♪ at least 65 killed by a bomb at a park in the pakistani city of lahore. many of them children. ♪ hello i'm david and you are watching al jazeera live from london, also coming up, ♪ tensions flair in brussels riot bless firing water for cannon on right wing protesters. shia leader begins a sit in on the edge of baghdad's green zone, the seat of government.

the battle for palmyra appears now to be over, syrian forces say they have taken control of the city from i.s.i.l. ♪ beginning this program in pakistan where at least 65 people have been killed and 250 have been wounded. in what is a suspected suicide bombing in the city of lahore. the explosion was in the parking area of a public park that was packed with families celebrating easter holiday, a faction of the pakistan taliban has said it was behind the bombing. and we report saying that christians are said to have been the target. >> reporter: the explosion happened at a public park for children, in the heart of the punjab province, the ruling government's political stronghold, easter weekend meant

the park was full of families and most of the dead and injured are women and children. witnesses reported bodies strewn every where, the number of casualties so high poem people were taken to hospitals in taxis and rickshaws and it's an occurrence in pakistan and fighting groups for over a decade but in the past pun skrab spared the worst of violence and country experiencing a period of relative calm, with this attack in lahore it seems that may now be at an end, al jazeera. we will get more on that in a moment, first let's take a look at another story we are following from pakistan. this is the capitol islamabad and police using tear gas there to hold back thousands of protesters marching on the center of government and troops deployed after about 25,000 people marched near to protest against the hanging of a

policeman for murder. and kamal hyder joins us from z islamabad and to the city in a moment but first of all the events in lahore, what is the latest, 65 dade we are saying and pakistani taliban group saying it was behind it. >> reporter: absolutely. this is a splinter group which has taken responsibility in the past also for deadly attacks and there are spokesmen coming, a new journalists in peshawar and importantly they are told because there is a large number of splintered the hospitals are packed with patients, with casualties arriving and therefore they save lives because a number of people are

said to have been in critical condition. we are also told that most of the victims are women and children although the casualties also include men. >> yes, and women and children out for a day, many of them apparently christian because the taliban says christians were the target, this was in so many ways a despicable actor and target. >> reporter: questions about the security at the park, certainly the fact that this particular park is situated and very popular with local families and particularly children given the fact they live in the city and this is a city park so the casualties would include muslim as well as christians. >> tell me about the events in islamabad where you are at the moment, the protesters on the

streets, they were objecting to the fact that a policeman had been hanged earlier. he was accused of killing a local governor who he was supposed to be protecting. >> reporter: absolutely, and all because the governor was critical of the country's blasphemy law and therefore the security guard taking matters in his own hands but tragically instead of condemnation with the violence it just continued in court and all ended at least some parts of it because the government had no other choice and found guilty of the murder in broad daylight of a high profile personality. apparently the first time when the prayers were taking place

the media took a media blockade and most of the people who were in prayer or remembrance prayer and decided to march on islamabad on parliament, security forces were unable to stop them and they also damaged some property including the new metro bus service in islamabad and now are sitting right in front of parliament. they have been negotiating underway with them and the military has been called in to secure parliament and secure all the places in the red zone that includes the supreme court, the foreign ministry and the diplomatic office. >> kamal hyder in islamabad and thank you for those updates from pakistan. ♪

police in the netherlands arrested a french national on suspicion of planning an attack they say, in belgium there were more than a dozen police raids in connection with last tuesday's bombers, a planned rally against the bombings in brussels was cancelled at the request of police but not everybody complied. paul brennan reports from brussels. >> reporter: sunday's intended memorial rally was already postponed and security was tight around the gathering place where so many have come to pay respects since last tuesday. because while soldiers watched the mourners here elsewhere special police units were launching a dozen new raids and arresting several more suspects. postponement of the peace rally created a vacuum which others were keen to fill. out of the city's north rail way station came a large crowd of 400 nationalist footballs and went to the swear and muscled their way on the steps which is

a focal point for the solidarity movement. >> just a statement to say we love belgium, belgium is our country, don't do this and europe just leave europe alone. >> reporter: then the mood turned ugly. the sense of sorrow and grief which has been the overwhelming emotion here in brussels since the tuesday bomb attacks is given away in a small and vocal minority to violence and anger. with water cannon and pepper spray police units pushed the group to the rail way station where they dispersed but not before fulfilling their banner one last time and they charged a man they are calling c with murder and attempted murder but will not confirm belgium media reports of his real name but details remerging about him, this refugee who asked to remain anonymous arrived in belgium last year and lived for several

weeks in the park in brussels and remembers him coming to the park regularly behaving strangely and agitated and using a megaphone to start violence. >> he was stopped for two days by the police and came back with the microphone and was yelling and talking a lot of things and some people they told me it was like trying to gathering out to make force, i don't know. >> violence. >> violence and stuff, yeah. and everybody was like please stop it and people was mad and specifically they understand totally what he was saying. he was calling anybody not muslim if at all and that is very i.s.i.s. or very not very kind or very concerned of shia or sunni muslims or whatever, you don't call them infidels and trying to make like this kind of

problems. >> reporter: but he has doubts whether he really is the third bomber, the man in white on the airport cctv. the picture in the cctv from the airport. >> it's not clear. it's not clear. and he is skinny guy and when they say it's him i'm like it's not possible or maybe because it has been six months maybe he eat a lot of burgers. >> reporter: investigators have a long way to go before they complete the full picture of who was involved. paul brennan, al jazeera, brussels. influential clearic entered the heavily fortified green zone to put pressure on the government to bring about some reforms, his supporters began a sit in more than a week ago at the gates to the district. frustrated they say at prim minister abadi not carrying out government reforms to replace parts of the cabinet and plans to announce a cabinet reshuffle

this week, and he addressed the crowd a little bit earlier. >> translator: we are here calling for political reforms. those in the green zone claim there is no poverty or corruption in iraq. we are at the walls of the green zone and tomorrow will be at its heart. i am the representative of the iraqi people. i will enter the green zone myself while you hold your ground here, we are peaceful demonstrators and we will remain as such. >> reporter: very simple gesture a few small steps into the green zone but it carries huge political ramifications and it speaks volumes. this is one of the most revered shia clerics from a long line of revered shia clerics and formally leading a militia that rose up against american and iraqi forces and now a

mainstream political figure and for weeks he has been rallying supporters hundreds of thousands of them at a time in public squares here and lately near the entrance to the green zone, the green zone are where iraqis and officials live and work and heavily protected and say they will storm the green zone if these political things are not met and he appeared and said they shown great discipline and had to continue doing that and had to stay put. instead he said he would go into the green zone. the reason this is significant is that he very rarely leaves, one of the few cases where followers have seen him up close and people were weeping as he spoke. he went in the green zone and was kissed and greeted by senior iraqi security officials and he sat down on sidewalk. that again speaks volumes. he says he is a man of the people, he is speaking for all of iraq and this is a way to put pressure on the iraqi government.

he says he intends to stay there until reforms are made. now the iraqi government, the prime minister wants the reforms and trying to reshuffle the cabinet but there is a lot of political resistance to this. so he has on his doorstep almost literally one of his leading political rivals sitting there basically waiting for him to do something and very frantic political negotiations going on and will go on until he can find a solution to this. the news continues on al jazeera in just a moment with this. thousands of people in ireland forced to remember those killed in the easter rising 100 years ago. and keeping pace with the shifting sands, one of the world east most oldest and influential musics tries to revamp its image. ♪

>> the only live national news show at 11:00 eastern. >> we start with breaking news. >> let's take a closer look. ♪ you're watching al jazeera, the top story this hour at least 65 people have been killed in the bomb explosion in the pakistani city lahore and bless say a suicide bomber attacked a public park and many of the dead are children. thousands of demonstrators have gathered in pakistan's capitol islamabad protesting the hanging of a man who killed punjab's governor and wanted to overhaul blasphemy laws. belgium police breaking up a protest of nationalist football fans in the belgium capitol and

marching towards a vigil for the victims of tuesday's attack. in syria i.s.i.l.'s ten months reign over the ancient city of palmyra is over, syrian government forces say they are in full control of the city. recapture of palmyra is a symbolic and a strategic victory. and president bashar al-assad taking control of palmyra means government forces also control the surrounding desert stretching to iraqi border to the south and it opens up access to the i.s.i.l. stronghold of dazur and the group's self declared capitol of raqqa and more from mohamed. >> reporter: a significant advance against i.s.i.l. in syria. according to state media government forces backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from i.s.i.l. after days of intense fighting. while there has been no independent confirmation the syrian observatory for human rights said that by sunday

morning the bulk of i.s.i.l. forces in the city had retreated. >> translator: following a series of large-scale operations our units operating on the eastern country side of homs backed by the syrian and russian airforces fulfilled their mission successfully in the city of palmyra. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridges and killed large numbers of i.s.i.l. tear rests and destroyed their bunkers and military gear. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. took over palmyra also a unesco world heritage site last may and began a campaign of destroying ancient sites and staging mass excuses. known as the bride of the desert palmyra used to attract tens of thousands of tourists a year before the conflict began but the city is not simply known for its beautiful ruins. the prison complex is also there. for decades it was one of syria's most feared detention centers known for housing political prisoners, thousands of government opponent's were

reportedly tortured there and shortly after over taking the city i.s.i.l. blew up the jail which was empty at the time destroying an important symbol of government control and palmyra is between damascus and damazur and it's important for syrian forces and allies and russia withdrew forces from syria after six months of aerial bombardment the government of bashar al-assad of late made advances in rebel held territory, recapturing palmyra opens up a possible advance to much of the eastern desert stretching to iraqi border to the south and i.s.i.l.'s heart land of raqqa to the east, mohamed with al jazeera. anger appears to be growing among the thousands of refugees still at greece where conditions in a makeshift tent city are getting worse. most there have sold their belongings and sent their life-savings to get to the

greek-macedonia border and once there they are told they can go no further and zaina has that story. >> reporter: yet again they make their way towards greece's border with macedonia and have been told the migrant trail has reopened and they packed their belongings, left their makeshift camps and walked for kilometers in the cold. >> translator: we are going there because they are opening the border and read it on facebook and we were celebrating last night. >> reporter: these people were not given the correct information. this is what they found when they reached it, dozens preparing to breakthrough greek police lines and push their way forward. >> translator: this is the only hope we have left. they want to take us to military camps and relocation camps could take months or 2-3 years and we are confident we can get through because we are many people. >> reporter: a few dozens did gather but didn't take long before they changed their minds and won't be marching they said.

not unless the red cross is with them and there is a decision by the eu 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 breakthrough a barbed wire fence only to be arrested by macedonia authorities and sent back. instead they held peaceful protests in front of the world's cameras in the hope their voices will be heard and their suffering not forgotten. >> translator: we will endure the cold and stay with no food but we won't leave here. our families are in europe already ap we will and we will stay here until we can cross. >> reporter: they will wait where asylum requests are processed and now relying on activists to support them. >> what is going on here is a tragedy for our continent and renouncing to our history and our humanity. >> reporter: the main route through which hundreds of thousands of mie migrants and

refugees used is closed for weeks and no indication that will change and more people are realizing that europe's open-door policy has been shut. zaina with al jazeera. christians have been celebrating easter sunday the most important day of their religious calendar. [bell rings] pope francis leading the roman catholic church's mass at the vatican and commemorates the last days of jesus christ and sunday is the day that christians celebrate his resurrection. pope francis reflected on recent conflicts and the plight of refugees in his address. >> translator: jesus by his resurrection triumphed over evil and sin and may he draw us closer on this easter feast of the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world as in the recent attacks

in belgium, turkey, nigeria, chad, cameroon, the ivory coast and iraq. he invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future and ever more numerous throng of refugees including children fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice. >> reporter: jerusalem and it's been a different time over the last six months a wave of stabbings and shootings between israelis and palestinian and we report from the church of the holly circle in jerusalem. >> reporter: the latin patriarch makes his way to give easter mass, the holyist day on the christian calendar but despite that there are no many people here. >> we are down around 30-40%, it's not academic but around there and mainly because people are concerned, they are afraid

at the moment things happen during inside the old city mainly there so people are concerns. >> it concerns you when you walk through the city because there are so many guards and i'm not used to it, to handle everyday life with so many weapons and army stuff. >> reporter: but for those who came a very special moment, for many this is a trip of a lifetime to attend mass in the place where jesus is believes to have been buried and risen from the dead but again even within the walls of the church the difference in numbers is palpable. mass is now underway here in the church of the holy center and what is striking is the amount of empty space under normal circumstances this area would be packed with tourist and pilgrams and they notice it's half empty and one man tells us it's a different atmosphere and sad and one woman says god willing things will be better next year but those who live and work in

jerusalem's old cities and what makes it worse than tense times before nobody knows when the latest wave of violence will end, stephanie decker at the church of the holy circle. in the republic of ireland easter has a special significance and turning out in dublin to remember those killed in the easter rising 100 years ago and the rebellion was unsuccessful but paved the way for the irish republican as phil reports. >> reporter: 100 years have passed but what happened here a century ago remembered to this day. ♪ the only sound here a piper, a drum beat, and words of remembrance from the acting prime minister. >> in honor of all those who died. >> reporter: as crowds gathered outside the general post office in dublin, this was the same place 100 years ago islands easter rising happened on easter

monday, april 1916 when 150 men stormed the gpo replacing the british flag with the irish one declaring independence, they surrendered five days later after heavy shelling by the british, defeated and executed but that uprising galvonized the movement and five years later the troops were gone and the republic of ireland was born. with part of the north staying within the uk. on sunday the president stood in front of a crowd of thousands to watch the flag lowered and blown in the chill of a spring irish morning and many more watched from a distance paying respect to the 500 who had lost their lives. among them faces who have dedicated their lives to reunifying all of ireland, people like martin mcginnis and wants the north back under dublin's control but in the north there are many who don't want to leave the u k. this is a country that still has some divisions.

on sunday their descendents were together in their mourning and reflection. phil with al jazeera. north korea state media broadcast a video of what it calls the largest ever long range artillery exercise, and chose the leader kim jong-un over seeing a military drill which included a simulated attack on south korea's presidential government offices, tensions high on the korean peninsula after they carried out a nuclear test and launched a long range rocket earlier this year. new york's metropolitan museum of art was founded 146 years ago and remains one of the top attractions but in an effort to stay more current it's trying to be a little bit more modern as gabrielle alexander discovered. >> reporter: 50 mirrors back to back placed in sand with shells and pebbles, it's one of the many pieces of nontraditional works at new york's metropolitan museum of arts new met brower

building dedicated exclusively to the modern and contemporary. the opening exit titled unfinished looks at 500 years of artwork bringing together some wild aspects seen in ton contemporary art and objects seen through the same lens and opening day had art people trying to get a peek from all angles. it's a radical new step to shake off a stuffy image at new york's most storied art institutions and it was founded in 1870 as an encyclopedia museum shunning contemporary works. >> we did not collect modern art seriously until after the second world war and certainly built up our collection in the late 20th century but now there is an opportunity for us to do even more. >> reporter: but doing so in a fast moving world, in an industry steeped in tradition where change is measured in centuries and not retweets will take time.

and it's why the mets deep dive in contemporary is so closely watched in the art world. the mets is reinventing itself but the big challenge is doing so in a city where there are so many options for art lovers. and you don't have to look far, the whitten museum with contemporary art with an american viewpoint just moved in to a new, modern building. and new york's museum of modern art known as moma as well as the guigenheim are two famous new york art institutions. >> there is titanic competition amongst the museums in new york right now. >> reporter: ben davis a critic and art net news says the met found itself trying to stay relevant. >> contemporary awed audiences are interested in relevant than class and the met is the classyist in new york but doesn't mean it's the coolest and it's their attempt to kind

of refresh the brand if you will. >> reporter: for an old institution trying to create a new buzz for a younger audience in modern times. gabrielle with al jazeera, new york. if you can't get there go to al jazeera.com, al jazeera.com. "on target" tonight. are marijuana in america. legalization is paving the way for big business but it also exposes plenty of problems that need to be solved. americans' attitude towards illicit drug use has softened over the years. 23 states have legalized marijuana for use, california, oregon, washington and colorado,