that's why there's. water scarcity is a serious problem we use more than probably need to. and if their plants are demanding as much water we don't need to irrigate as much. talk water just came out of the air and we'll compare that to water which could provide to the public water. tank you know at this time. the un approves a team to investigate claims of war crimes in yemen but it's not to make a lot of compromise. on down jordan this is live from doha also coming up on

a collision course with spain. schools meant to be pounding stations defying the ban on its referendum. flight to follow the u.s. health secretary resigns following a scandal over his use of private jets. and two years after a devastating earthquake in the pool people are still trying to rebuild their lives . the u.n. human rights council is sending a team to investigate alleged war crimes in yemen and examine 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. 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 final between harvey rebels and a saudi led coalition which side with president. 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 that have. an 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 strongly 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 well before the un announced this decision more deaths were reported in yemen's conflict five people were killed in an airstrike by the saudi led coalition inside our province six others were injured in the attack sources told out a zero the airstrike target a vehicle carrying workers heading to water project government airstrikes have 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 and 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 zone in libya to help end the civil war thousands of supporters of

catalonia as vote for succession from spain have held a final rally before sunday's referendum they're also occupying schools designated as polling stations to make sure the ballot goes ahead john hendren was at that rally in barcelona. catalans held what began as a concert and ended as opposed to tickle rally the man speaking behind me is carlos which him on he is the man who would be the president of the republic of catalonia and 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 their schools double as polling places well the local police have been very gentle

about doing that and as they 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. well ahead of catalonia is referendum on sunday people in madrid that held their own mock ballot the organizers say all of spain should have a say in the country's future not just the catalans anybody reports. it's spain's most familiar tune but neither espana has lost some of its meaning since catalonia started its drive for succession and its forthcoming referendum. on friday madrid held his own referendum purely symbolic but the people here equally

important the question people were asked was do you want catalonia to remain part of spain because you want to remember to remind everybody that you know spanish sovereignty it's you know should be decided by all spaniards not just one part of spain which is catalonia you know these this year would affect holy spain i would want to make sure that everybody knows that you know as our boys here you will see when you go but that's you live in i came to vote because what they do in the lone air is an outrage against the constitution against spain and against history those people deserve the worst adjectives even a lot of fun oh yeah if franco was alive we would just shoot them against the wall franco lives by we don't want the communists welcome or nice that that's an extreme view but there are still many in spain who think former military leader francisco franco was a hero and not a villain through the tranquil countryside north of madrid is the valley of the

fall and a monument created to remember those killed in the civil war it was built by political prisoners and is where franco is buried if there's anything that symbolizes the divisions in spanish society it's this place is supposed to commemorate the dead on both sides of the civil war but for many it's a monument to the fascist victory and the defeat of the republicans many of whom were catalan. many on spain's left believe that franco his legacy lives on in every aspect of spanish life from the judiciary to politics and they support the catalans right for self-determination we have a lot of outdoor retiree i know frank and so the national question is being too. in a completely new way we believe that catalonia referendum can be a democratic key and an example for all the nations that lives in it are now on the institution of this kind of state. in madrid vote people overwhelmingly

wanted catalonia to stay part of spain but on sunday the question is will it still be a case of be the last spaniard or will it be farewell catalonia tony bertie al-jazeera madrid. iraq's autonomous kurdish region is now closed to international flights the iraqi government denying access to the airspace in response to monday's vote for suspension baghdad wants the results canceled reports from a bill the last passengers to catch a plane before the closure of the airspace to international flights over to kurdish region for a. it's meant cutting short of occasion 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 as the first to close its airspace to the kurdish region a few days ago. this airport. for a period of three months only 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. to the rest of iraq by land but some drivers told us they have avoided going south because they felt unwelcome iraq's government says it's. the whole country to preserve its unity and kurdish authorities replied that they won't hand over any

border controls to baghdad. i mean. actually because. a lot of people you know. and you have a big number. right now. prime minister he said the closure of the airspace was not meant to starve. but people. don't agree he traveled from sweden to take part in the referendum. this decision is wrong. body have no right to do this just the referendum but. i want to be back again the future doesn't look good. the kurdish region is landlocked turkey iran have also closed their border crossings and many kurds are

now bracing themselves for what their leader described as collective punishment but at that. in the u.s. there's been another high profile departure from the trump administration the health secretary tom price has resigned after a scandal over his use of private jets taxpayers will have to foot the bill around four hundred thousand dollars for his trips 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 for 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 flights to various parts of the u.s. costing fifty eight thousand dollars questions are being asked about the treasury secretary steven 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 prices 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. lots more so to come here and al-jazeera including questions are raised over mexican construction standards up to last week's powerful earthquake. and we'll tell you why the u.s. is pulling out more than half of its cuban embassy staff stay with us. from the clear blue sky. to the french. in the city a few. howlers a big shout that we saw one day or so in the caucasus and moved on the part of a line of potential which showed itself just on the southern shores of the caspian in northern iran has big thunderstorms probably producing flash floods typically

sixty seventy millimeters in a couple of days they don't in the forecast anymore they might be further north in the potential for their own back in the sunshine the twenty five in baghdad if anything is warmed up a little bit forecast was forty so as q eight city up to forty three there's the wind direction is coming out of the plane that onshore breeze though which it sees of course coming lebanon is like bring it word to light ish as a start and develop in this part of the mediterranean sea you might catch them otherwise it's just pretty skies mostly blue but isn't tiring clouds in the air temperature wise in baghdad would go down a little bit but you saw what might well happen we've been hovering around the high thirty's and i have the last week still there the same is true of abu dhabi been hotter in milan asked for cloud virtually nothing in the sky there's still a possibility of getting a shower or two in yemen or the mountains of south for saudi but to be honest there's not much there in the forecast beyond sunshine. the weather sponsored by.

facing reality your president said that there would be a complete audit a hundred percent audit that audit hasn't happened getting to the heart of the matter so are you saying then the future of the g.c.c. will be in doubt. here the story. on talk to al-jazeera at this time.

welcome back a quick reminder of the top stories here on al-jazeera 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 both sides in the conflict. thousands of supporters of catalonia as vote for secession from spain are held a final rally before sunday's referendum but also occupying schools designated as polling stations to make sure the ballot goes ahead. and the u.s. health secretary tom price has quit after a scandal over his use of private jets reveal that taxpayers lap foot the bill of around four hundred thousand dollars for his trips. now the u.s. government has ordered sixty percent of its staff in cuba to leave its embassy because of what it describes as specific attacks on u.s. diplomats after embassy employees reported mysterious health problems the u.s. president says some very bad things have happened in cuba but have an eye says washington's decision to pull out some stuff has been made too quickly. we consider

the decision announced today. the u.s. government through the state department is hasty and will affect bilateral relations especially cooperation in the matters of mutual interest between both countries and the diverse exchange that takes place between cuba and the united states. i want to reiterate the willingness of cuba to continue active cooperation between officials from both countries to clarify these acts completely and for that it is essential to have the participation and involvement of u.s. authorities the embassy in havana is now expected to stop processing visas an issue on your travel warning for u.s. citizens more now from particle and. what happened here the beginning of an international mystery an american diplomat says while in bed in this hotel he heard a strong annoying hum only in that spot later he and twenty others would be diagnosed with a variety of symptoms from hearing loss to traumatic brain injuries some heard

a noise others did not it's like something out of a spy mystery the name's bone. james bond ok maybe not that sophisticated still hollywood has had its share of sonic weapons. invisible wave stuff the incredible hold. even put iron man on ice. so what hollywood thinks out of weapons can do they really do that find out we came here to the university of maryland to ask an expert they would have known if you have a sonic weapon that causes hearing loss you know you were exposed to it there is no missing doctor d.d.a. do pray says it's easy to cause hearing loss with sound if you turned on the speaker in his lab he says i would be completely deaf pretty quickly the kind of sound that i use for that. would be just a few minutes. yes from suck yes two minutes and i'm deaf or ever and want to know that but he says to make that kind of sound you would need something like this

military project he worked at called the mother of all speakers the size of a truck can hide that in a hotel room because he would be next to impossible to have those kind of sounds be directed at only a few people right we're talking about in for cells they will shake the whole building if you're inside a building he says alter sound can cause that kind of damage but there is a reason it has to be pressed up against the body it doesn't travel well so that's probably not it the bottom line sound can be a weapon but he doesn't think it is the likely culprit in cuba meaning this international mystery continues but with real world consequences. al-jazeera college park. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is in china for the second time this year as washington looks to step up the pressure on north korea and u.s. wants china to take tough action against pyongyang in response to its missile and nuclear weapons tests on thursday beijing announced at all north korean companies in china have been ordered to shut down by early twenty eight team president trumps

first official visit to china is expected to take place in november let's get more of adrian brown who joins us live from beijing adrian rex tillerson as you were saying was just in beijing six months ago so why is he back there now do we think. well daryn an awful lot has happened during the past six months tensions on the korean peninsula have now perhaps entered their most dangerous phase and rarely has the relationship between the united states and china mattered as much as it does now so i think rex tillerson comes here with a very full agenda i think it's fair to assume that north korea will be at the top of that agenda but of course he also wants to lay the groundwork for the visit here in november by president donald trump it's been confirmed by the white house the president from peru is to visit china vietnam the philippines japan and south korea during the first two months of november so there's an awful lot for both sides to

plan and i think china wants to ensure the president from his visit is not entirely overshadowed by the crisis with north korea also i think china wants to use this as an opportunity to press home to the u.s. secretary of state all that they're doing to fully implement sanctions against north korea on friday the commerce ministry confirmed that all north korean businesses in china would have to cease operations within three months that also goes for chinese north korean joint ventures and starting from october the first china is also going to be limiting the amount of oil that it pumps across the border to north korea but i think what rex tillerson wants to get is really an assurance that china will continue to fully implement sanctions against north korea and that there'll be no backsliding as they suspect there has been in the past and what sort of atmosphere do you think there are before to listeners meetings given

as you say the current tensions between china and the us of a north korea and also trade of course. well i think the chinese leaders like dealing with diplomats like rex tillerson he's very measured in his language he's quiet they quite like his muted response the way that he behaves it's a marked contrast of course to the way donald trump behaves he prefers to do diplomacy via twitter that's not something that rex tillerson resorts to so i think they feel that he's certainly a man they can do business with he's already established relations with a number of leaders just a few days ago he was hosting a chinese vice minister in washington so yes i think rex tillerson is somebody that china's leaders really feel they can deal with on a you know a more sensible level adrian thank you the russian opposition leader alexina valmy has been detained in moscow is one of

the most prominent critics of the russian president vladimir putin he's organized mass demonstrations against corruption and call for more democracy firefighters in southern california are battling a fast moving blaze that's threatening dozens of homes around nine hundred people in the path of the fire in corona have been told to leave more than forty thousand wildfires have been registered in the u.s. this year. anger is growing in mexico city in the aftermath of last week's earthquake as evidence of a lax construction standards begins to emerge more than four hundred people died and around one hundred fifty thousand buildings were damaged john holmes reports. the earthquake left martin's apartment with cracks so wide you can see through to the street he and his family have been forced to evacuate for now mixed with his anxiety for the future is anger he's building is only seven years old he says it should have emerged unscathed but for those. i feel frustrated that what we have is all gone i'm angry with the company that they didn't do what they promised but i'm

angry with the authorities who didn't check that this was built according to regulations after parts of mexico city were flattened by the one thousand nine hundred five earthquake building protocols were tightened to stop the same thing happening again but despite much stricter rules several recently built apartment blocks collapsed or were badly damaged in last week's quite residents have been asking why earthquake and construction experts get top here he's checking damaged buildings for free he says the rules do work but in practice companies can ignore them to cut costs. money plays a role sometimes a construction companies go for the cheapest options and look to lower costs to increase the profits. we are asked three construction companies all of which apartment blocks damaged in the quake for interviews but we got no answer if the head of civil protection in one of the hardest hit areas says that once building

plans were approved by authorities any deficiences are the responsibility of those companies it will be the government doesn't have the human capacity to supervise the building process and see what type of materials the building companies are using there are government agencies charged with overseeing construction but we're told some officials are easily paid despite the problems only an estimated ten to twenty percent of big. that collapsed in mexico city where new ones damage is far more prevalent in older buildings that were built before the nine thousand nine hundred five earthquake and the subsequent improvement in construction proto go and experts say that since then there has been a real marked improvement in building standards both the government and experts agree that this latest earthquake is another painful reminder that construction standards and regulations should be strengthened once again john home in. mexico city i saw says it carried out a suicide bombing that targeted

a mosque in the afghan capital kabul at least five people were killed and twenty nine wounded the attackers struck as worshippers left the shia mosque after friday prayers in central kabul. two years ago an earthquake devastated parts of nepal killing nine thousand people and since then many areas have suffered severe landslides a collapsed bridge around one hundred kilometers from katmandu has now cut off an entire region bordering china trapping thousands of people it's been assessed a report. a raging river and a trembling mountainside weakened by the two thousand and fifty three when draft started falling and march average in june they cut a lifeline for people living on the other side of this for it is the only way to markets for people living in once thriving villages on the way to the chinese border the entire area was devastated by the quake. when the vision was destroyed and his car both became stuck on the other side three months on the drive is still

precarious and the scene heartbreaking. the mountainside is scarred by landslides triggered by heavy rain last year many homes were buried here flooding also engulfed homes near the river but it was look this is both because you had your power the dam can no longer hold water this forty five megawatt hydro power plant was destroyed. and. people have nothing to do since the bit broke people had to carry everything a sack of rice with one thousand five hundred rupees it's now two thousand one hundred school at eight hundred children now there are three hundred everyone who has an option has let. this is living a town that used to collect three hundred thousand dollars a day just on customs and duties from trade with china now this is the reality at what was a major border crossing. after the quake the border closed and locals on the chinese side relocated to say gutsy

a city several hundred kilometers away this chinese town is now deserted on the path side people stayed on when we were here in early two thousand and sixteen of houses here and there was a bus stop over here many of these houses still had people living here with the hope that trade between the paul and china would start again the few who remain here now say they have lost all hope even houses built after the quake have slipped into the river the government has declared the area unlivable but locals haven't been provided new homes we were told not to venture further rocks are still falling . and rocks are the only thing people have these women who used to earn fifty dollars a day selling chinese goods are now forced to break rocks in the hope they may one day and then a living they say that at least the bridge to get a man who will be built soon perhaps then they can sell the only thing they have to

trade. out as they are living on the nepal china border the famous indian american descent has died of cancer tom alter appeared in more than three hundred movies including the oscar winning film gandhi he also acted in many t.v. series and theater productions he wrote three books and was awarded one of india's highest civilian honor as. was sixty seven the space x. found out you know must says he's developing a rocket capable of taking passengers anywhere on earth in less than an hour he's made the announcement at a space conference in australia confident the craft of the ready for launch in five years time projects part of his ambitious plan to colonize mars by the twenty six days. 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 and examine claims of human

rights violations by all sides in the conflict yemen has 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 force a session from spain have held a final rally before sunday's referendum. there are also occupying schools designated as polling stations to make sure the ballot goes ahead 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 session 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 who have to foot the bill around four hundred thousand dollars for his trips the u.s. government has ordered sixty percent of its staff in cuba to leave its embassy said to be because of specific attacks on u.s. diplomats which included the use of sonic weapons the embassy in havana is now expected to stop processing these is an issue a new travel warning for u.s. citizens of anna says the decisions been made too quickly. your sect of state rex tillerson is in china for the second time this year as washington looks to step up the pressure on north korea the u.s. wants china to take tough action against pyongyang in response to its missile and nuclear weapons tests on thursday beijing and also all north korean companies and china up in order to shut down early twenty's eighteen resident donald trump's

first official visit to china is expected to take place in november well those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after talk to us there. about. the first catalonia plans to hold an independence referendum yet the central government insists it's unconstitutional and the courts have judged it illegal as the state crime down and cattle take to the streets where will this crisis and. for the latest. you would you want. to see. thanks to the migration crisis in europe hungary's profile is higher than ever but it's controversial and e.u. court says budapest is wrongly denying asylum to mike fleeman.