>> iraq will deploy shia hill militia to stop isil from ramadi . >> this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up gay couples flock to dublin to celebrate as ireland legalizes same-sex marriage. guatemala's corruption

scandal costs 30 kidney patients their lives. and fans of the citroen celebrates its birthday. hello, iraqi forces and the u.s. coalition have begun their fight back against the advance of islamic state in iraq and the levant in anbar province. coalition airstrikes have targeted the pro the provincial town of ramadi. iraqi troops have also been deployed to just a few kilometers from ramadi. we have reports from baghdad. >> there has been military progress against the islamic state in iraq and the levant shia militiamen have pushed isil out of the town seven kilometers from ramadi, the provincial

capital of anbar. the iraqi forces were sent to the area to stop isil from advancing furthers it would take towns and villages since it's capture on sunday. the aim is to protect the military base which was really under threat just earlier today. >> the base is the staging ground for the government's counter offensive in anbar province. in a show of support for the troops anbar officials discuss the military plans put in place there, but even before that military operation begins the base is already stunned threat. >> we are now in in the front line and positions are heavily fortified.

we are determined to recapture anbar soon. >> but doing that the government must maintain its defense line just a few kilometers from the base. shia military forces and soldiers have moved into this area to stop isil's advance in the east of a ramadi. isil seems to have a strategy. losing the base would be a major military set back for the government, which does not have many areas to stage attacks from in the province. isil would also be able to link ramadi to fallujah, which has been under its control since january 2014. all that would make the armed group closer to the iraqi capital baghdad. more than 6,000 shia military fighters are in anbar. these men will be leading the fight because regular forces are weak and not ready and

government is not ready to bring sunnies into the militias. >> the only way to stop them is to gave them guarantees to sunni tribes. they need to trust the government's promises. mistrust is deep. real reconciliation is needed to stop isil's gains. the sunnies need to know what will happen after isil is defeat defeated. >> sunni leaders opposed to the government have repeated by demanded a say in running this country. they don't want to join the fight against isil only to give territory to iranian backed shia militias. it is a critical time. iraq's communities need to come together because so far isil has manageed to gain ground by exploiting their differences. >> in syria 14 people have been killed and dozens more injured by government shellling. the regime is said to have used

barrel bombs to target the district under the control of isil. it's thought eight children were among the victims. there are reports that dozens of syrian government soldiers have been killed in the northern city. activists say the they attacked the rebels. rebels have now taken control of the area. >> saudi forces have targeted yemeni houthi fighters after reports of skirmishes along the border. [ gunfire ] houthi gunmen fired at the border between the two countries. saudi arabia said it responded with artillery shelling. in southern yes, yemen fighters

loyalty to exiled president abd rabbuh mansur hadi are in aden. an iranian ship full of aid with 2.5000 tons of supplies on board. the fighting has force thousands of yemenis to flee, and they are now in djibouti. we visited one refugee camp in northern djibouti. >> under the burning sun in djibouti they are gathered. hundreds of refugee who is have runaway from the war in yemen across the sea in search of safety.

this woman has two children and have been camped out in conditions that she says are unbearable. >> some of us are diabetic. some have heart problems. we can't cope in this heat. there is no less electricity or hot water. >> the u.n. appears to be struggling to cope. many of the refugees still haven't been allocateed tents and inside this storm room there is not a great deal in the way of food or clothing, for that matter. holes have been dug up to serve as toilets. tiny cubicles out of which repulsive smells emanate making you want to throw up. the u.n. has been providing clean water but refugees say it's not enough. >> the international community has not fulfilled its obligations. they should see how we're living. the heat is unbearable and the children are getting sick. >> they are safe from the

fighting in yemen the conditions if in this camp are dire. unless the international community act fast things could get worse. an donors conference is due to take place in a couple of weeks. organizers tell me it can't come enough. >> we hope that the international community will move forward in providing support. they say forces loyal to ali abdullah saleh have been targeting homes and residential areas. finding a safe place for their children were all they could think about. now in a the children are safe from the fighting, they are not out of harm's way. diseases could spread here and

many have fallen sick. many who unaware of their own plight they hope the world will hear their need. >> the creation of a joint force has long been a goal of arab nations since they signed a rarely used joint pact 65 years ago. an egyptian court has acquitted 17 people for taking part in an unauthorized protest in january. the demonstration became famous after one of the protesters was shot dead. the activist died on the answer vary of the revolution against former president hosni mubarak. a police officer has been charged with manslaughter over her death. voters in the republic ever

ireland have delivered a resounding yes in favor of same-sex marriage. the official results of the referendum will be announced soon at dublin castle where thousands have gather: 70% of people voted in favor. homosexuality was decriminalized in ireland just 22 years ago. tim friend in studio with me now. tim, extraordinary in a country renown around the world for being a conservative nation. >> absolutely. a vote of this kind would have been thought impossible not long ago in ireland. what's driven the combination of things. the church clearly the roman catholic church has lost its grip on the power amid abuses

and scandals. child abuse scandals. they've seen other western europe piano countries and what and--european countries and what their attitudes are towards same-sex marriage. many would come out to vote, many registered to vote for the first time, and many came back from abroad to vote. this brings a problem for the church the archbishop of dublin said we need to take a reality check because they're fearing losing contact with the public, which was once conservative and were very loyal to the church. >> it's not that people turned completely away from the church. many of those would say i'm still proudly catholic. it sounds like they want the catholic church to move with the times. >> i think that's absolutely

right. there are many people who would consider themselves still loyal members of the church, church congregations but who have taken a decision. the young and old people in corners of rural ireland you would think would be conservative voted yes as well. they said that it's wrong to oppress someone's sexuality and they can live with that along with being a member of the church. but the church has a dilemma because it's teaching is that homosexuality is wrong. it's a teaching when pope francis was asked he said who am i to judge although he said he was still against same-sex marriage. the church is at an interesting point in its own history i think. >> tim friend, thank you. still to come on the program, voters in spain head to

polls on sunday in regional and local elections where the economy is once again top of the agenda. and south korean buddhist make final preparations for the birthday of buddha.

>> a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. iraqi forces and the u.s.-led coalition have begun their fight against the islamic state in iraq and the levant in anbar province. fires have been intensifying in yemen over the past five days.

fighters loyal to the exiled president abd rabbuh mansur hadi have been fighting in aden. and ireland legalizes gay marriage by popular vote. thousands have been arrive ing in the capital of he el salvador for the beatification. more antitrust protests are expected in guatemala where calls are increasing for its president to resign. we have reports now from guatemala city.

>> reporter: elizabeth santos said that her husband paid the highest price because of corruption in guatemala. u.n. anti-corruption investigators say the country's social security agency changed to a different drug provideer after bribes. her husband reacted to the new drug as if it were poison and died two months after starting a new treatment. >> he didn't feel well when they gave him the new treatment. it wasn't good. he had stomach pains. he was nauseous, and he had diarrhea. >> at least 13 people have died since the government switched providers. >> the case is one of two corruption scandals battling the president. it led for the resignation the vice president and several cabinet members while other high ranking officials have been arrested. tens of thousands of guatemalans are calling for the president to

resign. lucia had to wait 24 hours in a wheelchair to be seen after getting sick from the drugs. >> this is the saddest thing. we were dying and they didn't do anything to help us. >> her saw now helps with her care and says doctors didn't even read her chart. >> they lost control of the situation. it wasn't only my mother who was sick. we're talking about more than 500 people suffering from the same thing in a short period and no one responded responded. >> 500 other patients in this crisis have boxes of unused medicine sitting around, medicine that will never people will never be able to take advantage of because they had an adverse reaction. medicine that already was paid for and now will have to be thrown away.

>> we have always said corruption kills and this is an example of its causative affect. >> it kills and weakens many in an already poor country where corruption is endemic. an explosion on friday. the president has announced a two-day truce on saturday to allow for funerals to take place. >> there is no tear gas guns, police or soldiers here. just food, which is free.

one less thing that street children have to worry about. this is far from the protest protests against buruni's president. >> until the shooting stops we can't go out and look for food. sometimes the police find us and beat us. >> they say that many children come here exhausted traumatized from hearing gunshots and tear gas on a daily basis. >> the children will have to go back out on the streets and they have to face harassment from security forces. so this is the situation that has to stop and protect the rights of children and everyone is responsible. >> it's not just children living on the street who are vulnerable. parents are being told to keep their children at home. don't let them come out on to the streets by themselves because anything could happen in

the capital. things are unpredictable. at any moment people could come out on the streets and start protesting. and that means children could get caught up. >> people think police won't fire at them if children are in the crowd. >> people use children as human shields, but when protesters blocking the road police use tear gas. >> government officials say that up to 130 children have spent a few nights in police cells since the crisis began. places like this offer temporary reprieve. about 100 children come every day. here they can just be children even if it's only for a few hours. al jazeera. >> u.n. is urging southeast asian countries to deal with the causes of the growing migrant crisis in the region. many are forced to flee because

of the persecution that they face. many of them are rohingya who have been left thirsty and starving at sea. preparing for the the south korea's biggest festival of the year, bud buddha's birthday. >> in one of the most chaotic games of football you'll see these youngsters are experiencing life as monks for a few days. the idea is to reach out and a attract new followers. the head of buddhist's order said that a new approach is needed. >> rewell never did anything to attract to our temples.

we were passive. this may have had something to do with our teachings but now we're trying to propagate and attract people to our religion. >> the number of booed buddhist have fallen about 8%. at this time of year koreanen buddhism hardly looks like a religion in decline but it does see twin threats from a society that is ever more materialist and those who spend less time from the reflective teachings of buddha. when video everged of monks gambling and drinking in a hotel room. they used that scandal to confront internal problems. now it's reaching out with a message tailored to south koreans about using buddhism in

he daily life. >> buddhist teachings talks about reaching the state of enlightened wisdom by empty oneself of worldly goods and offering compassion to others. but buddhism today is heading in the other direction. >> a former banker now running his family's successful food business that's part of the appeal. the ability to get informal guidance and find the right path in prayer. >> businessmen running mid to small companies often face problems. i often pray that nice people will come work for me and help to make the company grow. >> growth is pre-occupying south korean buddhism as it stays focused on its own recruitment.

>> spaniards are heading to the polls on sunday. >> david is 40 years old and has a full-time job. that job is looking for paid work here in madrid. until recently he worked as a driver going from one short-term contract to another. now he's taking his resumé to just about anywhere he can think of from estate agents to neighborhood bars. he said he's luckier than most because his wife has a permanent job while he gets $400 unemployment benefits each month, something many unemployed people are not entitled to. >> the worst case is the mine. long-term unemployed people with no state help at all its better to earn $250 to $350 u.s. than nothing at all. nobody can live on that now. you have a job but you're still

poor. >> the prime minister predicts 600,000 new jobs will be created this year and he can point to some encouraging data. during the first quarter of this year spain's economy grew by not quite .9%. the government predicts that it will grow this year and that it will tackle unemployment. officials show that it fell from 23% down to 21.1% the year before. but the international monetary fund forecasts unemployment in spain will be as high as 20% five years from now. that rings true for 50-year-old manuel after losing his job as a publicist. >> i have taken my resumé to all kinds of companies offering myself for every kind of job. security job whatever. working at the supermarket

whatever. and they don't even call me because of my age. >> there are clearly vacancies out there but in only one in ten new contracts were signed for permanent positions. >> we will create jobs, and salaries are very low, 30% to 40% low before the decrease so it's not a very good situation in the labor market. the problem is that based on an arm of army of employers there is a lot of offer for very few jobs. >> as luck would have it david got a call from an employment agency as al jazeera was filming. he has an interview next week. he has no idea what it's for but it has given him hope, something that unemployed millions don't have. al jazeera. >> the citroen is said to be the

most beautiful car ever built. >> jean pierre is in love. it's a passion that's consumed him for much of his a adult life and the object of his obsession is a car. this is the cit roen, the name means goddess in french. for enthuseiasts like jean pierre. >> it was like a car like no other. >> it was a day of national pride. president de gaulle adapted it as his official vehicle and the presidential palace had a fleet

of them. the car retains it's cult status today. it's distinctive design and sleek lines made it popular. when these cars first appeared on the streets of paris 60 years ago they caused a sensation. it was as if a flying saucer had just arrived. people had not seen anything like it before before it was a futurist design, a space age design very much a part of optimism and confidence that characterized the post-war period. the car included many technical innovations. headlights that swivel as the car turns a corner and the suspension system that cushions the bumpiest of roads. >> it was really something new in the car world and if you drive it, it's like floating in a boat on the road. >> enthusiasts clearly love the design and the driving

experience but the car also embodies a more confident and optimistic era. and in these uncertain times that's very seductive. jacky rowland al jazeera, just south of paris. >> much more over on our website, the degrees address to click on to is www.aljazeera.com. and plantations in north and south america. today slavery is illegal on every country on the planet. but the truth is, slavery did not die in the 19th century. it is alive, it is thriving, and it it is bigger than ever.