people in sudan get ready to vote in an election that's being boycotted by the main opposition party. ♪ ♪ hello and welcome to al jazerra, live from our headquarters do hey, i am elizabeth. also ahead. >> i am running for president. >> hillary clinton makes it official. and enters the race for the white house. saudi arabia rejects iran's demands to stop air strikes in yemen blaming teheran for fueling violence, plus. >> reporter: i i am in newcastle

all stall a. a protest at a facility that could revolutionize the way the sun's energy is used to make electricity. ♪ ♪ we begin with sudan where in less than an hour polls will open for presidential and parliamentary elections the buildup to the election has been marred by boycotts and prediction that his it would be snubbed by voters. long time president is picked as the favorite to win the presidential race, 15 other people are running a long side. six are political parties the rest independent. many have chosen to boycott the elects including the largest group. the main complain is that the vote won't be free and fair and that there is no chance anyone but omar alba here is will win.

our correspondent catherine soi has our report from the capital khartoum. >> reporter: some of these young men have live today as long as omar al ba cheer has been president. he said he would not seek reelection but that's it's almost certain he will win. a 25-year-old university student student. from darfur, most of his family has been displaced from then and he blames the president. >> translator: he always makes promises in campaigns after he wins he doesn't team them. his government continues to kill people he's a lie. >> reporter: president into sheer has been indicted for war crimes in bar if you are. rebelsrebels took up arms against the government. many people have been killed and millions displaced.

sudan's economy as suffered because of sanctions. it's one of the most corrupt nations in the world. the ruling party officials say bashier's achievements are many. at the top of the list the creation of south sudan. >> i am ready to challenge anyone to come and talk to me. let us make a comparison between what they did since the time of independence of sudan and until omar alba here is came and what he did in education. in health. in industry. >> reporter: the president has promised to deal can security and the national dialogue. and smeared the process of rewriting the constitution. when you walk around khartoum. most of their campaign posters

you find are of omar al bashir. it seems he is the only one campaigning. it's because they say he has the resources and his government has silences dissenting voices with regular crack downs and arbitrary arrests. but for them it doesn't matter who is is he top. her concern is how her life will improve. >> translator: there will be no difference between the old and new government. i just want my business to be good for my children and i. >> reporter: do you have a vote? >> no. kwr06789 he >> reporter: he said even if they were register they wouldn't vote. they say there is simply no one to vote for. in other news, hill run clinton as formerly launched her 2016 u.s. presidential campaign. the former secretary of state is the overwhelming favorite to capture the democratic party nomination. and she's also hoped in a van and started driving to the u.s. state of iowa, the traditional first stop for presidential

hopefuls. tom ackerman reports from des moines. >> i am running for president. >> reporter: hillary clinton made the announcement without any cheering crowds or spot lit stage. the message delivered instead in a glossy two-minute video featuring a diverse mix of middle class americans voicing their personal hopes for the future. >> every day americans need a champion and i want to be that champion. >> reporter: clinton's first campaign stop will be the state of iowa. to win the democratic party's popular caucus there. it's where up start program beat her in 2008 with a grassroots effort that showed her route to the white house is should not have been taken for granted bench before her arrival parents watching over their children play football told us hillary ought do better if she doesn't campaign like the inevitable winner. >> she has to act like a second tier candidate and play hard if she wants to win it. that's going to be her challenge if she really wants it. she's going to have to show it. >> reporter: this time, clinton

will frame hermes i think through more intimate home style gatherings focusing on women's workplacishes and you narrowing the country's economic disparities. republican hopefuls who already consider clinton their probable opponent in the election are attacking what they see as they are vulnerabilities. >> i think the thing is about the clintons, is that there is a certain sense that they think they are above the law. and i think there is also this grand hypocrisy for the clintons in the sent that we have this whole thing this war on women thing that they like to talk about, and yet hillary clinton has taken money from countries that rape victims or publically lash. >> reporter: clinton may face some of those criticisms in the democratic primary campaigns but so far no one has he ledger merge today formally challenge her. with the caucuses still nine months way clinton will be back many more times to foil down a win, with or without a serious opponents. tom ackerman, al jazerra, des moines iowa.

so hillary clinton is the hot favorite for the democrat not nation, but what about the republicans? u.s. senators ted cruz and rand paul have officially launched their campaigns. both favor a smaller role for the government and want to appeal many of program's policies. but they will be competing in a crowded fill. jeb bush the brother of former president george w. bush. and florida senator marco rubio are among toss likely to join the race. well clinton's rivals didn't waste any time in attacking her record. here is what a senior advice tour to senator rand paul had to say. >> look at her record as secretary of state. she set out the sear rah policy which has turned out not to have done very well. she set out the policy in libya that didn't turn out very well. she was the secretary of state when she refused to offer the embassy in libya the requested aircraft months in advance and failed to come to the aid of our

embassy. so we want to run on her experience and her experience is a very poor record. and, remember, this is the secretary of state who said that she needed to reset relations with the soviet union and brought a gimmicky reset button and can anybody argue that our position vis-a-vis the soviet union or russia today is better? it's not. at least 14 people have been killed in two separate attack in egypt sinai peninsula. in one of the attacks a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at the entrance to have a large police station in the provincial capital. 60 people were killed including five policemen rescue workers are searching through the rubble and the death toll is expected to rise. saudi arabia has refused calls from iran to stop its aerial bombardment of yemen. at a press conference flanked by the friend six foreign minister, the saudi foreign minister accused teheran of fueling the

cycle of violence and thans been more fighting in generally and funerals have been held for three saudi soldiers killed by shelling across the border. mohamed vol reports. >> reporter: saudi families in the border city mourning the death of their loved ones the body of one of three jeffs killed by houthi mortar shell on his friday is about to be buried. the government is here to con vie the king's condolences. among the objectives of the saudi-led air strike to his to stop the conflict in yemen spilling to every saudi arabia. now there are fears that the kingdom may be first for order a ground invasion, generally and saudi arabia share a 1,800-kilometer border. control over this vast territory has never been easy. hundreds of refugees are heading north. this latest wave includes dozens of yemenis somalis and ethiopians. they are here in the custody of the saudi border guards. they are not only running away

from the conflict, but also from worsening life conditions in yemen. most of these pima received on foot. as they crossed the boarder there was fresh fighting nearby. and fighter jets flew in the opposite direction. >> translator: i am from sadder, i came here seeking a job, there are no jobs in yemen and the situation is miserable. only war and explosions. life there has become difficult. >> translator: we arrived to yemen by sea. then we took the road across until we entered saudi arabia. at first we were only 30, then another 20 people joined us, when we got captured the middleman who facilitated our trip managed to he is came i fade pitch 500 for his service. nearly three weeks since it bam there is no let up in the air campaign, with a daily average of 80 raids. the coalition says the strikes are breaking the houthis houthis slowly causing them to lose the fight.

>> translator: we are targeted a number of caves, they have been converted in to weapons and ammunition stores and also command centers we destroyed them. >> reporter: is yawed rape i can't says it has managed to muster the support of major tribes in yemen a generally mobilization has been announced wrong the tribes to confront the houthis and the forces loyal to former president sadder. but many believe that without a unified command to coordinate their operations, even those tribes may not be able to tip the scale in favor of the anti-hall i campaign. mo happened em vall. al jazerra, on the saudi border with yemen. two embassies attacked and the libyan capital triply an explosion heard at the moroccoan embassy, in an early attack gunmen killed two security officers out outside the south korean embassy. shots were fired from a car. fighters loyal to isil say they

are behind the attack. to syria now where a government air strike has reportedly killed five children and four teachers at a school in the northern city of aleppo. activists say the air raid hit the opposition held neighborhood. both sides of the conflict have been criticized by human rights groups to firing indiscriminately at civilians. we have lots more coming up on al jazerra. politics and petrol in brazil. how a corruption scandal is fueling protests against the president. and these precious plants that dinosaurs might have munched on could face the same fate as the prehistoric animals. we'll tell you why.

only on al jazeera america.

>> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrap-up of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global

perspective on the news. weeknights on al jazeera america. ♪ ♪ it's good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazerra. polls will open in under an hour in sudan's general election but it's being boycotted by many opposition parties. omar bashier has ruled the country for 20 years and is the favorite to win the race. hillary clinton has launched her bid to become the first female president of the united states. she is expected to begin campaigning in state of iowa on tuesday. saudi arabia has rejected iran's demands to stop bombing yemen. there have been more air strikes and fighting in northern yemen. turkey's prime minister has criticized pope francis after he used the word genocide to describe the killing of

armenians 100 years ago. turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to the vatican saying the pope's comments were wrong and inappropriate. alexi o'brien reports. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it was a ceremony of 80 commemoration marking 100 years since the kill of armenian by on the man turks. but it sparked a diplomatic row with turkey after these words from pope francis. >> translator: in the past century our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. the first which is widely considered the first genocide of the 20th century struck your own armenian people. [applause] >> reporter: words welcomed by armenians in the crowd outside but swiftly condemned by the turkish government which has recalled its ambassador to the government in protest. >> translator: the pope zaps statements are a misinterpretation and misreading of history. acknowledging one group's pain and neglecting the other's.

the timing of this statement is very unfortunate wrong and inappropriate. >> reporter: it's the word genocide that is content his. turkey has long accepted that armenians were killed by on the man turks in the beginning of the 20th century. but it has consistently denied that the deaths numbered as many as 1.5 million or that it amount today genocide. there is still strained relations between the two countries their borders have been closed since 1993. the armenian president says the pope's comments deliver a powerful message. >> translator: we are getting messages from all over the world. armenians all overral world are touched by this message. they consider this 100 years long fight for recognition a still going on. but there are already significant results. >> reporter: armenia is close to the vatican's heart. it's regarded as the world's first christian nation. but it's relationship with turkey is also important. the pope traveled there last year a gesture of bridge building with the muslim world.

>> turkey typically follows the same pattern it withdraws the ambassador for consultations and then after a period of time, a few months, they restore the -- they restore the ambassador to the post. turkey cannot afford to have a complete rupture of relations with the vatican given its importance around the world given that it speaks for over a billion catholics around the world. >> reporter: as armenians prepare to mark the cincinnati 10 air i later this moth, it's clear that what happened 100 years ago is still being felt today. alexi o'brien, al jazerra. hundreds of thousands of brazilians have take town the streets again to protest against government corruption and economic problems. much of their anger has been focused on president yusef. a report from sao paulo from alan fisher. >> reporter: many groups, many voices, one message dilma must go. 10s of thousands on the streets

many wearing the yellow and green of the country's national football team marching along one of the city's main streets stretching for more than two-kilometers. they are ainge having at a struggling economy and a corruption scandal involveing politicians from douma party. >> we want anybody but due ma. >> she will keep herman date to the end it's important for us to show that we are not happy, we are not happy with the government. >> reporter: large protests elsewhere across the country but no sir at large as organizers predicted here they numbers in the 10s to hundreds of thousands. not as large as protests last month. a new survey reveals that 63% who like to see dilma impeached and removed office. the same survey shows that 29% of brazilians believe that will happen. the president is touched by a corruption scandal at the state's oil firm. allege that go politicians took

bribes for construction contracts, most of the politicians belong to the president's workers party and its allies, due ma douma was chairman. >> huge mistakes were made, but i think that there is no evidence that could lead to the president's impeachment at this moment. of course, that may appear. >> reporter: the protesters right to take to the streets has been defended by the president herself. she says she's making changes. but the outrage remains and there is no sign it's about to go away, alan fisher, al jazerra, sao paulo. nigeria's president elect mohamed buhari has made more gains in regional elections. for the first time since the end of military rule in 1999, his party will control both the presidency and the governorship of lagos state. with 21 million people it's the

most important state in nigeria. people living in kenya's refugees camp are asking to government to reconsider its decision to close it. the kenyan government has given the u.n. three months to relocate the camp. it's one of the world's largest sheltering around half a million somali refugees that fled civil war. >> reporter: this is a full camp in northeast kenya. it's part of a complex for refugees near the kenya-somalia border. 25 years accommodating refugees fleeing the civil war in somalia. the continued existence of this camp now remains in doubt. the kenyan government wants all refugees relocated within three months. it's a position supported by leaders from northeast kenya who themselves are ethnic somalis. >> today our security forces can not enter the refugee camp. gangs are formed. so what you have we are good

enough, we want them to relocated 30-kilometers on the other side of somalia. >> reporter: the refugees deny actionaccusation that his al show bob cells operate in their camps. these camps were initially meant for 90,000 but have received waves of refugees fleeing conflict and drought pushing the population in the camps to almost a half a million people. despite the it have conditions here most refugees see it as a better alternative to life in so ma i can't. we meet people in a crisis meeting. >> translator: going back to somalia is not an option for us, even the leaders of the somali government are not safe. and have to travel in tanks belonging to the peace peacekeepers. if kenya is tired of hosting us, then we request the international community to resettle us in a third country. >> reporter: it's not the first time the kenyan government has called for the repatriation of somali refugees. an agreement between sen i can't, somalia and the u.n. has

already seen the voluntary return of more than 2,000 refugees in the past year. the latest call by the ken i can't remember government sits a boldest so far. a threat that kenya will forcefully remove the refugees if the u.n. doesn't is what has the refugees worried most. they have this warn for this kenyan authorities. >> translator: if we are returned against our will, then with dozens of young men among us will join al-shabab. they will have no option but to join the group. it's the only thing that will give them relevance. >> reporter: u.n. officials say it will be impossible to close the camps and any move to relocate the refugees must being agreed upon by kenyan and so knowledge januarysomalian authorities. there have been violent protests on the west coast of central africa following the death of a senior opposition leader. witnesses say opposition

supporters set fire for the embassy while rioting in the streets of the capital them accuse the government of poisoning andré who died on sunday. the leader of south africa's opposition the democratic alliance says she won't stand for reelection at the party's congress next month. helen says the party needs a new leadership. but she will continue on as the premier of western cape province until 2019. now, national parks in south africa have stepped up security to stop en en endangered plants from being stolen it's hope that high-tech operations will keep them. they can fetch up to $10,000 on the black market, from cape town erica wood reports. >> reporter: in the days the dinosaurs roamed the earth this is what the landscape might have looked like. filled with palm-like plants that were once the dominant vegetation.

this has been around for 300 million years. but several species have already disappeared and others are about to follow suit because of the actions of humans in the last few decades. >> they are survived several mass i think extinctions in the world they stuck around through ice ages and yet there is a really, really good chance they will go ex-teaching because of our activities and mainly because of collect to go this ex-to want through habitat loss. >> reporter: two-thirds of all the species are threatened making them the most endanger organize organisms on the planet. they are disappearing because they are being porched for collectors. some have been growing here for 100 years. but they are no longer safe. the garden staff have now had to install sophisticated alarms and motion censors because in august last year thieves came in during

the night and dug out a total of 23 critically endangered plants. andin the wild there is only secretary left. south africa's top criminal criminal investigation team the hawks have been brought in but there is a well planned and executed operation the plant are slow to reproduce so the theft has put back years of painstaking work. >> we monitor them, pressure them see when they cone, the sized and so on. it feels like one of your children is missing. >> reporter: while the threat to other endangered animals and like rhinos and elephants is well publicizes and funded the plants are largely forgotten. the government doesn't have the resources to properly put a stop to the trade. >> the situation is quite bleak unless something drastic it done. >> reporter: nothing it seems is quite as destructive as the

actions of humans. erica wood, al jazerra cape town south africa. chinese media says a former assets chief has gone on trial accused of bribery and abuse of trial. he wassal also chairman of petrol china's state-owned parent company and the target of a swing crux investigation with several senior figures being detained. parents in australia who refuse to vaccinate their children may lose benefits. the government so-called no jab fox, pay policy coulee them miss out on up to $12,000. >> this is essentially a knowledge jabno jabnew york jab no pay policy. it's very important measure to keep our children and our families as safe as possible. a team of scientists in australia says it's developed a technique that could revolutionize solar power

production. our correspond end andrew thomas reports from newcastle. >> reporter: it looks almost like an affect worship. but this is science. mirrored pams known as helio stats turn in unison towards a tower, they direct onto it a powerful glow, sunlight this. could revolutionize the way the sun creates electricity. it's the latest frontier for solar power. >> really these types of projects are really where you can push the boundaries a little but also demonstrate exactly what the potential of the technology is. >> reporter: the technology works by concentrating sunlight on a single point. liquid there is heat today extreme temperatures almost 600 degrees celsius creating super critical steam. that drives a turbine at high speed and high pressure to create power. the steam and suhr bine part of the technology isn't knew, it's the use of the sun's energy to

create this steam to power it that is. >> something like 90% of the world's elect dress at this comes from make that go hot fluid today and then expanding it through some sort of turbine. all we are doing here is changing the front end and having concentrated sun to make that hot fluid replacing the normal heat production which normally comes from coal or gas or bio mess or even nuclear. >> reporter: the potential is enormous it wouldn't take huge areas of sun-baked lands to create big quantities of power. this is just a prototype. but the hope is that in years to come there could be fields of solar mirrors in deserts all over the world. >> reporter: one just 50-kilometers by 50-kilometers could provide enough electricity for a quarter of all australia's needs. at the moment the technology is very expensive. and recent falls in the price of fossil fuels don't help make innovate of i green technology

competitive. but this could represent the best chance to solar to play a big role in electricity production. andrew thomas, al jazerra. newcastle, australia. just a reminders now that you can always keep up-to-date with all of the news on our website at aljazerra.com. native american houma tribe. and it's one of the most valuable ecosystems in the entire united states. >> we go to the bayous to provide for our families.