>> saudi led airstrikes target houthi positions throughout yemen as new questions are raised about the possible use of ground forces. >> you're watching al jazeera from doha. also ahead russia's foreign minister ready to lead talks on iran's nuclear program as the deadline nears to reach an agreement. >> counting votes in nigeria people wait to see who will be the next president. >> empowering one of the

philippines oldest tribes to use solar energy. >> airstrikes led by saudi arabia have been targeting houthi fighters in yemen for a fifth successive day. the latest targeting were houthi positions these areas, one yemeni diplomatic described them as a night from hell. lawsuit explosions were heard monday. houthi controlled radar and air defense systems were targeted there. arab league leaders who were meeting in egypt say the airstrikes will continue until the rebels withdraw and surrender their weapons. 500 pakistani workers ever arrived in karachi after evacuated from yemen. chinese and indian workers have also been flown to safety. we have more. >> there is no letup in this mill stare operation for a

fifth consecutive night. the saudi-led coalition has continued to hit houthi shia positions. airstrikes continued in other parts of the country. dozens of houthi fighters were killed and jets bombed positions in the northern province of saada, considered the houthi main support base. the sers along the border they he share with yemen but saudi officials say there is no plan to send troops at least for now. >> we are using it to attack some force but there is no major land operation. >> the saudi-led airstrikes seem to be weakening houthi fighters who have started to retreat from areas in the south according to local sources. sunni tribesman are on the move to recapture areas they lost in the last few weeks. >> i believe if this military

operation had not happened on time, the price would have been higher. it came as a critical and suitable time through expert military men. >> the arab league summit has been dominated by yemen's deteriorating security situation. the sawed say the airstrikes will continue until the deposed presidential saleh abandon their positions. they insist that adou rabbo mansour hadi is yemen's leader. >> you reported extensively from yemen. first give us an update what you're hearing on the situation on the ground, in particular the southern city. >> overthe last few days, the houthi fighters supported by soldiers loyal to the former

president ali abdullah saleh have been moving from sanna towards taiz in their park towards aden. they were stopped, but they managed today to move towards it. their presence there is quite significant, because that's a message of defiance to the saudi-led airstrikes that they are still able to deploy fighters to move. the access to aden is possible. are they going to be able to maintain a strong presence there? it remains to be seen, because the moment the saudis and their allies spot a concentration of houthi fighters, they will go after it and pound it. >> the houthi militias are backed by forces who are loyal to the former president ali abdullah saleh. talk to us about the extent that have backing, how much coordination is there between the two? >> ali abdullah saleh for 33 years, his biggest concern was

to survive in a country known for coups and assassinations. in 2004, while he was concerned about the senior general who was seen as his successor, he pushed all the apparently loyal to him to the north to fight against the houthis. 2011, he turns against his ally and strikes a new alliance with the houthis. this is someone who uses different political factions for his survival. this is exactly why the saudis are saying this time that for us, the biggest concern is the houthis backed by ali abdullah saleh. two have either to disband join the political process or will continue the fight. the houthis cannot maintain a significant presence in the northern part of the country without support from ali abdullah saleh. saleh has the backing of

soldiers with sophisticated weaponry that you can see in yemen. if for some reason they break from the houthis, you will see houthis undermind to the point where they will have only one option which is to retreat to their power base in saada. >> it seems to be at least over the past few days, the news and focus is on these saudi-led airstrikes targeting the houthis. we musn't forget yemen is a mix of other factors and factions. you mentioned factions. you have the houthis arched sunni tribesman, you have al-qaeda, as well and the presence of isil. >> to think that airstrikes would solve the prop of yemen i think is an overstatement for the simple reason as you said we are talking about a country which has different political factions. adou rabbo mansour hadi represents the sunni but is not popular among the sunnis. he he has backing in places, but people in aden and the south who

are sunnis don't like him. they say this is someone who further undermind the south. sunni bribesmen are more loyal to the muslim brotherhood party than hadi. the biggest problem the international community faces is once the dust settles in yemen an airstrikes come to an end bringing together all the political factions i think is going to be the biggest challenge they face. i can't see personally stability in yemen in the near future, because the similar problems that have been going on for many, many decades have to be solved and to solve it, you need to take drastic decisions something that could not be the case for the time being because of the risk of the further slide into anarchy. >> thank you. >> the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov will leave nuclear talks with iran in switzerland saying that he'll return on tuesday, which is the deadline for an agreement if there is a

realistic chance of a deal. representatives have been holding the last full day of talks with iran's foreign minister over its nuclear program. sources say that iran is refusing to budge on some key issues including continues its advanced nuclear research. our diplomatic editor joining us from lausanne to tell us about the departure of the russian foreign minister and what that means for the talks. >> well, he's not gone yet. he is saying that he is probably going to leave later today according to his spokesperson. we had all the munsters of the p5 plus one the five permanent members of the security council as well as germany sitting on one side of the table and the the you're iranian delegation on the other the first big meeting like this of this session crucial meeting. the fact that foreign minister lavrov says he may be leaving suggests to me it didn't go that well and certainly he doesn't feel that right now there is a deal to sign. we are getting close and in any

negotiation of this complexity that's been going on for this long when so much is at stake one possible tactic when you get near the end is to threaten to walk away. that may be what he's doing sergey lavrov is a very, very difficult task. he he doesn't think this is an important deadline. other countries like iran say the real deadline is the end of june. in many ways, this deadline is here for u.s. reasons for u.s. domestic reasons because they know that the critics in congress are circling and they'd like to try to get something now before the threat of new sanctions when congress returns. >> is the feeling that they are actually going to get something now and by the end of tuesday? >> i really can't tell you the answer to that question. i think it's very finally

balanced. i think they have achieved a great deal over the many months, and they feel they achieved a lot last week in the sunshine in lausanne. the weather's turned now the mood seems to have turned, because there are knows remaining sticking points. in a negotiation like this, those things that are at the end are the hardest among them lifting the sanctions and particularly the sanctions that the u.n. security council because those took such a long time to get in place it might be very hard if you lifted them to get those back in place. what they are talking about is trying to draft a u.n. security council resolution which has what they call snap back provisions lifting the sanctions but automatically if iran doesn't comply with any deal the sanctions would automatically be reimposed. it's quite possible russia doesn't like that idea, mainly a u.s. idea, because russia likes to keep its control over the

u.n. security council. it's one place they feel they have real power. >> thank you, james bays, reporting from lausanne. we'll cross over to moscow and bring in a foreign affairs columnist. james telling us that your foreign minister is meant to leave lausanne, he's not yet left. what do you make of that move? to what extent is it a strategic move on russia's part as the talks come down to crunch time, arele? >> well, i understand that obviously journalists are hungry for sensations and some of my colleagues quick to interpret news that sergey lavrov will leave as the sign that negotiations are not going well, but believe me, russian foreign minister is very busy person, and you can't even imagine how tight his schedule, so they can be 101 rains for him just to leave and that may not be

interpreted as the failure of the talks. >> so people would say why would he leave now when the talks need a political framework deal, needs to be reached by tuesday? >> come on, those talks are diplomatic fetter which has developed it's own body language and those signals which are coming are from those involved in the negotiations, sometimes in they were related in a way they should not be. you are right that gorges are not going probably very well, that iranians are tough negotiators, tough cookies and they are bargaining for every sing the question rewarding the centrifuge, the sanctions. this is why big six was not able

by now to reach an agreement but let us also not forget that all sides makings extremely high stakes on the positive results of these negotiations -- sorry? >> is there a real chance for a deal? >> well, the deal may not be clinched to the deadline of march 31, but it is clear that it is not the question of if, but a question of when. let me repeat it once again all sides want compromise, which would benefit both iran and big six. >> ok, thank you for joining us from moscow. >> thanks for having me. >> the voters in nigeria are waiting the result of the weekend's closely-fought presidential election. the ruling party is facing its toughest contest in 16 years. there are claims of some voting

irregular hearts, although international observers have generally praised that poll. we are live in one of the states that could swing that vote. >> the key thing to watch is the river state the oil rich area of the niger delta. police used tear gas to disperse women saying that they believe the election held was fraud lent. we are told the leaders say they are awaiting the results. there is a planned massive protest. they plan to have 15,000 people on the streets. police warned them to refrain from any problems, any trouble but i think a lot of people are

watching it very, very he closely. it is tense there at the moment. >> what are people there telling you they want to see going forward? >> well, a lot of things. people are of course want to go hear the results and have their own people they support but generally most people want peace. this is a typical market in nigeria, women selling food, women selling vegetables. people just trying to go about their business. most women i have spoken to said most of their friends are here because they're too scared to come out. they are concerned there could be violence once the results of announced. let's talk to 19-year-old joy. she helps her mother and other women in the area sell fish and other things here at the market. joy, just have a seat, thank you very much. joy, we know results are being announced later today possibly, are you concerned there accounted be problems, there could be violence? >> of course there will be

violence, because there will be conflict when the results are announced. when we have the results there will be violence, because some people want c.d.c. to end. of course, they should just announce the results so we know who is going to rule us in nigeria. we should know he if it's good luck to stop conflict in nigeria and lead nigeria to be one nation together. >> you have been selling here for a couple of days before the elections and after. have you seen people buying food to keep in the house in case there are problems. >> yeah, of course. people have not been buying food to keep in the house but since election, so many people bought a lot of goods and storing it in their home because of the prices

of the goods are now high and they will not be able to come out saturday to buy goods because of the conflicts and fights going on in nigeria during election. >> thank you that's pretty much it. people want peace and to move on but can't until results are announced. they've been told it could be later on monday and they're waiting to see which candidate whips the presidency. >> thank you. >> the military in nigeria has detained two al jazeera journalists in the north. the two were embedded with the mull tear before they were detained. they've been held in their hotel since tuesday. al jazeera is demanding their release. >> coming up on al jazeera: >> how bombs which can't be seen are another danger in the fight for northern iraq. >> what now for freedom of speech in bangladesh after another internet blogger is hacked to death.

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>> despite being spared fine and suspended prison sentence, this case was revived after his former aid and secretary presented new evidence to the court as part of a plea deal for herself. this evidence was secretly recorded conversations between her and the former prime ministers when they were talking about this cash that he he has now apparently received from that american businessman in the center of this case.

this appears to have been enough to convince the courts to convict mr. omer who has said he will appeal this latest ruling. in the background of all of that is another major case that he is also fighting. just last year, he was sentenced to six years in prison in a separate corruption case. he has been appealing this case with the supreme court who will decide his fate. >> two men arrested in bangladesh after a second internet blogger was hacked to death, attacked with large knives and meatloaves in the capitol dhaka. he was known to write against religious fundamentalism. the incident mirrors what happened to an american last month. it provoked and international outcry and calls for justice. >> employers for two australians facing the death penalty have

been in court appealing a presidential decree which denied the men clemency. >> a group of grand mothers are trained at engineers to provide their village with solar powered energy. >> deep in the mountains of lausanne in the northern philippines live the oldest tribe in the country. they ever farmed and hunted these lands for thousands of years with little change. now the tribe has a new hero. she doesn't know how you to read or write but the once shy grandmother of 10 is now called the engineer. the bringer of light. >> it gets very dark here in the mountain, so it's good we have found something like this to help us help the others. >> diaz has just come back from

india with a group of similar women from around the world invited bay special college to learn how to harness solar energy and build their own larns and batsry panels. >> we he couldn't understand each other so we had to do everything through sign language judge after six months away, they returned to share what they've learned with their community. >> it's villages like this that the lighting project aims to help. isolated impoverished and without access to basic services, the thinking is empowering women will eventually empower a community. >> they have always been known for their fire making abilities. now another newly trained engineer says she's happy she can also make fire of a different kind. >> when there is light there will certainly be joy all around us. >> they still call this new arrival fire.

they're not sure how much this will change them, but they know it will transform the future of their tribe. al jazeera northern philippines. >> you can always keep up to date with all the latest news, all the day's top stories on our website, aljazeera.com. >> a crucial moment in nuclear talks with iran, on the eve of a deadline, what's holding up negotiations. >> houthi rebels try to gain more ground in yemen and now international ground troops could be headed there next. major companies pull back from indiana, after governor mike pens doubled down on a controversial religious freedom law.