edition, i'm ray suarez. more migrants rescued at sea as the e.u. vows to ease the escalating crisis in the mediterranean. hello, welcome to al jazeera, live from doha. coming up in the next half our - an explosion rocks yemen's capital as a weapons depot is targeted tensions on the streets of guinea's capital. anti-government protesters are angry over election delays. forcing polluting vehicles

off the road. shanghai prepares to introduce new laws. italian prosecutors say they have arrested the captain and first mate of a boat that capsized off the coast of libya. survivors have asked in sicily it's feared up to 900 others drowned. the prime minister says europe must work together to stop migrants being exploited by traffickers. alexi o'brien reports. >> reporter: of the hundreds on board the boat they hoped would take them to a new life these are the few who made it. 27 migrants out of as many as 950. arriving in the sicilian port of catania and exhausted by their ordeal they were met by emergency workers.

among the survivors, the boat's captain and first mate. trrs say they have been charged over the sinking. >> translation: we carried out two arrest warrants, the captain and crew. the captain was charged with manslaughter. >> reporter: in malta 24 bodies arrived, bulled from the water since their overcrowded boat capsized and sank off the coast of libya. more information is being released about the conditions the migrants faced on board. >> migrants were crushed in the boat. it wasn't small, it was 23 meters long. a few hundred migrants were forced into the hole, locked and prevented from coming out. another several hundred were

closed into the second. as the rescuers searched for survivors, more were drowning. this vessel came from turkey hitting rocks on the greek island. battered by the waves, they clinged to what was left of their boat, and prayed for survival. it's not known how many are missing. three are confirmed dead including a child. >> this has been a deadly period for migrants crossing to europe. >> 11,000 have been rescued. 1500 others drowned. >> despite the danger, it's inevitable that thousands will take the risk the european union announced a series of measures aimed at stopping migrants being exploited by traffickers much the crisis was discussed at a meting with e.u. foreign

ministers in luxembourg. it samed to stop migrants travelling to libya. other proposals included destroying boats and increasing funding to the e.u.'s rescue mission. the policy chief says europe has woken up to the migrant crisis. >> today we have a new european level of awareness, that this is a european issue, not of single member states but we need to act, act fast and act united. this is not just a call from some, but a response from all david bacon is a journalist and author. he says migrants will only stop travelling to europe when their home countries are politically stable. >> you can no more stop the migration of people across the mediterranean by demonizing

smugglers, or putting boats into the mediterranean than you can stop people coming from mexico by building walls along the boarder. neither of these things deal with the root causes of migration. for people dying in the mediterranean, some of them are libyans, some of them are coming from north africa. in reality people are coming from all over the continent and the middle east. to cross the mediterranean because of a gulf that exists between the rich and the poor nations of the world. people are coming and are taking the incredible risks to cross the ocean because they have no alternative to whether their families will eat or survive. so in order to deal with the root causes of migration, we have to deal with this kind of economic gulf and we have to deal with the wars that are in large part a product of this

history of colonialism, and this history of inequality. so long as it exists it will continue to come. they have to rescue people when they are in danger of drowning. >> turning to yemen, and an explosion rocked the capital city. saudi arabia-led air strikes targeted a base killing 46. the death toll is expected to rise. a saudi border guard was killed by mortar fire from yemen. elsewhere eight houthi viters were killed after pro-government forces attacked their headquarters. heavy clashes in taiz and aden to the south. this was a scene in tees has houthi force clashed with the president. there were casualties on both sides. this report on the latest

developments. >> reporter: in more than three weeks of bombing this was one of the largest attacks yet. the target was a scut missile base. >> but the massive explosion killed dozens of people destroying nearby buildings and blowing out builds in homes and offices, and damaged a television station owned by the former president. knocking it off air. picking through the devastation, locals voiced anger. >> when we arrived to help the colleagues and the people there was a big explosion, and we found shells over the area. >> reporter: this is an area near the capital, where the presidential palace and embassies are located. quick to criticize the strike

was indonesia, whose embassy was near. >> i want to condemn the air strike in sanaa. several diplomatic staff were injured. >> for 26 days saudi arabia led an alliance. the campaign has repeatedly targeted the base along with other military facilities and airports in sanaa and throughout the country. >> the coalition forces succeeded relatively to destroy the military infrastructure of the deposed president ali abdullah saleh and those of the houthis. including weaponry which is totally destroyed. in the port city of aden fighting a fierce here popular

resistance fighters relevant to abd-rabbu mansour hadi keeping the houthis out of the district of ramallah. those caught in the crossfire are left in the streets. the houthi forces will never surrender they say meanwhile, the u.s. navy sent a war ship to the waters off yemen. the aircraft carrier u.s.s. "theodore roosevelt" and another ship are in the gulf. the u.s. insists they are there for marr tine exercise not to intercept the iran shipment. iran has been accused of backing the houthis and supplying them with weapons. claims that are denied. >> rosalind jordan has been following the story. >> the u.s. carria has been based in the middle east part

of a deployment that could take up to a year. they moved much close to the borders. it's done to help enhance security in the region. they refused to say whether the crew are going to be involved? stopping iranian vessels, vessels that might be suspected of carrying weapons to the houthis, that's the group that has kicked out the sitting president and trying to basically run the country themselves. the pentagon says it's watching for efforts to smuggle sources from the houthis, inside yemen. >> the school u king called for an end to attacks against migrants. the king as han accused of

fuelling violence leaving seven dead. he's one of the most powerful men in south africa. respected and adored. many say he should have made the speech weeks ago. >> translation: i have come to declare the new war. this war is to protect every foreigner here. as your king i call for arm. >> reporter: he said the media should be vetted for misinterpreting another speech. many say that speech in which he blamed foreigners led to these zenno vokic attacks. the violence brought shame to south africa. >> we should hold hands with the police. those that have committed crimes must be brought to justice. the law must stop those trying

to destroy south africa's image. supporters say the media lied about him. >> it's good that the king came here. he set the record strait. >> reporter: the government has been blamed for failing to address high unemployment and poverty among huge sections of south africa's population. many of whom accuse might ranked workers of taking their jobs. there has been flare-ups in recent years. >> condemning violence against foreigners. it will take a lot to. there was more than 12,000. some fled from fighting and democratic republic of congo, and lived in south africa for eight years.

the hair sal job was attacked and a group of men beat her, as she ran, trying to protect her baby boy. >> why didn't stop by 2008. it's better to go home. it's better to die home or here. >> for thousands of people, the king's speech offers little comfort in a place they have come to thing of as home. >> lebanon receives a saudi arabia-funded shipment of french-made weapons. and when sri lanka elected a new president. he promised a 100 day plan of action. we look at what has been achieved. achieved.

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issues, and new understanding of our changing world. >> it's the very beginning >> this was a storm of the decade >>...hurricane... >> we can save species... >> our special month long focus, fragile planet let's take a look at the top stories. an italian prosecutor say they have arrested the captain and first mate of a boat that capsized off libya's coast. the two were among 22 survivors that arrived late. it's feared up to 900 others have drowned. 46 people have been killed hundreds injured in an explosion in the yemeni capital sanaa. the blast coming after a saudi coalition air strike on a huey depot. >> the south african zulu king has called for an end on attacks

against migrants in guinea hundreds of soldiers have taken control of the capital, after confrontations with protesters. one policeman and several protesters have been wounded. for weeks there has been anti-government demonstrations. it's the second time in two weeks that the guinean capital resembled a battlefield. protesters were met with tear gas from the police and there were arrests. hundreds of anti-government protesters took to the streets. they won a controversial election timetable to be scrapped. >> translation: from the moment we met with the house of our leader we were met with a large number of police shooting at us. protesters reacted with stones. right now, the national police forces are responsible for the

situation. last month the electoral commission announced that it would take place. local elections would be held. the opposition does not want the government to keep local representatives it appointed, and wants them to be elected. they narrowly won the presidential vote in 20 so. the first time holding elections since independence. opposition parties accuse the president of keeping a tight grip over the institutions. the government criticized the opposition for protesting diet battling an ebola outbreak. several cases are reported each week. the opposition says its struggle is a just one of the the authorities in this country decided to scooup res opposition demonstrations and security forces that stop the people from expressing themselves. guinean people cannot express the disagreements freely.

>> there has been attempts at talks. a guinean government delegation met opposition representatives on sunday but it said it will only send the protests if it guarantees implementation of a 2013 agreement, saying that local elections would take place. >> translation: we are ready to net if this illegal access is removed by the electoral commission. the n.e.c. has no power to dissolve the act, signed by the international community. it's just the opposition and partners that can resolve this agreement for the local elections. >> three people were killed 50 wounded in the demonstrations last week. unless both sides can agree on a framework for elections, more violence is likely to follow the u.s.-led coalition has carried out 26 air strikes in iraq over the past 24 hours, targetting i.s.i.l. fighters. 13 strikes were in anbar

province west of baghdad, where the security forces are battling to extend their control beyond the pockets of territory that they hold. i.s.i.l. fighters killed 24 sunni tribesman south-west of kirkuk and in a separate incident 15 i.s.i.l. fighters and 14 peshmerga soldiers were cleared in cashes south of kirkuk. >> the u.n. says that it needs $13 million for aid for palestinians in the yarmouk refugee camp. it is controlled by i.s.i.l. following fighting earlier this month. the humanitarian situation is dire. >> lebanon received the shipment as part of a deal worth 3 billion. it's a saudi funded initiative.

from beirut. they report on the significance of this delivery. >> the ceremony was simply. at the beirut airport, french and saudi officials were happy, and lebanese officials were relieved. >> lebanon's victory against terrorism is a victory to all nations threatened by terrorism. they waited a year and a half for this. the first shipment of a 3 billion deal with france and to bolster the capabilities of a weakened army. at a critical time i.s.i.l. al nusra front and other groups tried to infiltrate lebanon. i think it is a serious threat. those terrorists are on the borders between syria and lebanon. >> reporter: monday's delivery

was light weapons, while the green cases may not have looked imposing the lebanese government insists this is a game changer. some military analysts are not assured. >> the lebanese army needs sophisticated weapons and as soon as possible. you cannot wait two years for that delivery. as more soldiers are deployed to a shared border with syria, they don't have the weapons they need the most and will not for a while. details are sketchy, analysts expect it could be 2-3 years before helicopter and warships are delivered. >> saudi arabia hope to curbing hezbollah military might, and the influence in lebanon made it a priority. with no end in site. the spillover - some say time is

not on their side a court in argentina threw out allegations that president christina kirchner helped cover up the bombing of a jewish center. the prosecutor han ininvestigating alleges that cristina fernandez de kirchner tried to cover up the bombing. the court ruled no crime was committed. cristina fernandez de kirchner brought the case and was found dead. >> in sri lanka, a group of politicians refuse to leave parliament until an injury against the former president is dropped. it comes as the new president completes 100 days in office. we look at the promises kept and broken so far. >> reporter: sri lankans voted

for a new leader 100 days ago. it is his promise to bring this change that swept this candidate to victory on january the 8th campaigning to end what he calls an autocratic and corrupt rule. >> this is a temporary cabinet for the 100 day programme. after this there'll be an election after which we'll have a permanent cabinet to implement our programme. >> the promise to keep the cabinet was stretched to accommodate defectors and a diverse coalition. it stands at 40 with more than 30 deputies and non-cabinet ministers. some found relief from the reduced electricity, fuel and food prices. many are struggling to make a living. this person helped to bring the new coalition toot. >> translation: uniting all the different sections is not easy.

they hope disputes with majority and minor parties. we have to do what the country wants. the main issue is not about the right of mind, but to bring in the change so the company doesn't face a situation again. >> the new president won over the support of the tamil minority. for the first time in the country's history, a government expressed regret for the violence by all its people. the president wept a step further returning some of the land to tam ills in the north. the first visit to india, it was also part of a college to move away from the chinese policy of predecessor. analysts are unhappy with the action taken against those

accused of corruption. >> we feel insufficient measures have been taken in respect of accountability for corruption. >> i think the population at large expect there would have been indictments and convictions. dr sullivan point tout that a notable feature is a feeling of being free. a tremendous achievement, one difficult to quantify. achieving wide-ranging changes was never going to be easy. more so when you don't have the required majority in parliament. the president and his allies say they are confident of passing through the promised constitutional changes, which reduce the powers of the president, set up independent institutions and strengthen democracy. an egyptian court sentenced 22 muslim brotherhood members to death for storming a police station outside cairo in 2013.

a police officer was killed in the attack which happened a day after the military overthrew president mohamed mursi. the government targeted supporters of mohamed mursi and his muslim brotherhood group since he was deposed. the canadian government will issue a passport to an al jazeera journalist facing trial in equipment. he and fellow al jazeera journalist mohammed badr face charges including aiding the outlawed muslim brotherhood, and spreading false news. the egyptian born man is a canadian citizen and he gave up european citizenship jason from "the washington

post" has been held by iranian authorities shanghai is preparing to introduced a new law. exhaust fumes are blamed for the worsening air quality, other cities are expected to adopt the measure. adrian brown reports. >> business is slow in the second hand car market. trailers while away the day playing cards or board games. >> they really are for the bored. >> this man had a dealership for eight years, but fears he may have to close as others have done. >> actually, a lot of people in this business have disappeared. because it is now so hard to do business. >> demand for second hand as well as new cars took a hit from an earlier government decision to restrict war sales to tackle

worsening ware pollution. authorities are going a step further. cars that failed to met exhaust emission standard will be taken off the road even if they are a few years old. >> we hope they can be more relaxed. and issued more licence plates. both raise compensation rates for decommissioned cars. >> this is where many of those vehicles end up. it is shanghai's biggest scrap yard for cars. officials have a problem. because of the volumes, they are running out of space. >> the problem is piling up. between 40 and 50 vehicles arrive every day. 90% having failed the test. thousand of other condemned cars

are on the road having been sold to owners and downed and cities where the new restrictions don't apply for now avoiding this fate. . generations with jobs in coal. but on january 9th, 2014, the state woke up to an example of the costs of it's industrial economy. a tank containing a chemical used the process of coal production had leaked its contents into the elk rive