>> only on al jazeera america. a bomb in a tourist area of istanbul kills at least ten people, most are reported to be german. ♪ hello there. i'm felicity barr and this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, aid workers in the syrian town of madaya, say malnourished people there urgently need medical help. the mobile classrooms annoying children to go to school in nigeria. and britain sees its first

doctor's strike for 40 years as thousands walk out over changes to their contract. ♪ hello, ten people are now confirmed dead after a blast in turkey's largest city, istanbul. the attack happened in a district known for historic monuments. it is popular with tourists, and officials say nine of the dead are german. shortly after, the prime minister convened an emergency security meeting. he later said the suicided bomber was a foreign member of the islamic state of iraq and the levant. turkey was already on high alert after a series of attacked blamed on isil. our correspondent has our report [ sirens blaring ] >> reporter: it's the heart of

istanbul. the sultanahmet square less than an hour after an explosion, the site cordoned off and security tight. >> translator: it was a suicide bomb, yes. i went there and saw it and came back to the hotel. it was chaos. everyone was running around. police didn't see this coming. they were trying to evacuate the area, because they said a second bomb could go off. >> reporter: istanbul is turkey's biggest city where the historic square is a major attraction for tourists and turks alike. thousands visit every day. the district is also home to a museum, and blue mosque. come in turkey had been expecting attacks since turkish forces launched an offensive against isil and kurdish pkk fighters. [ explosion ] >> reporter: in october at least 102 people were killed in a double suicide blast on a peace

rally in the capitol ankara. >> translator: i strongly condemn this attack. this apparent terrorist act caused by a suicide bomber. i would like to offer my c con -- condolences. this shows how -- important it is to be united against terrorism. >> reporter: the district is now locked down. its people left bewildered that a suicide bomb blast has torn through their beloved and historic city. >> we're going to hear from dominic kane from germany, but first let's talk to our correspondent at the scene in istanbul for us right now. tell us more about the reaction of the turkish government to this attack. >> reporter: well, turkish -- turkish officials warned -- didn't rush to

conclusions very fast during the day. shortly after the attack we heard from president erdogan who said that the attacker was a 28-year-old syrian, which was then confirmed by the government spokesperson following an emergency cabinet meeting. but we have heard from the prime minister in ankara in the last hour, and the prime minister said that the attacker was, quote, a foreign member of daesh; that they have established that he is a foreign member of daesh, dropping any reference to a syrian citizenship. he also said that there should be global solidarity with turkey just the way there was solidarity with france following the charlie hebdo attacks. he also said that the fight against isil, turkey's fight against terrorism in general and against isil will continue. >> and what is happening at the scene right now? and how has all of this effected

the rest of istanbul? >> reporter: well, i think there is a sense -- the sight -- the sight of the blast is 40 meters behind me. it is one of the squares -- you could call it an adjacent square on the side of the blue mosque. things are calm now. earlier we saw ministers come and very quickly have a look and leave. but cleaning staff, municipality staff has now entered the site, and there is a sense of normalcy now with trams functioning, and the security cordoned now having been eased slightly. >> thank you, reporting live from istanbul. let's go to berlin to speak to dominic kane. dominic it would appear that germany has suffered some significant casualties in this

attack? >> reporter: that's right. we expect a statement from the chancellor, angela merkel within an hour and a half about istanbul and the events that have taken place there. so far at least the german government has refrained from confirming what has been speculated and reported upon in the media in turkey and elsewhere, that germans may well be fatalities in this event. we have seen the reuters news agency saying a source from the prime minister's office in turkey, saying that the prime minister had called angela merkel and expressed his condolences to her. so it seems logical that we will hear from the chancellor, angela merkel in more detail about what has happened here. the foreign minister speaking earlier saying it seemed likely that germans would be among the fatalities. he called the about a barbaric act of terror, and said that germany stood shoulder to

shoulder with the turkish government in the fight against terrorism. but we expect a statement from angela merkel within an hour and a half from now, and she will likely give us more details. >> dominic, no doubt more from you later in the coming hours. for me moment, though, thanks very much indeed. ♪ mow the world health organization has asked the syrian government to allow them to send mobile clinics and medical teams to assess the extent of malnutrition in madaya. the suffering there is the worst seen in the country so far. on monday aid was successfully delivered to madaya and two other towns. let's speak now to the spokesman of the international committee of the red cross and is in madaya right now.

it's about 24 hours since you first arrived in madaya. first of all, tell us about the conditions of the people that you have seen in madaya. >> actually we finished today this morning at 5:00 am of unloading the rest of the trucks. the condition of the people it's very heart breaking to see what we have actually seen in these couple of hours, during -- during our stay there. the people were greeting us with -- with joy, some with anger because we came late. some couldn't believe this aid was actually happening. you could really see uncertainty in their faces. they kept asking -- they asked, are you going to bring more food? where is the rest of the trucks? you know, the conditions of the people are very worrying, mostly because you could see they were weak. they didn't have a proper meal

for -- for days. which shows how urgently this aid was needed. during our visits we have seen several cases, you know, of malnutrition, but it's not the only problem of -- of the residences of madaya and any other besieged area in syria. we are talking here about overlapping problems that goes beyond the malnutrition. we're talking about they are cut off from medical supplies. you know, there are no hygiene products. you -- you have a lot of health issues, and then health structures who are not really supplied with basic medicines, cannot really cope with what is going on, so i mean, imagine that the cycle that you have here, the people get mall knew riched, so they get weaker, and their immunity gets lower, and then they -- they fall sick easier, and they cannot be

treated, because there is no medicine, so the situation here in madaya and other besieged places in syria, always goes from bad to worse. >> we have been hearing around 400 syrians need to be evacuated for urgent medical treatment. can you tell us more about that, and also if that is likely to be allowed; that these people could be taken out of madaya? >> while the medical teams [ inaudible ] met yesterday with -- you know, with local doctors in -- and the health officials. we of course identified people who -- who are most in need of -- of urgent treatment. we will try right now to -- to find a suitable solution for those people, so for now i would prefer to abstain myself from

any comments on that, until a solution can be found if you can excuse me for that. >> i understand. just tell us a bit more then about how the aid is being distributed? has it been a difficult task to distribute to the people who need it? >> well, it was difficult task actually to [ inaudible ] and then just put it in the resinated warehouses first. it's like we are not talking about two or three trucks. we are talking about 44 trucks of the syrian red crescent, the international committee of the red cross, and the u.n. going into madaya, and 21 trucks going at the same time into other besieged towns. when we entered it was dark, so you know the operation of off loading is such tough place throughout the night, which was

very time-consuming. right now, those -- as we were off loading the latest medical supplies by the icrc, we already seen that certain supplies had been packed on the small vans and being carried out to the houses of the people. in order to get proper grasp of how those supplies were distributed to the people, we will have to come back, and monitor how it's being done, and hope we will be able to enter not only madaya, but other towns in the following days also to bring more supplies. >> okay. really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. thanks very much indeed. >> thank you very much. iraqi rescue workers have been searching through think rubble of a bombed out shopping center in baghdad. suicide bomber and gunmen stormed the mall on monday. isil says it carried out the

attack in the mainly shiite district of the capitol. three palestinians have been shot dead in the occupied west bank. a 21 year old was killed here bethlehem. two other teenagers were shot dead in separate incidents near hebron. both were accused of attempted stabbings. 154 palestinians and 21 israelis have died since violence escalated in october. still to come on the program, how pop-up cools in nigeria are thwarting boko haram's attempts to block children from an education. ♪ and how this arabic pop song has achieved history in israel. ♪

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♪ hello again. a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. the turkish president says a young foreign suicide bomber was behind an attack in istanbul, in which at least ten people have died. the world health organization has asked the syrian government to allow them to send mobile clinics and medical teams to assess the extent of malnutrition in the town of madaya. and three palestinians have been shot dead in separate incidents in the occupied west bank in the latest wave of violence.

violence blamed on boko haram in nigeria has displaced more than a million children in the past six years. the armed group has targeted schools, robbing many of an education. now the government is setting up mobile classrooms, as our correspondent reports. >> reporter: this boy is finally attending school. like everyone in his class, he fled from his village after boko haram attacked and occupied it. the armed group is opposed to western education, and has killed tens of thousands in nigeria's northeast. >> translator: they want us not to go to school, and if anyone disobeys, the punishment is death. >> reporter: the nigeria government and its development partners are providing mobile classrooms like these, to help children displaced by the violence, catch up on their education. >> in collaboration with [ inaudible ], we have

established mobile units, and mobile unit is a classroom that is fully equipped with furnitures and even generators and electricity and solar panels, and wash facilities. it's really a fully equipped classroom that can host 40 children which is standardized ratio in terms of student and teacher ratio. >> reporter: but even with these classes runs in the morning and afternoon, the facilities in the camp are simply not enough. as many of 70% of children attended school before the boko haram violence. and that somebody has significantly decreased over the past six years. schools have been destroyed and hundreds of teachers killed. these classrooms offer children a new start. little selma has been around

violence since she was born. the mobile classrooms are offering her a chance to chase her dream. something 11 million other out of school nigerian children aren't able to do. al jazeera, nigeria. oil prices have hit a new low. plummeting to less than $31 a baseball. in that is the lowest level in more than a decade, and industry experts say they could plunge even further. at its peak, a barrel of oil costed more than $147. it has now fallen to around $30 a barrel. that's good news for people filling up their cars or heating their homes and goods and services may cost less, but it's bad news for oil-producing countries who are not getting enough for their oil to cover their costs. one of those big oil producers

nigeria. our correspondent there joins us live from abuja. yvonne, nigeria's economy depends so much on oil production, what is the government saying about the current situation? >> reporter: that's right. it depends almost 80% on revenues from the sale of oil, and early today in abu dab bee, the state of petroleum said that opec countries need to have a rethink, perhaps to restrategize on the falling price of oil. opec countries produce around 31.5 million barrels of oil every single day, but the fall in the price is having a terrible impact on countries like nigeria, algeria, and venezuela that rely so much on oil sales and less of an impact on the very wealthy oil-producing countries like saudi arabia, which make up the bulk of the oil that is exported

and sold. and this is all being brought to a head, because nigeria's government has just put together the national budget. it came to around $301 billion for the year 2016, and they benchmarked the budget against an oil price of $38 per barrel. we're reporting today of course that it is falling to 31, some say it will even go as low as 20. so how will nigeria meet its obligations? it is under huge pressure to find money. it is talking about borrowing, but what would be easier if opec came up with another strategy that would help to bolster the price of oil, and this also puts the president who came to power last year under immense pressure to fulfill one of his campaign promises which was basically to diversify nigeria's economy away from oil. many governments have said we

need to cut our independence on oil. the price is not stable. it's not reliable, we can't depend on oil as much as we do. we have to invest in other sectors of the country. and with the falling price of oil being what it is, the government is under immense pressure to do everything it can to steer the country's economy away from its independence on oil, whilst at the same time trying to use its influence within opec to get the organization to rethink, to restrategize, in a way that would boost the price of oil. >> thank you very much. thousands of junior doctors in england have gone on strike over the dispute over a new contract. it has lead to thousands of operations and procedures being canceled. >> reporter: they and thousands of others should have been on shift, but instead, and under the shadow of the u.k. parliament, junior doctors have

walked out, angry over plans to change their current contract. junior doctors say it could see them working more hours in britain's free health service, the nhs. >> obviously patient safety is the main thing that worries us. and what the government is hoping to do with the new contract, we fear will jeopardize patient safety, it will be bad for staff, patients and the nhs. >> reporter: this is the first doctor strike for more than 40 years. the nhs has changed situation contactually since the '70s, and faces new pressures, including now trying to deal with the challenge of an aging population. not all junior doctors have gone on strike, but the action has lead to more than 3,400 non-emergency operations and procedures being canceled. many say they are staging this protest with a heavy heart, despite a time when the nhs is

facing extraordinary financial pressure, and morale among staff is low. the government has consist engineerly defended the new contract, saying it will help bring in a better service, with better cover at weekends, that junior doctors won't see a pay cut. >> if you have a spoke on the weekend, you are 20% more likely to die. that can't be acceptable. the right thing to do is to sit around the table, talk to the government about how we deliver a truly seven-day nhs. >> reporter: it takes five years to get a medical degree in the u.k. after that you can spend ten years as a junior doctor. some of the next generation training at the university believes this strike could be a defining moment for the profession. >> you have to work longer hours to suppliment their income in order to earn similar wages, then it will have a knock-on effect with people being more tired. and safeguards one of the

central issues with have with this contract. >> we don't know what the contract is going to look like when we start. we have no idea what our hours will be, the kind of support we'll have on the [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: recent polls suggests two-thirds of the public support the junior doctor's actions. two more strikes are planned. emma hayward, al jazeera, in london. an appeal against a military pact between the philippines and the u.s. has been thrown out by the philippine supreme court. demonstrators were unhappy with the agreement. the deal was challenged by lawmakers who said it was unconstitutional and forces the philippines to give up its sovereignty. better ties are seen as important because of escalating tensions in the south china sea. venezuela supreme court has ruled all actions carried out by

the national assembly are void until three banned politicians are removed. they belong to the coalition which defeated the ruling party after 17 years in power. it would give the coalition a super majority. the socialist party alleges that voting irregularities occurred. china's richest man can now add hollywood movie mobile to his title after buying out a film studio. the group had bought legendary entertainment for about $3.5 billion. the chairman has been trying to diversify his business empire overseas, and plans to merge parts of the company. there has been something of a break through at the top of the israeli music charts. for the first time a song

entirely in arabic has reached the number 1 spot. our correspondent reports now from tel-aviv. >> reporter: it has been viewed online more than 2 million times. ♪ >> reporter: and stormed to the top of israel's pop music chart. the song, love of my heart, is their first single. it's success is an impressive feet for any group, but almost unheard of for a jewish israeli band that sings folk songing in the dialect of arabic. the three sisters who make up the group know they are unlike any other band in israel and are proud of it. >> music is a language in itself, so i don't think it should have any borders or something. we just want people to enjoy our

music. no matter where they come from. ♪ >> reporter: the sisters are desendants of yemeni jews who moved to israel off it was created. and like many others they grew up singing the songs of their home lank. around 3 million israelis are jews who trace their ancestry to the middle east, and around 20% of israeli citizens are arabic-speaking palestinians, both communities have historically been among the poor eps and most disenfranchised in israel. it seems a given that an arabic israeli song should achieve success. but there is another reason why this is the first arabic language song to top the israeli music charts. ♪ >> reporter: for decades after the creation of israel, arabic

music was rarely played on israeli radio. the early leaders of israel were european jews, and their culture dominated. that slowly started to change in the 1970s with a select few artists achieving commercial success, but all of those artists blended arabic with hebrew or english, but they have not. >> i think the system made it very clear from the get-go, from the very early 50s, that you need to work twice as hard -- twice as much harder to prove to us that you are not that kind of arab. >> reporter: from tel-aviv to tangiers, brooklyn to beirut, they hope to continue to transcend israel's race politics and history with their music.

and you can find much more about many of the stories we're covering over on our website. that is what the front page looks like at the moment. the address to click on to is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com for all of your latest news and sport. ♪ a different kind of state of the union, president obama signals what to expect in his final address. [ sirens blaring ] turkey's prime minister blaming isil for that deadly suicide bombing in a popular tourist area. former army sergeant bowe bergdahl back in court. >> reporter: it is 100% guaranteed that an