>> under attack, a saudi arabia coalition launches airstrikes against houti rebels in yemen. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters endo has. also coming up, last minute talks in switzerland to try to reach a deal on iran's nuclear program. we will be live in lausanne with the latest. >> new reports that one of the pilots of the germanwings plane was locked out of the cockpit before the jet crashed in the french alps.

plus. >> i'm in the oil rich niger delta. nigerians are voting in the election soon. how has the fall in oil prices affected ordinary people. we'll tell you what they say. >> we begin in yemen where a sawed led coalition started airstrikes against houti rebels. sources tell al jazeera the strikes destroyed iranian-made missile launchers in sanna which may pose to threat to saudi arabia. the saudi government is forming a coalition of 10 countries including five gulf monarchies in the gulf corporations council, as well as egypt pakistan sudan jordan and morocco. it is to support the president. saudi says it has destroyed air

defenses and hit targets in aden in yemen's south. yemen's health ministry said at least 18 civilians have been killed in a residential area in the capitol sanna. knew these are the latest pictures coming to us from the yemeni capitol showing the aftermath of the airstrikes. iran which supports the houthis have called for the strikes to end immediately. a specks man for the houthis in yemen says they will not back down. >> the aim of this aggression to to accident the resolve of the yemeni people and push them from that you are demands. our resolve will continue until the results have been materialized. we are capable of standing up to this aggression. we will not call for outside intervention. we are not seeking the support of iran or any other force. we are confident of our forces,

our abilities and the will of our people. >> you are a specialist in this area, so obviously the right person to have here at the moment. just wondering what iran's response to this is going to be. >> iran happen supporting the houthis for the past years with arms and though it denied the publicly many times and only recently recognized such support and collaboration with the houthis. iran knows the stakes in yemen for saudi and the rest of the gulf are very high and will in the rush in my view to a military confrontation with saudi and others. >> it must be pretty shocked

that countries like pakistan have got involved in the coalition. >> actually, this has surprised many the coalition the wide coalition that saudis were able to put together in such a very short time, including pakistan. pakistan represents a nuclear deterrence in this case and also a sunni country and with a shia minority also in their are country. iran in my view will publicly condemn the war and collate and aggression and fight diplomatically and politically and provide arms. >> it's a ok to fight in iraq, but not get involved in yemen. >> they are involved in this capacity, but i don't foresee that iran will be sending forces

like as in iraq or in syria actually where iran has invested highly in these two countries. yemen for iran is not that and i don't think it's going to take that direction and soon, i think iran will be calling for some sort of dialogue or discussion or diplomatic solution to this, but i don't at the same time foresee that they are going to give up on the support of the houthis that the houthis have made a huge mistake of pushing the conflict to this level as rejecting the dialogue and also becoming partners with all oriental my political partners to expand in the south a in adden and taiz and the rest of the country when you push it to that level that you will take

the whole country and you're rejecting that type of dialogue, of course you will be expecting to see some other options on the other side, as well. >> the united states is providing intelligence and logistical support. what exactly does this mean? >> we're going to try to find that out as the day progresses, sun just coming up here in washington d.c. the statement said that the u.s. is going to provide logistical and intelligence support. basically, the white house is painting this as saudi arabia defending its border and trying to restore the legitimate government in their words of yemen. now at the same time people are asking why should the u.s. get

involved, they cite al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula saying that should be enough. >> the americans how will they view what's going on? do they have an appetite for this sort of intervention. do they care what happens in yemen. truly, it's not a very big news story here. frankly, i'm completely alone on the law and it isn't leaving the network news. it isn't likely you that anyone in congress is going to push back because they are pushing this as a fight against iran backed rebels. the president unlikely to face much criticism, as long as this stays to logistical and intelligence reports and american troops don't get involved. >> what does this say about u.s. policy at the moment? >> i think it actually seems quite conflicted, if you look at what's happening in iraq with iran and the u.s. in iran

fighting isil and at the same time taking on iran-backed groups in yemen so it teams like it's a little bit conflicted exactly and at the same time doing nuclear talks with iran. we're going to try to nail down officials and ask what is the strategy when it comes to iran. >> thank you for that, patty colhane in washington d.c. >> the framework for a plan to reduce tehran's nuclear capability in terms of easing sanctions, negotiations to try to finalize a deal have been going on for weeks in lausanne. our diplomatic editor joins us live. john kerry has just given a press conference. what did he have to say? >> no press conference, but we

he do ever french information. john kerry actually is currently meeting the iranian foreign minister for the second of a series of meetings taking place here on iran's nuclear program. we do ever information of other things john kerry has been doing while he's in lausanne. both the iranians and the u.s. of saying that nuclear negotiations are not going to have discussion of yemen but certainly on the sidelines both the iranians and the u.s. of making phone calls about yemen and we've learned in the last few minutes that john kerry has made a phone call to all the foreign ministers in the gulf, the gcc the gulf corporation council, the reinennal body. he's spoken to all their foreign ministers, including iman. he commended the work of the coalition taking action against the houthis and noted the u.s.'s support for those coalition efforts. then, as we were just discuss patty, he said that the u.s. was

providing support intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and advisory and logistical support for strikes houthis. >> back to the nuclear talks willle developments in yemen affect these talks? >> i don't think they'll have any developments around the actual negotiating table because all sides have been very strict that the negotiations around the table are about iran's nuclear program. there are many other regional issues that involve iran and the west enter the very many months of these negotiations. a little earlier on, the head of iran's atomic energy agency came

for a nice walk around the lake here and i managed to ask a few questions about the state have negotiations and the about the bombing in yemen. >> are you confident today as you head back to talks? >> well, we are always confident. we are always confident. >> do you worry that this bombing taking place in yemen could that be a factor in all of this? >> i have no remarks on that. that will be left to our oh foreign minister to say something about it, not me. thank you. >> in terms of the nuclear deal, you think you're getting closer? >> thank you very much. it's a simple walking. >> thank you so much, thank you for your time. >> all the nuclear negotiations here, both sides say that quite great deal of progress has been made more progress in the last session last week than any other sessions, rounds of talks that have taken place here. the thing to watch for as we approach the deadline on tuesday

is when the u.s. and iranians are joined by the other foreign ministers of the international community. once they come here, it will be the very final stage difficult but final stage of any negotiation. >> thank you for that, james bays. >> still ahead on the program. >> we live in a world that where people starve, why shouldn't we use our resource? >> pitting tradition against animal rights. whale hunters in the faroe islands defend keeping whale meat on the menu.

>> top stores on al jazeera the iranian foreign ministry is asking for an immediate hall to the military operations in yemen. saudis targeted shia houthi rebels there. >> gulf cooperation council members, bahrain kuwait, qatar and u.a.e. have answered president hadi's call for help. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in lausanne to meet with his iranian counterpart trying to reach a deal on how to reach an agreement on iran's nuclear prom by the deadline. >> we have the latest on the airstrikes in yemen. >> the operation started early thursday, saudi arabia said it has launched airstrikes against the houthi rebels with the aim

of reversing the houthi coup and restoring legitimacy in yemen. >> the choice is simple, abide by this process and become legitimate players in yemeni politics or they will not be -- but they certainly will not be allowed to take over the country. >> support suggestion 100 jets from saudi arabia and the gulf coalition resulted in airstrikes. they say they want to restore yemen's deposed government, at least four other gulf nations have joined the calendar pain. the united arab emirates, kuwait and bahrain said they sent fighter jets to saudi arabia. several hours into the bombing the u.s. revealed its role in the attack, announced the creation of what the white house called a joint planning cell with the saudi to say coordinate u.s. military and intelligence support. the u.s. says its policy in yemen is working. >> i have explained that it's a success and i did has been for

many years because of our efforts to push back and counter al-qaeda in yemen. that's something we've been doing for sometime now you you. >> iran supports the houthis which has triggered fears in saudi arabia and sunni gulf nations that iran might be trying to spread its influence. the united nations has strongly condemned the airstrikes in yemen. >> we want to tell the saudi kingdom, isn't what's happening in sir are i can't and iraq and other parts of the world because of them enough? does it have to happen in yemen too? >> the shia houthis have taken part of yemen by force holding the president in sanna until he fled to the southern port city of aden last month. there have been protests against the houthis in recent days, including in taiz city, the houthis called for people to join in mass protests against the airstrikes. >> one of the pilots of the

crashed germanwings jet was reportedly locked out of the cock pit before the plane went down. the plane was flying from barcelona to düsseldorf when it crashed into the french alps. investigators are combing the mountainside for the remains of the passengers and crew who died. there is a staging post for crash recovery crews before i ask you you about the recovery process, charlie, what are you hearing about the fact that one of the pilots was outside of the cockpit when the plane went down? >> well, this has been a leak from a senior military official, supposedly close to the investigation and it came via "the new york times." he's referring to an audio file recovered from one of the black box recorders that contained the voice recorders from the cockpit. that's being analyzed in paris. in the leak, he said he heard what was recorded in the

cockpit, conversation very normal very calm between the two pilots during the initial part of that flight between barcelona and düsseldorf. then, one of the pilots left the cock pit now when he tried to reenter, he knocked quietly but got no spans from inside and gradually, his knocks became shouts and his -- and he tried to smash down the door obviously with no luck, as he realized that the plane was descending. obviously, the investigators here are quite angry that that leak has been revealed. they haven't put out an official report on what they found from that data recording but it also raises questions about the pilots. we know little about them. one of them had been flying with the lufthansa group for 10 years, he had 6,000 hours in the air, the other one had been flying for just two years. >> thank you for that. yemen will be high on the agenda's foreign minister's from

arab league countries meet egypt. this is apparently happening at the moment. as soon as we get anything from that, we will bring it to you to find their take on what is going on in yemen and who is likely to get involved. that is the kuwaiti foreign minister speaking at the moment, involved in the coalition in yemen. >> delegates from libya's two rival governments are resuming u.n. mediated peace talks. the legally installed government in tripoli and the u.n. recognized government in tobruk are under pressure to pack a u.n. proposal calling for the formation of a national unity government comprised of technocrats. nigerian president and the opposition signed that a peace accord encouraging non-violent voting saturday. ballot paper and results sheets have been checked and are on

their way to polling stations across the country. the presidential vote is expected to be the closest race sips the return of democratic rule in 1999. >> let's go back to the foreign ministers meeting of the arab league countries meeting egypt. we can listen to the translation now. >> they have to break in immediately. >> all right we're going leave it there. apologies for the translation.

oil is one of the major issues in the elections. the delta provides three quarters of government revenue in nigeria. the niger delta region is one of the country's poorest. >> they know what they are doing is illegal but they don't care. young unemployed men steal crude oil from pipelines then refine it in the creek of the niger delta. they say this lucrative resource belongs to the community not the nigerian government or oil companies. >> they are taking our money. when you have something and somebody is eating it, you will be hungry, isn't it? so this is has happens, we look to get part of it. >> the men claim to produce around 60,000 liters a day from the improvised refineries. >> look at what this business is doing to the environment. this place used to be lush and green. locals say more than 200 refineries are in the area but

they need money to look after their families. >> falling global oil prices mean less ins earned. for more nigerians prices of basic commodities are rising. >> a task force made up of forces from all security sectors control the creeks. oil accounts for about 15% of nigeria's gross domestic product but makes it 75-80% of government revenues. government finances have been hammered by the slide in world oil prices. >> it's been very tough almost 40% of the revenues we get wipe off and i mean, with the amount of developmental work, this particular administration has gone into or had to look at so many cost cuts in strategies to

help us continue to keep afloat and to also pay salaries. >> for those struggling to get by these cheap often low quality fuel is affordable. despite one of the largest oil producers in the world nigeria is battling to meet its energy needs. >> sri lanka's president is on his first official visit to china since taking office in january. he is trying to renegotiate more than $5 billion worth of deals with--that his predecessor signed with china. he wants to strengthen ties what he calls a deeply beneficial relationship. >> super markets in venezuela introducing measures to combat food shortages. people have been assigned specific days to do their

shopping. we have more from caracas. >> private super markets in venezuela introduced a new system to curb food shortages and hour long queues affecting the country. the idea is venezuelans can limit their shopping to one day. for example on a monday, people whose i.d. ends with a one or two would be allowed to buy the items that have gone scarce or the basic food items milk, sugar or flour. the venezuelan government is planning on introducing fingerprint scanners to control according to the government what they've called speculative shopping or hording. the idea is to basically stop what has been a rampant contraband problem. with people shipping out close to 40% of what the country produces to before his still and even by water to the crib even, people who's i.d.'s who end in

two or three hit the jackpot. they discovered two of the items that have gone missing from most shelves, soap and fabric shaftner. >> it's been a tradition in the faroe islands for currently but hunting for whale ever come under criticism called cruel and unnecessary. we have a story from the faroe islands in the north atlantic. >> this is the sort of hand carved hunting knife used in a traditional whale hunt. >> you you cut off the spinal cord and the wale will die in seconds. >> for centuries the people of the faroe islands have gone into shallow waters and slaughtered whales. they around endangered. each year, the hunt takes 1.1%

of the population. >> i like the bulbar to go to the dry fish and then you have the dried whale's meat. you hunt them in a sustainable way, and it's a food source. you have i think you have to use it. we live in a world that -- where people starve. why shouldn't we use our resource? >> animal rights activist call it barbaric. their attempts to disrupt the hunt have grown increasingly successful. >> this tradition in place for over .500 years it's time for this to disappear. the world has changed and therefore, i think this should also change. >> the intervention isn't welcome, of course, the islanders compare their whale hunt to the slaughter of farm animals behind closed doors. >> it looks very much worse -- >> foreign ministers from arab

league countries are meeting egypt. lets listen in. >> this requires measures to face this phenomenon and drive sources, taking into consideration that our confrontation of this playing shouldn't avoid the military and security dimension. despite the necessarity of supporting the military and security resolutions now to limit the spreading of this phenomenon and its expansion controls borders but the total confrontation requires a bigger strategy takes into consideration the economic and cultural dimensions of this if he he mom no one. ladies and gentlemen, state is witnesses now serious development that wouldn't stop

on the borders of yemen if it's not revived or salvated by swift move. our position of the crisis is again imposing a status quo by force and abandoning the legitimacy. we are supporting the legitimacy of the state that should be enabled to carry out its national responsibility to keep the integrity of the yemen territory and the interests of the yemeni people. yemen is witnessing this -- the brothers in the gulf will support of yemeni national forces are trying to bring back yemen on the road of stability and democratic transformation. conspiring forces in and out

challenged the world of the yemeni people, so a coalition of arab countries coming from solidarity with yemen people and its presidency and its will to spart the gulf initiative and its mechanisms and the national dialogue and its results. it was important and necessary that we respond to the call of the president hadi and his government and egypt declared its military and political support and the participation with the coalition with air and naval force from egypt and -- and land force if necessary based on the historic egyptian responsibility to