>> 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 not r.

canceled. >> talking to us on the economy russia's president holds a phone-in with his people. >> we begin in yemen where it seems both the main warring sides are calling on the other to stop fighting. according to the reuters news agency a senior houthi official is demanding an unconditional end to the saudi-led bombing campaign opinion the vice president is calling for the houthis to stop their attacks. a televised speech was given to the nation from saudi arabia where senior government officials are sheltering. he said his priority is to deal with the urgent humanitarian situation. >> the international community and the region have to intervene in order to pave the way for the

citizens to live in a suitable manager and put an end to the crisis so it doesn't become a catastrophe. we need to stress that the jut most priority of the government is to deal with the urgent human situation in yemen without any discrimination. >> that the vice president also called for the armed forces to support the legitimate government in exile. some renegade soldiers have been supporting the houthis. >> i call upon the security and the armed forces to support the legitimate regime and to protect everything in this country and we urge everyone to go back to the rational path. >> he stressed the only way forward was diplomacy. he also praised russia for not blocking a u.n. security council resolution that imposed an arms barring go and sanctions on the

rebels. >> i welcome the resolution of the security council yesterday that stressed the international community support for the options of the yemeni people for stability and to continue our political path, according to the outcomes of the national dialogue. >> we are joined live from saudi arabia. there is a lot of developments here and the vice president covered quite a bit of ground. how does this move the situation forward, does it? >> sorry can you repeat the question? there is as lot of wind in my ear. >> i said the press conference that the vice president gave appeared to be fairly significant and he covered a lot of ground. can you tell us how this moves the situation forward if at all? >> yes because he's a man of con sense among the yemenese was very confident that when he was talking today that probably the yemenese more would listen to

him than anybody else, including president hadi himself. he was confident in his speech. yes, he criticized the enemy the houthis and saleh but did not deem onize them. he also asked them to withdraw from aden and did not stress that they should withdraw from sanna, so he left a leeway for dialogue saying this cannot start before they stop fighting and before they retreat from areas they occupy, particularly in aden, so he knows what he is talking about. he has addressed the nationalism feelings among the yemenis particularly the soldiers, the army and the citizens, asking them to stand united, support the government, the goo government in efforts to bring about a solution for yemen. he also addressed the international community and the arab countries asking them for huer humanitarian help for the yemenese so it was if you look at what he said in general it's the speech of a man who is confident that he will -- he can

have people listening to him. he has a popularity much more than hadi, as i said, and he thinks that he can actually really bring change to yemen. >> all right reporting live for us from saudi arabia. a professor of modern and contemporary history of the middle east from qatar university joins us here. thank you so much for your time. muhammed touched on this, but who was the audience that the vice president was speaking to today? >> obviously the yemenis the message was clever clear the yemenese. there was a political vacuum since september 2014, to leadership leadership was under house arrest. yemenese are worried about the future of the state future of the government. now, with adou rabbo mansour hadi in riyadh now for a while saying we are here, we are still functioning, there is a

government and you are as yemenese that is the main audience. he wants also to send a message to those who are helping yemenese the coalition and those in the resolution, saying thank you for supporting the yemenese people. he admitted there are challenges ahead and yemenis should be prepared for the challenge. >> who has the power the weight to get the competing sides to the table? it seems that iran is attempting to position itself as such. how realistic is that? >> i think with the resolution imposing sanctions, they are being cornered. i'm not sure they can play a

role in the restoration. of course saudi arabia does not want iran involved in that, even other players in the region. of course international community or united nations i think would be the plain player who can contribute to the stability in yemen by appointing a new envoy to yemen. you know, other players should work within the united nations to help yemenis other players like iran are not welcomed by any player in the region. >> do you think it further complicates the situation. >> i think according to the development of the last few months iran contributed negatively to the situation in yemen. >> the u.n. envoy resigned. what do you make of that? what does that speak of for just how dire the situation might be? >> his resignation is an indication of failing. to me, he has not done his job properly helping yemenis.

in the last months, his role was negative. there are a lot of reports about how he was really other than supporting houthis, other than supporting the legitimate government. >> are you saying he lost the trust of the people. >> lost the trust of the people, that's the right description of the situation. of course, i would say that some of the regional players were not happy also with his performance in the last few months. >> do you think that the vice president speaking today and talking so much about the humanitarian need will do anything to move that desperate situation forward? >> this is a very complicated matter. they need international community, they need some seize fire so they can get those humanitarian stuff to the people on the ground. this needs a very outside process. international community should be onboard organization like, you know, from different places should be involved in this,

regional contribution should be regional power should be onboard. it's a very complicated situation. announced there would be a committee to otherwise these efforts, but this should be done sooner than later. >> absolutely. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> the u.n. refugee agency says more than 1200 people fleeing yemen have arrived over just the past two weeks. it is making plans to receive an additional 30,000 people in djibouti and 100,000 in somalia over the next six months. reef gees are sailing across a channel of the red sea only 30 kilometers wide. there is no sign of an end to the fighting, forcing so many to flee. we have the latest on the battle for yemen. >> the offensive is pushing forward, fighters loyal to president hadi continue to make

gains in aden. they managed to capture a tank used by houthis destroyed another and reportedly killed 10 fighters on wednesday. the gains made by what are known as popular resistance committees in aden have also led to the defection and surrender of 50 soldiers loyal to the former president ali abdullah saleh and allies to the houthis. opponents to the houthis have also suffered losses. three of their fighters were killed in a battle near the airport as they managed to force their enemies to retreat. videos have emerged of homes being destroyed by the houthis in aden. the saudi-led coalition continue to pound houthis from the air. among their targets a factory reduced to rubble within seconds. although the coalition has limited attacks to airstrikes, al jazeera's been told a ground

offensive is being considered. >> it is part of the campaign plan. when we find that we have the necessity to go to the next step of the -- i think it would be out of the options. >> it appears at a the houthis and ali abdullah saleh's forces are on the back foot. the president sent an envoy to gulf countries with a proposal that would guarantee him a safe exit but allies say saleh cannot be part of the political solution. >> the individuals are not part of the plan, the plan is the yemen, now they are facing the same -- they are in the same

boat. >> even if a military victory appears imminent for the saudi-led coalition on pat adi the political conflict within yemeni society remains. finding a solution to that will require consensus from all sides, knocked a victory by one. al jazeera. >> coming up in this news hour, airstrikes against farc rebels are back on after soldiers were killed in an ambush. >> the iraqi national guard joins forces with the army in its battle against isil, how how prepared are these volunteer fighters? in sport find why some players were keeping their cool in an nhl playoff. >> in the past 36 hours there's been an increase in syrian government airstrikes over aleppo in a idlib. more than 220 strikes have

killed 40 civilians. al jazeera's is monitoring developments from lebanon. >> over 220,000 people killed in the past four years of fighting in syria that staggering number provided by the syrian observatory for human rights who say that over 65,000 people killed since the fighting began in syria were civilians and that over 11,000 of those killed children. the syrian observatory for human rights reporting that clashes have intensified especially in idlib province, the second provincial capitol to be overtaken by rebels. that happened at the end of marsh. since there there have been more air raised by the syrian regime. over the course of the past 36 hours, we're told there have been over 120 air raised, that dozens of barrel bombs have been dropped in that area and that civilians are well, well suffering, that it's gotten so much bloodier, it's gotten so

bad that just tuesday human rights watch released a report in which they have accuse the syrian regime of using chemical warfare, using chlorine in barrel bombs that were dropped in idlib dropped over the course of the past two weeks in march. >> in south korea grieving parents snubbed the prime minister and president over the seoul ferry sinking last year. the leaders are accused of interfering with an investigation to the disaster, which killed 304 people. we have this report: >> a year since the sinking and south korea's president came to the port to offer condolences to the parents. it seemed to grant one of their key demands. >> i now believe that it's time for us to prepare for the ship salvage. we will quickly take necessary measures so that we can salvage the ship as soon as possible. >> the parents decided not to meet her accusing her government of hindering an

independent investigation to into the causes of the disaster. in the students asks hometown, first the prime minister was denied access to the main memorial and when the time came for a ceremony supposed to have been the focal point of the days events the families called it off, underlying the anger deep grief that a year has done little to heal. >> i have a dream so i can go back to 10:00 a.m., that i could go and tell them to get out quickly and they'd all be out in five or 10 minutes. a year has passed, but nothing has changed. >> the images burned into the collective memory of this country, a passenger full of school children sinking. the mobile phone videos hurt more. those children show obeying rented instructions to stay put as they were trapped beneath the water. >> the captain was one of the first to be rescued. he and other crew members have

been convicted as have executives of the operating company. the families say the full story of corruption and the botched rescue hasn't been told, accusing the government of putting restrictions on a recently launched special investigation and attempting to undermine its independence. >> a day of grief and commemoration has been overshadows by the acrimony that surrounds the singing of the ferry a year on. the families say a memorial event would have been meaningless while they fight on finding the truth how their loved ones died. >> some believe it's time to move on, that the families should accept generous compensation and allow the nation to heal. on this anniversary evening in central seoul evidence of support for their fight thousands, many students gathering to mark a day when other young people were failed by their elders so needlessly lost their lives, al jazeera seoul. >> the size of the search area from malaysia airlines fright

flee 70 will be doubled if no wreckage is found by the end of next month. indonesia'sthe disappearance of that bowing 777 and 239 people a year ago is one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. >> south africa president jacob zuma called for an end to anti immigrant violence following talks. thoses of fortunes are seeking shelter in police station and refugee camps. six people have been killed in this violence. attackers have been telling immigrant shop keepers to get out of south africa. there are many more south africans who want peace. at a rally protestors asked for an end to the violence. >> a lot of people have been asking what is the south african government doing to stop these attacks on foreigners, organized

politicians, people from society, ordinary south africans and people from our countries coming together showing that it is not ok to kill people just because they aren't from africa or because you think they may be taking your jobs. >> can i ask you why you think it's important to be here today? >> i think it is very important because south africa is for everyone. we need peace and we need to carry on with our country. that's what we need. >> we have come to say this is our land. we don't want -- >> there are some people from other countries here, but many immigrants chose to stay away. they say what they don't need is a march. they want the government and police to protect them. other african countries are coming in buses and trucks to take anyone who wants to come

back to their homes. they are together foreigners they can't be blamed for the actions of a few sending the message that south africa is open for business, welcoming to everyone and they hope that this march will alleviate fears and tensions that still exist not just here, but other parts of the down theory too. >> thousands of people are fleeing violence leading up to the president-elects soon in burundi. we have been following the story from the kenyan capitol. >> thousands of reef gees have crossed from burundi. it has a presidential election coming up in june. the president said he is entitled to run again after serving two terms causing mention. a lot of people including some members of his party say that's against the constitution.

refugees arriving are scared and run away. meanwhile, the u.n.'s human rights chief speaking in burundi's capitol was very critical. >> this military which openly supports the government appears to be operating increasingly aggressively and with total impunity. >> he said the country is at a cross rate, saying a fair vote could take the country forward the other route back to what he described as its violent pass. 300,000 people were killed in a civil war that ended in 2005. it was the peace deal that brought the penalty into power 10 years ago. >> columbia's president ordered the military to resume strikes against farc rebels following the killing of 11 soldiers. the attack is a setback for peace talks held in cuba.

both sides say the negotiations will continue. we have this report. >> a brazen attack on columbia's armed forces is threatening a delicate peace process. 11 soldiers died in the dawn attack by farc rebels in western colombia. the after shocks are felt across the country. president santos could barely hide frustration as he announce add resumption of bombing farc hideouts. >> this is a reprehensible act that will not go without punishment and requires decisive action and there will be consequences. we will pursue those responsible. i've ordered the armed force to say lift the suspension of the bombings on farc camps until further notice. >> it's a difficult time for santos. he spent two years talking with the rebels, with little to show for it in return. >> president santos invested a lot of political capital in this

and many worry he's more interested in this as part of his legacy than delivering a good deal for the people. >> farc are the revolutionary people's army of colombia have been fighting the government since 1964, an estimated 200,000 people have dialed in the conflict. formal peace talks began in 2012 with both sides meeting in cuba. farc negotiators commit to a unilateral ceasefire in december last year and the government agreed to halt military operations. that momentum for peace is now under threat. >> we sympathize with the families and our country men and call on colombian to reflect on this as we pursue the peace talks. it is necessary to end this war. >> president santos says the talks will continue. that's given hopes for negotiations to move forward but more attacks may corner the

government and further test the president's resolve. al jazeera. >> now let's turn to weather with richard. you have some new updates on severe weather in eastern asia? >> yes, that's right. it's a part of the world we don't get much information on. here's the weather map, you have the black sea and caspian sea. this area of clouds is pushing across mongolia and siberia causing nasty weather conditions. these shots come from siberia where wildfires are real issues. 23 people have lost their lives and 5,000 have been made homeless that's 1,500 homeless. the caused whizzing along is indication of the strong winds there. they have translated further towards the east, affecting parts of china in places cross

northern parts of china visibility less than 10 meters. here the visibility is below a thousand meters, what is said to be the worst dust storm in more than 13 years. we've certainly seen an improvement in the air quality across northern parts of china. we've often run stories about extremely poor air quality during the winter months when people switch on heating. this is changes of agriculture use sweeping all that dust in. we've got weather pushing out across southern parts of japan. we've had snow over last 24 hours or so. this is the worst april snowfall in something like five years. it's sub tropical. you do not expect to see snow at this time of the year here. looking at the forecasting, we have deep areas of pressure across the far east of russia.

it's rain elsewhere and certain parts of japan are going to see rain developing over the next 20 "-48 hours. tokyo will see quite wet conditions but the whole system should she sweep away. quieter weather conditions from beijing, but no signs of the dust coming back. highs here of 24. >> tensions are simmering between china and its neighbors over disputed islands. japan said fighter jets are surged. china presses its claim to land in the east china sea. we report on how people in china are reacting to these regional tensions. radio he likes that radio fans are bound by an honor code. he set up a transmitter on the

sole with an international group of enthusiasts. waters are claimed by china and the philippines. >> all the radio amateurs in the world have god relationship. wean with the philippines the radio amateurs. >> relations between china and her neighbors aren't do good with smaller companies accusing china of bullying them on overlapping claims. the philippines released surveillance photos saying china is creating 90 on nine separate sites in disputed waters where $5 trillion of u.s. trade passes through every year. china said its projects are for civilian pump and regional development. >> the relevant construction which is reasonable just defined at lawful. it does not target any country and is beyond reproach. >> it's what most people in

china believe. >> 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 believes the waters belong to china but hose his government keeps talking to its neighbors to find another way to deal with the situation. >> china has 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 hard to believe in china's stated intentions to talk and find a common solution. >> a dispute overpay the u.s. workers say the wages are not enough to live on. >> israel say they are threatened with deportation. >> find out if a west indies contradict player can inspire fans. fans.

>> welcome back, the top stories now here on that al jazeera. >> both the make that warring sides in yemen call on the other to stop fighting. thousands of refugees have escaped fighting and arrived in djibouti. the u.n. is propping for another 130,000 to arrive there and in neighboring somalia within the next six months. >> rights group say the number of people killed in syria has surpassed 220,000. syrian airstrikes have increased in the past 36 hours. grieving parents snubbed south korea's president at memorial services on the first anniversary of the ferry disaster. 304 people, mainly school students were killed.

>> let's return to the war in yemen now. there is growing concern that press freedom is under attack and journalists threatened. >> media freedom is under increasing attack in yemen. journalists have been used to being intimidated taken to court, stories stopped from being published and newspapers and t.v. channels shut down. now they are harassed, arrested, kidnapped and killed. >> the country's in total chaos. it lives in a state of fear remnants of saleh regime, al-qaeda. the violations committed during the last period of as massive and equal to those committed in more than 30 years in yemen. >> this information ministry building has been controlled by the houthis since their takeover. the day before the saudi-led

airstrikes began last month the ministry threatened the media by saying these measures may amount to the closure of any media outlet looking to sir unrest. these measures come to prevent media from playing the role of as he can tarian. >> and incitement which aims to tear the social and national unit. >> groups like the freedom foundation strongly condemn the decision to silence criticism. not everyone in this bitterly divided society disagrees with the restrictions. >> we need the media to take its responsibility both professional and ethically. we need the media to bear in mind the interests of the nation and the people. we don't need the media outlets and newspapers that are only interested in marketing their news regardless of the results and consequences. >> with no one actually in charge the country like everyone else in yemen it's unlikely that journalists will get any protection. al jazeera. >> russians have been peppering

penalty vladimir putin with questions during his annual call-in show. russias sagging economy and the crisis in ukraine were major talking points. putin denies sending reports for pressure release fighting in ukraine and forecast the economy could bounce back in two years despite international sanctions dragging it down. >> we should uses the opportunity of sanctions and turn it around for new developments. so far since we replaced certain imports and that will stimulate our own economy. >> has vladimir putin gotten any tough question? how has he been responding? >> well, this is a very staged managed event and the people who otherwise it have to strike the right balance really. they can't make it look at if

putin is just being pandered to, but at the same time, can't really have anything happen that would go completely off script, so yes there are some toughish questions. he was asked point blank as you've just mentioned whether there are any russian troops in ukraine. of course the answer there was no there aren't. he was asked by one woman who looks after people who were terminally ill with cancer why it was that a young girl that she was caring for was finding it so difficult to get access to morphine and the final days of her life, and there was also an exchange between putin and his former finance minister where he was essentially criticizing the handle of russia's economy and its over dependence on fossil fuels. putin shot back at that was you were my finance minister since

2011, so you've got to take some of the responsibility for that, as well, so nothing really here that putin couldn't handle. if there was something he couldn't handle, that would have meant the event was a massive failure for the kremlin. >> let's talk more about the economy and about putin's response to that, to the sagging economy there as it pertains to the sanctions. what did he say about that? >> a lot of questions on the economy, questions from all over russia people, farmers more businessmen, that sort of thing chiming in and saying how tough things were for them and what was being done about it. the general gist of putin's response to all of these questions was yes things around easy at the moment, yes there is a recession that probably will last the best part of two years but be patient. we're doing a what we can we're riding it out. the economy is actually going to

be in a better position after this recession than it was going into it, because the silver lining of all this as putin says is this is actually going to force the russian economy to diversify in a way that it hasn't been forced to do before. by that, he means its move from over reliance an fossil fuels. that was the general message about the economy. >> you talked about the stage craft of this and it is something to behold, the entire telecast the entire setup. how does it play out domestically for vladimir putin's brand? >> pro kremlin observers always back criticisms of russian democracy and and the kremlin has over the country by saying things like well, where else in the world can you see a leader going up for four hours and

asking -- answering questions from all over the country? it's a symbol they say about the big press conference that he holds toward the end of the year. this is really a chance for putin to show that he is in touch with the people. he doesn't get that chance many times throughout the year, so this is really a way for him to show that yes people can ask him anything they want to ask whether that's true or not there's stage managing, as i've been saying, but that is the mental being portrayed that he is a man of the people, and listening to the people. >> thank you so much. >> a ukrainian journalistist has been killed in kiev. he was shot dead by two masked gunmen near his home. witnesses saw the men driving away in a dark blue car.

>> iraq's prime minister is pushing for a moor unified fighting force under the official banner of the iraqi army. he says they are under supplied and under resourced. >> in 10 with each other and now with the iraqi army, too these volunteer fighters have for the first time pledged to take orders from baghdad part of the government effort to unify countless militias. >> this group is diverse sunni arabs, christians from mosul opened by isil. all are eager to go back. >> one of my sons is here. he was a soldier. the other william in the next in take. i have 10 children. i came to be a volunteer not for money or benefit just to get my city back as soon as possible. >> they call themselves the national guard a force which

officially doesn't yet exist. it's the name prime minister prime minister abadi wants to give. it's an uneasy union that these men don't fully trust but say they'll answer to abadi himself. this hill is about 12 kilometers away the front line is protected by kurdish peshmerga forces. there have been 11,000 soldiers through this camp in the past three months, but even the commanders here admit they're underprepared and underresourced. >> if we are doing the fightling with these weapons the balance will not be in hour favor and we will not succeed. >> you've had 11,000 soldiers through here and you have what, maybe a dozen weapons.

>> i'm asking where is that support? where is that equipment? because we are the first army base closest to mosul and we don't even have one pistol. >> they say the iraqi army needs them to keep the people of mosul safe. this man agrees. trying to gather information on isil and its leaders in mosul. >> from the very start what isil is doing i mean, killing and beheading the shia's also doing the same. isil is beating girls making slaves destroying mosques and homes. the same thing is being done by shia militia and there is no difference at all. >> with all the talk of unity sectarian tensions remain high here. the mosul operation will have to be careful live managed to keep the people on side and these men

prepared to fight. al jazeera northern iraq. >> amnesty national says rampant human rights abuses continue in bahrain despite reforms. they include torture arbitrary arrests and a ban on protests. the government has not responded to a request for comment. >> some asylum seekers held in detention in israel say they are threatened with deportation to foreign countries. we report from southern israel where deportation notices are being handled to inmates in the detention center. >> when israel rounded up thousands of asylum seekers and put them here, it was thought restrictions on their m and access to jobs would force them to return home. only some have left, so the government recently offered and alternative. written notices given to some

here say they will be deported to unnamed african countries thought to be uganda and rwanda. an army defector who received this notice refuses to be deported to rwanda, because he said it's unsafe. >> i know are a ban da. there is no security and no strong government there and there is no u.n. protection. no one stays in rwanda. it is a transfer point for refugees who uses brokers to go to safer places. >> israel's foreign ministry said it will encourage them to leave the state of israel in an honorable and safe way and serve as an effective tool toward fill pulling or obligations towards israel citizens and recertain to the fabric to the residents. >> anyone who's received this letter that 30 days to leave israel. if they refuse to leave, they will face a hearing that will determine their indefinite

imprisonment. the israel authorities say 1500 have agreed to be deported, but there are tense of thousands of migrants who have requested asylum here. many believe their asylum applications weren't even reviewed. >> they throw my asylum request and they while i have been waiting for the interview for the request last month they call me and just tell me to leave the country without seeing my request. this is the way. >> israel human rights activists say the israeli government may be keeping details of the deals reach with african countries secret. >> the international community would be learning that israel may be giving weapons to dictatorships in africa in

exchange for unrefugees, giving hundreds of millions of main that they pay in taxes to get a few hundreds of people out of israel. >> these men say they'd rather be jailed in israel than deported to an unknown destiny. >> half a million mexicans have had drinking watering supplies cut off because of an oil spill. water treatment centers were shut down after vandals damaged a pipeline, causing oil to flow into the river. water supplies should be restored by friday, but the cleanup is expected to take operation at least two weeks. >> tens of thousands of workers across the united states demand that the federal minimum wage be doubled to $15 an hour. the push started in the fast food industry a year ago but the movement is expanding. we have this report. >> agnes has a long commute to her job. she takes two buses 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 says she hasn't had a raise in nearly a decade. >> we really are struggling. i mean struggling real bad 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 groups started 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. the 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 jobs 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, whose husband lives on

a fixed income 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. >> japan has overtaken china as the largest fortune holder of u.s. debt, the first time in six years china has been knocked off the top spot. both countries own the most american government bonds and recently swapped places. china's been selling off u.s. debt japan buying more. in third place is a group of private offshore banks hedge and pension funds based in the caribbean. belgium not far behind, is fourth on the list. bear in mind, those are the foreign creditors. the number one spot belongs to the u.s. treasury, the largest holder which u.s. debt, meaning the u.s. is effectively loaning

itself the most money. a market analyst said this shows the strengthening of the u.s. economy. >> i think of what this really reflects is just the difference in direction to particularly the u.s. economy and in fact the japanese economy. just because in the u.s., things were improving over there we're looking toward a hike in interest rates where as in japan, the central bank of japan has a very aggressive policy of actually buying its own government bonds much like the adjustment was doing and so as a result. interest rates in japan are really low and so japanese safes are just moving out of japan into the u.s. in order to earn a higher interest rate. this is an endorsement of the recovery. it has gone through a bit of a slow down in the first quarter. most of the economic data has been a bit week, but we have to

look at things on a relative base. it looks like the federal reserve is going to raise interest rate this year, where the people says bank of china is most likely to be engaging in a more aggressive easing policy so pushing interest rates lower in china. interest rates in china are still above 5%, so not the same incentive to flow to the u.s. and bias many treasuries. i think that's why they're not going aggressively after interest rates using it for their own economy. >> still ahead in sport why this jump has the world of snow boredding in a spin.

>> a 3-1 win striking first for the interest issue team, suarez then taking over. they managed to score three times in a chance of going through. >> they have suspended players back for the returned game. it could still be a difficult match. we still don't know which team will qualify. we can't take qualification for

granted. a series of mistakes helps the portuguese team to a win. >> we're going to play in the arena against one of the best teams in history. you decide if we are the favorites. we're taking on one of the best coaches of all time. let's see what they can achieve. >> u.s.a. beat mexico 2-0 in front of a crowd of more than 60,000 fans in san antonio a win during large part to a college student. jordan morris of stanford university scoring the opener. the u.s. will be cohosting the gold cup tournament for north and central american countries in july. mexico has won that title 11 out of 12 times. >> the word athletic championships are heading to the united states for the first time. the sports governing body named eugene as the host for the 2021

event. ignoring the process saying taking the championships to the u.s. was a unique strategic opportunity. eugene had bid for 2019 only to lose out to doha. >> 18 time olympic champion michael phelps will compete for the first time in six months, appearing in arizona. he has been suspended following a drink driving condition. he'll swim in the 100-meter butterfly. he accepts he won't compete in this year's words but hopes to be in the rio olympics next year. >> hopefully i look forward to rejoining my teammates next summer. leading into rio that's something that i love is being a part of the national team understand especially traveling overseas. i look forward to hopeful i having that opportunity next year. >> the pelicans and nets have secured the last two spots in the nba playoffs.

pelicans beating the reining champions. they'll face golden state warriors in round one. >> brooklyn will face atlanta in the playoffs. lebron james and cleveland cavaliers came second and will play the boston celtics. in the west, houston and dallas and the l.a. clippers will take on san antonio. one team not in the playoffs, the l.a. lakers. 122-99 defeat to the sacramento kings. they've recorded the worst-ever season in franchise history. it's not what their fans have been used to since the team moved to l.a. the lakers won five nba titles in the early 2000s.

lakers took the franchise tally to 16, but it's been downhill since then. last year, failed to make the playoffs and this year, with just 21 wins from 82 games it's the lowest ever winning percentage. >> montreal canada's edging ottawa in the opening game of their series, giving the canadiens a win. senators then having a bit of trouble here, thanks so some confusion. the rest of the players were over heating even after the final buzzer, game two coming up on friday. >> pushing for victory in the first test match of the series. a few minutes time in day four with 220 runs. the star man scoring his maiden

century. this team all out for 295 left england with a lead of more than 100 runs. loss in quick wickets jonathan taylor for shot with just four. continuing out to 13. the close with the score on 116 for three is a lead of 220 runs. >> we can't start well build that partner ship or another soon after it, then that's when the scoring center increased and obviously, obviously that be the key. >> pacquiao opening up his training camp to the media. the eight division world champion and the unbeaten mayweather facing the best defensive fighter of all time.

>> i love my guy's chance of winning, and that's the main thing. he looks great he's motivated no nonsense. and i think he's going to put on a performance for the ages. >> competitors all about pushing the boundaries of may or may not be possible and we've seen just that in the world of snowboarding mar began pulling off the world's first ever 1800 cork jump involving four flips and five full rotations completed in midair, more than landing the jump on a specially built ramp there in italy. looks easy to me. you can check out aljazeera.com/sport, great graphics feature there on who rulings the word world of sports. >> stay with us here on al jazeera. another full bulletin of news is straight ahead.

yemen's vice president calls for the houthis to stop their attacks and lay down their weapons. ♪ hello, i'm richelle carey, all on the program, syrias government stepping up air raids on opposition territory. a rights group says 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict. angry protests against south korea's government force