> two massive explosions rock china's biggest port city. 44 are killed and hundreds are injured. hello there, top stories here on al jazeera. also on the programme - a truck bomb kills 50 people and injures 200 at a busy vegetable market in baghdad. i.s.i.l. claims responsibility to myanmar's senior

politicians removed as soldiers surround the headquarters. the head of the u.n.'s mission in the central african republic is fired after his troops are accused of rape and murder two huge blasts have rocked one of the world's busiest ports in the chinese city. 44 were killed. hundreds were injured, and 36 firemen are reported missing. the blast so powerful it registered on earthquake scale, sending shock waves throughout the city. adrian brown has more from the site. >> reporter: the heart of one of china's important economic hubs, torn apart by multiple blasts. fires burnt throughout the night. there were further explosions first afternoon. as a pool of toxic smoke

billowed across the city. with local people concerned, not for the first time, about the air that they are now breathing. >> translation: we are very worried, we worried about what chemical is in the air, worried that it may be toxic, harmful in the future. >> close to the epicentre, the scale is difficult for the survivors to comprehend what happened and why. >> i thought it was a gas explosion. my bed room wall was hit by a shock wave that threw me out of bed. >> others thought it was an earthquake or nuclear explosion. window were shattered in homes 2km away. forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families. >> flying debris sliced through hundreds of vehicles. temporary housing for migrant workers bore the brunt of the blast. this is a worker's dormitory.

as you can see, it's been shredded. it bears testament to the force of the multiple explosions. the people here were lucky to get out alive. >> the number of dead is continuing to rise. many were firefighters. government officials say hundreds were treated in hospital, mostly for cuts caused by flying glass and concrete. >> translation: my first reaction was to run. then i heard another blast. my reaction was to run. >> the blast was caused by chemicals stored in a warehouse, close to where thousands lived. an investigation into how that was possible has begun well, china tried to alleviate fears that its currency would not devalue further. the yuan fell 3%, tuesday, it dropped 1.9% after a move in exchange rate policy.

it fell the following days, leading to fears of a currency war. china's stock market were accused of manipulating currency to make export cheaper i.s.i.l. are responsible for a bombing at a crowded vegetable market in baghdad, killing 55 people, a suicide bomber carrying a truck detonated explosives of the iraqi capital. it can get more from i.s.i.s. lots more people were injured in the blast, claimed by i.s.i.l. that's right, and a tine of how bad the security situation here is in this country. most of the iraqis that we spoke with are convinced that i.s.i.l. would claim responsibility for the attack, even before they ultimately did. this is the third such attack, similar attack that has been carried out by i.s.i.l. on the

shia neighbourhood. there were two separate attacks, car bomb attacks. these killed dozens, and injured dozens more. now you have this attack, and 55 people have been killed. and over 200 injured, and that can't count, could increase throughout the day. a lot of concerns about that. a plan to maximise civilian casualties, this is what is d. eastern baghdad, millions living there, at a time when so many were out there shopping, trying to get vegetables and food items. the truck bomber drove in amongst the crowd. a sad day in baghdad. all of this underscoring how tire the situation remains. it's engaged in a huge fight against i.s.i.l. and other groups. >> the attacks on shi'a areas

will serve to heighten tensions at a time they were delicate already. >> that is causing concern amongst activists. people are coming out tomorrow, when there'll be a day of demonstrations calling for reforms from the government. now many actions worried that the crowds may stay home. they are concerned about the security situation, priceal attacks. it could stoke sectarian anger at a time, this is a time in the country when groups must work together to fulfil of the people. that is different before you have attacks of this nature. this will worry that the sectarian lines will deepen and cause more anger to bubble up throughout the society and at a

time religious parties work together to pass much-needed reforms. >> thank you for that in myanmar, the country's senior politicians have been removed from office, soldiers surrounded the ruling parties. >>... >>..selection of candidates ahead of the general election. we have this update from bangkok. >> it looks like the reason why this is happening is because friday is the deadline for submission candidates for the elections in november. now, what happened was that the military offered a number of candidates that the leadership, the former leader, who also has to be speaker parliament rejected. the list was not to the military

said liking. temperatures that are building up came to a head. that is why trucks surrounded the headquarters around 10 o'clock wednesday nights, local time. >> the speaker parliament as well as the secretary general have been saying and held in what is de facto house arrest. it should be noticed that the president of myanmar closely aligned with the military, has also reshuffled the cabinet, and the minister and deputy ministers, the border affairs ministry and defense have been let go. 10 others have been allowed to resign. what you are seeing is a shift towards the leverage, within

what is nominally civilian government. 25% of the parliament is allocated to the military. many are appointed by the military. unaccounted to the government. that should be seen within the context of elections insofar as the u.s. this will be a lit mass test to see whether the remnants of the military dictatorship that ran myanmar for decades is willing to come to power the president of guinea dismissed matters by the prime minister. he made the announcement on a national radio programme. the move came after months of political in fighting between the two african in my submissions the u.n. secretary head forced the head of the

un-central african republic to resign. after troops under his control were accused of misconduct. >> anguish, shame, anger, ban ki-moon's response after allegations u.n. peacekeepers raped is 12-year-old girl and were behind the killing of civilians in the central african republic. >> i believe the disturbing number of allegations we have seen in many countries, but particularly in the central african republic. in the period before u.n. peace copiers were deployed, and since speaks strongly to the need to take action now. enough is enough. allegations of wrongdoing in the central african republic started last year, when french troops were accused of the sexual misconduct before the peacekeeping provision began. it prompted ban ki-moon to create a panel to look into it. the peacekeeping mission was set

up, and has been in operation for a year and a half, made up of 10,000 troops from more than 45 countries. >> the spokesperson for ban ki-moon announced wednesday that there has been 57 allegations of misconduct by u.n. peacekeeping troops in the central african republic, including 11 cases of possible sexual abuse. a far higher number than what has previously been made public. >> peacekeeping operations started three years after the u.n. was founded in 1945. to date they are having 63 missions around the goal. peacekeeping missions won the noibel peace price in 1998. there's been notable failures? >> in the democratic republic of congo in 2004. there are allegations of sexual exploitation and rape. in the 1990s, there was participation in trafficking and

prostitution. the peacekeeping problems have gone on to sexual transgressions. >> there was accusations of causing cholera, killing 7,000, ineffecting over a million. ban ki-moon was sorry they could not stop the genocide when 800,000 were killed. in srebrenica, dutch peacekeepers forced muslim families out of the compound, they were rounded up by the serbs and massacred. with the latest scandal. top diplomats stepping in to show change still to come - will japan finally offer an apology to the women used as sex slaves during world war ii. plus... >> i'm in argentina, where

thousands have been forced out of their homes by the flooding. ding.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the sound bites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". only on al jazeera america. welcome back. the top stories on al jazeera. at least 44 people will be killed in two huge explosions in the busiest port in china, hundreds more and 36 firearm are missing. the blast was felt miles away from the scene. >> i.s.i.l. claims

responsibility for a bombing which killed 55 people in the vegetable market in baghdad. a suicide worker detonated explosives in the iraqi capital. the u.n. secretary general forced the head of the u.n. mission to resign. following allegations of the killing and sexual abuse of civilians. >> pro-government forces in yemen, 125km from the capital. troops loyal to the president abd-rabbu mansour hadi have taken six districts in the city of ib. most of the south is hold by pro-government forces. they have been backed by saudi-led air strikes. there's an official visit to the united arab emirates, they are attempting to roll back the houthi advance. civilians have been caught in

the crossfire in what the u.n. calls an overwhelming crisis. yemen is the poorest country, with more than 21 million people dependent on foreign aid. the u.n. estimates do not have access to the food source. since the conflict began, 2,000 civilians died the emergency coordinate from the united nations joins us from djibouti. i know you have seen for yourself the problems in yemen, and with the air strikes and the fighting, hundreds of thousands, especially children, are now at risk of malnutrition. hello, you are right. i had the chance to go to aden myself, and see for myself the destruction from the fighting. and the rebuilding that you can see which is destroyed or seriously damaged had people

living behind them. many lives were lost, particularly women and children were forced to flee their homes. in many cases the decision has been to flee or die. many of the eternally displaced people are in schools, meaning that schoolchildren from aden are not able to attend the schools at the moment. we met with mohammed, a gentleman with his wife, forced to flee the home. they were desperately in need of where the next meal was coming from, we could see the human toll on what is a conflict, where there'll be no witness from more fighting. we happen to push for a peace process which will have dialogue, with words. i was able to see for myself the total cost that comes from there instability, which has been ravaging r.e.m.en for too long -- yemen for too long the u.n. special rap jorture

says civilians are being starved, prevented from receiving food and air strikes are targetting markets and trucks laden with food, and it could amount to a war crime. can you comment on those accusations. what is your feeling? >> well, if such things can be proven, there's the possibility that that, following the investigation, that people who perpetrated such things would be accountable. if i can't help the national n.g.o.s, many and delivered amazing amounts of aid, the scale needs to be upgraded so we can get the national n.g.o.s, u.n. agencies, to have full

access to sanaa and other areas in yemen that i have seen over the last few days. it's been absolutely clear to me, whether talking to a blind 6-year-old waiting in line for food - and they have done that - these are human stories, all of us have a joint reason. 80% of the yemeni, accessed to each and every one of them. now is the time to scale up. now i see us ramping up the interests of the security council of the world. and donors preparing to give more to meet the escalating emergencies in yemen.

thank you for doing this with us. >> iran's foreign minister has met the syrian president bashar al-assad in damascus. mohammad javad zarif avoided giving exact details on what was discussed, but described the exchange. meanwhile as zeina khodr reports, there's no let up in the fighting in syria. >> the rebel stronghold has been targeted by government air strikes. many people were killed and injured. the military says the latest was retaliation for the seat of power. casualties were scored as rockets and water bombs landed. rebels occasionally fire mortars. many say the attack was a message to the syrian

government, and the foreign minister mohammad javad zarif was spected there later. mohammad javad zarif repeatedly called for talks about gulf arab leaders, worried about iran's growing influence in the region. >> translation: we want to extend the hand of cooperation to all in the region. we are ready top exchange ideas for joint action to combat extremism, terrorism and sectarianism. >> there are a few details about the proposal. iran's meter reported that it would involve a ceasefire. amending the constitution and holding elections understand international supervision. the main problem is perfect for bashar al-assad. >> the issue today is the fate of the president bashar

al-assad. this iranian initiative is faced with what we call saudi condition, and number one saudi condition is that no deal is to be - no place for nikoloz basilashvili for a solution inside syria. saudi arabia made it clear after the foreign minister met the russian counterpart in moscow. >> there's a push for the solution between the syrian conflict. it is led by the backers in iran. the international community agrees on the need to find on agreement performing the pieces of negotiations. forming the pieces of negotiation proves to be difficult. >> reporter: some opposition leaders believe iran and others are pushing for a deal because

syria is facing economic pressures. but they are not looking at a comprom ills on what they senior their strategic goals the honduras government hopes genetic science will help families of those that have disappeared. to match records in the u.s. 30,000 hondurans were forced to migrate. thousands never made it. more rain and strong winds are expected in buenos aires. a series of storms caused flooding. tens of thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes. three died. >> this were. >> reporter: trying to take assistance to those cut off by the water. volunteer firemen are working day and night to help those as

the rivers and streams flood the area. experts say 35 centimetres of water fell in a matter of days. this man lives in lieu han and is trying to save what little she has left. >> translation: i have never seen anything like this. last year something similar happened, not like this. this is a disaster. thousands of people have been affected. at the university of lieu handwritten, 80 took refuge. hundreds of others have been placed in schools around the city. they have nowhere else to go. we lost everything, all our belongings, and are trying to get better food. i'm not sure how we'll go on. >> this is the second in flooding in the last year. people have been living in the university for almost five days, most have been victims from flooding in the area from the past.

they are demanding more government action. >> the government says they invest millions in the area. this man claims more funds are needed to prevent the river flooding again. >> translation: we understand that large-scale development needs to happen here, they need to broaden the river to it adjusts to the increased levels. after six floods it needs to be taken. it can only be done by the federal government. many live in the cities near the river. they claim they cannot afford to move. they hope immediate action is taken, so they are not forced out of their homes drought-stricken california is rolling out a new water saving initiative tens of thousands of shade balls have been dump into

reservoirs, they stop the sunlight hitting the water, reducing evaporation, expected to save over a billion litres of water. >> south korea's government is reporting that one of kim jong un's ministers has been killed. a number of high profile political figures have been killed. japan's prime minister is expected to apologise for the part his country played in world war ii. shinzo abe is looking for his cabinet approval of a statement marking the 20th anniversary. harry fawcett reports. >> japan has not settled past issues and offered an apology.

>> they are here to support these women. two of the surviving women forced into prostitution. the army used up to 200,000 asian women. united states a key ally called it a violation of human rights. this woman was taken from her home tripped to brothels throughout asia instead. >> people talk about august the 16th. even now we are still fighting against japan. conflict between career - the hit tv show, charts are repelled invasion. japan's 20th century record colonial rule dominates current relations. koreans were forced to adopt japanese names and language. punish the in prison if they dissented. the president called on tokyo to

confront the past. >> reporter: the catalogue of horrors during the colonial period, it explains a lot of political animosity between the two countries, the history can be drawn on to serve political differences as well. >> for some, south korea relied on historical grievance to build the national identity. with regular military exercises, and a campaign to have the waters around them, it recognise the east sea. . >> if south korea stepped back, it would strip away the fig leaf. it puts the onus for change. others say it is refusing to deal with the japanese pass. as it looks to free if. in the core of all of this is to discourage the japanese pacifist constitution, and realise that collective start, and the starting point is to deny the past history of aggression.

south korea marks 70 years freedom from japanese rule. it looks down on its nags ail identity and international relationships. >> and a reminder you can keep up to date with all the news at aljazeera.com. era.com. [ ♪ ] in a sweeping plan president obama is taking aim at what he calls the single biggest source of carbon pollution in america. power plants. his deponents are ready to take the fights to congress and the courts. president barack obama's push to clean power - at what cost.