♪ ♪ this is al jazeera. hello. welcome to another newshour frommays headquarters in doha. in the next sixty minutes, the war in yemen sees heavy fighting in aden as houthi fighters are reportedly pushed back. both sides of the iran nuclear deal go home and try to sell the plan. kenya air lifts some of the critically wounded to niarobi after some of the deadliest attacks in the country's history. thousands of fishermen

forced to work for nothing on a remote indonesian island. ♪ so we begin this newshour in yemen where the saudi-led coalition is bombarding houthi targets. saudi television says houthi fighters have withdrawn from an important hill-top complex after airstrikes overnight. aden is a strat automobilingcally important port city in the south. there has been a defendant tense fighting there between houthi rebels loyal to the former president and fighters who back the government of the mansuharti. they are being supplied with weapons and equipment and air drops being carried out by the saudi air force. meanwhile, in expansion of the united states' role in the, the pentagon has agreed to give aerial refueling support to awed e and fighter jets. turkey says it is willing to

provide logistical support to the mission. and china says it has helped 225 people from 10 countries to leave yemen. that's the first time beijing has evacuated foreign nationals from an international crisis. yemen's foreign minister called for the establishment of safely areas in aden to get humanitarian assistance to people in need. he says the houthis have declared war on all yemenis. >> there is no political negotiation between president hadi and the houthis. iran is talking somewhere else. the houthis have declared war on all yemenis. i believe the do. of the events shows how dangerous it is to involve them in any political dialogue on the future of yemen. >> let's take a moment to remind you of events over the past week in yemen. the saudi-led airstrikes began over a week ago march 26th. on monday the saudis imposed a

naval blockade on yemen's ports to prevent the houthis from rearming an airstrike that same day on a displaced person's camp in northern yemen killed at least 29 people more than 12 of them were children. on thursday houthi fighters took over president hadi's palace in aden. as we understand the houthis have retreated from that palace after more saudi-led airstrikes overnight. hakim businessmari is in charge of the yemen post. he says the airstrikes could create resentment from saudi arabia in yemen. >> right now i don't sit together and put this on the table, no side whoever it is who is involved can stop this war in yemen. yemenis are worried right now because last week when this first started, it was only in sanaa. now, it spread throughout the proof ince of the country, the majority of the provinces.

in the first four days, only 42 civilians were killed. in the next four days until today, 124 civilians were killed. so this is gradually going in the way of saudi arabia because of the increasing death toll especially toward civilians. let's get another view now. joining me in the studio is mohammed kubati an advisor to the past three yemeni prime ministers. do you agree with what you heard, this coalition that called saudi arabia has put together will create resentment? >> on the contrary people in aden have been asking for this because if you get these rebels houthi and the former dictateor deposed sergeant ali abdula. >> the saudi and arab intervention is welcomed across yemen apart from houthis and

those people who have been ruling yemen over 1,000 years, a very small constituency which does not represent 10%. >> i wanted to pin you down on the numbers. the houthis are a minority based in the north of yemen. what support do they have among the yemeni population? >> it's obvious that the yemen was going to be in the new constitution agreed there would be six regions. the houthi only have consistency in the northern highlanders in the north where even the zadis are against them. these people are trying to, to side with the former dictator to bring ball the rule of the former royalists who were at one time were sided by the saudis but find themselves against the saudis. >> aden looked different to the rest of yemen. what do you make of the fact that the houthis were able to get there despite a week of

saudi coalition airstrikes? >> as i said on the previous bullet these people never actually infiltrated in the south. they were there all the time. the security forces were mostly manned by people from these areas from two districts of two governments. so actually they were there in aden. at one time, they raised the white flags. now they changed the positions. they are going to be as we said now, finding themselves but the dangerous thing, going in to the civilian quarters of aden, especially where they are trying to, you know hide behind civilians, which is causing a lot of trouble for the civilians and a lot of fatalities happening now in aden. i think we need more precise, you know you need hits with surgical precision. i think the americans have been a little bit, to some extent saying that this is not very

much precise. that's why we say you might need forces on the ground to coordinate the efforts of the people who are now manning real resistance of aden. aden is the stalingrad of the peninsula. >> do you think it will come to a ground operation? here we have had a week of of -- you said it's not precise. from the press briefings we have seen, it looks pretty precise to me these airstrikes. do you think it's going to come to some sort of ground operation before this the houthis are driven back? >> the position is when it's not related to inside. when you hit inside cities and that's why you need some sort of coordinated effort of people who are on the ground correlating the efforts of the command and the control area center with people on the ground resistance. so, if people if we have got ground foot on the ground it should be people who are coordinating not actually in the fight, itself. might create some special forces, say 100, 200, 300 who

are coordinating the efforts of the resistance which is happening all across aden now. actually people, you know, are carrying rivals and fighting by themselves. these people are going to lose for sure. now, they are cornered. they won't be able to pull out. and the need for just to avoid much more, you know casualties among the civilians, foot on the ground might be needed. >> good to talk to you. >> thank you. >> mohammed kabasi. u.s. president barack obama says a deal on iran's nuclear program will make the world a safer place. world powers in tehran have agreed to a framework agreement in schwitzer land. all of iran's nuclear facilities will be subject to regular inspections. the number of sent triv ujs will be reduced by two-thirds. the nuclear facility at iraq will be redesigned so that it can no longer produce weapons weapons-grade blue tone yam. sanctions will be lifted in phases, but it's not binding.

these can be brought back if iran doesn't comply with the terms of the deal. this agreement is a first step. the aim now is to come up with a comprehensive nuclear plan by the end of june. iran's foreign minister has said that the deal is a win-win for all sides. mohammed sarif is now back in tehran. he arrived to be met by celebrating crowds while the u.s. president barack obama said the agreement restricting iran's nuclear deal is going to make the world safer. >> i hope that at the end of this process, we will all show that through dialogue and engagement with dignity, we can, in fact resolve problems open new horizons and move forward. >> the international community has agreed to provide ran with relief from certain sanctions. our sanctions and sanctions imposed by the united nations security council. this will be phased as iran

takes step to refer to deal. iftran violates the deal. sanctions can be snapped back into place. president obama has to convince appear congress. >> obama was supposed to be talking about the economy in kentucky. he delayed his trip for hours wanting to make sure the american people heard his perspective on the nuclear deal first. >> i am convinced that if this framework leads to a final comprehensive deal it will make our country, our allies and our world safer. >> he believes he can make the deal on his own, many in congress disagree. republican senator bob corker says he is going to bring up a bill to force the president to get their approval in two weeks writing, rather than bypass congress and head straight to the u.n. security council as planned, the administration should seek the input of the american people. there is growing bi-partisan support for the nuclear deal and

i am confident of a strong vote. right now it's not at all clear that the president has enough support from members of his own party that they will be able to override vet 0 in congress. what he is doing is making the case to the american public arguing that if congress kills this deal the only other option is war. >> if congress kills this deal not based upon expert analysis and without offering any reasonable alternative, then it's the united states that will be blamed for the failure of diplomaacy. international unity will collapse and the path to conflict will widen. >> those in favor of the deal point out the president has public opinion on his side. >> i think a lot of the polling suggests americans support the talks. they are not necessarily confident that a deal is going to be effective. >> the president expressed the same cynicism but argues he needs to give diplomacy a chance. it's not yet clear if the u.s. congress will let him. patty colhane, al jazeera, washington. >> kenya says that it won't be

intimidated after al shabaab attacked a university killing 147 people. gunmen from the somali based armed group astacked a university in the northeast of the country. many students were wounded. the government has imposed a curfew in the region. al jazeera's malcolm web is with us live from garisa. what's happening there now malcolm? >> reporter: we are just outside the gate of the university college. a few vehicles coming in and out. we have seen soldiers going in pick-ups full of soldiers. with them some of the families of some of the people who were killed. we understand people are looking for those who are missing, trying to identify some of the bodies. we have been told, i think, almost all if not all of the bodies are now -- or most of them have been removed. we have also been told that most of them have been flown to the capitol, nairobi. and from there they will be tan

taken to the parts of the country where they are from. this is the place where it all started, though. this gate where yesterday morning just before sunrise, the stackers killed two armed guards and then they moved in to the university compound and set off some explosives and attacked the residential blocks where a lot of students at the time were praying or sleeping and then the siege lasted the whole day. it went on for hours and hours, during which well over 100 were killed. the government is saying 147. other people are saying that number might be higher. many did manage to escape. we understand in the final fire fight, there were very few escapees at that stage. most of those remaining hostages didn't survive. >> the president says he is going to crack down on this sort of violence. how difficult a task will that be? >> well, it's certainly not an easy area to control. this part of northeastern kenya shares a long and porous border

with somalia. populations not very deposition. big expanses of dry land and savannahs. ever since the kenyan army went in somalia in 2011, it seems that al shabaab have launched a number of attacks in kenya. they say the yenia army should leave. they are free to move around. some people here, though have told us reliable sources, the government was specifically warned about the threat to this university and to teachers training college. it's also here in garisa they said their vulnerable establishment, a large number of people living together in a fairly unsecure location and people from all different parts of the country which is, i guess, for al shabaab, that's something that they look for in some of their attacks. they look for people who are not of their ethnicity but of other ethnicity. sometimes they separated muslims and christians. we understand there are a lot of christians from other parts of

the country studying here we told the government was warned and said they should increase security. >> didn't happen. the university proves to be a vulnerable target indeed. >> malcolm web live in garisa. still to come here on the newshour, china's former security chief becomes the latest man targeted by the president's crackdown on corruption. and a roadtrip with a difference. how a car made it across the u.s. without a human driver. and later in sports the final line-up for the miami open has been confirmed. robin will have the details in a little over 30 minutes. ♪ at least five people have been killed in an explosion in northeastern nigeria. it happened outside of a bus station. a representative from the drivers' union said the blast was caused by an explosive device left beside a bus.

at least 15 other people were injured. the winner of nigeria's presidential election is said that boko haram is the country's biggest problem. many hope the army general's background will help defeat the group. >> reporter: whether president elect buhari gave his victory acceptance speech on wednesday, he reiterated one of his top election campaign pledges: to eliminate boko haram and tackle insecurity. >> boko haram will know the extent of electing me. >> reporter: on the same day, chad's army said its forces had killed hundreds of boko haram fighters. it was a reminder to the incoming president that the group may still be a problem. he like a should know.

he was a former soldier on the front line fighting boko haram in december last year. he says the military did not provide soldiers with weapons. the military say he disobeyed orders and failed to perform his military duties. >> i think those are the instruments. those are the weapons that the militaries are using. it will be here. >> there are other problems buhari will have to tackle. hundreds of soldiers have been sacked. more than 50 are facing charges for mutiny when fighting boko haram and at least a dozen senior soldiers are facing corruption charges. many think buhari's background as an army general will help. many worry he might not be the right man for the?

>> while he was in office it was a repressive regime. we are concerned that in dealing with the boko haram insurgency this threat that it represents the tendency to want to use the same iron-handedness that existed at that time to deal with this insurgency we believe it will be counterproductive. >> buhari says he will stop by taking stock and understand why some things are not working before revealing his plan. meanwhile, nigerians in affected areas wait for greater safety. abuja, nigeria. al jazeera has taken legal action to declare the detention by the nigerian military as illegal and unconstitutional. they were imbedded when with the military when they were arrested for reporting on boko haram. they have been held in a hotel

in maduguri since last tuesday. joining us from paris, head of the africa desk of reporters without borders. all of the paperwork was in order and they were detained. >> it proves to show the great level of distrust that the army and the regime of nigeria after the recent elections have shown towards journalists. those two journalists were, of course arrested. we have seen before the elections, a great reluctance of the authorities and the journalits work under difficult conditions beaten and prevented from covering stories. >> both our staff, of course are nigerian citizens. you say this is by no means unique this case. nigerian journalists have faced

this sort of thing before. >> reporter: >> yes. all the more when they are trying to report on issues related to security which seem to be a very sensitive subject. journalists prevented from covering trials of boko haram members. they have been as you said arrested. generally from al jazeera arrested when they were covering military operations and the army has issued an official washing against journalists going in the northern part of the country and trying to cover military operations against boko haram. so this is the case of nigeria. of course the case in other countries where you see that security occupations have had a chilling effect on the journalists'ability to cover conflict and to cover, yeah, wars and different types of conflict throughout the continent. >> since the detention began, of course a new president has taken. does that give you any cause for optimism? do you think that the situation in china will change under a --

in nigeria? i'm sorry. will change under a new leader? >> well i can't speak to the whole situation of the country. of course i am sure that the president will want to devote some actions to identify himself in comparison to the regime the previous regime. but we do of course call on the new president elect to of course, to release the two access journalists and more broadly to provide better working conditions for journalists, through training and security forces all levels that they are aware of rights with the journalists with their work. it is the job of journalists to go where fights andents are happening. it is the crucial point, crux in a functioning democracy. we hope the new president will be able to support in the. >> good to talk to you.

many thinks. head of the africa desk of reporters without borders. >> thank you. china has laid charges against its former security chief, accused of bribery, abuse of power and of leaking state secrets. he is the most high ranking communist official to be prosecuted in 35 years. our china correspondent, adrienne brown reports. >> on state kel vision a keenly anticipated announcement confirmation that a once feared and powerful politician will take power. >> he controlled the security agency and had files on anyone that mattered. before his retirement he had also been a defendant member of the polit bureau the country's top decision-making body. a position that in theory made him untouchable. analysts say joe's mistake was to try to undermine chi ji ping before he became president two

and a half years ago. >> it is a political power struggle. the government is using criminal charges to get rid of him. >> when jo does finally make an appearance it will be in a court in tinjin possibly in a few weeks' time. it's a scene that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago since never before has such a high-ranking government official been treated this way. joe's public disgrace follows the downfall of bo chi bo chi li another high profile politician now serving a life sentence for corruption. the charges against joe are much more serious as they include leaking state secrets. >> i think many people want him to die. this depends upon a political need or if joe will cooperate with the government during the trial? >> it's unclear whether his abrupt demise will mark the demise of an anti-corruption

campaign or whether more powerful figures could be next. so far, that campaign has ensnared more than 100,000 communist party officials as well as senior generals in the people's liberation army. the president's warned he will continue going after tigers and flies, referring to low and high ranking officials and they don't get much higher than joe yung yung kin. >> live from beijing, adrienne what are people there making of this? >> reporter: i think people rather enjoy the site of a powerful leader about to be paraded before the courts. why is it just he? why not another government official. this anti-corruption campaign has, you know, brought many big skulls, the former powerful party chief. but joe's problems began before

pign became president in 2012. he disappeared from view for several weeks. >> we think, is when really president joe kin, i'm sorry, was making his moves against the president. it goes back to that key period in november, 2012. also october 2012, when he and other allies of his started to maneuver against the president and the reforms that they knew he wanted to introduce. >> surely some of the things he is accused of abuse of power, bribery, they go with the job, don't they? considering the job that he had? >> well, yes. this was a man who was in charge of state secrets who is now accused of leaking state secrets. it's as if, you know the shed of the f.b.i. was being put on trial by the president of the united states.

it is that big. anyone who thought chinese politics was dull think again. this makes t.v. series like the house of cards seem dull and tame in comparison. and this trial, when it happens, will be the biggest trial of its kind really since, you know, the gang of four went on trial in 1980. it really is on that scale. china has seen nothing quite like this. adrienne, good to talk to you. adrienne brown live in beijing. >> time now for some weather. everton is here with a big blob heading toward the philippines on his weather map. >> it's a big blob at the moment. it's a discipline issuing blob. i think we have decent news for people in the philippines. you can see the maven cloud swelling. a couple of days ago, this had a clearly defined eye to the storm. as you can see, no such feature at the moment. it will continue making its way

further west ward. winds in the process of falling away expected to go across lusanne. dashing to around 110 kilometers. it is weakening, guchting 155. it will push its way toward highland. ahead of that weather shouldn't be too much of a problem. there will be very heavy rain as we go on through saturday. bands starting to lash central parts of the philippines. the rain should stay offshore for a good part of the day. later, we will see it making its way across lusanne with heavy rain coming through. we are going to see the possibility of some localized flooding. this is the built-up area across across. much of the area can koechlt there will be possibility of flooding. we have had recent flooding alongs india. kashme. re.

better news here as well. the showers along with rain is further southwest. brighter skies across the northern parts of the region. >> everton, many thanks. i hope you enjoyed my weather terminology, "the big blob." still to come here on the newshour. >> i am tim friend in what's been described as the most desperate town in poland where the best prospect for many is the road out of town. >> throw-away bottles become trendsetting fashion. we meet the garnier & company that turns castouts into the in thing. later in sport, how this teenager golfer had another extraordinary achievement. details in around 20 minutes.

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aye a win-win for all sides. hard liners say it was a bargain for the west and a disaster for iran. u.s. president barack obama says the deal will make the world safer. the u.n. wants swift justice for

those behind an al shack obvious attack t the president has vowed to crack down on terrorism in the country. ranch iran and the u.s. have had an infamous relationship. as mike hanna reports, all are aware of the role that iran could play in restoring peace to this troubled region. underlying the on ongoing nuclear talks is knowledge of what has shifted through the deck aids. in iranian eyes the u.s. has been treasurered friend and i am plaquable enemy. imblaccable enemy. it was the u.s. with britain that engineered the coup in 1953

that removed an elected prime minister and brought the authoritarian shah in to power. >> sowed seeds of dissent that culminated in 1989 and brought the ayatollah into power. american hostages held for 444 days. the failed rescue attempt playing a major role in the downfall of the jimmy carter. a subsequent scandal tainted the administration of his success successor, ronald reagan. u.s. investigators unearthing a plan of selling arms. >> the relationship deteriorated further as the u.s. threw its support behind saddam hussein in the war against iran bolstering iraq with apply of weapons. a u.s. shut down an airliner.

nearly 300 people were killed. not even three years later, offers of help from the iranian leadership repeated after the 9-11 attacks in 2001. when iran rounded tup hundreds of al-qaeda supporters and provided important intelligence in the campaign to destroy the talibantable in afghanistan. these moves were repudiated by george w. bush. he accused them of being behind the 9-11 conspiracy. >> states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil. >> there were no signs of tension easing in the eight years that the president mahmoud ahmadinejad was in power. the man who put a career or anti-american rhetoric saying the u.s., itself was behind the

9-11 attacks. >> then in 2013, hassan rhouhani came to power and the thaw in relations began when for the first time in more than 30 years, the leaders of the u.s. and iran spoke directly to each other. >> the very fact that this was the first communications between an american and iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries. but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history. >> reporter: if iran and the u.s. remain on opinionposite sides in the two current conflicts that demand world attention, tehran supporting assad and backing the houthi rebels that threaten to seize pour in all of yemen. on one hand, evidence of iranian threat but a reminder, also to the u.s. and others of the critical roll friendly iran could play in restoring harmony in the middle east and beyond.

mike hanna, al jazeera. >> pasi at london university joins us from malmo sweeden by skype. thanks for being with us. iran's foreign minister says that this deal is a win-win. he has returned home to a hero's welcome, but is it a good deal for iran which has already spent a lot of money on its nuclear program? >> well i think this is a good deal for both the p 5 plus 1 and iran because both will be able to go away with some of their basic demands met. iran will have a nuclear enrichment pedestrian and the p 5 plus 1 will be able to assure the world that iran has no capability of building a nuclear weapon in the time frame that may would not allow the rest of the world to react. president obama is going to have a tough time persuading congress that this is a good deal. what about back home inroon? will hard liners try to scuttle it before the june 30th

deadline? >> the hardliners in the iran and the u.s. anditsis have been trying to derail this from the beginning. this time this frame worst-case scenario political framework exists, the onus is on them to give us anything that looks like a viable a lot ten tive to the negotiation process. >> you were listening to our report just a few moments ago. what about the politics of the region now? is iran coming back in from the cold? >> yes. i mean obviously, there have been good reasons for iran to come in from the cold long before this particularly negotiation process started but the fact that this is now moving towards something that looks like a proper solution means that other issues that have been pressing for quite some time can be brought forth to the table without being overshadowed by the nuclear issue. >> the elections forthcoming in iran does this mean that the hard liners will be sidelined? it's mod rats like rhouhani and

his foreign minister? >> it depends. the parliamentary elections next year will be a new battlefield for these two groups to fight on on. it depends upon how much of a dividend from the negotiation process that the rhouhani administration will be able to gain before the e less and whether they can sell it as their own victory. >> one final question: of course this interim deal we've got at the moment is not binding. so you say it's a good deal for both sides. we heard what your thoughts on why it's a good deal for iran. what about for the west? what does the west get out of it? >> well we will be curtailing the iranian nuclear program putting caps on how much enriched uranian they will how much will be spinning at any point in time. >> this deal is not binding? is it? >> not at the moment. but this is a political framework. for the next three months, they will hash out the deals of how to sequence each is step.

by the end of that process, if it is successfully concluded on the june 30th, there will be a binding agreement signed by all parties and that they have to live by it for probably the next 10 or 15 years. >> good to talk to you. so many thanks indeed. professor parsi there. >> thank you. >> professor of human rights studies at lund university. indonesia announced hundreds of foreign fisherman forced to catch seefood with little or no pay will be allowed to go home. it was found they were being held against their will on the island of benjina. some were kept in stages. >> reporter: huge excitement here in the far east of indonesia. it seems by the indianesian government has announced to all of these people from myanmar and cambodia and laos can go home. the team said after they have been speaking to all of these people they know they are not

safe here anymore. the stories they have been telling are horrific. they are talking about abuse, about very bad labor conditions. they have been working on ships for many hours and days without hardly any rest hardly any food and even worse, hardly any pay. there was no salary. they just got some handouts. now, they are really really excited to go home. you can see here it is all what they have been gathering. when they heard they were going to home immediately they went to the boat and this is what they took from the boat. this is what they have been living off for the last few years. some of them have been here for 10 years, for five years. they have been wanting to go home for all that time. because when they were sent to indonesia, they had no idea they were going to work here. they were applying for jobs in myanmar, that the they were going to thailand. they contacted an agent. before they knew it, they were sent to the fishery company in indonesia and the government says after speaking to them it was clear that they were used as

slaves forced labor. so this group is here from cambodia and they also are going to go home. people from myanmar, cambodia laos seen from the international organization of migration estimate around 4,000 of them are in this whole region in the east of on indianonesiaindonesia. in the company, there are a few hundred. the government is going to take as many as they can to another port closer and then they will hand them over to the government of myanmar cambodia and all of the countries they are come from. >> greece says it will be able to make a crucial payment of $489 million to the imf on time. the deadline for the installment is wednesday. the announcement follows a recent warning from the government that it was weeks away from running out of cash ruling a series of parties says the government is still determined to keep public services running and to cover

payments for salaries and social security on april 14th. the population of some polish cities are reducing at an alarming rate. the world bank says it's having a devastating impact on eastern europe. al jazeera tim friend reports now from one of those places the polish town of bitom. >> it's an emotional scene that's played out daily at the bus station. another young worker is leaving town. one of the thousands who have said goodbye. the town has shrunk by 50,000 people over the last 20 years. in tears, 23-year-old samantha is on her way to london and a job in a hotel. >> sad to leave your friends? >> yes. i leave my friends. terrible for me. >> it's very hard? >> we cry maybe.

>> quite tough. >> yes. >> some of samantha's friends say they plan to follow her soon. >> as samantha sets off for london she is among thousands of young polish people who are flooding out of the country. the politicians don't seem to be able to do anything to stop the flow. >> as a result the birth rate is plummeting. the children's playgrounds are often empty. a short distance away is another reason why bitam is slowly dying. there used to be six coal mines. now just one to compete against far eastern competition. locals scavenge for scraps of coal. the settlement are in disrepair. church congregations like the town are aging. more people are dying here than are being born. so who will care for the

elderly? this family is typical. the daughter now lives in germany with her husband. they are only back for a short visit. >> it's becoming the town of pensioners. the young kids are leaving. the european union has just announced a massive aid package for the region of more than $100 million. the hope is to attract more high high-tech industry. if that fails, bitam could lose another 60,000 people in the coming decades. >> the situation is very difficult. all we can do is to slow down the negative trends but we cannot stop them. >> in the meantime there will be more goodbyes at the bus station and more pols con contributing to other countries' economies but not their own. tim friend al jazeera, bitam, poland. >> the u.s. state of california is entering its fourth

consecutive year of drought. now, the governor there is imposing major water restrictions to try to get residents to cut back. rob reynolds reports. >> reporter: california's lush green parks, playgrounds, lawns and golf courses could soon be rendered in a dusty shade of brown as this state enters its fourth year of drought. many of california's citizenship are facing unprecedented restrictions on the water utes. the state's governor has called for a 25% decrease in water consumption, all across the country's most populous state. >> people should realize we are in a new era. the idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day, that's going to be a thing of the past. >> reservoirs are drying up. the snowpack in the mountains, a source 30% of california's water, is at its lowest level ever reported. these slopes should be about a

meter deep in snow. now, they are bare. one scientist called the sierra nevada the sierra nada? >> the is worst drought of 150 years and pos blibl over the last 500 to 1,000 years. >> some critics say he should have instituted water rationing. others say the impact of this order will fall largely upon individuals and largely exempt the state's lucrative and massive agra businesses which consume about 80% of california's water. >> straight ahead here on the newshour another nhl achievement. robin here with that. plenty more sport in a few minutes. ♪

♪ hello again. now, in ghana, like in so many other countries, people throw away tons of plastic garbage every day. one company has found a pretty creative way to recycle. emma boteng reports. >> reporter: this is how most people buy drinking water in ghana. the plastic sachess or cheap and convenient. they often end up littering the streets. trashy bags collects about 200,000 a month and process them in this factory. they clean them dry them and get creative. they produce bags and other accessories which they sell to customers all over the world.

it's a social enter prides that's trying to raise awareness about the damaging effects of plastic waste on the environment. >> our bags shopping bags made from sachets. if people used those when they went to the stores and they used that every time then they would reduce the amount of disposal thin plastic bags which they are using all the time. you buy a bottle of water in a store and they will put a black plastic bag around it. that's what we have been trying to change. >> they are using the plastic from discarded billboards to make more colorful products. but what they are able to collect is just a fraction of the waste in ghana. >> the plastic waste ends up in dumping grounds like this one. if carried out to sea by this rain and then ends up being washed back ashore. >> beaches that would otherwise be tourist atracks are being spoiled. it can take up to 1,000 years for this kind of plastic to degrade.

campaigners say unless attitudes change fast the damage being done now will affect the country for many generations. al jazeera, ghana. the automotive industry is on the cusp of a breakthrough a car driven by a computer has successful made a coast to coast trip across the u.s. as kristin saloomey reports, you won't be seeing driverless cars on the road just yet. >> the idea of a self-driving car isn't new. >> what's all this? it's like darth vader's bathroom. >> the technology that seems so futuristic in the 1980s television program "knightrider" is closer than ever before. this awedee completed the first road to road trip. a driver with the ability to override the system was always at the wheel. 99% of the driving was done by computer. >> the human element in the driving equation is the weakest

link? right? 90% of accidents are caused by human era. >> delphi the auto supplier may be celebrating. many car enthusiasts at the new york international auto show are not ready to give over control. >> you don't like the idea? >> no. >> why? >> i trust just myself with my life. >> the en enjoyment of a car is really driving it. >> only five states have laws on the books dealing with driverless cars. skeptics say insurance and liability issues also have to be worked out. >> they still have many many things that they cannot do. they can't drive in heavy rain and snow. they have trouble if i hold my hand up and try to give them directions if i am a traffic cop. you know. stop this type of thing, they can't do it. >> the days of self drivingly cars may be close but they are not quite here yet. you won't find any models that are ready for rush hour here at the new york enterinternational auto show. what we are seeing are lots of

driver assistance features like this volvo which has pedestrian detection cameras to alert drivers when pedestrians get too close. >> from vehicles that warn drivers when they begin to veer out of their lane: >> we have included radar sensors which happen to be here. >> to those that can park themselves. self driving technologies are slowly making it in to the mainstrene stream? >> our approach to get people comfortable is what will allow us to move the final watershed moment for an autonomous car. >> just don't count on clever conversation with your car just yet. kristen saloomey al jazeera, new york. i used to love knightrider. >> serena williams snapped up the last available spot for the miami open final. the world number 1 was against mona hyliff.

you might recall williams was due with an injury there. the defending champion powering to a 6-2, 4-6 and 7-5 win. >> serena's opposing will be carla swaures who has enjoyed a run in miami. the spaniard swept the side and venus williams we see her dispatching of german petrovich. suarez -- will break into the women's top 10 when the new rankings are released on monday. in the coming hours, men will continue their push for a master's final place andy murray gets action underway against burdick. djokovic takes on american. he sealed his last place against david ferjier. celebrating his 33rd birthday.

recovering to win 7-5. the serb won the second 7-file as well. good to be the first man to within back to back titles. >> hopefully the conditions will be a bit slower and i can get some returns back in play and get into the rallies and, you know, just play the way i played. it's going to be a close one. >> the passage into the semifinals came at the expense of kina shori. 6-4, 6-3. golf the women's world number 1, another chapter in the sport history book. she is only 17. she is currently the world number 1 and has scored 1 under par 17, won in the opening round in california. sees her equal in the lgpa tour of 29 consecutive under par rounds. catching up this lady morgan

pressel who leads by 1 stroke. >> today, i was so busy trying to make up and down or, you know, try to make a good one or birdies. i wasn't hitting my driver well. the rough can get pretty thing. when you are in that position, you know, a record was the last thing i was thinking about. two really good birdies and i got back to under par. >> a record down in the men's game american scott pierce examining headlines in the master's warm-up event, the houston opener posts 9 and the par 63 equal to tournament record. leads the field by one shot. mikelson phil nickelson, the big one, master's takes place at augusta next week. >> three mayors moved to calm

fears lay-offs of construction workers could cause damaging delays to the 2016 olympic games. there are 100 construction workers at the sports complex who have been sacked by the construction company carrying out the work thousands more are expected to lose their jobs as well. the construction firm claims the redundancies are due to cash flow problems and a lack of government funding ahead of the rio 2016 games. no some says rio's mayor who promises the work will be completed on time. >> they arere are not delays. we have not missed in i payments. none of that is true. a union leaked the minutes of the meeting to the press which was n my opinion, a very stupid strategy taken by the company. >> rockets, a lead-up to the post-season, beating the dallas mavericks to moved in to the number player spot in the west western conference. james harden scoring 24 points,

to be 108 to 101 point win. houston half a game ahead of memphis for the golden state warriors leading in the west. headed to the nhl playoffs. they managed to snackp a game at home for the victory of the calgary plains giving st. louis and their plans something to cheer about. for calgary, it's the 6th defeat in a row thing stopped pretty much in the picture. >> boston bruins are in contention as well. they fought back from two goals down from the detroit red wigs scoring 3 in the third period eventually winning 3-2. they are tied with detroit for third place in the atlantic division on 93 points. all of the day's big sports stories on our website, aljazeera.com. amy masters leading the sports coverage there. aljazeera.com/sport for your

dose of sport today. >> indeed. for only the second time this century, the christian rememberance of good friday and the celebration of the jewish passover are on the same day while christians are commemorating the crucification of jesus on friday evening, jews will be sitting down for the first sedar of passover. both passover and easter are rooted in the judeo-christian celebration. they are based on the lunar calendar. christian pilgrims have gathered at the church of the holy seplucre. a muslim man who calls himself the custodian of the holy seplecur opened the door to worshippers, followers of the christian faith beliefs the church stands on the site of christ's resurrection and burial. another full billtin of news state ahead on al jazeera.

see you in just a few moments. >> al jazeera america brings you a first hand look at the environmental issues, and new understanding of our changing world. >> it's the very beginning >> this was a storm of the decade >>...hurricane... >> we can save species... >> our special month long focus, fragile planet

>> the war in yemen seeps heavy fighting in aden as houthi fighters are reportedly pushed back. >> both sides of the iran nuclear deal go home and try to seem the plan. >> send i can't some of the critically wounded oh any ruby after one of the deadliest attacks in the country's history. >> forced to work for nothing on a