>> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. monday, 6:30 eastern only on al jazeera america. >> [ sirens ] footage emerges of the aftermath of saudi arabia-led air strikes leading houthi positions in yemen we'll have the latest in just a moment. hello from al jazeera headquarters in doha. also ahead. new details emerge about what may have happened on board a germanwings plane before it crashed. plus... >> i'm in the oil-rich niger delta. how has the fall in oil prices

affected ordinary people. we'll tell you what they say. is it time to end a centuries old tradition - we report from the faroe islands where whale meat is still on the menu we begin with a developing story out of yemen, where a saudi arabia-led coalition launched air strikes targetting shia houthi rebels who took power in a coup in february. the saudi operation is backed by 10 counties, including egypt, pakistan saudan jordan and morocco. the action is to support the president, the u.s. says it's coordinating with saudi arabia providing intent logistical support. saudi arabia said it has destroyed houthi air defense and

a base near the capital sanaa. it hit a target in yemen's south. these are the latest pictures coming from yemen showing the aftermath from the air strike. 17 have been killed in a residential part of the capital sanaa. the iranian foreign ministry is asking for a halt. now how event unfolded. >> reporter: the saudi arabia embassy in washington d.c. was the venue for riyadh to announce the operation. the saudi ambassador didn't oi nouns what they hoped to achieve. >> the process is abide by the process or they'll not be allowed to take over the country. >> reporter: you'll bomb until they agree to take part in the process. . >> we'll do what is takes to prevent the legitimate government of yemen from

falling. >> reporter: several hours in the u.s. revealed its part in the attack. a planning cell was coordinate to provide military and intelligence reports. in addition the saudi action occurred as the u.s. secretary of state john kerry was getting ready for the latest round of talks in switzerland, talks that have been presented as going well. iranians support the houthis, who are bombed by the saudis. the official line on how thegeo political strategy is working is upbeat. >> i explained it is a success and has been for many years because of efforts to push back and counter al qaeda in yemen. that's something we have been doing for some time. >> reporter: a resident wonderered about the policies that led to this intervention.

>> the one right thing that the u.n. can do is stop dealing with yemen as an agenda. stop listening to experts and only listen to expats who look at yemen as a war zone. >> it's clear the administration spokespeople need to ask and face the press. all right. we are joined in the studio by a professor at the university here in doha, and specialises in conflicts resolution. ibrahim, good to have you with us. we heard the rehabilitation from iran which condemned the air strikes and is calling for it to stop. we heard grave consequences earlier, what do we expect the response to be here. will they get involved directly now because until now it's been under cover.

will we see some intervention from rain. the short answer is we will not see a direct iranian intervention. yemen is not a priority for rain to cabinet that dr vention because rain knows well what is at stake in yemen, and how important it is for saudi arabia. >> they have been supporting the houthis. >> you are right. rain will provide indirect support necessary whether it's arms diplomatic political, that's it. that's the feeling that iran will not go beyond that in yemen, and on the contrary i expect that we'll see an estimate from iran coming from officials, iranian official. i think some talks or peaceful resolutions or stop the war or reckon sill yachtry statements

more than an intervention in yemen. >> you don't expect iranian intervention. >> directly. >> direct anyway after the air strikes. the questions a lot of people are asking is what is the end game for saudi arabia in this coalition of 10 different countries. what is it they are trying to achieve in yemen, how far will they go? >> saudi arabia takes yemen seriously. it's a national coalition, and in my understanding, saudi arabia will take what is necessary to control the situation in yemen. saudi arabia to give them some credits, they have tried diplomatically two times so far. one is with an invitation for talks in riyadh and was rejected by the houthis. >> what the houthis said that that initiative was not sincere, asking them to come to riyadh to

talk. >> you are right. nor that reason there was a second initiative the u.n. initiative. is for a dialogue, and that was rejected by the houthis. the houthis marched on the ground towards aden. crossing the red lines for saudi arabia and tried to control the area. so for that reason saudi arabia was left with only one option is to respond, so that was expected and saudi arabia was warning about this intervention. however, i don't think, you know, a military solution will be there for this conflict. eventually parties will have to settle on negotiations and have to talk. the houthis, in this case will have to talk. very have rejected all calls for talks. this is what caused the situation at this level. >> there are analysts that say that these air strikes will help

al qaeda in yemen and i.s.i.l. what do you think? >> i don't think saudi arabia things too much about al qaeda or i.s.i.l. in yemen. there's the houthis, and forces taking control of yemen. saudi arabia needs to stop that. whatever the consequences we'll deal with it. i don't think this will help al qaeda or i.s.i.l. because there is it any al qaeda or i.s.i.l. they have enemies from all sides. saudi arabia the houthis, i don't see how that will help. >> thank you for being with us. from georgetown university here in doha. the latest events in yemen come as diplomats meet once again in switzerland for talks on the nuclear programme. let's join the diplomatic editor james bays who joins us in lowes

arn. how will the event of the last few hours, and the developments of saudi arabia getting involved affect the talks on iran's nuclear programme? >> well i don't think it will affect the talks, but i do think there'll be an interesting dynamic going on hear in lowes arn, the talks to get under way. you have the u.s. on one side, one of saudi arabia's closest ally's and iran on the other, with influence over the houthis. the iranian foreign minister wants to see a cessation of the saudi-led military bombing that is taking place in yemen as soon as possible. but he's also said that this will not be skid in the talks. they have been strict throughout the long series and rounds of talks that have taken place, not to discuss other issues and not to have the talks in any way

hijacked by other issues. and the fact that the situation in quemen i don't think is going to stop the talking, reaching a framework, shows the business like nature that that has developed at the talk. the head of the iran's nuclear energy agency came out to the front to walk along the lake and i asked him a few questions about the state of the negotiations and the situation in yemen. >> good morning, sir, are you confident today as you head back to talks. >> we are always confident. we are always confident. >> do you worry that this bombing that has taken place in yemen, could that be a factor in all of this. >> i have no remarks that that. that would be left to our foreign minister to say something about it. >> in terms of the nuclear deal

do you think you are getting closer. >> it's a sim working. >> thank you so much sir. thank you for your time. >> well that then is the words of the man doing the technical negotiations on behalf of iran and you can see pretty positive there, saying we are always confident and adequatelily positive coming from the u.s. side, saying they can see a way forward, a path forward, and what that will look like to get a deal before the 31st of march. remember, of course it's not just about u.s. and iran negotiating, the u.s. is one member of the p5+1. the international communities grouping the permanent five members of the security council and germany. france the most hawkish, and we'll see if we can get over the stumbling blocks. the key thing before the deadline we'll see when foreign

ministers from other countries come here as they get closer to a deal. >> thank you. our diplomatic editor james basis. now until other world news there are reports. one of the pilots from the crashed german wings jet was locked out of the conflict before the plane went down. the plane was en route from barcelona to dusseldorf, when it went down. no distress signal was sent and the crew failed to respond to ground control's attempts to make contact. let's go to seyne-les-alpes, the base of the crash site. there has been information from one of the black boxes of the airplane, what have we learnt. >> the leak seems to have come from a senior military official closer to the investigation, reported by the "new york times" and refers to the audio file from the black box recovered on

tuesday, containing the voice recording from the cockpit. it seems to indicate that one of the pilots was locked out. the military official said he heard a calm conversation between the two pilots in the early part of that flight from spain to germany, and one of the pilots leaves as he returns, knocks on the cabin. there's no response from inside. gradually his knocking and shouting becomes more frantic as he realised the plane is in dissent. it raises a lot more questions than it answers. a lot of attention is raised on the pilots. little is known about them. we know that the pilot had 10 years flying with the marcin lwandowski, and 6,000 hours in the air. the co-pilot wh two years experience with germanwings, and 630 hours of flying experience. so, really, the focus will be on the search team's finding the

second black box the the casing was found on wednesday, but there was no data recorder inside it. that will add a piece to the puzzle intriguing development. we hear some of the families of the 150 victims will arrive in seyne-les-alpes, what can we and they expect? >> lufthansa's commissioned two planes, one from germany, one from spain to fly in the families from 150 victims. another group came by bus. the local man here in the town of seyne-les-alpes says he was expecting between 400-500. it's overrun with journalist. a lot of locals will open up their homes to the families that will be in dress. there are hundreds of families on hand.

i think they'll be looking for answers, and a lot of questions focused on the leak. that one of the pilots left the cockpits and didn't return. >> thank you very much indeed. live for us in france. >> there's more ahead on al jazeera. it's one of the most richest regions in nigeria. it's one of the poorest as well. why those in the niger delta are struggling to get by. a report from colombo as the sri lankan president tries to renegotiate a deal with china.

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welcome back you're watching al jazeera live from doha. the iranian foreign ministry is asking for a halt to the military operations in yemen, as a saudi coalition launches websites targetting shia rebels there. there are reports that one of the pilots of a crashed germanwings jet was locked out of the cockpit before the plane went down. 150 people died when the airbus a 380 crashed in the french alps on tuesday. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in lawsan to meet with his counterpart, trying to reach a deal on how to limit the iran nuclear programme by the march 31st deadline. >> final preparations are underway in nigeria for the general election on saturday.

ballot papers and results sheets have been send by police car. officials checked the pipers before sending them to polling booths. the presidential vote on saturday is expected to be a close race between incumbent jonathan goodluck and the former jern oil is an issue in the election. the niger getta is where almost all came from. it provides three-quarters of government revenue. it is also one of the country's poorest. they know what they are doing is illegal. they don't care. young, unemployed men steal crude oil from pipelines, and refine it in the creek of the niger niger niger delta. they say it belongs to the people. >> it's eating our money. where you have money, someone is

eating, who owns it. you be hungry. look for how to get part of it. >> the men claim to produce 60,000 litres a day from the improvised refineries. >> look at what the business is doing to the environment. this place used to be lush and green. more than 200 refineries are in the area. they say they need the money to look after their families. >> falling oil price means less currency is learnt. problems keep piling up. basic commodities are arriving. >> where you go to the market. the way you want to buy sf. >> a well-armed joint task force made up of forces from all security sectors. oil accounts for 15% of the the gross domestic product. it makes up 75-80% of government

revenues. finances have been hammered by the slide in oil prices. >> it makes it tough. almost 40% of revenues we get wipe off and i mean with the amount of developmental work. this particular administration has gone into. we had to look at so many cost-cutting strategies to help us to continue to keep afloat and pay salaries. >> reporter: for those struggling to get by the cheap fuel is affordable. despite being a producer of oil, nigeria is battling to meet the energy needs. >> the u.s. is warning of possible attacks in uganda. the u.s. embassy says there's threats to an area of kampala where westerners are known to stay. they have cancelled all nonessential events in the area.

>> in libya fighters loyal to the islamic state of iraq and levant have taken on rival government forces in two major cities. in cert five were killed when a suicide bomb detonated near a power station. fighters loyal to the government set up checkpoints in the area i.s.i.l. carried out a suicide attack on an army post. >> sri lanka's president is on his first official visit to china. they are trying to renegotiate $5 billion of chinese deals. we go to colombo for more a visit by the sri lankan president cams at a time when china expressed concerns regarding an investment in sri lanka, which saw the coming in of a new government. china, the biggest project has

been suspended pending review. it led to concerns. a sri lankan team of journalists have been sponsored by the chinese government. some of the key messages coming out has been overall concern that china hoped with a shift of government there won't be a shift investment and economic quality and they heaped stability of investment will be healed and confidence won't be broken. i spoke to a journalist. he heard that was the overriding message when they meat with chinese government and companies. their relationship goes back centuries, and the convention centre you see behind me is a gift to sri lanka during the '60s. it's not something that is a new relationship, but china elevated this to a strategic partnership

with the visit of the president last year and the visit is very much expected to try and allay concerns and make sure the future of this relationship stays firm. >> at least two people have died in flash floods in one of the driest region in the world. chile's desert. it's happening while areas in southern chile struggle with huge live fires. >> reporter: earthquakes, forrist fires and this - this country is battling unimaginable floods in the world's driest desert. in the northern city and the desert region of atacama rain turned the streets into rivers. the river which carried almost no water overran its banks. hospitals are partially under water. roads are blocked and

communities cut off. further north authorities ordered the evacuation of 30,000 people. the president michelle bachelet declared a state of emergency and gone personally to the flood-stricken areas to oversee the relief efforts. while the residents are struggling to hold back the water, here in the south, famous for green, lush vegetation and wet weather, the worst drought in 50 years is hitting the region prompting a state of emergency. food for thought for those that don't believe in climate change. back in the atacama desert the floods prompted copper mines to reduce operations to a minimum. given the weather, authorities fear the worst is not over. rain that these dry regions used to pray for, turning into a

curse. supermarkets in venezuela are introducing sweeping measures to combat food shortages. shoppers restricted to by basics on certain days of the week. more from caracas. >> reporter: a new system to curb food shortage and the hour-long queues affecting the country. with the new system venezuelans can limit the shopping to one day according to i.d. on a monday people whose i.d. end with a one or two would be allowed the its that are squares or basic its, milk sugar or flour. some governments plan on introducing fingerprint scanners. they control, according to the government speculative shopping or hoarding. the idea is to stop a contraband

problem. with people shipping out close to 40% between the borders. even by water to the caribbean. people in venezuela whose i.d. ended in 2-3 hit the jackpot. they discovered there are two its that have gone missing - soap and fabric soft ners. >> for centuries, the hunting of pilot whales is coming under growing criticism. animal rights activists say the killing is cruel and necessary. >> tucked away - this is the hand-carved hunting knife used in a faroe island hunt. >> you then cut off the spinal cord and the whale will die in seconds. >> reporter: for centuries

people of the farrow islands killed pilot whales. slaughtering them in a sea of blood. pilot whales are not endangered in the north atlantic and each year it takes 0.1% of the population. >> i like the bluffer to go with the dried fish and then you have the dried whale's meat. as long as you hunt them in a sustainable way. it's a food source i think we have to use it. we live in a world where people starve why shouldn't we use the resource. animal rights activists call it barbaric. attempts to disrupt the hunt are successful. >> reporter: this tradition that's been in place for over 500 years, it's time for it to disappear, because the world changed and this should also change. >> the intervention is not

welcome. the islanders compare the whale hunt to the slaughter of farm animals behind closed doors. >> it looked worse than reality, and it is something that you always see when you kill an animal. this is an open abattoir compared to the other things where you don't see pictures all around the world. >> here on the island archipelago, the farrows say they should be allowed to live off the resources of the sea. the activists reply that it's a gruesome slaughter, you can't hide cruelty behind tradition. the two sides would never agree, the tradition is never eroded. by regulation and outside pressure on a tiny nation that values tourism. some believe that the whale hunt

may die out in more than a decade and a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news on the website. plenty more. aljazeera.com. a show about innovations that can change lives. >> this is fighting a humanity and we are doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. let's check out the team of . >> i've got a headset on, finger clicker, a heart break satellites through space to bionic eyes. lindsay