>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha, coming up on the program . . . a car bomb in lebanon's capitol kills six people including a former finance minister. anti-coup protests in egypt. and from london i'm coffering news from europe. including the warning from the

members of pussy riot to president putin. our top story out of lebanon where former finance minister, mohamad chatah has been assassinated in a bomb blast in beirut. at least five other people were killed. a car bomb targeted a convoy in the soldare neighborhood. >> a daring ariel castro in downtown posh business district. chatah's car was tossed in the air and planted here. chatah was a close aide and top advisor to former prime minister, and a leading figure in the future movement.

explosion took place a short distance from the residence where chatah has his office. security had been very tight lately, but that was not enough to prevent this attack. >> translator: we were inside and felt glass breaking and coming in, and then we heard the sound and that's what .hahhed, an explosion happened and an explosion continued to break, and we waited and then went outside and saw this. >> translator: as you can see all of the shops here are damaged. i consider all of this terrorism. damaging the country and the people. what more can i say? god help us. god help this country. >> reporter: as investigators looked for clues politicians said they already know who is behind the attack, and pointed the finger to iran and

hezbollah. his son said the killer is the same of those of his father. >> translator: the killer is the same, him and his lebanese allies, all of syria, the same killer is targeting the heros of lebanon. two weeks before the start of the work of the international court investigating the killing of the president, they killed mohamad chatah. it's not the first car bomb to hit lebanon this year. in november, the iranian embassy was targeted. over the summer there was attacks in the hezbollah strong hold in beirut's strong holds, dozens were killed, and in trilly twin car bombs went off outside of two mosques. officials may disagree on various issues, but when it comes to the deteriorating

condition of the country, they agree that hezbollah is behind it. saudi arabia'sal -- allies are accusing iran for today's bombing. >> this war is -- is transforming the whole political landscape. it's transforming even the borders that were prevailing before this syrian revolution. so it could be as a part of a big attempt to redraw the whole map. >> reporter: mohamad chatah was a key figure in lobbying the international community to bring the killers of the foreigner prime minister to justice. he also stressed it was important to deter the perpetrators from further killing. eight years later an international tribunal is set to start on january 16th, but that

did not stop this assassination. three people have been killed and 265 others arrested in protests in egypt. police fired tear gas at demonstrators near the university in cairo. they are protesting against the military coup. on wednesday the government declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. >> reporter: i have seen these protests in towns and cities across egypt. thousands of people poured into the streets immediately after friday's prays. and we were with one of those groups. and the police soon after responded by firing tear gas and live ammunition, bird shot, into the crowd. there was a running battle between the protesters and the police. there was tear gas being thrown around, the protesters set tires alight, and at the end of the

day there were hundreds and hundreds of people who were arrested. this was always going to be a day of confrontation between the authorities who always declared that anybody caught protesting would not just be arrested but could face up to five years in prison on charges of supporting terrorist ideology. [ technical difficulties ] >> that they won't be intimidated. the protesters have insisted that they will continue their campaign to try to not just overturn this decree but oust the government all together. the question is how long this confrontation can last whether the police and authorities are willing to continue making these mass arrests and whether the brotherhood and their supporters will continue to turn out in the streets. if that continues it could increase the stability of this

country, which is the polar opposite of what the government had hoped to achieve. we have an associate fellow another the royal united services institute in london, and he believes the division to designation the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization may not last. >> they have made a calculation that might be overturned by the interim president and other forces in the state, and as a result the interior minister is following that logic. when you declare they have been designated as a terrorist organization, it sets certain things into motion. whether that decree will be challenged remains to be seen. i think these are simply reacting. the security forces are not thinking strategically on any of

us. i don't see that happening. i think they are merely trying to react to what the decree actually means on the streets, which is why they haven't enforced the spectrum on the law, which means everybody on the protest would have to be arrested. they can't do that. it is not possible. so they are reacting in the way they know best, and as we have seen in the past they don't always react in the best ways. and the prime minister of turkey wants to show the world that he is still very much the people's choice. this was the scene at the airport a few minutes ago as thousands of supporters came out to hear their prime minister speak. he has been facing mounting accusations of trying to cover up a corruption scandal that has implicated his allies. let's more now from our

correspondent live for us in istanbul. omar we just saw pictures of the rallies of supporters, but earlier in the day three more cabinet members resigned. is the government falling apart? >> no, it is not. it is the biggest challenge that the prime minister has ever faced over the last 11 years of his rule. however, the scandal has shaken his government. it's forceded him actually to reshuffle almost half of cabinet members. there are acquisitions against the government and the prime of attempts to prevent the investigation, and this is where the regulation made by the government after the scandal broke out that asks the judiciary prosecutors and the police to resort back to their

superiors before taking any further action. of course one of the supreme courts in turkey today annulled that decision, so this could mean there will be more investigation coming on even the particular -- the -- the ongoing investigation will be even wider. back very quickly to the number of supporters that the prime minister was rallying, throughout the day he was speaking to students and now when he came back the istanbul he addressed the supporters saying this is a smear campaign, an attack on turkey and the turkish people. in the square you don't have the similar numbers. perhaps there are protesters -- you can't really compare the numbers between the two for two reasons, a, the number of police in that square outnumbers the protesters, and also the protesters here are

making their voices very loud saying that this country is full of thieves and corrupt officials. >> those are the protesters you are talking about, these anti-government protesters that are just starting to assembly there, is that sentiment also shared along the rest of turkey? or is it just in istanbul? >> it's not just in istanbul, it's been ongoing for the last ten days or so since the scandal came to surface. there were protests in istanbul, and other parts of turkey. however, the numbers of those protests remain small. their main demand is that the government should not intervene in -- or prevent the investigation or even try to cover it up. later things escalated and again, a small number of protesters were calling on the

prime minister to resign. now listening to what he had to say out there today as well as in the last few days he was haven't the intention to do so, but i have to -- very briefly, i need to highlight the power struggle we're seeing now. it's basically between two islamist camps, the main one is in turkey. before they were allies and now they seem to disagree on many things. that's what we are seeing the rifts between the go and the movement who are said to have influence in the police and judiciary. so i think the next battle will lie between the military and the police. >> omar thing you very much. a u.s. federal judge has

yuled that the nsa phone data collection program is lawful. he said evidence showed that go has only used data to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks. washington has come under intense scrutiny over his mass surveillance of phone calls. let's get more from kat turner who joins us from new york. must be a blow for the civil liberties groups. >> well, there has certainly been a lot of discussion amongst the public and congress about the nsa program of collecting metadata. i think civil liberties groups have no comment at this stage, but they have been enboldened by a lot of the debate that has gone on. you can almost tell how the ruling is going to go by his first sentence. it's quite loaded and emotional

language, and if you read through the 54-page ruling of the judge he has laid out his case of being in favor of what the nsa is doing. he called it a blunt tool only because it collecting everything. there was no evidence that the government used the data for anything other than to stop terrorist attacks. he called it a counterpunch to al-qaeda's program, and offered interpretation of the fourth amendment which is that people have the right to privacy against unreasonable search and see sewers, and the judge said that is almost but not absolute. that's an interesting interpretation of the constitution here. but it's a long ruling and basically does repeat most of the talking points that the government and the nsa has used to defend its collection of data. >> does this mean the nsa can continue as normal? continue to collect this metadata?

>> well, so far it hasn't been stopped by any of the court rulings. this will no doubt be appealed by the american civil liberty's union which brought the lawsuit here in new york hah other groups. it's in contrast to a ruling by a judge in washington, d.c. which said that the nsa program was likely unconstitutional and violated the constitution. but now we have conflicting findings by courts in various states, and we could end up s i sisiisis sisiing -- seeing this decided by the supreme court. if this conflict continues in the lower courts and federal courts we could see the supreme court making the ultimate decision and put this to rest once and for all. >> certainly very complex issue.

great talking to you. thank you for that. and you are watching the al jazeera news hour. still ahead, the growing humanitarian crisis in south sudan. 120,000 people have been displaced. plus transport lifeline, or public menace? and in sport, england cricketers finally make their mark in the ashes series. ♪ now to news from europe and fresh from their prison release, two members of the russia punk band pussy riot say they still want to topple the russian president. the pair also revealed plans to help people who are still locked up. from moscow, peter sharp

reports. >> reporter: back in moscow after serving nearly two years in penile colonies, the members of the band released statements. both are young mothers and separation from their children had been hard. on both women met the world's press both looking surprisingly well after more than 18 months in two of russia's toughest labor camps. they said there would be no more pussy riot, and the opposition to russia's winter olympics is now paramount. >> translator: what we want to attract attention to, first of all the attention of people living abroad is they should not go to the olympics as if it's a sport or cultural event.

think of it as a political event. make your police cat choice, and if you decide to come, just remember there are russian citizens who do not have this opportunity because they are behind bars for no reason. >> reporter: russian president was another target, describing him as -- >> translator: reserved non-transparent security officer with lots of fears. he is afraid of lots of things. he surrounds himself with walls and doesn't see the reality behind them now. >> reporter: they are now forming a new charity called zone of rights that will support the prisoners in russia. the women have already been in touch with the former multi-billionaire pardoned by putin last week. >> translator: our final goal is solidarity a developed civil society and the ability to help

each other. we saw all of this while we were in prison, and it was a real miracle. we were very grateful to all of the people who supported us. >> reporter: despite their time in prison, both members would like to see president mru tin out of power. they would like to see mi khail, can hodorkovsky replace him. the amnesty lead to dropping of hooliganism charges in green peace activists. five from britain arrived in central london just hours ago. they spent two months in custody after be arrested during a protest. many have vowed to continue their fight against drilling in the arctic. >> it is not over for the

campaign. the campaign continues. save the arctic and draw attention to the real crime, which is oil drilling in the arctic. >> ben is here in the studio with me. we just heard from phil a short time ago, still committed to the campaign, but it must be a relief your colleagues are now free? >> certainly it is a huge relief. there was a palpable sense of relief that they were home with their families. we're also glad they are back, of course. we think they never should have been arrested in the first place. ridiculous charges for a peaceful protest. >> and obviously many saying they are still committed to the cause. >> very much so, and the arctic 30 got an amnesty, but there is no amnesty to the arctic. it is still under threat.

it's an accident waiting to happen, so the campaign to keep them out of that region will absolutely continue. >> do you feel like they have achieved what you set out to achieve? because that platform has gone ahead. but do you feel you have cast enough of a spotlight on to what was going on there? >> we think so. we never planned to shut down the platform, it was really to cast a light on what this company was doing, and there has been huge attention to the risks that they are taking and the actions that the russian government are allowing. it is not the best thing to your friends and colleagued locked up for a crime they didn't commit, but there has been a huge, huge campaign to save the arctic. >> it is a disaster waiting to happen. >> certainly. there is no proven way to clean up oil spilled in ice, and if

you had an oil spill in the arctic, it would be catastrophic to this unique place. and oil companies simply can't operate in these remote conditions. >> where does green peace go from here? >> good question. there will be a period of reflection to see what we can learn from the whole of the experience -- >> it will be difficult to carry on in russia -- >> we're certainly not go rush out and do the same thing next week in russia, but we're not going to be intimidated. the fate of the arctic is to

important. so much more will be done. >> thank you very much for coming in to talk with us. staying in russia where at least two people have been killed after a car bomb explosion in the northern city. local media say the victims were police officers. fighters have vowed to stop the winter olympics. a london inquest has opened into the death of a british doctor who died earlier this month. they say he committed suicide in his cell just days before he was due to be released. but his family believe he was murdered. friday's inquest was adjourned and a full hearing into allegations of torture will begin in february. and we'll have more from europe a little later in the news hour, and now back to doha. >> thank you very much. now we move on to develops in south sudan now, and the

government says its forces have retaken the main town in the key oil producing state. meanwhile a meeting in kenya ended for a call for doll log within four days. the president has agreed to a ceasefire, and they are calling on the former vice president to do the same. >> we are committed to peace and for that matter we have accepted the cessation of hostility if it will not be exploited. but if it is exploited, definitely we will not allow them to continue killing the citizens. >> south sudan's information minister has just told al jazeera that the government will release detained politicians linked to the alleged coup, but it is unclear when that will happen and how many will be freed. the united nations says

nearly 120,000 people have been displaced from the fighting. a peace-keeping reinforcements are expected to arrive within the next 48 hours. the special representative and head of the united nations mission in south sudan joining us now on the line. 120,000 people displaced. that's a lot. what are the main priorities now for those affected by the conflict? >> it is a big number, and in a very short time. 63 thoushs of them are seeking refuge and are in the bases, the mission of the united nations in south sudan. it is not normally our task to take care of idp's but this was a way of protecting them from violence, and we are working

with partners who have taken on the service delivery. and the main challenge is making sure they get water, sanitation, health services and the rest in an appropriate and speedy manner while security prevails, and security for the people in the camps is paramount. >> we do know that negotiations for negotiations are underway. how confident are you that these talks will come through and there will be a resolution? >> well the signals are positive now from the summit. we have a commitment to secession of hostilities. this commitment needs to also come from the other side. at the same time we know that

also the message we heard today of the release of the detainees, we believe that is likely to lead to a conducive atmosphere for the dialogue to start. we understand that two have been released already, and that there is a protest in place to move the other releases with the possible exception of three. so -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> i just want to take you back to something you mentioned a little earlier in the week in your press conference that you gave. you made it a point to say that the un mission will not abandon south sudan. you said we are hear to stay. was there ever any doubt that the un mission may have been scrapped or even downsized?

>> no there wasn't any danger that that would happen, but many south sudanese experienced when many left the country, and this gave many the impression that we were on our way out. it was very important for me to be very clear that we are here to stay and we are reinforcing the main elements that are critical at this point in time while others that are less critical, we don't need to have present in the country now. we have reinforcing also on the basis of security council resolution and working around clock with our colleagues in new york to enable better abilities in the country.

>> hilldy johnson, the special representative and head of the united nations mission in the republic of south sudan. and still to come in the news hour, days of heavy rain leaves tens of thousands homeless in brazil. we'll have the latest. and find out who came out on top of the nba's texas showdown. farah will have all of the details in sport. ♪ the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

>> primetime news. >> welcome to al jazeera

america. >> stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> primetime news: weeknights at 8 and 11 eastern. only on al jazeera america. welcome back. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. a reminder of our top stories. a car bomb has killed mohamad chatah. five others also died in the explosion in the lebanese capitol of beirut. three people have been killed and 265 others arrested in protests in in egypt. police fired tear gas at demonstrators in cairo. on wednesday the interim government declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. african leaders meeting in kenya say the government in

south sudan has agreed to a ceasefire after two weeks of fighting. they have given the president and his rival four days to hold face-to-face talks. back to our top story the beirut bombing. the security situation has been deteriorating in recent months in lebanon, and right now there is no fully formed government. a caretaker government has been unable to bring lebanon's rival sectarian groups together. and a senior hezbollah commander was shot outside his home in beirut. hezbollah blamed israel for the killing. last month two bombs went off outside of the iranian embassy in beirut, killing 23 people. joseph is a specialist on middle eastern politics and joins us

live from beirut. you were quoted as saying that mohamad chatah was a moderate politician. that being the case, who do you think could be behind this attack? >> well, with the exception of martians, i think that it's very clear that the syrian and pro syrian elements are behind this assassination, especially because chatah has been extremely vocal during the past two years in criticizing both damascus and hezbollah. he has repeatedly stated that in fact the syrian control over lebanon after 2005 had come to an end and must not return, and he has pleaded with hezbollah repeatedly to withdraw from syria, of course not to get involved in the first place, and after theying spent their troops there to withdraw as quickly as possible. apparently these have fallen on

deaf ears. >> you just explains the intricacies of how syria's conflict has spilled over to lebanon. how is this being played out within lebanon itself particularly amongst the population? >> this country is very much divided, 50/50 one can make the rough comparison, half of this country is very much opposed to syrian [ inaudible ]. let's not forget that syria has ruled over lebanon for three decades, and a lot of people have very poor memories of that time, even though the civil war in the beginning, syria was invited to come in, but like all guests it stayed way too long and turned against half of the population. the other half of the population

considers hezbollah as their ally. and hezbollah says they were fighting in syria in order to not have to have to fight in b lebanon. but we see the spillover with repeated assassination attempts, bombings of the iranian embassy, means that the civil war is slowly spilling over here. >> you said the division is 50/50, is that a reflection of the failure of lebanon's leadership? the inability to lead the country? this >> for 70-plus years the lebanese have struggled to create a state, and they have agreed that there will be a national charter where power

will be divided amongst themselves, among the different communities in the country, but also to keep the central government weak. inner order not to allow any of the communities to dominate. obviously during the civil war, all of this equivalency if you would like has disappeared. and after the civil war presumably wish to create a new agenda whereby people will learn to live under a new formula. apparently there are groups who are questioning the validity of time, and saying [ inaudible ] have never been applied, and they are no longer relative to us. the lebanese have internal demons that they have failed to

come to terms with. some want to live together, apparently, some don't. >> joseph thank you for that. >> thank you. a bombing has killed at least seven people in the somalian capitol. soldiers and civilians are among the dead. no group has claimed responsibility so far. the bodies of 44 people found dead in the central african republic have beenried. the people helping with the burial are volunteers from the red cross. meanwhile two peace keepers have been killed. six chadian soldiers were killed

there earlier. a suspected suicide bombing in afghanistan has killed at least three foreign soldiers. the attack has been claimed by the taliban. nato and u.s. forces are due to withdraw from afghanistan after more than a decade. to southeast brazil now where at least 39 people have been killed and 60,000 have been made homeless. and a state of emergency remains in force. this is what more than a week of torrential rain did to brazil. dozens of highways and bridges washed out, hampering rescue efforts. but it's the human suffering that has created the most pain. more than 60,000 people have been forced from their homes.

about 5,000 are stucklying in shelters. the floods and mud slides have killed more than 40 people. there are an untold number more potentially still missing. >> translator: we only hope they find the bodies of my children. >> reporter: this region of brazil has seen the heaviest rains in nearly a decade according to the local government for there was little warning of what was coming. >> reporter: i was pushing against the wall but not buried. i managed to find a piece of wood and grab on to it to pull my body free. i heard my daughter and another girl calling for help. i got them both out. >> reporter: the air force says they already plucked more than 150 people to safety from flood waters. the president visited some of the flood damaged areas. >> translator: you have to save

people and then guarantee them shelter. this is what you do when confronting a disaster. the first priority is human life. that's what we worry about saving first. >> reporter: with so much lying in ruins, it's clear when the waters finally recede, rebuilding will be a difficult task. let's get more news now from europe, and back to salina in london. >> thanks. in germany members of europe's biggest computer hacking club are holding a conference. they say discussions will be dominated by this year's spying scandal and how people can better protect themselves online. >> reporter: with the chaos communication congress the old technology somehow seems

innocent. the mere knowledge that there is a digital big brother out there is changing the way people talk to each other online, making them guarded and weakening public debate. >> all of our might mares have come true. we were thinking that things were possible, but that they were far too expensive to implement on a technical level, but snowden's revelations show that nothing is too expensive for the secret services. >> reporter: members were shocked by the revelations made showing that the agency has listened in on the phone calls of chancellor angela merkel. the latest suggests that britain's spy agency listened in

on conversations of top officials. they are now suing britain. >> i think the sees should be asked about their spying capabilities, and maybe so we can have some hope in the future, because the spying did not end just because the public knows about it, nothing changed really. >> reporter: many of the hackers did not want to be filmed, they have long taken their privacy seriously and they feel it is even more important now. heavy rain late on thursday has added to already swollen rivers, flooding homes and infrastructure. and there were reports of hurricane force winds in north

wales. to france now and the emergence of what some are calling a parallel welfare state as the government finds itself less able to help people in need, charity and volunteer agencies are increasingly bridging the gap. >> reporter: housing volunteering inspect their latest project. soon this apartment will be let at $200 a month. finding affordable housing to rebuild, lives shattered by economic hard times is almost impossible. demand is so high. increasingly voluntary housing associations are filling the gap. >> translator: everyone should be concerned about their neighborhood. the state is all of us, but at the same time it is no one. this man lost his job and his girlfriend, he spent nine

months living in his car until the housing association found him this home. >> having a place to live is everything. loosing it makes you loose everything. you're welcome work, your social and economic balance, your physical and mental health. >> ooze it is housing so it is today with food as well. this distribution center in paris now hands out 20,000 meals every week as the financial constraints on the french welfare state grow, so too do the challenges facing france's voluntary rector. this restaurant has been providing hot meals since 1985, but it has never been busier. >> to me there is less and less money available, so it's clear that the volunteer needs to do

more, or the help we have from the state is decreasing, so we have to keep trying to increase volunteers. >> translator: the economic vice us has touched many peopling who can't manage. perhaps many children that have many things, but food is very expensive, and they can't afford it with the money they have. >> reporter: as others in europe begin to grow, france continues to hover in recession. two russian cosmonauts have taking a space walk to install equipment on the international space station. they fixed high-resolution cameras and scientific equipment on to the space station's hull. this is the third space walk this week for the crew of the

iss. and that is the latest from the team in europe, let's return to doha. >> thank you. in in venezuela motorcycle ist provide essential cheap transport, but they are also blamed for a lot of the country's crime. from karass, alexander reports. >> reporter: riding between traffic lanes, blowing red lights, even ambushing drivers, motorcycles in carcass are becoming a major concern. >> translator: i saw two guys on a motorcycle, one car behind me. the passenger got off and put a bunch of cell phones in his doctors. i understood they were coming to me next. i gave them everything i had as everybody else did.

>> reporter: nine out of every ten violent crimes in the city occur on two wheels. gangs of armed barkers act with impunity like these looting a broken-down truck. this man works as a cab driver but mugs people when he needs. >> translator: there's times that you have to. it's like, damn. i have no money. and i need work. you need the money so you are encouraged to steal. i call a friend, and we go look for victims. >> reporter: the two-wheeled invasion began a decade ago. they are a problem but also a lifeline in the constant gridlock. transportation infrastructure has been neglected for decades, what takes 30 minutes on a

motorcycle takes more than two hours in a car. sociologist says people know the city wouldn't be viable without them, but wish the government would crack down on the lawlessness. >> translator: right now we live in a situation of anarchy, a total lack of social solidarity. this go has implanted the idea any poor can do what they want. rules have not been enforced for years. >> reporter: the government started meeting with associations of bikers, many of which support the ruling party, but getting them to agree to even basic rules might be as difficult as navigating the traffic. >> a reminder to log on to our website at aljazeera.com for an interacttive review of all of

the top stories we have covered in 2013 from our investigation into the death of palestinian leader to the catastrophe typhoon in the philippines. and coming up in sports, tennis word's number one starts his new season in a unfamiliar fashion. farah will be here with that story right after the break.

♪ it's time for sport now. here is farah. >> thank you so much. south african bowler has once

again been leading the line for his country, he took six wickets on day 2. india was bowled out for 334. south africa hosts the day for 85. and remember the series is level after the first test was drawn. england has shown some debelated signs of life on their ashes tour. in real trouble on 164 for nine. the day started badly for england. kevin peterson for 71, as they were bowled out for 255. but australia's bats men really struggl struggled. >> days like that have been few and far between in this trip,

and we just are really hungry to get something out of this tour, and i think we showed that today. we fielded most [ inaudible ] the entire day. i thought we dived around a lot, and chased everything. >> yeah, i think we have had our worst day of the series, but that happens. england played very well today. i thought they bowled outstandingly, so we're up against it. there is a lot of game to go in this match. >> and pakistan is looking to claim the one-day international. they lead 3-1. pakistan batted first and were bowled out for 232. the visitors got off to a good start, but have been pegged back, and are now 197 for 8. the english football association is to investigate

the manager after he criticized the ref free following his side's defeat by manchester city. the result saw them drop from first to fourth, afterwards rogers questioned the wisdom of appointing a referee from the greater manchester region. >> the players were absolutely outstanding. no help whatsoever from the officials. i never go on about the officials, but i thought today they were horrendous in terms of performance. you know, with nothing that went our way at all, but i'll focus on the players. they were outstanding, took the game to a team that is in top shape the fifth premier league manager has lost his job for the season. his dismissal follows a lengthy dispute with the club owner.

the western conference champions, san antonio spurs beat the dallas maf ricks on thursday. theying ended the first quarter 27-20. danny green hit 15 first-half points and the spurs looked comfortable at the midway point. but dallas didn't give up. but some more green magic restored san antonio's six-point lead and killed off any come-back hopes. the spurs won 116-107. the world number one has started the new tennis season in unfamiliar fashion, he lost his match. he was beaten in straight sets. the spaniard said that staying fit as opposed to winning titles was his aim for the new year. he won ten tournaments this

year, including a record 8 french open titles. >> i had opportunities. i had [ inaudible ] a few chances. and part of the moment that he played well. he was lucky with one ball, and in the second set the ball was out. jockwitch defeated the world number 2. >> i exceeded my own expectations in considering my -- my game. my performance today was great. the movement, the serve, everything. obviously in these conditions you need to serve well. so i enjoyed it very much. and talked with my team and the coach about things i needed to do on the court, and everybody was happy. the britain finished fifth. and knowing the upcoming

australian open will be tough. >> well, in a couple of weeks, i need to play five sets and the only way to get used to doing that is by spending time on the court playing matches. so that's probably going to be hard, and my body will be stiff, but like i said i have trained properly, and i did all of the right rehab and then got quite a few weeks of very good practice in. >> and there is much much more sport on our website. for all of the latest check out aljazeera.com/sport. details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter. and that's all of your sport for now. >> farah thank you very much. and stay with us here on al jazeera, we have another full bulletin of news right ahead. and you can always keep up to date with all of our news on our website at aljazeera.com.

stay with us. say 1500, 2,000 miles to get are. >> the plant of the indoor -- as the indoor formers call it doesn't grow corn or soybeans but mustard, high end micro greens on the plates of white-napkin restaurants. these fish supply the vert liser

that number issues the

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. a former lebanese minister and ambassador to the u.s. is killed in beirut. a court ruling that favors the nsa spying program. and a punk rock band that says it won't be quiet about russian politics. ♪ we continue to follow the developments stemming from the assassination today in beirut. a car bomb killing a