>> going it alone houthis in yemen decide to form their own government without the president after failing to reach a deal with rival factions. >> welcome to al jazeera. the leaders of france and germany meet in russia to push for a new peace plan to end the conflict in eastern ukraine. >> thousands in jordan show support for the king's fight against isil.

>> aviation investigators in taiwan said the plane crash into the river experienced engine problems. >> we begin in yemen where houthi fighters have taken over power in what is seen as a unilateral move, the shia rebel fighters announced the formation of a new presidential council. it will be tasked with writing the countries new constitution. let's take a closer look at the details that have declaration. an interim national council will replace parliament with 551 members, choosing five members to form the council which will radioing the country and appoint a new transitional government, but the power lice in the hands of the rebel group. the head of the revolutionary committee, it will have the task

of drawing a new constitution. they will hold power during a transitional power of two years. let's go live to aden. what's the response been to this announcement? >> there was a bit of expectation that something like this was going to happen as the turmoil in yemen has gone on now for several months basically and a lot of people were expecting the houthis were going to make their announcement. analysts thought the houthis wouldn't really risk essentially losing any sort of -- getting the wrath of regional countries and losing the support of the united nations broker here by going it alone. as you say it's important to note that despite these no in substitutions and mechanisms announced, the real power remains in the hands of the houthis and their so-called

revolutionary committees. the revolution itself, there was head of or that spoke on behalf of the revolution of 2011, which was about the downfall of the president's and you have ther from office. they've come up with the statement and said they condemn what takes place today that this amounts to a coup. other parties have been at odds with the houthis and they, too have rejected and have not taken part in this. it is important to bring you back to the statement that includes the noble peace laureate recognized for her role in the revolution here, there's

opponents who haven't accepted this but the question is what do they have in their power to assure this doesn't go ahead -- >> the sunnis obviously don't want this to happen, nor do saudi arabia, but what options now are there? >> that's the big question and people are waiting to see the response. as it stands now the u.n. special envoy who was trying to mediate a political deal has flown to saudi to try to figure out a way forward. he is meeting with ban ki-moon as well as the saudi government. a lot of people are putting this responsibility on the saudis, because the ousted president who has been in cahoots with the houthis was in saudi arabia, who gave him a lot of political backing and support. they now as the saying goes, the

chicken's coming home to roost so to speak. that's the view of a lot of people who are opposed to what took place. on the ground, it's been mass rallies around protests taking place in the safer areas the areas that doesn't have houthi government on the ground. >> to the crisis in ukraine now angela merkel and president hollande are meeting vladimir putin in moscow. the german chancellor and the president are paren ago new peace plan, coming after they met the ukrainian president in kiev, petro poroshenko. let's go to rory now in moscow. we know that angela merkel is there now. the meeting i'm assuming is underway. any details yet? >> still not. it's been amazing really, how

few pieces of information about this peace deal have actually come out yet. they have -- well angela merkel has been meeting with petro poroshenko in ukraine and kiev. she said that this plan will involve the territorial integrity of ukraine and essentially that it would not really have any dramatic territorial difference from the minsk peace agreements. by that, i mean that the front lines at the moment, which have shifted considerably since the minsk peace agreement was signed in september if there is a new agreement, it will be along the minsk front line guidance. that is going to be difficult for the rebels, the separatists to accept, because they have taken a lot of territory since

then. they will want to hold that territory. russia, of course, has its own agenda, it's own ideas, vladimir putin has submitted his plan to the two european leaders so they will be talking about all these things at the moment, here in moscow. they will be talking about front lines, they will be talks the issue of federalization or you a tan my or independence of these separatists self declared republics and talk the pour rouse border between russia and ukraine which is such an issue because they say it is all russian armory and weaponry coming through. >> difficult issues, and very little trust. >> no, there's -- you'd be very

hard pressed to find any trust whatsoever at the moment. they will have to dig it up from somewhere. you have people like joe biden the american politician, who has been saying various things in the last few hours saying that putin cannot be allowed to redraw the map of europe. he's been saying that putin ignores all the agreements he signs so far, so why should he be trusted this time. the russian response to this kind of language is basically to accuse the west of hypocrisy. it has for quite some time, it will say what do you mean that putin can't be allowed to redraw the map of europe? that's what the west did and europe did when it came to kosovo. we didn't like it and the serbs didn't like it, you west did it anyway. what do you mean when you say that putin breaks promises? nato has done that, too. it makes all these promises

after the fall of the soviet union not to expand, yet russia feels encircled, like nato's pushing up against its borders. that is the degree of distrust at the moment. if there is going to be some sort of peace agreement that settles around ukraine, they are going to have to find common ground. >> all right, thank you. >> while those diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in ukraine enter a key phase fighting rages on in the east of the country hundreds of thousands of residents have been forced to flee their homes. we have a report. you may find some of these images to be disturbing. >> tatiana feels lucky to be alive. volunteers braved the artillery and mortar fire and drove them to safety.

>> when we were evacuated the rockets started raining down on us. the volunteers told to us get down and cover our children's heads. i took the risk because i had to save the children. >> tatiana and three that her four children are staying at shelter set up by volunteers. her ex-husband and eldest daughter are still hiding in a basement in their besieged hometown. others here have fled the violence. the makeshift dormitories are cramped, the air stale because the children get cold if the windows are open in winter. >> i'm scared. i feel lost. it's hard, but there is no way we can go back home. >> it's estimated that more than 900,000 people like tatiana and her family have been forced to flee their homes. as the fighting gets worse the number of civilians killed or wounded in this conflict increases by the day. there's been a sharp escalation in fighting over recent weeks while both the ukrainian

government and separatists blame each other for failed peace talks. the ukrainian military pour in more troops to the front line, it seems the increasingly well owe equipped fighters do the same. russia continues to deny supplying the separatists with soldiers or weapons and just as in separatist-controlled towns hospitals on the ukrainian side are full of wounded soldiers and civilians. none of these people could have have predicted the violence they have been subjected to. tatiana is praying her eldest daughter will make it to safety and join them soon. charles stratford, al jazeera eastern ukraine. >> still ahead millions of students in bangladesh finally get to sit through exams after a delay by political turmoil and strikes.

>> no money for new ideas. why entrepreneurs in thailand struggle to find funds for their startup companies.

>> hello again. the houthis have taken over power in yemen in what is seen as a unilateral mood. the shia rebel fighters announced the formation of a five member presidential council to run the government. the council will write the countries new constitution in two years. >> the leaders are france and

germany in russia to discuss a peace plan to enthe conflict in ukraine. the new peace plan incorporates proposals from russia that comes after angela merkel and president hollande met the ukrainian president petro poroshenko on wednesday. >> world leaders in germany are meeting in munich. ukraine is said to dominate talk there. world leaders will discuss boosting security and financial aid to ukraine while tightening economic sanctions on russia. >> thousands have rallied in jordan to show support for the the family of muath al-kaseasbeh and the government. isil burned jordanian air force pilot muath al-kaseasbeh to death early they are week. they took him hostage in december. demonstrators support the king's military campaign against the armed group. we have more from amman.

>> thousands of jordanians have participated in this protest in downtown amman in support of the government and king abdullah and the army. they are right now chanting in support of the king. they say that the best thing that happened out of the tragic death of muath al-kaseasbeh is that it has united people together that jordanians are know speaking with one voice. they say that before, there were people who didn't agree with the government's role in the international coalition against isil and now they do. people also had doubts and were wondering why jordan was participates in this coalition. now they have their answers. they want revenge and they want to it come soon, because they feel that the killing of muath al-kaseasbeh and the manager in which he was murdered has hurt and touched every single jordanian in every single home. the jordanian army has said that 10 of its own fighters jets

answered outside the framework of the international coalition against isil has shelled targets in iraq and syria on thursday. the army says that all these targets that were shelled were destroyed and they include weapons storage facilities, as well as training camps. the army said that this is just the beginning and that they will make isil pay for every hair in muath al-kaseasbeh's body. what we're going to expect next is a very active and pronounced role for jordan in the international coalition against isil and it's now even talking about supporting troops fighting isis on the ground, such as the kurdish peshmerga forces, the iraqi army and the moderate syrian opposition, which jordan had been reluctant to assist in the past. >> the european union pledged more than a billion dollars to syria and iraq in the fight against isil.

that talk was the main talking about point between the iraq prime minister and the german chancellor angela merkel when they met in berlin. abaddi has called for more support from the international community to stop the fighters from making further advances. he says germany has promised help in supporting iraqi troops combat isil. >> they are prepared top provide all forms of assistance, military intelligence and security. they also require a great deal of training for our security and police personnel to gain control of the areas liberated where isil fighters have been forced out. these areas are under the control of security forces, family the police. that's why we're sacrificing assistance in terms of training. >> in syria, more than 70 have been killed in government airstrikes east of the capitol damascus. the government said this is in response to thursday's attack on the capitol by opposition rebels. we have a report.

>> in the moments after the bombardment, panic sweeps through. homes, businesses, entire streets are decimated. bodies line the streets. >> we were hit by more than 14 air raised. we rushed to rescue people in the buildings victims were cut in pieces under the rubble. >> this is the eastern edge of damascus. syrian jets attacked the area on thursday. the number of dead continues to rise. >> the injured were brought here but the hospital is full and medical supplies were lacking even before the bombardment. >> may god punish bashar al assad. >> the syrian government says the attack was in response to shelling by opposition groups on security and military posts in the capital.

it says it wasn't just soldiers killed but civilians too. it accuses the opposition of targets residential areas to inflict maximum damage, an accusation the opposition denies. >> the objective of this operation is to strictly prevent the regime from targets civilians. the war is between us and the regime while the regime is targets civilians in the areas held by us, we respond by tarting their military positions only. the more they target our civilians, the more we will rocket their military positions. >> that cycle of violence that played out for four years now across the country and killed at least 200,000 people. al jazeera. >> investigators in taiwan are beginning to understand why a plane crashed into a river on wednesday, killing 35 people. they say one engine appears to have failed before the second engine was manually shut down. teams are trying to recovery

bodies from the wreckage. we have a report from taipei. >> for a third day they searched the waters for the missing from the flight and more bodies were brought to shore. among those found, two young boys, 11 and 12, still strapped into their seats. the start of the crash started to emerge. investigators announced what the black boxes revealed. engine two seemed to malfunction, but engine one was manually shut down after a discussion by the pilots picked up by that the cockpit voice recorder o.c.v.r. >> the pilots made decision to shut down the one engine, snark. >> in the c.v.r., the pilots actually did discuss reduce the power on number one, but right now, we can only stick from the

data. data indicates the engine was cut off but we do not know who or why they did it. >> the last plunge into the river, clipping a taxi and ridge, one engine was spinning uselessly, the other not working at all. of all the stories of survival from this crash surely one of the most remarkable this taxi. >> it goes without saying how lucky the driver and his passenger were. parts of the vehicle look untouched but at the front this slice taken out by the wing tip. two lives saved by a mere fraction of a second. >> another amazing escape is the passenger who in the moments after the crash freed fellow passengers from their seats. he'd been sitting in the rear out of habit because it makes it easier to get away with more hand luggage. he knew there was a problem as the plane took off.

>> it felt unbalanced in the cabin. i guess there might be something wrong with the engines. >> most onboard are now being mound, including the flight crew who's decision-making is now at the heart of this investigation. taiwan's vice president hailed them for their heroics in missing apartment building, saving lives with the last seconds of their own. al jazeera taipei. >> the national police chief in the philippines resigned, stepping down after a botched anti terror raid last month left 44 police commanders dead. the president said the operation should have been canceled because of poor planning. the raid targeted one of asia's most wanted terror suspects. >> the nigeria-based armed group boko haram launched an attack in neighboring niger. armed men crossed into the town friday morning.

it is a second attack outside nigeria by boko haram in just a few days. earlier in the week, the group attacked a town in cameroon leaving 100 dead. the escalation of violence is happening as leaders are meeting to finalize plans for oh coordinated military response against boko haram. some western countries and u.n. are also attending the three day summit. last week, members of the african union agreed to send 7,500 groups to fight the armed group. >> more than a million students in bangladesh will get to silt their exams. recent violence led to people putting their education on hold. we spoke to some of the teenagers affected. >> the big day is finally here. he and 1.5 million students like him across bangladesh are taking

their secondary school exams. the results can have a huge impact on their future. on the way to the exam hall, he and his father are worried about more than his studies. there's been a violent political standoff here that has killed over 70 people since january. a number of buses and cars have been torched with several passengers burned to death. there are fears of arson attacks on schools during this exam day and at this tech center, there's a heavy police presence making sure only students get inside with that. >> there are security concerns, because the political situation is volatile. all our senior officers are out on patrol and there are officers in every alley in this area. >> this test was supposed to take place last monday, but was pushed back after the opposition called for a shut down of the capitol. teachers say this ruined student preparation for the exams but

their main concern is far more serious. >> i'm not worried about any attacks on the school. what happened to the students on the way home, that's something that's worried us a lot. >> outside the capitol at least one education center was attacked by arsonists. the exam ends peacefully for him. >> it's true that we feel very worried when you have to be out on the streets but be glad that our children were able to give the tests in a peaceful environment. >> things went well, he feels but the circumstances could have been more ideal. >> every time an exam gets set back it means we have even less time to prepare for whatever comes after that. this can get mentally demoralizing. >> now that exams are over, it's the end of a tense few weeks for these students, but with the political situation looking set to drag on, the teachers continue to look at uncertain as

ever for the country and for these children. >> small and medium sized businesses form the backbone of thailand's economy. many say they struggle to compete against a handful of powerful family owned cross. we have a report from bangkok. >> it's the perfect idea for a startup business. a service that helps young professionals deal with laundry in crowded and bustling cities. it's a high tech automated locker system where customers drop off dirty clothes and pick them up clean. all of it can be tracked from a smart phone. that was his idea, and became a reality two years ago, when he started wash box 24. there are now over 30 locker locations across bangkok. >> we didn't even know that it's even called startup it's just something we're passionate about, something that can really

solve problems in life. >> bond faced his own problems. the lack of facilities and resources to help start up businesses was preventing him from growing his company. >> if you compare thailand to singapore or hong kong, we don't have the luxury. we do everything our self. >> small and medium sided businesses make up 97% of all thai companies. >> no small or medium business loans. this is a common practice. >> thai commercial banks favor traditional business plans not startup ideas like watch box 24. when he asked for a loan, they told him no. he entered a startup contest. a select few families control the vast majority of retail and real estate in thailand. they are deep-rooted and well-connected.

>> this convenience store is one of thousands have outlets owned by the central retail company everything from small shops up to luxury malls. because of market reach watch box 24 recently started working with central. some believe these huge companies are part of the reason thailand startups struggling. >> the economy's being controlled basically by about 10 families. we need to empower the 65 million people and not just the 10 families. >> until that happens most looking to get their startups off the ground will have to look farther than this shrine in bangkok, a tradition am spot for entrepreneur to say come and pray for good business. most will likely seek their seed money outside the country. >> heavy snow has caused traffic chaos in northern spain. hundreds of drivers were trapped

and spent the night in their cars. the bad weather also disrupted rail services in the region. dozens of pilgrims were trying to reach the city and were put up in shelters. just remember, you can log on to our website aljazeera.com. are in the stream. drones in the united states. there will be 30,000 of them flying above your head within the next 20 years. is america ready? ♪