>> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america. >> separatists in eastern ukraine claim victory after a referendum on sell-rule. appear hello, welcome. i'm steven cole in doha. you are watching al jazeera. these are the top stories. anti-government protesters in thailand move their headquarters to government house. seeking a better life - dozens of bodies discovered off tripoli after a boat carrying african migrants go down. how drones could put an end

to airport delays around the world. first, pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine are claiming a massive victory after sunday's referendum on autonomy. an overwhelming majority of those who voted favour the move. final results are expected in the coming hours, as e.u. foreign minister meet in brussels to discuss the crisis. let's cross to moscow - foreign minister sergei lavrov may be speaking later. in the meantime. let's go to kim vern 'em, and she is hive in kiev. so the russian pro-separatists in donetsk have claimed this overwhelming victory. what are they going to do now? >> well, that is the question.

they'll be listening to the press conference. we are about to hear from sergei lavrov, and vladimir putin, at some point, will make a statement about the referendum. the results are not surprising. we are hearing 89.7% of people who voted in donetsk and 94% of people who voted in lugansk voted yes, they'd like to see a self-state. in the past few moments we have heard from russian media, in the town of andrika. there has been reports of casualties in other areas. tensions boiled over. we had ukranian forces, not the national guard, opening fire on civilians there. we had one person there reported. as for this referendum, i think we need to take these results lightly. we on the ground saw some

filling out several ballots, in respect no international observers, and some who voted were unaware of what they were voting for. what we can say - this is a critical moment. those in the east are going be emboldened, and see it as givening it some legitimacy, and looking towards russia for its response now. >> the ukranian interim president called the vote a farce, didn't he, with no legal consequences for kiev. russia, mr putin, wanted the poll postponed. has there been a reaction to moss coe as a result. referendum. >> we haven't had any response just yet. as you mentioned last week, we had russian president vladimir putin distancing himself or some say from what is going on in the east by asking about the separatist there to postpone the

referendum. there has been takes on what that could mean, perhaps didn't see himself or saying one thing publicly or another to the separatist. authorities in kiev are pushing ahead with talks to try to stablilize the country. an important visit by e.u. council president. he'll speak to interim prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk. to try to de-escalate the crisis. we have the o.s.c.e. delegation arriving for talks. everyone realises this is a critical moment, especially with the run-up to the elections. under two weeks until the presidential elections are due to take place. that is the chance tore everyone in ukraine to have their say to elect a legitimate government. >> kim vernel live for us. anti-government protesters in thailand moved their rally to a new area in central bank cock.

they are moving to a vacated government house. and vowing to bring down the caretaker government. scott heidler was with them as they started to move. >> reporter: anti-government protestor is moving his headquarters from the park to government house, joining who groups who have stationed their spots over the last three months. what we are looking at on monday. the senate will have an informal meeting on what is going forward. the acting prime minister who is a deputy prime minister will be facing his first full week in office. on both fronts, we are not expecting major developments. the acting prime minister will speak to the media, we are not going to hear major statements. mainly because there's a question mark, we have the two sides, anti-and pro-government sides pushing for what they want. there are a lot of legal questions of how the government

and anti-government protest movement will move forward. it appears as though it's a waiting game. both sides will be facing up front and center of government house. >> staying in thailand rebels launched a series of attacks. one person was killed, 10 injured - in the series of bombings and arson attacks. the violence is blamed on separatist groups, demanding greater autonomy from bangkok. >> 18 have been killed in eastern china after a wall collapsed after heavy rain. 40 workers were inside a building. there's within widespread flooding. two people were killed. >> a government building was stormed by the taliban in the east of afghanistan, in one of several attacks across the country. in kabul two rockets were fired in the international airport, causing little damage. police surrounded the police

ministerry in jalalabad. the gunfire was changed. it's not known how many were inside at the time. >> dozens of bodies have been recovered off the coast of tripoli, believed to be african migrants who drowned. survivors say 130 people were on board at the time. they have this report from tripoli. >> another attempt to reach europe, another tragedy, followed by the bodies of would-be illegal immigrants retrieved from the open sea. the coast guard and police patrol, searching for more bodies. the final death toll is unclear. the libyan navy says the snept happened an friday when a boat carrying 130 illegal immigrants from different countries sank east of tripoli. it says 52 people were rescued then and over 74 were missing. the spokesman insists 20 bodies

were found. officials say they need help. >> we have 48 dead bodies. i call on the ministry of justice to bury the dead bodies. the corpses on the sea shore. >> they have appealed for help. the country is in chaos after the fall of muammar gaddafi's regime. the government is struggling to rein in well-armed powerful militias, lacking the resources on the border. the coastline of more than 1,700 kilometres. >> this is a transit point for migrants. once caught, some will be detained, others set freement the interim government says it's not only libya's problem, and the european union needs to do

more. 15 people have been killed in a stampede at a football stadium in the democratic republic of congo. rival fans have been fighting. police fired tear gas, triggering stam peats. >> reports suggest two al qaeda fighters may have been killed. it happened and initial reports say the drone destroyed the car in which the people were travelling. joining me now, the capital of yemen. is hashar. tell us more about the strike. >> it targeted an off-road vehicle travelling in a vast desert area. witnesses say that four people were killed in the attack. we don't know whether they were al qaeda operatives or not. it marked a significance escalation in the fight against al qaeda, where the army is

launching a massive military operation in sol -- some of the provinces. it could result in a backlash. groups mike amnesty international last time were critical because of the incident killings of victims. the government should not compromise the sovereignty and the fight should be planned and led by the yemeny government on its own. it shows a lim station of the army itself. it shows the fight against al qaeda, but cannot conduct special operations in the mountainous area. you have one led by the army, and one by the usa against high value targets. to egypt. abdullah al-shami has been on

hunger strike, from al jazeera arabic, for 112 cause. his lawyer asked authorities to move him to hospital, saying his client could die if he's not given immediate help. >> during a visit he was incoherent and the things he said didn't make sense. he fainted and was unconscious. his mother called a lawyer to confirm that people saw him in that state. i felt his life was at risk. especially after i saw him in court, and the pictures after he lost weight. >> three other al jazeera english journalists continued to be held in egypt for 135 days. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are accused of conspiring with the outlawed muslim brotherhood. the group has been declared a terrorist organization by egypt. al jazeera rejects the charges demanding their release. still to come - closing in on kony.

the united nations narrows its search for a notorious warlord. born to be wild - bikie gangs in australia are not rising so easy any ♪

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welcome back. a reminder of the top stories in al jazeera. pro-russian separatists claim victory after a referendum on autonomy. they say the overwhelming majority voted in favour. the final results were expected in a few hours time. anti-government protesters

in thailand moved their rally to a new area of bangkok, and they are moving to the vacated government building. they are vowing to bring down the government. a drone strike has killed two suspected fighters. it's the first time government forces used drones in their current have beenive in al qaeda. the united nations security council is to discuss a report which could narrow the hunt. stefanie dekker reports. this is a rare glimpse of joseph kony, often called africa's most wanted man. he's the leader of the lords resistance army, the l.r.a., and led an elusive ghostly existence in the jungle for years. he's been indicted for war crimes by the international criminal court, stemming from a war waged against the ugandan

government for two decades. over a million displace. vo forced to kill. >> it makes is responsible for every war crime and atrocity in the book. really, in the past three to four years, what we have seen is that the tactics of the l.r.a. has changed quite a bit. it has decreased significantly in the past few years, but their history shows what they are capable of. an african union task force with 5,000 soldiers backed by special forces have been trying to find him for years. in marched the u.s., with aircraft. it's a massive challenge. the operation is based out of

uganda. covering areas of south sudan, the democratic republic of congo. it's inhospitable terrain that kony and his men know well. it's difficult to measure the strength of the l.r.a. now, we estimate that the l.r.a. only has about 160 actual combatants from uganda left. but even though the numbers don't seem that imposing compared to other armed groups in the region, the l.r.a. is able to do much damage with relatively few fighters. >> so where as the l.r.a. is not the force it once was, there is a fear that the group could take advantage of unrest in places like the central african republic, to further destabilize the region. for many who survived this

unimaginable tactics, hearing joseph kony's name instills unspeakable fear. joining me now from nairobi is david, a consultant for africa world media. the u.n. security council to talk about a report that could narrow the hunt for jonathan cohn. does that mean they have jonathan cohn in their sites, david. >> first of all, we went to the peace table, to the negotiations in 2005, we knew that there was going to be uganda - we had an aim, and we got it. if it had not been the stubbornness of the american government [ inaudible ] again, it's the wishes of all the peace lovers. all of us went to negotiate. we risked our lives

[ inaudible ] that you should not strike kony, i said that kony should not be struck. we should get an agreement, it was signed. they went ahead to scuffle the agreement, to hit kony, and look at the consequences - he killed as many as possible, which is not good for the region. i don't think that what is going on in the great lakes region, in south sudan, i think this will give him ammunition and redirect himself and a portion goes to one of the warring parties. this is dangerous. is the l.r.a., do you think, still a threat? the estimates of kony's numbers are down to under 200. but do you think they are capable of being an effective

force? >> it does not much matter about numbers. it's ideas. even if it is small, it could cause damage. so we have got to bring this ideas to a close. we have got - until we got them, there's enough agreements which we have copies. all of us have koips. uganda, we have copies. until we bring him to the table, to sign the agreement. by the way, i'm the happiest man here that uganda today has piece in northern uganda. if america had listened to me, if they had listened it is not the first that can bring about

dialogue. >> why do you think the americans didn't listen to your advice? >> because they were naive. they don't know kony. he has been fighting the government of uganda for over 24 years. it's only us that manages to go on the brink. they brought this man on the table. we risked our lives, and it has to end here. they came in, and they were going to leave office, bush had to leave a legacy. i refused, i told them this has a peace process. i am right today. if they had left us to have a peace process, [ inaudible ] where it is our personal lives, if we had to die, we would have got peace for the region. now you see how many thousands of people that kony has killed,

which is regrettable. and i don't think the current situation... >> all as you say because president bush wanted a legacy in africa. thank you very much for joining us from africa world media. un-secretary-general ban ki-moon will brief the security council on developments in south sudan. a ceasefire appears to have been broken as soon as it was signed. the south sudan army accused rebels of fighting first, rebels coming under attack from government forces. the ceasefire is part of an agreement between the president and former vice president riek machar. voting has started in the last phase of india's 5-week general election. three more states is casting their final vote. the leader narendra modi is contesting a seat in the battle ground city of varanasi.

there's serious competition, a leader of the anticorruption common man party. the ruling congress party has been battling corruption and is likely to suffer losses. the general election in india is a massive undertaking. it happened in nine faces. results will be announced on may the 16th. a million polling stations were prepared for 800 million registered voters. people were voting to elect 543 seats in the lower chamber of the parliament. 272 were noeleded for a majority. the main focus of the polls at the moment is the battle ground of varanasi. >> it's the final phase of the indian general election.

it's been over five weeks, 814 million eligible voters going to the ballot box in 29 states and seven union territories. final constituencies are going the polls, as many as 60 million people heading to the ballot box. the main focus is varanasi with the b.j.p.'s narendra modi is fighting for the seat against the common man party. both men hope to try to win the seat and project an image that they condition represent the whole of the country. he comes from delhi, narendra modi from goodrah. by fighting for a seat in a different state they are trying to send the message across. security is tight. there has been violence mainly in the east of the country. violence - we have seen moouist

violence on sunday, in eastern maharajastra. votes will be counted on friday. it's expected postal first, and the electronic voting machines will then be able to tell us who is going to farm the next government of india in the 16th parliamentary elections. the trends coming three or four hours after the votes are counted on friday. australia has tough new laws aimed at cracking down on gang violence. so-called bikie gangs are accused of being behind a surge of violent crime. many bikers say the new laws threaten their civil rights. andrew thomas reports. >> reporter: riding as a group they seem intimidating. australia politicians and police say people are right to be scared of bikie gangs. they say the gangs are criminal

enterprises. brawls like this are part of it, alleging that they are behind org faced crime aring drug dealing, extortion and murder. >> reporter: hi, harry, great to meet you. >> but bikies are hitting back. normally secretive, they want to talk. they are not criminals, merely motorbike enthusiasts, and they are the victims. >> we are selective as to who we talk to and let in to our club. >> bikies are fighting new laws that infringe on civil rights, including 15 years in prison for any crime which, in the eyes of the police, is gang related. this meeting is taking place in the state of new south wales. in the neighbouring state of queensland it would be illegal, because the new laws ban more than two club members being in the same place at the same time. >> australians are quick to condemn other countries for

human rights abuses. what they are doing to us now is not much different. isn't much different at all. if we haven't committed a crime, why can't we associate. >> the lawyer leading a high court challenge fought similar laws and won. local cases take months. >> the government indicated early in the peace that if the laws were unconstitutional, they don't care. they'll do enough damage before they are knocked out by the high court. >> bikies, police say, are criminals. along the gold coast the violence associated is getting worse. >> that intimidation, the extortions, harassments that the crime gang members put on the community - they were a criminal menace to the community. bikies say they are not the menace, draconian laws are. politicians and police say laws that infringe bikies rights and

protect others are worth having. >> the hout is being asked whether the constitution agrees, whether the laws are legal. airlines are required to conduct detailed inspections of the passenger jets of british-based companies of how drones can help. >> reporter: armed with lasers and high-definition cameras, the remote controlled drone could change the way aircraft inspections are done. marks or damage are reversed to engineers for them to check. the technique is tested as an alternative to low inspections. >> occasionally we have lightening strikes, taking hours to cover an aircraft of this size. we believe that the drone can speed it up dramatically. >> the drones are operated by a pilot.

there are plans to make them computer controlled paying the inspections more meth oddic call. there's a lot of factors that have a need to do inspection of complex value. aircraft, fridges, chimneys. i think the possibility for that task is a really big opportunity. >> there's growing interest in tech knollingy like these virtual reality classes. it allows engineers to see and diagnose problems from a distance, in real times. >> they can get up close and personal with the aircraft on the ground. they can get to the nooks and crannies, the bits and pieces of an airflame that perhaps visual inspection might miss. for that reason, i'm all positive that this is a really good thing. >> the drones could be part of

the official inspection of aircraft as early as next year. if they are, the airlines need to ensure that the new technique has the confidence of passengers. >> a reminder you can cross to the website at aljazeera.com if you want any more information about any more of our stories. >> the far north of europe - a place of extraordinary beauty -