u.n. brokered talked to find a solution to the war in yemen are on the verge of collapse. ♪ hello, i'm jane dunton in doha. hundreds of syrias return from turkey as kurdish forces celebrate victory from isil >> indonesian people smugglers say this is the cash the australian government bribed them with to turn back migrants. i'm at the military theme

park bristling with guns and tanks that russia hopes will be fun for all of the family. ♪ after nearly three months of audi-lead air strikes and over 2,500 dead it seems that peace is no longer in yemen. we're looking at live picture of a press conference we'll come back there. let's go straight to hashem ahelbarra who is in geneva with the latest. >> reporter: so far the talks have hit a snag a political deal with almost none existent because of a huge political divisions here in geneva. we know from our sources that the government representatives,

told me united nations that they are not happy with the way things have be dealt with so far, and unless there's a substantial progress in the coming hours, they are going to leave. they might extend for a day, which is until friday, but then if there is nothing, they will go back to riyadh. and the houthi representatives said they are not willing to join the talks until there is an agreement about the makeup of the del days by -- delegation. but it's more about how to move forward, the houthis say they want to see a ceasefire implemented now, the government says we want to see the houthis at the same time to stop fighting and pull out of areas that they control. it's almost unlikely that we are going to see a deal soon.

>> it looks like a lot of empty seats, and it's probably not starting any time soon but as soon as it does we'll get back to you. back in yemen the situation is getting dire. prices in areas like ta'izz are skyrocketing. >> reporter: these are a critical part of the muslim ramadan. now there are hardly any buyers. markets here in ta'izz don't have enough goods. we couldn't get enough goods this year. the important ports are closed. there is 35 to 40% hike in rate. >> translator: people are coming here but not like the previous years. yes, we see some people coming to do shopping but everything

is expensive. >> reporter: but it's not just affordability. there are fewer people as those who could afford to leave have left. the u.n. says more than a million people have been displaced because of the ongoing fighting. >> translator: this year the flow of yemenese are like not other years. several families have be displaced to other villages and the siege particularly on the city of ta'izz. >> reporter: we can't see people shopping here. >> reporter: the cost of doing business has always gone up. shoppers and shopkeepers in ta'izz say they are afraid of the bombings and fighting but they can't just stay in doors. >> translator: we are struggling to find food. especially now at the beginning of the holy month of ramadan. we home things will get better

soon. >> translator: houthi fighters have been trying to take control of ta'izz. but businesses have suffered across yemen from this spice markets to the local soups, everyone seems to have been affected. the u.n. has called for a ceasefire during the holy month of ramadan, and the yemenese can only hope that it happens. many syrian refugees have entered turkey in the last two weeks, but now with the kurds taking control of the strategic town, some of the refugees are returning home. bernard smith has more where there has been a steady flow of oflyies carrying their belongings across the border. >> reporter: a few hundred residents came through here on wednesday morning, taking the opportunity for the return of

peace to go back and see if they have homes to go to. this is slightly different than the situation in kobani which resulted inco -- in kobani where everything was destroyed. the level of destruction here is nothing like what we saw in kobani. so while the refugees are being well looked after here in the refugee camp it isn't home and these people want to go home. most of them are syria abrabs, but we have also spoken to a kurd irk -- kurdish family who fleld two years ago. there was an assault west of

beiji. government ministers in australia are still refusing to come on allegations that officials paid people smuggers to turn back immigrants. andrew andrew thomas reports. >> reporter: these are the pictures. the money shots that have given fresh impetus to the allegations that australia paid people smugglers to turn a boat of asylum seekers away. it and this interview with the captain suggests that despite the australian government's refuseal to comment on the alleged payments they did take

place. >> translator: i said we needed money to return to our wives and children, and he said okay. we'll help you. >> reporter: this has all six boat members at the center of the controversy. >> i'll get back to the question is paying money to people smugglers lawful? >> well what i'm saying is you are asking a question based on an allegation and i don't need to respond to someone else's allegation. >> reporter: but if it happened was it legal. these captain claims australian officials guided the boat into the australian mainland and that's where the payment took place. >> this is a question about whether the australian secret intelligence service has broken australian law by paying people smugglers in what appears to be from the evidence the australian

police has given. >> most we have talked to were appalled. >> we don't know where the money has gone so it just doesn't work that way. >> reporter: and in cambra the government's rhetoric was turned back on them. >> people smugglers are starting to use money they receive to fund terrorism. >> reporter: a wreak ago australian government ministers flat denied the report. since then the government's position has shifted from not true to no comment, and mounting evidence has emerged from knee sha that the payments did take place. the pressure is still on australian's government to come clean and explain. security has been accepted up in hong kong has legislators

debate a plan that could allow voters to directly elect their representatives. this lead to mass protests last year. adrian brown is in honk kong and sent this update. >> reporter: well as you can see, the protests camps set up outside the legislative building here in hong kong never really went away. and while the crowds are much smaller today, the mood is very similar to what we saw in october. this is a defining moment for hong kong, essentially a vote on its political turnover. now the legislators in this building here, are essentially right now debating a proposal that was approved by china's parliament back in august that

basically said hong kong should choose the next extivetive in 2015 so long as there were only two representatives. and they say it is better to have no democracy than a little democracy. >> do you call that real choice? do you call that real universal suffrage. how can people not be our own bosses? >> reporter: many of the people outside are from parties that want this political reform package to pass. there are 70 legislators and each can speak up to 15 minutes, so it could be friday before we get a vote. the probeijing group say it is better for hong kong to have this political reform package, because it events perhaps honk kongs last and best chance of

getting a real democracy. >> translator: we have got to support the reform because back then we never had any genuine d.c. -- democracy. >> reporter: china imploring hong kong to accept democracy, but the opposition group say it is a fake democracy, which is why they will be voting against it. still ahead, the mers outbreak is a wake-up call for the whole world. coming up how desert if indication is threatening to destroy this star wars set as well as many communities here in southern tunisia.

just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business.

♪ hello again, you are watching al jazeera, the headlines. u.n. sponsored talked aimed attending the war in yemen are continuing, but the government says it is unhappy, and a deal is unlikely. hundreds of syrian refugees in turkey are going home. it is a major defeat for isil cutting their supply line to the city of raka. security has been stepped up in hong kong has legislators debate a controversial election

package. the u.s. is among several countries to express concern over an egyptian court order to uphold the death penalty against previous president morsi. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: hundreds of people gathered outside of the egyptian embassy. they are denouncing the court's decisions. turkey's president described the court's decision as a massacre of justice, and called on the world to intervene. the u.n. says ban ki moon has warned against the court rulings, and a qatar expressed deep concerns and called for the release of mohammed morsi, and in washington, d.c. the white house was alarmed. >> we understand mr. morsi's

attorney intends to appeal the sentence. the united states has repeatedly raised concerns about the arrest and sentencing of a variety of political figures in egypt. and we are concerned that the proceedings have been conducted in a way that is damaging to the stability that all egyptians deserve. >> reporter: soon after the judge upheld the death sentence there were mixed views on the streets of cairo. >> translator: the judiciary in egypt has never been just. >> translator: god knows if the judge was just but i see different things happen to the former president mubarak. >> reporter: morsi along with other top leaders of the muslim brotherhood were sentenced over a mass prison break in 2011. the muslim brotherhood says the case is political motivated. in a separate case morsi and senior muslim brotherhood members were sentenced to life

in prison on charges of spying for hamas, hezbollah, and iran. supporters of the deposed president held several protests denouncing the death sentences, military coup and calls to free morsi. egypt designated the muslim brotherhood group a terrorist group in 2013, mass trials and death sentences were handed out to hundreds who support the group. rights group the u.s. and the e.u. have condemned the sentence and questioned its credibility. al-sisi says the judiciary is independent and we can't interfere. egypt is divided and probably be remain so for some time to come. greece's central bank says the country wille country will face a deep recession if no bailout deal is reached and warned that greece could face an exit from the euro

block if that happens. the prime minister says he is still pushing for a deal that will geep greece in the euro zone. >> translator: the time has come for europe to talk seriously about greece's future and the future of the euro zone will it insist in leading a country and a people into humiliation and poverty? a tyinger that broke loose from a flooded zoo in georgia have killed a man and badly wounded another, police have now shot the tiger after finding it hiding in a warehouse. all the animals were killed in the severe flooding that hit the city over the weekend. north korea is facing its

worst drought in a century. it reports that nearly a third of the country's rice patties are drying out. in the 1990s a series of floods and droughts caused a famine that kills hundreds of thousands of people. >> looks like the magnitude of the seriousness seems to be quite considerable here. because just judging from what we here are experiencing it looks like the drought seems to be quite extensive. here in south korea we are also going through the drought, and it is a small peninsula relatively speaking so there's little bought that north korea is feeling the same thing. so we can refer that the north

korean drought situation is also very serious. in south korea, we are going through the most serious bought in about 30 years. north korea has had a history of receiving foreign aid in the past. so i'm sure the -- on a non-government level, the foreign aid could continue to flow in. so i have little bought in terms of as long as there's a willingness to continue the way they have been doing so far, i'm sure they will continue to receive the food aid from our side. about a year or two ago, they had kicked out some of the food aid workers in the past but if they go back to the normal steps, the details of which i don't have at this point, they will be able to receive aid, including from south korea. south korea has reported one new death and eight new cases of

mers the world health organization has called it a wake up call. our correspondent has the latest from seoul. >> reporter: it has been nearly a month since the first reported cases of mers were identified in south korea, and they have been fighting the adverse publicity. up to now 160 people have been reported with the middle east respiratory syndrome. this graph shows when the first cases were reported and how they peaked. now reported cases seem to be on the decline. whether the figure increases depends on the incubation period of the virus. >> the next two weeks are crucial, because we are cautiously optimistic that there will be a plateau and then a drop-off, because there's been such aggressive isolation of

those who have been in contact with the virus. >> reporter: thousands of schools and colleges that shut their doors as a precaution are now reopened. while medical workers continue to encourage precautionary pressures, authorities have been disinfecting and fumigates areas. as many as 16 million visitors are expected in 2015 according to the ministry of tourism, and that seems unlikely now. hotels and tour operators say they have had as many as a hundred thousand dollars cancellations. the government has offered up to $64 million to help with cash flow problems. it is now emerged as many as 30 foreigners are under objective in hospital suspected of having

mers. if that's the case offering full health care coverage to visitors may not be enough to attract anyone to come to south korea. the sahara desert is expanding by 48 kilometers every year, and scientists say it is getting faster because of climate change. 75% of tunisia is threatened by the creeping sands. our correspondent reports where every drop of water is pressure. >> reporter: a few years ago this entire area was covered in sand, but now life is returning. this person hopes these salt-resist important plants mean his three children won't have to migrate elsewhere. >> reporter: if you have sheep and camels they can eat these plants and feed them. before we couldn't even feed

them. >> reporter: scientists partly blame climate change for what is happening here. every year there's less rain and more underground water evaporates, the soil elements dry and salty. >> translator: large amounts of water have very high salt levels. between 8 to 12 grams her liter. >> reporter: it's called desert if indication. some of the most famous scenes in star wars were filmed here. every year thousands of cubic meters of sand are remove frommed -- from the set. the sahara is growing every day. scientists are talking about building a green wall across the whole sahara, a belt of trees and plants that will help prevent the creeping of the

desert north and south, and try to stop more land erosion. here a unique irrigation system makes sure palm trees only get the water they need. the oasis has also become a major source of fruits. these organic dates are exported abroad creating jobs and money for the community. >> translator: we need to stop this irrational exploitation chopping down trees in the desert. >> reporter: the people of this town have shown its possible to survive this harsh environment. their dream is other commune see thes follow their example, before the expanding desert destroys more land. nazanin sadri, al jazeera, southern tu any sha. >> reporter: russia's president vladimir putin has opened a

military themed park where kids can shoot tanks and learn of past military glories. it isn't fully open yet. rory challands has been to the first proper event, a weapon's show. >> reporter: examining the produce looking for bargains an arms fair is like any other market, but with more uniforms. this is russia's the 2015 military technical forum, and it has given park patriots dubbed russia's military disneyland its first test run. vladimir putin kicked prodeedings off with an explanation of what the park will do when it opens next year. >> translator: here you will be able to see enactments of serious military battles, and

take part in military technical competitions and extreme sports. >> reporter: instilling in young russian an impulse to love and fight for the motherland doesn't come cheap. but with tensions with the west seemingly getting worse day by day, it's money the defense ministry is happy to spending. some countries might feel uneasy about theed a idea of russia trying to make a fun family day out with weapons. this is is what destroyed the

plane last year. upgrades for 70% of equipment by 2020, new intercontinental ballistic mice ill -- missiles this is the brain child of a man who is more interested in pr. >> most likely he is considering continuing his career. maybe he even have ambitions of running for president some day, so he wants to be seen as the person who rebuilt the russian military into something great and wonderful. >> reporter: russians are starting to speak of a new arm's race but history contains warnings.

rory challands, al jazeera. just remember you can always keep up to date with all of the news by logging on to our website. you'll see there the story we're leading with at the moment and the bulletin on our website is the talks -- other talks going on in yemen. i'll see you a little bit later. ♪ flooding fears in the loan star state as a tropical depression brings more rain and wind. the fbi investigates a baseball team for alleged foul play off of the field. did the cardinals hack into a rival team's computers. and the company spending millions to avoid pa