storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it. >> hello, and welcome to the news hour. with the word's top stories from al jazeera in doha. 12,000 u.n. peace keepers will be sent to the central african republic, france said this could be a turning point. we are facing boundaries so it is a long term endeavor unfortunately. >> standing their ground pro russian protestors rejecting amnesty, despite the threat of force.

with more news from europe, including health agencies around the world, have spent billions on it, but is the flu drug not as. ive as first thought? the vessel that will be used to destroy syria's chemical weapons. >> the top sports story this thursday, the former 100-meter world record holder. banned for doping both details coming up later in the program. >> so with fears of again side looming in the central african republic, the united nations security council has now voted unanimously to double the number of peace keepers there. 10,000 sols will take over from african union troops but not until sent the 15th.

the french ambassador told al jazeera why the u.n. needs five months to prepare the mission. >> unfortunately, the u.n. is always a bit slow to deploy a peace keeping operation. you have to find contingents and policeman ready to go to the central african republic. you have to equip them. you have to bring them to the spot, so in the coming months we are going to do it. secondly, the u.n. is going immediately to the african force, because we already have 6,000 soldiers there now doing a great job, in a very difficult circumstances. but they are lacking some capabilities and we are going to give them these capabilities so they can deploy themselves throughout the country. >> standing by at the united nations for us to tell us about what this vote means for the situation on the ground, kristen? >> well, sevenly, we are talking about doubles the

troops. the african force now consistents of 6,000 soldiers and when this is all up and running lit be 12,000 international peace keepers including some of those african forces. and about 1800 will be police officers. and the mandate will continue to be focused on protecting civilians. something more extreme in the past. the government requests this that they have a strong mandate. the down side, as you were just hearing is that it is going to take until sent to get all of this up and running. >> yeah, the french

ambassador was telling why it would take up until december. but let me ask you this, why did it take so long to get to this point, because the conflict has been going on for a year. >> you are right, and there's a lot going on here, a lot of conflicts that the security council has been dealing with, there is a year with in which we saw the ukraine, a new peace keeping mission, the ongoing conflict in syria, so all of that is happening and the french ambassador also talked about this, as well. saying that you know there's not a lot of international media with the possible exception of al jazeera, that is in the central african republic, there's not a lot of countries who have presences there, so it took a while to raise awareness and to make people realize exactly how difficult the situation is there. and then there's also the issue of finding the troops and concern about having the troops and the money to fund these troops that was also a factor. >> all right, thank you.

kristan joining us. at least 13 people have been killed in the latest violence in the central african republic. the country has been in turmoil. violence escalated as resent mes grows. now the muslim population then became a target for the anti-ball cachristian fighters. around 750,000 muslims live mainly in the west as well as in the capital. that's about 15% of the p tolation, now, there are just a few thousand left. tens of thousands have fled to cameroon, as well as the democratic republic of congo. dominic cane has the latest on a country in turmoil. a french army truck patrols the streets. escalating tensions between christians and

muslims here, have sparked an explosion of violence in recent months. since desks many thousands of muslims have left the city. and aid agencies warn the situation could descend into ethnic cleansing. and where muslims and christians still can meet, the atmosphere is tense. those few that would go on camera say the main witch is for peace to return. >> we are all together, all we want is peace, so we can go back to a business and deal with our needs. into this position came the u.s. ambassador, aware for any creasing cause to be sent to the country. >> no question we need to redouble our efforts. but this adds even more urgency getting more troops and more communities deployed rapidly. in order to fill the gaps. >> one contention issue is is the make up of the

international force that is currently in country. chad has supplied thousands of troops but many of them are muslim, and that is an issue for some people. >> we would like our authorities to accept is that the muslim should leave and go somewhere else, but they go away for a while, mr. they go back to their country or another place, so that the authorities can talk to the rebels disarm them, and see how best to pursue peace efforts. >> central african republic has seen two changes of government since march of last year, with first christian and then muslim presidents deposed in their terms. now in both communities just want peace to return. dominic cane, al jazeera. you crane's government has offered amnesty barricaded in buildings in two cities.

the acting president has promised the groups won't be prosecuted so lon as they lay down their weapons. but as kim reports, the demonstrators have is so far rejected the deal. n may say is is their domain, an inspected republic representing the people. the offer of an amnesty quickly refused by nose at the top who say they would rather face the use of force. >> we are living from one statement to the next, what can we do? we are not ready to step aside, and the people here are not ready to either. >> the off came from interim president, speaking in parliament he said of prodecember tors leave state building in the east, they won't face prosecution, and as part of the deal they could

gain more control. we are ready to consider the issuer of reform, and expanding the rights of local council, including the creation of local executives. we are ready to take that path, so that the regions will also be responsible and not just refer to what is going on in kiev. profess tors say it is the authority that should be listening to their demands and not the other way around. >> they say they don't see the amnesty, of a legitimate government of the region, they say they have no plans to evacuate the building and are continuing to prepare for any assault. >> despite the declaration, they are already a republic, protestors now say may want a referendum on the issue to move they have the people's support. interim president offer of amnesty they say is meaningless. no, we don't trust him,

he is just creating a reason to push us out of here. and then the oppression will start. >> he is a liar. the people don't trust him any more, and don't want him to be the acting president. it is an illegal authority. >> i am an ordinary person protecting my home. we are not standing anywhere with any weapons, and everybody is claiming they are russians. but here we are people. kiev accuses russia of orchestrating in the east. regardless of where they have been sent is in or not, time is running out for authorities. how much they are willing to compromise the determining factor whether these will turn into a battlefield. al jazeera. the russian if the has warned several countries that ukraine's could effect the gas exports to europe. putin has contacted european leaders to propose urgent discussions on the issue.

he says ukraine's gas debt stands at $2.2 billion. and this could effect the transit of gas through ukraine and then through to europe. putin also reiterated his view that the intervention was the right thing to do. i just want to say that all decisions were made after it was made clear what with the mood of the people was. frankly speaking he couldn't have imagine what the attitude was, but we didn't know for sure. only after we conducted the surveys which we conducted secretly, the numbers were close to reality, only then it became clear we chose the right course of conduct. >> the trial of three al jazeera journalists being held in egypt has been adjourned until april 22nd. they were denied bail. they have been behind bars for 103 days. >> the prosecution produced video of what it

says support the case against the team. the court will show on t.v. reports by peter from kenya produced after the attack on the west gate last year. it also watched parts of an award winning documentary, that was produced before he joined al jazeera. the hearing on thursday including the submission of the report by the sky news challenge and drivers in the city. the judge dismissed the video and ordered all other material to be viewed by a special committee in the presence of defense lawyers. al jazeera journalists peter hamed and baha mohammed have now spent more than 100 days in an egyptian jail. all three are falsely accused of providing a platform tor the brotherhood, which the military backed government has designated as a terrorist organization. defense lawyers told the

court the case should be dismissed. >> today the court plays some showing courses and videos that have nothing to do with what is going on in egypt. >> al jazeera has been jailed without trial since last august, and has been a hunger strike for months. in a letter from his prison cell, he wrote. some of my friends tried to convince me to end my strike, but i am determined to carry on for my freedom. i stop drinking juice and my bones hurt me a lot. i can barely stand on my feet. al jazeera rejects all charges and continues to call for their immediate release. 17 other journalists are also being tried in their absence. well, lebanon has deported two egyptian citizens that were detained last week.

their lawyer says they could face a death sentence back in egypt. still ahead, eager to elect this 100-year-old man is among millions of indian whose are voting for a new government. and in cages reveal how hundreds of suspected immigrants are held in kenya. we look at how the tournament is coping without the number one player, tiger woods. now for years government has stock piled drugs to protect against a possibility of a pandemic. in our european news center with that, felicity? >> yes, and the drugs they have spent the most on is temaflu.

no researchers here say governments are wasting billions of dollars on that drug. and have called the effectiveness into doubt. al jazeera explains. >> the world fakeers stark warnings of a deadly global pandemic. iveian influenza was spreading to humans. experts warned that billions of people around the world were at risk. temaflu emerged. but this report claims the benefits were exaggerated. >> there is no reduction in cause of explications. it also tells us that there's no effects on transmission of flu that would be a credible to use in a pandemic situation. >> the fear of a pandemic led to this, security secret warehouses of stock piles antiviral drugs. the british government spent $793 million the u.s. government spent a

stackers $1.3 billion on the drug. now the new report found it works but only a bit. flu symptoms which would otherwise have lasted seven days were excused to 6.3 for adults and 5.8 in the case of children. gains can were so imaginal that the report offers say over the counter drugs would have had the same effect. the report offers baffled for more than four year withs to get research data, but also criticized the system. the way drugs regulators are only ever present with selective data. by the industry. they perform the studies they provide the regulator, but they do not go out of their way to prevent the benefits in a reasonable fashion or to give us a clear evidence on the harm.

iny -- i feel that we have been as transparent as was suitable at the time under the regulatory environment that there is. >> but the debate is not yet effected team flu that i us the, for the moment the world health organization stimclasses it as an essential medicine. governments worldwide have been mislead about the effectiveness of the drug. >> from reading the report, it seems very close, that it is a very very limited effectiveness. it shorten ped the duration by just a few hours. and it doesn't seem to do inning very concrete to reduce complications which means pneumonia, or hospital admissions. and it doesn't do anything to prevent the spread. so would we have spent billions of dollars on buy this drug knowing that? i suspect we probably wouldn't have. perhaps sitting in a bunker confronting the extermination of a human

race by pandemic flu you might pan zych feel differently, but actually, i think what really matters is we weren't able to make a truly informed decision. we need to go into a decision like that with eyes open. at the time, we were mislead. we were led to believe it was a drug that would lighten the pneumonia and hospital admission, if that's not the case, then i think that's pretty bad. >> what does that say, then, about governments around the world deciding what money to spend? what does it say about the world health organization, who still says this is a very effective drug? >> i think the whole system of how we gather information is fundamentally broken. organizations around the world with, like regulators, have access to secret data, which they look at in secret

meetings. behind closed doors and they all came to a different conclusions. so some places some relators say yes it does reduce the number of complications, some places said that it didn't. and when there is disagreement, we need to be able to see all of the data to understand why they are disagreeing. it is ludicrous we have put one a world in which these decisions are made, but in secret behind closed doors with with secret access to secret information, doctors and researchers aren't allowed to have access to and review. it is great we are moving forward, and some drug companies are becoming more transparent, and -- and i think at the same time that everybody is el fooing very angry with rosch for the cat and mouse game, we should also -- awe though it feels difficult, suck it up today and say congratulations. bravo, to rosc for

finally doing the right thing, and i hope they continue to be more transparent in the future. they had no me did nan levels. they would have been sold as cures for diarrhea and headaches. ridding syria. chemical weapons has been a top priority since the country slid into civil war. currently in spain will play a crucial role in disposing of these weapons. al jazeera has more details. some 4,000-kilometers away, lies the cape ray. a vessel is that is about to play a crucial role in the destruction of syria's deadliest chemical weapons. currently stationed at the naval base in southwest spain, it spent the last few months being equipped for the next

mission. cape ray will be dealing with a decommissioning and neutralization of 107-8560 tons of chemical components. it is a monumental multilateral mission. the government aims to complete the hand over from it's sites by the end of the month. the norwegian vessels will receive is the materials and when that happened it will head to the southern italian port, with a transfers of the so you can pile will take place, ship to ship. so we believe they have all the tools they need to get on with the removal of the remaining chemicals. and at the same time we need to stress that the time is running out. >> come down through these mixers back up through the pipe and dump right back in. so what you have is to start with with is is hot water. >> it is here where it will be handled with the upmost care. this is where the mustard gas will be neutralized

water in this system rendered the chemicals into industrial waste, where it will be able to be processed in commercial plants. after the process, those events involved in those operations will then come here and begin their own decontamination process. >> they will be washed all over, head to toe, when the guy is done. >> the whole process is is expected to take place within two months and international waters of the mediterranean sea. and they are all banking on syria of delivering on time. al jazeera, onboard the cape raid in southern spain. nor from europe later in the program. gi the practice of the challenge -- sending refugee whose designated camps. nairobi has the details. >> outside the main mosque people are anxious about the security cut

down. the government has ordered all refugees to move to designated camps for what it calls security reasons. thousands of people have been arrested. most of them are muslims and many say they have had enough. >> on monday we are going to fight, we are going to stop the victimization of this country. because we are not just from this country. some say they feel unwanted and those that come from somalia say they can't go home. >> he says he formed this video set prily.

with everybody there. men, children, women. there is a mesh overhead, and that esa all they have for cover. from the certain, for the exports. >> they deny the allegations and insists these pictures have been doctored. i took the pictures myself. i haven't done anything to those pictures beyond a click and put them in memory. >> while claims and counter claims continue, government officials say some of those arrested have been released. others have been set back, protests have largely been peaceful, but unsuccessful, now people plan to take their fight to the courts. al jazeera, nairobi. >> still to come, our

correspondent brings us a update. but fresh water is in short sup is ply, and there are now fears of disease. also ahead, nba champions in miami heat title defense takes another lump, that and the rest of the sport is coming up in 20 minutes time.

president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

hello, again. the united nations has voted unanimously to sent almost 12,000 peace keepers to central african republic. thousands of people have been killed in more than a million displaced because of the fighting between christians and muslims. activists occupying government buildings in eastern ukraine have rejected an offer to end their protest. demonstrators are in control of offices. while the trial of three al jazeera english journalists in cairo has been adjourned until april 22nd, peter

mohammed were denied bail. they have been behind bars for 103 days and are falsely accused of providing a platform to egypt outlawed muslim brotherhoods. now indians have been voting in one of the biggest elections. more than 100 million people were able to cast their ballot, 16,500 were open in 14 states and union territories. one of them was new delhi. well, the indian capitol is home to 17 million people. a moment that she says she will never forget. she has been homeless for 2 1/2 years and today she will vote in a general election for the first time. i have not only my first identity card, but also my election card, i am voting for the first

time, i am so happy. >> she is one of 8,000 homeless people who were officially registered in the skate capitol. she lines up at the polling station. the doored opened at 7:00 a.m. and will stay open for ten hours. delly is being fiercely fought over. this time, congress candidates have a tough fight only theirnd has. people here voted for change in recent state elections. a size mick political shift. the common man party saw them take charge of the capitol for a short time. >> had they been content with what they are able to achieve, and concentrated in delly and nearby, which together makes for 17 seats they would have easily got a more powerful. and perhaps also power

nonetheless, they were clear about what they want. >> we need to work on our education system is. with ehave aening la population. and we need to fix that. we need to bring refunds at a grass root level. >> it's been the busiest day in the election calendar. the largest number going to the polls. over 100 million people from 14 states and union territories are far appealed as the islands in the bay of bengal, to the south, in the north, have cast their vote. and there's still a month to go. am al jazeera, new dell li. >> security has been tight in the indian city where there are tensions between hindus and mutt limbs. last year dozens dies in violence. thousands of people are also made homeless, but as reports this hasn't stopped people from casting their votes.

they were forced their leave they home after violence ravaged their village last year, since then, he has struggled to recover his family's official documentation. but he did manage to get them tempered i.d.es to be able to vote. there should be peace in our country. they should have work and a place to live. >> from roof tops military and police officers were out in force. fighting between muslims and hindus remains a real and unsettled threat to many here, and because of this the need for visible protection was paramount. the government has also tried to boost the confident of some by issuing these, this white

card encouraging people to vote without fear, and this has been issued as a warning to some peel believes will cause trouble. >> some say is the events of august last year, have -. >> through my vote i can pressure the government to help me more, and provide me with the basics. >> more than 100 years old, but he still wants his vote to be counted. >> but there are also people who despite trying didn't make the voters list. al jazeera. we have much more

coverage on the website, just go to aljazeera.com. aid is being delivered to those in need. the near now is that illness and disease could spread among those crammed into camps. andrew thomas reports. >> now an evacuation center for those who have lost their homes they have just had their first delivery of aid, the absolutely basics, toilet paper, blankets and soap. >> we need toilet paper, everything in the box. is needed. >> this was one of the main streets when the flooding there was at its worst. but it was the watt tear

suddenly poured down the valley that did the most damage, when a landslide broke a natural dam in the hims it unleashed a torrent. >> you can only imagine the valley. that house is lifted up only stopped in it's tracks but the coconut trees. >> albert and his wife christina were washed away. albert has no home now. nor worse. only he survived. >> i feel terrible. clean badser an issue, already there have been outbreaks of diarrhea. >> there are a number of people effected here. and it probably doesn't seem that many when you compare it to india or some other context.

and you are also in a country which is in the bottom 40 in the world. so it has limited infrastructure. >> limited agencies and then the partners are giving support to the relief agencies. >> australia was initially criticized but it's government has increased what it is giving this cargo plane arrived on wednesday night. doctors soldiers and logistic experts were onboard. many who dies were children, one concern is that it will be children too that will bear the brunt of disease, but some the novelty of the new life hasn't yet worn off. but it will fast. andrew thomas, al jazeera, on now to the crisis in ukraine. ex-porters in one of the

biggest trading partners are now worried. felicity with more on that story. felicity. >> yes, germany has spent years cultivating it's business ties with russia. the fighter reports from berlin, but has left some german ex-porters rather anxious. tradition at the head of the trade fairs about more than music, it's about showcasing german engineering pride around the word. but the talk for many this year is not about winning but losing market share. as the european union threatened more sanctions against russia. the manager of the german trade bureau says a declining ruble and russian economy were already slowing german investment before the ukraine crisis. many companies have now

started to rethink the adjustment in russia. >> in absolutely terms are relatively modest, only making up around 3%. ey german economy. and the blue chip companies such as voaks wag with again, german railways gentleman post office. russia cannot withdrawal borders seven decades after world war ii. we have said is we will sup is port them even if we have to suffer because of it. >> the problem for the german government is a russian government which says it can't see what the problem is. >> after the war, disappeared.

these fresh memories and now what is here from this part of the world, that you are trying to impose sanctions on russians. for what? what reason? to divide the world? we don't understand this. from russia. whatever the political outcome for gentleman business leaders more seances is already a lose lose proposition. more than 100 people arrested as part of a european in airline ticketing. the operation was coordinated by the cyber prime center. now focused on the use of stolen credit cards that have found they were being used to book up to 300,000 fights.

the credit card companies can't get around at the moment, and it is the chin income the armor. as you mentioned, the crime and the investigated by europe, and the hague in holland. which means the epicenter is european. they will be stretching far and wide. i think we are looking at some 68 airports and 32 with countries already. and as we know it is really the largest crime in existence at the moment. i think it accounts for

around 120 billion u.s. dollars. which supersedes by a long way. since the last two or three years. >> the massive police operation across 32 countries as you say, how will the police have gone about identifying these gangs and finding them? >> i assume -- the epicenter in a european city as i stated and it is difficult. it is the longevity, many crimes will be reported. and it's up to the law enforcement agencies in the relevant countries to link arms somehow in terms of informing other countries but they have this crime going on. it's up to europe to link these together, it will be a signature on the crimes. and therefore it will start to be commonality of the criminality. if you get my drift.

and once the investigation has started to much like a serial killer, this crime has gone on for a long time, and it's probably been investigated. maybe even three or four years. it's probably been in existence for longer than that. and i would imagine it's a multimillion pound cyber criminal network gang that europe is considerable europe, and because they are dealing with it, we know it's spiraled into many european countries and we know it's gone as far as the dates because it's been reported in the states. so i would imagine that a lot of the criminals are circulating in airports. how do we find people's credit card details it is fairly similar is. follow somebody, watch behind them, as they are taking money out of a terminal, try and access their bag, it may be that the card is stolen

automatically and never returned. but maybe that the card is actually returned to the rightful owner, giving the cyber criminals and the criminals that will have the credit card in the end a longer time to take smaller amounts of money. but in this case we are seeing tickets people who travel through airports will think i wonder how i have been charged for that. maybe it is just a mistake. they will be reported to the relevant authorities are they think the crime is happening. appreciate your time, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> will begin talks to end the protest. the vatican secretary of state has been available to mediate.

the students remain determined. they say it is a time for resistence. >> they are painting banners and building paper telescopes with messages inside, calling on all venezuelans to join their fight. however, the students are divided. some say they want to see negotiated reforms but most are demanding the resignation of the president. >> we don't have proposals for the government. but we don't want with to have a dialog with them. >> in spite of weeks of protests they can still count on a solid core of support, it is shrinking though according to opinion poles. what may be helping them and that political divisions run deep among the various opposition leaders. >> the opposition hasn't gained anything from the protests because public opinion rejects violence. instead it is evidence there are internal divisions among the leaders, and that is very damaging for the

opposition as a movement. >> for now, protests have died down, but there are still barricades like this one, lefts by demonstrators around the city. after go months this crisis has left all sides politically weakened and that's the context in which they will begin to hold talks. not surprisingly there's little trust. the south american group along with a vatican representative will act as mediators. but there's little optimism. the government can't say. there's no reason for the opposition to sit down at the table if they can't talk about politics. about the political prisoners and changes of members of the council and supreme court. so on thursday at the very least, the two will

meet, boycotting the talks and the president insisting there's nothing to negotiate. a resolution to venezuela's political crisis is some ways off. sanchez, al jazeera. venezuela. >> still to come on the news hour, mind the bite, why those fighting to eradicate rabies have reason to celebrate. and a major set back, as renaldo gets injured all the details coming up in sports.

sri lanka has reduced the number of people killed by rabies by more than 90%, a dedicated anti-rabies campaign have helped fight the disease. fernandez reports. >> reaching out to the community, more units travel throughout sri lanka to vaccinate domestic and stray dogs against the virus. dogs are the main carriers of the disease. and the main target of a successful anti-rabies campaign, which has seen fatalities from the virus, for some 377 a year, to just 28 in the past 40 years. >> they have thes and and pass it to our people. so what the program can do, it is tremendous. >> they have authorities vaccinated almost 1 1/2 million dogs and stabilized the further 200,000 animals. the dog owners prevention

is the best option. >> dogs are animals. they don't understand. if a person is bitten and is the dog has rabies the person can die. that's why i thought i should vaccinate my dogs. the animals themselves aren't always cooperative. >> vaccinations like this one are a key part of the governments fight against the disease. they have move add more effective way of dealing with rabies which can kill victims if left untreated. at a cost now near $4 million. the doctor who heads the treatment unit, says knowing how dangerous the disease is, helps. so they come very quickly.

they come very quickly to get the treatment. >> domestic pets are responsible for the majority of bites inflicted on humans. so annual vaccines are essential, especially if sri lanka is to reach it's goal of eradicated rabies by 2020. al jazeera, sri lanka. >> you can see much more on the series looking at people who are working in public health, and the first program we examine the work of medical professionals in the philippines as they try to eliminate rabies. you can watch lifelines later here on al jazeera. also on am al jazeera, he is right here, and he is going to tell us about the days top sports stories. >> i am going to start with athletics and the former 100 record leader.

the 31-year-old tested positive for a banned stimulant. he says the positive test came about because of supplements given to him. he becomes the second sprinter to be punished this week. a gold medal frist the 2004 athens olympics was altesses spented following a positive test. joining us now, the editor of athletic whose is in our london studio, the punishment is going to cost a long shot, can you give us a sense of how damaging this is to the sport in that country? well, it's massively damaging to the sports in jamaica. more specifically sprinting is the national sport in the same way that we that brazilians are mad about football, and india, they play correct, and ten yeah, the main sport is long distance running.

in jamaica the main sport is sprinting. it is part of the culture over there, and all the kids that grow up through the schools they all want to be the next use sane bolt, and there are this is just really bad news for the country. it will hit their sport hard. this is the latest in the scanning careds coming out, are the suspensions a sign they might be getting their house in order? i think so. it's been quite big news in the sport of athletics. the drug testing in jamaica, hasn't been as good as it could be. i think in the run up to the olympics the drug testing was very very sparse, almost nonexistence, and this is certainly a sign that the drug testers have clamped down.

i believe that they are going to argue his case here. he believes that he took a supplement that was with contaminated but even so, it has shown up in a drugs test, and shown up as a positive, so it is a sign that good rigorous testing is taking place. seeing as they are happening so close to home. >> yeah, that's a difficult question. personally iny i speak for a lot of people, i think he is clean. i mean he looks like pretty virtually the most natural fleet anybody has seen. he looks like a complete 23/45/67. he was exceptionally talented as a teenager, and he has shown this progression right flu to the highest level. but at the same time, this is still going to knock his reputation a

little bit, because there will be people in some quarter whose are going to go into not quite find him guilty by association, but certainly a little bit sus spacious by association, and people will naturally lump him into the same group as other jamaica make can sprinters now that fallow has tests positive they will say maybe they are all positive. >> we will have to leave it there, thank you very much. >> well, football of the year could be an injury for real madrid against bass luna next wednesday, he has missed the last two games in the club, and have confirmed that he suffered a muscular injury, he scored 45 goals in all competitions this season, including a record 14 in the champions league. well, to golf now, the 78th masters is underway, and american bill half without their biggest

draw card the current world number one tiger woods his absence flu injury is a massive blow to organizers and sponsored. as we explain. >> every april, one tournament catches the attention of golf fans from a quaint corner of america, augusta georgia. for the last 20 years tiger woods has wowed the crowds and taken home four green jackets. but a back injury has sidelined him for this year, and according to golf.com michael walker that could have a real impact. >> the final round, you look at maybe between 60 to 100% doubling the ratings so that's a big thing. >> ticket prices are down 66% from last year, and for the sponsors the loss is even greater. nike indicated that during the 2013 masters was his coverage provided them with three times more air time than his next best, rory mcilroy, and that could translate into about three to $4 million in loss

exposure for the top sponsor. >> it is unbelievable what this game has -- what has happened with the growth of this game, and tiger has been the instigator. he is the one that has propelled and driven the bus. because he has brought increased ratings, sponsor, interest, and we have all benefited but nobody has benefited more than i am, and we are appreciative. and that's why we miss him so much. >> his effect on golf has been huge since the mid 90's up until now. and i think any sport benefits from a dominant figure like that to not really drive the game forward, but having tiger in a tournament definitely creates more buzz. more of an atmosphere, you know where he is on the course, just by the crowd and the gallery that follows him. >> crowds or not, he has a real chance at becoming the dominant figure in the sport. >> he is a super star personality, i think he is very confidentble with the attention, i don't

think woods was, i don't think mickelson is as much, he embraces the spotlight. i i do think there will be a post generation of guys inspired by tiger will capture our imagination, and i think rory is the first. >> mcilroy is still looking to win his first green jacket, and phil mickelson could tie woods and arnold palmer with four wins. with with the value of having him in the field cannot be denied. >> the heat have relinquished their place at the top of the eastern conference, that position now belongs to the indiana pacers. the heat lost their second game in as many days this time to the grizzly whose are now just one game out from the western conference playoffs. and a 3-point with just three minutes left, sealed the 107-102 with victory, the 12th straight win at home. that's it, more later. >> all right, more news coming up on al jazeera english, as well as al jazeera america, in just a moment, stay with us.

50th anniversary of the signing of the civil rights act. in obama took the occasion to remember those who fought for racial equality. >> we recall the countless unheralded americans black and white, students and scholars, preachers, and housekeepers. whose names are etched not on monuments but in the hearts of their loved ones. and in the fabric of the country that they helped to change. >> the justice department ys