donald trump will host south korea's president at the white house on may twenty second to discuss talks with kim jong un says he set a date and location that have been set now for that meeting with kim jong un but he is still keeping he still keeping the world guessing as to where we're having very subsidy to north korea and a lot of things have already have. and i think you're going to see very good. very good i think you're going to be seeing very very good. also the trip is being scheduled we now have a date and we have a location will be announcing it. and aid workers in kenya say that they've reached only a quarter of nearly fifty thousand families in need of shelter after weeks of tarantula grain the red cross says it doesn't have enough money to cover its emergency

operations and a court in the u.k. has ruled humanity human rights campaigners can go ahead with the case to stop british sells to sarge arabia the campaign against straight says u.k. weapons all being used in violation of international law in the war in yemen britain sold more than six billion dollars worth of arms to saudi since its campaign began in twenty fifteen. all those headlines the news continues here on al jazeera off the inside story of why. the u.a.e. has deployed more soldiers in yemen's remote islands of subcontract the gulf

country has been expanding its influence not just in southern yemen but across the red sea and horn of africa region so what's behind this military build up this is inside story. hello welcome to the program i'm jane dokken the flag of the united arab emirates has been raised over public buildings and yemen's remote island off so cock sure that's near somalia's northeastern coast some local say is a power grab at the expense of the internationally recognized government led by the president once a hottie and the how to government says the u.a.e. action is an act of hostility formally they are allies in the saudi led war against

the who rebels in the capital but the u.a.e. has promoted separatists in the south and the shots in large parts of that region and so cut to island will bring in i guess a member first let's go topless as this report. showing support for yemen's prime minister group in dhaka hundreds of yemenis took to the streets of supporters as the u.a.e. boost its presence in this remote on into the gulf of aden. the united arab emirates flew in soldiers along with tanks and armored vehicles the shown here setting up a security cordon having. local troops from the airport yemeni government sources of since confirmed to al jazeera that u.a.e. troops have also taken control of the main port and denied the yemeni prime minister and most of his cabinet permission to leave situated off the coast of somalia and the unesco heritage site known to many as the glad because of the indian ocean is famous for its unusual wildlife and scenery but with a three thousand meter long runway ideal for fighter jets and large military

aircraft the island is also situated between the horn of africa and yemen just be on the red sea and some of the busiest ceilings in the world what they have done here is they have found an island which is very remote from both yemen and somalia very far off the coast but it's very strategically located and it kind of acts as a quasi aircraft carrier in the main over the u.a.e. in the middle of the indian ocean where they can control traffic and obviously to control the traffic you can also give favorable access to the sea lanes to companies that are related to the u.a.e. so it's a military and geopolitical strategy which is very much linked to the economic strategy of you know united arab emirates having already invested heavily in somaliland and expanded the commercial port of beara the u.a.e. has control of the culture is seen by many is the latest move by the emirates to spread its influence well beyond its borders people have often remarked on the strategic value of sokoto or there have been speculations that. one power or

another might try to actually establish a presence on the island but. with the war in yemen entering its fourth year the u.a.e. now controls much of the south of the country with a strong presence on both sides of the entrance to the red sea and so katra place right in the middle alex go topless inside story. let's get straight to the story and bring in our guests in london via skype mohammed jemez a writer for al could. newspaper in uk said samuel romani research at oxford university and specialist on conflict in yemen in beirut bethen mccann middle east reporter for the independent and author of the first eyewitness reports on the u.a.e. in sokoto of a good to have you with us i'm going to come to you first mohammed to make considering your relationship with the government and your understanding of the way it works what do you make of the fact that the u.a.e.

and its chips on psychiatrists have refused to let government delegates including the prime minister leave the island what's going on there what sort of statement is that what i think the it goes back to the. to the relationship that the nickel to relationship between the government his government and the emirates this in the minds of what happened a few months ago in aden when there was a conflict between the soldiers and trolls related to the south and. the transitional council which is supported by the imagery the iraqis and the troops of the government supported by gov how does your government. now were yesterday and the day before we are facing the same stage of this hidden let's say . conflict between had these and between how do you and the iraqis. but it seems that. emulates want to expand their control over this island because

there is no hope of these there so that they can say we are fighting the whole of these we are supporting the government again the because the this island is in the in the south and it is in the indian ocean exactly that excuse away doesn't it. actually i'm just a country. though that are not there anyway all the troops in so-called that are yemenis loyal to the yemeni government. governed by. but from the marty's point of view i think they want this important or it's on sides in the country it is they want this in all it's it's it's in the middle like in the middle between the gulf and the country and it's the marquis's want to present themselves as a mediator between the west and the east and this island is very important

strategically for emirates ok does hold on let me just bring in samuel ramani if i may to just go back to what we saw happen in the last couple of hours most recent developments stopping this government delegation from leaving i mean do you agree that this is just part of the fallout between the u.a.e. and the had a government isn't a real statement that doesn't matter where you are or was it just easy pickings for them on a psychiatrist. i think it is a sign of a major volley average in the u.a.e. and the heavy government because the u.a.e. has lost confidence in heavies ability to restore stability and to restore a secular state d.m. and that's what his primary goal is how he is not he does it central victory over the who doesn't see it in them that was over two years ago. initially hacer lot with salai when sally died in december they cast their lot with us out the many separatists who are directly combating with abby and now as a cutter they're finding another avenue and yet another place as gigli important in

the heart of africa and in yemen to conflict against a heavy government i think the sign of the u.a.e. and saudi arabia have broadly disagreed over how the long term viability of the u.a.e. believe is not viable and the loss of legitimacy in his home region across the country whereas had he reviewed billies is the only pepin job or against iranian expansion in the country. mckernan do you see this is a statement of u.a.e. growing dominance and control in yemen and i think so i think part of the reason the culture is so fascinating is it's this mix of the both hot on soft power strategies both in yemen and in the widest sort of horn of africa region the fact that the prime minister in his attic a should happen been allowed to leave according to yemeni media reports in the last day was to read a sign from the u.a.e. that they are here to stay the unloading of heavy heavy artillery on the island for the first time again is very much flexing its muscle and showing that they have

designs which is definitely odds with the government even though on paper they are allies in the fight against these on the mainland. it's due to you that we have a lot of this knowledge of what's happening on a you've managed to find out about the u.a.e. troop buildup and possibly more about the intentions so tell us what it is that you saw from a military point of view and what do you see as their strategy that. from a military point of view there's at least one base on the island that's not new information the u.a.e. did admit in may last year what is not known is who exactly is a racing from there we know that troops are sent there for intensive first aid and battlefield training and then they go on to fights on the mainland it's not clear whether there are any specialized troops whether there are any secret black sites though the way that the u.s. has been alleged by the associated press to be operating from ever try and quite

a few places in southern yemen and it's not clear what the relationship is between the military presence on the island and the yemeni government forces on the island it did seem told us that. governments and soldiers salaries are being topped up by the u.a.e. on top of what they are from the government and. but as we've seen in the last couple of days it looks like any of the soldiers stationed there who are from the yemeni mainland think kicks out and sent home or at least that appears to be the plan of a quite a few sources who are there at the moment have told me so like i say it's not just hard power there there are no he's to fights those no indication that the island could become the front for anything violence but it's most definitely an extension of what they're doing in southern yemen and like i say the build up of the military and the fact that the commanders do walk around the town quite freely has been

a presence for some time now shows that little by little the emirates really have taken control of this place politically as well as militarily muhammad the head of government has called this an act of hostility and i'm just wondering where this leaves the governor because it's quite an extraordinary statement isn't it if you've got your own troops walking around stopping the prime minister from leaving when it comes to the question of sovereignty for. example well as you said. the relationship between the monarchies and i discover mint is not that it's all that good and. there are many concerns from had his point of view regarding the monarchies behavior in the south and then and so got to them. it seems that the martys are not happy with the movements done by. mysa been dealt out of the prime minister recently when he moved from a gun to

a collage of them oh yeah and he went to this. fall i learned. which is controlled by the amenities now so they are not a seemingly happy or these movements they want to say that any sort of movement and this sort of action on the ground must be must be taken. from the monarchies now. there are some reports today that the saudis sent a committee to see the situation there they are going to talk as the report says to the prime minister or is still there in heavy blue which is the capital of this island and they are going to talk to the monarchies that will try to reconcile and solve this problem ok sam where do you think this leaves saudi arabia they are sending a delegation to psychiatrists but alongside that you've got that relationship with

the u.a.e. which has been strained because of the u.a.e. is gaining of power in yemen the fact that the u.a.e. is supporting the southern transitional council in the south of the country i think it is the saudi arabia in quite a difficult position because saudi arabia and the u.a.e. alliance are seen as the cornerstone of their saudi towards the gulf and december if they crystallize that into a coherent doctrine so now these tensions are yemen now they've exploded saudi arabia needs to mitigate the damage and it entered. missions are all mode and he said convince the u.a.e. the act unilaterally by supporting the south humanities and then by supporting any other groups that oppose how the weather's been so hot or elsewhere in the country is just arming and emboldening the houdinis an iranian backed forces so the saudi arabians first of all want to how dialogue and. sense of unity consensus about who their real the enemy is and why they have to stay united to confront that and secondly i think that saudi arabia will for meant any kind of pro had the demonstrations they the ones we've been seeing in psychiatrist against the military

occupation the in this you hear the costs of if you're going to unilaterally inviolate human sovereignty in this way are too high and that they must cissie the course in the g.c.c. i mean this is an idea of part of a broader ideological struggle within lama than say it secular vision a mob had been solomon's vision of just continue to run sunni nationalism and this is going to try and south yemen or major theaters and then saudi arabia wants to get the upper hand in this diplomatic struggle again not let's take a closer look at the u.s. military role in yemen and north africa and we really see an interesting picture forming him i guess have touched on this and the country has bases along the southern coast of yemen the main port city of aden is dominated by u.a.e. backed separatists on the african side of the red sea it operates the a sub naval and air base in eritrea the u.a.e. is building a military base in beveren somalia's breakaway region of somaliland and buys d.p.

world has signed a thirty a deal to manage to report an agreement that has not been recognized by the somali government in mogadishu the u.a.e. is also developing the ports in puntland and other parts of somalia who self-governing status is not internationally recognized the u.a.e. is training and equipping the local maritime police force there but its relations have soured with somalia last month my goodness she despondent a u.a.e. . graham to train some of its troops soon after it sees millions of dollars from a u.a.e. plane when you look at the horn of africa and i know we've touched on it briefly and you look at the the multiple players involved not just the saudi arabia that france and china and the u.s. and cats on and increasingly turkey it's quite a warring picture. coming from this isn't it i mean you really see a build up of control and it's all about i guess access to these seaways these

ports. one hundred percent this is sort of what's more than empire building looks like in the twenty first century i guess and this is we're seeing the u.a.e. evolving into what used to be quite content a state an emirate a story of a group of nations you speak quite content to be led by saudi arabia the big brother in the region but in the aftermath of the arab spring has realized that maybe these existing structures are not as solid as they were previously and therefore is become one of the most interventionist players in the entire region what you're seeing is the buying up in the monopolizing of all of these ports along the red sea even actually as far as limits so in the eastern mediterranean all the way into the indian ocean is definitely a big game plan but a lot of these places are sort of under the radar of most news organizations and

most of most western powers the not places with significance. it's the not places where was it being forced anymore necessarily but this is why sculpture i think has become the epicenter of this strategy it's almost become a sort of crimea esque situation where both soft soft pulsar was the u.a.e. and the u.s. money is quite beguiling for support for its residents they have been long marginalized by the mainland governments and they were left to fend for themselves basically after these two huge site clones ripped across the island in two thousand and fifteen they destroyed eighty percent of the island's roads they made one third of the population homeless and hardy's government did almost nothing so we leave so the fact that the u.a.e. has come along offering health care offering to rebuild schools offering in some cases it appears that trees are getting special work visas to go up and this is a place where unemployment is rife for people who are very poor and he has

obviously suffered a lot in the last couple of years due to the conflict. these are all things that one hundred percent pulls towards the u.a.e. away from the mainland many governments. i think maybe something that gets lost in this discussion is yes this is an ideological battle between the major powers between. between the government supposedly sits and but on the grounds of treason cells are very often quite ambivalence towards the states of yemen with a modern stay as it currently exists they they feel that they've been ignored for a very long time and this is one of the major reasons the u.a.e. has been able to get a foothold here because they've offered people the things that yemen was not offering them so if you're looking at the way modern power plays out and this part of the world and it makes a lot of sense for me from an on the ground perspective definitely ok so they feel they've been ignored and you confirming that they indeed have some real money talks

if you look at what's happening. in yemen in the horn of africa and the play is that strain money at troops you've got you know a plane loads of cash that there's been stopped a u.a.e. plane in the horn of africa and i'm just wondering how this plays out as far as the blockade is concerned with cattle because cattle is also going to interest the cats on turkey versus the u.a.e. saudi arabia and other places there yeah i agree this is a very interesting complication that the u.a.e. and saudi arabia are having dissension discord over so gotcha because if you look at this program realist you bluebirds i thought it would be in their interests as the edit one of the big reasons why the u.a.e. has reacted so strongly to the planeload seizure many of ten million dollars in the diplomatic crisis is because somalia is not only aligned with turkey it was also aligned with guitar as it was given them designed to support within the arab league against the blockade so i think that ultimately this is going to be

a broader struggle between turkey and qatar and saudi arabia and the u.a.e. for going troll which. which ever since the the coup in july when he said steyn has been burgeoning over the course of this region turkey has a strong stronghold in in somalia but somaliland in ethiopia seems to be leaning towards the u.a.e. at least and said he has a foothold in djibouti i think as of now in terms i mean you know you have you know any seems to be all the ballet has that are excuse me jumping in a place or place and the as does djibouti i judy is an interesting case over here i think that china obviously has the upper hand over in djibouti just in general simply because of its control of the military base and now it's asking to build a port in march which would be if it has it would probably surpass anything the u.a.e. has in berbera and the indifference they call the still has an advantage beyond them uys probably the second most powerful factor there and the saudis have a military base there as well the u.s. having a crucial military installations that life is probably act towards a defense of the u.a.e. interests there because they both are interested in can countering terrorism in the

hell so i think that there the u.s. and the u.a.e. are probably going to be for comedy against china for supremacy in djibouti gabbie because just because of the nature of so you can dress and desire to india and china and africa in spite of the trump and iterations relatively and developed african strategy mohamed a weakened yemen obviously plays into what's happening in the horn of africa and the discourse there. when it comes to political developments between these plays the proxy wars the potential proxy wars growing proxy wars where are we this is the problem now because it. we have so many factions and them and so many parties conflict in parties and there is no way for one of these parties to win this war and at the same time there is no way any of them could think of a political solution peaceful solution. because it's again it is sort of british regional war it's difficult for the inside factions to decide because the decision

is sometimes outside. now we kind of fed back to the what the market has said about the importance of the political solution peaceful solution and how difficult it is this or if the regional powers like iran's audi's emirates and some other international powers like united states and russia could agree to a political solution in yemen it's difficult for the emmys themselves to bring back peace to their country especially when you find this war is expanding and it takes different ways and it takes a different agenda and saw many factions. in june in this war so many militias it's it's difficult to say when are you going to take the first

step towards the peaceful solution as long as there are many inside and the regional powers thinking that the military solution or military solution would be the way. the military solution being the way whether it's in yemen the horn of africa or so they enter a sense i have a bet and if i can just look at as a culture and if this plays out since a culture and how important an island this is away from its military potential as a launching pad i mean it's fragile ecosystem and what it means for the world. yes it's a very delicate coast ecosystem it's the last remnants of a subtropical subtropical forest which is about twenty million years old it's been treasured by conservationists some biologists since. modern day exploration of its species and its for and fauna began access has always been very

difficult. been under threat by human activity for at least the last six hundred years the archipelagos sort of gradually drying out which is changing the climate which is already quite are it. and there's overgrazing and lots of the really precious dragons blood trees that damage to the eye and they don't go anywhere else happen felde for making room for homes in the pasture and that kind of thing but when the as trip to connect to the islands to mainland yemen was built in one thousand nine. really spread up the effects that we were already seeing damaging the ecosystem on the island. and now that the merits of the what many people are very worried about is that there might be this large scale development for example one businessman that's my reporting partner and i came across told us that he was going to build five star hotels across the island and it currently has

very little infrastructure that would support that so the question is how on earth can something like that be achieved which could be actually a positive development for the island if it was managed properly and if it were jobs and it bore income and it bought more prosperity to its residents but there's so little known about what the long term plans are why they want to be there to be just a military base or ministry base come holiday resorts i mean it's it is it is a paradise there's no like here on earth it's definitely a sort of jewel in the emirates crown if it suddenly becomes this kind of sort of bustle. emirates i have read it we've run out of time thanks very much for that or about the growing victims of this yemen war samuel ramani bethen mckernan and muhammad as you may thank you very much for your thoughts on this you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al jazeera dot com for further discussion you can go to our facebook page at facebook dot com ford slash a.j.

inside story can also join the conversation on twitter handle is that a.j. inside story mine is at jane doesn't go to have you with us alone. once pristine indonesia's chittering river has become a toxic waste dump for textile factories that supply global fashion chains one on one east examines the human cost of the world's most polluted river on al-jazeera. cape town's water running out city or storage he said people should use no more

than fifty liters of top water per person per day. about a third of the city's residents live in informal settlements like this one any can see in about four percent of the water for generations they've already been collecting it through communal taps all sources say the city will reach day zero on the ninth of july that's when they'll turn off the water in the homes to have it be the communal types will stay on. the city's taps are fed by reservoirs this is one of the largest. because ales gallop where four years ago they would have been on the twenty five meters of water since then the province has suffered the worst drought on record and. water saving measures have already postponed day zero bice three months everyone here is hoping the winter will soon bring enough rainfall to make sure the days erode never come.