goodnight. searching for clues and answers in bangkok after a bomb blast at a popular tourist spot kills at least 20 people. you're watching al jazeera. coming up in the next half hour. south sudan's rebel leader signs a peace deal with rival president says he needs more time. >> an unlikely leader in the country following an election. >> fear not arrest,

incarcerating our way out of this a now approach to the fight against drugs in the united states thailand's army chief says the bomb attack does not match those of south. an explosion at a shrine. wayne hay is at the scene, first a report from veronica pedrosa. >> reporter: with the fire from the explosion burning, there was a race to reach survivors. as the emergency services moved, police tried to secure the area. a bomb exploded minutes before. and closed-circuit television shows the moment fear struck in

the heart of bangkok, with people running for their live. the bomb went off close to the hindu shrine. twisted metal and debris was scattered across the street at a place popular with worshippers and tourists. several foreigners among those known to have died. >> i rushed to the scene after i heard the explosion. it destroyed motorbikes and body parts around. >> reporter: survivors were rushed to hospital. government officials say those behind the attack were trying to destroy thailand's economy and tourism industry. no group claimed responsibility for this. >> translation: the perpetrators are cruel and heartless, they intend to take lives. everyone nose at 7:00p.m. at the sh -- knows at 7:00p.m. at the shrine lots of people are arrangement, terrorists and worshippers. if they planned to bomb then,

they know there'll be casualties. the thai government is scrambling to deal with the crisis. it may present the biggest security threat to the government, who took power 15 months ago in a coup, saying he wanted to bring security at a time of political turmoil. let's get the latest from wayne hay, joining us live from bangkok. you are close to where the blast happened. set the scene for us, what is happening there now. >> yes. this is the road that leads right past the shrine. normally at this hour of the day on a tuesday it would be choked with traffic. there would be people walking along the street. many people going into the shrine, tourists and locals alike. it remains a crime scene and we have seen all morning police soldiers picking through the debris left behind went the blast struck around 7 o'clock on

monday night. they've been taking a lot of that debris away to be used as evidence. they tried to find out what was behinds or who was behind the terrible incident. we are starting to see the street cleaners move to that area. they have water trucks and perhaps we are seeing the start of a return to normality for what would be a busy intersection in the heart of bangkok's shopping district. what the police have been able to tell us is that this was caused by a dom. there was some speculation in the hours after the explosion that there may have been multiple explosive devices in the area. they investigated that. they can confirm there was one bomb, a large one, an ex-blowsive de -- explosive device in a pipe put inside the grounds. >> there's no claim of responsibility yet, but the blast comes at a time when

thailand is particularly fragile. we know the police force is under going a shake. military government too, undergoing a shake-up to receive reports from the thai prime minister. and has submitted it to king for approval. this blast undermined national security. >> yes, it has. there was a lot of tensions and pressures internally in thailand at the moment. you mentioned the prime minister. he has not subpoena at length about the blast. he gave a speech, saying he couldn't rule out it was related to domestic politics, and this was causing mayhem and thailand. as you say, he reshuffled cabinet. it was a planned reshuffle. he was submitting it for planned approval. it was one that in thailand

creates tension and speculation and uncertainty. most importantly they were under military rule, an army reshuffle coming up in the next few weeks. that's a big deal in thailand and other countries. here it is talked about, reported on, speculated on, and internally within the army which, at times is ordered to be very split down political lines, can create a lot of tension. we are no closer to knowing who was behind the blast. perhaps there'll be a lot of speculation in the days ahead. >> wayne hays giving us a background into the blast that occurred in bangkok. let's turn our attention to south sudan, where rebels signed a peace deal opposed by regional leaders. the government says it needs more time. former advice president reiach

machar rejected the proposal. president wants two weeks to look at the deal. the conflict between the two sides started in 2013, and killed more than 10,000 to force 2 million from their homes. charles stratford is in the ethiopia capital where the talks took place. >> whatever way you look at it, this deal has not been signed by the two leaders. and there were real sticking points, and we believe the sticking points are the ones that we see. in the last few days, they are the ones than prevented this signing today. and they include power sharing. we know that they were pushing for powers in the vice president's position. he was due to fill in this government or the proposal of this transitional government. and know that there were problems in terms - or lack of

agreement in terms of demilitarization of juba. the south sudan president saying that that would pose a problem for sovereignty of country in the knowledge that a third party would have to come in, and there were serious concerns about divvying up the powers of the upper nile state in the north, where the oil is, where the majority is under rebel command. certainly despite all the international pressure on the two men, despite the threat of sanctions, no deal is signed, and valva keer returning for nor consultations a member of o.x.f.a.m. says south sudan is desperate for piece. >> there are pressures and the community speaks with a single voice through the adoption of u.n. security council resolution a few months back. what is important is the voice of the south sudan, that's the

voice that is missing from the discussions. i think we are saying that this war is not bringing us anything, it's making lives more difficult and doesn't need to come to an end. the people of south sudan are resill yent, strong and hopeful people. i think we have seen that there is a tremendous suffering and bringing down. resilience and strength, many are living in appalling situations. it's the height of the rainy season, people are living in mud. you know, having to sleep on the ground, being displaced from their homes. they are having to hide from attacks that are happening in bushy areas. it's difficult for aid to reach them. if you see as a result. 4.6 million people. 40% of the population are hungry now. our fears, and their fears is that if the conflict continues,

it will get worse, and more will be hungry. >> sri lanka's former president radja pak sar says he's unlikely to rule the government. his upsa party is behind the ruling coalition. a turn out is estimated at around 65. >> this is below january's presidential elections. when he was tweeted. we go to colombo for the latest. >> the final bit of work in counting sectors around the country. final release expected. early indications are that the alliance of the president radja pak sar is lagging behind. the front of prime minister - reports indicate that radja pack sar has accepted that he will not form a new government in this country. however, we are waiting on that

official announcement. now the campaign, the conduct of the elections was something that was quite distinctive this time with all parties, whether it be observers, election officials and political parties accepting that it had been a free, fair and independent poll. this is a factor that the election chief, as well as officials can be proud of across the country a memorial service has been held in the chinese city in honour of 114 people killed in massive explosions. firefighters and police were among the mourners. other people, firefighters, are missing, six days after the blast. the blast - it occurred on wednesday, originating at a warehouse used to store toxic cyanide. people whose homes were damaged in the explosions are demanding compensation from the government

and took to the streets. many lived in apartments less than a kilometre from the blast zone. >> syria's military launched more strikes on a rebel held area near the capital damascus. it launched an offensive. activists say a busy market was targeted. the united nations condemned the attack. >> i'm absolutely horrified at the total disregard for civilian life by all parties in this conflict. attacks are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop. i appeal to every party engaged in violence and fighting to protect civilians and to respect international humanitarian law. >> still ahead on al jazeera - rights groups condemn a wanton

disregard for life as the war rages on. >> a hard task for the labour party to choose a new leader and rebuild trust for the voters. ♪ ♪ ♪

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you're watching al jazeera, a recap of the top stories. thailand's army chief says an attack in bangkok does not match a former attack. at least 15 were killed in an

area popular with tourists sudan's president signs a deal to end fighting. president has not agreed, needing two weeks. the president says it's unlikely he'll leave the next government. early parliamentary election results indicate his party is behind the ruling coalition. final results are expected on tuesday a search and rescue team in indonesia recovered dozens of bodies from the site of a plane crash. search teams discovered the wreckage in an area of papua. let's go there. it's taken time for the rescuers to reach the site in the jungle. do we know what they found? >> yes, when they managed to go up the mountain, near the location where the plane was supposed to land, they found a

grim scene. they found the place completely destroyed. most of it is burnt because the plane flew against the mountain and they found 54 bodies. none of the people survived the crash and the bodies were in bad state. authorities are trying to lift the bodies and bring them to another bigger city in jayapura, where they'll be welcomed by their families. so, yes, it's a sad inclusion of a long search in papua. >> the aviation industry in indonesia is not known for their safety record. tell us what trigana's record is like. >> no, you are right. it's among the worst in the world. in 2014 last year there was a damaging report by the

international civil aviation organization saying na indonesia failed on most account of safety in their industry, and trigana is one of the very poorly stated airlines, because they had a lot of accidents in the past. not a major crash line this one, they had crashes before and a lot of accidents where they lost their planes. the conclusion, the safety record is bad. we don't know the cause of the crash. we also know that conditions in papua are unpredictable. >> speaking about the safety record there on indonesia's aviation industry now, amnesty international is condemning all sides fighting in yemen, saying they have shown what it calls a wanton disregard for the safety of civilians. the human rights group recorded

141 deaths in eight air strikes by the saudi-led coalition, it attacked military matters. amnesty international investigated 30 attacks between rebels and former president. another 68 civilians were killed in those attacks. one of the worse was on july 19th, when pro-houthi fighters struck in the city of aden, most civilians. >> the u.s. reported 1,916 civilian deaths in the last five months alone. >> there's no let up in the fighting. pro-government troops have taken most of it from houthi rebels. a warning that some viewers may find some of the images in the report disturbing. >> a victory march sums up the feelings of these fighters in

yemen's third-largest city. these are pro government troops, taking over most tiaz. since april they fought rebels loyal to the former president. >> they advanced from the north and east and are trying to capture the eastern gate. no one controls all of tiaz. heavy fighting conditions in the western part, under the control of pro-houthi forces. they are trying to take the city's airports. streets won i lined with the bodies of houthi fighters. there's efforts to bring some rule of law with forces loyal to the president. >> translation: there is no escape for anyone that violates the law. stabilizing the facility of the country, we have the means to

reach them no matter where they try to hide. military numbers believe they are advancing and making gains in the south. also pushing north about provinces like bayeda. >> in the heavy fighting the infrastructure has been badly damaged. human rights say scription in indiscriminate force in populated areas. the fighting is affecting civilian population. most have been punished or unable to function prop properly because of lack of electricity or fuel. the u.n. says 2.6 million are exposed. and there's no relief soon, as yemen's war escalates.

>> eastern ukraine, nine died after soldiers and separatists exchanged fire. talks have broken down. >> the remains of a family home in a ukranian controlled village out of donetsk. it took just 20 minutes to reduce the street to rubble. the ukranian military said two people were killed as russian backed rebels shelled a village. a man 30 years old, and a woman of 22 were killed. six others were wounded. the most serious were those sustained by a mother, with a child. >> the separatists blame ukrainian forces. this part of the country bore the brunt of several attacks in recent days, and continues to be sporadic fighting, despite tenuous ceasefire in place since

february. as the attacks increase, moscow is accusing the ukranian military of planning a renewed offensive. we worry about the latest developments. it was like that last august when the ukranian soldiers received the order to attack. when it failed, they agreed to start the talks. it was like that this past january, when there was an attempt to resolve the situation. that filed and an ukranian side agreed to more talks. we believe one shouldn't experiment and try one's luck. one should first of allful what was agreed in minsk. >> 6,800 have been killed since the conflict. it's driven half a million civilians from their home, where there has been efforts to stop the fighting. several units refused to obey. the gulf of mistrust between moscow and sheldon keefe is

wider -- kiev is higher people in catania cancelled a fire works show to honour migrants that died at sea. they released balloons into the sky, one for each victim. the migrant bodies were taken to the port city on monday, and will be buried in a cemetery. it's thought they suffocated in the hull of a fishing boat trying to cross the sea. >> voting started in the leadership election for britain's opposition. former leader ed miliband resigned. to prime minister's david cameron's conservatives. over the summer months britains have probably never heard of jeremy. opinion polls suggest he's ahead in the race to lead the labor party. some point out his austerity

measures attracted tens of thousands of members, the heavyweight ordered a victory for him was the kiss of death. the opinion polls say the one dripping in the pot is the one thing that even its own supporters say are lease likely to form a government. then we had to look at the lesson of our history. >> others suggest turning westward. losing two in a row, being wiped out in scotland. >> they say that i should be without politics, get a transplant. >> reporter: in recent weeks the parties signed up rival parties to influence the rival vote. and they were seen here

campaigning. liz campbell denied they'd step aside taking on core ben. byrnan offered a role in rebuilding the party if he won. some westminster watchers predict a messy protest. main parties are broad churches, holding dispirit groups of people. they need the right political environment. it's been common history for parties to split. one of the reason that the tories win the elections is they are unified when they split. of course, it's far from certain whether the person that wins the ballot will be leading labour in the 2020 general election. in a few weeks time we'll know who the leader is. whoever comes out on top will have the task of winning back the seats. in marginal constituencies, and

the whole of scotland. that will be a huge challenge 200 u.s. soldiers have been sent to help firefighters battle wildfires in several western states. they have burnt over 400 hectares of land. a woman died while trying to leave her home. it was 50 houses that were destroyed. it's the first time in nine years that u.s. troops have been mobilized to help fight fires. >> the u.s. government is changing tactics in a fight against drug addiction. fatal heroin overdoses over the past decade. now instead of prosecuting, nell be an treatment to overcome their dangerous habit. >> reporter: norm in the u.s. is the -- nowhere in the u.s. is the drug problem more severe than the state of massachusetts. >> opioid abuse, stealing,

children, siblings, relatives and friends, one person at a time. >> reporter: this year on average more than two people a day died from apparent heroin overdoses. >> in a fishing port of gloster people call it a plague. >> since seventh grade i started smoking weed. and next thing i know, by the 10th grade i'm doing heroin. >> state officials are getting top priority, but after years of filling prisons with addicts. they are switching to a different approach. this is a disease. unless treated. >> in gloucester the police chief took a radical step by promising any addict that turns in his drugs immediate treatment, and without punishment. >> we don't believe in hiding it. the more we reduce the stigma and get people involved, the

less problem. >> in three months, 100 people take up the amnesty offer. massachusetts is one ever 25 states which authorised emergency first responders to prevent addict deaths by demrir nal ox i don't know, it can reverse the effects of heroin within minutes. >> it's benign. it reverses narcotic overdose. in gloucester an addict can walk into a pharmacy and get naloxone whether or not they have coverage. the police department promises to pay for is money seized by drug smugglers. such measures are encouraged by the president obama administration. so far washington has been slow to back it up with money. >> the administration wants more money. if it's not resolved, more will die. more getting hepatitis c. >> america has a way to go

before admitting its bigger drug problem is one of man a reminder, you can get the latest news and analysis on the website. that's our fronts page there. thai authorities response to overnight bomb attack. more than aljazeera.com. >> in 1978, joseph sledge was convicted of murder in north carolina. >> they made me the scapegoat because they had no one to blame. >> at his trial, an fbi scientist testified that hairs found at the crime scene were 'microscopically alike' to joseph's. just months ago, joseph was released from prison, after serving almost forty years behind bars. dna testing had proved the hairs were not his. >> here's the hair from the defendant.