only on al jazeera america >> that yemen's former president formally announces his alliance with houthi rebels after his house was targeted by saudi-led airstrikes. hello from doha. also to come on the program: a group armed with machine guns and bombs are battling police in macedonia. south africa's main opposition party elects its first black leader. >> an indigenous language in venezuela is called back from the brink of extinction.

>> first yemen's former president announced his alliance with houthi rebels for the first time. ali abdullah saleh has also avoided an air attack on his palace by the saudi-led coalition in the capitol sanna. we have this report: >> you should continue carrying-year arms, ready to sacrifice your lives in defense of these belligerent attacks. i can describe this as

cowardice, if you are brave enough, join us on the battlefield. shelling will not enable you to achieve your goals. >> this is the moment the international airport in san that was struck by jets. houthi fighters say it was a prevent the landing of aircraft carrying aid. the saudi-led coalition has intensified its military campaign pounding targets in saada province in northern yemen and other provinces. saudi army commanders say this was an ammunition depot the houthis were planning to use to shell saudi villages. the coordinator for yemen said no civilians in saada city are trapped because of a fuel shortage. saying the indiscriminate

bombing of populated areas is a violation of international law and that issuing warnings is not enough. saudi arabia has offered a humanitarian truce tuesday but the houthis say any step to alleviate the suffering of the yemenese will be welcome. they are also urging aid agencies to send immediate relief to the people. >> it is the saudi who started the attacks. if they stop the fighting, this will lead to the humanitarian crisis in yemen will, i'll say it will help humanitarian aid to come into yemen, if the saudis will stop.

if they will stick to this five day ceasefire. >> this was a village attacked in the southern province. local people say there are no fighters in the area. the continuing war undermines their chances for a political settlement in the country that was ravaged by years of instability. the houthi rebels say they are open to political talks if they take into account their growing political influence across yemen. al jazeera. >> we've been speaking to the u.n. resident coordinator to yemen. he says lives are being lost daily because of the urgent need for humanitarian supplies. >> we have to bear into consideration that yemen wars are the beginning of hostilities, the poorest country in the middle east, one of the poorest in the world, you can imagine how it has been reduced with facilities and what it will

take to restore it to normalcy. the health system has collapsed roads, electricity water many more people will die because of the damage on the infrastructure. the people are more affected than the war in itself. hence we need to be given immediate humanitarian space just to tackle life saving urgent needed intervention and expand our coverage, bring in food, bring in fuel, which is in very short supply and safe life. it's a matter of days. >> there's been heavy fighting along syria's border with lebanon. the assad regime ally hezbollah have bat would for control of the qalamoun area. we have more now from the valley. >> there was a suicide bombing

carried out by the coalition of syrian rebel groups. that saturday attack was aimed at the hospital where about 150 up to 250 syrian soldiers are based in the hospital town in idlib north of syria. most of the town had fallen to the rebels over a week ago. the government, the syrian government is trying to send reinforcements. they've also carried out a number of airstrikes. the battle, we understand, is very heavy in that area. also in the qalamoun mountain range, which is in western syria, there were heavy clashes in the early hours of the morning in at least two areas. hezbollah fighters, which is a lebanese group leeping the syrian government in the area was backed by a few airstrikes against, again the syrian

coalition of rebels are taking control in a number of areas. the importance of qalamoun is very key for the hezbollah as well as the syrian government. it's a supply route where the weapons go in and out of syria from lebanon for hezbollah. >> two separate car bomb blasts in iraq happened north of baghdad, hitting two towns. at least nine people were injured. >> the iraq government has been relying on iranian-backed shia militias in its fight against isil in anbar province, but it's feared that sunnis would be alienated this these militias take the lead in recapturing the province, so the government is now trying to create a local force. we have this report from baghdad. not all sunni tribes are onboard.

>> hundreds of sunni men are now officially partly of the government backed popular mobilization force. that means they will fight alongside iranian backed shia militias and government troops in the mainly sunni province. >> today is different. there is a state standing behind all your efforts and providing all the necessary resources. iraqis have put behind their differences. >> anbar society is divided. there are other influential tribes who want to fight isil alone. >> we wanted the government to address sunni grievances. for years, we suffered from the government's sectarian policies, we won't accept iranian control and now through proxies, iran is trying to extend its influence

in anbar. we won't accept this. they want to eliminate sunnis. >> isil controls much of this province west of baghdad. the government announced a military operation to recapture anbar in early april but made few advances on the ground. iranian backed militias say they are ready to help, but prime minister abadi is trying not to inflame tensions. >> government forces have not been able to recapture isil territory without the help of militiass and use led coalition militias and u.s. led coalition airstrikes. man enanbar do not want the militias in their province. they prefer weapons, but the government is reluctant to provide them with ammunition. >> so the sunnis already fighting isil on their own may have no other choice but to fight alongside the government. they are hoping they won't have to answer to the paramilitary shia forces. >> we will defend iraq as a nation.

we are hoping that this force will eventually be part of the so-called national guard. we will be under the defense ministry. >> isil exploited the situation in anbar, long a symbol to the opposition in baghdad. this is a battle that is at the heart of iraq sectarian and political divide. al jazeera, baghdad. >> the taliban fighters in pakistan claimed they shot down a helicopter carrying foreign diplomats. ambassadors from nor wear and the philippines were among those killed in the crash which the pakistani government blamed on technical failure. a taliban video is said to show fighters firing a missile. >> police in macedonia are continuing to battle an armed group in a town in the north where ethnic albanians are the majority. the interior ministry said eight police officers and 14 fighters

were killed on saturday. we have more. >> sporadic gunfire can still be heard on the streets. police say the main operation ended sunday night but some refuse to surrender. the fighting emptied the streets in the mainly albanian neighborhood. the police action began early on saturday morning in the city about 40 kilometers north of the capitol. it's an area that saw fighting during an ethnic albanian insurgency in 2001. >> we are sending a message to those who want to divide us. leave us alone. let people carry on with their lives. they do not know how to run the state, the least they can do is let us so we can live in peace. >> the government said the attackers entered from an unnamed neighboring country. some police involved in the operation were killed and several more wounded, but it's unclear how many casualties there were on the side of the armed group they were fighting.

the events will deepen concern over stability in macedonia. the government is facing opposition allegations of wiretapping and abuse of office. >> the most important thing now is to help the population and provide and guarantee their security. this dark scenario will not succeed. >> in the past week, there have been street protests demanding the resignation of the prime minister and opposition leaders are calling for more protests. the fear is that political leaders on either side will use the events to further heighten ethnic tensions. it's estimated 30% of macedonia's 2 million people are ethnic albanians. they want greater rights after a peace deal but frustrations flare because implementation have been slow. >> africa's main opposition party elected its first black

leader. the parliamentary leader replaces helen ziller, who announced she was stepping down last month. the move is an attempt to shake off the party's image of being dominated by the white minority. there you see him not long after his election victory in port elizabeth. we have more now from port elizabeth. >> he knows that some africans see the democratic alliance as a party that still represents the interest of white people. when he gave his acceptance speech, he said you can't look at me and not see me as a black man. that means you don't see me at all, basically meaning that he is there a young black man is trying to get as many black voters to try and support the democratic alliance. he hopes to do that next year

when the country has local elections. the opposition parties have done well in the past getting support in previously anc strongholds. people are watching. he's only 34 years old but he's made history. will that be enough to convince more black people to vote for them. >> raul castro meets the pope. >> pressure from creditors in greece are leaving pensioners out of pocket.

>> hello again you're with welcome to al jazeera and these are the headlines. the saudi-led coalition targeted yemen's former president hitting his house from the air. ali abdullah saleh was unharmed in the attack in sanna. for the first time, he's openly announced his alliance with houthi rebels. >> police in macedonia are continuing to battle an armed group in a town in the north of the country where ethnic ail baines are the majority. eight police officers and 14 fighters were killed on saturday. >> south africa's main opposition party elected its first black leader. he succeeds helen ziller. it is seen as an attempt of shaking off the party image of being dominated by the white

minority. >> four votes carrying 574 people have watched ashore in western indonesia at the northern end of sumatra. half of believed to be from bangladesh. >> german military ships rescued 200 more migrants found abrupt in the mediterranean. most were from somalia and eritrea. more than 400 migrants have been rescued since friday. defense ministers from five european union countries are due to meet for talks to stop human trafficking and the flow of migrants from north africa. >> libya's ambassador to the u.n. rejected a u.n. plan to tackle the migrant crisis, saying libya's been left out of

crucial discussions. thousands from the middle east and africa are departing from libya's shores for europe. many of them are dying at sea. in this report, some of these images may be disturbing. >> some call the crossing of the mediterranean the journey of death. still thousands are willing to take their chance. he tells me there was chaos, people were shouting, the boat capsized and people fell into the water. he doesn't know what happened next. he was thinking of himself. he was rescued by the libyan coast guard. often, dead bodies are forgotten at sea and float back to libya. he said he has never seen anything like it. he's the driver of the only refrigerated ambulance. he has transported dead fighters and seen all sorts of wounds.

>> it's horrifying. there is a terrible smell. the bodies were in the water for 20 or 30 days. some were eaten by the fish. some bloated or dissolved by the salt. others are found floating and fisherman bring them back. >> the corpses are taken to the morgue. the hospital in poor condition. look at how they keep the fridge closed. the smell of rotten bodies is overwhelming. >> the bodies were found randomly on beaches. nobody knows for how long they have been floating in the sea before they washed ashore. some are so if i say figured they've been in the water for a while. there is a child three or four years old. >> they were found on the beach in january and since, they have been lying here slowly decomposing. nobody knows their names or where they come from. somewhere their families wonder what happened to them.

>> it's very painful to see these dead bodies, no one asks for them. we have no means to take d.n.a. sample. they stay here for months, sometimes six or seven. they suffer in death, as well. it is really painful. >> they are given a number, only the location where they were found is registered. it can take a long while to bury them. there is little money and with a country at war, dead migrants are not a priority. the unknown bodies will eventually end up in this cemetery tucked away between the sand dunes. it was once used for members of gaddafi's security forces who died in the jump ricing in 2011. 37 migrants were buried here recently. those at the morgue will join them one day. the story of these bodies will go unnoticed by the thousands of migrants waiting in libya to cross the mediterranean. any one of them runs the very real risk of ending his journey

here in misrata's nameless cemetery. al jazeera, misrata. >> the russian president vladimir putin says a peace deal agreed in minsk is moving forward. he made the comments at a news conference in moscow with the german chancellor angela merkel. the meeting at the kremlin comes as relations between the two countries are at an all time low. there are deep divisions over the conflict in ukraine and the sanctions imposed on russia over its backing of pro-russian rebels. >> the cuban penalty met the pope in the vatican. president castro thanked pope france for his role in the recent improvements between relations between the u.s. and cuba mediated during secret negotiations. it led to the surprise announcement that washington and cuba would work toward resuming

diplomatic ties after 50 years of tension. >> correspondent lucia new man is in havana. >> the cathedral is full for a mass to ordain two new priests. if the catholic church is suffering from a lack of priest worldwide, here the shortage is even more acute. decades of restrictions by communist authorities have taken their toll. the church is still not allowed regular access to the mass media, but now under president raul castro, the government is making modest but significant changes. as president castro meades with pope francis this weekend to discuss the pontiff's upcoming visit, new churches are being allowed to be built and a few old ones actually being returned. i asked the head of cuba's catholic church what he expected from the pope's visit.

>> it's natural that the pope will reaffirm the church's desire for cuba to open up to the world and world open up to cuba he is specialty as the upon till has participated in the dialogue between the united states and cuba. >> pope francis will be the third pontiff to visit cuba in 17 years which is a lot considering that cuba is a small country where the church is not particularly strong, but then cuba has always awakened an interest disproportionate to its size and pope francis's role makes this upcoming visit particularly significant. >> euro zone finance ministers are meeting in brussels as bankruptcy threatens greece, but the government in athens refuses to cut spending to meet creditors' demands. the pension system is a bone of contention.

>> leisure is perhaps the only luxury left to pensioners these days. their money is usually spoken for. >> i'm paying off a home improvement loan. my children don't have work. i spend the rest of my money helping them as well as property and utility tax. >> pensioners make up 17% of the economy and have become a safety net for society as a whole. they are also the government's biggest expense, despite being cut by half to an average of $900 a month. there simply aren't enough contributions coming into pension funds because a quarter of greek workers are unemployed and the funds crippled when they were forced to accept a loss on government bonds they invested in. the high court decision due next month could raise the government's bill by anything between the half billion to $500 billion a year because it is expected to rule the pension cuts unconstitutional, likely to

widen the gap by creditors who want further pension cuts. >> i won't pretend it is prettier than it is. they haven't backed down and insist on cutting mine and auxiliary pensions. we said we won't make anymore cuts. there's a clear confrontation between us. >> the government emphasis on welfare is still highly popular, still not affordable as the population ages, but there is a plan. >> setting a permanent cash flow into the system to make pensions viable for decades and remove them as a budget expense. >> in theory, that should also remove them from the negotiating table, but similar long term planning for education and making the economy more productive appear to be absent and the money wanted to earmark for pensions is money credit stores want diverted to pay off

the debted, which is now higher than ever. al jazeera, athens. >> in the philippines, the typhoon has hit the northern island forcing more than 3,000 people out of their homes. officials warn of possible flash floods and landslides. they are preparing relief packages and designating buildings as emergency shelters. the self-defense says there have been no reports of injuries, nor deaths. >> a language nearly extinct in venezuela is being revived. >> the people in western venezuela say they are of the water and like the water interconnect the with the rest of the world. in the laguna, there is some commerce and men continue to fish, but their culture and their language nearly vanished.

recognizing the importance language has in the process of self determination anthropologists began work on the grammar with the help of the surviving people who spoke it. >> even the existing literature made no reference to the language. crucial aspects of their culture that served to build a people's identity were not being recognized. >> the task was made even more difficult, because they barely spoke among each other. the three elders who helped fernandez have died, but thanks to them, lessons are taught in schools like these. >> for local anthropologists, it is giving them greater participation.

>> collecting and weaving local laeves, she has five children and all have left in search of jobs. >> this job is very hard. the leaf is far away and scarce, but there's nothing else to do. all my life, i had the same job, collecting to build them for the tourist spots. >> there is a great volume of local knowledge that needs to be incorporated into the school's curriculum so that the children grow proud of being who they are, but they also need to receive other tools that will allow them to defend themselves in the world. >> as they struggle to maintain traditions with changes all around them, fernandez and his team hope their efforts will

them them decide their own fate. virginia lopez, al jazeera venezuela. >> you can keep up to date with all the day's important stories get background and opinion too on the website aljazeera.com. nonprofit hospitals are supposed to take care of people regardless of their ability to pay. why then are some suing patients for millions. and the is i.r.s. doing enough to stop it? could this be the beginning of the end for the cable television industry, a new internet t.v. services are capturing consumers.