Government has accused southern separatists of an attempted coup after they took over its headquarters in fierce clashes in the city of aden at least ten people have been killed in the main airport will shut down now the group wants control of yemens Southern Region which was an independent country until one thousand nine hundred ninety the civil war has already torn the country apart after who the rebels seized control of the capital sanaa in two thousand and fourteen president are these government was forced to move to aden in the south adding to that tension the United Arab Emirates is arming the separatist fighters despite being part of the Saudi Led Coalition thats helping president how the battle the who these are some a binge of id report its. The. Yemens Prime Minister says secessionists have staged a coup in the southern port city of aden. Thats where the government had been based for the last few years there are reports of several people being killed in fighting between progovernment forces and separatists. This mobile phone footage appears to show people arriving in the city thousands of protesters have been gathering against the internationally recognized and saudi backed government the demonstrators are backed by the United Arab Emirates just supposed to be saudi arabias ally in yemen. Who. Is not necessarily in that situation. So you have very important country in yemen. You are now you were you are not creating new territory. And your if you. Will. Know that you have its own you have your own lives. And normal youre really a country and i think we didnt want to based on current situation. The conflict in todays yemen is complicated the country used to be divided with the north and south yemen until unification in one nine hundred ninety but the difference is never really went away since the fight the duties began in two thousand and fifteen the secessionists have fought for control over here in seaports of aden last week Southern Forces led by the man appointed by president of the rebel months who hired me as the governor of aden and i was to overthrow hardys government and i dont need general rules to be rejected the deployment of northern forces to the south there have been calls since last sunday so its been about a week for people to go down to the streets to protest and. Transitional council has been calling on had the head of government to dissolve and for a new government to be appointed and they are calling for independence as well as weve seen on the ground the crashes are continuing and the situation is developing very quickly now the future of president hadi is in question he has been based in saudi arabia along with this Prime Minister had been better who struggled to control southern yemen despite support from saudi arabia. Womens elected government was pushed out of the capital sanaa in the north and now it doesnt seem to have a place in the south as well as some of the jarvey the others there. Turkey says its taking control of a key mountain in Northern Syria as it steps up its offensive against kurdish fighters in the a free region these pictures a show Turkish BackedSyrian Rebels all mounted to syria turkey has accused the kurdish wife p. G. Forces of using the mountain to fire shells across the border into the turkish town of keys. Meanwhile elsewhere in syria eight people including a child have been killed in the damascus suburb of eastern huta thats the spider suppose at ceasefire there are reports of heavy fighting shelling and the air raids in the area overnight. Russian Opposition Leader has been arrested along with dozens of people at antigovernment rallies across the country that rally was the tane while attending a demonstration in moscow a protest was in response to being barred from standing in the president ial election in march. Well those are the headlines coming up its part two of our special series on the history and modern politics of the river nile struggle over the nile is next. The nihil. The worlds longest river. A seven thousand kilometers a lifeline for almost four hundred Million People. Flowing north the nile runs through ten countries from the highlands in the heart of africa the shores of the mediterranean sea. A source of sustenance but also one of tension even potential conflict. These tensions between countries along the river nile have their roots in the Nineteenth Century. Colonial decisions of the past. Are a point of bitter dispute today. And new political realities on the ground are increasing the sense of uncertainty over who owns the river nile. In september two thousand and five a team of explorers set off on a unique journey up the nile river. Like you say. The not to be can the longest running journey in the world. Led by new Zealand Adventure of. The team aimed at being the First Expedition to travel up the nile to its furthest source. The first stage of the trek through egypt and. Proved a breeze. But then the explorers encountered the sued the Worlds Largest swamp. And found. Some swamp area at one thousand kilometers long and three hundred kilometers wide is now helos east my jury he just did live and water its incredible. The sued means obstacles in arabic and it has proved just that a labyrinth of waterways that has hindered expeditions. Macleans team managed to navigate their way out of the swamp. Off to ninety days of travel overcoming tremendous obstacles they eventually arrived in rwanda. At a tiny spring which they determined to be the southernmost source of the nile. Is. Today but clay is settled in uganda where he runs a Whitewater Rafting business in the city of. Jinja here on the nile when youve done your life and its good. That im. Just a few kilometers away from the clays business stands this list a monument to a past mile adventurer john manning speak. Speak was a british explorer who arrived here almost one hundred fifty years earlier eighteen sixty two he came in search of the answer to an age old question where is the source of the nile. The Royal Geographical Society in london was established in eighteen thirty. It houses the maps navigation tools and personal belongings of famous explorers from the Nineteenth Century. Men who were in the grip of a romantic obsession to discover the source of the nile. For europeans the exploration of the mile is probably the biggest goal drives their enterprise in one thousand century because its seen as the largest the most important river and also because there is this long heritage or History Associated with it. Rather than trying to cross the so area in southern sudan explorers in the mid one thousand nine hundred. Another passage via the island of zanzibar. During the Nineteenth Century zanzibar was an arab kingdom controlling the trade route from india into africas interior. And these arab traders facilitate european exploration its the year of this the arab traders for example who began first to report that there are great lakes or a great like in the interior of east africa. Based on this information the Royal Geographical Society sponsored expeditions into the heart of africa. In eight hundred fifty seven using zanzibar as a starting point john hanning speak cross to east africa and ventured into the hinterland where he found a huge lake he believed to be the source of the nile. Three years later on a new expedition he travelled around this lake today known as Lake Victoria to discover the nile flowing out from its northern side and. A roll call of famous explorers ventured into the continents interior to build on speaks discovery. Men such as samuel baker David Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley helped complete the picture about the true source of the nile. Back home they were lauded as heroes with monuments built on of them but others saw them differently it was mistakenly called to discover that you know most of the books in the plus they use it speak to discover the night as if you was a fust you might have been through the night when actually. He was a fussy european to see this as of the night but a bit to discover it because he was even so and this is also denied by the africans yet. The Royal Geographical Society helped push the boundaries of exploration and empire. But this age of exploration is seen by many as a precursor of colonize a ship. Most of that is most of these people were explorers but Intelligence Services in their own countries made use of their experiences for them that. They were not only british but also belgians and french. Theyve served the people and the situation in these areas if. They then pass this information on for colonize ation and as it has. Armed with greater information the age of exploration began the scramble for africa. The continent was up for grabs. To divide the spoils european nations convened at the berlin conference in eight hundred eighty four where they sliced up the african continent into spears of influence. Britain had formally occupied egypt two years earlier in eight hundred eighty two to control the suez canal the strategic route to india the jewel in the crown of the british empire. In berlin it was decided the nile basin region would fall under british rule. When the british to control you to night it did to their very soon realized that they had become rudeness of a society that a totally depend upon the nile so they understood from the very beginning that the Common Development of political stability to depend upon my control. To assert control upstream the british established what it called the east africa protectorate in one thousand nine hundred five comprising what is today kenya and uganda. The next step was sudan a territory ruled by egypt since eight hundred twenty. With their domination in egypt the british persuaded the egyptians to sign an agreement in january eighty ninety nine for joining rule of a sedan. In reality joint rule was a fig leaf for british command. Here in the president ial palace in khartoum to this day a museum houses portrayed of former governors of sudan. The paintings are testament to a time of british dominion. In our world in fact the british master the art of ruling sudan they completely sidelined the egyptians or is it your whole being gillies the governor general was british the commander of the army was british and so were all the high ranking officials in the administration. Controlling the Great Lakes Region source of the white nile the british next turn their attention to ensuring hedge of money over the blue nile the rivers of a source originating in the ethiopian highlands. In may nineteen zero two the british signed an agreement with emperor men like the second of ethiopia in which he promised not to build any dam that might affect the flow of the blue nile to egypt. Feeling they had secured the full length of the nile britains Decision Makers in london began to put in place the next phase of their master plan economic gain. From quite early on the british also decided to transform egypt into a cotton farm where the textile industries are like us here in the. British reliance on egyptian cotton began to increase. To boost the harvest the british set out to revolutionize egypts irrigation system a system dating back thousands of years. They gave a oddity to the vote countries deny countries their old engineers what the plan is remain down from the colonials so this and teed. Experienced guys give them a lot of songs not a Political Freedom so that they really can take the nile in hand. The british came up with the idea for a dam in southern egypt to hold back the nile flood and use its waters for irrigation. Construction on the ass when low dam began in eighteen one thousand nine. It was officially opened three years later at the time it was the largest stone dam of its kind ever built. Britain wanted to ensure the full flow of the nile reached egypt to maximize cotton production. No one else upstream was allowed to siphon off any of the river. For have some strict orders were laid down regarding the use of the nile water because the british were concerned about egypt money all island for example they banned sudanese farmers to using it water pumps unless they obtained permission from the egyptian irrigation authority. In. Britain discriminated in favor of egypts claim over the nile. The british expected the egyptians to be thankful but they were to have a rude awakening. In one thousand nine hundred nineteen following the end of the First World War the egyptians revolted against British Occupation and demanded complete independence. They were led by a fiery nationalist called saad zabulon. With such sentiment on the rise. The british looked for a way to cower the egyptians into submission. The river nile egypts lifeline was an effective political weapon and the british had in mind a Perfect Place to use this weapon. The get zero region in sudan between the blue nile and the white nile was an area with the potential to become the largest cotton growing region in the world. They had to dance to motives of two main strategic and is that they can see us again or wrong to increase the cup. Production in sudan for the benefit of the british taste of history secondly this hue if it is not really in control of the now is really through saddam and his power and. The bit it has a power in saddam. British attempts to intimidate the egyptians only further inflamed nationalist sentiment. A crisis point was reached when in november one thousand nine hundred twenty four so least stack commander in chief of the Egyptian Army and governor of sudan was assassinated while driving through the streets of cairo. The assassins were arrested and sentenced to death. But the murder of the british official was a turning point london now found its reason to implement the good sirus scheme. What they did was that ok you killed the go in general then the will take more work from the nile as a punishment so this was the first time in practice that stream power punished. Dunston power needed for the vote with. Britains trump card was the center dam completed in one thousand nine hundred twenty five. Built on the blue nile in sudan it would help the irrigation of the goods here area. But it also delivered an ominous signal to the egyptians for the first time in their history a dam built outside of egypt but affect the flow of the nile into their country. Nationalists however continued to mobilize Popular Support against the British Occupation. Cooler heads in london began to realize that relations with egypt were deteriorating fast. Something which could threaten british control over the suez canal. As before the river nile became a useful Political Tool this time for compromise rather than coercion. In maine One Hundred Twenty Nine notes were exchanged between the british high commissioner in egypt george lloyd and the egyptian Prime MinisterMohammad Mahmoud pasha. This diplomacy led to a landmark agreement in which britain awarded egypt exclusive control over the full course of the nile waters from egypts point of in the night to twenty nine agreement also calls. And the tree because here the british said that well the nile is an egyptian. And it has a with a right to stop its upstream if they dont want it. By signing the nine hundred twenty nine agreement the british sought to coopt the egyptians. No such consideration was given to the Indigenous Peoples upstream who were not consulted. Even though the river originated in their lands. By the early one nine hundred thirty s. Britain was becoming increasingly concerned with a growing menace closer to home. At the end of World War Two one thousand nine hundred forty five britain was no longer the mighty empire that could claim control of a large parts of the world such as the nile basin. After the Second World War britain came out of the will inject brits economy came out very much a device that it and the us now that came with the world of. The United States stepped forward to assert itself move boldly on the world stage in places formally controlled by the old then piles. In one nine hundred fifty three u. S. Secretary of state John Foster Dulles became the first time ranking american official to visit cairo. Dulles offered Financial Support for the construction of a massive new dam on the nile in southern egypt but three years later the of was withdrawn. The americans had become suspicious of egyptian president abdul nasser as nonalignment policy. At the same time the withdrawal of the office provided an opportunity to undermine british influence john thousand dollars on the American Government that understood quite in that one way or crushing. The influence of the british imperialists in this area was to make them powerless when it comes to the now question became clear that everybody. That was of the americans decide it and the bids had to just fall off as said prior to. Despite the withdrawal of Financial Support for the construction of the ass one high dam nasa chose to push ahead. In july one thousand nine hundred