>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour. i'm sammy in doha. coming up on the show, celebrations as the president of the central african republic quits, but the fighting and fear returns to the capitol. india expels the diplomat from the country. eating grass a situation grows more serious in syria. i'm in london with the

latest from europe, including the ways greeks are trying to get around their job crisis. plus the law on animal testing in italy is about to change. campaigners want stricter rules but scientists say that could hamper life-saving research. i'll be reporting on this divisive issue. ♪ the sound of gunfire and mortar shells has been ringing out in the capitol of the central african republic hours after the president quit. he has been under international pressure to resign over his failure to stop killings. the fighting has forced a million people from their homes. >> reporter: this is how the day ended, gunfire and explosions just near us, fears that in this power vacuum things could get

even worse. but earlier in the day, in this christian neighborhood, this mood was buoyant. they were -- demanding that the president should resign. the short spell as leader has been a disaster. he presided over a growing sectarian conflict between his muslim minority and the christian majority. when the confirmation came that he has resigned some people came back on to the streets. she says he is a sosorer a liar, a thief. the mood here is extremely tense. they say the president was a criminal, but it's not clear what comes next or whether

anybody can unite the central african republic. we found this group of women mourning the death of a loved one, a young man called richard who apparently has just been murdered by the selica militia. they go to the hospital ward to look for his body, inside there are several unclaimed bodies, but richard is not among them. the mortician tells me they will have to be buried in a mass grave. we saw a sad site, muslims being driven to safety and christians looked on at cheered. now just as the rise to power was a tur lent time, and the group he lead launched an offensive in december of 2012

and took over large parts of the country. by march last year, they had taken the tap toll and overthrown the former president. but it wouldn't be the last we would hear from him. in august he was sworn in as president. the following month he announced the selica group would be dissolved, but then announced the car was on the verge of genocide as they took up arms against the selica fighters. in december an explosion of violence forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes to shelter in makeshift camps where they remain. barnaby joins us live from bangui. what is the situation like in the capitol now? >> we're hearing french helicopters overhead sammy, but thankfully the shooting has died down at least near where we are. a couple of hours ago there was

heavy gunfire all around us. you heard it in my report. and that explains why i'm standing in doors. overall i would say the mood was pretty tentative. yes, people did come out and celebrate, but they weren't there in great numbers. i think many know that the coming hours, days and weeks will be ones of extraordinary uncertainty in this country, and if a majority are glad to see the back of the president as i believe is the case that does not mean this country's problems are resolved. >> and what is the plan? who takes over now? >> reporter: well, the declaration was the easy part, the resignation of the president and the prime minister. and then there was a statement that the leadership issue would

be resolved here in bangui at a later date. well that seems like a black joke quite frankly. because there is not any one figure that we could identify as a unifier, somebody with integrity that could lead this country out of the hole that it is in this. so frankly we don't know what the immediate plan is, and that's very, very alarming. we're hearing noises from the united nations from new york, that they are aware of the power vacuum here in the central african republic. perhaps that means the possibility of more peace keepers coming in. there are some 6,000 on the ground, a mixture of french and africans. i think they would be the first to admit that they are not enough in numbers. >> thanks so much. barnaby phillips updating us on

the situation from bangui. now south sudan's government forces have regained a town held by the former vice president. since the start of the conflict three weeks ago oil production has been down 30%. here is an update. >> reporter: the government officials say they have retaken the town from the rebels, and they say it could give them an upper hand as the talks are happening in neighboring ethiopia. everyone here is waiting to see what the next move is going to be? is he going to plan to retake the town back or accept defeat. another problem the government could face, con fining people that the unity state is safe to return to. when we left the unity state a few hours ago, we saw people waiting to get out.

some said they want out because they don't feel safe. they are too scared right now to go home, some here in juba are saying even if a peace deal is reached there is no guarantee it will last long. they say they have seen this kind of thing before. it's a temporary ceasefire, temporary peace, and few months later violence erupts all over again. this is a power struggle, a behind the scenes ethnic and tribal lines, if a peace deal didn't decided in ethiopia, it can only be a temporary one. the situation in south sudan has forced thousands from their homes. more than 23,000 have arrived in neighboring uganda. 5,000 south sudanese also made

it north, and a camp in kenya receives about 300 people a day, and cares for over 4,000. there are still 230,000 internally displaced people inside south sudan. first the picture from uganda. malcolm webb reports from the camp. these children had to run for their lives they are already traumatizeded and now they have lost -- their parents. after days on the road they reached this holding center on the border of uganda. this woman says she had to hide in the bush for three days. she said she stepped over more dead bodies than she could count. >> translator: i got separated

from my son, i don't know where he is or if he is alive. >> reporter: trucks come to take them to the camp. they are hoping they will find food and shelter. they are all taken to the reception center of a long-term refugee settlement. people brought whatever possessions they could carry when they fled, but they couldn't bring much, because they traveled here for hundreds of kilometers, they put up simple shelters using bed sheets and blankets, just mainly to keep the sun off. a people are cooking what food they have left, but waiting for aid agencies to bring more supplies, and the number of people here is just going up every day. aide workers struggle to register all of the arrivals over 20,000 people have come here in recent weeks. >> the numbers are great, the need is huge as you can look around. there are so many children who

are coming without parents, and so many elderly. >> reporter: at the nearby health center yellow john needs assistance more than most. he was shot by soldiers and robbed. >> i don't know why they shoot me. they shoot me and then they take my money. they take my money in my pocket, and they leave me. nay go. >> reporter: he is waiting to be taken to a hospital for surgery, and like many here he blamed the leaders for making civilians suffer as they struggle for power. meanwhile eye an and her children look for a space to wait for registration. they sit in the shade of a tree. they will probably sleep here for days before it is their turn. after that they will be given food and plots of land to start farming. it is tough, but it's what these people want for now. they don't seem to expect peace at home any time soon.

the u.s. state department is recalling one of its officers from new delhi at the question of an indian government in response to an indian envoy who was arrested and strip searched in new york. >> reporter: her arrest caused one of the most serious breakdowns in diplomatic relations between india and the united states in fears, but with the official's return to india, the end of a month long standoff is now in site. >> reporter: the u.s. government requested the government of india to wave the immunity of the counselor. on 9 january 2014, the government of india declined to do so, and transferred her to the ministry of external affairs. >> reporter: he was india's deputy console in new york city.

but a grand jury has indicted the diplomat for crimes including visa fraud. she said the charges against me are false and baseless. i look forward to proving them wrong. however, the nanny at the center standings by her accusations of mistreatment. in a statement released by the organization representing her, she says . . . but in india, it's the government's response to america's treatment of the diplomat and not the nanny's case that has been the focus of

attention. many indians have welcomed new delhi's removal of security barriers outside of the u.s. embassy, and the withdrawal of diplomatic privileges. >> she is not an individual. she is representing india in the us. and i as an indian think u.s. go is taking back step, and [ inaudible ] has been the case ultimately. >> translator: we should be treated as equals by the united states or any other developed country. we're very happy that india stood up for itself. >> reporter: domestic pressures have also played a part in the handling of this case. there will be national elections soon and politicians want to be seen as strong leaders, particularly when it comes to defending india on the world stage. still to come on the news

hour, doubt over middle east peace talks and israel unveils for new settlement homes. and why the u.s. economic recovery could be on the wane. and in sport the world number one is handed a tough opening match. details later in the show. ♪ syrian troops have fired rockets at a district in southern damascus, home to palestinian refugees. now they have been under siege for a year. conditions are getting worse, we're told. palestinians are trapped with little food or medicine. pictures up loaded show people picking grass apparently to eat it. since september at least 15 people have died of

malnutrition. chris is the spokesman for the united nations relief and work agency, joins us live from tel-aviv. what is the situation in the camps? are people facing death now? is that the situation there? >> it is a place of profound civilian suffering. we are receiving reports that because of the lack of medical care, women are dying in childbirth. there are reports of widespread malnutrition, children, women, the elderly reduced to eating animal feed, spice mixed in unsafe water, it's also becoming clear that the electricity supply is almost nonexistent. tap water is available for three hours every three or four days.

the population speaks to the widespread nature of the suffering. what used to be an area of about 160,000 palestinian refugees now reduced to about 18,000 or so, we think. so widespread human suffering and increasingly profound human suffering. >> i know there were talks to try to get the regime to end the siege. what happened to that? has that effort failed? >> well, i'm not going to engage -- the un is not going to engage in the blame game, because what we need now is humanitarian access -- >> chris, i'm not asking you to blame anyone -- i want you to bring us up to speed with whether or not there is any hope in getting this siege to end. does there look like any diplomatic hope on the horizon for you or not? >> we cannot -- we cannot lose

hope, because if we lose hope we are abandoning the 18,000 or so people there. the syrian government and syrian authorities and other parties know it is imperative to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, because in humanitarian terms it remains a closed area to aide workers like those of unra. we need access to those people. we hope -- we can only hope that there will be access, because we are extremely concerned about the civilian population. these civilians, women, children, and others. the refugees we serve have never wanted anything more than to stay immune from this conflict, and sadly they have not been able to, and they are paying a high humanitarian price. we need access. those who can give us access know how that should come about,

and we hope and pray we will get that access, because the situation is deteriorating with every moment that passes. >> all right. thanks so much. several factions of the syrian opposition groups have failed to reach an agreement ahead of the summit. the talks in spain were aimed to unifying groups. the members who were unable to agree on the creation of a new coalition to attend the peace conference scheduled for geneva later this month. israel says it is building 1,400 new settler homes in the occupied east bank. the disputed area is also claimed by palestinians for their future state. it's likely to prove a stumbling block for a peace deal. it follows the release of 26 palestinian prisoners. this announcement comes just

a few days before u.s. secretary of state john kerry is expected to come here. he originally had come to say that he wanted to -- get a final settlement by his self imposed april deadline, then that was sort of modified to say he wanted to get a framework agreement between the two sides in advance of some kind of eventual settlement, and now most people here are worried that in fact kerry's mission really is to keep these negotiations alive, just to keep these people talking. the israeli government says that this announcement of 1400 new housing units across what used to be called the green line was simply an admission or those areas under any circumstances would remain in israeli hands.

egypt's interior ministry says 46 protesters have been arrested during opposition demonstrations. the demonstrators are calling on people to boycott the up coming referendum on the new constitution. meanwhile three al jazeera journalists will be detained for at least another three weeks. mohamed fahmy, together with baher mohamed, and peter greste are accused of spreading lies harmful to state security, and joining a terrorist group. al jazeera says that the allegations are fabricated. the three are being held separately in a prison outside of cairo. italy already has some of the strictest rules on animal testing in europe, but now those rules are about to get even

tougher. italy's parliament is preparing to ratify these new laws which will introduce sfrikter controls and ban the breeding of animals for testing. some scientists fear important life-saving research could be affected. >> reporter: protesters complain for an end to experiments on animals. a new italian law on animal testing is about to make that a lot stricter. transing planting organs into animals for cancer research won't be allowed, and animals can no longer be bred for testing. but some legislation won't come into effect until 2017. these activists say that is not good enough. and while millions of animals die every year for animal experiments -- animal testing, medicines do not guarantee our

salvation. in fact, in [ inaudible ] country the fourth cause of death is due to the side effects of drugs and medicines. >> reporter: feelings of anger towards animal testing have grown. the home of a scientist was sgra feety-ed with the word assassin. and this young italian girl received online threats after she posted that she owed her life to medicines tested on mice. this man only had months to live before he had a liver transplant. his new liver and these pills keep him alive. >> translator: if the people writing these things had a child with a genetic order or needing transplant would they deny them certain medicines which were tested on animals. >> reporter: almost a million animals are tested every year in italy.

some of these like in this lab, are behavioral. the aim is to eventually help with things like autism. the heart of this debate is that scientists say experimenting on animals is crucial for the advancement of medicine, but life can be saved without cruelty to animals some campaigners say. they want alternative methods like using living tissue. scientists say that wouldn't have worked for research into infection diseases. >> polio has been solved thanks to a vaccine that has been developed on the basis of research done on monkeys for many years. >> reporter: scientists say once the new law comes into effect, some labs will have to close. animal rights campaigners say pharmaceutical companies will always find a way to use vulnerable animals. whatever the outcome here, this

is an issue that will continue to divide italians. the cruise ship costa concordia will probably be moved in june and taking to a port to be scrapped. a decision hasn't been made about where the ship will be broken up. several italian ports are interested as well as several international countries. and 23 syrians have been rescued from a boat found drifting off of the italian coast. migrants warned the italian authorities that the boat was in trouble after receiving a call from one of the passengers. the number of people traveling to italy more than tripled last year, fuelled by refugees fleeing from syria and the northern horn of africa.

emergency workers are using pumped and sandbags to try to safeguard properties. more than 1700 homes and businesses have been flooded since christmas. i'll have more from europe a little later, now back to sammy in doha. >> thanks, still to come on the news hour. we're on litter patrol in rio de janeiro's iconic bay. and in sport, a former manchester united player has been scathing comments. details coming up.

and in those cases where formal education isn't feasible because of the sec

>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america ♪ welcome back. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. let's remind you of our headlines. there are reports of fighting in the central african republic after the president has stepped down. government forces fighting rebels have taken back control of the capitol of the unity state.

a ceasefire agreement could be signed soon. the u.s. state department has agreed to recall one of its officers from india after an enjoy returns after being arrested and indicted for visa fraud. let's get more on our top story, the tension in the central african republic where french peace keepers are in action. over to felicity for more on that. france is hoping the european union will now get involved. at the moment france has 1600 troops in the car. the african union has 6,000 soldiers there to try to restore order. they are considering a deployment of between 700 to 1,000 troops to help those already on the ground. >> the french will be quietly

satisfied that the president has resigned as interim president. they have been arguing for sometime now that he can't really claim to be president, bearing in mind that he has exercised absolutely no control over the country in recent weeks, and the french have accused him of more or less sitting by and allowing this bloodshed to happen. the foreign ministry and defense ministry have called for a replacement interim leader to be put in place as soon as possible, to basically oversea the period before elections due to make place at the end of the year. the french and other partners are concerned about a security vacuum and the impact that could have on the situation which is already very difficult. the french also hoping to receive european help on the ground. they are hoping that in fact the

european union may deploy a force that would help the french, notably securing the airport, and also trying to secure important access routes to allow humanitarian aid to get into the country. poor track maintenance has been blamed for a train crash which killed seven people in france last year. the inquiry had recommended better rail maintenance and supervision by the authorities. tens of thousands of people in a serbia city are still without water after two weeks. the algae produces toxins deemed harmful to humans. >> translator: we are trying to fix the consequences of the situation here when we determine

what caused the situation, we will know who is responsible for what .had, whether it's an individual or institution that caused in. >> grief assumes the european union's six-month presidency, one of the top priorities is job creation. the joshless crisis has spurred some greeks to find new ways to make a living. >> reporter: the adrenaline is flowing, coffee island is a hit with the people here. it's a bergening greek franchise born during the crisis, and this was born during the desperation of two sisters who couldn't make ends meet. now they have 15 full-time employees. >> translator: we took a risk and we had a lot of will power, we knew we were hard working and we weren't afraid.

and if we hadn't done it, we might be out on the streets like many others. >> it's a rare example of people inventing their own jobs. the private sector has born the brunt of unemployment. now the state is beginning to eliminate permanent positions as well, suggesting that the standard form of salaried full-time employment is eroding everywhere. the government says it saved $2.5 million a year by replacing these cleaning women with contractors. and it has encouraged them to go into business as contractors. >> translator: we have proven that cleaning ladies have a lot of heart and a lot of strength. if somebody is leaving, it is not us. >> reporter: not everyone wants

to undertake the risks of business, and with banks cash strapped there simply isn't enough capital. but younger more hopeful greeks are willing to take risks in the private sector as far as way as possible from the danger of cuts in the public sector. >> back now to sammy in doha. thanks. marines based in hellman province accidentally shot and killed a 4-year-old boy. nato is investigating the death. in a leaked cable, ambassador james cunningham says he didn't think afghan president would agree to anything before april's presidential election.

but without a deal the u.s. will be forced to withdrawal all of its troops later this year. that news came a day after afghanistan authorized the release of 72 suspected taliban fighters considered dangerous by the u.s. the u.s. says the fighters have been involved in attacks on international troops. but afghanistan say there is no proof. we're joined now live from washington, d.c. by the author of afghanistan political failty. thanks for joining us. when we spoke a few weeks ago there was a lot of speculation that perhaps hamid karzai was simply stalling. is that still the case? >> well, in his last few months

he wants to earn credit from the afghans insisting that the americans should not go into homes in the middle of the night and stand women and children with their hands up for hours, so that's one thing. and he says make a start about peace, not saying -- conclude peace without opposition, but make a start. obama who is a noble peace prize winner, unfortunately he has never taken a step towards peace. he increased the troops, and even now when they want to establish these bases, they have not come to talk to the armed opposition. so also karzai saying don't interfere like 2009 in the elections. these are going down very well with the afghan people, but i think america is not going to listen to that, and they know if karzai does not sign this, the next person who comes in april

will sign it. >> where does that leave the u.s. drawdown? will the u.s. go ahead with the so-called zero option? pull all of its troops out? >> the u.s. will never leave afghanistan. they need these bases. they have been trying to bring afghanistan as part of, you know, a u.s. -- since the 40s when they were, you know, having [ inaudible ] turkey iran, pakistan, and afghanistan always was neutral, and now 50 years later the u.s. has inside afghanistan. they will never leave. the bases are very important for them. also afghanistan has the energy source for the 21st century. and they don't want to leave that to the chinese or koreans or japanese or anybody else. this is just for public

consumption. you know, they are -- >> let me jump in if i could with another issue. karzai's decision to release those prisoners being held without charge or evidence that the u.s. calls dangerous. is this a turning point in afghan justice in civil liberties? >> yeah, karzai wants to -- they -- they have a commission and want to find out. they have seen the files of over 600 prisoners, and the ones that they have released, they have got nothing against them, and some of those prisoners don't even know why they are arrested, and the americans have not tried them all this time, so they say we can't keep them forever in prisons. >> thanks so much for your thoughts on that. >> thank you. more than a hundred thousand residents in the u.s. state of

west virginia are being told not to use tap water. alan fisher reports. >> reporter: for many in west virginia the water is being turned off. a chemical used in the coal industry leaked into a local river and that hit the local water supply. >> do not drink it, do not cook with it, do not wash clothes in it, do not take a bath in it. >> reporter: the shops have been picked clean of bottled water. >> they have a limit of one, so everyone won't be so greedy. >> reporter: when the company noticed the leak it carried out hours of testing. it did not alert the water company. >> they did not report this to us, and i have no idea when or if they reported it to anyone else. >> reporter: people have been warned that the chemical could

do cause skin and eye irritation as well as headaches. >> this is not an extremely hazardous product in its raw form, and it has been diluted hundreds of times. >> reporter: but hospitals are dealing with worried people. >> my hands are swollen and i'm having a little bit hard to breathe. >> reporter: authorities are shipping in large amounts of bottled water to hospitals, care homes, and communities hit by though spill. crews are working overtime to fix the problem. the contamination has to work its way through the supply. that could take days. sales of recreational marijuana have exceeded $5 million in the u.s. state of colorado in just one week. pot shops opened legally for the first time on new year's day. many stores say they sold out of the drug which is available to anyone age 21 or older. and unemployment in the u.s. has hit a five year low of 6.7%.

but the rate of job creation fell sharply in december. john hendren sends us this report. >> reporter: from his new wine shop, nick sees two americas, those looking for a job -- >> i see a lot of kids out of college that can't find a job that are willing to work for wine store money. yeah, a lot of them. >> reporter: and then there are the customers with money to spend. >> people are not looking for low priced items. they are not lying regular milt, they are guying organic mill. they are not buying $7 bottles of wine, they are buying $15 bottles of wine. >> reporter: that confidence is born out in polls showing confidence in the economy higher than any time in the last six years. however, that rising confidence

comes with a but. >> i have a job right now, so i'm okay, but you never know. and i see a lot of people still out unemployed. >> everyone keeps talking about it getting better, but i haven't seen it. >> it needs to get better. i don't want to see people hungry out here asking for something to eat. >> reporter: here in the shopping district, there is a sense of guarded optimism, but how you are doing depends on who you are. >> some people are benefits from the economic expansion, but others are still having extreme difficulty in the labor market. the share of the long-erm unemployed is still very high, the extent of inequality in our society today is greater than any time since right before the great depression, and that reflects that it's a tail of two americas. >> reporter: two americas, one increasingly confident prosperous and sending, the

other jobless and running out of resources and hope. indo nia is rolling out a universal health care scheme, but hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of patients. and just days before the australian open begins, a big shock in the opening event ahead of this year's first grand slam. ♪

indonesians are signing up for the country's first ever

universal health care program. the scheme is available to more than 120 million people and will provide coverage to more than 230 million in the next five years, but the huge numbers are putting unprecedented pressure on hospitals. >> reporter: if this boy was born one week earlier, his parents would have faced severe financial problems. the baby needs therapy, but since he was born after january 1st, his health care costs are being covered by the go, much to the relief of his father who doesn't earn much. >> translator: when i came to the hospital, i made a down payment in cash but officials helped me to get the new health card and all of the money was refunded. i'm extremely happy and proud that poor people like me are assisted in this way. >> reporter: thousands of people are signing up for the national

health care plan every day. for many it is a chance to finally get a long-awaited treatment, but many others are confused and blame the government for not informing them properly about the national health care scheme. hospitals are overloaded with patients. the president has declared that with the new scheme, not a single patient will be refused medical practice anymore. but still this one was sent home. >> translator: by father had breathing problems so he was hospitalized for two weeks. then he was suddenly sent home because there is no more space for him, but since then he has got worse. >> lack of doctors and hospital capacity are one of the main concerns for the scheme. >> translator: there is a huge risk because the hospitals are not allowed to refuse patients,

but they have limited funds to treat them, so the quality of service to the patients would suffer. doctors say the go should pay at least $5 per person per month. it is clear that it will take months maybe years for the scheme to run smoothly. all right. tennis and all of the action on the courts. >> thank you very much, sammy. the draw to the australian open was held earlier on friday, the year's first grand slam, and they welcomed back the world number one. the spaniard missed last year's event after his seven-month injury layoff. his first round match will be a tough one. in the opposite half of the draw, three time defending champion aiming for his fourth

title in melbourne. and also in the bottom half of the draw is the number 3 seed who takes on gonzalez of columbia. in the women's event the top seed and five time champion opens up against the australian teenager. the two-time defending champion is in this the opposite half. the six-time grand slam champion attended the draw, and he says all of the opening matches will be tough. >> you have the best on any given day anybody can beat anybody. there is a reason why you have ranking one and 50. but on a good day, surprises happen in tennis.

nobody wins guaranteed. nobody wins for sure. but this match is going to be hyped-up by all of you guys a lot, and i understand that, and i -- i will be the first one to watch it as well. for a full rundown of whom is playing whom go to our website, aljazeera.com/sport, also details on how to get in with our team using twitter and facebook. and there was a huge shake upbefore the first grand slam. the first female qualifier to win the sydney international. she beat the former whimableton final list, 6-4, 6-4, the score. she picks up her first title and because the first qualifiers to win one of these events since

2010. meanwhile the world number 5 will play bernard in the final. he beat the four seed in straight sets in just over an hour. football on saturday manchester united will be looking to avoid a fourth defeat in a row when they host swansea city. if they do lose it will be the fourth time they lost four on the bounce since 1961. swansea beat them 2-1 last sunday. and peter has come out in support of the manager. but the legend who won five premier titles says the squad which won the league last season by 11 points needs a massive overhaul. >> i think there are a few players in -- in the dressing room that are not taking the responsibility of being a

manchester united player as serious as i would like. and i find that to be a shame. there are a few players that haven't been performing this year, the year before. and i think at some point the manager needs to make a decision whether to -- to keep them or -- or not keep them. the spanish world cup winner has decided to stay at real madrid, where he signed a two-year contract deal. the put pen to paper on a new contract, reportedly worth $8.2 million a year. alonzo wasn't in the real madrid lineup on thursday, but the world's most expensive footballer was. richard reports. >> reporter: he was making his first domestic appearance of the someone for real madrid.

spain's world cup winning captain quickly reminded fans of his ability by keeping out the efforts. real supporters have seen plenty of kareem this season. bail was back in real starting lineup after a calf injury. he found renaldo, but shot straight at the keeper. real did get a second. renaldo playing a young spanish forward. baio had the chance to get a third, but renaldo got in the way. real madrid got a 2-0 first leg victory. the ivory coast and manchester midfielder, yaya

trore has been named the player of the year again. he has claimed the confederation of african football top prize for a consecutive year. >> i was -- i wasn't thinking maybe i -- think maybe i'll get lucky today [ inaudible ] what i am doing now, i am doing very well, and i'm very happy with that. cricket now for you. sri lanka firmly on top of pakistan at the end of day three. pakistan trailing by 91 runs, but they were 19-3, and then steadied things with an unbeaten 131-win partnership. that is your sport for now, i'll

more later. thanks so much. brazil is facing unwelcome attention because of water pollution in rio de janeiro. sailors say the bay is simply too dirty for sport. >> reporter: rio de janeiro is unquestionably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. and yet, if jesus christ could from his iconic vantage point, he would surely hold his nose when overlooking the bay. it's unbearable stench and debris takes one's breath away, the wrong way. what you see is one of rio's open sewage canals. you can literally see waste from people's toilets floating by and

goes straight into the bay. the same polluted waters where sailing events are due to be held in just two years. under fire for dragging their feet on commitments to clean up ahead of the games. rio state authorities took us for a spin around the bay on one of their ten new floating rubbish collectors. what is it designed to stop? >> all kinds of garbage that floats. [ inaudible ], wood, parts of the furniture, et cetera. >> reporter: authorities are also installing 18 barriers to stop rubbish like this from reaching the bay. but in this city of more than 6 million, where only 30% of sewage is treated, these measures seem like little more than a band aid. nearby where olympic rowing events are scheduled, the water

is too polluted for swimming. >> our main concern is always the health of the athletes. >> reporter: i asked the spokesman what their plan b is if they can't guarantee sanitary conditions. >> plan a is to hold the sailing competitions in the bay, plan b and c is also to have sailing competition in the bay. in an event like this, the only option you have is always the best option. we need to clean the water. >> reporter: it has a feet that has alluded rio for decades, yet with the eyes of the world soon to be glued on the city optimists believe authorities will finally be pushed or shamed in to taking action before the olympic torch arrives. that brings us to the end of this news hour, but do stay with us, we'll be back with another full bulletin of news coming up.

♪

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the stories we are following for you. a water emergency in west virginia, a chemical spill prompting a federal investigation. a new jobs report is out. we'll have reaction from white house. and millions more target customers are effected from the breach. there is now a federal investigation into that chemical leak along the elk river in west virginia, the kwhous declaring a state of