>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour. i'm here in our news center in doha and london. these are the top stories. the price of iraq's sectarian struggle, dozens of people killed in attacks on sunni and shiite muslims. the biggest appeal in un history, $6.5 billion needed for syrian's war victims. the central african republic interim leader appeals for peace

between chris importance and muslims. >> hello there, i'm in london with the latest from europe, including as the vatican faces the un review on child sex abuse, they claim they are still not doing enough to address the issue. ♪ at least 60 people have been killed in the series of attacks in iraq. the bombings targeted the app call of bagdad and the a city. more than 90 were injured. security officials say over500 people have been killed in iraq this year. imran khan has more. the twisted metal from a bomb blast is once again spread across a neighborhood. parked car bombs go off and blood spills. there has been no immediate claim of responsibility. but the attacks follow a

familiar pattern. al da linked groups want to keep tensions boiling. the prime minister is calling this a war on terror. >> translator: we'll distinguish between houses that were forcibly taken over by al-qaeda and used as bases, and houses who's residence were incorporated with them. the houses that were the force of rebel forces will be targeted. >> reporter: elsewhere, the m mun -- funeral, car bombs brought more misery. more than 500 people have died as a result of violence across rooirn. the un secretary general has

urged that more than half of the population needs help in syria. meeting is part of the un's biggest-ever request for a single crisis. these are pictures from the conference in kuwait city. bangui moon is speaking once again. kuwait has pledged half a billion dollars, and the united states $380 million. >> some of our support will help syrians immediately as they cope with one of the cruellest winters on record, and with our contributions today, we're providing specifically fuel for heating and cooking. we're providing thermal blankets and other critical winter supplies for tens of thousands of people. >> the united nations is aiming to raise $6.5 billion to help sieve yals. it says $2.3 billion is choired

to help people inside syria, and over $4 billion is needed to help people in neighboring countries, and almost $800 million would go towards shelter and another $675 million would help people get medical treatment. al jazeera's bernard smith is at that conference in kuwait city. >> reporter: there has been some extraordinary numbers bandied around, not the least the 4 million syrians dependant on aid. offering some $500 million. i spoke to the un representatives earlier on today, and they say that now they have 80% of the money that was pledged last year. they are obviously knocking on doors and chasing up the outstanding funds, because it's all very well pledging the money, but the un needs that

cash in hand now. it needs that cash to buy emergency relief supplies, to buy food aid to give to the syrians. but one of the other major challenges that the un faces, and it was touched on by secretary of state john kerry, and ban ki-moon, is it is very difficult to get through when the syrian government is not allowing aid through. the regime is preventing a lot of the aid from getting through. and john kerry accused the syri syrian regime as using the citizens as pons. >> reporter: some of the syrians have been met in lebanon and are most in need of international help. >> reporter: it is a heavy burden for this 14-year-old girl. she is trapped. she is a refugee from syria. this shelter in lebanon is all

her family has, and they say there is only one way to keep it. >> translator: i am not obliged to marry a 44 year old man. i am crying because of the situation we are in, but i have to do it so that my family can survive. >> reporter: she has agreed to marry the 44-year-old lebanese landlord. she is the tradeoff. the family can no longer pay the $250 monthly rent. in exchange the owner demanded she become his second wife. >> translator: it is a difficult decision. every mother wants to see her daughter secure and marry the man she loves. no mother wants to hurt her child. but we have no choice. >> reporter: if they move out of the house and into a tent, her husband who suffers from heart problems, and her as mattic son wouldn't be able to survive in the cold, and her 12-year-old

son barely makes enough money to provide food. >> reporter: this is an example of how desperate many of the syrians have become. humanitarian organizations cannot reach all of those who need assistance. lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees from syria. but not all have been registered with the united nations, which means they are not eligible for aid. >> translator: i want to register with the un. they told me i'm able to work and find a work, but i can not find a job. >> aide agencies are calling the crisis a humanitarian tragedy for this girl it has been one tragedy after another. she manages to smile when she remembers the man she was supposed to spend her life with, but her 22-year-old cousin died fighting last year. she now feels helpless.

>> my whole life is destroyed. i date of birth want to marry him, but if i do, my family can stay in this house. >> reporter: this young girl feels exploited, but it is a sacrifice she and her family she has to make. egyptians have been voting for the second day on a new constitution. this is the first time they have been going to the polls since mohammed morsi was ousted last july. there have been demonstrations by anti-coup protesters on tuesday, at least 11 people died in the violence, protesters angry over some of this key provisions, clash with security forces in several cities. joining us now from london is a senior electra in the study of islam, welcome once again. we keep hearing about how

important a high voter turnout is in this referendum, is this a mandate for the military for the government for their political future? >> indeed, the interim government has a great interest in securing a very good turnout for this referendum. it gives legitimacy for its own authority because it was put into place after a military intersense, which of course is a very doubtful means of gaining power after the introduction of democracy, at the same time it also helps giving a degree of support to the political am beneficiaries of general al-sisi. if the outcome would be that there is a low turn out, and those opposed to the new constitution choose to express that by staying away, then even a yes vote would still undermine the credibility of the constitution. >> now if the constitution is

passed and there is a resounding yes vote would this pave the way for fresh elections in egypt? >> that is part of the road map anyway, if you have a big turnout and an overwhelming yes vote, first of all i think there is an indication that the first thing the egyptian population is craving is for stability and getting the country out of the political stalemate. and that of course will pave the way for the now very clear ambitions for general sisi to run for the highest office in the land, and a referendum and support for this new constitution will set this process in motion. >> so it does seem certain now that general sisi will run for

president. am i correct in saying that you believe the real problems could start after these elections are held? >> well, there is a lot of other end result issues. the economy is in shambles, a very large political player in the system, whether one likes them or not, muslim brothers have been put out, and apart from being declared a clandestine organization, and they have now been declared a terrorist organization, and they are painted in the corner by terrorists, because their supporters would be painted as that as well. if one looks at the preamble of this constitution is to create or restore, i should say, national unity, and takes a very

historical view of that. earlier conformists have been very much involved in reforming. and this has been a patriotic force that has cemented national unity and taken care of the wishes of the population. it is the hope of general sisi to ride on that wave which will enable him to disassociate himself of the tainted former military man who lead the country, and sort of put himself in the line of earlier leaders who -- who have created more than egypt and present himself now as a sort of a savior of the motherland. >> once again, thanks very much for sharing your thoughts with us on what is happening there in egypt. later in this news hour, we'll hook up with our colleagues at "the stream" in

washington to get a sense on what is trending on twitter, and we'll have a social media update from egypt and beyond. also coming up, some surprises in the latest assessments of global security. and the heat is on at the australian open in more ways than one. temperatures continue to sore in melbourne. ♪ ♪ >> the interim leading of the central african republic has appealed for peace between christians and muslims. he has been heading a ruling transitional council since the former president was forced from office last week. a vote to choose who will lead the country to full elections will take place in the next few

days. al jazeera's barnaby phillips is live for us from the capitol of bangui. are things any calmer at the moment? >> yes, bangui is much calmer both said and yesterday. we have seen a lot more people out on the streets going about their business. we're also thankfully hearing less shooting at night, but i would characterize it as a fragile calm, and as we have done our tours of bangui, we're still hearing reports of violence. this is a message of peace in a country where there is so much hatred and fear. every morning these christian and muslim women use their radio program to appeal to people to stop thinking in terms of them and us. >> translator: muslims and christians are always together, they work together, they love each other, but it's politics that creates violence.

>> reporter: but both communities are counting their dead. in this mosque, the bodies of three people killed we were told by african peace keepers who mistook them as looters. >> translator: why should the muslims leave? this is our country. the christians are our problem, but they don't understand that. >> reporter: this might be a sign of hope, the national army has reported back for duty. when the selica militia seized pow many of these men and women went into hiding. they are not being paid and have no uniforms, and yet they have turned up for work, and that says something, because many people in this country are desperate for some sort of normality.

the interim leader controls very little. he appeals for an end to looting and violence, but ultimately if things are to get better, he is going to need the french after african peace keepers to disarm the rival militias. we met up with the woman who preaches peace on the radio. ♪ >> reporter: she looks after all of these children in her own front yard. [ singing ] >> reporter: their orphanage was looted by the selica who also killed -- two of the children. >> they are now supposed to decide who will lead the country to full elections, but are they in position for any kind of vote at all, barnaby? >> the idea of national elections in the central african

republic seems very implausible at the moment, but that would be many months away, there are hurdles to get over before then. you saw the man in our report, he is only an interim leader, and he leads a group of some 150 politicians and community leaders who are meant to choose some sort of president who would lead the country to elections. that president could be chosen as early as saturday. what sort of authority that person would have, whether that person realistically would have the ability to rally the country behind him or indeed her, is something of a moot point. i think if the the central african republic is to move away from this terrible situation, it's quite apparent, it's going to need an awful lot more international support, perhaps more international troops on the

ground in the coming weeks and months. >> barnaby thank you. barnaby phillips in the capitol of the central african republic there. the roman catholic church is still protecting priests, according to a uk-based charity. let's join felicity for more. yes, that report was issued just a day before a vatican delegation is due to report before a committee on child rights. it said it repeatedly transferred priests accused of abuse to other parishes or over seas. simon has more details. >> reporter: peter saunders was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his catholic priest at school, so was his brother mike. for him abuse triggered a life

cursed bidrin -- by drinking and drugs. >> most survivors are not interested in compensation. they are interested in knowing that what happened to them is not going to happen to future generations. having said that, compensation, i think is entirely appropriate, when it comes to people who's childhoods have been stolen. >> reporter: the vatican has a new pope. he is popular, and has made some big promises. he wants openness and a new transparency even on this issue. he set up a new committee of his own to look into it. thursday's appearance is overdue. the extent to which they engage seriously with the un will be a test of francis's papacy, and whether he can deliver on the issue of sexual abuse and the allegations of cover up. a new report details how

widespread the abuse has been. the authors have little optimism the church will change its report. >> we have traced back over the last two decades, all of the promises they made versus what actually happened. and there have been promises in the past. and everything that happened has happened in complete secrecy. >> in 2012, the un asked the vatican to respond to questions about child abuse and what it is doing about it. many questions remain unanswered. >> if the institution acknowledges its many failings, then i like many other people who suffered at its hands, i think will, as you say have some form of closure and some means of perhaps moving on. >> reporter: the vatican is coming to geneva because it signed the un's convention on the rights of the child, and it says its takes its treaty obligations very seriously,

although its action or inaction might suggest otherwise. this is a good opportunity for the church and for pope francis to finally signal they are going to do something about it. well earlier we spoke to danny sullivan who is the chairman of the national kat rick safe-guards commission. he says systems need to be put in place for the victims. >> i think historically it is true and accurate to say the charge did not deal effectively with abuse, and indeed some bishops moved priests in the knowledge that they had abused, thinking if they moved them, somehow it would stop. so i think historically we have got to hold our hands up and say that was morally wrong. it was legally wrong. i think it's important to look at what we're trying to do now.

ever bishop conference around the world has to have proper procedures and guidelines for dealing with abuse allegations, and dealing with safeguarding, in england and whales if somebody comes forward with allegations of abuse, either historic or current, we automatically report it to the police, and social services, but i would think we would need to acknowledge -- and certainly pope benedict did. that we got things badly wrong. he was asked whether he thought the church was being unfairly criticized for abuse? and his response was we deserve this humiliation. how come we got things so badly wrong? so we have got to be open -- we have got to apologize, and we can't apologize enough for what we got wrong. but it's not good enough to apologize if we are not going to

put in to the system structures that will be very effective. the eight cardinals that pope francis appointed to help him reform the church, i think is very interesting and striking that the first public announcement that was made is to set up a safeguarding commission at the vatican. what will be important will be who the vatican appoints to that commission. hopefully it will be lay people. it will be experts as well as people from the church. i would like to think that the voice of victims and survivors will be represented on that commission. and the work of the commission must be open and transparent and deal with the criticisms, many of them justified that the church has received. a new report has painted a comprehensive picture of how well people eat across the world. the best countries in terms of food security are found in western europe, and the worst is

in the sub saharan desert. >> reporter: when it comes to eating well, people in chad have it as bad as anyone on the planet, according to a wide-ranging report which looked at conditions in 125 countries. they asked do people have enough to eat? can people afford to eat comparing food prices to other goods and how stable those prices are. is food of good quality, including access to clean water? and how far is people's diet creating unhealthy outcomes. diabetes and obesity. the best country is the netherlands followed by france and swiztzerlaswitzerland. the other end of the scale the worst country overall is chad

where one in three children are underweight. but the report says even the best-scoring nations have urgent problems. the netherlands may be a very rich country, but they are overweight. >> translator: they have to try to get food from somewhere else. >> reporter: britain is one of the biggest surprises. the sixth richen nation, but 13th in the table, that's because food prices are so high and because austerity measures are making people more and more reliant on food banks. >> we also have to deal with food price speculation on the international markets. we have to prevent that food crops are being used for

biofoods which also drives up the prices, and deal with the impact of climate change which is really hurting the amount of crops available. >> reporter: the report provides a snapshot of how well countries are doing in terms of food security, and highlights how many people in rich countries are struggling to eat well or keep from going hungry. i'll have more news from europe later in the news hour, but right now we'll return you to doha. protesters in thailand keep up the pressure, but the government refuses to stand out for cancel elections. mexican police try to disarm vigilante groups. plus . . . i'm on the english south coast to explain how supporters of the town's [ inaudible ] have

produced a remarkable piece of generosity. ♪

hello there, welcome back, a reminder of the top stories. at least 60 people have been killed in a series of attacks in the iraqi capitol of bagdad. security officials say over 500 people have already been killed in iraq this year. ban ki-moon says more than $2.4 billion have been promised for syrian refugees at a donor's conference in kuwait. that's the un's biggest ever request for a single crisis. egyptians have been voting on a new constitution for a second and final day. it's the first popular poll since mohammed morsi was ousted last july. the vote is seen as a crucial test of support for the military. a big event like the ref ren dem in egypt sparks a social

outpouring on social media. hi, semi? >> reporter: hi, there. we have been monitoring egyptian reaction over the last couple of days of voting. what we were looking out for were powerful hashtags. we have egypt, cairo, but if you think about the last few years there have been custom hashtags, like january 25th, look what we found. these are some of the most popular hashtags over the past two years. if you check them out, none of them are trending right now, other than egypt. we have been analyzing why this would be so. >> right. >> what is the answer? >> one of the reasons i'm seeing on line is people who were so integral in the january 29th uprising, protest, say they don't have the energy and just don't care anymore.

this is one of them. >> you see the big-picture view of egypt and then just fly into egypt. and i'll show you some of the tweets. we'll start in this cairo, and head across to the coastline, this takes us to the mediterranean port, and we're seeing pro-morsi support on twitter. it is difficult for anybody supporting morsi to do so in the streets. so we're seeing more on social media, and then egypt's second city, and there we're seeing support for the new constitution. so as we have been looking at that. we have been digging deep. we wanted to find something news worthy in social media, and we found something. >> yes, one of those is a

hashtag. your vote is a waste. there are lots of people sharing photos online. and here is one of them, she says why would i vote on a constitution written in the constitution of my brothers. another guy says because rights are not protected by lines on paper, using the hashtag vote is a waste. >> i also want to show you instagram video. have a look at this.

>> that little blue circle you saw there was a yes for the referendum, a yes vote for the constitution, the red circle l would have been a no vote for the constitution. we cannot do an update on social media without doing an update. >> right. we compiled this video comment. have a listen to this. >> my name is [ inaudible ], i'm a 56-year-old cardiologist. today the vote of the new egyptian constitution for me was a big surprise, because there was so much joy in the streets. among hundreds of thousands of people that i saw as i drove around cairo today. it's a moment of hope for us to regain our country back. and all i ask the world now is please just look at us and watch. we'll do it. thank you.

>> when we find people voting for no the referendum assigned as traitors when we find people getting arrested, and find people calling for a boycott of this referendum, this is not a constitution referendum, this is a legal marriage between [ inaudible ] and power in egypt. >> so that's some of the viewpoints we're getting. if your point hasn't been reflected yet, have a look here. you can add your video comment here. and when we do the next social media update, you could be in it. that's a look at the landscape over the last two days. back to you. >> thanks very much to you and your team there in washington. there are more than 30 international media organizations are calling for the release of five al jazeera

journalists who are still being detained in europe, mohamed fahmy, baher mohamed, and peter greste are accused of spreading lies and joining a terrorist organization. al jazeera say these allegations are fabricated. the other two journal lists have been detained for five mosnths now. thailand's prime minister has reduced to postpone the upcoming election shots have been fired. scott reports. >> reporter: the efforts to retail elections and call for the government's resignation continued loudly on wednesday. anti-government protesters still occupied several busy intersections in the city, and

kept up the pace dismatching convoys to government buildings. two protesters were injured in overnight violence. and there was an explosion at the opposition leaders empty house. some say the violence is intended to scare protesters from participating. >> translator: from what i can see all of the violence is coming from government supporters the prime minister chaired a meeting here at the headquarters discussing the possibility of postponing the february 2nd general elections. she invited the leaders of the opposition, and the protesters. both were a no-show. after just two hours of discussions the prime minister announced she would not change the date. the election commission has repeatedly called on the government to postpone the vote. their secretary general was at the table. with neither side budging, the protesters are for now are here

to stay. but some feel they are wearing out their welcome. >> what we have seen is that opinion in bangkok has started to shift quite significantly, because many of the people who earlier supported these demonstrations, really don't like the idea of this find of disruption to the city. >> reporter: there's little question that the prime minister's party will win the elections, but if this political dead lock remains, she'll start her new term with an even more divided thailand. >> stephanie: unmanned aircraft and drones are playing an increasingly important role but they are certainly not without controver controversy. >> yes, according to the british government the use of drones have saved many lives, but critics say they have also increased the number of

casualties. >> reporter: here at raf, the british military have put on display the entirety of their drone [ inaudible ]. what this is really is a rebranding exercise. the uk military wants to stop us using the word drone. they would rather we talk about remotely piloted aircraft systems, because they feel that drone con -- conjures the impression of mindless robots. but they want to portray them as highly trained kernel. the british military says there have only been one instance when there was a civil casualty from

one of their drones. these are incredibly cost effective and keep british troops out of harm's way. >> let's take a close look at the use of uk drones in afghanistan. according to a question asked last year, between 2008 and july of last year, 3,745 were flown of of those missions 299 included the use of single or multiple weapons. jennifer gibson is the staff attorney for the human right's organization, and she is with me now in the studio. the uk government say the drones operate under the same rules of engagement as any other fighter pilot in the air. so why should there be so much concern? >> when you look at the way drone use as proliferated around

the globe, we now have a situation where drones are being used to carry out strikes in non-war zones. so the seductiveness of this weapon and the ease of which it allows decisions to go to war even in areas where there is no declared war is really problematic. >> the uk as we gather as got relatively few drone in this comparison to the u.s. -- >> yes. >> the reaper drone is the only one capable of launching weapons. is there a suspicion that the uk is going to invest more heavily in the military drones. >> the uk says it is going to invest more heavily. the uk currently only owns the

reaper. but for a number of years they have flown the u.s. versions from crete air force space in nevada, so to say the military is only flying five drones or only since the uk acquired drones is false. they have been flying missions with hundreds of u.s. drones for a number of years now. they have flown them in libya, iraq, and afghanistan. and philip hammond when asked right before christmas whether he would rule out the possible when the reaper drones were pulled out of afghanistan whether he denied or refruit the possibility that they would be moved to yemen, he said no yemen is still on the table. >> is it just that youing want to see better legal framework, which i gather the un is trying

to work on. >> i think we're concerned about the extra judicial killings done with drones. if you look at the number of killings carried out in the past by the u.s., 90, to 95% have been done by drones, so it's key way that killings are being carried out across the globe not just in war zones. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. you are up to date with the latest news here from europe. let's return to doha. >> thanks so much, felicity. we have all of the sport ahead. all of the results from day three of the australian open coming up. ♪

hello there. welcome back. police in western mexico have been fighting armed vigilantes to try to disarm them. but the vigilantes say they need the weapons because the police have failed to protect them from drug cartels. >> reporter: still in shock this mother grieve for her son. neighbors say he was killed by the mexican military. neighbors and family come to pay respect. among them this man, who says he was unarmed when soldiers opened

fire on him and hundreds of others. mario along with three other people were killed in a protest where people deing manned that the soldiers return confiscated weapons to the community police. >> translator: it's wrong for the government to disarm the people who are protecting us. if they take away our weapons the drug gangs willment come and kill us. >> reporter: this came after the mexican government called on defense groups to lay down their weapons. thousands of people have taken up arms against the cartel. the government is sending in reinforcements, the federal police and the military, throughout the state, but the people here say the community police are refusing to give up their arms until the government makes key arrests of the cartel. this community police leader says that disarming his men won't improve security. >> translator: we are just protecting the people and doing

the work that the go has failed to do for the past 12 years. we are tired of kidnapping, extortion and stealing our lands. >> reporter: as more as more troops arrive, they'll face a fight on two fronts, confront the cartel and win over a local population that no longer believes in the government's promises to fight organized crime. well the u.s. has unveiled its latest weapon in the drug war, robots will now be used to search tunnels. around 170 tunnels have been found since the 1990s, and borders officials estimate they cost more than $2 million to build. a 12-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting two students at a school in the u.s.

two children were injured when shots were fired in new mexico. the police are trying to find out the motive for the attack. the lovely farah is here now. time for all of the sport. >> thank you so much. heat continues to be a may mayor -- major issue at the tennis grand slam in melbourne. a record nine players retired from the opening round with temperatures above 40 on both tuesday and wednesday. speculators and officials also affected. al jazeera's meteorologist richard has more on the temperatures facing the players in the coming days. >> well, wednesday was another blistery hot day, 42 degrees, and look at the heat continuing to build thursday and friday. this is probably the hottest of the majors, yes, the u.s. open

can see temperatures into the high 30s, but not like the australian open. and this cold front through the weekend, we'll see temperatures drop down to 20 degrees on saturday. but in the meantime, we'll be on this extreme heat policy. this is really a heat stress index based on air temperature, humidity, wind, and in-coming solar radiation, and it does allow for matches to be stopped, matches to be suspended, the roof to be closed and longer breaks to take place. but all of this is discretionary, the tournament referee will come under some scrutiny in the coming days. >> reporter: the defending champ union had an easy victory.

6-6, 6-4, 6-4. he next plays the russian 30th seed. >> you don't want to spend too much time in the heat. you want to try to win as quickly as possible, and he -- he started to play better as the match progressed in the second part, especially in the third set, but i felt like i was serving well, and i was in control when i needed to use my opportunities when represented, i kid so, and it was a better performance than the first round. the third seed overcame a slow start to beat the frenchman. he then lost the second set before coming back to win the final two. >> it was very hot. it was a tough match. it was difficult to play

with -- with this conditions, but anyway, it's for both players, and finally i won, and i'm happy for that. world number 1 serena williams also comfortably advanced. it was her 60th all time victory. >> for me there's always pressure. it always seems like i'm one of the favorites to win, but for me, i look -- i look at it as kind of exciting that i have an opportunity to -- to go all the way. >> the ongoing concussion lawsuit between former nfl players and the league has taken a new twist. a federal judge has rejected a proposed settlement. more than 4,500 retired players have sued the league accusing them of hiding the dangers of concussion. the two partied agreed to

settlement worth $765 million so compensate players who have suffered injuries. the judge has refused to approve the deal saying there wasn't enough evidence the money would cover the costs for up to 20,000 retirees over the 65-year life of the agreement. the two parties will now go back to the drowning board. >> i think a lot of people are simply -- they were interested in this going out on their own, which in this situation would be an extraordinary task for any party or lawyer. you'll see a deal come back where the court is going to get the additional evidence that they need or you are going to see the number go up dramatically. $765 million with an annual revenue to the nfl of $10 billion barely registers.

they need to put more money out. the dutchman replaces the manager of [ inaudible ]. he spent ten years at milan winning both the champion's league and sariad twice. >> translator: i'm here to announce that i will stop playing football. i will retire after 22 years. it was a difficult night, but i'm very pleased with what i have done in my career. i'm certain this is not a good-bye. we will need again. all of this experience over the last year and a half made me grow a lot. and this will help me in my next step in my new career as ac

milan's head coach. sergio will return from a calf injury for the sky blues. he hasn't played since december 14th. >> yes, of course it is very important because we have not only important game we have a lot of games, and all of them are important for us, because we are -- for the moment the only team that we are in the [ inaudible ] competition, and we will try and we want to continue. >> for 143 years, english football fans have been entranced by the so-called magic of the fa club, but a gesture from one club's fan to another is being hailed as an extraordinary act of generosity. lee wellings explains. >> reporter: such as the enduring popularity of the world's oldest football cup competition, will is nothing unusual about fans traveling hundreds of miles to watch their

team play. but these fans had their entire trip paid for by the home club. >> kindness goes along way. >> reporter: the original cup match was postponed. but out of soggy misery came an idea from a fan david whitehead to pay for burnton fans to come back. did he really think fans would pay for this to happen? >> not to this extent, no. it was a fantastic surprise. >> reporter: fellow supporter created the website for donations to be made. >> i gave it a bit of thought and got in contact with david, and said i could get his idea rolling, and it started with a [ inaudible ], 200 pounds we were hoping to maybe fund some pies. after discussions with david we

decided to go for one [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: within 24 hours enough had been raised for all four coaches needed to bring burton back to town. around $5,000. bornwith is a seaside town from which such of the area has suffered from stormy weather. . but the actions of these people have provided a ray of sunshine for a sport that is so often portrayed with bad publicity. >> i'm not very surprised. they have a very close relationship anyway. >> reporter: the players have climbed even higher since then, to the english championship under popular lead coach. now they have received a letter

commending their fans. this is the epitome of the true sportsmanship between two top clubs in the united kingdom. but they didn't show such aga generosity on the pitch winning the game. in unprecedented act of kindness will never be forgotten by the travelling fans of burton. there is much more sport on our website. for all of the latest check out aljazeera.com/sport. there's also details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. and that's it for me for now. robin will be here with more a bit later. >> thank you very much, farah. and thanks for staying with us here on al jazeera.

there's much more ahead. good-bye for now.

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. a new report on the holy efforts to conceal child sex abuse in the church. spending bill heading to a vote no the house. and the monster sinkhole and levy that is holding it back. ♪ dotting the i's,s crossing the t's and counting the dollars and