talk to us on twitter or facebook and come back. we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. stop destroying the country the man who may become yemen's next president calls on houthi rebel to his lay down their weapons. hello and welcome to al jazerra i am martin dennis in doha. coming up on the program. the graphic video of a suspected chlorine attack in syria that left u.n. officials in tears. italy calls for international help as it struggles to cope

with another influx of migrants. why some of the world's best coffee beans are leaving a rather bitter taste for traders in den i kenya. ♪ ♪ but first yemen's new vice president is urging houthi rebel to his end their offensive on the poured city of aden. bahah says the goodwill gesture could open the door to peace he's also appealing to renegade army units to support the legitimate government in exile instead of the houthis. now we have more. >> reporter: this is the man likely to be yemen's next president. khaled bahar is currently vice president and prime minister. his task is to pull together a nation on the brink of civil

war. bahah says he is willing to work with his houthi opponents and forces loyal to the former president al saleh but only if they disarm. >> translator: we must give the law a chance, we should be united behind our project for a civic state and achieve militia hoyle to al saleh and yemen and stop destroying the country. >> reporter: yemen's biggest challenge is the deteriorating humanhumanitarian situation. hundreds of yemenis have been killed since the start of the conflict three weeks ago. the city aden is bearing the brunt of heavy fighting. >> translator: yemen faces a tough humanitarian situation shortage in food, medicine and basic necessities like electrics at this and fuel. this requires an need international intervention to

prevent ca to have truss any generally. we have the urgent needs of the people. >> reporter: for now the president and vice president won't be able to return home. part of the country remain under houthi control. the man bahah wants to reform the army is detained. the general was captured by houthi fighters on the outskirts of aden. bahah became prime minister in october. his appoint. was backed by the houthis who later put him under house arrest. now, he expects today unite yemenis and create stability for the country. al jazerra. now, al jazerra has learned that the united nations has lined up a new special envoy for yemen. ismael from mauritania has work today 20 years for the u.n. in africa and the middle east, he's

expected to exceed jamal ben. for his failure to broken an end to the fighting. the yemeni ambassador to the u.n. has been speaking to us at al jazerra and told us what he thought of jamal ben mall's rest. >> we than jamal did a lot of positive things in the past. his participation in the formation of all of the implementation of the initiative of the gcc and after that the follow-up of the election process in yemen. we than in the beginning jamal benomar was doing a great job. but the problem started when jamal benomar thought he might promote the presence of the houthis as a militia group with using their force as the powerful element in the

political spectrum that nobody was expecting. and from that points we started to have a lot of disagreement with his benomar he started to negotiate without con sending with the pled of the republic and -- president of the republic and we started to have serious problems. we welcome the new adviser. and will work very well with him. and we will couldn't and support his efforts. >> the conflict on the ground in yemen is continuing. there appears to be no end in sight to the fighting. in the port city of aden, fighters loyal to yemen's president mansur hadi continue their push against the houthis. clashes have taken place between the so-called popular resistence and the houthi rebels there. now, the u.n.'s refugee agency says 1,600 yemenis are

trying to escape the fighting and they have arrived in djibouti and somalia. they sailed across the gulf of aden in crowded boats and ships the u.n. h.c.r. expect 100,000 more of them to arrive in somalia and around 30,000 more to arrive in djibouti over the coming months. the u.n. says 600 people have already been killed in the conflict. so the humanitarian situation, of course, is getting worse in yemen. food surprise are running short as the violence traps many people within their homes. the world food program is saying it will need to distribute food to over 100,000 displaced people in the city aden alone over the next few days, before the fighting began in yemen the wfp estimated that over 10 million people were already short of food. they now say the escalating violence has left more than 12 million yemenis in need of

help. now, to the u.n., where security council ambassadors have been shown graphic pictures of suspected chlorine gaza tacks in syria. they also heard first hand account from syrian doctors who had treated the victim. many children. the u.n. says it will try to identify and prosecute the attackers. a warning we have this report now from our diplomatic editor james bays and it does contain disturbing images. >> reporter: this shocking video was filmed in the immediate aftermath of the chemical attack in syria last year. the pictures of doctors trying to revive young children was shown to security council am bassambassadors, they were shocked. many moved to tears. >> the video in particular of the attempt to resuscitate the children, i don't -- if there was a dry eye in the room, i didn't see it. it was -- it's just devastating to see the facts of what this regime is doing.

so people were visibly moved. >> some of the worst stuff i have ever had to watch, i have to say. there were moments when automatic i want to do was to look way and then i realized the people we were seeing actually had to live through this and regrettably had to die through it. >> reporter: as well as watching the video security councilmembers heard evidence from two syrian doctors and from a survivor of a chemical a tabling. they later briefed reporters. >> translator: in the video you can see that the patients were one on top of the other. and that's because we received many sick people in a short amount of time. as far as my feelings, of course it was very disturbing. every time i rewatch the video i remember the events that occurred which are very upsetting. >> reporter: he says he was one of the victims of a czar czar inning attack in 2013, at one point doctors thought they lost him. >> they gave up on me and i was placed with dead bodies for

nearly 45 minutes until a friends of mine noticed that i was still alive. called the doctors again gave me more atropine and for some reason i game clark to life. >> reporter: the video was shot 10 days after vote when the resolution condemning the use of chlorine was passed. the u.s. is among security councilmembers condemning what they say is a clear act of die vines by the assad government but any action seems extremely likely. russia would almost certainly block any condemnation of the syrian government in the security council and the obama administration remains reluctant to take any military action. james bays, al jazerra, at the united nations . >> mean while syrian government forces have stepped up attacks in aleppo and in it's lib. killing at least 40 civilians. among them, 20 children. according to a human rights group more than 100 strikes in the area over the last 24 hours.

the president himself bashar al-assad has been appearing on tv as part of national day celebrations. in his interview, he blamed europe for isil's advance across the middle east. >> i wouldn't look at the terrorism as domestic. or as regional. it's as i said it's global. so when -- sweden is part of europe or part of the scandinavian group of european countries, we are we have to take in to consideration the most dangerous leaders of isis, in our region are scandinavian. okay, we can go live now to our correspondent who is in beirut. and monitoring the situation in syria from there. mohamed, and syria national day should be a day of celebration and of national unity. but clearly that is not the case. so many syrians.

>> reporter: you are absolutely right martin, he with haven't seen the entirety of the interviewed that bashar al-assad gave. we are not hearing much of a surprise. in the sound bite that you just aired a couple of minutes a ago al-assad is laying blame on the terrorism that's going on in syria at the doorstep of scandinavian crypts, as we know there are a large number of fighters that have joined the ranks of isis, these past several months that have come from nordic countries countries and so he's saying that. later in the interview he goes onto praise sweden because sweden has accepted more syrian refugees than any other european country. in fact, at this time there is at least 40,000 syrians now resideing in sweden. that's just the number of registered refugees. it's expected the number is

higher and will only grow exponentially in 2015. let's tail take a listen to what he said more on that front. >> this is a good thing to do to give people refuge. but if you ask the syrian people who have fled from syria what do you want, they don't want to flee syria because of the war. they want to end that war. that is their aim. that's our aim. so i think if we have people -- if you give people a few years ago the best is to have them going back to their country. >> so the president suggesting, at least referring to the millions of people who have left the country. not mentioning those displaced within the country but suggest that go they actually want an end to the war and that looks pretty unlikely at this point doesn't it? >> reporter: it certainly looks very unlikely. the situation in syria is growing more tire by the day.

as you mentioned a few moments scag in james' report. you have these allegationses from human rights watch and other bodies saying the syrian regime has possibly used chlorine gas and chemical attacks in the past few weeks and the fighting escalating in the idlib province and the refugees situations spiraling out of control. so many refugees trying to cross the mediterranean on boats that are cap sides and so few opportunities for left gees like in lebanon where we are over a quarter of the population is a is comprised the syrian refugees. one of the counter points to is al jazerra sad when you speak to refugees in lebanon suffering so mightily these past few years they say that they are afraid to go back. even when they get assurances from the regime, they are afraid to go back in to syria. they don't believe that they will be protected and believe it will only get worse for em them martin. >> mohamed live in beirut, thank

you. we have a lot more to come here on al jazerra. including behind bars without charge or trial. israel continues to detain thousands of palestinians despite protests. ♪ ♪ >> that's one movie maker looks back at how the tribeca film festival helped him fulfill his dreams. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ held going i am martin dennis and these reports top stories here at al jazerra.

yemen's new vice president is urging houthi rebels to end their offensive on the port city aden. fighting has continued to take place there between the so-called popular resistence, which is loyal to president hadi and houthi fighters. you were security councilmembers have heard first hand accounts from syrian doctors who treated victims of suspected chlorine gaza tacks many of them were children. the u.n. says it will try to identify and prosecute the attackers. the syrian president bashar al-assad has appeared on tv as part of national day. he gave an you want vie saying he blamed europe for isil's advance across the middle east. more than 220,000 people have been killed in the syrian conflict since it began. now, hundreds more migrants have arrived in italy after a dangerous journey across the mediterranean from africa. it's thought more than 40 others may have drowned. as they made the voyage. as paul brennan reports from

sicily italy is appealing for help to cope with this unprecedented flood of new arrivals. >> reporter: at the a sill vinnie port of agusta the coast guard ship delivers its human cargo, nearly 600 migrants rescued from a variety of the stricken votes off the libyan coast the past few days, guided ashore by coast guard officers in protective clothing. these men women and children have risked death in the hope of a better life. such are the numbers involved. teams of volunteer doctors now work alongside the ship' medical staff. what they have seen pulled from the water in recent weeks is harrow be. >> sometimes -- we see people in the sea. they swallow water and gasoline and it's awful.

it's awful. >> reporter: some arrive with a little money for their new life. others arrive without even shoes to wear. they come from syria eritrea somalia and there is no sign i've slow down in the unprecedented numbers seen in recent days. these migrants are now safe, but not everybody makes it this far. reports emerging on thursday suggest that there has been another sinking in the mediterranean. this time with the loss of more than 40 40 lives the. the european commission admits solutions are needed they just don't have any at the moment. >> the european commission cannot alone do it all. we are putting all of our energy in to developing a new comprehensive approach on managing migration which as we said many times well will come forward with in may moved up from july. but we do not have a silver bullet or any kind of pan see that will make the situation go away like that. and no amount of finger pointing is going to change that. >> reporter: in the next few days this coast guard ship will put to sea again.

many more migrants lives will be saved as a result. but the question of how to stop them risking their lives in the first place goes unanswered. paul brennan, al jazerra agusta sicily. palestinians in the occupied west bank are honoring prisoners' day. there are thousands of palestinian prisons in israeli detention. some detained without charge. nor trial and they say in prison for years without ever knowing why. nisreen reports now. >> reporter: these pictures show the israeli army rounding up palestinians on wednesday. a scene that is repeated across the occupied west bank almost every night. israel currently holds 6,000 palestinians in its prisons, 450 of whom are held in administrative detention. this means detaining palestinians without charge or trial on indefinitely renewable military orders. a hamas representative in the

palestinian parliament, he spent over 13 years in administrative detention, he was released two weeks ago. and wild detained he's missed the birth of his two children. some of their weddings and the funerals of his mother and two siblings. >> translator: israel's policy of administrative detention is based on not letting inmates know the reasons behind their did he defense. this causes psychological conflicts because neither they nor their lawyers know when or if they will be released. >> reporter: palestinians protest israel's detention policy regularly. and this is one of many demonstrations held in the west bank to honor palestinian presidents'prisoners the day. one in every four palestinians at is at some point been obtained. for decades the united nations has been call on israel to stop detaining palestinians without charge or trial because it

violates the geneva convention. israel says administrative detention is is a legal tool it uses sparingly and insists detainees have a light rite to appeal their at the defense. >> we prefer not to have to use this tool but when fighting vicious terrorist organizations we have no hesitation whatsoever in murdering innocent israelis and palestinians, there are instances when we have no choice. >> reporter: arrests increase the heightened tensions between palestinianspalestinianspalestinians and israelis israelis and so do abuse of inmates according to organizations. >> testimonies from lawyers confirm that many prisoners are suffering from illnesses, as a result of torture and the policy of medical negligence. >> reporter: in the last year, the number of palestinians held in administrative detention alone has almost triplinged. prisoners say more inmates are being held in solitary confinement and deprived of family visits. with no political progress on

that's talks palestinian prisoners have little hope that things will get better. chinese court has sentenced veteran journalist to seven years in prison. the 71-year-old became fame news china for her hard-hitting reports on political elites. her lawyers say she'll appeal against the conviction for leaking state secrets to foreign news organizations. the head of the i.m.f. has ruled out giving alex tension to greece over its debt repavements. greece has to payback $1.1 billion over the next month. >> my advice is to get on with the work and the work needs to address both, you know, the short-term and the medium term of the economy and the objective that we all pursue is to actually restore the stability of the greek economy. the south african president jacob zuma has called for an end to attacks on african immigrants

immigrants. police fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas during an anti immigrant demonstration in johannesburg. thousands of foreigners are now seeking shelter in police stations and refugees camps. meanwhile, thousands of people have been marching in durban gets the hate attacks which claimed six lives in the port city earlier this week. demonstrators say the attacks undermine south africa's multicultural character. now, to kenya where their coffee is pretty unique. it'sits fruity flavor is popular all over the world and brings in millions of dollars and jobs for kenya, but production is on decline. people are getting rother worried. malcolm webb reports on the coffee exchange from nairobi. >> reporter: robinson begins his weekly task of tasting dozens of cups of coffee.

he grades them so his employers can decide what to bid for in the upcoming auction. coffee exports earn kenya around $200 million a year and provides an income for about 150,000 small-scale farmers. most of it is tasted and then traded here at the nairobi coffee exchange. downstairs traders collect the samples for tasting. but many of them are worried about the business because coffee production has been going down since the 1980s. this coffee is some of the best in the world. and we are surrounded by it. hundreds of samples of kenyan coffee awaiting auction. a lot of the world's leading calf i brands including kenyan coffee in their blends to bring up the quality coffee bought from other countries. and the traders say because of this reason kenyon coffee fetches as high a price as it can on the international market. they say there are a number of factors between here and the exchange and the farmers that grow it that mean a lot of those farmers don't want to grow it

anyanymore. nairobi's construction boom is part of it. the loss of coffee plants around the city have been pulled up and the land sold to developers. new properties didn't provide jobs in the long-term. nearby elizabeth is one of the farmers who is still growing it. she is 81. she says she gets a fair price and it provided her a steady income throughout most of her life. but she says many of her neighbors gave up. >> translator: sometimes the cooperative meals were not well organized. there were a few people who could help and advise so people opted out. >> reporter: back at the exchange he knows the business better than most. he's the ceo. >> price is not a problem. production is the problem. when you look at a -- the production capacity over a bush, it can go up to even above 40-kilos per bush. currently we are producing on

average two-kilos. and that's our problem. >> reporter: here on the trading floor, kenyan coffee may make good money but for farmers to earn enough and keep their plants they need advice and investment. the government says it's trying to help. everyone in the business, including robert, hopes for a turn around in the coming years. millions of kenyan jobs depends on it. malcolm webb, al jazerra nairobi. now, the tribeca film festival in new york has opened for its 14th year. it's a chance for well known directors and also those who are on the coming up to showcase their work. last year al jazerra met filmmaker whole was making his first appearance at tribeca and we caught up with him to see how he has benefited ever since. >> my name is. [ inaudible ] i am the director of -- writer and director of a movie called "apple sauce" i was here in tribeca last year with a

movie called "summer of blood." ♪ ♪ >> the win in the festival last year with a very, very almost no budget film that no one knew about, we didn't have a press person no movie stars in the fill. i enjoyed being at the festival. i enjoyed, you know, presenting the film. it's always exciting. it's important. it's imperative to get an audience. >> you are used to this, do you like it or hate it? >> we had a red carpet events that was exciting and fun. but, again i get self-conscious about things like that, because you know, when you are on the red carpet and see those cameras flashing there is a moment of panic. >> half the reporters are thinking who are all those no names we don't want to shoot these people. >> the movie got really good reviews and attention so we ended up selling the movie. which was fantastic. >> ron you flatter me, what's the worst thing you ever done? >> well, i never told anyone this store. >> i "apple sauce" is kind of about the past coming back to haunts you. what's really wonderful about

having a little bit more money to make a film is you can be more ambitious, we can cast people recognizable and makes the film hopefully more viable in the market. >> looks like ron is in the middle of some kind of domestic dispute. >> that's great. go to the coffee shop scene with the cops, the big cop and small cop. let's go there. right there. this scene. this is the first five i i have a distributor write a check and say make the movie and the film. i guess i was nervous because contractually, you know, they own the movie. and they could take the move a way from me at any time. once you have established a relationship with film festivals, it's -- it lubricates the way of getting your next film in to the festival doesn't guarantee you will get in to another festival but people know your work. every now and then i will get stopped on the subway or stopped out in new york and say oh, "summer of blood." i like the movie. it cheers thank you up. it's gotta admit it's exciting. you know, but at the same time, i don't know if i would want

it -- i don't think i am ever going to have a problem with it. but i don't know if i would want more -- the idea of being, you know somebody who is really recognized. that's -- i think that could be very irritating maybe possibly. tonight forget he can keep up to day with all the day's developing stories on the al jazerra website. you can get a lot of background too and also interesting opinions as well. aljazerra.com. world is still sluggish. call it the new meade ochre. reality. >> more on what it could mean for you, your job and prosperity with the head of the international monetary fund,