a former senior al qaeda commander is targeted by a u.s. air strike in libya. ♪ ♪ hi there welcome to al jazerra. i am live from our headquarters for doha. also ahead. scrambling to safety. thousands of syrian cross in to turkey as a battle looms for control over isil held town. sudan's president is banned from leaving south africa until a decision is made on an i.c.c. arrest warrant. we'll tell you why dozens of

zoo animals ended up on the loose in georgia's capital. ♪ ♪ the united states has carried out an air strike on libya, its first since the revolution in 2011. the u.s. defense department says a target of the operation was the former al kid al qaeda commander who is from algeria. libya's government says he was killed but the u.s. has yet to confirm it. his death has been declared several times before in recent years. in 1991 at the age of 19, he traveled toll afghanistan where he fought against the communist government. after returning to algeria he join an armed group and later became a leading figure in al qaeda. in january 2013, he ordered an an a to be on a gas hunt in algeria holding over 800 people hostage

at the end of that siege third people dead, most farmers. from the university of texas he says the u.s. must focus its efforts more on fighters in north africa. >> the symbolism here is very important for libyans. libya right now is undergoing a tremendously difficult time dealing with these characters. benghazi is almost half destroyed. the situation is really very precarious in the country. they are coming to libya from all parts of the middle east. and they are creating tremendous laugh ihavoc in the country. the ability to say we can get you now. we have the support of the united states and other countries, and libyan army has been scott for help for a long, long time but nobody has been listening. i think the united states has finally realized that it needs to do something. whether it will continue do this or not doesn't matter.

but at least a first strike really might help the libyan government overcome many of these groups right now in the country. you have the government financing and training these terrorist troop that his have been wreaking havoc throughout the country. it's like keeping a pet snake now this group has turned against them and they are unable to do much even where they are. and so their only help right now is what's happening in the east, removing them in the east will, in fact, wave the way toll removing these terrorists from the country. you must understand, this is very difficult for many team to understand this, but what libya is doing today what the libyan army so under staffed under armed is doing a great deal to combat international terrorism. the fight is in libya not so much even iraq or syria, but it's in libya. because if they get control of lick i can't africa is an easy tagger earth and prey for all of them.

>> representatives of yemen's houthi rebel have his traveled to peace talks. among the delegation are members of the party. former president saleh. it will be the first meeting to include all rival factions in that conflict. those discussions can't come soon in puff for people inside yemen where the humanitarian situation is worsen. a report now from gentleman neave 56789 the united nations second general ban ki-moon is rallying for support to an end to the war in generally. he needs the support of the international community. and yemen's neighbors. the united nations was hoping to announce a ceasefire before the start of the talks but that seems unlikely. >> we still hope that the parties will observe a humanitarian port in order to create a climate conducive for moving forward. >> reporter: yemenis are concerned that geneva

consultations might drag on which might lead no more violence. >> translator: in regards to the u.n.-brokered talks in geneva we hope something positive will come out of the meetings between the fair yes, sir yemeni parties because we want the war to be over. >> personally i believe the u.n. talks in geneva are a waste of time. theup was behind the revolution 226 and behind the failure for safeguard the security in yemen. >> reporter: saudi arabia launched air strikes in march. the oil-rich kingdom accuses the rebels of destabilize the ube i don't know a united nations resolution passed the in april called to ute i fighter to withdraw from all yemeni cities. riyadh insists its military campaign will end only if that happening. >> saudi arabia definitely when they started the strike in

generally, they are in it for the long haul or the long-term or to achieve the goals. however meaning more civilians and more casualties. i think saudi arabia if they see good points and results and compromise by the houthi it think they will jump on board. >> reporter: there could be more fighting if the peace talks collapse. the houthis have garth early forces on the edge of the arab area rich in oil and gas. >> translator: we know that the houthis are planning a major offensive to take it over. there is fighting on the outskirts of the city but the houthis won't be able to control the province. >> reporter: thousands of yemenis have fled their homes. the lucky ones escaped to neighboring countries. but many are stranded the only hope is an end to the fighting. no one here expects a breakthrough, but the united nations hopes to get the feuding

faction to his start a political process. it might take a long time, but they say it's the only way to stop violence and put an end to the suffering of civilians. al jazerra geneva. to syria now where a fierce battle is looming for control of the town on the border with turkey. they have launched air trikes strikes on the town it. kurdish fighters are also advancing towards it and thousands of people are fleeing up to 3,000 syrian refugees crossed over to turk on sunday alone. they gathered at a fence at the turkish town. some managed to breakthrough the barbs wire. this is why it. al abyad is so significant. it's 80 miles from isil's self declared capital of raqqa. if they lose the town they will lose their only direct route for bring in surprise and fighters. a very fellow at the washington

institute for near east policy, he says the battle is proving to be controversial. >> the kurdish fighters are leading the way. and it's a bit of a controversy the y.p.g. and the p.y.g. the local variance of the p.k.k. are supporting the operationses there, but they are being supported also by the free syrian army and lots of other arab elements as well. it's a collective effort by the kurds are leading the way and this is a bit controversial because turkey doesn't really want the p.y.b. to be dominant in that area, if they do become dominant in that area it really i think cuts off isis' ability to easily reach turkish territory. it would be a major loss for isis. their ability to sale elicit oil or smuggle in and out of their territory it. goes down significantly and also

the p.y.d. is closer to the eye rare vinnies as well. and, of course, isis' main enemy are the iranian-backed forces all over the region. >> it's quite controversial to see what isis does in response to this. and if the kurdish forces can hold those areas and cut deals with arabs in those areas to make it sustainable. in iraq. government forces have bombed isil targets. the army said it hit the group's weapon stockpile and factory to make car bombs. they have a training camp and addressed troops in baghdad. isil still holds a vast chunk of taert cross iraq and syria. including the second largest city mosul. south africa's high court as ordered sudan's president to stay in the country. later on monday it will decide

whether to sends to the international we are crimes court to face charges. he is there for the african union summit. >> reporter: when sudan's president arrived in south africa late on sunday, he brought with him a political and legal storm. one of the issues being discussed at the african union summit he is attending is conflict resolution. now the host nation faces the embarrassment of a legal challenge which could see bashier september to the hague to face war crimes charges. civil society organizations have now taken south african government to court to insure the country upholds its obligations to the international criminal court. a judge has told bashier he can't leave until the case is resolved. the sudanese are furious. >> translator: this court's decision does not have legal value. south africa issued in the public gazette 10 days ago the decision of the african union that african countries are not

bound to any decision by the court. this was in the public gazette of south africa 10 days ago. it seems the court does not know about this, which is bad or it does know and this is worse. but this is a matter to be assessed by law. >> reporter: it's left the south africa government in a very difficult position. pretoria has an agreement with the you had au that sitting heads of state cannot be arrested. the question is, what happens now? >> who is it that can prevents al bashir from leaching south africa? is there an official? it is -- he will have to be arrested. and he will have to be put in custody. and all of those are not the court's responsibility. the court has made a decision which according to the law is quite correct. but it can't enforce its own decisions. >> reporter: nine international

criminal court has asked south africa to arrest bashier accusing him of crimes against humanity and genocide in dar fewer. south africa has signed up to the i.c.c. many african nations believe the i.c.c. is biased against its leaders and picking them out for prosecution. that may sway the decision monday on whether or not to arrest the man who has governed sudan since 1989 will reverberate around africa and the world. al jazerra johannesburg, south africa. still adhere on al jazerra. hundreds of schools that have closed down over the mers virus reopen in south korea. suffering in silence. we immediate some mexicans who are desperate to get asylum in the united states.

>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. hello, once again welcome batch. these are the top stories here on al jazerra. a former al qaeda commander has been targeted by a u.s. air strike on libya the pentagon hasn't confirmed whether he was killed. but libyan government leaders in tobruk say that he was. the u.s. led coalition and its kurdish allies are stepping up efforts to retake the air queen town from isil fighters, thousands of civilians have been flag the violence crossing over the border in to neighboring turkey. south africa's high court has order the sudanese president bashier to remain in the country. bashier is attending an african

union summit in joe has en bug later on monday the court will decide whether to hands him to every on the international criminal yale court to face war crimes charges. about 2 1/2 now schools in south korea have reopened after being temporarily closed because of the mers outbreak. another 440 remain shot. 500 cases have been confirmed bringing the total number of case to his 150. 16 people have died so far. but south south koreas says the outbreak has now peaked. >> reporter: the outbreak of mers didn't peak or increase in numbers over the weekend. so officials here in south korea are breathing a sigh of relief. they had expected the numbers may increase because of the incubation rate for mers. 16 dead and 145 injured. five more cases had been

reported way medical facility. four patients one a doctor with four people being discharged and 17 still described as being in an unstable position. perhaps the authorities now realizing that the outbreak has been confined to medical facilities and outlying area that his have been isolated off and they can treat these individuals in a safe and secure environment it. also means that the public at large will be breathing a sigh of relief that this has not become an epidemic that the whole country should be worried about for the moment. the president herself has been to the hospital to reassure staff and to show them her support. it's very important time actually for students across the country. schools reopened, a large majorities of them reopened on monday. meaning that they can now continue with the academic year, which is important because the schools have to remain open over a certain number of days for

students to pass their exams. and school head teachers are saying they are talking precautionary scenarios in to account to make sure that students can fulfill their academic requirements for the year. women volunteering as healthcare workers have helped to improve the care given to new mothers and their babies in rural parts of nepal. the services that they provide are right until poor communities but since april's earthquake, many have been struggling to go back to work. we have this report. >> reporter: she is a broken woman. she had single handedly been taking care of 100 women and children's health but can no longer even talk about her work. when the earthquake hit nepal in april. she lost what was dearest to her. her two grandchildren. two-year-old and the newborn.

>> translator: i was so happy to be working in child health. i used to go on house calls, but this is what god did to me. >> reporter: she is a community health volunteer. one of the 52,000 women who insure that pregnant well, newborns and children under five are healthy. now she feels lost. community health volunteers like her are said to be the backbone of nepal's health services. now many of them are struggling with their own losses. leaving the entire health system broken. out of the nine community health volunteers in this village of 600 houses, she did not make it. her husband tells me that she was buried with her two children as she was running to save them. 16 people in this village died. >> translator: i feel like i have lost half of my body, he tells me.

>> reporter: the health posts value walls that rattle and the cracks on the walls scare patients and health workers. the government says it might take at least four years to rebuild. but that is if decisions are made fast. and the morale of the health workers stays high. but with so many health workers facing their own battles, and with the monsoon season expects to cause landslides and bring disease, people in villages like this expect more suffering. al jazerra. a hippopotamus that escaped from a flooded sue in georgia's capital has been recaptured. these pictures show it being guided back to the zoo after being tranquilized. it was one of several animals that escaped after heavy flooding destroyed their enclosures, three workers from the zoo were killed and another nine died in the floods. andrew potter reports. >> reporter: a hippopotamus

wanders of the roads of georgia's capital. freed from captivity by a deadly storm. elsewhere, a brown bear takes refuge on an aironditioning unit while eye big cat lurks around the doorway of a building. heavy rainfall late on saturday sent flash flats surging through. dozens of properties have also been destroyed leaving many families homeless with the city's mayor suggesting the repair bill will run in to the 10s of millions of dollars. with large parts of the zoo still under water it's unclear how many animals have pair i should or how many are still on the loose. and that will only be known after all the mud and debris is cleared from the enclosures. >> translator: the water has killed all the monkeys jaguars and three lions ground. a part of the carnival session where stickers are lions were kept are completely destroyed. >> reporter: one by one the animals are being cornered. some killed others recaptured using tranquilizer darts.

>> animals have that have escaped have been captured. we were forced to kill some of them. the area they were roaming around is huge two small bears had been found 15-kilometers from the 1506789s as yet there is no reports the animals have attacked humans. throw three zoo workers are confirmed to have died in the flooding. among them a zoo keep their lost an arm in a tiger attack last month. the 1 million residents have been warned to stay indoors until the remaining animals can be found and recaptured. andrew potter, al jazerra. farmers in costa rica's western province of losing livestock because of a severe drought. the region has only received 10% of its expected rainfall in may. the government has approved millions of dollars in funding to help nearly 4,000 farmers affected. quad mall a's president could face criminal charges if a congressional commission strips him of hissy community of loss

prosecution, there have been protests for weeks demanding he step down. following an investigation revealing that his government was involved in a multi million dollars corruption scandal. almost 9,000 mexicans apply to the united states for asylum last year saying they feared for their lives but only 124 were actually granted the right to live in it the united states. adam raney spoke to one man on the mexico-u.s. boarder who says his life depends on escapeing from his country. >> reporter: the stories in this soup kitchen are all about abuse at the hands of the smugglers and the police. this man says he and 30 other migrants were robbed and beaten by federal police. most bear their miss instrument silently afraid of what might happen if they spoke out. but after years of repeated beatings and kidnappings juan miguel has had enough. he wants to apply for asylum in the united states. recently deported from there he says he was forced to dig tunnels like these under the

border, he managed to escape but can't escape his fears. >> translator: i haven't been able to sleep well. my nerves are shot. i am afraid they are going to kill me. >> reporter: lieutenant jerry can't confirm if migrants built the tunnels but he has seen many over the years. >> we found a lot of drugs, a lot of tunnels that have been connected from mexico in to the u.s. >> reporter: his bob said there is only one word to describe the way migrants are treated by cartels. >> it's slavery. definitely slavery. no two ways about it. what happened after they finish the it up is unknown. maybe they disappear because they become witnesses. >> reporter: that's what juan miguel is afraid of. he just made a complaint about the abuse he suffered from it the police and the cartels. now he says he must leave mexico. >> translator: i am suffering persecution from the government,

the police and the criminal groups they can't control. i fear for my life. i just want an opportunity so i can carry on living. >> reporter: juan miguel is about to cross through the mexican side over the u.s. side and apply officially for a sly lum now. most of these cases are rejected and there is a possibility that he will be detained by u.s. authorities for several months. this is what he is fight to go return to his home in america. >> translator: it frightens me more the ideas of them letting him go in mexico because it will be more dangerous right now if he's locked up. inside he's okay guarded and detained like he's alive. my kids have their father there and can visit him. if he's sent back across the border his life is the risk. >> reporter: lawyers said the best hope is for his case to go on for six months and then they

will allow him to go home with his family until a judge decides his fate. adam raney, on the u.s.-mexico border. collectors from all over the word are buying up cuban art like never before. following reforms by the island's government which are making it possible for artists to sell their work more easily. lucia new man reports now from havana. an ice-skating rink with pretend ice in the middle of tropical havana. a fake beach across the street along the city's main coast think drive. these installations and other works of art are part of cuba's highly anticipated 12th biannual heart show. it's an international events. but this year, as never before, cuban artists are taking center stage. in these times of change on the commune i felt island. >> translator: there was so many regulations, prohibitions and these new freedoms we are seeing

are like throwing a drop of water on a very dry desert, they are being absorbed satellite anything speed. >> reporter: 10 years ago jesus barely had enough room to paint on the floor in his tiny apartment. today he has the freedom to buy and build his own studio. his latest paintings examining the seductive relationship between many cubans and foreigners especially tourists. >> translator: she is pure, beautiful but dangerous like a gelly fish. as the jester who seems so hospitable and can greet new five lang wins but end up selling you cigars and women. >> reporter: cuban art has become a booming business, auctioned at sutherby's or purchased by visiting collectors from new york to beirut. this installation is called project salvation. and like so many others in this year's show it, refers to cuba's complex relationship with on or ocean

and its neighbors 140-kilometer as way and the 10s of thousands of cubans trying to cross these waters to make it to the other side. michael uses american and cuban flags with empty bullet cartridges and barbed wire to describe decades of bilateral tensions. and the long-awaited birth of a new relationship. >> translator: this is called fiesta, because that's what we are living now. preparing for a party. and waiting to see fits really possible to be friends and not enemies. >> reporter: the paintings are also exhibited in his own studio showroom. and selling for 10s of thousands of dollars. for the root that cuban art like cuba itself is becoming a focus of world attention lucia new man, al jazerra havana. hello, earth, request you hear me? that was the first tweet from the only space craft to have landed on a comet. it had been out of contact with

scientists and earth for seven months its batterys died after it landed last november. now its solar batteries have been recharged as it hurtless towards the sun on the back of a comet. keith smith says it could collect valuable information that will help us understand what the universe is made of. >> the reason for landing it on the comet itself is we are interested in knowing how the solar system was formed and comets are basically leftover bits of the raw material used to form planets during the formation of the solar system. the space craft is orbiting around the comet and the it land on the surface between them giving us the information that we need to understand what this comet is made of. how it interacts as it gets closer to the sun and how you form this big massive tail that comes off of it. that makes it such a spectacular object. and that is really helped by having measurements actually on

the surface of the comet. it has a little drill, for example, that can drill down in in to the surface and measure what chemicals are present and what it's made of and those sorts of physical properties. do remember there is always our website aljazerra.com. 100 billion usd in reconstruction money spent here intended to forge a peace after more than a decade of blood shed. so where is it? >> nobody was in charge. nobody was held accountable for basically wasting billions of