likely to engage in an aggressive easing policy pushing interest rates lower in china. as it stands interest rates in chine e are above 5% not the same as japan, for the chinese to blood to ubs and buy as many treasuries, i think that's why they are holding the money back not going after interest rates aggressively using it for their own economy. >> diplomacy lost, the u.n. envoy to yemen steps down as the vice president tries to rally throws late to the president. >> russian penalty vladimir putin defiant on a live call in

show. >> this is aljazeera america. good morning. live from new york city, i'm randall pinkston. the united states nations said the crisis in yemen is growing course. their top envoy resigned, stepping down citing what he called difficulties in the country. he has repeatedly expressed frustration with the political situation in yemen. he worked for five years to bring about peace there but it all unraveled when houthi rebels forced president hadi from power. now the exiled former president seems to have been denied safe package from saudi arabia. we have more from saudi arabia. >> he actually expressed his frustration on several occasions particularly after the houthis take over sanna last september

and on several other occasions after that, because many deals were signed with the houthis in which they pledged to retreat withdraw militias from sanna and other territories but did not deliver on those promises. also he has been credit sides of other parties in yemen saying that there is no sufficient amount of cooperation on many sides there and now he has reached the limits of his patience about yemen particularly that the country is now headed towards for and more deterioration and at-bat saleh has sent his envoy trying to talk to different leaders and trying to sell some kind of proposal by saleh where he moves from the country safely along with his family in exchange for of course, stopping his support for the houthis. saleh has always been contradictory in this account because on some occasions he said he will abandon the houthis and on other occasions said he

doesn't even have any relationship with them and that he is not cooperating with them. >> back here in the u.s., police arrested a third person in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a florida beach during spring break. john henry smith is here with more. officials say that may not be the last arrest. >> this alleged assault took place over a month ago but only became public last week when police investigating a different incident uncovered a cell phone video. >> that video reportedly shows a drugged young woman being sexually assaulted by multiple men on a florida beach during spring break festivities. >> this is like no more than a group of wild animals preying on a cashing kass as it's laying in the woods. there were three subjects shown on video with an incapacitated

female. these three subjects were sexually battering her. >> a college student was arrested a third person is charged in this case. the 19-year-old victim has not been identified. the alleged incident took place in broad daylight at a time thousands of students were on city beach. >> we have got to get control of our beaches. it is not safe for our children. >> residents have been asking for beaches spring break to be reigned in. alcohol consumption on beaches is band between march one and april 18th. the first two men attend troy university in alabama. >> we don't believe the two guys we arrested personally new him but we do have him on video and we do have the victim identifying him and now that we've got him in custody, we are

able to identify him as the third person in the video. >> bay county sheriffs say their investigation is not over. they are still searching for a fourth suspect. >> one of the young men arrested earlier was a star athlete for troy university. since his arrest, though, he has been dismissed from the troy track team. the school has suspended both students while the legal process plays out. >> the volunteer sheriff deputy in oklahoma who shot and killed a black man may not have taken state-mandated training. >> they were saying this is who it is that did it, and his training is falsified. that was almost immediate, we were hearing from multiple meme that the train records were falsified. >> supervisors at the tulsa county sheriff's office were asked to sign off on robert baits records giving him credit for training he may not have completed. other records were lost over the

years. baits is charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting eric harris earlier this month. >> in washington today the senate armed services committee will be meeting for discussions on threats to u.s. interests in asia. topping the agenda, china's aggressive activities in the region. beijing is building new islands and is accused of bullying its neighbors. >> 71-year-old chen ping has been a radio enthusiast his whole life. he likes that it connects him to the rest of the world and radio fans are bound by an honor code. setting up a transmitter with an international group of enthusiasts, the sole is almost 3,000 kilometers away from the chinese mainland, in waters claimed by china and the philippines. >> all the radio amateurs in the good relations even with the philippines radio amateurs.

>> relations between china and her neighbors aren't too good right now with china being accused of bullying on overlapping maritime chains. china i also said to be creating islands on nine separate sites in disputed waters, waters where 5 trillion u.s. dollars worth of trade passes through every year. china says its projects are ultimately for civilian purposes and regional development. >> the relevant construction which is reasonable, justified and lawful is well within china's sovereignty. it does not impact any country and is beyond reproach. >> from a young age the chinese are taught to be proud of their heritage that they live in the middle kingdom the center of the world. part of has heritage is ownership over the south china sea. >> many give little attention to

the tensions brewing and are unaware that the matter has been brought to an international tribunal for arbitration by the philippines. >> of course the islands are china's. >> they are china's we've been told this since we were kids in school. >> chan belongs the waters belong to china but hose his government keeps talking to its neighbors to find another way to deal with the situation. >> china is a saying put oil on the fire. even if we have a dispute we cannot find the way to solve at the moment, the best way is we cool down, make it cool down, not to put oil on the fire. that is no good. >> with chinese activity continuing in disputed waters despite growing objections from its neighbors many find it believe in china's stated intentions to talk and find a common solution. >> right now the united states has thousands of military

personnel stationed throughout asia mostly in japan and south korea, guam, singapore and the philippines. we are joined from bangkok he monitors the air safety situation. as we know, the secretary of defense is making an asia swing and secretary ash carter has been warning about militarizing territorial disputes. to what extent do you think china's going to pay attention to america's warning? >> first of all, i don't think that china will -- it will look to its own agenda, that's quite clear from what we've seen over the past few years and the u.s. is's kind of policy at trying to create security at which there are win-wins as ash carter put it.

win-wins to create economic expansion throughout the region. that kind of complies with what china is looking for but china wants to do it on its own terms. i think that that could be -- that is one of the concerns about the whole strategic environment in the south china sea is that china as your report has emphasized is looking to do this on its own terms with little u.s. involvement. >> how dependent are the nations in the south china sea the smaller nations how dependent are they on u.s. military support in their standoff with china? >> some countries are more so than others, such as the philippines which gets pretty much all its military equipment and support from the united states. vietnam looks to russia, mostly for its military equipment and support, but the u.s. as we've

seen very recently has started to extend a greater degree of support to countries such as vietnam that had previously been isolated from the u.s. a little bit. it's the same in indonesia. indonesia has grown closer to the u.s. the u.s. has strong allies such as the philippines but is moving closer strategically closer in trade, security, diplomacy to countries that have not traditionally been its allies such as the philippines. >> we've been looking at a picture on our screen of a map that shows the area of the south china sea in which china is attempting to exert its influence, specifically building land if you will, on the straitly islands. do you believe that china is -- its goal is to exert total

influence over the region, thousands of miles from its shores is way off what you would call the international boundary of a nation's sphere of influence, isn't it? >> yes, it is, but china believes that it's its territory, so it will continue to rebuild and claim areas of the sea areas of the south china sea. what's of concern is some of these areas it is reclaiming is quite close to other country's territories so could be used as a land to base troops or garcons and military equipment and that is a concern but what we have to remember with rewards to the south china sea is all the countries including cline in a to a degree are looking for peaceful ways to resolve disputes and that means through paramilitary legal means

diplomacy, trying to look for ways to get this resolved without military conflict. that is the objective far many countries to the u.s. and china as well to a degree over the years, as well. >> thank you for joining us on al jazeera this morning. >> vladimir putin's am question and answer marathon is underway in moscow. the general public has been asking the russian president questions live on t.v. so far, there have been a lot of questions about the sanctions imposed on russia for its role in ukraine. >> we did have discussions with entrepreneurs and issued they shouldn't expect sanctions to be lifted anytime soon. it's a political question. it's a strategic issue for many of our partners, who want to stop russian development. i don't think it's related directly to the situation in ukraine. >> about 2 million people have submitted questions. two years ago, one of the sessions went on for nearly five

hours. rory challands joins us live. they are more than two hours into this year says event. is the public mostly asking about the economy? >> well, it's not just the public that submits questions in this format. you get questions from the anchors of this program who fire questions at putin you get questions from the audience, you get questions being asked from kind of remote locations down the wire, as well. with t.v. cameras beaming those into the studio. there have been a huge amount of different questions coming from different types of people, businessman, farmer, economists, a lot of them as you say have focused on the economy. basically, what this does is gives putin a chance to reassure the russian people don't worry i've got this. things may be tough at the moment but we are going to ride this out. that was the general message that he was putting across.

he was saying we are in tough straits at the moment, looking at a recession that's probably going to last about two years but there are green chutes we are starting to see, we are seeing the ruble pick up, manufacturing have an uptick because of the ruble. it boosts local domestic manufacturing. he is saying wait a minute, just hold on, wait out there maybe some redundancy, tough times but russia in general is actually going to be better in the long run the economy will not stronger out of this, because of what we've been through and also some random questions like -- >> i'm sorry. i want to ask you before our time runs out here, what about ukraine, how much of a topic is that in this morning's q. and a.? >> yes there has been given a lot of attention, as well. there was a rather pointed

question from a journalist sitting in the studio who asked putin point blank are there russian troops in ukraine. of course he said no, there weren't. we've heard that from him many, many times before. it was again a chance for russia to reiterate that it is not the aggressor in ukraine. vladimir putin saying that basically russia does not have any i am peer yell am busies in ukraine, it just wants to be treated as an equal partner and the situation in russia just wants to be able to look after people in ukraine who speak russian and who feel themselves to be russian. >> thank you very much. >> in today's digit albeit, a woman in sydney is being called a hero for defending a muslim couple on a train. stacy eden said a passenger was bat mouthing this couple, she stepped in to defend them.

>> she wears them for herself ok. she wears it because she wants to the modest with her body. what's that got to do with her? >> nothing. >> exactly. shut your mouth. don't say anything. >> in a facebook post today eden say she is overwhelm would by the response supporting her. >> south korea's foreign minister got a not so welcome at a ceremony of a ferry sinking. why families refused to meet her, next. >> new research over the effects of tylenol. could it also numb your your emotions?

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it's 7:49 eastern time. taking a look at today's top stories. world financial leaders are in washington for the i.m.f. annual summit with the world bank. i.m.f. managing director will address issues facing the world's markets comments expected two hours from now. >> colombia's president order the military to resume bombing campaign against the farc rebel

group. finishes say a four month cease fired was broken, attacking and killing 11 government soldiers. the government promises to continue peace talks that began in 2012. >> japan now owns more adjustment debt than nine in a 1.2 drillun dollars in government securities. >> anger and tears today in south korea one year after 304 people were killed when a ferry sank off the southwestern coast. seoul residents have been lighting candles and placing flow others at memorials. there was a moment of silence in the city that lost nearly an entire class of high school students. there was anger at the screen capitol, organizers called off a remembrance ceremony today protesting the south korean government's response to the disaster. >> evidence of the kind of support that there is for the

families of those who died on the seoul one year ago today. this is the evening vigil in memory of those who died, the 304 people, 250 of them young high school students. there was also more than a tinge of protest here, as well. that's been the case throughout the day. the families have very much been opposing what the government has been doing in the year since they have been calling for a fully independent investigation to explain some of the questions they still have about the sort of corruption and laxity in standards which led to the sinking, but various problems with the government led to the rescue effort meant many more people than necessary actually did lose their lives. what we saw today was the president visiting the port nearby where the ferry sank and offering a real concession, saying that she was commit to raising the ship from the sea bed to try to recover those

still nine missing people, no matter the cost, because the government has been talking about the very high cost. that wasn't enough for the families and they canceled the main memorial event at the hometown of these students at the last minute as a result of that. they're standing very firm. this has been a day of real grief but also a day of continued anger and that's very much the story of the sinking not just the tragic loss of live but divisions and harsh questions about the way public life is run in this country questions which remain unanswered one year on. >> a big legal victory for general motors, a federal judge ruled it is not liable for death and injury claims in crashes before 2009. that was the year g.m. was restructured in bankruptcy. the new company is shielded from legal liabilities over defective ignition switches, saving the company $10 billion in potential

claims. >> in our healthbeat this morning, tylenol may be numbing more than just your physical pain. new research from ohio state university said people who take it seem to have less emotional reactions. participants felt 20% less happy when they saw delightful photos than the control group. >> coming up on aljazeera america, the dangers of population growth, why it may be most dangerous to human kind survival.

>> some would say war or disease are the biggest threats to mankind, but there are scientists who think there is another threat, mankind itself. some examples are captured in a new book about overpopulation. let's bring in nicole mitchell for a report. >> even the things that you mentioned, war for example sometimes over resources or disease can spread more quickly in denser populations.

over population can relate to a lot of things. around the world, 7 billion people but projected within the next years to 8 billion. population speak out.org is trying to show people in pictures some of what this causes. the first photo this anniversary is just a few days away, deep water horizon you remember that oil spill and the fires, all the damage that did to the gulf, one example of energy demands by our population causing things like this. the next one, british columbia is the clear cutting of trees on the beautiful mountain sides and you can see what they are reduced to. this is on vancouver island. this is java, indonesia the world's most populated wild. look all the pollution in the water if you're trying to surf. >> brazil, am no one, what thele

of grazing while the jungle burns around it. in this area, they have already cut an area bigger than france for cattle for food, destroying the jungle. >> we end up in midway island, which if you know where that is, the middle of the pacific not around population centers and yet this albatross died from all the plastic ingested in the water and you can see the cashing kass. they say this is a common sight even in non-populated areas the impacts are spreading far and wide. if you're interested in more, there's a book available populationspeakout.org. they are trying to get the word out of the damage by population. you can go see it at that website for free. >> president obama's executive actions on immigration are still on hold. an appeals court will hear arguments over the actions on friday. some undocumented parents say they are counting on one program

to stay out of poverty. we have more. >> in california, there are more undocumented parents of american-born children than in any other state. 1.1 million, in fact, the majority of those because they don't have papers are forced to work in the shadows earning incredibly low wages and living in poverty. one program under president obama's executive action on immigration is called deferred action for parents of americans or dapa. if the penalty's plan moved forward, those eligible can obtain work permits meaning better jobs. >> people essentially can't switch jobs because they have undocumented status. if you have a work permit, you can switch jobs and better match your skills with demand in the market. they would make more money and about 40,000 californian children would come out of poverty. >> 9-year-old valerie and her

sister. >> my children know when there's no money. i tell my children, this is what we're eating today cactus, beans. they're used to it. >> tonight you'll meet the lopez family, mother and father are undocumented, youngest children u.s. citizens. ten people are living in this small four room apartment. on the day we visited, they had food on the table but tomorrow may go hungry. >> you'll hear from the author on the greater impact and what it means for millions. forced to live on the margins now living on the edge, waiting for washington. jennifer london, al jazeera, los angeles. >> thanks for joining us. stephanie sy is back in two minutes.

is dumped into the rivers and lakes, it then gets into the food chain... >> that's hitting home >> it ends up on the dinner plate of people... >> techknow only on al jazeera america

>> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile planet >> danger and despair in the mediterranean as thousands risk their lives to flee africa. why the united nations say not enough is being done to save them. >> a third arrest on a sexual assault on a florida beach in broad daylight during spring break. >> russian president is defending his government and his actions in ukraine on a live call-in show.

>> this is aljazeera america live from new york city, i'm stephanie sy. the number of mike grants trying to make the deadly sea crossing from north africa to europe has reached and unprecedented level. identity's coast guard said 10,000 people have been plucked from the water since friday. monday hundreds of believed to have drowned before rescue. the number of people en route has spiked. paul joins us from the city of augusta. this is a huge bump in numbers from this time last year. >> it is. if you look at the first three months of 2015 in relation to those believed to have drowned in the mediterranean, for the first three months there were 500 estimated to have drowned trying to make the crossing. that's a tenfold increase. if you add to it the incident that is believed to have

happened on monday, which was about another 400 you've got 900 people in the space of just less than four months who have died trying to make that journey. it's a remarkable increase on previous years. it shows i think the desperation of many of these migrants who are trying to make it and the humanitarian groups would highlight the fact it shows that the safety net that was there last year with the italian navy doing proactive search and rescue operations that is no longer there shows that that is badly missed. >> that is one aspect of this. there is the traffickers that are exploiting these people, helping them make the trip, knock it's a perilous journey. are there any consequences for that? >> very few. the big king pins who get the richest out of all this, the ones who buy the big boats don't crew them, they sit in libya and other place and count their money while others are on the high seas dealing in the misery

of the actual firsthand experience which it all. some traffickers get arrested, the crew found on those ships if captured by the italian navy, others try to mingle with the migrants themselves. a case i did in january a big oil tanker had been bought and engine disabled just off european territorial waters and then the people crewing that tank mixed with the migrants, hoping to pass themselves off at refugees. you can see different tactics are used, but in general the traffickers largely get away with it. >> after landing in italy a lot of refugees end up living in countries across europe. are they offered any help? >> there is some help, but the argument that they put forward by humanitarian groups is that that help simply is not enough, given the wave after wave of migrants that are reaching the shores of these southern mediterranean countries. italian authorities generally

help people move further north. they turn a blind eye to refugees spotted on the roadside. it dependency as well where those refugees have come from. if from syria many of them actually have some money in their pockets and have plans usually to head north to countries like scandinavia. other's frommer tray i can't and ethiopia have the clothes they stand in and need help. countries from northern europe are said to need to do more to as in order to take the burden away from the southern mediterranean states. >> now to yemen where there have been dramatic developments today. the u.n.'s peace envoy has resigned and many are fleeing the country. in recent weeks nearly 200 u.s. citizens have left, heading to djibouti. these americans were among those who arrived on an overcrowded fishing boat.

730 people have been killed in air attacks and street battles. nearly 2,760 people have been injured. we have the latest. >> houthi tanks destroyed in saudi-led airstrikes. coalition officials say the tanks were on their way to aden, where fighting continues. these war planes were spotted on the runway of a military base near the capitol sanna. they were also hit. >> the houthis are now disorganized. their action is isolated. they are trying to redeploy armies in other areas but their convoys were soon targeted by coalition forces. >> there's no indication that the military operation may end anytime soon. for saudi arabia, the use of force was the only way to prevent the houthis from controlling yemen. >> i would not describe the military operations in yemen as a proxy war of iran, but as a war of necessary city.

>> after three weeks of airstrikes houthi fighters backed by troops loyal to former president ali abdullah saleh still hold ground in many provinces. yemeni officials want the saudis and their allies to send ground troops to defeat the houthis but for the time being the saudis have no plans for a full scale ground invasion. forces loyal to yemen's president adou rabbo mansour hadi are gaining fro ground in aden and other areas in the south. here on the western entrance into aden, vehicles speed away carrying people escaping the fighting traveling in the opposite direction. ambulances head toward the fighting but can't get very far. >> there are injured people over there, but the houthis are targeting our vehicles. they shot at us. we can't reach the injured. >> the so you had led coalition is ramping up its campaign to force the houthis and their

allies to disarm, pull out from the cities they control and join political talks to solve yemen's crisis. the houthis say they will not hold talks if the airstrikes continue. al jazeera. >> the russian version of the state of the union is underway this morning but with a decidedly interactive twist. you are in fact looking at live pictures from moscow as russian president vladimir putin is householding his 13th annual question and answer marathon. they are a couple of hours into this. he of its members of the general public to ask questions live on t.v. let's bring in patty now the economy has been a major issue. >> it absolute has been a major issue. the kremlin has sifted through millions of questions to pluck some soft balls women asked if putin could persuade her husband to let her get a puppy to more serious questions about the economy that dominated this

year's session. when you look at the numbers that isn't surprising. the i.m.f. expects the russian economy to contract 3.8% this year thanks to double whammy of sanctions and low oil prices. half of the government's operations are funded by energy sales and the kremlin needs oil to fetch north of $100 a barrel. right now crude is trading $62 a barrel and that gap impacts every part of the russian budget and nearly every aspect of every day life for many russians. russians are grappling with an eye watering inflation rate that sit 16.9% last month. that is the highest in more than a decade. food inflation was 23% year over year. russian spending power has been hammered the ruble losing half its value lasted year while sanctions the russians slapped on in retaliation have sent food

prices through the roof. putin pointed out the ruble has been climbing out of that deep hole hailing it as a sign of renewed investor confidence. the ruble is roughly 30% weaker than it was a year ago. if you think putin's popularity is going to suffer over his lag of the economy a recent poll by a well respected source found 72% ever russians have a favorable view of their president. 83% trust him and nearly half think he has restored russia's status as a great and respected world power. >> president obama would kill for those approval ratings. take one more look at live feed coming out of russia. when you look at the video from moscow, you can tell it is a highly rulingsed event. how choreographed is the q. and a. session. >> those questions are selected to highlight putin the states man, putin who can get you a

puppy, putin with his wry sense of humor. this is the control the kremlin have over the media nearly total control and they've crafted putin's image and also for putin to take credit for the economic successes and increased standard of living under putin since he first took power. you have to bear in mind that when you control that narrative there's also no sort of credible alternative, popular alternative to putin right now. also when your standard of living has been up since before 2000 because oil prices were high for a long time, when you see improvement in those standards, russia's economy has been urge from last year, but the pain is starting to bite, but there's that long memory of things improving. >> and the propaganda machine. thank you very much. >> you can see more of the report on real money tonight. >> a major setback for peace in

columbia. officials say farc rebels broke a four month ceasefire attacking and killing 11 government soldiers. today, the president said the government will resume its bombing campaign against the group but also promise to say continue peace talks in what is the longest armed conflict in the americas. the two sides have been holding talks in cuba since 2012. farc was established in the mid 1960's but not placed on the state department's list of terrorist organizations until 1997. the council on foreign relations estimates that the 50 years of conflict have left more than 220,000 people dead, 5.7 million dis. in recent years government forces have been effective against farc. it's believed there are 7,000 members today. in the early 2000, farc had more than 16,000 members. the u.s. is particularly interested in farc's involvement in drug trafficking. some estimates say the group could make as much as $3.5 million a year shipping

cocaine out of columbia. the u.s. government believes farc accounts for 60% of the colombian cocaine that makes it to the united states. >> new word this morning on the search for missing malaysia air flight flee 370. china india and malaysia will double the search area if the plane is not found by may. they are done searching 23,000 square miles of the indian ocean. the flight disappeared last march eight without a trace. >> new reports this morning that the volunteer sheriff's deputy in oklahoma who shot and killed a black man may not have taken state-mandated training. according to the tulsa world newspaper, supervisors at the sheriffs office were asked to sign off on robert baits' records giving him credit for training he may not have completed. other records were reportedly lost over the years. sheriff officials deny the claims. he is charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting eric harris earlier this month. >> a florida man is due in court

after police say he landed a small helicopter on the lawn of the capitol believe in washington d.c. police took doug hughes into custody after it went down. hughes said he was protesting the role of money in politics. >> i have got a plane a giro plane and i'm going to vital the no fly zone non-violently i intend for nobody to get hurt and i'm going to land on the capitol malin front of the capitol building. >> much of downtown washington is covered by a no fly zone, but that went into place after the september 11 attack. small aircraft close to the ground are nearly impossible to detect on radar. an investigation is now underway to determine how the security breach happened. >> police in panama city beach florida have made a third arrested in connection with an

alleged sexual assault on a beach during spring break. we have details on the arrest acknowledge case. >> the alleged assault took place over a month ago but only became public last week when police investigating a different incident uncovered a cell phone video. the victim said she didn't realize she had been violated until watching that video. >> this is the portion of the video that police have released to the public. the explosive part is what you don't see here, an unconscious young woman being sexually assaulted on a florida beach. >> this is like no more than a group of wild animals preying on a cashing cuss as its laying in the woods. there were three subjects shown on video with an incompass today female and she lay incapacitated, these three subjects were sexually battering

her. >> police arrested a tennessee college student 21-year-old george devon kennedy is the third to be charged in this case. the 19-year-old victim has not been identified. the alleged incident took place in brought daylight when thousands were crowding panama city beach. >> we have got to get control of our beaches. it is not safe for our children. >> residents have been asking local leaders to rein in spring break. the first two arrested in the case attend troy university in alabama. >> we don't believe that the original two guys we arrested permanently new him but we do have him on video and we do have the victim identifying him and now that we've got him in custody, we're able to identify him as that third person in the video. >> bay county sheriff's say their investigation is not over. they are still searching for a fourth suspect. >> police say the 19-year-old

victim told them that she believes someone drugged her in the moments leading up to the assault. stephanie. >> thank you. >> former nfl star aaron hernandez today is serving the first day of his life sentence. >> guilty of murder in the first degree. >> on wednesday a jury convicted him of killing odon lloyd. he will get an automatic appeal. he still faces murder charges in a separate case involving a double killing in boston's south end. >> on the agenda today president obama welcomes the wounded warrior project soldier ride to the white house a cycling event to help troops restore physical and emotional well being. >> a court in argentina will determine how to proceed in a case against the president. president kirchner is accused of covering up iran's involvement in the bombing of a jewish center in buenos aires. >> students in chile calling for

better access to higher education. >> the greek financial crisis is expected to take center stage at several high profile meetings today. finance ministers will sit down for the annual conference. also today greek finance minister meets with president obama. there are reports greece is asking the i.m.f. to reschedule payments on a multi-billion dollars loan. >> organizers are calling it the largest protest by low wage workers in u.s. history, calling it a success. tens of thousands of people in more than 200 cities gather to demand a higher minimum wage wednesday. an increase would affect a range of workers across the country. >> agnes has a long commute to her job as a home health aid. she takes two bullies and a subway spending $10 and as long as four hours just getting to and from work where she makes just $10 an hour. she said she hasn't had a raise in nearly a decade.

>> we really are struggling. i mean, struggling real bald in the city, so we need the $15 an hour because the cost of living gone up, the transportation gone up food went up, rent went up, so we need the $15. >> the fight for 15 started with fast food workers but expanded to include other frustrated low wage earners like agnes her union, the service employees international is an organizer. >> we need to put a demand on the table that is real and that would actually enable us to take care of our families. a lot of grooms started are the to coalesce around the idea of $15 an hour as at bare minimum that today especially in a place like new york. >> in response to critics mcdonald's announced it is increasing average pay by nearly a dollar to just under $10 an hour for workers at corporate owned restaurants. want workers are saying that is

not nearly enough and the raise will only impact a small minority of mcdonald's employees. >> they continue to do battle, rallying across the country on wednesday, outside big named businesses who say they can't afford the increase and will either have to cut jobs or raise prices. >> $15 an hour sounds like a reasonable thing to do until you realize that somebody has to pay for it. >> researcher james shrek said the economy needs entry level business. >> like these. >> the vast majority of people move up into higher paid positions within a few years or in many cases within a year. >> agnes who's husband lives on a fixed in come has been doing her job for 27 years. >> that is the biggest myth, lower wage workers are not teenagers, they are family, mothers, they are fathers. they are not just teenagers. >> like agnes, they are willing to take to the streets to make their voices heard.

al jazeera, new york. >> mourning the victims, south korea remembers the victims of the ferry disaster one year ago. there is also anger at the government. >> plenty of water, one of california's richest counties, where there is water to spare spare

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:22 eastern. two active duty national guards men are accused of trying to sell pie powered weapons to mexican drug cartels. investigators say they sold dozens of firearms and ammunition to undercover agents posing as cartel members. they were allegedly wearing their uniform during one transaction. >> japan now owns more american debt than china $1.2 trillion. china had a six year run as the leading u.s. debt holder. >> new research said people who

take tylenol seem to be less emotional. participants in the small study felt 20% less happy looking at positive photos than the control group. >> it that 11 year since a ferry sank in south korea killing more than 300 people. the president agreed to have the ferry raised, which will cost millions of dollars. it's been a key demand of the victims and see families. they declined the meet the president today in seoul. organizers called off a major remembrance ceremony planned for today, trust frustrated at the government for failing to raise safety standards. >> an april 16 last year, south korea was confronted with these painful images, a passenger ferry full of school children sinking off the southern coast. the mobile phone footage that emerged hurt still more.

those children caught between laughter and fear obeying repeated construction r. instruction to say stay put as the ferry overturned, trapping them. >> one mother believes her son is still there. nine bodies remain missing when the search ended in november. >> how can we go back to a normal life? we know where they are. how can we live without finding our kids and husbands? >> for the last few weeks this has been a daily commute for them getting as close as they can to the presidential office demanding that the president keep her promise to return all vicks to their families by raising the wreck. a year after the disaster which rocked this country many families find themselves still fighting on, some to recover the remains of loved ones, others to find answers. there have been criminal convictions for the captain who caused outrage by being one of the first to abandon the ship,

the crew members and the ferry's operators. the families accuse of government of obstructing efforts to get a fully independent investigation underway into lax safety enforcement before the disaster and failures in the emergency response after it. >> once the investigator does the work we'll report what happened during the incident and after it. perhaps it will be a burden for the current government. they have a rather negative view on our dialing the facts. >> cameras were allowed on a sister ship. the official government investigation found the operator had routinely overloaded its vessels, not tied down vehicles which slid across the cargo deck causing the capsize. a sonar visualization was released on the sea floor. the president said she will consider raising it, but at the

same time says there should be a public consultation on a project that would cost at least $110 million. on wednesday family members were taken to the site of the sinking, marked by a yellow buoy. >> i'm so sorry for the things i couldn't do for her and so sorry for not loving her more as a father. >> a year on, so much remains unresolved not least the family's' grief and regret and questions about how 304 of their loved ones were allowed to die. >> it is a somber day in israel as the country remembers the millions who died in the holocaust. sirens wailed for several minutes across the country this morning on holocaust remembrance day. this year marks 70 years since the liberation of the nazi concentration camps. >> nearly one of 413 in the

middle east and africa are out of school. violence is affecting their ability to get an education. according to the u.n., more than 15 million children are not attending school. more than 3 million of them are syrian or iraq and another 6 million children in the region are at risk of dropping out of school. >> it is a notoriously poor neighborhood in baltimore, but dozens of middle and upper class families are moving in. the families say they have a very personal stake in fighting poverty. >> this is one of the baltimore's most dangerous neighborhoods with a bad reputation for crime and drugs. in fact, more convicted criminals come from that 72 block neighborhood than anywhere else in the state. tonight, we'll introduce you to a group of middle and upper class families making this tough area home, and it's not because of gentrification, it's because of jesus. the mostly white evangelicals believe that the only way to actually help is to move in and become neighbors in an almost

all black neighborhood. >> when it's your neighborhood, you feel differently about it. you, you know, these are your neighbors, not just like the people you're helping. i think it helps you to live on a more equal plane with people and see people, you know, less of like oh, i'm here, i'm coming in to help you and more like we're neighbors, we're figuring this out together. >> we talked to them about the idea of a white savior complex the story that deals with the stairs of poverty and race and religion. >> paying reparations after decades of abuse how police in chicago are righting the wrongs against suspects who were tortured by officers. >> google accused of a massive anti trust accusation for drying to gain the competitive edge p.m.

>> welcome back. it is 8:30 eastern. the united nations top envoy in yemen resigned, he stepped down citing political difficulties and a growing humanitarian crisis in the country. today, the country's exiled former president ali abdullah saleh appears to have been denied safe passage from saudi arabia. live pictures out of moscow, as vladimir putin's yearly question and answer marathon has been going on now for three hours. the public is asking questions about the economy sanctions and ukraine, putin defended his actions but admitted sanctions likely won't end soon. >> the u.n. is calling it one of the largest tragedies of the last decade, hundreds of migrants have drowned trying to escape violence and war in africa. the italian coast guard said it picked up 10,000 migrants since friday. >> we are live in rome morning

with a spokesperson for the united nations refugee agency. i understand that in april as the weather improves, more migrants do try to cross but how unprecedented is it to see these numbers and what does it foretell for the summer? >> good morning, thank you. well, it is not really unprecedented, it's something it's a trend that we saw already last year. it is caused by that the fact that especially the conflict in syria is still there. we have millions of syrian refugees in the neighboring countries that now fears feels a sense of hopelessness. in addition, we have many refugees coming from african countries, and increasing numbers of somalis under the

threat and people coming from nigeria. this is the kind of summing up of the situations pushing so many refugees to find safety in europe. there is no legal way for them to arrive to europe and that's why they put them receivers in the hands of traffickers. >> it's almost as if they feel they have no other choice, because they know the journey is perilous. your agency helps them. what condition are they in physically and mentally if they are lucky enough to reach the shores? >> you know, when for example a few days ago we spoke with a syrian young refugee at 20 years old. he told us you know, we feel so desperate, that what we think is we die only once in life, and

better to try to survive or to risk to die by getting to europe but they do not realize that even when they arrive for example in libya they face so many threats and verbal and physical abuses, the refugees all the time saying that they are tortured and ask for more and more money. then they are put at high sea on very unseaworthy boats and many times, those boats capsize. this is exactly what happened on sunday when a boat with 500 refugees and migrants capsized, and only 142 were rescued by the italian navy. >> are you see the eu and

international community with a proportional response to the crisis at hand? >> at this moment, we have a big humanitarian challenge. it is both a moral but a political challenge, as well. it is not possible to accept that europe stays without acting strongly to step up certain rescues. at the moment, we do not have in europe a credible search and rescue operation in the mediterranean. why we see thousands of refugees trying to reach not only italy but even grease from turkey. we are speaking about more than 30,000 refugees since the beginning of the year, so if last year many people were saying that the rescue operation

practice a pool factor. we think this is not only wrong but as the high commissioner said morally unacceptable. we have to save these people. >> we'll have to leave it there. no easy answers to this crisis, thank you for your time. >> a sweeping plan in chicago to compensate those who say they were tortured while in police custody. the city council is considering the proposal. victims say officers beat them, suffocated them and used electrical shock to say get them to confess regardless of whether they actually committed a trial. we have this report. >> they played the game, russian roulette with me. >> a suspect in the murder case say chicago police officers shoved the barrel of a shotgun into his mouth. >> he managed to get the barrel in. the other officer said go ahead bull that [bleep] head off. they pulled the trigger.

>> what did you think the first time they pulled the trigger? >> i was scared to death and i didn't want to show it. my mind was such that it felt like my head was being blown off when i heard that click and then it took the shotgun barrel out of my mouth put me in the back seat of a detective car and had my feet outside the detective car. i was still hand custody. they pulled my hands and shorts down and they started to shock me with electric cattle prod. >> he said chicago police officers used illegal methods to force a false confession. he spent 27 years in prison for a crime he said he didn't commute. he is one black men who endured torture at the hands of the chicago police. they say the abuse came under the direction of former chicago police commander john burge. he was convict in federal court of lying about the torture and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

this week, the city final eight acknowledge the the victims of the burge case. the city council introduced an ordinance setting aside $5.5 million for dozens of victims connected to this scandal. the people's law office negotiated the deal. she said it's significant on several counts. >> this is the first time any city in the united states of america has ever acknowledged racist police practices and provided reparations and to be clear, we are talking about reparations for black people in this instance. that is a huge landmark. >> mayor rahm emanuel supports the proposal some hope could close the book on one of the city's largest chapters. >> to own up and be accountable more importantly to help the victims have their own sense of closure. >> the deal which sometime needs to pass the city council vote would provide up to $100,000 for

each victim, offer free city college tuition for victims and their families, counseling and a formal apology by the city. one thing the city could not take back is burge's police pension. he continues to collect it after being released from prison late last year. >> even with that conviction, he was able to keep his pension. at this point, we really have no other recourse. >> it's something daryl cannon would like to fight. while he said no reparation can take away the pain, the acknowledgment is a start. >> it is a partial victory and sends a message throughout the united states that at some point in time, you can bear enough pressure on government without a physical riot or something of this nature here and make change. >> al jazeera chicago. >> we have been telling you about california's severe

drought. one county near san francisco has water to spare. we look at the unseen impact on communities rich and poor. >> the ravaging of the california drought drying reservoirs fallow fields, a state of emergency. in marin county, it's water water everywhere and every drop to drink. >> our reservoirs are at 98% capacity right now which is about average for this time of year. >> it's one of the richest counties in the state and country and the story of the haves and have notes here's yet another problem these residents don't need to worry about. >> we look up north and can't help but be envious hot tubs, swimming pools, golf source courses, streams that are running. we're told think twice before you flush. >> the drought has not had a uniform impact across the state.

instead, some 400 water districts produce 400 different scenarios. >> we're not part of the state water project or the central valley project. we're a very unique system here that has a local supply, the mount is where most of the water comes from. >> here, good water moniment is key and can impact the worst drought in a century. >> in the early part of the 20th century. >> oh just 100 miles away president sacramento voluntarily, the situation couldn't look any different. retired farmer worries how his pierce are responding, digging deeper wells and sucking ground water dry buying water from other districts. >> when my grandparents came here, part of their annual food budget was to pitch fork salmon out of this creek and can them. when do you think a salmon's going to come up this creek now.

>> for him the creek that used to be here shows the folly of the water policy. few places in california enjoy carry security like the lucky residents in mar run. the water districts affluent customer base provide a sound budget for the water strategy. the district said they've acted responsibly, conserving water long before the state's declaration of a drought emergency. mar run must contribute to the goal to cult water use by an overall 25%. >> we do feel lucky but it's part luck and part vision that somebody looked forward to saying what if. i think a lot of it's geographic, as well, but we're still partly of the whole state. we are still part of as far as the solution. >> while mar run doesn't compete to buy extra water it doesn't sell any there are no pipelines

to carry it to where it's needed. with water to spare in this corner of the state a small paradise drives. >> some would say war are disease are the biggest threats facing mankind scientists think the biggest threat are mankind itself. lets bring in nicole mitchell. some of these image little are striking. >> they really are. you are talking about issues in the world over population relates to other things, resource fights over food or water can lead to wars or densely populated areas can lend to the spread of disease. over population touch as lot of things. right now in the world 7 billion people within the next 10 years up to 8 billion people. a new book puts into images some of the things that we're doing to ourselves in the environment with the over population. this first one and this anniversary is coming up, the

five year of the deep water horizon energy demands, you know causing the oil boom, and this is one of the results of that. all the pollution into the gulf that we all heard about. the next one comes from british colombia the clear cutting of trees on vancouver island. look at what it has been reduced to. the next one java, indonesia the world's most populated island. this is to me one of the most startling pictures of this group. next we head to argentina brazil i'm sorry cattle grazing and the burning of the amazon to help make room for cattle. in brazil, an area larger than france has been lost from the jungle to make room for the cattle and all the foot resource to say feet our growing population. then finally we head to midway island. it's in the middle of the pacific, not even near anything, and still so much pollution that has translated into our

water that the birds here come and die, because of plastic even in a remote area. if you want to check out the book, it is at population speak out.org. there's a hard copy, it's huge, a lot of great pictures in there, but you can see everything free on line, because they are just trying to get the word out. >> really incredible, nicole mitchell, thank you. >> it has been nearly five years since the deep water horizon oil rig exploded in the gulf of mexico and local communities are still feeling the impact. as jonathan martin reports a lot of questions remain. >> the blowout on deep's oil rig in 2010 sent more than 3 million barrels of crude gushing into the gulf of mexico, leaving shouses of shoreline and wildlife suffering. five years later there's a widening debate and two conflicting reports about the recovery of the ecosystem. are the shorelines largely recovered or is there still a significant threat? >> if there's still oil out

here there's still clean up that needs to happen. b.p. said the gulf is rebounding. the national wildlife federation said dolphins sea trouterles and other species are still affected. we went to an independent source a member of the national group officially tasked with determining the long term damage caused to sort out when the gulf stands five years after the rig explosion. >> you can watch the full report tonight at 8:00 eastern. >> a big legal victory for general motors, a federal judge ruling it is not liable for death and injury claims in crashes before 2009. that was the year g.m. was restructured in bankruptcy. it is now shielded, saving the company $10 billion in oh potential claims over defective

ignition switches. >> it is alleged google is stifling competition. a five year investigation found google improperly favors its own products in search results. the company could face a huge fine if the charges stick. science and technology correspondent has more. >> the way that regulators think about it, a healthy market is a horizontal line of competitors the customer looks back and forth across that line and chooses a competitor and that's it. as long as customers have that choice they're safe from monopolies and summer shies. now, google actually sells stuff. that blows apart the whole model we are used to. the e.u. is concerned with android operating system and on line shopping tools. let's look at airline flight search tool. here are a few of the competitors in on line travel, let's look at kayak and others.

once it might have come back with a list of airline booking companies. when you type airfare into hawaii the results have regulator war required. expedia comes up early hip monk isn't on the page. to the right is google flights. going the isn't just a competitor in on line travel, it owns software which sells pricing information to these rivals. going the could choose to hold back the best deals for itself and give competitors only higher priced unattractive flights. there's no evidence that it is doing that, but it could and that is extraordinary power owns search, dictates results owns one of the biggest companies and sells crucial data to the rest of the feet. if you look on line ad placement shopping books social media

you can see if you choose to experience the web the way to many do by going to going the first, the company has extraordinary power to influence where you go, who gets information about you along the way and what you buy when you get there. >> google denies the allegations, saying search functions help promote consumers choice. here in the u.s., the f.c.c. investigated google on similar complaints. it decided against taking any action. >> a new name in the race for president this morning. >> an american man said journey to the rain forest, why a song took him there and the people convinced him to stay. .

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:51 eastern. another democratic has now entered the presidential race, former senator and rhode island governor lincoln chafey announced he is running for the white house. he is a former republican who became and independent and then a democratic. so far he faces hillary clinton for the nomination. >> china india and malaysia

will double the area in the search for m.h.370 if the plane is not found by may. it's been missing since march of last year. we've been telling you about protests to raise the minimum wage. a seattle business owner is going far beyond $15 an hour, making the minute ma'am salary $70,000 a year. more than half of his employees will get a raise. we have more from seattle. >> it wasn't just another day at work at gravity payments. >> my hands are sweaty with that i was getting really nervous. >> employees were called to a mandatory all staff meeting. >> no one knew what to expect, you know. >> where the c.e.o., dan price laid out a new payroll plan. >> we're going to have a minimum $70,000 salary for workers here. >> it didn't sink in at first

that at a time when fast food workers are protesting for pay hikes and protests to raise the minimum wage above the federally required $7.25 that their c.e.o. upped the ante substantially. when it did sink in, he got a standing ovation. >> people were crying happy tears and saying things like i can't afford to have a baby now. i can afford to buy a home now. >> it's going to be disney land in a couple months ever months for sure. i've been wanting to go. >> i drive a pretty old crummy car, maybe we'll upgrade that soon, i don't know. it makes my life a lot better. i don't know better, it opened up a lot of chases. >> obviously we're taking a hit by doing this financially as a company. >> con the company afford it? >> i think so. >> within three years everybody here will make at least that

nice new minimum. management expects less employee turnover more productivity and more customers. >> i think we were averaging about two emails a minute today. this is actually for people who want to do business with us. it's just roll in. >> kudos to you smart move, partnership, interested in your services. >> they also understand it's a big move with significant financial risk. >> if you're ready to take on the risk and do it, financially you can. i don't see why not. i think it's going to push other companies to make decisions like this, as well. >> al jazeera seattle. >> we're getting a new look this morning at the end of a space x rocket mission and its crash landing into a platform in the ocean. the rocket hit the ocean platform it was supposed to land on then veered sideways, crashed and blew up. says x engineers only gave a 50-50 chance of success. the ultimate goal is to land the rocket safely so it can be

reused. >> the story of a man and a song. lewis sarno went to the rain forest of the central african republic. music brought him there. the people convinced him to stay. >> i'm michael overt the director of song from the forest. le film is about an american, louis sarno who lives deep in the rain forest for more than 25 years and mid in that 80's, he heard a song on the radio and found out that this captivating piece was music from central african pigmies and he tracked the music down, found it in the rain forest in central africa with this community and became one of them and never came back. >> i had some romantic ideas of

life in the rain forest and in fact, it wasn't what i thought it was going to be in the beginning. when i got there, they were hospitable but just wanted me to buy them alcohol and tobacco and they had like a big party. they started singing some very beautiful music which was not like anything i heard before. it was at that moment i decided i could never really leave. >> i didn't plan to make a film, i was just so fascinated by his story and there is a juxtaposition with our own world, a 13-year-old from the african rain forest goes to this other jungle called new york city. >> i think, you know, it didn't sink in the whole time he was here. when he got back, i think he began to reflect on it a little more and began to realize that, you know, what he thought was

real wasn't some sort of fantasy. >> like the film raises somewhat very important questions in the beginning of the 21st century questions like where is home, where do we belong to, and is there a way out of the system. >> when i come back to america i see people involved in all kinds of activities that don't really seem to make any kind of difference in the world and they're caught up in these pursuits and obsessions that just seem kind of beside the point. >> the documentary about him songs of the forest is now playing in new york and will open in select cities across the country. >> coming up from doha, richelle carey will be the latest on the fighting in yemen. that's it for us here in new york. thanks for watching.

>> welcome to the news hour, i'm richelle carey in doha with the top stories. houthi rebels called on to stop their advance into aden and lay down weapons. >> a rights group says 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict. >> angry protest against south korea's government forces a memorial to be could