♪ a court in egypt sentenced 683 people to death in a mass trial including the leader of the muslim brotherhood. ♪ this is al jazeera, live from headquarters in doha and also ahead president barack obama signs a ten-year defense deal with the philippines allowing greater military access in the region. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says israel risks becoming apartheid if talks with the

palestinians fail. plus top u.s. basketball player has a silent protest over racist remarks attributed to the team's owner. ♪ hello, a court in egypt sentenced 683 people to death in a mass trial including leader of the muslim brotherhood badir and the court reversed 492 death sentences out of 529 it passed in march and this means the remaining 37 defendants have been sentenced to death. they were convicted for their alleged role and violence after mohamed morsi last july and we report. >> reporter: egyptian judge makes headlines once again. he has convicted 683 supporters

of the muslim brotherhood to death including leader and this is a political conservative group which president mohamed morsi belonged and they sentenced monday of inciting violence, attacking a police station and killing a policeman in southern egypt. the attack happened last august, shortly after egyptian security forces carried out raids on two large antimilitary protest sides in cairo. hundreds of people were killed, leading to riots in other parts of the country. monday's ruling will present the largest number of people to be sentenced to death by a court in egypt and also sets a world record. and also sentenced 528

supporters of the deposed president mohamed morsi to death in less than two hours. most of the defendants were not present in court. they were accused of killing one police officer, seizing government weapons and damaging property when a police station south of cairo was attacked last august. that ruling in march was overturned on monday, commuting most of the death sentences to life in prison and up holding the death penalty for 37 defendants. the mass death sentences have sparked outrage worldwide, riots groups and many governments express concerns over the proceedings. and i'm with al jazeera. >> the high number of death penalties being issued by egyptian courts is unpress se p unprecedented but they have to be carried out by the highest figure and in the past he rarely

approved execution and they report last year egyptian courts issued at least 109 death penalties and the last known execution happened around three years ago. and we have the assist and of foreign services of the university and joining us in doha to talk about the latest sentencing because the sentencing of the 529 people back in march, a decision now that has been reversed all by 37 was described as unprecedented and now we have 683 members of the muslim brotherhood. how would you describe this? >> this is a much broader campaign to wipe out any and all in egyptian society and this is not just one loose cannon of a judge and the numbers in these particular cases, just the sheer volume of number of people being sentenced to death i think obviously shocks the conscious anywhere in the world, anyone

observing this. but if we seen the torture of 23,000 people and denied due process for the last year or so, i think all of that is part of a bigger campaign to try to reverse whatever transition was in egypt to move to a democratic system or some representative revolution that was in process before to return to regime and by abdel-fattah el-sissi. >> they are trying to silence and there are people that are not just muslim brotherhood supporters but egyptians that are opposed to the torture regimes and killings taking place every single day across egypt and this sends a message there is a high cost that comes with this and obviously this is an attempt to instill a certain

fear across egyptian society by showing extremity of the kinds of retaliatory tactics with the additional sentences. >> reporter: protests going on in the country so what do you think the political ramifications will be of today's decision? >> i don't think there is much of a momentum to reverse the coronation of abdel-fattah el-sissi which is coming with the supposed elections happening at the end of may. i think what we see is this is simply part of a wider strategy to try to search his authority but again he is bringing himself into power on the basis he will stabilize the country and economy and return security and he is failing miserably on all the fronts that the egyptian regime has not been able to prove itself and able to stand this side of opposition which is only growing in number but yet to reach a critical mass to

reverse the gains made by the military and return to the security state. >> reporter: statement we have the foreign minister fahmy who is on an official visit to the united states and he is due to meet with the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry with the sentence of 683 people by the court, does it make it a little bit awkward? >> it doesn't seem the united states has taken a very strong position and have not reversed policies toward egypt and all indications so far seem to be they are accepting the outcomes of the broader transition and talking about the elections as though they will be free elections at a time when there is no room for dissent we egypt, at a time when we see sentences like in the united states is likely to not do anything of blanket condemnations without concrete actions and with respect to abdel-fattah el-sissi and ambassador to the united states there teams to be and the

foreign minister of course there seems to be an acceptance that the west and specifically the united states is not going to take measures against egypt regardless of all the widespread human rights abuses. >> you think that situation is going to change? >> i think it's going to be up to what happens internally. i think the united states as we have seen before and remember the united states was not backing the revolution and the protests that over through mubarak until egypt said they would not leave the square until the president was removed and the united states had no choice essentially but to give its backing to those protests at least verbally and i think the same thing is going to happen here in the sense that united states is not going to check policy unless they see the tide turning in egypt and that is yet to really be happening but i think the first month of abdel-fattah el-sissi presidency will be telling and see if he can go through the sentences on the rest of society and instill

the climate of fear and repression or weather the circumstances will simply be too tough for a regime to take hold. i think the next 3-6 month also be very telling in that regard. >> we have seen the report a few moments ago a picture of the judge that has been giving the sentences and if you calculate it in the first five months of 2014 he sentenced more than 1200 people, in fact, to death. how does egypt compare to other countries around the world when it comes to sentences? >> these are unprecedented and death sentences are not kind of any part of judicial process and even in countries with a grasp on due process or human rights and you still don't see these kinds of sentences and this speaks to a larger conflict at work here, this is not an ordinary court or ordinary trial, these are just names on a list and many are not present and many in custody and have not had access to attorneys and

there is presentation of evidence and no actual judicial process to speak of so to talk about the sentences as they are an outcome of a judicial process i think there lies a point of death sentences and executed by security forces and not someone wearing a judicial robe. >> thank you for joining us from georgetown university joining us in doha. we will stay we egypt and let you know that al jazeera calls for the immediate release of journalists being held there and the trial is adjourned until may the 3 and they are in jail for 121 days greste and fahmy and mohamed have been falsely accused and the fourth in detention is held without trial since last august and on hunger strike for 98 days and al jazeera rejects all charges. there have been two attacks on polling stations in iraq and at

least five people died in an explosion in the west of the capitol baghdad where security personnel were casting their vote. this follows on -- from an earlier car bomb west of fal falluhia and at least 20 people were wounded and this all just days before the country votes for a new parliament and we have been to vest one of the polling stations in the capitol where security forces have been voting. >> just through this door here iraq soldiers are exercising their democratic right to vote and they will be voting on monday and tuesday throughout both days so they are in place for the parliamentary election that takes place on wednesday, take a look, you can see the purple box and means they have voted. there is a celebration atmosphere in the polling station and excited to have been able to vote. >> reporter: now u.s. secretary

of state john kerry has reportedly warned that israel is at risk of becoming an apartheid state. kerry was setting out the consequences if peace talks fail to produce a separate palestinian state and the comments published by the daily beast news website the site said it had a recordings f of kerry's remarks from u.s., russia and japan an a unitary state becomes apartheid state with second class sit vents or a state that destroys the capacity of israel to be a jewish state. now the u.s. state department has told al jazeera that kerry was echoing statements previously made by former israeli prime ministers. its spokeswoman said the only way to have two nations and two people lives side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution and we are live from jerusalem to tell us how these comments by kerry were

received by israelis? >> reporter: hi there. well it's interesting enough, we are not hearing an israeli reaction just yet and they may be working to try to form ap proper statement to go with kerry but they will not be happy about the statements and have not been happy about statements he made in the past and just in march secretary kerry said if the current peace talks fail, that this could help the palestinian movement, boycott divestment and sanctions movement that is going to gain momentum in europe in kerry's mind and palestinian officials here said in background if the talks fail with israelis which they figured it would fail this time around as it has in the past, they said they would go to europe and they would go to the u.n. and they are seeing changes in the attitudes and european

attitudes as well as attitudes with various organizations including the u.n. with kerry's statement they are seeing a shift in attitude in the american mindset as well, although it is a strong word to use apartheid and it's the strongest word used by a senior officially coming to israeli, palestinian issue and it's something in itself a symbol how the americans feel about the ongoing talks, they are frustrated. secretary kerry has been here nearly biweekly especially in the beginning of talks nine months ago and seeing it going no where and blames both sides for failure of talks this time. >> thank you for giving us the update from jerusalem. here with al jazeera there is much more ahead in the program including. >> i'm in the pakistan city here and find out why the armored vehicle business here is

booming. ♪ >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

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built for business. ♪ the top stories on al jazeera, a court in egypt sentenced 683 to death fro a mass trial including muslim brotherhood and reversed 491 death sentences out of 528 it passed in march with most of them sentenced to life in prison instead. u.s. secretary of state john kerry warned that israel risks becoming apardon tied state unless a two-state solution is

made and he made that in a closed-door meeting with international officials. now the u.s. president barack obama says he supports the fill finds' efforts to seek mediation in a territory dispute with china and they finalized a ten year defense pact allowing the u.s. a larger military presence and giving u.s. access to military counts and make it easier to deploy fighting jets and ships a philippine commander will have access to areas shared with american forces. the philippines is one of a number of countries involved in territory disputes with china. the claims focus on parts of the south china sea, in 2012 ships from china and the philippines were involved in a long standoff at the scarborough shoal which both claim and the second shoal and beijing says vast parts of the south china sea and parts by

taiwan, malaysia and vietnam and we have more from manila. >> reporter: increased presence of soldiers and fortification and up grading of u.s. military facilities in the west philippines and the area facing the south china sea. washington said this does not mean the return of the u.s. bases. they were taken off and forced out of the philippines in the 1990s although in reality the u.s. soldiers never left. right now there is more than 600 of them involved in counter terrorism operations particularly in the southern philippines and the president said this agreement is not just a military one, it's improving people to people ties between the two countries, a lot of skeptics wonder if increased military presence in the region and the philippines means the

philippines becomes a much bigger target for the south china sea. >> reporter: russia or ukraine. >> we are going to be moving forward with an expanded list of individuals and companies that will be affected by sanctions. they remain targeted. we will also focus on some areas of high tech defense exports to russia that we don't think are appropriate to be exporting in this kind of climate. >> reporter: on monday members of the european union will also be meeting to discuss further sanctions against russia and peter sharp is from moscow to tell us if there has been reaction from the kremlin on possible increased sanctions not only by the united states but the european union? >> no reaction yet and the

kremlin quite honestly is not particularly worried. the kremlin knows the sanctions cannot be particularly effected and targeted to individuals, obama this, the eu knows this, but what it can have an effect on and what it is having an effect as a threat is invested confidence and invested confidence has really suffered in the past three months anywhere from 65-100 billion of investment, foreign investment has left the country. what investors are looking for putting this much money in a single country are two things, stability and security and i'm sorry russia does not tick either box, stability or security, as a result of the ongoing financial crisis following the annexation of crimea and the escalating crisis in ukraine. already the country has seen its economy shrink by a half of 1% and in this keeps going and there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't the country could hit recession at the end

of the year and these are not sanctions to worry russia and talking about banking sanctions and defense and especially energy that is a completely different matter. >> how are russians, peter, feeling about all of this? >> reporter: they are not particularly bothered. you only look at putin's rating and running at 80% and he has full backing of the population, almost full backing and 80% is a solid approval rating and 78% of the people feel that the violence in eastern ukraine is the cause of neo nazi nationalist and nothing to do with the kremlin. >> peter sharp from moscow. it's highly unlikely any debris from the missing malaysia plane will be found on the surface and it has been missing since march

8 with 237 on board and they are leading an international search operation focused in the indian othen northwest of perth. >> essentially what we are looking to do is conduct as thorough and under sea search as is humanly possible. if necessary of the entire probable impact zone, which, as you know is roughly 700 kilometers by kilometers. we owe it to the families on board, we owe it to the wider traveling public to do everything we reasonably can to get to the bottom of this mystery. >> increasing violence in the largest city has residents seeking safety in armored vehicles and it's in an attempt to counter the raising number of bomb attacks and we report.

>> reporter: making a vehicle bomb and bullet proof is not easy. this jeep was first stripped to the frame and mechanics will insert thick metal plates in the door, install bullet proof windows and to cope with the extra 1,000 kilograms of steel and glass that is added. armored vehicles are a must have for residents here, the city of 18 million people has a long history of violence, much associated with gangs linked to political parties. but in resent times the taliban has also grown and influenced. last year more than 2000 people were killed in attacks at around 100 were abducted for ran some. the killings and kidnaps show no signs of slowing, which is why those who can afford it are installing windows which can stop an ak-47 bullet and internal frame which can resist a bomb attack. his family has been in the car

manufacturing business for more than 20 years but over the past year he has seen an increase in demand of armored vehicles and initially he had 1-2 customers a month and he has a dozen at any given time. >> now i think that people have really become aware that such an investment is probably quite necessary especially if one can afford it. >> reporter: armoring a car is not cheap, the cost of making it bomb and bullet proof is anywhere from $30-$40,000 on top of the purchase of the vehicle but it's small to pay for peace of mind, not kahn's real name so he hides identity for security reasons and he had jeep armored a few months ago. >> i was aimed at in the last 2, 2 1/2 years and a time comes when you feel enough is enough and you have to look for a

solution. >> reporter: but in a country where many people live on a few dollars a day, it's a solution open to a privileged few. i'm with al jazeera. >> at least 12 people have been killed by tornados in the united states. the twisters caused widespread damage in arkansas and oklahoma wiping out entire neighborhoods in some areas. rescue workers have been struggling to find survivors in the darkness as they dig through the rubble of the buildings. forecasters issues severe thunderstorm warnings. basketball players from the nba-la clippers staged a protest against racist comments allegedly made by the team owner and he was caught on tape telling a woman not to promote with black people and not to bring them to games and melissa chan reports. >> and the logo could not be

seen. and at the sunday game against the golden state warriors expressed shock by the owner david sterling. >> partially he sounds ridiculous. he owns a basketball team with only but african/american players and it made him sound like a racist. >> i love the game, i'm an nba and sports fan and i support the team like i have for the longest time and whatever he says, it's his own personal thing and not ours. we love our clippers. >> reporter: the issue goes beyond basketball with president obama commenting at his press conference halfway around the world, during his visit to malaysia. >> when ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance you don't have to do anything, you let them talk and that is what happened here. >> reporter: the audio that has gone viral renewed the debate about america and racism.

[reading from the screen] james, one of the biggest names in the games is calling on new nba commissioner adam silver to take a firm stand against bigotry. >> there is no room for that in our game. we found a way to make in the greatest game in the world and for comments like that, it takes our game and we cannot have that, we cannot have it from a player and not an owner and cannot have it from a fan. >> reporter: silver promised swift action but it can be complex and the voice from the recording has to be authenticated as sterling and there may be an issue about how it was obtained. the players association is already asking to be included in any decisions about the team owner. >> we are collectively one family and i'm confident that this family will speak together in one voice. there is absolutely no place in

the nba family for ignorance and tolerance, reprehensible comments that are unacceptable and not fitting for what this league is all about. >> as for the team itself dock rivererfield says the best move is to move on as one. >> i think the biggest statement we can make as men, not as black men but men is to stick together and show how strong we are as a group, not splinter, not walk, it's easy to protest, the protests will be in our play. >> reporter: the team was hoping for a different outcome in the game, the clippers took it on sunday losing by double digits. sterlings comments may shock many but some say this is nothing new and has been going on for years. the question in the coming days will likely be why his behavior has been ignored for so long, melissa chan, oakland, california. >> there is much more, in fact,

on sterlings' comments on our website, it's at al jazeera.com, you can see that report again by melissa chan and read our top story and the top story is egypt sentencing 683 people to death in cairo. ♪ ♪ it is man versus machine. high-frequent i traders turning america's stock market upside down. i will show you how high-frequency trade can go give some an unfair advantage over the average invest tour. i'll show you want technology that can turn mere milliseconds in to hundreds of millions of dollars. plus a look at the young brains behind the computers career creating flash trades and what regular lasers going to do about it.