i'm randall pinkston. the news continues next live from london. >> gun battles across the port city of aden as the battle for yemen intensifies. i'm lauren taylor, this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up: sudan's president casts his vote in an election boycotted by the main opposition parties. his legacy can be seen every day. in the technology all around us.

that story coming up. >> hello first to yemen where the saudi-led coalition has been intensify its strikes on multiple targets in the south of the country. that's where houthi rebels are advancing. planes are targeting shebwa, heavy fighting on the ground there, tribesmen are getting involved. what's concerned the houthi incursion in some areas, saudi arabia says it's stepped up attacks on the houthis. >> the air attacks amounted to 120 yesterday and this number is going to increase. the militias will never be allowed to stay longer. all the fronts have been busy.

we're targeting all the infrastructure on the houthis targeting their command centers. >> ahmed faiziz explained what is happening there. >> translator: the shebwa tribes are engaged in a ground offensive. under attack for almost four days. >> joining me in studio george redding, thank you very muchth deed for coming in. so far what do you make of the progress of the air strikes that's happening in yemen and what's happening with those? >> the air strikes have slowed the progress of the houthi rebels. but only had a limited effect. it's all come down now to aden where the houthi advance has slowed but they've only been

pushed back somewhat and crystallizing into a battle for the city. the one stronghold remaining that's not under houthi control. it's become a center for resistance and the houthis want to eradicate that and they want the international community to accept a new transition, putting them into a new position in the country. >> during the coalition strikes essentially kind of cut off supply routes to aden. how critical is that if they are going to try to keep control of it? >> it's definitely a complication for the houthis. their strongholds are in the north and they need to continue supplying in the south. they don't have any natural support there themselves but they do backing from the saleh loyalists, who have organic support in the south. they can continue supporting

there. the issue is what is the morale of the saleh loyalists? is that sapping their will to cooperate with the houthis? >> do we have a sense of what? a lot of their morale and infrastructure has been bombed. is that having an effect, turchg turning and deciding not to support the former president anymore? >> there's word some of the senior personnel have been killed, that's not confirmed. the houthis in a strong position in yemen they have always had a strength in the north. they control the capital and much less the rest of the country. the air strikes have had a limited effect. it's raising the question, what can the saudis do next. >> what is your thought what they might do? >> the next step is if the air

strikes don't do what is expected step up naval strikes if that doesn't force the houthis back, doesn't split them from the saleh loyal is then loyalists then we may look at a ground invasion. >> thank you. country's role in yemen's war, wanted to qualify his parliament's position on that invasion. >> we are also in touch with other dcc countries to assure them that their disappointment was based on an apparent misinterpretation of parliament's resolution. pakistan does not abandon friends. and strategic partners. especially today time when their security is under threat. >> aid agents are voicing alarm at the humanitarian impact of the fighting.

while it's tough to get exact numbers, the u.n. estimates more than 600 people have been killed since the air strikes began. further 2200 people have been wounded. the violence has also driven an estimated 100,000 people from their homes. and one of the most pressing concerns is food shortages. according to the u.n before the air strikes began 10 million people had trouble getting food, now it's become 12 million. red cross has managed to land carrying 53 tons of supplies. ivan says it's important to get support to stop civilians being killed in yemen. >> what is essential is that a chronic situationchron critical crisis

does not evolve into a chronic one. killing civilians now i think that there is still a window of opportunity, when fighting and killing in yemen could be stopped. so i think it's important that we get broad international support for georgia jamal benema, who is prime secretary he was able to work on some sort of compromises and arrangements. i think that it should be continued and that it should get proper backing from member states including the security council.

>> voters in sudan have been casting their ballots they say the vote isn't free or fair. president omar bashir hold on to his post for another term. >> this is what the first day of voting in khartoum looked like. for most of the day electoral clerks had little to do other than just wait. the highlight at this polling station was the arrive of president omar al bashir. some of those who showed up to vote says it is a thing to do. >> i believe it's very important to do. it unifies and helps support the vote. >> 11,000 polling stations and they say khartoum does not represent the country. >> most of those who are voting are the elderly. we have not seen many young

people. the reason they are not voting is because they feel that their vote will not make a difference. the main opposition parties have, just like in 2010, boycotted the election and are telling people not to vote. marian's sadiq party is not participating. >> it is not an election at all. if you insist to call it elections, it is forced elections. >> arrested and detained several times, did not vote in 2010 and not voting now. he says a national dialogue needs to be held but the government led by the national congress party also improved democracy and allowed freedom of speech. >> there is not any positive sign that something new would come after election. there is no indicate of new thinking or political reform or economic reform. but in sudan now we would know that there is no power to the

ncb. there is no power to any other institution, or in the hand of the president himself. so if you want to take the position, he can take it. >> reporter: some of the people boycotting the election say they do not want to legitimize it by participating. many western countries have not sent observer teams. 15 presidential candidates running against bashir but they are little known and many are saying no threat to the president. katherine soy, al jazeera khartoum. sophisticated air defense system to iran, president putin signed the deal back in 2007, and the deal was cancelled three years later when the u.s. imposed sanctions against iran. according to a police

officer, april explosion happened near a shia neighborhood and 28 people were injured in the blast. ten teachers in the u.s. state of georgia have been sentenced for conspiring to help students cheat on exams. falsifying test results to collect bonuses and help keep their jobs in the city of atlanta. another teacher who was convicted when she was pregnant will be sentenced later. andy gallagher how significantly a problem is this? >> reporter: well, this has been called the biggest cheating scandal in u.s. history. at one point during this investigation 180 employees from the atlanta public school system were suspected of fundamentally change the standardized exams of pupils in this area. now we're here today because ten teachers are facing jail sentences of up to 20 years. they've been charged among other things with racketeering.

that means each these ten teachers could face up to 20 years in jail. and behind me this morning we have had a great deal of support for those teachers who say they are the victims of a wider problem. these standardized exams are unrealistic and force teachers to massage or even cheat those test scores. i have to say in the last few moments i just spoke to a parent who has five children in the area who says what about the children in all this? there is an entire generation of children in this city whose test scores have been changed and are leaving schools without the proper education. at one point during the deliberations this morning the judge said that he may ultimately have to jail those children many of whom are african american because they have dropped out of school under aren't given the education they

needed. this sets unrely reelistic goals and undue pressures on teachers to make those scores go higher and higher. this is a scandal this has engulfed entire school system and the question many people are asking is, where does that school system go from here? it is a system that has lost a great deal of money over the years but has to regain its reputation. an entire generation of children here have really been let down by a teaching scandal that engulfed an entire city but what supporters of those teachers are saying is that the punishment has not fit the crime. this has happened in other parts of the country and teachers were not put in jail and right here, these teachers are facing jail sentence up to 20 years and their supporters say they want them released for time served. once they were charged they were sent straight to jail. this is something that has been paid attention to across the entire nation and has drawn a lot of attention to the

advantages and disadvantages of standardized exams. >> andy gallagher thank you very much indeed. still ahead on the program the appearance of a dutch far right politician draws crowds at an anti-islam rally in germany. and boko haram what can the new government in nigeria do to bring home the girls? girls?

>> hello again, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. saudi led planes have stepped up

targets on houthis near aden. so close to the gulf of aden, key shipping route for oil. doctors without borders plane carrying 15 tons of much needed medical supplies have now arrived in yemen's capital used to restock areas in sanaa and elsewhere in the country. an election boycotted by part of the country. sudan's omar bashir is expected to carry the election. sustained trial over the worst mine disaster in the country's history. 301 miners died last year after a explosion at the so mechanica coal mine. bernard smith is there with the story. >> this was an emotional day they had seen a trial for 45

people accused of being responsible for what happened hundreds of meters below ground last may charged with murder. >> words are not enough to express our pain. i have another son. he still works underground. he goes there every day. every day he goes there and i wonder whether the news will come. >> reporter: the disaster happened when a pit was engulfed by flames and carbon monoxide gas. some 800 miners were trapped. an investigation found a long list of faults including a lack of gas detectors badly maintained gas masks. inspectors gave the mine an praipgoperating license they were given the go ahead.

>> means they protect them. >> prosecutors are and inning 25-year jail sentence is for every one of the 301 victims. a month after the soma disaster, and turkey's parliament pushed through legislation aimed at improving labor safety. but this country still has the worst record in europe when it comes to workplace related deaths and so far this year more than 350 people have been killed according to turkey's council for worker health and safety. bernard smith, al jazeera istanbul. >> the far right dutch politician has addressed thousands of supporters in dresden. ing organized bying byorganized by

pegida movement. dominic kane, what sort of an effect did his presence have there? >> lauren, as you can see the rally has been finished here. he told the audience his concern about islam he felt it was threatening to european society. he talked about the culture of europe not being compatible with the sorts of things that he perceived islam fictionification, there were very many people not far from here, in another part of the city who were vehemently opposed to pegida, they wanted pegida to be gone. but mr. vilders would say that

actually the culture that he was trying to defend was a european culture, a german culture which he said were not compatible with the feeling now. there weren't tens of thousands of people. you will recall that in jab of this year in two occasions pegida managed to get up to 25,000 people on to the street of dresden. that's not the sort today. it was a stretched that there were tens of thousands of people. i staw for saw for example one placard that pegida did not want to see what they called an irresponsible asylum policy. that touches a nerve in eastern

germany. in recent weeks there has been a situation when an asylum center was set on fire. that points to there are certain parts of society which are troubled by germany's asylum policy. the asylum policy is one in which the main political parties in germany support. >> thank you dominic kane from germany. died at the age of 87, simon mcgregor wood reports on the life of a man many described as the moral conscience of germany. >> he was the german writer who most boldly confronted his country's nazi past, while hiding his own membership in the ss. in 1999, his work was rewarded

with the nobel prize for literate. writing well into his 80s he was a well spoken if divisive figure. he was against german reunification. he was critical of danish cartoons but defended salmon rushsalmanrushdie.man rushdie. >> the writing is exceptional. he is one of the great german authors if not european authors of the 20th century. i think the political voice may diminish over time but the work will stand true. >> reporter: but his role as the moral conscience of modern

germany was critically damaged in 2006. in his autobuying if autobiography peeling the onion. urged his countrymen to confront their past while spending so many years hiding his own. it tarnished the legacy of his remarkable literary and artistic career. simon mcgregor wood, al jazeera. >> on tuesday it will be a year since more than 200 school girls were abducted in northern nigeria by boko haram. a guysdespite a global effort to recover them, they are still missing.

catherine soy reports. >> they don't want the chibok girls forgetting. >> something terribly happened in nigeria. we in nigeria should unite and demand the return of those girls. our children look at us and know that we sold them. >> in april of last year, boko haram fighters attacked a school in northern nigeria in chibok. the girls wanted to achieve something in life, that's why they went to school, even though boko haram lead leaders forbid western education. muhammadu buhari will be sworn in in may. some hope his administration will do more to find the girls. others are skeptical. >> the government is going to use the same army that the former government have used.

and there are many saboteurs in the army, that sabotage this airport. >> a year is a long time. slowly reality is sinking in for some families. even if some of the girls are found alive their parents don't know what condition they will be in. how many of them are pregnant or already have children or how many are sick. president goodluck jonathan's outgoing administration kept telling nigerians the girls would be rescued soon. but for this father, brothers and sisters soon turned into weeks, months and now 365 days. >> we are not hearing any case against then since they have been kidnapped you know. >> reporter: many in nigeria haven't given up hope of finding all of them alive and they're

asking the world to keep up the pressure and not abandon their chibok school girls. haru mutasa, al jazeera . >> public campaign to bring them to trial. the girl named liz was 16 when she was attacked, dmumpled a sewer anddumped in asewer and left for dead. although she was able to identify some of her attackers sparked an online campaign for justice. handwritten man you manuscript is being sold, curie is known as the father of the modern computer. hector elizondo report. s. >> who are you? >> allen t turing.

>> we are going to unbreak an unbreakable nazi code. >> the works of his mind is going under auction at bonham's in new york. bids expected to reach more than $1 million. >> this is the very first time that we have been able to see his notes and how he went about figuring things out. and again because there are no other known manuscripts by him this makes this truly a unique piece. >> reporter: in the notes given to his friend robin ghani robin gandy he expresses difficulty

understanding a formula known as liebnitz formula. breaking the nazi code, rather his other passion laying the foundations for computer science as we know it. >> this is a great example of like this man is working on saving the world during the day and then he comes home and in his down time he's work on pure mathematics. >> welcome to enigma. >> greatest encryption device in history. the germans use it for all communications. >> also under auction one of the very machines turing and his colleagues worked to crack. he's considered the father of modern computing and today the impact of his work can be seen all around us.

>> turing's notebook however resigned us that even the most remind us that even the most sophisticated ideas had humble beginnings. >> go to our website aljazeera.com. zeera.com. >> ten public school educators cheated on their students' tests, now they're in jail. a police camera captures the shooting of an african american. the family wants answers. it's been almost a year since boko haram kidnapped