> freed from a besieged suburb of damascus. fears now for thousands of other syrians still trapped. >> and heading home - four men held hostage for three years which by al qaeda are on their

way back to france. also -. >> i'm in the ecuadorian amazon where the government has gisent the green light to drill for oil. >> the u.n. says the long drawn out battle between government troops and rebels in the democratic republic of congo is drawing to a close. congolese soldiers are launching an assault to retake the last town held by armed fighters known as the m23 rebels. a bit of background. the m23 are a group of tute si fighters who defected from the government. the conflicts forced 800,000 people to flee their homes. the push by the congolese troops has been largely successful because they are backed by a

u.n. prevention brigade sent to crush the rebels. the m23 fighters abandoned their military positions in the east and are confined to a small down close to the ugandan border called rumanagabo. >> they have been fighting hard for days. they are getting ready to fight again. they are congolese government troops and have taken a string of towns back from the m23 rebels. the fighters hold a town on the ugandan border, a few kilometres from here. the congolese tanks are getting ready for what the army says is a final push against the m23 rebels. the morale is high. they've had several victories in recent days. no one knows what is going to happen next. >> further back from the front line here are some of the men they have been fighting - rebels

who surrounded. now they are prisoners of war so we can't show you their faces. the conningo lease army says it has captured many rebels from uganda and rwanda. >> we have proof, we have identity cards of uganda and rwanda. >> meantime the tanks drive to the front line in preparation for the attack. the villagers know what is coming, so they move away with their possessions. the piglets are more scared than she is. she and her family lived under the rebels for more than a year. she doesn't like it. >> the rebels are bad. they come to take women, they steal people's animals. at harvest time they take the crops. every family has to give them

five buckets of food every season. the tanks are in position. the villagers start to run. as the sun set the shelling begins. the soldiers get ready to advance. they are nervous. it's the beginning of a battle they hope will be the end of the war. malcolm webb - al jazeera - in the democratic republic of congo. >> we move on to syria, and a damascus suburb that has been under siege by government forces since january has been evacuated after the red cross mediated a deal. there's fears the safe passage organised from the suburb may be an attempt to buy president assad's forces to control territory around damascus. imran khan has more on the story. >> this is a rare moment of relief and cooperation between

regime force, rebel groups and aid workers. 1800 syrians have been trapped in a suburb and were allowed to leave during a ceasefire. priority has been given to the sick, elderly and children. officials say the civilians were taken to temporary shelters. the parties cooperated well. >> we received calls from inside and from the people - from inhabitants outside. they said they would prefer to go out because it's not only a matter of eating, but also it's a matter, you know, of security. so we began to negotiate on this basis. and the good thing in this initiative is that everybody is a partner. >> the government is eager to show that it fully cooperated and helped to facilitate the withdrawal. >> the people now leaving are

the last people leaving after the agreement between national security, social affairs and the damascus county governor. others are cynical and doubt the motives of rebels and regime forces. bashar al-assad - the neighbourhood free of civilians good allow for a military advantage. for the rebel groups it gives them a chance to recuperate and regroup while the ceasefire is in place. whatever the reasons for the move, the residents are thankful. >> translation: the government coming here is like medicine for us, thanks for that, god help you, thanks to the syrian army. may god protect them. >> this is an isolated case. syrian regime forces have a clear tactic throughout the country when it comes to rebel held neighbourhoods. they blockade them while keeping food and supplies out, in an attempt to get the rebels out. so much of this war is

concentrated around the checkpoints and blockades. >> staying in syria, the u.n. special envoy is meeting president bashar al-assad. lakhdar brahimi, who represents the arab league sat with the foreign minister. lakhdar brahimi is trying to build support for peace talks to be held in geneva between the government and the opposition. >> we go to beirut in neighbouring lebanon. any more evacuations expected to the area? >> this is the third day of lakhdar brahimi in damascus. we don't have much details about what has been said in those meetings, except for the words of the foreign minister, who, on tuesday, said that syria would, in principle, attend geneva ii

conference if it happens. he clearly said that he wanted the dialogue to be a matter among syrians, without foreign intervention. it's not very clear what he meant about foreign intervention. this is presumably going to be a conference where you have several international players, and regional players. iran has already signalled that it will attend if it was invited to that conference. presumably the u.s. and russia would be there. in other neighbouring countries, maybe turkey - lebanon signalled the fact it would like to attend the conference. it's not clear what he meant from that. one issue we haven't heard about, the key demand of the opposition for a long time is it doesn't seem to be talk about resignation of bashar al-assad, or a transitional government that does not include bashar al-assad. the opposition has so far been saying that it would not attend

unless that conversation is on the table. it says it's not willing to postpone that. >> hoda we know the deputy prime minister has been sacked. what more can you tell us about that? >> well, the official syrian newsagency said that he was sacked. one is absence of work without prior permission, and the other one is the heart of the matter, that he carried out activities and meetings without permission from the government. it was reported that he -- qadri jamil was in syria and met with robert ford, and would have asked to be counted as part of the opposition at the geneva talks if they happen. robert ford would have said, "well, you can't be on both sides of the divide." that would be the matter that really

angered the syrian government at this stage. qadri jamil was regarded like one of those people who are the tolerated oppositional or sometimes the government points to them as a patriotic opposition, meaning those who are not backed by any foreign country. this is as much as we know. >> thank you hoda for that. reporting for us in neighbouring lebanon in beirut. another senior leader of the muslim brotherhood has been arrested in egypt. this picture, said to show esam el-arian when he was taken from a house in a cairo suburb wednesday morning. he'd been in hiding since the july coup which ousted former leader mohamed morsi. now, esam el-arian was the deputy leader of the muslim brotherhood's political party. >> now, we are getting reports of a number of attacks in the tunisian resort towns.

let's go straight now to our producer who is on the ground there. youcef gagey. what more can you tell us about the attacks? >> well, a suicide attack happened in the town of sousse. he tried to enter the hotel and was not allowed. he restarted to use the back entrance from the beach. that's where the explosion took place. no one died but the suicide attacker - he lost his life. there are reports of a second attack that tailed in another town. there's a high security alert and security forces are investigating what happened to prevent the possibility of other attacks in other resorts. what is important is this is a major shift in the course of

events in tunisia. it happened in sousse and will cause a blow to the tourism sector which is already suffering. the attack comes amid negotiations and talks between political parties who are trying to end the three months political deadlock. >> thank you for getting us up to date. youcef gaigi there speaking from tunis. >> u.s. spy chiefs faced tough questions on capitol hill over the surveillance of american allies. speaking before members of the u.s. congress they defended their actions. we have this report from washington. >> the house intelligence committee plays a key role in overseeing the secret activities of the national security agency. >> the only scanneda louse thinks are the attacks made upon you. >> on tuesday, in the main, it provided a respectful platform for the director of national intelligence and the head of the

nsa to answer critics. on the bugging of world leaders james clapper insisted he was following broad orders to give the president the best information possible on his foreign counterparts. >> as long as i have been in the intelligence business - 50 years - leadership intention, in whatever form it's expressed is a basic tenant of what we are to collect and analyse. >> on recent allegations that the united states was collecting millions of phone record in france and spain, the head of the nsa offered this defense. >> this is not information we collected on european citizens. it represents information that we, and our nato allies, have collected in defense of our country, and in support of military operations. >> but for the last several months, documents the whistle blower edward snowden leaked showed a global dragnet behind france and spain and it failed to become a major your

issue in washington. the bugging of angela merkel's phone received attention because of the strategic implications of being caught. it worries a european delegation of parliament airians investigate ght the scale of the program. >> spying on friends, not just leaders, citizens. >> tuesday's hearing was about the u.s.'s domestic surveillance operations with james clapper and keith alexander key to restrict legislative changes to collect the phone call data of u.s. citizens. >> you are watching al jazeera newshour. still to come - mineral rich, but mired in chaos. the security crisis in the central african republic. and we visit a shelter for teenage mothers in kenya, who have been abandoned by their

family. >> and miami heat celebrate their title and kick off the new season in style. joe will be here with the details later. . a bus caught fire on a highway between bangalore and hyderabad in india. up to 44 are feared dead. six passengers and the driver made it out alive. the bus crashed into a barrier and the fuel tank collided. we'll look why there's so many deaths often indian roads in a moment. first the report from new delhi. >> police confirmed that the bus driver is among the seven who survived. it's him that was telling police he was trying to overtake another vehicle in the early morning hours when the bus was struck by something, it hit the fuel tank, causing the bus to explode into flames.

the bus, a private vehicle, had an automatic locking system, causing the passengers to be trapped inside. one of the reasons we have so many crashes in india and the death tolls is because of the poor infrastructure in the country. many buses travel in the rural country side where the roads turn into gravel and obstructions come out of nowhere. and lack of safety, knowledge and getting medical mep means there's a high death toll. >> four french men are on their way home after being released by al qaeda. the men, who worked for nuclear and construction companies have been held for three years. they are being flown to a pliltry air base near paris and will be greeted by an unpopular president. tim friend is following the story and joins us live. >> do we know if there were conditions to the release. was there a deal between paris

and al qaeda. >> well, the french government denies that they pay any ransom of any kind in situations like this. but it's been reported that in the past areva the nuclear energy company mining in niger where the men were taken has paid millions of dollars in ransom in the past. the concern is if that happens, it encourages rebels to take yet more hostages because they know it's a lucrative source of income. the rebels said that they'd taken the men because they were mining in their territory. they were stealing their valuable minerals and went on to say they wanted the french out of afghanistan. i think those reasons were to

disguise the fact that what they were after was money. although they've officially denied it, it's possible a deal was made. >> what has been the reaction in france to the news of this release? >> well, you can imagine. euphoria amongst the families. they've been suffering three years of uncertainty. they heard the vaguest of reports about the fate of the men. now within an hour or so they'll be back on french soil greeted by the president who has invited them to launch at the elysee with their family, it's annest tattic moment in paris -- anecstatic moment. when they were held and eventually freed in northern mali, whether being held, they were in captivity separately -

at least according to reports to prevent any attempt to free them with a military exercise, as it were. and we understand that that was not the case, that they were freed as a result of negotiation and ipp tryingly a former toour egg rebel -- toureg rebel, now a senior executive with areva subsidiary may have played a part and the president of niger, who has been thanked by the french foreign minister who flew out with the defence minister to collect the men and bring them home. >> thank you tim for getting us up to date on that. tim friend reporting from paris. >> now, let's go to the weather with richard. there's a new tropical storm causing a lot of concern. >> that's right. along the west pacific typhoon season, quite happy - five

typhoons during the season until we got to october and things began to change. we have seen the total of six storms so far. there's a high chance we'll see a seventh typhoon crowser developing to the east of the philippines. you can't pick up eye ball or anything as yet. not a major feature. it will track across the northern parts of the philippines as a tropical storm and across the china sea. where at that stage the winds will have strengthened considerably. these are the winds expected across the philippines, 120 k/hr, gusts of 150. but the stronger winds, which will - not hopefully, will take it towards the typhoon status. by the time it reaches a high at 0-16 - about 130 gusts, 155. initially it will be the

rainfall making it an issue. 150mm across the philippines, maybe more. concerns as far as flooding and landslides are concerned. >> let's stay in south-east asia. a u.n. backed khmer rouge tribunalal in cam bode yes is in the final -- cambodia is in the final stage of its trial. they are accused of genocide and crimes against mankind. into they are looking into what happened nearly 40 years ago. >> a city of 2 million emptied in a day. its normally busy streets quiet. 17 april 1975 marked the start of a reign of terror for cambodians. khmer rouge soldiers marched into the city as victors. the people of cambodia welcomed them, happy a 5-year civil war

was over. hours later they were ordered to leave to the country side. this man was living in federico lombardi at the time. >> -- living in phomn perform enh at the time. >> he remembers being forced to mark with his family. his 3-year-old son didn't survive. like others, he decide of disease and starvation. the khmer rouge was trying to create a rural utopia. they killed intellectual people, teachers - anyone accused of being a spy. few would guess that in the early days of the regime's rule. a french photographer was in phonm perform enh himself. he never imagined the evacuation

would be the subject of a war crimesism. >> it's the end of the war. to me it was no more than that >> he and other foreigners were told to move to the french embassy. some tried to join them, most were turned away. >> this is the gate that made the difference between life and death. it's been moved to the gardens and preserved at part of history. foreigners were allowed to leave. cambodians had to stay behind, abandoned to their fate. an inscription reads, "this gate opens, then closed on an unspeakable suffering and the deaths of millions of cambodians." it's a reminder of the violent past. a brutal pass that khmer rouge like this man hope will not go unpunished. >> now, there have been celebrations across the gaza strip and the west bank after 26

palestine prisoners were freed by israel. many had been behind bars for more than 20 years. it's part of a u.s. brokered deal ahead of peace talks. the decision to release them has been met with anger by some israelis. >> a group of seen politicians made a rare visit into north korea, to gift the gaesong industrial complex the the joint venture between the two countries was closed for five months following a rise in military interpretation. there's no perhaps for the south korean contingent to meet korean officials. >> rods are to be released from the fukushima nuclear plant. reactor four has more than 1,302 fuel rods. if they are damaged or break during the extraction, they could release highly active material. the rods need to be removed because the building could collapse if another large

earthquake hits. it's the first step to decommissioning the plant. that is expected to take years. >> the world's first bitcoin atm opened in a vancouver cafe, giving customers another way to access the online currency. waves coffee house got a hold. first of five cash machines. a bitcoin holder uses the atms to buy or sell the currency. and a growing number of retail. every day 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth in developing countries. that's a new report from the united nations population fund. it found impoverished poorly educated and rural girls are more likely to become pregnant. early preg nansies reflect

powerlessness, poverty and pressure. in most cases the results of sexual vialance and owe -- voilens and coercion. for thousands of girls teenage preg nansies results in human rights violations - that is death. >> 70,000 die from causes relating to pregnancy and child birth. we have this report from a shelter in nairobi that has been helping underage mother. >> at the age of 14 this girl is a mother. her family disowned her. she is now forced to care for a 4-month-old and studying for school exams. >> translation: i'm lucky i had a safe delivery. i haven't lost hope. i plan to continue my studies until i complete them. >> beth now lives at the shelter for teenage mothers, outside nairobi. it's run by this man.

the rever and. >> 99" of girls we have here are from poor families. por erty plays a great role whereby the families are poor, and you bring another mouth. you go away. >> teenage preg nansies in africa contributed to a lack of sex education. child marriage prevalent in some countries is to blame. >> according to the united nations, one in every 10 girls in africa has a child before the age of 15, it's common to see between 15 and 19 girls can have up to three children. >> becoming a mother at a young age leads to serious health implications - disrupting life. >> once she stops going to school, that is it, especially if the family is poor. she was to look for odd jobs,

which means she couldened up in the streets being sexually exploited and getting pregnant again or contracting diseases. >> some are trying to rebuild their lives. seven years after dropping out of school because of a preg nancy, 24-year-old irene is back in class, attempting the school in the nairobi slum, which caters from teen mums. facilities like this are few and far between. most of the 1.6 million kenyan teen mothers have nowhere to turn. >> still ahead on al jazeera newshour. profit over protection. ecuador abandons a plan to save its pristine amazon rainforest. plus why these people on the border of sudan and its southern neighbour take part in a vote that nobody recognises. and in sport - barcelona move

clear to the top of the spanish league. joe will be here with all the action.

welcome back. you are watching al jazeera. the u.n. says the threat from the m23 in the democratic republic of congo is almost over. government troops are trying to retake the last town held by the rebels, which is in the east. >> the four french hostages kidnapped in niger back in 2010

are expected to rise in france in the next hour. the men were captured by al qaeda in mag reb while working for french nuclear firme areva. the red cross managed to secure a ceasefire in a damascus town between the government and opposition fighters. >> syrian state media says the deputy prime minister has been sacked. qadri jamil is accused of leaving the country without permission from the government. he is believed to have met the u.s. ambassador to syria, robert ford, in geneva to discuss peace talks planned for next month. joining me from london is a professor of middle eastern politics at the london school of economics. good to talk to you. we know jamil was, as our correspondent hoda told us, is a

tolerated opponent in the government. does his dismissal reflect the cracks in assad's team. >> i don't think so. i think assad runs a tight ship. i would not be surprised if assad had not known in advance before mr jamil's meeting with the u.s. amdas door robert ford, even though qadri jamil rattled the assad regime by speaking outside the book. he's been a useful voice and a parliamentary for assad as part of the internal opposition. what assad has done by removing qadri jamil now he insists that he is an internal opposition inside syria. he is trying to drive a new position. in many ways it's a win, win strategy for assad. more importantly, what we need to understand is that the

meeting between qadri jamil and u.s. ambassador robert ford, and remember he's the barack obama administration's point man. it is revealing and shows a subtled shift, american foreign policy towards syria. the meeting, the deputy prime minister re-engagement with elements of the assad regime and shows americans deep involved and engagement in pushing for a political settlement inside syria. interesting developments there. i want to move on and talk about the meeting between peace envoy lakhdar brahimi, who was expected to hold talks with president assad. lakhdar brahimi says he has seen assad playing a role in a new syria, but not as a leader. do you think this is something assad is likely to agree to? >> not at all. in fact, not only assad would not agree to what mr lakhdar

brahimi publicly stated, lakhdar brahimi yesterday tried to distance himself from his own announcement on syrian television, saying the statement was taken out of context. president assad warned lakhdar brahimi to stay faithful to his mission, not to make any statements outside of his mission. the reality is that there is a stalemate in the syrian crisis. the reality is the syrian opposition is divided. the assad regime is not going to make a compromise or really give the opposition or lakhdar brahimi an inch at a compromise because he believes that he is winning and the balance of power shifted in his favour. the prospects of convening geneva ii, i would argue is

extremely low because of the polarisation, also because of the rough balance of power that exists between the assad regime and the opposition. >> thank you for talking to us. we appreciate your insight. the professor of middle eastern politics and international relations at the london school of economics. >> chinese authorities describe monday's car crash and fair in tiananmen square as a terrorist attack. this is the first time they have done this. police have arrested five suspects they believe are linked to the incident. state media released the names of three vehicles who died who appeared to be from the uighur ethnic minority. we'll update you on that as we get more information. >> the united nations security council has given the go ahead for troops to go into the central african republic to protect a new u.n. political mission there. now, the landlocked mineral rich

nation has been mired in chaos since rebels seized the capital in march. james bays reports on what may be the start of a larger peacekeeping operation. >> u.n. staff working in the central african republic, a country some called the world's forgotten crisis. things are so bad in the country, which has been in a state of turmoil, that u.n. troops are sent in, but only to guard u.n. staff. a letter from the secretary-general ban ki-moon says they are needed because the absence of reliable national security forces. there's no plan for the u.n. to offer protection for ordinary people in the country at risk of murder, rape and violence. the country needs to come into the international spotlight. the scale of humanitarian suffering is among the worst in the world, and it's getting

worse. we are very concerned about what is happening now in terms of the attacks on communities, and what that will mean in terms of intercommunal tension, and the prospects for more violence. the u.n. guard force will consist of 250 soldiers rising to more than 500. their job is to guard other u.n. staff. there's a u.n. assessment team in the central african republic. diplomats believe one option is they'll recommend a larger peacekeeping operation. it looks like international involvement in the central african republic is set to grow. >> now, philip is the united nations director for human rights watch and arrived in bang jirks and has been in touch with the u.n. assessment team in the country and joins us from there. thank you for being on the show.

>> as james pointed out u.n. troops have been sent in to protect staff, but what protection is afforded the rest of the population, who are more likely to be at risk of rape for murder. >> not much now. that's a problem. the u.n. security council has been really missing in action on this crisis, and so it's a good thing that the u.n. is deploying a couple of hundred men to protect its premises. you need to put on your own oxygen masks before you help others. that's what the u.n. is doing. it's not enough. what we need is a peacekeeping mission in the central african republic to protect civilions. right now all you have is a weak mission, so the security council has two solutions - either it will bolster the ammunition by providing it with money,

logistics and help or it will create a u.n. peacekeeping mission, the same way you have now. but whichever solution about beshowns by the council. it needs to happen quickly because the country is bordering on chaos and anarchy. >> phillippe says or calls this conflict a war that the world has forgotten. what do you think it would take for the international community to take note of this conflict and as you say, send in more troops to protect the mass population? >> i mean, it's hard at this point, you know. we had for many, many month, members who took over power in march. they were going around the country pilaging, killing,

raping, torturing in absolutely complete impugnity. if that is not enough to get the attention of the u.n. security council, i don't know what will. what happened now is worrying. now some groups have formed citizens calling and protecting themselves against some members, and they are taking their anger out on muslim civilians who have nothing to do with them. now we are adding to a very, very dangerous situation of potential religious undertone, which is worrying. the council need to act now. right now, with the minimum investment, the council can help stablilize the country, if they wait too much, it will be more difficult down the line and more expensive as well. >> thank you for drawing

attention to this escalating crisis. that is felipe, the united nations director for human rights watch in bangi. >> we move to iran. women make up half the population, but only 16% have jobs, according to the united nations who say iranian women are under-represented in the workforce. we have more from tehran. >> it's morning rush hour in tehran. millions of iranians are heading to work, but not many are women. although they make up half the population the united nations and world bank say only 16% of women are employed. hoda knows this well. she's 26 and has been searching for a job for two years. the university graduate is losing hope and is think of leaving iran. >> it's a task of bitter experience. i can say it's impossible to

find a suitable job. many of my friends are searching. mostly they continue to study for something to do with their time. or they want to go overseas. it's disappointing. >> women make up 60% of university students. iran's richest woman says the government needs to make sure the country does not ignore their potential. >> it shows that in the future we have to find what this person chases will be supported to work in the society and their country, and they have responsibility for this. >> many iranian women blame cultural stereotypes and sexism for the fact they can't get jobs, even when they are qualified the u.n. says that means they are not represented, especially in the case of power.

>> in the case of women in decision-making position, the onus is on the political parties and system to bring women up through. i personally believe that out of sight is out of mind. >> research shows iran has made great strides towards gender equality in the last 30 years. it's increased life expect si, raised the education level for girls, and lookout sheltered maternal mortalitiy rates. for half the iranian population, without the ability to contribute to their country's future, it's not good enough. >> coming up we'll have all the sport, including the usa marking 100 days until the winter olympics. some are not pleased about athlete going to socchi. we find out why, with joe, in sport.

. i can't welcome back. more than 10,000 families in southern philippines lost their homes during a siege in september. government soldiers and fighters from the moro national liberation front were fighting in the residential areas of zamboanga. the crisis is over, but some people feel differently. we have this report. >> the torrment of the siege in one city is etched deeply in the home. >> my house is not home any more. >> what they have left are scars. memories built for decades,

reduced to ashes. their home was one of many destroyed during a 90 day siege during philippine soldiers and fighters through the moray national liberation front. >> i'm angry. there's no solution. both side, the government and moray. i'm a civilian, innocent civilian like me, good citizens. >> the siege started when mla fighters marched, demanding to launch their flag at the center of the city. thousands of government soldiers responded in the days that followed. the crisis left 200 dead. >> residents say although they are grateful they are allowed to return to their homes they are faced with a bigger dilemma, how to pick up the pieces of their

lives. >> so they say whatever scraps they can. many of them say they came home to discover that their homes had either been looted or razed to the ground. 120,000 have been displaced. many are in evacuation camps, in squalid conditions with little to eat or drink. government resources are stretched. >> we have to move forward and make sure whatever is destroyed, we will rebuild them, and rebuild them better. we at least need to get consolation out of what happened. adequate compensation for the people here is not just about replacing the home, it's about rebuilding the community. >> ecuador is abandoning plans to persuade rich countries to give it money in exchange for protecting the rainforest. the government is allowing oil

exploration in a pristine part of the country. >> there's a saying among tribes of the amazon, the jungle will save us all. but the most biodiverse area of the planet sits over a large deposit of oil. a few weeks ago the ecuadorian government gave a green light for gaol drilling in the heart of amazon. indigenous leaders are devastated. >> translation: for us the amazon is our sprment supermarket. this is where we find our food. the jungle is the pharmacy, all our medicine is here. with the pollution, it's gone. >> he refers to the pollution caused by drilling in the outskirts of the reserve. all the large animals are gone, he says. ecuador's president rafael correa says texy coe caused kaj in the amazon.

his answer - for the world to pay ecuador $350 million to leave the area untouched. but his plan failed. the government is now defending drilling in the basin. it's for the greater good, the government ad says. a media campaign comparing trilling to the short-lived pain that babies feel when getting a vaccine, as opposed to the benefits the shot provide. >> environmentalists say they are not only against oil exploration, but everything that it brings with it - contractors, roads, heavy traffic, and this is somehow already happening here. in a zone that has tropical rain forests and where heavy drilling has gone on for the past decade. >> the marchers to the capital have started. communities from the amazon trekked for five days to demand an audience with rafael correa.

>> we don't want oil companies - our message to them is you will harm us. leave us alone. >> many here want a referendum on oil drilling. >> translation: as a woman i want to defend our territory for the future of our children so they can live in harmony with the jungle. >> the indigenous movement played a role this top pling three ek wad doorian presidents during the past decade. now they have a warning for this president. let oil companies into the jungle and he will pay a heavy price. so will the planet. >> and time for sport. here is joe. >> thank you. two-time nba champions, the miami heat kick off the season with a 107-95 win over the chicago bulls.

the championship banner was inveigled and the players received rings. the most valuable player derek rose played in his first game since injury in april 2012. he managed 12 points from the ninth. the ovp for the last two seasons showed the bay, lebron james top scoring with 17 points and eight assist leading the heat to their win. >> 100 days to go to socchi. athletes have marked the milestone in manhattan. the u.s. team set up a sci slope to showcase various sports stars from the last winter games took to the stage. a small group of protesters called for a ban over grey lights. >> we are speaking to the

athletes telling them not to go to socchi and be silent in the face of the way it gays are treated. >> now there's concern for migrant workers who moved to the black sea area. >> the olympic building sites in so muchy has been a magnet for migrant workers, many coming in illegally from soviet states in central asia. they can face ruthless ex-ploy tas, wages under $2, passports confiscated, heavy labour, 12 hour shifts, seven days a week. karim's case is one of the worst. a native of a neighbouring country he's been a worker. he hasn't been paid. he tried to take his employers to court. >> translation: i was told they bribed the police and the prosecutors office.

they refused to work on my case. i complained to the police, they told me to leave town and not come back. >> according to human rights watch the russian authorities rounded up hundreds of workers because of alleged violations and immigration and employment regulations. they are held in temporary cells where conditions are appalling. >> this footage was taken by a lawyer at a detention center, a flimsy metal shet. some men have been kept here for a week with nowhere to sleep and forced to buy their own food. the police denied they were holding anyone. >> deprived of legal counsel or translators. special courts deported the men, denying them a legal right to appeal. >> a construction site gives a

man a job. they don't do it. they use migrant vulnerabilitiy to their advantage. they cheat on them >> this russian worker had trouble of getting paid. his unorthodox method of protest created such a scandal his employers paid the money they owed him. >> well, russia has faced criticism on how they dealt with football racism. recently manchester city player tore was the victim of racial abuse. toure has talked about the incident and talked about fifa's anti-racism task force, and says more work needs to be done. >> translation: they have decided to vet the incident and want to put an end to it. they want new regulations.

the most important is that we feel happy and protected. it's not just about black people, we have to eradicate racism from sport and football in particular. >> toure's manchester city is in access when they travel to newcastle for a league cup tie. chelsea reached the quarterfinals with a 2-0 away win. arsenal with a goal. joining them are stokes, lester and manchester united. barcelona moved four points clear at the top of the spanish prem yair league. barca are unbeaten and have 10 wins from the opening 11 games. it didn't take them long to open the score gs. alexei sanchez with the goal. goals for barca, including this

from seb fabry gas. 3-0 the final score. >> novak djokovic made easy work of pierre huwert. beating the prenchman ranked 189th. novak djokovic didn't have it all his own way, staving off two set points in the opening set. he clinched the match 7-6, 6-3. the serb assured of a place in the finals in london next week. >> a man that won't go to the finals is france's tsonga. he was beaten by japan ss shikor jirks. and he'll gay richard gasquet next. >> cricket australia looking to seal the game. aussies were put into bat and are piling the runs, shane

watson and george bailey getting sent iries. >> carlos borlay, brazilian surfer may have ridden the biggest wave of all time off the coast of the portugal. there's confirmation that this wave could have topped 30 metres. it was an emotional day for borlay who saved the life of a fellow surfer who was knocked unconscious by the same wave. incredible. that's the sport. >> he's like the super surfer. >> exactly. >> thank you. now, four french men who were held by al qaeda in niger have arrived in paris. these are the pictures of the men being greeted no doubt by ecstatic family, and francis hollande. the men were held for three years, and worked for a

construction company. stay with al jazeera. p

>> kathleen sebelius on the hot seat, testifying this morning at a congressional hearing. >> there has not been a mass casualty here in the u.s. since 2001. that's not by luck. >> the head of the n.s.a. defiantly defending the spy agency. the general says gathering intelligence around the world is critical and helps to keep america safe from terrorists. >> the war raging in syria claiming some surprising new victims. children are being diagnosed with polio because they don't have access to adequate health