♪ saudi special forces engaged in a gun fight with al-shabab on a beach side restaurant in ouagadougou. ♪ you are watching al jazeera live from london with me david foster and also coming up, in the next 30 minutes a british inquiry finds russia's president probably approved the killing of alexander yanko. a child soldier turned uganda rebel appears before the international criminal court. police officers killed in tunisia and protests over mass

unemployment spread. ♪ we are gathering information by the minute trying to establish contact with our teams on the ground and what i can tell you right now is that al-shabab fighters have carried out a bomb and gun attack on a popular sea side restaurant in the somali capitol. police are saying that a car bomb went off at the entrance to the beach view cafe at ouagadougou's lido beach and there are reports of heavy gunfire. we managed to get through to a somali government spokesman and this is what the person had to say to al jazeera just a short time ago. >> okay, al-shabab terrorist group attacked a popular seafood restaurant on the beach of ouagadougou. they tried to get in and started

in the area and has several restaurants that people come on days like this. let me say this we are not certain it's al-shabab but usually most of the time incidents like this are done by al-shabab terrorist group but we are not certain and we don't have all the details. what we know so far they tried to get in this sea restaurant. the restaurant has seafood. and they were attacked inside the restaurant and the terrorist group are not in there. they are not inside the restaurant right now. >> reporter: the word from the government spokesman there is if

al-shabab is involved and we have had a claim of responsibility if you can be responsible in such circumstances from al-shabab saying that they are behind this attack on that beach side restaurant a place that our correspondent mohamed has been to on a number of occasions during his work in somali and find him at the moment in burkino-faso but you have been on the phone to people in ouagadougou, first of all is this still going on? >> yes, from what we are hearing it's still going on and somali government special forces known as alfa group are said to be bustling the remaining gunmen who are still hold up in two restaurants at the beach, this is from eyewitnesses who say that the gunmen came from the side of the beach and started

shooting at people and when most of those people who were at the beach and again we must say that on a thursday afternoon, which is the beginning of the somali weekend there are so many people at the beach, perhaps one of very few spaces available to the people of ouagadougou and a current eyewitness is when the people moved towards the gate there was a car riddled with explosives there and exploded and that is where most of those who died were. the somali national intelligence agency has said that in one of the restaurants on the beach students were just graduated who were holding a celebration party there and they might be among the casualties. >> it was not so very long ago, mohamed, i spoke to a senior somali politician within the last nine months i think it was and said listen effectively we

have defeated al-shabab. we have all of the major population centers and yes i have that some of the countryside but they are spent force and what is actually happening with the take or the battle with al-shabab? >> well, the resent attacks by al-shabab are anything to go by al-shabab is far from being a spent force. they have been attacking african union bases at the front operating bases the last of which happened this week, the attack far away from the kenya-somalia border where they killed dozens of kenya defense forces who are of african union peace keeping mission. al-shabab have lost its main centers and right now confined to the countryside but becoming more brazen and do not have access to the sea which they used to get armaments and supply

of arms but now what they are doing is attacking african union and somali on forward operating bases taking with them huge supplies with arms with them and this is what is making them -- what is enabling them to carry out such attacks. >> you talk about two restaurants on the lido beach being attacked. we've heard suggestions that there are hostages being held. have you heard that? >> this is what i'm hearing. we cannot confirm how many hostages the gunmen are holding but we have been told that the gunfire going on, there is a gun fight going on right now between al-shabab militia men and somali government forces, the special forces known as alfa group who are usually sent in situations like this when al-shabab attacks high-profile areas like government industries and also

hotels where they attacked in the past killing somali politicians, diplomates as well as civilians. >> thank you very much indeed, mohamed and reporting on the situation in somali where al-shabab fighters have attacked two beach side restaurants. thank you. ♪ official inquiry in the death of former kbg agent in london concluded his murder was probably approved by the russian president vladimir putin and died after drinking tea which was laced with a rare radioactive isotope at the london hotel and the investigation may in his words poisoned the relationship between the two countries and lee barker reports. >> reporter: the long awaited murder inquiry led investigators right to the very doors of the

kremlin. the damning findings say the russian president putin probably sanctioned his murder because of a long personal feud. >> all rise. >> reporter: the head of russia security service the fsb has also been implicated in what was described as a state-sponsored assassination. >> the fsb operation to kill this man was probably approved by mr. pruchof then head of the fsb and also by president putin. >> reporter: report says these former russian agents poisoned alexander with radioactive palonium210 at this london hotel and also says this was their second murder attempt, speaking in russia he called the allegations nonsense.

>> translator: everything that is being said by the british media referring to an open and public hearing is a lie and i can't find any other word to describe it. >> reporter: alexander's wife and son say they are happy with the findings and urging the british government no punish russia with sanctions. >> i'm calling immediately for the exclusion of all russian intelligence operative and also calling for the imposition of targeted economic sanctions and travel bans against named individuals including this man and mr. putin. >> reporter: russian's ambassador to the u k moscow says the findings are baseless. >> we can see the case and the way it was disposed of lacked provocation of the british

authorities. british government says it will freeze the assets of those suspected of the killing. it was a murder straight out of a cold war spy novel, former russian agent had defected to the west becoming a british citizen only to be hunted down and poisoned on british soil apparently by his former colleagues. the new report suggests there was personal and and antagonism going to the 90s and the public inquiry has no legal basis alone and could influence what decision the government takes next and putin cooperation needed defeating i.s.i.l. a full blow diplomatic row is the last thing the government wants, london. this is nothing the first time the critics of the kremlin have been targeted and rory alcohol has more from moscow. >> reporter: is this the man

who approved the murder? that is the headline allegation of sir robert owens inquiry, putin he says probably gave the go ahead. russia has poured scorn on the reports of course, it's ministry of foreign affairs hinted the u k itself has something to hide. >> translator: more than once we have said we are interested in objective investigation into the deaths of many russian citizens sometimes under strange circumstances in great britain. >> reporter: but russia is no stranger to political killings, a late winter's nice in 2015 and a body lie still on a bridge in central moscow. a former deputy prime minister and vocal critic of vladimir putin, chilling signal the opposition colleagues concluded since by those guarding putin's authority and had been shot just meters from the kremlin's walls. in 2009 a lawyer died after a

beating in a prison and had exposed a $230 million tax refund fraud only for the authorities to turn the tables and jail him for the very same crime. the same year he was killed 2006, journalist anna was gunned down in her moscow apartment building. she had reported for years on russia's bloody wars in chechnya often highlighting the abuses of soldiers there. these are the most infamous cases and the full list is much longer and journalists, lawyers, activists, opposition leaders, all murdered, all had in one way or another sided against russia's political elites. russia may be a modern capitalist state but according to some there are aspects of its authoritarian repressive past it still clings to.

>> translator: it tells us that russia is managed by the same part that governed the country with 70 years of soviet rule and kgb says ex kbg is a continuation of kbg and an instrument is the political murder. >> reporter: so did putin approve the death? this analyst is unconvinced. >> i think there is new evidence circumstantial and interpretative and there is a strong body of opinion britain included that everything is going wrong putin is responsible. there is very little even indirect evidence of that. >> reporter: regardless criticizing the kremlin can be as dangerous in the 21st century as it was in the 20th. rory challenge, al jazeera, moscow. police involved in

confrontations in hundreds in tunisia, the third day of riots over mass unemployment and the demonstrators tried to storm local government buildings and a number of different towns. one policeman had been killed. protests all started in the west where the wrong man killed himself after being refused a public sector job. and we have a correspondent there. >> reporter: matters taken by the government were dismissed by people here that they want to see some genuine deep reforms implemented, not only quick fixes like saying the government is ready to offer 5,000 job opportunities for the people here. tension is mounting and hundreds of people are converging on the main streets of the city here and it seems that this anti-government movement is building up across the country. we have seen some rallies in support for the people in tunisia and also in gufsa.

people have said they took to the streets in 2010 hoping for democracy and better life. they are seeing some sense of democratic reforms but their living conditions have not changed. this is why they have taken to the streets and we say they will continue their fight until their demands are met. stay with us if you can after this break, you will hear from the u.n. special envoy to syria telling al jazeera about the conflict and subsequent migrant crisis in europe. plus the dangerous mosquito-borne virus that is rapidly spreading through latin america. ♪

you are watching al jazeera with me david foster and normally at this point we do a short recap and on the main stories but i'm going to give you more detail about this battle going on in somalia's capitol ouagadougou, according to the government a short while ago yes there was a fight, a gun fight and explosives had been used at a beach side restaurant, lido beach, two restaurants there, one where resent graduates were having a party to celebrate the end of their studies. now this is what i'm getting now. this is from somalia's national intelligence and security age y agency. apparently the al-shabab fighters attacked a civilian area on lido beach, a barbaric

quote and to kill newly graduated university students. the national security agency is now in control and cleaning the remaining, this is its word cleaning the remaining of the terrorists and the head of the operation, that is the terrorist operation, there has been captured. those are the claims of national intelligence and security agency, we are in control. the al-shabab leader has been captured and civilians have been saved. we don't know whether there have been any fatalities there but according to al-shabab the fighters we just spoke to from their official accounts say they still have both hotels under their full control and more than 20 people have been killed. that's the very latest we have from ouagadougou, we will bring it to you here when we get more information. the international criminal court is determining whether there is enough evidence for a former uganda rebel commander to stand trial for crimes against

humanity. dominique faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to a massacre in lokoti in northern uganda, the former child soldier rose through the ranks of the group large resistance army and malcolm web was there with people who gathered for the proceedings. >> reporter: gathered because of the massacre that happened here in 2004 which dominick is being charged of ordering and people gathered under the tent and watching on t.v. as well as one of the classrooms behind the official from the icc here answering questions. one of the limiting factors though is the proceedings are broadcast in english and most people here don't speak english because their education was interrupted by the war so they only speak the local language so they are not actually getting to understand fully what is going on until they get snippets of translation at the end of the

section and they are interested and want to see him on trial because the community really suffered because of his actions. >> malcolm web reported there and six killed and more than a dozen wounded in a bomb blast in egypt, three member of the police force are said to be among the dead this was during a security raid in the al-haram district near cairo, egyptian state news agency says the bodies of three attackers were discovered inside a building. al jazeera news team has gone missing in the yemeni city of tie as they covered events there and correspondent and crew members were last seen on monday evening. it is thought they could have been kidnapped and if that is the case al jazeera is calling for the immediate release of our colleagues. well the situation in syria i.s.i.l. and the refugee crisis are among issues dominating the world economic forum currently

taking place in davos in siz land, u.n. special envoy to syria is there and told al jazeera that the refugee crisis has been awake up call for everyone days before different sides in the conflict were due to meet in geneva to find any kind of way to end the civil war and has been talking to al jazeera kamal. >> we are now i believe getting to a point where everybody is feeling that there is time for doing it. there are many new elements which you didn't have before dear friends. one, we have now suddenly a feeling of the refugee crisis touching every country in europe and beyond. secondly everyone in the world is realizing in all this apart from the suffering in syria is producing a monster called da'esh and, three, this has regional and global potential implications so everybody feels we have a meeting, it's time to talk about peace.

of course it would be up hill, it will be different, there will be walkouts, walk ins, that is why we have to accompany it with concrete examples for you syrian people and while we are talking some food is coming all the time, vaccinations are coming and less bombs. so per happens in a backward way has the migrant crisis in europe helped the situation? people in europe see all these people coming to their door and then they find out why they are coming to their door. >> there is no doubt that the migrant crisis has been awake up call for everyone in europe and now heads of states, prime ministers are concerned about it because it's producing a destabilization of their own internal politics and always concern about the humanitarian side and now it's becoming a political issue. the russian military intervention has been a game changer and acceleration even by

the russians because i'm sure they are realizing this is an operation that cannot last too long as they have been saying themselves, you see how many factors? >> so let's talk politics then 25 of january is supposed to be the day the talks will happen and it's up to you to send the invites out, have you done that yet? >> no, i have not done yet because this time i had promised to myself and to the secretary-general i have to be comfortable it's not another geneva two and there are hiccups but the agenda is agreed by the security council and it's about new governance and new constitution and new elections in 18 months. and we have a timetable 18 months. >> the u.n. special envoy to syria staffan de mistura. now laws which would allow authorities to confiscate the money of refugees and asylum

seekers has been debated by danish-mp and the alien act gave them the power to seize assets from refugees to pay for resettlement and nations criticized by the u.n. and amnesty international and due to vote on tuesday on the planned changes. a dangerous mosquito-borne virus is rapidly spreading through latin america and confusing health authorities and government have public health warnings to pregnant women and it's called zika and birth defects causing hundreds of infants being born with unusually small heads and it was known last yearen and telling pregnant women to use spray and do not get pregnant in columbia where there are more than 13,000

confirmed cases bolivia have the first cases of the mosquito virus in santa cruz and this is in the caribbean and latin america to be affected, columbia and 560 pregnant women are infected at the moment but so far there have been no cases of colombian children being born with that congenital defect. bolivia health ministry says one person tested positive it is treated three others who contracted the virus outside the country, brazil the worst effected nation and said the virus is traveling. >> translator: out of the 3893 total number of cases of microencephaly we have already confirmed 224 cases that show typical abnormalities, what are these typical abnormalities, they strongly suggest infection by the zika virus during

pregnancy. >> world bank and international monetary fund forecasting zero economic growth for latin america, through of the largest nations are already in deep recession and latin america editor reports how the plummeting price of commontys is having a big impact in that area. >> reporter: 28-year-old morales works for a home alarm company a far cry from the career in mining, he studied for and after works he checks for job openings to no aveil. >> translator: my main important investment studying for what was supposed to be a booming industry but as things stand now i don't see any future here any more. >> reporter: he is a victim of the plummeting price of chilly's number one export copper which this week fell further below the red line of $2 a pound. but chilly is far from alone. a sharp drop in commodity prices

leads all exports to forecast zero economic growth for latin america this year and appetite for minerals is one of the reasons but nothing is hurting south america's economy as much as the continuing drop in the price of oil. from columbia, vent what lay and ecuador to bolivia and argentina and brazil, the impact is enormous and it's forcing governments to drastically reduce their spending. the u.n. economic council on latin america and the caribbean cautions against slashing social spending in a region which is already the most unequal in the world. and where increased economic instability could lead to serious political unrest. >> you have to do intelligent fiscal adjustments trying to protect public investment and trying to protect social expenditure. not only because we think that public investment will solve the problem by itself but public

investment is the key element to crowding private investment. >> reporter: while the entire region with the exception of central america is suffering from what economists call negative external shock chile's minister shows a silver lining. >> in the economy regarding the need to make our economy less dependent on copper, that implies a transformation, economic transformation and regarding the economy. >> reporter: the problem is latin americas already impacted by the crisis don't have the luxury to wait for a long-term remedy. al jazeera, santiago. the head of a 7th century statute has been returned to cambodia and attached with the body more than 130 years. the hindu's head was taken from the temple and since been on

display. france's museum. and the deputy prime minister says the ceremony to reunit -- reunify the head and body are a culture and there will be more from me in about 30 minutes. >> i'm russell beard in barbados meeting the islanders who are buiding a green ecomomy.