[ ♪ ] hello, i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in beirut, which left four people dead, and more than 200 injured. 2 explosions happened smult an causally. striking a shia community center and a bakery in the city. the area is a stronghold. lebanese group hezbollah. an unexploded suicide vest was found at the scene. >> translation: the number of those killed exceeds 30, and the number injured exceeds 200. a large number suffered severe injuries, a number died in hospital. i know body parts of the two suspected bombers have been found. we may have escaped an extra

catastrophe because an explosive belt of a third suicide bomber did not explode. >> on the way to an airport we heard a sound and we came down and saw people gathering. it was a suicide bomber who blew himself up. most victims were people in the area. >> i was here when the explosion happened, outside the building where we lived. all the relatives were victims. >> translation: i was nearby, a second away, it all exploded in front of me. my son was with me. the suicide bomber blew himself up under my parent's house. >> zeina khodr is at the scene of one of those blasts. a twin bomb attack which i.s.i.l. is claiming responsibility for. >> well, yes, behind me the site of the double suicide bombing. a few hours ago when we arrived, there was chaos, ambulances,

rushing the injured and wounded to hospitals, people searching for loved ones. the lebanese army sealed off the area. the forensics teams - they arrived. they are sifting through whatever evidence they can find. what we understand from the authorities is that there were two suicide bombers detonated their explosions in this narrow street, just a few meters apart, and just a few minutes apart. one of the suicide bombers, an eyewitness, saw him arriving on motorcycles. they were able to enter the area, blow tems up during a -- themselves up during a time when there was a lot of people. this is a commercial area. yes, this is considered a hezbollah stronghold. this is a more accurate description would be - where hezbollah supporters live. the mainly shia community, if you talk to anyone here, they'll tell you that we were targeted. and this was a message to

hezbollah, since hezbollah joined the fight in syria, along side the syrian government. the beirut suburbs have seen bombings like these in the past. this is the first time in over a year. people are afraid. there's anger, defines. when you talk to people that live in the neighbourhood. they say what if there's a new cycle of violence, if the cycle of violence continues. >> what sort of security, bearing in mind this area has been attacked before. what sort of security is in place there? >> well, beirut's southern suburbs is a large area. it's a very, very big district. you are talking about half a million living in beirut's southern suburbs. last year, when we saw the bombings, what the lebanese army did was set up checkpoints around the area, the roads

leading into the southern suburbs, and hezbollah imposed stringent security measures, there's so many side roads. it's very easy for anyone to enter this area, and hard to stop someone who can - who is bent on killing himself and killing others. but definitely this is a blow, because, like i mentioned, this is the first time in over a year, and the lebanese government and hezbollah barely managed to clampdown on what they called terrorist groups in lebanon. as of late. we hear statements by the army or the security agencies saying that they arrested a number of people linked to groups - linked to al qaeda,l linked to i.s.i.l, still it happened today zeina khodr at the scene of one of those two blasts kurdish forces captured villages from i.s.i.l. after

launching an offensive to retake the iraqi town of sinjar, it's of huge significant importance in the battle. it sits across the main highway between rehabilitation ra and mosul -- raqqa and mosul, strongholds. j it involved 700,000 kurdish peshmerga and yazidi fighters supported by the air strikes. i.s.i.l. captured the town, killing thousands of yazidi men and kidnapped women and girls. those that escaped fled to sinjar mountain. we have this report from erbil. >> reporter: in the early hours of wednesday the operation to take back sinjar began. i.s.i.l. targets in and around the town were hit. which they controlled in the last year. the operation is on three fronts - the south, west and east. the iraqi kurds are confident they'll prevail. >> today it's our duty to

liberate sinjar from injustice. it's the duty of the citizens, we are prepared to attack sinjar and liberate it. god willing, we'll help the people return to their homes. while moral is high, it's important, and is under scored by the kurdish president to monitor progress. sinjar is considered kurdish territory, and success will be seen as victory against i.s.i.l. i.s.i.l. fighters have proved resilient and booby trapped houses and rigged car bombs to slow down the offensive. sinjar is important, it's hope to yazidi, who practices an ancient religion i.s.i.l. views as her etic. when i.s.i.l. captured the town, it killed 3,000 men and boys according to human rights. it led to kurdish peshmerga forces retook the north of the sinjar mountain in december.

if successful, this would cut off i.s.i.l.-held raqqa, denying them a supply route. the peshmerga are in villages on the outskirts of sinjar town. it's not clear if that will happen in the coming days. i.s.i.l. fighters dug in, and are prepared for a long fight u.s. strait john kerry -- secretary of state john kerry has been speaking of his involvement. what were the highlights? >> first, the big point that the secretary of state wanted to make is that the u.s. does not have a plan that it is ready to discuss or even to introduce to the others who will be participating in this meeting in vienna on saturday. the second thing he mentioned was that both the united states and russia agree this is a crisis and that some sort of resolution needs to be found.

the third point, which john kerry made before an audience at the united states institute of peace a short while ago is that in the u.s.'s view. the problem with i.s.i.l. and the problem with the civil war in syria can't be separated but the dominant truth about the situation in syria is that although bashar al-assad and d.a.e.s.h. are supposed to be bitter opponents. they are both parts of the same problem. in fact, the rise of d.a.e.s.h. is directly attributed to the policies and actions of the bashar al-assad regime. that is why we referred bashar al-assad as a magnet terrorism. this is a case, and there are many industry, in which two supposed enemies are, in fact, symbolic. loathing towards bashar al-assad drove thousands of syrians into the arms of d.a.e.s.h. and fear of d.a.e.s.h. caused some syrian groups to feel that

they had no realistic option but to support the government. that is not just symbolic, it's a symbiotic relationship. each piece dependent on the other, and a desire to flee both explains the massive refugee crisis that we face today it's also worth pointing out that the secretary of state john kerry has announced that while there not going to be members or representatives of the syrian opposition at the meeting, there are going to be 20 chairs. 17 of them will be filled by leaders of countries, such assist iran. there'll be three -- such as iran, there'll be three organizations and the five members of the security council will take part in the discussions. you'll see five leaders from the gulf state taking part in discussion, but again, this is just an early step of saying they were not closed to coming

up from a solution to dealing with i.s.i.l., and dealing with the cereal - the syrian civil war thank you so much for the update russia's olympic committee recommended that the former head of the russian athletics federation resign as a member of the committee executive. it follows monday's report by the anti-doping agency, accusing russia of state-sponsored doping. russia denied the accusations and vladimir putin ordered an internal investigation. as athletes face -- it's athletes face being suspended from next year's olympics. rory challands sent the update. >> if he calls on his sword, he'll be the second resignation since the crisis at the beginning of the week. the first person to go was grigori, the head of the

laboratory, right at the heart of the w.a.d.a. report into doping. this is a bigger fish, the president of the russian athletics federation. he began his job in '91. he resigned in february 2015, just after the german broadcaster put out a documentary, the one that kick started the w.a.d.a. investigation. he resigned as the president of the athletic federation, but kept a position on the executive committee of the russian olympic committee, that is the position he's asked to resign from. interestingly, he is also the treasurer at the i.a.a.f. that is a position that he hasn't performed professional duties for since he resigned from the russian athletics federation, and is the

organization that will make a difficult decision about whether or not russian athletes should be banned from international competitions. >> still to come - a hospital raid by israeli forces in disguise, leaving a palestinian man dead. and a summit in malta ends with european and african leaders approving a $2 billion plan to stop the refugees from africa.

>> 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. hello again, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera.

41 people have been killed, more than 200 injured in a double suicide attack in the lebanese capital beirut. i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility. >> an offensive to reclaim the iraqi town of sinjar more fallout from the russian athletics doping scandal. the former head to resign as a member a palestinian man has been shot dead by undercover israeli soldiers in hebron. >> security camera footage shows israeli forces entering the hospital. some images in this report are disturbing have a look at the second roe to the left. what looks like a man dressed in an abiya. in the next row someone disguised as a woman.

that's the ploy the elite unit used to get in. >> translation: so what do you think, a unit of undercover security raid a hospital. coming under comp, not even as soldiers -- cover, not even as soldiers to arrest a patients, injured in his bed. the crime as uglier, when they shot a patient with five bullets, and executed him in the hospital. >> the companion was the patient's cousin, abdullah, dying of his wounds. the suspect, as am, is wheeled out of the surgical unit. and is accused of stabbing on israeli man. his brother was in the room at the time the first thing they did was to handcuff my hands to a bed. abdullah was walking out of the bathroom, preparing to pray. the undercover security men arrived him to stand at his place, as he looked at them, they shot him.

>> reporter: that version differs from earlier reports, saying 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 facts from opinions, or even emotions, is not straight-forward. news of the raid is spreading. there has been a somewhat muted response from the israeli side, although it has confirmed that the arrest did take place. sweden has introduced border checks on ferries, travelling there from germany, stopping dozens from making the journey. it comes as european leaders pledges $2 billion trying to get from one continent to the other. some african leaders say the money offered is not enough.

we have this report welcome to the signing ceremony of the agreement. >> so this is europe's offer to africa, $2 billion in cash, a tenth of what is provided in aid. signed by the e.u. leaders, they aspect african nations to repatriate many thousands seen as migrants, rather than refugees. hungry's prime minister signed it, with something of a smirk. he made clear what europeans think africans should be made - to stay out of europe. >> my situation is not a vindication for both countries, from where they are coming. we don't spoke openly about it. we should change the language of the discussion, and do not consider migration as a positive, because it's against the impression of the european citizens. as african leaders arrived, it

was clear how large the gap was between what europe was offering and what africa needs. they demand reform of the relationship between the two continent on issues like agriculture in which person giants undermined it. based on that, it looked like chicken feed. >> translation: it's not enough. 1.8 billion euros was far from enough. that's why we requested partners to participate money. we don't just want aid, we want reform. >> it's become clear how differently europe and africa see the refugee crisis. europeans make no distinction between the asylum seekers and migrants. african leaders reminded hosts how much of the world europeans colonized for money, in a way holding out against europe on all this looks a little like

revenge. >> african countries found themselves overpowered in trade negotiations by european money and influence. not here, because the african delegations knew that for once this was not a crisis for africa, but a crisis for europe. that seems to have given them courage to demand more. >> when the leeks emerged of the action plan, there was scant mention of what the europeans wanted. african help in repatriations. africa was getting their own back. >> i was hoping this would be a start, where europe gives something and gets something in return. no, one cannot say they have achieved the goal, and it was one of the main planks of what europe euro europe european negotiators.

>> if europe is genuine, it will take more than what was on offer here. >> the u.n. has unanimously adopted a resolution that could see a team of peacekeepers sent to burundi to work with the government to stop the unrest. violence escalated since april when the president made a bit for a third term in power. since then, 240 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands fled. the u.s. warned that the situation could reflect the 1999 rwandan genocide if left alone. catherine wambua-soi sends an update. >> reporter: the military and police have been in this neighbourhood, conducting door to door searches and set up checkpoints searching vehicles. the atmosphere in part of the city is tense. people are afraid. they have left their names. they are found on the streets,

rivers, bushes. they are doing the killings. the government officials are, however, also targeted. the government says it's trying to stem out a growing rebellion and rid the country of illegal weapons. the u.s. raised concern, and so has neighbouring rwanda. this has taken an ethnic dimension, and they worry about the youth group whose members have been accused of carrying out some of these atrocities. the government here is downplaying concerns. officials say all is well. the government is doing its job to keep the country safe. other countries would not get as much condemnation. >> two of venezuela's enough use have been indict in the united states on drugs charges. it com it comes at a sensitive time.

the suspects face charges in new york. they are accused of conspireing to smuggle 800 kilograms of cocaine into the country. >> police have fired tear gas at protesters in greece who threw petrol bombs during demonstrations in the capital. thousands of protesters gathered outside, angry about budget cuts. we have this report from athens. >> reporter: it's a wake up call for syriza, the first general strikes since it came to power, resulted in violence when it came from bliss, signs of anning -- police, signs of anger. many people believe the party ignored workers on the left when it reversed anti-austerity policies. unemployment is stuck under 25%. many don't believe the party's promises. syriza is cutting $5 billion from the budget as the economy

is shrinking. part is to come from pension, and go group is more worried than the self-employed. their fund is bankrupt the problem is broader policy, when small business is closing and professionals find themselves on the street and the pension funds can't gather enough money. >> reporter: almost 60 of pay goes to catches and social security. the highest margins, sophia has found behind in payments. and is trying to catch up i don't know if i'll have a reward for the money i'm paying, it's as though i'm throwing it down the sue ir, if there was a choice i'd opt for private insurance. >> reporter: they are both at the march, unhappy in work and retirement. >> a year ago labour unions were

behind syriza. thinking the left was the best chance much breaking the cycle of spending cuts. it's not just about pension, syriza promised no new taxes, saying it would restore no new wages. social security analysts say pensions have already fallen by 45%. he thinks the government should crack down on undeclared labour. >> translation: you can't cut pensions and allow 6 billion worth of contributions to go uncollected. it's decisive contribution right now. businesses are in arrears, or if someone works 25 days a month. they declare 15 days worth of contributions. penalizing employers can lead to jurisdiction. pushing grease down the spiral of bankruptcy and unemployment

india's prime minister narendra modi is in the u.k. the british prime minister described his arrival as an historic opportunity. both governments expected to sign billions of deals. not everyone is happy with the visit. >> it's the first visit by an indian prime minister in more than a decade. it's been prayed for modernizing the democracy facing criticism for hard-line hindu beliefs. although narendra modi is india's head of state, his arrival was welcome with the pomp and ceremony of a presidential or royal visit, part of a british charm offensive, and what the british government hopes will be a chance to cash in on a raft of lucrative trade deals. >> british companies are expected to announce $15 billion

in deals, including the sale of 20 millionaire craft. with 1.5 million people living in the u.k., prime minister narendra modi's visit a chance to deepen cultural ties. >> translation: i'm delighted to visit the u.k. this is a relationship of immense importance. the familiarity to people and shared values give it special character. >> we want to forge a more ambitious modern partnership, harnessing strength and working together for the long term to shape fortunes at home and abroad in the 21st century. >> reporter: not everyone welcomed prime minister narendra modi's arrival. thousands gathering to condemn his record of free speech and human rights. >> there's a wide range of slogans, a number of groups. narendra modi is accused of

fostering religious intolerance, putting hindu matters above everything else. >> since coming in power, there's a culture of authoritarianism and violence against minority religious communities. the prime minister is accused of failing to stop anti-muslim riots in 2002 when he was chief minister. the british government responded to the violence for imposing a travel ban. that ended three years ago. as the indian prime minister stood to address both houses of parliament. the visit is a boost for a quest for greater international acceptance, a quest that continues on friday before addressing 60,000, and lunch with the queen finally a group of illegally smuggled orangutans have been

returned to thailand from indonesia. they were found abandoneded on a roadside. is ends years of wrangling over who should pay. more news on the website. the address to click on to - aljazeera.com. even those who survive beyond 24 hours often die before their first birthday. but if the baby is african american, they are more than twice as likely to die. fault lines travels to cleveland, ohio - to look at