on al jazeera america >> welcome to the news hour. i'm nick clark in doha with our top stories. >> heavy fighting between houthi rebels and tribesmen across yemen after a fifth night of saudi-led airstrikes. >> we're working very hard, working hard. >> world powers try to reach a deal on iran's nuclear program. >> counting votes in nigeria people wait to see who will be the next president. plus:

>> i'm in the northern philippines with a tribe, there is excitement as the tribe welcomes a new arrival. >> first up, we have breaking news from yemen. an air strike has hit a camp of internally displaced people. humanitarian workers say at least 15 people have been killed. the saudi-led coalition has been bombing houthi rebels who control the capitol sanna and are trying to advance to the south. we'll bring you more on that news as we get it. >> backed by forces loyal to former president ali abdullah saleh, houthis ever lunch add new offensive on the southern city of aden. there have been battles between houthis and tribesmen around the central province. we have more. >> yemeni tribesmen and shia houthi rebels engage in fierce

fighting around the town in eastern yemen. local sources say several houthi fighters have been killed. >> the houthis are trying to move through this area to the oil rich province, but local tribesmen aren't the only determined to stop their advance. this attack is by the saudi-led coalition targeting houthi held positions. airstrikes have also hit houthi fighters other areas. dozens of houthi fighters have been killed and jets have bombed positions in the northern province of saada. the saudi's deployed soldiers along their border with yemen. sawed officials continues to there is no plan to send troops at least for now. >> we are using the apache to talk some concentration of force for the militias, but there is

no lets say 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. tribesmen are recapturing 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 at a suitable and critical time through expert military men. >> the arab league summit has been dominated by yemens security situation. the saudis and their allies say the airstrikes will continue until the houthis and depose president ali abdullah saleh disband their positions and insist president adou rabbo mansour hadi is the legitimate president. >> if we can start with this air

strike that's breaking news, we started off with the air strike, reportedly several people killed there, it's always likely to happen in this kind of campaign, isn't it? >> one of the activists based there confirmed that some of the civilians were killed in the air strike. the problem that you have in hazzah you have thousands of internally displaced people who left the area during the war between the houthi rebels and the government, and ever since then couldn't get back home. it's an area which borders saudi arabia. some of the hills surrounding the area are controlled by houthi fighters, so the potential for an exploysive reaction by the saudis to repeal the houthis is there. as we've seen from the saudi spokes american, army spokesperson yesterday which makes the thousands of people

there vulnerable to such attacks. >> can the saudis achieve what they want to from the airstrikes alone? >> it's a very delicate situation for them. they've been insisting they're doing their best to spare civilian casualties, collateral damage in their operations. be problem they have is they want to get rid of about one fistfighter jets which are under control of the houthis along with missile launchers and artillery. they say they spotted some weapons placed by the houthis to civilian areas and that they can't target them for the time being. houthis by the end of the day are militia fighters, very well seasoned militia fighters and they know that they cannot compete with the air superiority of the saudis. >> five days of airstrikes so

far, how would you assess the situation now? how you do things stand? >> well, the saudis say that they have managed to severely undermind the military capabilities of the houthis and forces loyal to former president ali abdullah saleh in sanna and other places. we've seen in the last few hours, houthi fighters moving to control to the south paving the way to move towards aden. it shows you the complex nature of the political and military landscape in a place like yemen. this is a country we're not going to get definitely a winner and a loser. you have different political factions there and you have also al-qaeda which is trying to see the developments on the ground to be able to reposition itself in the areas it controlled in the past. >> given that the difficult

territory that you're talking about there, one imagine that the saudi's would be very nervous about a ground offensive. >> very, because those that have tried this in the past suffered massive casualties. the egyptians in the 1960's, thousands of egyptian soldiers were killed by yemenese, and this is why the saudis say for the time being that the only option they have is to continue the airstrikes. there could be a different option, basically to level the playing ground for the different factions and allow sunni bribesmen to push do places where you have a concentration of thousands of sunni tribesmen willing to join the fight against the houthis but to see gcc fighters on the ground is going to be one of -- a very risky operation. >> all right we're going to be talking this for some days if not weeks to come.

thanks for your assessment. >> the last round of talks to try to reach a deal over ires nuclear program. our diplomatic editor james bays is in lausanne where the talks are taking place. jails, things a little fraught now to say the least but that's really to be expected at this critical stage of the negotiations. >> yes exactly nick. when these are controversial negotiations, they are complex negotiations and they are negotiations which have literally been going on for years. we are here very much in the last lap. if you are negotiating something very difficult like this, the bit you leave to the end is a very toughest bit. i think that's why we are seeing problems. we had a meeting earlier on with all of the countries negotiating with iran, the p5 plus one countries, the five permanent members of the u.n. security council, germany all sitting on one side of the table and iran on the other. we don't have a proper readout

of what happened at that meeting. no one is really telling us too much. i have to say when i spoke earlier on very brief litsch to the chinese foreign minister, he was somewhat positive, saying things were going very well, but we heard after that meeting that the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov is considering leaving in the next few hours and then may come back here on tuesday. that tells me that he he he certainly thinks that there is not a deal right now ready to sign. as for the u.s., well, we caught up with the u.s. secretary of state john kerry after he had lunch at a restaurant on the lakeside here. >> secretary kerry, good afternoon. is it going well? is it going well, secretary kerry? >> we're working very hard, working hard. >> everyone is working very hard. just go back to sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister considering leaving. do you think that is a reality or is he kind of playing his

hand? >> well, it's difficult to say. remember, that although he is there with the p5 plus one with all these national players is he talking about leaving because he doesn't see anything coming anytime soon? is he he talking about leaving because that's what sometimes you do when you're in a high stakes negotiation? you threaten to walk away, or is there even some sort of problem between him and some of those that he's supposed to be on the same side of? one of the sticking points, we believe is u.n. sanctions and how they would be removed. we know the u.s. have this idea of a new u.n. security council resolution with what they say are and this is the phrase, snap back provisions, that you write this resolution, saying we're lifting the sanctions but you if iran was not going to comply automatically in this resolution, then the sanctions would come back. russia guards it's status as one

of the permanent members of the security council. it likes the security council with russia on it to decide at every stage whether there should be action. automatic action like that is something russia quite often we've seen at the security council isn't it favor of. >> all will become clearer at some point james. who knows win but for the time bring, thanks a lot. >> coming up in the news hour: the battle for tikrit, bombs and booby traps ham hampers the army trying to recapture tikrit from isil. >> we'll hear from australia's cricket captain as the country celebrates a fifth world title. >> voters in nigeria are awaiting the results of the

closely fought presidential election. there are allegations of some voting irregular hearts, although international observers have praised the poll. a former u.s. ambassador to nigeria and election observer says voting irregular hearts have not been widespread. >> i think from all accounts, including our own that we feel the elections have been credible and the process has been really fascinating to watch. i think the superheros of the election process here are certainly the nigeria voters. they definitely are the super heroes of the event. they showed resilience, and they really were eager to vote. they turned out to vote and so it was really quite impressive to see that kind of commitment to democracy from the nigeriaen people. clearly there have been reports of irregularity but not widespread.

there have been ice lated incidents that still have to be investigated and it would be up to the election commission to determine whether or not those reports of isolated incident incidences. we as observer are are not going to comment until they have been investigated. we have observed the voting process went fairly smoothly on a nationwide basis with some isolated areas of concern about the voter card readers in some places, but that was not pervasive enough and i think the view is that the elections did go forth quite fairly. >> an expert on nigeria and on boko haram in the united kingdom joins us. what is your assessment for how

things have gone so far? >> well, things have gone really really well in spite of the beginning and of course the few allegations of malpractices in some parts of the down theory. we have had a few deaths and a number of people shot in some parts of the country. in spite of all this, i think the whole process has been overwhelmingly a success so i hope the outcomes reflects something that we've seen in this election, a lot of people thought at the beginning that it's not going to be as smooth as this, and i hope leaders are pot parties the opposition and ruling parties would get their supporters to accept the outcome in good faith. >> that's the crucial thing. both sides did agree that they would accept the outcome but whether or not they do will remain to be seen. >> it remains to be seen, absolutely. particularly depending on what comes out at the outcome

because from the observation and of course from the body language of the voters, many of them believed they have spoken on saturday and they want to see that right field in the outcome. if in any way, they are denied that it could somehow affect the mood of the country and it could probably cause something that might affect the entire situation in the country but we he hope it will not degenerate to that point. >> we expect the results to start trickling in soon. this is the closest election since back in 1999. how tight do you think things are, is it possible in any way to calm it, having gauged turnout and so forth? >> well, from the outcome and the turnout, it is likely going to be a very close election. it's very difficult at this meeting to say who is actually going to come out victorious,

but what i will say really in spite of the fact that there are some few results released show the opposition leader to be leading. i would actually say that nigerians irrespective of the outcome are the winner in this election, because they have shown a lot of commitment to this process and many of them have been very, very patient. remember, when it was postponed when the election was postponed a few weeks back, they took it slightly and they are going on with the whole process until this moment, so i hope they will be patient up until the end as they have been. >> what do you think voters will be basing their decisions on, the problems in nigeria are many and various not least the on going violence with boko haram. >> yes definitely the violence, security has been a major issue in the campaign for this election, so most voters, most

have based their decision on that but also, there is corruption when nigeria has had a problem with corruption for a long time and the position leader has said unless they kill corruption, corruption will kill nigeria. a lot of people think it is high time we got out of this problem of corruption so i believe a lot of people base their decision on that. also, the economy which has been facing a spiral, and a lot of people feel he it is time they got the economy moving back to where it was in the 1980's. we hope a lot of people would base their decision on that, as well. most importantly, there is the performance of this in incumbent regime in the last five years which some people feel has not lived up to their expectation. it was expected to do things it was elected in 2011 and also before then when this president was sworn in in place of the

former president who died in 2010. so a lot of people thought the government hasn't lived up to expectation. some are willing to give him a second chance, it remains to be seen whether that will happen. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much for having me. >> it is nearly a week since the nigerian military detained two al jazeera journalists in the north. they've been held in their hotel. al jazeera is demanding their release. >> two car bombs have killed at least five people in the suburb of the iraqi capitol baghdad. they exploded near the entrance gape in the predominantly shia neighborhood. 13 others were wounded. >> elsewhere in iraq, security forces are leading an assault on a hospital in tikrit. they believe fighters from the

islamic state of iraq and the levant are hiding there. the government struggling to recapture the city which has gone in isil control. bombs and booby traps are making their fight even more difficult. >> another barrage hits targets belonging to the islamic state of iraq and the levant. government forces and militias closing in from the southern and western sides of tikrit, the hometown of sadaam hussein. the iraqi military backed by shia militias make a force to retake the city. 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 daish in tikrit will be today. >> the operation was launched march two but progress has been slow he. >> our advance is slow because of the i.e.d.'s and booby trapped roads. there is resistance from the enemy mainly set up to the booby troops on the roads hospitals

and government facilities. >> last week, the u.s. air force joined the operation with the precondition that shia militias rejoin. now many are back, reportedly incorporated into government security forces. taking credit for are when they push isil out of tikrit is important for iraq's military and the shia militias. >> it's not just tikrit we are talking about. we're talking about the future of iraq and the united states and its partners does not want to see it become dominated and controlled by the shias. >> the distrust isn't just between the u.s. and militias. there are occasions shia militias are carrying out how many rights abuses. this shows a charge being lit in a house in a area taken over by

fighters. the fighter says he's with the brigade. al jazeera cannot independently verify these image but human rights groups reported these tactics in sunni areas controlled by shia forces. iraqi army continues to say a win in tikrit is not far away. for people in a war fueled by sectarian hatred, peace remains a distant possibility. >> the syrian government has reportedly sent a top military commander to recapture a city. a coalition of rebel factions took control of the area after four days of fighting. it is the second provincial capitol to fall into opposition hands. the city is close to a major highway that lines damascus with aleppo. >> the united nations say syrian refugees need your gent aid with resources dwindling fast. this is likely to be addressed at the third national conference

being held tuesday. >> in 2014, the united nations appealed for $7.7 billion in aid to help civilians in syria. only 63% of the money pledged was donated. in a new report, the charity analyzed what country should be able to afford to donate. >> worst offenders include australia, japan, south korea and russia. this year, even more people need help. an estimated 18 million people require $7.8 billion. that would provide each person with only the absolute minimum. this is more than the equivalent of one u.s. dollar a day. so far only 10% of that amount has been pledged. countries in neighboring syria are overburdened with refugees, in lebanon jordan, turkey and iraq. >> it says only 2% of people have been offered any kind of permanent resettlement to places

like australia canada, germany and sweden and switzerland. >> poland, russia spain and the united kingdom needle to offer more openings. the charity also says gulf countries like saudi arabia, qatar and the u.a.e. could help by relaxing visa restrictions. >> israel's former prime minister is expected to appeal his conviction for bribery. he is due to be sentenced after jerusalem district court found him guilty of corruption in a retrial. we have the details now from west jerusalem. >> despite initially being acquitted in this case in 2012, being spared a $19,000 fine, and a suspended prison sentence, this case was revived after mr. olmert's former aid and secretary presented new evidence to the court as part of the 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 has now apparently received from that american businessman in the center of this case. this appears to have been enough to convince the court to convict mr. olmert, who has said we will appeal this latest ruling. in the background of all 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 ultimately decide his fate. >> two men arrested in bangladesh after a second blogger was hacked to death. the man was attacked with large knives and meat cleavers in dhaka. he was known to right against

religious fundamentalism p.m. this mirrors what that happened to an american atheist blogger last month. it provoked and international southoutcry and calls for justice. >> floods causing a crisis in kashmir. eight people were reportedly killed after a house collapsed due to severe flooding. hundreds of others have been evacuated from their homes as the river has risen to dangerous levels in senegal. buildings have also been destroyed in another area. >> what news of the weather conditions in can she mayor. any less certified? >> it's only turn temporary with the worse to come. the concentrations of bright clouds in northern pakistan, northern india in the kashmir

valley. >> that's rain caught, not coming out of the river. the valley is surrounded by high ground all of which drains into this river. that's fine, because you can cope with that. but if you're in outlying areas where it can be worse deeper, well, it's not so good. when this typical site in senegal, this was a flooded village where no help has been sent. the locals are helping themselves in people trapped in their homes. it's a very prone area. temporarily may get better as rains disappear overnight but it comes back to really. this is tuesday 28 degrees, but rain to islamabad to the north. snow, which is worst up in the mountains, of course. beyond that, it seems to get

worse. the progress species at the moment are really not so good at all. nick. >> all right rob thanks very much. difficult times there in kashmir at the moment. >> a group of grand mothers in the philippines proving to be bright sparks, as we report they trained as engineers and provide their village with solar powered energy. >> deep in the mountains in the northern philippines live the oldest tribe in the country. they've farmed and hunted in these lands for thousands of years with little change. now the tribe has a new hero. she doesn't know how 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 mountains, 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 by a special college to learn how to harness solar energy and build their own lamps and battery panels. >> we he couldn't understand each other, so we had to do everything through sign language. >> 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. >> still to come here. >> the hands aren't working the speech is going. >> sick patients who do not have time on their side demand a faster way to approve new drugs. >> what's made the tiny east trick ken country a major hub. >> we will have all the sports.

>> an air strike has hit a camp of internally displaced people in yemen. humanitarian workers say at least 15 people have been killed. >> voters in nigeria are waiting for the results. weekend said closely fought presidential election. there are allegations of some voting irregularities. the counting may be subject to deliberate political interference. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry has told us foreign ministers are working hard to reach a deal with iran on its nuclear future. it is the last full day of talks in switzerland before tuesday's deadline. >> the research director of the national iranian american council joins us from lausanne, following events there closely.

good to see you. as we were talking with our correspondent earlier diplomatic editor james bays earlier, when you get to this point in negotiations, it's always going to be tight, always going to be fraud. can you see the gaps being closed? >> i think they are working towards closing the gaps. it's far from easy to be able to accomplish that goal. the progress being made, i think is in fact tangible. the foreign minister arriving here in lausanne was designed to help get the last push needed to get across the finish line. oftentimes, it's the foreign ministers themselves that are empowered politically by their leaders to make those last final important decisions and do that last final important horse trading. we do have a way to go before march 31 at 11:59 p.m. >> the foreign ministers there

to give the last push. one foreign minister, sergey lavrov is threatening to leave. >> to be perfectly honest with you, i couldn't hear the question because a lot of cars just drove by. what i think i heard you say was a question about sergey lavrov arriving here. if that is in fact the question you asked he arrived he had no shortage of meetings and then he said he was getting on a plane to leave. i think there's two reasons this could be happening. one, he wants to light a fire under the iranians and his allies and the other is he's a busy man and has business to attend to. the most likely scenario is he will return tomorrow to finish what he started. >> there's only going to be a deal today on that basis if he he does in fact leave. sum up for us if you can clearly the main sticking points. is it about technical solutions as far as the west are concerned, iran is concerned

the easing of sanctions, is that right? >> yeah, i mean look, above all else there's two outstanding issues preventing the two sides from reaching the goal of signing on the dotted line. the two issues are u.n. security council sanctions and development of iran's nuclear programs. these are both gaps that can be closed. there's nor flexibility on both sides than they're willing to let on. that goes back to the idea of last little bit of horse trade that go needs to take place in order to get a deal done. it's usually like a poker game where nobody wants to show their best hand until the end. if you don't then the game ends and you're holding on to chips for no reason whatsoever. that's one of the reasons i'm cautiously optimistic. >> what if everybody is still holding their chips as the minute deadline on march 31

ticks by? what happens then. >> again i'm having a little bit of problems hearing you. i didn't quieted catch the question. the only other thing i can empyesis is that the political leaders that have been giving their foreign ministers directives from each of the capitals tehran, washington and every capitol in between have been empowered to make the final decisions. what it's come down to is the ability to absorb and compromise and political leaders demonstrating a willingness to take risks for peace. everything we hear from now and whether or not they decide to sign on the dotted line is spin and posturing. >> appreciate your perspective. no doubt we'll speak again in the coming hours or even days. thanks very much indeed. >> let's return to the election in nigeria. the vote counts beginning to trickle in any moment now. let's speak to our correspondent there, like this with the

latest. some records, there seems to be conflicting reports. what do we know? >> that's why there's ban statement released by the u.s. and u.k. government saying there may have been some political interference in the conduct of these election, but no evidence of systematic manipulation. that contradicts slightly some reports and information we've been getting from international election observers who have been in nigeria in large numbers. the european union the african union and economic community of west african state released preliminary findings on how the poll went, saying that broadly speaking, things went relatively well, people came out in large numbers, the election was relatively peaceful, despite some of the technical hitches with the card readers that were intros died to make sure there wasn't fraudulent voting and the late arrival of electoral

materials. we know speaking to the international electoral commission that of the 150,000 polling stations, only around 350 of them were affected, so a relatively small number. it's not exactly clear the basis of what the u.k. and u.s. government are saying, but the elections generally speaking, the process itself is, i think it's fair to say given a clean bill of health by quite a number of international organizations who have been here. >> all right so counting underway. when can we expect results? >> well, i think we're in for a very long night nick. just behind me, the chairman of the independent national electoral commission is at a podium with other senior officials from the body and they've been explain got to public live on state t.v. and to hundreds of journalists gathered here a 19 step process in which every single state in nigeria

would have to announce the number of registered voters, the number who showed up to vote and the results. there are up to 14 parties and presidential candidates contesting this poll. it could take quite some time. some 150,000 polling stations, and it's believed up to 60 million people may have turned out in this poll. my sense from having covered this election before is that the announcement could come very lately at night. usually we do see that happening in places like nigeria because if there is a reaction, if people are upset about the result generally speaking, the authorities like to make these announcements late at night to reduce the possibility and the prospect of people becoming violent for example or tension created because of the result. president goodluck jonathan has been speaking to the need media called on nigerians to remain calm wait for the full process that be carried out and so has the main opposition candidate

muhammedu buhari. >> at least 20 people have been killed in the south of sudan saturday. an attack was carried out by the sudan people's liberation army. the sudanese army said the rebel group destroyed houses and stores in the area. the government has been fighting a brutal war with the group who control much of that territory. >> tiny east african country is battling with new investments from multi-knoll companies but getting a boost from military spending. it sits a few com terse from yemen's coast and home to the largest adjustment military base in africa. we have this report. >> this is the port city of djibouti hundreds of millions of dollars of overseas investment are pouring in, promising to turn this city into a bustling commercial hub.

>> booty sits in a vital maritime corridor providing access to the red sea. with only 30 kilometers across at its narrowest point the straight separates. >> baddie from yemen. it is transform that itself into a shipping hub. >> what we want to achieve is a port in djibouti to create more jobs, and our models in singapore, hong kong. >> here chinese workers build a fourth port for. djibouti. it attracted the attention of powerful nations providing another sense of revenue. it is home to a number of bases for foreign troops, including the biggest u.s. base in africa. this military coalition is a staging ground for anti

terrorism. >> this is the u.s. base with american forces given the opportunity to strike al-qaeda and allies in yemen and somalia. it is used to train forces and for cutting out its warfare. over the years a number of other countries germany japan and spain have followed the u.s. and french example and set up bases in djibouti, too. >> the foreign forces --le millions of dollars injected into the local economy through their spending. most importantly, there is the issue of job creation. actually over 1,000 jobs have been created by the presence of these military forces, a key issue in a country where unemployment is a major problem. >> for now djibouti, a military hub continues to reap the benefits of its strategic

location. >> in france, the party led by the former president former president sarkozy did better than expected. >> as she voted sunday morning she hoped this would be a breakthrough election for the national front and that it would finally gain control of local councils. but projected results suggested a big disappointment for her. while her party will have gained more counselors, it might struggle to control even one council. she tries to put a brave face on it. >> the historical fact this evening is the establishment of the national front is a powerful force. this exceptional victory is a good sign for the future. the socialist party is disappearing, while the national front has shown exceptional results. >> the clear winner of these elections was the right wing

u.n.p. led by former president sarkozy. it is projected to win almost two thirds of france's councils. that might help is faltering campaign to become the next presidential canned doubt. >> with their vote, the french people rejected massively the politics of francois hollande's government. >> the socialists of president francois hollande have been punished by voters, frustrated with the staggering economy and high unemployment. the results suggest they have lost up to 30 councils to the u.n.p. before these elections, polling suggested the french people were turning towards the national front in greater numbers. increasingly attracted to its anti immigration anti europe nationalism. these projected results show that while the party is gaining

grassroots popularity, particularly in some regions it doesn't yet have the critical mass to break through. that will reassure those looking ahead to the 2017 presidential election in which marine la pen will run as a candidate. >> on to bolivia the ruling party suffered a setback in local elections. the president lost may orual elections in lapasse and santa cruz. they are expected to make things much for difficult for the president. >> terminally ill patients are pressuring the u.s. government to speed up the way new drugs of approved, saying they are dying while waiting for life saving drugs because the testing process can take years. from washington: >> 10 months ago jay smith was at the height of his career as the c.e.o. of a technology

company when he was diagnosed with a.l.s. there's no cure and smith's disease is progressing. >> in this career, we started with minor fatigue. a year later we're in a wheelchair. the hands aren't working the speech is going. >> the smiths have joined dozens of other a.l.a. patients to lobby the u.s. food and drug administration, the body that regulates pharmaceuticals. they want faster approval of a developmental drug called gm604 they hope can save jay's live and others. they want the f.d.a. approval process reformed so patients with fatal illnesses can access developmental drugs before their approved. >> we are telling the f.d.a. today that the status quo is not good enough. they need to do everything in their power to speed the search for a cure. >> the f.d.a. approval process

can take more than a decade. the average a.l.s. patient lives three years from diagnosis so movements have been formed in the u.s. fighting government for the right to try experimental medications. >> the right to try movement is pushing for legislation that would dramatically alter the way medicines regulated in the united states, allowing for life saving developmental drugs to be fast tracked for the patients who need it. >> 10 states have already granted terminally ill patients access to developmental medicines without approval. 25 others are considering similar laws already in place in other countries. >> in europe, drugs tend to get approved earlier. in this country, they could be for serious life threatening illnesses, because it would save lives. it's doable. >> u.s. ebola patients are allowed to receive experimental

medicines. the smiths say they simply want the same opportunity. >> that's really what we're fighting for. if i have to wait, i won't be around. >> they say they're already in the fight of their lives and they don't want to fight their government too. al jazeera washington. >> still ahead on the news hour: >> i'm daniel lack in canada's yukon territory. some are living off the grid, no running water no electricity and unique ways of keeping winter's cold at bay. >> in sports, big names knocked out in the third round. who's heading on.

>> could you live without your t.v. smart phone or running water? some pool in canada's yukon territory shunned modern living to get back to babes. daniel lack went to meet people choosing to live off the grid. >> along the rocky shore of a now frozen yukon river a man's home for 18 years now. they call him care man bill. 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 fire wood gathered a few steps away. spartan, yes but it's a way of life he cherishes. >> just relaxing lifestyle.

i know so many people put themselves into an early grave chasing something that they never achieve. you know, they do it in such a manager that they never will achieve it, you know, it's not for me. >> i actually had to use 117-bales. >> singer kent eastmore drove to dawson city in his van. now he lives in it. inside it's cramped but comfortable enough to live and run his web design business. >> i kept stacking and stacking until i got to the top and luckily, everything panned out the right height. i was able to stack across the top. it's hard to buy land up here. that takes time. 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 it's all about her dogs. dawson city doesn't allow more than two dogs as pets. gabby has nine that she uses to run a dog sled. she lives in a small cabin built of spruce logs from the forest and melts snow to get water for the thirsty mouths outside. it's about independence. >> in a bigger city, everything's taken care of few you and you got a little lost. it's neat to know if you want heat it's you that makes the heat. it gives you a sense of accomplishment, because you're doing things for yourself and you're self sufficient. i kind of like that feeling. >> being off the grid isn't for everyone though it clearly suits cut eastbound and others. he he and his dog plan to move to a log cabin further in the forest in search of a sense of

freedom harder and harder to find in a world growing more urban than ever. >> you'd have to be keen, i think. here i see sport. >> australia cricket player with former teammate phil hughes, who died after a short pitch delivery in a game last year. clark and the rest of the team have been celebrating the country's five world cup. they beat fellow cohost new zealand by seven wickets. a record crowd of more than 93,000 fans attended. >> the fact that there was a lot of expectation and added pressure put on us being a word home cup was something we embraced from the first bowl of the tournament. the boys should be proud of what we achieved. we had tremendous support and all the guys said throughout every game in the tournament, we felt like we have been at home and it's made such a big difference. >> a pretty strong start for the

year for australia sports. andrew thomas is in sydney. >> the papers are full of the victory. here's monday's australia calling the final match a dream sequence demolition job of new zealand. this paper calls it a fairytale. it's only march but a good year for australia sports. word cricket champions and also the football chance of asia after victory in the asian cup also on home turf in january. compare that to the sense of national dismay after the miserable medal tally in the 2012 olympics. it's all very different now for a country that takes its sport very seriously. >> there's a world cup that set new standards for the one world gain. 64 balls it took him.

hitting a record four consecutive centuries with 22 max mums. he had the best bowling season again, taking 7-33 against a pretty dismal england team. >> the egyptian football league resumed after a seven week hiatus. games were halted after fans died during clashes with police. people were crushed at a stampede in february after police fired tear gas at a stadium in cairo. games are now going ahead without fans in attendance. it's the third time in four seasons the league have been suspended. >> 14 time grand slam champion nadal knocked out in the third round of the miami masters. the second seed beaten here by fellow spaniard in three sets. it is his second straight

defeat. nadal has never won this tournament at 11 attempts. he he now takes on monaco. >> it's one of the biggest victories you can have in tennis. of course it's a huge victory and it's always really nice to feel, you know, in a back stadium or back stadium in a very important tournament like this one playing against one of the best players in history. you know, at the end you just try to enjoy the moment. >> nadal not the only big name to fumble sunday. also out losing here to the frenchman 7-6 7-6. >> murray through to round four, just one win away from 500

victories on the tour. >> serena williams one step closer to an eighth title in miami, needing just 41 minutes to beat 15-year-old american. she was less than six months old when serena williams won her first championship. >> the thunder with 20 points down at the phoenix suns at half time recovered thanks to 33 points from russell westbrook. oklahoma city's 109-97 victory keeping them in the eighth and final playoff spot in the western conference. >> jim why walker has become the first golfer to win events on the p.g.a. tour at the texas open. walker lives just a few minutes down the road from the course in san antonio. the 35-year-old finishing four shots ahead of his ryder cup

teammate. >> there's no doubt the punting circle back to where it was and started making jordan, holy cow night mayors about that guy. >> fernando torres return trip to liverpool could having either way. he he got a pretty good welcome here on the field for a charity game. he left the club at the peak of his career to join chelsea. >> when you feel you are marching downfield enjoying the home team, a bit different when you are on the away team and today was a day i will never forget for sure. it was so much hard to play a game with my teammates. >> plenty more, but that is it for now. >> that is it for this news hour. back with another half hour of news in just a couple of

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>> heavy fighting between houthi rebels and tribesmen across yemen after the fifth night of saudi-led airstrikes. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up on the program. >> we're working very hard. working hard. world powers try to reach a deal on iran's nuclear program. nigeria waits to see who will be the next president