City of ibb after being held for months. After this band will become the first to perform in north korea. Hello there, welcome to the program. We start with breaking news out of china. Theres been a huge explosion in the northern port city. Hundreds of people have been injured. The Chinese State webcast say it occurred in an shipment of explosives. Showing a serious of major explosions that was soon followed after a shockwave that rippled throughout the city. We spoke to an american living in tianjin. I had my window open, and i heard a rush of air followed by a much larger rush of air that felt like a some wave. I looked outside and saw the smoke. This is a development area. Mostly factories and banks that are packed pretty close together. So the area where the factsry is near a bunch of malls and a very large concentration of apartment towers. Because in that area there are pharmaceutical factories, initially we thought it was one of those from what i can tell my friends who are chinese who have been talking to me saying that it was probably a chemical disposal site, but its the state media saying its an explosive shipment, i wouldnt doubt that. Well have more on that story later. U. N. General secretary ban kimoon has accepted the resignation of the leader of the u. N. Peacekeeping troops, i the Rights Groups say they have interviewed 15 witnesses of the alleged victims. Every allegation must be thoroughly investigated. As you know i have appointed a high level external independent panel to look more closely into reports of Sexual Exploitation and abuse in the Central African republic and our systemic response. I believe a disturbing allegations weve seen in many countries, in particular the Central African republic in the period before u. N. Peace keepers since will take action now. Enough is enough. Ive taken resignation of the special representative head of the United Nations multi dimensional integrated stabilization in the Central African republic. Well, im joined now by a senior Crisis Response by amnesty international. A very warm welcome to the studio. What do you make of what ban kimoon made today . It was a dramatic speech. It seemed heartfelt. And the action of the u. N. Mission was dramatic if not unprecedented move. This willingness to take Decisive Action is something that we welcome, and it shows that there will be continuing efforts to institute the kind of reforms that are needed. We heard some commentary since ban can i move made that moving speech. Its responsibility. The u. N. Has known about this both in the republic where there have been a receivers of serious allegations in use of peace keepers and other parts of the world. This has been decades of promises of action, of reports, of small steps being taken. We hope that this could be a moment where they take Decisive Action and one of the important and heartening developments is the secretary general has created an independent external review panel that will be making recommendations for reform. Is one of the changes that people would like to see is some, if you like, control when these things happen, and there is an end game so if there is an accusation and it was found to be true there was some punishment. Yes, absolutely. One of the problems is in terms of accountability even if the u. N. Investigates promptly and effectively that were calling for in this case is the troop contributing country that had the onus to prosecute. Theyre less interested in prosecuting crimes that occur far away. And theres not so much public pressure. So there is a structural problem there. The first steps needed is for the u. N. Itself to increase these issues and put pressure on these troop contributing countries. If this is an ongoing problem, is there anything going on along the way where we say what is and isnt allowed . Accountability is one side of this. The steps were seeing today are steps towards ca towards accountability. The other is preparation and training and thats where they need a more aggressive, assertive approach. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Houthi rebels are strengthening defenses in the yemen capital of sanaa after suffering more loses. Theyre now in a strategi strategically important city of ibb. Pro government fight necessary the city of taiz. Their aim is to capture yemens Third Largest city. But during that time may take time. Houthi fighters are Still Holding their grounds backed by the elite republican guard, an army unit loyal to the deposed president. This isnt just about liberating areas im told about the houthis. Its about creating a new yemen where people can be free. Fighters are also besieging the city of ibb. A crucial supply route by Government Troops and the push to retake the capital of sanaa. Troops in marib are supported by the Saudiled Coalition from across the border. Approaches one from marib and one from the south, but they managed to take ibb completely. They face resistence in dhamar. And the other approach to dhamar is from bayda, where there is heavy fighting. The introduction of tanks and trained yemeni, i think in the whole of taiz and ibb, sanaa will be surround thats the game of the coalition. They want to surround sanaa, and especially the troops coming from marib. Fighting also broke out on the outskirts of sanaa where fighters loyal to expired president hadi are on the move. They will repeal houthi fighters. Talks to find a solution brokered by yemens neighbor is on the way. So far the United Nations has not been able to help negotiate a ceasefire in the war which has already claimed hundreds of lives. These efforts because of the huge differences between yemens warring factions. In the meantime, fighting continues raising fears of more casualties and more suffering and shortages for millions of yemenis. Al jazeera. A Phil Mickelson has avoided giving exact details on what was discussed that described the change of views despite the diplomatic push there has been no let up in the fighting itself. Its been another bloody day in syria. The rebel stronghold was targeted by government airstrikes. Many people were killed and injured. The military regularly attacks these regions, but the latest was in retaliation for an assault on the government seat of power. Casualties were caused by the falling rockets and mortars. This barrage was intense and lasted two hours. Some say this is against the arrival of the leader of iran, who was to arrive hours later. There would be talks with arab gulf leaders who are worried about irans growing leadership in the region. We want to extend a hand of friendship, were ready for joint action to combat extremism, terrorism and sectarianism. There are a few details about irans peace proposal. Iranian media has reported the plan would involve a ceasefire, the formation of an unity government. Amending the constitution and Holding Elections under international supervision. The main probable to the opposition is president bashar alassad. Still the pending issue today is the president bashar alassad. Why . These iranian initiatives is faced with what we call saudi condition. The number one saudi condition is that no deal is to bethere is no place for assad in any possible solution inside syria. Saudi arabia made that position clear after its foreign minister met his russian counterpart in moscow. There is a push for a diplomatic resolution to the syrian conflict. It is led by iran and russia. The International Community does agree on the need to find an agreement, but forming the basis of negotiation is proving to be difficult. There are many players in this conflict with diverging interests. Some opposition leaders believe iran and russia are pushing for a deal because the Syrian Government is facing military and economic pressures. But assad factors are not showing any signed of compromise, at least not until they secure their strategic goals. Still to come here on al jazeera. How a rise in Sexual Violence has left the women in south sudan too afraid to go to work. We investigate the people smugglers who smuggle people from france in to the u. K. Get excited for the 1989 world tour with exclusive behind the scenes footage, all of taylor swifts music videos, interviews, and more. Xfinity is the destination for all things taylor swift. Welcome back. The top stories on al jazeera. There has been a major explosion in the chinese town of tianjin. The cause of the blast is still unknown. Secretary general ban kimoon has forced the resignation of a head of c. A. R. Peacekeeping troops to resign. At least six people have been killed in a suspected boko haram attack. Groups inside sudan say Sexual Violence against women have increased there since the civil war began two years ago with repeated offenses and counter offenses that led to cycle of attacks and rapes that were motivated. Each day the displaced women walk into the bush to collect firewood. Theyll spend the day trying to collect enough to sell. Some say theyre returning beaten and raped. They pointed a gun at us and told us to drop the firewood and follow them. This woman well call mary to protect her identity say that she and a group of women were gang raped by south sudanese soldiers at gunpoint. After they do a bad deed and they leave you like that youre almost as good as dead. Youre useless. All that is left is that they shoot us. These women are faced with a choice, trying to earn money when food is scarce or staying inside this camp where theyre protected by u. N. Peace keepers. It has helped thousands of women in bentui who have been victims of Sexual Violence. They say theyve been beaten and raped by soldiers who viewed them as sympathetic to opposition fighters. The government launched a campaign to encourage more women to report rape and seek treatment. But people say that the government is using rape as a weapon of war, an accusation that the government denies. You will hear things that will shock you. They want to say the truth. Mary now worries that shes contracted a disease. She said shes too terrified to return to the bush. Other women we spoke to said that theyre afraid of being attacked, too, but theyre still collecting firewood in order to survive. The italian navy has rescued a boat full of migrants off the coast of libya. Reports say that 50 people were found on board the rubber dinghy, 50 others are feared missing. 252 other migrants have arrived after being rescued by Doctors Without Borders and migrant offshore aid stations. There have been scuffles in a spanish town. They through objects at police and disrupted Train Service by placing rocks on the tracks. Refugees say theyre using people smugglers to get in to the u. K. Was they cant get there legally. It is causing a major problem for authorities in both france and england. Weve been speaking to some of the refugees. The british media in government have a new front line in their battle with refugees and its here, not in calais but down the coast. The cars belong to smugglers who for a fee will help those. They say the west owes them for the problems in their homelands. They are responsible for what happened to their people, so now they have to let them live here in europe because we have no choices. Doctors of the world are here handing out blankets and tents in a system that forces the vulnerable to pay people who have been known to harm them. A met a young afghan man with a bandaged forearm. There was an enormous gash on his forearm. He said he was pulled off the truck by an albanian smuggler and attacked. It has to stop. This camp has been around for years, as have the smugglers. No sign of the police and conditions are desperate. Everyone said that they wanted to get to the u. K. Legally, but they have no choice but to break the law. They were all from the middle east. Clawing at the one meal a day that local volunteers could offer. Its hardly surprising they want to get out of here. Immigration is not a new thing. Its just people are profiting from it. We were demanded to stop filming the car. They decided that paying is a better option than risking the railway car in calais. Do have to ask yourself exactly what choices do refugees have . The reason why theyre backed up some 40 kilometers. We were told there was nothing new in what was happening. And they were the perfect vehicle for the European Union and the communities at once and it avoids any discussion. Laurence lee al jazeera, northern france. U. S. President ial hopeful has beehillary clinton has handed over server for her emails. She has been accused of side stepping Record Keeping laws, a fact she denies. There is so much confusion around this that i understand why reporters and the public are asking questions, but the facts are pretty clear. I did not send nor receive anything that was classified at the time. Global prices for nickel, copper have hit sixyears lows as china revalued its currency for the second day. Following intervention by the chinese central bank. Chinas economy is slowing, and it has been accused of manipulating Exchange Rates to make exports cheaper. 40 people are missing in china. Emergency workers say 15 dor 15 dormitories have been covered. Kr akow is known for its architecture and its pollution that is making people sick finance. There are plenty of reasons to visit krakwo in the sunshine with centuries of history. But when the weather turns cold the air fills with a thick toxic smog. It stinks. Its dirty. The smog goes down to the streets. Everything gets dirty. Everything gets gray. Household chimneys billow out toxic fel filth. Air pollutions are four times the World Health Organization safe limit. My nose started bleeding one morning. It bled for over 20 hours. Until the doctors stopped it. My doctor is laughing at me when im coming in with problems. He keeps saying move out of town. But who would want to leave this elegant Medieval City sparkling in the sunshine, a magnate for tourists. It was once polands royal capital. It is now the third most polluted city in the European Union. Outside of the summer months its calving wheezing residents complain of being prisoners in their own home. The Campaign Group called the krawkow smog aliving room warn residents that they face the equivalent of 205 cigarettes a year. They have responded with mitigation efforts but progress is slow. All of our efforts are going to teach to people, and we do everything we can to convince tourists, that theyre safe in krakow. This couple discovered their fouryearold son was getting sick. Because he had a skin disease, it appeared only when in krakaw. It would disappear when out of the city. The disease started to disappear. It is because of the city. They left for the capital warsaw with no plans to return. Jonah hull, al jazeera, krakow. Lets return to our main story. The explosion in china. What other details do we have at this stage . We do apologize. Im sorry that she was not able to join us there. But hopefully well bring you more details. What i can tell you there has been a major explosion in tianjin. There was a series of explosions with lots of footage circulating on social media at the moment. Hundreds of people have been injured. One eyewitness said that all of the hospitals where this happened are full of people and some are having to tram travel an hour away for treatment. There was a massive shockwave emmating from that externa from that explosion. They think that that explosion happened because of a shipment of explosives. You can see that this is showing explosions. Residents nearby reported shockwaves and the shattering of windows. We dont have confirmation yet about what exactly caused the explosion, but we do know that several people have been injured, and no reports so far on fatalities, but it is, as you can see a major blast followed by a series of smaller ones. Thats the shockwave described to us by our eyewitness who said that literally a shockwave rips through where they were. Now thats our top story and the web page as we get more information well be updating the web page. And in our later programs we promise to bring you more on that, and of course, further analysis. Take a look at our website. Well be back with further news following the rest of the evening. Well be back in just a second with the round up of the headlines. For three hundred years the most powerful countries on earth grew richer and stronger on the profits of the slave trade. More than 12 million men, women and children were forcibly transported from africa to the plantations and colonies of north and south america. Today slavery is illegal in every country on the planet. Yet slavery didnt die in the 19th century. It is alive, thriving and bigger than ever