>> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america > a tearful south korean president apologises to the nation once again for the ferry tragedy. hello, this is al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead - libya's parliament is targeted as forces loyal to a renegade general bring their fight to tripoli. the death toll in the worst flooding in decades in the balkans continues to rise. and from empty tour buses to dented consumer confidence.

we ask if thailand can afford its continuing political crisis. good to have you with us. south korea's president apologised to the nation for one of the worst disasters at sea. for the first time park geun-hye took responsibility for the government response to the sinking of the ferry. more than 300 died. in a tearful live television address, park geun-hye announced the coast guard would be disbanded, replaced by another agency. harry fawcett has more from seoul. >> reporter: at one pint it was a tearful president park geun-hye who addressed her nation early on monday morning. she became tearful and emotional when she talked about those that gave their lives, and gave her

most direct apology, saying the responsibility lay with her as president. she set out dramatic measures, saying it will be an investigation, a parliamentary investigation into what happened, but she has drawn conclusions of her own. importantly, she is breaking up the coast guard, saying what happened during the rescue mission was insufficient, that lives were lost, so the coast guard's safety and rescue responsibility will go to a national safety agency, its vet if responsibilities to the plerks and said she -- police, and said she would try to sever links between ministers and lobby groups for industry, saying that that bureaucratic mafia would have to come to an end, and that people can't retire and take well-paid jobs

from lobby groups. she said the company said that it had shown an abnormal pursuit of profit. it had been greedy, and the government as well as compensating the victims would try to seek reckon pence from the family behind it as well as that. gunman attacked a city in benghazi. a rocket was fired. benghazi was the birth place of the 2011 revolution, and a battle ground between the army and militia. unrest and lawlessness has spread to tripoli. two killed, dozens injured when those loyal stormed parliament. they are taking on some of the country's hard-lined militias, accusing the government of not doing enough. the military says khalifa haftar's actions amount to a coup. we have this report from

tripoli -- >> reporter: a bracen attack on the libyan parliament. libya turned into a war zone. antitank weapons were used. plumes of black smoke rose in the air. according to witnesses, gunmen driving military vehicles stormed the g.n.c. building, saying they were members of the powerful brigade with bases near the airport. that attack seems to be linked to unrest in benghazi. a spokesman for the self-declared libyan national army told al jazeera that they declared an open war on the government for supporting what they called extremists and terrorists. on friday forces loyal to khalifa haftar attacked the bases of two militias in benghazi. the fighting left dozens dead. general khalifa haftar said he

was forced to act. >> translation: today the national army launched a battle to defend the nation - the people and the lives of our officers who are being assassinated. this is not a coup against the state, and we are not seeking power or authority, or hindering the course of democracy. the blood of libyans is sacred and we don't want them to resort to arms. terrorists wanted there to be a battle. let it be an honourable one. >> reporter: the central government accused khalifa haftar of staging a coup. >> translation: the acts carried out in benghazi by army officers constitution violation of state sovereignty. an arrest warrant was issued. an order has been handed down to stand up to attempts by subversive forces. it targets military jet fighters flying over the skies of benghazi. >> the caretaker government is

weak, struggling to rein in powerful millish areas. rival militias act with impunity. hours after the attack on the general national congress, the sound of fighting and explosions could be heard in tripoli. this could indicate that libya is heading towards more chaos, violence and infighting. mali's prime minister deployed troops to recapture the northern town of kidal, warning that his government is at war with terrorists. dozens were killed in fighting between the fighting of rebels. six government workers and two civilians are among the dead. meanwhile the united nations called for the immediate release of around 30 civil servants who have been taken hostage in the town. >> four have been killed in a suicide car bombing in karnel. it happened on a busy street in

an area that is mostly christian. there's no claim of responsibility. >> at least 32 children have been killed after a school bus caught fire in northern columbia. local media assess the children were on the way home from church. columbian officials say the bus was designed to hold 38 passengers, but was carrying about 50. it's not clear how the fire started. campaigning in columbia's presidential electionnded. the president santos called on voters to support his bid for re-election, saying a vote for him will take columbia a step forward to finding peace with f.a.r.c. rebels. his main rival says if he comes to power, he'll give the group eight days to declare if they want netted peace. 48 decide in the balkans, suffering its worst flooding.

thousands have been forced from their homes. we have this report. in the air and on the ground, the priority is to get to the old and the sick. we meet this 88-year-old woman after being rescued by the serbian army. she tells us her house was submerged under a metre and a half of water. she was alone for days without food for drinking water. this is a massive logistical operation. they are threatening to overwelcome serbia's emergency services. the damage will cost billions. volunteers have joined the operation here. this man is a personal trainer from belgrade. he is here to help rescue those left behind.

>> reporter: how many people do you thing is left? >> we don't know. we are going to see. >> it's not clear how many died here. every official tells us that they have to wait for the waters to recede to see the damage that was done. as you see, some of the water is pulling back, but there are still many houses completely submerged by the flooding, and still many people waiting to be rescued. this man wouldn't give us his name. he said he has seen dead bodies and is angry at authorities for nod arriving earlier. >> they came to light, we had no warning. the souped is destroyed. we have no food, nowhere to live. >> in bosnia, ner mep as is hiding -- another menace is hiding under the rubble. landmines from the war. the fear is the floods are

washing away river banks, which will unearth exploded booby traps. the country's biggest power station is under threat. capacity at the power plant has been cut. waters have reached the basement of the plant. a shutdown will blackout most of the country. for now it stopped raining. the worry is there could be another flood surge from the drana river in bosnia, the ground is already saturated. people are wondering where will the apart -- water go syria's air force chief was killed after rebels attacked a defense base. he is one of the highest ranking commanders killed in the conflict. rebel factions in syria are ready to bury their differences

and unite, saying that they had grooped together 50,000 fight -- grouped together 50,000 fighters. we have this report. >> these fighters say they continue with the seem of the few remaining military bases under government control. rebels showed the tank taken from syrian forces after days of battle. they told al jazeera they are preparing for an all-out offensive. >> by the grace of god we had liberated fi military positions using weapons seized from the asaad army. only a camp and military post is under their control. the military post will remain under their position. both sides know it. syrian jets provide air support for soldiers surrounded by rebels. the pictures imploded on the

internet show supplies dropped for government troops. syrian state tv says government forces have taken more arse on the outskirts of damascus, and aleppo. this is despite recent defeats. some fighters are trying to ignite. five groups who say they have more that 50,000 eighters have decided to work together. leaders of the islamic front and others agreed to move away from extremism and called on others to unite. >> toppling the regime is an operation shared by all military forces. we welcome cooperation with all parties and in a manner serving the people's interests. we believe the military and political decisions must be purely made by syrians, and reject subordination under

foreign forces. >> reporter: activists say there are deep divisions, leading to infighting, deepening their c control. still to come - thais count the cost of their political crisis. >> a shadow over the election next week in ukraine.

and the top stories - south korea says its coast guard will be disbanded in response to the sinking of a ferry. the president park geun-hye took responsibility for the government response to the disaster. two have been killed and dozens injured after dozens stormed parliament in the libyan capital. khalifa haftar has been carrying out a campaign against hard line

millish areas. the army say his action amounted to a coup. 49 have died in the balkans after the worst flooding. thousands have been evacuated from their homes thailand cut its growth forecast partly because of a drop in tourist numbers, and says the economy grow between 1.5 and 2.5%, lower than estimated. in the first quarter of the year gross domestic product contracted by the same period in 2013. if there's a second consecutive quarter thailand will be in recession. the hotel and restaurant sector sank by 3% because of the decline if the number of tourists. cop assumer confidence -- consumer confidence is said to have fallen for a 13th straight month in april. the tourist sector is worse off

after months of turmoil. >> reporter: these tour buses should be full of tourists seeing the sights of thailand. here they sit in a field outside bangkok. unrest of the country put a heavy cost on the tourism industry. estimates of $3 billion lost. most from the fastest growing market, china. that put a serious pinch on this tour company. those are its buses siding idle. for chinese tourists the drop is more than 50%. we receive on average 1,000 per month, in the past two we had 200 to 500. >> reporter: getting a bank loan is tougher than before the crazies. >> impact is greater than the downturn. it's hitting the biggest companies and threatening its long-term

economic outlook. the largest operator is losing number. confidence in the future is down. some predict the country will fall into a recession. once it marks two consecutive quarters of negative growth. >> i think things will get worse, not better. it will flow into the stock market. this political crisis and the effect on the economy could carry over. >> reporter: a reason for that, since the government is not operating, the board of investment has not met in months. the thais who are feeling the biggest pitch now are the ones that live off consumer and tour of the spending confidence. >> translation: i can survive. what about people that earn minimum wage - like drivers and

massures. what will they do. i don't know, it's never been this bad. with renewed and intensified tensions between the groups, there's no clean path out of thailand's dim economic future. joining me live from bangkok is an associate professor of international business at the university. thank you for being with us. give us some context, if you would. at first glance the figures look bad. an official statement says unemployment is low, and ipp flags is at -- inflation is at 2.0. what is the real situation? how serious is it? >> i think if you look at the short-term, our economic fundamentals are strong. what is more worrying to thais and to - should be to policy makers is that with the economic shock ab sorbers, will they be

reliable. thailand seems to be able to bounce back time and again after many crisis - political - including natural disasters. this time the worrying signs are not just for the short term, but the long-term competitiveness of the country. we cannot look at the macroeconomic fundamentals, but look at the - what it means to the country through competitiveness, and whether the lack of stability will be undermining the - what - the regulations and the requirements of the institutions that should be put in place. because when you look at thailand, without a political crisis, we are facing challenges. with this, i think it adds to the long-term and midterm future for thailand. >> give us another context.

how does the economy compare to the rest of south-east asia? >> i think this time thailand would be perhaps the only country that would have the lowest economic growth in the south-east asia region, which is expected to be the engine of the asian economy in this year, and the level we can expect is 2% for g.d.p. growth. that is low compared to the suspected average of south-east asia. >> a lot is put down to the drop in tourist numbers, because of political instability. how much is down to foreign companies not investing and going elsewhere because it's cheaper? >> when you look at inward invest. in thailand, you have to look at the new investment as well as expansion investment. i think thailand is now looking at other countries in south-east

asia attracting new investment to countries with lower resources. thailand is still a regional hub, and what we should be concerned is that we should attract higher value investment. with the lack of stability i'm afraid a foreign investor would take a wait and see approach. >> thank you. >> i'm not too worried about... ..thank you. >> thank you. ukrainians are preparing to vote in the presidential elections. anti-government groups say they'll try to disrupt the poll. we have this report from donetsk. >> reporter: in the russian-speaking east campaigning ahead of the presidential election is under way of the separatists occupying state buildings declared an independent republic, say people are not going to vote.

the newly appointed prime minister of the donetsk people's republic sees those tasked with organising the vote are quitting. >> translation: people are just leaving all the so-called polling station, the election commissions and going home. there's no pressure oar on them. it's -- pressure on them. it's simply. the elections are not good to anybody. >> the moscow born and raid leader said they will not use force. according to one group they are trying to do just that. >> six or 10 people come to the electoral commission. building the commission with guns, with some others, did said that now in donetsk it is a terror cell of donetsk republic, and it is unlegal to organise the election of ukraine.

>> six out of 22 offices have been shut. we found one. the sign says that the electoral commission responsible for the city center polling distroict is not working. the gate is not locked, but no one is inside. >> while looking for someone to speak to, we found a sign of the flag, saying the offices inside have been sealed. >> life conditions as normal, the volatility of the region is not unnoticed. fears over the boat are not easily batted away. >> i'm worried about my safety at the polling station. there could be provocation, some using force. >> for us, this donetsk people's republic doesn't make sense. >> the central election commission says it's prepared with thousands of monitors on

standby and is urging people to vote. in the east more than 32% of people plan on staying home and 31% are not sure who they'll vote for or whether they'll vote at all. that stokes fears unrest could continue past election day. now, with a little over three weeks to go until the world cup kicks off in brazil some of the stadiums are unfinished. we visit one of them to see how much more still needs to be done. >> reporter: this stadium? sao paulo, a 540 million moment home of corinne thians and the venue for six world cup games, including an aper of brazil and croatia and a semifinal. only it's not finished. there was plenty to cause concern at the match, 25 days before the tournament starts.

>> this man said he was in charge, but couldn't tell us where to find the press accreditation. we should have faith in god, he said. these are the grand steps to the main entrance of the stadium, which, on june the 12th, the dignitaries will find for the aping game of the 2014 world cup. what you don't see is what i see from another angle. -- materials and unfinished work. it will be finished at the last minute say the f.i.f.a. officials. >> i'm not a football high school gan tearing out the seat. it's one of 20,000 waiting to be installed before the kick-off. >> reporter: about 40,000 fans saw this game, a stadium that will have a 68,000 capacity. public transport, communication, first aid and crowd control were some of the elements contested.

>> this is a truly beautiful stadium with great acoustics. it will be a wonderful sporting arena when it's finished. the question is will it be ready in time for the start of the world cup. >> reporter: the brazilian authorities say it will. you must have faith, we were told. many are placing theirs in god, rather than the world cup organizers. three times formula 1 world champion jack brabham died aged 88 at his home in queensland. he won f1 titles in 1959 and 1960. in 1966 he claimed a victory in a car he built himself. brabham completed 126 grand prix races. and the website aljazeera.com.

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