might be a key to a brighter future for pakistan. hello, and welcome to the news hour from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. here's what's coming up in the next 60 minutes. as a new round of talks on iran's nuclear program begins in vienna, they say iran could produce material for a nuclear weapon in two months. i'm lauren taylor with the news from europe including ukraine scrambling to gain control of pro-russian protesters in the east. while outside the war of words escalates on moscow's

intentions. >> britain royal family welcomes ireland's president for a historic visit. and we're in afghanistan where two presidential hopefuls think they've each secured victory in saturday's votes. hello. the u.s. secretary of state says iran breakout period, the time it would take to produce the material for a nuclear weapon, is two months. john kerry made his comments when a senate committee asked him whether negotiators were aiming for a six to 12-month breakout period. >> i think it's fair to say that i think it's public knowledge today that we're operating with a time period for a so-called breakout of about two months. that's been in the public domain. so six months to 12 months is -- i'm not saying that that's what

we'd settle for, but even that is significantly more. remember, "breakout" means that they make a decision to race, to sort of move out of regime put in place and overtly move to enrich sufficiently to create enough material for one weapon. that's what "breakout" means. it doesn't mean they've gotten to a warhead or to a delivery system or even a test capacity or anything else. it's just having one bomb's worth conceivably of material, but without any necessary capacity to put it in anything and deliver it and to have any mechanism to do so and otherwise. we have amazing capacity that is being built into this system to understand what they're doing. >> we're following the story from washington, d.c. to tell us about the circumstances, tom,

that led secretary of state john kerry to make these comments. >> well, he's being basically grilled in the hearing that just concluded about an hour ago by both democratic and republican senators who are expressing a lot of skepticism about the progress of these talks. some of them contend that the u.s. made unnecessary concessions to begin with. first of all, by allowing the iranians to maintain their enriched uranium stores as they were at the point where these interim talks began, and they say that the sanctions against iran are already beginning to erode, the existing sanctions, because there is some indication according to some that the russians are already working on a barter deal for oil for other goods from iran. and they're basically -- kerry was in a very defensive position

here. now, in response he said that if the president -- president obama senses that, in fact, the iranians have either abandoned the talks or allowed the talks to break down or have violated the terms of this interim deal, then there would be an immediate, huge response. again, he did not clarify or elabora elaborate. >> tom, thank you very much. tom ackerman reporting from washington, d.c. for us. let's cross over and get the reaction from iran. moi hamed is an associate professor at the university of tehran joining us from the iranian capital. what do you make of kerry's comments at that iran is two months away to produce nuch material to make a nuclear bomb? >> i think it could be a good led line for those out to produce anti-iranian propaganda. if a country has -- produces

petro chemicals or has a good refinery capacity, they could potentially make chemical weapons as well. the point is that the iranians have never moved towards producing nuclear weapons. there's no evidence whatsoever that at any point the iranians had the intention to produce anything other than peaceful nuclear energy. unless there's evidence to show that iran is not abiding by international law, this is basically propaganda. >> based on what you're saying, what assurances has iran given? when we saw the interim deal being made a couple of years ago, the reactor that was one of the sticking points in the deal, the west said it can produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon. what has iran done to assure that it's not for the countries

criticizing it? >> no. the plant is as the united states well knows is very much within the framework of international law. iran does not have any intention to even reprocess the pollute plutonium that will one day be produced at the plant. the iranians simply -- if the united states thinks that they can hold iran back by making excuses, that's simply not going to happen. iran can build any plant that it wants without the framework of international law as long as iran is producing peaceful nuclear fuel or pursuing peaceful medicine, for example. the iranians right now, we all recall when the united states and the europeans prevented iran from importing enriched uranium,

it was producing medical isotopes for cancer patients where almost 1 million people a year needed those. the americans and europeans tried to put pressure on iran from preventing iran to have that fuel. the iranians were forced to produce nuclear fuel at 20% in order to save its cancer patients. >> let me ask about the talks beginning on tuesday. the talks that are beginning on tuesday in vienna, they're aimed at coming up with a draft of a final deal on iran's nuclear program. at the same time there are reports in russian media that russia and iran are set to negotiate an oil for goods deal. it's thought to be up to about $20 billion. why was iran doing this right now? the u.s. is saying that undermines the nuclear talks. >> no, it doesn't. iran has every right to export as much oil as it wants. the sanctions that the united states has imposed on iran are unilateral sanctions.

they are illegal sanctions. who is the united states to tell the rest of the world how to behave? the united states has no legal right to tell russia how to behave. it doesn't have any legal right to tell the chinese how to behave when it comes to iran. the united states has severely damaged its own allies in europe when the europeans impose sanctions on iranian oil and gas in order to hurt ordinary iranians, in order to make ordinary iranians suffer which is, of course, a violation of human rights. what they did was they created a monopoly for the russians and russia oil and gas. now when the europeans and the russians are arguing over ukraine, the russians have all the cards. so iran has every right to export. the attitude and the behavior, irrational attitude of the united states towards iran in imposing its will on countries like its european partners has

damaged the europeans, and i don't think the russians feel obliged to abide by american law. so iran can export whatever it wants to export, and it's, i think, time for the united states to behave more reasonably and final a solution for its problem with iran. >> good to have you with us on al jazeera. thank you. john kerry has been speaking to the senate committee about ukraine. lauren taylor covers that from the european news center in london. lauren. >> the u.s. secretary of state accused russia of engaging in an illegal effort to destabilize ukraine with paid operatives, and he warned russia of tougher economic sanctions if it continues down want current path. ukraine government is grappling with pro-russian activity in the east. this video emerged from inside the security forces offices taken over by pro-russian protesters. the video, which al jazeera can't verify, these men say they're armed with automatic weapons and explosives. they want the region to vote on

whether to join russia, a move similar to crimea's switch to russia. they have driven out pro-russian demonstrators that took over the headquarters. they seized weapons and arrested 70 people. in damask they're stilling by the referendum as well. we begin the coverage. >> three days seizing the government administration building, they're reinforcing the barricades. ukraine's deputy prime minister has said police won't storm the building right away, and with negotiations between politicians and police is hoping a deal can be reached. that could be difficult with different leaders now speaking for different factions. >> translator: there are private talks and private negotiations between influential people. no one is negotiating with the people of the republic. >> reporter: signs of the

activists continued cause to join russia still plaster the walls. as police moved in on the alli s allies, folks here are prepared for a showdown. despite all the talk of negotiation, molotov cocktails are here. they say if authorities move in with special police forces, the rush are prepared to use it. they say it's an independent republic. one leader said they remain united. >> translator: the authority that came to power in kiev is illegal. they blame us and say we're separatists. there's no declaration of sovereignty of any district is not a sign of separatism. we're not destroying anything. >> reporter: he said that the people's council is now in power but won't elect a leader for fear they will be a target for kiev.

they'll ask moscow for protection if ukrainian authorities launch an attack. it's causing tension in parliament, too, where a fistfight broke out after they accused the government of kiev of come police city. >> wasn't it you who provided a scenario and example? it turns out you were following not an american plan but a russian one on how to troy the independence on ukraine. >> reporter: protesters say they will continue calling for a referendum over joining russia maintaining they're independent and should be listened to as they wait to make their move. this is the update just sent through. >> ukrainian authorities say in the state security building pro-russia activists are holding hostage 60 people, at least some ukrainian state personnel themselves. they tell us that these pro-russian activists have laid explosives around the building

possibly to deter special forces from moving in and they have weapons and possibly grenades. in this video posted online, four men who are covered are holding automatic assault rifles say they are pro-russia activists and represent the people and they want to have their demands known. they say they want a referendum, and they say that the authorities must listen. obviously, a very tense situation. no doubt the government in kiev will be key to asteroid any bloodshed as this plays out. there's all here where pro-russia activists maintain control of the state government administration building. there they have several barricades that have been reinforced and they expect some sort of assault from authorities from special forces in the comi coming days. >> russian says the foreign minister has discussed the

crisis with katherine ashton. we have the late he is -- latest on that from moscow. >> more positive news on tuesday. the prime minister said they were wanting to join in four-party talks to try and negotiate a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis. that would involve sitting down the ukraine, russia and the united states and the eu to find a way forward. now, this was originally floated, this idea of four-party talks originally floated in paris on march 30th when sergei met the secretary of state. they want it to happen sooner rather than later, but the russians are saying they must know what the agenda is of these talks before they finally will sign on the dotted line and agree to take part of in them. this comes just hours after some

very, very tough talking from the kremlin, from the ministry of defense here warning kiev that a civil war could be the result if they move their forces, reinforcements further south and east into the ukraine. >> the rest of the day's of news from europe later on. lauren, there's much more to come on the al jazeera news hour, including recovering from floods and out of clean water. we report from the solomon islands where there are fears disease may spread. no more killer whales at seaworld. why some politicians in california are pushing for a ban. can the mastermind chelsea go against paris? we'll have the latest from the champions league quarterfinals. that's coming up. first, at least 14 people have been killed after a bomb went off in a train in pakistan. it happened at the cb railway

station about 160 kill meters from qatar. about 35 people were injured in the attack. no group claimed responsibility. on sunday pakistani security forces killed 40 separatist fighters in the province. to afghanistan where there have been over 3,000 complaints of violations over last week's presidential elections. ballot boxes are still arriving in kabul. it's too early to declare a clear winner, but some candidates are confident they don't have to pate part in a runoff. >> with ballots papers coming into kabul, it will be many weeks before the independent election commission delivers the definitive verdict on who will be the next president of afghanistan. the three front-runners are already expressing confidence in their chances of victory. abdullah abdullah told al jazeera his team's

calculations give him 62% of the vote. the figure he believes will be reflected as long as the counting process is transparent. >> it's a huge responsibility of a national scope in dimensions, and hopefully they're aware of the burden that is like everybody should. >> they also think their man is heading to the presidential palace again with more than r 60% of the vote. they suggest no one got more than 50%, meaning a runoff is necessary. he says he's got enough votes. when the polls close, the ballots are counted and the results push lished on the wall of polling station in the country. only when they have 5% of the vote from 27 of afghanistan's 34 provinces will it announce the initial estimation of who has

won the presidential ballot. that calculation should be released within the next few days. bernard smith, al jazeera, kabul. aid workers in the solomon islands are worried there could be an outbreak of disease. people are struggling to get clean water after what's being described as the worst flooding in the island's history. around 50,000 people have been left homeless. 23 people have been killed and that death toll is expected to rise and dozens are still missing. andrew thomas is in the capital. >> reporter: this is the river that divides the city in half. this was one of the two places to cross the river, a strong, concrete bridge. as you can see, it was totally washed away. as for the houses next to the river, well, there's a huge amount of damage being done over there. this is the first dry day here for more than a week, and it's where the people have an opportunity to come down and see the extent of the damage.

some of them were here last thursday to see the roaring water come through, and they've benninen telling me entire hous rush past and there was little they can do to help. >> we stand here and watch people shouting for help and all this. we can help because it's very difficult. >> this is where some of those people will have come from. there was a house that stood on these foundations totally washed away. a similar scene going downstream and on the other side of the river as well. i'm not sure if you can see that group over there, but they're looking for someone known to still be missing as a result of the flooding. the big immediate concern now is that the rain has at least stopped for now. it's not more flooding but disease, particularly malaria and things that spread by mosquito. one camp has 2,800 people in it with two toilets. you can imagine conditions here.

this break in the weather gives aid agencies a chance and a maul window. the rain is due to return later in the week. the path is a long one ahead. the irish president has been warmly welcomed to the u.k. by the royal family for a historic visit. lauren taylor has more from our european news center in london. lauren. >> the president is the first irish head of state to come to the uk addressing both houses of parliament. he said it costs a long shadow across the country's relations. in 1932 they made the south independent of britain while the north remained part of the un e united kingdom. this was a source of violence for many years, particularly the conflict in northwestern ireland known as the troubles. it's estimated more than 3,600 people were killed. after decades of strife, 1985's angelo irish agreement between britain and ireland was a ground-breaking moment for peace.

they took another major step forward with the good friday agreement. paul brennan reports on this latest leap in relations. >> whether he fifrs came to london as a 21-year-old, michael d. higgins worked as a restaurant waiter. now aged 72 he's president of his country, on a mission of diplomacy and reconciliation. this is a fourth state visit laden with symbolism and ceremony and a sense of shared responsibilities. >> we have a fresh candidate on which to share our hopes and advance our overlapping vision. what we now enjoy between ireland and britain is a friendly, cooperative partnership based on mufrp respect and deep personal links that bind us together in culture and social tasks. >> reporter: the legacy of the period known as the troubles still haunts british and irish history. the years when the ira's attacked and murdered british

targets. when the british were also guilty of murders and abuses. in the 1970s martin mcginnis was a young ira commander. two years ago he and the queen finally shook hands. the two will meet again during this state visit. to receive the president of ireland and deputy first minister martin mcginnis himself in the ira is a mark how much we have come. >> there are those who cannot forget or forgive. >> if mcginnis is here today, look at somebody who lost a relative. >> reporter: the modern relationship between britain and the republic of ireland is no longer about bombs and guns. it's more about economic prospects than historic grievances. >> the republic is a country of 4.5 million people. it buys more from the united kingdom than the british manage to sell to india, china and

brazil. so a country of 4.5 million people is more important than a billion and a half people around the world. >> reporter: it's been ten years since the ira ended the campaign of violence in the six northern counties known as the province, but the message from this four-day visit is that the ties that bind these two couldn'ts closer together are much stronger than the forces which will push them apart. paul brennan, al jazeera, windsor. france's new prime minister has won a vote of confidence in parliament. he secured the backing of 306 votes to 239 against. earlier in pa lament he unveiled a planned tax and public spending cuts promising to tackle public debt without aw austerity measures. he was chosen to take the post last week by the president. german police have carried out 19 raids against a fund-raising organization with

ties to hezbollah. called orphan children's project lebanon raised $4.5 million from the hezbollah support group. this is the report from berlin. >> it was an operation seven years in the making. german thourts say the group called orphan children project lebanon was, in fact, working for the military wing of hezbollah and was raising money to provide financial assistance to the families of suicide bombers. >> translator: the organization has 80 members in total. about 160 officers were deployed. they see the organization's real estate and furthermore about $134,000 u.s. dollars from the organizations bank accounts and in total 30 kilograms of coins have been seized. >> authorities say the group raised around $4.5 million in a space of five years. the german interior minister said while freedom of association is a right in germa germany, it is not so for groups

committed to the destruction of the state of israel. the german move comes as part of a wider eu crackdown decided last year to cut off financing to the military wing of hezbollah. the italian navy has rescued more than 1,000 migrants since monday. among those there were 91 children including three babies. a newly released report there was 28,000 asylum claims in italy last year. it's predominantly made up of refugees from syria. still more from the european news in a while. lauren, journalists from around the world have to come together to demand the release of al jazeera staff detained in egypt. they have been imprisoned for 101 days. their trial is due to resume on thursday. they're falsely accused of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. the fourth al jazeera journalist in detention has been imprisoned without trial since last august, and of after 78 dies on hunger

strike his health is deteriorating. al jazeera rejects all the charges against the journalists and demands their immediate release. still to come on the al jazeera news hour, indonesians are due to head to polls on wednesday but a low turnout is expected. we'll look at why that is. the controversial court decision in the philippines that allows sex education in schools and free contraception. and olifympian swimming gre is in intensive care in the hospital. details are coming up.

>> this is my country, and we have to protect it. al jazeera america presents a breakthrough television event. borderland a first hand look at the crisis on the border. >> i'm trying to finish this journey for her. >> six strangers with different points of view, take a closer look at the ongoing conflict. kishana, a fashion blogger who doesn't believe in immigration, joins activist lizmarie, the daughter of legal immigrants. >> people didn't come here because we think this country pretty, people come here out of necessity... >> we didn't tell you to come here... >> they re-live the fatal quest of claudette, who died at just 21 years old.

>> claudette's decision was heartbreaking... she was a young beautiful girl. >> how will they face the challenges? >> these are my people, this could be my family right now... >> experience illegal immigration up close... and personal... >> the only way to find out... is to see it yourselves. on... borderland only on al jazeera america >> this takes guts... hello, again from al jazeera's headquarters in do doha. this is the news hour. here's a reminder for the top stories. the u.s. secretary of state says iran could conceivably develop the material to create a nuclear weapon within two months. it's during world leadersed in vienna. john kerry warned russia of harsher economic sanctions if it does not back down from involvement in ukraine. he said pro-russia

demonstrations were contrived and the pretext for russian military intervention. the afghan election commission says it has received more than 3,000 complaints of violations over last week's presidential elections. vote counts is still underway, and the results are expected in the coming weeks. indonesians will head to the polls to choose a new parliament on wednesday. the turnout could be low. some candidates as usual are promising to make a difference. we have the report from jakarta. >> reporter: he has become the symbol of change. former furniture seller and heavy metal music love r. as jakarta's governor he managed to win over many indonesians by providing free health care and subsidized education. his party the indonesian democratic party now part of the opposition is a front runner in this week's parliamentary

elections. >> translator: if we don't want change, we will be left behind by change itself. >> this is the rival, the former general. despite allegations of human rights abuse, he has a big following by presenting himself as the strong leader indonesia needs. his great indonesian movement, he's still untested and out of the league. >> i would like to see it like this, you know. if you see a fish in an aquarium, it is very nice to see and beautiful. if we put the fish in the river or in the sea, maybe that's a different case, you know. >> reporter: you don't see the fish, then? >> i don't know whether it will survive or not. >> reporter: the party some say will be the big loser in the upcoming elections as the democratic party of the incumbent president. while he did improve the economy, the gap between rich

and poor has increased and his party members have been convicted for corruption. >> he's like obama because there are people that like him after ten years. there's corruption and all the things, and they don't see it anymore. they see him as common people like them and they like him. we have to accommodate that. we have to see that this is the force of the people. you cannot stop that equality. >> reporter: only parties winning more than 25% of the vote on wednesday can nominate a candidate for the vote. the elections are crucial, but with many indonesians say they're disappointed by corrupt parliament members, there's a fear voter turnout could be low. a series of lightning strikes in southern chile has killed dozens of dairy cows. farmers say almost 70 cows were

killed in the storms. many of them died when the trees they were sheltering under when hit by lightning. tree function as lightning rods conducting electrical charges from the clouds to the ground. a proposed bill in the u.s. state of california would force the san diego branch of seaworld to stop using killer whales in shows. activists say the amusement park mistreats the animal. a trainer was killed by one of the killer whales in 2010, and that triggered a debate about the safety as well as the ethics of using them for entertainment. tara is executive director and founder founder and she joins us from san francisco. you have tried to hold seaworld accountable for their actions through an online petition? >> yes. thanks for having me here today. over 1.2 million consumers around the world have signed our petition to the california assembly to call on seaworld to

stop its practice. over 1,000 of those are from california. that is the largest petition ever. it's an unprecedented interest from consumers around corporations acting out of profit and doing things that are wrong. >> do you think that this bill will be passed into law, the petition that you had 1.2 million sign is quite symbolic, i believe. >> yes. so the hearings are happening this morning. it was very dramatic. there was dozens and dozens of people on each side testifying in front of the committee that is hearing this bill. the committee then made a decision just in the last hour to refer the bill to an interim study committee to further study the science behind the treatment of whales. so we are looking forward to seeing the report of that committee. we believe the science is very strong. these whales are being mistreated. >> what is the science?

what is your concern when it comes to the whales at seaworld? >> these are very smart, sensitive animals. they are being held in cages that are tiny. they're also very social animals, and they aren't allowed to socialize with each other in the way they need to be emotionally healthy. they're forced to perform for the entertainment of people and for the profit of seaworld itself, and consumers really strongly object to all of this when they learn more about it. they don't want their money going to the mistreatment of these animals and the captivity of these very sensitive animals. >> this proposed bill is limited to san diego, so could this set a press dents for other cities as well as other countries? >> indeed, yeah. five countries in the world have already outlawed this kind of treatment, and we think that this bill, if passed in california, would help killer whales all around the world by setting this precedent and making clear that consumers really won't stand for this kind of treatment.

>> all right. thank you very much for joining us from san francisco. good to gets your thoughts. people traveling in and out britain say they are rather being harassed by counterterrorism officials because of a controversial law. back to lauren in london to explain what that's about. lauren. >> the legislation called schedule 7 was designed to counter the ira, but now al jazeera has been told how it's being used routinely against certain groups. so what is schedule 7? it allows people to stop, examine and search travelers through airports and seaports and rail terminals. unlike other laws, there's no requirement for an officer to have a suspicion that someone is involved in terrorism before they're stopped. they can be held for up to nine hours and those who fail to cooperate can face three months in prison, a fine or both. laurence lee reports. >> reporter: ever since the attack on world trade center the

airports have been the front line. schedule 7 enables the police to stop anyone coming or going through immigration and question them under the terrorism act. the detail of these conversations never normally comes out, but this recording offers an insight into what seems to go on behind the scenes. >> the man that recorded this did so, he says, because he was sick of being stopped even though there's nothing in his life of any interest to aents terrorism police. >> i had a man in front of me talking about associating black people with rape, with violence and recognizing those people. >> islam? >> yes. someone in this room or someone who has this power and responsibility who's looking at

national security. >> reporter: the anti-terrorism officer asks him questions about british foreign policy. >> i have a british passport, and we see people review our passports walk straight through and i'm there and get stopped from a long stop sometimes three or four hours, and i'm not allowed home. i'm not allowed to see my family. >> the government set guidance for many muslims find it offensive, but the independent legal adviser insists schedule 7 is a useful tool. >> if you look at the number of people who are charged with terrorist offenses, of the number of terrorist prisoners in the uk, i'm afraid there as well there's a predominance of asian people. so what the police will tell you is that what they are doing is proportionate not perhaps to the

population as a whole but the risk. >> they point out in the three years since 2012 there were 12 significant convictions of people on terrorism offenses who have been stopped under schedule 7. that's part of an overall total of some 230,000 people stopped. that's why campaigners against schedule 7 say far too many innocent people are caught in the net. the campaign group said it had endless muslims complaining about a similar experience. they've had their phones taken and the contents inspected. it's demanding the legislation is revoked. >> various organizations and people have tried over this time to correct this. they've asked in the beginning i think they asked for safeguards. things like can we have -- can there be reasonable suspicion clause be added? can we collect details about the faith of people stopped? can we record stops? they've been asking for this for

years, but it's been kind of ignored. i think at this stage we have to say now that schedule 7 needs to be repealed. >> there is a debate about whether schedule 7 might be made less confrontational but nothing is changed. certainly stopping innocent people in a way intimidating seems unlikely to win many hearts and minds. laurence lee, al jazeera, london. >> richards is the co-director of buckingham center of intelligence studies. he joins us via skype now. do you think schedule 7 is being wrongly used? is there racial profiling going on? >> well, i don't think that there is. the key issue is about how it's applied. the power itself, i think, is a necessary power. the key issue is the training, the front line border security staff have and the way in which they apply it. i would certainly welcome some sort of investigation into that and a sort of survey done of

exactly how it's been applied. >> on that point i want to ask you, you mentioned the training of border staff. explain how it works. do passports get flagged or stopped? is it simply a judgment by someone who is sitting there at the desk who thinks that we look at this person and then the police intervenes? can you explain the process? >> it could be either. the essence of the schedule 7 is a border official can pull somebody to one side and ask the question mainly on the basis of suspicion. so it could -- they may not have any actual previous intelligence or any particular flag. they might decide that somebody dairz there's some cause for suspicion in some way, and that's the controversial aspect of it. in some cases when it's applied, there will be other information that have a particular person or flight is something to look at more closely. >> we have a person there in that report being asked about

their views on afghanistan. do you think that was a strange question? >> well, in some ways, yes, because, i mean, as we've discussed before, what views we have, we have freedom of speech in this country. as long as you're not breaking the law in terms of enciting racial hatred and violence, you're perfectly allowed to have political views, and those shouldn't be the cause for any prosecution or investigation. obviously, if you put those together with other aspects, if there are other reasons why somebody may be considered to be a risk or a threat, then those questions become slightly more pertinent perhaps. but simply ask those questions and draw judgments on them, no, i don't think that is correct. >> do you think there is grounds for reforming that and changing that element there's no suspicion they can ask anybody what they want? >> well, like you say, i think there are two different things.

there's the power itself, and i think for security reasons border officials have to have some sort of power to be able to stop and question somebody if there are grounds for concern. i think it would be dangerous if they didn't have some sort of power in that respect. the other sort of probably more important aspect is the training that they get in how to apply that and when to apply it. i think some sort of investigation into the numbers of these stops that are happening and whether they're applied proportionately would be welcomed. >> thank you very much for talking to us. former nsa contractor edward noti snowden has testified at a hearing. he spoke from moscow via video link for more than 30 minutes. he reiterated the vast extent of alleged nsa spying and adding that international laws need to be changed.

>> the streaming of millions of vaguest association or some other nebulous pre-criminal activity is a violation of the human rights to be free from unwarranted interference, to be secure in our communications and our affairs and it must be addressed. >> snowden's testimony is after a ruling by the european court of justice which scrapped a law that allowed people's phones and internet records to be monitored. the court said that citizens' lives shouldn't be the subtle of constant surveillance. up to date with the top stories in europe. back to doreen. the world health organization says the recent outbreak of the ebola virus in west africa is is among the most challenging to strike since the disease emerged 40 years ago. the fever has already killed more than 100 people. it's believed the virus was spread from the forests of southern guinea.

the most severe strains of ebola have a fatality rate of 90% and there's no vaccine or cure. the somali government and african union troops are continuing their offensive again al shabaab fighters. most people are desperate for help. we report that many are angry at the slow aid response by the government and donor agencies. >> reporter: she considers herself lucky for having a makeshift shelter. hundreds of families have arrived on the outskirts of the capital of mowigadishmogadishu. at the harsh conditions, she's struggling to take care her of her six children. >> reporter: it took two days to walk here and we're here with nothing. i have many children with me but not their father. >> reporter: the government and forces are continuing their campaign against the strongholds

of ail shall be shall be bab fighters in many areas. more than 40,000 are believed to have been forced to leave homes. most of them are desperate for help. >> translator: i came to mogadishu with my children and left the others. we need everything, and we're calling on those who can help us to hold out a helping hand to we can have shelter and our basic needs. >> reporter: somali hasn't had a strong central government in over two decades, and as more people become homeless, the government is struggling to provide food, water and shelter. >> translator: of course, there is somali government coordination among the ministry of interior. the ministry of health and disaster management agency are handling it as well as our agencies. we have the coordination and we're ready to respond in the coming days. >> reporter: they are facing a major humanitarian crisis.

apart from the 1.2 million displayed in the country, there are over 1 million living at refugees in neighboring countries. there have been accusations of sexual violence in refugee camps, and many are angry at the slow aid response by the government and other agencies. for her and many others, all they can do is survive one day at a time. the philippines supreme court has upheld a law requiring sex education in all schools. it also forces the government to provide contraception to the poorest filippinos, but we have the report. the decision is being challenged by the catholic church. >> reporter: it is a law thaz divided public opinion for years. now the supreme court has ruled that the contentious reproductive health law is constitutional. that means that the philippine government will have to offer sex education in schools across the country. it also means that the government has to provide

contraceptives to the poorest families who are often unable to afford it themselves. for families like this, this is great great news. she says she's never heard of family planning before, and this is why at the age of 33 she has 7 kids. >> translator: if this happened a long time ago, i wouldn't have this many children. i can't afford to buy pills because the money is used to buy food for my children, and so i'm really happy this happened. >> reporter: the law might be too late for her now, she says, but she hopes her children will no longer have to suffer the same fate. the united nations welcomed tuesday's ruling. >> it's really about the individual making that decision, and this law is being passed and makes it easier for the individuals to get the information and the services to make those decisions for themselves and for their lives. >> reporter: the law comes at an poirnt time. the philippine's growing

population makes it difficult for the government to sufficiently provide social services to its people. it also is expected to help educate children in a country with one of the highist rising cases of hiv in the world. the opposition comes mostly from the powerful hierarchy from the roman catholic church, which has called the law evil and anti-life. over 80% of filippinos are roman catholics, but local polls show that a majority of them support the law. though some provisions may have been taken off, supporters of the law still very much welcome the move. this position recognizes the basic human rights of every filippino and upholds the separation of church and state. al jazeera, manila. stay with us on the al jazeera news hour. coming up, we have all the action from the world's toughest footrace. we'll have the details in just a moment. r

we're here with all the sports news. >> thank you very much. just one place to start the uefa champions league to quarterfinal second legs have just got underway. in germany last year's runner-up overturned a three-goal deficit against real madrid. it says 0-0 there. real madrid took an early lead, and meanwhile chelsea was 3-1 down for the first labor. they're 4-1 down as they have

made it 1-0 to psg in that game. five-time olympic champion thorp has been receiving treatment at contracting two potentially dead infections. the 311-year-old known as torpedo remains in a sydney hospital after contracting the bug causes a series of shoulder operations. it has been reported that the swimmer suffered from depression in the past. however his agent has rubbished this and says thorpe's ambition to swim is unlikely. they told the australian associated press it's serious but it's not life-threatening from a xet point of view, he will not be swimming competitively again i don't think. to golf now. monday's practice ahead of the first major of the season. the masters was restricted because of bad weather.

they arrived early to get ahead of the forecasted storms. only two hours of practice took place before the weather conditions forced the first washout on a monday for 111 years. jason day got some practice in. the australian is one of three players who could replace tiger woods who is absent because of injury as world number one with a win at augusta. >> my goal is, obviously, to be able to get to number one one day and to have a green jacket, you know. i can do that in one week. that's exciting stuff for me. it really is. i know that there's been a lot of hard work and dedication that i put into the game, you know, for many, many years. it can all pay off in one week. >> he has won the third stage of the marathon. the more rock can won the 37.5 kilometer stage in a time of 2 hours, 58 minutes and 47 seconds. that's 50 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. he has a 10:22 lead overall.

running a mare none in 36-degree temperature is tough, imagine doing it dressed like these guys attracting all sorts including that man and this man coming up, john calhoun. he raise raced in a kilt. >> i try not to get anything to go tradition and that went very, very quickly. i go traditional, which is very, very comfy. but during this race, no. no traditional, no. meanwhile the olimpian chain mo is gearing up for it on monday. he collapsed and briefly lost consciousness after crossing the line of a half-marathon in new york last month.

however he doesn't feel he's risking his reputation by taking on the longer distance. >> it makes you more of a champion, i guess, for going out there and, you know, going trait in. for me, i like to just, you know, do whatever. the anaheim ducks have gone 3 points clear at the top of the nhl's pacific division, though easy winners against the vancouver canucks. winnik got the scoring going. he completed the 3-0 win. meanwhile, the minnesota wild are closing in on a playoff spot in the western conference. they beat the winnipeg jets 1-0. the new jersey devils suffered a setback with a 1-0 loss to the calgary flames. they're three points behind columbus for the final playoff spot in the east. to baseball, the new york

yankees won the home opener. they bet the baltimore orioles. the sellout crowd showed their support for derek jeter. they beat the orioles 4-2. cricket now. the new world 2 t-20 champions returned home after beating india in the final. they were celebrated by thousands of fans as the team toured the streets on an open-top bus. the tournament brought an end to the t-20 career and sri lanka are focused on winning the world cup in australia and new zealand. >> we have a lot of work to do, i think, to fully embrace the new rules and to formulate a strategy around it with our complete working on the building strategy and in the world cup in

australia and use it in 2015. that's the sport on our website. check out aljazeera.com/sports. also there's the correct scores from the tonight's champions league quarterfinals. it's currently chelsea 0 and dartmouth 0. still goalless in both champion league quarterfinal second legs. that is all the sports for now. i'll have more later. >> all right. we'll see you later on. before we go, let me tell you about a rare porcelain cup that set a world record at auction in hong kong. the bidder paid a heftily $36 million for this tiny artifact that you're looking at on your screen. it's, in fact, more than 500 years old and dates back to the ming dynasty. for our viewers in the united states, it's back to your regular programs on al jazeera america. for international viewers, we'll be with you in just a moment

with more news.

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. ukrainian security forces say pro-russian separatists placed explosives in a building they seized in the eastern city of luhansk. they're holding 60 hostages. the building has been occupied since sunday. secretary of state john kerry is accusing russia of trying to destabilize eastern ukraine. secretary kerry made the remarks at the senate foreign relations committee today. he also briefed senators on middle east peace talks and iran. today is equal payday, a day to highlight the income gap between men and women. president obama signed two