>> a bomb blast targets istanb istanbul's tourist district. the second attack to hit turkey in less than a week. hello there, i'm barbara serra. you're watching al jazeera live from london. investigators try to discover what caused the passenger plane to crash in russia killing everyone on board. and salah abdeslam is charged in belgium with terror offenses connected to the november terrorist attacks. and we are in cuba as it's communist island nation prepares to welcomes first u.s. president

in nearly 19 years. >> thank you for joining us. a suicide-bomber has killed himself and four others in an attack on a major shopping and tourist district in istanbul. no one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast which has left dozens injured. s it's the latest of a string of attacks including one just last weekend. >> another bomb goes off in turkey. this time in the heart of istanbul in the middle of the city's busiest shopping distri district. it's also a major tourist destination. this street would have been packed with shoppers and visitors. hundreds of people ran the moment a loud explosion was heard. istanbul's governor was sat the scene shortly after the blast.

>> a suicide-bomber blue himself up and killed three people and wounded 21 others. three of them were in crimina critical condition. one hast just died in hospital. >> paramedics were quick to arrive and took people to the nearby hospitals. although no one has claimed responsibility. >> several months ago they have announced that the party will be spread all over turkey. if the southeast clashes and violence is not stopped.

>> since talks broke down last year there have been several bomb attacks across the country. three alone in the capital of ankara. in total they've killed 300 people. the most recent was less than a week ago. the pkk or kurdish freedom groups which is linked to the pkk claimed responsibility for that attack. which also targeted a busy shopping street. days later a germany and announced it was closing its consulate in instant bull citing credible information that another act of violence was imminent. the german's consolate is just a few moment he i's walk away from the bomb blast. tour can i's econom--turkey's economy depends on tourism, and

it will have to create security for its visiters. >> questions are being requested about security and we're seeing so many attacks. what you're seeing in istanbul, has security been stepped up not just in tourist locations but other sensitive areas? there is a warning about a possible suicide attack in major turkish cities including istanbul, as much as we know since yesterday the security forces and emergency services were on high alert, so they were expecting after the explosion happened here in istanbul and

one of the main tourist attractions, the police like visibly increased it's precautions in the city. and you can see police everywhere in the majo central areas. they are afraid of what happened in istanbul and they feel that the threat is closer to them, and they don't believe that it's happening that close to them. if we say remember these two attacks are mostly effecting the population in turkey, the civilians are more scared and they don't--they try to avoid crowded areas. and now we're in hyped me you see the square, and tourists are still coming from here. usually over the weekend this square is much more crowded. >> we're live in istanbul.

thank you. >> russian investigators are attempting to find out the cause of a plane crash that killed all 62 people on board. the flight operated by flight dubai missed the runway in southern russia close to the border with ukraine. we have the latest from moscow. >> it was making a second attempt to land in bad weather when the flight crashed and burst into flames. the boeing 737 took off from dubai on friday evening, bound for southern russia. it made one failed attempt to land at its scheduled arrival time. then the plane circled the airport for more than two hours. russian investigators say that there were strong gusting winds at the time peaking at the speed

of 90 meters per second. another russian airliner attempted to land three times before diverting to the nearby airport about 300 kilometers away. it's not clear why the flight dubai pilot did not also choose to change course but instead went into fatal descent. this footage shows the explosion with flames leaping in the air. it's not clear if the tail was clipped during that failed landing attempt or whether it nose dived at high speed into the ground. the force of the impact forced it to break into large pieces. it is among this debris that russian investigators discovered two black boxes intact. as relatives and friends gathered, they learn that

everyone on board were killed. flight dubai is a low-cost carrier with a strong safety record. the airline said that it's staff are in shock. >> we do not yet know all the details of the incident, but we're working closely with the authorities to establish preci precisely what happened. we are making every effort to care for those affected and will provide assistance to families and friends of those who were on board. >> russia's investigative committee said that it's looking into two possibilities. pilottor as for those possibly responsible for the crash. terrorism has been ruled out. now that the recording boxes were found, investigators will find out what was happening in the last moments.

they'll try to find out why the pilot made that decision and it will take a month if not more for the full picture to emerge, but it's one that family and friends of the victims would like to know sooner rather than later. >> the main suspect in last november's terror attacks has been arrested. salah abdeslam was arrested after four months on the run. jacky rowland has more now from the belgium capital. >> a police convoy carrying salah abdeslam leaves the hospital in brussels. [ gunfire ] the main suspect in the rare citizen attacks interest likely wounded after arrest. he's now being held by belgium police even though his exact

location is unclear. >> exploiting with the belgium of legal authority. i can tell you that they refused extradition. >> their. detroit now is to bring arc they'll have to bring salah abdeslam to justice. the government is determined to shed light on the attack. it is an important blow against daesh in europe. >> belgium officials are damping down expectations that extradition will be imminent. >> in the coming hours there will be more from our judicial authorities to make sure that the judicial procedure is fully respected according to the law.

this procedure could take several weeks. >> there is still tench in the neighborhood. four other people were arrested at the same time as abdel abdeslam. other others are from the people who sheltered him. >> we're very, very resleeves not only for brussels but to europe and the wes west. it was in this raid a call was made by a mobile phone linked to abdeslam, and then police found his fingerprint in the flat. salah abdeslam had been on the run for more than four months. friends of his had driven

through the night after the paris attacks to pick him up and bring him to brussels. since then it would appear that thinks movements has been limited. >> the main surviving suspect linked to november's attacks are now under arrest. and officials have made it clear that the investigation is far from over as more arrests can be expected. >> jacky, what more detail can you give us about the actual charges against abdeslam? >> well, those have been very clearly spelled out by the belgium prosecutor.

abdeslam and another man was wounded in the raid on friday, but both have been accused with participation in terrorist murders. and participation in the actives of a terrorist group. the second man facing those charges is amin shikrev. he went by two different names. also arrested, one man has been charged with membership of a terrorist organization, and hiding christmas, and a woman has been charged with hiding criminals. so those are the passenger faced by fas will be a salah

abdeslam. >> thank you. government supporters take to the streets of brazil. and pakistan's government making moves to combat illegal logging and the so-called timber mafia.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

>> a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. a sued bomber has killed themselves and four others in an attack on a major shopping and tourist district in istanbul. tourish officials suspect fighters or isil are to blame. russian investigators are trying to establish a cause for friday's plane crash which killed 62 people. and belgium prosecutors have charged one of the main paris attacks suspects with, quote, participation. terrorist organization. hundreds of thousands of government supporters have been holding rallies in sao paolo. they were in response to anti-government protests which took place across brazil this week. da here are our reports. >> sao paolo is the heartland of

the governor workers party. if they weren't heard they risk being drowned by the opposition rallies. they criticized large sections of the brazilian media and judiciary, which they accuse of conducting a coup against the president. >> here we even have people who don't completely agree with what president rousseff is doing, but we don't want to see a coup end democracy. >> many are here waiting for former president lula to address the crowd. >> we have far more people than we expected. that should be enough to legitimatize are yo legitimatize rousseff's government. >> they will not take away from us the best president that brazil has ever had. >> this was the biggest pro government gathering, but there are similar seens across brazil. >> this is showing a huge opposition rally.

now which something like 3 million people demonstrated across brazil. the large gathering has only further polarized society. former president lula is the man this crowd came to hear. >> i'm not going to the government to fight. i'm going to help my colleague dilma to do what she needs to do for this country. >> as he spoke the supreme court was blocking his appointment to the cabinet. a major victory for the opposition since it means that the investigation against lula will continue while dilma rousseff's hold on the

presidency is weakened. >> dozens of people have been killed in a series of airstrikes in the northern syrian city of raqqa. it's an ill stronghold and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. the syrian observatory for human rights say 39 people guid died on saturday. air raids hit a hospital, former army base and other neighborhoods. palestinian ministry of health said that a teenager was killed near the disputed ibrahim mosque in hebron. the man tried to stab a soldier before being shot dead. there has been continuing violence in the region since october with 204 palestinians and 29 israelis killed.

>> vetters will head to the polls on sunday to elect a new leader. they're confident that he'll expend his term in office. the opposition office said that the vote is flawed. >> president of the republican of congo for a long time. he has ruled this oil producing nation from 1979 to 1992. after a brief civil war he regained power in 1997. he then went on to win disputed election elections in 2002 and 2009. last year he secured the right to secure a third consecutive term in a constitutional referendum. he seems confident that he'll win sunday's presidential polls. >> we'll win this election. we have a lot of supporters in the country.

opposition leaders say that the control of state resources and university make this an unfair election and there are fierce that there could be electoral fraud. >> it is not positive to win this election. it would mean that people's votes have been tonal. we will reject the result. >> some fear there could be violence after the election. >> the european election said supplied's election won't be credible.

congo is a forth largest oil producer. >> they have sent for a third term. just like other africa leaders will try to extend their roles. this is another test for the african union, one that could bring results. >> in aim is to improve security and they'll offer training on advanced technologies. >> let's go to pakistan now one

of the world's most vulnerable countries the climate change. rapid deforest station caused by local an--legal and illegal logging is adding to the risk. they have pledged 100 million trees. >> it shows how quickly deforest station. illegal logging are reducing the number of trees. pakistan has already missed an internationally agreed target for increasing forest efforts of 6% by 2015. >> pakistan is the most vulnerable to climate change. environmentalists want the government to the plant more trees, which would help to

mitigate natural disasters and help the soil regain more rainwater. conservationists say there is a direct link between destruction and flooding it has led to heat waves that have killed several hundred people. >> 6 million had been shifted. >> many have welcomed the planting effort but say the government is simultaneously destroying street cover and cities. >> you have deforesttation. but if you see islamabad we are having a lot of deforest station which is not good for the

country. >> local farmers are encouraged by campaigns and say they're already achieving results from previous ones. >> we have many benefits. >> the most immediate advantage is that we have cleaner air. >> conservationists fear that vulnerability to climate change will remain. >> barack obama is about to become the first sitting u.s. president in almost 90 years to visit cuba. the three-day trip which starts on sunday will also include a bilateral meeting with his cuban continent part raul castro. we have reports from havana, and it will be a city like non-obama

has ever seen. >> it still looks like the havana of the pre-cold war era when cuba was the playground of the united states. like most visitors president obama barack obama will likely feel thrust back in the 1950s. and the old american cars before the 1959 revolution still working against all odds. he will be able to admire cuba's colonial center when he tours havana, and perhaps stop a at ernest hemmingway's favorite watering hole. >> you part of this magic and part of this new moment is because we have accumulated many

layers of history and architecture. >> but havana also wears the scars of decades of decay. but what president obama won't see is what is on the inside. so many of these houses are absolutely deteriorated because of lack of maintenance and repairs. this one has simply collapsed, in fact, it has been condemned. yet there are still families living inside. this 74-year-old has been living here since he was 12 and said he's finally about to be moved by the government. >> there's no plumbing, so at night i bring water from the sewage tank from the building next door but only for the toilet and to bathe because it is too contaminated. >> cuban authorities will likely tell obama that the faded paint and crumbling buildings are the fault of half a century of u.s. economic sanctions although many hearsay that government neglect is mostly to blame.

still the city is a metaphor of a leadership that is falling apart. a relationship that was froze be in time and appears to be taking a giant step into the 21st century. lucia newman, havana. >> now after a six hour trip towards a nasa astronaut and two russian cosmonauts have arrived on bother the international space station. they're replacing others who have recently returned to earth after a year-long stint in the $100 billion research facility. the group will spend the next six months living and working 400 kilometers above the earth. they want to see how they cope as several countries are considering multi year missions to mars. lots more on that and everything

else that we have been covering here on al jazeera on our website. you can see our front page there, and all the details on that sued bombing that has hit istanbul earlier on saturday. >> i'm russell beard in northern kenya where local hero martin wheeler is taking elephant conservation to new heights. >> i'm jasmeen qureshshi in monterey bay california where researchers have discovered that sea otters may play a key role in revitalizing our oceans.