>> enough is enough. today, i have accepted resignation of my special representative. >> forced to resign, the u.n.'s representative to central african representative pushed out over accusations a peacekeepers committed rape and murder. >> this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up: >> this important city has been held by houthis for months. rival pro government fighters are closing in. >> major ally visits syria's

president in damascus. >> people smugglers offering migrants a paid route from the north of france to the u.k. >> hello, united nation as he can jen ban ki-moon has forced his central african representative to resign amid allegations of rape and murder. amnesty international said troops have been linked to the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl and the killing of a 16-year-old boy and his father in the capital earlier this month. let's go live now to the united nations in new york. strong reaction from the united nation over this affair. >> it was. we just heard from as he can jen

ban ki-moon and give you three words he used to describe, angered, anguished and ashamed. he came out very strong. also, of course firing the head of the u.n. peacekeeping mission in the central african republic, ban ki-moon announcing he was sending one of his top diplomats to get a sense of what's going on there. he called for a special session of the u.n. security council for tomorrow or thursday to look into this issue more and take it up, and he said he would be meeting ve. >> video conference call with all of his mission commanders from all 16 u.n. peacekeeping missions around the world, so clearly this has shaken ban ki-moon and the united nations, these allegations very strong, finally ban ki-moon felt he need to step in and take decisive action. let's listen to a little more of what he had to say.

>> every allegation must be thoroughly investigated, as you know, i have appointed a high level independent external panel to look more closely into the reports of sexual exploitation and abuse in the central african republic and our systemic response. i look forward to seeing their findings soon. i believe a disturbing number of allegations we have seen in many countries, but particularly in the central african republic in the period before u.n. peace keepers were deployed and since speaks to the need to take action now. enough is enough. today, i have accepted resignation of my special representative, head of the

united nations multi-dimensional integrated stabilization mission in the central african republic. >> take us through what would happen to anybody found guilty of these kind of crimes. >> well, according to the agreements that are laid out, the u.n. has not a lot of power to punish any peace keepers that are accused of wrongdoing. the peace keepers would only be sent back to their home countries, where they would then face justice there. that's pretty much the limit of what the u.n. can do, but i will say, this is very big and it goes beyond anything that we had heard previously. after ban ki-moon spoke, his spokesman held a press conference as well and announced that they are investigating over 57 cases of misconduct by u.n. peace keepers in the central african republic, 57, and 11 possible cases of sexual abuse,

so that's a much higher number than we had ever heard before. again, these are all allegations that are being investigated by the u.n. the results of those investigations have not been made public yet, but clearly, this is being taken very seriously here and really because this peacekeeping mission in the central african republic has been around only a little over a year, a year and three or four months, so has a very short but troubled history and that's primarily by ban ki-moon taking this very dramatic steps today, announcing the firing of the head of the mission there. >> ok, thank you very much for shedding light on that story. >> houthi rebels are strengthening defenses in sanna after suffering more losses to the south. they are rivals who are loyal to the exiled government are in the

strategically important city of ibb. >> winding roads lead to the city of ibb, an important plash point at government troops advance toward the north. they are backed by the saudi-led coalition to fight houthi rebels and loyalists to former president ali abdullah saleh. they have the support of local tribesman. >> we say to the popular resistance go on, the people are behind you and victory is coming. >> the fighters supporting president adou rabbo mansour hadi who remains in exile in saudi arabia have been able to seize control from the houthis with the help of their allies. saudi arabia and u.a.e. are providing support whichs making a difference on the ground. fighters are preparing a two pronged approach toward sanna, one from the east and the other

from the south. if they manage to take ibb completely, they'll face resistance further where there is support for the houthi fighters. the other approach is also where there is heavy fighting. >> the introduction of the armor tanks and trained yemeni by saudi make the shifts and i think after the fall of taiz and ibb, sanna will be surrounded. i think the coalition want to surround sanna and especially the troops coming from marab. >> the houthis also have support, hundreds of protestors gathered in the capitol, sanna and condemned the saudi-led air strikes. >> other presence here is confirmation that we remain steadfast and will never retreat from our positions and we will stand against this new colonialism. >> there are reports of talks to

try to find a solution brokered by oman. >> so far, the u.n. hasn't been able to help negotiate a ceasefire in the war which has already claimed hundreds of lives and put millions more at risk because of lack of basic supplies. peace will remain elusive as long as houthi retain control. al jazeera. >> iran's foreign minister's meeting with syrian president bashar al assad in damascus. they will discuss a four-point proles proposal to end the civil war. despite the peace push, there's no let up to fighting. >> it's been another bloody day in syria. douma was one of several opposition held towns targeted by government airstrikes. many were killed or injured. the military regularly attacks these regions, but the latest

was in retaliation for an assault on the government seat of power. casualties were caused as rockets and mortar bombs landed in the center of damascus. rebels occasionally fire mortars, but this barrage was intense and lasted for 22 hours. many say the attack was a message to the syrian government and iran, whose foreign minister was expected in damascus hours later. zarif has been in the lebanese capital beirut as part of iranian diplomatic efforts to promote peace, repeatedly calling for talks with gulf arab leaders who are worried about iran's growing influence in the region. >> we want to extend a hand of cooperation to all neighbors in the region, we are ready to cooperate and exchange ideas to combat extremism, terrorism and sect tarianism.

>> iranian media reported the plan would involve a ceasefire, formation of a national unity government, amending the constitution and holding elections under international supervision. the main problem for the opposition is president bashar al assad. >> there is still the pending issue today, the fate of the president bashar al assad. this iranian initiative is faced with what we call saudi condition and the number one saudi condition is that there is no place for assad in any possible solution inside syria. >> saudi arabia made that position clear after its foreign minister met his russian counterpart in moscow. >> there is a renewed push for a diplomatic solution to the syrian conflict. it is led by the syrian government's make that backers iran and russia. the international community disagree on the need to find an

agreement, but forming the basis of negotiations is proving to be difficult. there are many players in this conflict, with diverging interests. >> some opposition leaders believe iran and russia are pushing for a deal because the syrian government is facing military and economic pressures, but assad's backers show no sign of compromise at least not until they achieve what they consider to be their strategic goals. >> an isil linked group in egypt said it killed a croatian they were holding host only. the 30-year-old was kidnapped in cairo last momentum. the announcement of his death was made via social immediate in a with that sinai province threatened to kill him unless muslim prisoners were released from jails. the croatian prime minister spoke a short while ago. >> my duty is to tell the croatian public what we saw. of course it's horrific and at

this moment we cannot with 100% certainty confirm it's true. i don't know if we will be able to confirm in the coming days, but what we see doesn't look good. it looks awful. >> refugees in northern france say they are using people smugglers to get to the u.k. because they captain get there legally. a build up trying to get across the channel is creating a problem in both france and england. we have been speaking to some of them in dunkirk. >> the british media and governments have a new battle in their front line and it's here, not in calais, but down the coast near dunkirk. the cars belong to smugglers who for a fee offer a way out of all this. the people here don't feel guilty at all about having to pay the smugglers. they say the west owes them for the problems in their home lands. >> persons are responsible for what happened there, so now,

they have to give these people and let them live here in europe. they better, because we have no choices. >> doctors of the world are here handing out blankets and tents, despairing at a system that forces the vulnerable to pay people who have sometimes been known to harm them. >> the last time i met a young afghan man with a band onlied forearm, he unravel the bandage and that was an enormous garb on his forearm. he said he'd been pulled off a truck and attacked in the process. it's shocking. it has to stop. >> this tiny camp has been around for years as have the smugglers. no sign of the police and the conditions are absolutely desperate. everyone said they wanted to get to the u.k. legally, but it had no choice than to break the law. they were all from the middle east, clawing at the one meal a day the local volunteers could offer. it's really hardly surprising they want to get out of here.

>> immigration isn't a new thing, the problem is that we've let the situation deteriorate and some people are profiting from it. >> back at the other camp, the smugglers were on their way and demanded we stop filming the car. for all the violence in the air here, they decided that paying is probably a better option than risking the railway line in calais. >> the people smuggling operations that come out of places like this have become the latest target for british media. ask chai choices they have. the reason they are backed up 40 kilometers from calais is this offers a better chance. >> officers said they never new what was happening, and in the u.k. it became the best vehicle to. i both communities at once and of course it avoids any discussion about where the u.k.'s asylum policy has disappeared to. al jazeera, northern france. >> still to come on al jazeera,

rum blinks in global markets as china devalues its currency again. >> the tit for tat compensation claims that the souring relationship between cuba and relationship between cuba and the u.s.

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>> troops loyal to the exiled

yemeni presidential had are now in ibb, backed by saudi-led airstrikes as rival houthi rebels are strengthening defenses in sanna. >> iran's prime minister has met the syrian president bashar al assad in damascus. libya's prime minister has again threatened to resign. the leader of the countries internationally recognized government in tobruk made the comments during a television interview. a day earlier, u.n. brokered peace talks resumed between warring factions in geneva. >> communities in the occupied west bank stepped up night patrols after the killing of a palestinian baby and his father in an arson attack blamed on israeli settlers. we went on patrol with volunteers. >> as darkness fell, they gathered on the edge of town. these with the palestinian

residents in the occupied west bank. armed with flashlights and walking sticks, they patrol. one of 200 volunteers tell me the area has been targeted by settler attacks more than 60 times over the past five years. >> once the settlers set our mosque on fire and we realized no one would protect our village. we formed these patrols ourselves to make sure our children sleep safely. >> towns and villages are extremely vulnerable to settler attacks. this year alone, there have been over 126 recorded incidents of settler related violence, including a recent fire bomb attack that killed an 18-month-old palestinian toddler and his father. >> the point is not to engage with violence, but to warn the

community if any are near the village. >> israeli settlers tried to attack last year. they held them until israeli soldiers took them into custody. it inspired others to start patrols in their own towns and villages. the palestinian authority says with so little of the palestinian territory under the p.a.'s direct control, it's understandable residents are taking matters into their own hands. >> in order to protect our people, this has to be within a political context. the political context is by ending the occupation and by having an international protection for the palestinian people in the west bank, east of the gaza strip. >> until that happens, palestinians will patrol their towns and villages, hoping no more people type at the hands of israeli settlers. >> al jazeera, cuzra in the

occupied west bank. >> global prices for nickel, copper have hit six year lows as china devalued its occurrence for a second day. the yen family to it's weakest level against the dollar in four years following intervention by the chinese central bank. the economy is slowing and the countries trading partners have accused beijing of manipulating foreign exchange rates to make exports cheaper. >> a research group explains the move. >> number one they are hopefully strengthening exports. it makes goods more competitive around the world. the problem they had previously is the currency is pegged to the u.s. dollar so as it has strengthened in emerging markets, it pressures

manufactures the chinese are hooking to make it more part of the universal currency and allows it to adjust to what other currencies are doing. >> italian navy rescued migrants off libya. people people were found onboard, but 50 others were feared miles an houring. 202 other migrants have arrived at a sicilian port after being rescued by doctors without borders at an aid station. >> there have been scuffles between migrants and police in spain. the migrants protested after a man fell and was killed. they laid stones on the tracks for trains. >> krakow is well known for its

elegant architecture and notorious pollution, which makes people sick. we report from the city trying to clear the air over its pollution record. >> there are plenty of reasons to visit cook cough in the sunshine, the elegant architecture of a world heritage site and center of history. when the air turns cold, the air fills with a thick, toxic smog. >> it stinks, it's dirty, it's, you know, that smog goes down to the street. krakow during winter, there is no clear visibility. everything is dirty, everything is gray. >> household chimneys belch out toxic filth. pollution levels are four times

the world health organizations safe limit. >> my nose started bleeding one morning. it bled for over 20 hours until the doctor stopped it. my doctor is laughing at me when i'm coming with problems, keep saying move out of town, move out of town. >> who would want to leave this elegant, mid evil city sparklingness sunshine, a magnet for tourists? it was once poland royal capital, now is the third most polluted city in the european union. some of the coughing residents complain of being prisoners in their own homes. >> the campaign group called the crack cough smog alarm fought back, warning residents that they face pollution levels equivalent to 2500 cigarettes a year. the city council responded to potentially effective mitigation efforts, but progress is slow.

>> all of our efforts go teaching people to live in more ecologically sense as i have ways. we tell tourists the air is getting cleaner. >> this family couldn't wait. when they discovered their 4-year-old son was getting sick. >> he had a skin disease that appeared only in crack cough. out of the city, to another part of the country for three days, the disease started to disappear, so it was clear that it's because of the city. >> six spacecraft orbit mars, including the 10-year-old

orbiter. there may be more expected in the future. >> a decade after its launch, nasaion orbiter continues to unlock the secrets of the red planet. it's opened up the surface of mars in detail and can spot features as small as a desk. it's not alone, five other orbiters have made the 200 million-kilometer journey to mars, as well as the reconnaissance orbiter, glass is a has three others circling the planet. there's the orbiter launched in 2001 and the evolution spacecraft that studies the upper atmosphere. there's also the global surveillance spacecraft that's no longer worker. the european space agency have their own orbiting sprays craft called the mars expression and india launched its orbiter two years ago. with all this space traffic,

nasa has created a collision avoidance system to warn if two spacecraft get too close. as the exploration of mars intensifies, safety precautions are also expected to increase. >> a tit for tat compensation battle has broken out between cuba and the u.s. americans say they should be repaid for property seized after the cuban revolution. cuba says the u.s. owes it billions of dollars for the effects of decades of economic sanctions. we have this report. >> most of cuba still looks like its frozen in time, a time when most of what you see here was owned by american companies. from the former sears department store to the grand hotels, once run by the american mafia, u.s. firms and american citizens whose properties was confiscated after the revolution are demanding up to $7 billion in compensation. not to be outdone, the cuban

government is claiming damages, too, to the tune of $100 billion. that's what it says 54 years of u.s. economic sanctions has cost the country. >> for example, if you have a refinery with automatic machinery that was paralyzed because we could not buy spare parts, cuba calculates the losses based on embargo. there's a prohibition which jacks up prices of everything. all of that adds up. >> cuba is also claiming assets frozen in u.s. banks after the revolution, plus interest. it blamed the u.s. embargo for it's collaborated infrastructure. while cuban insiders concede $100 billion is an inflated figure, they say it's a starting point for a negotiated settlement, which for cuba begins with the lifting of the

embargo. >> if the sines are not lifted, we can sit down and negotiating this. we are going to give you a bill of what you owe us. >> the standoff on who owes what to whom and how much it's worth is not only complicated, it's essential to normalizing bilateral relations. the 1996 acted passed by the u.s. congress specifically states that all property claims must be satisfactorily resolved before the u.s. economic embargo against cuba can be lifted. >> cuba believes it has another cart up its sleeve to negotiate a deal with both sides call it even. >> they'll have to accept, otherwise there isn't going to be any deal and of course the prize is investment in cuba. >> with diplomatic ties renewed, many american companies that were exprop rated, they are

eager to return to the island, but they'll have to drop claims or stay out. >> do check out our website for more stories and you can watch us on the watch now icon. >> hillary clinton volunteers to hand over her personal email server and newly released video of a violent night in ferguson, police say a suspect can be seen pulling a gun on officers.