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>> this is al jazeera. >> this is the news hour. here with your top stories. a u.s. strike on syria, john kerry tries to get eu support despite division among g20 leaders. pakistan releases a top taliban commander in a new attempt to bring peace. >> exit polls in australia suggest opposition leader tony abbott is about to trounce prime minister kevin rudd. >> taking the golden lion, the tough competition for the tough prize. we show you the favourites. >> two days of talks in russia

left the united states with little to show in efforts to gain support for a military strike against syria. john kerry, is at a meeting in lithuania to convince eu ministers. they haven't all been warming to an attack against a suspected chemical attack. >> rallying european support. john kerry arrived in the lithuanian capital seeking backing for a military strike against syria. european powers seem to be stepping back from talks of intervention. smiles here and in st petersburg by leaders of the g20 lie deep divisions. the russian president is insistent that no action can take place without a greening light by -- green lict bit the

security council. he maintains that the use of chemical weapons was wrong. >> translation: the use of chemical weapons was a provocation from the rebels hoping to get further assistance from countries supporting them. i want to remind you the use of force against the sovereign state is done only for self-defence. it's an illegal act. >> the french government struck a more cautiousous tone. >> translation: france should not accept that the chemical massacre should be unpun ished. we'll await the decision of congress, the u.s. senate, he hept -- representative, the uninvestigators reports, and then i'll make a decision. >> president obama's position is it's one of moral responsibility. >> over 1400 people were gassed.

over 400 of them were children. this is not something we fabricated. but obama's challenge is not just international, he has to sell the case for war to fellow politicians and the american public. the question now is whether they'll buy. >> we'll look at other new, 15 killed in two explosions in the somalia capital, mogudishu. there were workers there, and close to a presidential palace. it's called the village and has been attacked. >> prisoners have been released in pakistan. among the group a senior commander, mansoor dadullah. we'll get more from this, from karachi. tell us about the release and the commander who has been

released as well. >> well, the pakistani foreign office has confirmed that seven taliban leaders held under detention detention in pakistan has been released. mansoor dadullah is among them. he is the youngest brother of a commander killed in 2007 in an air strike inside afghanistan. he was one of their top commanders of the taliban. the other taliban who have been released - their names have been released. i have spoken to my sources who tell me that they are not of significance in reality. however, the pakistanis have done all this because two weeks ago president hamid karzai was here in pakistan with the high peace council and they wanted pakistan to facilitate talks with the taliban, particularly those under pakistani custody.

>> correct me if i'm wrong, but last year there was a similar release, 25 or 26 taliban prisoners released. does this have a marked affect on things? >> well the hope is with the release of senior taliban commanders, mansoor dadullah and his fighting commanders doing the fighting in afghanistan, may agree to come to a negotiating table. there is intense diplomacy behind the scenes and other capitals as well. there are attempts to reach to the taliban commanders who are right now active in fighting against the forces inside afghanistan. so what we have to wait and see is whether these people are able to hold some sort of influence, because while pakistan is able to facilitate reports, it has no

control over taliban. >> thank you. >> vote counting started on australia's east coast for the general election, and the early exit polls suggest opposition leader tony abbott will win a landslide victory. peter greste reports from brisbane. he's at the home base of kevin rudd. >> >> australians don't need much of an excuse for a barbecue. at kevin rudd's own electorate parents from the local school did fundraising, feeding early voters. only once in the past 40 years has griffith abandoned labor. mr rudd has been their mp for 15 years. the polls predict a landslide in favour of the opposition liberal party , and that's been reflected here. the prime minister might lose not only the government, he could lose his own seat. >> i think that the current government has - they've had a go. they had six years and i think

they let us go. >> as it goes, we have a labor government , then we need a liberal government to get the spending under wraps. >> we all have businesses, and the liberal government is where i'll vote. labor has just not been doing their job. >> kevin rudd and wife went to vote their ballots, protesters chanted slogans in relation to a controversial policy of shipping asylum seekers to papua new guinea. the pm made no comments. in earlier remarks he did say the result is still open. on that issue his challenger tony abbott agrees. hecklers angry with the liberal party's asylum seeker policy interrupted his voting to. there is discontent with both major parties. the polls suggest it hurt the incumbent more than the

opposition. >> anything can happen today. the electorate, i think, is wanting to change, but there are a lot of distractions out there, a lot of minor parties, and independence running. it's a massive ballot paper. it's important if people want to change the government they vote for the coalition in the house and senate. >> in australia system of government the parliamentary election could produce a clear winner. the upper house has the potential to create an upset. this is the senate ballot paper for queensland. 36 parties. because of the complex system of preferential voting there's no way to predict the outcome. it looks like the liberal party may win government the the minor single issue parties means the liberal party could face a hostile upper house. if no party wins a clear majority there'll be a furious round of coalition building in the weeks to come.

the liberals could face a left wing block with the power to force another election within the next year. >> we are life to tony abbott's campaign headquarters in sydney. andrew thomas, an hour ago on the channel called the election - you are a brave man doing that. let's be fair, there shouldn't be doubt left here. >> well, i'm not taking it back, put it that way. it's fair to say that tony abbott has won the election, and will be australia's next prime minister. the only question is the scale of the victory. admittedly this is a room full of his party supporters, but the word going around is landslide. all the polls across australia closed, even in the western states, which are two hours behind where i am in sydney. the counting is under way. the way the counting works in australia is votes are counted where they are cast. you get results in quickly. it's quick and easy to see a

swing when it happens. it certainly is happening away from the labor government toward the right to sen -- right to about 3-10%. the opposition may have 25 or 30 more seats. they could be looking at 90 of 120 seats. that would be a landslide. this is a big, big moment for the right of centre in australia, and the real destruction - it's the only word for it - of the labor party and kevin rudd's prime ministership. >> you mentioned kevin rudd. it's been a personality-driven election almost in the way the presidential elections are. i wonder policy wise how will australia differ under an abbott government? >> well, you are quite right. personalities matter. there's compulsory voting in australia. everyone has to

vote. that means 30-40% of people in any other country wouldn't vote at all, they are often the people that do decide elections here. that means that all the stacking which in other countries goes towards the fringes, you get strange policies on the fringes, here it's all about taking no notice of politics for most of the period between the elections and suddenly you need to, and then personalities matter. when you ask about policy, tony abbott made much of the australia economy. by international standards it's a strong economy. tony abbott is saying that australia's economy should be stronger than it is and blames a carbon tax, a tax on pollution in australia, saying that that is damaging the economy. he would get rid of that, he says. also asylum seekers, that's been a big issues. the numbers of people coming by

boat to australia by refugees has gone up and up under the labor government , and tony abbott says only his parties can stop the vote. when kevin rudd came back to the leadership he changed his party's policy. there's one thing that has really lost this election for the labor party, it's disunity, having kevin rudd as lead, winning a big victory in 2007, overthrone by julia gillard, his deputy in 2010 and he was brought back to lead the party in june of this year. it smacks of chaos in government. indeed some of labor's ministers have been on television admitting that they lost, and saying the reason is that chaos at the top of the party. almost as if policy didn't matter, disunity in the labor party is what has done it for them. >> waiting for the word on andrew thomas's prediction, back

to you later. >> egyptian authorities accused deposed president mohamed morsi of insulting the judiciary, saying he rigged an election in 2005. he's been referred to charges of inciting charms. during a sit-in at a presidential palace last december. rockets fired at terrorists in northern sinai. part of an operation. troops have gone into the area and there has been repeated attacks on the police stations and military in sinai since mohamed morsi was deposed as president. >> our correspondent in cairo - not naming him for security reasons. can we get an update on the sinai situation? >> an operation in northern sinai near the border of the

countries. app achy helicopters have been firing and we heard from the security forces that it will continue for some time. >> unfortunately not a great line there to cairo. we'll try to reconnect later and get the situation with what is happening in sina. >> and mohamed morsi. three killed in egypt. rallies were held across the country, and some defied the curfew. more on that story. >> thousands of people took to the streets across egypt, protesting against the military coup that got rid of mohamed morsi. trying to keep up the momentum,

denouncing the army chief. >> translation: i hate the killing and injustice that we suffer from. it's a military coup, i'm against it. it's been 60 years, we are going to get rid of them. >> translation: i'm participating because el sisi killed our brothers and mother. and toppled a legitimate president. >> >> translation: i'm here to restore our president who was kidnapped. >> many of of the marchers want mohamed morsi back. others demand is a legitimate political protest. the biggest demonstrations are usually on friday. numbers are thinning out. the muslim brotherhood is under pressure with its top leaders either in gaol or on the run. still around 1,000 people gathered in giza and on the

other side of caro, a few thousands rallied in nazar city, the same district where security forces cleared out a sit in last month. in alexandria, coup protesters fought with people who live in the area. both sides threw rocks at each other. there was similar violence in damietta, in the nile delta. investigations continue into thursday's assassination attempt on the interior ministerer. al jazeera sources say the vehicle was stolen six months ago. dozens of demonstrators were arrested. people keep marching every week. not even the crack down on the muslim brotherhood and others can keep their supporters off the street. >> in the news ahead - people

living in camp forum to six years are fleeing the post election violence in kenya. their lives are about to change, and we'll tell you why. >> (countdown) >> nasa's new spacecraft shooting for the moon. in sport - us open serena williams roars into the final. we'll have all the details. >> nigeria's military said it killed around 50 boko haram fighters in air and ground attacks. the raids happened around the north-eastern cities. there has been a series of attacks by boko haram fighters. civilians formed a civilian task

force to oppose the groups snoox kenya - six years ago when thousands were forced to flee their homes as violence swept the country following an election. the government has begun the final resettlement of about 8,000 people living in internal displacement camps. each household will receive $4,600 to start their new lives. >> let's go to one of those camps. what is the reaction to this sort of thing? i wonder what $4,600 gets you after relocation after being in a camp for six years. >> six years is a long time. i have been speaking to some of the displaced people. they were telling me that really this is extraordinary. they are happy that they are getting the 4,000. it's not enough, but it is a start. they say they have been living in the camps for six years. they told me they have been

living in squaller and are tired of living in tents. $4,600 is not enough to build a house or buy land, which is important. it is a step to move them forward. >> two things - what has been the delay, as we pointed out six years is a long time. why now? why is this happening now. >> government will tell you that this plan was in the works all along. they'll tell you that the previous government failed to resettle the internally displace the people. this is a plan they had. when you talk to the opposition. the narrative will be different. the opposition will tell you this is all politics, this is a charm offensive ahead of the cases facing the president and the deputy president at the hague. the president's case starts next week, on tuesday.

this is very important. this place is the heart of the violence, where most of it took place, and where he is being accused of planning activities leading to murder, and other acts. >> thank you so much for that. >> 6.5 mag ni attitude earthquake hit guatemala, and a few homes have been destroyed. there were casualties as well. the tremor was felt strongly in the capital. it caused black outs in some areas. into mexico and elvalva door felt shocks. mexico bracing for a tropical storm. heavily rain, lightening flooding. the storm is due to make landfall on saturday, bringing winds up to 70kph. >> the columbian president says fighters will be allowed to keep

weapons until a peace agreement is ratified. a caes fire will be implemented once a deal is introduced with that group. talks are underway in cuba. if they fail they'll die in the jungle or prison. 200,000 people have been killed since it begone 50 years ago. >> a u.s. woman who has spent two decades on death row has been released. deborah milke had her conviction overturned because of a lack of evidence. the original testimony of a detective was not held up as he was found to have lied in other case. >> 170,000 jobs were added in august. for many, the affects of the recession are still felt. >> the help wanted signs are back out. but not, it seems, for the

long-term unemployed. ask alisha fields. she's been out of the work for a year. >> it's a struggle to be unemployed and want to find work, and not have the opportunity that is available. >> short-term joblessness is back to prerecession levels. long-term unemployment is about where it was in the great recession of 1983. more than 4 million americans have been out of work six months. economists say that makes this recovering unique in history rip. >> what is different -- history. >> what is different is the share of the officially unemployment who are long-term unemployed is higher than in previous recessions or stagg nations. it is unlikely that they will find jobs the equivalent to the ones held before. >> american cities are bustling. not everyone is feeling it. older americans are unemployed. the lodger you are out of a job, the harder time you have finding

one. >> that's true for workers like alisha whose decade long work at a company gave her skills. the more you are out of work the more others are worried that your skills are updated. >> i pick up where i left off, sending 20-30 interviews. i get a hit. i go to an interview and look forward to something turning up. >> a hope that is likely justified. it may be a long-term project. >> the greek prime minister samaros says the recession will be smaller and mr may be growth in 2014. the european union and the international montry fund said the greek economy would shrink. data shows it was down 3.8% in the second quarter, helped by a rebound in tourism. opposition politicians in italy occupied the roof of the lower

chamber. the group from the antiestablishment 5-star movement is protesting fast-tracking reform of the constitution. the plan calls for the appointment of a special commission to consider new legislation. under present laws reforms need to be voted through twice, in the isn'tate and lower chamber. >> two men have been arrested by british police for breaking into buckingham palace. that's the official residence. queen elizabeth ii. no royal members were present at the time. a pakistani schoolgirl is the latest winner of a peace prize. the award was accepted at a ceremony in neth netherlands. she was 15 when shot in the head. the taliban shot her for her support of education for women.

>> rocker schmidt was a german leader body guard has died at the age of 96. he proudly reminisced about his wartime duties. >> the venice film festival is about to come to a close. we'll find out won the top award the golden lion. two british movies and a french one among the two contenders. >> lights, camera - as for the action, give it a few hours. venice's red carpet is about to be well worn. saturday night is awards night. who will take the golden lion. the top award. how about 'filomena' the journalist helping a woman find a child she was forced to give up. it's british, as is underare, a tale of an -- as is "under the

skin," an alien on a roadtrip capturing civilians and sending them home for food. it may be the british, or it could be the french, one called "a monochrome affair." it is in with a chance of winning the golden lion. the competition here described as the toughest in many years. not necessarily the best. that from a man who covered this festival every year for half his life. >> it's not how it was in the '80s, and '70s. there is less international appeal especially for the most important productions. >> this could come first. a tale of an unemployed man who take on other people's jobs - it

was hoped it will take the top prize. >> when in rome do as the romans do, when in venice hope for the best. the host nation has 22 movies considered among the four main categories. >> the movies have been screened and juries retired. in all probability they've been reached. as for the directors, crews and stars, they are at the start of their final scenes. they'll have to wait a bit longer before they find out how this one ends. >> we were looking at elections in australia. the lucky country. let's see what the weather is like. >> it's been strange, the weather over australia. in the west this area of low pressure has worked across. this gave a fairlily heavy downpours, and a lot of lightening as well. do you want to have a guess how much we saw? in eight hours,

within 150km of perth - you might think a couple of hundred. no, 2,500 lightening strikes in eight hours. it was quite active the weather there. towards the east

voting. >> we'll have the latest from the capital. >> world cup qualifying action. a 39 year record equalled in

munich. miroslav klose >>

>> we are half past the news hour, these are the top stories. u.s. secretary of state john kerry meets european foreign ministers in lithuania trying to gain support for a military strike in syria. he will travel to paris. >> several prisoners have been released in pakistan, among them a top commander mansoor dadullah, less than two weeks after hamid karzai visited for diplomatic talks. vote counting is underway on australia east coast for the general election. early polls suggest opposition leader tony abbott will win with a landslide victory. syria - the turkish government supports an american-led missile strike. opinion polls show a majority of people don't want to see their country involved in the civil war over its border. >> until 1930 the turkish city was part of syria and have been

supporters of the syrian government. this demonstration has new impetus. the turkish citizens are not happy with the government's support for the u.s. to strike syrian targets. concern has reached escalation. >> >> translation: people are scared everywhere because of the war. >> translation: the prime minister shouldn't be like this, we shouldn't enter a war. what problem is there between us and syria. >> translation: the majority of the turkish people are against the operation. i don't think they can resist their own people. >> public support is weak. since the beginning of the syrian solution in 2011, a clear imaginerity of the turks resisted taking part unless their citizens are affected.

>> translation: the main concern for turkish people is their survival. when they are at risk, they say stop. >> despite being a nato member turkish's military is not mobilised without an un revolution. turks are concerned that turkey's geography will make their country a target of syria or allies of iran or hezbollah - if they retaliate. they are reluctant to back strikes on a muslim neighbour. some feel turkey has to do something. >> translation: they are like our brothers, we can't stand by and let them be tortured. >> turkish's government says they have a resolution, but the mandate was given after syrian shells landed inside the turkish border. now some turks say it was for

turkish defence and anything more needs a new vote in parliament - just like britain and america. in 2003 turkish mps refused to pass a resolution authorising the same ruling party assisting the u.s. going to war in iraq. the turkish people may yet pull the breaks on this time too. >> let's explore this with dr joseph, a senior writer at gulf news, author of several books. you see turkey as an example, but it reflects other countries, where the government talks about joining the strikes, but the people don't necessarily want it. this is a democracy we live in, who makes the decisions? >> presumably in demock rahsies make the decision, at majority of people are opposed to

military intervention in syria. this is all a reflection of the afghanistan and iraq debacles that is very understandable. but in demack rahsies also there are governments elected to sometimes make tough decisions. this may we one of those cases, although i think that the onus is on the governments to come clean and put forward the evidence that they have gathered. so far they have not done that satisfactorily to the international community's desire. >> this is the thing. you have a connected world, an informed world or maybe a world that thinks it's informed with the information and the way media travels. are people more vocal because they feel they are more informed, they know more than they did 10 years ago when iraq happened? >> they certainly do. it's more than that. coming back to iraq.

the weapons of mass destruction claimed to be used was untrue. although there are several dossiers put forward to the international community, french and american, i think the people in these countries, and elsewhere, would like to see concrete evidence that, in fact, weapons of mass destruction - in this case chemical weapons - were, in fact used, the excuse that washington and its allies are putting forward to intervene. i think at the end of the day you have got show what you have, otherwise it's going to be difficult. >> let's do the crystal ball gazing, let's say this will go to a vote, we are talking about the united states, congress votes it down and reflects the will of the people. obama has the option as commander-in-chief to launch the strikes. would that be political suicide. >> he does not have to run for office. in that report it's not going to be a political suicide for him.

the democratic candidate next time around presumably hillary clinton may have - may be affected by it. also, let's not forget that the votes coming - we are not talking about a single vote, but two separate votes. the senate, where the president will get the 60 plus votes that he needs, and then the house of representatives where there is a great deal of questioning, whether he may get a majority. he has a window of opportunity between the two votes. they won't occur simultaneous lip. if he decides to move after the first, waiting for the second, it will not be an act of the suicide on his part, but probably an act of cleverness. time will tell. >> always a pleasure talking to you. thank you for joining us from beirut. >> we talked about turkey and the united states. i want to look at the other g20 countries, where they stand on an intervention in syria.

we have the u.s. front and centre wanting to intervene, supported by france and also - well, the british prime minister supports the idea, but britain will not take part in a strike because of the vote in its parliament. then you have these nations who at the g20 signed up to a statement of strong response - calling for a strong response - south korea, italy, turkey, saudi arabia, australia, japan, spain and canada. it shows the levels of report. john kerry - talks about him shoring up support in europe. he's on his way to france, which is where our correspondent is. interesting that the french president francis hollande talked about waiting for the un report to come through. is he trying to buy a little time here, and john kerry comes in, puts pressure, and it's been strung out a bit more?

>> it does appear, after all the strong rhetoric made by paris against the syrian leadership that france is now somewhat drags its heels. the lot of reason for that is the pressure that francis hollande is under at home. the french parliament is pretty of divided on whether or not to intervene in syria or not. you have the ultra left parties, green parties against it, and the opposition conservative party, the party about nicholas sar cosy. although france pub lisised intelligence findings, making the link between the chemical attacks on syrian civilians and the syrian leadership - the parliament here feels that it needs more conclusive evidence internationally as well.

francis hollande is under a tremendous amount of pressure and add figures like this from the latest poll in the newspaper this morning. in this poll it says up to 68% of the french poppuallation are firmly against intervening in syria. clearly francis hollande under pressure. french politicians do not want to feel as if they are being manipulated. >> we focus on europe. you are in paris, and the arab world is important. i believe there's an arab league meeting coming up. tell us more. >> absolutely. taking place on sunday. from what we gather it's likely to be a closed door meeting. more importantly, more than anything, the americans and the french seek legitimacy on the global stage and they are clearly not getting that from other european players. the french foreign minister ahead of the eu foreign minister

summit taking place in lithuania urged them to come up with a resolution, condemnation of the syrian leadership. we haven't seen that happen. at the least the french urged their european partners to make the link between the chemical attacks. something that france strongly believes is fact. that's why it's important for the french, the americans to approach nations within the arab league, who have been against military intervention, and the all-important meeting taking place, strengthening the sense that they are potentially doing the right thing should intervention end up being on the cards. >> thank you, catch up with you later. that was a report from paris. >> over-15,000 people have been protesting in cam bodia's capital against vote rigging in july's general election. the opposition is calling for an

independent committee to investigate results before they are ratified on 8 september. >> at least 15,000 supporters of the opposition cambodian party showed up here. together with the opposition leader, they are calling on the government to form an independent committee to look at allegations of vote rigging across the country. >> however, the national election committee is set to announce mr seng as the leader. he's a long-serving leader and ruled for over 28 years, despite allegations of corruption and human rights violations. this election has shaken the grip on power. opposition hats garnered public support. more than 70% of cam bodians are below 30 years old and want

education and jobs. they want security. if the government is a politics of a bigone era. >> polls closed in the maldives and they wait for their 10th president. this was their first chance to choose a new leader. >> office,

putting the country back on a path to political stability. there's a lot of uncertainty, but voters will hope that what they vote for will count, and there'll be a clearer picture to the mald eaves politics. >> sports news coming up. us open semifinal action and the international sporting decision. . >> i'm lee we'llings in madrid, up against tokyo and madrid for its right to stage the 2020 olympic games.

joachim loew

>> hello, a planned concert by the bavaria state orchestra in kashmir will go ahead under tight security. it angered separatist group. kashmir is divided between india and pakistan. separatists say holding the concerts on the indian side legitimises new delhi's rule. it takes place against a backdrop of an upsurge of violence in the region. >> kashmir is in lockdown once again. as you can see there's a heavy

security presence on the street. there are cheque points and body search of people walking around. shops are closed. this time the tensions are because of a music concert set to take place here saturday evening. the german embassy respond sored the bavaria state orchestra to perform under guide ans of a renowned maestro. what started as an innocent musical performance turned into a hot political issue. separatist leaders have been angered, saying authorities are using the concert to deflect attention away from the conflict here. for decades there has been inurgency in kashmir. thousands died and many are missing. leaders say what has happened is a genuine peace process and not a music concert. >> iran's foreign minister has wished jews a happy new year on

twitter. relations in israel and iran have been bad for years. the former president was widely accused of denying the holocaust. comments caused a stir for a different reason. he sent out this message marking the jewish new here. he received the reply from nancy pelosi, her daughter saying it would be sweeter if iran ended the denial of holocaust. he said: >> apparently he meant the previous president. iran has the second-largest jewish community in the middle east outside of israel. so that's interesting. the way social media works. time for sport with joe. this is the first opportunity i have you here, and you leave me.

big decision in sport today. 2020 olympics. >> absolutely, three candidate cities, vying for the 2020 decision. we start with buenos aires, because that's where the 104 international olympic committee members pick the city to host the 2020 olympic games. each of the three candidates has pros and cons. tokyo emerged as the front runner. >> if tokyo wins, this is where the 2020 olympics will be centred - the national stadium, the sporting arena for the 1964 games. then it marked a recovery from a defeat in world war ii. now it's an advance nation with world class infrastructure and superior technology. that and tokyo's experience and reputation for safety makes it the favourite. it's being overshadowed by

what's happening 200km away. the nuclear crisis at the fukushima plant. damaged by an earthquake and sootsunam tsunami. the prime minister gave assurance that the situation will be under control by 2020. the japanese government says holding the olympics in tokyo will inspire the world, that it can recover from disaster. >> a telling point of the turkish city is that it would be the first olympics hosted on two continents - europe and asia. as explained, protests in the city mean it too may face challenges. >> if turkey wins it will be the first country with a muslim maimerity to host an olympics. it's been -- majority to hold the olympics. it's been investing for a long time. turkish government is proposing

to invest more than $19 billion. it's higher than tokyo and istanbul propose. there are many challenges and issues to overcome for istanbul. traffic - it's a city of 14 million. another concern is the doping scandal which erupted this year. of course, the war in neighbouring syria. the turkish government is trying to convince the borders that it's not a security threat since the border is more than 1,000km away. in the city there were violent clashes between the antigovernment protesters and the police. counting in all these factors istanbul has a lot to offer for the olympics and challenges too to overcome. >> the third city bidding to host the games is the spanish capital of madrid. our correspondent lee we'll iption is there. >> this is the third consecutive

time madrid bid for an olympic games , finishing third in 2012, second in 2015 to rio and now feel this is their time. they've been outsiders, and the reason - financial problems have had an effect in madrid and spain. people here wonder how they could afford to bid, let alone see through and stage a games. what they have done is clever. they have taken existing venues and making the most of them. 27 out of 36 venues exist - whether it's the stadium, to the tennis or basketball areapa, it's there. that seemed to impress people. they have come in and maid up ground. they want the barcelona effect. the only spanish city to host the games, it transformed their reputation. could to do the same for madrid.

>> the next big sporting event is the 2014 world cup. teams continue to q. germany strengthened their position. >> miroslav klose equalled ged mueller's record of 68 goals in a 3-0 win. great coals from tony kruz. germany was five clear at the top of the group with three matches remaining. . >> >> translation: it was our aim to win the group. i think we are five points ahead. sweden have the direct duel against us. if we play like we did, win the next game or against ireland at home, i think we can win. >> the nether land took on estonia. the dutch lead ererleaders, win

previous six matches. the home side looked to get a shock win. it wasn't until an injury from rob rob robin van persi that determined they stayed top. >> the current belgium side - they looked good for qualification in group a, beati beating scotland 2-0. they are five clear at the top of the group. the belgiums qualified for their first major tournament since 2002. still in group 2 - croatia taking the lead in the second half. dudich the scorer. 15 minutes later, it was 1-1.

the game will be remembered for this tackle from a serbian player. the serb sent off. croatian remaining second in group a. also, england went top for group 8. spain needs three points to qualify. one match in africa. group d leaders gone. progressing to the next round of african qualification. in south america column bia are second -- col om bia are second. >> in the north central america and caribbean qualifiers, costa rica won 3-1 to go top. they sealed the points and ended

usa's 12-match winning streak when joel campbell ran on for a clearance from their own penalty area before winning 3-1 to casta rica. >> in asia, a 1-1 draw in amen. the homeside took the lead. that made it 1-0. the joy didn't last long. the uz becks levelled the match with a vital away goal. 1-1 is how it finished. the winner of that tie plays the team who ends up fifth in the south american group. >> on to the us open where defending champion serena williams is through to the final. the 16-time grand slam winner beat li na in straight sets,

rapping up the wind and will face second seed victoria azarenko for the rematch of the 2012 final. >> just to be able to defend the title for once will be awesome and just, you know, i did so well the past few times i played, just getting to the semis or the finals. it's been really, really exciting. i'm happy that i've been able to consistently do well here. >> victoria azarenko beat unseeded flavia pan eta. the world number 2 had 25 unforced errors but came through. >> the world's fastest man usain bolt closed out the seen with a 100 metre win at the dooeg. the 6-time olympic gold medallist was slow at the start but powered past his rivals in a time of 9.80 seconds. mike

rogers from the united states was second. the 27-year-old announced his retirement after the 2016 olympics in rio. >> there's more on the website. check out the sport. there's details on how to get in touch with the team using twitter and facebook. that address again: >> that's it for now. >> thank you for that. finally nasa launched an unmanned explorer spase craft to the moon to study the atmosphere. >> (countdown). >> that is designed to look for dust arising from the lunar surface, reported by the astronauts on the apollo mission. it will cost nasa $280 million, and will last about six months. remember, they are looking for dust. spending $280 million.

stick around, i'm back after the break with another news bulletin. bye-bye. >> good morning, in the al jazeera america. these are some of the stories we are following. tailing to gain international support for strikes on sir why and facing an uphill battle to get a green light from congress, president obama is taking his case directly to the american people with the prime time address. >> zero ignition, and lift-off. >> blast off for a rare east coast rocket launch to study the moon atmosphere. three different cities going to the gold. one will be named this weekend as host of the 2020 olympic games. we will show you what each place has to offer. and with two outs in the