arab leaders vow to continue their bombing campaign in yemen until houthi rebels surrender. welcome to al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead protesters in nigeria's oil rich region call for election results to be scratched over allegations of fraud. thousands of people turn out to say good-bye to singapore's founding father former prime minister lee kuan yew.

and as istanbul goes through its latest transformation ancient history is being lost some say. the arab league says air strikes will continue against houthis in yemen until their withdraw and lay down their weapons. they have been bombing houthi rebel targets for four days now. dozens of houthi fighters are said to have been killed. houthi is said to be marching towards the southern city of aden. at least 40 houthi fighters are said to have been killed. here's more. >>reporter: air strikes hit

targets across the country including in the capital. jets from the saudi-led coalition have bombed ammunition depots airports and long-range rocket launchers. this is the aftermath of an attack on an air base in the capital. it destroyed helicopters, fighter jets and a fuel facility. the saudis have also deployed thousands of soldiers along the border they share with yemen. >> the houthis are a group of militias that staged a coupe behind the backing of saleh. >>reporter: air strikes seem to be weakening fighters who have started to retreat from areas in the south according to local sources.

sunni tribesmen are on the move to recapture areas lost in the last few weeks. these are houthi fighters killed in an ambush while in the south. the arab league's summit in egypt has been dominated by yemen's deteriorating security situation. the saudis and their allies say the strikes will continue until the houthis and saleh dispanned their militias. they also insist that president hadi who has fled the country is yemen's legitimate leader. >> yemen was on the verge of collapse. the move came after all other means to achieve a peaceful solution that includes ending the houthi military coupe and restoring legitimacy. it will continue until the houthi hand over their weapons. >>reporter: hadi has sacked

saleh's son from his post as yemen's ambassador to the united arab emirates. this after saudi media reported saleh was in rhiaad. reports that the former president is willing to turn against the houthis if international sanctions against him are lifted. the saudis apparently no longer trust saleh. they accuse him of colluding with the houthis and iranians to destabilize the region. >> today work continued on targeting ammo dumps and here i'd like to confirm that the houthi organization has made to turn yemen into a huge stock pile of weapons and ammunition

in all of the cities and provinces of the public especially after the coup de ta against the government. >> al sisi says a panel will work under the supervision of arab chiefs to work out the structure of the force. it's been reported the proposed alliance will be made up of at least 40,000 elite troops. thousands of people are demonstrating over nigeria's elections. some have accused president good luck jonathan supporters of killing opposition supporters.

voting in the parliamentary and presidential elections was extended for an extra day in some areas after technical problems at over 300 polling stations. here's this report from one station. >>reporter: people are impatient and angry. voting here was supposed to end here on saturday but on sunday many people are still waiting in line. this polling station is in the commercial capital. >> this morning, again, they came. they are telling us they don't have a counting machine. >>reporter: officials say logistical and technical problems are to blame. some machines didn't work. some people say that's not good enough. >> it's quite unfortunate that such a thing could happen because of what happened yesterday. in the first place, they came

without their register. we have to stay here for a long time. then when it comes around 3:00 o'clock, it was not functional. >>reporter: it's still not good news for some. people are ready to vote but there are no ballot tables. it's not but despite the delays they say they're not giving up their right to vote. >> what it amounts to is we want to make sure we vote today and everybody is ready to decide. everybody needed something and everybody know what they need. that's why they are trying to endure any situation that they're going to go through in time around. >>reporter: officials say final results will only be announced when everyone registered to vote has done so. the delay in voting means it could be some time before final official results are announced. the leg to recall commission is asking people to remain patient and calm. >>reporter: counting of results in some spots has started. those waiting to vote hope they

too get a chance to choose nigeria's leader let's go to our correspondent live in nigeria. very serious allegations saying no voting took place in the crucial river state. >>reporter: what they're saying is no voting took place in thousands of polling stations across river state not just the capital where we have seen up to 15,000 people protesting. what they're saying is that the leg to recall materials that were supposed to arrive at the thousands of polling stations didn't arrive. they're also saying the result sheets that were crucial and are crucial to a free fair transparent poll also didn't show up at polling stations and they're effectively alleging that this is the beginnings of an attempt by the ruling party, the people's democratic party,

the party of president good luck jonathan to try and steal this election. the significance of river state in this poll has to be understood and can't be underest mate mated. it's the center of gravity for good luck jonathan it's his home and he once fell out with the governor there who left the ruling party and joined the opposition. so it is a battle if you like that's taking place on home turf. some days ago, the sitting governor who is also in the opposition as i just explained was allegedly shot at in the constituency that the first lady patience jonathan comes from. so they're very concerned about what's going on. they have contacted the independent national leg to recall commission who say they are going to investigate very

serious allegations. any idea when we can expect results from this election? >>reporter: the independent national welcome to recall commission, the umpire, is saying people have to be patient. you just explained the scale of this election, some 150,000 polling stations. around 60 million people, close to 60 million people collected their permanent voters cards and the commission believes that these people do intend or did actually participate in this vote. what we know is that the ballot counting is underway in many places and that the final tallies will be communicated to the central headquarters for the commission here in the capital.

and we can expect results to start coming out through the various states around 36 different states, for the presidential race in the coming hours, days. now, local newspapers are reporting that president good luck jonathan has already been defeated by the main opposition in the presidential villa complex. that's where the president lives and works. there are polling stations within that complex and they're saying that he's already lost. again, they are not saying that's this is true. they're not verified this announcement of results from the villa but if correct obviously it's not good -- doesn't feel good to lose on home turf but no response at all for a moment from the ruling party or the president on news he may have lost in his own backyard here in the capital. >> thank you very much for that.

the nigeriaen military has detained two al jazeera journalists in the north. they're being held at their hotel and al jazeera is demanding their release the suicide bomber in the afghan capital kabul has targeted a politician. he was leaving a meeting when the bomber approached him on foot. iraqi military forces are struggling to recapture tikrit from the islamic state of iraq. the advance is being slowed by bombs laid by the group around the city. the iraqi army is being supported by u.s. air strikes. tikrit has been in the hands of isil fighters since last june. >>reporter: only meters away from enemy lines, iraqi forces

prepare for what they call the final push into tikrit. >> our forces have advanced towards the outskirts to flush out isil. we've advanced from four fronts and established five contacts with the enemy. >>reporter: members of the national police army and eh lease forces are on the edge of the city waving the iraqi flag as they cross a bridge into the city center. they fire at targets with machine guns and rocket launchers and report successes telling al jazeera the plume of smoke is from homes close to a destroyed mosque previously an isil command center. >> we're fighting hideouts of isil where with snipers are stationed at several buildings. our security forces have advanced now on the gates of central tikrit and by the will of god we'll crush isil until none is left in iraq. >>reporter: optimism is high

since a u.s.-led coalition launched air strikes on wednesday. the three-day campaign began after the united states insisted shia militias pull back. the fighters have been instrumental to the tikrit battle since it began earlier this month. >> our iraqi forces are heading towards the city of tikrit. we are a collection of collaborating forces and we will be in tikrit very soon. >>reporter: the government has predicted several times before that it will win back tikrit. it's seen as a vital step towards eventually taking back mosul, iraq's second city which isil took over last june.

good to have you with us. the saudi-led coalition continues to attack houthi defense, missile, and weapons storage facilities across yemen in its fourth day of air strikes. we're hearing at least 40 fighters have been killed there.

thousands of people in niria are taking to the streets to protest over the alleged killing of opposition campaign workers and voting irregularities. the leche to recall commission says it's investigating and iraqi military forces are struggling to recapture tikrit from the islamic state of iraq. u.s. air strikes are supporting the operation. the port city of jabuti in east africa is bustling with new investment from multinational cooperations but also military money. it sits on a vital sea link close to yemen's coast. >>reporter: this is the port city of jabuti. hundreds of millions of dollars

of overseas investment are pouring in promising to turn this city into a bustling commercial hub. jabuti sits across from a vital maritime corridor that provides access to the red sea. the strait separates jabuti from yemen. taking advantage of its geographical location it's slowly transforming itself into a shipping hub. >> we want to create more jobs. >>reporter: here chinese workers build a fourth port for jabuti. because of its strategic position, it's also attracted the attention of powerful nations providing yet another source of revenue. jabuti is also home to a number of bases for foreign troops

including the biggest u.s. base in africa. this military base is a staging ground for synth yemen and somolia. the pentagon has also used jabuti to train its forces and for cutting out its warfare. over the years a number of other countries including germany, japan, and spain have followed the u.s. and french example and set up bases in jabuti too. >> it's benefitted in several ways. first the foreign forces pay a fee to authorities in jabuti. also millions of dollars are injected into the economy. finally and most importantly, the issue of job creation. over 1,000 jobs have been created by the presence of these military forces which is a key issue in a country where unemployment is a major problem. >>reporter: for now, jabuti

continues to reap the benefits of its strategic location. tunisia's government says the man suspected of planning the consult on the national museum has been killed during a raid by security forces. eight others were also killed in the gun battle. the attack has prompted tens of thousands to march against violence in the capital. >>reporter: big marches like this are not common in tunisia but the attack on the country's most famous museum was unprecedented. there are people here from different social political, and religious backgrounds. they want to show tunisia is still a safe place for tourists. >> we come here today to try to heal our injured country and remain united against terrorism.

>>reporter: most of the victims were foreigners visiting the country. the president of france was among a number of world leaders here to show solidarity. this video filmed by an italian tourist inside the museum shows the moments after gunmen start shooting. visitors try to find an exit the sounds of the gun fire get closer. authorities say they've killed at least nine people connected to the attack. among them the man suspected of planning the assault. he is from algeria and one of tunisia's most wanted men. >> last night, the national

guard eliminated one of the most important jihadists. this is a crucial operation in our antiterrorism effort. we'll continue our war on terror. >>reporter: there have been dozens of arrests in the past week. human rights groups are concerned freedoms are being sacrificed in the name of security. for now, most you to knee thattens remain united. they want to prevent another attack. germany's foreign minister says further problems in iranian nuclear talks cannot be ruled out. iran is said to be holding out on key issues which could jeopardize the deal. meanwhile, u.s. secretary of

state has met with the russian foreign minister. all parties are trying to reach an agreement before tuesday's deadline. the european union foreign policy chief is more up beat saying they're edging closer to an agreement. >> as you know we have never been so close to a deal. still, we have some critical points that need to be solved and we will work in these hours over the weekend to try to bridge the gaps. i will not go into the details of the negotiations. it's not the right time to do it. i hope we'll manage to do it in the coming days tomorrow or afterwards tens of thousands of mourners have paid their final respects to singapore's founding father lee kuan yew. he died at the age of 91 on monday. >>reporter: at 12:30 local time the coffin of the former prime

minister is taken from parliament house. his body had been lying in state since wednesday. draped in the national flag his body was carried by members of the armed services. a chance for his countrymen to see him for one last time. the rain came down but that did not deter the many thousands that lined the streets to pay their respects to the founder of this nation. young and old and across the social and ethnic spectrum crowds waited patiently. some watching the funeral on their computers. for many here it was a chance to pay tribute. >> he was a man of great courage and conviction and we're here to pay our last respects. we owe a lot to him in this country. >> he was a good leader and we should show our respects to him. >>reporter: lee transformed the nation to a nation with an internationally-respected economy. while some criticized his policy

towards free speech and dissent, politicians lined up to pay tribute to him. >> singapore's transformation in one generation is a tribute to his leadership. >>reporter: the funeral service took place at the national university. here his oldest son and current prime minister spoke warmly of his father's achievements. >> mr. lee went for the nobler dream of a multiracial, multireligious nation. singapore would not be based on race language or religion but on fundamental values multiracialism equality meritocracy, integrity, and rule of law. >>reporter: along with much of the journey, there was a military guard of honor and a 21-gun salute. this country has been in mourning for seven days.

as monday approaches a new political dawn begins. one without lee kuan yew. his legacy will be interpreted in many ways in the coming years but how this island nation moves forward socially and politically depends on the new younger generation. students from the south of mexico have fought with police. they have been demanding answers about the september disappearance of their classmate classmates classmates. 43 students disappeared last september. now, istanbul is changing again. $100 billion is being spent to turn it into a modern metropolis. >>reporter: it's a shop from a bygone age paying bygone rent.

just over $2,000 a month on istanbul's most famous street. his shop could fetch more than $20,000 a month on the open market. he says he's being forced out. >> and they said you will go. >>reporter: this is his shop. we've been right here for 80 years. every customer knows us here number 125 c but if i leave here, where will my customers find me? how will i set up a new shop? costs are so high you burn your hands. >>reporter: his landlord the cash poor catholic church is taking advantage of a new law meaning tenants of ten years or more can be evicted without

cause. home to some of the city's poorest people talibashi was also almost in ruins. the local council tells us they have to strike a fine balance between preserving culture and history and creating a modern living environment. talibashi is just part of the money the national government is spending on infrastructure projects in istanbul. istanbul's former mayor and now turkey's president is the driving force behind an ambitious scheme to turn the city of 15 million people into a modern global metropolis.

some will struggle to find a place in this vision of the future. you can always keep up to date with all the news on our website at aljazeera.com. >> new dawn in beijing, the ancient capital of the world's fastest growing country, home to the 2008 olympics. it's the vibrant centre, the super power, where the old wrestles with the new. communism clashes with capitalism and a new global