construction work in ghaza's old city the united nations envoy to yemen has welcomed a tentative ceasefire that has come into effect. a truce that both the saudi-led coalition and the houthi rebels have promised to honor. both sides in the early hours of the ceasefire have been accused of violations. these shots are from around the east of the capital. there was sporadic fighting reported from here just before the ceasefire began. the pause in hostilities comes ahead of u.n. brokered talks with staff on april 18 in kuwait. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: this is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has been in houthi rebel hands for more than a year and a half. people here and right across yemen have born the brunt of the civil war and while they may have different allegiances, many in yemen are united in their desire for peace. >> translation: we support a ceasefire in every day. it is what the yemeni people want. we need commitments that everybody abides by. >> translation: we want a ceasefire that will last forever, not just a few days. >> reporter: the uprising by the houthi movement started in the north and has been going on for years. this latest conflict began in september 2014 when houthi rebels swept into the capital. they forced out yemen's internationally recognised government led by the president and have been fighting to expand their territory ever since. talks to due to start on 18 april, but the yemen conflict will be complex to unravel. the shia houthi rebels are backed by the former president and have the support of iran. they have been fighting forces loyal to yemen's president who has the backing of sunni tribes and the coalition of nine arab states led by saudi arabia. the saudi-led coalition launched air strikes in march last year when houthi fighters tried to move on aden. there are other groups in the mix. mostly secular wanting to break aby from the north. there's a yemen afill yalt of i.s.i.l. it emerged in late 2014 looking to eclipse al-qaeda. but no side has come close to winning yemen's war. houthi rebels still hold the capital and eight of yemen's 22 provinces. a year of hair strikes hasn't managed to break their hold. this has all come with a heavy human cost. the u.n. says that more than 6,000 people have been killed since air strikes began. around half of them were civilians and almost a thousand were children. children were starving well before the houthi rebellion. the u.n. accuses both the main players of the atrocities and targeting civilians. in the absence of a military solution, there are growing calls from mediated end to the conflict. peace efforts have failed before the saudi-led coalition spokesman says he hopes the ceasefire will be respected. >> it shows that to midnight local time, we hope that this ceasefire will continue until we reach the negotiation in kuwait the coalition will be committed top continue to-- committed to continue. this is why we had a meeting the oth day and today in the south of the kingdom with the joint committee from the yemeni army and from the militia to make sure that they will form joint committee to observe ceasefire on the ground and to make sure that there is no misunderstanding u.s. secretary of state john kerry has laid a wreath at the memorial in hiroshima. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: on a beautiful spring morning here in hiroshima, john kerry, the u.s. secretary of state, made history when he and six other foreign ministers laid wreaths at the memorial which honors more than 140,000 who died after u.s. dropped an atomic bomb on this city almost 71 years ago today. it was a moment of powerful symbolism because he became the highest ranking u.s. government official to come here to the memorial park. they also went to visit the peace museum which has harrowing imaengs of what this city looked like hours after that bomb was dropped. they also toured the park which contains the atomic dome. before his visit here, john kerry during talks with his japanese counterpart says he was honored to visit but it was very much about the present than the past. he hoped his visit would underscore the need to eliminate nuclear weapons. later today the japanese foreign minister will issue what's known as the hi rrngs oshima declaration which calls for non--- hiroshima which calls for nonproliferation and peace. the country is under the umbrella of the u.s. and just a few months ago it passed law that will allow japanese troops to fight alongside their allies overseas hundreds of refugees have been hurt after macedonian fired tear gas tanned rub coated bullets at them. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: a heavy barrage of tear gas from the security forces. still the refugees try to cross from the greek side. a few made it across only to be forced back. some rev jeels threw stones. the macedonian forces fired not only tear gas but also rubber bullets and stun grenades and later water cannon. many say they haven't seen scenes like this for many weeks >> today we saw 300 patients in our clinic. about 200 of them were from tear gas intoxication and 100 of them were injured by rebel bullets or other-- rubber bullets or other injuries >> reporter: hundreds of migrants in gathered by the border believe it was to be opened. officers denied that. soon dozens of refugees including women and children desperately tried to breach the fence. for the next few hours there were sporadic clashes, a reminder of the frustrations that exist now that much of europe has closed its doors >> reporter: for the many thousands of people still camped out here, the aim remains to continue their journey north wards to a better life in the european union. despite appeals for them to take up places in official centers in greece, very many are prepared to move iran's foreign minister says the country's missile program is not up for negotiation. john kerry said on thursday that at the time u.s. wanted to resolve differences with iran over the program. >> translation: iran's missile and defensive capabilities are not negotiable. if the u.s. government is serious about defensive issues, it should decrease the sales of weapons in the region which are used to kill innocent people in yemen every day united nations envoy, staffan de mistura is expected to meet officials. acis sayings of hostilities began in february but it is coming under strain with violations. i.s.i.l. is launching a major offensive close to the border of turkey and has captured two towns t a report suggests that the russian air force and ir-syrian military are proposing a joint operation to take aleppo city from rebels. the operation is likely to put a strain on the agreement to end hostilities. >> reporter: some significant developments close to the turkish border today. we understand that i.s.i.l. fighters made an assault around seven villages close to the border. we've spoken to activists inside syria who say that the turkish ar till reinitially responded to those attacks with the help of coalition air strikes. activists now saying that at least three possibly four of those seven villages have been retaken by the free syrian army. we also under that fighting may be continuing in the remaining villages. these developments come on a day where the syrian government has announced that it plans to retake full control, the city of aleppo with the help of its allies, russia. this comes at a time where we're supposed to be seeing a partial ceasefire, a partial cessation of hostilities. the syrian government said they've made this announcement because they say they have come under repeated attacks of what it describes as opposition groups. very worrying for the remaining civilians inside aleppo. we understand that around 65,000 families still inside the set living in pretty atrocious conditions, no running water, no electricity, amnesty international saying the syrian government has been recently targeting hospitals and medical facilities which is what we believe is an attempt to try and clear people out. so certainly some very worrying developments both for the civilians trapped inside aleppo and some serious concerns here on the turkish side of the border with those i.s.i.l. attacks so close to the territory thousands of iraqi civilians have returned to their homes in ramadi months after government forces pushed i.s.i.l. out of their city. police say more than 12,000 families have come back to parts clearly of more than 5,000 bombs and booby traps that were left behind. they were driven out in december. more than 3 million people have been forced to aleave their homes in iraq since 2014. five people have been arrested for a fire that killed 106 people. a fire broke out in a temple on sunday night. >> reporter: the event takes place every year at this temple and once again to mark the new year's celebrations, thousands of people had come to worship and watch the fireworks. halfway through the show a lit fire work landed on a shed storing the rest >> translation: concrete was flying everywhere. you could see dead bodies automatic around. it looked like a war zone >> reporter: buildings and homes within a 1 kilometer raid yuls were affected by the blasts, shattering window. hospitals were overwhelmed. many had deep shrapnel wounds and burn wounds. a team of doctors came to help. some returned to the temple site. they told us people living nearby had warned the organisers from holding such an event close to their neighborhood. >> we cannot ignore it. >> reporter: an investigation is underway. officials say the temple did not have permission to hold the fire work display on such a scale. few things here segment the enormity of what happened. it took the authorities just hours to clear the area, but for the people here coming to terms with what happened will take awe much longer time. the temple is one of the oldest in the state. a focal point for festivals and religious events. now it will be remembered as the site of one of the worst temple disasters in the country still ahead here on al jazeera, a pro-democracy activist in hong kong defends charges again him that he assaulted police officers. feeling the pinch for much needed investments. eded investments. hirs oshima welcome back to al jazeera. a reminder of our top stories. a ceasefire in yemen. a pause in hostilities comes ahead of talks due to start on 18 april in kuwait. john kerry has laid a wreath for the victims of the hiroshima bomb attack. he is in japan for the g7 meeting is the most senior american official ever to visit the site. five workers from a temple in southern india has been held over a fire that killed 106 people. a massive blaze broke out during a fireworks display. in hong kong a p prosecutrix o-democracy activist who was filmed being beaten by police in 2014 is to go on trial. he is charged with assaulting and obstructing the police. sarah clerk has been following the latest developments >> reporter: it has been about 16 months since the demonstrations in hong kong came to an end. one of the more profile activists and in court. he is a member of the activic party. he has been charged with assaulting. he is pleaded going. he says they are politically motivated. the case is expected to last around five days with 11 witnesses being called to give evidence. there were a number of arrests made during the two and a half month long demonstration. his case is being followed here in hong kong closely. he was also the vehicle of an alleged beating by the police on a video which shows a number of officers kicking and punching him in a dark corner of a part of the same night of the arrest. he was hospitalised as a result and those officers have been charged with assault and one with causing grievous bodily harm. those seven officers will appear in court in june in peru, fugimore has 40% of votes. he is the daughter of the previous president who is in prison for crimes against humanity >> reporter: there are celebrations already ongoing here camp as rapid count results has given her the victory in this first round of elections. it is unofficial count. it's the polsters rapid counts based on ballot which is important. traditionally, these counts have been very precise. so another, the left wing candidate who according to this rapid count has 18.4%. she has also won a majority in congress, 61 seats out of 136. so whoever the next president is, she will still hold a lot of power and will have to - will be able to have power in the next congress. the fish results are still going to be-- official results are still going to be very slow. there are a lot of towns that are remote and the national office of the electoral processers say that total results will be on monday brazil's attorney-general is to make a last appeal before the impeachment of the president. it is expected to deliver its recommendations. dilma rousseff is accused of hiding budgetary shortfalls during her campaign. >> reporter: the impeachment commission hearings, debates where opposition party members referred to dilma rousseff as the ex-president and had former dolls of lieu in brisbane out fit. on monday the commission will finish it work and will likely urge impeachment. they say both sides of victory. those in favor of the impeachment don't necessarily have the two-thirds of votes in the lower house to push it through. dilma rousseff isn't sure she has the one third of support to block it. >> it is very difficult to predict something >> reporter: protesters are keeping a tally of who is voting to impeach her. the presidency has been tleptened by a spiralling economy in the so-called car wash corruption scandal. the pay off scheme in which contractors hired by the state oil company paid billions of dollars in bribes to politicians. dilma rousseff has not been directly linked to it. she has been accused of diverting money in her election. they say it's an impeachable offence. she denies the charges and is calling the case for impeachment is as a coup. there have been protests for and against. the pro-impeachment side bigger. there have been so many protests that police in brazil are planning to separate the groups to avoid violence. dilma rousseff's team is trying to build a fire wall in congress. for attempts to install her further predecessor has been blocked so far by the supreme court. an ally of hers on the commission says impeachment is a bad idea for the whole country. >> translation: it would be using a tool that is constitutional but one that is deeply and fundamentally traumatic for the country. it is the most serious thing you can do. >> reporter: the politics get murkier with questions about who would replace her. her own vice president could be facing an impeachment process of his own. we will see her this week fight for her political survival the u.s. democratic presidential candidates have turned their attention to new york where the next primary vote will take place in just over a week. bernie sanders took the mid western state of wyoming on saturday. he has won eight of the last nine contests. he still has an uphill battle if he is to catch hillary clinton. she is in the lead by more than 20 delegates-- 200 delegates. eight people have been arrested in paris after demonstrators protesting labor reforms. at least 12,000 protesters took to the streets calling for the withdrawal of a bill to reform the labor code. this follows massive protests last month when more than a million people came out. nigeria's president arrives in beijing on monday on a four day visit. he is to seek two billion dollars in loans to fund infrastructure projects. >> reporter: when the nigerian president arrives on monday, he will be looking to china to finance more construction projects like this. the expansion of the capital's airport. the chinese are providing a 500 million dollar loan for the construction of five new international terminals at the airport. >> it is a help to develop infrastructure. it is not only in this sector, but in other sectors. >> reporter: the transport is inadequate and over stretched. the loan from the chinese government knowns nigeria's airport will be able to increase their capacity to 24 million passengers annually from 15 million by the end of this year. chinese capital is believed to be a catalyst for job employment. in january china pledged to provide 60 billion dollars to africa over the next three years and nigeria clearly plans to be one of the countries that will continue to benefit. chinese business people based in nigeria who is originally from northern china are excited about the state visit. this was been made. stronger ties between the countries will help him find funding to produce the vehicle >> i think it is a great achievement for the two countries. chinese government is willing to lead all the companies to go out of china for development. it is a very important place for china. >> reporter: he wants to encourage for chinese people to exploit opportunities in nigeria and africa for development. the government says the state visit is mutually beneficial. >> it is not a safe - nigeria is just going to try to reap from china, is something that is going to be mutual beneficial. >> it is for us very significant >> reporter: the government has a budget deficit of 16 billion dollars. it has to raise at least five billion through international borrowing. it is dependent on china than the other way around. if the visit goes well, annual lichts say it could mean loans for other sectors, such as power generation and agory tour which-- agriculture which need improvement construction workers in the old city of gaza have uncovered the ruins of a church. they found a mosque a few hundred metres. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: builders were digging foundations for shops when they hit ancient artefacts, marble pillars, foundation stone. all evidence of a church which may have been built less than 400 years after the time of christ. >> translation: the presence of such antiquitys show we are rooted in this land which refutes the story that palestine is a land without a nation. >> reporter: the old cultural heritage of the palestinian people are on display. this represents gaza's history as a trading section for thousands of year. >> it is very important for us that this history belongs to palestinians. also it means we are the only people who was here before anyone else. a long time ago. they're hoping this will attract funding for annex ka invitation-- an excavation much more on our website aljazeera.com. >> s i was the first to have my identity. >> i never felt a connection to anything or anyone. and i was constantly just trying to fit in.