>>, come to the news, i'm in doha wh the type stories. beaten, tortured, part of his ear cut off, ukrainian opposition leader describes his ordeal at the hands of his abductors. >> an egyptian court orders the retrial of 62 people blamed for a deadly football riot. >> i'm jonah hall with the other news from europe. russia said the sochi olympics are safe, despite u.s. warn

thanks tooth paste tubes could be used to smuggle in bomb making materials. >> italy's navy rescues more than 1100 migrants from overcrowded rafts off the coast of sicily. >> new pictures which appear to confirm the australian navy of continuing the controversial policy of turning migrants back to indonesia. >> ukrainian opposition leader has been reliving his days in captivity where he says he was beaten and tortured. he says he was detained for eight days for many has become a symbol of the anti-government protest which shows no signs abating. he is currently in lithuania receiving medical treatment. we'll go live to kiev for

reaction. what else did he have to say? >> he had a lot to say. was wheeled into the room where the press conference happened in the hospital behind me. he was obviously on medication, somewhat sedated but lucid in what he had to say. he was vermettee very. >> methodical. if you add together the detail of what he said he went through when he was in captivity in ukraine, it added up to a very harrowing account. >> arriving to tell his story and answer the doubters, the activist said he'd been abducted, questioned and tortured for eight days.

>> they cut my ear off. it was very painful. i couldn't feel how much they'd cut, but then they placed the cut piece of ear on my fred. it was very scary. >> he told his captors the activism was funded by the american ambassador because he couldn't bear the pain. >> they pinned me to the wood with nails. they took sticks and beat me on the back of my legs. it was very painful. i couldn't move. at that time, i was in so much pain, i was asking them to kill me, because i couldn't stand it anymore. >> when asked who they were, he hinted at foreign involvement. >> these people were speaking only russian with an accent. they were speaking about us in the third person. i had an impression they were from the russian special service, because they were speaking russian with an accent. also, by the way they were beating and torturing me, they were professionals skilled in doing such things. >> ukraine's government has cast doubt on his story, but doctors here backed him up, and the

foreign minister is calling for an investigation. >> we can make shassumptions. i'm not doctor or expert. we see the story, listen to the story, i talked to him myself two hours and we see how he looks like. you will see yourself, i hope, he will be able to talk and these issues should be checked at least. i cannot prove who did that and that it was torture, but there are symptoms, information which cannot be neglected, that's my point. should be investigated. >> it's been four days since he arrived in the lithuanian capitol and he has been expresses how grateful for the help. he is still recovering. it could be a while before hes allowed to leave. >> his case has galvanized support inside ukraine and further afield. >> obviously there are disputing

accounts or rather there have been doubts about what he says happened to him i in ukraine frm the government there. he has have id independent medical experts to examine him. he is probably going to stay at this hospital for some while. he's still receiving treatment, although he's getting better, according to his doctors. he said he can't sleep without medication because of what he calls horrific visions or flashbacks of what happened to him. he hinted that they might have been members of the special services of russia. he says that was because they were speaking russian "with an accent" in his words. he said he wasn't sure but that's where his suspicions lie. no way of corroborating that. he obviously, that's going to be very incendiary for his supporters in ukraine who say that russia is actually backing president yanukovych in the crack down on supporters.

whatever the case, his words will have further angered the people in independence square and elsewhere in ukraine where they're really angry about what they say is police brutality. we're waiting to hear if there is a reaction, for example, from linebacker and ukraine itself. >> let's go to ukraine. thank you for that update. in kiev, anti-government protestors marched to parliament thursday, thousands carrying shields and wearing helmets to pass in the peaceful demonstration before returning to their camp in independence square. the march was intended to push parliament to end the political crisis now in its third month. we are joined live from kiev. what sort of reaction, if any, has there been to what he had to say? >> his case has sent shock waves throughout the opposition as a whole. people here are desperately looking for answers because they

are not getting any fortunately officials. what the group has been doing, the group that he was on the heads of, they've been going out into the countryside into places where some activists have been dumped by these unknown assailants and looking for evidence of their own. just outside kiev in some of the village, several activists say they were left pretty much for dead by the people that kidnapped them. at least one activist is known to have died, his body found several days ago, again, with signs of torture. it is creating huge amounts of anger here. they don't feel their politicians are doing anything about it. all they can do is be resourceful among themselves. >> we are hearing about an explosive device that was sent. what happened there? >> some alarming developments here in central kiev. it actually took place in the building just over my left shoulder there. that's the trade union building.

a bomb went off on the fifth floor there. it happened when a protestor went over to a box that was wrongly labeled as medicine. when he opened it, a blast happened, severely injuring him. he's now in hospital in a very severe condition indeed. that building has been in the control of protestors for quite a while now. the fatherland party are based nearby. they believe this can only really be seen as a provocation to try and get protestors out of government buildings. an investigation is underway to find out exactly what happened there. >> in the meantime, we are waiting to find out who the next prime minister is. what's the latest on that? >> well both sides of the political divide are eager, eager to find out exactly who will be the next prime minister

of this country. still, it's a million dollars question for the time being. the opposition demanding constitutional reforms, to hand over some presidential power back to the parliament. at the same time, the leadership are not providing any sort of time line as to when they will provide any more concessions. the leadership are not saying who will be the next prime minister. at the moment, there remains an interim prime minister and government. we do know president yanukovych is in sochi for the winter olympic games. the assumption is he will hold talks with president vladimir putin, the suggestion being that putin may have some influence over who will be the next prime minister. >> thank you, live from kiev. >> egypt has ordered the retrial of 62 people blamed for deaths during the football disaster two years ago. seventy people died after a riot

at the end of a football match between two rival cairo teams. we have a report on what happened after that match. >> two years have patched since egypt's football disaster and the case is far from over. now, the court has ordered the retrial of 62 people, some of them were given death sentences, others life in prison, and some were acquitted. the tragedy happened during the match in the city in february, 2012. fans stormed the pitch, some armed with knives and bottles. the chaotic scenes left 72 fans dead. a big protest demanded justice for the fans. demonstrations sometimes turned violent. in january, 2013, a court

sentenced 22 people to death, 24 others received lengthy prison sentences. a number of security officials were acquitted. those sentences were well received by fans, though they reject the the release of the security officials. the verdict led to riots and clashes with police. many people died. families and fans called the verdict harsh and unjust. those verdicts were upheld last year, but now the whole process has to start from scratch with memories still fresh of what happened two years ago. >> in egypt, the army denied reports that the chief has announced he'll run for president. a spokesman said a kuwaity newspaper misinterpreted his remarks, saying the decision to run for the presidency was

personal and if he chose to do so, he'd address the egyptian people directly. >> aljazeera media network has been served with a list of 20 people at your sued by egypt's interim government, accompanied by several charges which are different for each individual, eight network staff are on the list, including three of the four journalists currently in detention. the network rejects the charges against its staff. in a statement, the managing director of aljazeera english said the allegations and actions of the egyptian authorities are extraordinary, unjust and unacceptable. all of our egypt videos are available to view on line and everyone who watches them can see clearly they are accurate, comprehensive, balanced and with dependent quality and integrity. the report tells all sides of the conflict story in egypt. the charges should be dropped and all of our journalists imprisoned in cairo freed immediately.

it has been 40 days since three aljazeera english journalists were detained, held since december 29. they are accused of spreading false news and having links to the muslim brotherhood which egypt classified as a terrorist organization. another journalist from our sister channel has been in custody since july last year. >> also the news turned back to indonesia by the australian navy, a sick bolt of asylum seekers is turned back. >> how historical sites are another victim of the civil war in syria. >> a shopkeeper in spain, we will more in sport. >> with just a day to go before the official opening of the

winter olympics, the u.s. warned airlines flying to russia of a toothpaste bomb plot. as the first events got underway, russian leaders reassured the world that sochi is as safe as anywhere in the west. >> some of the preparations here have come down to the wire, with armies of helpers and volunteers putting the finishing touches to russia's olympic dream. on the eve of the games, an unwelcome security development, a warning from the u.s. government that bomb making equipment could be smuggled on to planes in tooth paste tubes. russia's deputy prime minister was quick with reassurance. >> this information is being checked. if confirmed, this means our security services are on alert and this information we got today allows us to say that the security of the olympic games and the city of sochi will be provided properly. >> it's been six and a half years since the 2014 host city

was announced. >> awarded to the city of sochi! >> and russia celebrate thed. since then, there's been more bad news than good with details of construction delays, corruption, overspending, how many rights abuses and security concerns. olympic p.r. and pageantry struggled to overcome the negative headlines. >> there are still plenty of russians who remain skeptical about these games. a study published this week said that just over half of of the russians say holding the games was a good idea. 47% said that the games overspend was due to corruption. once the sport actually begins, the games do have a tendency to win over many of those hard hearts. >> in the beginning, i wasn't as excited as i am now.

now you can really see the changes, the infrastructure has improved, the town is prettier. >> these events don't happen every day. i want my children to be proud of our country and to have something to remember. >> even though the opening as her money comes late on friday, some snowboarding events have actually begun. ♪ ♪ >> russia is well aware it's time to shine has come and that these games have to be note-perfect. aljazeera, sochi. >> the government says the games are safe, paul, but does sochi feel safe to you? >> it does, actually. not just because of the government reassurances, but because of the evidence of our own eyes. we came from sochi down here to the olympic park and there was a heavy police presence at the railway stations and at each

railway station along the route. there were police stationed along the track at regular intervals, too, police cars at everyone major intersection, police standing on corners. there are different types of police, specialists, the cosacks, as well. the metal detectors, sniffing dogs, bag searchers all put in place not just here in the park and in the mountain cluster, as well. don't forget, these venues are part of a much wider security zone extending over hundreds and hundreds of square miles with varying levels of roadblocks and barricades to prevent any person who might wish ill of the games, getting even close to the main venues. >> over here, paul, the media certainly the social media is full of stories of incomplete infrastructure, malfunctioning hotel rooms and appliances at a cost of $50 billion.

it feels secure, but does it feel ready to you, sochi, paul? >> well, if you listen carefully, you'll no doubt hear bits of construction still going on in various places. i think some of the social immediately i can't has been highly musing, people talking about one correspondent said he'd gone and tried to buy a bottle of water. it turned out to be begin. then he was accosted by a 3-legged dog on the way out of the shop. others have construction workers sleeping in their hotel beds when they went to check in. there have been serious questions raised about the preparedness of the hotels. that said, i think the organizers hope is once the sport starts and already state t.v. is giving blanket coverage to the snowboarding and the ice skating qualifying stages, which has been taking place today already. the sporting side of things will overtake these sort of questions about whether or not the actual hotels for the media are ready.

they're looking at the wider picture, what the image broadcast around the word is. i think the sporting side of thing will certainly take precedence over the gripes of the media. >> ok, live for us there in sochi, thanks, paul. >> the italian navy has rescued more than 1100 migrants from overcrowded rafts in the waters south of sicily. the migrant were on nine large rafts when rescued by four navy patrol vessels. the arrival in italy more than tripled in 2013 from the previous year, fueled by serious civil war and conflict in africa. some 2000 migrants landed on italys shores last month alone, 10 times the number of january, 2013. we can get the latest on this now from rome. more than 1100 people rescued from the sea in a single day, but of course, let's not forget that their fate remains uncertain.

on average, we're told three out of four asylum applications are denied, so what will happen to them now? >> we just spoke to the italian navy which confirmed the number of migrants rescued in the last 24 hours was 1,123, most coming from syria. what's going to happen next to them? >> they will arrive tomorrow morning in sicily. after that, they will be scattered around got ili at the reception centers where they will start a very lengthy asylum application process that may last as long as 18 months, during which time they will be held in reception centers in the past we have seen are run in poor conditions, are often overcrowded. >> as well as that, the numbers seem to be rising dramatically. we've just heard three times the

number of people tried to arrive in italy last year as the year before, a 10 fold increase this january over last january. what's it all down to, do you think? >> well, there's a number of factors at play. first of all of course is the civil war in syria has pushed many syrians to try to reach europe. once again, we were told by the italian navy that most of the migrants rescued in the last 24 hours are syrians. well, then there is a weather factor. i mean, it is unseasonably high this number in winter of migrants trying to reach europe through italy. the issue, here it is a beautiful day, the sea was calm for once for the first time in many weeks. we know that hundreds and hundreds of migrants from all four corners of the middle east wait by the shores mainly in libya for favorable weather conditions. in winter, the window of opportunity is small, which is

why we see in the space of 24 hours so many boats, nine this time, trying to make that attempt that crossing. third, there is this operation which was started by the italian navy in november after that ship wreck claimed 366 lives off the coast of sicily, well, this started this operation where they deployed many vessels and helicopters that try to rescue boats that carry migrant before they run into truly. that's a double edged soared. it saves lives, but it kind of sends out a reassuring message to the migrants who may attempt that crossing in the view with the knowledge that there will be many vessels and helicopters looking for them. >> live for us in rome. >> the safety of migrants is an issue of concern worldwide. back to doha now for news of a controversial policy adopted by

australia. >> new footage emerged which appears to show the australian coast guard towing a boat back towards indonesia. did he say speed criticism from the indonesian government, australia prevents migrants from landing in its territory. >> these images are said to have been filmed by asylum seekers board an australian life boat. it is cleared that it is being towed by a naval vessel, though important to tell which waters the vessels are in. the 35 asylum seekers hope to reach australia but were intercepted before making landfall. the reef gees from iran, bangladesh and nepal said they sent them back the way they had come. now they are on the south coast of the indonesian island of java. >> they bring us in the ocean,

then put us in the orange boat, and close the door, lock the door, and the navy escort us until international waters and they forcefully return us back to indonesia. >> two of their number were taken to christmas island after they collapsed. it is contentious not least because the australian navy is accused of going into territorial waters against international allow. they ever a new policy of turning back asylum seekers. indonesia condemned the policy that has seriously strained ties between the countries. >> in dough nearby that insists that australia should take responsibility, the asylum seekers remain caught in the

middle. >> the first day of talks aimed at establish ago framework for peace between the pakistani government and the taliban has concluded. let's take a look at demands put forward on the first day. the government wants the scopes of the talk limited to troubled areas in pakistan and not the entire country, while the taliban appointed committee would like to meet prime minister as well as the army and intelligence chiefs. there was some agreement. both delegations condemned recent attacks that have taken place in pakistan. we have more from islamabad. >> talks finally get underway between the committee appointed by the government to talk to the committee appointed by the taliban, in pakistan. both sides would be probing to see what kind of demands each side has.

the government side represented by an leader and the government will give its own recommendation. there was the likelihood that after these crucial talks, the representative appointed would then get in touch with the taliban pakistan in the tribal areas, while the government will report to the prime minister, the prime minister still optimistic about these talks despite talk that there was widespread skepticism that both representatives not representing the tribal populations who have suffered the most as far as this conflict is concerned, however, this is a breakthrough and a real hope as far as peace talks are concerned. >> ahead on aljazeera, it is one of the richest agricultural

areas in the world, but the rivers are running dry in california, forcing farmers to take drastic action. >> the country that brought you the walk man, mini disk and play station is changing course. >> the new sport kicks off the action at the sochi winter olympics. both coming up a little later on. the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital.

>> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america,

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>> this is aljazeera and these are the top stories. a ukrainian opposition leader has held a news conference where he described how he was abducted and tortured. he says he was beaten and had part of his ear cut off. he is receiving medical treatment in lithuania. >> new footage appears to show the australian coast guard towing a boat full of asylum seekers back toward indonesia. part of the hard line policy on illegal refugees. >> an egyptian court order add

retrial in the cases of 62 people involved in the riots, 72 people were killed when fans attacked fans from the opposing club. >> the political crisis in kiev is exposing some old wounds in other parts of ukraine. let's go back to the european news center to find out more. >> the protests have led to a growing polarization of the communities that share the you a to know moss government. the russians want closer ties with russia, while the other support the pro europe protestors. the divide between them dates back hundreds of years. >> the ancient capitol, the palace was built in the early 16th century. their fate was to prove one of

the most tragic threads in the complex web history has woven in ukraine. this woman was eight years old when she was deported with her family to central asia on the orders of stalin in the second world war. >> the dead were thrown out of the armies at the stations and into the rivers, mostly at night. so many people died. >> back home after nearly 60 years in compile, the political tug of war between europe and russia over ukraines future has left her bewildered. >> i would like to live european style, but what would it be like? i don't know. i don't understand. >> it was the ukraine born soviet president kruscef who

gifted it. now they push for equal rights with the ethnic majority here. the leaders feel only europe can really end the discrimination. >> we need not just closer ties, but membership of the units because of their standards in protecting minty groups. >> the parliament fears what they call fascists in kiev are attempting to grab power and send ago plea to moscow for help. they say russian by ethnicity, culture and language, and only russia can help them. [ singing ] >> this song was learned by leila as a child, speaking of the pain from being separated from loved ones. it was a song she sang during her compile in uzbekistan.

she sings it now where she still feels like she doesn't really belong. >> extreme and stormy weather continues to wreak havoc across europe. in slovenia, thousands have been stranded without heating. three days of blizzards have brought down trees power lines and caused millions of dollars of damage. >> the u.k. government announced a campaign against female genital mutilation on the international day of zero tolerance of the practice. 25 african countries have already made it illegal, as has the united nations. tens of millions of girls and women alive today have been cut in dozens of countries in africa and the middle east. more than 65,000 girls under 13 are also at risk in the u.k. >> earlier, i spoke to britains international development

minister, lynn feather stone, campaign to go starch out the harmful practice within this generation. >> what we're doing in britain and don't forget, we have 20 for us girls a year at risk here in the united kingdom our girls are linked to their mother country, so we all care about this issue. i announced last march the biggest donor fund, 35 million pounds to support this african led movement. part of that money goes to united nations, two of their organizations working with communities. there's a research element, because it's very different, different country us have different reasons, different ways of addressing tackling fgm. part of it's about a global campaign. today, i announce the the consortium that's leading this global campaign to underpin with clearly mentales and getting all

the groups across the word together to campaign in the same direction. >> can you explain why it's taken so long, why the process has been so slow in this country to combat the problem? >> well, i think for many years, there was a sort of sensitivity and a fear of treading on cultural egg shells because obviously the practice is defined within the community that practices it. that's all out the window now. i also think very difficult to get children to come forward and give evidence against their parents, because the up shot will be the child will be taken away from their parents possibly, and what child wants that to be the outcome? those are the two main reasons that it has been so long. but now we are motoring in the direction of public prosecutions. early in the morning, she said that she believes we are close to a prosecution and 10 cases are being looked at in london approximate the eye rash woman who inspired the oscar nominated

film about a mother forced to give up her son for adoption doesn't blame the vatican, despite a damns support condemning the church for such practices. she was speaking a day after she briefly met pope francis while accompanied by the star from the film. she was sent to a work house after she fell pregnant as a teenager. her son was sent to the u.s. to be adopted when he was three. >> it was such a contrast, i feel so forgiven. it was such an awful sin to have a baby out of wedlock. yesterday, i felt all my sins, you know, he really made me feel that they were going to do something about it, and it made me feel so good inside, because i carried the guilt for 50 years without telling anybody, and i told my daughter 10 years ago,

and none of the family exempt one brother new this story. this sense of relief that i felt yesterday, of the guilt i'd carried and i still carry a little bit today, you know, because you were made to feel so bad about having a baby out of wedlock. >> a harley davidson belong to go pope francis has gone under the hammer at a vintage vehicle august in paris. perhaps better described as a holy davidson, the bike was given to the pope by a harley davidson representative last year. he signed it, never rode it. it sold for 16 times the highest evaluation originally given. the proceeds will go to the charity to fund its soup kitchen and hostel program in rome. >> that's all the news from europe for now. back to doha. >> thank you. in syria, barrel bombs continue to fall from government

helicopters. activists say the military has intensively targeted the area southwest of the capitol for more than a month now. aleppo, 260 people have been killed in these attacks. these pictures are said to show the aftermath of a strike in a neighborhood. aljazeera cannot independently verify these images. >> a new alarm over syrias historical sides. thieves are pilfering ruined cities and towns dating back to the ancient greeks. the u.n. said illegal digging has left some areas destroyed. many artifacts are being smuggled into europe looking lebanon and turkey. the world heritage center in paris representative says many cultural jewels are at eminent risk of destruction. >> syria is certainly a crowd of

civilization. it's historical. it has a wealth of culture that is important to humidity from the bronze age until the beginning of the 20th century. it's a very wealthy country, six of its sites are in scribed on the world heritage list. syria has a lot of historical sites that would deserve this inscription, but many are on the way for inscription on the world heritage list. many of those sites are now today, aleppo devastated by the conflict. we are extremely worried about what will happen because danger is imminent on many of those important sites. >> sony plan to say cut 5,000 jobs battling competition from apple and samsung.

the company expects to report an annual loss of over $1 billion in march. aljazeera reports. >> it's a high tech brand that has been ever present for generations, from small beginnings in a tokyo electronics shop 70 years ago, sony now has assets of around $150 billion. today one of its main products has lost its luster. the p.c. platform vaio is losing money hand over fist, so much so that sony expects to report an annual loss of more than a billion dollars next month. it's response is to sell off the product and to cut 5,000 jobs worldwide. this may be why sony is leaving the p.c. market. tablets and smart phones, more portable and on the face of it, more profitable.

sony was once a watch word for innovation with the walk man, mini disk and play station, among other advances, but now it's cutting its losses. aljazeera. >> richard win door is the founder of independent research cultancy radio free mobile and joins us from dubai via skype. thanks for joining us. what do you make of these moves by sony? >> what it really does is it throws into question sony's entire strategy, because in order for sony to be a proper consumer electronics company in the next five to 10 years, it needs to have its own eco system. what that means is sony services and calls need to be available on phones, tablets, p. during's, televisions and consoles. if they sell off bits and pieces of their hardware business, it throws into question whether or not sony can ever have a viable

eco system. >> they shouldn't divest too much is what you're saying. >> they can divest it. the important thing is in p.c.'s, they are basically a commodity. sony can make a difference in terms of having some control over the user experience. this new company that's buying the sony p.c. business will use the vaio brand so possibly sony may be able to influence user experience. if it can do that, there is still potential for sony to have a decent eco system. >> what does this say about the p.c. versus the tablet. are we seeing the death of the p.c.? >> no, this is quite a bit of a bug bear of mine, the general consensus out there is the p.c. is dead. the way to look at the partly cloudy market is divide it up into people who actually use a p.c. for creating content, more

complex tasks and those for consuming content, emails, browsing, watching video, playing games. the content consumption-only piece is only 25% of the installed base of p.c.'s, so the p.c. is very, very far from dead. it's still shipping 300 million units a year, so to call it dead, i think is very, very premature. the p.c. has an important part to play, albeit the user base smaller than it was. >> do you think we'll see a battle of the smart phones and play stations? >> yes, certainly, and that's already started. this is what sony has to do, android, many people make and droid phones, they're all the same and what makes them difference is the user experience on them. sony's made a great start with the p.s.4. if it can leverage that success into and droid, the phones it makes, perhaps sony can make a go of the smart phone business, too. >> thanks for talking to us,

richard wind door. >> a pleasure. >> california's one of the richest agricultural areas on the planet but for the past year, shift in normal weather patterns create add severe drought. the impact could be wide ranging. >> the birth is bone dry in california, the reservoir at 7% of capacity. that's bad news. >> is this the worst drought you've ever seen? >> it is, particularly down here, but this is by far the most unusual conditions i've ever experienced. >> california gross more than half the vegetables, fruits and nuts in the u.s. and is the leading producer of milk and wine, but the drought is forcing some ranchers to sell their herds and growers are thinking

about tearing out orchards. some small towns may run out of water. most of california's water comes in the form of snowfall. this year, there's hardly any snow at all. >> what's the most alarming part of this drought for you? >> i worry most about the snow pack. >> daniel sumner is an agricultural economist. >> there will be may be a million acres that are just wasted, not planted. >> the drought could have a severe impact on california's $45 billion a year agriculture industry and on the people who make their living from the land. >> about 175,000 californians rely on full time or seasonal farm work. many of them are from the state's most improv rushed communities. >> the most vol fair ball people for this drought are the farm workers, on the margin to start with, families that get by on may be dad getting $1,500 a year

at low wages will now be cut back. >> the drought means americans may pay more for some groceries this year and so many other countries. in british columbia, vendors are worried. >> a lot of produce that comes are actually from california or mexico and a lot of it really california, because it's the closest place. >> back in his parched pistachio grove, rod says he may be forced to buy expensive water from private suppliers. >> we'll go out on the market and pay a pretty penny for water. >> there's nothing left to do except pray for rain. aljazeera, california. >> still ahead, rumble in the jungle. we visit a village living in the shadow of an active volcano in democratic republic of congo. >> a feisty battle for a place

in the finals.

>> famous death composer known as the japanese beethoven admitted that he has not written many of the works credited to him. the revelation was made public by the man actually responsible for writing the music. he says he's been composing music for him for 18 years and has doubted all along that the superstar composer is hearing impaired. he apologized to his fans in a written statement.

>> the city of gomer in the east of democratic republic of congo is at the bottom of an active volcano. scientists say the spate of armed groups mean they can't monitor it and an eruption could wipe out local village. >> it has ranked in the top 10 of the world's most dangerous volcanos, sitting next to a city of about a million people. at the summit, a lava lake smolders. >> it's 22 kilometers from the city and the quality of this lava is very fluid, so when it starts erupting, the flow of lava will be very fast. >> he studies rock formations

and seismic movements to understand the volcano's activities. >> some kind of explosion. >> he shares his equipment used to measure tremors. in another country, it could be a museum. only one station is operational. rebel groups around the volcano mean it's not safe for researchers to do their work. after decades of lawlessness, there is still a long way to go. around the volcano is still not safe and failure to predict an eruption could be disastrous. the last one in 2002 sent lava flowing straight into the city. nearly 100 people were killed, hundreds of thousands fled to neighboring rwanda. a third of the city was destroyed. >> a river of lava burst out of the ground just down here and destroyed everything in this area then made its way down here toward the city, and even reached the airport runway,

destroying everything in its wake, roads and house us. if you look at the rocks left behind, you can see the bubbles and holes from where it was boiling and simmering. this rock could turn out to be quite useful. a lot of the city has been rebuilt using it as construction material. >> the volcano is everywhere. john makes building blocks from it, saying it's earned him good money. >> the materials can bring wealth, but it's destroyed everyone's homes. >> another nearby volcano erupted in 2011. it's in the bush away from the city and caused no damage. meanwhile, an eruption could destroy a lot of the city. people can safely leave the town, but only if warned in time. aljazeera, democratic republic of congo.

>> time for sport now. all eyes on russia. >> the first competitive events are underway, slopestyle made its olympic debut thursday. fans turned out despite shaun white withdrawing from the event just a day before, sighting safety concerns about the course. in his absence, max parrot qualified top of eight riders for the finals on saturday. >> the australian teams say they have no concern about security for the games, following kidnap threats. the president of the olympic committee said the athletes feel safe. >> there are no extreme security measures visible and what's happening behind the scenes we don't know, but the security measures are the same as during all other olympic games,

therefore i feel very safe. >> the georgian team arrived in sochi having decided against a boycott of the game. georgia's 2008 war with russia is still fresh in the memory of politicians, but the 11 member delegation belted the political wrangling and touched down ahead of friday's official opening ceremony. the jamaican team is reunited with their equipment that went missing after their flight. they were unable to train on wednesday, their luggage arriving late. they got two runs in on thursday. it's their first appearance in this event since 2002. >> football in spain now where the brew stillians took to the pitch for a warm down.

a step closer to the final, richard nicholson reports. >> if real madrid was looking for revenge after their defeat last season, this one will help. the shot getting a deflection for a goal. these two are often feisty affairs and this was no different. the only surprise was no one got sent off. real scored two more goals in the second half. jesse rodriguez continues his recent form with number two and earned a goal completing the scoring. 3-0 the final result. it was an uphill struggle to defend the title. the second semifinal saw 2012 winners barcelona on the rails, looking for the seventh appearance in the final. the giants took the lead just before the break.

getting the goal. sent off protesting the goal. a superb pass from fabregas. came off the post only to blast the defender, if the goalie could only put it into his own net. on that course for the 27t 27th cup title, taking a 2-0 lead to sochi next wednesday. >> the heat's lebron james is keen to be involved with david beckham's new franchise. as well as investingness long term future, he helped the heat take the 17 point lead into the third quarter.

the clippers came back, a three-point game, griffin helping close the gaps. ray allen sunk a game-clinching basket. they sit second in the eastern conference. >> contradic cricket now, the bs reached 329.4. >> hundreds of thousands of seahawks fans turned out on to the streets of seattle. the new superbowl champions held a parade to show off the vince lombardi trophy. they beat the denver broncos 43-8. >> that's all the sport for now. >> do stay with us on aljazeera. we have another full bulletin of news straight ahead. see you then.

>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. and these are the stories we're following for you. new security concerns in sochi. airlines with an unusual threat. >> it's cranked up and we're eating from the things that we can cook on the stove. >> the storm is over, but hundreds of thousands of people still don't have power. and the senate taking up a bill that will extend those long-term unemployment benefits.