♪ yemen's new vice president tells the houthis rebels to end their offensive. ♪ ♪ watching al jazeera live from london. good to have you along. in the next 30 minutes another 41 feared to have drowned as the migrant crisis off the coast of italy gets worse. a dramatic increase as syria they say the war has killed 220,000 people. and call the president houthis faces the public for almost four hours on t.v.

♪ the new vice president urging the houthis rebels to end their offense fifth the port city of adan. called a goodwill gesture that could open the door for peace initiatives. he also called for a renegade army units to support the legitimate government in exile instead of the rebels. now, in a number of other developments the envoy has resigned amido criticism of his failure to bring an end to the crisis. fighting broken out around the central city opening up a new front for the houthis and they and their allies are battling an army brigade and tribesman there, so vice president was talking in a televised speech to the nation from saudi arabia where senior officials. he said his priorities to deal with the humanitarian

situation. >> . >> the international community and the region have to intervene urgentsy, in order to pave the way for the citizens to live in a suitable manner and in order to put an end to the crisis so it doesn't become a catastrophe. we distressed that the upmost priority of the government is to deal with the urgent humanitarian situation without any discrimination. in a briefing in the last hour saudi arabia says it has targeted yemen military unit whose are supporting houthis militia. this military video shows saudi led coalition strikes on vehicles it has claimed by prohouthis units. in a briefing earlier the coalition spokesman warned renegade army units that they would face further bombardment from the air unstill they stopped supporting the rebels. >> we need to tell the

commanders that are still prohouthis that it is neither the right time for them to revise the situation and protecting civilians because being prohouthis will put them their units and their officers under the threat of aerial bombardment. >> joining us from the saudi city on the border with yemen i want to talk about the vice president, the new vice president a man who when he was appointed it was said had some credibility. with the opposition, units perhapses with the houthis as well so for him to be saying look stop fighting here, the we may be able to talk peace is that significant? that it was him rather than hattie or somebody else. >> yes. many people think so, this man is more likely to be listened to than hadi himself. and elected president because bahar has been in the offense of prime minister for a while

and at that time, he was the only one that got the consensus of all the ever waying parties in the conflict. and the houthis themselves have released him voluntarily from the house arrest unlike the situation with hadi and the defense minister, and that was a sign of the prohibit that the houthis may well be able to listen and deal with him. he talked today very confidently to all the yemenis with no exception and he yesterday criticized the houthis, but he did noughts tremendous sized them. and he addressed them with two messages one of them is yes we are red ready for peace but we can't do it without arms we can't do it withdrawal from aid and some of the other parts but very interesting david that he did not put up the precondition for the talks that they should leave so you can see that they have left kind of a leeway for the houthis. he gave them something even

though he didn't really make it -- put it inrd whos but it is between the lines so he is a man who is there from his speech today. to have compromise, to accept compromise but there is one thing, there is a red line, nothing can be done. former president and those people that are leading the bombing campaign, said no, you have to stay where you are so has he burn all of his bridges? is he stuck in yemen with no friends? people trying to burp them out of there he says he doesn't support him. >> yes david, he is stuck there and some critics may say this is probably not the right way to do it, sawed yeah arabia should also allow the former president to leave the country, pause if leaves his

troops the loyalist they may actually stop the fighting. but he is -- he is stuck now and has no other things to do, no thing to do other than going ahead in this war supporting the houthiss and it is a very dangerous situation. he a is very intelligent, very shrewd politician, and he has been able throughout the case to as he said in his own words dance over the heads of the stakes in yemen. he was able to survive and he ink saided the south and so on be uh no uh many say that he has failed in this latest attempt in his attempt and now, he has to find a way out and he doesn't want to die in this conflict, he wants to survive. >> thank you for now.

>> it is feared that more migrants are vonned while trying to cross the mediterranean sea from africa. 41 people died as they attempted to reach italy. about 400 others are thought to have drowned when their boats sank off the coast of libya earlier this week. and the further 10,000 migrants have been rescued since last friday. it leaves us the e.u. for help. e.u. commission says it is working on a new plan to deal with the crisis. the european commission cannot do it all alone. we are doing a more comprehensive approach. like we have said in times we will be coming forward in may, no we don't have a silver bullet or any kind of panacea that will make the situation go away. and no amount of finger point

willing change. >> let's hear from the e.u. bank takes part in some of those operations looking for the migrants. i asked whether they had enough money boats and people to deal with the influx of these trying to get from africa, to europe. >> it is one of our largest operations our budget has been increased, but we are talking about a very very difficult situation here. we are talking about a very large area of the mediterranean. thousands of people leaving on unsea worthy boats that nobody knows that they have left. and if they leave their satellite phone works and they are able to call search and rescue services, if not they need to count on being found let me ask you the question again, yes or no would be a good one here, do you have enough boats enough people enough money? >> enough for what.

>> saving these lives in. >> you know, everybody is doing everything they can to save people. but as i explained it's a very difficult job because it's a very large area, and a very difficult situation. with boats that -- >> let me put it to you this way, it would be an easier job, even if it is a hard job it would be an easier one if you had more boats more people more money perhaps. >> as i explained before, the search and rescuers responsibility is with the national authorities not with frontex. we are there to assist the national authorities. >> so you believe you are in a helpless hopeless position when it comes to this? do you have enough power? would you like more? >> this is one of the largest

operations. we are doing what we can in this situation. we have other operations and other borders as well. because we are not on the deploying in italy. so we are doing our best. >> so when the italians say we need more help from the european union, did you think they are asking you? have you said you are well funded just not your job. >> i did not say that. >> you said it is the responsibility of the maritime forces of the country involved and it was your job to assist. >> yes, it is. >> so it isn't your responsibility, it is their responsibility so if the italians ask for more help, they shouldn't be asking for it from you? >> well, european union is not front tex. front ex-is one operational agency with a limited budget. european union is a large

international organization, so i think when i can not speak for the spire european union there are other financial instruments available from the european union however from front we can assist by organizing an operation in assisting the italian authorities and that's what we are doing. >> final question with regard to what is happening now that it has been scaled pack, do you think it was a better system that was in place before then is in place now. >> well, first of all operation try tan is not a replacement of operation it was a national operation, it was a humanitarian operation. >> which worked better? they are different operations we have a different mandate we are -- i don't think you can say that in this manner.

>> italy's anti-immigration parties are dend maaing an immediate end to the arrival of the immigrants. but also wants to target people who have already made it to the italian mainland. phil lavell spoke to one league member in rome. >> your party has spoken about going to the refugees are these people will be placed and saying we don't want you here that seems like a very unsympathetic altitude for people fleeing with their lives. >> when the limit has passed the number of people we can take care of, the only way we have to let people understand the limit is to speak louder. we cannot stand 10,000 people

in four days coming into italy. we don't have the structure to host them. we don't have money to feed them. >> but you have do have humanity you have a safe country where people can come to. >> you can't say we didn't show humanity, we showed a lot of hue panty because we took care of these people only us. not an other country inside europe, they just don't care about these people. you cannot tell me we didn't show humanity. we show -- too much, i think. but the problem is we cannot stand this situation any longer. >> what can change in the short term. >> we proposed in parliament, as a group to supply. so ships in front of the coast. to make it a blockade. to stop them starting to save

them from the war but to. >> you mean block them into the countries. >> no no no. you just block the ports we don't stop them, we want to stop seeing people dying in the sea. we want control of the people coming inside the country. and the problem will still exist. >> coming up here, on al jazeera aingeish in south korea mourns the 304 victims of the civil war ferry sinking a year ago. and china accused of bullying other countries.

>> i am david foster here with us on al jazeera. the vice president of yemen's houthis rebels to end their offensive on the southern force of the adan. called it a goodwill gesture that can open the door to peace initiatives. more than one people have drowned in the latest sinking of a migrant boat, trying to get from libya to italy. about 400 others are thought to have drowned when their boat sank off the coast of libya earlier this week. >> there's been a big increase in government air strikes in the last 26 hours. human rights groups say there has. more than 120 with strikes over aleppo, killing 40

civilians. the total death toll has emerged over the last four years of war, it is close sol al jazeera has more from lebanon. >> over 220,000 people killed in the past four years of fighting in syria that's staggering horrifying number being provided by the syrian observatory, and say that over 65,000 people killed since the fighting began in syria where civilians and that over 11,000 were children. the syrian observatory also reporting the clashes have intensified especially in the province. of course, being the second provincial capitol in syria to have been overtaken that happened at the end of march since then, there has been more air raids by the syrian regime according to activists in that area. over the course of the past 36 hours we are told that there have been over 120 air raids that dozens of barrel bombs have been dropped in that area and that civilians are

really really suffering. it has gotten so much bloodier it has gotten so bad, that just tuesday human rights watch release add report in which they accuse the syrian regime of using chemical warfare using chlorine in barrel bombs that were dropped over the past -- the course of the last two weeks in marv. >> south korean police confronted protestors. grieving parents have snubbed south korea's president and prime minister. at memorial services for the 304 people who were killed. if this was meant tock a day of somber recollection it didn't end this way. protestors robbed of children by the disaster had planned to march on the blue house. but were stopped by a massive police presence.

earlier, the other end of the country, the president visited the port which became the base for the rescue and recovery effort. she was there to offer condolences to the parents and it seemed grant one of their key dend mas. those parentses that believe raising the ship at any cost, is necessary. in the students 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 day the families called it off. >> underlying the ainge they are a year has done little to heal. >> i wish that someone could make a time machine so i could go back to 10:00 a.m. on april 16th then i could go and tell them to get out quickly, and they would all be

out in five or ten minutes a year had passed but nothing has chained. >> the images burned into the collective memory, a passenger ferry sinking off the southern coast. the mobile phone footage that came later show more. repeated instructing to stay put, is it overturns trapping them beneath the water. the families say the full story of corruption and the botched rescue hasn't been told. putting restrictions on a recently launched special investigation, and attempting to undermine it's independents. >> an evening vigil gave an opportunity to thousand ms. of them students to reflect on the loss of other young people who were failed by their elders. before once again that emotion turns to anger. it does show how much of an impact this has in the country, and the divisions it

has left behind. european union foreign policy chief says she is -- can be reached by the june deadline. the european union top policy official was responding to a question about whether a note by russia on monday to lift a ban on sales of weapons had the potential to derail a preliminary deal reached earlier this month. >> and south african president has called for an end of violence after a series of attacks. police fired rubber bullet ets and tear gas during an antigovernment demonstration. some south africans accuse foreigners of taking jobs as unemployment rates continue to rise. thousands also rallies in support of the foreign workers with protestors calling for an end to the attacks. >> a lot of people have been

asking what is the south african doing to stop these attacks on foreigners in so they have organized this, where they have politician people from civil society, people from other countries coming together showing that it is not okay to kill people, just because they aren't from south africa or because you think they may be taking your job. >> i ask you why you think it is important to be here today. >> it is very important because south africa is for everyone. there's no need for this. we need peace and we need to carry on. with our country that's what we need. >> there are some people from other african countries here, but many immigrants, they say what they don't need is a march, they want the government and the police to protect themselves.

other african tuns say they are trapped and they will be -- anyone who wants to go back to their homes but for the many south africans marching here, they are telling foreigners they can't be blames for the actions of a few. they try to send the message that south africa is open for business and they hope this march will help alleviate the that still exist but in other parts of the country too. >> thousands are escaping violence and crossing into next door rwanda, ahead of presidential elections in june. the united nations secretary general ban ki-moon urged the government to ensure that the powers are free and fair. thousands have crossed where they are now staying in camps. president pierre says he is entitled to run again after serving two terms.

that's causing a lot of tension, because a lot of people including some members of the party say that he shouldn't because that's against the constitution. the use of the party have been accused of political violence, and killings a lot of the refugees arriving say they are scared of that, and that's why they run away. meanwhile, the human rights chief speaking in the capitol was very critical. >> this militia which openly supported the government, appears to operating increasingly aggressively, and with total impunity. a fair vote could take the country forward but the other rout would take the country back to what he describes as the violent past. about 300,000 people were killed in a civil war that ended in 2005, and it was a peace deal then that brought the president into power ten years ago. >> ukraine is looking into the

murder of a prominent pro-russian journalist who was gunned down on thursday. >> sources in the interior ministry say both men were key witnesses in a criminal case investigating attacks on prowestern protests in early 2014. >> the russian president vladimir putin has been answering questions from the public during his annual televised call in. the crisis in ukraine and the economy are both key issues. military forces are saying he didn't expect western sanctions to be lifted any time soon. he was optimistic on the economy, estimating a full recovery in the next two years. we should use the opportunity of sanctions and turn it around for new developments. so for instance, we replace

reports and that will stimulate our own economy and i hope this will encouraging us to double up hi-tech industries. >> there are those that see a growing threat to peace. accused of el poeing smaller countries out over disputed maritime territory. but china thinks differently here is marring get in beijing. c.q., c.j. >> he has been a radio enthusiast his whole life, he likes that it connects him to the rest of the world and that radio fans are bound by an honor code. one of his biggest triumphs setting off transmitter with an international group of enthusiasts. it is almost 3,000-kilometers away from the chinese mainland. in waters claimed by both china and the philippines. >> all the radio amateurs in the word have built a relationship. even the philippines radio amateurs. >> but relations between china and her neighbors aren't too good, with many of the smaller

countries accusing china of bullying them on overlapping maritime claims. the philippines released photos saying it is creating islands on nine separate sites in disputed waters. waters are 5 trillion u.s. dollars worth of trade passes through every year. china says it's projects are ultimately for civilian purposes and regional development. >> the relevant construction, justified as well within china's sovereignty. it does not impact our traffic in the country and is beyond reproach. >> it is 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 that is ownership over most of the south china sea. many here give little

importance to and are unaware that it has been brought to an international tribunal by the philippines. >> of course the islands are china's. >> yes, they are china's, i have been told this since we were kids in school. >> chen too believes the waters belong to china but hopes his government take as cue and keeps talking to it's neighbors to find another way to deal with the situation. >> in china a saying put oil on the fire. we have a dispute we cannot find a way to solve at the moment a better way is to slow down, make it cool down, not to put oil on the fire, that is not good. with chinese activity continues in disputed waters many find it hard to believe the stated intentions to talk and find a common solution. al jazeera, beijing. >> unrivaled international coverage not only on t.v. but

also online, we have the main stories there if we go to that picture top right click on that and it will take us into a whole lot of stories there ever the us. aljazeera.com. >> the syrian government steps up air strikes over two of the country's largest cities the civilian toll from alleged chemical acing thats yemen's military says al quaida has now taken over an major airport. even as they claim rebels are on the run. >> i was scared to death and i didn't want to show it. >> and making amends for police torture the new steps being taken in chicago. ♪ ♪