♪ the u.n.'s humanitarian chief says he is horrified by attacks on civilians in syria. ♪ hello there i'm laura kyle and you are watching al jazeera, also on the program residentss in the chinese city demand compensation and answers after the blast that killed at least 114 people. we report on illegal tin mines where minors towel in mud and sand for precious metals that make your smartphone and the age old industry is under threat

from cheap, chinese imports. ♪ the death toll from a syrian government strike on a marketplace in duma northeast of damascus rose to more than 100, the worst single incidents of war and humanitarian chief is on a three-day visit to syria is horrified and from beirut we report. >> reporter: dropped a bomb in a crowded marketplace, all too familiar seen from the rebel stronghold of duma. this town is regularly targeted by syrian air strikes but sunday's attack was the worst yet. civil defense workers and others gathered at the site of the explosion to help move the wounded when more air raids hit. more than 100 people were killed and dozens others wounded and

doctors at the field hospital struggle to help those who survived and many of them were critically injured. according to activists on the ground the victims were civilians and women and children were among them. the syrian for human rights called it an official massacre that was carried out deliberately and didn't mention the attack on duma but a military source was quoted as saying the airforce carried out air strikes in duma and targeted the headquarters of the islam army. a day earlier the group had announced a new offensive against government forces and captured an army base. [gunfire] fighting around the capitol damascus has escalated in resent days. duma has been out of it for years and still controls the skies and civilians more often than not targeted and like duma is at the doorsteps of the

government seat of power and why sunday's attacks are being seen as a message to the people of the area. the government will consider them responsible for the actions of the opposition. and there are reports of more air strikes on duma and dana has this update. >> reporter: according to the syrian human rights there were three strikes in the early hours of the morning in the rebel stronghold of duma and they didn't give any reports on casualties but the government really seems to be concentrating its aerial campaign in this area which is in the damascus countryside, just a few kilometers from its seat of power. the capitol damascus for the government it is important to protect the capitol, to defend the capitol and rebels really as of late have been able to fire more that land in areas in damascus and hearing of more air strikes and like we mentioned sunday's attack is the most

deadliest incident in the course of the war. we are talking about more than 100 people killed and we also heard from the u.n. humanitarian chief in syria and attacks coincided with his visit there and holding talks with syrian officials and went to the battered city of homs and condemned attacks but u.n. has been ineffective in stopping the fighting and finding a solution to the crisis and we hear from u.n. officials are just words of condemnation. egypt's president has passed a new security law that introduces special courts and harsh penalties for people seen as a threat and the law gives the security forces more protection. gerald tan has the details. it was last month at the funeral of egypt's public prosecutor who was assassinated that the president made a stern promise. >> translator: the hands of justice are chained bylaws, we will not wait, we will change

laws in order for us to implement law and justice as soon as possible. >> reporter: that promise has now turned into a piece of legislation that broadly defines the public order as terrorism and punishes them accordingly, those guilty of forming or leading a group and considers a terrorist entity punishable by death or life in prison. financing these groups also carries a life sentence which is 25 years in egypt. the law grants protection to the military and police to use force acting in the name of the law while journalists can be fined for contradicting the official version of any attack. some egyptians are concerned. >> the law here is a system that is not protecting the citizenry but rather protecting the states so this is becoming indicative of a larger pattern of consolidation of power in the executive and not a check on not only his power but his avenues

of dissemination of force. >> reporter: egypt's military is engaged in an operation against fighters based in the sinai peninsula and carrying out attacks on security installations killing soldiers and police and increasingly beyond the sideline and into the capitol cairo but some are asking if the new security laws are just targeting these groups or anyone opposed to the government. gerald tan, al jazeera. two saudi border guards have been killed in attack by houthi fighters and the incident took place in the district bordering yemen and saudi arabia is leading an arab coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against houthi rebels and allies across yemen since march. sri-lanka polls close after they return to the ballot box for the first time in seven months and voting in parliamentary election and former president who lost the presidential vote in january is

trying to make a political come back. we have more. >> reporter: voters cued early to cast their ballots. in january they elected a new president and on monday they returned to vote for 225 members of parliament. >> it's my duty to cast my vote for a person who can guide the country and the people of this country. >> translator: this election is important for the country in every aspect. i think people have used their brains and they will vote wisely. >> reporter: voter identification in hand people across sri-lanka gathered at schools and temporals and security is tight at polling centers and this is as close as we have been able to get to gauge what is going on. election commission said the strict access at polling booths are to be sure the elections are free and fair. election observers say this cis

because they are watching proceedings closely. >> translator: not far from here some offices of all major political parties are still open and flying flags and have posters visible. apart from this we have not seen any other election violence or violation. >> reporter: the results of this election are not only expected to determine the political futures of a few sri-lanka politicians but also the direction of the country. al jazeera, sri-lanka. let's go live to the capitol columbo and the polls have closed, how did the vote go? >> according to the election department the polls ended successfully and no major incidents of violence or disruption of the parliamentary

election essentially to the new parliament and essentially the poll that closed just over half an hour ago now and seeing the people as they opened this morning and there was a bit of a lull in the afternoon and the end of the polling day and early official indication talking about border turn out at 60-65% and obviously to hear on that and general the election has been pretty painful with no incidents and it's by monitors as well as election department. >> and the reason this is such a crucial election is they can see the come back of the former president of roger and just how decisive of a figure is he? >> laura, that depends on who you speak to and the former president voted out just seven

months ago out of office after a decade in power of executive president of the country and has both supporters and critics and at both ends of the spectrum and supporters say they end almost 30 years of conflict in the country and have a focused approach that brought together the military and political establishment and sort of the, inc is single minded focus ended the war, however, there are those who are beginning to sort of voice who have been critical of the fact that six years after the end of the war he was still talking about, you know, his victory but also started to draw allegations of increasing authority and behavior, of nepitism and allowing corruption to go unchecked and all in all if you look at the party, the sri-lanka party and alliance to which he belongs and one of the

elections previously even that has been split and his own health minister chose to step out and cross over to the then opposition to take on his former boss. so very much sort of a dramatic figure. he claims that he is still the answer to sri-lanka's problems and one who is able to unite the country and take control of it and others say he needs to move on. >> and for now thank you very much. hundreds of people in the chinese city have taken part in protests demanding compensation and answers from the government. the number of people killed in the blast has risen to 114 with 70 people still missing and adrian brown has more. >> reporter: it was orderly, spon spontaneous and defiant and a protest, by back, by back they chant, they want the government

to purchase their homes. five days after multiple explosions killed many emotions remain raw. some are still traumatized. many lived in apartments less than a kilometer from the blast zone and say they had no idea dangerous chemicals like sodium cyanide were being stored there. >> we didn't know there was any chemicals over there. i don't think, we don't know who to blame because we didn't know who allowed them to put dangerous stuff around our houses and we have no idea. >> reporter: gathering of this size would normally make the authorities uneasy but it's quite interesting you have soldiers here, the police and they are allowing this demonstration to take place and it is quite a sizable protest. now, some of the protesters are holding up banners which say things like we love the party, we support the government but we want them to buy back our damaged apartments. but some have lost more than

homes. her father was a dock worker and is missing. >> translator: i don't know whether he is still alive. i have no idea what happened to him. i can't get ahold of him. >> reporter: at the blast site specialist teams of firefighters appear to have succeeded in bringing most of the smoldering fires under control. on monday journalists were invited by government firms to witness the start of what will be a very long cleanup. and those officials continue to insist the air quality outside the effected area is no threat to health. >> translator: results from seven mobile environment and air quality monitoring stations outside the evacuation zone showed no signs of new pollutants. >> reporter: but people are not sure what to believe and migrant workers and some are going back to dormitorys to collect anything of use, unsure if and

when they will return. inside the exclusion zone few people remain, oblivious to the health risk and preparing for a time when this area will return to normal, a prospect that still seems a very long way off. adrian brown, al jazeera. more to come on al jazeera, faced by civil war we meet sudan family and peace deals in ethiopia. stephanie decker on the indonesia island and tell you why this island is being dest y destroyed and why the men are risking their lives and the obsession and gadgets like this has something to do with it. ♪

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♪ top stories here on al jazeera, the death toll from a syrian government strike on a marketplace in duma northeast of damascus has risen to more than 100 and humanitarian chief steven o'brien on a three-day visit to syria says he is horrified. people's homes were damaged in wednesday explosion and demanding compensation from the government, at least 114 people were killed in the blast. and sri-lanka voted in parliamentary elections and could see the former president make a come back and running for prime minister and he was nine years of president and defeated in january this year. iraq's former prime minister malacki could be put on trial

because of fighters last year and accused him and other officials of not doing enough to stop i.s.i.l. the number of people displaced by the conflict in iraq is more than three million and threatening to claim yet another casualty and children's education and we report from baghdad. in a climate that makes concentrating near impossible and handbooks don't distract from the heat these internally displaced iraqi students are doing their best to learn. >> translator: we used to live in our own neighborhoods and it was like heaven and we used to go to clean schools and the schools would have proper roofs but now we are studying here. >> reporter: while the boys here worry the world has forsaken them, they are determined not to give up on their education. according to unicef there are approximately 850,000 internally displaced school-aged children

in iraq, of the number 650,000 have missed at least a year worth of classes. that is why schools like this are so important now. he fled anbar province with his family when i.s.i.l. fighters took it over in april, he is just one of the students who has been forced to miss months of school. >> translator: if we were back home i would wear a proper uniform to school. i wouldn't dress like this. and we wouldn't be living now in tents. >> reporter: or studying in them either. teachers say the situation is even worse than it looks at the idp camp. >> translator: most basic requirements for classes are not available and we have 90 students in three different classes and only 30 textbooks were distributed and how can you teach 90 students with 30 books? >> reporter: he tells me although 20 teachers should be working here now, a lack of

funding has meant five make it everyday. and his wife teaches english to another group of students in an adjacent tent. she expresses even more concern. >> we feel this is a crime against those poor children. what did they do to deserve such harsh conditions and they are a bit happier than before because now they have a makeshift school to go to and they lack the basic requirement to teach them adequately. studying english the kids recite numbers written out for them. on a white board propped up by cinder blocks. despite support from unicef and other aid groups 12-year-old mohamed says much, much more is needed. >> translator: it's very, very hard, the electricity comes and it goes and sometimes it doesn't come at all. >> reporter: outside the next class cues up.

and tattered workbooks wither in the sun while mothers bake bread for an encampment where there is far too much hunger and the thirst for knowledge has not come close to being quenched, baghdad. israeli troops shot dead a palestinian man after he attacked a soldier with a knife at a check point in the occupied west bank and happened just outside the city here and the man pulled the knife after approaching the check point and the wounded soldier was not seriously hurt. south sudan president is in ethiopia for peace talks with the former deputy and rival and the conflict has divided tribes across south sudan but as we report from one camp for the displaced a few are learning to set aside their differences. >> reporter: tucked behind a market in duba something more than the shelters is being built on this patch of dirt and here

displaced people from four of south sudan's tribes are learning to live peacefully with one another again and although they come from different villages their journeys are similar. >> it's not one person who is lost but many people who have lost. >> reporter: meet a mother of eight, she came from malakal, one of the towns in south sudan decimated by fighting and the family had to abandon their 14-year-old son so they could save themselves. the last time she saw him he was walking into the bush to check on the family's cattle. >> translator: sometimes my heart tells me he is alive. but sometimes i get depressed and think negative thoughts but lots of people told me other people have faced a worst fate than you and stop thinking about it and left it up to god. >> reporter: she and others at the camp are now neighbors with

people from tribes who are killing each other elsewhere in the country. in fact, in other camps for displaced people within u.n. compounds the tribes are carefully segregated and tension is high. but here they are building a community on common ground of shared needs, fears and hopes. that's not to say members of different tribes don't fight but when they do each leader of the tribe gathers them together to mediate. >> later when we are able to solve this problem first we will sit together and find they are good friends. >> reporter: the conflict began two years ago as a despite between the president and his vice president and people here say they are desperate for peace because peace means they can go home again but she says she doesn't want people to go back to the way they were living before the civil war. >> translator: what happened

has happened and it's in the past. what we want is for peace to come. >> reporter: the end of the war could also mean she, like so many mothers, could finally find out what happened to her son. natasha, al jazeera, duba, south sudan. hand dying cloth is an old tradition and we report that cheap chinese imports are now threatening the local fabric. >> reporter: trying to keep alive a century old tradition but workers here are losing the battle. the dye pits as old as the city have been a source of income for many families for generations. for 64 years he earned a living here now things aren't looking good. >> translator: we had customers from all neighboring countries and as far as the arab world and royalty and everyone come, very

few come these days. i cannot understand because we make quality products. >> reporter: even as some continue to refine the art the results are not encouraging and continue to lose their share of the market because of cheap and sub standard imports. the chinese have come to town and the locals allege their art has been copied and used against them. the market is famous here and flooded with cheap, imported fabrics from asia and include exports from china and putting the dye industry out of business and as a result thousands are out of work. used to be more than 300 dye pits and now a few remain and most of them are disused. new technologies have arrived and locals watch helplessly as they are pushed out and establish a near total monopoly. >> when they come to this business it effects us because

we send at least three to four days without doing nothing, without doing nothing, three or four and would become almost jobless because of this invasion into our business. >> reporter: people like him the lost income is not as painful as the rapid decline of the art and he fears that his may soon be the last generation to carry on this once highly respected tradition. moham mohamed, al jazeera nigeria. bad weather forced indonesia to suspend attempts to each a plane and it had 54 people on board lost contact with air traffic control half an hour after taking off from the city and it was heading to a settlement around 280 kilometers

south. have you ever thought about the precious metals in your smartphone or laptop and we don't tend to but some come from illegal minors like indonesia and stephanie decker says it's having a devastating effect on the environment and people. >> reporter: caked in sand it's almost as if they have become one with this pit, this is an illegal tin mind and you can find them everywhere on the island and it's dangerous work and are told 70-100 miners die every year. >> translator: sometimes they are buried for days before we can recover the bodies. sometimes four to five people die in a landslide. if we dig seven or eight meters then sand falling on us is much higher. >> reporter: this job is the best paid on the island and are willing to take that chance. young children often help their parents, some have died around

these mine pits too and they end up with companies with apple, samsung and sony and used to make our phones and laptops work and one of your gadgets possibly includes tin from here and illegal mining, is making more and the island is being torn apart. you don't get a sense of what tin mining, has done from the ground but take to the sky and the consequence of the world demand for tin becomes clear. the landscape scarred by abandon and active mines which we are showing you a small part of it but it's like this across large parts of the island. >> translator: there are so many old mine pits, almost 20,000 and then they started mining, the sea in 2006 so now we have noted we have lost at least 75% of coral reef around the island. >> reporter: the low tide when

we visit the mines at sea. mining, in water is more dangerous, here too the sand walls collapse. there is a difference. they can't see it coming. >> translator: if you are asking if it's worth the risk which is our life then no but what else can we do, other jobs don't pay well. for our daily needs, with this job i can even save some money. >> reporter: the divers can make three times the minimum wage but there is no compensation when something goes wrong and that is something the government is now highlighting and want to legalize these mines and admits they are losing a lot of money because of them. >> translator: by legalizing the mines we can save money for the mine and the environment and then we can manage the money properly. >> reporter: we are told and we have seen that little is being done by the government, the companies or the people to fix the land after the mines are abandon. the damage at sea could be even

harder to fix. the tin will run out one day. the question is what will be left of this island to provide for its future generations. stephanie decker. and of course you can always keep up to date with the very latest news on our website, al jazee jazeera.com. >> rescue teams find the wreckage of a in crimean plane to went missing with 50 onboard. it was also carrying half a million dollars in cash. >> angry residents in china deemployed compensation and answers after a major explosion. many did not know there were toxic chemicals stored steps from their