>> hello, we begin in egypt while a court has sentenced deposed president mohamed morsi to death along with more than 100 groups. morsi was convicted of killing and kidnapping policemen attacking police facilities and a mass jail break in an up rising which forced the predecessor from power. also among the defendants were the leader who now lives in qatar. it will now be up to the grand mufti to decide on the legitimacy of the sentence. if he decides against it, it will be returned to the courts. >> egypt's first elected president, mohamed morsi has been found guilty of breaking

out of jail and sentenced to death. >> the muslim brotherhood now banned by egypt calls the decision politically motivated. he said executing morsi would be murder and the international community should stop it. morsi was in prison with other leaders that would eventually overthrow mubarak in 2011. in 2012 morsi became the country's first elected president. but then he was overthrown by the military general elcy el-sisi, who is now president. many were given the death penalty including the leader of the muslim brotherhood and popular scholar. several palestinians were sentenced as well, including prisoners in israeli jails. mass convictions and sentencing has become common since the military takeover.

and since 2013 as many as 41,000 people have been jailed. amnesty international said that shorts short trials and mass sentencing has violated human rights. in april and may of last year in just two verdicts more than 1200 people were sentenced most of them were given the death penalty. >> the mass death sentences being customary in the egyptian courts during the last two years, but in this specific case there are many legal grounds to refute. for example, the judicial itself the court it is is unconstitutional. also many other things like this testimony given by the former chief of staff during the trial of former president mubarak in which he negated all the allegations of hamas crossing over the borders and breaking free the prisoners. >> he's referring to elite audio recording by the chief of staff.

on friday, it denies there were any border crossing by hamas or hezbollah. saturday's mast sentences have been referred to the grand mufti. it was handed down by hosni mubarak was sentenced but freed because he had already served time. and an elected president was sentenced to death. >> well, three egyptian judges have been killed by gunmen in the sinai peninsula. they were traveling to a court hearing. three other judges were wounded. previous attacks in sinai have targeted police and soldiers since it's overthrow of mohamed morsi in 2013.

now, in all the top stories the u.s. said its special forces have killed a senior isil leader in eastern syria. abu sayeff was killed by u.s. raid. rights okay, the white house has released a statement with more details. let's go straight to kimberly halkett in washington, d.c. what more do we know about who was involved in this operation and how it was executed? >> we know it was a decision that was executed and a decision not made lightly. there was an awful lot of planning to took place in advance. we know that abu sayeff's position did shift slightly, and that caused a delay in the operation. the elite force came in on osprey and black hawk

helicopters. we know that there may have been women and children present used as human shields. it was during that engagement that abu sayeff was killed. but his wife was captured, umm sayeff. she's know that she's being held in iraq. she's iraqi. and we know that there was a young yazidi woman who will now be reunited with her family. >> what are they saying about the role of yaseff's role in isil and the impact it will have on the group. >> we know that he oversaw the oil and gas revenues. this made him the chief financial officer if you will. that's a very key position because it allows for the funding of other operations and the other arms of isil. but at the same time the fact that he is not a household name

leads to some questions about whether or not he was the intended target of this operation, or in fact, if there were others that the united states was interested in. so these are some of the questions that are being asked. you also have to ask the question that the u.s. was saying this was done in coordination with the iraqi authorities, but not the syrian authorities. the national security spokes woman saying that syria was not notified about this, but at the same time defending its actions saying this was done in accordance with u.s. and international law. this is something that will have to be delved deeper in the coming days. i can tell that you pentagon officials will be delving into the information they collected as a result of this operation. we know that there was a lot of data in the form of hard disks and computer data that is being analyzed further as they continue their attacks against the isil operation. >> kimberly halkett, from washington, d.c. thank you very much. getting reports that turkey's military has shot down an aircraft after it entered

turkish air space. they have sent al jazeera's these photos just outside of syria. it said that the aircraft breaches turkey air space twice. but syrian tv is denying the report saying that a surveillance drone was shot down instead. going to the iraqi city of ramadi airstrikes by the force on government headquarters. more soldiers were sent there earlier. the city is almost completely under isil's control. if that city falls it would give the fighters a stronghold just 100 kilometers were baghdad. from the capital we have the reports. >> the iraqi military says its fating back in ramadi. it's released this video of what it says are aerial attacks on positions of the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the government has promised a tough response.

s also promising to recapture lost territory in anbar's provincial capital. but on the ground there isn't much evidence that security forces are on the offensive. many say that it will not be an easy fight unless there is a clear strategy. >> they are serious to do what they have to do since long time. you know, we know everyone. we know that isil start to attack ramadi every day. and the reaction of the government was very weak. >> fighters used all kinds of weapons in the attacks in the compound in ramadas ramadi. it says that the coalition strategy is working, but there are those who disagree.

>> we need to get the weapons to the tribes. the sunni tribes are able to defeat isil. they would be able to create the national guard. that means local people joining the security forces. they could fight with the iraqi army. >> earlier this month the government said that hundreds of sunni fighters were the province would now fight along the security forces but anbar's influential tribes are not among the men. they want to fight the battle alone, and they want the army to give them weapons. >> anbar was the greatest challenge in iraq. they lost a lot of men in the years of fighting. they were only able to succeed after receiving the support of the local population. a military solution failed, and some believe it will fail again if the iraqi government does not bring people to its side. until then the human suffering is only getting worse with many people trying to escape.

for years now there has been no pace between the main liaisony province of anbar and the shia shia-led government of baghdad. >> dozens of people have been killed in the yemeni city of advertise where they ignore a humanitarian cease-fire. the truce is due to end on sunday. that's when political leaders will meet to try to end the crisis, but the houthies will not be there.

>> the houthis are sending in reinforcements to surround the city. a crucial link along supply route to the south. >> it's taiz there is the resistence against the houthies. there is a lot of support. >> the houthies have expanded their territory over the last few weeks convincing people to support them. >> these protesters are demanding that the rebels leave their city. and this is where fighting could escalate. that's because their province is rich in oil and gas. they are defending the city. >> we control this area. we're tightening the noose around the rebels. they're shelling us with heavy

weapons despite the cease-fire. >> the five-day humanitarian truce expires on supplied. that's when some of yemen's main factions plan to begin a three-day conference in riyadh to solve the crisis. they include tribesmen military commanders and political leaders. gulf countries are worried that the violence in yemen could spread to their country. this is the envoy to yemen for the gulf cooperation council. his job is to convince yemenis to agree on a political road map. >> the gcc will support all the decisions that the political leaders agree on during the riyadh conference. the agreements will be the basis for any future political settlements or talks between political factions. >> the houthis have refused to send anyone to the meeting in

riyadh. they say that they'll only join talks in a country that isn't part of the coalition that is led by saudi arabia that has attacked yemen for more than six weeks. the riyadh conference is expected to give president hadi a significant boost. his supporters plan to reach a power-sharing agreement, but they insist it's the only way to save yemen from civil war. al jazeera, riyadh. >> and still to come for you on al jazeera this half hour, not backing down. protesters in burundi against the president's plan for re-election. >> i'm erica wood on south africa's cape coast where oil spills and overfishing put the continent's only species of penguins at risk of extinction.

a real look at the american dream hard earned only on al jazeera america

>> welcome back. let's look at the top stories now. an egyptian court has sentenced former president mohamed morsi to death. he was charged with a jail break that toppleed hosni mubarak. a ground attack in syria the senior leader killed a beau sayeff. turkey shot down a plane that entered turkish air space. syrian tv said that a surveillance drone came down

inside. there have been advances in syria's battles near the mountains. as syrian and government forces have been armed against the country's armed opposition fighters. >> they have been expelled from all the fighting grounds. they were recaptured from the armed groups inside syria and lebanon. their expire tense was fully destroyed. >> the taliban began its fighting season in northern afghanistan last month. and now it's gunmen are in villages just outside of the provincial capital. while the government has sent thousands of soldiers in the area it's local militias that are standing up to the taliban. jennifer glasse has had exclusive access to them and sent this report.

>> another day on the front line. these villagers are standing up against the taliban who are so close they have to crouch behind the wall to keep from being shot. >> the enemy right now is 100 meters away. do you see the area with the trees? they're there. and they're lying in ditches. >> they have 170 men against a taliban force with nearly twice that. they fight from trenches and mud bunkers. these fighting lines are new this fighting season. when nato was fighting in the region the tall taliban was usually on the move. but they don't have that risk now. >> thepeople have sold their cows and other live stock to buy

their guns. >> on this day it's quiet. the two sides negotiated a cease-fire to farmers could plant their fields. fields. but neither side trust the other. villagers feed them, what people who are left. many homes are earth and people say it's bad. >> we were never this worried. we didn't worry like this. there was fighting. but the next day life was normal. people could go anywhere then. now we are trapped. >> these fighters say that the government gives them no support but a little bit of ammunition. they buy what they can and a former mu education ahidi ujahadine leader buys the rest.

>> people have left. >> these men say that they will hold the front line as long as they can. they say there is no one else to hold their land, their honor. >> a suicide-bomber has killed four people at a bus station in northeast nigeria. the blast is said to wound another 31 people. most of the victims were women and children. the burundi government has charged 17 officials including five generals for their alleged roles in a failed cue. the suspects lawyers for the suspects say they're fighting detention. >> there are those who appeared

before the judge. they have been taken away and people don't know how long they will be held for. but their families are hoping that when they do go to trial they'll get a free and fair trial. some say they have not seen some of these people in a very long time since the arrests. they say they don't know if they've been tortured. they're trying to find out what's going on and more importantly if they'll get a free and fair trial. people are waiting for what will happen next. they are planning more protests on monday. the other key thing is they want to know if the president will, indeed, run for a third term on june 25th. he says as far as he's concerned he has every right to do so and he has no intention of backing down. >> now two people have died and 20 injured when a passenger train collided with a truck. the truck had become struck on the tracks west of hannover, and

the train was not able to stop in time. the driver of the truck was not hurt. the u.s. railway would improve safety. the train crashed killing eight people and injuring dozens. investigators also say that the train may have been hit by a bullet rock or other object just before it derailed. the train was traveling at over twice the speed limit as it entered the curved section of the track. thailand malaysia and indonesia has turned away boat loads of migrants. most are rohingya muslims who need myanmar and fled ethnic violence. myanmar does not recognize them as an ethnic group.

and say they're migrants. governments in all three countries say that they are worried that large numbers of migrants will add a significant burden to limits social services. while their members of the association of southeast asian nations, that body has no integrated budget or policy to deal with the my grand crisis. well, we have reports from indonesia where help is pouring in for 1500 migrants who have been trapped at sea. >> three months at sea with nowhere to go rohingya asylum seekers finally are getting help. doctors and social workers have come with supplies and food. 1500 rohingya from myanmar have fled for safety at the indonesian coast in the past week. on friday more than 800 of them were rescued by fishermen.

many people spent hours on the water after the boat broke down. they lost all hope until they saw the fishermen. >> they helped us a lot. we're so grateful. if they had not picked us up from the sea all of us would have died. >> health is now pouring in. villages are bringing clothes and donating money. >> a show of solidarity. while governments in southeast asia are closing the doors people here are opening their hearts. after living through a devastating tsunami they know how crucial generosity can be. >> one man was quickly surrounded when he started handing out cash.

>> we will help people they need . people from around the world helped us with food and new houses. we need to help them. >> the rohingya are fleeing persecution in myanmar and have no place to go. meanwhile, thousands are still at sea. >> we're worried about the thousands of people that we know who are on boats now. the reports that we're getting from this group very harrowing tales of people dying of hunger of abuse by smugglers serious illnesses on these boats. it's a humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. >> not everyone came who came to the temporary shelter came to help. some took pictures and wanted to

hear their story. for the migrants it was a nice distraction of so much misery. al jazeera, indonesia. >> well, during the past two days 900 europe-bound migrants have been rescued after leaving the libyan coast. oil spills and overfishing are threatening to kill off africa's only native species of pen again. the birds numbers have declineed by 90% erica wood went to south africa's western cape to see what's been done to save them. >> this is a penguin hospital. a place where distressed, injured or orphaned birds come to rehabilitate. in 2014 we admitted 972 penguins

chicks. >> some in this facility are being nursed back to health. others are permanent residents. like skipper he'll never return to the wild. he's too tame. >> the education team are training him to be an ambassador bird. we think he'll be amazing at it. >> 10,000 children come here every year to learn about penguins. other lessons are carried out over the internet. >> is he a boy or a girl? >> we don't know yet. we're still waiting for the lab results to come back, and then we'll know if it was a boy or girl. >> educating young generations is important because the numbers of african penguins are drastically low. there are fewer than 18,000 breeding pairs in the wild. overfishing effects their survival. >> they will very have to travel further to find enough food for

themselves and their chicks. >> oil spills remain a constant threat. dyer island off the west cape coast is well-known as an african pen again colony. but tourists are more likely to see seals. this island used to be home to hundreds of thousands of penguins. the combination of fishing and oil spills means there are only 600 breeding pairs left. a new facility has opened. >> every bird counts. aside from rehabilitating birds penguin research will be carried out here. the staff says we need to pay more attention to what declining numbers of bird life are telling us. >> we should have taken note a long time ago that there is something seriously wrong.

>> like so many of the world's endangered species saving these penguins is a race against time and environmental issues, but most of all the destruction caused by humans. erica woods al jazeera, the western cape, south africa. >> for more of everything we're covering on our website www.aljazeera.com. now tens of thousand of rohingya are housed in primitive camps under government armed guard while others have tried to flee oversees to malaysia. but as jason motlagh reports the refugees are being exploited and abused by people traffickers, wh