>> singapore in mourning following the death of its up ting fair lee kuan yew who turned its port city into an economic powerhouse. >> hello, also on the program the u.n. said that yemen is on the verge of a civil war as outy fighters take over the central city of taiz. rebel fighters in syria say they have taken four crew members hostage after a helicopter crashed. wildlife in south sudan in the firing line between warring

factions. >> he was one of the 20th century's most influential leaders. lee kuan yew was largely credited for attorneying singapore into a large port sister died at 81. he was also accused of being authoritarian. >> lee kuan yew born in 1923, he saw his homeland occupied. first by the british and then the japanese. after training as a lawyer in britain, he became prime minister in 1959. a post he would hold for 31 years. despite a ruthless style of politics lee was no independence leader.

singapore became independent against its will kicked out of malaysia in 1965 against a backdrop of racial tension. at the time a fearful lee contemplateed a bleak future. >> people connected by geography, economics and ties of kinship. >> sentiment gave way to pragmatism. he was unflinching in his determination to bring prosperity to his new country. under his leadership singapore was transformed from a tiny impoverished island with no natural resource noose a high- high-tech metropolis. but lee's leadership also had a

darker side. political opponents often found themselves in court. some would end up bankrupt. freedom was micromanaged along with the economy. thingsbans against things like chewing gum just recently relaxed. now his oldest son is prime minister. even after stepping down lee kept working in an annex of the public office. through it all he was un unrepentant. >> if i ran a western-style democracy and took a straw poll, we would have come to grief. >> while freedoms from sacrificed lee repaid his people with an economic miracle. he is one of 20th century's most important leaders.

>> professor of east asia democratic studies bridget, no doubt that lee kuan will be widely mourned but i imagine not everyone. >> no, he was respected by all people, but not necessarily loved. there were those that were his political targets during his time. he carried out two operations. operations cold store and operation spectrum during his tenure that cracked down on disdense, there were issues of the english language and political freedoms and who would face the wrath of his defamation suits. >> opposition as you say was stifled under his rule, but not violently so, as in other countries. you've written about singapore's culture of fear. what did you mean by that? >> well, i think you know, you don't have to use violence when

you have fear that permeates part of the society. there were strong costs in challenging authority in singapore. singapore is a small place and i didn't have many choices. they used that quite effectively. they've used the elect traditional system and other incentive issues and disincentives to stay in power for five decades. >> how will history judge him daughter think? >> well, he had did have major accomplishments. he led the country through difficult times. the decades between the '60s and '80s was era of growth. he expanded the economy significantly and created a place--one of his most important programs is housing. i think he put bread on the table for many singaporeans. there were sacrifices made especially by ordinary people,

but he delivered as a leader, as part of a team. and i think what we're going to see now is that there is going to be more reevaluation of the collective effort to help build singapore. but one cannot take away from lee kuan accomplished, that is to take away that process. >> even after stepping down from power as we're hearing in our report, he still had a role behind the scenes. he was still very much involved in the running of i singapore. what about the future without him? >> well, first of all singapore is trying to come to terms with some of the legacies of lee kuan's ideas. some of them were controversy. issues associated with race relations and most people now put a weight on the issues of democratic freedoms but there were other dynamics that were divisive in society. his idea of the best and

brightest and people should follow rather than be part of that process are things that are being challenged now. you know, he did not engender a sense that people's will and people's voices should be lived to or even trusted. this is the face of singapore business now. the economy is still very strong and growing but not everyone is benefiting equally. we're seeing in the last two decades real sort of fundamental challenges as singapore moves forward in areas of inclusion. a lot of ideas that lee kuan put in place no longer have the same saliency, but they provide the rigidity for current leaders to move forward in areas of government spending and dealing with segments of society. and we see those constraints. singapore has an opportunity to

actually address and reevaluate one of the lessons for the future and not necessarily of the past. >> thank you very much, indeed. well the current prime minister of singapore is lee kuan yet's oldest son. >> i know we all feel the same way, but even as we mourn his passing let us also honor his spirit. let us dedicate ourselves as one people to build on his foundations, strife for his ideals, and keep singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come. >> global leaders have been paying tribute to lee kuan yew. he has been described as a remarkable man and visionary. barack obama said he was a true

giant of history and he'll be remembered for many generations to come as the father of singapore. lee kuan n yew: >> the united nations security council has held to an emergency meeting on the ongoing crisis in yemen, and the special from the special envoy in yemen is that the situation is getting worse. the houthi rebels have continued to move south towards aden where

president abd rabbuh mansur hadi is trying to hold on to power. >> in yemen it's going from bad to worse. at an emergency meeting at the united nations security council that was a key message from jamal benoamar. >> they are leading yemen further away from a peaceful settlement and to the edge of civil war. >> he made grave comparisons to what the county could be facing. any side that would want to move the country in either direct would be protracting conflict in the vein of iran libya syria combined scenario. >> it comes as tear gas gunshots and anger in the streets of taiz, yemen's

third-largest city. houthi fighters surrounded the barracks of the security forces. >> we refuse we reject and we denounce these militias. >> first the houthies overtook the capital of sanaa and now are closing in. on sunday the security council once again called on the houthi to halt their advance. >> the security council condemns the ongoing unilateral actions taken by the houthies. which undermine the political transition process in yemen. security stability sovereignty and unity of yemen there is great concern of resolution 2201. >> the u.n. as well as the u.s. are trying to broke arrest peace

tale. but an outy leader on sunday seemed to reject those efforts. >> the security couple usually supports the offender against the victim. it meets only when it sees that the evil conspiring and criminal hands are in a dangerous situation. >> the security council did leave the door open to take further measures in case of non-implementation on its resolutions of yemen but it did not specify what those measures might be. but so far no actions by diplomats here at the u.n. have halted or slowed the political or security crisis facing yemen a crisis that is getting worse every day. >> syrian rebels have captured several government airman after their helicopters crashed in northwestern syria. pictures posted on social media shows the helicopter going down. various state news agencies say that the helicopter suffered a mechanical problem.

>> iraq's army still has tikrit under seen. it's defense minister said that it's force also storm the city as soon as possible. >> reporter: when we see that the time is right for the tikrit alliance we'll storm it as quickly as possible. tikrit is in full siege. we'll take precaution not to cause any losses and protect those in the city. when the right moment comes we'll storm the city without resistence or losses. >> in a court in egypt, 23 were banned to life in prison. the case dates back to 2013 when sit-ins in support of the ousted president mohamed morsi were violently dispersed. they were charged with rioting protests and offending the police and army.

peace talks between two rival parliaments will continue despite fighting me call on the political factions to remain engaged in the negotiations currently under way in morocco. weeks of talks after it was recognize that the tibruk government launched raids killing a commander. could former president nicolas sarkozy be preparing for a comeback. and how advertising is changing the face of cuba.

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>> hello again. the top stories here on al jazeera. singapore has declared seven days of national morning after it's foundafter the death of its founding father lee kuan yew. he'll be laid to rest on sunday. the special enjoy to yemen has told the u.n. security council that yemen is on the verge of civil war. activists say that syrian rebels have captured several government airman after their helicopter crashed in northwestern syria. their helicopter went down after developing a mechanical fault. indonesia's president said that china has no legal claim to the south china seas.

it's the first time that widodo has taken position on the dispute between south korea and china. just the weekend the foreign ministers of south korea, china and japan met for talks and a move widely seen as a thawing of tension in the region. afghanistan's president ashraf ghani is on his first history to the u.s. since assume assuming power last year. troops withdraw is likely to dominate his talks. president obama has said all troops will be out of afghanistan by the end of his presidency. roslind jordan reports. >> when afghan president ashraf ghani meets with u.s. officials on monday, his country's security will be top of mind. he want president obama to delay his plans to deploy troops 2015.

>> i'm particularly concerned about the summer 2015. the afghans, this is a first fighting season completely on their own. >> ghani is trying to negotiate peace talks with al-qaeda, and he's also very worried that isil is trying to move in. >> we believe that that it represents rebranding of the taliban. we're taking this threat with its dangerous rhetoric seriously. >> right now forces are in afghanistan to train and support the afghan military. president obama had planned to cut that number to 5600 by the end of this year and withdraw the rest by 2015 leaving behind a mall number of troops to protect the u.s. embassy. the fear is that the afghan military will crumble, something that was acknowledged on a

recent trip. >> president obama is considering a number of options to reinforce our support for president ghani's strategy. >> some analysts say that the obama administration has to think long term and cannot ignore the need. >> if the economy is able to be sustained, then you're going to be able to push back on whatever security problems you face. >> the obama administration will consider troops deployed plan, experts say that leaving too early to turn afghanistan into another iraq. al jazeera state department. >> israel's president has begun consultations to form the nextville government. he has already met with the party that won the most seats in last week's election.

talks with other parties will begin on monday. seven people have been injured by shelling in eastern ukraine. it happened at donetsk airport one of several flash points where shelling has continued despite the truce deal. a tv exit poll in front suggests that former nicolas sarkozy's party is leading. far right marie la pen was hoping to cash in and start her push for the presidency in 2017. from paris we have reports. >> reporter: consolidating his political come back. nicolas sarkozy has reached head-to-head weakening the initial front hopes of a first-round win. >> i confirm that there be no agreements, local or national, with the leaders of this party. >> reporter: marie la pen has

turned the political landscape on its head moving the front from a fringe movement to a popular far right party. they now want to gain more ground. >> the goal is to demonstrate that the national front is a great strength with local presence and not only a force able to attract people in a national election. >> the latest result shows important gains for nicolas sarkozy's up party and marie la pen's right front. hollande's approval rate something at a record low despite nationwide praise of his handling of the paris attacks two months ago, a point touched upon by his prime minister. >> in january men and women were killed because they were defending freedom of expression.

let's not forget that. that i we can vote. we will elect as many men as women in. >> issues of immigration and integration of islam in french society remained at the fore of the national front's election campaigning. concerns that have taken root in france turning marie la pen as a serious contender for president in 2017. there is another round of voting next week, but these early results show that french voters still have their doubts over her and her party. >> islamic and jewish religious leaders held a bike rally to demonstration tolerance and respect. they led the cycling event riding past mosques and synagogues in the city. tens of thousand was people took to the streets of leicester to

see one of gripped's most famous monarchs. richard iii's remains were found and a car park 500 years after his death. he'll be laid to rest on thursday in the city of leicester. south sudan's national beauty and diverse wildlife could make the country a tourist destination. but war has interrupted that plan. >> the shanty towns of juba soon to give away to wilderness, wilderness that could help to rebuild the nation with huge tourist potential. >> we're heading east, and we're going to come up in the national park here. >> he has seen much of the world, but this is something else. >> we can fly easily two hours

and not see anything by wildlife and wild places. no human influences. but right here we have one of the--we have one of those great place on earth. >> this is east africa's largest. it is home to the second biggest animal migration in the world. millions and millions of antelope follow centuries old seasonnal migration corridors. south sudan has its own subspecies of giraffe and elephant herds. they're in sufficient number to make a comeback. the waters of lake victoria heading to the mediterranean thousands of kilometers away. the potential goes beyond what you can catch out of it. south sudan has extraordinary beauty from the white nile to three times of the serengetti to unparalleled wildlife. all of this ravaged by war

inaccessible to the valuable tourist dollar. now it seems that the wildlife has become a victory of the war. fetterers said to be slaughtering elephant giraffe. >> the situation is that some wildlife populations are being heavily poached by civilians by the government army, by the army in opposition and by the spla for commercial bush meat hunting as well as for feeding themselves. there is a lot of pressure on wildlife populations. >> that's crushing news for communities, they just want a chance to develop the resources they've got. >> if it is our will, we say no to the war. we need peace and we need development. our children have been deprived. no school. most are illiterate. peace, we hope it will come.

>> south sudan has a beauty you never hear about. it's all just war and instability. with wildlife and tourism potential there is a hope for the future, but now even that is at risk. >> al jazeera, south sudan. >> cuba has avoided any form of advertising, but with economic relations with the u.s. beginning to revive, this, of course, could change. >> with no advertising no classified ads in the newspapers, there is only one way that cubans can sell that surplus toaster or house in the wrong neighborhood. they phone david, and he passes the message to maria who transmits the information over the airways. >> we are people who have lost their dogs or left their documents on a bus or someone in the family needs medicine.

>> she'll repeat the ads in several programs. supplying a social service to the greater havana area. it represents the kind of market economy that they have been resisting for the last 50 years. >> what you won't see here is advertising for things like running shoes and soft drinks. instead, there is the promotion of ideas with posters like this one urging the cuban people to defend the values of their country. >> others extol the virtues of the revolution. but the ghost is government is now trying to encourage private business.

>> the huge publish police you publicity poster with the name of our restaurant ton. >> although not exactly new york's time scare or picadilly circus in london more advertising lights are appearing in havana, and greater competition has seen the subtle forms of advertising not even here before. >> advertise something starting at a very low key way. restaurant have signs and stickers. we're not talking about big posters that you'll see in places like china. that would be too much. but we wouldn't be shocked to see them here one day. >> with the economy opening up, cuban shoppers if they choo to and can afford it, they now experience the same razzle-dazzle as the rest of the world. while the internet is both sparse and precarious web

designers are poised for a future with much more for sale. al jazeera. havana. >> there is more of al jazeera's brand of news and analysis on our website. take a look. you'll find at www.aljazeera.com. >> every day across america military-style raids are taking place. local police dressed like soldiers break down doors in the hunt for drugs. >> this is not what we think of as police in a democratic society. th