this is al jazeera. >> welcome to the news hour i'm darren jordan, from al jazeera headquarters in doha. these are the headlines. white house is concerned about russia's provocative action he. nigeria, the president blames the armed group boa boko haram.

>> hundreds of students and teachers have been subject to massive dna tests following rape of a teenage girl. >> you have to learn. i buy a dictionary every year, because every year they have new words. >> and we meet the 100-year-old crossword puzzle maker. welcome to the program. ukraine's acting president says he would welcome u.n. peace keepers in the east where armed prattists have seized government blfts. horlivka. in the east. >> 100 men took part in the

assault which like many takeovers in the east was streamed online. the military would be coming in to stop the arrest. no sign of any government operation and state buildings continue to fall. a few blocks away horlivka's city council was also taken over. pro-russian groups, across the east are now being told to raise the flag of the republic of donetske as opposed to the russian flag. now working at how to take control of a the wider city, around the region. crowds outside cheer the media around telling journalists to spread their demands. this video also credit said to be in horlivksa, says he's a russian lieutenant.

in the capitol, pro unity protestors, they say the government should be moving faster to quell tensions in the east and hold are interior minister responsible. >> he has to force his employees in the donetske, kharkiv and slovyansk regions. if he cannot do they has to accept this and resign. >> reporter: backtracking on the government's earlier stance interim president turchynov says he is not against a referendum in the east. admits divided allegiances make it difficult. >> one of the main problems is that the police force and other authorities were formed when ousted president urk viktor vikr

yanukovych held power in the country. >> reporter: the government is now asking for u.n. peace keeping troops to help ukrainian forces carry out a so-called antiterrorism operation. but each passing hour is threatening the credibility of kiev with protestors unable to see how the government will act. kim vanel, al jazeera, donetske. armed groups in the east want to break the country apart. >> the government has firmedly stated that we have been and will continue protecting the right of national minorities, the right of russian-speaking citizens the right of every region and every citizen but unfortunately those terrorists who are taking action he in the east of the country are not defending the rights of the residents of donetske, luhansk or any other part of the

country. >> confirmed ukraine is asking for support from u.n. >> its normal address from the state to the united nations asking for the assistance. we need this assistance because the threat is obvious. russian forces are still on the borders and they're secret officers operating around the ukraine. that's why we need this help. to gather peace keepers from the united nations we need the approval of the security council. if russian ambassador is going to support it. to have a local referendum a special law should be introduced if to follow the legal way. because still in our package there is no law on the -- any law on the local referendum. that's why a law should be adopted or to use the national

referendum law. so everything is possible, including the more administrative power for the regions. but to proceed with that, we need to calm down the situation. we should define exactly the -- to have a line between the small group of the weapons authorities and the protesters who are peacefully protesting people. we are to separate them it's sure. >> the russian foreign minister has rejectallegations that his precaution is working to destabilize ukraine. peter carr is reporting. that russia is involved in assisting these prorussian forces in ukraine in the taking

over of police stations and other government buildings. not so said sergey lavrov. we've got no agents in the area no intelligence and no troops. this is of course not what kiev is saying. but lavrov was saying, look, the people of eastern ukraine have their own agenda, own protests and grievances. lavrov said it was in the interest of russia that ukraine says stable, if the people in the east, the russian speakers there are treated equally. and he had this message, to the u.s., and to the eu. >> translator: it should be recalled that violence in kiev's independence square which has resulted in dozens upon dozens of deaths was branded a democracy. while the peaceful protests

currently held in the southeast are branded terrorism. this is hypocrisy beyond any limit and i really hope that we'll hear an honest and coherent reaction from our western partners. >> it's been a busy dame for lavrov. he -- day for lavrov. he had talks with his paris counterpart, try and halt any military operations in the east of ukraine. at risk, lavrov said are these four-party talks that it's hoped will get underway in geneva on thursday. meanwhile the white house has said it's concerned about russia's provocative actions in ukraine. it's also criticized moscow when one of its fighter jets flew

close to are a ship on the black sea. russia has called this a pr provocative and unprofessional act. what more do we know about this incident? >> apparently the russian fighter jet apparently came as close as a thousand yards away and as high or as low as 500 feet across the u.s.s. donald cook. the cook is a destroyer with a full complement of fighter missiles as its arsenals. there was no issue with the ship or the crew many but are violations fs understanding and between the u.s. and russian militaries. this was an incident that took place on saturday evening while

the donald cook was in international waters in the black sea. it has been forward-deployed there as part of the overall u.s. effort to reassure its nato allies. that's yownlde outlined in the , nothing that would justify this sort of patrolling to use a very, very mild term, the pentagon is using much stronger words than that in fact. and they are looking at how the russian government is going to hear from the americans in form of a complaint. >> that's what i was going to move on to rosalyn. as you say military action he are in violation of several international protocols. how is washington and the pentagon likely to respond to this? >> well, so far secretary of defense chuck hagel has not spoken to his russian

counterpart, general shoyou, but a formal complaint will have to come from the u.s. state department. officials there are going to figure out exactly what they're going odo and exactly how they're going to do it. but it is important to note that the secretary of state john kerry is going to be in europe on thursday for that meeting of the so-called quad, the russians, the ukrainians, the eu and the u.s. to try to talk about ways of deescalating this crisis which has been going on now for more than four months. so this maybe a matter of the u.s. simply waiting until after this meeting to decide what more steps ought to be taken. but clearly, something of a military nature, such as buzzing a warship essentially, that simply isn't going ogo without attention from washington for several days. >> rosalyn, thank you. now two blasts have hit a

crowded bus station in nigeria killing dozens of people. the attack happened near rush hour, in the capitol of abuja. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack but during a visit to the scene president good luck jonathan blamed the boko haram for the blas thblasts. >> the area where it's expectedd a car bomb blew, piecing together any evidence three can find. in the foregroundthere are buses getting ready to take off to the capitol which is about an eight clom der ride. if you just come over here you can also see the impact of the disploation.

-- explosion. the impact on people waiting to drive into the city center for work. it's not clear how many people may have been killed by the impact of these explosions. officially the security services and the emergency services have not come out with a definitive figure. no one group has claimed responsibility for the attack but it looks like the work of boko haram. they've been behind similar attacks in northeast nigeria. they have not been in the capitol for two years but it looks like this is the kind of things they might be behind. >> lots more to come on the news hour. nearly a million people can't read and write, what can be done. plus: >> this is just one of the hundreds of mines discovered here in mexico city. coming up i'll have a report on why these mines pose such a threat to people here. >> and in sport, the most decorated athlete in olympic

history announces his come back, that is also to come.

chemical weapons stockpile with its latest shipment. that's according to the international body charged with destroying syria's are chemical arsenal. the next deadline may be missed, if somebody doesn't speed up the removal. military achievements against rebel fighters. state media are quoted are bashar al-assad's statements. stronger position to regain territory such as the israel occupied golan heights. >> the victories we've had will

reinforce the government and its allies' positions in international forums. it will make the allies stronger in order to defend syria's are sovereignty and independence. on the top of the list is the golan heights that we'll return entirely to sear ya syria. are rebel fighters appear to be making gains elsewhere. hashima habara explains. >> reporter: this is a crucial are battle for the opposition, aleppo. are cut off government supply routes. the rebels are also advancing here not far away from the air force intelligence headquarters. armed groups are stepping up their campaign in the north. the rebel commander is talking about fighting in aleppo when he was interrupted by sounds of

explosions. ask hhe says that this is evidee of, are volatile chemicals contained inside. al jazeera can't independently verify this footage. let all sides us use chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. until the whole area is under their control. >> even though rebels are making gains in the north it appears they're suffering setbacks in the south. government troops have recaptured the mainly christian town of mylula. it was taken by the rebels last december. the town came under international focus when the naa

fighters captured a group. hashima abara al jazeera. >> protest at cairo university, happened by supporters of ousted president are mohamed morsi. student backers of morsi have readily proteston are campuses. terrorist organization: believed to be behind much of the violence in the area. it's been active since the revolution of 2011 and it expanded operations after president mohamed morsi was overthrown last july and skins then the army has been cracking down on fighters in sinai. al jazeera is demanding the immediate release of its journalists credit, imprisoned,

peter greste, baher mohamed and mohamed fahmy appeared in court. are accused of can performing a platform for the muslim brotherhood. abdalla al shami has been held without trial since last august. he has been on a hunger strike for the last 84 days. al jazeera rejects all the accusations. journalists attending a press conference in south africa have taken a position of solidarity with the imprisoned al jazeera journalists. >> 2014 convention of the international press institute ipi. but hundreds of journalists and media practitioners who are are participating in the conference have little to celebrate about. one 100 journalists killed in 2013 and hundreds of others in prison, journalism is under

threat. solidarity with al jazeera, calling for the release of al jazeera journalists who are being held in egypt. are motata sedu is a professional journalist, why are you here today? >> we are here during this protest to show the egyptian military junta that saying to the egyptian government release our comrades. >> al jazeera was also represented at the conference by a delegation. >> what i think the struggle is going to be on for a long time because this is not only about al jazeera journalists. it is about media freedom. >> there has been a cry from the conference that media throughout the globe should stay united in

the face of harassment they continue to face through both faith and nonfaith activists. >> adjourned until later this month. abdalla al sanusi, the former head of libyan, deaths during the 2011 uprising. israel police have sealed off the west bank ahead of the jewish holiday of passover. they are barring palestinians from entering israel. the precautions are taken every year, israeli authorities say exception of entry was made for humanitarian emergencies. now there are nearly 900 million people around the world who can't read or write. delegation at the literary

conference, nearly 775 million people, three quarters of them live in these countries here. they're also 122 million children who can't read. two-thirds of the world's illiterate are women, especially the case in the middle east where women' women make up the y of those who can't read or write. chairman of the arab international women's forum, says the conditions are improving but it needs change. >> literacy changes lives, improves poverty, access to jobs. literacy is pivotal to any human and social development. with the investments that the arab governments have done, over the years, ore the last two or three decades, in regard to

education, we have seen literacy levels improve. if we look at the literacy levels for women there were 50% in the year 1990. it went up to 60% in 2000, and expected to exceed 70, 72% by 2015. certainly, education suffered as well as any economic and social development suffered in any countries that went through wars in the region, whether civil wars or regional wars. we must consider that our education system in the middle east is still focused a lot on memorization and not on critical thinking, as well as we need qualified teachers. we needs teachers who will educate children as well as prepare them for the challenges of entering the job market. we need an education system that is in line with what industry

requires and what the private sector requires. >> more to come on the news hour, including which country spent the most in defense last year. we'll have that coming up plus, going to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. reports suggest it's more common than you think. plusment. >> i'm andy harrison. how so many people around the world choose to enter extreme races like this. back, for you. >> a special look at the moves adding fuel to the motor city five days in detroit

only o

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> aljazeera america presents a break through television event borderland... >> are you tellin' me it's ok to just open the border, and let em' all run in? >> the teams live through the hardships that forced mira, omar

and claudette into the desert. >> running away is not the answer... >> is a chance at a better life worth leaving loved ones behind? >> did omar get a chance to tell you goodbye before he left? >> which side of the fence are you on? >> sometimes immigration is the only alternative people have. borderland only on al jazeera america oals. >> welcome back. a quick reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. nigh yeanigeria's president goo. western french town of la rowe can chel have been asked to submit dna samples after the rape of a 16-year-old students. concerns over the mass dna

collection. and ukraine's acting president said he would welcome u.n. are peace keepers into the area of ukraine. foreign ministers, more russian officials under asset freezes and visa bans. eu leaders have a meeting in luxembourg. >> we call upon russia to do so as well and to pull back its troops from the ukrainian border. any further actions aimed at destabilizing ukraine have to stop. in light of the latest events we decided to expand the list of those subject to asset freezes and visa bans. jonah hull is there and joins us.

are ministers clearly concerned about the worsening of the situation in ukraine. what do you. xp to come out of this meeting? >> that was essentially it, the press conference by katherine ashton, the sr. policy official for the european union, laying out the conclusions of the meeting here, she explained they had reached a good and strong position on ukraine, one that involved condemnation of the activities on the groups in eastern ukraine, and her pointing out that goes to expand the list of individual subject asset bans, asset freezes and visa bans, those involved in the annexation of crimea. if you look further down this rather substantial list of conclusions, the backbone of the position they have reached here is on the one hand to issue a

sort of challenge to russia. you heard her talking about it in, katherine ashton, a challenge to russia to recognize the territorial sovereignty of ukraine as european union say it does, and to withdraw russia's forces clustered across the border. further down, the eu reiterates its threat for want of a better word, of any efforts to destabilize the situation in ukraine will be met by additional and far reaching consequence for relations in a broad range of economic areas. those are the stage 3 situation, for want of clear evidence implicate russia perhaps because of a lack of unity among the 28 at this stage but perhaps also to leave the way relatively clear at least for negotiations to have at least a chance of

success in geneva on thursday when the eu and the united states meet with russia for talks. >> we understand the secretary general of nato was also on scene there. there is no appetite other than the sanctions you're talk about we understand. >> well, the nato secretary general joins defense ministers, the defense ministers traditional reply gather after the foreign ministers at these meetings. there is no april tight for a direct military intervention at all. but the eu seems to be work very much in concert with the north thank treat -- north atlantic ty organization. to have the hand it thinks it

has in the ukraine. >> jonah, thank you. we join felicity barr in london. felicity. >> darren, another 852 migrants have been rescued by the italian navy over the weekend. found in packed vessels. 50 children, some of them babies. thousands of migrants mainly come from syria, eritrea, mali and senegal. process the migrants request for asylum. the spanish enclave as of of mallia is a large, end malia, hoping they can gen then gain access to europe. >> a gateway to the eu on the continent of africa.

for years malia has received many are refugees looking for refuge. moussef camped out in the mountains behind malia. >> we walked for two days down the mountain then wee when we got closer we began to walk slowly, towards frontier, until we managed to get to the border. >> this is the fence that moussa got over. topped with bashe barbed wire ad extra railings. it deterse but by no means prevents people getting through. the past few months have seen a surge of people arriving leer, a perilous, often life-threatening join. many of them come from subsaharan africa. are for the most part they are relieved to have made it this

far. when they arrive they head to the migrant reception center. it holds double the amount of people it's meant to accommodate. outside they gather together, next to the city's exclusive golf club. hundreds of migrants have been crossing into mallia this year alone. many of them scale this fence often perching on the tom for hours on end exposed to the elements. many of them give up and jump back into morocco. not all of them make the leap into spain, many have also made their way to malia. many make it to the border by foot, disguising themselves as neighboring moroccans. sometimes the children go ahead of them when the police pick them up they hold them in juvenile detention centers next door. the mothers say their sons are

unable to stay with them until the authorities conduct a dna test proving they are are related. >> a child like him can't move around here. these people take pills and smoke and take bad things. they beat them up. if our kids take a shower for example they would go in and come out finding their clothes have been stolen. nothing is save. >> and while they're here, they bide their time, waiting for the next opportunity to create a better life. sonia gaallego. al jazeera, morocco. >> united states state of kansas, three people including a 14-year-old were killed. the fbi is investigating whether the suspect has links to white supremacist groups. firefighters are still struggling to get blazes under control in the chilen port city

of valparaiso. authorities say the death toll could rise once the fire is cool enough for them to are search. the fires may not be fully extinguished for another ten days. daniel shindler is in valparaiso. >> all around me there have been residents that have come back to the debris, devastation, to see if they can pick any remnants of their shattered lives out of the remnants of their homes. various parts of valparaiso, much of the city is built on very steep hills so it would be incredibly difficult for some of the emergency services to reach these areas, at the same time the fire was being fanned by

very strong winds, there are are fefts all around us. -- forests all around us. the winds would fan the flames and the fire would resurge. thousands of people evacuated, they're now being housed in schools, gymnasiums other public buildings around valparaiso, the president michel bachelet visited. the military have been controlling the street, preventing looting, ensuring the emergency operations will go ahead as planned. also the residents who were forced to flee the area with the fire have come back now with the light of day to sift through the debris of their devastated homes to see if they can find any kind of remnants retrievable, so they can begin the task of rebuilding

their lives shattered by this catastrophe. >> now, when a sinkhole appears, it sexua swallows up everythings way. rachel levin reports from mexico city. >> neighbors crowd around as emergency workers hurry to fill this sinkhole. it is not an uncommon sight in this working class neighborhood. it is one of the city's most crowded neighborhoods and one of the most precarious where abandoned mines lay meters behind hubs of homes. discovered this mine several months ago after being alerted by people in the neighborhood. >> translator: it's a difficult problem and an urgent one. we can't just fill in the hole.

we know that it's there and it's today ding russ. >> reporter: the abandoned mine is 18 meters below the surface and over 200 meters wide. what they're looking for throughout the city, so far 900 mines have been discovered but city officials tell us they have no idea how many actually exist. that's because the construction companies didn't keep records. lupita moved here 40 years ago and although she always knew mines existed she had no idea her home sits on top of one. >> at first i was frightened but the engineers told me to trust them because the mine is deep below the surface so nothing will happen. >> reporter: mines aren't the only threats below the surface. a broken sewage pipe created this gaping hole in the middle of a busy avenue. one of the main reasons the

service is so fragile in this city is because it is guilt on top of a huge lake. in the mid 15th century when the spanish invaded they built a complicated thigh drawlic system after are draining the lake. back here she watches as workers cover up the mine. she still lies awake at night worrying that the mine could collapse and swallow her up. rachel levin, al jazeera, mexico city. a scan for wreckage at the bottom of the southern indian ocean. the hunt will stop searching for underwater ping signals which haven't been heard for days now. the belief ask that the

batteries have died. signals were detected four and a half,000 meters down, which is the deepest the submersible can dive. expected to cover 9 kilometers an hour. >> our broad searching with the locator also based open some of the returns that were cheefd byd by the sonic buoys that were dropped, our mission right now is to go look at the higher priority areas and see if there's any debris there and just continue to keep hitting those small areas to see what we see on the bottom. potentially over the sense of the acoustic emissions that we received. >> in japan more than 100 know chns have been killed after -- chickens have been killed after two tested positive for bird flu. there have been no reported cases of human infection by bird

flu in japan. one in five people went to work this past year under the influence of drugs or alcohol. that's according to the biggest annual survey on drugs. people were asked about their drug-taking habits. alcohol, cannabis and drugs, 10% bought so-called legal highs. drug practices vary from country to country, with cocaine being the most expensive per gram. 44% had first done so in either 2012 or 2013. the netherlands have the highest people going to work while coming down from the effect of drugs. ireland, the highest percentage country of people going to work with alcohol influence.

the most stunning finding this year was the fact that 1 in 4 drinkers who could be considered at risk of being dependent on their drinking thought their drinking was average or less than average. about one in three, one in four were absolutely unaware of the incredible risks they are placing people in. that's why we put all the alcohol information into something called a drinks meter app which allows people to compare their drinking with other people and hopefully that will be a way for them to learn that maybe they're not like everyone else. >> time for a short break. need your morning coffee? a drought in brazil will tell you why you may need to pay more. but good for those in indonesia. more on sports, stay with us.

>> welcome back. now that first cup of java this morning could cost you a overwhelm lot more. a drought in brazil means global prices for coffee means have shot up. but with a bumper harvest in indonesia, that means a good them for those growers. >> coffee berries are ripening and ready to pick. 50,000 families depend on the crop. and this crop is well above average. >> along the stem i can see that in november the production will be really good.

when it rains, the coffee will turn red. and the price of coffee is also going up amazingly high, compared with earlier years. >> it's not only the season that's looking good but the prices as well. farmers index is affecting a huge increase at least 50% and the reason for that is a drought in brazil. so brazil's bad luck is good for indonesia. three years ago, prices doubled in one season. now they look to be on a similar run. this company exports 80% of its organic coffee to the u.s. the rest goes to europe and australia. >> translator: with global warming right now brazil and other countries have had a bad harvest making coffee hard to get. so to compete with brazil we have to keep up, we have our own signature product. >> there's also more people drinking coffee in markets such as china and india, which will

put more pressure on supply over the next few years. for coffee connoisseurs in those emerging markets a cup of instant just isn't good enough. >> translator: coffee is the blood, for people, people love drinking coffee, that means the coffee exports in local coffee is just as good. consumption is going up. are. >> reporter: high prices and a bumper harvest. it sounds like a perfect blend for the coffee gross. al jazeera, indonesia. >> now, for sport. >> the most decorated michael phelps has confirmed he's returning to ashton. possible first step to a fifth olympics in rio in 2016.

credit. olympics in athens where he started to win medals. he got six gold and two bronze. in beijing he broke mark spitz's record by winning 8 and at london 2012 the american overtook gymnast laris average, 18 medals in total to become the most successful olympian in history. four golds and two silver he maitd imade it 22 medals overal. the announcement comes with the team on the worst run in nearly 20 years. ferrari, the oldest and most successful team in the sport have not won since fernando alonzo's victory at the spanish

grand prix almost a year ago. red bull have officially appealed daniel ricairdo's why position at hearing impaired. car exceeded the new fuel regulations. while officials at the international court of appeals are expected to hand down a decision on thursday. nhl playoff series, final day of the regular season, gave tampa bay the 1-0 win after a shootout and shootout with washington's 21st of the season. well, the last week has seen the staging of two of the world's most extreme running races, fewer selling out after

the annual north pole marathon, while more than 1,000 where took on. >> the pursuit of the ultimate selfie, extreme running, sports coolest marathon. this annual north pole race, subjected to average temperatures of minus 30° sells° celsius. >> horrendous but amazing. >> only a brave few are physically or financially able to be here. but that this race even exists is symptomatic of global growth in extreme running. creating a road marathon is no longer enough. >> feels great, man, that was the hardest race i've done in a while and definitely the hardest

marathon. >> in something of a contrast the 29th marathon has just been held over many days and many clo kilometers ever sahara desert. that is a race over and above the traditional marathon distance of 42.2 kilometers. it is one of the perversities of nature that as life becomes more comfortable a sizable minority will seek out new ways to make it difficult. where you are guaranteed food and water deprivation and all sorts of physical and mental distress. >> frenchman patrick bower is the race's founder. more than a thousand line up everyone year. >> at some point in life people reach a certain which dox, a maturity. they -- wisdom, a can maturity.

even are everyone weargs a mask. -- wears a mask. this is an occasion to lay yourself bare. >> for many it's an irresistible combination. >> the crossword recently celebrated its 100th year. phil ackerman has the story. >> reporter: bernice gordon has a way with words. and she's been using that skill to build crossword puzzles since she was 35. that was 65 years old. >> my mother was exasperated with me. she said to me, "my child, if you spent as much money buying cookbooks instead of are

dictionaries, your family would be wert off -- better off." >> it generally days her a day to construct a puzzle's skeleton and come up with the words, a day more to write the clues. bernice has been known as an innovator. where introducing rebuses, creating letters and symbols. now it's a standard feature in puzzles including the nearly over 150 for the new york times. its organizer, will shorts. >> things we know from books she knows from everyday life and that shows up in the puzzle. >> teaming one younger puzzle makers.

>> we have completely different styles when it comes to puzzle constructing. bernice was complaining yay was not a word. something you don't find in the dictionary. >> i'm always learning. you have to learn. i buy a dictionary every year, because every year, they have new words. >> reporter: bernice says she's excited that at her age she can still earn a living doing something she enjoys, keeping her brain agile. >> the best part, knowing that i'm doing something for someone. you're really helping people so at least i've made a mark, a little mark. i need a vowel there. >> bernice gordon, a 13-letter word for amazing. >> that's how i do it. >> tom ackerman. al jazeera. >> not a bad story. stay with us, on the news hour,

another full bulletin of news is at the top of the hour.

>> dadu, southern pakistan, just a few mont a