barnaby, thank you.aby just said there the pima driving in catania now were picked up 15 miles off the libyan coast and that's where the i own government says nearly all of the people who cross the mediterranean with the hopes of a better life leave from. in the libyan city we have been talking to some of those willing to make the perilous journey across the sea. >> reporter: they escaped war and poverty. traveled for weeks sometimes months to reach libya. the gateway for a better life in europe. he had nearly made it when the boat he was sailing on was intercepted by the libyan coast guards. it was on the same day another one carrying 400 migrants capsized. >> they caught me and put me in container. and i come here. i don't know this place. [ inaudible ] they will help us, to live us free. >> reporter: mohamed was on the same journey he escapes sierra leone after both his parents died of ebola last year. >> we are orphans. we don't have anybody. anybody care for us. that's why this gives us hope. we don

barnaby phillips, life in catania, the southern island of sicily. all the nice words barnaby dealing with the situation you and others are seeing there firsthand. >> surely it is a dramatic situation on the mediterranean sea, david. we're expecting before night fall here in catania that some 28 survivors will be brought ashore. the dramatic sinking perhaps as many as 900 were on board 700 different accounts. italian prime minister mateo renzi, giving an account one was a dinghy, 100 to 150 on board, and another account 300 to 350 on board. we don't know what happened to those ships. here is what mr. renzi had to say. about >> what we are witnessing these hours in the mediterranean is much more than a ship wrep, we shipwreck but a grave humanitarian crisis, which needs to be addressed and therefore requires a solid response from the entire international community. >> barnaby, is it near to impossible to catch the traffickers themselves? are they merely getting these people into the libyan coast putting them in a boat, saying off you go, and do nothin

first let's go to barnaby phillips who joins us live from catania. barnaby. another day and another incident in the mediterranean. tell us about these two vessels that are in danger. >> what we've heard is from the prime minister renzi. there were two boats. the first with 100 to 150 people on board. the second boat is throughout to have perhaps as many as 300 people on board. the italian coast guard have not reached these vessels yet. and so we're awaiting further details. but it's a very fluid situation and throughout this tragedy i suppose, which has been unfolding in recent days. we've learned that we do have to treat numbers with skepticism, and details coming gradually you have. >> barnaby, are we learning more about the tragedy of two days ago and that boat carrying as many as 700 people, ears saying 950 people, do we know what happened? >> we don't know any more than the few details we've had so far, which depend essentially on the account of one survivor, a man, who we believe is from bangladesh. his account was absolutely horrific talking about hund

barnaby phillips reports from cattania. >> the fellow shows no signs of slowing down. you can see the customs boat. 220 migrants from sub-saharan av ki disembarked. they were picked up off the most. almost all men, a handful of women, some pregnant amongst them. this is the context where european leaders will gather, looking at ways to expand operation triton that works in the waters to give it more ships and aerial surveillance. they'll be looking at contentious issues of whether refugees should be resettled around europe. that's contentious politically for countries, sensitive. and a proposal - this is from a leaked draft, of whether they should undertake systematic efforts to capture and destroy vessel before they are used by traffickers. if you talk about destroying them you'll destroy them at source that means going to libyan ports. who knows, using military force. that will be interesting to see how bold european leaders are in that regard. >>> al jazeera's laurence lee joins us from brussels where the meeting is taking place. we know the italian prime minister s

we will leave it there for now barnabie phillips in sicily. mohamed morrissey has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. he was the country's first democratically elected president, but was brought down in a military coupe in 2013. his verdict is the first that he has received since he was ousted he still though face as number of other trials. >> mohamed. >> mohamed morrissey escaped the death penalty he has been sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole, the for what the prosecution says was his role arrest in the arrests of protestors at the presidential palace in 2012. >> he can still appeal this conviction but he also faces several other charges inclouding an attempt out of prison break in 2011 where some prison officers were killed a verdict on this is expectedfection month. in connection with the brotherhood economic and social program he also charged with insulting the judiciary were also sentenced to 20 years. it was a long road to egyptian democracy, in 2011, he was quicked out of office during a revolution agai

. >> barnaby phillips, barnaby, so many deaths yet so many are trying to make that crossing.hat's happening now? >> reporter: well, on the dock in catania we're waiting for some 28 survivors of sunday morning's tragedy. ma that was when you will recall there was those horrific report of a ship overturning with perhaps as many as 900 people on board. an eyewitness spoke of many hundreds of people having been locked into the decks in the lower part of the ship and they presumably would have died a horrible death. 28 people did 75. they will arrive in catania at some time overnight. >> now being discussed at the very highest levels, but to be frank europe has been accused of having ignored the problem for too long. >> yes they are being accused of having ignored the problem but also, there are some pretty awkward political constraints on european leaders. one has to remember that this is within the context of heightened concern and even hostility towards immigrants across the european continent. and we see that, we saw it in the finnish election over the weekend, in the united k

al jazeera's correspondent barnaby phillips. behind you an italian vessel bringing the latest batch of immigrants and refugees. >> yes, that's right, a handful of women and men, four pregnant women. we have a few details. they were picked up off the libyan coast. one group on a crowded dingy the other on a more secure vessel. they have been brought back to catania, and all of them have disembarked in a processing center away to my right. you can't see it. they'll be loaded off on buses and taken to various camps around sicily later during the day. camps which are full to overflowing, so this is the context in which european leaders are meting and the -- meting and the reason why here calling the summit. this is a daly occurrence. -- daly occurrence. >>> that is barnaby phillips live at catania, and sicily one of the southern most points in italy. in morta, a southern european country, a funeral service is being held in the capital for some of the people killed when a boat capsized off the coast of italy on sunday. the multiface

barnaby phillips has the latest now from catania, that's on the southern italian island of sicily. >>orter: and still they keep on coming no matter how dangerous the journey. 446 people their wooden boat leaking. all they can do is appeal for help in the seas. they were lucky, an italian fishing boat found them just in time. in sicily meanwhile, the authorities are helping the few frightened men who survived the sinking of an overcrowded boat off of the libyan coast on early sunday morning. >> we have now interviewed most of the survivors of the boat tragedy in the mediterranean. according to them the boat departed from tripoli in libya on saturday morning. it had some 850 people on board. many were children. among those on board were some 350 eritreans, as well as people from syria, somalia, sierra leone, mali and ethiopia. >>> italian prosecutors say this man was the captain of the boat. he has been taken into custody, charged with reckless homicide and causing a shipwreck. another suspected member of the crew has also been arrested. he is on the right, from libya, accused of assist

let's go there on barnaby phillips. bring us up-to-date on the latest of what has happened today. inning coast guarda apparently still pick up hundreds of people. >> reporter: you can probably see the last handful of migrants getting ready to business embark. 220 all from africa. almost all men. the aid organization said there were four pregnant well on board. 220 picked up overnight off the libyan coast and brought are brought back to catania. it's a daily occurrence and there is no sign of any ebb if you like, to this tide of migrants prepared to fake enormous risks in crossing the made train vinnie, 90% of the departures coming from libya but also some from countries like egypt and the italian coast guard the italian navy, is working day and night to cope with the consequences of this. >> and the italian prime minister says he needs more help from the even u. to eu to deal with the cites us s like there on get that help from the e.u. meets in brussels later today? >> reporter: he's likely to get some help. this is this is all across the news. and politicians feel under pressure

barnaby phillips joins us live. tell us the purpose of ban ki-moon's visit. >> well, i think he wants to show solidarity. he wants to commiserate and show moral support of the families of the victims. he wants specific policy talks with the head of e.u. foreign policy and with matteo renzi the italian prime minister. before leaving new york, ban ki-moon left new york making interesting remarks. i would imagine there will be an interesting meeting of minds as to just how europe aims to solve this refugee crisis in a humane way. now i've been in sicily for eight days now and almost every single day i've watched desperate people coming ashore, brought onshore by italian navy ships having been picked up by sea. what i've learned just because they manage to reach italy that by no means means their problems much suffering is over. >> the first steps in europe. hundreds of african migrants disembark from the italian navy ship. all is efficient on the dock side. men and women are divide: first aid when needed and clothing f

barnaby phillips reports. >> mohamed ali malik from tunisia says he was only a passenger on the boat. other survivors say he was the boat's captain. but even if guilty he will surely only be a small cog in the huge business of taking desperate people across the mediterranean. we traveled to syracuse, they are bored frustrate planning their next move. we spoke to julia who works for a charity inside. she is from syracuse, never imagined she would be an aid worker in her home town. >> people dying in the sea is very -- we cannot stand it. it's crazy. i mean, people should have the right to move, to ask for asylum and so what, it is not possible to die just because they need to escape from war or poverty. >> i met sara and saud from eritrea. she arrived this week after eight days at sea. they paid about 3,000 u.s. dollars each to the smugglers. >> not bad just trying to make business. i think it's very big business to take from one person $3,000. >> you don't feel angry at them. they're just doing business. >> no, they don't force you to go it's their business. >> they didn't mistreat yo

barnaby phillips, al jazeera. catania in sicily. >> more breaking news reaching us on the situation of yemen. senior houthi leaders say that there has been a political deal to end the conflict has almost been reached. that comes after the news earlier that they would end the bombing campaign against houthies in 40 minutes from now. it has been suspected there was a deal in the offering, and a political deal to enthe conflict in yemen has almost been reached. we'll bring you an update on that as soon as we get more details. in the meantime, egypt deposing mohamed morsi has been sensed to 20 years in prison. he was the country's first democratically elected president, but was toppleed in 2013. he still faces several more trials. >> mohamed morsi escaped the death penalty. he was sentenced to 20 years in prison without possibility of parole for what prosecution says for his role in the protesters in front of the presidential palace. three protesters were killed. he he can still appeal this sentence 6 but he still fac

barnaby phillips in the civilian port of augusta. we apologize for the break up of the sound but we understand exactly what he was trying to get over. >>> russian bikers are headed towards germany heading to the potential clash on the polish border. driving the red army the forces of nazi germany back to berlin. they aim to reach the can you remember german capital may 9th, but they say they'll stop the riders at the border. they're worried about the riders from the nationalist night wolves group in the convoy. >>> in the next hour we'll see the election of the togo president. 300million voters are choosing between five candidates. elections will be over the next ten days. the electronic system was abandoned over fears of over its reliability. let's hear now from the capital. >> this is the polling station where the main opposition candidate cast his vote earlier. the whole place went while as they inspect the different polling stations after they cast votes. the incumbent is going for a third term in office. and this debate whether

barnaby phillips, from cattleania, southern port of sicily even as we speak 24 hours a day these migrants are trying to get out of their countries, most of them from libya and the rescue operations are never ending. >> reporter: never ending david, that's right. the italian prime minister mateo renzi spoke today of two more ships being in distress off the libyan coast. one he believed had perhaps 100 150 people on board. another had some 300 people on board. we know the italian coast guard were heading towards those ships, those boats but we haven't heard anything since. in the meantime, the aftermath from that tragic event from saturday night sunday morning is still being played out. bodies were taken to the island of malta some 20 bodies and then there are the survivors only believed to be 28 of them and they will arrive here on catania, on the dock behind me during some stage during the night in sicily. >> barnaby, we talked about how invisible the people may be, but one specific option put forward by eu, go to the country in africa you've met these sort of people that want to get out.

barnabie phillips joins us live now on the italian island of sicily.nce just now talking about the idea of bloating up boats how practical would that be and what are people telling you about that whole area of destroying the boats themselves. >> there does have to be a finite supply of boats and we have seep some implications that smuggling gangs are worried about this. we have seen them defending their boats with weapons against the italian coast guard, so that's an end case that they want to hang on them. so we have also been speaking to groups that say they notice signs for instance that many of the boats that have been crossing over in recent weeks are increasingly rickety really pulled together with string and tape as it were. compares to the boats that may have been use fire department previous yearses. gone, that is a discussion that there are only so many decent boats that they can use in libya. however, on the draft proposal that the european union leaders were looking at, they were talking about destroying these and that's a bold initiative,

barnaby phillips is live in athens. is there any doubt the money will not be paid. >> i don't think there is. as we were coming on air we heard reports that greece has made the payment. so one little hurdle overcome by athens today, but many many obstacles in the weeks to come. a series of repayments that have to be made throughout late april/may. to the i.m.f. and the european central bank. and bigger repayments in the summer. and a feeling in athens that the greek government is living a hand to mouth existence, scraping together the money week to week worrying how to pay pensions and salaries how to pay creditors, and still no substantial agreement with european partners that would release further bailout funds that the country desperately needs. >> it seemed when alexis tsipras came to power, that things would be different once he came on to the job. it seems as though he is hampered in this with the e.u. well i think it's fair to say that there's an increasingly sour atmosphere between greece and other european coun

barnaby phillips reports from the resort city. >> reporter: the tentative first steps in europe after painful days at sea. hundreds of african migrants disembark from the italian navy ship. all is efficient on the dockside. men and women divided, first aid for those that need it and clothing for the cold. first impressions are deceptive. within days most of these new arrivals will be effectively left to fend for themselves. the reception centers are full. the government and aid organizations overwhelmed by shear numbers. the migrants who come to sicily rely on support networks from friends and family from people who might come from their hometown or village. those that don't have the contacts find themselves in a very vulnerable situation very quickly. like 18-year-old karama from guinea. he came back boat two weeks ago. he has no friends or money or phone and no idea as to what he'll do next. he's sleeping in the mosque. he asked for his face to be hidden. >> translator: my dream is to stay in this country, study, learn the italian language go to school, speak with the italians and h

al jazeera's barnaby phillips has the latest from catania on the southern island of sicily. >> and still they keep on coming no matter how dangerous the journey. 446 people, their wooden boat leaking. all they can do is appeal for help in the sea south of ca labria. they were lucky an italian fishing boat found them just in time. in sicily the authorities are helping the few frightened men who survived the sinking of an overcrowded boat off the libyan coast in the early hours of sunday morning. the initial stories of the scale of that disaster have turned out to be horribly accurate. >> they have now interviewed most of the survivors in the mediterranean according to them the boat departed from tripoli and libya on saturday morning and it had some 850 people on board. many of these were children among those on board were some 350 air transas well as people from syria somalia sir are a leone, gambian ivory coast and ethiopia. >> they say this man a tunisian was the captain of the boat. he's been taken into custody charged with reckless homicide and causing a shipwreck. another suspected m

barnaby phillips is live for us in athens. they got their first payment out of the way but there is much more hardship for greece to come isn't there? >> yes. it does appear that the greek government is living an increasingly hand to mouth existence, scraping money together when it needs it to repay to the i.m.f., to repay interest to the central bank and to pay pensions and salaries here at home. the outlook is not clear. there is still serious agreement between greece and the european union and grease's various creditors. until those are resolved, greece will not get its hands on $7 billion worth of money it is excited to under the existing old bailout agreement. >> has the climate really changed at this point between greece and its creditors because we were led to believe at least alexis tsipras promised the greek people things would be different this time around, but it does seem as if there is much more difficult times ahead for people there. >> there's now a lot of distrust between greece and its creditors. a lot of mutu

barnaby phillips.l jazeera athens. >> in london you can take a look at cctv pictures that is thought to be a robbery. they went back and forward in the city's diamond district over a four. die periodthe police did not respond to the call when the alarm went off off. >>> now to sport hamilton getting back on track in change high. >>> and in space with go-pro cameras. >> lee is here with the sport. >> it's going to be very interesting. in a few moment time the 21-year-old texan has broken the record for the lowest round in history. thespieth is about to go out in the final pairing. so hoffman fires shots behind him. they're toluol in contention and just getting their rounds under way. we have two very interesting rounds under way. >>> malaysian star lee chong wei has been facing a panel testing positive for a banned substance at last year's world championships while he was world number one. malaysia has never won a gold medal, and their hopes of changing that next year will be severely affected. >> it's

barnaby phillips, al jazeera augusta sicily. >> coming up next a closer look at the extreme repressive conditions drive eritreans to join them. >> and in neighboring ethiopia, outrage over the murders of nearly 30 ethiopian christians in libya. >> the united nations says 350 of the passengers on the boat that capsized off the libyan coast this weekend were from the african nation of eritrea most are thought oto have drown. >> in tonight's in context segment, roxana saberi reports. >> the u.n. says more than 3,000 eritreans have fled to southern italy this year, making them the second largest migrant group after syrians. butful die before they make it. >> directly affected by the tragedies, eritrea has been robbed of its youth and its bright young people. >> reporter: many eritreans leave to avoid doing military service or work for the government at low pay indefinitely. abdel made it to a migrant camp in france after deserting the country's army. he said he served eight years. >> like to be a normal man to have the family, to have a norm life here. that's why i'm out from there. >> rep

. >> barnaby phillips in catania you italy. in malta, a service for two dozen killed in the shipwreck off the italy. 800 migrants from north africa died when the boat capsized. >> we are learning about a boat that capsized off the libyan coast. 315 of the passengers were from eritrea. most thought to have drowned when a ship went down. this report on why a growing number escaped their homeland hoping to find freedom and opportunity. >> the u.n. says more than 3,000 eritreans fled this year making them the second largest migrant groups to land there after syrians. many others died before they make it. >> condolences to those focted by the tragediment eritrea has been robbed of its youth and bright young people. >> reporter: many eritreans leave to avoid doing military service or work for the government at low pay indefinitely. they made it to a migrant camp in france after deserting the army and said he served eight years. >> >> reporter: human rights advocates list other reasons, including a lack of jobs and a repressive govern

barnaby phillips, al jazeera sicily. >> tough words from angelina jolie. ballasted the security council for failing to end the four-year-old civil war. diplomatic editor james bays has the story. >> every single month the situation is getting worse it's believed 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict. the u.n. says 7.6 million syrians have been displaced. this month they decided to talk about all of this in an open session to try and get the world to take notice. just listen to the words of the u.n. humanitarian coordinator valerie aix amos. >> the government continues to kill maim rape and take syria to new lows that seemed unimaginable years ago. people become numb, to numbers that should shock us into action. >> sitting next to ms. amos, including the special envoy of u.n. hcr who maps to be actress angelina jolie. >> torture starvation, the targeting of schools and hospitals. but these crimes are happening every day in juniors. the security council has powers to address these threats to international peace and security. but those powers lie un

first, let's go to barnaby phillips in the italian city of catania. tell us what has been happening there. >> well shortly after dawn a custom ship arrived packed with about migrants picked up off the libyan coast, in two incidents. thankfully we are not hearing of fatalities i watched the migrants disembark in the port. the vast majority were young men. there were a handful of women amongst them, including pregnant women, there's no indication, in other words, that the flow of humanity will stop. quite the opposite. if what happiness in 2015 is consistent with the friend of previous years, we'd expect the flow to increase as summer approaches, as the weather gets warmer and seas calmer. >> barnaby phillips reporting live from catania where the migrants kee coming. laurence lee -- keep coming. laurence lee joins us from bruce 'ems where there's the -- brussels, where there's the summit of e.u. leaders. what are we hearing that is likely to come out of the summit. >> in fact there was a protest earlier this morning, africans and white europeans carryin

let's get the latest from barnaby phillips who is in the italian port city of catania in sicily.l us about this latest rescue. >> reporter: thank you. the latest rescue was to the southeast of where we are in sicily, off of the italian mainland. what is happening is what many people had feared had predicted. in the mediterranean, the weather is getting better the seas are getting calmer and so the pace of migration is speeding up. i have got this report on all of today's latest developments. and still they keep on coming no matter how dangerous the journey. 446 people their wooden boat leaking. all they can do is appeal for help in the seas. they were lucky an italian fishing boat found them just in time. in sicily meanwhile, the authorities are helping the new frightened men who survived the sinking of an overcrowded boat off of the libyan coast in the early hours of sunday morning. the initial stories of the scale of that disaster have turned out to be horribly accurate. >> we have now interviewed most of the survivors of the boat tragedy in the mediterranean. according to them

barnaby phillips there, and now crossing to laurence lee in brussels. the italian prime minister says he needs more help from the e.u. to deal with the crisis. is he likely to get that help when the council meets in brussels where you are? >> i think there's going to be some movement. depends what you think the measure of success is really. after all there's any number of migrants and refugees in the united nations, and people like this that things an appropriate response for the crisis will be for rich countries to give shelter and refuge to thousands fleeing persecution and war. it looks very much as if the very opposite of that is likely to happen. the logic seems to run like this. the european union was doing search and rescue, they decided to abandon that, because refugees were coming to europe in the knowledge that they would we rescued. they stopped search and rescue thinking that would stop people. that has not happened. instead, it seems that they'd reinforce the push to make it difficult for people to get on the boats. and the headlines that y

barnaby phillips reports from athens. >> it's the most important religions holiday inreligious holiday in greece. they celebrate the miraculous body of christ. easter means are roast lamb, the intestines the special parts but habits have changed over years. >> nowadays, people buy no more than they need. they used to buy so much meat they couldn't eat all of it. waste is bad for people and for our planet. >> reporter: at the port of pireaus, it's a scramble. easter means an exodus to athens. as people rush home to their home towns or their islands to be with their families. for those who have stayed in the capital, there are free lessons in ceramics. this week, they make easter eggs and reflect on how the crisis has changed the economy. >> translator: there are certainly cases of people who can't afford what they need, the lamb and the other food. it's a difficult situation for everyone but it also creates unity. we hope each other and we hope like christ, our economy will resurrect. >> it is time of the year when people head to cemeteries to be close to dead relatives. faith and econo

barnaby phillips reports from sicily. >> is this the face of a trader in human misery? >> what a court in catania must decide. mohammed alimala said he was only a passenger on the overcrowded boat that capsized with the loss of hundreds of lives. other survivors say he was the boat's captain. even if guilty he will surely only be a small cog in the huge business of taking desperate people across the mediterranean. we traveled to syrakuse. there are migrants in the public squares, in the bus station, board, frustrated planning their next move. we were not allowed into this reception center but we spoke to julia who works for a charity inside, from syracuse and never imagined she would be an aide worker in her hometown. >> people dying in the sea. we cannot stand it. it's crazy. people should have the right to ask for asylum. it's not possible to die just because they need to escape from war or poverty. >> sara and serud from areatrea a micro biologist who dreams of getting a ph.d. in europe. she arrived this week after eight days at sea. they paid about $3,000 u.s. dolla

barnaby phillips reports. >> mohamed ali malik from tunisian yah says he was only a passenger, other survivors say he was the boat's captain. but even if guilty he would surely only be a small cog in the huge business of taking desperate people across the mediterranean. we traveled osyracuse to syracuse, bored frustrateplanning their next move. we were not allowed into this reception center but we spoke to julia who works for a charity inside. she's from syracuse and never imagined she would be an aid worker in her home town. >> people dying in the sea is they -- we cannot stand it. it's crazy. i mean people should have the right to move to ask for asylum. it's not possible to die just because of the need to escape from war or poverty. >> i immediate sara and saod from eritrea. they asked us not to show their faces. sar ahsara is a microbiologist who dreams of making her way to europe. >> i think it's very big business to take from a person $3,000. >> you don't think it's a bad business -- >> no, they are just doing. >> did not mistreat you on the boat? >> to no no. >> tried to cobbl

barnabie phillips has more now, that's in italy. >> the most recent instant off the italian coast came shortly after dawn on tuesday. off the italian mainland, to the southeast of here, more than 400 people rescued from a leaking wooden boat, really helpless out of the high seas they were very lucky that a fishing toller came across them just in time, and than the italian coast guard were able to rescue the people onboard. more than 150 women and children there we understand, meanwhile, there have been charges made against the captain of the overcrowded boat which sank in the that terrible disasner the early hours of sunday morning off the coast, in which we now believe according to the united nations more than 800 people drowned. most of the survivors are being brought to italy but they face a most uncertain future. lawrence lee has that part of the story. >> given how politically difficult the crisis has become the site of young women showering ships with flowers is a display of basic humanity is more than a little moving. the captain and his deputy were arrested for people trafficki

barnaby phillips has the latest from the capitol, athens. >> reporter: so the greek government has cobbledr the money to make this latest payment back to the imf, but there is the impression it is living an increasingly hand to mouth existence. scaping together the payments when it needs them and of course struggling to raise the money to pay pensions and salaries to civil servants in this country. there has been marked irritation in some european capitols that the greeks have come out in support of the russians. alexis alexis tsipras arguing that the agreement was productive. and greece demanding that germany pay reparations back to greece because of the nazi occupation during the second world war, an issue that germany feels was resolved many years ago. this leaves greece is a very uncertain position the essential problem being that what the european union is demanding of the government is incompatible with the promises they made to the people when it was elected. >>> a group calling it's a cyber caliphate is thought to be behind a recent hacking. >> reporter: in television a black scree

. >> now that's barnabie phillips. most of the survivors are being proud to italy. >> given how politically the difficult the crisis in the mediterranean has become, desight of young italian women showering ships with flowers is more than a little moving. these are the survivors of the disaster claims 700 lives or shore brought ashore. the captain and the deputy were arrested for people trafficking. the main thing though, is to look after those who got this far. >> there were very tired and very traumatized of course one of them was taken to the hospital and the other received medical attention. they had new clothes proud into them, and some food before being transferred. >> the day by day new stories arrive. these are pictures from the lan coast guard flying over a leaking boat, containing another 450 or so. they were all rescued. including some 59 children. >> it isn't only italy on the southern coast of spain, 44 were rescued after floating over from morocco life or death in these situations looks like a matter of c

barnaby phillips al jazeera sicily. >> our correspondent said that this update from outside of the courthere the two men charged being in control of that vessel which sank so tragically appeared. >> it's an important case this one. not just because of the disaster that it's related to the loss of almost 800 lives estimated last weekend, the biggest single loss of life in this whole migrant crisis. but also because of the message it sends out. the italian authorities are determined to prosecute traffickers whenever they are arrested. but the challenges that are entailed in that are clear from this proceedings. it was supposed to be just preliminary proceedings. we expected it to take just a couple of hours. but the prosecution chose to call ten witnesses. by the end of the day after ten hours of proceedings we really only completed one witness evidence. they were really going through it in that level of detail. there is interpretation that has to be done both for questions that are being posed to the witness, and also to the translating the witnesses answers back to the judge. then of cou

barnaby phillips follows developments from athens. >> reporter: greece will owe bunny it the imf if weeks to come. it's living a hand to mouth existence. scraping together money to pay pensions and salaries to civil servants. it needs a lasting agreement with other european partners. that looks difficult because of the suspicion that has grown up over the previous weeks between the administration and other governments. we saw irritation across europe over alexis tsipras going to moscow, and saying there that greece did not support the e.u. sanctions against russia over its alleged military involvement in the ukraine. i don't think it went down at all. there has been a disagreement between greece and germany with greece saying that germany owed it money for reparations in return for the nazi operation dating back to the 1940s. all is making it difficult for the greek government and the european union to finalise an agreement >>> the french television network is trying to restore its service after a cyber attack. a group calling itself cyber caliphate is thought to be behind the hacking. >>

barnabie phillips al jazeera. >> and still to come on the program. >> the east of australia is hit by the biggest storm in a decade. just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business. >> weeknights on al jazeera america. >> join me as we bring you an in-depth look at the most important issues of the day. breaking it down. getting you the facts. it's the only place you'll find... the inside story. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". weeknights, 11:30 eastern. on al jazeera america. ♪ ♪ hello again welcome pack. the saudi led coalition says it is ending it's bombing campaign against houthis fighters. the saudi military says it has achieved it's objectives of destroying all he

barnaby phillips has more from catania. >> reporter: some 40 people were rescued this morning in thearly hours of the morning to the southeast of sicily. they were on a wooden fishing boat. it was leaking badly. and they were helpless and they were very very lucky that an italian fishing troller found them just in time and then they were rescued by the coast guard, and we believe they will be taken ashore during the day. of course here in the mediterranean, summer is approaching, the weather is getting warmer the sea is getting calmer and so people in italy but also in countries like spain and in greece are bracing themselves for more arrivals and sadly, the possibility of more disasters in the weeks and months to come. the captain is a tunisian man, and he has been charged with multiple manslaughter. what the italian prosecutors say is that there was a collision between a portuguese ship which you may recall went to rescue this over crowded boat that was coming from tripoli, and that during that collision, the -- the boat sank. according to people on board, there were many hundreds

barnaby phillips, al jazeera, italy. >> e.u.'s prime ministers have come together to call for the stop of migrants trafficking. matteo renzi wants the e.u. to be more human in the handling of the crisis. >> when a person is ready to put his life at risk because he needs to get out from a situation where he could be beheaded you cannot discourage the depastures with a sample statement you do it by taking action in the countries and keeping ourselves even more human avoiding demagoguery as the oppositions are doing. >> paul brennan is in catania. he has more on what e.u. leaders are expected to discuss on thursday. >> the deaths in the mediterranean, according to one u.n. official, have been down to monumental need of compassion. there was a ten. point plan put together monday by the foreign ministers that the leaders will now consider. we've seen a draft communique, which has been leaked, which seems to flesh out some of those ten points. they include, for example, at least doubling the current amount of resources which has been p

barnaby phillips has more now from athens. >> reporter: the greek government has cobbled together the money to make this latest payment. but there is the impression that it is living increasingly hand to mouth existence. scaping together funds to make payments and also struggling to raise the money to pay pensions and salaries to civil servants in this country. there has been a marked deterioration between reggy shuns between the greek government and the creditors. irritation in some european capitols that the greeks have come out in support of the russians. tsipras in russia yesterday arguing that sanctions against russia were not productive. and then there is this acrimonious dispute between greece and germany. greece demanding that germany pay reparations back to greece because of the nazi occupation during the second world war, an issue the germans feel was resolved many years ago. this leaves greece in a very uncertain position. the essential problem being that what the european union is demanding of the government is incompatible with the promises that the government made to its

barnaby phillips was there. >>reporter: these are the latest arrivals in the great movement of people across the mediterranean. they set off from egypt and not libya. the navy rescued them from the sea and brought them here. families from syria wondering what will come next. the italian authorities do their best to save lives but they do not welcome these arrivals. so they've made it. hundreds of young men and many women and some very young children. they risked everything to come to europe and yet the government here in italy and governments right across europe are desperate to stop this kind of migration. aid organizations assess their health and try to find out whether all these children have traveled with their parents or are alone. >> there are many children arriving. many unaccompanied children as well. i even met an 11-year-old boy a couple of weeks ago. it was just unbelievable. >>reporter: then they're led away to a reception center. i caught a quick word with one boy from darfur in the sudan. >> i'm lo

barnaby phillips joins us live from sicily. you have been talking to some of those people who had to make that decision. do you think the idea of a military intervention could work? and would it put people off trying to make the journey in some other way? >> reporter: they could work to some extent lauren because obviously there is a finite supply of boats. and the european leaders see that as the achilles heel. but it does raise other ethical problems. if you talk to human rights groups here in southern italy, or aid groups involved in helping migrants they say hold on there are tens maybe hundreds of thousands of africans on the north african coast and libya in particular who are having a very very difficult time and who are looking to escape. and they cannot escape if that root is taken away from them. if there are no boats available. so there's a clear contrast in interests if you would like or clash in interest between humanitarian groups and european governments around this issue. i should give you a tiny bit of news that

believed to have died in boats trying to reach europe and some are in the port city of katania where barnabies is. >> reporter: after days at sea hundreds of migrants disembark from the italian ship and all is sufficient on the dock side men, women, divided and first aid for those who need it and clothing for the cold and first impressions are deceptive and within days most of the new arrival arrivals will be effectively left to fend for themselves reception centers are full and government and aid organization overwhelmed by sheer numbers. the migrants who come to sicily rely on support networks from friends and family and people from their hometown or village and those who do not have those contacts can find themselves in a very vulnerable situation, very quickly. like 18-year-old from guinea and he came by boat two weeks ago, he has no friends no money, no phone and no idea as to what he will do next. he is sleeping in the mosque. he asked for his face to be hidden. >> translator: my dream is to stay in this country, study learn the italian language go to school speak with the italians and

barnaby phillips reports now from the sicilian port city of catania. >> reporter: the tentative firsteurope after cramped and painful days at sea. hundreds of african migrants disembark from an italian navy ship. all is efficient on the dock side. men, women divided. first aid for those who need it. and clothing for the cold. but first impressions are deceptive. within days, most of these new arrivals will be effectively left to fend for themselves. the reception centers are full, the government and aid organizations overwhelmed by here is numbers. the migrants who come to sicily rely on support networks from friends and family. from people who might come from their hometown orville i think. and it's those who don't have those contacts who can find themselves in a very vulnerable situation very quickly. like this 18-year-old from guinea. he came came by boat for weeks ago, he has no friends no money, no phone and no idea as to what he will do next. he is sleeping in the mosque. he asked for his face to be hidden. >> my dream is to stay in this country, study learn the italian language

reach europe and some of those who make it end up in the sicily port city of katania from where barnabieips reports. >> reporter: the steps in europe after cramped and painful days at sea and hundreds disembark from an italian navy ship, all the efficient on the dock side men, women divided and first aid for those who need it and clothing for the cold but first impressions are deceptive. within days most of these new arrival also be effectively left to fend for themselves the reception centers are full the government and aid organizations overwhelmed by sheer numbers. the migrants who come to sicily rely on support networks from friends and family from people who might come from their hometown or village and it's those who don't have those contacts who can find themselves in a very vulnerable situation very quickly. like 18-year-old from guinea and he came by boat two weeks ago. he has no friends, no money, no phone, and no idea as to what he will do next. he is sleeping in the mosque. he asked for his face to be hidden hidden. >> translator: my dream is to stay in this country, study, l

barnaby phillips has more from catania. >> is this the face of a trader in human misery?that's what a court in catania must decide. he said he was only a passenger on the overcrowded boat that capsized with the loss of hundreds of lives. other survivors say he was the boat's captain. but even if guilty he would surely be only a small cog in the big business of taking people across the mediterranean. there are migrants in the public squares, in the bus stations. bored, frustrated planning their next move. we were not allowed into the reception center, but we spoke with julia who works with a charity inside. she is from syracuse and never thought she would be an aid worker in her hometown. >> it's crazy. people sh have the right to ask for asylum. why it's not possible, to die just because they need to escape from war poverty. >> i met sara and saoud. they asked us not to show their faces. sara dreams of getting a ph.d in europe. she arrived this week after eight days at sea. they paid $3000 u.s. each to the smugglers. >> it's a very big decision. >> so you don't feel angry

barnaby phillips has this report. >> reporter: these are the latest arrivals in the great movement ofeople across the mediterranean. they set off from egypt libya they're brought here to the port of augusta. italian authorities do their best to save lives but they do not welcome these arrivals. and so they've made it, hundreds of young men but as you can see now many women and some very young children, they risked everything to come to europe. yet the government here in italy and governments right across europe are desperate to stop this kind of migration. >> they try to finds out where all these children have traveled with their parents railroad orr if they're alone. >> many are arriveing. >> it is unbelievable. >> then they're led away to a reception center. i caught a quick word from yaha from sudan. >> i'm looking for a safe place to live. because our country is so dangerous, and there is--there is a war. >> in catania i met two young africans who maids that journey across the mediterranean one year ago. nino from senegal and wack from gambia. they found support at a charity their

barnaby phillips reports from catania. >> reporter: the tentative first steps in europe after cramped and painful days at sea. hundreds of african migrant disembark. all is efficient on the dockside. men and women divided. first aid, clothing for the cold. first impressions are deceptive. within days most of these new arrivals will be left to fend for themselves. the reception centers are full. government and aid organizations overwhelmed by sheer numbers. the migrants that come to sicily rely on support from friends, family or people from their own village. it's those that don't have the contacts that find themselves in a vulnerable situation quickly. this 18-year-old came by boat two weeks ago. he has no friends, money or phone, and no idea as to what to do next. he's sleeping in the catania mosque. he asked for his face to be hidden. >> my dream is to stay in this country, study, learn the language have the right documents, send money home to my parents. some nights 10 turn up, some nights it's 200. >> translation: the problem is enormous. italy has done its part it's not capable o

barnaby phillips has more from theski key side in the ses sillian port of algusta. >> these are some of the more than 300 african migrants, many from somalia who have been coming off of the italian naviship. the come and can't here in the port just before nightfall. they were picked up in the mediterranean in three separate incidents t i have to say they looked very tired and exhausted to me. many of them have been walking with some difficulty. when they come off of the boat they get some sort of instant medical assessment there, and then, it's a sit-down in rows here in the doc. most of them are men, but there is probably at least 30 or 40 women amongst them, and i have seen one little girl. now, the aid organization save the children has told us that they have had a very harrowing journey, that many of them were held in a detention camp in libya for several days and that a number of children died in that camp just before they embarked for europe. well now they have arrived. they are taking their first steps on european soil but this is by no means the end. many of them want to leav

barnaby phillips, al jazeera athens. >> locals have another way of celebrating easter. this is two churches launching hundreds of rockets at each other in a mock war. >> the near korean marathon, next. >> south african national parks have stepped up protecting local plants and world's oldest sea plant is a south after collectors item. one plant can fetch up to $10,000 on the black market. we have more. >> in the days the dinosaurs roamed the earth this is what the landscape might have looked like filled with palm like plants that were once the dominant vegetation. it has been around 300 million years, but several species have disappeared and others are about to follow suit because of the actions of humans in the last few decades. >> they've survived several times in the world when 70% of things went extinct but there's a chance they will go extinct because of our activities and mainly through collecting. >> two thirds of all the species are threat thatted making them the most endangered organisms on the planet. they are being approached to supply wealthy private collect