on all the things we stand for. aljazeera america. >> one of saddam hussein's loyal ministers die at the age of 79. two dead, an explosion at an opposition rally. two days at turkey's parliamentary polls.

>> timing is everything. we'll tell you about the $16 million film that was made and why the release might backfire. >> i'm lee wellings with all the sports news and who will reach the final with the. they could not complete their match in paris. >> let's begin with breaking news come in from saudi arabia, which repelled one of the biggest attacks by yemeni rebels since it's offensive began in march. an attack by houthi fighters in the yemeni republic guards loyal to former president ali abdullah saleh. dozen members of the republic

guard were killed in the attack. one saudi officer was killed. earlier there were violence clashes in the southern port city of aden between houthi rebels and soldiers loyal to abd rabbuh mansur hadi. several people have been killed and many others wound: many broke out in the city of taiz with forces battling houthi militias. let's begin now to the member of yemen's national dialogue between 2012 and 2014. he's aimed at restoreing democracy. he's here in 1250 with us. good to have you with us. what we understand about this latest attack or incident begins with the republican guards trying to make a push into saudi arabia. why would they troy to be doing something like that?

>> i think there are two points. one that the houthies have been claiming for a long time. and this is the first time that the saudis consider that and actually acknowledge there have been attacks on the board. the houthis want to gain the upper hand a bargaining chip before talks of geneva starts and impose this bargaining chip not on the yemeni government but the saudis. >> whatthey repel that attack. how far do you think that will go? >> i think it will continue. it seems that the houthis are willing to keep moving forward and as long as they have the republican guards who actually are in control of the heavy artillery and are capable of moving artillery and controlling them this will continue. and this actually happened with the airstrikes continuing over sanaa and elsewhere.

>> now you were part of the process, the national dialogue process that was supposed to be bringing democracy. no one talks of democracy now in yemen. all the talk is what the houthies are doing, the coup the war the fighting the saudi role and the saudi saudi-led airstrikes. what happened to democracy? what "s" that off the agenda? >> how daughter feel about that? somebody in the streets campaigning. >> of course, there is a huge filing of depression, frustration amongst the movement and they feel they've been marginalized by the current conflict. >> who do you blame. when you say the current conflict there are a lot of people involved. >> i think there are many parts to be blamed. first of all the outies, ali abdullahhouthis, ali abdullah saleh, and the abd rabbuh mansur

hadi regime. all of it together. >> good to get your thoughts. thank you so much. thank you. >> one of saddam hussein's loyal ministers has died in iraq. he died in prison after suffering a heart attack. he was condemned to death after surrendering to u.s. troops 12 years ago. we look back at his controversial life. >> he defended his boss' policy at every turn 37 even in 1988 when there was the killing of 5,000 kurds. >> he is a christian who came to the baath party in the 1950s.

by the time the baathists came to power in 1968, the former english teacher was already a prominent figure. he was named a member of saddam's revolutionary council. in the early 1980s he became foreign minister to strengthen relations between baghdad and washington. when saddam ordered. invasion of kuwait in 1990s he had to face the world and condemn the arab leaders for not standing up to the u.s. the u.s. responded to the kuwait invasion by declaring war on iraq. for iraq the results were devastating. the army defeated and the country suffering harsh international sanctions. azizz's loyalty was never shaken. he continued to condemn u.s.

hostileities against iraq, but in in 2003 under the guise of searching for weapons of mass destruction the u.s. enaggravatedded. eninvaded. he washe was sentenced to 22 years in prison and then sentenced to death. he remain in prison on death row until his death. >> he was a high profile figure. >> he would not have been a decision maker. he would have been one those who would make the decision.

somebody who say you should not be doing that because there would be consequences. >> were there consequence there is? >> of course, there was one man who called the shots. >> it's easy for us to do that, but that was a government. that was a country that was run by a dictator, yes but dictators do have people advise them and they ask them to advise them properly and they do advise them. he was one of the people who would. >> i wonder if we could look back at the debaathification as a whole. did it lead to justice or sectarianism? >> the world will look at this one as a disgraceful approach whereby the international community, the u.n. the european and everybody actually banned because. you should not be penalized let

alone defranchised. being a member of the baath party is not a crime. it's a made up crime. so it was a triple for the international community to accept and yet nobody seems to bother about this one. >> these people were responsible for dictatorship that brought a lot of abuse. >> anybody who brought abuse and crimes you put them on trial. but the idea that you belong to a party that was legal and then it becomes a criminal offense to be there he was sentenced on three counts. he was not minister of trade when they handed the traitors. he had nothing to do with the military when there was the gas on the kurds. and there was nothing about islamic religion when he's a

christian. so he persecuteed the shiite muslims is all a made up story. >> look at the invasion that did not end by resolution and apparently lacked the proper plan for post-war iraq in a country falling to pieces. can one talk about justice when many would argue that some of the powerful leaders of western countries themselves face accountability. >> quite frankly this is the case. we've the had the inquiry of 2009 and 2015, and there is nothing yet because the americans don't like it or tinwaretony blair has to stay away from this one. when you have the usa still has guantanamo, which is a virtual place with virtual people outside of the jurisdiction of the u.s. constitution, what are we doing? we're setting a perfect example

for dictators. if you adopted get the penalty you deserve if you commit a crime simply because you're a president, why not. everybody else will do that. we've seen the seeds of the problems we have now. the idea that some how you can invade a country and under the pretext you liberate it, and under the pretext of democracy. democracy is never brought by fallen troops. it's a cumulative affect. >> thank you very much. now turkey's state-run news agency said that two people have died and 100 people injured in a blast in the southize. just days before turkish parliament election. the blast was caused by an electrical fault. on sunday turks will vote in parliamentary polls. it's an election within the

country's unemployment and slowing economic growth. this market each with its price tag because living is on every borderer's blind we candid make ends meet. our two children. >> we're happy with our income, at least prices are not increasing every day. >> the ruling justice and development party came to power in 2002. since then turkey has enjoyed strong growth, development and renewed prosperity for many. major infrastructure projects become the party's hallmark building more roads trains and airports. big construction projects multiplying. massive infrastructure plans lure foreign investors.

turkey's gross democracy product reached $22 billion in 2013. annual income per person has tripled since 2002 to almost $11,000. but new indicators are raising concerns. if this is the first time in many years that the annual growth rates have fallen unemployment figures have risen compared to recent election gears, and they're trying to seize the opportunity. statistics from the turkish government and international bodies say that last year's growth rate was just over 3% while inflation was. unemployment levels rose 11% and the national currency lost more than 13% of its value against the dollar. turkey relies too much on construction low borrowing rates and debt. >> in 2010-2011 we had very high

job rates but it was the money that drove the economy. >> the slowing of the economy will bring a sustained role. they will cut debt and boost income in the next coming years. al jazeera istanbul. >> in syria the u.s. coalition forces reportedly launched more airstrikes on isil's stronghold in aleppo province. opposition fighters are also to have taken control south of

aleppo after heavy fighting with syrian government forces. let's speak now with john kirby in washington, d.c. good to have you with us. talking about the fight against isil, of course, that's a problem that extends not only in syria, but also to iraq, as you're no doubt aware. do you believe that the current iraqi prime minister has done enough in terms of reconciliation will sunnies to back up any movely isil. >> they're working very hard to make sure that they're responsive to the needs of all iraqis as possible. and he would tell you that he still has work to do, and he knows that, and we're obviously interested in helping in whatever way we can. but he's also very mindful that this war against isil in his country is his war to fight.

we're supporting, as our 60-some-odd other nations they're struggling knowing that they must-win, and we'll help them to do that. to allow isil to fester and grow is lack of good governance. they've made sound decisions up to this point. >> are you satisfied with that? we look at some of the sunni demands that changes to the anti-terror law the release of prisoners, the treatment of sunnies there representation of the military, the government, you know, sunnies would say not a lot has been done on those fronts. do you as a state department agree with that? >> we would say that this is a

young government and they're working hard. they're findful of the challenges ahead and we need to work our way through with this. >> the former director and architect of the surge policy has alluded recently in the last two days of perhaps an expanded role for u.s. ground troops in iraq. ising that is that the u.s. are considering? >> well, i would say it this way. we know the most important boots won the ground in iraq are iraqi boots on the country. and prime ministerial al abadi has made that clear, that's the way he wants to fight isil. our command center chief has made clear that there is not going to be u.s. troops on the ground in a combat role. that does not mean that there are not going to be troops there. you know there are advisers and trainers helping the iraqi

security force goes after this enemy. i do not foresee that changing. but look, we're going to be monitoring this strategy as we execute it every single day. we see no change in it from our perspective. >> if you are not changing the strategy, do you see that isil is being defeated as we hear about more and more falling to this group. >> i think its important that we don't upon cues tactical issues with a strategic purpose. and i think that's what may be happening here. nobody is trying to under state what happened in ramadi. and certainly nobody is happy about what happened there. it was a tactical defeat by the iraqi security forces. we understand that. prime minister abady has talked about that. but that's far from saying that

the strategies are unsound or that it's not working. actually in truth if you look at the last ten months as we operate as a coalition we continue to make solid progress squeezing off their finances. we have 30 countries oh taking administrative action to slow the flow and we've taken many off the battlefield and schrevely impacted their ability to command and control and. >> they're in control of ramadi right now but we do not assess that they control mortar tore in iraq than they did. we believe that they control 25% or so less leicester tore now

than they did last year. >> thank you for your thoughts on that. >> my pleasure. >> it's been called the biggest hack of u.s. government ever, 4 million past and present u.s. employs were hit by cyber talks. the u.s. suspects china is behind the breach. and we have more live from washington, d.c. what's the proof look like, patty? >> well, sammy it's typical washington. these anonymous sources are telling the media if they have proof. basically they're saying the u.s. federal officials anonymous officials say that it's china so it's being reported here in the united states as a fact. >> environmental lawyer david dickinson woke up friday that it's likely his most sensitive

personal information has been hacked. more than 4 million federal workers likely impacted. >> i think we've been niger naively thinking that this stuff is secure for quite some time. you thought it would be secure and be able to afford to secure their websites and the guy down the street is a little smarter. >> smart enough to get social security numbers national tigers numbers place of birth job title rating and forms rating. computer expert said that is extremely valuable. >> it's valuable in a black market. it's really valuable for intelligence community. it's valuable in identifying who might be on the other side spying for us who may be

compromiseed through blackmail and extortion. >> as for who the u.s. government thinks is behind it, there is the official on-come are a response. >> i don't have information to provide to you about who is responsible for this incident. >> but anonymous sources are pointing the finger at china. officials there deny it. >> you jump to a conclusion so quickly. we think that it's not scientific and it's not responsible. >> we know thanks to links to former contractor edward snowdon snowdon, they set more than $275 million on activities like exploiting foreign trusted computing platforms and technology. and that is just one program. still this is an embarrassment for the u.s. president who made this a prime minister asking for money to be spend on cyber security.

he'll probably get that from congress now since the attack has hit so close to home. >> this should not come as a price to this agency. their own inspector general investigated and found huge problems since they did not have an inventory of their servers or databases. >> thank you so much. patty culhane in washington, d.c. roll peculiar decidedopec has decided to keep up production of oil. >> in vienna volatile sit absent and everything expected at opec headquarters. >> they came to resolve the.

>> the organization's commit to stick with output levels decided upon last year, the secretary general sounded a confident tone. >> the action we talk in november and. >> analysts say it's a stand being driven by the cartel's wealthiest members. countries like saudi arabia, the united arab emirates. in the past they made no secret of their irritation of output levels. now oil ministers have stayed silent. >> i don't think opec is interested at this time in accommodating from what we're seeing they just want the market share, which is more important to them when prices are low. >> the price at crude is 62-$63.

countries like angola, ecuador and algeria would like to see $25. and then iran, it's economy is crippled by sanctions. iran insists they'll get their oil back on the market if and when sanctions are lifted. >> other members of the cartel would rather wait and see what happens with the nuclear negotiations. >> exports have been up in april. absolutely iran is ready. we still don't know what the decision would be in june whether to lift the sanctions or not. >> they're deflecting any doubt that it's as strong as ever.

one analyst suggested it was a cynical and realistic calculations described this way. members realize it's not going away. but fraking is a new reality they'll have to live with. al jazeera vienna. >> greece's reform plans are called absurd. indian authorities pulled intos from the shelves over the concern they contain dangerous levels of lead. plus... >> at the women's world cup in canada organizers are hoping that women in boots rather than men in suits can grab the headlines.

>> on hard earned, inspiring new beginnings... >> these workers got the fight in them, they just don't know it. >> facing up to old demons... >> i am really really nervous... >> lives hanging in the balance... >> it's make or break... i got past the class... >> hard earned pride... hard earned respect... hard earned future... a real look at the american dream hard earned only on al jazeera america

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on not just in this country but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et >> welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera. the saudi state media said that the army has stopped one of the biggest attacks by yemeni rebels. it happened in southwestern province.

>> former iraqi foreign minister asiz has decide died at 79 after suffering a heart attack in in prison. he served saddam hussein for more than 20 years. returning to our top stories the attack by the houthi fighters in saudi soil. how do you read this attack. is this a bit of politicking especially by the former president to make sure that he's strong on any negotiating table? >> i believe so. i believe the fact that we are

already planning for a geneva meeting on the 14th of this month suggested by the united nations, i think that the houthis are intrying to improve their stature. >> we've heard that the exiled yemeni president said that he's going to go. will there be talks though, between the yemen president and rebel factions. >> both sides indicate both are willing to go and both are ready to talk. they're not going on vacation to geneva but we're also hearing saying that they are willing to be there and they're willing to

talk through third party. but the fact of the matter if all these parties are convinced to be there in gentlemen me have a, they are convinced against compromise between all the parties involved. >> the u.s. has been playing a role with the talks relateed to the talks. what about concessions of disarming and pulling out of the area before these talks take place? >> the fact that the parties have suggested their approval indicates there is some sort of compromise they ex-izel president in saudi arabia, and they have said in the past they will not talk to each other and they will not participate in the

conference of this sort. and now they do. what do they do when they get closer. considering the events of the day. considering that the parties are miles apart in terms of their future vision for yemen. would they translate their promise noose actual compromises regarding a political solution to this crisis in yemen. >> that is one question which cannot be overlooked. what about the roles of ali abdullah saleh and his family members who clearly control parts of the yemen military? >> i think his role is very important because frankly he is a huge part of the problem.

there are members of the party that are already talking about the need of him to exit the political picture in yemen. but that has not happened. he is a very shrewd politician, and i don't think we can count him out. >> all right we'll have to see how it proceeds. thanks so much. >> food safety regulators have banned the sale and production of a popular food after dangerous levels of lead was detected in some samples. we have reports from new delhi. >> for more than 20 years, they have been selling maggi noodles to university students. they had made the noodle their own by creating 50 different dishes but their business has dropped by 50% since food

regulators found samples of maggi noodles were unsafe to eat. >> we have dropped the name maggi from our menu bar. we have substituted maggi noodles from our recipes with other noodle brands. we will not use maggi noodles in our shop. >> the global ceo has stepped in saying that they were safe to eat. india has stopped selling them nationwide but consumer rights activists say that the decision is too late. >> considering the effect of lead on children and these are high level of lead in children are already a problem in india i think they should have shown more concern and acted far more quickly. >> for decades millions have

eaten in the past other brands have faced scrutiny other production processes. this has once again raised questions about food processes and safety standards and whether governing of food companies are stringent enough. while government and regulatory bodies are focusing on necessarily india experts warn this is part of a much bigger national crisis. >> these contaminants are part of our environment. it's about soil, water and the air. they come from the exhaust. they come from batteries lead comes from batteries. there could be measure occur mercury and so many things.

>> there has been intense fighting since february. >> the ukrainian army said that this town is firmly under their control after two days of fierce fighting. it has left nearly 30 people dead and the worst violence since the minsk agreement which ukraine and russia signed in february. >> is russian aggression possible or not. i can tell you that the number of troops in the ukrainian

border are unprecedent: there have never been this amount of troops deployed to our borders. >> that theme was taken up by ukraine's united nations envoy in a special session security council in new york. >> clearly indicates russia's intentions to escalate the confrontation, and disrupt the minsk process. the recent result are an attempt on the russian site to preserve military pressure on international players. on the eve of international events. >> for his part russians have been accused of killing civilians. >> i won't go into a discussion with my ukrainian colleague of the nations and international law, international law either. too many provisions have been violated by the kiev authorities

and anti-terrorists. in fact, a punitive operation in eastern ukraine. >> addressing the session by video link the deputy of a monitoring mission in ukraine took both sides to urge steps to avoid more fighting. >> the leader of the self styled donetsk people's republic said the latest fighting has killed 400 ukrainian soldiers. whether or not that's accurate what some people are calling a low level war is clearly far from over. >> now the greek prime minister said that the government is closer than ever in reaching a deal with international creditors.

the prime minister is still speaking with the parliament. athens has postponed paying hundreds of millions of dollars until the end of the month. >> we need a solution. we need a conclusive solution both for greece and for europe, a solution that will put an end to the discussion, greece leaving the euro for good, a discussion that could work as a self-fulfillling prophecy of crisis. it's time to work to a viable solution rather than humiliate a whole nation. >> the co-pilot who deliberately flew his germanwings plane into the french alps reportedly reached out to dozens of doctors beforehand according to the french prosecutor who

investigated the crash. he was the first person to publicly confirm that andrus lubitz spoke to several different doctors. he sought help before the lead up to the crash. several people have been injured in roam as two subway trains collided in the city. the trains were traveling in the same direction as 30 kilometers per hour when the train failed to heed signals. passengers were thrown to the floor with the force of the impact. floating cranes have pulled the sunken ship from the yangtze river. the government said that there is no hope of finding survivors. >> the throw-day recovery effort

yielded level. the only option was to right the eastern star. two floating cranes were used for that delicate task. >> the next step is to bring it up out of the water. and. >> this salvage operation began after the government confirmed on thursday night that it did not expect to find any more survivors. divers groped through murky water after cutting through the hull searching every cabin on board. the currents of the yangtze has dragged some bodies down stream. along the river bank volunteers are helping in the grim process of recovery, a task that could go on for many days. there are more than a thousand

family members of the missing in the city closest to the accident and where many local people have been traumatized by the events of the past few days. such spontaneous gatherings would normally not be a cause. but they allowed this candle lit vigil to go ahead because so many wanted to express their sadness and sorrow. >> we came here by ourselves to pray. we hope that the people can leave the world peacefully. >> we are crying. we're all very sad. it's heartbreaking. i've been taking care of family members for the last few days. >> a city filled with sadness and with so much more to come. adrian brown al jazeera, southern china. >> now a movie about and largely funded by fifa gets released this weekend.

it was shown in cannes and then around the world a few times since. al jazeera's alan fisher reports. >> the football association. >> fifa. >> it's a movie that's been around for a george. fifa funded, it's gathered horrible reviews. the new york post described it as tedious amateurist and ill timed. it's a story of internal politics not the usual fare of sporting movie. but after with corruption charges with those at the top of

fifa and the resignation of sepp blatter, some of the script lines take on additional significance. >> he's apparently good at finding money. >> we have everything that we need. but in is terrible. >> i don't know where the money has gone. i mean, i have my suspicions. >> it only has a release here in the united states. it's only on in 11 cities and a handful of screens. the only cinema showing it in and around washington, d.c. is the smallest screen. those who have seen the number they say it fills the theater with laughter, which is unfortunate, it is not meant to be a comedy. >> it's self aggrandising to begin with. it happens to be coming out in theaters the very same week sepp blatter played by tim roth, has

just retired in a storm of controversy, and many of the top leading guys from fifa are bean taking out in handcuffs from their hotel in switzerland. the time could go not be better to laugh at this movie. >> the movie will also be available on demand. so for a small fee people will be able to watch it at home. as long as the files aren't erupted. >> remember, you're making history. >> we'll have more on the impact of the fifa scandal next in sport with lee. also we'll tell you how barcelona just one step away from the trophy trouble. all the latest ahead of the champions league final.

>> the world's number one djokovic would score level in the fourth. to the final with the swiss man who is still standing this week, he beat frenchman tsonga in the semifinal in the tie break.

>> the match could have gone either way. we're here. >> althoughing to add the continental crown and suspected lead and cup finals. they arrived in berlin, they will be sent with the hopes to claiming a fifth title. scoring 120 goals between them this season. >> i imagine we'll have more. we hope to spend more time in their side of the field but we have to play at very high levels. it will be a very difficult

match. i'm sure they'll play their own way to bring association. they also need to be able to play that way. >> juventus is looking to be crowned as one of europe's giants. they were relegated to the second division despite being their most successful team. >> i think the game can't simply be summarized as the attack against the strong defense. i think what we're going to try to do is put on a display of the team. that was a turning point for us because we realized at that time that we're a great team, and that's why we're here. >> global fall out is still cast in the shadow over football. it was action in the united

states which sepp blatter announced his decision to step down. but that help make football more popular in america? >> now blatter he's not going down quietly. >> it's not often that air time on u.s. radio shows is taken up with talk of football. here they call it soccer, but it's a sign of a sport growing in importance that so much attention is being paid to the u.s.-led investigation into fifa. the phone lines at this radio station have been lighting up. with host andy slater said that the scandal won't stop fans from watching a sport that is growing in popularity. >> people accepted it. they knew that it was going on. and there is that side and then you have the sport side which some people are into. i think they do separate the two. they care about the sport. those who are into it, and the corruption is on the other side by itself.

>> sites like this are not uncommon. football leagues have witnessed huge growth. during the last world cup more americans than ever tuned in to a sport the world-view is something that could never rival gable or american football. but the demographics are changing quickly. by 2050 it's expected that a third of the population will be hispanic and all of the attention will help the sport grow. >> sepp blatter resigning and new blood bringing in new positions may allow some of my non-soccer friends or friends who are not necessarily open to soccer be more open minded. >> maybe the change will help the soccer world and that may help in how the sport grows in the united states. >> football is far from challenging u.s. mainstream

shorts, but few doubt that that soon could be changed. the sport introduced by so-called soccer moms have grown up in the match. al jazeera, miami, florida. >> meanwhile, canada is getting ready kick off the biggest game. >> with a record number of teams taking part, tickets sold and tv viewers set to watch this world cup should be nothing other than a positive story for the women's game. host canada is just one country making strides going forward.

>> we get notes from mothers who tell us thinks saying you pulled me through this or letters were fathers saying you not only inspire my daughter but you inspire me to be the best of myself. >> the head of canadian football forced to deny paying bribes to host this tournament. >> absolutely not. we put in our bid and quite frankly we weren't the only country that in the end bid. >> even before this latest crisis sepp blatter has done much to alienate himself from ladies. when three ladies were

nominated, he said ladies, speak now. you speak at home you may now speak here. >> for those working in the game at the harass roots level. >> i think people rid cull him to be honest. i think people see it as ridiculous. he behaves that way but there are tons of people, especially great women's footballing country that promote the game, and are coming great things for the game. >> fifa funding has helped thailand no less than eight countries making their debut in canada. and the next fifa president will be under pressure to insure that women's football is central to his plans. >> it's got to be for the good the soccer, that everyone is interested. all the countries that are involved are taking--making efforts to work on their women's program as well as men's

program. >> 50,000 fans will fill the stadium in this opening game. andy richardson, al jazeera, edmonton. >> well, rugby fans are mourning the death of jerry collins and his wife who were killed in a car accident. it happened when their car collided in southern france on thursday night. the couple's two-month-old daughter survived but is in serious condition. jerry collins made his debut in 2001 and there was a moment of violence when the new zealand hurricanes took on the highland highlanders.

>> australia lost just david warner with its target of 47 for victory. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more later. >> thanks so much, lee. now in the u.s. a faint killer whale being used to scare off sea lions has run into trouble. a passing ship sunk the fiberglass orca whale. to get more on that fake whale and all the stories we're following go to www.aljazeera.com. our lead story right now, saudi arabia says houthi border offensive has been foil: that's itled, that's it for now but

we'll be back in a moment. this is al jazeera.

>> saudi forces say they pushed back a major attack by houthi rebels on saudi territory. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the top aide to saddam hussein dies at the age of 79. two die in opposition rally in turkey. dozens more are wounded. it comes just days before parliament polls. >> he's appar