only on al jazeera america [ gunfire ] a battle at the airport, fighting between yemen's rival groups forces the president to flee his aden headquarters. ♪ i'm david foster good to have you with us here from aljooz, lye out of london. also in the next 30 minutes, police in tunisia arrest nine people as isil says it carried out wednesday's attack that left 23 dead. surviving on food and water, buried under ground.

the resilience of the people of vanuatu in the aftermath of cyclone pam. and why friday's solar eclipse could leave countries which depend on the sun for power in the dark. ♪ well as we go underway we understand that at least 12 people have been killed in heavy fighting between rival groups in yemen. forces loyal to the president hadi, took control of the international airport in aden from fighters who support the former president saleh. the nearby come pound where hadi was staying, the presidential palace was also bombed by a fighter jet. he is now in what has been described as a secure location. it has just been a month since hadi fled house arrest in

sana'a. imran khan reports. >> reporter: in many ways this is a bottle not between two rival groups but between two men. forces loyal to president hadi retake the airport from social forces loyal to the former president a sala. it was a short but tough battle with passenger planes within range of the bullets. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the special forces unit fighters had refused to give up their arms and fought it by themselves. then they retook the airport. the fighting got so intense the airport was shut down and passengers taken off planes and tack into the turmoil. forces then defeated the loyalists and surrounded them. hadi fled from sana'a last month. he insists he remains yemen's legitimate leader. if saleh's supporter's were able

to take control of the airport, it would have weakened hadi. imran khan al jazeera. now we go to capitol sana'a mrital an cyst editor in chief o the yemen post who is monitoring developments there for us. first of all hakeem who do you believe now controls the airport in aden? >> right now the airport is still under control of the pro-hadi, the president of the country, the pro-hadi forces but, again, it's very tense right now. he has thousands of forces on the ground whether military or resist important forces but this war could continue or the escalation could continue for days to come especially since the houthis for the ex-president are using the country's air force to be involved in the clashes. this means that the houthis do not just want this to be a

one-day thing to scare hadi this is a long-running program to stop hadi of developing forces in the south. >> the battle has moved from the capitol -- it has moved to the south. is there no doubt in your mind that these were yemen air force planes with pilots who are presumably loyal to the former president that were bombing hadi's palace in the south? no doubt in your mind? >> i'll be honest with you, i personally saw one of these two aircraft in the skies of sana'a just 30 minutes before it hit aden, so it left from sana'a air force headquarters, and 30 minutes later, we saw it attack aden.

so in my personal opinion after seeing the plane itself in the skies, these are yemeni air strikes that were -- took off from sana'a by the houthis. >> when we have spoken in the past, we have talked about which forces would be loyal to whom. does this suggest to you, that the majority of the military are now on the side of the houthis against the current president? or is it a split military that we're seeing now? >> david, it is a very complicated. right now the imagine yourty of the northern military whether the military on the ground tanks or the air force, the majority of the military and air force is under the control of the houthis. in the south it's a different story. hadi is in control in the south especially when it comes to the military in the south. the majority have announced alliance to hadi. hadi controls the southern

military in one way or the other though not all of them because some are still loyal to the ex-president. but in general hadi is in control of many of the military factions in the south, while the houthis are in control in the north, but no one expected it to escalate and use the air force especially in a city like aden where any mistarget could result in many casualties. among those killed and injured are civilians. so i think the houthis would think twice before targeting civilians, but it's a war and anything is possible especially after the houthis are fed up and have lost hope in any negotiation deal taking place. >> a final thought for now from you, hakeem when it comes to the houthis on the ground you say that in the south, they are

prepared for not just skirmishes, but a fairly long battle. are those forces in the south loyal to president hadi are they able to mount some kind of counterattack against those forces loyal to the houthis? i mean are they well prepared? >> they are well prepared and they -- they did attack -- the forces loyal to the houthis and the ex-president earlier today, and they defeated them within one hour and took over the airport and the headquarters for the special forces in aden. but, again, when the air force attacked and intervened this is where hadi was hopeless or helpless and was forced to evacuate the palace and go to unknown location. on the ground hadi can secure victories, but in the air it's very complicated even though he has aircrafts under his control, but it's very unlikely he will use this aircraft against any target to the north, because

this will only add more friction between the north and the south. >> thank you very much indeed. ♪ islamic state of iraq and the levant, isil says it was responsible for a deadly attack on a museum in tunisia. 23 people, including the two gunmen were killed on wednesday. when gunmen stormed the bardo national museum nine people have been arrested in connection with the attack. jacky rowland live for us now in the tunisian capitol, tunis. what are you hearing about the people who have been arrested and their possible affiliation with isil? >> reporter: well at quite an early stage, the authorities released the names of the two

men who -- the two gunmen who were actually killed when the siege was brought to an end on wednesday. one of those men was apparently already known to the intelligence services in tunisia, although no further details of what context that was have been released. the police have gone on to say there are nine people who have been arrested and they divided them into two separate groups. four people who they believe were directly involved in that attack on the museum and another five who they believe were in some way connected to those who carried out the attack, and also app pair represently the five were arrested in the interior of the country rather than in the capitol. so not a lot of detail so far, but clearly this is an ongoing investigation, and we're aware that id checks various other searches and check points have been set up around the country.

so we'll be following to see if there is any update on details about the arrests that have been carried out. >> and those security measures are designed primarily to capture those they believe responsible, but also to ensure protection as tunisia goes forward. the authorities say there will be an all mighty crackdown on the people who carried out this type of attack. is it obvious what they are doing? can you see it on the streets? >> you can. certainly around -- in the capitol city here in tunis there is, and particularly around the scene of the attack on wednesday. i mean the museum and its grounds still very much being treated as a crime scene. there are in fact army troops there, but you are right to speak about the way in which the authorities are describing this combat that they are waging against people who may be preparing this kind of attack.

both the president and the prime minister have described, using the phrase war on terror. we have been hearing that there are more checks taking place on the border patrols. very much a focus on security here in the city. and a very key aspect of this approach seems to be close coordination with foreign partners. it seemed for quite a long time that tunisia in a way has stood on the sidelines of the kind of fights, the kind of conflicts that we have been seeing carrying out in other parts of the region between attackers, various armed groups and the various authorities. now we're hearing from the prime minister that there is going to be close coordination partnership with other countries who are also involved in fighting against individuals and groups who may be preparing to carry out these attacks. and one obvious example of this cooperation going forward could

be with france and in fact the interior minister of france is due in tunisia on friday. a country that has been involved in precisely this kind of security effort following the attacks in and around paris at the beginning of january. >> and one of the other concerns voiced is the foreign dollar the tourist dollar, that that may fall away and it's so important in tunisia. some companies say they will not be bussing their tourists down to tunisia itself. how are they going to go about keeping this as a great holiday destination when people are terrified of going there, perhaps? >> well i would say that tunisia as a holiday destination is pretty much unfinished for the foreseeable future for main stream western tourists. i think another aspect of this kind of beefed up security

presence that we were just talked about david is beyond reassuring the tunisia people an effort to send a message to the outside world that tunisia is safe. however, it's going to be an argument that is going to be pretty difficult to win. tourism is based on sentiment rather than the deep knowledge of the situation on the ground. if people have a sense that it's not safe or stable they will simply go elsewhere on holiday. this is going to have a drastic impact on the tunisian economy. the tourism industry has never picked up yet from the kind of setback it received four years ago when the arab spring uprises began here in tunisia. there has been a certain up tick in the somebody of visitors coming in the last couple of years, since tunisia has had

this appearance of going through a largely peaceful transition to democracy. and as i said cruz companies have already crossed off tunisia from his list of stops. >> jacky we'll be back with you a little bit later. for now, thank you very much. well the final results in israeli's election that the prime minister's likud party are control of 30 of the seats in parliament. the zionist union won just 24. netenyahu is now asked to ask far-right parties to join him in making up the numbers to govern the country. abbas says he is worried about prime minister netenyahu's opposition to a palestinian state. >> translator: we will not backtrack from our position in demanding that international

legitimacy be achieved for palestine and also we have the right to go anywhere in the world to ensure that right is achieved. >> and netenyahu has said he is not changed his policy on a two-state solution. well european union leaders have arrived in brussels for a summit expected to last two days. russia's government in ukraine will be high on the agenda. ukraine's prime minister made a plea for unity over russian sanctions. greece will also be a major talking point. the greek prime minister will meet with angela merkel and francois hollande as well as members of the european union and the european central bank. two al jazeera journalists on trial in egypt make their latest appearance in court. and arrests in thailand over

a criminal network smuggling ivory. ♪

♪ now to run through the headlines. at least 12 people have been killed in yemen. the unrest centered on the airport in aden before the presidential palace itself in that area was attacked. isil says it's fighters carried out wednesday's gun attack on a museum in tunisia. nine people have been arrested in connection with the attack in

which 23 people died. the israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu says he wants a peaceful sustainable, two-state solution to the palestinian conflict. u.s. and iranian diplomats meeting in switzerland, four days of talks already. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, and his iranian counterpart has hoped to broken a deal which next week. kerry described the talks as tough as intense. our diplomatic editor james bayes is joining us live from the talks. there seems to have been set a march 31st deadline for everything to be concluded, or at least a framework to be set out, otherwise there will be more sanctions imposed on iran.

>> reporter: yes, and there have been deadlines before. but there are so opposed to this -- congress is now in a position where it is going to take action. you have benjamin netenyahu reelected as prime minister of israel, they fear that the window might be closing, and that's why we're seeing intense diplomacy take place. secretary of state john kerry and the iranian foreign minister, taking a whole week out of their schedule to come here to do these talks. now you have the iranians saying that they are making progress, they are moving forward mr. zarif said mr. kerry said tough negotiations but we're making progress. so if you look at the two key main players in this they still say they are moving forward. some of the more negative comments are coming from some of the other international players.

one french negotiator saying they think the deadline may need to be extended. i think they are concerned about research and development by iran for fresh nuclear research going forward, and they are also worried about the time line of this deal what we believe the u.s. and iranians are talking about is a ten-year deal under which iran will be under a great deal of scrutiny. france wants 15 some say 25 years for iran to be under the microscope in the terms of this deal. so there seem to be differences among the international community. >> every angle, every side. james bayes there. good to see you have james. libya's tripoli-based government says an air strike has targeted the matiga airport,

delaying a group from taking off for morocco. different groups have claimed responsibility for the explosions over the last week. the retrial in egypt of two al jazeera journalists has been adjourned until next wednesday. mohammed fahmy and baher mohamed are accused of aiding the now banned muslim brotherhood. charges which they and al jazeera refute. the postponement came after a brief court session where for the first time witnesses took the standing. natasha ghoneim reports. >> reporter: three men who wrote a report and provided video for the prosecution took the stand in cairo. one after the other. the men said they either didn't see the videos write the report or remember what they wrote. an appeals court has ruled there wasn't enough evidence to conflict mohammed fahmy and boou

bah last year. they are accused of aiding the banned muslim brotherhood. mohammed and fahmy along with their colleague, peter greste spent more than 400 days in jail. legal experts have called the charges against them baseless. last month greste was deported to his native australia, and the judge released mohammed and fahmy on bail. despite living under the cloud of uncertainty, mohammed recently said he feels fortunate. >> i'm happy i will return back -- i will not stay in prison. i'm going bah to my family. >> reporter: this day in court may have been encouraging for both men, but they can only remain hopeful they will eventually be able to clear their names. natasha ghoneim, al jazeera. the international coalition fighting boko haram has driven the armed group out of a town in

northeast of nigeria. the army says the border town was retaken over the weekend. 228 boko haram fighters were reportedly killed during that operation. two men have been arrested in thailand for alleged involvement in an ivory gang. they are accused of trading and smuggling the ivory through thailand's southern border. it is the biggest bust in recent years. people working for aid agencies in vanuatu are praising the resilience of the people affected by cyclone pam. 11 people were killed but a

feared spike in the number dead hasn't surfaced thankfully. >> reporter: he was in japan at a conference on preparing for disasters when disaster hit his own country. he is now back taking to the sky to inspect the damage. first stop is this island. the australian government has flown in a team to check on australians in the area the minister has hitched a ride. >> it's similar to the one that strike the philippines, but we haven't got the report from the island since all communications are down at this time. but i think we will not be expecting much casualties since people are prepared. >> reporter: unlike the philippines this cyclone didn't cause huge storm surges from the sea. so water was less damaging thanked with. even so the low number of deaths and injuries so far has

been remarkable. he is on a whistle stop tour two hours on the ground to find out which preparations helped and what could be done better in the future. this island escaped the worst of the storm, but people here know next time could be different, and next time could be soon. because cyclones are becoming more common and more fierce. he is sure climate change is at least in part to blame. >> the weather pattern is changing. we have sea level rise and we used to have cyclones but this is the worst cyclone that we ever had. >> reporter: it's a common story. this isn't the first bad cyclone australia had helped clean up. >> recently we are part of the [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: in the capitol, worry is everywhere. this chef is desperate to get

home to a remote part of the island of tanna. he knows it was badly hit but hasn't had any news about his family. >> i just want to know more information about my families. i just want to go back home. >> reporter: cyclones like these are making such journeys more common. andrew thomas al jazeera. there's to be a solar eclipse on friday which is likely to pose a bit of a problem to those people who need solar power. here is nick spicer in berlin. >> reporter: europe generates 1 00 times more electricity from the sun than it did during the last solar eclipse in 1999. it now has around a million solar panels. this specialist in green energy points out the black solar panels in a university building.

he has studied the possible effects of this year's eclipse, and says for once cloudy worth is not the problem. >> the worst case scenario we have a sunny day over all of germany, and the solar cells starts to produce electricity, and we have 11 power stations and then if the eclipse is over the electricity goes up in the range of 18 gigawatts, or 18 power stations and this has to be rounded out. >> reporter: they have a back up plan. wind energy and converting coal from lines like this one in the east of the country. the eclipse could have effects reaching across europe with solar power production drops by 35,000 megawatts. that's the equivalent of 80

power plants like this one suddenly going off line. the total solar eclipse, where the moon passes between the earth and sun will only be visible in islands north of denmark and the arctic. but the light will dem across europe. it will be a test for germany's so-called energy you turn when the chancellor ordered an exit from nuclear power and switch to 80% renewables in 15 years. buba think tanks say the eclipse will be closely watched. >> we have seen in dubai that this is now being built. we see it in the u.s. in california. we see it everywhere coming so we all around the world need to have a close look on how do we manage a system with a lot of

solar. and this is maybe a stress test for that system. >> reporter: the energy network managers in europe say they are confident the system will be able to handle the challenge of the eclipse, and may provide lessons on how to deal with cloudy weather and massive energy drops ahead. and children were forcibly transported from africa to the plantations and colonies of north and south america. today slavery is illegal in every country on the planet. yet slavery didn't die in the 19th century. it is alive, thriving - and bigger than ever.