university in north westpac stan after attackers killed several students. pakistani taliban claimed responsibility you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up on the program, russian air strikes intensify hours before a renewed effort to revive talks to end the conflict in syria. china detains a swedish rights activist for violating laws that put national security at risk. a palestinian reality show like

no other gunmen have attacked a university in authorities westpac stan leaving at least 19 people dead, including a professor. security forces are still fighting attackers at the university. around 35 kilometers from the city of pashawa. >> reporter: the gunmen took advantage of thick winter fog moving through open fields alongside the university to scale the walls, storm buildings and open fire on students and teachers. >> translation: we heard firing from the back of the campus. we thought maybe some people were fighting. then the gunfire increased. we said stay in the rooms, don't go out. then the security forces came >> reporter: classes at university had begun for the day. 3,000 students study here. there were hundreds of others at the university too.

600 special guests were celebrating the birthday of an acclaimed poet who the university is named after. the university is in the same region where fighters attacked a school in december 2014 killing 134 children. that attack was linked to the pakistan taliban. reactions spurred the government officials to crackdown on the taliban and other fighters. hundreds of suspects were killed or arrested. diplomats from four different countries have been meeting this week to persuade the pakistan taliban it to rejoin talks in afghanistan. they're aimed at ending almost 15 years of war between u.s. backed government forces and taliban fighters. the taliban responded with more violence in afghanistan and pakistan in recent weeks. they say they're this latest attack. gunmen are among the dead. the forces are still combing university looking for more.

they say the nature of the attack in wintery and foggy conditions say it's difficult to know how many attackers there are let's speak to a political analyst in islamabad. what is your response to this attack? >> i think this is the most, the second deadliest attack the terrorists again hit a soft target, an educational institution. in december 16 2014 they targeted a school of children. this time they hit a university. there were already intelligence alerts that they were going to target a soft place. i think this is a very shocking news for the whole of the country because after december 16, the security establishment of the political establishment has devised a claim code named

at national action plan to target the terrorist activities, but unfortunately for the last few days we are looking at a surge in the terrorist attack. in december they hit a nearby city. a government office and 25 people were killed there. yesterday they attack a security check point in peshawa and a number of civilians were killed. also they are targeting the security people and four people were killed. recently i think we are observing that there is a type of surge in the terrorist attack in the country. so this is a big dilemma for the national leadership and at the

moment when the national leadership is away from the country, the prime minister is outside the country. so the situation in pakistan, what we are watching on the screens and what you're observing in the media, i think everybody is just shocked that how the terrorist are still, they're operating within the cities or within the major population centers the taliban have claimed responsibility for this. there had been renewed efforts to bring the taliban to talks, haven't there. tell us about those and where we're at with those. as you say, while this upsurge goes on. >> yes. i think this is that pakistan is trying to make it better between the iran tell ban and the iran government, but within pakistan i think the government is very clear about it, that there is no

point, these are the terrorists and the operation is still going on in the tribal areas, in the communications center being dismantled, but unfortunately, there are reports that the major population centers are still for the terrorist activities. they have gone in hiding. so this is a major challenge for the government now, how to clear and calm these major cities, how to wean them away from the finances and other organizations. so the challenge is much bigger than the actions we are looking at thank you for that. the plunging price of oil and worries over the global economy are over shadowing the world economic nor um. the annual meeting started in the swiss ski report. the price of crude fell another

2% on wednesday to just about $28 a barrel. the international energy agency is warning that the world to drown in oil because of oversupply. russia has stepped up its military air campaign in syria ahead of scheduled peace talks next week. the defense ministry says in the past four days it has struck over 500 i.s.i.l. targets in six regions. moscow has been accused of hitting civilians and moderate rebels during its offence ifts. since september russia has been helping government troops retake territory it had last in years fighting. all the while there is increasing uncertainty about whether or not those peace talks between the syrians and warring factions will go ahead next week. top diplomats are meeting in zurich to try and smooth things out ahead of that meeting. what hope is there that things will be smooth edz out? -- smooth edz - smoothed out?

>> reporter: it is particularly thorny. i'm on a hotel literally on the perimeter of the airport. john kerry arrived here an hour and a half ago. lavrov hasn't arrived yet as far as we have seen. what they have to resolve is who is entitled to attend those talks which are due to happen in just five days time. remember, the u.n. resolution 2254, passed back in december, it set a framework for dialogue which was supposed to take place between the syrian regime and opposition figures and then a political transition leading to elections due to take place sometime in the middle of next year. it's quite a tight timetable. who is going to represent the opposition and what has happened is that although we had a riyadh conference of opposition leadership which appeared to get a group together, russia has now come forward with an alternative group which it wants to see around the table too,

effectively turning it from a tie an gu lar table-- try an gau lar table with include two sets of opposition. that could prove extremely difficult to negotiate. will the new group of oppositions be acceptable to the current riyadh grouping of opposition. that's unclear. can you actually get a group together in such a short period of time with just five days to go before that conference is due to take place on the 25th. that's also in question. these are the questions that john kerry and lavrov are going to try and iron out during the course of the if you hours that they have here in-- few hours that they have here today of course, even if talks do happen, the chances of any conclusion that is going to lead to this conflict being resolved are dim too. >> reporter: well, i mean, this is precisely it. first of all, we are going

forwarned unofficially that there is unlikely to be a statement coming out of the encounter between the two men today. that doesn't bode well as far as a meeting of minds. when you talk about these meetings, a lot of ground work has been done beforehand and the seniors come in and put pen to paper. that hasn't happened at this time. that basically means that it looks like the two sides are still pretty far away. as far as the june 25th talks go, as i said at the start, the differences between the two sides and the thorny issue of getting all the different people and personalities to agree on a timetable and who is going to be able to be entitled to sit around that table, at this early stage the two men haven't actually met yet, but at this early stage it looks like it's going to be a very big ask indeed absolutely. thank you. paul brennan there in zurich

ministers from seven countries are meeting in paris in relation to stepping up operations in syria. a report from our correspondent. >> reporter: winter is harsh in eastern ghouta. scraps of woods, pieces of garbage, in fact, in particular that burns are pushed into the home-made stove. >> translation: my dad and i made this heater. we don't have diesel fuel but we use garbage to make sure that we stay warm. >> reporter: she uses pots and pans, old pipes and bits of metal to build the family's only source of warmth. it is almost impossible to get heating fuel. the things they would normally burn now cost far too much. >> translation: you see this, the charcoal? we can't even use this. it is too expensive.

every now and then we use some so we can keep everyone warm. >> reporter: bargaining and hagg meddling used to be common at the local wood market. now among the result of wreckage of air strikes, there's no negotiation. for most people prices are impossibly high. >> translation: some of the wood here is from old houses. people are taking them down because this is all they've got to sell. some of the wood i sell costs up to 1000 syrian pounds. peep can't pay that price. they don't have the money. some people can't even make 100 liras per day, so how can they buy this? >> reporter: this man and his neighbors are cut off from fresh water, food and medicine. even winter seems to have turned against them police have fired tear gas in order to control angry protests in at least four

tunisian towns. they were demanding employment just days after a jobless man committed suicide. unemployment had gone up more than 15% by the end of 2015 compared to 12% in 2010. the arab spring uprising in 2011 was sparked when a market vendor took his own life. libya's rival factions have signed a u.n. backed deal last month. the challenge is trying to provide stability to counter the growing threat of i.s.i.l. >> reporter: a significant step forward in libya's struggle to end political deadlock, the creation of a national government hoping to unite the country's two rival parliaments. >> translation: this was not achieved easily. i can aassure you that we went through lot that we knew we had to address because we were equipped with the spirit of

agreement. >> reporter: the new government also has to convince all armed groups to put down their weapons and join the national army. it will have to move quickly to try to end libya's humanitarian crisis. >> we would like to encourage the other stakeholders who still have difficulties with the agreement and with this new government really now to take their responsibility because the people of libya deserve it. the humanitarian situation is dire. >> reporter: many members of the general national congress in tripoli and the u.n. security council recognised parliament in tabruk still don't back the agreement. libya's factions and groups are not fairly represented by the 32 ministers appointed to the new government. it will continue to have to take the growing threat of i.s.i.l. which continues to grow along the coastline, but the united nation sz which has been coordinating intense talks sees this as the best chance so far as reuniting the libya which has

been fractured by fighting for nearly five years. rob matheson plenty for still to come here on al jazeera, including kenya stepping up the fight against al-shabab. there are questions over the number of soldiers killed in operations. also art imitates life. the detailed tribute to one of the most important artists of the 20th century. h century.

welcome back. the top stories here on al jazeera. at least 19 people are dead in

an attack by gunmen at a university in north-west pakistan. six gunmen are also reported killed in the continued battle with soldiers. the pakistani taliban have claimed responsibility. russia says it has struck over 500 i.s.i.l. targets in syria in the past four days. moscow has been stepping up its military air campaign ahead of scheduled talks over syria's talks next week. there is increasing uncertainty about whether talks will go ahead. international energy agency is warning that the world could drown in oil because of over supply. it comes as the price of crude fell another 2% fell on tuesday to just about $28 a barrel. more on that attack in pakistan. there has been a spurt in attacks by the taliban's pakistani - by the pakistani taliban in recent weeks.

11 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up on tuesday. last week some schools in peshawar were closed. reports that fighters were reporting an attack. in december at least 26 people were killed when a taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a government office in north-western pakistan. we've been hearing from retired pakistan army general who says pakistan needs to improve intelligence and manage borders better >> the best thing is to improve intelligence, improve the security forces, get the full cooperation of the people because unless you have the full cooperation of the people, it's very difficult to target them. then also, of course, manage the border between afghanistan and pakistan and also make sure that you have really good relations

and confidence between afghanistan and pakistan, especially the security forces because if they can cooperate at the intelligence level and at the operation level, much more can be achieved, but as you know there is a history of lack of confidence and blame game. that has to really go away and it has to turn into cooperation so that both the countries benefit. otherwise it is really these terrorist groups which will have this way. i think there are several things which can still be done and i don't think we should be satisfied that what has bhn achieved so far because as you can see, these groups have their both cells, sleeping cells and active cells in cities and also crossing the border and are attacking and they do have sympathy and support within pakistan as well, although not as much as it was in the past, but still there are people who

are prepared to give them some support and that is how they're able to launch these attacks the chinese government has accused a detained swedish national of endangering national security. he is the founder of the action working group. it is said he has been fabricating information and interfering in sensitive cases. explosions in a fireworks factory have devastated the area in china. one has been killed and others injured. around a thousand villagers were moved to safety in freezing temperatures. roadblocks have been set up in haiti by protesters demanding new elections on the second successive day of unrest police disbursed demonstrators near parliament in the capital. opposition presidential

candidate is boycotting the run off alleging rigging. kenyan troops have been carrying out ground and air operations in southern somalia's region. it follows an attack on a kenyan military base. the remains of soldiers have been flown to the capital >> reporter: the remains of some of the soldiers killed by al-shabab fighters are brought back home. the fighters over run a military base on friday killing many soldiers and abducting several others. these soldiers have only been there for a fortnight following a routine troop rotation of the african union peace keeping mission. two other equally deadly attacks happened last year during similar rotations >> they're caused by the massive complete take over of a company

occupying an area. in error happens because there isn't a smooth hands over and transition from the previous battalion that was occupied into the new one >> reporter: the attack appears well timed to take advantage of the troop rotation when fresh troops arrive. military demanders are not reveal details of that attack. we don't know how many soldiers were killed, abducted or may still be missing. families are also saying that they're not receiving much information. the continued presence of kenyan troops in somalia is once again the focus of debate. this man who once worked for amazon draws a sketch. he said it should focus on why the troops were sent there in the first place >> we went in unilaterally to

"defend" ourselves, set up a buffer zone. that was the reason we went across to protected ourselves. by that measure, it was a failure. it is a mess because of the attacks but al-shabab. it increased after we went across >> reporter: he says what happened cannot be shrouded in secrecy and an exit strategy should focus on why the troops were sent there in the first place. we may never know precisely how many soldiers died or what exactly happened, but the president has vowed that the government will avenge their deaths and he says that kenyan forces in somalia will not withdraw, at least not yet the tv show is giving palestinians a chance to choose a new president, at least in

theory. auditions are being held for contestants who think they can do a better job than the real president. >> reporter: it has all the ingredients of a reality tv competition. dramatic music, nervous contestants, a tough panel of judges and a major prize, but the program "the president", isn't awarding the winner a record contract or the cash, but offering the palestinian presidency, at least hypothetically. these auditions in the occupied west bank are for the second series of the president. here contestants have to explain why they should be the one to lead the palestinian people and offer splugss to job-- solutions to joblessness, political infighting and the conflict with israel. this woman is hoping to be finalist. she says it's time young palestinians had a say in how they are governed. >> translation: each gap between the youth and the

leership is getting larger and larger. we have so many capable young politicians who can take over. >> reporter: while the president is popular with viewers, the actual president is rapidly losing support. a recent poll by the palestinian center for policy and survey found two-thirds of palestinians want him to resign and that if elections were held today, his party would likely be defeated by its political rival. this man conducted the poll and is a prominent palestinian analyst. >> i think most palestinians would view him as a status quo leader. his legacy will be that he showed to take small steps and to be very slow in implementing them. >> reporter: the 80-year-old leader made a televised speech in which he dismissed concerns that his self-rule government

might collapse under mounting tensions with israel. after an up turn in violence that has entered its fourth month >> reporter: despite the president's attempts to reassure the palestinian public, there are still concerns about the lack of the successor or even a process in place to pick one. although hundreds of reality show exit tors believe they could do a better job, it would appear that even after 11 years in power, he doesn't plan on stepping down any time soon-- show competitors > a famous painter was also a celebrated sculpte ked, miro. >> reporter: a pain staking delicate process recreating miro's colorful world. the team of set designers have

spent months replicating hundreds of items, tables, paint brushes and curiositys. even the floor and smears of paint have been flathfully copied. it is based on his original studio on the spanish island of majorca where he worked for more than 30 years. at the center of the studio is his famous rocking chair >> myself, i was with my grandfather sitting in it when i was 10 years old and i have so many great memories of those days. >> reporter: the artist's grandson now looks after his legacy. >> all these reconstructions of the studio tell you about the methodology kal way to construct a dream and also to reconstruct emotions, sensations and feelings of the social and political turmoil that he was so able to experience throughout his life. >> reporter: also on show priceless works of art carefully shipped to london. one of his paptings recently

sold for a record 37 million dollars-- paintings >> reporter: he said he wanted to assassinate painting. he says it is a journey from abstraction to fields of color. his creations went on to inspire more great art from jasz to the american artist jackson pollock. he worked through years of political chaos, civil and world wars and a toe at all tar yan-- totalitarian regime. his ideas still resonate today as many strive from independence in spain. he described his studio as a vegetable garden. some over here and potatoes over here. i work like a gardener he said.

the studio will travel to new york. his garden is on the move more on all the news that we've been covering on our website. aljazeera.com is the address for all comment and analysis. sold for big bucks. >> get it, get it lockett, get it! >> what can be done to stop this illegal trade? >> he'd actually built a secret compartment within his prosthetic leg and that is where he concealed the baby iguanas. >> in