[ ♪♪ ] the war in yemen reaches saudi arabia's borders, schools and airports shut after shelling by houthi rebels. welcome to al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. i'm elizabeth puranam. also ahead - free at last. survivors recall their experiences after spending months in boko haram a lucky escape for desperate migrants.

we bring you of story of survivors and the miraculous rescue in the mediterranean. >> also ahead ... >> a cinema in london - now being brought back to life. >> the war in yemen has spilt over to saudi arabia. houthi fighters attacked the saudi border city. schools from closed and civilian flights cancelled. inside yemen intense battles are taking place. it's reported that 12 houthi fighters have been killed in an ambush on the outskirts of a city in aden. there has been fierce battles. between houthis and rivals. it forced residents to flee. in taiz, and 10 houthis reportedly killed, and a number of

civilians injured. the king of saudi arabia told gulf leaders that they must stand up to iran, accused of backing the houthis. the king sulman announced the setting up of a center to coordinate humanitarian aid. >> reporter: yemen and france dominated the agenda at the gulf summit. it comes as a crucial moment for the region. the war in yemen enters its sixth week without clear result. instead of being pushed out of aden and sanaa, the houthis attack a saudi border city. forcing schools to shut down and cancelling flights. the humanitarian crisis verges on utter disaster, with the numbers of civilians deaths rise, a concern leading to the

arabian king to establish a center to coordinate humanitarian efforts. >> translation: we hope the united nations will participate effectively with what the center will do. including coordinating humanitarian and relief works with the yemeni people of the countries poring the initiative. >> reporter: the french president is the first leader to attend the summit, here to assure golf leaders that they are a threat. you have taken courageous matters. you were act develop the idea of a coalition of arab forces. france supports your operation, it's the question of ensure the stability of yemen, and you can count on france. >> reporter: apart from yemen the g.c.c. leaders discussed syria, iraq and palestine of importance is the iran nuclear programme and tehran's perceived

interference in the arab region. >> leaders stressed the importance of reaching a final agreement guaranteeing the peacefulness of the iranian programme, and ensuring that the countries have the right to use peaceful nuclear energy. >> reporter: all these issues will be on the table when gcc leaders get president obama in washington next week, to convey a united stance. the leaders will persuade the u.s. that any final nuclear deal will not allow it to pursue a nuclear weapons programme or allow it to interfere. the saudi announcement of a new humanitarian center came after renewed calls by the united nations for a pause in the bombing campaign to allow aid in. let's look at what people in yemen face, even before the conflict. yemen was an impoverished nation

ranking 154th in human development. half of its people have no access to safe drinking water. since the war escalated in march, the unestimates 340,000 were forced to flee their homes. food and security worsened. latest figures show 12 million yemenis don't have enough to eat. the u.n. says they need $273 million in emergency money money saudi arabia promised to provide. >> that is what we at the united nations are calling for, which is a ceasefire, an end to the hostilities to put the conflict back into a political process. the people paying the price are the innocent civilians of yemen. absolutely, we need respect for the vital infrastructure. we need the airports to be open, the ports to be open. yemen is 90% dependent on imports for the food and fuel. this is just a massive

logistical operation on a daily basis, and this has been interrupted by the last weeks of conflict that's why the situation is urgent and why the united nation assist calling at the highest level for an end to the conflict to get respite for the people and help them recover. we stand with the people of yemen, i mean they have not had an effectively aid operation in the midst of this conflict which is costing well over 1200 lie, 500 have been injured, and medical services are in a state of collapse and over 12 million people are in need of food assistance. it is a huge crisis a mega crisis and the only way to only effectively help the people is to have a cessation of the conflict. of course we have called for a ceasefire. we have called for an end to the conflict. we are looking for humanitarian

policies, whatever we can get to get in to the desperate people and help them. moving on to other news. several hundred rescued by nigerian boko haram strongholds, many are traumatized by their time in captivity and the violence they saw. confused and traumatized. this child saw her mother hit and killed by a stray bullet the day the army came to their rescue. since then she has hardly ate or slept. today a break through. her foster mother is encouraged. she is one of 275 people brought to the camp after months in boko haram captivity. the camp clinic is coping with another wave of displaced.

a girl and her one week old baby here, after a horrific experience at the hands of boko haram. this woman saw her husband decapitated for the fighters. >> they slit the stroke of our husband. when they discovered they were pregnant they were disappointed. >> they gave a deadline. the following day they were rescued by the military. now here we are. >> haunted by experiences of the past five months, the mother of four is worried about the future. others speak of rape and abuses by boko haram. >> despite being muslim and married the commander ordered us to convert to their brand of islam or become their slave. we refused. we saw them forcefully marry five girls among us. there were forceful conversions, marriages and other abuses. in a rare stroke of luck, she and her five children survived

five months of captivity and military activity around them. they may be free, but they are dealing with what happened over the last few months. there's little psychological counselling in the camp. officials are worried about the health and other challenges that victims face. >> those on their own, it was difficult. >> for now, they are trying to make sense of their ordeal and their freedom. another battle lies ahead. will they be accepted by their own communities now that they are free? some are hopeful they will not be stigmatized. more are worried that their pain boko haram targeted areas new pictures emerged of a dramatic rescue operation in the

mediterranean sea to try to save people crammed into a rubber dingy. the video shot from a commercial vessel which came to their rescue. stephanie dekker spoke to some survivors in katcatania, cystry. >> reporter: the footage shows how harrowing a rescue can be. a dingy is taking in water. people are panicking. many can't swim. we spoke to survivors brought to catania, sicily. >> they try to come closer to the ship. they threw a rope to us. we were trying to get the rope to climb on the ship. it was not for us to climb on, it was to tie the boat and move a ladder. people were in a haste to pull

the rope to climb up. many jumped inside the water. these people tried their best. the people in the ship, they throw life jacket but people were in a haste to jump in the water. they could not swim. many of them lost their life like this. five of them lost the life inside the boat. it's hard to confirm how many died and how many bodies were recovered. what some tell us, as many as 40 people could have lost their lives in the panic. reaching the safety of the rescue boat must have taken an effort. safely in port, they came from libya. >> translation: libya is not easy. they have no problem killing people. there is no law over there. that's why we come here. even if we don't know what will happen at least there are laws. >> reporter: as the people wait to be processed there's

continuous rescue operations at sea. what we see is continuous arrivals at ports we see, and constant rescue operations at sea. we are talking about huge numbers of people, all with individuals terrible stories to tell. the conflict in libya means many working there have been left with no other choice but to leave. one man told us there was no way he and others could go home. the only choice was to leave by sea. the footage shows us that a rescue can be deadly. still ahead on al jazeera... >> an avalanche that destroyed a village, killing everyone i'm andrew simmonds and i'll have more details of what happened here and we'll watch you - why people in france could be under scrutiny just because i'm away from

my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business.

online. it's good to have you with us. i'm elizabeth puranam in doha. these are the top stories son al jazeera - houthi fighters have been shelling the border region between yemen and saudi arabia. it forced saudie authorities to close all schools. all flights from the airport have been suspended. saudi arabia announced the creation of a humanitarian center to coordinate aid effort by the yemenis, after a call by the u.n. for a pause in the

bombing campaign to allow aid in pictures emerged of a dramatic rescue operation of people in the mediterranean sea. the video was shot from a commercial vessel which came to their rescue on monday. >> tibetans at kathmandu came to a temple to pray and light oil lamps. more than 7,000 people died in the quake meanwhile an avalanche outside the capital that followed the earthquake left nearly 200 dead, and 120 people, including nepalese nationals. andrew simmonds flue there with an army relief team and sent there report. >> reporter: it's a valley leading to one of the popular places in nepal. few would want to go there now.

what you see below used to be a large bustling village. trekkers from all over the world travelled here. local people made a good living out of their presence. now there's nothing left. one earthquake followed by an of avalanchw destroyed everything. the massive glacier crashed down the mountainside, annihilating this village. no one here survived. it's a grim eerie atmosphere. for the recovery workers working day after day in this, hard to imagine what they are going through. a spanish search team has arrived to help. so far they have only found body parts. nepal's special forces have been leading the operation. >> there were 180 locals and more than 100, 200, 250 foreign tourist, foreign tourists. we found about 42 local bodies. 10 nepalese people from outside the area, and 10 foreign tourist bodies.

lined up in the gloom, only seven bodies are awaiting identification. nepalese and foreigners amongst them. foreign embassies are anxiously trying to trace missing people. an enormous, if not impossible task lies ahead - finding and identifying all of the bodies. a large number of people living here had sent their children to boarding school, leaving many orphanages. >> they lost their family, property, everything. it is a shock for them. it's difficult to survive. the only positive is the building ahead of the village, backed up against the mountainside. two elderly people and three children survived. they have left, leaving bodies and searchers behind. negotiators from the e.u. and iran will resume talks in vienna on a deal to curb tehran's nuclear programme.

the e.u. said officials from six world powers will join the talks a few days later on 15 may. negotiators are expected to continue their work, drafting the text of what is called the joint comprehensive plan of action. it will pave the way to ensure iran's nuclear programme is used for peaceful purposes. the e.u. and u.s. will lift sanctions imposed on iran. the deadline to sign the deal is end of june u.n. backed talks to end the conflict in syria are taking place in geneva. the u.n. special envoy for syria has been meeting with the government and rebel representatives, and regional players, including iran. . >> we must redouble efforts in search of a political process. this view is shared by the wider international community. russia hopefully refocussed the attention on the political track earlier this year through moscow 1 and moscow 2.

there was a useful meeting na cairo. and last week the security council fully expressed to me unanimously that another attempt to politically 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 our correspondent paul brennan is in geneva and sent us this update. >> given the fanfare that greeted stefan at his news conference in geneva on tuesday morning, and the media presence there, he was modest in setting out the aims for the next four or five weeks, the works that he has ahead of him. he describes it not as geneva three, but consultations, saying they'll be closed, one to one,

not a one-off meeting, but low key consultations and his aim essentially, is to find out what the situation currently is in syria. he described the talks as a situation report a stress test. he wants to find out whether there's room for compromise and negotiation in a meaningful sense and will speak to 40 different groups and 20 regional and international stakeholders including the syrian government itself. he is casting his net as wide as possible in the hope of finding ground to base meaningful negotiations on. he admits he is neither optimistic or pessimistic, but he said he had a duty to try. in fact he said given the situation in syria, there's no

luxury not to try the u.n. helped displaced families from the palestinian refugee yamp in yarmouk in syria for the first time in two years. before the war the camp sitting on the outskirts of damascus was home to 100,000 people. recent by about 18,000 have been living there. the u.n. says they were in need of assistance. >> after crossing five checkpoints u.n.i.c.e.f. was able to deliver three trucks with baby diaper kits kits for new born for children. in the first mission early in the day u.n.i.c.e.f. delivered kits to treat 3,000 cases of diarrhoea, midwifery kids and boxes of high energy biscuits. according to the staff, some 50,000 people live in three locations that were visited decision to 2,500 palestinian refugees who fled.

>> burundi it said constitutional court cleared the way for pierre nkurunziza to run for a third term. protesters have been rallying on the streets of the capital for more than two weeks, demanding he back down. they say the plan to stand defies a peace deal that enned the civil war in 2005. riots groups say a dozen have been killed and 30,000 fled to neighbouring counties. lawmakers in france approved a bill in relation to surveillance of the stake. it was in the wake of the carolina attack. some are worried security will be vial aid -- violated.

>> reporter: security patrols outside the french parliament ahead of the crucial vote. since the attacks in paris four months ago france has been on a heightened state of alert. and now further increases in national security as politicians from across the pit call spectrum vote to broaden state surveillance powers. >> translation: the legislation would allow spy agencies to tap phones and emails without the need for permission from a judge. requiring internet companies to monitor activity allowing black boxes to filter communications. the government wants to spend $450 million to recruit extra security and intelligence officers. while lawmakers at the french parliament vote resoundingly in favour of the digital surveillance bill, next door in the opulence of the foreign ministry, journalists have been invited to discuss freedom of expression online - spot the irony. is it really possible to balance state security with security. opinions are divided. >> we need the safeguards, but need to make sure freedom of

speech is protected. it's complicated. we have to get it right. >> several leading journalists and civil rights groups believe the law can lead to abuses of power. internet companies say it will frighten away customers. >> i think the law should not open this door to abuse. and we know very well, and the history of france, of the world, that it is full of cases where secret service, where intelligence organizations have abused the law. with or without the political power, support. >> now that it's flown through parliament, the new surveillance bill is almost certain to become law. threat levels are high, so, too, is the desire for greater state controls. german company has called for mediation with drivers. they crippled public transport

across germany, dominik kane has more from berlin. >> reporter: the strike by the train drivers union, gdl is the longest in the history of deutsche baan. it has a profound effect on transport here in berlin the main railway station. ordinarily there would be hundreds of trains travelling from here inside the city legionally and internationally. today, and the rest of the week the traffic has been badly affected. the deutsche bahn operators say hundreds of trains were cancelled and a third travelled in german. in eastern germany the situation is worse. 15% of trains are running. the union gdl says it's taking the action the 8th time in recent months because it is demanding a 5% pay rise and greater netting rights. here in this train station,

dooech owe bahn the operator had information packs for those who were distrupted. thousands of people will have to make and find a way around the situation, and there are reports that on the roads there is gridlock in some places and certainly it's the sort of thing that deutsche bank wishes would not have happened. businesses suggest around 100 million euro per day will be lost because of the strike which will persist until sunday and there's a strike on freight travel. having a profound effect on the economy. none of this persuades gdl who says the action is necessary and the only means of demonstrating their grievances to the rail operator. >> now, the theatre known as the birthplace of british cinema is set to re open. it's been nearly 120 years since the screening at the regent in the streets of london of after a

multi-million project, film reels will be revolving once again. >> reporter: welcome back to a bygone age of cinema. this is london's regent street cinema set to reopen after a multi-million refit. it was here in 1896 that the lumiere brother showcased a sinna mata graph. >> i imagine people might have been scared and, i mean, it must have been extraordinary. just the darkness and then something moving towards you. i think it must have been you know dream like and sort of beautiful, extraordinary like a spectacle circus type of feeling. >> it will show everything from silent film to restored classics

and modern art classes. the old building giving new audiences a taste of how it might have felt to see that first moving image. >> it's theatrical magical, i think, to know that we are reopening the cinema where the first film was screened to 54 people who were normal every day people to have that history behind us is extraordinary. within months of the sanaa matto graph getting the first outing in reject street, it was used to film the coronation in moscow. that was news footage appealing more widely and so it was that the news industry went on to bring cinema to life. >> very much so. the films shown at that time were films of actuality. it was seeing news from abroad that brought people back to the

cinema. >> it hosted not only the first moving image, but the first x-rated film. the theatre dubbed the birthplace is given new life. just a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news on the website. that is leading with the violence near the border of yemen and saudi arabia there. aljazeera.com. greece is straight to get its hands on bail out cash to pay its debt of the creditors are playing hard ball, demanding the country get the economic house in order. the country is rife are corruption, fixing it is not easy. the greek government is laying down the law.