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 into a

mountain. iraqi forces continue fighting isil in the northern city of tikrit. >> plus -- >> everything floats you don't even have to hold your head up. >> as scientists prepare to study the effects of living in space, one astronaut shares his experience. ♪ there have been more air strikes by saudi-lead forces in yemen targeting shia houthi fighters and their allies. the coalition spokesman says they were trying to cut off supplies and no foreign fighters will be lead into yemen to support the group. >> translator: no one will be allowed to provide any reinforce or supplies to the houthis militias. this is a specific target. the results storm operation is mainly to support the legitimacy

of the presidency and the government and restore stability and security to the brotherly country of yemen. let's take you through the latest developments in yemen. jets launched three strikes on the red sea coast, more strikes in the main houthi strong hold elsewhere there are reports that houthi fighters and forces loyal to former president saliva started shelling residential areas outside of aden. more reinforcements are being sent from the north. 12 houthi fighters and 3 tribesmen have died during clashes. and yemen's ousted president has called for a ceasefire in

the country. saleh who is accused of being ally to the houthi rebels says he wants a return to u.n.-brokers peace talks. he has suggested the united arab emirates as a most for those talks. the united states says it doesn't want an open-ended war in yemen. the country says 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. al jazeera has condemned an attack by houthi rebels in its sana'a news bureau. fighters smashed through the front door destroying security cameras and ransacking office

content. in a statement al jazeera said: yemen's president has rived in egypt for an arab league summit on saturday. he has joined overheads of state. the crisis of his country will dominate discussions there along with the unrest and fighting in syria, iraq and libya. i'm joined now by a senior political analyst who is live in our london studio. always good to -- good to talk to you. let's start with the ongoing saudi-lead military strikes. do you think they can achieve their objective of defeating the houthis? >> well certainly the primary on yektive for the time being, which is destroying their air

defenses and military bases and some of their concentration of troops have succeeded simply because saudi arabia and its allies have air superiority. and so that's superiority was able to put a certain end, if you will to the advance of the houthis and their total control of the southern city of aden because if they did, then the entire country would have probably fallen in their hands, and that would have left the saudis with zero influence and with the iranians with 100% influence. so for the time being what the saudis have succeeded to do is to turn things around. in this favor of iran and in favor of saudi arabia their allies and what they call the legitimate government, which it is the legitimate government in yemen, which is -- you know, the president hadi and his -- his

government. so in a way, you know, things have gone according to plan but of course, lot to be expected now whether the houthis will september -- accept to go back to the negotiation table it's not sure. we're not exactly clear about how things will turn in the next few days or weeks. >> and the u.s. state department spokesperson saying they don't want this long-drawn out military intervention they want to return to dialogue, but would that return to dialogue be possible without actually this military intervention or without defeating the houthis militarily? >> well elizabeth, let's at least part by stay -- saying we couldn't accept washington to say we want a long war in yemen. we want everyone to probably say this should not take long that

is of course under. the saudis have already threatened that if the houthis don't return to the negotiation table, but seriously this time. because they have promised to do so in the past but have continued the fight and not negotiating in any real way. so if they don't, they have already warned about a land campaign. that will put everything in a different light. the saudi arabia apparently have succeeded in having a number of allies on board, so it does have the unconditionable support of pakistanis egyptians, and of course the united states. so saudi arabia could muster a strategic pressure group, if you will, both on the houthis and their supporters in tehran and

that could put enough pressure to push the houthis back to the negotiating table. so as i say it's not clear if the lesson has been learned and the houthis could push back. and while the soldiers were able to continue the situation? baja baja baja baja -- bahrain four years ago, certainly the situation is different yemen. i think certainly the strategic mapping of it and what all of this comes to play will have a lot of influence over the next couple of days. >> thank you very much for your analysis. iran is locked on another day of talk over its nuclear

program. six world powers are trying to convince tehran to limit its nuclear program in return for the easing of sanctions. they have to reach a framework deal by next thursday. the events in yemen are also being discussed. iran's foreign minister said saudi-lead air strikes should stop, and urged all sides to start talking. at least ten people have been killed by a blast that was set up in somalia's capitol. the target was a hotel. al-shabab gunmen have claimed responsibility for the talk and they also are thought to have taken hostages. german investigators say they found a doctor's note in the apartment of the co-pilot

who flew a passenger plane into a mownside. dominic kane reports. >> reporter: a president pays his respects as more information emerged, gerjny's head of state joined hundreds of people at this church. the small town is mourning 16 pupils and two teachers killed in the french alps. >> translator: i came out of the church in the midst of 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 are struggling to understand why andreas lubitz apparently 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

its parent's house and at his apartment which shed new light on his mental state. >> translator: medical documents were confiscated pointing towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors. and an attorney up sick note support the assumption that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues. at the crash site in southern france they are still going through the debris trying to find human remains. when they do they will be taking away for dna analysis. identifying the victims and notifying their relatives will be a slow process, and then there's the question of accountability. >> translator: should it be 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.

he should have stayed home. i can't understand that. >> reporter: the families of some of the victims mostly from germany and spain have left their own tributes at a memorial near the spot where their loved ones died. dominic kane al jazeera. to syria now where at least 12 people have been killed in the suburb of the capitol damascus. activist video uploaded to youtube appears to show the aftermath of the air strikes. al jazeera is unable to verify the images but activists say the bomb hit market and a mosque during friday prayers. dozens of people were injured. syria's president says he has opened a dialogue with the united states, he made the comments in a television interview. but he said there must be no undermining of syria's sovereignty. >> at principal in syria we could say that ever dialogue is a positive thing, and we are

going to open to any dialogue with anyone including the united states regarding anything, based on mutual respect. >> reporter: coalition military forces in iraq have told al jazeera that they are ready to launch a ground offensive in the northern city of tikrit. the u.s. has been conducting air strikes in an effort to retake the city from isil fighters. >> reporter: the sky over tikrit has been full of smoke since the u.s.-lead air strikes began on wednesday. bombs have hit isil facilities check points bridges staging areas and fighting positions. >> translator: their fighting capabilities have been badly hit. and our troops are prepared to launch the ground operation. >> reporter: iraq initially eached out to iran for assistance in reclaiming tikrit since the beginning of this month, iraqi troops had been working with iran to push isil out of the city.

but when the mission seemed to stall, iraqi forces turned to the u.s. to give them an edge. >> translator: we are ready to move in all directions now, we hope the battles will be decided sooner rather than later. >> reporter: the u.s. air strikes have also generated a battle of words. iranian lead shiite groups had been fighting alongside the iraqi military. the u.s. says it agreed to assist only if those shiite groups left. but iran says it refused to work with the u.s. and boycotted its mission in tikrit now thousands of the shiite groups have left. the concern is the remaining soldiers will be no match for isil. >> translator: every soldier is determined and has high moral. we are raising one another in the fight. >> reporter: but isil has proven to be a patient and resilient enemy.

countdown no nigeria's presidential election we take a closer look at the two men vying for the top job. and why the president of sierra leone as ordered everyone to stay in doors until sunday night. ♪

♪ good to have you with us. i'm in doha these are the top story on alyaz. yemen's president has arrived in egypt for an arab league summit. it comes as saudi-lead coalition air strikes against houthi fighters continue across yemen. they say they are trying to

weaken the air defense system and cut off 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. german investigators say they found doctors notes in the apartment of the co-pilot who flew an airbus into the side of a mountain. nigeria's military says it has recaptured the stronghold of boko haram. boko haram has killed thousands of people in a six-year conflict. nigeria's president goodluck jonathan has made a final plea for peaceful elections across

the country. the president is neck and neck with his challenger, buhari. a man who has tried and failed three times to get elected. the election was delayed by six weeks because of security concerns. both sides say they want toengd the conflict with boko haram in the north of the country. but the parties have been accused of using the fighting as a political football instead of directly addressing the insurgency. the economy will be on voter's minds. falling global oil prices have rocked the country's finance, and that is not helped by the corruption which still haunts the political and business world. both sides are promising to do more to tackle the problem. and two al jazeera journalists covering the elections in nigeria have been detained in a northern city. both of nigerian nationals who are confined in their hotel.

they equipment has been confiscated after being questioned by the military on tuesday. the army has accused the pair of operating without protection or accreditation, and says they will be held until further notice. both were embedded with the military in the northeast prior to the accusation. they are accredited. the al jazeera media network is demanding their unconditional release. the network has released a statement saying: now we spoke to an dependent research on war and conflict who specializes in boko haram and lectures at the university joining us live from london now, very good to have you with us on

al jazeera. we will get to the election the main issues of the selection. what is at stake for nigeria,? just a moment. but if i could start off by asking you how worrying is it just days before this much-anticipated election two al jazeera journalists who are probably accredited to cover it who had been embedded with the military have been arrested? >> well, it should be worrying particularly going to the fact that this is one election that everyone in the world has its eyes on nigeria. and it is expected -- everyone wants it to be a very credible free and fair election. world leaders have called that it is free and fair. and now we're having this kind of interference from the military. and given the fact that the opposition have been complaining

that there is an attempt to use the military as a power of the imcouple banaci to weaken the of situation. this could be seen as a [ inaudible ] to that. >> oak. so let's get to the main -- to the election now, many expecting an incredibly tight race this time. what is at stake for nigeria that so many people see as a bell weather in africa? >> yeah definitely we have seen the -- the two major contenders president goodluck jonathan and muhammades but lawyerry being neck and neck. it will decide so many things for nigeria's stability, and of course for the path of the world that will be affected by the outcome of this election. the election is definitely going to be decided by a number of variables. one of which is the

acceptability of the opposition in other parts of the country, as well as the power -- of the power of the incumbency of the incumbent regime. we will see in the next few hours a situation whereby both candidates would want to .a peel to the sentiments of the people in nigeria, and of course we have a situation whereby 56 million votes are to be won or lost tomorrow. so it all depends on where the sentiment dove tails tomorrow. >> what other sentiments of the people of nigeria ahead of this election? >> well, as you are aware of -- from before -- before the postponement of the election about six weeks ago, it looked like the opposition, apc was going to coast to victory, but then everyone thought buhari was going to win with landslide, but

other the last couple of weeks, the incumbent regime the president has been able to move around -- especially in the southwest of nigeria where it was -- i mean where he was seen commissioning a lot of projects. he was seen holding meetings with traditional rulers as well as market leaders and other organizations, thereby doubting sentiments that were leaning towards buhari in a way. but we should not forget the fact that religion will be a major factor. although both candidates have some level of acceptability where we have more muslims in the north and more christians in the south. so it will be a tight race to be decided by the [ inaudible ] especially the acceptability of both candidates in both divides.

>> thank you very much for your time. thank you. now sierra leone is on lockdown as authorities struggle to halt the spread of ebola. people living there have been ordered to stay home for three days from friday. they tried a similar measure in september when health workers caught a hundred undiagnosed ebola cases by visiting people at home. >> reporter: the streets of sierra leone are eerily quiet. there are 6 million people in the this country, and they have all been told to stay in door until sunday. thousands of health-care workers are going door to door remaining people how to stop the spread of ebola. >> it's called a house-to-house because it's a social mobilization activity. people stay at home in order to make it possible for the health visitors and the community mobilizers to come in provide

them with the things they need such as a bar of soap. >> reporter: ebola is transmitted through direct contact of the bodily fluids of an inflected person. more than 40% of those who get effected will die. research from the world health organization has found it is especially dangerous to kids under five years old. >> very young children infants and neo-nates have a strikingly high mortality rate. more than 90% of children of that age group die from ebola, and that tells us that the very youngest children have very special needs in terms of care. >> reporter: health officials say they are concerned that some people aren't taking all of the warnings seriously. >> translator: if people continue to believe that the disease doesn't exist, hide their patients don't go to the centers, refuse to follow the

rules with personal contact or attack teams in the field, it will be impossible to end this epidemic. >> reporter: it only takes one person to spread the disease. people living in this village have been put under quarantine after a sick man came home to visit his mom. in doing so he infected 50 other people half f them have died. millions of people will have to stay at home for the next few days in the hopes of stopping this epidemic. to pakistan now where two policemen have been killed in a bombing. the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. 13 others were injured. russian launches crews on two can't tents are putting the final touches on a pair of rockets scheduled to blast off two hours apart. one is sending two navigation

satellites into orbit, another is carrying a crew to the international space station. now two astronauts one from the u.s. and one russia are to send a year orbiting the earth. they'll be finding out how the human body responds to the harsh environment. chris hatfield explains to al jazeera what life was like in space. >> the space station is an incredible human outpost right on the edge of our capability. it's vast. it's really strange to launch into the darkness to fly through space for a while, and suddenly have a little star get bigger and bigger and bigger and sort of grow into this huge human structure orbiting the world. it's like a gift to be weightless. it's magic all of a sudden. 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 keep my watch strap lose for the rest of my life because it reminds me of the magic of being weightless. spending a year in weightlessness definitely is different than how this body was i devolved. 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. when you first get back to earth your body will start to recover quickly, but it will take a few weeks to really get back to normal, a few months before you can run properly and a matter of a few years before you can grow your skeleton back. it's through exploration that we understand the world and our

ourselves. and space exploration is no different. it's how we get to know where we are, how it is all interindependent, and how we get to know ourselves as a species at all. you can always keep up to date with all of the news on our website, at aljazeera.com. rosie perez was three years old when her schizophrenic mother put her in a catholic children's home where she was often abused. >> i had to physically fight back or else, you know, my ass was going to get kicked. >> the oscar nominated actress's new book explains how she overcame odds? >> i felt like i was always