we'll continue to follow the drone strike that may have killed jihadi john. >> kurdish forces raise a huge flag in sinjar to mark their victory against isil. >> from al jazeera headquarters in doha, also ahead: >> myanmar's opposition party led by aung san suu kyi sweeps the victory in historic elections. >> the u.n. looks at boosting forces in burundi, concerns are growing that violence could spiral out of control. an aging mobsters accused of planning a major airport heist walks out of a u.s. court a free man.

>> first a iraq where kurdish regional president said kurdish forces have taken control of sinjar. the fighters known as peshmerga were backed by u.s. air campaign. in the last hours, they raised a huge kurdish flag in the town to signal their victory. it is a significant win for them. sinjar was captured by isil last year, the group killed and enslaved thousands of minority yazidis. the town links two isil strong holds, is a major supply route between mosul in iraq and isil's self declared capital raqqa in syria. northern iraq along one of the industry routes for the sinjar offensive comes this report. >> without facing stiff competition, kurdish forces have gone into the center of the town

and declared they control the whole talk about. they came in through the north. the north was controlled by them before the north of the mountain. they took that in an operation in september where they allowed yazidi's trapped in the mountain to flee. since december, they have mounted attacks on sinjar, but this last final push seemingly quite easy for the kurdish peshmerga fighters. there is something quite strange. isil social media accounts are on blackout, no information coming out from them. normally they're quite active. i've spoken to a pro isil journalist who said a lot of fighters left on the 11th. what we are told is they were monitoring radio transmissions where isil commanders were telling fighters they needed to stay or they would be executed. seemingly that hasn't happened. they've gotten into town and say

they control it. it's very crucial and strategic, the town of sinjar. where it lice is where i am on one of the major supply routes. let me tell you what is happening behind me. the sign says mosul, the kurdish president is here, monitoring events closely. this is one of the key supply lines. when they took over in august, they actually got as far as where i'm standing at the moment before they were beaten back by kurdish peshmerga forces. right now, the peshmerga are inside the town of sinjar and say they control it. >> the united states said it's launched airstrikes in syria targeting the british isil fighter northern as jihadi john. the pentagon cannot confirm if he was killed in a strike in raqqa. he was in a series of isil votes showing the murders of at least

six civilian hostages. jihadi john was tracked down with the help of british and u.s. intelligence agencies, david cameron praised the operation. >> he is a barbaric murderer. he was shown in those sickening videos of the beheading of british aid workers. he posed an ongoing threat to civilians in syria and around the world and in the united kingdom, too. he was isil's lead executioner, and let us never forget that he killed many, many muslims, too. he was in tent on murdering many more people, so this was an act of self defense. it was the right thing to do. >> the israeli military says two israelis have been shot dead in the occupied west bank south of hebron. the army say they were traveling in a car when they were shot at from a vehicle driving by.

we are joined from west jerusalem. what more do you have for us? >> according to the emergency medical services, two israelis are confirmed dead, one is a 40-year-old man with his 18-year-old son, a third person was also wounded. his or her condition is not clear at this point. and you say mentioned, the army said that this happened on a drive by shooting south of hebron outside a settlement, but on the outside of the city itself. it comes also back of 24 hours of tensions, raced tensions, because hebron is a volatile city on every given day. earlier there were clashes between palestinian news and israeli forces. we understand from medical source that is palestinian man,

young man died of his wounds, that he had sustained earlier in the day. it just gives you an idea of the intensity of the violence in that city on a daily basis. >> hodor, thank you very much indeed. >> to myanmar where five years to the day since aung san suu kyi was released from house arrest, her opposition party has won the majority of seats in historic elections. suu kyi is due to meet important figures to discuss the transition of power. aung san suu kyi i guess national leader of democracy party with 239 seats, going control of parliament. the military will remain hugely influential. the constitution bars omalley from becoming president because she married a british citizen and her children have british passports. >> just a few years ago,

visiting the headquarters could have resulted in arrest. now, it's the home of the party that will form myanmar's next government. members have been through much at the hands of the army that ruled this country for 50 years that some can't quite believe what's happening. >> i didn't even dream of one day we would be here. >> the people came out in huge in connection and overwhelmingly demonstrated they want the country to take another step forwards full democracy. for the last general election held under military rule in 2010, we had to sneak into the country to cover it. just a few days later, on this exact same day five years ago, we were here outside the home of

the n.l.d.'s leader as she was reds from her sentence of arrest. >> they tried to keep her and her party out of the picture but now are preparing to hand them control of the country. suu kyi can't become president because she has immediate family members who are foreign citizens. she hasn't said who she'll put forward but made it clear that she'll be calling the shots. the pressure will now be on her and her m.p.'s to deliver on decades of campaigning for things such as human rights. one of the biggest problems facing the country is religious intolerance. rohingyas ever felt the full force that have, rewarded as illegal immigrants from neighboring bangladesh and many confined to camps. they hope the n.l.d. will offer them citizenship, but the reality may be different. >> we do not recognize them.

they are just muslims who came from bangladesh, so since the president tried to solve the problem. problem now on our shoulder. >> clearly there are many challenges ahead as the nld transitions from opposition party to the government. >> the u.n. security council is drawing up plans to send peace keepers to burundi as violence spirals out of control. 240 people have been killed since april. that's when the president began his bid for a third term, which he controversially won. >> earlier, our reporter asked him what he thinks of the u.n.'s

measures. >> that aisles trying to quell the violence happening on the

streets, very inflammatory language coming from some of our ministers. can you talk us through what's going on there. >> some of the words equal fight to be inflammatory have been clarified later. they were statements from the senate and government which clarified the statements made earlier on by authorities vis a vis the processing of burundi. we have called on monitors to come and see what is going on in those neighborhoods where the police is conducting disarmament pros. >> the deputy prosecutor of south africa has been summoned to answer questions over the killing of 34 miners by security forces. the director of the platinum mine where the shootings happened is accused of pressuring the minister of police too take action against the protest ago miners.

>> a reputed mafia boss is a free man. prosecutors allege he played a crucial role in an airport heist that helped inspire a hollywood film. we have the story. >> it was the crime immortalized in goodfellas. >> it turned out to be the biggest heist in american history, the lufthansa heist. >> nearly 40 years after the robbery took place, the only person to stand trial for it, aging mobster was acquitted. >> there was a hold up which historic proportions. >> off screen, the 1978 heist gripped the u.s. >> authorities aren't saying much more than they believe this to be the largest robbery in american history. >> armed robbers broke into a lufthansa cargo building at new york's kennedy airport. investigators found an empty

black van, but not the robbers or the haul. >> $5 million in undocumented cash, a million dollars in gems and jewelry, which today would be worth over $20 million. >> journalist rob spent his career covering the mob. >> the various mafia families had big pieces of action at j.f.k., the airport. everybody was involved, the families, so when the mastermind of the lufthansa job planned it, he had to give cuts to everybody. >> that alleged mastermind was jimmy burke, a.k.a. jimmy the gent, played by robert deniro. >> never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut. >> he died in prison in 1996, serving time for unrelated charges.

here's vincent snapped in pictures. the code of silence has begun to crack, leading to his day in court. >> most people in the case were killed, bumped offered, knocked off or died of natural deaths. he's one of the last survivors, so longevity in the long run did him in. >> he was indicted last year for the lufthansa job and other charges going back decades, including the murder of a suspected informant. there a trial, prosecutors claimed he helped forge the plan for the airport holdup and got a hefty cut. testifying against the 80-year-old, several alleged mobsters, including his own first cousin, but in the end, the jury decided there wasn't enough evidence, as the verdict was read, he pumped his fist and kissed his attorney on the lips. >> i've got two years here and i'm dying to get home. >> still to come on the program,

enrollment opens for refugee ins germany. we find out about the new initiative. >> a machine that gets drinking water out of the air in africa.

>> welcome back, the top stories here, kurdish regional president says kurdish forces pushed isil out of sinjar and are now in full control of the town. they raised a huge flag to signal victory. sinjar is on a highway linking two major isil strongholds.

>> aung san suu kyi's national league for democracy won myanmar's historic poll. votes are still being counted, but they have already claimed a massive majority in both houses of parliament. >> israeli ministry said two have been shot dead near hebron. >> syria's government said it's gained control of another town in aleppo, the second in two days. opposition fighters say they are tactically retreating in some areas. we have this report. >> these syrian army soldiers are marching to the town in aleppo, taking control here is important, it places them closer to the highway a links aleppo to damascus. activists say the military's advance is being aided by

russian and syrian jets. the offensive in the north was chosen as the terrain favors the force with the heavier fire power. it comes after an air base was taken over. it had been besieged by isil. it's significant because it gives the assad government and allies control in the north where they've lost control to various groups. the rebels are fighting back, reject that they have completely lost the area and pushed back multiple advances. rebels have posted videos on line saying their fighters have made tactical retreats to higher ground. >> we contain to fend them off.

we were inbe gauged in fighting that losed more than 10 hours. >> there is a meeting in vienna on friday to reach an agreement on the way forward. >> even if we wanted to, my friends, wean if you made the worst deal with the devil as one says, and said well that's what you have to do to try to make this pros go forward, i got news for you, it will not stop, because there are those invested in what has happened and in what has been done to them who see assad as the critical component of the transition. >> emboldened by russian air cover, the government strategy seems to be making headway in reestablishing control in areas it once rules. despite gains of the last few days, much of syria remains out of its control.

al jazeera. >> john kerry is visiting tunisia where he's expect to discuss political and economic support. united states is considering a loan guarantee of $500 million requested by tunisia. kerry will be meeting the tunisia president. >> the eyes of the the world are on tunisia and america wants tunisia to succeed. it is where the arab spring was born and it is where it distinctly continues to bloom in ways that are defining possibilities for other countries in the region. >> let's hear frow from tunis. >> the u.s. and other countries like to talk about tunisia as a role model for the world, but john kerry's visit was brief and really not much offered in the terms of concrete assistance, so

as talk of negotiating over a $500 million loan is not clear whether that money will go ahead and also there was talk of military assistance in terms of hardware, and sharing of drone intelligence. publicly, tunisian leadership are talking about how grateful they are. but behind closed doors are pushing for more help in creating jobs. around one in five young people here in tunisia are still out of work, and the gaps that create the revolution five years ago, gaps between the richer coastal areas and poorer interior parts of the country still exist. many tunisians want reforms to tackle corruption and reforms to the important security sector

here. >> french president francois hollande said there will be another european summit this time with turkey to introduce a number of refugees from the middle east. 600,000 people have reached from turkey this year. >> it was decided that there will be a european council organized with turkey's involvement so we can agree a plan of action and commitments cab made from european and turkish. resources can be made available so that syrian refugees can stay in turkey and have basic means to survive. >> the leaders of slovenia and croatia have met to discuss security issues on their border. >> germany's decision to admit asylum seekers this year. angela merkel said the country

must rise to the challenge. we report from berlin on a new scheme to offer education to refugees. >> he is hungry to learn. he walked root nine countries to get to germany. he wants to be an engineer. a big ambition for a penniless refugee who speaks no german. thanks to a new on line university specifically intended for refugees, not an impossible dream. >> if i become a good engineer, so i can really contribute to the host community, i can design a new future for them. it's my motive. that's why i see helping them to help themselves. >> this is a promotional video. it already has more than 1,000

refugee students. >> i am 25 years old from somalia. my profession back home was a social worker. curveball i reside in germany. >> these are the people who made it happen, the team behind with crowd funding from the internet and donor grants, they offer courses for free. one of the founders told me why he felt compelled to offer refugees this opportunity. >> i could really make a structural change and maybe enable thousands of people to study again and have something they can look forward to. >> refugee students who spend their first two years studying on line and learning german will be allowed to come here in their third year, provided they have pass the right exams. eventually, they'll qualify for a full degree. >> if refugees are to do well and integrate, they need actions

too institutions to universities that give people skills and confidence to succeed in a sophisticated economy. one challenge for the authorities is to open up these institutions in an affordable way, but one that maintains high academic standards. >> today's students are tomorrow's architects, computer scientists and engineers. germany needs more people with all these skills, educating refugees could bring enormous rewards. al jazeera, germany. >> two nephews of the venezuelan president nicolas maduro are held without bail in the u.s. on drugs charges. they were arrested in haiti and appeared in court in new york. they are accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into america. >> russian athletes could be hit with an olympic ban after a meeting of the athletics

governing body, the iaaf. later friday, the report released on monday by the world anti doping agency made accusations of a state sponsored doping program. the i.a.a.f. is headed by seth co. >> facing penalties for not reducing pollution, chinese's watchdog said the companies failed even after an emergency response order was put in place. >> emergency wore restrictions put in place in jonesberg. people have been asked to stop watering gardens during the day, to reuse bath water and take shorter showers. the country's main water supplier it is reserves are running low. south africa has been hit with the worst drought in three

decades. thee provinces have been declared disaster zones. new technology could help. >> this machine is called the water from air, something still relative live new in south africa, suck the air into the machine, drops it down, it goes through the process without chemicals or chlorine. we are literally drinking yesterday's humidity. >> entrepreneurs say it could be a long term solution as taps run dry in many cases. local councils are providing water tanks as an emergency measure. >> now critical, there's lots of reasons. >> the larger unit holds up to

1,500 liters a day, the smaller 32. they cost between $2,000 and $80,000, which is expensive for the majority. government experts are looking at ways to make the technology affordable. >> technology that is available in the market, that can be sustainable to our people so even if they have to get the water, they can pay for it, and also those who do not have money to pay, they can be assisted in the poverty strick that areas a lot of dams across south africa look lining. things could get worse and more than 6,000 rural communities will be affected. water rationing will likely continue until the dry spell ends. some hope converting humidity in

the air to clean drinking water could be a long-term solution. al jazeera, south africa. >> all the news we've been covering you can find on aljazeera.com. >> tares jihadi john, a u.s. air strike goes after one of the most recognizable faces of isil. taking back sinjar, kurdish fighters claim victory over isil in a key city with u.s. help. >> how stupid are the people of iowa? how stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap. >> trump lashes out, the presidential hopeful takes the