yemen's houthi rebels show little sign of retreat or surrender. saudi led strikes into their fifth day. hello i'm hazem seeker, we're live from doha. next 30 minutes. counting underway in nigeria's presidential election follows days of technical problems. holding back trying to

rescue tikrit from i.s.i.l. also. >> i'm daniel lack. off the grid. no running water no electricity and some unique ways of keeping winter's cold as bay. >> hello, saudi arabia's military says it's gaining ground in the batting against houthi fighters in yemen. leading a coalition that's bombing the shia group's positions overnight. main stronghold of sada in the north. also hit ammunition dep depots, the houthis are believed to be marching towards aden in the south. that's where they're fighting forces loyal to president abd rabbu mansour hadi.

a closer look at where and when the latest strikes have hit. fighter jets seized from yemen's affairs, also attacked a camp in houdaida, and the city is home to the country's second largest port. as we said earlier they've bombed positions in the northern province of saada considered the houthis major support base. the battle will continue until houthis withdraw their weapons and withdraw from sanaa. hashem ahelbarra has more. >> bombed ammunition depots, in

sanaa, sadaa and aden. a fuel facility, the saudis have also deployed thousands of soldiers along the border they share with yemen. >> translator: the houthis are a group of militias that staged a coup. they have expanded because of the backing of former president ali abdalla saleh and the rebels. >> started to retreat from areas in the south according to local sources. sunni tribes men are on the move to recapture areas they lost in the last few weeks. these are houthi fighters killed in an ambush in the southern city of lahege. dominated by yemen's deteriorating security situation.

the saudis and their allies say the air strikes will continue until houthis and the deposed president ali abdalla saleh disband their militias. they also insist that abd rabbu mansour hadi is the legitimate mat leader. >> the move came after all other means to achieve a peaceful solution that includes independentendingthe houthi military coup. the action will continue until the houthi hand over their weapons. >> hadi has sacked ali abdalla saleh son. as envoy to united arab emirates. a day before saudis and its alays launched the attacks

against yemen. reports suggest he is willing to turn against yemen if international sanctions against him are lifted. but the saudis no longer trust saleh. they accuse him of concluding with the houthis to destabilize yemen. hashem ahelbarra, al jazeera. accusing people working for president goodluck jonathan's party of violence, in the oil producing river state of nigeria. yvonne ndege reports from abuja. >> reporter: well, river state is a very strategic state in these elections. it is a key battle ground state between the ruling party the people's democratic party and the opposition the all progressive congress. what voters are saying that many

of the election materials failed to arrive and that all important results sheets and as a consequence of that they were unable to vote. they want the independent national electoral commission to investigate what happened. they say it is critical they vote in these elections and there's huge concern about what the impact of all of this may be. tension is high in this state. here is my report, my summary of events that have happened around the country on sunday. up to 15,000 opposition supporters protested outside the electoral commission office in harcourt. the oil rich southern area. they said they didn't get chance to vote because electoral sheets never arrived. alleged underage voting in teraba state. believes the ruling party has lost the election. >> our major concern now is that

no change at the center and elsewhere. and we're not saying this out of fear. we're not saying this out of insecurity. we're saying this out of practical reality. we are saying this because we know that the government of the day has lost embarrassingly. >> reporter: but no official results have been flounced. in karu just outside abuja they are concerned about the delays in voting and technical problems. >> what i want to advise ins is bring over a process like this, they have to test, in a smaller election like a governor election, then bring it to a general election. yesterday what i noticed is that so many people if you put your hand to the ledger it doesn't

show. >> it wants the election commission to be more understanding. up to 60 million people voting up to 200,000 polling places across the country. >> they could be hungry, but let us be patient to follow the process to the logical conclusion. >> the chairman did announce we would get some results 48 hours after the last person at a polling station gets the opportunity to vote. the fact this is a huge logistic logistical challenge. some of the polling stations are in very rural areas difficult to get to and we know that up to 60 million may participate in this vote, according to the voter cards collected. they're asking the people to be

patient. >> the nigerian government has been holding two al jazeera journalists, ahmed idris and another journalist, in their hotel since thursday, al jazeera demands their release. osama ben java reports. >> another barrage hits targets belonging to islamic state of iraq and the levant. government officials are closing in from the southern and western part of tikrit, the home of saddam hussein. they are saying they are close to taking control of tikrit for weeks. >> god willing we will enter

tikrit today. we hope the end of daesh will be today. >> our advance is slow because of the the ieds. >> the u.s. air force joined the operation last week with the precondition that shia militia would withdraw from tikrit. they left the front lines because they don't need help from the u.s. army and now many are back reportedly incorporated into government security forces. taking credit for when they push i.s.i.l. out of tikrit is important both for iraq's military and the shia militias. >> it's not just tikrit we are talking about. it's about the future of iraq and the united states and its partners does not want it to become dominated and controlled by the shias. >> the distrust isn't just

between the u.s. and militias. there are reports that there are human rights violations. video posted by the shia militia. the reporter says he is with the abu nimah brigade. human rights forces have reported these tactics in areas controlled by shia forces. the iraqi military continues to say the that repatriation of tikrit is not far away.

>> marine le pen. plus switzerland leaders say they're closer than ever with a deal with iran. when we come back.

>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. beginning monday, open your eyes to a world in motion. >> hello again. reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. saudi arabia says its coalition is gaining ground against shia houthi fighters in yemen. bombing north among other targets. thousands of nigerians are taken to the street in opposition to killing of campaign workers and

voting irregularities, working for goodluck jonathan's party in the oil producing river state of violence. the iraqi army says it's meeting resistance in the fight to recapture tikrit from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. says booby traps and improvised explosive devices are slowing their advance. two day meeting of arab leaders in egypt where they agreed to create a unified military force. abdel fattah al-sisi says, a panel will work under the supervision of arab chiefs to decide the structure of the force. it's been reported that the proposed alliance will be made up of at least 40,000 troops. mike license is a military analyst and says the u.s. needs

to be clear on the objective of the force. >> what president sisi is talking about is a much more structured and formal type organization and a unit of over 40,000 troops, he is currently using the situation in yemen as a way to jump start that project. right now you've got mostly saudi arabia taking the lead there. i think he wants other arab nation involved as well and go beyond the coalition of the 10 nations they have now. from a military perspective if this coalition is going to eradicate i.s.i.s these arab nations need to get together and determine whether this is going to be an offensive based military organization or one that's defensive base and looks to defend these countries. i think from what president sisi is saying he's looking over the region looking over the horizon

and is saying we need to have the force ready to go for things like iraq, things like syria and have the ability to eradicate i.s.i.s. from there. >> sent top military officials to recapture the city of idlib. rebel factions took control of the strategic area after four days of fighting. it is only the second provincial capital to fail fall into opposition hands after four years of war. the city is close to a major highway that links the city with aleppo. increasing aid gap is likely to be addressed at the third international aid conference being held in kuwait on tuesday. caroline malone reports. >> reporter: in 2014, united nations appealed for $7.7 billion in aid to help syria. but only a fraction was

generated. some of the worst offenders include australia japan, south korea and russia. this year more people need help. that would provide each personal with only the absolute minimum. this will more than the equivalent of one u.s. dollar a day. so far only 10% of that amount has been pledged. countries neighboring syria are overburdened with refugees. in turkey lebanon iraq. any kind of permanent resettlement to places like australia, canada, germany swits switzerland and new zealand. the charity also says that gulf countries like saudi arabia, qatar and the uae could help.

>> if you would like to know more about some of the people affected by the war in syria and meet some of them, head to our interactive documentary life on hold. millions of syrians have fled to lebanon where they make up a quarter of the population. meeting a deadline in switsz switzerland, sources say iran is refusing to budge on key issues including continuing its advanced nuclear research. also asking for sanctions to be lifted sooner than proposed. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the deal

is worst than his country had feared. >> this agreement as it appears confirms all of our concerns and then some. even as meetings proceed on the dangerous agreement iran's proxies in yemen are overrunning large sections of that country and attempting to seek control of the strait which would affect the global balance and oil supply. after the beirut access, conquer the entire middle east. acts as very dangerous for humanity and must be stopped. >> diplomatic editor james bays reports from lausanne in switzerland where those talks are taking place. >> all the foreign minister of the so-called p-5 plus one are now in lausanne.

all of the people that are needed to sign a deal with iran. they are very close closer than they've ever been before but there are still sticking points. the latest to arrive, the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov and the u.s. secretary phillip hammonds. >> it is in everybody's best interests that a deal does get done, but it has to put the bomb beyond iran's reach there can't be any compromise. if we're going to do this in the next couple of hours iran has got to take a deep breath and ensure that those red lines can be met. i'm very much hopeful we'll have success over the next coming hours. >> future revenue and development on its nuclear technology by iran, beyond the ten year deal that's proposed by the united states and also the lifting of sanctions

particularly u.n. security council sanctions. the german foreign minister frank walter steinmeier says the negotiations will be difficult but he believes that those negotiations can be sur plownted. surmounted. >> we need flexibility in negotiations from iran. there has not been enough of that so far and it must be negotiated. we're doing unthat very seriously. i must say i have the impression that iran is also negotiating with the will to reaching a conclusion. >> there are little time for difficult negotiations. the weather is cold and wet but iranian journalists have told me that is good luck in persian culture. >> a warning has been issued after a 7.8 earthquake struck

papua new guinea. tsunami could reach the height of seven meters. >> nicholas sarkozy is leading in the french elections marine le pen didn't do as well as she had hoped. simon mcgregor wood reports. >> as she voted on sunday, marine le pen projected results shows a big disappointment for her. while her party gained more councilors, they did not gain one more councilor. >> the national front as a powerful force this jurisdictional victory is a good sign for future. the socialist party is

disappearing while the national front is showing ssms successful results. >> led by former president nicholas sarkozy might help his fall tergfaultering campaign to become the next president. >> this has never happened before, never before have the government lost so many departments. >> reporter: the socialists of president francois hollande have been punished by voters the high unemployment and staggering economy of france. before these elections the polling suggested the french people were turning towards the national front in greater

numbers, attracted to the antiimmigration stance. doesn't yet have the critical mass to intraik through and break through and that will reassure those, in which marine le pen will run as a candidate. simon mcgregor wood, al jazeera, paris. >> bolivia's ruling party has suffered a set back. mayoral elections in the capital la paz and in santa cruz. the results are not as bad as they predicted but expected to make it more difficult. daniel schwindler reports. >> a significant blow to evo morales. the remaining four and a half years in office are going to be considerably more difficult

facing strong opposition in several parts of the country. the billest blow was perhaps here in la paz the capital where the government position was won by one of his former cabinet members. but the biggest blow was up the mountain side from here, the city of el alto, previously a stronghold for evo morales and his governing party, a place where he pretty much took for granded. that lies the root of the problem. electronic support across the country, members of his government are less popular. critics say they are out of touch, complacent and even corrupt. these regional elections results have dealt a strong blow to that government party. president evo morales is at this still the president but his remaining time in office will be considerably more difficult. >> could you live without your

tv smart phone? what about running water? some people in canada's yukon territory have shunned modern level to go back to nature. daniel lack reports. >> along the rocky shore of a frozen yukon river a man's home for 18 years now. they call him cave man bill and here's why. there's just room inside to eat and sleep and do the fine carpentry that earns him a living. water comes from the river and heat from firewood, from steps away spartan yes but a lifestyle he cherishes. >> i know some people put themselves into an early grave casing something they never achieve and they do it in such a manner that they never will achieve it you know, it's not for me.

i actually had to use 117 bales. >> one 17 bales. >> are drove to dawson city last year in his utility van now he's living in it. bales of straw covered with snow is insulation. >> i kept stacking and stacking until i got to the top i was able to stack across the top. it's hard to buy land up here, land is really expensive. for the first winter i just wanted to make sure that i could stay warm. because once you have warmth, food and shelter you're good to go. >> for gabby skaga, it's all about her dogs. dawson city doesn't allow more than two dogs as pets.

gabby has nine which she uses for a dog team. it's about independence. >> sometimes in a bigger city everything's taken care of for you and you get a little lost. and this kind of need to know if you want some heat it's you who makes the heat. it gives you a sense of confidence and accomplishment because you are doing things for yourself and you're self-sufficient and i kind of like that feeling. >> being off the grit isn't for everyone although it does suit those who live out here. in search of a sense of freedom that's getting harder and harder to find in a world more urban and crowded than ever. daniel lack, al jazeera dawson city. >> a solar powered airplane is up in the air again on the fifth leg of its attempt to a historic

around the world trip. solar impulse left abu dhabi two weeks ago and has already been to oman and india. the trip is expected to take five months. more on aljazeera.com. you close its schools. children. >> the mayor's administration closes dozens of schools, the largest closure in u.s. history. many residents rallied around this man known as chewie. >> they are looking for a mayor who will sit at a table and listen to people also tonight ... >> the f-35 is the most expensive weapons programme in