ssion... >> onward.. >> pain... >> it's too much... >> ..and triumph... inspirational real life stories >> all these labels the world throws at you, that's what drives me ♪ singapore in warning after the death of its founding father lee kuan yew, a state funeral is planned for sunday. ♪ you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha and also coming up, the u.n. says yemen is on the verge of a civil war as houthis take over the city. france looks to the right with conservatives and the national front coming first and second in local elections. picture post card maybe but

environmental and pollution could ruin one of the philippines tourism hot spots. ♪ singapore people are in mourning for their country's founding father of mooe mooe died at age 91 and credited with transforming the island into a global financial center and criticized for being undemocratic and authoritarian as nicole johnston reports. >> reporter: without lee kuan yew it may not be what it existed and he was a chinese singapore saw his home land occupied first by the british then japanese and after training as a lawyer in britain he was prime minister in 1959 a post he would hold for 39 years and with a ruthless style of politics

singapore was independent against its will kicked out of malaysia in 1965 against a back drop of racial tension and a fearful lee kuan yew contemplated a bleak future. >> with geography and economics and ties of kinship. >> reporter: sentiment gave way to pragmatism and he was unflinching to bring prosperity to his country and under leadship it was transformed from an island with no resources into a high-tech metropolis but often

found themselves in court and often bankrupt and micro managed along with the economy. famous bands like chewing gum were recently relaxed and lee's power was returned to power again and again with his oldest son now prime minister. after stepping down lee kept working in the prime minister's office with roles of senior minister and minister mentor and through it all he was unrepent unrepenting. >> if you took a straw poll and went according to the poll we would have come to grief. >> reporter: freedoms were sacrificed and lee repaid his people with an economic miracle, filling a legacy of one of the 20th century most important leaders. crossing over to kuala-lumpur and the reports mentioned the huge figure in

southeast asia politics and what legacy does lee leave behind and what challenges does singapore face? >> well, i think he had one of the toughest challenges in 1965 when singapore was thrown out of the malay federation and has a large and does have a large ethnic chinese base and it was that ethnic tension that split singapore away. what he managed to do was build singapore into a multi ethnic society and made sure that everybody felt inclusive of the growth. of course as nicole touched upon in that report but everybody felt inclusive and over the years there has been dissent but he allowed it in a stable way to choose with education, lifestyle

and future ambitions to stay in singapore or not. singapore is based and finance based on port activity electronic components, manufacture and selling refined selling products and gdp is over 5% and one of the most stable gdp and continues to grow over the decades and singapore is such a stable economy and legacy of a man who managed to make sure that this country was stable politically and made friends with its neighbors even though there are tensions between malaysia and singapore but continued to grow and be respected globally. >> what do we know about sequence of events leading up to his funeral? >> well, currently the body of the prime minister has been taken to the prime minister's house where there is a private family wake. the body will stay there now

until wednesday. then on wednesday it will lay in state at parliament house where people will be able to file past and see the prime minister's body and sign the book of condolence and stay there until late on saturday evening. around about we say 8:00 then we will have a full state funeral on sunday the 29th of march and begins at 2:00 in the afternoon, that is 07 g.m.t. internationally and we expect a very large delegation from malaysia to attend the prime minister already showering compliments on the former prime minister and what he actually achieved in singapore and of course support as well for his actions from the minister of defense and the opposition. we expect very large delegation on sunday from malaysia details of that have yet to be revealed. >> we will leave it there for now and reporting to us from

kuala-lumpur. ted cruise is running for the presidential nomination in 2016. >> a time of truth and rise to the challenge just as americans have always done. >> reporter: the senator made the announcement on twitter with this 30-second ad for support and the first republican to declare his campaign n the past he pushed to end the democratic affordable ak and barack obama immigration policy. he is expected to give a speech later on monday. the u.n.'s special envoy to yemen says the country is on the brink of civil war and has addressed emergency meeting by the u.s. security council urging peaceful resolution to the crisis and shia houthi rebels control sanaa and airport and parts of tiesties.

>> reporter: in yemen it's going from bad to worse. at an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council that was the key message from jamal the top u.n. envoy to yemen. >> resent weeks and days seems to be leading yemen further away from a peaceful settlement and towards the edge of civil war. >> reporter: and he made grave comparisons to what the country could be facing. >> and any side that would want to push the country in either direction would be inviting a protracted conflict in iraq libya, syria combined scenario. >> reporter: security council meeting comes as tear gas, gunshots are in the streets of yemen's third largest city. protesters angry that forces

arrived in their city surrounding the barracks of the local security forces. >> translator: we refuse we reject and denounce these malitias and we will surround the police barracks with our bodies until they leave. >> reporter: first the houthis over took the capitol of sanaa and now are closing in on president haidi and his stronghold in aiden. on sunday they called on a houthi to halt their advance. >> translator: the security council condemns the ongoing elections taken by houthis which undermine the political transition process in yemen jeopardize security stability, sovereignty and unity of yemen and express deep concern by the insufficient implementation of resolution 2201. >> reporter: the u.n. both cooperation council led by saudi arabia as well as the u.s. are trying to broker a peace deal but a houthi leader on sunday

seemed to reject those efforts. >> translator: the security council usually supports the offender against the victim. it meets only when it sees that the evil conspiring and criminals are in a dangerous situation. >> reporter: security council did leave the door open to take further measures in case of non-implementations of resolutions on yemen but did not specify what those measures might be. so far no actions by diplomates here at the u.n. has halted or even slowed the political or security crisis facing yemen, a crisis that is getting worse everyday. i'm with al jazeera, the u.n. the u.s. will not make a statement at the u.n. during a debate on violations committed in the occupied palestinian territories territories. these are the latest pictures from geneva where the u.n. human rights commission is updating inquery to 2014 war between gaza and israel and follows a signal

by the obama administration it's undertaking a reassessment of relations with israel. normally washington defends israel at the 47 member forum. u.n. special envoy to libya says peace talks between the two rival governments will continue despite recent freighting by tripoli and says there could being ament on a unity government in days. negotiations nearly collapsed after the u.n. recognized they launched air rides on tripoli killing a senior rival commander. syrian rebels have captured several government crew members after their helicopter crashed in the northwest of the country pictures on social media showing the helicopter going down in the providence syria's state agency said the helicopter had a mechanical problem and syrian military accused of using helicopters to drop bombs on rebel held towns and

neighborhoods. lebanese military says it doesn't have enough weapons to take on islamic state of iraq and levante about groups along the border with syria and al jazeera was given rare access to a front line and alexia reports. >> reporter: each day in the mountains border with syria lebanese army is looking for any sign of movement by the enemy. when soldiers spot it they attack. [gunfire] we are concealing identity of this captain to protect him. >> even if we are not armed very well we are doing the best we can and sacrificing and given less and we have given a lot more on the mission and will keep doing that until the last drop of blood. >> reporter: the lebanese army is trying to ensure that fighters with i.s.i.l. and the al-qaeda linked nusra front do not expand the war fronts across the border this military post

is just a few kilometers from where armed groups staked their positions. >> very dangerous because they work in small groups and used to use covers like farmers and shepherds so it's very hard at the very beginning to distinguish between civilians and between terrorists. >> reporter: but for now the lebanese army says it is making gains one strategic post at a time. the stakes are high lebanon has its own share of political trouble and doesn't want to get sucked into the broader sectarian conflict in the region. >> it's not about infiltrating or crossing the borders inside the lebanese territory. it could be also again it's a hybrid country and also could be creating instability in the lebanese territory. >> military leaders say while lebanon may be divided politically it's trying to put on a united front when it comes to protecting its boundaries, al jazeera. still to come on al jazeera

a step to the right french voters turn away from socialists in local elections and we will report from paris. the coup ba economy slowly opens up the ag man is finding new ways to make a buck. ♪

♪ hello again the top stories on al jazeera, singapore declared seven days of national mourning after the death of its founding father lee kuan yew and he traded the city to a port center

and laid to rest on a state funeral on sunday. u.n. special envoy to yemen says it's on the edge of civil war and houthis gained the airport and ties and it's the third largest city. u.s. not making a statement at the u.n. during a debate going on right now on human rights abuses committed in the occupied palestinian territories and looking at live pictures from geneva where the commission is meeting on its inquery to the 2014 war in gaza. one of our top stories the death of singapore founder lee kuan yew the current prime minister there is lee's oldest son and spoken about his father's death. >> i'm grieved beyond words as the passing of mr. lee kuan yew. 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, strive for his ideals and keep singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come. >> reporter: right wing parties have won the most votes in france's local elbow -- elections and sarkozy and penn is hoping for a presidential debate in 2017 and we will go to jackie roland in paris but first here is lee barker's report. >> reporter: consolidating his political come back ex president nicholas sarkozy is ahead in elections weakening the hopes of a first round win. >> translator: icon confirm no agreements local or national

with the leaders of this party. >> reporter: and he has turned france's political landscape on its head transforming the front from a fridge movement into one of europe's far right parties and after the win in eu elections last year they now want to gain more ground. >> translator: the goal is to demonstrate that the national front is a great strength with local presence and not only a force able to attract millions of french people in a national election. >> reporter: the latest results show important gains for nicholas sarkozy's party and the front but the country's embattled president seen support for his socialists steadily dwindle and despite praise of his handling of the paris attacks two months ago touched on by his prime minister manwel.

>> translator: in january men and women were killed because they were defending freedom of expression, let's not forget that voting is a victory for men and a bit too late for women. today we can vote. we will elect as many men as women. >> reporter: issues of immigration and integration of islam into french society remain at the fore of the campaigning and concerns that have taken route in france and turning penn for presidency in 2017. another round of voting next week but these early results suggest french voters have doubts over her and her party, lee parker al jazeera paris. crossing to paris and speaking to jackie roland to tell us what the reaction in paris has been this morning after results of the local elections. >> reporter: well what i must stress is this is the first

around and in france they are like football matches and two haves and we are looking for a half time match analysis and this is the french press this morning and this is a right wing newspaper quite close to nicholas sarkozy unp and picture he has penn and says the unp wins the national front installs itself and socialist party, picture of the prime minister and saying the socialist party steps back and interesting they are featuring not president along there but rather his prime minister. so that is the right wing view and this is the left wing view and talking about three frances. nicholas sara cow ---sarkozy and

says a picture there of the former president nicholas sarkozy looking pleased with himself and headlines says faced with a divided left and a national front less strong than expected and leader of unp is winner of this first stage of the local elections so that is the french press and excited in the obvious that unp came first in the first round and national round second and socialist party dragging heels in third place. >> while i have you briefly please what conclusions can we draw for the longer term after the first round results? >> reporter: i would say there are a number of lessons to be learned here. one is that opinion polls are only that opinion polls are not scientific and not predicting the future and also depend on

voters actually accurately telling polsters what they are doing when they get in the privacy of ballot boxes and opinion polls over state the national front and they also tell us and confirm to us it has been a very bad blow for the socialist party and says the socialist party is out of favor and the president and his picture not on newspaper covers at all, and the president is an eclipsed president and a lot of work to be done before the next round of election and a lot more work still to be done before the presidential election a couple of years time but we always say a week is a long time in politics so two years is a very long time indeed. >> jackie thank you and reporting from paris. well cuba has historically been a commercial advertising free society but with the loosening of economic relations with the

united states this could change as daniel reports from havana the industry is already having a growing presence on the island. >> reporter: with no advertising, no classified ads in the newspapers there is only one way that cubans can sell this toaster or house in the wrong neighborhood they phone this man and he talks to others who transmit the information over the air waves. >> translator: we have people who have lost their dogs or left documents on the bus or someone in the family needs medicine or is lost. >> reporter: and she repeats the ads in several programs supplying a social service to the greater havana area. it's in a country of the brash colorful advertising but to cuba government represents the kind of market economy they have been

resisting for 50 years. cubans can guy products like anybody else but what you won't see here is advertising for running shoes and soft drinks instead there is plenty of promotion of ideas with posters like this one urging cuban people to defend the values of their country. others install the virtues of the revolution or criticize cuba enemies usually the government but now they are trying to encourage foreign investment and allow small businesses to flourish and he is in the streets of the trade fair to promote his restaurant. >> translator: great to put a huge poster in the main street in havana with the name of our restaurant on it the day they allow advertising on newspapers and television i'll be ready. >> reporter: not exactly new york's time square or the circus in london more advertising lights are appearing in havana

and greater competition especially in the night life have seen subtle forms of advertising not seen here before. >> translator: advertising is starting in a very low-key way and restaurants have signs and stickers we are not talking about big posters you will see in places like china which is too much but we would not be shocked to see them here one day. >> reporter: with the economy opening up if a little cautiously the shoppers if they choose to and can afford it may in some places experience the same advertising razzle-dazzle of the rest of the word and the internet is sparse and web designers are poised for a future with much more for sale. daniel with al jazeera, havana. looking ahead to some other stories expecting to develop on monday, greek prime minister will meet angela merkel for the first time since he was voted in, the leaders have been

butting heads over greece efforts to renegotiate the terms of its bail out, there is concern that athens is about to run out of cash because chancellor merkel refuses to hand over money until greece hands over reforms. anticorruption court expected to deliver verdict against wade the son of a former president and accused of illegally gaining wealth in his father's government and the main opposition party chose wade as its candidate for the next presidential election. and afghanistan president is to meet president obama in washington where troop withdrawal will dominate discussions there and ash ashraf ghani will be there. environmentalists in the philippines worrying about

long-term damage to a tourism hot spots and the people who live there are getting the blame and we have more from the bay. >> reporter: the final from tier for ecology in the philippines and home to hundreds of threatened species and tens of thousands of tourists around the world come here for its pristine beaches. just a few minutes from one of the main attractions at the boy this is the scene. robin has been a fisherman all his life and this has been his home since they moved here in the late 1970s back then they were one of the first inhabitants but might not be living here much longer and government says this part of the bay is not hygiene and the government wants them to move. >> translator: we are worried about what will happen where we will be moved, we don't know if we will have a home our livelihood is here by the sea.

>> reporter: 4500 families now live in the coastal areas. most of them live like this with no proper waste treatment facilities and so water pollution has now become a big problem problem. >> this could affect the island and the eco system the marine organism because the pollution has also damaged the habitat, the food chain and the eco system. >> reporter: majority who live here are fisher folk others depends on tourism for their livly hood. and government says relocating thousands of families is difficult especially if it means building a community all over again, it's a process that requires political will but the government says it must be done to preserve the reputation as a top tourist destination, i'm

with al jazeera, western philippines. reminder you can keep up to date with all the news on our website, there you will find all the day's top stories, it's all at al jazeera.com, it's on the screen, al jazeera if you are joining us from the united states fault lines is coming up next on al jazeera. >> hello, i'm ray suarez because they are local stories the abusive or just plain risky behavior of fraternity men rarely break the national headlines. but there's no denying, it's not all fraternities and sororities, mind you but colleges and universities have found it hard to shut down even the worst chapters. kaitlin flannagan spent a year chronicling the outrageous