at least 20 people are killed in an attack on a popular restaurant in the somali capital mogadishu. al-shabab has claimed responsibility. also to come on the program, deadline date. the government is until unlikely to happen. prisoners freed before a new government is formed in myanmar. reunited after months of

hardship, syrian children are allowed to join their families in the u.k. first, as many as 20 people have been killed on an attack in a restaurant in somali's capital. members of the group al-shabab stormed the area on thursday night. a gun battle with government troops followed and it lasted for hours. >> reporter: daylight in mogadishu reveals the full horror of the attack as the grim task of verifying the dead begins. al-shabab fighters say they are responsible for this carnage at a popular beach front restaurant. >> translation: i was intending to go out but suddenly we heard an explosion and then there was gunfire. i saw fighter shooting at everybody. i locked myself inside a room until we were evacuated by the

security forces. >> reporter: a wedding ceremony and a graduation dinner were underway when armed fighters rammed a car filled with explosives into the restaurant. they stormed into the building shooting at customers. a well-planned attack which the authorities in somalia and kenya had thought to be struggling and on the defensive >> forces in the west seemed to really understate the threat of groups such as al-shabab. they've been very good at planning operations even outside somalia. last friday fighters from the group attacked an african union military base in south-west somalia. al-shabab says 100 kenyan soldiers were killed, but the government hasn't confirmed that figure. in april last year they killed 147 people in an attack on garissa university college in kenya. in september 2013 fighters from

the group stormed the west gate shopping mall killing 67 people. the country has been devastated by decades of civil unrest. four years ago the government pushed al-shabab out of major cities, including mogadishu, with the help of african union soldiers. attacks like this show that the government and its supporters still have much more work to d . today, friday, is the deadline for the formation of a transitional unity government in south sudan. the president and his rival the rebel leader signed a deal in august. going live to our correspondent who is in the south sudan capital. it looks unlikely that this coalition government is going to be unveiled today. why? >> reporter: that's a very good

question because until fairly recently there were very good signs of progress. for example, all of the sides had agreed which cabinet would go to which side, mps had been assigned. so we thought the process was moving ahead. in the last week rather than coming here to take up his position of vice president he called his delegation back to the headquarters for further consultations. we've been in contact with the opposition forces. we understand that they are planning to come back here today but not until this evening. so it will be too late to form the government it seems the two leaders are still videoing for control and even greater influence and in the meantime, of course, the conflict than continues affecting so many of the country's people. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. one of the big problems between the two sides is, of course, the

security arrangements that have never been implemented as they were intended in the august agreement. the minister of information for the government told the media about this last night. >> under the security arrangements up to now, the security arrangements are not in place. there are no assembly areas up to this moment, no containment areas. on the other hand, they did not yet in their forces which are supposed to be hur in juba. they have not sent the presidential guards so that they are here. >> reporter: as you mentioned the impact on the civilian population has been horrific. it seems like the leaders on both sides have been more concerned about jockeying for their position and trying to establish who has the greater influence and power than on their own people. this was thrown off track in october when the president said

he was defying his states into 28 despite signing the agreement on the base of ten states. this is a series impediment to the process. that delegation is supposed to be returning today or tomorrow, to form a transitional government but on the basis of ten states and not 28. if that were to happen, it would require a serious amount of backpedalling on behalf of the government. it's difficult at this moment to see which party might be prepared to compromise in the interests of the people of south sudan thank you very much. the south korean president park geun-hye has called for a meeting to discuss pyongyang program. they're seeking to impose sanctions in relation to the fourth nuclear test.

these talks are a mode of dialogue which include north korea. talking to our correspondent in the south korean capital. harry, before we get on to the negotiations and the dialogue, news coming in that a student, a university student from the u.s., has been arrested in north korea? >> reporter: that's right. that's what the state media of north korea is saying. there has been no confirmation from u.s. officials so far. we have spoken to the u.s. embassy here. they simply say that they're aware of the media reports, but according to the state media report coming out of the pyongyang, a young man, frederick, a university of virginia, say has been detained into the country on a tourist visa. the state media report suggests that he carried out some kind of hostile act against the state.

it is also said that the act was tolerated and manipulated by the u.s. government. there have been attempts to get in touch with people who may know a bit more about this. the reuters news agency saying that the young pioneer's to tourist agency has confirmed that this man who was travelling on one of their tours was arrested on 2 january, quoted in this news report saying that they're doing everything they can in terms of liaising with the u.s. state department and the man's family to get him free moving on to this call for the south korean president to have five party talks, not the six party talks that have become the most productive or the most established format of engaging with north korea, what is she hoping to achieve? >> reporter: this is part what the park geun-hye has been doing

since the january 6 fourth nuclear test took place. she took a hard line against north korea saying it must feel pain in terms of sanctions, different types of sanctions that have been seen before. so this is another way that it is presuming the south korean government want to exclude north korea from what had been a six party process. north korea had walked out of that process in 2009. as well as that, there is a lot of pressure going on to china. south korea's president has been very explifd in saying that she expects china to live up to its word in the u.s. security council in terms of its opposition to further north korean nuclear program development and as well as that we've heard this week in seoul from the u.s. assistant secretary of state saying if they don't get the kind of sanctions that are required this time around, then the u.s. in its eyes will have to take actions which won't be targeted at china but which china might

not like. the assumption being an anti missile barrage here in south korean territory which china is deeply opposed to and other actions they won't like as well. there is a good deal of signalling to china to use its leverage in a greater way in north korea thank you for that. just days after libyan politicians announced the unity government, there's a fracture that could affect that union. the officer whose spokesman for libya's national army says he has defected from the leader. the general, who is seen here, has accused him of embezzlement and accumulating too much power. he has called the army chief another version of the former leader. >> translation: by god we have had it with the constant violations, the assassinations

abuse, forcing civilians to flee. i can no longer be associated with him and i disassociate myself from him and his irrational, illicit and illegal actions tear gas fired to protester in tunisia. they tried to storm buildings in several different towns. >> reporter: the feeling of desperation in this area is real. this protester is threatening to commit suicide. his colleagues save him at the last minute. tension is mounting and the ground is losing patience. this is one of the leaders of

the protest movement. he graduated from the university eight years ago. he has been looking for work r since. >> translation: we are united against discrimination and marginalization. we have suffered for decades. we don't feel like we belong to this country because they don't care about us >> translation: there's a budget for building roads and building hospitals but nor not us. i denounce corruption. >> reporter: the crowd converges near a police station. moments later they start hurling stone at policemen who were asked by their commanders to show self-restraint. they will not fire tear gas unless the situation gets worse. as protests spread across the country, government leaders may have little option but to try and contain discontent before

the situation deteriorates even further we've got a lot more to come here at al jazeera, including the world's most prestigious independent film makers gather at the sun dance film festival. pa #

welcome back. you're with al jazeera. these are the top stories. at least 20 people have been killed in an attack on a restaurant in somalia's capital. members of the armed group

al-shabab stormed the beach area in mug on thursday night. -- mogadishu on thursday night. friday is the deadline for the formation of a government in sudan. the rebel leader and the president signed a deal in august. they have been clashing about how to share power. the south korean president park geun-hye park has called for the issues of sanctions to be imposed on north korea. myanmar has begun releasing the first of around 100 political prisoners on friday. it's from one of the largest prisons. going to our correspondent who is following developments from the capital bangkok. who do we know who has been

selected for re-lewis out of the hundreds of political prisoner believed to be held in myanmar? >> reporter: still those details are still emerging. these prisoner are being released mainly, like you say, from the prisoner but also from other prisons around the country. it will take some time to verify exactly who has been released and who has been left behind. we're seeing some of the emotions of the people who have been released. obviously, a lot of relief that they're finally free, but seeing some of the comments coming from them they are concerned that there are still prisoner that they have left behind and they are calling on the government to release all of the remaining political prisoner and that is something that we could see over the next few days. so far on friday it is believed there have been just over 30 political prisoner freed. they are part of a much wider prisoner amnesty announced by the government and it is hoped there could be more political

prisoner released over the next few days why is the outgoing government doing this now? >> reporter: well, it only has a few more days left before it leaves office and it hands over to a government that will be run by the opposition party, the national league for democracy lady by aung san suu kyi. they've really been doing this over the last few years. this came into power in 2011. it is made up of generals that ran the country for 50 years. they've embarked on a series of reforms including releasing political prisoners. it has been a gradual release and they have been happening fairly slowly. certainly far too who slowly for the international community. they've also been signing ceasefire deals, for example, peace deals with some of the rebel armies in the country. i think it's a case of the international community, certainly in the last few days, this week we saw the u.s. deputy

secretary of state issuing a call to the president to free all remaining political prisoners before it's too late, before this government must leave office. so i think it's a case of trying to right some of the wrongs, certainly throughout that 50-year dictatorship of the military thank you for that. indonesia's government is looking at ways to strengthen their counter terrorism measures after alast week's attack in jakarta. the government is worrying about what is happening inside its prisons when it was emerged that one of the attacker had been recently serving a jail term. a review has been ordered. >> reporter: relatives waiting for the body this a man who days ago became the face of the worst attack. he was shooting into the crowd. four members of the public were killed in that day's attack.

justice five months earlier he had been released from prison where he was serving a term for attending an armed training camp. >> translation: when we came out of prison, we offered him to live here. although our house is very small. we tried hard to give him a new place. we even built a temporary small house for him, but he refused. so even if we would have been angry at him, if we would have tied him to a pole, he would probably have done the same thing. >> reporter: he lasted visited his family just ten days before the attack. during his years in prison he refused to take part in the government's so-called deradicalization program. he managed to secure an early release. his case shows the failure of indonesia's present system to prevent radicalization of prisoners and to rehabilitate those convicted for terrorism. authorities admit they lose track of prisoners soon after

their release, even those who are known to be high risk. in the past two years an estimated 130 prisoner jailed for such offences have been released. >> translation: we have not been able to reeducate him because he refused all our efforts. he was released before we could get more information about him. the authorities should have watched him after his release. but there are so many thing we have to do before we knew it. this attack had already happened. >> reporter: the police have announced that six men suspected in connection with last week's attack are still in prison, but were able to communicate with the attackers. >> there's so much wrong with the prison system it will take years to fix, but there are some things that could be done immediately. for example, no effort has yet been made to ban mobile phone communication and that should be something that's quite simple to

do. >> reporter: meanwhile, here the family had to face fellow villagers about what he had done. they have decided his body can be buried in the village. >> translation: as a family we want to apologise to those involved. please for give us. we apologise for what happened. >> reporter: besides tightening the prison system, the government has announced that indonesians who have joined i.s.i.l. in syria may lose their national china has signed investment and aid deals worth billions of dollars with egypt. the deals were signed during a visit by the president to kay row. the chi knee-- cairo. it has included a crackdown on dissent. at least 10 people have been killed in an explosion in the egyptian city of giza.

the bomb went off west of cairo. several police officers are among the dead. 13 others are injured. the bodies of five attackers were found inside the building where the raid was carried out. a group of syrian children who had been living in a refugee camp in the french city of calais have now been reunited with their families in britain. it happened because a group of u.k. activists won a court case against the government. they argued that the children had the right to be reunited with their guardians. >> reporter: this small group of three teenagers and a disabled man simply pick you had especially up their stuff got on the train, sat for an hour and got off again in london. within an hour they were being greeted prooifltly by their relatives who were already

living in britain. in a nearby café, the brother of one of the teenagers could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of being able to look after his little brother again. >> translation: i want to provide my brother with all the affection he has missed out on by being on his own for so long. i just want to make up for all the time he was alone so he doesn't live alone every again. >> reporter: this happened because of the work of a group called citizens u.k. one gave up her job and took up her residence here to look for children who had relatives in britain. so far she thinks she has counted 200 in the camp. the children were eventually allowed to come because of a court ruling for citizens u.k. and against the british government. it had argued that the children should seek asylum in france and then try to get transferred to britain. it is not clear exactly how many more children might be able to come.

it's worth bearing in mind this happened despite rather than because of the actions of the british government in allowing refugee children to be with their carers, but nonetheless it does demonstrate that the u.k. still has an independent legal system and that could have ramifications in other european countries as well. what, for instance, are the refugees in denmark trying to be with feels in sweden who activists have been taken by boot to get around border controls. other countries may be able to use this ruling as well as a precedent. >> the knowledge that this will help other children in calais and many across europe if other countries can follow suit is a wonderful development. we know some people smug letters across europe because the people they exploit are those most desperate >> reporter: it is no help to the thousands of other refugees and migrants stuck in northern france without families already in the u.k. all the same, this was a night of celebration for the

activists. as for the syrian children, they disappeared into the london night and a new life no longer surrounded by police with tear gas but with a roof over their heads, a warm bed and finally with some love the president of haiti says the presidential election will go ahead this weekend despite protests. opposition candidate has threatened to boycott the election over fraud allegations. his supporters and other government critics plan a series of street protests starting on friday. in the u.s. a huge snow storm is about to hit the north-east of the country. a blizzard warning is in place and several cities are preparing for at least a metre of snow. states of emergency have been declared in several areas in new jerry. sands barriers are being put up to protect neighborhoods from

flooding. the sun dance film festival has kicked off in utah. it is one of the biggest and prestigious in the world for film makers. many screened at this festival go on to become successful at the box office. >> reporter: the rocky mountain air in this small resort town is fill of expectation. independent film makers from 37 countries are showing off their artistic creations to an estimated 45,000 eager cinema fans and prospective film studio buyers >> it's a bucket list item for me. ichlts i think people are pulled here because they know this is where the best content in the world for film is. >> reporter: 120 feature films will be screened at sun dance this year called for more than 4,000 submissions. the focus says festival founder robert red dford is on narrative >> to me the most important

thing is the story and story telling is what it should be about. >> reporter: among the most talked about films this year, christine, by director alex cam pos stagger rebecca hall. it is a dark draum aabout a female journalist trying to break into the male dominated world of 1970s tv news. israeli produced sands storm which tells the story of a family and its struggle to reconcile its traditions and religious beliefs with contemporary sexual relationships. birth of a nation directed by and starring this man takes its name from dw griffiths blatantly racist 1915 silent epic, but tells the story of a bloody slave rebellion in virginia led by nat turner. in the documentary division there's buzz about new town by kim zchneider. it is on gun violence focusing on grieving families that lost

children in the sandsy hook school massacre in 201. legendary german film maker is back with lo and behold, a typically off beat look at the digitised interconnected world humanitarian is made and which is remaking humanity. they're waiting to see if this will surpass 2015 when the festival grand prize winner, me and earl and the dying girl, failed to win big audiences when it was released in theaters >> that shows there's a big difference between the bubble of the sun dance film festival and what mainstream audience are going to be interested in. >> reporter: you can be sure these people are hoping their labor of love will be the next little miss sunshine, whiplash or bricklayer witch project lots more information. the very latest developments on the al jazeera website.

aljazeera.com. there at the moment as you can see you can get the latest on developments in somalia overnight. there's also a lot of opinion and comment as well and some excellent pictures. don't forget the pictures. >> i'm stephanie sy, and this is a special edition of talk to al jazeera, we're lookingback at 2015. >> to push as hard as i can to make it as far as i can in the ballet world so that they will have an easier path. >> in the last year, we've spoken to best-selling authors and global leaders. you've heard from actors, composers& ♪ i am a man who will fight for your honor ♪ >> &and musicians including one of the most recognizable singers of a generation&