fight for civil rights >> this is the defining issue today... >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america this is al jazeera. welcome to this al jazeera news time. david foster. these are some of the stories we are covering. detail in the next 60 minutes. >> rebels quit their besieged city football but their current whereabouts football unknown. . >> this will be the end of terra in nigeria. >> a promise of victory in the fight against the armed group boko haram. >> i am barbara with the top

stories europe klug separatists in ukraine ignoring putin's call to postpone an independence vote . >> i am powering the future. ethiopia continues to build a hydroelectric damn. why is that turning some people red with anger? the final whereabouts of hundreds of syrian opposition fighters who have been trying to leave their last stronghold in the old city of homs is unclear. they have been sloutd to leave under a u.n.-brokered cease fire. in the last few minutes, we have heard reports that they may not have made it to safety, that they could have been detained. we have we have no more details at the moment. in the meantime, their withdrawal is seen as a major victory for president bashar

al-assad's forces. >> from rbeirut in neighboring lebanon >> reporter: syrian army soldiers fan out in the city of homs after armed rebels left their last stronghold. it took three years for the syrian army to regain control over syria's third largest city. fears battled and many lives have been lost in the fighting. government officials toured destroyed neighborhoods and promised reconstruction. >> disagreement is the milestone in the history of syria. we pray to god homs will be the cause of the solution as it was the cause of the crisis in the first place. we hope all will come back. >> this was a deal brokered by the iranian ambassador. it gave the rebels a safe exit. the syrian government full control of what was considered the capitol of the revolution.

in return, the rebels freed pro-government hostages they had held for a month. the rebels also allowed aid to reach some of the supporters. >> there is complete respect for the cease fire according to the agreement between both parties and there is a real ease by god and the syrian did to try to reach their goals. >> what president assad, this is a victory. the area were helped ahead of presidential e elections on june 3rdrdrd. it will allow the government to re-direct troops to other flash points like aleppo where the islamic front blew up the carlton hotel on thursday morning. it's reported it was an army base. homs was once considered the

most repebbleous city and a major setback for the opposition to lose it. the rebels vow they will retake it. the homs deal was made and implemented on the ground, away from the negotiations between government and opposition. military advances on the ground, president asaad is hoping to regain control with similar deals in the major hot spots without having to pay political concessions for it. al jazeera, beirut. the united states has renewed its call to support syria's opposition, which is said to be giving a voice to people who have been oppressed by the government. >> securities and exchanretary y has had a meeting and we will go to our correspondent live from washington, d.c. give us a sense of what the two of them had to say and whether it would appear that john

kerry's rather careful sdmrom attic line here when it comes to the sensitivities that and may have been let down. >> the statements of the secretary, john kerry, and the syrian opposition president made were very, very brief. in fact, they have gone back into their meeting room for more consultations with their teams on what the u.s. can do to provide support to the syrian opposition. we heard kerry briefly reiterate a decision that was made by the obama administration earlier this week, whichs that the syrian opposition council is officially going to be recognized, as it were, as an official representative of the syrian people. it's not full diplomatic status, but it makes it easier for the soc to set up an office here in the united states to have bank accounts to actually conduct business. but it doesn't mean that it is, for example, going to be able to

take over the property that is owned by the syrian government, in particular the embassy as well well as 3 consults across the country. it's really a very difficult situation, as you noted, david, because one thing that is wanted is weapons to assist the pre-syrian army. the obama administration is steadfastly opposed to providing weapons to the militants because they say this is not a kind of situation where we believe that arming the rebels is going to lead to a positive outcome. they believe that in their words, trying to reach some sort of political calculus in order to get a negotiated political settlement, again, the admin trace's terms, is what ought to be done. it could be very contentious, one might assume, assuming that president jarva continues not to send the meeting -- not just in the meeting with the secretary but with president barack obama

as well to insist that armed assistance is what is necessary in order to help the rebels perhaps take control of the syrian government. >> well, we will leave you therefore now. thank you very much, rose jordan, live in washington d.c. . >> the world economic forum for africa is being held in abuja against a backdrop of extreme violence carried out by the armed group boko haram. as many as three 00 killed in the northeast, and three weeks ago, about 270 school girls were kidnapped by these same group and they are still missing. from abuja, yvonne dagin >> reporter: the world economic forum was supposed to show case the economic and business opportunities in nigeria to investors from around the world. it is being overshat owed by violence in the northeast. hundreds of people were killed in a village on monday and more

than 200 girls are being held hostage by the armed group, boko h hor a.m. -- haram. the government decided today go ahead despite the violence. . >> . >> it's a major blow to terrorism. >> nigeria is a country of enormous contrasts. it's economy is booming. it's the worthed's 25th largest and it became at a time biggest economy and they are trying to cash in on the huge market of over 160 million people. the economy is fueled by a massive growth in mobile telecom, ag culture, banking and the nali wood film industry. but they have big problems to overcome. it's the world's 13th largest oil exporter but it's losing

billions of dollars every year, an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil are stolen every day. there has been an up surge in violent religious ethnic disputes that have killed hundreds of people. >> there is so much difference in income between the super rich and, if you like, the super poor. this is as a result of all of the time, the miss managep management of our social policy, which led to corruption and corruption, in effect, created a scenario where there is a divide between the rich and the poor and that leads us to the issue of security >> reporter: the problems have fueled massive poverty among the masses. more than 61% of the people live on less that 1 usd a day. more than 30% are unemployed.

many nigerians are asking if and how the turmoil in the northeast affects the long-term prospects of the rest of the nation. many feel that the constant attacks and insecurity, though confined to one region, will hurt the whole country. he von, nigeria. >> eastern decrane's separatists have did i havefied the president after he called on them to postpone a referendum on self-rule. the details: >> david, the separatists have ignored vladimir putin's calls saying they will go ahead with their referendum plans this sunday. the decision contrad i think so the conciliatory tone set earlier. leaders in donetsk say pressure from kyiv is adding to the need for the referendum and from donetsk, jonah hull reports >> reporter: the separatists of

eastern ukraine might have been expected to do exactly what russia's president had urged them to do: postpone their referendum and negotiate with the government, but citing a unanimous vote of the council of the people's repuckblic of donetsk, the chairman said the referendum would go ahead. >> we don't have direct contact with vladimir putin. we found out about his proposals through the mass media. i think he will learn about our decision in the same way. >> representatives of the people's republic announced they would do likewise and in the separatist stronghold of slovyansk, the focus of an ongoing effort by ukrainian forces to list arm groups, the message was that here, too, they are ready for sunday's vote. >> the majority of the region will vote positively. i know this because i have talked to many local citizens in all of the sectors of the population. >> everybody supports us and everybody wants a better future. >> with that, in the corners of

occupied eastern ukraine, president putin's intervention was comprehensively dismissed. >> i can only expect, and i think the city in donetsk agree with us, the separation from ukraine for our own independent donetsk people's republic. >> the european policies, all of our roots and the roots of most of the people here are in russia. >> with soviet music blaring out across the square, this is the local administration building in donetsk. for several weeks, it has been occupied by representatives of the people's republic. after sunday's vote, many here hope it will become the seat of an autonomous government. >> the hopes suddenly raised by president putin on wednesday that a resolution to this crisis in ukraine appeared to be unfounded. jonah hull, al jazeera, dondon.

>> i spoke with sergei maltov, a member of vladimir putin's party and a former member of the russian parliament. he said the situation in the area is extremely precarious. >> russia could be involved in a war or the protection of the russian-speaking majority of ukraine against an explosion and probably a global crisis. >> that's something that -- >> putin tried to postpone. >> certainly everyone is trying to avoid that possible outcome. in the past few days, we have seen a different sort of tone coming from vladimir poobt.

we have had the statement about the postponement of the referendum. he said that the presidential e elections on the 25th of may for kyiv, were a move in the right direction. so are those just words, on is the president, is the russian president trying to strike a more conciliatory tone with kyiv? and, of course, with the western countries? >> of course, vladimir putin will not recognize a result of such elections because it's not the election. it's the election which continues in the total terror of the criminal junta with political censorship, with hundreds of political prisoners and his terror -- >> wouldn't you say those elections. sir, he did say those elections move in the right direction. presumably, we are seeing a

softening of the tone. what i am asking you is: are those just words, or do they actually reflect a change in policy from russia? >> it's a change of tactics in russia because before this, russia repeated many times that russia will not recognize elections. it will not be free and fair and if thely, we will not have more moderate cabinet ministers where all ukraine regions should be represent represented, and, also, with our change of constitution, we should give a real guarantee of russian-speaking people. now, people change -- now putin change his tactic. let's have a lesson what he wants to have where needed to deal with new authorities, but we don't against e elections. we are against not changing the

constitution. we are against not protecting human right of russian speaking people. if you want to guarantee the right of russian-speaking people in ukraine, not before elections, but after e elections. okay. let's do it. we support it. >> meanwhile in the capitol, kyiv, people are refusing to recognize that referendum in the east saying pro-shan russian protesters are hijacking it, saying it's illegal and it simply will not go ahead. kim vanell has more from kyiv. >> reporter: n independence square, once the center of the revolution, now a terse destination, only a few protesters remain. >> liferi rinko left to become a medic. she believes the planned referendum in the east is irrelevant. >> i think there is no need for any referendum, and putin should

not interfere in our business. >> authorities also remain defiant. national security council andre pe peruvy says any vote will be ignored. >> people with automatic guns say they won't. it's political provocation, nothing to do with the expression of the people in real life. >> itt saying it won't give up the east, mother of one believes lawlessness reigns. she is a car watch team, a group of 200 locals who work with armed self defense units to catch so-called provocateurs. she thinks it's proof the revolution is far from over. >> translator: i am aware that to properly prepare a rememberer endum, it takes a lot of time to conduct them in a way that will allow them to express their will. what is being prepared is not a referendum. it's a political game. >> many kyiv youth agree with

her. 18-year-old kluchvic are training to become police officers. they think pro-russian groups are hijacking the fate of the country. >> we are not fighting for the political issues or for power. we fight for the idea. we want an independent democratic country, not to be depend event on europe or russia -- dependent on europe or russia. we want our future on our own >> reporter: while the government maintains the planned referendum in the east is illegal, no official has said what, if any, the plan of action will be. officials meanwhile are preparing for victory day. >> that's a national holiday celebrating the soviet victory over nazi germany. they believe that could be used by so-called provocateurs from the east. more from europe, a little later. now to david in doha. >> barbara, the united nations mission to south sudan said that all atrocat this are being carried out which are gross

violations of human rights and serious breaches of humanitarian law. the u.n. report comes on the eve of peace talks between rebel leader and the president. from the south sudanese capital, juba >> reporter: entire towns burned to the ground. the fighting and destruction during the conflict in south sudan has displaced more than a million people. and in every place affected by the fighting, the bodies of the dead have been left out in the open. fighting engulfed juba on the 16th of december and spread around the country. civilians became target did because of their tribe. peter has to live at a camp for the displaced. he is so afraid of retribution, we couldn't identify him. he was taken there after he survived the massacre of around 300 men from his tribe. he was locked in a room with hundreds of others outskirts of the city without explanation.

>> after it got dark, an armed soldier and in each window and doorway of the room. they fired from outside and then when everything was quiet, they came inside to look for the survivors. they went around the room with a torch looking for people who were moving and when they found them, they shot them dead. i hid underneath the corpses and pretended to be dead. they never found me. >> of the two or 300 men inside the room, only around a dozen survived. most of the thetry tribe from juba live at the u.n. camp or fled the city. >> what began is a political contest between the president who is from the dinka tribe and his former deputy soon spiraled into full-blown ethnic sxlik. there were attempts to sur press the ethnic nature of the violence. over time, it wasn't possible. >> the destruction continued as territory changed hands from government to rebels and back again. in some cases, five or six

times. with each exchange of control, the violence escalated with civilians not only affected but targeted. in the town of malakow, aid workers found patients shot in their bed, taking the town back from the government army. by april, other places of sanctuary were attacked and another massacre took place at a mosque at the town of benju. this time, the vict ims were from sudan, perceived as loyal to government forces. just days later, there was a reprisal attack at the u.n. base in bor when nuair civilians are listening. another massacre, another 46 people kid. this time, in sight of u.n. peace keepers. >> translator: what has happened at bore and mala and fields, whatever atrocity, each side has committed it

>> reporter: each attack brings reprisals and an escalation to the violence. political leaders have agreed to meet for peace talks but divisions between the tribes are so entrenched now there are terms a political solution won't stop the killings. al jazeera, juba, south sudan. ten people have died in shelling in the besieged iraqi city of fallujah. witnesses say that military jets dropped bombs on residential areas at the city about 50 other people are said to have been injured. the government has denied it carried out any such attack. anti-government groups in egypt say they have formed a coalition to bring an earned to what they describe as the military coup. self-described proceed democracy politicians, among them members of the muslim brotherhood have met in brucels. they say they will launch a council on the 3rd of july to coincide with the first anniversary of the removal of mohammed morsi.

the muslim brotherhood and freedom and justice party agree and signed this document which has come as a result of intention consultation. this has been the case of more than two months. if the regulations are to be laid down, we will be later authorized to bring forces together. >> journalists have been held in an egyptian prison for 131 days. peter gresta, mohammed salmi in the white clothes here accused of conspiring with the outlawed ms. lim brotherhood. it has been declared a terrorist organization by egypt. our clearly, abdullah al shami has been on hunger strike, it's said, for 108 days. al jazeera rejects the charges and demands all four men's immediate release. lebanon has reported its first case of the middle east respiratory sinned droll or

mers. the health ministry said 1% was treated odd thursday. four more death did from mers have been reported in saudi arabia. tie land's former prime minister, ying lukshinowa was forced out of. the anticorruption commission has accused her of negligence over financially disafter the rouse rice subsidy scheme for farmers. more from bangkok >> reporter: it was part of an election pledge: buying rice from farmers at above market prices to help boost their income. critics called it a form of vote buying and said it was arrive with corruption. in the end, it cost the government billions of dollars. now, thailand's anticorruption agency has charged former prime minister with negligence for starting the scheme. the agency is recommending she be impeached, which could see

her banned from politics for five years. it's the latest development in the country's ongoing political turmoil, which has seen the capitol, bangkok, rocked by street demonstrations for six months. here, a group of riot police stand guard ready to head off trouble. this small band of proceed government supporters are head to go a building. after some negotiations, they decide to turn around. a potential clash averted but such rallies in the continued occupation of parts of bangkok is having a negative impact. >> the political gridlock in times of protest are having an effect on the economy. the project is an increase. >> reporter: tiela landts prospects for both -- thailand's prospects for growth have been

downgraded. peek line song pon say it's harder to cope with prices. she is getting tired of the political crisis. it was all right at first. it's gone on for too long. it's getting tiresome. it doesn't seem like it's going to end soon >> reporter: pro-and anti-government protesters are planning tohold major rallies over the coming days. plans from both sides to hold talks to resolve the crisis and implement reforms have amounted to nothing. many want the country to move on. >> translator: i want it to end peacefully. we are all the same country. we are all thais. >> how to move forward when both sides seem so deeply polarized is the difficult part. florence lee, al jazeera, bangkok. the african national con congress has taken a lead in south african's elections with two-thirds of ballots counted, they have over 60% of the vote.

talking to people in pretty other i can't about their homes for the futureoria about their homes for the fut e future. >> many people expect the ruling africans national congress party to win the e elections. this lady is on the way to work. she wants to see more efforts from politicians. >> most of the people there applied for the houses. 1996, still now, they are getting nothing from anc. >> there was high voter turnout in wednesday's polls. at the election center in pretty or i can' pretoria is leading. >> it is. >> the question is by what margin will they win the vote? in 2009, about 65% of the vote. if it gets less than that this time, it could be a wake-up call for the leadership >> reporter: the main opposition party, the democratic alliance and the new kid on the block, the economic freedom fighters have gained ground in this election. they are tapping into the discontent some of the poor have with the ruling party.

but despite allegations of corruption and poor delivery of basic services in some areas many people still support the anc, the party that helped end apard aparthe apartheid, but they want more. >> low confidence on them. they should continue doing us proud, and. >> one in 4 people are unemployed in south africa. it's one of many urgent issues the winner of this election has to deal with. >> coming up on the newshour, the black moritanious thrown out of their country now afraid to return to their home land. why this young man from the messi tribe has something to jump up and down about. in sport, a milestone victory for the world's top female tennis player, still, serena williams.

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time to run through the global stories. in full control of the city of homs after opposition fighters left the remaining stronghold there. a thousand people out during a u.n.-brokered troop between the government and rebels. it has been suggested they may have been detaedee tained once they left the city. >> pro-russian separatists say they won't postpone a referendum on independence. they ignored a call from russia's president, vladimir putin not to go ahead with the vote on may the 11th. nigeria's president "goodluck" jonathan predicted victory in the battle against boko haram rebels. they are accused of killing as many as 300 people in an attack in the northeast very close to where 270 school girls were abducted last month. of course, those school girls are still missing. the chatter across social media websites about those girls has

gone into overload and for more on that, let's go to our colleagues at the stream who have been taking a look at what's posted. >> hello, david. back on april the 14th, that's when more than 200 school girls went missing from northern nigeria. shortly after that, nigerians started tweeting about this tragedy, this crisis using the hash tag "bring back our girls." i want to show you how viral had has gone. have a look at this animation, showing you tweets from new york into kabul, eventually, also, into abuja. 1.7 million tweets. this single hashtag alone has garnhe had. out of everybody who is tweeting, 57% of people tweeting are women and obviously from ni niger nigeria. 33% are nigerians about 29% in the u.s. anduk, about 12% of u.k. all using that twitter

handle, hashtag "bring back our girls" to the beginning of this hash tag. >> it's fascinated it started in nigeria. it was a local hashtag. it started with several different hashtags competing. global africa tweeted on april 15th: who will rescue these helpless girls? another "where are our daughters"? this is solomon tweeting on the 23rd of april. but the hash tag that you mentioned, "bring back our girls" was started when a former world bank official used it in a speech and, thus, a hashtag was born and went viral. you can see it spreading across the world here with the heat map. and it's also spread to some big bigfluencers. the first lady of the united states. >> we spoke to a spokesman for president goodluck jonathan. one of the original campaigners, he started the social media campaign. we asked them about this hashtag.

this is what they had to say. >> i appreciate social media. it shows that, you know, there is a meeting of minds, that we are all human beings. we do not want human beings to suffer. if you look at what goes on social media, there is what i call the vigilante of the hashtag group. >> we have to sustain our protests, remain on the street to make sure this is done because we see our protests and the insistence of what is going on. we saw a sort of taking this issue to the back seat and the nigerian moving, on we did not see any concise effort. >> other campaigners are voicing their concerns on youtube. have a look at this. >> bingo goes home. >> this is something that upset everyone. >> i hope by raising awareness that people will know that this exists. >> this is a cry of every nigerian. we need help. >> here on my laptop, we have the "bring back our girls" facebook page.

this is how the social media campaign is taking off. one of the biggest critics is we have the media campaign. have any girls turned up as of yet? david foster, we will keep you up to date from the stream team. now, back to you. >> thank you very much indeed. extra overheard to see how -- extraorial overheard to see how much there is worldwide. elsewhere in africa, many mooimz away, 40,000 black moritania in. s were thrown out of their country by their own government because of a boarder dispute between them and arabs. a quarter of a secentury, many the refugees still live in senagal. afraid to go back because of racism. nicholas hart traveled to roso on the senegal/moratanian border. >> they refugees don't want to go back home.

they still live here along with about 16,000 others even though the u.n. has closed down their camp. >> my children's future is here, not moritania. >> in senegal these people have access to healthcare and schools. the u.n. provides identity cards that allow them to travel to allwest african countries -- all someways west african countries. >> the arabs cannot stand us because. color of our skin. >> it took 18 years for the moritanian government to acknowledge them as citizens. the united agencies for refugees organized repattriation. 25,000 traveled back to moritania. . >> we believe the conditions are appropriate for the return and integration of these refugees to their home country. >> but thousands of them marched 300 kilometers arriving in the

moritanian capitol on sunday. they demanded the return of property seized by the state. they were not we believed. the racial divide is too difficult to overcome. many black moritanians believe they are better off living as refugees in senagal than as citizens in their tone country. the government in moritania has promised to repat tree ate them on on a case-by-case basis. many believe it's too dangerous to go back. there is another complications indication. most of these refugees were born in senegal. they believe their future is here. nicholas haupe at the border. >> the first people to be charged under a new anti-gay law in uganda have appeared in court. they are accused of homosexuality and they say what

allows for life imprisonment undermines civil liberties. more news out of europe. >> david, let's start in the u.k. because britain's eu skeptic political party has again been forecast to win the highest number of british votes in this month's european elections. >> that's according to a poll which reflects the growing support despite allegations of racism and homophobia. the party's exam pain for an immediate exit from the eu and tougher immigration rules has seen it steal support from the u.k.'s mainstream parties. lawrence lee has more. . >> a couple of kilometers from london but a foreign country to many. it will looks like it used to be a prosperous place. people worry about job security and immigrants. julie on the fruits and vegetables, she speaks for millions of white working class people in england.

>> all of the jobs, they are expecting to get money off of the government, through the dole. to me, it's wrong. >> in mars the ukip or mustard colored truesers and impressive mustaches make them look nothing like politicians. they call themselves the people's army. some call them fascists. >> they say that's a slur. >> with are a libertarian free market party and on those grounds alone, we wouldn't want to sit apart from the racism issue. >> hard right parties are running third in european election polls. here, they are in the lead, a three-party political system in britain is under siege. >> it's hardly a surprise that they are making an impression here it's a traditional english market town, a long way from

london. many people will say they feel betrayed or ignored by the political elite in westminster. the former conservative mp has had to resign over allegations of corruption. really, this is exactly the kind of place that ukip would call home. >> several hours later in the west minister bubble, ukip's opponents make their views clear. pro-immigration and who view the rise as not much different than hitler's in 1930's germany. >> they want to say, oh, it's not my faulty haven't gotten on. i am going to blame it on other people. >> it's a big moment for the party faced with a constant attack of being racist, ho homophobic and swivel eyed. their leader comes on, the manual with the german wife and french surname known as nigel to

his fans insisting everyone has been given the wrong idea. >> you can call us right-wing, left-wing, small-minded. you can call us. i don't get what you call us but from this moment on, please, do not ever call us a racist party. we are not a racist party. >> his vote is going through the roof even though most people wouldn't have a clue what their policies are on anything but immigration in europe. it's a crazy time in british politics and it's also an indictment of all of the other parties. lawrence lee, al jazeera. . the u.k.-based bank barcl barclay's announced it plans to cut 19,000 jobs over the next three years. 7,000 in their investment banking composition indicating barclay's return to retail banking. it will come from branches in the u.k., europe and africa and from their operations staff. finally, illegal immigrant

from morocco has made the ferry cross to go spain by hiding on top of the ship's turbine. the 20-year-old traveled from t tanjiers. other my grants aren't so lucky. many tried to swim and there are frequent drownings offer of the coast of morocco. those are the main stories here in europe. now, it's back to david in doha. thank you. a strong earthquake has shaken the southern pacific coast of mexico and several states there. the magnitude 6.4 tremor hit 27 kilometers away from mexico city. buildings were shaken, prompting evacuations. there are no immediate reports of major damage or injuries, however. an inmate who is to be executed in the u.s.a. state of oklahoma on the same night as a botched

execution has been given a stay of six months. charles warner was scheduled to have died last week on the same night as clayton locket. his vein collapsed during his lethal injection prompting prison officials to halt the execution where he died soon after of a heart attack. one of kenya's oldest tribes has brought in new blood to help preserve its culture, the masi ethnic group elected a 20-year-old to join its group of community elders. as jane ferguson reports from southern kenya, they say it's crucial for the tribe to survive >> reporter: massai warriors celebrate preparing to welcome the first new leader of their young people in around 15 years. he appears at dawn. according to tradition, he has handed a symbolic staff and

smeared with cow dung. it's a rare and vital ceremony. peter olisombo is crucial to the ethnic group's survival a the leader of those over the age of 18. he is responsible for preserving their culture. they are split into separate regions. he will be in charge of the youth here on the kenya/tansania border. meeting him in his hut, he told al jazeera he knows what is needed to preserve his community. >> >> translator: if we are able to conserve the environment and the wildlife without abandoning the way of life, it will foster development in the area and help us keep our culture. >> the people here are trying to balance traditions with the modern world while they raise livestock. there are about 1 million massai

mainly in kenya and tanzania. the chief had to cable consider who to choose for the position. >> >> has background, his ability to lead. he was selected among so many people. . >> with massai gathered from various regions, the celebrations went on long after the ceremony. the young warriors have been singing and dancing all through the night and morning. they are likely to continue like this for the rest of the day. . >> the tradition of drinking cow's blood for strength is still practiced here but some signs of modernity are also clear. it's a delicate compromise between old and new. jane ferguson, al jazeera, kenya. coming up on the program, venzuela's dry spell from seeing the government take rather extreme measures.

and.... >> no one wants to help him. pushing like this. >> the sport, we will hear from the world champion athlete still struggle to go finds a sponsor. stay with us if you can hear on al jazeera. r

children at work only on al jazeera america a drought in venzuela's capitol has meant that the government started rationing water and that could be happening for months.

allesa allesandra reports. >> for a week, an unpleas ants surprise when he turned on his f facette. he started storing it in plastic bottles. >> i had to come up with a strategy to save as much water as i can when it comes so i can save it and use it when it stops running. >> fernand is not alone. cuts in the supplies are now affecting many parts of karakas. the government plainsp blaimz a long drought season. one of the city's 3 reservoirs is independent and has been -- empty and shut off. the cuts were official. we have a special plan to reduce hardship in people's homes but the reality is that the situation is a result of weather conditions beyond our control. >> many claim the problem is years if not decades of inadequate maintenance.

in a system that when fully operating falls short of. >> i don't know who is right. what i know is we are the ones who are suffering. what we need are solutions from the national or regional government or the city, whoever is responsible for this. >> the restriction of the water supply will add to the country's shortages of basic goods and could cause more problems on the streets. the government hopes the rationing will end by m mid-september. but with increasingly unreliable seasons, many residents like fernando are left with little choice but to learn how to live without running water. al jazeera, karakas. >> okay. time on the news hour for the world of sport. here is annie. >> thank you very much, david. just over a month out now from the fifa world cup, officials in brazil say a 3 i don't-year-old construction worker has been killed at a site, electrocuted

at the arena, the 8th worker to deny during world cup preparations. this news coming at the same time that the president has been inaugurating the stadium in sao paolo which will host the opening game. >> arena also suffering a series of setbacks with three construction workers killed at that venue the first round of this year's n.f.l. draft is to be held later on this thursday in new york. it's when the best college footballers are signed up by pro-teams. by virtue of having the last season, the houston, texans may trade it for defensive end, clowning. he could be the top pick for quarterback, johnny manziel. if drafted, michael sam will be the first n.f.l.'s first openly gay player. despite teams investing massively in statistical analysis and scouting networks,

the science of making the right pick remains in perfect. john elway is an example of one top draft pick, a star performer at stanford university, he guided the denver broncos to five super bowls, winning his last two. not everybody can go in the first round of the draft. in 2000, tom brady selected in the 6th round. top scouts thought he was too slow and didn't have a good arm. he has won three super bowls with the patriots and sure things can turn out to be anybody but. a number 2 pick in 1998, but with a rookie season with the san diego chargers, a disaster and his top-level career was over within three years. now joining us is the bre h bleacher reports, league n.f.l. writer michael shotty in palm coa coast, florida for us. michael, how important can this -- how important can this draft be to a team's season? >> it's very important.

teams that quote, unquote win the draft stepped to do better in the regular season as well. very few teams are able to absorb the impact of missing on their first round or even their middle round picks and still end up getting good seasons, whether it's by free agency or by trades. the n.f.l. salary cap situation, the way the league is run doesn't allow for that. you have to be good in the draft. it seems they are consistently good in the draft tind to win super bowls as well. >> michael, we were talking there about the imperfect science of making a pick. how difficult is it to know a player at this age, whether or not they are going to make it as a proceed? >> -- a pro? >> up and down because there is an of anecdotal evidence when push comes to shove when you look statistics click at the draft, chances are about 50/50, even with the first overall pick that you will get a good player. and different years, it seems more sure than others. but really, over the whole of draft history, it's about 50/50.

as you work your way down towards the draft and the first round, you get to about 2/3-1/3rd, getting a bad player. for every good player, next round, there is three or four players that didn't make it in the n.f.l. later rounds, every good player for every tom brady, there are a dozen or two dozen guys who didn't make it. these first round picks are valuable. the times who win in the first rounds tend to do very with. champ picks, seahawks had low-drafted players and undrafted players that they had brought on their roster that were still able to make an impact. so, it all goes to show that if you have a good scouting department and you can nail those first picks and find some diamonds in the rough, the regular season will go pretty well for you. >> michael, we are going to have to leave you there. michael shotty, n.f.l. writer for the bleacher report, thank you so much for your time. the nba, all of the focus is on the conference semifinals.

later on thursday, the miami heat will look to go 2-up in the best of 7 series with the brooklyn mets and a 1-0 advantage with the portland trailblazers. >> the new outdoor athletic season gets underway in doha on friday. the diamond league meets will be a homecoming for qatar's first gold medalist. the high jumper's coach says he is still struggle to go find sponsors. richard parr reports >> reporter: limbering up for the new out door athletic season, es h-e-b arsham is getting ready to compete in doha once again but this time as the world indoor champion. >> competing here, you know, the family, the friends. so, it's good to be here. >> having already claimed an olympic bronze and a world

championship's silver, his indoor goals came in march in poland. the qatar sports club is where the diamond league season begins. in arabic, the name means pride. >> that's the emotion that the fans here in doha have towards the young high jumper. >> it goes without saying the proudness is our son, our kid, and we are happy that he's doing something for his country and for himself >> reporter: the 22-year-old's coach believes qatar as a country should be giving more support. >> no one. he is clean. nol one will want to help him with money. like this. only he is grand champion in qatar. there is no company in qatar

that have money for athletics, ball. everything is football. >> his career was launched at qatar's elite sport center. since graduating, credits hiss recent taste of success to his close relation with his coach. >> he is like a father to me, like a relation father to son. i don't see him as a coach. we spend most of the time together in the track, talking about different stuff. it's a teacher of me. >> his hero is mohammed ali. his target to be an olympic champion and break the high jump world record. if he does that, he will live up to the slogan on his shirt. al jazeera. more build-ups as the die monday league on the website. >> it is quite extraordinaril e

thank you very much.

>> welcome to the city of culiacan sinaloa, a place that is known as the cradle of drug trafficking. >> ahead of you lies a treacherous border crossing. >> people have died there and so we're like practically walking into a death trap. >> this is the most dangerous part of your trip. >> so the first day don't kill ya, it's the third day that kills ya. >> we are ly