suarez. a series of car bombs kills dozens in yemen as u.n. brokered talks to solve the crisis go nowhere. i'm darren jordon in doha with the world news. also on the programme... >> i'm a doctor and very familiar with death. i have never seen a more obscene way to kill children. we speak to a doctor about harrowing chlorine attacks by the government on its own people

more protests in hong kong as lawmakers debate controversial electoral reforms. and know -- north korea face its worst drought in a century a group affiliated with i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility for car bombs. dozens are reported killed. the violence comes as delegates from the warring factions met in geneva, and are struggling to may any progress on a peace deal. >> car bombs hit a strong hold in the yemeni capital. this is one of the houthi headquarters which is located there. this is not the target targetting the houthis, since

they took over. in march, the islamic state claimed responsibility your for a string of attacks targetting a mosque. more than 100 people were killed. the giraffe attacks come at a time when talks to solve the crisis in geneva but each party has preconditions. there has been little or no progress. the houthis and forces loyal to former president ali abdullah saleh say the saudi-led air strikes must stop first. the government blames the houthis for the ongoing violence insisting they must stop shelling the cities. the saudi-led coalition say that they'll stop bombing the houthis, and their allies once they pull out from the cities

they control. in the meantime the united nations envoy is on the offensive. he has only a few days left to salvage a deal. if yemen's rivals fail to make progress fighting will continue. the humanitarian crisis will get worse with every passing day. the bombings might put pressure on the parties gathering in geneva to solve the crisis or face instability if al qaeda or islamic state may take advantage of the political vacuum and expand. harrowing evidence emerged of gas attacks in syria. it's coming from doctors that worked there and have n testifying before the u.s. congress. bashar al-assad's forces are

carrying out the attacks. >> reporter: they came at the invitation at the republican led house committee to share accounts of repeated chlorine gas attacks against syrian civilians. >> since march 16th of this year we have documented 31 attacks using poisonous gas in idlib province. where more than 380 syrian civilians were injured by it. 10 of them died of suffocation. providing additional video evidence, the doctors told lawmakers the attacks intensified 10 days after a u.n. security council resolution condemned weaponization of chlorine and threatened action if the resolution was breached. >> i'm a doctor and very familiar with death. i have never seen a more obscene way to kill children. i have never watched so many

suffer in an obscene manner. >> the doctors say only the syrian government has access to the helicopters responsible for dropping the chlorine-filled barrels on to civilian areas it believes are supportive of the syrian opposition. >> bashar al-assad has always maintained his government is not behind the chlorine gas attack. last month in a u.s. tv network interview view he argued that chlorine is available, and has been weaponized in the past by other groups. >> including islamic state of iraq and levant or i.s.i.l. u.s. secretary of state says that the united states believes that bashar al-assad is behind the attacks. and is working to hold him accountable. that is why doctors and activists are pressuring lawmakers to push president barack obama into targeted action. to pressure political dialogue leading to the creation of a no-fly zone to stop the bombs from happening.

>> these dnd-filled weapons and other random cheap, take dozens of innocent lives every day. >> reporter: they say without a u.s.-led international effort there's little hope for civilian safety dr sparrow, who you saw in the report told us a short time ago that the attacks breach all codes of humanity. >> last year we saw them consistently over a period of - over april, there were 10 attacks. they stopped. this year we have seen them since march 16th. there has been you know at least 30, 35 more attacks. they are all geographic clustered in the same location north western syria, idlib, hamas and western aleppo where there's hundreds of thousands of civilians used to target civilians, rolled out of the

helicopters, rolled out. cannesize terse of chlorine which are liquid and vaporizes. perfect weapon. it hits the ground. it releases the chlorine it sinks into the basement. it's frightening. we are making it as we know for this year. it's easy to make. the ingredients are available, it's a way of terrorizing people and only delivered by the helicopters. which is why a no-bond zone can be enforced from the sea, which is - and the helicopters are easy to reach from the sea because of what takes place in north western syria, it could be easily enforced to protect the civilians that the hideous weapons that reach all the codes

of humanity have taken place. as doctors, you must understand that we are not taught how to deal with chemical attacks in med school. syrian doctors are dealing with drugs, they don't have masters, and you are trying to resuscitate a child, and it's hard to wear a mask and goggles, because you are trying to protect their lives, many doctors are affected as are the white helmets, we only have a few drugs, and these are not enough to counter the way that chlorine dissolves your lungs into hydrocolic acid. it's the children that die first, because they are the most vulnerable. >> police in charleston are hunting for a gunman after a shooting in a church. several have been shot. police are looking for a white male in his early 20 and confirmed they received a bomb

threat near the scene now, crowds have been gathering outside hong kong's parliament for a second day as they make controversial reforms. supporters and opponents are in the crowd and shout insults to each other. the proposal sees voters to elect their leader in 2017. they'll never choose from candidates accused of bj. well here outside the main legislative communities of hong kong as rival groups hurled insults. there have been several arrests, but no unrest on the scale of last october. inside the chamber, some legislators wrote on wednesday. the debate resumed on thursday morning. essentially all 70 legislators have the opportunity to talk for up to 50 minutes.

on this occasion given the nature of this debate. all the legislators will want to debate all of friday thursday and possibly a vote coming on friday. the motion before the parliament is this. hong kong can choose its next chief executive by universal suffrage in 2007, but there can be no more than two or three candidates, and they have to be approved by a committee made up of proestablishment figures. the pro-democracy camp can't accept that and they appear to have the votes on their side meaning the government proposal is unlikely to pass at this stage. >> three more died from middle east respiratory syndrome in south korea. bringing the total deaths to 23. close to 7,000 have been quarantined at home and medical centers. doctors are doing all they can to end the outbreak.

the continued discovery of new cases raised questions about the government's ability to control the outbreaks thousands of greeks rally in front of the parliament building on the eve of another meeting with creditors over the country's financial future. the greek central bank warned the country is on a painful course to default. from athens, here is our correspondent. >> reporter: syriza wants to send a message. >> i say no to those blackmailing us and for my county sold piecemeal. i want it as it is cleaning whole, with its history, even if it means leaving the euro. >> i want to tell the prime minister that what we feel is a retreat, we are prepared for a break up. >> reporter: the two sides are entrenched. creditors demand $4 billion in cuts and taxes this year.

greece is offering about half that, and says that is final. >> these people represent the majority view here. after six years of austerity greeks want sovereignty back. the credibility of the european union is at take. just as it is politically difficult for the government to deliver cuts it's impossible for european partners to let it go its own way. >> greece says in the post crisis e.u. some are more equal than others. >> greece is a sovereign estate. it has a government that received a mandate recently. it is this government that is responsible for deciding how it will distribute taxes, where it will get money. the insistence that the money will come from cuts and pensions. and now we must not with the technocrats, but the political leadership in europe come to a political decision. >> the charge that europe is

piilaging greece made officials furious. they offered the greeks a big discount on what proportion to spend on repaying debt. >> it is truly falls to prevent the commission trying to impose austerity, it is false. the proposals are reasonable. >> reporter: earlier on wednesday, a default would lead to a crisis. leaving the euro and possibly the european union. most do not want that kind of divorce. austerity is a fall word to them. and they will not accept it more to come - a scene to revive cold war memories. n.a.t.o. conducts the biggest exercise in the sea. and power to women in other states and countries. critics say the programme

reinforces traditional roles.

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. a group affiliated to i.s.i.l. said it was behind a series of car bombings in yemen's capital. dozens reported to be killed or injured in attacks that hit mosques in sanaa police in the u.s. city of charleston are hunting for a gunman at a shooting at an hist can african-american church. several have been shot. the suspect is a white male in his early 20s.

doctors in syria testified before the u.s. congress saying the government is carrying out the gas attacks. the u.s. congress heard details of president obama's plan to fight i.s.i.l. top defense and military officials outlined a strategy. our state don't correspondent rosalind jordan reports. >> reporter: small victories in the year-long war against i.s.i.l. residents of tikrit returning to the homes they fled when i.s.i.l. fighters moved in. the kurdish flag flying over syria, after kurdish forces and syrian opposition wound back the border town from i.s.i.l. u.s. military leaders say the war against the group is over in part because of a lack of iraqi manpower. the defense secretary says it's unlikely the goal of training

24,000 military recruits will be reached by the end of the year. now, u.s. advisors trained 7,000. >> we have had unused capacity in our train and equip sites in parts of iraq because the iraqi government has not furnished us with paid recruits. that is turning around. it has to stay turned around for us to have success. >> carter and the chairman. joint chiefs of staff said the situation is difficult. especially in light of the recent fall of ramadi to end the capital to i.s.i.l. forces. develop si suggested it might be ending sooner rather than later, and the u.s. was talking with allies about how to respond. >> it's generally the consensus that in the near term it's likely that the regime would limit its - would go over to the defensive and limit its protection of the alawite shia

and some of the minority groups leaving the rest of syria essentially ungoverned. >> reporter: the hearing dealt with obama's middle east policy including iran. with the final weeks underway on the nuclear programme, the members of congress had plenty of questions about influence and ambition. >> carter was quick to reassure the legislators. checking and defending our ally israel and keeping security commitments to gulf partners here a few weeks ago is the reason there are 35,000 u.s. forces in the middle east. >> reporter: it doesn't appear carter's words were enough some members of congress doubt the commitment to leading the fight for i.s.i.l. in other country's hands in the form of ground

troops. some of the 23,000 people that fled syria to turkey over the past two weeks are returning home. they were forced out of tal abyad when seized by i.s.i.l. tuesday, the town was retaken france says it will create 11,000 more places and centers for asylum seekers. half of those will be used to house refugees who have been granted legal status in france. it's part of a plan to deal with thousands crossing the mediterranean, and landing in europe. >> hungry meanwhile, says it has a plan to stop maying rants getting in -- migrants getting in wanting to build a wall. >> n.a.t.o. is completing an exercise in the baltic sea. hundreds of soldiers took part in a mock counter attack of enemy forces and is ended as a demonstration of n.a.t.o.'s

flexibility. >> reporter: this is what the militarization of the baltic looks like an n.a.t.o. fleet off the coast. marines heading assure having to liberate the country from the grip of an enemy. >> it's a drill or a rehearsal. there's no prizes for guessing who the enemy is. n.a.t.o.'s supreme commander told me russia had to understand how serious n.a.t.o. is in the defense of the baltic states. >> my commander in chief made it clear last year that we'll defend every inch. vladimir putin says it's insane. that was the word used. >> we have no idea what vladimir putin will do. i don't think anyone that would guess will give you a clear insight. >> the crisis with russia gave n.a.t.o. a new lease on life. we were flown out, and landed on the royal navy's h m.s. ocean.

in the operation room where the exercise was planned. staff from the u.s. u.k. finland and sweden - they are not n.a.t.o. members. from the bridge they could look out to see contributions from other countries, the russian fleet is out there as well. they are not on speaking terms with each other. >> russia is watching we are neighbours of russia they are not far away. clearly they are watching us they are interested in what we are doing, it's routine business, and we shouldn't worry about that. the u.s. is shipping in hardware from central europe. troops will follow. down the coast, the russian enclave, moscow will speed up the placement of ballistic missiles. the question is what is defense, what is aggression. from n.a.t.o.'s point of view this is about open possess and moral authority. it's a complicated world. for many western nations it's

not easy to figure out who is a friend and who isn't. in all this the defense of the baltic states n.a.t.o. seems to believe it can offer moral legitimacy over russia. so is all this an unnecessary provocation of the russians. >> i think that every nation has a right to exercise to make sure that they have military skills and what you see in n.a.t.o. is absolute transparency. we announce our exercises ahead of time we talk about the sizes of the exercise, the objectives. there is no secrets here. that is contrasted to snap exercises and snap exercises which turn into invasions. >> reporter: you would be comfortable if the russians conducted exercises off the united states. >> the russians have the right to exercise in international space. >> reporter: the marines came ashore and wept off in search of what is called the red forces.

russia's president vladimir putin said it's madness to think an invasion it on the guard. but when politicians in russia and moscow don't talk to each other, this is what you get a leaked document written by pope francis calls for action on the issue of climate change. in it the pope backs scientists who say global warming is mostly caused by humans, saying developed countries have a responsibility to reverse a trend hurting the poor the most north korea says it is suffering its worst drought in a century. a third of the country's rice paddies are thought to have dried up. >> on north korean state-run it is, a rare announcement that all is not well. this government official says we are establishing and carrying out countermeasures to prevent desertification and drought damage and fields of crops and hillsides covered with trees.

north korea says it's facing its worse drought in a century. for people working on farms like this one, where the rice fields are almost bare it's a worrying situation. >> this is the first drought damage in 20 years of farming experience. the sealing is too small to do rice planting. >> a third of the country's rice paddies have dried up. and maize and barley is threatened by the hot weather. >> translation: at the start of spring the temperature rose quickly. in may, with a strong hot and dry air flow temperatures reached more than 30 degrees in the east and west coasts. this is 5-7 degrees higher than the average year. >> the level of the river is low. such images bring back members of the 1990s drought which is thought to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.

pointing out that rain falls have been low on both sides of the border. north korea's food production after rain. the united nations spoke about a third of children under five, and international aid is falling sharply. partly because of a reluctance. a draught could claim lives. a tiger that escape the from a flooded zoo in georgia has been shot after it killed a man in the capital tbilisi. police have been on high alert after hippos lions, tigers and bears escaped over the weekend. the attack happened inside a market which has been cleaned up after the floods. >> translation: it is confirmed that one man was killed by the wild animal. special forces are inside the

building. he was taken to hospital unconscious, and we know that he died. we wanted to tranquilize the animal. he was aggressive. we had to kill it. >> according to the information we had, there should not be any more animals on the loose. >> many in india's state thanks to a government programme. agriculture to light manufacturing. it spread to several sectors in parts of africa. as reported critics say it reinforces stereotypes. >> reporter: they are all in it together. these women work on a cooperative farm sharing the risks and prove its. like the others. vin sent is from a poor family working after her husband had an accident. my family is from a fishing

community, the work came less and less. it's the best thing that questions me. the women are part of the state's respective family program. employing women in different jobs, giving them a regular income. it's local leader was destitute a few years ago. she ran self units. it's the greatest part of the programme. >> translation: i used to shifer when i spoke to others. i'm confident it's how i became the head of the programme. it's a poor village. >> reporter: the programme helped local farmers. when labourers left work in the middle east, women in the area took their place. >> translation: this has helped a lot of people. the women in poverty are doing well.

self-esteem and confidence are higher. women are coming more into the forefront of the village. >> an accomplishment helping to spread. it is replicated in other states and countries. supporters say it's an example of grassroots empower. the program enforces traditional roles. while women are uplifted economically, those critical of the programme say it's not helping them break barriers. >> here if a woman is an engineer or a doctor. she is tide to the family. her report in society comes from them. women in society are not able to break out of their roles. >> back at home. vincent says the programme allows her to care for her son and disabled husband.

a reminder you can keep up to date with all the news on the website. there it is on your screen. all the latest on the shooting in north carolina. the address aljazeera.com. from briny tidal pools comes sign that trouble in the air is dripping down into our food supply. >> who knows how far this issue goes. if it's affecting our oysters, what other oysters is it affecting? >> "america tonight's" lisa fletcher with the stories the shells tell. these migrant crises and the families at the center of it. >> this