syrian forces reclaim the ancient town of palmyra. you're watching al jazeera. coming up in the next half hour: protestors are pushed out of central brussels. police use water cannons to disperse them. we'll have a life update. refugee protest at the greece-macedonia border demanding it be reopened to

them. one of the world's great art museums reinventing itself to be more contemporary and modern. that story, coming up. syrian president bashar al assad's army has taken full control of the ancient town of palmyra. government forces have advanced into isil held territory over the last days. there has been heavy fighting in historic center and residential areas. the syrian army backed by russian air power has captured the citadel with the unesco world heritage site. the group retaliate by launching a suicide attack on army positions. we have this update from the

circumstancish-syrian border. the observatory for human rights confirmed that the syrian army is in control of the town, however said the group was fighting in the eastern parts of the city. isil also claimed a double suicide car bomb attack against the gathering of syrian soldiers. casualties were known but that is an indication that isil either still has fighters there or is trying to regroup an attack. it's important for the government and their allies for the location which is near to the east and to the north is another isil stronghold. palmyra is more than 200 kilometers from damascus. it is a strategically key location because it would mean

retaking the airport and several weapons depot, as well as oil and gals facilities. we have more. >> a significant advance against isil in syria. according to state media, government forces backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra after days of fighting. but sunday morning, the bulk of isil's forces in the city had retreated. >> following a series of large scale praises, our units operating on the eastern side of palms backed by syrian and russian air forces fulfilled their mission in the city of palmyra. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridges and killed isil terrorists and destroyed their bunkers and military gear.

>> a campaign was began by isil of destroys ancient sites and conducting mass executions. known as the bride of the desert, palmyra used to attract tens of thousands of tourist as year before the conflict began. the city isn't known simply for its beautiful ruins. a prison complex is there. it was one of syria's most feared detention centers, housing political prisoners. thousands of government opponents were reportedly tortured there. shortly after taking over the city, isil blew up the jail, which was empty, destroying an important symbol of government control. palmyra's location makes it important for the syrian armed forces and their allies. while russia withdrew most forces from syria after six months of aerial bombardment, the government of bashar al

assad has of late also made advances in rebel held territory. recapturing palmyra opens up a possible advance of government forces towards much of the eastern desert, stretching to the iraqi border to the south and isil's hard land to the east. al jazeera. member countries of the islamic military counter terrorism coalition are meeting in saudi arabia. muslim countries are said to be the most at risk for terrorism. >> if you look at the map. countries of the slack world are the most susceptible to terrorist threats but accused of sponsoring terrorism. children are being highjacked. those involved are muslims. the member countries will share intelligence and in case any country faces a serious threat, assistance can be south from the coalition. we will work on preventing the

radicalization of our children, also addressing the misin they misinterpretation of is policeman adopted by isil to justify their actions. police in belgium dispersed a group of protestors in brussels. these are live pictures coming from the capital. this is early a year solidarity rally. it was postponed because of security concerns. it had been planned to mark tuesday's bombings which killed 28 people and three attackers. let's go to other correspondent jacky rowland live for us in brussels. we've seen a little earlier scuffles between riot police, as well as a group of people who had gathered at the square. we can see those pictures now. this was just in the last half hour or so, water cannon being used against this group of people. what do we know of these people

who had gathered in the square? >> they originally gathered are some distance from the square in march to try to actually come into the square and some did manage to get into the square before pushed back by riot police. they have often dreads in black covering hear faces chanting anti immigration slogans of carrying banners against isil and saying they were against terrorism, but clearly the kinds of things they were chanting were very much in stark contrast to what people in the square who have been laying flowers and lighting candles and writing messages, has been a message of coexistence, peace, tolerance, solidarity in the face of thify lens, where these demonstrators were trying to highjack the meeting on sunday, they were very much chanting slogans about intolerance and against immigrants in belgium. >> as we're talking to you,

we're just cutting now to the capital where we are seeing a vigil held for the victims of tuesday's bomb attacks. now earlier, the march against fear had been canceled but they are allowing this vigil to carry on. >> it was a small demonstration compared to the march that was planned, this march between fear, the solidarity march was expected to attract thousands, may be tens of thousands of people. the reason the police are persuaded, effectually persuaded to postpone that march was just because of policing fears. there are still a heightened level of security alert here in belgium and obviously the idea of thousands of people gathered in the relatively small space presents all sorts of security nightmares and potential fear of that demonstration itself becoming a possible target. for that reason, the peaceful march was called off, but

obviously the military were here, the police were here in order to guarantee the security of the square, because people have been passing through spontaneously to lay flowers and light candles anyway, even the former march was canceled, so the riot police were here, they clearly have the man power and women appear necessary to push back knows anti immigration right wing demonstrators when they try to take over the square earlier. jacki, thanks for that update, speaking to us from brussels. let's turn our attention to the crisis in greece and refugees and migrants protesting along the macedonian border, demanding officials let them through. let's give you a more detailed account of that's happening there. there are more than 12,000 people still stranded at that makeshift camp. most have refused to go to government run she woulders, fearing they will be forced to stay in greece or be deported back to turkey.

elsewhere on the greek island of lesbos, some refugees have been sent to the northern city of kaballah while they await deportation. refugees are angry and frustrated over worsening at the camp. most have spent their savings to get this far. >> they walked for kilometers in the cold. we are going there because they are opening the border. we read it on social media and facebook pages. we were celebrating last night.

we were celebrating last night. >> these people were not given the correct information. this i also what they found. dozens preparing to breakthrough greek police lines and push their way forward. >> this is the only hope we have left. they want to take us to military camps and the e.u. relocation program could take months or years. i'm confident we can get through, because we are many people. >> a few dozen gathered, but they changed their minds. >> we won't march, they said. not unless the red cross is with them and there's a decision by the european union to let them in. >> these refugees and migrants know that crossing by force will not change anything. two weeks ago, some of them managed to break through a barbed wire fence only to be arrested by macedonian authorities and sent back. >> instead, they held peaceful protest in front of the world cameras in the hope their voices will be heard and their suffering not forgotten. >> we will endure the cold and stay even with no food but won't leave here. our families are in europe. we will stay here until we can cross. >> this is where they will wait while their asylum requests are

processed. they are relying on activists to support them. >> what's going on here is a tragedy for our whole continent who are renouncing to our voluminous history and humanity. >> the route has been closed for weeks. there is no indication that will change. more and more people are realizing that europe's open door policy has been shut. zeina hodor, al jazeera. >> still to come: >> in the first hospital, there was no qualified doctor, the second no drugs and constant power outages. >> why the death rate for cancer in nigeria is so high. christians around the world celebrating easter.

>> welcome back, the top story here with al jazeera, isil said it was behind two saturday attacks close to palmyra. it comes as the syrian army says it has taken fill control of the ancient city of palmyra. government forces have been advancing into isil held territory over the last few days. marching for the victims of tuesday's attacks, riot police surrounded protestors and used water cannons to disperse them.

a vigil was canceled today due to an overstretched police force. ref jeers at the greek-macedonian border held a protest in hopes it will be reopened to them. thousands remain stranded and refused to be transported to government shelters for fear of being deported. returning to the top story on the syrian military taking over palmyra, despite the victory, the fighting in the area with isil is far from over. >> shortly after dawn, the syrian army managed to take the city of palmyra despite fierce attempts by isil to stop the advances of the army. today isil fighters used two car

bombs but the army managed to overcome that and continued to fully control. obviously right now, there are units from the army because there are a large amount of explosive devices and go house to house and building to building to make sure there are no explosive devices. she was very calm and stale. it is too early to say that isil has given up completely, because they are the nearest stronghold for isil in a town. isil still has large forces in the town. the conflict and syrian army had to launch a large scale operation like mounted in palmyra right now, they would have to reallocate forces

undermining these front lines. we have seen russian are your veils equipment that allowed the syrian army to interfere and tap into isil communications. i think this is the first battle with such a large amount of bodies, 380 bodies, which is a very high number for isil to lose in one battle. eight suspected numbers of al-qaeda were killed in yemen saturday night. two missiles hit fighters gathering in a courtyard. al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula has taken advantage of a war pitting the houthis against forces loyal total exiled president. australia has a tough policy to

deter refugees arriving by boat but some of them are making a valuable contribution to the country. we have a report now from mobile park near melbourne. >> every summer, parts of australia go up in flames. in hot windy conditions, wild bush fires are common, containing them and stopping them from destroying homes or lives generally falls to volunteer firefighters. not many are from iran, but this husband and wife are refugees that came by boat. >> it is heavy, especially when the water is on, it gets heavier. for men, maybe not, but for me is heavy. but i like it. i like to save people, even trees, nature, you live it. >> the local fire brigade face add problem, a dwindling number

of recruits. >> there wasn't enough volunteers to run a training exercise like this one, let alone to have enough people reliably on call for when a real fire broke out. >> the fire service was becoming unviable. >> we had about 12 members in the brigade and that's really not enough for what we want to do in a community, so we really had to do something to change that around. >> so the fire service made an active effort to recruit from ethnic minorities, particularly resettled refugees. nowadays, australia's government deports any refugees who come by boat, but between 2010-2013, tens of thousands arrived who were allowed to stay. a large number settled south of melbourne, facing a shortage of firefighting volunteers. half are from immigrant backgrounds. >> they helped us and they

accept us to be in australia, so i should do something. i want to do something. it's like payback. >> the firefighters are more representative of the immigrant communities they're serving, too. >> particularly in a situation where you've got a fire, it is a bad time for people, and english not being first language, quite often we have members responding who can speak other languages and offer confident support to people in their times of need. the focus of australian politics recently has been on how to keep refugees out, sometimes overlooked is there contribution once they're in. andrew thomas, al jazeera, noble park near melbourne. there are some 2 billion christians around the world and many of them are mashing easter. this is the day they believe jesus was resurrected. in india, parishes celebrate with singing and dancing, then

they attended special prayers and held jubilant processes through the city streets. >> in northern iraq in the predominantly christian town, hundreds of people gathered in churches. many of those in attendance have been caught by internally displaced people. churches tried to help worshipers feel removed from the ongoing don applicant in the country. >> pope francis is celebrating easter sunday mass in the vatican. thousands of people have come to st. peter's square to watch the service amid tight security. the pope led prayers from thal tar set up on the steps of st. peter's basilica. the pontiff urged people not to lose hope. >> people are marking 100 years since the easter rising.

an official ceremony is being held outside the post office to commemorate the rebellion of 1916 when a group of around men failed in their attempt to overthrow british rule by storming the building and declaring an independent irish republican. jonathan moor is an expert and says the irish relationship is focused now on future e.u. membership. >> there is a real problem for some people with what's going on today and that is that there are still people in northern ireland, the distant republican groups who want to do what the men and women of 1916 did. they want to fight against the british state, anything that celebrates or commemorates the pasts two months might be seen as giving them some kind of green light to do that. there's a wariness about what today means. there is great fear, one report

this week suggest would that the irish republic would suffer even more than the united kingdom if it does lead. despite all the years of independence in the republic, the two economies are very much intertwined and there is a great hope amongst irish political circles and wider circles that the u.k. will not depart but certainly would have very, very interesting implications for the peace process, because the vast majori of people want to stay within the united kingdom and the consequences of u.s. perhaps leaving would be maybe there would be a rethink about their relationship with britain and their relationship with the republic of ireland. >> world health organization says there's been a rise in cancer related deaths in nigeria. nearly 80% of those diagnosed eventually dial.

inadequate medical facilities and late diagnosis are partly to blame for the high figure. we have a report from nigeria. >> two years ago, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. she said she is in constant pain and can't walk properly. >> in the first hospital, there was no qualified doctor, the second hospital, no drugs and constant power outages. the next hospital i was transferred to did not have the right equipment. >> the world health organization said inadequate cancer treatment has led to an increase to many people dying. there are only seven state

run hospitals and clinics that specialize in treatment of cancer patients. the government plans to double that number over the next two years through partnerships with the private sector. >> health ministers say early detection is important, as well as investment in the health care sector. >> when you that present with it, there is nothing anybody can do. we can use the money well, use it where it matters, spend less on meetings and conferences and put money where people benefit. >> that could be one reason why the cancer survival rate are so low. the world health organization is helping reduce the figure. >> we have seen what the government has been doing. they made a national program showing the commitment from the side of the government. >> back in her home, she says investment in new facilities and improvements to existing wins

need to come faster. she can't afford to travel. she fears she will die if she can't get the treatment at home. u.s. presidential hopeful bernie sanders has won democratic cause of action cusses in hawaii, washington and alaska over front runner hillary clinton on saturday. he still lags behind clinton in the all important delegate count. new york's metropolitan museum of art is one of the oldest and most important art museums in the word. it was founded 146 years ago and today remains one of top tourist attraction ins america. now, it's france forming itself into something a little more modern. we have a report from new york. >> 50 mirrors, back-to-back, placed in sand with shells and pebbles. it's one of the many piece was non-traditional works at new york's metropolitan museum of

art believe dedicated exclusively to the modern and contemporary. the open exhibit entitled unfinished looks at artwork by bringing together wilder aspects seen in contemporary art with classical art objects seen through the same lens. on opening day, it had art connoisseurs trying to get a peak from all angles. it's a rad gel new step to shake off a stuffy image at one of new york's most storied art institutions. the met was found in 1870 as an encyclopedic museum shunning contemporary works. >> we didn't smart collecting modern art until after the second world war. now there is an opportunity for us to do even more. >> doing so in a fast moving world in an industry steeped intra addition, where change is measured in centuries and not

retweets will take time. it's why the met's deep dive into contemporary has been so closely watched in the art world. >> the met is in many ways reinventing itself, bub the big challenge will be doing so in a city where there are so many options for art lovers. >> you don't have to look far. the whitney museum which focuses on contemporary art just moved into a new modern building. new york's museum of modern art, famously known at moma as well as the guggenheim are two other famous art units illusions. >> there is titanic competition amongst the museums in new york light now. >> ben davis, a critic for art net news say the met was trying to stay relevant. >> contemporary art

>> contemporary audiences more interested in rely janet than class and the met is the classiest knew seem in new york but that doesn't mean it is the coolest. i think this is their attempt to refresh the brand, if you will. >> for an old institution, trying a create a buzz for a new audience. you can keep up to date with all the latest news at our website, aljazeera.com. >> this is "techknow". a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity, but we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science... >> oh! >> oh my god! >> by scientists. >> tonight, techknow investigates vaping. >> whoever bought this got way more than they bargained for. >> yes they did. >> it's everywhere... in clubs, st c