a shaky ceasefire in yemen as peace talks get underway between the warring parties in switzerland. this is al jazeera, live from doha. hello, also ahead, the u.s. defense minister ash carter has welcomed the formation and alliance of mainly muslim nations to fight what saudi arabia calls terrorism. in the war in syria, a new attempt to find common ground between the u.s. and russia gets underway. and lift off. >> a new mission to the international space station gets

underway. an internationally backed ceasefire in yemen seems to be falling apart only hours after it began. one pro-government fighter has been killed in a gunfight with houthi rebels in the province of taiz. that truce began at the same time as peace talks got underway between the warring parties in switzerland. a military alliance led by saudi arabia intensified the war when it began bombing in march. we have the latest from geneva. >> reports of violations to that ceasefire, but neither side has declared the ceasefire dead. in general, it appears to be holding. negotiations have gone off to a positive start, the very fact that the delegation are still sitting in the same room is progress in itself. the last time they tried to hold talks in late may, talks collapsed even before they

started. what we understand now from the united nations is that the declaration of a cessation of hostilities is having a positive effect on the ground, the word health organization saying aid, much needed aid and medical supplies to the millions of yemenis, they are going to start delivering those supplies especially to the city of taiz which really has been the scene of fierce fighting, so a positive start, but the u.n. has said this is going to be a difficult and complex pros. about the sides really, their positions wide apart. the yemeni government wants the houthi rebels to unconditionally implement u.n. security council resolution 2216, walking on the houthi to say lay down arms and withdraw from areas they've captured. the houthis want broader discussions. they want to talk about a power sharing deal. the houthis are not going to give up without a fight. they still control the capital, sanna. >> the war in yemen has crippled the country and come as a human

cost. more than 5,800 civilians have been killed since march. more than 21 million people are in need of assistance. many are on the brink of famine. that's 82% of the population. 1.2 million children under the age of five are malnourished. 3.4 people have been forced from their homes and more than 3 million children are unable to go to school with three and a half thousand schools closed across the country. the world health organization representative for yemen says to the w.h.o. hopes to use this truce to send food aid to the people of yemen. >> in fact, taiz is a priority area for us. we managed to reach taiz before three times from aden, and twice from sanna. however, for the last two weeks, we were not able to send supplies. we are hoping that with this, we

will be able to reach taiz the soonest. i believe that trucks have moved already to taiz today. we are targeting all the areas which we believe their in desperate need of support in different parts of the country. >> just defense secretary ash carter spoke about an alliance made to fight isil. >> it was a rare news conference from the sawed defense minister, the announcement was the creation of a new military alliance of mainly islamic nations. >> there shall be an operations room in riyadh for the coordination and supported efforts to fight terrorism in many parts of the islamic world.

this announcement comes from islamic world vigilance so it can be a partner as a group of countries in fighting this disease. >> the so-called disease is widespread. the alliance will confront isil's growing influence in iraq and syria. it aims to combat the rise of armed groups from libya to afghanistan and pakistan, among others. >> turkey is ready to contribute to every effort to fight terror. >> 34 nations a part of this coalition includes established military heavyweights such as pakistan and egypt, as well as qatar and the u.a.e. iran is absent from the list. it is saudi arabia's main regional rival. iraq and syria are also not part of this, so how strong is the alliance? >> turkey is also significant,

they're a very, very significant military power, member of nato, so yes, i do think it sends a very, very crucial signal that the muslim word, particularly the sunni muslim world now is united against this sunni led group, isil. >> the saudi government is leading a separate military campaign in yemen. it's been engaged in nine months of warfare against houthi rebels. the united states has indicated that fire power might be better served if channeled toward defeating isil. this latest coalition could very well be the first step. gerald tan, al jazeera. june isil suicide bombers ever killed dozens of iraqi soldiers and pro government fighters in iraq. there have been 12 suicide attacks in northern and eastern rimadi and am bar province. we have a report from northern erbil in northern iraq. >> there have been at least 12 car suicide bombers who attacked iraqi security forces and sunni

fighters fighting alongside them. isil fighters have attacked east, west and northern parts of rimadi. iraqi security forces have been trying to take it from isil fighters who took it over in may. >> there is an area that isil fighters have reportedly taken over. there is intense fighting there and they are coming back to this area. the coalition airstrikes are also happening at the same time, we are hearing multiple strikes have taken place against isil targets and details are still emerging. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in russia for talks with his russian counterpart. kerry took the opportunity to speak out against the islamic state of iraq and the levant. >> on isil, or daish, russia and

the united states agree that this is a threat to everybody, to every country, that there is no negotiation. these are the worst of terrorists. they attack culture and history and all decency, and they leave no choice but for civilized nations to stand together, and to fight and push back and destroy them. >> despite all the rhetoric about isil, the talks between kerry and lavarov are expected to focus on the wider war in syria. the biggest sticking point between the two nations is president assad's role or future role in the country. as one of assad's most powerful allies, russia is conducting airstrikes on the regimes behalf in syria.

>> i think despite encouraging remarks from both sides before talks got underway, no one is underestimating the difficulties that lie ahead. both russia and the united states will try and narrow down their differences over the next set of diplomatic talks. basically, the future of president assad and also trying to bring together opposition politicians and militias who are prepared to sit down at the table and continue the process. now, that is set on paper, any way for friday in new york. it seems unlikely that that will time scale will be met. the opposition groups are saying that it is totally unacceptable that president assad will be present at those talks and in fact, they would not continue the talks if he was not going to remove himself before the transitional period.

>> police in france have arrested a man in paris as part of an investigation into the november 13 attacks in the capital. a spokeswoman for the cities prosecutors made the announcement. 360 people have been placed under house arrest across france. isil claimed responsibility for the attacks which left 130 people dead. >> the e.u. is set to announce controversial plans to create a new border force and coast guard agency aimed at stopping the flow of refugees into europe. the e.u. will have executive powers to deploy forces to countries without their permission. some governments see that as a violation of national sovereignty. it will have close to 100 permanent staff compared to 400 at the current agency frontex. the commission is also suggesting syrian refugees be settled directly from camps in turkey to try to stop people

from making the dangerous journey by sea. greece's border control problems, a majority of people who make it to europe do so through the greek islands. we have this report from athens. >> the debate over the european border and coast guard focused on greece, because this has been the entry point for 800,000 migrants into europe no year. the greeks have been in need of greater assistance than so far received from their e.u. partners through the existing european external borders agency, which operates on a fuel voluntarily base. the greeks, too, insisted that they are up to the task of policing european external borders and fingerprinting migrants. the sheer number of people arriving were ultimately overwhelming. early they are month, the greeks invoked emergency assistance status, forcing e.u. partners to provide them with more aid than they have voluntarily done. the greeks only did this after they were threatened with, pugs

from the schengen open borders treaty. border security is a sovereign duty and the greeks have been eager to prove that they can perform the tasks of a sovereign state. >> a phenomenon is enormous as that, as this crisis demands that the e.u. and its constituent member states stay divided to overcome the challenges of that they mom no one. i believe the potential of the e.u. is more than enough to absorb the divisive effect. >> the greeks have been traditionally pro europe. they support a european defense and foreign policy and remain in the euro zone but have lost financial and fiscal policy and

appear to be reluctant for border security, as well. still to come here on al jazeera: this is the magellan strait. hundreds of whales are dying and no one knows why. star wars, the opening of the movie and merchandising. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to

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hello, again, the top stories, the warring parties in

yemen have begun ceasefire talks in switzerland. the ceasefire that began is already looking shaky. one pro-government fighter's been killed in a gunfight with houthi rebels in taiz. issues the u.s. defense secretary welcomed an alliance of 34 countries aimed at fighting what saudi arabia calls terrorism. the coalition known as the islamic appliance includes turkey, qatar, egypt and pakistan. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in russia to talk with foreign minister sergey lavrov about syria's war. the meeting is focusing on president assad's future role in the country. south africa's ruling party a.n.c. still backs jacob zuma following leaders and opposition physician calling for him to step down. zuma is criticized for a series of cabinet shuffles that has seen the appointment of three finance ministers in less than a

week. >> south africa's president zoom in a coming under an enormous amount of pressure. he sacked the finance minister last week after only 18 months in the job. the south africa currency reacted by tumbling, a lot of criticism from economists, political analysts, as well and was he got a very hard time from his political opponents. pressure from within the party, a u turn, he got rid of the finance minister only in the job four days and replaced him with the previous finance minister gordon, a steady hand. he'd calmed the markets on monday, however, zuma facing a lot of pressure. civil society and some opposition politicians otherwising marches calling for the president to be recalled. there were a few rumors on twitter from the a.n.c.'s own

account saying that the president was about to be recalled, however, the a.n.c. refute that had saying its accounts had been hacked. tuesday, it released a statement live to the country saying that no, the president has acted responsibly, listened to the concerns of the people and markets. without a doubt, president zuma under an extraordinary amount of pressure at the moment. a new report by human rights watch said child soldiers are being used in so you had sudan. it is thought 15,000 to 16,000 soldiers are being used. boys from the age of 14 or 15 form the majority of child soldiers in south sudan. they are treated the same as adult fighters. a peace agreement signed in august could eventually lead to their release.

a spokesman for the president of south sudan said the on going fight has gone held back plans to release child soldiers. >> to hold somebody to account is a pros. it's not an event that can take place overnight. you need to mobilize all the requirements for taking legal procedures against those who have perpetrated, you know, crimes against children. so it is a pros. you cannot do it overnight. last year as an example, before the start of the crisis, the united nations with a minister of defense came together to implementing, going to the fields to identify where the children were recruited in order for those children to be released toll their parents and then bring to account those who have perpetrated that crime.

unfortunately, the crisis which has overwhelm would the country from doing its procedures, normal process. colombia's government reached an agreement with farc rebels to compensate victims of the civil war. the breakthrough was after negotiations held in the cuban capital. both sides are trying to sign a peace deal by the end of the march but still need to discuss disarmament as part of a final accord. argentina's new conservative president ended export taxes on key agricultural products trying to revive the struggling economy. his predecessor imposed the taxes to keep price low. it helped finance christina kirchners social well fair programs for the poor. chile is asking for help for

stranded whales found on the countries pacific coast between april and june this year. our latin america editor reports from southern chile. >> this is the strait of magellan where normally you can see whales feeding. instead, earlier this year, scientists discovered a mass graveyard, first, 30 dead whales and then another 307 in remote fjords of the southern region of chile, baffling experts. marine biologist took part in the first scientific expedition to try to discover the cause. >> in samples taken from the contents of the stomachs we found red tide, poison found in sea plants. we can't say the cause. why only these what else and no other animals.

we should have found other dead sea mammals and birds. >> these what else can weigh up to 20 tons and measure 18 meters. it's not certain if these died at sea and were swept ashore by the tide or if they were disoriented and became beached. an expert in marine mammals insists there are many possible causes besides toxic red tide. >> it could be a virus that affected their hearing system. that would explain why they were beefed. another reason is if they ran into rocks which changed the mag they fix of their hearing, which can also disorient them. >> for more than a century, whales were widely hunted here in the strait of magellan and up they lay's coast. >> they were sold for what i canning marg in, core sets, even

perfume. today killing whales is illegal in chile and hole scientists call on international experts to help them discover what is killing the whales that are dying on these shores. >> the appeal is being made at this week's marine mammal conference in san francisco. >> this is something that should be studied in detail, so that is why we are asking for collaboration of international colleagues from the international coalition. >> this particular mass death is considered the largest registered in such a shored period of time and a mystery scientists are anxious to resolve in order hopefully to be able to prevent a repetition. lucia newman, al jazeera, chile. >> peru says the battle against deforestation will play a prominent part in its commitment to fighting climate change. the country says the accord reached in paris last week opens

new opportunities to protect the peru jungle. >> we will continue to participate in actions to help control deforestation and shifting of amazonian soil. three astronauts have begun their three hour flight to the international space station. they lifted off from kazakhstan. the crew is made you have of an american, britain and russian who will spend the next six months in space, carrying out maintenance work and scientific experiments. rory challands witnessed the takeoff and reported not all is well in the space industry in russia. >> russia is at the moment the only country that is putting people into space, the only way that astronauts can get up into the international space station

is via where i am at moment, on the rockets that i've just seen launched, because of course nasas space shuttle program was retired a few years ago. the onus now is on the russians until any other country decided that little going to do the same thing. but of course, russia has severe financial problems at the moment, and the space budget is being cut. it will be a while before commercial organizations like space x. et cetera in the united states can fully kind of take any of that pressure off russia, but russia has been going through a few problems over the last few years, various rockets have been going wrong. luckily, no lives have been lost in any of those areas, but it is worrying time for the space industry as the financial impact of the 2008 crisis and other geopolitical issues have been

kind of reverberating around the world and cutting countries budget. >> scientists have carried out a series of controls explosions to test a bomb proof lining material. researchers developed a fabric bag which can contain the force and heat of a blast using multiple layers of synthetic fibers. they are already used in the aero space industry. the material can fairly well withstand an explosion. >> a lot of time and attention has been focused on mitigating the risk of people getting things on an aircraft. the fly bag actually accept that is there may be an instance where somebody is successful in getting some onboard an aircraft. therefore, the next question becomes how can we mitigate an explosive device detonating at altitude in an aircraft.

the new store wars movie has premiered in hollywood. people camped out for days to be part of the opening night, one of the biggest los angeles has ever seen. it reunites the original cast of the trilogy which is expected to break box office records. >> stars from the original and newest versions of one of film land's most durable and lucrative franchises marched down the red cart in hollywood, attended by droids, jedi and storm troopers for the premier of the force awakens, star wars episode seven. hundreds of diehard fans have been camping out in weather unusually cold for los angeles to be part of opening night. these folks have been here for over a week. >> overnights and then the rain and then the cold, and i'm from l.a., so it doesn't matter to me. >> a lot of people would say people who do that must be crazy. >> we're not crazy, we're just

fans. >> to be a part of this, to see this, to feel it, i'm living in it, this is the moment. this is awesome. >> how excite are you about tonight? >> so excited, oh my goodness. [ laughter ] >> i'm surprised i can contain myself. >> it's expected to be the biggest opening night of the year and possibly the biggest in cinema history, three hollywood theaters have been dedicated to screen the premier. >> this is the biggest feel of the year, star wars is what everyone's been waiting for the entire year for several years, everyone cares about this movie. >> the dark side. >> the movie is predicted to earn one and a half to $2 billion in global box office returns. it is potentially a much larger cash can cow for disney, which bought the rights to star wars from lucas film three years ago

for $4 billion. disney will sell toys, video games within d.v.d.'s and include star wars experiences in its global chain of theme parks. >> i think that $25 billion is a very safe department for the universe they are creating between the toys and games and movies themselves. it's sort of beyond what we could manual for how being this could get. >> a truck load of star wars paraphernalia is unloaded. >> they have been sell off the roof. they are hot cakes right now. >> 4-year-old ripply has definitely got her eye on some star wars toys. >> what's your number one thing that you want? >> light sabres. >> she's part of what disney hopes will be yet another generation hooked on the saga for years to come. rob reynolds, al jazeera, hollywood. >> new zealanders have chosen a

new flag to go up against their existing one. those in favor of change argue the union jack no longer represents the former british colony. there's more real news from al jazeera at our website, aljazeera.com. awaiting a verdict, a jury in baltimore resumes deliberations in the trial of an officer chard in connection with the death of freddie gray. secretary of state john kerry is in moscow this morning calling for real progress in determining the future of syria. we have lift off, the latest trip to the international space station making history in the u.k.