>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha with your top stories on al jazeera. 35 years on iran marks the birth of the islamic republic. after a start the opposing starts in the syrian peace talks meet together in the same room. thousands of homes threatened with flooding as england moves towards its wettest winter in 260 years. plus. >> i'm phil of the berlin film

festival where they are taking audience precipitation to a whole new level and found out shortly. ♪ hello, there have been celebrations in the iranian capitol to mark 35 years since the islamic resolution and he has been speaking to the nation and a big ceremony in tehran and the revolution saw the over throw of the u.s. backed leader sha-palavi in his place and homan i was supreme leader and set in motion the isolation from western powers. in particular the siege of the u.s. embassy in tehran has a decade of hostility between iran and the united states. in his speech he described the revolution as the iranian people choosing their destiny.

>> translator: our revolution moved from dictator ship and from 1968 it was anti-colonial and to over throw the regime and the unjust interference of the united states and iranian affairs. it was not reliant on any foreign power and nobody brought it to victory. it was our nation and the religious motivation stood against all humiliations. >> reporter: and they are at the ceremony in the iranian capitol. >> it's the 35th anniversary of the iranian revolution that was of course in 1979 and over through the shah of iran and 2500 years of monarch cannot replaced it with a republic and one of the leaders of the revolution and one of the supporters rohani who is president of iran and he held the post for six months and made

an important speech about the government and the revolution, the goals of the revolution and keeping on that path of homani and the message is one of moderation. it says iran will not give in but it's not going to be confrontational either. it will be moderate. it will be rational in the thinking and approach domestic policies in this way and the message to iranian people and the rest of the world as iran at the moment is in a delicate position regarding foreign policy and of course these nuclear talks, all very important topics today on the 35th anniversary of that revolution. >> reporter: we will speak to a professor of political science joining us from the iranian capitol and what message did you take away? >> well, let me begin by saying that the crowd was indeed very

large. it was a huge crowd. it appears that iranian support the men strongly in the islamic revolution that happened 35 years ago. rohani, his speech was very much conciliary and we did not have the harsh remarks that used to be made in the past 8 years by the president during the past 8 years. we didn't find any anti-americanism, antiwesternism and anti-israeli remarks in his speech. rather he was trying to be very consilitory and the hard liners should not only be the ruler of iran, other iranian namely

reform and others must take part in the decision making of the country. >> reporter: well, just a few days ago ali-hamini said the u.s. you mentioned you did not hear any anti-american ret recommend but what he said is the u.s. wants regime change in iran and said the u.s. had a, quote, controlling and medilsome way to the republic and is that anti-american to you and why would he make this on the eve of the anniversary celebrations? >> well, you must not expect the iran supreme leader to depart from the line from the approach from tell ideology that he has been pursuing during the past 35 years. simply overnight. and in any way many hard liners

in iran are focusing their attention or looking cautiously and nervously to the supreme leader to see which direction he moves. so it is very important for the supreme leader to go against himself with the leaders. >> reporter: thank you for joining us from tehran. and iran says it successfully test fired to domestically made missiles and defense minister said one was a long-range missile and they already have long range missile to missile capable of reaching israel and u.s. military bases in the middle east. three years ago today the square in central cairo was jubilation as the resignation was announced by an officer and since then the

country has seen wave after wave of turbulence with the election and the over throw of the muslim brotherhood and we look back. >> february 11, 2011, egypt long-serving leader hosni mubarak resigned and people on the streets of egypt this was the end of ages of democratic rule. a year later mohamed morsi of the muslim brotherhood became the first democratically elected president but his time in office was short lived. and he was deposed by the army last july following days of mass protests. the country is now run by an interim government but it's the army under this man, field marshall which has the final say. to many the growing power of the

army and the police is a sign of the old regime. >> he was corrupt and there are levels of corrupt and oppression and what they are witnessing at the moment is the worst period in its history. >> reporter: hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between pro-morsi since the coup and public protests are there and the muslim brother had has been declared a terrorist group and thousands of its members have been put in jail. the authorities home presidential elections expected this year will stop the cycle of violence. and he is a prominent politician who will run in the 2012 presidential elections. and a vocal critic of the coup leaders says he won't take part

in these polls. >> translator: every egyptian who wants to express freely is where he might end up being arrested or attacked or facing false accusations. >> reporter: but the army's top leaders are determined to move forward, their candidate field marshall is most likely to win the elections if he chooses to run. i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: well, the trial of three al jazeera english journalists detained in egypt will be on february 20 and 20 people charged in the case accused of having links to a terrorist organization and spreading false news and it has been 45 days since our crew was detained and peter greste and others were taking on december the 29th and among the accusation against them having ties to the muslim brotherhood and declared a terrorist organization on december 25. and we have the sister channel and he has been in custody since

last july and al jazeera rejects all charges and continues to demand the unconditional release of its staff. and peter greste's father has been speaking about his son's imminent trial insisting he has done nothing wrong. >> to the egyptian people and authorities we respectfully but passionately insist that peter is completely innocent of all the allegations and charges against him. he is the innocent victim of the challenging times that egypt is living through. we offer them all our compassion and good will. we trust he will be judged by his measured and carefully considered reporting of the events as he saw them. as a highly seasoned and experienced international journalist and as it went to

air. >> reporter: after more than 60 years of mutual hostility taiwan and china have come together for high-level talks and china says taiwan is part of its territory and wants to bring it back under control but a large people support the current situation of de-facto and rob reports from beijing. >> reporter: the highest level talks with chinese counterparts in half a century and it's a sure sign of improving relations across taiwan strait. >> translator: we need to make efforts to realize meetings like this but think more creatively for the future of people and i'm willing to visit at a suitable time in the future. >> translator: i hope we can promote the strained relationship on the bases of the consensus reached previously. >> reporter: implementation of

trade and transport agreements between china and tie want have seen an increase in social and economic integration in resent years but diplomatic relations have lagged far beyond, a fact that these talks might help to change. since the civil war led to the split between communist and mainland china and nationally taiwan in 1949 relations between the two sides have been marked for decades by sporadic conflicts and constant acromony with both sides saying they are the true government of china and the official relations were only reestablished in the early 1990s. for china the long-term goal is the ultimate reunification with what it regards as its rebelous island but that is a far off prospect and immediately is taiwan's deserve for a security

guaranty that china won't invade it. faced by profound differences it has taken years of behind the scenes ground work to produce this meeting resulting such fundamental protocol issues as even how to address each other. officials are playing down expectations of historic breakthroughs but the fact of the meeting itself is historic enough. rob mcbride with al jazeera beijing. >> reporter: it's quite a bitter time for long-time enemies coming together to talk and korea asked south korea to engage in another round of dialog and a significant dialog that makes it an up grade from last year's high level talks and we are in the south korean capitol seoul. >> this announcement came as a surprise from the southern side. the ministry of unification saying north korea asked for senior, high-level talks between the two governments and they will take place on wednesday, starting at 10:00 a.m. local time deep inside the

demiliterized line behind the line of the countries and how senior the south korean delegation at least will be and representatives from the president's office, the blue house here, the ministry of unification which deals with korean affairs and national defense all headed by the head of the secretary of the national security council within president hayes presidential office and it's understood that the north koreans did ask for representation from the office to take part in these talks and indeed that has been forthcoming. they are the most senior talks there have been between the governments and the president of the country for nearly a year and kim jong-un and saying dialog can't take place in the time of military exercises and on monday the united states and south korea says the exercises would start february 24 and run

until april so there has been concern that north korea would move away what has been consilitary and this will take place between the 22 and the 25th and this is a relatively positive development on both those fronts but the south koreans say there are no agenda so far set and wait to find out exactly what the two sides talk about as the talks get underway on wednesday. >> reporter: you are with the al jazeera news hour and still ahead. >> i'm in the democratic republic of congo, i'll be reporting from an area the locals call the triangle of death. >> reporter: and after years of division could a struggling economy be the bridge to bring turkey and cyprus closer and the athletes are allowed to fly the flag at the winter olympics and

joe will have all the details a little later. ♪ but first syria's government and opposition are meeting in the same room for the first time in the second round of the geneva peace talks. negotiations are being overseen by the u.n. and arab league immediater brahimi and james is monitoring the talks in geneva and live from there to tell us what the latest is, james out of geneva on the talks. >> a little unexpected that they are in the same room because what we had heard is that like brahimi will meet with the two sides separately and changed his mind and both sides were around the table in the same room and so far we only heard from the opposition side. they gave a press briefing in the last 20 minutes or so. and they said they made a submission for brahimi, a new document which say lays out

their political vision forcier yeah and we are hoping to get a copy of it shortly. they also say they asked the special representative to try and speed up the process. they said they would like him to have more meetings and longer meetings, they say they fear that the syrian government delegation is just trying to stall the process, playing for time, they claim, while continuing its actions on the battlefield. >> james, speaking of documents you have seen a draft resolution on humanitarian aid, is that something that is going to be pushed forward at the u.n. security council and what exactly is it? >> yes, certainly there is going to be some movement on that. this is the second draft of a resolution produced by the western countries on the security council and also jordan which has the arab seat on the security council. the first draft of this resolution appeared on friday. it was shown to russia which was rejected out of hand by the

russian ambassador and felt the draft was nonsense. having said that despite the russians being against it they have a new draft and force it to formal consultations which means the security council is going to sit around the table and go through this draft line by line. now what i'm hearing from diplomates is they do not intend to force the draft to a vote to embarrass russia. what they are hoping is in those consultations russia will give a little and they may well be able to come up with some minder version of a resolution that is agreeable to everyone. they feel the climate during this sochi olympics perhaps russia would support a humanitarian resolution at this time. >> reporter: diplomatic editor reporting from geneva. as the efforts and aid workers are moving civilians from homs in syria a truce allowed hundreds of leave has been extended by three days and the u.n. has welcomed the decision

and says more than 800 people have now been taken out of homs but they will derail the mission and activists say at least 14 people have been killed in shelling in homs since saturday. there are big rallies expected in yemen on tuesday, the third anniversary of the revolution that was part of the arab spring and in a federation of six regions and final approval given at a meeting between the president and representatives of yemen main parties but there are doubts whether the deal will satisfy the separatists in the south pushing to win back independence. by the end of british rule in 1967 yemen was divided in an independent mark of state in the south and tribal north but they merged in 1990. and the short civil war broke out four years later when southerners accused the north of going back on the promise to share power and ended when they

crushed the break away movement and the regions are four in the north and two in the south. and it will remain the capitol but not affiliated to any of the regions and we are in the capitol with more. >> they are not happy with the ready -- re-division of the country and may issued statements rejecting the decision the president yesterday to that effect. and the north had been more territory to be next to them and the south has been more positive about the demand and during the national discussion about the future, in the last few months the southerners demanded the south should be considered one entity and not two in the new federal system but that has been

denied them. today it marks the third anniversary of the appraising that had led to the ousting of former president. more protests are expected. >> reporter: thousands of homes in the uk are under threat from flooding after the river busts its banks and the river is at the highest level in years and heavy rains show no sign of relenting and towns up stream from london are facing the worst of the crisis with severe flood warnings in place in some cases. the environment agency says england is moving toward its wettest winter in 250 years. simon mc-greger wood is live from the river in south enengland and simon tell us how people are coping. we can see the flood waters certainly behind you. >> hi, we are on willow way in a little community on the banks of the river and the river should

be a couple hundred meters behind me but now it's where we are and behind me you can see what local people in willow way are being reduced to. this was flooded a couple days ago and we witnessed this rather miserable procession of people coming back to their homes and not living them any more to evacuate possessions and you can see they are doing. now, we have been into one of the houses this morning and it's an ugly, miserable scene and the water is several inches deep on the floor and rising all the time because it's raining and it's going to rain at least for the next 24 hours and the longer forecast suggests it will rain on the weekend, december and january, the wettest on record, january the wettest since 1766, 89,000 cubic meters of water, 89 million cubic meters of water have fallen in december and january according to the statistics but on the ground this is what it means. here this small community built

in 1947, the last time there was a huge flood on the terms but it has not come anywhere near this bad in all that time since, not since 1947. >> reporter: so what kind of help, simon, is being made available to the people not only where you are but other effected areas because i understand the government is coming under some sort of criticism? >> yes, it's a big public slinging match if you like. locally here we discovered this is technically a private road. the residents here had no help whatsoever from the public authorities. there is a certain amount of resentment about that for sure but also i have to say a certain amount of resilience to make due and do the best they can. wider field in places like summer set in the southwest and further west where the weather has been this bad for much longer, there is a lot of anger with the government and with something called the environment agency which is essentially a

public agency that has the job of protecting communities against flood waters. there has been a lot of bitterness about what has and hasn't been done. but here is the big issue, with climate change which is being blamed in large part for this crazy weather we are having is there enough money to protect the communities that have been under threat from flooding is the big debate and what needs to be decided in the next few years if this weather pattern continues which many people predict it will, which communities will be saved and which communities if you like will be sacrificed so other communities can be protected more effectively all the time with smaller and smaller pub budgets and there is a big debate and public arguing about who is to blame and what should be done next. >> reporter: thank you very much simon mc-greger wood reporting for us from close to the banks of the river in the

uk. well, let's get more on the weather there with richard and who will tell us how much worst richard it's expected to get in the uk. >> amazing it it can get worse and more weather system still on the way in. and it is historical proportions and effecting other places as well. we've had disturbed conditions over the last few weeks, in fact. we had massive seas all the way down to spain and portugal and western france, puffins not being able to cope with the seas being washed to shore in large numbers and other places effected to. the uk which is bearing the brunt of it in ways. the wettest december in the century and wettest january in more than a century and the wettest winter in close to 250

years! and yet it's still not on yet. look at the satellite images and the frontal system pushing in, great line of cloud across the uk as we speak. through the remainder of the day, we have got more rain coming down. so those river levels continuing to rise and the groundwater up at the surface and no where to go, simple as that. and then you think that must be it, surely but no because we look at the chart for wednesday and you can see another massive rain coming. this is another deep depression and look at the wind arrow shooting through there and that is indicating store any seas across the southwest approaches and always and toward the bay of biscay with child weather here and as the system pushes through and moves through to thursday a respite but yes there is low pressure waiting out in the wings. >> reporter: richard, thank you. democratic republic of the congo half of the province has been effected by violence. and militia are being blamed and

we report from there. >> and the village in the democratic republic of congo is quiet and people left when rebels attacked. more than 400,000 people have been displaced in the middle of the providence. the army has a small presence here but things are still tense. the locals call this area the triangle of death. >> we have uncontrolled areas with microbes entering the village's, killing and burning houses and raping women and this is something we are very often too late as here but we would like really to be more proactive but there must be a political solution. sometimes violence also has reasons and we have to at took the root causes of the conflict. >> reporter: the growing insecurity makes it hard for humanitarian workers to reach the most vulnerable and families are thought to be hiding in the

bush too scared to come back here. we heard terrifying stories and when the rebels come to a village they tell the locals to run for their lives and take whatever they can, whatever they cannot steal they burn. some of the rebels surrendered to the army agreeing to be disarmed and immobilized but live in an old theatre where conditions are tough and say this is not what they signed up for. this group has been here for three months. >> translator: we don't live well. we are suffering. we don't have enough to eat. we don't get money. we have been here for a long time and the government does nothing to help us. >> reporter: some of the fighters say they want the providence to break away and rule itself. and it benefits little for the well generated from huge mineral reserve and fighting to control their only sources. but others and the families say they are willing to give peace a

chance. however they do they will go back to the bush if a political solution is not found soon and i'm with al jazeera in the province in the democratic republic of congo. >> reporter: here with the al jazeera news hour and there is plenty more ahead including running dry, we report from cattle country in california where severe drought is forcing farmers to take drastic action. also ahead in sports this college football from the nfl first gay players and this is coming up, with joe. ♪

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here with the al jazeera news hour, hello and here is a reminder of top stories iranian are marking the 35th anniversary of the revolution that created the republic of iran and speaking at a ceremony the president says the revolution freed the iranian people from foreign interference. china and tiawain and wants it back under their control but they want to keep the current set up. syria government and opposition leaders are meeting in the same room for the second round of geneva talks. negotiations are over seen by the u.n. and arab league brahimi. india is celebrating the irratification of the polio virus and what is the biggest health success stories and the success however is tempered with

a confirmation of the first death attributed to the death in kabul for 13 years and the continued attacks on polio vaccine workers in pakistan, in 2009 india accounted for half of all cases of polio in the world. the last known case was 2011. now there is no cure but it can be prevented through mass vaccination. it's those programs that the taliban are targeting and specifically over in pakistan. a number of cases have been reported in afghanistan, in the region close to the pakistani border but the latest victim a three-year-old girl who lives in kabul and the first in the afghan capitol since 2001. there have also been reports of isolated out breaks in syria. let's talk about polio and bring in bruce from the world health organization and joining us from geneva and good to have you with us on al jazeera and we will talk about the success story, what appears to be the success

story when it comes to india but first tell us about this case and the afghan capitol with the little girl that has been diagnosed with polio. how did she contract the disease and how alarming is this? >> well, first of all this is very alarming. any time a child anywhere in the world is paralyzed by this disease right now it signals that a virus which we have gotten very close to eradicating is stim moving, still finding suspectable children and paralyzing kids and it's a reminder until weer rega er raw eradicate it it's there and it looks like it's not a virus from afghanistan and looks like the virus, genetics of it looks like it originated in pakistan and went over the lands silently and paralyzed and struck this child in the afghan capitol.

>> reporter: so it's cross border transmission is what you say bruce is what is the danger with polio and specifically in that region. but let's look at india, how is it that india managed to eradicate the virus in such a short time seeing it once had half the world's polio cases? >> yes, only five years ago, not only did india have half the world's cases but many experts, so to speak, around the world were saying it's impossible to finish the job in india, too densely populated, the vaccine doesn't work well enough. the trick and key in india was a tremendous commitment by the people to get this vaccine into their kids and protect them and a tremendous commitment by the scientific community in india to find new solutions to the problems as they evolve right up to developing a new formulation of the vaccine which is key to knocking it out and the

strongholds in the cntry just three years ago. >> reporter: tell us bruce about the effects of polio. >> polio is a devastating disease. we just about forgotten about the disease in the west. as you saw from some of the photos it's a deadly, devastating disease for the children, for the families, for the communities. it paralyzes and can leave a child permanently paralyzed for life. and the disease, as we've seen, can travel across borders, find children who have not been vaccinated or not protected by the vaccine, thousands of miles away. the only cure or the only permanent solution is eradicating it completely and that is what we are very, very close to with this huge development in india. >> reporter: good to have you with us and that is bruce speaking to us from the geneva from the world health organization. peace talks between greek and turkey are underway and two years to end decades of

stalemate following the turkish invasion in 1974 and many believe that economic necessity will bring about resolution and john has more. >> the turkish flag taunts the greeks in the capitol. a reminder of war and division. but he is not intimated. she is drafting joint business plans with turkish people and ever hopeful of reunification. >> with the economy brings us to a dead end that is equal in both communities and feel a solution will bring jobs. >> reporter: across the divide turkish film maker is ready for reunification. >> we feel close in northern cyprus. >> reporter: why is that? >> first of all we all have to go to the army from the

university and you know it fills a year of our lives and activity so a year of creativity and a year of our future. >> reporter: and a generation divides them they share a vision of cyprus that would determine its own future but not everyone does. greek and turkish people live and work just 100 yards apart across the u.n. buffer zone behind me and have done so for half a century leading many to believe the status quo is irreversible and that it will always remain europe's last divided city. many people see cyprus as the play thing of greater powers. for this man it's not a bad thing and he remembers inter community violence and believes the turkish invasion saved his life when he was ten. >> translator: there is no division for me. turks are here and greeks are there living happily and reunification by force won't

work. >> reporter: there is a new stick and a new carrot and many believe last year's bankruptcy of the banking system saying they have to reunite to be economically viable and hydrocarbons are frozen incentive that never existed before and joint interest the thinking goes could teach the two communities to play the same music. >> reporter: a bank strike crippled services across india and we report from new deli. >> day two of a national banking strike across india. the union is protecting workers are saying they are out on the streets because they want to protect their workers and their claim for at least a pay rise and changes to banking practices which may lead to job losses. and a million people in the banking sector are effected and many thousands of customers are effected and mainly those that

transact through checks, they won't clear them through the banks and atm and online banking has not been effected in any way. the authorities say they gave their customers plenty of warning and that is why we saw a flurry of activity on sunday when the banks were open before the strike actually started early on monday. and the strike will end at 6:00 on wednesday morning local time. >> reporter: the u.s. state of california is going through one of its worst droughts in history and desperate times mean desperate measures for the agricultural industry and there is not enough grazing and rankers and selling cattle to reduce their losses and melissa chan has more. >> reporter: sunrise over the ranch and the cattle have already assembled. waiting for their feed. they are hungry. the landscape brown and dry makes for scant porage.

>> it's as bad as i have seen, you know, it's definitely that. none of the other smaller droughts we have had compare at all. >> reporter: winter rains normally produce green pastures and now the family must haul extra hay for the livestock and it only grows when water flows and with the drought that has meant a small supply for a big demand. >> well, we are at the point where we are out of feed. it will be a very expensive year for us with all the additional feed we had to purchase. >> reporter: what the local rank ranchers say the load has gone up from $5,000 to $7,500 and as the drought continues the situation is only going to get worse. the next step for paul to cut losses will be at the auction yard.

it is calf season and ranchers are starting to sell them off early at half the sale rate than spending more money on feed. since the start of the year 2-3,000 calves have been sold here every week. this season usually sees just 2-500 head of cattle come through. some buyers have come from as far as texas and the midwest to snatch up california cattle. dairy farmers also have tough decisions to make despite record high milk prices the cost of feed and shortage of water means heifers have also gone to auction. >> nothing works without water. i don't care what business you are in but if you are in agriculture and if you don't have water you are not in agriculture. >> reporter: he says he is right up against it. he will have to sell cattle soon if the drought continues. >> i have three sons that have all been brought up in this cattle business and that is what they want to do and if we do have to sell can cows, yeah, it

will bother me. >> reporter: the family has worked this land for three generations. they tell us the drought's impact will be felt in the state's beef industry for years to come. melissa chan, al jazeera in california. >> reporter: more ahead on the al jazeera news hour including giving them something to smile about and look at the changing face of russia and hospitality of the sochi winter olympics and new australian champion tells us why older players are now dominating women's tennis and that is coming up, in sports. ♪

al jazeera america.

russia service and hospitality doesn't have the highest reputation rightly or wrongly there is an international perceptions of them being surly and severe and what do you do with foreigns visiting for the winter olympic, you turn the frown up side down as they report from sochi. >> she is doing something that is supposedly doesn't come naturally to russians, she is smiling. and she is being helpful again supposedly an alien concept here. >> we have a special restaurant with russian food. >> the best of the best. >> reporter: the student is one of hundreds of russian volunteers helping olympic visitors arriving at the airport. it makes her proud to show

foreigners that russians are not the grim-faced grouches they are expecting. >> we tell people to open russia and see how people in russia are very friendly and it's very good chance for us. >> reporter: stories of generous russian hospitality can be heard from anyone who spends time here but russians themselves admit this tends to only come with familiarity and smiling too much is often viewed with suspicion and russians have a saying, and what it means is laughter without reason is a sign of stupidity. aware that sochi's service industry might need instruction on what international visitors would expect in the run up to the games the new russian international olympic university put on hospitality courses for people in the hotels and

something seems to be working. >> i have heard numerous people saying hello and when i asked them how they are doing they did not give me a laundry list of complaints which i understand is what they typically do so that is good. >> the experience i've had and the experiences we have had are that they are just like folks in oklahoma, warm spirited and love their children and are caring and very friendly. >> reporter: the kind of enthusiasm demanded by the games and western sponsors may not come entirely natural to russians but perhapses that a good thing. and i'm with al jazeera sochi. >> so that was reporting from sochi and joe is here and give us an update on what is going on with the winter olympics. >> good news for the indian athletes, the international olympic community lifted a ban

on india allowing athletes to compete for the country in sochi and it was suspended for officials accused of corruption in 2012 but on sunday the olympic association conducted a fresh election and seen as fair. three competitors including an luge person were not allowed to raise the indian flag in the opening ceremony because of the ban and they have been competing independently and the decision is too late for him who raced on saturday and sunday. and they will be able to compete for india. the ioc decision allows indian athletes to take part in worldwide events including games and the asian games. >> it's the first time in olympic history that a suspension of an nrc has been lifted during the games and the decision will have an immediate impact, indian athletes entered the sochi games under the olympic flag as independent athletes during the opening

ceremony. and have competed as such so far, one has in the luge. the eb decision means they can compete for india and walk behind the flag on the closing ceremony on the 23rd of february. >> that is the top story and go there and check out al jazeera.com/sport. day four of the winter olympics and 8 medals up for grabs and the first awarded in the women ski slope style which was an events in sochi earlier and howell has gold and logan of usa and the metal table with four golds. now the 7 metals up for grabs on tuesday and women ski jumping will make the debut with gold to be handed out in the normal hill individual competition. there will be the women's 10 kilometer pursuit and ladders 500 meter speed skating, women's

luge single and mentions and women's cross country sprint finals and the american snow board shaun white will look for three gold metals in a row on the half pipe. >> i cannot describe it. i'm just here. do you know what i mean? and the only comfort that really suits me is that i can't slow downtime. i mean, it has to happen. it's going to be here and it's going to be gone and whatever happens happens. >> reporter: and things said about gay athletes at the game but it's making headlines on the other side of the world and nfl could have michael sam and the star of football revealed his sexuality on sunday and suspected to be in the draft but entering uncharted territory. >> michael sam may be about to

become one of north america's athletes and to be drafted in the football league in a few weeks the first active player who is openly gay and made the announcement in an exclusive interview with espn. >> this is something i have known for a while. but, you know, this is to me it's just telling something that i'm a better person, hey, i'm gay and shouldn't be a big problem. >> reporter: the 24-year-old has support of his college teammates at the nfl. in a statement officials said we admire michael sam's honesty and courage and he is a football player and any player with ability and determination can succeed in the nfl. >> once he shows he is one of the guys he will play ball and have fun. announcer: but michael sam it may get tougher and the blitz started and it is known for culture and antigay remarks and crisp

crisper -- he may have a difficult future. knowing this could cause problems both with his draft status and the up coming draft and locker room in the nfl when he is drafted and i'm not sure if they will be supporting being openly gay. >> reporter: they applauded the movement those working with the athletes and michael sam is being seen as a pioneer. >> he is sending a message of hope and strength of young athletes who identify as gay, bisexual and transgender. >> reporter: he is not the first athlete to talk about being gay but if drafted he will be the first openly gay player in the four major sports and that is significant. >> not afraid of who i am. i'm not afraid to tell the world who i am. i'm michael sam. i'm a college graduate. i'm african/american and i'm gay. >> reporter: the nfl draft starts in may. andy with al jazeera. >> reporter: in the nba indiana

pacers strengthened the hold on top spot on the eastern conference on monday and crushed the denver nuggets and by 11 by the end of the first and never gave up the lead and david west top scoring 25 on the night. roy had a big game and it was 119-81 the largest winning margin of the season. and people in madrid are taking on athletico and 11 points with barcelona and three up from the leg of the spanish cup on on their way to setting up a possible final with barcelona. australian champion is hoping to build on resent success in melbourne with the campaign of the open on tuesday, the world number three who celebrates her

32nd birthday this month could be the world number one closest rival and we report. >> reporter: she is getting used to being the center of attention and fresh from the victory of the australian open she took time to enjoy the sites of the katar open and high profile withdraws that of serena williams lee is the top seed here. >> everyone has the chance to win or lose so don't put a lot of pressure for yourself. >> reporter: and at a time when players are contemplating retirement the chinese player is looking forward to more titles. at 32 serena williams is the oldest ever world number one and lee who is about to turn the same age could be world two after this week. and the women's game is as much about experience as it is youthful experience. >> we are not old. we are a little bit, how do you say, more experienced on the

court. maybe some young kid have very good technique but not strong enough or don't have enough experience on the court. >> reporter: and she has been on the circuit for over ten years now, the 28-year-old who is also a former world number one dropped out of the top 20 only to experience a resent resurgence in her career. >> a bit smarter when it comes to your schedule in order to prevent injuries as well, when you go to a tournament you want to be ready and play 100%. >> reporter: lee is almost certain to become world number two at the end of the tournament but regardless of her ranking she has already left her impression on the world of tennis, al jazeera, doha. >> that is it for sport. >> see you later and thank you. new images raised the possibility that flowing water

may exist on mars and it shows dark lines moving down the slopes of some mountains and scientists say they could be suzanned by saltwater but more proof is needed and the flow of water any where on mars would be a major discovery. crowd funding is catching on with film makers around the world with the lack of financial backing, more and more independent directors are reaching out to fans for help. but it's still hard to convince people to invest in a project they might not profit from and phil reports from the berlin film festival. >> you're a film direct were a great idea and have the perfect script ready to go, this is going to be the big one or it would be if you could afford to make it and don't forget times are tough and banks are weary about giving out too much cash so do you give up and walk away? it may have happened a few years ago but there is another option, do you know what that is? ask the audience. which is what she did, she has

two movies at the berlin film festival but ran out of cash making one so she asked for a little fan funding. >> we had some bits of the show to the audience and ultimately it's a personal connection and people believing in you and your art and what you're trying to say as a film maker. >> reporter: it's as simple as going on line like kick starter and tell users what you need the money for and donate from one euro or dollar or hundreds or thousands. high in the sky was a big hit here two years ago, this was the first large production to use the crowd funding technique and the maker raised around $2 million from donations alone and he is convinced this is the way forward. >> i personally think it will be more and more in the future and we will see that as part of a budget in a film that does it. it's a good way to finance

something and also it's fantastic marketing is what it is. >> reporter: this film was such a success he is doing a bigger sequal and you get what you pay for or not as the case may be. >> once the film is shot there is no guaranty of it being released and you may finance something to be just one film that is shown once, if you really want to finance that is a question people ask themselves and there is absolutely nothing you will earn back apart from maybe a postcard or a poster or something from the film and is that just reward for putting up your hard-earned cash? >> they take audience participation to a new level and the question is what cost to the film industry and the film fans wallets and i'm phil at the berlin film festival. >> thanks for watching the news hour and the news continues on al jazeera in just a few minutes. ♪

♪ southern states caught completely off guard by a resent winter storm, not taking chances and declaring states of emergency ahead of another major system. rolling out the red carpet for the president of france and president obama holding a steak dinner at the white house. >> it's the not knowing and it's excruciating. >> reporter: they are moving out and not getting answers about tainting water and