to make it more transparent. >> just to clarify, just to clarify, philip you say that an investigation is taking place into these allegations? >> yes, the process has already

started. the staff has composed an investigation team that is going to the ground to conduct the investigation. >> have south sudanese soldiers been told that they cannot act like this? why are they acting like this in the first place? >> you are reacting by the report. that's not verified. these reports must be verified first. >> they were based on interviews with 174 victims and witnesses. it's said to be based on 174 victims and witnesses. >> we have the report which is unscientific. you cannot judge this on people that are supporting the opposition. let us together with the human rights and the united nations go

to the ground and conduct a thorough investigation. >> if these reports are found to be verified will anyone be held to account? >> definitely. they will be have found to be violated the laws and rules of engagement of the army and will be taken to court. we are saying south sudan requires accountability. they must be held accountable to whatever atrocities that will be found through the investigation. >> philip thank you for speaking to us. that's philip aguar, the spokesperson for the south sudanese military there. ashton carter held talks with the saudi king on the third stop of the middle east tour. he also visited israel and jordan. he's trying to ease fears over the nuclear deal reached with

iran last week. ashton carter spent monday and tuesday talking to his counterpart in israel as well as the prime minister netanyahu. the ally in the region strongly criticized the deal but carter said friends can disagree. also on tuesday the defense secretary briefly visited a u.s. base in jordan another important ally. he addressed soldiers from six countries fighting in an anti-isil coalition. now he's in saudi arabia to meet defense ministers from the gulf countries. they're all worried about the deal with iran. there are concerns that that deal could lead to a military build-up in the region. >> reporter: the u.s. defense secretary isn't just offering moral support to allies in the region. he's thought according to several news reports to be bringing with him promises of billions of dollars of conventional weapons. the obama administration has broken records in its weapon sales to the middle east. it's significantly weakened arms

export controls. in fact one state department official testified that it was a major preoccupation of all top u.s. foreign policy officials. how to sell more weapons on every continent. no matter how volatile the region. the obama administration sold $64 billion of weaponry. this year kuwait will by $3 billion. the uae was $200 million of drone technology with $130 million in ammunitions in the pipeline. the u.s. and israel were reported already to be in talks for what was described as a multi-billion dollars weapons compensation package for the iranian deal. saudi arabia spent $80 billion on weaponry last year. it's waiting for $2 billion in u.s. helicopters. for the obama administration a middle east conventional arms race isn't an unfortunate consequence but a separate policy decision. the proliferation analysts the

u.s. priority is preventing a nuclear weapons race not a conventional one. >> the united states has long been a supplier of weapons to many of the states. the french have the british have, the russians have. there have been buyers. these are oil-rich countries that are not spending their money where they ought to which is on the health and welfare of the people of their countries. if you asked me for my opinion. >> reporter: once this arms buildup in the gulf was seen in terms of deterrents things have changed. the weapons are now being used from yemen to bahrain to libya. even those at the forefront find it difficult to conceive of the u.s. deses claitting the region especially as competitors continue to do business. >> it's not just the united states that's selling arms. you can go and register and see who is selling weapons. >> they're selling arms in these

areas? >> we have to make sure we don't sell types of weapons that fuel conflicts. >> reporter: it's yet to be seen whether that is possible. al jazeera, washington. the airport in aden re-opened after being closed for four months. a saudi military plane was the first to land on wednesday. it was taken by the houthis last week by the forces. more than 20 iraqi soldiers and the fighters supporting them have been killed in twin suicide attacks. isil fighters are being blamed. the attacks are part of the battle between iraqi forces and the group in anbar province. we have a report from baghdad. >> reporter: this is a rare look at iraq's latest operation in anbar province against isil. this footage was shot with the permission of iraq security forces. they've launched what's been

described as the first phase to cut isil supply lines and to surround the cities of fallujah and ramadi. iraqi shore soldiers and pmf are shelling houses this he say contain isil fighters. >> translator: we are bombarding them with jets and shelling as well as within the perimeters of fa lieullujah fallujah. we have all the forces for phase one of the offensive. >> reporter: by cordoning over ramadi and fallujah they hope to strengthen the positions and retake the towns from isil fighters. pro mief government sunni forces involved in the fight and call on fellow sunni muslims to leave the cities. >> translator: we are aiming for the next 48 hours to completely finish the cordon across ramadi. we call on all the remaining people deceived by isiel to

leave the city so they won't be held accountable by isil. we consider anyone remaining with the group to be a isil accomplice. >> reporter: this warning is a sign of how tough the battle will be. many sunni fighters have taken sides with isil and say they would rather die than surrender. there's no indication when this operation will be over but isil is a formidable foe using car bombs to great tactical advantage. the iraqis say that is a decisive operation and when the cities of ramadi and fallujah will fall the whole of anbar province is back under government control. you're with al jazeera. still to come on the program, find out why fishermen in west africa are damaging their waters to feed an asian appetite. stay with us.

welcome back. here are the top stories. they're calling for the formation of a unity government following a controversial election. it was boycotted by some but the electoral commission says preliminary results show 74% voter turnout. the incumbent president is expected to win a third consecutive term. a south sudanese military spokesman told al jazeera that investigations are underway into accusations by human rights watch that its soldiers committed war crimes. they say they crushed people with military vehicles gang-raped women and burned people alive.

the u.s. secretary of defense ashton carter held talks with saudi king solomon on the third stop of the middle east tour. he also visited israel and jordan. carter is trying to ease fears over the nuclear deal reached with iran last week. turkey now in the kurdish group the pkk says it was behind the killing of two police officers overnight on the border with syria. the shooting comes two days after an explosion killed 32 people in the same region. a statement from the pkk says the turkish police were killed to avenge the kurds who died in that suicide bombing blamed on isil. earlier on wednesday the turkish government blocked access to twitter to prevent images from monday's blast on social media. there's an attempt to stop twitter users calling for protesting against the government. access has been restored after most of the images being shared were deleted.

let's get more from turkey's border crossing with syria. >> reporter: this is the armed wing of the kurdistan workers party, that outlawed party pkk in turkey. they put a statement out saying this was a retaliatory killing and these two officers were targeted in the region because the pkk is saying they cooperated with isil. this act the pkk has said is done as revenge for that suicide blast that killed 32 people in the community center just two days ago. this is really underscoring just how tense things have gotten here on the border. a lot of the kurdish population here very angry with the turkish government. they say that they knew they would be targeted and they're not surprised that they were targeted and they think they will be targeted more in the future, and they think that the turkish government has in effect allowed isil to infiltrate this area and vant done enough to protect especially kurdish citizens in the area and that's

raising alarm bells in the community. the turkish government has said repeatedly over the past few days they're going after isil. they believe that isil is behind this attack own though nobody claimed responsibility for the attack. in fact, the turkish government today released the identity of the primary suspect in that suicide bombing. this is a turkish citizen that went into syria six months ago and crossed back over the border into turkey about ten days ago. the turkish government is trying to calm the community here, trying to tell people that they will increase security measures that they will do everything they need to do to protect turkish sit sfwlens and kurdish citizens here. a lot of those statements are falling on deaf ears particularly on the border where we are. at least 25 people have been killed and 38 others wounded in the suicide attack in afghanistan. a bomber detonated explosives at a central market in alamar district in the northern

province. jennifer glasse has more from kabul. >> reporter: the department has been an area where there's a lot of taliban fighting. the taliban still control a number of villages and there have been offensives going up there as the afghan military tries to clear the area. the vice president has been up there saying that it is his home area, and he says he will not leave until the taliban are cleared from the area. the apparent target of the suicide attack was afghan security forces but we understand that the hospital is full of injured civilians. eight people have been arrested after a group of protesters in australia stormed sydney's chinese consulate. the tibetans were protesting against the death of a prominent tibetan monk who died serving life in prisons in southwest china. one demonstrator climbed the flagpole and took down the chinese flag. >> we don't know what's going on

in tibet because china has cut everything everything they keep secret. thousands of haitians are demanding a boycott of products from neighboring dominican republic. they protest against the deportation of haitian migrants and migrants of haitian die descent. it could leave 200,000 people in legal limbo and stateless. >> there are hundreds of kids and mothers and people just being brought back from the dominican republic and this is racism. this is a humanitarian crisis. this is something that a country does not do. does not do. they were born there and are dominicans, and they have no right to do what they're doing to them. more than a dozens of pair guy named themselves to wooden crosses after losing their jobs. they say they will continue the

protest until dozens of fired transport workers are reinstated. venezuelan opposition leader ma macado will fight a ruling barring her from elections. elections are due in december in venezuela. polls show the opposition is leading as many say they're tired of chronic shortages of inflation. there's a growing sfut in the u.s. over the cause of death of a black woman in custody. she was pulled over not using her indicator and arrested in the state of the texas. three days later she was found hanged in her jail cell. >> get out of the car now, or i'm going to remove you. >> i'm calling my lawyer. >> i'm going to yank you out of here. >> reporter: at a time when the spotlight is on law enforcement in the united states this happens. >> get out of the car!

i will light you up. >> wow. >> get out now. >> wow. >> what should have been a routine traffic warning turns sour. >> you don't have to yell. >> the local police chief admits the officer did not follow the correct procedures. >> we've got us a situation that doesn't matter where it happens that there's an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous. throughout the entire contact, and that wasn't the case in this situation. >> you're about to break my wrist. can you stop? you're about to break my wrist. >> some people find this video released by texas police uncomfortable to watch. >> do it now! stop it! >> some of the most dramatic parts stay place off camera making it even harder to ascertain what's happening. three days later sandra is found dead in her police cell. >> the harris county medical examiner's office listed the manner of death as suicide. >> reporter: that's not the way

her family and friends see it. at a memorial service on tuesday, sandra's mom had this to say. >> that was my baby. she wasn't my convict. she wasn't a suspect. she was my baby. the real issue here is something occurred that is going to be change the world. >> reporter: her family insists she could not have been suicidal because she was excited about starting a new job. sandra bland's death has added to the tense race relations in america. >> we are in a state of emergency. here in texas we are not afraid of isis. we're afraid of the police. >> reporter: in the last year there's been two high-profile cases where unarmed black men died in altercations with white officers triggering protests riots, and calls for major reforms. it's not clear if the arrest is linked to bland's death. while her family waits for the

results of a federal investigation, the authorities are asking people not to rush to judgment. greece's parliament is getting ready to vote on proposed changes to the judicial and financial system. it's part of a bailout with the creditors. talks continue on friday if lawmakers pass the new rules thanks to measures to speed up court cases and ways to deal with failed banks. italian coast guard a she rescued 414 migrants as sea off the libyan coast. four newborn babies and a child were among them. thousands of migrants drowned in the mediterranean since the beginning of the year. most are fleeing the violence and try to cross the sea to europe. the issue of migration has been part of talks held at the vatican. mayors and governors from major world cities discuss how changes in the earth's climate lead to human trafficking.

pope francis has urged leaders to take bold action at the u.n. in november. that's when a meeting to forge an international agreement on climate change will be held. >> translator: we must get the united nations to take an interest in this. i have a great hope for the party summit in november that a fundamental agreement is reached. a great hope but the united nations needs to take a very strong stand on this most of the in the trafficking of human beings caused by change. >> a remarkable find at the university of birmingham in england is thought to be the world's oldest koran. they date the parchment made of sheep or goat skin to between 568 and 645 a.d. that's from the time when the prophet mow ham mepd would have been alive. the muslim manuscript is an early form of written arabic.

conservationists in ghana same fishermen are putting ocean biodiversity at risk because they target sharks. the university of ghana's marine biology unit says the sharks are killed for their fins. we have the report on the ghana coast. >> reporter: this fishing boat has just returned from three days at sea. the prize catch is a shark. fishermen in this western region of ghana say they sell the meat locally and cut off the fins to sell to agents who export them. shark fin soup is a chinese delicacy. >> translator: these shark fines have a thread like substance like spaghetti. that's why shark is more expensive than the other types of fish. >> reporter: he says depending on the season he can catch up to 50 sharks in one month. then he can get up to $50 a

kilofor the fins and that's just a fraction of what they sell for internationally. in addition to these sharks the fishermen sometimes catch dolphins, which they use as bait for the sharks. conservationists say they're both supposed to be protected because they're migratory species. according to this leading marine biologist, the killing of sharks and dolphins is on the increase. >> this is a fresh shark fin. >> reporter: he said conservation is not a government priority. >> we know that it's illegal, but because of the need for foodfood it's overlooked. in fact, the dolphins are even used as food now directly. the meat is twenl not right. because of the food security, it's making it difficult to enforce the rules. >> reporter: ghana's fisheries

commission denies that dolphins are being caught. as for sharks the commission says the fishermen are complying with convention because they're making use of the whole shark rather than just cutting off the fins and discarding the body at sea. and that it's just a small percentage of fishermen involved in the activities. >> we're talking about an active fishing fleet. they're fishermen and it's shark fins that's the treat that giving them money, maybe we should -- those countries that are buying it should stop. >> reporter: fish stocks are declining, and fishermen say they're doing what they can to survive. conservationists fear in the end it's want just fish but humans that suffer it is consequences. scientists say the earth experienced the hottest month of june since 1980. it's the fourth month this year

to break temperature records. climate experts say 2015 is on track to be the hottest year ever measured. scientists are increasingly blaming global warming for the high temperatures. there's more on our website, aljazeera.com. get out of the car. i will light you up. >> new video shows the arrest of a woman days before she was found dead in her jail cell. now questions on whether the video was altered. ferguson missouri hires a new interim police chief. a possible pay raise for hundreds of thousands of fast food workers. new york state set to vote today on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.