saudi arabia closes schools and cancels flights in a region bordering yemen because of fighting with houthi rebels. ♪ hello this is al jazeera live from doha i'm adrian finighan. also ahead, new allegations of war crimes against civilians in syria, as talks begin to try to stop the killing. protest continue in burundi, as the president is allowed to run for a third term. i have a story of migrants recently rescued off of the

coast of libya. many want to go back and try again. theying don't want to stay here. ♪ shelling by houthi rebels in yemen has forced saudi arabia to order the closure of all schools in the southern border region. all flights to and from the region's airport withn't have suspended. meanwhile, saudi arabia's king has announced the establishment of the coordination of aid in yemen. he spoke at the gulf cooperation council's meeting in the presence of french president hollande. >> translator: we were able to take courageous initiatives. you are fighting against terrorism in the struggle

against daesh, and you were able to develop the idea of a coalition of gulf forces and france supports your cooperation, because you are ensure the stability of yemen and you know you can count on france. >> and as that extraordinary meeting in riyadh, qatar's deputy foreign minister is speaking. let's listen in. >> -- to reach a comprehensive solution that guarantees the peaceful approach of the nuclear program in iran. according to the international criteria, and the importance of not exclude any country in the region from the criteria. the gcc has expressed the need to have a natural relation with iran according to the good neighborhood, and they have also revealed the crisis in syria, the aggravating crisis in syria within the dimension of the regime killing of the citizens

and using the [ inaudible ] in syria against the citizens. they also urge the international community to take the necessary procedures to put an end to this crisis and stress the need to a political solution to achieve the -- ambitions of the syrian people. they also welcome a meeting to be held in riyadh for the situation. the situation in the security domains and the support of the iraqi people to gain their stability and welfare and sovereignty, the unity of its territories away from any foreign intervention. they also urge the support of the reconciliation in iraq. also the combat of terrorism of all its kinds and international cooperation in order to put an

end to terrorism, and finally, thank you very much and it's now a time for questions and answers if you would like. a question from the french news agency. what specific steps has the [ inaudible ] taken today to address that situation? thank you. >> as you know the president of yemen has called for a -- a start of the dialogue in riyadh on the 17th of may, and we wish that everyone accepts and joins

the other yemeni colleagues which are already in riyadh to start the dialogue and start this political process, which based on the national dialogue -- the outcome of the national dialogue and the -- and the security council resolution. about the operation restoring hope today the kingdom has announced establishment of institution for humanitarian -- humanitarian calls to be established in riyadh and call all entities to join for the joint effort in the humanitarian effort in yemen. accessibility, the coalition are working now to establish a road map for accessibility for humanitarian aids to be issued

to yemen. >> translator: [ inaudible ] from the saudi television. >> the french president has attended the summit in what way the support of the republic of france will be to the coalition, and yemen in particular? and how do you look at the republic of france in its support to all of the resolutions as mentioned by the president of france to the leaders of the gulf cooperation council? >> translator: france is an ally. france is a friend to the gcc, the presence of the french president today in the deliberation session is an evident that the republic of france is supporting the friends of the gcc, and is another

stress of the legitimacy of the procedures done in yemen, and this also shows the french complete support to the steps taken by the arab coalition lead by the kingdom of saudi arabia. hence we are [ inaudible ] to be we have seen today the french president speaking about the threats against gcc are also threats against france -- threats to france. is there any military agreement to be signed by the gcc countries with france? we have heard president hollande saying that the security of france is the security of the gcc, and france is willing to

join the coalition if the french forces needed. i have answered that question before. the relation between gcc and france is a strategic relation and france is supportive through the gcc and it's quite clear that france supports the gcc countries. it is also known that france support the gcc countries. france has mutual interests, and with the gcc countries, so depending on these mutual interests, france is -- it's not strange to find the french support to the gcc countries. the french president said today that he would support the return of legitimacy in the yemen. will it be military?

the support of france to the legitimacy in yemen. who is asking the french president said today that he is supportive to the -- the [ inaudible ] in yemen. will he support military? in this particular time supporting the legitimacy in yemen is related also to the whole international community. after the resolution 2216 of the security council, the responsibility have shifted from protecting the legitimacy of hadi to the protection of the legitimacy and the outcome of the national dialogue and the related decisions.

following the issuance of the 2216 resolution that's why the international world has to control and monitor the borders, the sea, the ground the humanitarian aid. they have also to urge the resumption of the national dialogue also to urge other parties to return and to stop supporting the houthi militias. these things are all mentioned in the 2016 resolution. france is one of the five permanent countries of the security council. and is committed to that. [ inaudible ] from al jazeera. the consultive summit came to an end before the gcc american summit in america. what are the gcc messages to president obama?

and to think the syrian problem will be there on cop of the gcc agenda in america? thank you. the meeting to be held in the united states is a consultive meeting according to a request from the u.s. president. we have mutual interests between the gcc countries and the united states of america. you know the u.s. is an ally to the region countries, but at the same time the interests are mutual between the two parties, and both parties are quite keen on the stability of the region and we have so many other things to be discussed in camp david. the nuclear agreement, the -- syria will be also -- being there on the top of the agenda and the

palestinian issue is always there in -- within us and the -- will be there on the agenda because it's the call of the arab and islamic nations. these things will be discussed transparently with the u.s. president in camp david. thank you. thank you very much. >> okay. that was qatar's deputy foreign minister there speaking at that extraordinary meeting of the gulf cooperation council in riyadh. let's go live to riyadh. mohamed vall is there. what did you make of what we heard there? >> reporter: yeah exactly, adrian what we heard today from the beginning until now, is -- it can be summarized in one word saudi arabia wants to assure its leadership in the

region. also the gulf countries would like to be on board in that respect, they want to show the u.s. and france and any other allies in the west that they can be trusted and they can lead and have weight just like iran has wiet. and all of this is framed in the context of iran being any most important issue in the next meeting between the gcc leaders and u.s. president barack obama next month. this summit is a preparatory meeting for that. and even with the french president and the deals in saudi arabia are all factors for the success of the meeting with barack obama. gulf countries would like to tell the americans they have reliable nations in the gulf and also in europe and the united states has shown some -- has shown some readiness to be closer to iran.

that has been a source of discomfort here in the region particularly in saudi arabia and the gulf countries. and they want to make sure when they meet with barack obama later this month to have cards to play with to have ways to show unity to play there in that meeting. >> france's president hollande the first western leader to attend a gulf cooperation council meeting. he praised the states for trying to solve multiple crises in the region one, of course yemen, and the ongoing conflict there. saudi arabia closing schools and stopping flights in a region close to the yemeni border. >> exactly. there was a major attack by the houthis near the border and according to reports by the

saudi authorities, a school has been targeted and also a hospital and several other civilian developments. up until now we have seen attacks on soldiers but not the civilians themselves. and this is a dangerous for the saudis because they have been betting on the possibility for them and the capability of the saudi army to protect the kingdom itself aside from the efforts, the air strikes in yemen, and achieving the goals in yemen as well now we see this development in saudi talking about securing zones inside yemen itself for humanitarian relief. so this is a task that is getting bigger and bigger. they have to protect saudi arabia itself and that's becoming a much more difficult task. adrian. >> mohamed vall many thanks. live from riyadh. ♪

the rest of the day's news a leading human rights group says war crimes are being committed against civilians on a daily basis in syria. amnesty international is condemned the government's reliance on barrel bombs. it says they killed more than 3,000 people in aleppo last year alone. and they are accused of using improvised weapons such as mortars which killed at least 600 in 2014. all of this as talks begin in geneva. the u.n. envoy will meet government and rebel representatives as well as with regional players, including iran. >> we must redouble efforts in search of a political process. this view is shared by the wider international community.

russia helpfully refocused the attention on the political track earlier this year through moscow one and two, and a useful meeting in cairo. and last week the security council fully expressed to me unanimously that another attempt to political try to resolve the conflict should be made even if -- even if odds of success are indeed low. the only way is to test the willingness of the parties to narrow the gaps and if they are ready to narrow the gaps. >> more now from paul brennan in geneva. >> reporter: given the fanfare that greeted him at his news conference here in geneva on tuesday morning, and the media presence he was actually rather modest in sets out the aims he

has ahead of him. he said the consultations will be closed one to one. low-key consultations. and his aim essentially is to try to find out what the situation currently is in syria. he described the talk as a stress test a reality check was another phrase that he used. what he wants to try to find out is whether there is any room at all for compromise in a meaningful sense. he is going to speak to at least 40 different syrian groups 20 regional and international stake holders, including the syrian government itself. he is casting his net as wide as possible in the hope of finding some ground to base meaningful peace negotiations on. but the indications are not positive. he admits himself he is neither optimistic, nor pessimistic, but

he did say he had a duty to try, in fact he said given the situation in syria, there is no luxury not to try. burundi's controversial court has cleared the president to run for a controversial third term. but four of the judges have now left the country. 11 people have been killed more than 100 injured since the announcement that the president would run again. more now from malcolm webb. >> reporter: this man says he is terrified by what is written in these letters. he says they have been pushed under the doors of people in his neighborhood at night by members of the youth wing. he belongs to an ethnic tutsi

group. and he says men, women and girls will be killed. >> translator: they come at night, singing songs that threaten us. >> reporter: it's because of these threats, he says that thousands of people have fled. but the government says it is because of misinformation. people said that there was a family of seven living in this house and they left about two weeks ago. in this room here you can see some of their clothes and possessions that they left on the floor. we have spoken to several more people who said they want to leave, but they are still trying to get the money together for the transport. we met the area leader outside of the ruling party's meeting place in a nearby town. he denied sending the letters or making threats. >> translator: this is a lie. there are no names or signatures

on the letters. the opposition may be writing those letters to make us look bad, because they fear our popularity popularity. >> reporter: whoever wrote the letters seems to want to create ethnic tension, but burundi's protests and the political standoff are not along ethnic lines. it now includes a small number of tutsis but there are many thousands of houthis in the opposition. this person lead another of the largest houthi groups in the civil war. he told us he is against the third term and his and his supporters lives are also in danger. and the president's supporters are trying to use ethnicity to gain advantage. >> what kind of treatment am i enduring from him and his government. >> reporter: back on the countryside this man is a member

of another opposition group. he has been hiding here in a friend's house and now he is leaving for rwanda in secret. many hope ten years on from the war this ethnic hate speech won't catch on but many more feel the threat of those ethnic and politically targeted violence is very real. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has made an unannounced visit to somalia. rosiland jordan reports now from nairobi. >> reporter: it's the first time ever that a u.s. secretary of state has ever visited the country of somalia, but john kerry is doing just that on tuesday, showing the obama administration's support for the government and the efforts to try to formalize and legalize the democracy that has been taking shape for the past three

years. the obama administration wants to show its support for the presidency ahead of next year's presidential elections, and they want to see more encouragement of people on the local level getting involved in the political process. kerry is also meeting with members of civil society, and regional political leaders who have their own concerns not just about human rights but also about the ongoing security situation. al-shabab still controls some parts of the country, and that's making it difficult for hundreds of thousands of somali refugees most notably inside kenya who want to return home to their nation. however, the u.s. is putting pressure on neighboring kenya to not do anything such as forcibly expel members of the somali refugee community because of its own fears about al-shabab attacks. the u.s. is trying to make certain that the transition from a refugee status for these

hundreds of thousands of somalis inside kenya take place in an atmosphere that is orderly and secure. they admit that could take years. hundreds of rescues migrants have been arriving at the sicilian port. nearly 7,000 migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean over the past few days. the number of migrants risking their lives to reach european shores continues to rise despite the danger. hundreds of migrants have also been pulled -- from the sea by tunisian fishermen. from the south, nazanin sadri reports. >> reporter: they tried to reach europe by boat. now they are back where they started, in africa. these people are among almost

500 rescued by tunisians since march. the u.n.'s helping those from syria, eritrea, or somalia, for these people being sheltered in the town are west africans and registered as economic migrants. that makes it difficult for them to claim asylum. >> our country is no good. [ inaudible ] from ghana, but no work. that's where it is. when we need help. >> reporter: tunisia is no longer an escape route for migrants because its borders are securer, and coast guard vessels patrol the waters. but tunisian authorities say nay are worried that lawlessness and fighting will send more people out to sea. these fishermen are concerned too. they are trying to make a living but often end up rescuing boats in trouble.

>> translator: each trip costs $5,000 but we to stop our fishing and return to shore with lost souls. >> reporter: the european union wants to tackle the problem at its source. it plans to target the smuggling rings south of year in the desert. a controversial idea is to try to persuade transit countries to help register and process people. tunisia's red crescent is one of the few organizations that is helping. >> translator: it can work but there are limits. there is high unemployment here. and most of these people are not happy to be here. theying want to be in europe. >> reporter: many here walked through the desert to reach libya. for some this is their second or even third failed attempt at crossing. >> there is big difference in

after ga and in europe. i be watching on the telly, i be watching [ inaudible ] when you get to europe everything will be okay with you. >> reporter: they now have a choice. go home with nothing, or return to libya. risking their lives again to reach a new continent. nazanin sadri al jazeera. when certain species of spider bite people they often cause excruciating pain. but spider venom may be the answer to new pain-relieving drugs. as andrew thomas reports from brisbane. >> reporter: spiders are more commonly feared than admired. but scientists in australia think venomous species could be more friends than foe, that they could hold the key to developing a new generation of

pain-relieving drugs. tarantulas are being milked. >> we put them to sleep at first by cooling them. >> reporter: it's delicate work for tiny amounts of liquid. a single spider can be milk every two weeks for about five years. in that time the total vem no, ma'am collected is about half a teaspoon. but that's all that is needed because spider venom is exceptionally potent. >> i can't think of anything as chemically complex as spider vem venom. >> reporter: within these chemicals are elements that block channels in the brain.

mandy nielson has suffered pain for years. as far as doctors can tell it's not associated with an underlying condition, it's simply chronic pain. hundreds of millions suffer. they can't take drugs like morphine, because long term the body develops a tolerance to them. that leaves people in pain without the prospect of getting better. >> to think that you are going to live with that forever, it's not surprising that people can become quite suicide. with suicide thoughts are not unusual. so to have some hope there, that things may be better that can be enough for people to keep going forward, i suppose. >> reporter: the spider research is in early stages but scientists have narrowed down a few molecules, isolate exactly

which molecules do the job, and bioscience may be able to replicate them artificially. so sufferers of pain these spidermen could be superheroes. get more real news and analysis from al jazeera, at aljazeera.com. ♪ an historic visit for john kerry has he makes the first trip to somalia by a secretary of state. mike huckabee is expected to announce his candidacy for presidency in about a half hour. and a teacher's strike in brazil means tens of thousands of students are not in school. it may cost the country more than lost class time. ♪