there is an urgent need to respond in an immediate and joint way. >> the eu seeks international support for it's plans to find and destroy people smugglers' boats in the mediterranean sea. hello there. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up the saudi-led coalition steps up air strikes on the houthis ahead of a

ceasefire. amid continued unrest europe cuts millions of aid to barundi. and also the world's most expensive painting. hello there. the european union has asked the u.n. for help to tackle migrant smuggling across the mediterranean. at the present times a mandate for military action to destroy smugglers' boats in water. almost 40,000 have reached malta and greece by sea. addressing the kouns, the eu's foreign policy chief asked for help to dismantle groups to smuggle people across the mediterranean. they also admitted that europe was slow to act. >> our message to all libyans is clear. the european union is ready to support you in any possible way

to make sure that libya can be the prosperous stable country it can be and deserves to be. in the meantime, we need to work together in partnership. europeans and libyans, to fight trafficking and smuggling organizations. the europe union is ready to do it's part. it hasn't always been the case i know. >> kristen is at the united nations in new york. >> reporter: frederica outlined the plan to address the migrant crisis which includes allow more legal pathways into europe for migrants and dealing with the root causes of the problem, issues like poverty and conflict driving people away from their homelands. the main issue she has before the u.n. security council is winning support for a military component to the eu's plan. that is being able to search, stop, and destroy boats that are coming from libya.

this could include working in libya's territorial waters and also on the coastline of libya. that's something libya is not on board with. now, the foreign policy chief made her case knowing she had to have a comprehensive plan to win the support of the security council. russia said, for example, that destroying vessels in libya may be a step too far. there are many issues that still need to be worked out. the consensus is that something has to be done on the part of the international community to address this crisis and they are working on a resolution that they hope to circulate in the coming days. now to asia where more than 1,000 migrants have landed on the malaysian island. they're mostly muslims from bangladesh and myanmar and many are sick and starving. they were rescued on overcrowded boats in indonesia.

6,000 more are estimated to be stranded at sea with little food or water. they're clustered mainly in myanmar. in the past they used to escape over land through thailand, but since thailand began a crackdown, migrants advocates say they've been trafficked to indonesia and malaysia. we have the report now. >> reporter: she paid more than $2,000 to save her children's lives. she says she was desperate to escape myanmar after her ethnic relatives were killed by soldiers. she never imagined the traffickers would starve and beat her family. holding them for ransom until her mother paid for her release. her 8-year-old son died before they could escape. >> translator: my son was fine in the boat but fell sick in the jungle due to starvation. he vomited and had diarrhea.

we drank seawater because there was no drinking water in the boat. >> reporter: she and her surviving children arrived two weeking ago joining our muslims who fled violence and poverty in myanmar. this week about 2,000 more were rescued off the indonesian and malaysian costs. hungry exhausted and frightened after their ordeal. advocates for migrants are urging regional governments to take action. >> let us know come together. the country has to be open has to be transparent. you must start having good governance and most of all i think this can only be solved if we cut corruption once and for all. >> reporter: thailand which is a transit point for many traffickers, is tightening security to try and stop the trade. the malaysian government says it's strengthening its borders

but is cracking down on migrants themselves. governments in southeast asia are under pressure to respond to this rising influx of desperate migrants, but without an end to these ethnic tensions in myanmar, human rights activists say more of them will risk their lives in search of a better life. al jazeera kuala lumpur. morocco lost a fighter jet taking part in the saudi-led air campaign in yemen. they aired pictures of the downed f-16 but it's not clear if it crashed or was shot down. it's also not known if the pilot ejected. they joined in the early days of the campaign contributing six fighter jets. the houthis in saudi arabia

have been battles each other. saudi civil defense says two were killed in the violence. last week eight people were killed by shells in the same area. a new round of saudi-led air strikes struck a mountainous area near yemen's capital of sanaa. they have raised doubts whether a five-day humanitarian truce is implemented. we have this update from the saudi capital of riyadh. >> reporter: all indications point to escalation and not to de-escalation now that the truce is only about 24 hours away from this time when we speak. there are doubts whether it will happen because on both sides efforts are increased to show if any truth happens, at any time not be out of weakness on our side and we're defeated because because we want a truce. still, there are doubts.

the houthis are inside saudi arabia. overnight they have shelling and they killed one person and wounded four. also, they renewed that shelling this morning, and they also struck at the prov jince of jezan killing one saudi citizen and wounding four others. for saudi arabia this is a dangerous escalation. we have seen during the last few days whenever there is a strike by the houthis inside saudi arabia saudis intensify their attacks particularly to the province of the saada, the stronghold of the houthis, destroying many government buildings there or targeting houthi commanders there. the white house says president obama has spain to the saudi king after he declined an invitation to attend a sum knit

at camp david this thursday. he invited the king for allay gulf fears over the nuclear program. the saudi prince will attend instead. the talks coincide with the humanitarian ceasefire in yemen. the kink -- king of bahrain declined. >> that's based on the private conversations the secretary of the state had with the king himself and other senior officials in riyadh and paris. >> patty cole han explains what's behind the snub. >> reporter: this is pretty unusual. the white house never announces they will attend or meet with the president unless they're fairly confident they will show up. king solomon of saudi arabia agreed to and that's why they announced on friday he'd be at the summit and have one on one

time with the president next coming wednesday. saudi officials say the king has decided to stay in saudi arabia because it will happen in the pause in yemen. behind the scenes they say it's a snub. he was asked so many questions about it that snub is really the word of the day at the white house. the white house is trying to down-play a serious diplomatic spat saying the right people will be at the table when they announce new initiatives on security. still ahead here on al jazeera the race to repair nepal's heritage sites damaged by the country's devastating earthquake. also, why greece is being made to wait for more funding from its international members.

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the eu's foreign policy chief asked the u.n. security council to help dismantle criminal groups smuggling people from libya too europe. she admitted they were slow to act on the migrant crisis. the white house says president obama has spoken to the saudi sing as he declined an invitation to attend a summit at camp david on thursday. he invited him to talks to allay fears. morocco lost a fighter jet taking pardon in the saudi-led air campaign against houthi rebels in yemen. houthi television aired

pictures, but it's unclear whether it was crashed or shot down. for more on our top story, the european union asking the united nations for help to deal with the mediterranean migrant crisis. claude is the chair of the european parliament civil liberties justice and home affairs committee. very warm welcome to the program. thank you for being with us. how do you think that in reality a quota system could work? >> well the quota system has grabbed the headlines. it's about resettlement. it's about responsibility-sharing between the european union countries. at the moment syria, for example, is extremely uneven. sweden, germany step up to the plate, and we settle many many syrians with countries like hungary. that's what quota sharing is

about. we'll hear more whether it's voluntary or compulsory and there's not a proper responsibility, but there is some action taking place now. there are some aspects of it for libya. there's some military style action which is worrying and some of of it about the so-called quotas which is much more hopefuls. >> why are some countries reluctant to do their bit? i think many people would say that in the common sense way of thinking, it's very sensible to share the burden. >> well it's anything but when it comes to migration and asylum asylum. these are visceral issues for europeans. what's happening is there's millions of refugees pouring into neighboring developing countries. in the case of syria, jordan

turkey. you see the situation. you talk about millions. with europe it's thousands, and yet, it causes problems. why? because you're talking about migration. you're talking about europe and awes tart rit. and being hostile to migrants. that's a political reality and feeds into hostilities in national policies. there's then seen as a european union policy and it's the member states and not the european commission but the parliament. those parts of the european union really want to see responsibility sharing and a fair deal for migrants who are fleeing persecution, torture, and terrible events in a sensible sensible, balanced way. but the member states react to national pressures and don't want to see that. you see it in the number of resettled syrians, for example,

which is deeply uneven and in fairly small numbers. add isdz compared to countries like jordan and turkey and so on. >> claude, of course this is such a deeply complex issue. i'm always worried about oversimplifying it. at this point is the next step that we need to see a u.n. resolution? is this the next sensible step to take? >> i wouldn't worry about oversimplification. people say immigration is not spoken of. it's spoken of every single day by the media. i don't think there's any problem of oversimplification. what's worrying at the moment is the libyan action most people think is concerning, because we talk about military action in addition to traffickers, but that may mean attacking boats, attacking vulnerable migrants. so we need to be really concerned and worried about what is being proposed here. of course, we need the u.n.

resolution because there is action near a non-eu member state, but i'm concerned what it means in practice. as far as burden sharing is concerned, responsibility sharing, we need more of that but we don't have enough political support for it. i think on wednesday -- i will do this as chair of the european parliament part of the european union, ensuring that we step up to the plate better than we have done and allowing so many thousands of people to die in the mediterranean who could have been saved if we had a policy that was more coherent. >> joining me live from brussels. thank you for joining me with your thoughts. thank you. euro zone ministers meeting in brussels says progress has been made with greece over the bailout, but more time and effort is needed before it can release funds. greece has to repay $840 million on tuesday, but the 19 euro zone

finance ministers want a rigorous reforms from athens before they release a much-needed bailout loan of $8 billion to greece. so far the government has refused to meet creditors' demands which include reducing pension funds. it's unclear how long greece can go without a deal over the $267 billion bailout that began in 2010 and expires at the end of june. jonah hall reports. >> reporter: the protests could grow bigger if the government is forced by international members to compromise on austerity in return for much-needed bailout funds. there's talks with the european central badge and imf progress to unlock buildings of aid in greece. there's evidence still about a new economic plan offered by athens. >> some important issues have

been discussed in depth, but more time is needed to bridge the remains gaps. we have a joint interest with the greek authorities to get that agreement as quickly as possible. there are some time constraints and liquidity constraints. hopefully we will reach that agreement before the time runs out or money runs out. >> so greece must wait a little longer, try a little harder to get his hands on a much-needed $8 billion slice of aid. but there isn't much time. the existing bailout program expires at the end of june and in the meantime with few other sources of revenue available, they must pay pub sector salaries that fall due over the kous of the next few months. greece is under immense pressure to reach a deal here. >> it's because of necessity. our red lines and their red lines are such there's no common ground.

>> what's the time frame now? >> the next few days i think. >> the government insists it will stick to red lines on labor reforms and pensions and no more cuts and month plan b. that's the promise they made to the electric electorate in february. keeping that promise could cost the government and greece the ultimate price. bankruptcy and an exit from the euro. jonah hall al jazeera, brussels. at least 72 fighters were killed in syria as the army battling to rescue 250 trapped troops and civilians. they've been holed up in idlib province. there's a major explosion close to the hospital. the blast was caused by a suicide bomber. they assault the complex and look at fighter from al qaeda. the french president renewed

the call on the u.s. to end the trade embargo on cuba as part of the diplomatic fall between the two countries. president hollande is the first western european to visit since 1966. lifting the embargo would help french companies doing business there. in the coming hours he'll meet raul castro. rooif groups in central african republic signed a peace deal. it's hoped it will end two years of fighting between muslims and christians, which has killed thousands of people. we have the report. the psychological scars on children is a lasting legacy of the conflict. they are half the population. it turns thousands more into soldiers. some of rebels as far as politicians and religious leaders have agreed to draw a line under the violence on paper.

in reality it will be impossible for some to forget the pru talt of the last two years. on the face of it the crisis in the central african republic puts muslims against christians but the united nations says the root causes were property and government mismanagement. in that religion it was a convenient excuse used by some sides in the fighting. seleka rebels who forced the president from power and installed a muslim president aren't all muslim. anti-balaka rebels aren't all christian. the transitional government so now trying to encourage them to be together peacefully. they're organizations football matches and other events but animosity remains rife.

sporadic killings continue and they try to keep rival militias apart. the u.n. is pushing for elections this summer. it's a tall order for a country barely holds itself together. in nepal there's a major attempt to preserve the country's cultural heritage sites badly damaged by the devastating earthquake. while many buildings were destroyed, there's concern that ancient tradition could be lost as well. andrew simmons has been to visit a 5th century temple. >> reporter: there's a different tempo to the relief operation now more than two weeks after the earthquake. instead of attempting to save lives, this painstaking work is about trying to rescue ancient tradition. the temple dates back to the 5th century, and within it lies treasure but modern day social media is spreading stories of wrongdoing. so another part of this

country's rich heritage lies destroyed alodge with many other icons, there are myths associated with it. not only that rumors circulating now that jewelry associated with a day tee is missing. a priceless jewel encrusted vest is said to be stolen along with other items, but that's firming deniedly local officials who say it will all eventually be recovered. the earthquake struck soon after the start of one of the most important festivals in the kathmandu valley. this is pulled along by politicians as part of an ancient ancient. the deity is in the chariot. tragically a nearby building that collapsed when the quake truck belongs to him.

his father and aunt were killed in it. even so he's unphased to stay in the chariot. >> you can't call it a bad omen. earthquakes happen in other countries. it's a natural disaster. >> reporter: back at the temple some people aren't reassured by his words. >> translator: we are cursed. this is a hard time for us. >> translator: it has to be a bad omen. maybe the gods are angry. this shouldn't have happened. >> reporter: a -- a lot of people are spooked and scared. >> reporter: this conservationist believes superstitions have to be put aside. >> we have to get up and start ruling it again. >> reporter: no sooner has he spoken and the rain comes. despite tradition, it doesn't signal a restart of the festival. no one is sure when that will happen. andrew simmons, al jazeera, nepal. several european nations have suspended aid and funds to

elections in bahrundi after weeks of protests about the president's plan too run for a third term. hundreds marched through the capital on monday to demonstrate against the president. we have more. >> reporter: at the end of last week the president said all the roadblocks would be cleared and the process would be over and it would only take the police three days to do this but they haven't succeeded yet. there are roadblocks in many parts of city including here. this is made of wire across the road with plastic bags tied on with visibility with rocks and rubbish on the floor. in the center of the road a burned-out trailer, and on this side a rope made of strips of cloth tied together. they can decide which vehicles are pass and which ones aren't. >> translator: the only people who are allowed to pass the roadblocks are soldiers journalists and ambulances. people going to work are not allowed. it's our duty. we need to express our concerns

to draw the attention of the international community so people know that the situation is not good here. we want to affect the economy to put pressure on the government. >> reporter: there are roadblocks every 20 meters or so throughout the neighborhood. there's one here made of the usually rocks and burned tires and branches. ones like this are very common but here the protesters push a shipping container into the road. they won't remove it until the president abandons his bid for a third presidential term. in the next few hours, a masterpiece by pablo peculiar casco is expected to become the world's most expensive painting. it's likely to smash the current record of $142 million. john terret has been to see. it. >> the bill galleries in new york combine them altogether right new because they say art

collectors are keen to broaden their horizons. at christie's tonight there's a big sale. this could go for $20 million and next to me very famous andy warhol painting of elizabeth taylor. that's estimated between $25 million and $35 million. the star of the show is right here. this is a picasso. he painted in in 1955. if it goes for the full sale price of $140 million it will be the single most expensive painting ever sold at auction. >> most of these young collectors who have become billionaires are not collectors in the traditional sense. collectors in the traditional sense would spend a lot of their living hours working studying looking at art. these collectors tend to be more impulse shopping. >> reporter: christie's says if

they all sell for the recommended price this evening they will bring in half a billion dollars. who is buying this stuff and what does it mean for the health of the u.s. economy? join us this evening to find out the answers to those questions. you can find out much more on our website. the address is aljazeera.com. >> this is "techknow". a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity, but we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science... >> oh! >> oh my god! >> by scientists. >> tonight, saving the macaw. >> i'm in the peruvian amazon and we're on the search for endangered macaws. >> now techknow is on a one of a kind mission. >> look at those wings. >> the macaw; graceful, elegant,