only on al jazeera america >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello welcome to another news hour from al jazeera, from our headquarters in doha i'm adrian finighan. coming up in the next 60 minutes. >> the main objective is to protect the government in aden. the saudi-lead coalition carries out more air strikes targeting houthi military installations in yemen. >> i'm david foster in london. the actions of the man blamed

for the german plane crash lead the agency to say there should always be two people in the cockpit. the nigerian military claims big success against boko haram. plus -- >> everything floats. you don't even have to hold your head up. >> scientists prepare to study the long-term effects of long-term living in space. one astronaut sharing his experience with us. ♪ there have been further air strikes by saudi-lead forces in yemen targeting shia houthi fighters and their allies. the coalition says it now has complete control of the air space and it is working to protect the legitimacy of the government. >> translator: the main objective is to protect the government in aden.

as you know there is some element of the houthi militias reach the -- some of the area around aden and the air base they were attacked by the coalition. now the air base is under control of the yemeni army. we -- we continue -- we will continue to target their movement, their -- their concentration of forces until we clarify all of the area that they will controlling now. >> all right. let's take you through the latest developing in yemen. jets launched three strikes on a city and on the airport, as well as key mill stair installations in and around the capitol.

elsewhere there are reports that houthi fighters and forces loyal to former president saleh have started to shell residential areas outside of aden. and 12 houthi fighters and three tribesmen have died during clashes. there has been heavy bombing at the military camp in aden. the united states says it doesn't want an open-ended war in yemen. the country said it wants the current military operation to result in a return to dialogue. >> the basis for -- for the united states is the political process and a return to that political process. so that's -- that's what we want to see is a return to the gcc

initiative which would include president hadi as the legitimate president, but in which the houthis also would play a role. >> let's get some analysis from al jazeera's alan fisher with us in washington, d.c. what did you make of what we heard there alan? >> well i think he is reenforcing the point that it's important what happens in the skies above yemen actually results in a political settlement, and the saudis believe the best way of doing that is by convincing the houthis that militarily they won't win. everything seemed to be very rushed on wednesday into the early hours of thursday in yemen when the operation was launched. it is understood that the houthis were on the verge of taking the city of aden and that's when they put their plan into action and said we go now, and that is when the operation

was launched. the u.s. will continue to provide intelligence and logistical support. the saudi ambassador has said he is very pleased with the support the u.s. has given, particularly politically, but it would appear that the saudis and their allies are keen that somehow this gets them back to the negotiating table. >> alan many thanks indeed. let's get analysis from our senior political analyst who is with us live from our studios in london. earlier we saw yet another briefing from the coalition spokesperson talking about the fact that they are targeting supply lines and air bases in yemen. he said the explicit aim was to protect the government in aden which i'm lead to believe is merely symbolic. it's not that difficult to do to

protect yemen, but also to prevent anyone else from providing aid to the houthis. presumably he meant iran. >> that's right. adrian, this is clearly a proxy conflict that has been going on in yemen, and the saudis are basically -- for all practical reasons are claiming to have called iran's bluff in yemen. so saudi arabia have taken perhaps a calculated gamble that if they left the situation to evolve or devolve as it were in yemen, that the iranians would have ended up in control of yemen, and basically iraq. with this operation, with this campaign, the saudis were able to take the lead. they were able to turn the tables on the iranians and on the houthis in yemen.

they were able to contain the entire defense systems and -- and other military movement by the houthis. all of that at least in the first few hours, first few days is going to show that the saudi gamble is perhaps successing. whether it will on the longer term, of course that remains to be seen. >> you heard me talking with alan fisher about that state department briefing. what is the u.s. up to here. on the one hand in iraq it is giving support to the iraq yay army who are being helped by shia iran-backed officials in the fight against isil, and here is it in yemen backing sunni saudi arabia and its coalition against iranian backed shia militia, the houthis. >> look this is the most interesting thing. if you read the "new york times" analysis today, they talk about

a confused obama administration one that is reacting to various events on the ground in the middle east. perhaps that's true but i think it's much more sober than that. i think the obama administration has taken the position long -- long ago that it will not intervene militarily directly. we have seen that in syria. we have seen it in libya, and certainly we have seen it in yemen. the united states will only act against the likes of daesh and al-qaeda, when its own national security is threatened. but it has never the middle east to their own players. it wasn't going to intervene in syria on turkey's behalf and certainly it wasn't going to intervene in iraq in any big way to fight the iranians. so now it's up to the turks, the egyptians, the saudis, and their

allies to take things into their own hands, and we have been seeing that happening, and to tell you the truth, adrian i think we're probably going to see some more movements in lebanon, turkey syria and iraq after this saudi gamble in yemen? >> always great to talk to you. many thanks indeed. well iran is locked in yet day of talks on its nuclear program with world powers in switzerland, the attack on yemen has always been discussed there the foreign minister is urging an end to the strikes. any deal on tehran's nuclear program could impact the wider region. james bayes reports. >> reporter: my menmy's enemy is my friend. some say that still best explains the range of eye liances in the middle east. in yemen an ongoing military

operation lead by saudi arabia one of the u.s.'s closest allies, against the houthis, a group that now control large parts of the country, and has close links with iran. yet turn to iraq and iran and the u.s. find themselves on the same side. iranian units are fighting isil alongside iraq y forces. go just across the border in syria, and things get even more confusing. iran and the u.s. both oppose isil here too. however, the iranians provide direct military assistance to president bashar al-assad while washington remains one of his most ferocious critics. in the swiss lake side resort u.s. secretary of state john kerry is negotiating directly with the iranian foreign minister. after 36 years of mistrust and

antagonism, these are difficult and protracted negotiations that have been going on for months and months. both sides have made it clear that their negotiations are strictly limited to the iran nuclear file. but when you have such important people talking and living in the same hotel, other issues are also being discussed on the sidelines. the foreign minister went for a walk on the lake front and confirmed to me that yemen has been discussed. >> this is the hot issue of the day, any two diplomats sitting in a space will discuss that issue. it doesn't mean that we'll negotiate about it. our negotiates are con fin fin -- confined to the nuclear issue. >> we might have a unique

opportunity to create a regional framework. >> it would certainly make significant changes in the regional framework, certainly as far as the western powers and iran are concerned. what it doesn't do is change attitudes, behaviors and suspicions, particularly in the middle east both israel and most arab governments are very suspicious of iran and they are not very keen on this deal. >> reporter: the u.s. has long-standing alliances with major nations in the region it may privately hope a nuclear deal will bring it leverage with iran too. but the middle east remains a complex and combustible region where every action has a reaction and sometimes it's a most unexpected one. james bayes, al jazeera. yemen's president has arrived in egypt for an arab league summit. he has joined overheads of state. the crisis in his country is set

to dominate discussions there along with the unrest and fighting in syria, iraq and libya. we're joined now live from new york from a yemeni affairs analyst. what do you make of -- of today's events in yemen? more attacks. the coalition says they have targeted supply lines, and houthi air defenses. >> well today there was a mass of attacks in yemen, a lot of violence. attacks in the provinces of aden, today there is a fight from corner to corner and there were more strikes in the capitol city more strikes in sada and the main target military bases across the country. and that's exactly what is .hahhing right now. but the bottom line here yemen

and the yemeni need more food nor help more supplies and need more medical supplies on the ground and they don't need more bombs and more drones. i think the answer to what is going on in yemen is accountability, and sup poring the people's demands. you can't bombing the country, it's not going to lead to anywhere. i think the main problem is the former president saleh who used the immunity that the gulf countries themselves and the international community gave him to do a counter -- a counter revolution and actually take over the country. what do we see? it is important to note what the attacks that is going across the country, against the yemenese by security forces. these security forces are very much loyal to the former president saleh. he used the houthis as a cover up so that he can go and try to

convince the saudis and the gulf countries and the world that the only -- the only better option for yemen is him -- is the former president or his son, so they can support him and he as a result will go and attack houthis. houthis are not that strong. as you know yemen has one of the third largest military in the middle east. and most of them are being trained and very much loyal to saleh. they -- it is also very important to note that the vast majority almost -- about 80% of the yemeni military comes from the north and north part of yemen, which is the part that the former president saleh and the houthis are from. that's why they are very much loyal to saleh and the houthis. and so also, you know saleh was trying to frame it as a proxy war, he can gather support, so

he could basically play one against the other as he did throughout his 30 years of rule in the country. this is what we are seeing right now. i hope that yemenese want stability from the arab countries basically long neglected yemenese and they are sending them now bombs. >> all right. many thanks. still to come on the news hour, the appointment of a bishop sparks a big rauch in chile. we'll tell you why. i'm rob mcbride where south korea is trying to figure out a if i your out formula 1. ♪ i'm david foster with the

top stories out of europe now. we start with the latest on the plane crash in the french alps. it appears now that the co-pilot blamed for killing 149 people by deliberately crashing the germanwings jet should have been signed off as sick stopping him from flying. the 27-year-old had a history of depression. he broke off his pilot training six years ago and spent a year having psychiatric treatment. prosecutors found sick note from doctors showing he had a health condition which meant he should not have flown on the day of the crash. the notes had been torn up. that's likely to raise questions over the airline's screening procedure for pilots. he crashed the plane after locking his captain out of the cockpit. it is recommended that airlines now always have two people in

the cockpit. from lubitz hometown in germany, here is dominic kane. >> reporter: a president pays his respect, as more information emerged about the co-pilot of the crashed plane, germany's head of state joined hundreds of people at this church. the small tourn is mourning 16 pupils and two teachers killed in the french alps as they returned from a school trip to spain. >> translator: i came out of the church from amidst people who have lost the most precious thing to them. a child, a loved one. i heard the sobbing of people mourning their loss and i wanted to mourn with them. >> reporter: in germany, many people are struggling to understand why andreas louubitz flew the airbus into the mountainside on purpose. german media has reported he suffered a serious bout of

depression in 2009 for which he received treatment. and now prosecutors say they found important evidence here at his parent's house and his apartment which shed new light on his mental state. >> translator: medical documents were confiscated pointing towards an existing illness and treatment by doctors. the fact that there were torn up sick notes among the things that were found support the assumption based on preliminary investigation that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues. >> reporter: at the crash site they are still going through the debris trying to find remains. identifying the victims and notifying their relatives will be a slow process, and then there's the question of accountability. >> translator: should be it the case that the colleague was signed off sick then i have to be very clear, someone with a

sick note has no business being in a cockpit. she should have stayed home. >> reporter: the families of some of the victims have left their own tributes at a memorial near the spot where their loved ones died. dominic kane al jazeera. let's bring in a former pilot safety commentator live from scotland. i know you are about to publish a book called "fasten your seat belt, how culture decides your fate concerns about safety procedures," does that include certains from you about the attitude in the industry about mental health? >> i suppose in a round about way. it isn't something i have written about specifically. i suppose it's really more a question of do we have the right kind of basic cultural

philosophy when it comes to selecting new pilots and do we have an open culture in which somebody who knows that they have a problem of some sort feels able to report it without jeopardizing their career? >> do you think that kind of culture does not exist at the moment? >> it will vary from company to company, and that's the issue, really. i don't know enough about germanwings to know what the culture is there, but certainly it should be possible for a pilot to put their hand up and say i have a problem, and without it ruining their career prospects. if this guy had a lengthy history, of mental problems then one does wonder why a little bit more attention wasn't paid to him. >> if there is on international conversation about this subject, it's presumably can only lead to a more open culture. is that something you would like

to see done? >> definitely. openness is the key. most good well-run airlines have an open safety culture. if you think practices or -- or something you have done or mistakes you have made could affect safety you should be able to report that freely and openly without penalty. and i think this really ought to extend to mental issues drug dependency or anything. >> when they select pilots or junior pilots is there a stuff enough -- a strict enough policy? >> i guess there are international standards, but of course there are limits to what you can legislate against, and each individual company is entitled to have its own criteria for the sort of person they want to hire but my concern -- and i don't know if

this applies to germanwings, but my concern with low-cost carriers who hire very inexperienced pilots simply because they are willing to pay for their own training you then have a situation where people are being hired on the size of their checkbook, rather than their natural attributes? >> how could this have been avoided? do you see an obvious way out of this? or is it just one of those conundrums? >> well, it is certainly a conundrum. it's terribly terribly rare. i think the steps of actually having two people on the flight deck is a positive move and i think that will make a big difference. >> thank you very much indeed talking to us about your experience as a pilot and the book is fasten your seat belts how culture decides your fate. thank you. >> thank you. poland has charged two

russia flight controllers with contributeing to the crash that killed the president. the aircraft clipped trees as it was landing in bad weather in april 5th years ago. the russian pair could face up to five years in prison. okay. you'll see a bit more of me later on. now back to adrian. david many thanks indeed. still to come here on the news hour. ten million children don't get to experience this in nigeria as the presidential election looms. plus in sport, why this american basketball player is taking just the bear necessities to his new team.

>> sunday. you know his music but what about the man? >> i was given a gift. >> up close and personal. behind the scenes of the biggest hits... >> she was a troubled girl. >> brightest stars... >> kids don't want to "own", they just want to "play". >> and the future of music. >> the record business is in trouble. >> every sunday night, >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. sunday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. ♪ hello, again, you are with the news hour from al jazeera. the top stories this hour. yemen's president has arrived in egypt for an arab league summit.

the saudi-lead coalition says it is trying to weaken the houthi's air defense system and cut off their supply lines. the u.s. says it doesn't want an open ended war in yemen. the state department has called for the military operation to result in a return to dialogue. the situation in yemen came up at the u.n. today. kristen saloomey was there. kristen the cgg has asked the security council to support their actions in yemen with a resolution. is the security council prepared to do that? >> reporter: well we know that representatives of the gcc did meet with the permanent five members of the security council on thursday and discussed a possible resolution. we know from diplomatic sources who -- that they are looking for

a concrete deadline in this resolution for houthis to withdraw their forces from the capitol and other areas, and they want consequences for the houthis if they don't do that. wayn't that to extend sanctions beyond the two houthi leaders who are already seeing sanctions against them. they want to expand that. they also want an arms embargo, the ability to searchships headed for yes men that could be carrying weapons and so on. the devil is always in the detains here when you are talking about the security council and action. the security council recognizes president hadi as the legitimate leader of the country, but russia has been strongly opposed to the saudi military action in yemen, and so this dynamic could make problems in reaching an agreement on an text here in the u.n. security council. we know that these are just preliminary talks at this point. there does not seem to be a hard

and fast draft, and elected members sell us they have not been brought into the discussion as of yet. a vote -- is in discussion but does not seen 'em -- seem 'em next. >> as far as france is concerned, we have expressed our support to the legitimate president of yemen, because we cannot -- i mean the international community cannot accept that part supported by foreign country could change the legitimacy in yemen. now nigeria goes to the polls. there's a presidential election over the weekend. we have been taking a look at some of the issues affecting voters most. education is one such issue.

southern river state in nigeria has a successful education system compared to other parts of the country. al jazeera's correspondent reports now from the port. >> reporter: teachers say this ten year old is the brightest in her class. >> i want to be a doctor so i can treat people. >> reporter: these children attend a government school in river state. the governor is the man largely credit id for trying to improve the education system in this oil-rich state. >> he started building new schools, and started recruiting teachers. retraining our teacher, because quite a number of teachers were not retrained for so many years, but when he came on board he started retraining our teacher and recruiting new teachers as well. >> reporter: education in river

state is free and compulsory. textbooks and uniforms are provided by the government at no cost. children wear the same uniform so that here in the classroom you are all equal. but facilities in several government schools across nigeria and even here in river state aren't good activists accuse some politicians of having double standards. >> but 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 -- those schools. >> reporter: this girl attends a private school. tuition is roughly $1,000 a term. she says a government-return school didn't give her what she needs to get a head start in life. >> they don't have the kind of

facilities we have here. library, computer lab, physics lab, chemistry and biology lab. >> reporter: but it comes some poorer schools are catch ugh up. the facilities here are better than most. two al jazeera journalists who were covering the elections in nigeria have been detained by nigerian government forces in the northern city. they are both nigh-- nigerian naturals and are being confined to their hotel. their equipment has been confiscated. the army accuses the pair of operating without security or confrontation. but they are officially accredited by the independent electoral commission.

and the al jazeera media network is demanding their unconditionable release. we're joined now live from abuja. we are lead to believe this presidential race is going to be pretty tight. >> yes we have indications that it would be a tight race. it's very competitive. and i think this would be the first time in recent nigerian history that you have such a tight race. and civil society is mobilized and observing these elections across the country. >> all right. what about the al jazeera journalists that have been detained. as we said they did have the right accreditation, the military detained them and yet they were working with the military only a few days before. >> well it's part of the concern we have about the

activities of the security services, and we have made the call in the civil society situation room that the military needs to be conscious of the fact that the eyes of the world are on nigeria at this time. if journalists have been acredit ed to observe the elections, the military has a responsibility to make sure that they carry out these responsibilities without restriction and hindrance. >> do you think it's possible that there has just been a misunderstanding here? or do you suspect there's something more sinister at work? >> well we hope it's just a misunderstanding but this is going on four days, restraining journalists from carrying out responsibilities for four days is going beyond misunderstanding. we are expecting journalist observers across the country,

even in areas where there has been insurgency recently should be able to go in there and carry out their responsibilities. i think this election for it to have credibility, for it to be transparent, for it to produce a government that the world sees as legitimate there must be observation of it and preventing anyone from observing this election really sends a bad signal to the rest of the world. and i think the military should immediately release the journalists. >> as far as this current election is concerned, have any other journalists been detained or harasses while going about their work? journalists who work for other organizations? >> we have not received any

reports in the last couple of days of any journalists being arrested. we do know that with elections that were held in recent months in the governorship elections, there were a few complaints of journalists being restricted on election day. so we're waiting for election day tomorrow, saturday, to see what the actions that are taken by all of the actors, all of those responsible for the -- their work in these elections. we certainly hope that the military recognizes that citizens should not be intimidated, harassed or prevented from either voting or observing the elections, and for those who are reporting on it prevent them at all from reporting. >> thank you so much indeed. all right let's go back now to david in london for more news from europe david. thank you.

a german court [ inaudible ] for several people for belonging to and supporting a group affiliated with isil. the other two defendants were apprehended the same year trying to take supplies into syria. a senior russian official says about 1500 men and women from the north caucuses are in syria and iraq fighting alongside isil. president vladimir putin said [ inaudible ]. and more should be done to stop young people joining its ranks. it is a boom time for salmon farming in the north atlantic

archipelago, the faroe islands. the fish has long been a meal time staple there, but it's now a major cash cow, if it could be, with exports as well. jonah hull went fishing. >> reporter: when russia banned certain imports from the european union in response to sanctions over ukraine, the salmon-farming faroe islands stepped into the breach, this tiny nation suddenly found itself with a near monopoly on salmon sales to russia. unlikely winners in the fallout in the war with eastern europe and with no apologies. >> we're not a part of the e.u. so we are not asking brussels because we are not an e.u. member. >> reporter: the prime minister who has lobbied moscow hard was only too happy to take its business elsewhere.

>> we are doing business with russia. and 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 are not reaching an agreement in the north atlantic then we need to find other markets and we are doing business as usual. >> reporter: the faros upped both production and price by year end fresh salmon sales to russia had increased by almost 700% and many were happy to see their tiny self governing nation exercising its trade independence from the e.u. >> we are not allowed to sell to e.u., so we looked for new market, and there was russia. >> no one should tell us where we shall send -- sell salmon. if -- if we decide to sell to russia, i believe that is the best for us to do. >> we will not help the faroe island people so why should a

little nation the faroe island help the e.u.? >> reporter: the farmed salmon thrive in perfect north atlantic conditions. >> our company is producing salmon to the very high-end consumer market around the whole world, so we are looking for the sushi, high-end sushi restaurants all over the world, and they are -- in between is moscow also an interesting market for us. >> since september of last year russia has received almost all of its fresh salmon from these islands, and 140-odd-million sushi 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. here in the u.k. the leaders of the main two political parties have taken part in their first televised debate ahead of may's general election.

neither was considered to have secured a decisive victory, but most poles put the prime minister's performance slightly ahead. they are calling on cameron to face his opponent in a head-to-head debate. italy's top court deciding whether to overturn the conviction of two men for the murderer of the british student that was found dead in the appoint she shared with knox in 2007. her throat had been slashed and she has been sexually assaulted. they convicted of a murder aaron alexis then acquitted. miss knox is now home in the u.s. and has said she will ever go back to italy. italian police have

confiscated a $16 million picasso paining from a pensioner who says it was given to him more than 30 years ago. violin and [ inaudible ] was painted during the artist's coupister are. it was considered lost. police also seized a roman statute which they expect was to be smuggled to switzerland. and italy has decided officially to recognize neapolitan piazza makers. the pizzas are typifyied, and are a culinary representation of the italian flag. and that is it from europe. now back to your adrian. >> david many thanks. just ahead here on the news hour.

find out why this olympic champion has been forced to apologize to his country.

♪ as i'm sure you are aware many of the world's catholics are about to celebrate holy week, but in southern chile questions are being asked about pope francis's appointment of a bishop who is suspected of covering up for a pedophile. >> reporter: it may not have been a lynch mob, but it was the

closest thing close to a scene inside a cathedral. earlier this month, engaged protesters in chile tried to prevent this father from being ordained as their new bishop. he is accused of covering up for his former mentor a notorious pedophile priest convicted by chilean courts and the vatican. >> translator: the pope has said be wary of evil and never commit the sin of remaining silent in the face of it. >> reporter: jose was one of the thousands who protested at the cathedral, and continues calling for the pope to remove baros. the bishop has declined to speak to al jazeera, but has denied any wrongdoing. >> translator: each testimony we have given has been confirmed in time. what shocks me is it's still

necessary to convince some people of the truth. >> reporter: scores of chilean priests and dee can-- decans are calling for his removal. >> translator: knowing everything we know the only explanation is that the facts were presented to the holy father in a different light by others with more influence. >> reporter: many priests and lay catholics want a full investigation and say he must stand down until his name is cleared. if in the last 30 years tens of millions of catholics abandoned the church in part because of anger over the hierarchy's refusal to condemn sexual abuses, what happened here shows that now many catholics are willing to wage the battle from

within the church. underminingeing efforts to win back confidence in a church that has already suffered so much discredit. time now for the sport. this man has run a marathon today. >> my first. i had to do it for the bucket list. thank you very much. qualifying for the 2016 [ inaudible ] spain has ukraine in the [ inaudible ] spain and ukraine second and third respectively they qualify. spain will be without their injured striker. also four points clear at the top of group g: european sports correspondent lee wellings is lye for us in london, and lee england looked to be progressing rather smoothly in france but some of

the other top teams are struggling at the moment. >> reporter: just remember the key thing is is that we'll now have 24 nations in france next year, and we previously had 16, which i thought was a perfect format. so it should make it easier for nations to qualify. but when you look at germany, spain, italy, belgium, not one of them are top of their qualifying group. two teams per group automatic automatically go through. if you are third you go into a playoff. so there is plenty of leeway for these mistakes but when you look at it they have got to start getting results. netherlands third, turkey are fourth in their group, so they really need to get some points. spain as you mentioned without diego, they are second in their

group. germany as well in their group, second but level on points with owe teams. belgium down in fourth they need to start getting points. >> it's an interesting situation isn't it we're seeing the big teams struggling on top of the groups. does it look like uefa have got to drive back expanding the number of teams qualifying for the championships? >> i don't think they have got it right at all. i think they got very very lucky. i have never seen a qualifying campaign quite like this. watching the games unfold you pick a game where slovakia beat spain, spain didn't know any complacency just because there were more places available. and that's what has made it interesting. we have had unusual results

emerge just by coincidence. i think the bigger nations will find a way to fight their way through, and it's whether the next tier of nations can take the opportunity to come through with them. and i do think the 16-team format was perfect. 24 is just too many. >> lee thank you. defending formula 1 champion lewis hamilton has still managed to set pace despite severe engine trouble. hamilton says his preparations have been heavily compromised by the mechanical problems. his mercedes teammate was second fastest. the cost of posting a grand prix can you can imagine is

enormous. the korean grand prix has been dropped due to a lack of sponsorship and small crowds but it is an experience that hasn't stopped the country from committing itself to the future olympics. rob mcbride reports. >> reporter: it is the world class circuit that was supposed to put south korea on the formula 1 racing map. but after just four grand prixes the racing world has largely forgotten it is here. unable to generate the local support or revenue needed to keep formula 1 here, the racetrack operators have been looking for other events. but they insist the circuit should not be viewed simply in dollars and cents. >> translator: this should be seen as a social investment instead of a business that has to earn revenue. the central government is

sponsoring various sports. but they do not feel they are on blieed to sponsor us. >> reporter: it is located in the relatively remote south. critics say a lack of foresight seems to be a national failing. >> when it comes to planning, you really have to look at how to make these venues or the surrounding towns as a preferred or favorite destination place, as opposed to a single venue, but i'm not sure if they have done a good job of planning that way. >> reporter: south korea's third city certainly has enough people but such was the scale of the 2014 asian games it hosted last september, it is still tackling the problem of fining new uses for the facilities and it is deep i will in debt. it has high hopes even its main stadium will find a new use, but

admits it could take years and it knows the whole country is watching as south korea prepares for its next sporting feet. construction is already well advanced for the 2018 winter olympics. so is the debate over cost and future use of the site but at least that debate is happening now rather than after the event. >> the biggest lesson from those past events i think is an opportunity for everybody to get involved in the planning stage and at least a dialogue has begun. >> reporter: the operators say the olympics like formula 1 will encourage the growth of interest to fill these facilities a strategy of if you build it they will come but experience has shown they might be a long time in coming. rob mcbride al jazeera, south korea. south korea's first olympic gold medalist has made a public

apology after failing a drug test. he could still return in time for rio's olympics next year because his sentence was backdated. one of basketball's more interesting characters is bearing count on his latest challenger. he changed his name to metta world peace has now signed up to play in italy. ron arrest is his real name. he gave himself a new name in 2011 to promote world peace. and after playing in china he started calling himself panda's friend. >> are you aching yet? >> i'm in pain. twoing restaurants will spending a year on the international space station finding out how the human body reacts to long-term exposure to

low gravity. chris hatfield knows all about that, and explained to al jazeera what life there was like. >> the space station is an incredible human outpost, right on the edge of our capability. it's -- it's vast. it's really strange to launch into the darkness, to fly through space for a while, and suddenly to have a little star get bigger and bigger and bigger and grow into this huge human structure orbiting the earth. it's magical, you can take this wristwatch of mine which when i first got to orbit, i noticed that it was -- it was floating and flying almost like -- like i had a living snake wrapped around my wrist, and i would keep my watch strap lose for the rest of my life because it

reminds me of the magic. spending a year in weightlessness definitely is different than how this body is evolved. here i'm fighting gravity. in weightlessness, everything floats. you don't even have to hold your head up. we fight it by exercising two hours a day, on the space station. resistive exercise, a treadmill, and exercise bicycle. when you first get back to earth, your body will recover quickly, but it will take a few months until you can run properly, and a matter of a few years to grow your skeleton completely back. it's through exploration that we understand the world and ourselves. and space exploration is no different. it is just fundamental to human nature. it's how we get to know where we are. how it's all interdeant.

>> i'll update you again in just a moment. i'll see you again. thanks for watching.

>> every sunday night al jazeera america presents the best documentaries. this week... >> i felt like i was just nothin'. >> for this young girl, times were hard. >> doris' years in a racist, impoverished setting had a major impact. >> but with looks... charm... >> i just wanted to take care of my momma. >> and no remorse... >> she giggles every time she steps into the revolving door of justice. >> she became legendary. >> the finer the store

the bigger the challenge. >> al jazeera america presents: "the life and crimes of doris payne". sunday, 10:00 eastern. the main objective is to protect the government in aden. ♪ >> the saudi-lead coalition carrying out more air strikes targeting houthi installations in yemen. ♪ hello welcome to al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead, evidence that pilot andreas lubitz was excused from work by a doctor on the day he flew the passenger jet