... this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome to the news hour with the world's top news stories. pro-russian forces in the crimean port city of sevastopol. protests and clashes at egyptian universities as students voice anger against the interim military government. >> angry. dragged away from a briefing

about the lost plane. >> mongolia has been dubbed the fastest growing economy in the world, but is that growth sustainable? ♪ tensions continue to mount in crimean one day after it was annexed by russia. hundreds of pro-russian activists, some armed, have stormed the headquarters of ukraine's navy in sevastopol. the commander of the base was detained and taken away in handcuffs. ukraine's prime minister is sending senior members of his cabinet to crimean to resolve the crisis. they have been told to ensure the conflict does not become military in nature. he says they won't be allowed to enter the region. jennifer glasse is in sevastopol and joins us live now jennifer, can you give us an update as to

what's the latest situation on the navy headquarters there in sevastopol? >> reporter: well, good afternoon from sevastopol. >> headquarters is now firmly in the control of russian forces and self defense forces. some of them, as you said, armed. these are armed civilians. as the take overtook really just about an hour this morning, they massed at the gates, all of the gates of the base. the civilian self defense forces actually put women up front because the ukrainian forces have given permission from the ukrainian ministry of defense yesterday to use weapons to defend themselves. now, that's what the ukrainian military officer said the reason that these people said that they came into the base at all. they were worried they were going to start giving out arms and that shooting would start. >> that's why the base was stormed. they came into the base. they went in. most of the ukrainian officers stayed in place where they were and then the forces went in. they let civilians go into the building. there was a bit of smashing

things up. they ripped the ukrainian emblem off the wall, showed them to the crowd, threw them out the windows. all the while, people were shouting, that, that. they raised the flag over that base. they were searching for the naval commander. they searched for him tofor a couple of hours and told the ukrainian sailors to leave. they told them to get out. they let some of them clear out their offices and they escorted many of them out of the base. with the civilians jeering at them, clapping at them, telling them to go home, to get on a train, to get out of crimean. you have the crimeanian naval fleet without a commander in sevastopol, sailors still on ships, an art i willery bade behind me and in some of the bays with no commander and no orders. >> jennifer, would you know what's actually going to be happening to this naval commander that's been detained? >> reporter: we don't. he is right now at the

prosecutors. we are in a state of limbo right now. the forces went in and said, this is russia. when they told us we were -- we were in the base this morning. they told us we had to leave because we didn't have the proper accreditation. they couldn't tell us who would give us the acreation, who the commander was exactly, you know, what rules people are operating under. so there is a bit of a sense of an arkansasy. you do have a lot of these armed civilian men, very aggressive at the gates of these basis. we are not sure why they are questioning the commander or whether they are trying to get him to issue any kind of orders and even what -- what charges they are holding under and how long they can hold him. so very much in the state of flux right now and leading a number of ukrainian military here on the peninsula, very uncertain about their future here. >> it's not just the ukrainian naval forces and personnel, as well. what about the ukrainians, themselves, particularly after this incident? are you getting a sense that ukrainians will now start to

leave the area, fearing for their lives? >> reporter: it is a big concern, and some people we've talked to say -- a lot of ukrainians i have met in the last couple of weeks have already left. we have seen a culture oft. one who isn't deployed was beat up in the last couple of days. he fled the country. we have seen a lot of the naval wives and families leave crimea because they are concerned. there have been intimidating phone calls. this is a very pro-russian town largely because it's been home to the russian black sea fleet and they have close ties to moscow. there has been a public, jubilant atmosphere here since the referendum on sunday, since these very swift actions moving towards becoming part of russia. and any dissenting voices have been quashed quickly. you wouldn't fly a ukrainian flag on the streets here you get a lot of criticism and perhaps even a little bit of violence. i think there certainly is a

fear, those who are not for what's been happening here in the last couple of days. they are going to either try and stay quiet or try and get out of here. of course, you have the practicalities. how do they sell their homes? how do they sell their cars? administratively, everything is pretty much frozen here. >> jennifer, great talking to you. thank you for the picture of what it's like being a ukrainian in sevastopol. jennifer glasse speaking to us from sevastopol. the u.s. vice president says russia is on a dark path to isolation. joe biden has been speaking in the lithuanian capitol. the presidents of lithuania and latvia are concerned at how russian action affects their countries. the united states has reassured baltic leaders it is committed to defending its nato allies. we have a live blog on the latest developments in ukraine. it's on our website. go to aljazeera.com. demonstrations have been taking place at several universities around egypt.

they are demanding the release of students in detension during a week of renewed campaigning against the interim military government. mohammed vail reports. >> this is a student protest in egypt, second largest city of alexandria. similar protests took place across the country on wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the first most-mubarak constitution. others showed rejection of what they see as a coup against the legitimate government of former president mohammed moed morsi. in june, 2012, mohamed morsi became the first democratically elected president ofegypt. he scrapped the interim declarati declaration, the man appointed by morsi, asisi but the army's power was never unmind. in july, 2013, general asisi

deposed morsi and suspended the constitution. the army was back in power. today, it is as if egypt has returned to square one after the fall of mubarak. a top general is practically in control and is expected to run for the highest. military use are back in the streets and once again, the future of egypt is far from certain. mohammed vaughn, al jazeera. >> these protests in cairo, i am joined on the line from cairo by yussef hasin. as i understand it, you have actually been taking part in these protests. just tell us why are these protests taking place now. >> because the government has

condoned and students wanted to prove it's wrong. it's wrong and they are their movement amend peacefannexation they have cleared for the movement and the government and their whole world, and that's what they are calling for. the security forces are crazy. at the university, also -- >> yussef. thank you very much for joining us, and we do apologize, but the line seems to be quite bad there. we will try to get you back on

the line on a better line a little later on papas. >> that's yousef calhin. >> the president has promised to spare no effort in his attempts to secure the release of annays journalist held in a cairo prisonon for 81 days. peter grista is being detained with our producers from al jazeera arrest abbic channel. they are accused of having links with the terrorist organization and spreading false news. the interim president made his pledge in an effort to peter grista's parents. argues rejects all charges against its staff and continues to demand their immediate release. their next court appearance is on march the 24th. syria says one person was killed and seven people were wounded when israeli military forces attacked several syrian army positions newer the go land heights after four of isreal's

troops were injured from a road side bombing: israel has blamed the asad government. >> this idea t those targets were syrian elements, not only allowed but also collaborated in attacks on our forces. our policy is clear: we hurt those who hurt us and thwart as much as we can, transfer of arms at sea, air and land. from time to time, we are required to carry out aggressive operations as we have just done in order to ensure the calm. >> the lebanese army has been sent to two towns bordering syria to proceed tests connected to the war. there have been protests in the capitol of beirut where two were killed and 2 wounded. several streets were blocked in the lebanese capitol. they are angry at what they call a siege on a border town. the road has been cleared after

it was blocked by residents of a nearby shiia town. stephanie decker joins us from that town, labwa. stephanie, a lot of tension there. tension very high in the area. what is happening there at the moment? >> reporter: well, the lebanese army, the special forces, have been deployed. you can see them behind me. this unit specifically has been trying to contain the situation, to look for fighters that have come across this border from syria. now, we were up -- there is another checkpoint just up the road. we saw the army take away four men that came in a van with refugees. the commander of the army was holding a flag that belongs to the palestinian group that is known to be fight ningdz syria. these are the issues. it's a mount nance border. insi these are the issues. it's a mount nance border. the shiia villages around this area. we are hearing gunfire from a funeral taking place of 2

hezbollah men who were killed on sunday in that car bomb that followed the announcement that the jabud was taken, commanders by hezbollah, we believe. so, it's very tension. we have just come back from inside arsaw and the lebanese says we have been living together with lebwa forever. we want the army to secure this mount nance border and get what he called terrorists under control. but as he said, and as we know, we have been to the area. it's mountainous terrain. no one is in control. it's difficult to control that area. >> just the fact that the lebanese army has been deployed there, do you think their presence would actually help ease the tensions? >> well, it certainly diffused the tension we have seen here over the last couple of days. the last three days, it was extremely tension down here. our team came down a couple of days ago and hezbollah men, also, shiia civilians had closed

off this area. there had been rockets coming down. very tension. there is the stand off because the sunni groups accused hezbollah of fighting inside syria. we know they are. this was officially announced last year. they said they are going to target hezbollah and iranian interests in lebanon for hezbollah's role and one of the groups, al-qaeda-affiliated has clearly stated, we are going to take this into lebanon and you will pay for it. so, it is tense and it's something that the government is taking very seriously, something the people wanted to keep under control. it's why the army is now here there seem to be probably a little more neutral rather than hezbollah although the sunnis will accuse the army of siding with hezbollah. it's at difficult, complicated situation in lebanon. it's clear to say the government incredibly keen to try to diffuse the spillover of the war in syria into lebanon. >> that's stephanie decker there speaking to us from lubwa.

in southern syria, prisoners have been freed after rebel fighters stormed their jail. anita mcnaught has their story >> reporter: campaign to take control of the central prison took a week according to opposition sources. rebels targeted the jail because it was believed to hold political prisoners and was an army base. both rebels and syrian army were killed in the battle. several videos were released by a fighting group calling itself, the brigade of "the sun"ni lines. they acknowledged they worked with other brigades. opposition sources said up to 400 prisoners were freed, including women. videos showed only men. there are the central prison is the main jail in the region with separate areas for men, women and young people. al jazeera understands the fighting groups are trying to

sort the political prisoners from the other inmates. they have told the prisoners with criminal convictions that they will be judged again in a rebel sharia court. as word spread and sell brat tory gunfire broke out again, one family came to the jail for an emotional reunion. the brigade has promised a fair process and asked other inmate did to be patient. it's the second major jail to be captured by opposition fighters. the last one was in january, 2012. anita mcnaught, al jazeera. u.n. human rights investigators say they have credible evidence of war crimes committed in syria. they have identified both government and opposition suspects after interviewing thousands of victims, witnesses and defectors. the suspects list includes names of syria intelligence commanders where prisoners were tortures. also on the lus, military

leaders responsible for committing abuses including dropping barrel bombs on civilian areas. and armed opiniposition groups accused of targeting civilians. mass discussions have declared to have been carried out. >> an international criminal law expert and president of the center for defending civil rights and liberties says justice is possible in an international court. >> the international court is the one international judicial organization that has jurisdiction over similar crimes. there are also other national tribunals with universal jurisdiction such as in uk and spain but their jurisdictions are limited. so in order to have the perpetrators of these crimes held accountable, we need to have a jurisdiction of the icc or of the national tribunals like the uk with either a

referral by the security council or either having a suspect, syrian suspect holding nationalities, a state party to the icc or by having a legitimate government of syria submitting a letter of acceptance of the icc. >> in yemen, shiias have followed al truce with armed tribesmen al lakered with the sunni reform party. the hootsi fighters are refusing to withdraw. this is despite an army ult matim. troops have been deployed to prevent rebels returning. coming up on the newshour: >> translator: we were poor to begin with, but now we have nothing. i appeal to the government of india and pakistan not to arrest any more fishermen. >> we are all at sea as pakistani fishermen are caught

in india's security net. they sought sanctuary from fighting in south sudan but has a united nations camp been infiltrated with former fighters? in sports, we will hear what this former chelsea striker has to say about the players who have replaced him. the relatives from the passengers of the missing malaysian airliner have lashed out regarding the search of their loved ones. some relatives were removed from the daily briefing fromc kaula lumpur. >> during the briefing, malaysian official said they had investigated reports that they had seen a low-flying jumbo jet on the day that the plane had disappeared. they found that those reports were not true. they also said that investigations into all of the passengers on board have been

completed except in the case of russia and the ukraine. most of the action today has taken place in the media center, at least two chinese women came in here, attempted to unfurl a banner. it seems they were relatives of some of the passengers. they were quickly taken away by security. an hour later, we had a very large media scrum as security tried to move them to a different area. chairs were overturned. it was a very chaotic situation. it goes to show exactly how many distress there is among a lot of the relatives, all of the relatives involved in the missing malaysian plane. >> about 77,000 civilians are still living in eight overcrowded u.n. camps across south sudan. the u.n. plans to move most of the refugees to more suitable locations. there are logistical and security concerns. anna kavel reports from juba

>> reporter: this piece of land used to be used for storage. it floods when it rains. these peace keepers have been sent to help people move. >> this is my house the. >> the u.n. is trying to get them to relocate to a based on higher ground. david lam has agreed to move. >> we have been sleeping with water and almost having something like three days in thewall water. >> this area was never intended for people to live on. it's part of the administrative base for the u.n. mission and was already home to thousands of u.n. staff and peace keepers. now, it has to accommodate an extra 21,000 people in the part of the base that's prone to flooding. but a u.n. mission had no way of knowing back if december when the fighting started that the people seeking their protection would decide to stay indefinitely. >> at the time when we opened the gates, we thought it would

be a replica of similar situations that we have seen in south sudan previously. we have usually had them for -- under our protection for a few days. and then when things calmed down and people felt safer, they would return to their homes >> reporter: now that the people are living here, the u.n. can't force them to move. any relocation has to be voluntary. even though this place is very unsuitable, most of the people living here just don't want to leave. the existence of the camps has put the u.n. at odds with the government. after fighting started in december, people crowded through the gates of the u.n. compound. the government believes former ambassadors are among the civilians. >> they aafter failing, they ra enemy's camps. in the camps, among them are people carrying arms. >> the u.n. denies that people in the camps have weapons.

but the decision taken in the heat of the moment will have long-term repercussions here amend in peacekeeping missions around the world. anna cavell, juba, south sudan. >> a senior researcher at the rift valley institute said the situation in south sudan is fixable but the united nations needs to act now. >> i think the u.n. mission needs to consider very seriously whether the leadership it has now can deliver that change. the perception is there. whether it's justified or not. unfortunately, it exists. so the u.n. has to decide if it's going to be successful, and that goes beyond protecting the idps of the u.n. basis. there is much more it has to do. it has to decide whether it can do it under its current leadership and if not, what might be a solution to that. it is a salvageable situation. abo there needs to be some movement there. it's clear that the ability of the u.n. to be effective in south sudan is at risk and the government is not helping with that. it is contributing to this idea

that the u.n. is not being a good actor. the reality is the u.n., without the u.n., over the last few years, south sudan would be even worse perhaps than it is now. >> the main opposition party in berundi has been suspended for four speaking with pierre, the head of next year's general e legislation >> reporter: he wants to change the constitution and run for a third term in 2015. he has been in power for nearly 10 years. he says he will do whatever his party decides. >> when we are chosen to represent the party, it is the last approval is done by the court. >> that's why i can say in our political party, when they say

we want to present it, they can't say no. but they must. the conditional court, the commission which are go to go say, this candidate is fair >> reporter: it's been a tense few weeks. opposition supporters concerned the president is trying to hang on to power have been protesting. shortly after this incident, the main opposition party, the movement for solidarity and do. was banned for four months. >> what they have done is to disturb and to be -- to be -- to fight against the police. so in the is a mistake. they have been arrested. >> the last rebel commander to lay down arms says this is the worst political crisis since the end of the civil war.

>> one could thing that berundi has resumed with war. can you imagine people being shot with real bullets when they are not armed? because they have gone to the headquarters, perhaps because of fear, because they were chased here and there were through the streets. >> the president often plays ball with friends after work. berundi has been relatively stable in the 10 years he has been in charge. but ordinary people are anxious about next year's general election, hoping there won't be more violence. al jazeera. >> let's check on the weather with richard. how is that drought looking in lebanon? >> it's a story that won't go away. it's been going on for such a long time. we have already featured it in terms of how it devastated the

sky industry across the region. as you take a look at the satellite picture, you can see there is nothing much in the way of cloud across the region. we have been looking at the rainfall totals. between october and march, should get about 775 millimeters of rain in beirut. in fact, during that period, we have had just 211 millimeters, representing just over a quarter of what we should normally get at this time and the impact has been huge. of course, you've got to remember that lebanon has so many refugees from syria at the moment. so demand for water is so much greater than it was in, say, 1950, when they had their last previous great drought and when you look at what we've got in a lake of rainfall during the winter, that's 75 percent of beirut's rainfall comes from is drinking water. you can see it go from thursday into friday, there is no real sign that we are going to see any significant change. now, at the moment if you are stuck in drought or flooding, we are all heading towards the

march equinox. a brief spell of time, we will have roughly equal length of night and day and heading toward spring. thank you. >> still to come on this newshour: homes are blown up in egypt's latest attempt to secure it's border with gaza. we will give you the result of the appeal of a french financial trader who almost broke the bank. and sports, baseball makes its pitch to capture a new market in australia. andy will have that story. let's take you now to ve vienna where katherine ashton is speaking after a round of talks with iran over its nuclear program. let's try and listen in to what she has to say. >> the framework for the

negotiations established at our meeting last month, we have substantive and useful discussions covering a set of issues including: enrichment, the iraq reactor, civil nuclear cooperation and sanctions. we will meet again from 7th to the 9th of april in vienna. and we will continue our work on the substantial areas which we intend to cover in a comprehensive agreement. in the meantime, technical experts will meet to further elaborate on the details of the relevant issues. minister izan, may i say to you, salinombuar salinombuarak. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. let me thank you all and as we did last time, let me just say

exactly what she said in english in persian. don't have to bother with translation. just listen. it sounds nice. it sounds nice. >> translator: mrs. ashton and i, with political managers and colleagues in charge from china, france, germany, russia, britain, and the united states, we have just metaphor the second round of negotiations for the continuation of diplomatic efforts to reach a comprehensive

solution and way forward in relation to iran. we have finished our second round of meetings once again. i would like to express my gratitude to the austrian foreign ministers and his colleagues and the united nations and office of the united nations in vienna for having provided all of the facilities for these meetings. on the basis of the timetable of the -- on the basis of the framework of the previous terms of negotiations over the last two days of talks, we have had very content-full, very serious talks and useful talks in relation to a series of issues that included enrichment of iraq

reactor and peaceful cooperation, nuclear cooperation and sanctions. once again, from the 9th of april, we are going to meet up again in vienna and carry on our talks on the substance of the issues that could be followed up within the framework of the comprehensive solution between now and the formal meetings, the experts and technical colleagues are going to meet up to discuss the details of the -- of the issues in the upcoming meetings. once again, i would like to

thank you very much, and i would also like to congratulate the persian new year. thank you. >> thanks, everyone. see you in two and a half weeks' time. >> listening to iran's foreign minister there, he was also speaking there alongside him was e.u foreign policy chief katherine ashton. they both were talking to the press there right after a round of talks over iran's nuclear program. let's go to tim friend now live for nus vienna. tim, interesting looking at the both of them, body language very warm. they were smiling. words were also very pleasant. so a successful round of talks? >> well, i think at face value, it appears they have made progress, that they feel they are on track, that they haven't, as some were suggesting might happen, be distracted by the crisis in crimea. >> that's that iran might since

there were splits within the group that they were negotiating with, for instance, the united states and russia. th there clearly real big differences between those two countries but all of the official language here is they are not going to be distracted by the difficulties over crimea. a and they are saying that they are cougoing to come back here vienna on april 7th and riz you'll for another two days. in the mean time, the experts, the real bobbins, the people who know their science because this is an argument where it's the detail that's going to count in the end. for instance, how many centrifuges, the capacity to enrich uranium, where it is, that's what's going to count in the end. in the meantime, the people who deal with those kind of issues are going to be back here or at least talking with each other in preparation for another high-level meeting in two and a half weeks' time. i mean, there are huge issues behind the

scenes. you are right. the body language is good. they -- these two people, katherine ashton and the iranian foreign minister get on. they understand the realities. but, of course, behind them are other forces at work, conservatives in iran who are incredibly suspicious these talks, don't want any concessions made at all and the hawks in the u.s. congress who don't want to see any concessions made either. so, you know, it's not just these two who are fronting up for both sides who are involved, of course. but interestingly, they specifically mentioned the iraq heavy water reactor. >> that's a crucial issue many in the west would like to see that stopped completely because they suspect it's another route for iran to process plutonium, another route to a potential nuclear weapon. but iran, i should say, isn't going to give that up in any sense. they want to carry on with the building of that.

>> great talking to you. thank you very much for that. >> that's tim friend there reporting for us from vienna. former trader jerome herville has lost his appeal in france's highest court. for more let's go to emma haywood. bad news for jerome? >> reporter: well, interestingly, they have rejected his appeal against his sentence which means that germ om kaverelle is likely to go to prison. he could appeal at the european court of rights but in the short-term, he is likely to be back here in jail in france. interestingly, there will be a new trial here in france. i think this has taken a lot of people by surprise, which will determine how much responsibility society generale will have to bear for the losses that he made. >> emma, there has been a lot of interest in this case. just how significant is this actually for the french banking

sector? >> reporter: well, it was very significant at the time. you think about the timing of it just at the start of the economic crisis, which still has massive repercussions here in france. and around the world. and, of course, this idea that this trader had gone rogue caused a great deal of concern here in france. i think he is still al very divisive figure. for some he is a hero. for some he is a victim. he has been on this 'til pilgrimage trying to look very penitent if you might. some dismiss this as a pr stunt. he is talking about trying to reflect to the past and what he wants to look forward to in the future, too. >> emma, thank you, reporting for us from paris. britain's finance minister has announced that his annual spending plans later on

wednesday, now, the british economy is forecast to have higher growth than any other country in the g7 group of developed nations. but this week, a handful of prep's wealthiest people were richer than the bottom 20% of the population. laurens lee has this report. >> here is a good example of the source of british ambition the prime minister is after. the money has come from due by and the cranes from china but soon this port will rival the very best bringing in ports to the from the new world to consumers. >> we are taking the biggest ships and place it at the biggest point of consumption in the u.k. >> thousands of jobs will be created here to move these goods around. the problem is that they are really needed now. you can see the gleaming spears of corporate london from here. critics of government policy say while the capitol is thiefing, places around here are still on their knees.

the opposition labor party says youth unemployment in this area east of london has gone up by 96%. >> we have the third highest long-term youth unemployment rate in the east of england yet we are right by london. the idea that because the economy might be booming in some parts of the country, that those even right next door can benefit is pie in the sky. >> reporter: while the uk's recovery is said to be the fastest as anywhere in the developed world, the question is who the up turner actually serves. >> with national elections just over a year away, there is said to be a growing sense of uneasy among some conservative politicians in marginal constituencies like this as to what might happen the recovery from the city of london doesn't get to their electorates as well. the government said it's trying to put the country back on a long-term path to recovery. if the recovery doesn't spread

out quickly, it could tilt the balance of power. >> down the road, these teenagers are training to be engineers, since if you can't afford to live in london, you can piggy back off of its lucrative art scene. >> nine grand on going to the course. not the housing costs. am i going to have that money later in life or better off trying to find a job? can i find a job? both of these places serve as a model for the reaming options. establishing a business to serve london may make businessence. what they don't do is necessarily to enrich the people who live and work outside the capitol. the story here remains a huge wealth gap. lawrence lee, essex. >> taiwanese students are protesting against a proposed trade packet with china.

the deal would allow much closer business deals between taiwan and china. opponents say it threatens taiwanese jobs because small businesses there won't be able to compete with big chinese companies. hundreds of fishermen from pakistan and india are arrested average year by each other's maritime security forces for allegedly trespassing. many say they find themselves in the wrong teartorial waters by accident because they don't have proper navigation equipment. a report now from the coastal city of karachi. >> ever since he was a boy, fas ill sulliman has been fishing in these waters. he said he knows the sea off of the southeastern coast like the back of his hand. in late 2010, a day at work turned into a nearly three-year or deal. >> translator: we were putting our nets out in the area we had fished in many times before when

the indian coast guard came and arrested us. everyone on our boat was put in jail. we don't know where in india we were held but the conditions were terrible. it was so bad, one of my friends who was arrested with me died there. >> reporter: sulliman was released after politicians agreed to a rare prisoner exchange. but not everyone is as lucky as f fassel. around 20 officermen are being held by india and 230 indian fisherman are in pakistani jails. >> habibs's husband was held 11 years. their son was 1 month old when he was arrested fortress passing in indian waters while fishing. earlier this year, his body was returned to his family for b buri burial. he was 41 years old. >> translator: we were poor to begin with, but now we have nothing. i appealed to the government of

india and pakistan not to arrest any more fishermen. if they are found on the wrong side of the water, it's by mistake. they are only doing their jobs. let them return to their families. >> reporter: in a show of solidarity, fishermen have appealed to release all imprisoned fishermen. and at a time frontrunner for prime minister is being lobbied. people want him to include a ban on arresting fishermen in his party's platform. the long standing tensions between the two countries, which have fought three wars, see any kind of shift in policy by either government is unlikely. >> leaves people like hamid that others will be spared the same suffering, al jazeera. mongolia has one of the world's fastest growing economies thanks to mineral mining. the boom is having a dramatic

affect on the capitol now home to nearly half of mongolia's population of around 3 million. the new home for mistaken once nomadic people is struggling to cope as margo reports >> reporter: 40 years ago. hod got an education and sent his children to school. but they all still live on the outskirts. no running water. no sewage system. no central heating. >> translator: it's over crowded and the city is developing rapidly. so soil, air and water pollution are a big concern for us. >> reporter: some 700,000 people can more than half of the population, live like this. many of them arriving recently from the rural areas hoping to benefit from a boon in the economy. all they could afford wumings here was to set up homes in informal settlement like this one called ger districts after the traditional not nomadic

tents. >> the government can't force them out. they have a right to claim unused land and if uncontested, they can own close to 700 square meters. >> that's about 35 times the size of a normal ger. >> the city wasn't prepared for the people who live here amend its planners say it can't continue to expand unregulated and chaotic. private developers have been invited by the government to build free apartments for ger residents in exchange for their land. >> we will live in the 21st century. everybody have a right to live and work in a nice proper places. and we just want to give that possibility to the -- to others. >> there were fears people would resist but the response so far has been good. >> translator: living in a high-rise building is ideal for among gomongolian people.

people love to see rather than being confined behind fences >> reporter: the plans for redevelopment mean this district school will not stand for long if the once nomadic elders say children won't turn their backs on tradition. they will be taught the most important nomadic lesson of all, how to adapt to survive. al jazeera, mongolia. >> heroes have finally, been recognized in the united states. soldiers who were ignored because of their race are given america's highest military medal. ? spots lebron james in scorching form as the miami heat con front the cleveland cavaliers. we will tell you more next.

military heroes who were forgotten because of racial discrimination in the united states have finally, been honored. president barack obama awarded medals to 24 men. only three are still alive because of their heroics happened so long ago. patty colhane has this story. >> melton morris has hung the flag outside of his florida home, a way of telling passersby of his patriotism. his hat tells he has earned it? >> distinguished cross, bronze star, purple heart. >> 44 years ago, he won the

second highest medal award. he went back to treetrieve the body of a fellow soldier and was shot 3 times. the reason he was denied the highest award, president barack obama called him personally to tell him, it was racism. >> he said, i want to apologize to you. you should have received the medal of honor 44 years ago. and i am presenting you with the congressional medal of honor. and i dropped down on my knees. i was overwhelmed >> reporter: over the last 20 years, the u.s. military has been looking back to right previous wrongs, medalses denies because of race or religion. researchers behind the studies are quick to point out it was the u.s. military that was the first to tackle racial integration in the united states. >> i think if you look at the american armed forces, you would find less racial discrimination than probably any other set of institutions >> reporter: but there is a big

disparity in the racial make-up of the highest ranks of the military. 9% are mineminorities. they make up 35% of the lowest ranks. he said he never thought it was about racism. he wasn't bothered that he dent get the medal of honor. it hasn't weighed on him. but the war has. every day, for the past four decades. >> i will see a troop walking toward me, either a little combat action or whatever, and they just come and go. you catch yourself just in a daze for a little bit. but that's -- it's all time. it will never go away. never. >> staff sergeant morris extraordinary heroism. >> as he puts his uniform back on an the president hangs america's highest honor around his neck, his message for those watching will not be to remember racism of the past but to look to the future and consider how he should help all of those caught up in wars being fought

now. he has never forgotten the horrors of war and neither will they regardless of the medals they wear. [applause.] patti colhane, al jazeera, washington. >> time for spovrts. here is andy. >> thank you so much. chelsea manager said his team are back where they belong after the lopdon club moved in to the last stage of the champions league, chelsea 3-1 on aggregate. the turkish team including former chelsea striker drogba but he was unable have a decisive impact on this game. they will have a place in the quarterfinals. >> the big teams are there. all of the big candidates of the competition are there. welcome every one of them.

we will be -- it will be very good for our evolution as a team. it will be very important for us to play one of the best. >> it's like a new team. there will be a good team, i think. they have a good squad. people are complaining about the strikers. so, i think they are good. >> real madrid's passage was never really in doubt. they were 6, one up from the first leg and a couple of more goals from christian ronaldo helped them secure a 9-2 aggregate win. the small patter of a league game with barcelona, up next. >> translator: i think we approach it in good form with high hopes for this game. we know it's a tough game against a great team. i think since the match in the first half of the season, the team has improved a lot. we are going to try and play to our best because to beat barcelona, we have to play at

100%. manchester united manager david moyes insists he has the full backing ahead of game after the first leg in greece following sundayts 3-nil loss to liverpool. moyse has again been forced to defend his position. >> them let me get on with the job. we never discuss it. we talk about the future. we are making big plans for years going forward. >> that's why there is a six-year contract because this club is not a short term vision. >> a 4-2 lead into their home second in petersburg. a new manager former chelsea and tottenham boss, but he won't take charge until after this game. in the nba, the miami heat claimed a four-points win over the cleveland cavaliers and once

again, lebron james was central to their efforts. he scored 43 points with 25 of those coming in the first quarter and that is a career high for lebron. the league mvp putting his hand up there in defense. >> block helping them preserve their lead in the 100 to 96 win. phil jack has been outlining his ambitions if he takes over as the president of the new york knicks saying there is no better place to win than new york city. the knicks haven't won a title since jackson claimed his last as a player back in 1973. he has won 11 championships as coach with the chicago bulls andla la& l.a. lakers? >> there are very few distal championships in the nba. we know that. we are looking forward to try to attempt that and this will be a pinnacle. it would be a capstone on a

remarkable career that i have had. >> tbath weighwate needed to wi the dutch posted add decent score of 140 mostly thinks to 72 knocked out from tom kaper. against the netherlands team who won their opening match of the tournament. it went down to the final balls. we needed a run. it got more than that. smashing a 6 to give them victory. both sides must win their final games to have a chance of making it through. the world's top teams join later on this week and defending champions, the west indy indies look to be in good shape. hitting a total here of 172. a bit of field, 139, johnson

charles there with that fumble. playing south africa while the windies willing take on india. maple league baseball's efforts to break into new markets, praying on one of australia's most famous cricket grounds. it has been one 00 years since it was played at sydney's cricket grounds. they have a local within their ranks, ryan roland smith. they will be starting the major league season there on sawyturd. >> to know the history of this place and, you know, the cricket and the greats that have played here, you know, from way back in the day, they haven't changed up the pavilion. it's special looking over my right shoulder was pretty special. walking on the pitch, you know, knowing so many greats have played there, it's a special thing. >> on our website, our top story there, news that tennis marry

andy murray has split from his coach, the man who helped him to olympic and grand slam titles. you can read that and other sports as well. al jazeera america.com/sports. and details on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. okay. plenty of more sport for me later on. >> that's it for now. >> andy, thanks very much. a rare guitar has gone up for sale in the u.s. ♪ one of the first fender strato casters has been offered for a quarter of a million dollars. it wid an o 100 serial number which means it was one of the first editions ever made available to the general public back in 1954. a fender historian says the instrument is a national treasurer.

that's all for this newshour. do stay with us. we have more news ahead. ♪

one of the great things about working at al jazeera is the amount of space you have to do the kind of stories that take a long time to cover. to have the complete editorial freedom to tell these stories and do so with the adequate resources is amazing. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

>> u.n. secretary general is head today russia about the ongoing crisis in crain. meanwhile, pro-russian forces taking control of the crainian navy base in sevastopol follows tuesday's attack in crimean in which two people were killed, including a ukrainian soldier. calling the annex a robbery on an internationalscale. frustrated family members lashing out demanding more information and threatening to go on hunger strikes. malaysia officials now say files were recently deleted from the pilot's flight simulator. >> simulator was recovered from the capitalip's