isil on the retreat as kurdish fighters retake iraqi villages in an offensive to recapture the key town of sinjar. ♪ it's a good to have you with us, i'm david foster, and you are watching al jazeera live from london. also in this program, since meeting in malta ends with a $2 billion plan to stop the flow of refugees from africa. israeli soldiers shoot dead

a palestinians man in a hospital in hebron. and supporting their schoolmates the university exam that brings south korea to a stand still. ♪ kurdish forces say they have recaptured a number of villages from the islamic state of iraq and the levant after launching an offensive to retake the sown of sin yar. sinjar is of huge strategic importance because it sits across the main road between raqqa and mosul, cities which are strong holds in syria and iraq. the operation involves about 7.5 thousand special forces peshmerga and yazidis fighters, supported by u.s.-lead air strikes. when they took the town last year, they killed thousands of yazidis men and kidnapped the women and girls.

those who lived fled to sinjar mountains. >> reporter: the operation began. overnight coalition air strikes hit isil targets. isil has controlled the area since last year. the operation is on three months. the iraqi kurds are confident they will prevail. >> translator: today it's our duty to liberate sinjar from injustice, and this is the duty of every kurdish citizen. we are fully prepared to attack and free it soon. goodwilling we will help the people return to their homes. >> reporter: this operation is far from easy, its importance as been underscored by this president on the front line to monitor progress. sinjar is considered kurdish territory, and success will be seen as victory against isil. but isil fighters have proved themselves resill jenth and have

booby traps houses and rigged car bombs to slow down the offensive. when the armed group took control of the town and the surrounding area, it killed between 3 and 5,000 yazidis men according to human rights organizations. that lead to kurdish peshmerga forces retaking the north in december. if this operation is successful, it could cut off isil-held raqqa in syria, and mosul in iraq. right now the peshmerga are in villages on the outskirts of town. but it is not clear if that will happen in the coming days. isil fighters have dug themselves in and are prepared for a long fight. the syrian army and itself allies say they have managed to recapture the rebel-held down in

the north of aleppo. forcing the rebels to flee. elsewhere in aleppo province, syria's army, aided by russian aerial bombardment has also fought its way into an air base. freeing military personnel who have been held inside. [ inaudible ] has been held up as the most generous european country for taking in syrian refugees. now dozens of people in germany have been stopped from boarding ferries bound for sweden. the prime minister says it needs to bring order to its asylum system for anybody who crosses illegally. >> this is not a fence. we need to make sure that we

have control over what people comes into sweden, because it's a matter of both the border control, but also that you have to identify yourself before you enter the ferry. this is an issue for the whole european union. we need to manage this together. >> the leaders of slovenia and croatia have met to talk about the border between the two countries. slovenia is rejecting a formal complaining from croatia that the barrier encroaches on itself territory. in that meeting was on the sidelines of a summit in malta. there african and european leaders agreed to plan to deal with those trying to get from one continent to the other. the u.n. believes about a

million refugees and economic migrants will arrive in europe by sea this year. so far more than 142,000 have taken this route from south to north, making the dangerous crossing from the north of africa to italy in particular through malta. at the summit a $2 billion european fund was announced to tackle poverty and the conflicts that cause people to want to leave africa. there are african leaders however who say the money isn't enough. >> welcome to the signing ceremony -- >> reporter: so this is europe's offer to africa, $2 billion in cash. about a tenth of what they provide in aid every year. in return they expect africa to help repatriate the migrants. even hungary's prime minister signed it even with something of

a smirk, but he had already made clear what many europeans think, africans should be made to stay out of europe. >> migration is not a win-win situation from those countries from where they are coming. and we don't speak openly about it. so we should change the language of the discussions and do not consider migration as a positive thing, because it is totally against the impression of the european citizens. >> reporter: yet as africa's leaders arrived it became clear how large the gap was. they demand entire reform of the economic relationship between the two continents on crucial issues like agriculture in which western giants have undermined local economies. based on that, 2 billion euros look to many like chicken feed. >> translator: it's not enough. it's far from enough. the needs are far greater. that's why we have requested our

partners to participate more money, and above that, we don't just want aid, we want reform. >> reporter: it's become abundantly clear how differently europe and africa see the refugee crisis. while europeans make no distinction between asylum seekers and economic migrants, africa leaders here have reminded their host how much of the world europeans colonized for money. in a way holds out looks a little like revenge. the african delegations here knew that for once this was not a crisis for africa, but a crisis for europe, and that seems to have given them courage to demand more. so when the leaks emerged of the action plan, there was but scant mention of what the europeans want most, african help in

repatriations. >> i think they are hoping that this will be a start of a longer-term engagement where europe gives something and gets something in return. but one cannot say that they have achieved this goal, and this goal was definitely one of the main planks of what european negotiators came here for today. >> reporter: perhaps this is the start of something better for africa. but if europe is genuine about wanting africans not to come, it will take more than what was on offer here. lawrence lee, al jazeera. let's bring in a representative from doctors without borders from senegal. what do you think this deal means? >> well, we are a bit concerned that these negotiations, especially because in the past, such argument has been -- has been negotiated already,

especially with countries such as libya, egypt, or morocco, and this has resulted in greater humanitarian needs, more violation of human rights and critical situation involving migrants and asylum seekers in transit countries. so of course there are good intentions in this proposal. more development aid, more [ inaudible ] many people would actually prefer staying in the country than being forced to migrate, but there are those who don't have a choice, and the situation we are facing in europe is a big refugee crisis, because most of these countries are not equipped to offer decent asylum conditions for these people. >> in so many ways it can boldly be called simply massive bribe. $2 billion, you keep your people, we'll give you money to make their conditions better or at least try to keep them where

they are. >> yes, it's actually that, and -- and we have seen that [ inaudible ] to the mixed migration that it is facing at the moment, and many focusing on these types of deals on preventing people from entering its borders and negotiations readmission agreements, negotiating with turkey, with third countries in order to not have to deal with the situation that is actually at the moment disastrous in europe. >> what would actually make a real difference in your opinion? >> well, first i think we will welcome for the european union to put as much effort as it does in negotiating readmission to reach an agreement to actually offer decent conditions and provide shelter for the winter for the thousands of people that are crossing europeans borders every day at the moment.

i think that should be the top priority of european leaders. we don't see any decrease in the numbers of arrivals, mainly because the situation in syria, iraq, and afghanistan is not improving, and -- and this -- this announcement that borders are closing are actually forcing vulnerable people to -- to rush. we see much more children at the moment on the balkan route, for example, without an ambitious plan to offer shelter and humanitarian assistance for the winter, the situation will deteriorate further. >> thank you. thank you for your time. some breaking news here for you on al jazeera. report of two explosions in southern beirut, which is a hezbollah strong hold. witnesses say several people have been injured. we don't have any other details at the moment, buts a soon as we -- we do get news of what has

happened in lebanon, we will tell you. palestinian man has been shot dead by undercover israeli soldiers in a hospital in hebron according to health officials in the occupied west bank. some images in this report may be disturbing for some of you. >> reporter: have a look at the row to the left. in the next row someone else disguised as a pregnant woman. the lead doctor said that is the ploy the elite israeli unit used to get in. >> translator: what do you think when a unit of undercover security raid a hospital. they came undercover, not even as soldiers to arrest one of the patients lying injured in his bed. the crime even became uglier when they surprised the

companion of the patient and shot him with five bullets and executed him in the hospital. >> reporter: the companion was the patient's cousin. he died of his wounds. the suspect is then wheeled out of the surgical unit. he's accused of stabbing an israeli man. his brother was in the room at the time. >> translator: the first thing they did was to handcuff my hands to a bed. abdullah was walking out of the bathroom. the undercover security man asked him to stand at his place, and as he was looking at them, they shot him. >> reporter: but that version differs from earlier reports which say abdullah was trying to stop the arrest at the time he was shot. emotions in the city of hebron are already very strained. the last few weeks have been marked by protests and reprisal attacks from both sides.

separating fact from opinions or even emotions isn't straightforward. news of the raid is spreading. there's been a somewhat muted response from the israeli side, although it has confirmed that the arrest did take place. stay with us, if you care. coming up here on al jazeera, the international court put burundi's opposition to meet over fears that violence will spread. and violence returning to the streets in athens, during the first general strike.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target.

♪ you are with us here on al jazeera, these are the global headlines. massive offensive has been launched to retake the strategically important iraqi town of sinjar from isil forces. a summit between european and african leaders has henneded in malta, with the announcement of a $2 billion plan to tackle the course of migration from africa. and health officials in the occupied west bank are blaming undercover israeli soldiers for the killing of a palestinian man who was shot dead in a hospital in hebron. new developments in russia's doping scandal. the country's olympic committee says it has recommended the

former russian athletic's head resign. let's go to rory challands live for us now in moscow. the first, perhaps of many heads to roll, and we're expecting an official statement from russian authorities pretty soon, i understand. >> reporter: well, actually this will be i think the second head to roll, if it does go, and it's probably very likely that it will. a bit of background on this man. he was essentially the man who built up the russian athletics federation. he was the president of the organization from 1991, so a long time ago, up until february of this year. he resigned in the wake of the doping scandal that erupted after the germans made this documentary, the ard channel made a documentary, which was -- the thing that basically caused or triggered the wider doping report.

so he stepped down from the russian athletics federation position of chairman, but he kept a position on the executive committee of the russian olympic committee. now that is what he is supposed to be resigning under their recommendations right now. he is also interestingly on the treasury -- he is the treasure of the international athletics federation association, the iaaf, which is going to be making a decision on friday about whether russian athletes should be banned from sporting endeavors, sporting competitions, for -- well, for some time to come, it's an interesting web of responsibilities that this man has had. >> thank you. rory challands in moss cow. another breaking story the explosion we mentioned in southern beirut. let's go to zana hoda on the line from the lebanese capitol. a number of people injured, we

understand a short while ago. bring us up to date with the details, zana. >> reporter: yes, david, like you mentioned, casualties are being reported. two explosions in the southern suburbs of beirut. this is an area which is mainly populated by shias. this is a popular base for the lebanese movement hezbollah. it has been targeted in the past as we remember there have been numerous occasions of bombings in that area, but there has been a lull over the past few months. now it's still -- we're still getting -- details are still sketchy. some reports suggest that the target was a mosque. other reports suggest that it was a suicide bomber responsible for this explosion. but what we understand that these are almost

almostsy -- simultaneous explosions. and the security forces have cordoned off the whole area, and not allowing anybody access. we are trying to get to the site of the explosion and provide you with more details as we get them. but right now there are reports of at least seven people killed. >> thank you, zana hoda in beirut. the u.n., e.u., and the african leaders are calling for paste in burundi. since the president made a third bid for power. some have returned to their homes to find that their houses have been looted. the u.n. has warned if left alone the situation could soon resemble the 1994 rwandan genocide. bodies of 34 african minors

shot to death have issued a court summons. he has been summoned to complicity in the deaths. he was a director and shareholder at the time of the shootings. he has denied accusations that he requested a police crackdown. at least 13 people suspected of plotting attacks in europe and the middle east have been arrested. italian police said the suspects were planning to attack norwegian and british diplomats in the middle east. security forces from five other countries were involved in the raid. the founder of the now defunct islam group was served an arrest warrant in prison in norway. norway's justice minister says he could be extradited very quickly. >> translator: there will be a

request for him to be extradited to italy. we will facilitate this, but it is the court that will decide. >> our correspondent joins me now in the studio. i mean that's the bare bones of what has . -- happened. >> reporter: this was an italian operation lead by italy's anti-corruption forces, five years they have been investigating this group, listening to conversations on the internet, on internet chat sites across 11 countries, they say. these are dark sites, platforms that are hard to access, and that culminated in this series of raids. 13 arrests in all. the italians say this is the most important police operation to take place in europe in 20

years. they reckon they have broken this sunni kurd recruitment group up. their aim was to recruit young european fighters here send them to iraq, syria, sympathetic with the isil cause in particular, extending the caliphate to include kurdistan inside iraq. the idealogical leader of the group, as we just heard, better known in nor way as mullah kraka. he is in prison. he was locked up last year because he was sympathetic to the pac -- attacks in paris this january. he will be extradited. the others are up on terrorism charges. >> yoen that thank you. thousands of anti-austerity protesters have gathered outside of the greek parliament in athens. police fired tear gas.

the protesters threw petrol bombs. this came during a nation-wide strike. the walkout is the first since the left-wing party was reelected in a snap general election in september. india's prime minister is on an official visit to the united kingdom. >> reporter: he was given the pomp of what looked like a state visit. he was at one time banned from britain, over allegations that he played a role in the riots in which a thousand people died. >> we are two democracies, two strong economies, and two [ inaudible ] societies. we have the [ inaudible ] and the experience of a long partnership. britain's resources is

impressive. it depends on the future of the global economy to remain strong, and [ inaudible ] india new [ inaudible ] of hope and opportunity in the world. there is a school exam that stops pretty much everything in south korea. the university entrance exam can open or close the door on future jobs even marriages. the government says more than 630,000 have done it this year. more from harry fawcett. [ cheers ] >> reporter: it's the kind of excitement usually generated by stars or actors. but these girls are greeting no one more famous than their older schoolmates arriving for the college entrance exam. >> translator: we think we should muster up more energy to our senior classmates can have more energy. that's why we're cheering harder than students from other

schools. >> translator: planes are rerouted so as not to disturb listening tests. the parents who spent small fortunes on tutors and countless hours coaching their kids through dayty study, there is nothing left to do. >> translator: my daughter studied hard. i felt bad watching her. but society is like this so she can get a good job and have a happy life. it's a bit painful. >> reporter: this is exam-taking at extreme sport. and often extreme price to the students and parents. a 90-minute drive from seoul you find a school day starting like no others. morning assembly consists of at tending the cabbages, a time for conversations and sampling the season's first radish.

this is a alternative to the high-pressure schools. >> translator: i wasn't going to chive a good outcome in that exam. was interested in reading and writing more than my peers. >> reporter: in a country of 11,000 schools just a few dozen define themselves as alternative. for the overwhelming majority, study goes on well into the night. south korean children top lists of educational achievement, and come last in termsover childhood happiness. >> it's not simply educational policy. it is part of culture. deeply-rooted culture or values. >> reporter: outside a buddist temple in seoul they have laid out extra mats for the parents who come and pray, some all day

while their children take the exam. in a land dominated by so-called education fever, alternative schools seem destined to remain isolated outpost. >> reporter: your homework tonight to memorize, aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. tears flow at the white house as a retired army captain receives the medal of honor for saving lives in afghanistan. pushing isil out of a key strong hold, u.s. forces helping kurdish troops in a new offensive in iraq. a powerful storm moving east. millions of americans could feel the effects. ♪