discover the wealth of award winning programming from around the. powerful documentaries. and we needed to stop would you then listen to discussions tell me the one thing you'd like us to do. and not for more on the fire challenge your perceptions. and approves a team to investigate claims of war crimes in yemen but it's hard to make a lot of compromises.

down live from doha also coming up on a collision course in spain catalans occupy schools meant to be polling stations defying the ban on its session referendum. a flight to the us health resigns following a scandal over his use of private jets. i can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being a star and the boss of space x. unveils an old plan that could take you to any city on earth by rocket in less than an hour. the u.n. human rights council is sending a team to investigate alleged war crimes in yemen that examined possible human rights violations by all sides in the conflict the resolution follows intense closed door negotiations and represents the highest level of scrutiny of a largely overlooked war in one of the poorest countries cut in episode reports.

the decision has been described as a game changer the un's human rights council will send a delegation to investigate a possible war crimes in the yemen more than ten thousand civilians have died since the country's devastating war started in two thousand and fifteen and that number could rise the international community faces several urgent tasks in yemen including the protection safety and security of civilians the u.n. delegation is expected to investigate attacks on schools markets and even hospitals fina between harvey rebels and a saudi led coalition which sides with president monsoon condi has torn the country the commission will also investigate attacks carried out by the rebels i think that the point becomes one of does the international community stand by the laws the courts. and all yemeni lives as valuable as any other lives the decision was met with resistance

a last minute compromise between western powers and arab countries including saudi arabia eventually made it possible experts say blocking the investigation could have led to more unwanted attention you see mounting pressure at the international level for this to go ahead at a level that the u.s. the u.k. saudi arabia who've been instrumental in the past really blocking this kind of investigation going ahead would struggle to justify their reasons for doing so right now along with the war an estimated twenty million yemenis continue to go hungry and a nationwide cholera epidemic is ravaging the country since april more than two thousand people have died from the illness the red cross believes there could be a million cases of suspected cholera by the end of the year but access to treatment is limited airport is completely sealed off on the three planes roughly are entering the i.c.r.c. plane m.s.f. and un plane and no other plane is coming in. even planes that could do some new

money here and transfer of patients that want to get treatment abroad or something like that this is not possible so you don't have access to drugs and you're going to go out. to war in yemen is showing no signs of ending but the un's human rights council hopes the investigation will lead to a greater level of accountability on all sides. now dizzier. thousands of supporters of catalonia as vote for succession from spain have held a final rally before sunday's referendum by the occupied schools designated as polling stations to make sure the vote goes ahead call panel reports from barcelona . they were in the fields and into the political fray. these cattle farmers are vowing to turn their tractors into barricades if police try to crack down on the referendum.

we have come to the fed the countryside and we are fighting for democratic rights and the right to protest. as this makes its way. you can see the reaction of many of the people with one hundred twenty zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero will drive. it like that. the night before in the harsh light of a small square neighbors gather. this is one of many so-called defense committees grassroots groups controlled by any political party on a mission to defend that they are strategizing to resist police who are under orders to close down schools to stop them being used as polling stations. to meet the children will sleep in the schools all weekend to stop the police closing them down we're afraid our neighborhood could be the first time.

marching to the same drum beat students have occupied a university and set up their own defense committee they've been sharing practical advice on civil disobedience tactics thank you the only thing. they have in us to volunteer with different organisations to russ and me. to darn good looking. deeply divided in the centrist party is among those opposing secession. is concerned about the emergence of citizen defense committees during the civil war . run by private militia factions. like the catalan government and its head mr. a driving a car with no brakes and

a heading over the precipice and crashing into. as evening fell procession groups put plans into action taking over schools to preempt police operations to close them. it's all about the people it's all about the people it's the people one something nobody cannot like a poster. and a final rally pro secession supporters wave what they hope will become the standard of their breakaway republic you might. call penholder al-jazeera boss a love of spain. i'm john hendren was at that rally in barcelona. catalans held what began as a concert and ended as a protocol rally the man speaking behind me is carlos we germany is the man who would be the president of the republic of catalonia he is the man who has been

pressing this referendum that's going to happen on sunday this referendum that seeks to separate catalonia from the rest of spain as this is happening the police the national police of spain have ordered the local police there known as them also to shut down all of the schools here that's because there are schools double as polling places well the local police have been very gentle about doing that and as we have many local students from the universities here have been occupying those schools and their goal in doing that is to keep those schools open until sunday so that people can vote and the man speaking behind me follows me jim on says that no matter how many people actually get to vote on sunday if a majority of them says yes he will declare independence for catalonia on tuesday and you can hear the response of the people here behind me. iraq's autonomous kurdish region is now closed to international flights the iraqi

government's denying access to the airspace in response to monday's vote for suspension baghdad once the results counseled how many reports from ever built. the last passengers to catch a plane before the closure of the airspace to international flights over the kurdish region. it's meant cutting short of a case that was two years in the coming it was the first time his two year old son born in new york visited the homeland he says he didn't feel safe transiting through baghdad. the measure was taken by the central government in baghdad after the kurds went ahead with their referendum against. iran was the first to close its airspace to flies from the kurdish region a few days ago. for

a period of three months only special flights will be allowed but with prior approval. anyone else wanting to travel from here. will have to transit through one of the domestic airports outside of the kurdish region or they can travel around. the rest of iraq by land but some drivers told us they have avoided going south because they felt unwelcome. government says its. country to preserve its unity and kurdish authorities replied that they won't hand over any border controls to baghdad. i mean. people.

right now. prime minister said the closure of the airspace was not meant to starve. but people. don't agree. to take part in the referendum. this decision is wrong. just the referendum but. again the future doesn't look good. the kurdish region is. also close their border crossings and many kurds are now bracing themselves for what their leader described as collective punishment but at the. national. border with turkey even more important. with international flights now banned from

the regional aspace this is the only way in to kurdish iraq war border gate there's a very very long queue of trucks here and we have passenger cars on the other side and there were seventy flights a week going into kurdish iraq from turkey none of them now taking off from the six airports involved here in turkey this route is the old silk road it's incredibly important for turkish trade not only that it's a lifeline for the kurds food resources all sorts of building materials going in to kurdistan from here it's very important indeed cut off it will have a massive effect on the iraqi kurds and also damage the turkish economy it would seem this would probably be the last card to be played in this crisis if turkey really goes through with it and certainly considering it along with possibly

cutting off the oil supply out of kurdistan which comes through turkey so still the waiting game goes on what sort of tactics will be used the waiting game on both sides of this border town for a short break here in al-jazeera when we come back two years on how russia's campaign in syria changed the course of the war and strengthened moscow's influence . on the struggle for survival for the people in puerto rico as they rebuild their lives after hurricane maria more in that state. hello the heat waves over such as it was not quite a heat wave but it was pretty warm really for all this eastern side of the u.s. for all fronts going through now so what cloud you see here is now in the cooler

temperatures are more or less where they should be going to be below sixteen in toronto nineteen in new york two days ago we're talking about thirty three or so a bit more than two days but a huge drop for the same and you don't see evidence of tropical storms in the well there is a circulation here and certainly hit near florida you might get something of a tropical circulation the areas that warm but beyond that dry looking picture brinson wandering slow showers in the four corners states and they are probably going to disappear rather more action takes place further north but as snow maybe you'll notice probably montana maybe northern california but it's just going to be a few showers developing temperature wise we haven't seen a big drop after chicago's come back up to twenty one the suddenly breeze brings winnipeg up to sixteen so any cold that was looking has temporarily disappeared now i did mention the potential for development of a tropical depression at the moment it's somewhere in this cloud if it develops it will first probably affect western cuba and then head up to florida.

they thought they were american until they broke the law now they're deported to cambodia for life. when the family is fighting for their loved ones at this time on al jazeera.

welcome back a quick reminder of the top stories this hour the u.n. human rights council has agreed to send a team to investigate alleged war crimes in yemen and examine claims of human rights violations by all sides in the conflict thousands of supporters of catalonia as voted for secession from spain and held a final rally before sunday's referendum but also occupying schools designate polling stations to make sure the ballot goes ahead and iraq's defense ministry is again warning that it will take control of the borders of its kurdish region is demanding that yes vote in monday's session referendum be canceled baghdad's also refusing to allow international flights in and out of the area. of hit towns and villages in northern syria killing more than forty five people and wounding dozens more at least twenty five were killed in a wave of strikes an adlib province jets also targeted hama and aleppo province is where syrian and russian troops are battling opposition fighters on thursday

russian and turkish leaders agreed to push for the creation of a deescalation. to help end the civil war. now it's been two years since russia's military intervened in the syrian civil war an involvement that changed the dynamics of the conflict and propped up the syrian president bashar al assad mama jumpsuit. reports. in the northern countryside of homs a russian delegation attempted to negotiate a sation of hostilities at stake establishing checkpoints revealing the fates of detainees and introducing much needed humanitarian aid one more reminder of how strong a presence russia has in syria since it intervened two years ago in the very beginning of the operation the theme coming from the crown on this is was that this is going to be a shortened gauge month actually several months after the russians went then in march sixteen ounce that the object of the mission has been accomplished and

russia's beginning it would draw a limited military mission may have been in vision when russia launched its first air strikes in syria but that soon changed the message now that now russia has a solid base in syria its naval base and darkness is being expanded we have also an air force powerful base in command me i'm. near the. mediterranean coast and so russia has of course. in the mediterranean and so russia has a serious sri foothold in the middle east and that's planck's nato and that's more or less what it's told to the russian public that this is a great military success while you don't and hezbollah have also been instrumental in backing up syrian president bashar assad since the beginning of the war it was russian air power that change the dynamics of the conflict giving assad the upper hand. the establishment of deescalation zones in syria has become

a priority for moscow but even with the presence of russian military personnel in various parts of the country it's still a question as to how they will be enforced still having solidified its influence in such a strategically important country in the middle east the cost of military involvement in syria seems to have been well worth it for russia. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is in china for the second time this year to discuss north korea's nuclear threat the u.s. wants china to take tougher actions against pyongyang in response to its missile and nuclear weapons tests on thursday beijing announced an all north korean companies in china have been ordered to shut down by early twenty one thousand president trumps first official visit to china is expected to take place in november let's get more now from adrian brown he joins us live from beijing adrian rex tillerson i was just in beijing six months ago so why is he back there now. well daryn an awful lot has happened during the past six months tensions on the

north korean peninsula have reached really unprecedented levels and of course there remain still deep trade friction between china and the united states but of course rex tillerson is really here a century not just to talk about north korea but also to lay the groundwork for president donald trump's first inaugural visit here to china that's going to happen sometime in the first two weeks of november so a lot to talk about there he really does carry a very heavy agenda even though he's here for really a very short time no more than a day but north korea as i say is going to be top of the agenda you know in many ways these two countries need each other right now in a strange way daryn the crisis on the korean peninsula north korea has in a way bought china and the united states closer together they both want to resolve what is happening on the korean peninsula they just have different approaches for doing it and what i think rex tillerson wants to i guess get an assurance about is

china to fully implement united nations sanctions he wants them to stick to their promises he says that so far what china has been doing is good but also uneven he wants to ensure that china remains good on its promise to rigorously enforced sanctions and actually you are beginning to see signs in places like dandong on the china north korean border which is at the heart of north korea's trade with china you are beginning to see signs that china is beginning to start to rigorously inforce some of those sanctions because you're starting to see real signs of economic pain particularly among chinese traders who rely on business with north korea and of course china will want to make clear to rex tillerson that actually it's been doing an awful lot in the area of sanctions it's now shut the door or not . korean banks that hope to trade with china it's limited oil exports to north

korea and also it's cut imports of textiles and things like iron ore and coal so china wants to demonstrate i think to the u.s. secretary of state that actually it's doing all it can if not more and just briefly adrian so what sort of atmosphere will there be then for his meetings given as you say the current tensions between china and the us of a north korea and also trade well the u.s. secretary of state as we've seen is a is a softly spoken man he's quite private he's not prone to taking to twitter to vent his rage or anger so he's someone they that you know from their perspective he is he is predictable he's not unpredictable in their eyes in the way that president donald trump is so he is somebody that they feel that they can do business with he's someone of course that has had a lot of dealings with chinese officials in the past few months he had a chinese vice premier in washington just

a few days ago he played host to her so yes i think they feel that rex tillerson is somebody that they can do business with they see him as a reliable figure in the trunk white house adrian thank you in the u.s. there's been another high profile departure from the trumpet ministration health secretary tom price has resigned after a scandal over his use of private jets taxpayers have to foot the bill of around four hundred thousand dollars for his trips helen fisher reports from washington. tom price may have gotten his annual flu jab but he couldn't protect himself from the president's anger donald trump give a broad hint the health and human services secretary time in charge would soon be over a very fine man but we're going to we're going to make a decision sometime and i know he's resigned even though twenty four hours before he thought he could still save his job we're going to work through this and. i think we still got to the confidence of the president price faced growing criticism for his use of private flights which sometimes makes government business with his

own personal agenda the cost to the taxpayer more than four hundred thousand dollars. he also made trips to europe on military jets which could take the figure to more than a million that's enough to annoy the man who wanted to dream washington swarm so i was disappointed because i didn't like it because medically or otherwise price offered to write a personal check for the cost of a seat on the private jets and he promised to fly only commercial in future it wasn't enough the other senior trump officials are facing questions about their travel and must know be increasingly nervous interior secretary ryan zinke he took a private jet from las vegas to his home in montana at the taxpayer's expense the cost twelve thousand dollars and environmental protection agency boss scott pruitt took flights to various parts of the u.s. costing fifty eight thousand dollars questions are being asked about the treasury secretary stephen lucian's travel and requesting a government plane for his european honeymoon i think they're doing it because the example is set from the top with donald trump violating ethics norms on

a daily basis and so i think other people think we don't really need to worry about the ethics rules and that appearances really don't matter price's resignation is another high profile friday departure from the white house is now lost more than a dozen senior staff in just nine months alan fischer washington. u.s. has appointed a senior military commander to oversee relief operations in puerto rico following the devastation caused by hurricane maria and agencies are still struggling to get help to those in desperate need to raise about reports. in the central mountains of puerto rico and i was one of the worst hit areas by hurricane the eye of the storm passed right through this part of the island. in the course of my says she cannot help but cry when she things of everything she's lost you. can see i cry for what happened for what we lost but brenda is not alone many

here are struggling to recover from the hurricane people tell us that this area used to be filled with green trees but as you can see there's not many left in fact many of the houses in this area were completely blown away this for example is the only standing left from this house. that we cover e.f. four it's around away all around the island the electricity grid was destroyed so the island is currently dependent on generators. the hurricane was so strong that it destroyed the old posts the new posts nothing survived we are all doing what we can to get the island moving again at the town's shelter there are more than one hundred people left homeless they have lost everything they own the city's mayor has played a crucial role in organizing relief efforts private donations are paying in but more is still needed. we desperately need these waters to continue providing people

here with what they need we have some food clothes for them and now we need to see how we help them to get their lives back together. was struggling before two consecutive storms hit the island heavily in debt with high levels of poverty local authorities say they need help because we have three point five million of american citizens in need right now so we'll need a lot of felt the federal government to recovery will take years it'll be in the position we were before the. recovery effort will probably take months people like that in the course of i say they're bracing themselves for a long struggle. that's my sex found in a musk says he's developing a rocket capable of taking passengers anywhere on earth in less than an hour he's made the announcement that a space conference in australia musk is confident the spacecraft will be ready for

launch in five years time projects part of his ambitious plan to colonize mars by the twenty six days. as more from a space congress in adelaide industry heavyweights and space lovers converged on adelaide for this year's international astronautical congress the highlight of the event was without doubt space royalty entrepreneur and billionaire ilan musk he's long made it known he wants to make humans and interplanetary species to make sure we don't go the way of the dinosaurs now he says he'll start a colony on the red planet with the first human flights in twenty twenty four. for the base starting. then most horse eps then circling off the city then the city better. yeah and over time terming was. making it so really

a nice place to be. lockheed martin too has plans to get humans to the red planet it revealed more about its blueprints for a mars base camp that will orbit the moon and act as a launching pad for human missions to mars it believes it can have an operational in a decade in about five billion years give or take the sun will eventually be going to a red giant it will expand and devour the earth so at least in five billion years we need to have somewhere else now how much do you need to worry about it in twenty seventeen fair question but that eventually you've got to get off the planet if we're going to continue as a as a as a human race at the moment all we have on mars two rovers like this replica of the curiosity and while there are many companies here that believe humans will journey to mars within this generation and possibly even colonize it there are doubts about whether mass should be considered a back up plan to. all missions to mars need the hope of one of three nasa deep

space command centers this one is new strains capital camera it operates like air traffic control but the space sending commands and receiving signals from spacecraft and all the vital communications for any human missions to mars will also go through here i think one of things that journey towards my special is that really in reality earth has always got we have to look after this planet first and foremost going off to mars going to have to create a whole range of new technologies to survive in an environment that's trying to kill you every second of the day and there's no shortage of companies working on those technologies to keep humans alive in deep space technologies that if nothing else could perhaps be useful to humans on earth to yarber malham out zero adelaide .

a quick recap of the headlines here on al-jazeera the un human rights council has agreed to send a team to investigate alleged war crimes in yemen examine claims of human rights violations by all sides in the conflict yemen's become a battleground in a fight between government forces backed by a saudi led coalition and who the rebels supported by iran in a little further up by the left there we had to move in the complex circumstances that yemen is going through requires from the council and the international community support so the government can fulfill its obligations with regards to human rights the yemeni government has always expressed its determination to cooperate with the u.n. in order to promote and protect human rights thousands of supporters of catalonia as vote for the session from spain that held a final rally before sunday's referendum there also occupying schools designated as polling stations to make sure the ballot goes ahead defying the ban iraq's defense ministry is again warning it will take control of the borders of its kurdish region

is demanding the yes vote in monday's referendum be canceled baghdad's also refusing to allow international flights in and out of the area in the u.s. there's been another high profile departure from the trumpet ministration health secretary tom price has resigned after a scandal over his use of private jets taxpayers will have to foot the bill of around four hundred thousand dollars u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is in china for the second time this year to discuss north korea's nuclear threat the u.s. wants china to take tougher actions against pyongyang going to sponsor its missile and nuclear weapons tests on thursday beijing announced that all north korean companies and china have been ordered to shut down but only twenty eighteen trumps first official visit to china is expected to take place in november. space x. found in on musk says he's developing a rocket capable of taking passengers anywhere on earth in less than an hour he made the comments at an announcement at a space conference in australia musk is confident the spacecraft and what if i'm

launching five years' time a flight between london and new york could take just twenty five minutes but those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera off to one of them so watching. the witness documentaries that open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera. they did the crime and they've served their time but the u.s. is deporting hundreds of cambodians who've been released from prison. some of those deported to the u.s. as baby. steve. this up.