>> hello, welcome to the news hour. from al jazeera news center in doha and london, the top stories. n[ protesting ] >> thousands take to the streets in tunisia calling for the government to resign. six police officers killed in fighting in the south. and dramatic footage of syrian refugees pulled from the sea after smugglers left there

to die. >> reporter: we have more news from london, including russia drops piratcy charges from greenpeace, now charged with hooliganism. thousands of people have taken part in protest in tunisia calling on the government to resign. it's gun talks aimed at resolving differences in the upcoming elections. eight people have died in fighting between protesters and the national guard. tell us about what you're hearing about the clashes that are taking place in the south of tunisia? >> reporter: this is a situation

happening in the region where six police officers belonging to the national guard have been killed, and several have been injured as well as some of the fighters have been killed, too. now the government is not saying who is responsible, who this group is, but all the fingers do point towards a group that the government say it's a war at here in tunisia. it's linked by the government to two political assassinations since the beginning of the year. so fighting is still i don't know goinstill ongoing andit's t we'll follow. >> the protest against the government calling for resignation. at the same time they're beginning the dialogue to resolve its differences. why is the opposition insisting on having the government resign before the dialogue takes place,

and what is the road map for solving this political crisis in tunisia? >> reporter: i have to say some members of the opposition will take part in the protest. they're taking part in the dialogue. but the majority of the opposition decided to come out on to the streets, and thousands of people, and actually the protesters are still on going some peep trying to get over the police barricades, and trying to get in and were stopped by the police. they say the government has to go because they have completely no trust in this government. they say it's been two years since the country held a free and fair elections. the government promised a new constitution, and that hasn't happened. the government said you have to be patient with us, we're holding national dialogue and we

are incorporating everybody. they will resign once there is a constitution. but many have lost trust in politicians in general. the government is finding it difficult to convince everybody that it's doing the right thing by the country. >> previously unsign footage of hundreds of mainly syrian refugees being saved from drowning has been released. the maltese navy pulled them from the water after their boat sank 160 kilometers offshore. it highlights the growing refugee crisis in the mediterranean. >> reporter: what you are seeing are hundreds of people, men, women, and young children, trying to stay afloat in the cold mediterranean waters. their boat has capsized and many cannot swim. these are many syrian refugees

trying to escape the war only to end up like this. on this instance they are spotted and a maltese vessel comes to their rescue offering a rare and frank glimpse of why the mediterranean are being called a cold graveyard. even the youngest are not spared. they go to the rescue boat full of people. on board a father pulls soaked clothes off his little girl. while in the distance more float in the water waiting to be rescued. this is not the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last. but when boats likes these run into trouble the rescue like this is actually very rare. the maltese government has taken the lead within the european union to create an awareness of how serious the migration problem is in the mediterranean. although there is no agreement

the maltese government is insisting that an agreement mustish reached because a solution must be found before many more lives are lost at sea. al jazeera, malta. >> and the leaders of european union are meeting on thursday. with the proposal of how to handle the my grants crisis is one of the main topic of discussion. we'll bring you more on this story as it develops. >> reporter: to europe now. we begin with a developing story out of germany. the government there has evidence that chancellor angela merkel's phone may have been tapped by the united states. a spokesperson told the routers news agency that they have asked for an explanation. she told obama if her phone had been monitored it would be

completely unacceptable. we're joined live from berlin, and it sounds as if chancellor angela merkel is very concerned about this situation. >> reporter: of course she would be, anybody would be. she has said to have told president obama that had her phone been tapped, we're talking about her private cell phone, it would constitute a major loss of faith, and it would have to be stopped immediately. there are reports from the leading newsmagazine in germany that the united states has been spying on angela merkel, that is, for years. this comes against a backdrop where the national security agency has been revealed to be spying on german citizen telecommunications over the years. that causes a big scandal

particular rightly when president obama came to berlin on a previously scheduled visit, and had to answer questions from angela merkel about the extent of the spying program, and seemed to handle it quite well and seemed not to be coming under too much pressure from the germany authorities. angela merkel had been heading into an election, and pointed out that the american spy program had helped thwart terror attacks in germany, but this is taking things a step further. had her phone been tapped and her personal communication listened to by american authorities that would take things to a new level. >> reporter: thank you very much. the reuters news agency is quoting the who is saying president obama has assured angela merkel that the u.s. is not monitoring her communication. and president obama has told

angela merkel that the u.s. is not tapping her mobile phone. now piracy charge have been dropped against detained greenpeace activists in russia. they will now face lesser charges of hooliganism. their ship was seized when they staged a protest on the russian-owned oil rig. all have been held in custody. gets to the russian capitol in moscow. david, the hooliganism charges can still potentially carry large prison sentences. >> reporter: yes, that's right. there has been a statement here from the green piece spokesman who says th they are no more hooligans than they were pirat pirates.

ithey were mounting a simple protest, they would say. hooliganism is the charges brought against th them and that can be a heavy sentence, the max of seven years, but the judge does have discretion to levy a fine instead, to make them do community service or to suspend the sentence or to give them two years, three years, something under the maximum sentence in detention. we'll have to wai wait and see t it exactly means. president putin did say a week ago that the arctic 30 were clearly not pirates, oh although they were expecting a development of this sort. just as greenpeace has said it's a heavy charge to bring against the arctic 30. >> david chater from moscow.

how do you feel about the developments, relief? >> well, not really. this is still a wildly disproportionate charge that carries up to seven years in jail. the arctic 30 is no more hooligans than they were pirates. all our people did was to try to shine the light on what is an exceptionally reckless business up in the arctic, and the idea that they could possibly face seven years, possibly even some of them ten years isn't makin yl exceptionally severe. >> your people knew what they were getting in to trying to board the russian oil rig, that they would be breaking some

russian law if they were caught. >> it could be that there were laws that have been broken, but what is absolutely clear is that the arctic 30 were not pirates under russian or international law, and they're certainly not hooliganisms. nothing we did carried the threat of violence. there was no intent to take over the platform. this is a peaceful project. green peace has been guided on peaceful protests, non-violence and bearing witness. the actions that they took against this platform were entirely reasonable when you think of the risk that this thing poses to the arctic. and i'm afraid the response that we've seen from the russian authorities was wholly disproportionate. >> have the activists heard the news that they're now going to be charged with hooliganism rather than piracy? and what kind of reaction has there been from them? >> well, we haven't been able to confirm this as far as i know

with our--with the people inside the jail. they are a few hours ahead of us here, but also the communication is slow between our team through the lawyers, it takes a bit of time. but obviously we will be doing that as quickly as possible by i should just say we've been speaking to the families and friends of the loved ones around the world to tell them this news, and that it's a matter of urgency. >> thank you for your time. thank you they were, indeed. >> reporter: to italy where prime minister berlusconi has been asked to answer to charge of corruption. we're joined live from rome, so, explain what this latest case is all about? >> reporter: well, if berlusconi

is accused of paying $4 million while a former senator back in 2006 that belonged to the center left of coalition, back then was led by prime minister romano provi. he has since jump ship and defected from the center left and is on the center right coalition which was led by berlusconi. now this led to the fall of the government because he had a very thin majority back then, and to new elections which were won by berlusconi forcing investigators saying that that was a way by berlusconi to bring down the government so he could run again for new elections, which eventually he won. it's charges of corruption and bribery, which add up to charges of similar nature that he is

facing elsewhere. >> indeed. any response from berlusconi or his supporters? >> reporter: well, berlusconi has maintained all along over the past few years that he has been a victim of a calculated attempt by the system and the justice system of getting rid of him since his political opponent can't get rid of him politically. this time he believes that he has done nothing wrong. he believes that he is innocent, and that he will prove his innocence. but while the pieces are starting to fall for berlusconi at least on the justice side, the legal side, we'll know over the first months of his sentence confirmed for tax fraud which is four years in prison.

he is also facing another high profile trial. he was sentenced for having sex with an under-age prostitute. that now goes to appeal. >> italian politics never dull, that's for sure. later in this news hour right now it's back to doha. >> thank you very much. there is plenty more ahead on this news hour. boeing has been having a bumpy ride but things may be looking up for the aircraft manufacturer. plus why the u.s. city of detroit has the blues despite filing for bankruptcy. and in sports can christian crio

rinado >> first afghanistan faces a tough challenge as it looks to take control of its own security next year. international forces are withdrawing and the afghan army has been plagued by poor training and frequent defectio defections. an officer acted has been opened. >> reporter: these men hope to be the leaders of afghanistan's young army. but for now they just have to get through the training. at this new army officer academy in kabul the recruits are seen as the future of the sustainable military. >> to make a strong army it is clear we need educational statutes like this, which is the basis of building of a country. >> reporter: the afghan army has a high attrition rate. most of the regular soldiers are i wililliterate and ethnic loyas

often come before national ones. >> reporter: many competed for 9 slots in the first year of the acted. if they graduate they will be afghan officers. >> the course will be rigorous intellectually and physically and some men won't make it. the recruits say they're ready. >> we will tighten our belts to serve our country, to accept sacrifice so we can rescue the children from this country from dark times. >> reporter: the academy is still under construction. eventually 1350 men and 150 women are expected to graduate every year. with the help of international mentors from five n.a.t.o. nations. >> we intend to be here until 2023 or until the afghan government decides that is enough. >> reporter: but n.a.t.o.'s future decides on the pending agreement with the united

states. that plan will be debated by a national gathering late next month. if it's rejected. afghan security forces could find themselves without support by the end of 2014, years before planned. >> five suspects accused of plotting the september 11th attacks, their attorneys say their rights have been violated. we have this update from guantanamo bay. >> well basically here's the problem. right now the information about the torture which the defendants allege that they suffered while they were in c.i.a. detention camps between 2003 and 2006, they say they're not able to bring that information in to the courtroom as evidence that perhaps if they are convicted they should not be put to death. the convention against torture is important because it provides

for anyone who has been tortured to actually bring a claim against the government that might have been responsible for that torture. because the united states is a party to that treaty, the defendant including the alleged and self-described mastermind callie sheik mohammed say they need to challenge th. this is the issue that is at hand, 5:00 that is currently being discussed right now in the courtroom here at guantanamo bay. they're really just starting to get to the heart of this discussion. >> the u.s. city of detroit has filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the united states. >> reporter: for the motor city first came the debt then came

the bankruptcy, and then the bankruptcy bill, and it's soaring. the city council dutifully continue meetings, but since the state took over the city's finances it is kevin orr who calls the shots. honly his office knows the real total. >> my question is has it even exceeded $62 million, and i don't have that any as an elected official. >> reporter: for this working class auto town facing the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history one thing is for sure, the price for paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys. i said it will cost 10s of millions of dollars. it will be a very expensive process. they laughed at me. they said it won't be tens of millions of dollars. it will be hundreds of millions

of dollars. >> more people fight, this is a contentious case. the amount of money lost in this case by written off debt will be in the billions of dollars. >> reporter: with $20 billion in debt and income of around $1 billion the city is asking some creditors to accept $0.10 on the dollar. the city is finding that going broke is expensive. the accounting firm gets $8 million. in the final humiliation the city is paying the auction house $2 million to find out what treasures like van gogh's self portrait would fetch if sold. not affected by the bankruptcy, a new arena for the red wings hockey team. the bankruptcy costs just add to the woes that have taken an once mighty motor city to now down to 7,000 with thousands of vacant

homes buildings and lots with many singing the blues. >> manufacturer boeing has been having controversy over its dreamliner but things may be looking up. they have reported 12% rise in third quarter profit, and as a result shares have jumped 6%. they have been rounded by regulators after a series of technical problems. now they say that it has all been resolved. joining us now is a retired united airways pilot who joins us live from orange county, california. thank you for being with us. first of all, are you surprised that they've managed to make such a big profit? >> no, i'm not really surprised. first, let me make a disclosure in fairness.

i'm very partial to boeing airliners because i've flown everything from 707 to 777. they're doing fantastic, even though with all the hiccups with the initial hiccups with the 787, but let's not forget the other lineup of the aircraft that they have, especially the 777 is selling like hotcakes. the new model that is coming out pretty shortly, the 777 x i have no doubt will be a fantastic sell. >> well, the the 787, why has t been described as a game changer for the industry. >> it's fuel economy, of course. as you know every airline even

1% fuel economy is a huge expense for any airline. if you can save 20% on the fuel bill, that's really an amazing feat for just about any airline. >> it has had a lot of technical problems, lots of glitches, why do you think that is? a veteran of boeing is suggesting the problems are the result of the insane amount of outsourcing of parts the company has used to assemble this aircraft, the 787, do you agree with that? >> i agree with that 100%. this aircraft is first boeing outsourced, the majority of the parts were outsourced. in the past boeing did outsource some of their airplanes, the 747, the 777, but not to this extent. furthermore in the past boeing always designed the aircraft

totally in-house, and then sent out the specs to the various manufacturers. the big mistake boeing made was they went to various manufacturers around the world and basically said you produce, design and produce this part hoping that they will all fit in production. and it didn't. and the problems, for example, with the batteries were--i think it was strictly because of the outsourcing. >> captain ross aimer thank you for your time. >> it's my pleasure. >> lots more ahead on this news hour. president obama has been forced to smooth things over with the german chancellor. we'll be live in washington, d.c. with the latest on the u.s. spy scandal. plus a monkey, two of the 400

new species covered in the amazon in the past four years. we'll take a closer look in the news hour. and in sports we'll have action with a dramatic second set between pakistan and south africa. do stay with us. [[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

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>> welcome back. you're watching the news hour on al jazeera. a reminder of our main stories. u.s. president barack obama has been forced to reassure the german chancellor that she is not being spied on. angela merkel upset after receiving information that the u.s. may have targeted her mobile phone. in tunisia eight people have died in fighting between armed fighters and the national guar guards. and russia has dropped piratcy charges against 30 greenpeace activists, and are now charging with hooliganism

but it still carries the maximum sentence of seven years in prison. live to wallen fish center washington, d.c. what are they saying about the tapping of angela merkel's mobile phone in the white house? >> reporter: they say that we think that our chancellor's phone has been tapped by the americans and their spying agency. the white house spokesman in the last 30 minutes what exactly have you been up to with the germans? this is what he said. >> i can tell you today president obama and chancellor merkel spoke by telephone regarding the allegations that you mentioned, that the u.s. national security agency intercepted the communications of the german chancellor and i can tell you that the united states president assured the chancellor that that has not happened. we value the relationship with germany and the u.s. is

reviewing the way we gather information and make sure that we balance the concerns of our nation and allies and the privacy concerns. we have the goal of protecting the security of both countries and of our partners as well as protecting the privacy of our citizens. >> interesting wording there in that statement from jay carney, alan, what do you make of it? >> reporter: well, it is interesting because these things are not thrown together. they're worded to get the message across. two words, actually four words were missing from that statement. have not, and did not. no at any point did jay carney say they haven't done this in the past. now the statement piqued our interest so we asked our white house team to get a comment on the fact that those four words were missing. and just in the last few minutes i can tell you received an e-mail from our white house

correspondent. she spoke on record with the spokeswoman who said that the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of chancellor merkel. beyond that i'm not in a position to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity. again the phrase being use, they are not and will not monitor. >> interesting, indeed. and the americans have had a lot of explaining to do lately on their surveillance program to the europeans. >> reporter: they believe that monitoring is something that every single government does, and i think that's probably true. it's just the scape of the american operation is so much bigger than what every other country does. therefore jay carney asked is there a possible that we're

monitoring other communications that could well have picked up something from the chancellor by mistake? he said's not prepared to comment on that sort of thing. he has a statement, and it is not and will not intercept communication from the chancellor but he doesn't say anything about the fact that they haven't been doing that in the past or how that may have happened. it's interesting when edward snowden went public, when all of this was happening barack obama made a big speech about spying and saying we do it, we have to do it, and it keeps our people safe. when did they make that speech? while he was in berlin. >> we have reaction there from washington on these latest claims that the united states has been spying on the german chancellor angela merkel, spying on her mobile phone. now moving on, london, okay, let's go to london now, and felicity. >> reporter: we're going to stay with the german stories with the

leader of the catholic church pope francis has suspended one of his german bishops, nick named the bishop of bling who is in a spending scandal at center, $42 million renovation on his official residents. >> the pope saying he wants a poor church to better welcome the poor kept silent on the high spending of bishop of lindberg. instead a spokesman said the german bishop would spend a period of time outside of his diocese while church officials conducted an inquiry into where all the money went. so a canon law limbo of sorts. he will be kept away from his flock who was slowly leaving him any way. the building budget went six times over budget hitting $42 million. $20,000 spent on a high tech

bathtub. living quarters typical of a movie star or star football player but for many german catholics not suited for the church. >> the situation here becomes karma because emotions are quite high, and we have to wait and see what will happen. but i think the bishop is unlikely to be returned to lynnberg. i think there has been too much searched. >> reporter: before the suspension the german government said it hoped the catholic church would make a decision to bring the catholic faithful peace of mind. the scandal has caused national outrage. the catholic church getting around $7 billion a year. the scandal caused some 300 people though leave the church in the lindberg region and many more elsewhere in germany. it's unclear what will happen to the bishop after the inquiry is

completed. >> a british pioneer is questioning the pa tent for a fertility procedure. while the patent could increase the ability of conception it comes at quite a price. they say it's wrong to commercialize a natural process. >> which one do you want now? >> reporter: jasmine is the light of her parents life. >> i just knew deep down whatever procedure we had to go there, whether it was an easy procedure or difficult procedure we would go through it no matter what because at the end of the day we wanted a child together. >> reporter: jasmine is born of an estimated 5 million babies born sinc ivf started.

when it started success rates were low but new techniques are being developed all the time, improving the chances of a patient being able to have a baby. but that also means it's becoming an increasingly competitive market, and the technology involved is changing all the time. this year an university was granted a pa tent for the technique that helps to determine the optimal embryo for transfer, but many ask whether the patent should be granted and will it result in ivf becoming more expensive. part of the team that greated the world's first test tube baby. since then he has helped thousands of would-be parents. >> to use natural information, the time it takes for a cell to divide, to be able to patent

that is wrong, and it is an unfair commercialization of a process that everybody needs access to. >> reporter: the patent granted by the european patent office is being challenged. we were told that this patent stems from extensive research by stanford university which invented a specific way to measure and analyze embryonic development in order to assess the viability of individual embryos in the laboratory. to suggest it is the patent of a natural process is misleading. this is simply not the case. for jasmine's parents the emotional and financial cost of their ivf journey was, of course, well, worth it. families in the future may have to dig deep for achieve their dream. emma hayward, al jazeera, london. >> joining me now is steve the lead embreeologist at cambridge here in the u.k. thanks for being here on the program why shouldn't the company be able to patent a

technique of measuring an embryo development? >> felicity. the difficulty here is that this is--there isn't just one company who makes these systems for use in the ivf industry. there are other companies, and they all work on the same assessments to assess the best possible embryo. the danger is not just the commitment but the process of making the assessment that surely is going to hinder the development of other systems and will serve to push the costs up because they'll have a captive market. >> i guess their argument is that it's similar with new life-saving drugs. drug companies around the world spend a lot of money on their research, and then they patent the drugs even know of course for many people in the world the ability to pay for life-saving drugs just isn't there. isn't it a similar problem?

>> i think it's slightly different in so much that the application of their technology is the same with other technologies. because of that to actually patent that will inhibit other people's access to that technique. the knock on effect is that ivf will increase in cost and some clinic who is can't forward to use that equipment then not have access to it which means their success rates will come down. therthe negative impact on the patient is significant. >> that's here in the u.k. how much does this technique increase the chances of successful conception? >> it's difficult to give a definitive answer because different clinics use the same systems but in different techniques in their laboratories. but the evidence at the moment is somewhat on the fence as to near the positive affect that this has. it's a very new technology.

it's still if in its infancy, but there is a general opinion that access to the assessments that this allows us to do should help to improve success rates. i shouldn't like to put success rates on it that. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. >> tens of thousands of people have attended rival rallies for and against hungary's prime minister. they are usually divided opposition forces join forces before the country's election. the third rally was held by the far right. they say they're angry at the government for selling agriculture land to foreigners. since 2010 they have pushed through a wave of controversial legislation and he's even being accused of undermining democracy. we have the latest here in europe and back to doha.

>> thank you very much. bush fires burning in southeast and australia are easing but there is a real danger to property and people. we go to the blue mountains for this report. >> reporter: john was not taking any chances. >> we werwould leave when we wed to. >> reporter: everything is ready to go? >> everything is ready to go. >> reporter: down the road a neighbor was putting up signs before she left. don't forget the animals. watch out for the fuel. katherine wasn't leaving yet. >> we've seen flames coming up through the bush there, but we've had a lot of smokey days up here. but i'm quite at ease. but if the wind changes i think we'll probably leave. >> reporter: and it was the wind causing the most concerns with gusts up to 100 kilometers now

can spread flames fast. while some helicopters dropping water were working, others had to be grounded. the early message is that things are not as bad as first feared. >> things have not been as bad as we thought it was going to be, but it's moving constantly and in the last hour or so we've had two major flareups in the area. >> reporter: one was across the road of the blue mountains. the firefighters there were watching a as the day was young and resources needed to be reserved. >> reporter: you can see the wind pouring the smoke across the hill tops. firefighters are watching to make sure fires don't get any bigger. when they are a threat they get on top of them but what they don't want to do is waste their

water. >> reporter: flying embers caused authorities to urge residents to get out. by mid afternoon, the huge fires hadn't gotten much bigger nor reached homes and the worst predictions of the fire chief hadn't materialized. andrew thomas, al jazeera, in the blue mountains west of sydney. >> more than 400 species of animals and plants have been found in the amazon in the past four years. one of the exciting finds is a purring monkey, and some are very specific to small parts of the amazon he co-system. ecosystem. thank you very much, damian, for being on the program. first of all, an average of two new species identified every

week for the past four years. why are we still finding so many species in the amazon today? >> it's incredible. it's huge. the amazon is 6.7 million kilometers and it's a pretty big place. so we haven't been everywhere. some of these areas, i mean, the purring monkey was found in a conflict zone in columbia so scientist versus not been able to get in there and make these discovers. >> let's talk about the headlines of the species. you mentioned the purring machine coy. is it a cat that looks like a monkey? >> no, it's a monkey found in colombia, and they found that both the adults and babies purr when they feel content. that's something that has resonated with people when we released this news. >> and this knew species of

piranha. >> it only feeds off vegetation in the water. so again something that people have found very interesting. but i mean, there is an important message behind all of this. we're celebrating all of these new species we found, which is fantastic, but we're suddenly losing species at a rate faster than we're finding them. the amazon is still under threat from many things we heard about a few decades ago. this is a great opportunity to talk to the public and actually let them know about what the amazon is really is, the threats it faces and what they can do as individuals to help. this is part of the concentrated week of activity at wwfk in partnership partnership with sky tabout the amazon.

>> what are the threats that effect the amazon. >> the monkey we're talking about is currently under threat, and we lose three football pitches a day to deforestation. they are under thread from hydropower. a lot of work that the wwf does is engaging with governments and people of the region to try to look at alternatives that are more forest friendly. but also here outside of the region what we ask people to do throw amazon week is to make choices such as buy sustainable wood and paper that have been certified and rain forest products that help benefit the local people but aren't destructive on the environment. >> thank you, very good to talk to you. damian fleming from the world wildlife fund of the u.k.

we go to world series. details next. do stay with us.

>> we will gather to sports. >> reporter: we'll look at the action from the uafa championship league. we've already had one result. manchester city had a hard-fought come from behind against moscow. the russians took the lead but two goals from that man gave city vital point.

and manchester united 1-0 in their match against real socedad. and in a few hours time one of the biggest events in the american sporting calendar gets under way. i'm talking about game one of baseball's world series. the boston red sox will host the st. louis cardinals at fenway park. >> the boston red sox are into the world series for the third time in the last ten years. their opponents the st. louis cardinals are there for the fourth time in the last decade. and both teams are looking for their third championship in that period.

>> we're going up against a very complete team. we're still in our own process of getting familiar with them. they have very good young pitching. they have very good pitching in general. what i've looked at so far they're well balanced. >> reporter: the cardinals ace pitcher adam wainwright will be the starter in game one. he has helped st. louis with two wins. the cardinals will open up the world series in boston with the opportunity to practice at fenway and get used to play in a ballpark they rarely play in. >> the guys will get used to the stadium and get one day close for getting this thing going. >> reporter: the red sox will counter are left-handed pitcher jon lester. to counter lester's threat st. louis is doing something new.

they're practicing against their own pitchers, something rarely done in practice in baseball. >> it feels good to get out there and compete against pitchers. it's fun to take serious at-bats. i took eight to ten at-bat. it felt good and that's what i'm focusing on right now. >> reporter: the red sox and cardinals open up game one against fenway park in boston. al jazeera. >> reporter: now there was a traumatic first play in south africa. pakistan with a surprise win in the first test. they chose the bat first in dubai and that was the last thing that went right for them. they went right into their batting lineup and they the home

was blown away. the chief destroyer was africa's pakistan player. he took five wickets to 32 and closed on 128-3. the confirmation of the dramatic first day play, south africa has the lead of 29 runs. they still had seven wickets remaining in their first innings. a lot of work there for pakistan to avoid defeat and win the two-match test series. >> you it was a real disappointing thing. it was very frustrating and trying to get a reason for all that, whether it's complacency, whether they thought they could still continue on from 400 runs from the previous game. i'm not sure but it certainly wasn't a very good effort. 7. >> the one-day game now in india

washed out the one-day international between india and australia. 295-8 with 50 over. india's chase was stopped at 27 after less than five over and rain stopped. australians lead the series 2-1 with three games left. tied for one day internationals but fans had a chance to see the great man in a promotional event on wednesday ahead of the final test, his 2nd hundred. he will play in the mumbai match against the west inde indies ans excepted to retire. >> i appreciate all the support, and i thank the people of india and the well wishers, i just want to keep it short and brief

and just take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support. thank you very much. >> reporter: now cyclingist 101st tour de france has been unveiled. it will take place in the u.k. with the race starting in yorkshire on the 5th of july. and they'll pay tribute to the millions killed in belgium in world war i. they will finish in paris on the 27th of july. >> remember london in 2007? at the time bradley wigans had not won at all. he had not won 25 stages of the tour and think of his excitement when he heard one day he could be defending his title for the grand. >> reporter: more sport on our

website. check out www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com/sport. also details there on how to get in touch with our teams using twitter and facebook. plus we've got blogs and video clips from our correspondents around the world. that address for you again www.aljazeera.com/sport. i can give you an update on the football, 1-0, and we'll give you updates on all the championship leagues. >> thank you very much. and that's it for this news hour on al jazeera. do stay with us. we'll have plenty more world news coming up, including the latest o on the claims that the united states has been spying on the german chancellor angela merkel. the u.s. has responded by saying it has not spied on the chancellor in berlin. do stay with us. thanks for watching.