gerald tan, al jazeera. >> the protests in iraq calling for better public services.er over power cuts has been growing for days as the country swelters in summer temperatures as high as 50 degrees celsius. organizers are prompting bigger demonstrations on friday in government fails to find a solution. >> mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. 30 have fled vera cruz. the latest was espinosa. on friday he was found dead in mexico city. john holman has the story. >> even in death, photo journalist espinosa takes his camera with him. just as he did in vera cruz where he was threatened and erin had and in mexico city where he fled to. >> you it's hard to do journalism or even live in vera cruz. anyone who criticizes the bad government. i had to leave because of the violence all journalists experience there. while i have been here they have killed the 13th journalist in the state. >> reporter: he became the 14th when he was tortured and shot in a mexico city apartment along with four other people on friday. fell on 0 journal youists gat

gerald tan has the story. >> reporter: a family reaches safety. this one-year-old girl was taken on to a rescue boat where medical teams are standing by. the trauma is etched on her face. she was among hundreds of migrants packed on a fishing boat which had capsized. it issued a distress call less than 30 kilometers off the libyan coast. rescuers from the italian coast guard, the irish navy and medical charity doctors without borders, arrived to see the striken boat overturned. they rushed to one side of the boat causing it to capsize. what followed was a furious search and rescue operation. helicopters and ships joined in. they have saved hundreds of people and also recovered many bodies. it's unclear exactly how many people were on board the overloaded boat. but it is clear what drove their decision to get on. >> what's important is to understand that there are no other roots for these people to take to flee from the conflicts from the violence they are fleeing from. it's 60% of the people making this treacherous journey across the mediterranean

gerald tan has our report. >> once a playground, these streets are now a battleground. for the children of yemen, many have been forced to grow up quickly. >> my sisters and i get so frightened when we hear the bullets. we're afraid we'll die. >> i'm frightened when i hear warplanes. i can't sleep. i'm afraid that the war will expand, a and i'll lose friends in this war. >> the statistics support their fears. on average three children are killed in the battles every day, five more are wounded, and many are maimed for life. >> these deaths are unnecessary. the vast majority of people in yemen have nothing to do with this. they won't have anything to do with that. they want to go about their lives, educate their children, see their children grow up. they're suffering unnecessarily. >> it's not just about direct attacks. even before the conflict, access to food and water in this improve relinquished country was difficult. that situation is far more dire now. [ baby crying ] >> children who don't have enough to eat are turning up in hospitals. nearly 2 million expected to s

gerald tan has the details. >>> it was last month at the funeral of egypt's public prosecutor who wassinated that the president made a stern promise. >> translator: the hands of justice are chained bylaws, we will not wait, we will change laws in order for us to implement law and justice as soon as possible. >> reporter: that promise has now turned into a piece of legislation that broadly defines the public order as terrorism and punishes them accordingly, those guilty of forming or leading a group and considers a terrorist entity punishable by death or life in prison. financing these groups also carries a life sentence which is 25 years in egypt. the law grants protection to the military and police to use force acting in the name of the law while journalists can be fined for contradicting the official version of any attack. some egyptians are concerned. >> the law here is a system that is not protecting the citizenry but rather protecting the states so this is becoming indicative of a larger pattern of consolidation of power in the executive and not a check on not only his power but

gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: going on the offensive.ion fighters in syria target the positions of president i assad's forces in dh try a. they attack a building and show al jazerra crew the identification cards of soldiers they say they have overpowered. daraya city has been a constant battle ground since 2011. it has changed hands several times but rebels are eager to control the city because of its proximity to one of the government's biggest center. >> daraya is adjacent to the airport and i think it shows the rebelrebels continued ability tt in to damascus even if t even ie core of damascus and upset the rah jeep's base of power. >> reporter: in response of tuesday's attack, the regime military dropped rebel barrel bombs on the city. but facing immense pressure, the army is has estimated to be half in size because of seth and deflection following the accidents the president relently acknowledged the lack of manpower but insist he will win the civil war that has already killed more than 230,000 people and driven millions more from th

gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: going on the offensive.ion fighters in syria target the positions of president assad's forces on the outskirts of du damascus. they a take building and show an al jazerra crew the identification cards of soldiers they say they have overpowered. the city has been a constant battle ground since the syrian war began in the spring of 2011. it has changed hands several times but rebels are eager to control the territory. because of its proximate immaterial tifproximity to oneot military command centers. >> it's adjacent to the airport and i think it shows the rebel s continued ability to hit in to damascus, everybody in to the core of damascus and upset the regime's base of power. >> reporter: in response to tuesday's attack. the regime military dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held city. but the syrian army is facing immense pressure. once around 300,000 strong, it's now estimated to have halved in size because of deaths and defections. the precedents recent -- -- the president recently acknowledged the loss of man

gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: going on the offensive.ion fighters in syria target the positions of president assad's forces on the outskirts of damascus. they attack a building and show an al jazeera crew the identification cards of soldiers say they have overpowered. the city has been a constant battle ground since the syrian war began in the spring of 2011. it's changed hands several times, but rebels are eager to control the territory, because of its proximity to one of the government's biggest military command centers. >> it's adjacent to the airport, and it shows the rebels continued ability to hit into damascus, even the core of damascus and upset the regime's base of power. >> reporter: in response to tuesday east attack, the regime military dropped barrel.comes on the city. but once around 300,000 strong it is now estimated to have halved in size because of deaths and defections. the president recently acknowledged this lack of manpower, but he insists he will win the civil war that has already killed more than 230,000 people and

gerald tan, al jazeera. >>> iraq's former president could be put on trial over the mosul, iraq city takeni.s.i.l. in june last year. and senior army officers could face court marshal after parliament voted to refer a report to the public prosecutor. number of people displaced by the people in iraq is now more than three million and the humanitarian crisis threatening to claim yet another casualty children's education and we report from baghdad. >> reporter: in a climate that makes concentrating near impossible and handbooks don't distract from the heat, these internally displaced iraqi students are doing their best to learn. >> translator: we used to live in our own neighborhoods and it was like heaven. we used to go to clean schools and these schools would have proper roofs but now we are studying here. >> reporter: while the boys here worry the world has forsaken them, they are determined not to give up on their education. according to unicef there are approximately 850,000 internally displaced school-aged children here in iraq, of that number 650,000 have missed at last a year worth of

gerald tan has the latest. >> reporter: on patrol, forces combing through yemen's biggest military beast. fighters loyal to president abd-rabbu mansour hadi retook the strategic base this week. they are calling it a significant blow to the houthi rebels, and those fighting for the former president ali abdullah saleh. we are cleared out the area. fighters are in control and they are pushing back the fighters. >> the victory coincided with new military hardware from the saudi-led coalition. an intense campaign destroyed the watch tour and aircraft. >> translation: we are now in the air base, as you see, the situation is good. the most important thing is that we now have the airport. >> securing it has given the popular resistance control of roads linking provinces. they are crucially the base on the road to tiaz. the next site for the coalition. battles have turned many neighbourhoods into rubble. with the support of air strikes, they are trying to take back the third-largest city. they want to build on recent gains that swept them from aden, both honoured and they hope tiaz will be next >

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> last-minute donations amounting to $17 million have helped to stop the closure of the united nations' schools to palestinian refugees across the middle east. u.n. workers have faced several sit-ins in a refugee camp, protesting the plans to delay the start of the academic year. the u.n. said it did not have enough money to keep cools open in jordan, syria, lebanon, the occupied west bank, and gaza, but last minute donations will mean that schools will start on time. >>> ththe defense team wants an immediate release on the grounds that his health has deteriorated. israel alleges that he's affiliated with islamic jihad. >>> at least ten kurdish fighters have been killed in an attack in syria. a bomb attacked the headquarters. they have had some of the most successful fighting isil, which has seen contro--which has seized control in large parts of iraq. >>> a man, 82-year-old, was abducted in may when the isil fighters captured the 2,000-year-old world heritage site. >> for half a century assad was a guard of the ancient ruins. it's here that the 82-year-old academ

gerald tan has the report for us >>> at the heart of the tourism industry, the town is not used to such tight security. the military is taking no chances after a hostage crisis unfolded here for 24 hours. the hotel bears the scars of that siege. gunmen retreat to the hotel, after attacking a camp. government troops fought gun battles before finally storming the building. four u.n. workers from freed. others who were taken hostage were killed in the operation, along with a number of soldiers. no group has admitted responsibility so far. the attack appears to be part of a new wave of violence targetting security forces and u.n. personnel. mallee has been fighting separatist rebels and groups believed to be linked with al qaeda, since june the government has been implementing a peace deal, struck with some armed groups that many across the country are yet to feel the affects. >> despite the signing of the piece agreement, we are afrait. there are attacks everywhere, and it can happen tomorrow. >> neither the public nor army is safe from the repeated attacks. they happen every day. we think

gerald tan has the details. >> going on the offensive. opposition fighters in syria target the positions of president bashar al-assad's forces on the outskirts of damascus. >> they attacked a building, showing a crew the identifies carts of soldiers, they say they have overpowered. the city has been a constant battle ground since the war in the spring of 2011. it's changed hands several times. but rebels are eager to control the territory because of its proximity to one of the government's biggest military command centers. it's adjacent to the airport. it shows an ability to hit into damascus, the core of damascus, and set the regime's basic power power. >> reporter: in response to the attack. barrel bombs from dropped on the city. the syrian army was facing pressure. around 300,000 strong, it's estimated to have halved in size because of deaths and affections. the president acknowledged the lack of manpower, insisting that he'll win the civil war that's killed 230,000 people. and driven millions more from their homes. >>> turkey tightene

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> for more on this story we're joined by gabriel at the united nations.s report telling what we really already know that the young and the innocent are suffering the most from this war in yemen. i expect we'll hear on that from the humanitarian chief who is expected to speak shortly. >> reporter: that's right. steven o'brien will be briefing the u.n. security council momentarily within the next few minutes we expect. we just spent several days on the ground in yemen, where we got a better sense of the humanitarian crisis that is really engulfing that country right now. we'll be listening to what he has to say. we heard briefly from o'brien briefly while he was still in the country. he reported back that the situation was desperate. he said especially aden was devastated after three months of intense violence. 200,000 people in aden forced to flee their homes, and 800,000 in aden -- almost the entire population -- in need of some sort of humanitarian assistance. o'brien is also expected to address the real problems -- >> gabe, let me jump in there, sorry t

to launch drone strikes against al-qaeda targets in yemen and gerald tan reports. >> reporter: a majorffensive and victory and pro-government forces recapture the biggest military base in yemen and advance with tanks and military vehicles providing air cover. backed by loyalists hadi faced resistance from houthi rebels with the former president saleh and resulted in multiple casualties on both sides. >> translator: the take over of the base will tightness and cut supply lies to the provinces and control of the base is a great victory for the resistance and a big defeat for the malitia and saleh forces. >> reporter: spread over 40 kilometers it houses a military airport, a war college and arms deposition poe and previously used by forces as intelligence hub and attacks on al-qaeda and yemen and rebels have been in control of the strategic base since march. >> for the first time since the saudi-led military operation began you see the houthis on the defensive rather than offensive and there is a widespread belief that the tide is turning even if the end to the war is no where in sight. >

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> joining us from washington is yemeni political analyst a foal with the center for strategic studies. good to have you with us as always. i know you still have family in yemen, you can't have been too surprised about this report. how bad are things in yemen and are they getting worse? >> i mean that report said it all. the statistics are horrifying and we really have to salute the aid workers that are daring to go into yemen now and trying to help the people. the biggest problem is the lack of electricity and lack of humanitarian aid reaching people in conflict areas. it is turning ugly every day. yemen is now facing a huge divide, culturally speaking, because the war is turning into a regional civil war meaning that people from the north are turning against people in the south. the people in the south are turning against people in the north. and then there are more divisions, more than the north-south divide. >> right. >> and it's turning into a racist battle and so society now is fragmenting and dividing from within and yemen's government tends to be in out. >

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> well, earlier the humanitarian chief briefed the council of yemen. gabriel elizondo joins me now. it was a moving testimony given by stephen o'brien describing the scale in yemen in terms of meeting people's need and gaining access to the country. >> that's right. it was a very gloomy picture that stephen o'brien painted. he just got back from yemen. visited several cities over several days. his message to the security council was one that the humanitarian crisis in yemen is getting worse not better. he painted a very dark picture of the situation there. let me give a couple of numbers. these are really shocking. he reported to the security council there are 1.5 million internally displaced people in yemen. he said more than 1,000 children have been killed or injured in the conflict. and out of the 26 million yemenis, that's the population, 4 out of every 5 are now in need of some sort of humanitarian aid. o'brien visited several hospitals while he was there, and he gave anecdotes about what he saw. the lights were flickering in one hospital because

gerald tan, al jazeera. >>> at least 10 have been killed in a syrian attack.r in a car targeted the kurdish security headquarters there. isil has ceased control of large parts of syria and iraq. >>> isil has always killed an archeologist in palmyra. more from neave barker. >> reporter: for half a country this man was a guardian of the ancient roman ruins. it's here with the 82 year old was believed to have been beheaded by the isil. he oversaw years of research at the international site. >> he was so much involved in part of the city and culture and history and ark -- arc olg of that place. >> reporter: fighting between syrian rebels and government forces peppered the ancient buildings with bullet holes. and then after capturing the site from government forces, isil arrived. he stayed in palmyra to help evacuate the museum's invaluable contents but was taken hostage. isil has destroyed hundreds of historical sites. sledge hammers and power drills have been used to ruin priceless artifacts. some fragments of human history have been smuggled out, but it's not kn

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> well, not so long ago yemen was considered a safe haven for people fleeing conflict in other countries. 230,000 somali regions are registered with the u.n. in yemen. having escaped one war, they find themselves stuck in another. >> a somali refugee in yemen. she's staying in this school in the district of the southern port city of aden along with many others displaced by the fighting. she escaped from civil war in somalia many years ago, and finds herself once again caught up in another conflict. >> i have been living in aden for 25 years. it's hard to leave it. now i have children, and life and death is in god's hands. no one escapes death, whether in somalia or here. >> some of the people living here are displaced yemenis. coming here when their home was damaged. and ther they say they're worried about not having a place to stay because the authorities want them to leave the school. >> every day the authorities come to remind us about the deadline to leave on augus august 20th. august 20th. we left because of the tragedy of the war. >> they have tens of th

gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: plucked from the mediterranean, a family reaches safety. this 1-year-old girl is taken on to a rescue boat, where medical teams are standing by. she's alive, but the trauma of the experience is etched on her face. she was among hundreds of migrants packed on to a fishing boat that capsized. the vessel began its trip when it issued a distress call 30km from the libyan coast. rescuers from the irish navy and doctors without borders, arrived on the scene only to see the stricken boat overturn. many migrants in the grags to be rescued rushed to one side of the boat causing it to capsize. what followed was a search and rescue operation. helicopters and merchant ships joined in. hundreds were saved, and many bodies were recovered. it's unclear how many were on board the boat. aid workers say it is clear what drove their decision to get on. >> what is important is to understand there are no other routes for the people to take, to flee from the conflicts. the violence that they are fleeing from. over 6% of the people were making the treacherous jou