stephanie dekker. thank you. still to come on this program. violence in nigeria as voters head to the polls. and foreign ministers flying for crucial talks on iran's nuclear program. we'll take a look at what is on that agenda. >> a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. forces carrying out airstrikes on yemen for a third straight day. and dozens of people have been killed in that explosion in the port city of aden. leaders from across the arab world are discussing multiple conflicts in the region, in particular yemen. >>> and syrians take over the city of adlib after fighting there. >>> two polling stations have been attack in nigeria. our correspondent in abuja for us right now. security was always going to be an issue wasn't it, in this election. >> because of fierce about security in this pooley stages. there are police making sure that things go on peacefully. we know in the northeast according to security services military personnel are helping to safeguard the area, particularly in the areas where we've seen boko haram activity

stephanie dekker is following that story for us from beirut. a fierce battle over four or fives days for idlib. >> that's right and it's now firmly in the hands of this new coalition formed last week. it's led by the al-qaeda affiliated al nusra front. but there are other groups working together. they say to liberate idlib something that they have now achieved. syrian state television said that the syrian army has regrouped to the south of the city, and they'll continue to fight what they call terrorists. it is an ongoing battle. we've seen videos up loaded on the internet where they're attacking a statue of the president's father where they're pulling down posters of president. they're taking down the syrian flag usually significant images in a city that has been under government control for the majority of this role, and was functioning as a relatively normalcy compared to what has been happening in the rest of the cities. we've seen civilians fleeing over the last father days. what is new the government was carrying ute airstrikes to try to

stephanie dekker has our report. >> reporter: world and business leaders all here to listen to egypt's pitch despite years of turmoil we're open for business. in his opening speech president el-sisi personally welcomed many of the heads of state present here for their support. >> i would like to thank all our brothers and presidents of the arab states that are giving us honor here in egypt. the egyptian society is 25% of the population of the middle east stability in egypt is a very important role for the stability of the whole region. we need to make sure that these power will be for the benefits of the stability of the nation and for the region. >> it started off well with billions of dollars pledged by some of egypt's richest neighbors who aim to pledge millions more. this is the egypt they want to promote. clean easy-flowing traffic and businesses and industries ready for investment. but the reality is a little more complicated. an explosion hit barclay's bank in alexandria. the group that claimed responsibility of those taking part in the summit. the slogan egypt is not for sale.

stephanie dekker reports. >> reporter: this is northeastern tikrit. the iraqi army together with shia militia and some sunni tribesmen are trying to push isil out of the city. >> we want to tell the iraqi people that tikrit will be liberated, and retaken from isil terrorist groups. security forces have advanced on the city from all four fronts and started to retake the neighborhood. we're head fog tikrit to liberate it from isil groups and we shall advance. >> freelance journalist shot this footage for al jazeera on wednesday. tikrit is is on the highway linking mosul further north and isil's stronghold in iraq. progress has been slow here partly because of boobie traps left by isil and the threat of sniper fire, but they're confident that they'll take tikrit. >> despite my injury and being told by my commander to leave the battle, i will not leave. so far we're in control and we have the upper hand with no casualties as of yet. just slight injuries. >> but there are fears if tikrit falls, shia militia will take revenge on the sunni population for bei

let's go to stephanie dekker. stephanie, first off has this city actually fallen to the opposition at this point? >> well, what we're hearing now from all sides really, is that it has fallen. this is hugely significant fall ton this new coalition which was formed last week. but it's under the command of the al nusra front the al-qaeda affiliate in syria. the fighting took four days for the syrian army to move out of the city. many people are quite surprised that it took so little time. this is the second provincial capital to force the opposition. the first one is under the islamic state in iraq and the levant and it's also hugely significant in terms of geography. to the north you've got turkey, and to the west it lies on a highway to hama to the south to aleppo. it gives access to that whole area. hugely significance. the people asking, we're seeing videos of civilians fleeing. idlib has been a relatively safe haven throughout this four-year war. we're now seeing airstrikes taking place. so now we know this fight

stephanie dekker has more. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: this is northeastern tikrit, the iraqi army shia militia and some sunni tribesmen are trying to push isil out of the city. >> we want to tell the iraqi people that tikrit will be liberated and retaken from isil terrorist groups. security forces have advanced from all four fronts. we started to retake the neighborhood, and we're heading by the help of god to tikrit to liberate it from isil groups, and we shall advance to mosul. >> a freelance journalist shot this footage for al jazeera on thursday. tikrit is scored controlled by isil and it's fall would be significant. progress has been slow here partly because of boobie traps left by isil, and there is a threat of sniper fire. but iraqi army is confident that they will retake tikrit. >> i told my commander we would not leave. hopefully we'll take the city today. so far we're in control and we have the upper hand with no casualties as of yet. just light injuries. >> but there are fears if tikrit falls shia militias could take revenge on sunni neighborhoods for being seen as collabora

stephanie dekker, beirut. >> the united states and it's allies have launched 18 airstrikes against the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the u.s. military said eight of the strikes targeted positions near the iraqi city of tikrit. iraqi government forces have been trying to recapture tikrit during an offensive that began on the second of march. still to come on al jazeera. drastic measures to stop ebola spreading in sierra leone. and the candles for each of the victims of the germanwings crash pay tribute while searcher scale the mountain for more. america presents the best documentaries. this week... >> i felt like i was just nothin'. >> for this young girl, times were hard. >> doris' years in a racist, impoverished setting had a major impact. >> but with looks... charm... >> i just wanted to take care of my momma. >> and no remorse... >> she giggles every time she steps into the revolving door of justice. >> she became legendary. >> the finer the store the bigger the challenge. >> al jazeera america presents: "the life and crimes of >> weeknights on al jazeera america. >> join me

stephanie dekker has more. >> what this conference needs is that syrian's war is not near to being over. it calls for donors to dig deep. >> nearly half of the country's men, women and children have been forced to leave their homes. >> while money is being pledged what does it mean for those who need it? >> the u.s. used to provide $30 a month for each family member. do you really think $1 a day is enough to a person to live on? we heard the u.n. would help with our rent. we never received it once. >> many donor countries do not come through on the money they promised in public. but the u.n. said it has received most of the funds. >> even though the donor money is coming in, it's not matching the pace of increasing needs. >> lebanon has 1.2 million registered syrian refugees. a quarter of this tiny country is made up of syrians that have lost just about everything. they may be alive but they will tell you there is no dignity in living like this. refugees must renew their registration every year. and it's a remind that are none of them will be going home any time soon. they need aid agen

stephanie dekker reports. [ gunfire ] this is northeastern tikrit, the iraqi army along with sunni tribesmen she ma shia militia push isil out of the city. >> we will retake it from isil terrorist groups. we started to retake the neighborhood on the outskirts of tikrit, and we're heading, by the help of god to liberate from isil groups and we'll advance from there to mosul. >> a freelance journalist shot this footage for al jazeera on wednesday. tikrit is controlled by isil. progress has been slow here partly because of boobie traps left by isil, and there is a threat of sniper fire. they're confident that they will take tikrit. >> despite my injury and my commanding telling me to leave the battle, we will stay, so far we're in control, and we have the upper hand with no casualties as of yet. just slight injuries. >> but there are fears if tikrit fall shia militias to take revenge on the sunni population for being seen as collaborators and sympathizers. there are around 20,000 military and 2,000 sunni tribesman. the concern is if they can keep the peace after. >> sunni politicians have criti

stephanie dekker has the report. [ gunfire ] this is northeastern tikrit, the iraqi army along with shia militia and sunni tribesmen push isil out of tikrit. >> tikrit will be taken from isil troops. we started to retake the neighborhood on the outskirts of tikrit city. we're looking to liberate it from isil terrorist groups, and from there mosul. >> a freelance journalist shot this footage for al jazeera on thursday. thursday. tikrit is on the highway going north to mosul. the iraqi army is confident that they will take tikrit. >> despite my injury and my commander told me to leave so far we're in control and we have the upper hand with no casualties as of yet. just slight injuries. >> there are fears if tikrit falls, sunni may be seen as sympathizers of isil. the iraqi army is majority shia. the iranian back militias fighting along side number around 20,000, and there are around 2,000 sunni tribesmen involved in this offensive. the question is if they will be able to keep peace. >> there are concerns iran's involvement in helping shia militia's could have an lasting impact on iraq's fu