this is al jazeera. >> you're watching the news hour live from our headquarters in doha. i'm sammy zadan. rebels checkpoint in eastern ukraine, before shooting down a helicopter. >> boko haram, claimed to have kidnapped more than 200 school girls in niernlg.

nigeria. >> i'm felicity barr. the vatican faces more claims of child abuse. a vatican committee against torture. a pro-- russia rebels have shot down an eastern ukrainian helicopter, the crew survived but their condition hasn't been released. earlier 4 ukrainian police officers were killed april a shootout. in that same city. nick spicer reports. >> the army operation to dislodge pro-russian militia, push past the roadblocks which ring this staunch separatist town and push on towards the center. there was gun fire and multiple

explosion. brought down by heavy machine gun fire, crashing into the town's river. the ministry of defense said the two pilots survived and evacuated to a military hospital. braved the cross fire to bring the injured to the town's hospital. by midday the fight was over. the tactics of ukrainian army changed over the morning, prowrgpro-russian elements are l in evidence. we were told the army had cornered a group of separatist fighters. >> translator: from the 25 of us that went in only five came out. we got into a circle and they started tightening it. they were moving in from the front, right and left.

when we started retreating they also surrounded us from behind. we barrel fought them off and got through. >> local residents spoke of a convoy of army vehicles and soldiers dressed all in black. >> people from the sbu came here and shot at peaceful citizens. my house was shot. my yard was covered from bullet casing. eight peoples are in the hospital. >> i was at home and they were shooting for an hour and a half. my house was hit from two directions. windows have holes in them. ukrainian troops are destroying us. >> the armored vehicles came from that direction. it was a line of vehicles with apcs in the back. then the shooting started our self defense was here and a war began. >> reporter: 16 kilometers away the small town fell silent,

as residents attended the funeral of a young nurse. yulia's funeral, deeply felt. paul brennan, sloafns. >> let's talk to a journalist in slovyansk. have the rebels in fact been pushed back? >> well, its appears that the rebels have been pushed back. they've held the city and surrounding areas for a couple of weeks now, slightly more. and the ukrainian army for the last few days have been in active operation which has slowly pushed checkpoints backwards. the last couple of days we've seen fighting at the outskirts of the city which has inched ever forward, it is on the edge

of the city itself as we can see with civilian houses being hit in some of the shooting. >> now how do those people feel about the military operation by the ukrainian military? are they welcoming the army request. >> there's very strong support for the rebels here. it's hard to calculate how many people are not comfortable with their occupation of the city. people are obviously very scared to speak out, these guys have guns and there's been a spate of kidnappings. but as the ukrainian army has advanced on the city fear has grown because people are very afraid of possibility of war in the area and this is increased support for the rebels as the fear has grown. >> and what are the rebels doing at this point, what is their posture? are they prepared for a long drawn ud out sort of street warfare strategy? >> it's hard to know what happens next. there is a strong possibility

this will descend wit into stret warfare. the blur between civilian population and those active with publish witmilitia with guns, ud people standing on the barricades as well as people that can get caught up in the gun fire. it is a real challenge for ukrainian army to deal with this situation now. >> thanks very much for your observations there. boko haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of more than 270 nigerian school girls. released a video threatening to sell the girls. it comes as nigeria's first lady telling the public they fabricated the abductions in order to make her husband look

bad. the first lady even ordered their arrests. yvonne ngege last the story. >> hundreds of girls from the northeast of nigeria and he says he is going to sell it on the market. this video won't surprise many because many have felt that boko haram might be behind the attack. they have fought in this way before but we have not seen this scale of kidnappings. the ideology of the group is that western education is wrong. now on the issue of arrests of women who have been protesting over the mismanagement of finding these girls, what we understand speaking to them directly is they were summoned to a meeting with nigeria's first lady, and it was pointed out by the first lady that some of them were protesters, and the first lady promptly ordered their detention and arrest they

were kept overnight in a cell in a police station in abuja, they were accused of being boko haram sympathizers, credit can and accused of embarrassing the nigerian president by holding these protests. they have been released at least one of them, one remains in detention. they don't think the story is true. >> now, for more on the situation in nigeria, joined by the former ambassador to the country john campbell. good to have you with us. first of all, what do you think the u.s. can do in its fight against boko haram? >> well, the first point is that any role the u.s. might have would have to be at the invitation of the nigerian

government. so far, the only thing i have seen is very general requests for foreign assistance. i've also seen media ctle to the effect that a -- accounts to the effect that a group will travel to ny nigeria next week for consultation with nigerian authorities. my second point is in addition, above and beyond the almost 300 school girls who have been kidnapped, there is a breeding humanitarian disaster in northern nigeria, the result of internally displaced persons, persons fleeing boko haram, also freeing the security forces. there i think there's a definitely role for the international community to provide humanitarian assistance. >> right, that's interesting. i mean would greater u.s. or international involvement in terms of military perhaps

support an involvement for the government in its fight against boko haram, is there a risk that that sort of involvement might also internationalize boko haram's involvement to international groups like al qaeda and so on? >> that would certainly be a risk but i think any kind of military involvement is motion unlikely. it is possible that there might be a certain amount of intelligence-sharing and there might even be be a certain very limited amount of training. but i don't detect any political stomach in the united states for on the ground involvement in nigeria in the aftermath of iraq and afghanistan. >> good can the problem of boko haram be sof solved by greater intelligence, greater training? this has been going on for so

long and there are other issues are there not which human rights groups have pointed to, that might undercut some of the support for boko haram. >> that is absolutely right. to answer your question, no. intelligence sharing and training is not going to solve boko haram. at best it might help locate the school girls. and might thereby contribute to their liberation. but the springs of boko haram are very deep. it boko haram dearrives support from the growing impoverishment and those are fundamentals that only the nigerian government can address and that will take some time to come about. >> thank you former ambassador

john campbell. now almost all of the soldiers accused in the rape trial in the democratic republic of congo have been cleared. 24 were convictof lesser charges such as looting. 130 women accused the soldiers of raping them during fighting in 2012. malcolmalcolm webb has more fro. >> 26 people in total going to jail but most of them have been charged with other crimes such as pillaging. 13 people have walked free, they're all disperse again bringing further criticism that there seems to be possibly impunity for high-ranking soldiers whereas the 26 who are going to jail are of lower ranks with the exception of one officer above them. the trial was fair, the right

people did go to jail, and some people will say in a context of almost no justice at all, the first trial of its kind even though it wasn't legally watertight, it was better than nothing. >> nairobi, at least three people were killed and 60 others injured. follows two explosions on the coavment city momb -- coastal city mombasa. >> unable to confront our security agencies directly, the terrorists have now resort are o soft targets. we will not relent and we will not withdraw from somalia. we will not be cowed or

intimidated. >> palestinian president mahmoud abbas, meeting comes after unity agreement between fatah. >> syrian national coalition as the legitimate representative of the syrian people. full diplomatic honest and rights. the u.s. had ordered the closing of the syrian embassy in march. libya has confirmed its new prime minister. ahmed matig, reversed decision former prime minister abdalla

fini resigned last week siting security reasons. nora ministry said opened fire, two others were wounded. there's been chaotic scenes at the site of friday's landslide in afghanistan. warning shots were fired after trucks arrived with supplies, and villagers say nearby are taking are supplies meant for them. desperate disprit need of help. the u.n.'s coordinator has visited and said many afghans are suffering. >> this is the year where we see the most industria instrumental, over 130 people have died in addition to blood mad to the

people that have -- in addition to the people who have died here, i think our focus really has to be in the months ahead on how we make sure those people who have been displaced loss everything, lost their homes are able to get back to a more normal life. >> at least two people have been killed in pakistan after opened fire in the territory, pakistan is the main route to supply u.s. troops in afghanistan with everything from food to fuel. no one has claimed responsibility. we were sitting upstairs. suddenly the fire started and it continued from ten to 15 minutes. we couldn't see what happened. we saw the trucks and nato suppliers why. when we got here. >> more to come on al jazeera,

the news hour. first pictures of our journalists detained in egypt. from pariah to player of the year. tried to regain the top spot in the english premier league. now government officials are blaming boro fighters for the death of more than 30 people and violence linked to the country's elections, seeking refuge in a temporary relief camp. reporting from ashram sleep. >> she hasn't slept for days. gunmen attacked her village, setting their homes on fire. her husband was shot dead, along with many of her neighbors.

>> translator: we've lost our family, we've lost our property worth thousands. our family is the most important things we have. our piece of mind is not going to come back. >> reporter: local authorities are blaming the violence on separatist rebels from the boro tribe. they are accused ever attacking muslims. they will seek justice for the 500 survivors who now live in this temporary shelter. but people here are angry and accuse politician hs of making hollow promises. several people have been

arrested. state officials are also proposing to armin arm muslim villages. >> sometimes forces are not so much to cover entire area million not bad licensed. >> for now, survivors of the attacks are scared. despite the heightened security, people in this camp of refusing to go back to their villages, unless a permanent police force have been established there. many have been murdered and they are afraid they might be next. al jazeera, bangapara state. 22 have been drowned and many are missing in the a agean sea.

close to the island of samoff. 36 dispiefer36 survivors have bt crdiscovered. >> all of those survivors have come from a motor yacht, ten meters long, overfilled with as many as 60 people. there are also 36 survivors and of course there is an unknown number at this time of people who are missing. so we don't know exactly the total number of people who are on those boats to begin with. but the survivors were found on a rubber din dinghy and the overturned motor yacht. seems to have capsized for unknown preens at the moment. reasons at the moment.

work theory among the authorities that perhaps there was a panic on board that caused a large shift of people from one side of the boat to the other. and this is of course th second incident involving a high number of fatalities in the agean sea this year. saw at least 9 afghans drown, possibly due to a panic on board which led the boat at that point to capsize. authorities are particularly worried because there's a growing trend of an increase in the nurm of vessels and number of people -- number of vessels and number of people intercepted on the agean now gone up to 1500 for the month of april and that trend seems to be on the increase. >> vatican appears to want to

distance itself, no power to prosecute beyond vatican city. kim vanell has more details. >> archbishop faced a par about a an of questions how the holy see has dealt with the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the church for years. maintains the church is doing what it should to right past wrongs. >> you take for example the case of the united states, where they have to -- the church has invested $2.5 billion in compensation for victims. and some of the abusive priests, most of the abusive priests that we know of have been defrokd.

so there has been action. >> drastic implications for church. the holy see designed convention against torture in 2002, but said it did so only on behalf of vatican city, a sovereign state of less than 2,000 people. owner are. >> the church has done a great job on the front lines helping children, helping women in difficult situation and it would actually endanger them i think were this committee to label them essentially a sponsor of torture. >> but others say the vatican is shirking responsibility. the u.n. panel wants permanent investigation to explore what it exawls a climate ocalls a clima. >> he set up a committee to study but he has not taken action that with would actually

keep children safe. >> tens of thousands of children were molested by priests during the decade long scandal. finding the abuse amounts to torture, could open up a flood gate with no statute of limitation on torture. kimvanel, al jazeera. the 5th of may is the deadline for establishing whether are it will make a clean break. portugal has received $1.5 billion over the past three years. bond yeelts are at a big time below.3.sy%. the program has is on track, path of sold milk finances, of

financial stability. we have played great progress on budgets consolidation and because we have regained our credibility. >> and we'll have more from europe later, but right now it's back to doha and sammy. >> al jazeera has obtained photos of abdullah shami. he's been on hunger strike for 105 days now. he's taken only water since march the 16th. this image, taken before his arrest, shows him in normal health. the al jazeera journalist has lost more than a third of his weight. marking his 26th birthday with a solidarity vigil. he continues to be held without charge and denied access to a lawyer or medical treatment.

al jazeera has also received an audio recording of al shami. recordings are of poor quality. [ audiorecording ] >> three al jazeera english journalists are also detained, held by 128 days. peter greste, baher mohamed and mohamed fahmy have been accused of withholding evidence and connections with muslim brotherhood. al jazeera is demanding their

immediate release. media corporations and human rights groups are in paris, to discuss ways of improving conditions for journalists around the world. organized by unesco, 167 journalists are currently imprisoned around the world and 16 have been killed so far this year. >> when you are oppressing the media, you are actually oppressing all the people. because you are preventing them from getting the truth, from getting knowledge. that means you want to keep them ignorant. you are against the development of your society. you have to be accountable for this. who is accountable? sometimes it is the government sometimes something else. but when it comes to the protects of journalists, governments are always accountable. they have to guarantee the safety of people, anyone in their country. >> unesco is always concerned

when there is an infringement of freedom of expression, journalists are imprisoned or killed, always make a condemnation of killing of any journalists, we obviously are concerned as many other professionals and we do the best we can that the situations get reversed. >> still ahead this hour, a public health emergency, a warning from the world health organization. and finally, work in south africa isn't as clear cut as you might think. find out why employment there is such a major issue. this ridiculous sailing crash in china. >> i'm on a mission, that i have to keep this business going... >> three families struggling every day >> we had to pull the whole

retirement fund... >> real stories... real people... real advice... >> you need to pay the water bill, if you don't pay it, we're shutting your water off in a half hour >> how will you survive? >> the stakes are so high... >> america's middle class:

>> i'm joe berlinger this is the system people want to believe that the justice system works. people wanna believe that prosecutors and police do the right thing. i think every american needs to be concerned about that.

we do have the best justice system in the world, in theory... the problem is, it's rum by human beings... human beings make mistakes... i'd like to think of this show as a watch dog about the system... to make sure justice is being served. wrongful convictions happen, we need to be vigilant. with our personal liberties taken away from us, it better be done the right way. is justice really for all? >> welcome back. let's take a look at the headlines here in al jazeera now. the armed group boko haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of nigerian school girls. groups have threatened to sell the girls.

almost all the government soldiers accused of the largest rape trial in the democratic republic of congo were aquilted. >> ukrainian military has released video. pro-russian fighters were killed along with four policemen during a gun battle on friday. in odessa hundreds gathered to pay their respects. for those who died in a government building. >> this is one of 46 funerals, each a reminder of last week's clashes in odessa, those who want closer ties with russia. vladim was 55, a poet and father

who wrote nostalgically about the russian empire. a friend spoke about what he might have felt. >> war is unavoidable. we are living in pre-war times. it will bring a lot of victims. >> until reinforcement, odessa in the south of ukraine had been relatively free of the rage building in the east of the country. but after what happened here on friday night this city is not short of people who are prepared to fight. we've seen them on both sides. angry pro-russians breaking into a police station where their comrades were being held on the weekend. and those whose rallying cry is glory to ukraine, arming

themselves by whatever means against separatism. odessa' governor has called for recruits. i spoke to one just after he signed up. >> something tells me it's just going to get worse. because with the potential government in kyiv i can't see the authority of central government, it worries me a lot. and i think -- i think it has finally come where i have to take action in my own hands. and you know, get proactive around the situation that is going on. >> the anger and hate that can lead to war is confined to minorities on both sides in an otherwise peaceful population but the numbers are growing. jonah hull, al jazeera, odessa. >> the world health organization says the spread of pole yo i pon

international health emergency. the w.h.o. is particularly concerned about the situation in cameroon, pakistan and syria. .com 9 cane explains. >> vaccines help keep us healthy. ask your local health clink to understand which once you need pop. >> eradicate where possible. until recently it believed that polio was one that it had contained. through a rigorous global immunization campaign the organization had reduced the nesks rate from hundreds of thousands -- infection rate from hundreds of thousands a year to below 1,000 but w.h.o. says it is spreading again now and becoming an emergency. >> the spread in 2014 constitutes an extraordinary event and a public health risk,

to which a coordinated response is essential. >> until the civil war in syria broke out it had been free of the disease for 14 years. but the w.h.o. believes the country has been reiin reinfecth polio from pakistan. polio is a viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of five. it is spread by contact with tainted food. it can kill within hours although that is rare. this is the second time that w.h.o. has issued a declaration of a public health emergency in the past five years. the first was during the swine flu pandemic of 2009. the difference now is that the vaccine to stop polio is cheap and readily available. dominic cane, al jazeera.

>> now, in south africa, the amcu union has instructed 70,000 of its members to press on with action against the world's top platinum producers. it's now lasted for 14 weeks, the country's longest and most costly mining strike. the workers want their salaries doubled, to $1200 per month. with one in four south africans out of a job, 20 years since the fall of apartheid. >> government's policy of black economic empower many or bee has helped. it's put some in charge of formerly white owned businesses that used to seclude them. bud under them there is still a

layer of white middle managers who can't get past skin color. >> there needs to be a transmission. the chairman is telling them that, the directors are telling them, but you know what it's not getting done. >> danka enjoys passing his bee benefits to others, otherwise, she'd have to meet clients here. she also struggles against prejudice. >> it's difficult times to go past the attitude of the way of thinking. i think there is still a long way for us who is black interior decorators, to get into the white market. >> end of a chain of beneficiaries of black south african empowerment policies which the government says are

necessary because there are millions of unemployed back people. while bee works for mbambo critics say it's created a black elite. currently mining is gripped by a strike in the platinum sector. south africa's mines are supposed to be 26% black owned. labor unrest can deter foreign investors. >> they'd look at that and say right, i'd rather go somewhere else. that's certainly had an impact on creating new jobs, new factories, opportunities for south africans. >> the miners have taken their fight all the way to the seat of government. they'll be among the millions of people keen to see if the union building's new occupants have new ideas to solve the old problems of race discrimination and unemployment. tanya page, al jazeera, durban,

south africa. >> does of violations carried out by venezuelan security forces since protests started in february. mariana martinez explains. >> on the night of march 20th he was walking home when national guardsmen on motorcycles chased him. >> i was running, three guards surrounded me pushing me and kicking me. i raised my hands to eventual der. one national -- to surrender. in. >> the rubber bullet pierced his leg and that's where when the psychological abuse went on. it went on for six hours until he got help. >> they made me walk.

they made me wipe the floor with my tee shirt. i started to faint and only then did they send me to the doctor. >> the human rights watch report, documents dozens of cases where protesters were beaten and tortured. said more than 150 were abused by security forces during the protests. it says victims were unarmed and were not engaging in acts of violence when arrested. most detainees were denied basic rights and were prevented access to lawyers and medical help while destained. president nicholas madison rowe says perpetrators of violence will be prosecuted. 90% of security force he have been detained and are under investigation for cruel treatment and torture. the government says many

protesters were armed and pro-opposition snipers killed some of the 41 people among them nine national guard members. the report based its findings on witness testimony, photos, videos medical reports and judicial rulings. acted violent reply to contain demonstrators and punishment for their political views. but martinez denies credit participating in protests those days. he remains under guard facing five charges among them association to commit crimes and resisting arrest. if convicted he could face up to five years in replies on mariana sanchez, al jazeera, venezuela. after the sinn fein leader gerry adams was released by irish police.

felicity. >> the sinn fein leader was questioned for four days about the killing in 1972. warned of a backlash if he named those he believe killed her. >> the determination and bravery of michael mcconville is unbelievable. for years he's fought for justice, now he believes his best route is the international criminal court in the hague. >> under pressure, with political pull. we have seen in recent days as they carried on. >> leader of sinn fein gerry adams has been released, he denies involvement.

a file will go to the international court to decide whether to pursue a case. policing exposed by the adams arrest. sinn fein's martin mcguiness, speaks of. >> the commissioner for the victims of the troubles in northern ireland has urged the politicians here at the assembly to essentially get their act together because she says at the moment the needs of the victims are not being met. are some have suggested a truth commission or tribunal to settle historical crimes. >> we do not know how unstable that system is until the police turn up and charge somebody or arrest somebody. that's what happened next week and it can happen again. that's why we need a protest that stops all this and actually lifts the risks for people who are important players in these arrests.

>> michael mcconville says he will never give up his quest. al jazeera, belfast. >> leaders urged all sides involved to ensure elections in the country which take place later this month happen without any interference. >> while russia is continuing to intensify the tensions we agree that the peaceful and democratic presidential elections must remain in place. did diplomatic solution to ukrainian can crisis. we ask that all sides follow that route. >> central spain's bella monte can crisis, final of the medieval combat world championship. this is an amateur sport gaining popularity starting in eastern

europe 20 years ago. polish national team battle the united states and it was the u.s. who won. and that's it from europe. back now to sammy in doha. >> thanks felicity. plenty more after the break. >> classical music stars of tomorrow being trained but today they're giving back. >> and the big names in tennis enjoy an easy day in court. robin will have the action later in sport. exploited

>> beyond borderland... only on al jazeera america

>> robin's here and we know what that means. it's time for sports news. >> sammy, thank you very much. named football writer's player of the year, award is given, week after suarez was recognized by his fellow professionals when he won the player's prize. stephen jerrod was second in the action. crystal palace led, needing a win to keep live their hopes of a first league title since 1990. liverpool's manager knows that won't be easy. reyou've 88thed underejuvenated. >> they defend it very, very

well, can get pleasure on the counterattack. really as i said got a real spur there amongst them, so done an outstanding job and as i said we're going to keep them in the league which he's done as it has been a great effort. >> work affirmed th juventus. spying after a weekend of surprising results, for the top 3. held at home, plus leaders, third place real madrid could only pick up a point between them. real madrid health host to valencia. insteainstead it was the deflece ball into the net. run improvement from the equalized with this third goal

in two games. standards valencia a shock-lead. and into stoppage time, christian reynaldo, scored two there,. >> it wasn't a small opportunity. it was an enormous opportunity. however now we have to forget this game and thy about the next one. we did well to keep up the fight and get the draw. but what we really needed was the win tonight. >> tell you what, real must have been breathing a sigh of relief. lost to the other team, thanks oa philipp luis's own goal. athletico stayed on top.

they play bars in the final game of the season. tennis, round 2 at the madrid open, beatin beat croatan. aussie leighton lewis santiago jeraldo. 76-6 du, is now complete, the tp seeds in the west, the san antonio spurs routed the dallas mavericks, 109 to 96. toronto to take on the raptors

in the deciding game of the eastern conference series. it was nip and tuck throughout, the lead changing hands frequently. just seconds left the raptors, lost to within a point of brik brooklyn, making a crucial block. and brooklyn eventually winning it 104 to 103. >> so many things are going through your head and i just happened to be in the right place at the right time. i saw him split the defenders, went up with him, got my hand an the ball, game over. >> semi final lineup, in the west portland trail blazers go to san antonio spurs, before that though on monday the third ranched los angeleranked los an.

indiana pacers playing host to the washington wizards while the defending champions, miami heat play brooklyn on tuesday. chicago black hawks have taken a two-0 lead, against the minnesota wild. comfortable winners on sunday, jonathan taves, black hawks going on to win 4-1. it was a much closer contest in the eastern conference series between the pittsburgh pen peng, invest to their gold go tender, 22 saves, series, now tide at 1-1 -- now tied at 1-1. golf now j.d. holmes has won the u.s. pga wells fargo

championship. well and truly puts the pressure on his opponent but holmes who was the overnight leader held his nerve, and clinched his third pga title. some interesting pictures, major crass involving this swiss crew from an out of control australian crew. >> thanks so much robin. now an artist living in the occupied west bank has found fame, fuses chlorine on black canvas and sells his works online. he has to wear a gas mask to

avoid the pun jant smell, says his -- pungent smell. >> chlorine and its interaction on fabric is a symbol. all kinds of acts to suppress the people. i'm trying to create a new reality from nothing. >> now, when the new world sympathy -- symphony opened its doors four years ago, the primary goal was to train the next generation of young new mao musicians. so much more to bring music to the masses. andy gallagher has the story, for those who might not otherwise got a chance to learn. >> if you want to meet the classical stars of tomorrow, you could do much worse than drop in on a can rehearsal of the new

world symphony. musicians will spend the next few years refining their skills before going on to join orchestras and ensembles. this doesn't mean this is a stuffy concert halls, for those stuffy you enough. it's shown on a giant project screen, and the talents aren't restricted to the inside of this multimillion dollar facility. >> when he's not studying the clarinet, brad whitfield teaches students in liberty city. it's one of the poorest neighborhoods. >> its for me a concert of my nerves. it's important for musicians to give back to not only your community but giving back and sharing with people. >> music programs in state

funded schools in the u.s. are often the first to face cuts as budgets tighten. but in this high school the budget is thriving, their partnership has been a big help. >> this is very important for the growth of our band and the growth of our music organization, over the years you can see the difference in the amount of love that these students have grown to have. >> and for this band the height comes later. for many it's their experience with the musicians that's kept them going. >> they've basically shown me the depths of music how far it really expands and how you touch with music. it's been great. >> the new world symphony then continues to build in and impress with its musical prowess. but they're also working hard to keep classical music alive. andy gallagher, al jazeera,

miami, florida. >> this bliss us to the end of the news hour.