online. this is al jazerra. ♪ ♪ so welcome to the news hour. live at al jazerra's news center here in doha. the top stories. the united center condemns the catholic church ore decades of abuse and demands the offenders are handed over for trial. a new report reveals the suffering endured by syrian children. i am jonah hall in london. among the stories in europe. stalemate in kiev the protests

continues as the european union's foreign policy chief meets the ukrainian chief. the trial of the man behind the collapse of one of ireland's biggest bank collapses. beckham moves to miami as the world's most famous x footballer announces a plan to start a brand-new msl franchise. ♪ ♪ two damning reports about the abuse of children has been released by the yo unites natio. in the first the catholic church mo besting childrens over decades. the unspeakable suffering of children in syria. torture, abuse, and death part of their every day lives. we have more details on syria in just a moment but first a closer

look at the severe condemnation directed at vatican. the unites nation says says it's a crime not a moral failing. the it says the vatican protected pedophile priests by moving them around. it it says this practice still happens. priests who spoke out were ostracized and those that protected abusers were praised. >> reporter: the report is a devastating yes particular of the vatican's dealing with child sex abuse not willing to recognize the stale or take responsibility for it. accuses policies amounting to a coffer up. >> the holy see has consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children's best interests. 67 the report lists many failings and has many recommendations the church is still movingbility i abusers from pair tower perish to avoid prosecution, that must stop. there is still a code of silence

when it comes to reporting abuse, that must stop too. all known and suspect ahead boozers must be removed and reported to the police whenever they are. the church must pay compensation and provide rehabilitation to its victims. this ongoing crisis continues to plage the catholic church and its new pope. francis has set a commission to deal with it. the committee says it must call on outside help and everything must be made public. >> the credibility of the church will always be at stake unless there is possibility of having total, zero come fence toward predator priests. protecting children. all the protection that they need and they deserve. >> reporter: the report's tough stance will be welcomed by victims of abuse worldwide. the committee numbers them in the 10s of thousands. >> for so long we have been disbelieved. for so long we have been criticized because the church

said that we were only after money or we were anti-ca those i can. >> reporter: this is a real of cultures between the u.n. and the vatican. a hierarchy i think tuesda insto keeping its business secret. can the new pope change in the secretive culture of the church. >> while the vatican has responded to the report. it called it distorted and unfair but added that it would stud at this thoroughly and it says that the catholic church is committed to protecting children from abuse. now, jack is from catholic voices a project aimed at improving the church's reputation in the media. it says the u.n. report is full of mistakes. >> hundreds of priests are in prison. millions of pounds of dollars

have been paid to tic victims. this is just absolutely untrue. it's incredible that a u.n. report could say this. it brings no credit to u.n. at all. victims have been compensated. the committee, nut commit that had pope francis established in december of last year, was to insure that victims were looked after. because he said, the legal side and the procedural side is all in place and we are leading the fight against child abuse, because as i say there are so many errors in this report and phaefrpbt things thamany of they the church should do they are already doing. then, you know, whether they take that as a recommendation, that's already happening, that's already happening, that's already happening. if i were you -- sorry if i were the vatican i would withdraw from this convention because this report is just so outrageous in its implications of things that haven't been done when they have been done. that i think that they should be rejected and the report should

be rewritten. >> joining us is bar brain barb. the founder of snap. those abused by priests she's live from chicago. thank you very much for being on al jazerra. what do you make of the comments we just heard there? has there been change in the way the catholic church deals with abuse? >> no, i believe he doesn't know the facts. and the bottom line is that if what mr. valero is saying is true, then why is it that the vatican officials still refuse to turnover the documents. why not open their files if there is nothing to hide, why are they hiding? >> so it an issue of transparency in your opinion? >> no, i think it goes much deeper than that. i think that what we see is the vatican officials continue today to refuse to protect children. and if they were sincere in want to go protect children, they would immediately fire all of the sexual predators and say

that anyone who has raped a child or who has been credibly accused of raping and sexually violating children or adult, far not allowed to work in ministry. and the vatican officials should be punishing the bishops and the church leaders who cover up these sex crime sex chimes and d open up their records and turnover all evidence to the police officials. vatican officials shoul should e investigating sex crimes that is the responsibility and should be under the authority of secular authorities. >> now this, report by the united nations says the abuse is till going on. is it? the united states, for instance? >> yes. i mean, right now in the united states, there is a bishop in kansas city, missouri who has actually been found guilty of endangering children. and yet he has not been fired from his post. and it's interesting that the vatican officials claim that the

vatican doesn't have the ability or the control over those who cover up for sexual predators, but yet they have the authority to determine who will be a bishop and who stays on as a bishop and they even recently fired a bishop in australia who spoke out in support of women's ordination. >> but barbara, rules were established in the united states in 2001 after all of the scandals, i mean how has these rules been applied, i mean, to the cases? what about the cases from before 2002, the case that his date back to 30 or 40 years ago, are these being investigated? >> well, i mean, let's be clear. there is across the united states the church officials continue to attempt to conceal and cover up the documents. we know that, for example, here in chicago, just a couple of weeks ago, the files of 30 predators were made public. out of the 121 that we know of.

and why aren't the church officials releasing all of the records? why only 30? if you look at the 30, what you see is that the evidence shows that they have engaged in the cover up, the concealment, keeping predators in ministry and shielding them from police. leaving children at risk. and the exact same thing is happening in albany, new york where bishop hubbard has been ordered to turnover records. >> let me just ask you this. >> in st. louis where archbishop carlson has been told to open up the files. >> all right. >> we soot same thing happening up in the twin cities -- >> so no change, very little change. >> where they have recently -- >> barbara let me ask you briefly. >> uncovered decades of -- >> sorry to interrupt you, let me just ask you this, there is a knew tomorrow. [speaking at the same time] >> can you hear me? we'll just leave it there, then. >> it's wide spread and it's ongoing and i think that the u.n. report is actually awakeupe

up call for secular authorities to investigate and not believe these church officials. it's time that the -- that the prosecutors and police take charge and stop allowing church officials to dictate how sexual predators in the church will be dealt with. >> okay, barbara thank you very much indeed for talk you go to, that's barbara blaine from snap joining is live from chicago. in syria, too, children are the greatest victims of the war a report from the u.n. second general has provided the most devastating picture yet of how they have been caught up in the fighting. the it says the government has tortured children as young as 11 years old. that includes beatings, rape, solitary confinement and being forced to watch the torture of relatives. children are also being used as human shields, one example from 2011, government forces threatened to kill at least eight children from a town unless the rebels surrendered. and the report discovered child soldiers being used mainly by opposition forces, some rebel groupings are reportedly

recruiting both in syria and in refugees camps in neighboring country, omar reports. >> reporter: for nearly three years, the children of syria have suffered like no children should. a graphic report written by the u.n. chief ban ki-moon accuses the government and opposition fighters of crimes against children. ban says the syrian government and its ali m militias are responsible for killing, maiming, sexual abuse and in some cases using children as human shields. >> ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons electric shock including to the genitals ripping out of fingernails and toenails, sexual violence including rape or threats of rape. mock he ca executionses, rig ses

burns, solitary confinement. exposure to the ter true of relatives. >> reporter: the report says armed opposition groups recruited children for use in bad, some rebel groups are also accused of the sum air i sum aii executionses of children as well as carrying out sexual violence against them. and children continue to die on a daily basis, government jets attack the city on tuesday while children were taking classes in this mosque. >> translator: i came here to take my brother studying in inside. 10 children died. three survived. >> reporter: activactivists saya family of 10 are bare you had under this rubble. neighbors are desperate to recover the bodies. >> i heard the sound of plane and i came quickly down here, i saw people taken away. i plucked two children from the rubble. >> reporter: in this hospital, the bodies pile up as shocked

relatives try to identify the victims, young and old. in syria, no one is immune to the violence, not even the very young. al jazerra. our diplomatic he had or james bays is at the united nations he says the cur security council will assess the report in a few days. >> reporter: obviously there is shock. we know how bad things are in syria, but when you hear the graphic details of how it's affecting the children of syria, that figure of 10,000 children over almost now three years of conflict in syria who have been killed. you hear those awful stories of children being tortured, children forced to be soldiers. but in many ways those are the extreme cases. just think of the ordinary children who are trying to live in a war zone. living with no electrician at this, no schooling and, with the trauma of bombs dropping every day, some living with the trauma

of seeing close members of their family being injured or killed. traumatizing a whole young population of syria. this report will go to the security council in the coming days to assess. i think it's interesting that actually this report was given to the security council in written form over a week ago and thein' didn't make a big fuss about it. i think that's partly because the security council still has to meet to hear all the details. therthere is a bit of sensitiviy about the syrian situation people are concerned with those peace talks going on in geneva are due to resume next week and they don't want to do anything to detail the peace talks, certainly the detention of children is something the opposition was talking about when i was in geneva quite a bit last week.

>> there is plenty more to come on the news hour including protests are slowing down in thailand, but the war of words is heating up. we take a look at the abuse being aimed at thailand's prime minister. and? sports, real madrid star ronaldo receives a hefty ban for his sending off. but find out why it won't stop him from playing in wednesday copa del ray semifinal against atletico. ♪ ♪ the eeu's foreign policy chief has met with the president in a bid to end his country's stalemate the meeting comes as they made little progress in parliament to curb the president's power by change the contusion. the barricades and the protesters remain in kiev's independence square, but the country's interim prime minister has insisted that nationwide unrest is declining. ashton said that a lot more work needed to be done to resolve the

crisis but that a comprehensive e.u. support panic would be made available to ukraine. >> not much talk on this visit about the competition of any new government. and in terms of the economic support this is is not just about the even u. or large dollops of money, this is about the kind of economic support that clues expertise, technical ability. resources that can be given. the role of ups tigerses instis nationally. and other countries. >> neave backer has been following reports in key and every sent us this update. >> reporter: the even u.'s foreign poll at this chief cats relinquish ashton has been here for the third time since the unrest began and trying to broken a end to the stands off spoke to the opposition and the president. we now know that the united states and e.u. are prepared to offer the country a financial way out of its economic

instability. but the situation right now is incredibly uncertain. the national currency, has preliminary ted to a new low over the course of the day. and there are still concerns that if money comes from the west, that it may well start a bidding war with russia. who have currently paused their own $15 billion bail out strategy until the country elects a new government. but the feeling here in monday square is that the nation needs to get its own house in order but for the time being the ukrainian parliament remains dogged by political in fighting that divides a nation. >> ukraine is caught a geopolitical tug-of-war between west turn europe and russia. moscow offers gas and gas. the european union offers trade and the promise of democracy. david has a report on the choice that most ukrainians face now. >> reporter: gas-fired power stations provide the backbone of support for ukrainian industry.

the kremlin has cut the price of supplying them by a third. postponing the inevitable but painful reforms needed to modernize the country's economy. this giants fertilizer plant on the outskirts of owe dez odessae of the many factories across the industrial heartland of the ukraine that may be living on borrowed time sheltered from the cold rereagent. market economics. they are hooked on gas and the deal means they will b will remn russia's leash. the e.u. brings stringent term, terms that woo send a shock wave across the ukraine. the subsidy on domestic gas supplies would have to go. raising the bills for heating in every household. but if family says it's worth the price. >> translator: speaking for myself, and my friends, i can say we are ready to pay the

higher gas prices if that is the cost of rue crane's membership to the european union. >> reporter: that was the appointment of view shared by an anti government protester we found playing chess in one of the many snow-bound parks. he is the author of a book on the tactics of the game who believes the president is responsible for the stalemate in the country. >> we are an open country and we need an open opening. because we are open and we cannot live these gangsters in government. >> reporter: the city's statue the lennon may have been banished to a suburban park but the hand of the kremlin has not gone a way. david, al jazerra odessa. >> i'll have more of the day's news from europe a little later in he this bullpen, for now though, it's back to doha. thank you very much. jonah, indeed. the kenyan government is worried that young men are being

radicalized by extreme clerics. but local muslims say they are concerned they are being targeted and becoming the targets of a government track are crack town after a police raid killed eight people at a mosque on sunday. from southern kenya katherine soy reports. >> reporter: she has been waiting for her 16 year old son's body for three days now, he was shot when the police entered the mosque on sunday to break up a meeting they believe was radicalizing the youth. eight people including a police officer are said to have been killed. 129 suspects, children, men, mothers carrying babies were arrested. >> translator: my son is not a terrorist he was at the mosque getting advice on how to live in accordance to the core ran. >> reporter: police say they found material that can prove that this mosque is being used to recruit fighters to join somalia's al tha al that lob it.

it's one of two recruiting. >> it's a threat to national security and the gunmen cannot just sit back and watch. national security is being threatened. >> reporter: this man is believed to be one of the radical muslim leaders here, he has terror related cases in course banned from traveling outside kenya without a court on -rd and has to report to the police two days every week. >> the only people radicalizing the youth in kenya are the kenya police by killing muslims. like on sunday here, what did you expect the muslims to do while they are being shot at inside a mosque. >> reporter: it's not a secret that there are a al-shabab cells actively recruiting from within the country. and this is said to be one of the major recruitment points. >> so it is so dangerous, i am so worried to tell you the truth. and i know so many guys, so many kids that they have fall pray to this. okay?

and they cross over to somalia. taking military training. how come our security forces, our government, they fail to apprehend and this position in court. >> reporter: back at the mosque, they show us spent cartridges, bullet holes and blood-stained floors, the aftermath of sunday's bloody clash. this he say their young ones were innocently caught up in a meeting whose agenda was wrongly interpreted by the authorities. katherine soy, al jazerra,. jerusalem's municipal government has approved plans for new settler homes in the west bank think the three settlements expire after the 1967 war. construction can begin as early as next week. israeli settlements are illegal according to international law. at least 37 people have been killed in bombings near baghdad, heavily fortified green zone.

two car bombs went outside iraq foreign ministry a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the area in a nearby restaurant. a dozen children have been injured after an explosive device went off at a primary school in the libyan city of benghazi, a bomb was thrown over the school wall while children were playing during recess, medical officials say two children are in serious condition. the incidents took place hours after an unknown gunman opened fire on security forces in the city but no injuries were reported. the al jazerra media network has been served with a list of 20 people being pursued by egypt's interim government. the list is accompanied by several formal charges which are different for each individual. eight network staff are on the list, including three of the four journalists currently in detention. most of those named are not employees of al jazerra. al jazerra rejects the charges against its staff. al jazerra cameraman has been

released by egyptian authorities after being held in prison for more than six months, he was acquitted of all charges. on tuesday the white house joined international calls for all remaining al jazerra detainees to be released. here is a report. six. >> reporter: at the white house they are usually careful to walk a very fine line on egypt. rarely do they comment on any issue which could further inflame its relationship with cairo, on tuesday they were less constrained when asked about the arrest of producers, and correspondence from al jazerra english and the continued detention of abdullah from al jazerra arabic. >> these figures regardless of affiliation should be protected and permitted to do their jobs freely in egypt. egypt's transition can only move forward if all egyptians are free to express themselves peacefully without fear of intimidation of violence, their contusion you be holds basic rights and freedoms and egypt's

interim government has a responsibility to insure that they are protected. now we have expressed these concerns directly to the government of egypt in answer to your question and strongly urged the two of ththe government to e charges and released those contained. >> inning. >> [inaudible] >> we are expressing very directly that we are concerned. and that this contravenes the contusion that it provides the freedoms that we hold dear and we believe the egyptian people hold dear. and we are making that clear to the egyptian government. >> reporter: u.s. officials have always believed any influence that they have in egypt comes from two things, military hardware and cash. last year president obama decided to suspends delivery of some military supplies to egypt and cut back on some aid, but the u.s. congress just pass ahead a law that will make it much easier for the owe obama administration to restore full aid to egypt in 2014. without the threat of concrete

consequences, it's unclear how much weight these words will carry. but they were spoken from the white house podium from the president's chief spokesman. and his call is being echoed across the globe. in nairobi supporters protested sending the message journalism is not terrorism. a message being repeated from colleagues and competitors across the world. >> with this simple sign and a roll of adhesive tape british journalists like jonathan miller and lindsay hilson are among those taking a stand taping their mouths shut and hold be up signs with the twitter #freeajstaff. >> reporter: these picture are now popping up all over social media. a growing chorus of the powerful and every day people the world over sending one message, they will not be silenced. the al jazerra staff must be

released. patty coal lane, al jazerra, washington. ahead on the program, we'll report from the panama canal on the row that threatens to scuff a $1.6 billion expansion project. plus kicking the habit. by one of america's biggest drug scores is clubbing out sales. it's not cool running for the a jamaican bobsled team when they have a slip up at the airport. coming up do stay with us.

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al jazeera america, take a new look at news. >> 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 news hour on al jazerra. a reminder of the top stories. the unite the nations has condemned the catholic church for failing to protect children from pedophile priests. it says the church is in denial about the scale of the problem. the vatican has responded saying the report is distorted but added it will study it thoroughly. and united nations investigators say children are being abused by all sides in syria's war. opposition groups are actively recruiting children living in

refugees camps. and the e.u.'s foreign palsy chief says a lot more work needs to be done to end a political stalemate in ukraine, her meeting with the president came as opposition leaders made little progress in apartment to curb the president's power. scientists are warn that go a new strain of the bird flu virus has the potentialal to cause a pandemic and should not be underestimated. the government's center for disease control says the h10n8 virus in china has killed an elderly woman in december and infected another person last month. it's not the first time china has been affected by bird flu the h10na virus is the fifth influenza strain to emerge in 17 years, it has scientist scientid because it affects tissue deep in the lungs and may be spread human to human.

previous were h5 then one and last year apt h179. for more let's speak to mark who leads the international epidemiology team at the u.s. center for disease control and prevention influenza division, he's live from atlanta. thank you very much for being with us, mark. so is there a genuine thread here from this new strain or is this just fear mongering? >> no, i think there is a genuine threat in that we are always concerned when we hear about a new innin influenza strn that affects humans particularly one that causes severe disease. and as we saw with the hsn9. we are concerned with whether this constitutes a threat over and above what we have already seen over the last 15 years with other flues it's too early to tell. >> the chinese scientists say this vie house has a worrying genetic profile. why is it more dangerous than

the other strains we have seen? >> there are several genetic markers which may indicate a predisposition to jump to humans or potentially to transmit from mammal to his mammals or humans to humans and many of these viruses, this is not just this new h10n8 but other viruses as well, such as the hsn9 and h5n1 all have some markers. and it's difficult at this stage to know whether these together will actually do anything different in this particular virus. >> mark, as you know, the common flu class hardly ever in the news kills 250,000 to 500,000 people every year. thosthere is a huge difference n numbers of casualty at thises compared to the more exotic strains, what do you responds to those who say this is being orchestrateed by the pharmaceutical companies? >> no, i mean, i think that a lot of this -- all the surveillance and work we are

doing is unrelated to the pharmaceutical companies. what we do here is we monitor very closely for these exotic flus because we think that they may have the potential to become a upon december i can. seasonal flus transmit from human to human and there is a tremendous burden to those as you have mentioned. very few pandemics occur we are concerned but it's unlikely they will become a upon december i can though we are con monitoring it. >> with the h10nh virus, are there drugs that will help? >> this virus is susceptible to existing drugs so the existing anti-voirals will work against this new strain. this i t* stage it's too early to get developing a vaccine.

unlike for hsn9 where there are par more cases it has stimulated honester to get a vaccine at least to have in our back pocket as it were to make sure this h7n9 become a pandemic but for this 108 it's far too early to say. the risk is there but it's too early to say if it's a truly large risk over and above what we have seen with the previous avian flus. >> thank you very much for talking to us, that's mark from the cdc joining us live from atlanta. >> thank you. now, three former bankers have appeared in court in ireland to face charges relating to the country's banking collapse, for more let's rejoin jonah hall in london. the three form is bosses of anglo irish bank are charged with helping to unlawfully prop up the bank's chair price in 2008. it's only the second time bankers involved in the

financial crisis huh been brought to criminal trial in europe. first time was in iceland. tim friend reports from dublin. >> reporter: arriving at court william one of three former executives of anglo irish bank. the collapse of which almost bankrupted the entire country. along with shawn fitzpatrick and pat whelan, they all denied the charges at dublin criminal court in a trial that will track ireland's fall from the boom years as the so-called celtic tiger to bust. the three executives are accused of giving unlawful financial assistance to individuals in 2008, in order to buy bank shares to boost the share price. among the alleged recipients, shawn quinn, once ireland's richest man with a huge global property portfolio. but when prices crashed around

the world, he was left owing billions. >> although anglo irish bank is the same it's very integral to the irish economy it was in fact the entire banking sector that was in trouble. i suppose people identify more with the fall of anglo irish bank but it was the whole sector in large part fueled by a property boom and bust that we experienced here in ireland. >> reporter: it took nearly $40 billion of tax payers money to rescue the bank and the entire sector. ireland subsequently needed an international bail out. >> well, the collapse of anglo irish bank cost the taxpayer between 25 and 30 billion euros which in a country of just 4 million people that's an awful lot of money. and ultimately it was one of the factors that meant that the state couldn't stain itself and we need an euimf bail out. >> reporter: two executives, not those in court were recorded laughing and joking about the size of the bail out. the trial, one of the most

complex of its kinds in europe could take six months. >> and tim has more from outside the court in dublin. >> reporter: this promises to be perhaps one of the most complex cases of its kind ever to take place in europe. only iceland has gone further than ireland up until now in pursuing prosecutions against bankers, but the irish prosecution clearly feel that they have a case, a good enough case to sustain a prosecution. all the defendants deny all the charges against them. but towards the end of the day's evidence, the prosecution started to outline the heart of the matter, and that was how desperate the bank was to make loans to customers so that they money could then be reinvested in the bank to prop up the share price. these are desperate measures and as the prosecution said, there were even cases of the bank tracking down customers on

holiday to make them an offer to this end. and as the chief prosecutor pointed out, if most people were confronted by their bank manager on holiday, they would go and hide in the nearest sand hill. but in this case, the bank was desperately making offers of cash so that the bank could continue to survive. the prosecution case continues, and the trial is is pecked to last perhaps up u up to i can m. olympic torch has arrived in sochi. the final stop on its 65,000-kilometer odyssey. the torch began its journey in moscow in october and its route has included the north pole, europe's highest mountain and the world's deepest lake. a train carrying gas has derailed and caught fire in the russian city. a the blaze engulfed a large area around the station forcing 700 resident to be evacuated from nearby apartment blocks, the fire caused the partial

closure of the tran siberian railway, officials say no one was hurt. european union police have raided the house of a former president's son in kosovo, he is being questioned for alleged involvement in organized crime and fraud. his house was used for many years as the main office of his father who spearheaded kosovo's independence from enter serbia. that's the latest from the team here in usual up, now back to you in doha. ♪ ♪ talks over an upgrade of the panama canal have collapsed the canal which is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary is a vital trade link the water way connecting the pacific on or about within atlantic is being expand today take larger container ships. for more on the dispute surrounding the upgrade i am joined by alessandro who is at the panama canal.

so why did the talk why did the? >> reporter: what happens here is that the international kompany, group of companies that are in charge of the expansion of the canal and the canal's authority have not been able to reach an agreement on who should pay $1.6 billion in cost over run, and as you can imagine which is a major setback for one of the briggest infrastructure projects in the world really. the expansion would allow ships more than double the size to be able to go through the canal. now, both sides are gaming each other on the reason of the stalemate. they say that they will find a way to continue the works with or without this international group of kompanys, it's not clear how they will do that, but

they are really hoping to be able to restart soon and finish the project by 2015. but many people we have spoken to are saying that that might be too optimistic. >> tell us more about the impact of the deadlock. just how necessary is this expansion? >> well, the impact is very big. there is a lot at stake here. first of all, for the over 10,000 people who work on the expansion every day, we have seen the company sending buses in the construction area, moving them all out. some of them were protesting. they are, of course, afraid for their job. then, of course, there is the issue of the revenue revenues oe nation of panama. but further more, there is -- it's also a risk, a big part of international commerce here,

international shipping companies worldwide are waiting for the expansion and are eager to be able to move larger ships through the canal. also, major countries like the united states and china have already spent billions of dollars to expand their ports in expectation of all the new business that would arrive. >> alessandro at the panama canal. thank you very much. one of america's biggest pharmacy chains has kicked its tobacco habit. vcs will phase out cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. the company decided it can no longer sale cigarettes at place where his it also provides health care, let's get more now. live from washington. >> reporter: well, it's a move that's been welcomed by anti-tobacco campaigners and the white house some other health campaigners of skeptical of the move pointing out all the junk food vcs sales doesn't do much for the well beings of americans

or health costs in the u.s. this is a very sober cost benefit decision on the cost of vcs. cigarettes make up a fine owe proportion of their sales they feel that they can make far more money in the health industry and a as a result of obama care millions more americans will now have access to health care. but there is a shortage of doctors in this country so vcs hopes with their in-store clinics they can fill that gap and make lots of mon we their other health care businesses they can present themselves as part of the solution to health care costs in the country and let's face it, if you are mcago billion and a half dollars on tobacco sales in the front of your pharmacies and making lots of billions of dollars in the back of your pharmacies treating the affects of those tobacco products, it doesn't look very good. >> thank you very much. still ahead in the news hour we have news in sports. including the biggest name in snowboarding pulse out of events

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>> from unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it. ♪ ♪ welcome back. fewer people are taking part in anti-government protests in thailand, but the war of words between opposing sides continues to grow. the prime minister has become a target for increasingly sexist and abusive comments from protesters. from bank congress, veronica reports. >> reporter: a woman in a role up to now that has only been played by men. when she was first elected prime minister it was a sign of

progress but nah she's at the center of a bitter fight to control the country. mass protests across bangkok against her government, even tried to obstruct elections. as you can see the crowds are nowhere as big as they were at the beginning of the bangkok shut down, that doesn't mean that the language and vitt reon that has been poured out at stages like this is getting any weaker, in fact women's rights groups have complained about the sexist language being used against the prime minister. here refer to go a tv game show called smart lady the op opposition leader says if this was a competition for dumb lady no one else could compete. much worse abusive and sexist language has been used by the opponents. >> translator: don't worry, you have still got time. you are not too old to become a

pin-up model as you have mott reached the menopause. >> reporter: some protesters disliked the hate speech too. >> translator: as a woman i think it's really harsh. it must be the last straw to say such things. >> reporter: not just the last straw, but possibly an omen of things to come. >> we are seeing protesters calling their enemies in the government as nonhuman. and therefore inning be they don't deserve to live anymore. this is a very dangerous indicator of an ongoing and then escalating confrontation including violent confrontatio confrontations. >> reporter: the more imflammatory the verbal abuse, the more likely it is there will be worse violence. veronica pa droves, a a pedroza.

former england football captain david beckham has announced that he will be starting a new mls franchise in miami. beckham played for the galla gay had an option to buy a franchise as part of his contract. the name of the team is yet to be decided but whatever it is, beckham says it will be a very personal project describing the new franchise as one for the people of miami. >> we will want to bring some of the best players in football, in soccer to miami to play in this team. i have seen what happens to teams when you bring great players in. i am talking about the heat. when you look at a team like that, when you look at a franchise like that, you want success you want people talking about the team and yes, we will bring great players in to this thing. that's the fortunate thing about my career and the teams that i have played for and the players that i have played with, you know, players are already

interested in coming to miami, who wouldn't want to live in miami and to play in miami? >> for more on this we can talk to greg, he's a host from the miami radio station sports radio 560. wqan. greg, on the face of it it would seem a no brainer, miami a sports bound city you have the nba champions there, the heat, the nfl's miami dolphins as well as the miami marlins baseball team and there is a large hispanic population that likes soccer but a miami march ls team did fold 10 years ago, so this a gamble for beckham? >> it's a bit of a gamble. the miami fans are traditionally a fickle bench when it comes to spotting that are teams, what is going to be key for beckham as he was talking about the miami heat he needs to replicate that kind of star power, bringing in notable players to south florida that the names will be recognizable for the fans, also he has to put a competitive product on the field. if teams are winning and it's soccer, baseball, basketball, football, doesn't matter what sport it is, the fans will show up. and we know that it's a melting

pot society down here in south florida, there are all sorts of cultures that have come down here to live and we saw just last year we saw 71,000 plus fans, a record crowd for florida for a soccer match show up to zebra sill and honduras play a friendly match of the soccer fan base is here and hungry for a product just a matter of how competitive the product is. >> at the moment they have no stadium and no investors are you confident that he can raise the cash? he's been rather vague in his plans. >> yeah, he seemed confidents in his -- in the press conference earlier today, and he's got a bill an erin investor who is privately funded guy who says that he will back it. he also has his manager who has apparently a lot of money who is also going to back this. he has said steadfastly that he will fund this privately and that he is something that needs to happen. because they are not going to get public funding for this. because they have already been a fiasco with the miami marlins new stadium which is just a few years old which was 80% publicly

funded 600 million plus dollar venture that did not go well in the community in the local government, people lost their jobs because of it, so david beckham needs to come through on his, what he is saying when it comes to privately punishing this whole project. >> and how big is david beckham in the united states? he's been there quite a while now, how much coverage is this get back home not just in miami but nationally? >> it's getting a lot of coverage nationally and a lot that has to do with davie beckham's celebrity. we are not talking about just some soccer starching we are talking about a worldwide phenomenon, icon in the clothing industry, people are interested just because it's david beckham. i had some women in my life would who don't care anything about soccer, but hey, david beckham is involved and we are interested just because of his name and everything that is attached to that. so it's going to be a balance of having that sort of sex appeal as well as the cosmopolitan

names that comes with david beckham and his brands, along with putting a competitive product and compelling product on the field. i think that combination will be a winner down here in miami. >> and, miami seems to be the perfect fit for brands beckham and the show business that comes with him. fascinating to talk to you, i am sure we will hear more about this but thank you very much. from one former real madrid starred to i a country, cristiano ronaldo has been banned for three spanish league games the world layer of the ple year old was shown a straight red on sunday. but he also made a mocking gesture to one of the macho visuals and that inning dreaseed his one-game ban to three. well, he will be available to play in the copa del ray semi final first leg against atletico madrid that kicks off in a few minutes times, real coach is also expecting gareth bail to make his return from a calf injury, the team will be looking to get revenge over athlete go madrid ago lost last year's final to them. but going in to this game, atletico is the current league

leaders are full of confidence. barcelona also semifinal action, real sociedad, i am back now. the hope is to put saturday's league defeat on saturday behind them. now to put three behind people. biggest name in snow gording shaun white has pulled out in one of his events day about before the olympics get under way. the two-time defending halftime champion huh been planning to compete in the new slopestyle vent which has been brought in for first time but white took a heavy fall in practice on tuesday and it came just a day after a norwegian border broke his collarbone on the course forcing it to be altered white says the potential risk of injury at the course is too much for him to gamble his olympic goals on. and a jamaican bobsled team have arrived at the sochi winter games but their luggage hasn't. their equipment, including their

sled failed to turn up on their flight. the driver and his teammates couldn't make the first practice runs on wednesday. but they plan to borrow some equipment from other teams if their luggage doesn't turn up soon. the bobsled competition begins february 16 little. to the nba now. the indiana pacer strengthed their grip of the top of the eastern conference by beating the atlanta hawks one team that won't be make being the playoffs probably are the la lakers they slumped to their seven the straight defeat losing to the minnesota timberwolves. who still have a chance of making the post season, but if they are to chang the nba big boys they might have to tighten up their act. cory brewer with one of the misses of the season. that is your sport more later. can you hear me? [laughter] >> i can't hear the director. >> thank you very much. now. a cast away who claims to have spent more a year adrift in

the specific saying dreams of eating his favorite food tour toe tee a helped him stay a i have a lot. adam has more. >> reporter: it's the stuff of hollywood movies, a learn man surviving the elements for months, prongs longer but could it be true. this man says he survived for 13 months adrift at sea living on fish, than turtles and bird's b. he washed ashore on the marshall islands supposedly more than a year after he says he left mexico on a seven-meter boat to hunt sharks with another fisherman. no one has been able to verify his story. he claims that his companion, died after roughly a month at sea after starving himself to death. >> translator: i was going to well myself immaterial today end my life because my companion died of hunger and thirst, my friends. >> reporter: the u.s. ambassador to the marshall islands cautiously praises him for his reported survival skills. >> if what he is saying is true,

he's one of best survivalists around. >> reporter: back in mexico where he worked, the man who owned the boat that he was found on says the last he saw him was in december 2012. >> here his colleagues went out in boats to look for them. they spend four daze looking for them. >> reporter: his family in el salvador who claimed that he left there years ago say they ty never gave up hope. >> we prayed to the lord almighty for him because i knew that he was a life. >> reporter: if his story is true, he won't be the first survivor to have washed up on the marshall islands nearly 9,000-kilometers from mexico. in fountai20063 mexico shark fin said they were lost at sea for nine months before reaching the islands, a journey most mexican fishermen hope they went be the ones to report. and that's it for this news hour on al jazerra. for me, thanks for watching. do stay with us.

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welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the stories we are following for you. a large part of america is being socked by a winter blast of the weather. one of the largest drugstore chains are saying no to tabacco. soccer star david beckham is bringing the big leagues to miami.