water just using the sun. >> this opens up whole new possibilities. >> al jazeera america, proud to tell your stories. the united nations special envoy for yemen has welcomed the start of a tentative truce, but warms compromises will have to be made on both sides. welcome to al jazeera live from doha. also coming up in the program. >> you simply can't help but recognise that hiroshima's legacy is one of rebirth the u.s. secretary of state pays tribute to the victims of

the hiroshima atomic bombings, the world first nuclear attack. authorities in india arrest five people over a fire in a temple that killed 106 people. the front runner in peru's presidential election has gained victory but still faces a run-off the united nations envoy to yemen has welcomed a tentative ceasefire that is coming into effect on monday. this is an agreement that the saudi-led coalition and the houthi rebels have promised to honor. these are pictures from around the prons east of the capital. there were patches of fighting just before the ceasefire came into effect, which include

unhindered access for relief aid to all of yemen where the u.n. says hundreds of thousands of children face malnutrition and millions lack health care or clean drinking water. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: this is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has been in houthi rebel hands for more than a year and a half. people mere and right across yemen have borne the brunt of the civil war. while they may have different allegiances, many in yemen are united in their desire for peace. >> translation: with the peace, we support a ceasefire resolution in every day. a ceasefire is what the yemeni people want. we need commitments from everybody. >> translation: we want a ceasefire that will last forever, not just a few days. >> reporter: the uprising by the houthi movement started in the north and has been going on for years, but this latest conflict

began in september 2014 when houthi rebels swept into the capital. they forced out yemen's internationally recognised government led by the president and had been fighting to expand their territory ever since. u.n. sponsored talks to end the fighting are due to start in kuwait on 18 april, but yemen's conflict will be complex to unravel. the shia houthi rebels are backed by supporters of the former president and had the support of iran. they have been fighting forces loyal to yemen's president. he has the backing of sunni tribes and a coalition of nine arab states led by saudi arabia. the saudi-led coalition launched air strikes in march last week when houthi fighters tried to move on the port city of aden. there are other groups in the mix, mostly secular nationalists in the south wishing to breakaway from the north. there is al-qaeda which has

taken advantage of instability and a yemen affiliate of i.s.i.l. in 2014 lacking to eclipse al-qaeda. -- looking to eclipse al-qaeda. no side has come close to winning the war. houthi rebels still hold the capital and eight of the 22 provinces. a year of air strikes hasn't managed to break their hold. all this has come with a heavy human cost. the u.n. says that more than 6,000 people have been killed since air strikes began. around half of them were civilians and almost a thousand were children. people were starving well before the houthi rebellion. now more than 80% of the 24 million people need humanitarian aid. the u.n. accuses both players of atrocities and targeting civilians. in the access of a military solution there are calls for growing end through mediated. peace efforts have failed before

though more now from a senior foreign policy fellow at brookings >> there has been a number of ceasefire attempts in the past. this one is the most serious so far. so i think there are enough indicators to suggest that both parties are serious about the ceasefire and both parties have shown significant interest in that, whether it's the announcements that they made or in the acceptance of going to the kuwait talks to abide by the ceasefire. both parties have been driven by their own political agenda regardless of the human suffering on the ground and what the continuation of the war means for the people. taiz, for example, the city has been under strict siege with the disastrous humanitarian crisis for the past year and that did not stop the fighting

staffan de mistura is in damascus. he is expected to meet syrian officials on monday. two days before the lay latest rounds of talks aimed at ending the conflict. acis fire began in february-- a ceasefire began in february. i.s.i.l. is launching a major offensive to close to the border with turkey and has captured two villages. russian media is reporting plans with syrian government forces to retake the city of aleppo. as we've been reporting over the past few days, the prime minister has been speaking to visiting leaders from moscow in the syrian capital. the turkish prime minister is holding a cabinet meeting in the city close to the syrian border. it is now home to a large number

of syrian refugees. this is the first time a cabinet meeting has been held outside ankara for 13 years. talking to our correspondent now, charles stratford. more, please, on the significance of the prime minister bringing his cabinet outside of the capital ankara and taking it to this area which is mainly kurdish, but also with many syrian refugees. >> reporter: the prime minister has just finished speaking before that cabinet meeting takes place this afternoon. it was a ceremony here at this stadium in which it was as a pretext, if you like, the prime minister was honoring the city in its battle against french forces in 1920. as you say, it is of huge significance that he has come here to this region, predominantly kurdish, to make this announcement, to honor the city at this time. what he said during his speech

also highly significant. he said that there were people in turkey who were trying to light the same fires tasmania were being lit in iraq and syria, but he said that the people of turkey were lighting the fires of brotherhood against those attempts. as i say, it is a particularly difficult situation here in south-east turkey just dealing with what the government describes as terrorist organizations, terrorist groups affiliated to the p.k.k., the kurdish workers party, negotiations attempted at peace talks broke down in july. there have been bomb attacks. the government has blamed on p.k.k. affiliated groups since then. there has also been a heavy military crackdown, especially in the town of diyarbakir since then. so highly symbolic that he should come here at this time

with all these problems with the kurds and, obviously, so close to the syrian border with ongoing what seems to be an escalation of fighting by i.s.i.l. forces so close by no doubt ice will be focusing closely on the news that russian forces alongside the syrian government forces are renewing their efforts to retake what is syria's second city, effectively, aleppo. >> reporter: that's right. it's very worrying for the turks that we have seen this escalation in fighting on the syrian side, certainly by i.s.i.l. it is also of great concern, certainly not only to the turks, but to everyone involved in trying to kick-start some stort of coherent peace negotiations, certainly in the next couple of days or scheduled in the next couple of days. this announcement by the syrian government bringing on their russian allies saying that they are going to try and retake

control of aleppo is deeply problem mat particular in the context-- problematic in the context of the partial ceasefire. not all the armed groups are party to that ceasefire. it still enables fights against al-qaeda and al-nusra, but the fact of the matter is that aleppo is controlled by a number of groups, by various different factions, some of which are party to potentially participating in these potential peace negotiations. there are serious, serious concerns here that this announcement could further derail those efforts to try and get some sort of momentum in geneva in the next couple of days towards peace in syria thank you for that. some news coming from the

russian news agency which suggests that three suicide bombers have carried out explosions in south russia. according to reports, they struck a village in the stavropol region. the suicide bombers were killed by the blasts and no-one was apparently hurt. we will bring you more details on that story, of course, as soon as we get it the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has laid a wreath in the memorial park in hiroshima. he is the first u.s. official to visit the area, or the highest official visiting the area. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: it has been a bright day here, a day which belies the horrors of what

happened here more than 70 years ago. john kerry became the first u.s. seng of state to visit the peace memorial park here in hiroshima where along with the foreign ministers of britain, france and others he laid a wreath at the area that honors you will all those who died when a bomb dropped on this city more than 70 years ago. at a conference later on john kerry was moved by what he saw. he said that everyone, including the president of the united states, should come here. >> going to this museum was a reminder of the depth of obligation that every single one of us in public life carries. in fact, every person in the position of responsibility carries, to work for peace, to continue the efforts that president obama and other leaders came together to talk about in washington at the nuclear security summit, to

create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons. >> reporter: on the possibility of obama coming here to hiroshima, john kerry didn't rule it in or out. he said that the president's schedule was very busy and complicated. president obama is due in japan next month to attend the g7 world leaders summit and that has araised speculation that he will come here in the past president obama said he would be honored to come to hiroshima. japan, of course, has sent out a declaration day today saying that it wants to see the elimination of nuclear weapons around the world. it wants to see nations sign up to the nonproliferation treaty, but, of course, japan remains a country dependent on the nuclear umbrella that is provided by the united states. so japan says it wants peace, but it's peace very much with japanese characteristics five people have been arrested in india over the fire

in the hindu temple that killed more than a hundred people and injured hundreds more. the authorities have launched an kwish to find out what happened-- inquiry to find out what happened. the prime minister has travelled to the scene and has offered help >> translation: i have told the chief minister that the federal government will make immediate arrangements if critically injured patients need to be transferred to other hospitals. it is difficult to explain how the accident happened. people as far away as 200 metres were injured. doctors said bodies and heads were drawn apart our correspondent has the latest >> reporter: these are the spent canisters from the night display. experts will be examining them to find out whether banned

chemicals were used, as they frequently are, to make them more powerful and he will be conducting a wider investigation. meanwhile, the president of the state medical association is launching a petition to ban all fireworks at major events and festivals >> people should not be hurt. this can't be conducted in this w way. >> translation: what happened here is a disaster. there is nothing wrong with festivals but fire cracker displace shouldn't be allowed >> reporter: behind me was the shed which stored the fireworks which was ignited and set-off a series of blasts. more than 10,000 people were here to watch the show. even that is considered small compared to some events planned in the bigger city's for this week's celebrations.

many fireworks are used, but since this happened, they've now been suspended across the state still to come here at al jazeera, we will tell you about the incredible find by construction workers in gaza's old city. old ci >> 'cause i'm like, "dad, there are hookers in this house". >> exclusive conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> these are very vivid, human stories. >> if you have an agenda with people, you sometimes don't see the truth. >> "talk to al jazeera". monday, 6:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

welcome back. a look at the top stories. the u.n. special envoy for yemen has welcomed the start of a tentative truce. he says peace talks would

require difficult compromises on all sides. they're due to begin later this month. there has been an increase in violence in the syrian province of aleppo where rebel fighters are battling regime forces. the syrian army and the russian air force are preparing the joint operation to retake the area from varies factions. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has laid a wreath at the memorial for the victims of the hiroshima atomic bomb attack. he is in japan for the g7 meeting and is the most senior official ever to visit the site. military operations are continuing in the southern ilfeens against the armed group. at least on 20 soldiers have been killed and 50 others have been injured. give us an idea as to what's behind this military operation which on the face of it seems to

have gone disastrously for the philippines military. >> reporter: i was in the province where the attack happened. it was something that they planned months ago according to the philippine military. they moved an entire ba italian from one-- battalion from one to another. that end ed in a disaster becaue 18 soldiers are killed and 50 others wounded. at the command center today everybody was in battle mode. aerial bombardments are relentless, weapons are being brought in. there seems to be no exact explanation as to what happened the other day. the other problem as well is that the election is going to happen in a few weeks. it remains to be seen how this operation is going to affect the already very difficult and

precarious situation during election season in these areas. they estimate that hundreds of fighters are in the area alone. the numbers have swelled over the last few years despite the relentless dispute of the government to go after them. during the election season that is when kidnapping thrives. their main operation is kidnap for ransom. it is at this time where kidnap operations are in fact rife. it is a little bit of everything. there are so many problems one after the another, but the question remains we don't know exactly what happens two days ago. how come 18 soldiers were killed and supposedly a plan that was thought out for months as you point out, they are renowned for taking hostages, many of them foreign. what's the fate of the hostages that they currently hold? i think we know of an italian having been released in the last

couple of days. >> reporter: yes. an italian was released a couple of days ago, but there are talks that the family together with the government had to pay a ransom. there were about 16 of them. 10 indonesians were taken, four malaysians were taken, last week as well proof that the influence and the kind of ability of the group to operate is actually expanding. they're now going to the area of saaba and taking tourists there and bringing them to this rebel held area. that is unsure exactly the fate of hostages at this point. some of them stay there for years. a lot manage to come back. mind you, these are the ones that are reported. there are so many local citizens here who are actually abducted, who never even make it to the headlines. it's an industry here. it is considered a kidnapping

capital of south-east asia south korea has confirmed that a north korean army colonel deeffected last year days, the prime minister defected last year. south korea has granted him asylum. it follows an announcement that 13 workers at a restaurant run by the north in the undisclosed third country had defected as a group. >> translation: this morning's report is true. that is all i can say. i cannot give details included detailed personal information. from the perspective of our government, we believe it is an example of showing the unusual movement of the powerful class right to our correspondent. it seems almost as if we've got a trend going on. why do we think that the south korean authorities have decided

to acknowledge this defection of the senior military man now when it happened a year ago. >> reporter: this is a very significant development. it is very rare that you get such a high-ranking official defecting like this. i'm sure the south koreans are making as much of it as they can. they will only say that he was a colonel, that he had direct control over various spying operations, also involved in cyber espionage. the fact that they have confirmed it is itself significant. they very rarely confirm such things. i think there is a sense here that the south korean administration wants to show that there are cracks apapg in the north korean system, that there was this defect and that we are seeing more details released about the 13 restaurant workers as well and that this is, from south korea's point of view, a result of the sanctions of the get tough policy with

north korea, when it comes to the business of carrot and stick relations, it is the stick that achieves results. we are getting more details about 13 defectors defecting en masse from a restaurant in china. we understand that they came from the eastern port city and travelled through thailand, laos and then onto south korea and that will be of concern to north korea because it is a big foreign currency earner for the north korean administration having people sent to work in north korean restaurants, in asian neighbours in that part of the world coming, obviously, with the backdrop of the g7 foreign ministers' meeting in japan, vowing to keep up the pressure on north korea. >> reporter: that's right. i think of particular concern to north korea will be the speculation that's going on here at the moment in south korea, about how much the chinese authorities knew about the mass

defection of these workers from this one restaurant apparently through thailand. that would have taken an awful lot of organization and there is speculation here that china is one of the few friends that north korea has left in the world, that is one of the few countries that is supported in economically. china has said in more recent times it has had a checkered history when it comes to sanctions. the it will play its part in administering sanctions against north korea. there is speculation that china knew about this defects and in some way immediate it. it is of particular concern to the north korean administration thank you. the british prime minister david cameron is expected to face a tough day in parliament since revelations of his past investment in an offshore fund. today after public pressure forced him to publish his income

and tax payments since 2009, but the opposition leaders insists that that's not enough. heap wants mr cameron to disclose all his investments, past and present in offshore funds peru's presidential candidate will face a run off. she won off 40% of the first round and she is the daughter of the previous president who is in prison on humanitarian issues. >> reporter: victory for now. 40-year-old of the popular party won the first round in the general elections. although she didn't get 50% of the vote to win the presidency, she will control congress. >> translation: i express my deep gratitude to the millions who voted for me and have now

elected the group as the first democratic force in the country. >> reporter: this group and the left wing leader of the broad front party fought a tie vote. people went to the polls on sunday, many hoping for change. >> translation: we want security and more work. we say no to corruption. that's what we want. >> reporter: we want to fight corruption. i voted for her because she has promised a lot and i hope she fulfils her promise. >> reporter: many don't trust the new candidate. many say they spoiled their vote. >> translation: no candidate is up to my standards. if they're not corrupt, they will be when they get to power. that's why i will not vote. >> reporter: the election was tarnished by an ambush of an army patrol delivering boxes. they say they believed shining path rebels killed at least

seven soldiers and wounded others. even though she easily won the first round, she will have a hard time in the election in june. opinion polls say 51% of the people say they will never vote for her. she didn't get enough votes to win on the first round. opinion polls say 51% of the people say they will never vote for her. she carries the weight of her father's legacy. his government is known as the most corrupt in the history of peru. she has tried to distance herself from her father's supporters, but to win the run off she may have to go beyond saying her father committed mistakes to acknowledging he is a criminal, something many people are waiting to hear from her construction workers in

gaza's old city has uncovered what could be the ruins of a church dating back to the fifth century. they were found by the ancient mosque just a few hundred metres from the church of saint paul. do stay with us here at al jazeera. haiti, october 2010, at a hospital in a small, rural town north of the capital. these were the first victims of a horrific, unknown disease in a country still reeling from a devastating earthquake. patients were dying in the space of a few hours. children were especially vulnerable. al jazeera was the first news channel on the scene. in the following days and weeks