a saudi-lead coalition launches new air strikes on houthi targets in yemen. ♪ you are watching al jazeera, i'm sami zeidan also coming up looking for answers, german police uncover clues which could help explain why germanwings co-pilot deliberately crashed a plane into the french alps. the nigerian army says it has made further gains against boko haram. i'm in the pass where

african americans have torn down electric towers and afghan electricians are rebuilding them by hand. ♪ let's start with yemen where more air strikes lead by saudi arabia have hit houthi targets including an air defense system in the north. the strikes have hit targets in yemen in and around seven cities that you can see here. together with its allies there are nearly 200 fighter jets involved. this is the aftermath of a new round of saudi-lead air strikes on yemen. this is all that is left after the raid that happened on friday morning according to witnesses. they say batteries near the city southwest of sunny were destroy

destroyed. for a second night the alliance said it hit military positions. these military videos from the saudi press agency appears to show some of the strikes. the location seemed to include large military depos that have been hit. as the operation continues saudi officials say there is no plan to send troops at least for now. >> we should be for all of the circumstances, our forces are ready for the different threat. air threat or ground threat. for the time being there is no such operation, but if need we will be ready to face this kind of threat. the houthis say there have been civilian casualties but despite the on slot the houthis remain defiant. >> translator: what do they expect us to do?

surrender? announce our defeat? to act like cowards? what do they expect from us? collapse overnight? to walk away? absolutely not. >> reporter: speaking from egypt, the interim foreign minister says there is still room for dialogue. >> translator: as far as we're concerned there is still opening for dialogue. when no party can deal with the other from a standpoint of superior force. >> reporter: yemen has been unstable for years. the situation got worse last summer the houthi rebels took over the capitol and forced the president to flee a few months later. the president is now in saudi arabia. the saudi-lead intervention in

yemen is being seen as a message against iran's increasing influence in the region but hopes for a peaceful solution with dwindling. many other nations in the region have also contributed resources to the offensive. >> reporter: the air strikes on houthi positions in yemen began early on thursday. saudi arabia is leading this campaign. it has an estimated 100 fighter jets conducting the air strikes, and 150,000 saudi soldiers are standing by near the yemeni border. for the gulf states several have lent air support with additional fighter jets. you see the breakdown here. although the campaign so far is centered on air strikes, egypt has sent four ships through the

red sea to help secure the gulf of aden the strategic shipping lane is vital in the global oil route. egypt has also said it will be ready to take part in a ground offensive. the united states says it is providing advisory and logistical help but there's no indication still if it will allow saudi airplanes to use its air base. it's unclear how long this air campaign will continue or if ground troops will be deployed and little is known about the military capability of the houthis, except they are a well-organized force that is backed by iran. the germanwings co-pilot hid details of meantal illness from his employer. he is accused of deliberating

the plane into the french alps. dominic kane is in his hometown. >> reporter: the authorities discovered in the flat of the co-pilot of the flight a torn-up medical sick note which was current for the day of the tragedy, when he took the decision to lock out the pilot of the aircraft and plunge the aircraft into its fatal dive. this points to the mindset and mentality of mr. lubitz in the hours before we took that decision. german media has decided to start calling him a mass murders. now people are asking themselves why would somebody do that? and they have pointed also to the depression that mr. lubitz

suffered six years ago during his training to become a pilot, but the central feeling here in this town is one of disbelief that one of their own could be capable of such an act, because many people here talk about mr. lubitz as being friendly quiet, but someone who took an interest in jogging, liked pop music, was popular at the flight school, and nobody there nor in the rest of the community can understand what made him take the decision to kill himself and 149 other innocent people. nigeria's military claims it has destroyed boko haram's headquarters in the north. in the past weeks government forces have recaptured several towns from the armed group. boko haram has killed thousands of people during the six-year conflicted aimed at establishing an islamic state in the northeast. the lack of security has been one of the key issues ahead of the presidential elections this

weekend. >> reporter: the nigerian opposition are expressing doubts about the authenticity of this news that the headquarters has been recaptured by nigerian forces from boko haram, because they say there have been restrictions placed on civil society, human rights organizations and the media, in terms of accessing the area and other towns that the nigh -- nigerian military say has liberated from boko haram. this comes just a day before a hotly contested presidential election takes place in which insecurity was going to be a major issue for the incumbent president. however, the military say this is accurate that this is due to the hard work of the gal lent nigerian forces and they hope to eliminate boko haram very soon. president good luckluck jonathan

has asked people to cast their votes peacefully. the opposition leader called on nigerians to come out en masse and vote to remove what he calls an incompetent government from office. education is one of the key issues. people want the government to provide free schooling across the country. the governor has been trying to improved the indication system in this area. >> reporter: meet [ inaudible ]. teachers say this ten year old is the brightest in her class. she has big dreams. >> i want to become a doctor so i can treat people. >> reporter: the governor here is the man largely credited for trying to improve the education system in this oil-rich state. >> once it was declared a state of emergency. he started building new schools, recruiting teachers retraining

our teachers because quite a number were not retrained for so many years. but when he came on board, he said we are going to train our teachers. >> reporter: education in river state is free and compulsory textbooks and school uniforms are provided by the government at no cost. the concept is simple children wear the same school uniform, it doesn't .matter if you are from a rich family or a poor one, here in the classroom, you are all equal. but facilities in several schools and even here aren't good. activists accuse some politicians of having double standards. >> their children are being educated abroad with our money, with our resources because they are in political power. that is most unfair and yet the children of other people ordinary people, the voters are not able to attend those

schools. >> reporter: this girl attends a private school. tuition is roughly $1,000 a term. she say government-run schools can't give her the opportunities she needs to get ahead in life. >> they don't have the computer lab, the physics lab, chemistry lab, and biology lab. they are well equipped. >> reporter: but the facilities at this government school are some of the best. still ahead on the show turkey's police are given new powers but critics fear they will overstep the mark. i'll tell you about how the war in ukraine did great things for people here in the faroe islands.

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and express your thoughts the stream it's your chance to join the conversation only on al jazeera america ♪ all right. welcome back. let's take a look at some of the headlines here. saudi arabia and its allies have carried out more air strikes against houthi rebels in yemen. the houthi-controlled health ministry says 39 people have been killed in the past 24 hours. german prosecutors say the germanwings co-pilot had hid details of a mental illness problem from his employer. german police searched his home and found a torn up sick note from the day of the crash.

nigeria's military is claiming to have destroyed the headquarters of boko haram in the north. the lack of security has been a see issue as nigerians head to the polls this weekend for presidential elections. bring you some breaking news coming out of somali right now. we're getting reports of gunfire and an explosion in the capitol mogadishu. a three-day lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of sooeb in effect in sierra leone. the president has ordered everyone to stay in doors. the world health organization says sierra leone is trying to bring new infection rates to zero. >> it's simply being done to mobilize the community, to reinforce the need for vigilance, for the behaviors that we know really make a huge difference increasing hygiene,

and understanding what the symptoms of ebola look like how important it is that those people be tested and be taken for treatment, and that anyone who is known to have been in contact with somebody who has ebola is on a list and followed up. we're seeing these things now being done in sierra leone. most of the new cases we're seeing and numbers of new cases are falling right now, and most of the new cases we're seeing are now coming from what we call contact lists, which means that the sierra leonian authorities with the help of us and other partners are really getting their eyes on where the virus is and they are really really making all of the efforts to contain and stop this virus. in syria, at least 12 people have been killed in a suburb of the capitol damascus activist video appears to show the aftermath of air strikes. al jazeera is unable to verify

the images but activists say the bomb hit a market near a mosque during friday prayers. dozens of people were wounded. syria's president says he is open to dialogue with the united states. he made the comment in a television interview with u.s. broadcaster, cbs, but he said there must be no questioning of syria's sovereignty. >> in principal, we would say that every dialogue is a positive thing and we're going to be open to any dialogue with anyone including the united states regarding anything based on mutual respect. >> the united nations has more than doubled its estimate of syrians living in -- besieged areas. rights groups argue that the u.n. earlier estimate was far too low. brigades from the libyan

city of misrata have suffered heavy casualties. isil fighters are in control of strategic buildings inside the city. zana hoda explains. [ sirens blaring ] >> reporter: the casualty toll is mounting and the wounded keep turning up. brigades from the libya dawn coalition are at war with groups affiliated with the islamic state of iraq and the levant in the city of sirte. just like this man, most of them are in their early 20s, and many fought the former gaudify forces in the 2011 revolution. but this time they say they are facing a well-trained enemy. >> translator: they don't fight face-to-face, they use suicide bombers and ambush us. we were sleeping when a gunmen

entered and opened fire. five of my friends were killed. >> reporter: misrata sent its 166 brigade towards the east in february. isil fighters are in control of much of the town. there hooz been sporadic fighting around the coastal city. misrata is in a difficult position. any decision to storm sirte would not be an easy one to make. thousands of civilians are still inside the city. any offensive would mean civilian casualties and destroying the city once again. sirte was where gadhafi made his last stand. there was fierce fighting at the time there was deep resentment between the people of sirte and misrata, they were slowly putting their problems behind them until isil declared it to be part of the islamic

state. >> translator: isil is supported by gaudify loyalists, god willing we will rid libya of them. they are not strong. they are just using civilians as human shields. >> reporter: isil has managed to expand in libya in recent months. the armed group has exploited the divisions here. >> translator: libya is one country. the people are one. there is no difference between east and west that's why the only solution is dialogue. so many people are losing their children. >> reporter: this has become misrata's new reality, there are many families who are now grieving in this city. this man lost his son, and many others are losing their children too. zana hoda al jazeera, misrata. turkey's parliament has passed a new security law to give police new search and arrest powers.

he still needs to ratify though, the government says the powers are necessary to prevent violent protests but critics fear the police will abuse their authority. >> reporter: this police officer was suspended after he screamed at a colleague to spray tier gas at protesters. in another incident, four police officers were jailed for up to ten years for beating up this protester. critics say they are examples of a culture of police heavy handedness. the government says it proves abuses of power are punished. the victim of the beating was a 19 year old, he fell into a coma and died a month later in july 2013. >> translator: the day i heard the sentence read at the court, i felt the same as the day i lost him. we were extremely disappointed. we thought there was still some

justice, but there was not. >> reporter: the government says it was prompted to give police enhanced powers following riots in kurdish parts of the country when more than 50 people were killed. >> translator: our government acted immediately as measures needed to be taken against the vandals. >> reporter: the security bill will allow police to detain people for up to 48 hours, by citing what they describe as serious threats to public order. they have also been given broader powers to use firearms to prevent attacks on buildings, vehicles, or people in public places, and they can now search people and vehicles without prior approval from a prosecutor or court. human rights watch says in a report on the draft security bill that its concern by what it sees as plans to increase

police powers without appropriate safeguards particularly alarming says human rights watch are plans to sideline the supervisory powers that the judiciary and prosecutors have over the police. there are thousands of protestings in turkey every year, most are noisy but peaceful like this one opposing the security bill. the government say there's no threat to the constitutional right to freedom of assembly enjoyed by turks now. bernard smith. a thai court has ruled that family of muslims must remain in detention unless -- until their nationalities are proven. the 17 say they are from turkey and want to be returned there. beijing says they are from china's northwest region. scott heidler has more from bangkok. >> reporter: the fate of 17 muslim uyghurs here in thailand

is still in limbo. >> translator: this case is definitely tied to politics. these 17 uyghurs are from turkey. they have family members back in their hometown. the passports they have are issued by the turkish interior embassy. not from the embassy here. >> reporter: the politic is between turkey and china. they contend they are from turkey and have been given turkish pass ports. chinese officials say they are from china, and they are not alone, there are more than 300 uyghurs here in detention for illegally entering thailand. and all are now caught in this diplomatic war. at least 10 people have been killed in a stampede in bangladesh. it happened as thousands of devoteees gathered outside of

the capitol. the holy site at tracks pilgrims to take part in an annual ritual there. a state funeral has been held for former australian prime minister who died last week. prime minister tony abbott joined hundreds to remember the man who lead the nation between 1975 and 1983. he died at the age of 84 after a brief illness. afghanistan is still recovering from a series of deadly avalanches, they brought down power lines that supply electricity to the capitol, disrupting power for millions of people. jennifer glasse reports. >> reporter: 3400 meters high afghan engineers are working to restore power to millions of people. 1100 towers along a 500-kilometer route bring electricity or did until the snow came. >> translator: we were standing

right now there's 10 to 15 meters of snow. so we can't bring in our heavy machinery. we can only use basic equipment. >> reporter: this tower and two others are completely destroyed. workers must carry all 15 tons of the replacement ton through the snow. the force of the snow was so powerful it tore a 15-ton tower off of its cement base and carried it 150 meters down the hill. and working in these conditions means doing almost everything by hand. for two weeks no power flowed at all, one line now carries 100 megawatts to kabul. a third of the normal load. two hydroelectric plants and an expensive diesel generator are making up the shortfall. >> translator: african americans, high -- avalanches

and the possibility of rock slide makes this very dangerous. >> reporter: this is the worst that has happened since the lines were installed six months ago. 5 million people depend on this group of men as they repair what the falling snow destroyed. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, afghanistan. go into any restaurants in the north atlantic ark pell low of the fair row islands, and you are likely to see fish on the menu. >> reporter: when russia banned certain imports from the european union in response to sanctions over ukraine, the sammon farming faroe eye islands stepped in. unlikely winners in thefallout over war in eastern europe and

with no apologies. >> we're not a part of the e.u. so we do our trade business ourselves. we are not asking brussels because we're not an e.u. member. >> reporter: brussels banned faroese mackerel. the prime minister was only too happy to take his business elsewhere. >> we were boycotted just before, out of e.u. and if you are boycotted from e.u. where should you go in if e.u. is locking their harbor for us because we're not reaching an agreement, then we need to find other markets, as we are doing business as usual. >> reporter: the faros upped both production and price by year end fres sammon sales to russia has increased almost 700%. and many were happy to see their tiny nation exercising its trade independence from the e.u.

>> we are not allowed to sell there. so we look for new markets, and there was russia. >> no one should tell us where we shall sell our salmon. if we decide to sell to russia i believe that is the best. >> it will not help the faroe people the e.u. so why should little nation the faroe island have to do? >> reporter: the farmed salmon thrive in the perfect north atlantic conditions. >> our company is producing salmon to the very high-end consumer market around the world. we're looking for the high-end sushi restaurants all over the world, and they are in between moscow also an interesting market for us. >> reporter: since september last year russia has received almost all of its fresh salmon from these waters in the faroe islands, and 140-odd million sue

sha loving russians eat a lot of fresh salmon. and that's a market the faroese have captured in the choppy waters of a new cold war. and of course if you want to get more on all of these stories head over to aljazeera.com. >> i think it's incredibly >> i think it's incredibly important not to important not to sexualize the sexualize the female characters in female characters in entertainments that are made for very little kids. entertainments that are made for there is not good reason why you will. very little kids. there is not good reason why you will. >> the >> the actor found the institute actor found the institute that represents female that represents female representation on screen. >> unless a character is having representation on screen. >> unless a character is hav