a nigerian military dismisses criticism it failed to act over boko haram after michelle obama calls for the release. >> in these girls, barack and i see our own daughters. we see their hopes and their dreams, and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now. welcome to al jazeera live from doha. also coming up on the program, jacob zuma leads the anc to victory in the east south african elections.

we are live in johannesburg. arrival protests in tie land following problems that forced the prime minister from. . >> and music it is. how a deal with apple could make this man the first hip-hop billionaire. the world's largest block of islamic countries has described the kidnapping of more than 270 school girls as barbaric and inhumane. the organization for islamic corporation says groups like boko haram is about islam. boko haram has threatened to sell the girls into slavery. they. >> al jazeera raji has more from

the capitol. >> the nigerian military broke its silence issuing a rare detailed statement trying to exonerate soldiers from allegations that they had advanced warning hours before the attack but failed to act accordingly. instead, the military said what they did receive were calls for reinforcement once the attack was underway, that it had to dispatch reinforcements to more than 120 kilometers away in a very rugged and difficult terrain that soldiers were ambushed, that they were receiving misleading information, and that their investigation into the conduct and what exactly happened that day is still underway. this as international teams of experts from the united states from the united kingdom have already started arrive information nigeria to provide assistance to nigerian authorities in areas where they are particularly lacking. these are believed to be areas such as satellite imagery and

intelligence gathers. it has been that these are not troops, boots on the ground but rather technical experts, military personnel, law enforcement personally specifically skilled in the areas of intelligence, hostage negotiations, information gathering and victim assistance. >> u.s. first lady michelle obama has called the kidnappings an uncon shownable act committed by terrorists. she has been a vocal campaigner for the girls' release and says the u.s. is offering all help possible for the search efforts. >> it's an unconscionable act committed by a tir rift group determined to keep these girls from getting an education. grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls. and i want you to know that barak has directed our government to do everything possible to support the nigerian government's efforts to find these girls and bring them home.

in these girls, barack and i see our own daughters. we see their hopes and their dreams, and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now. many of them may be hesitant to send their daughters off to school fearing that harm might come their way. but they took that risk because they believed in their daughters' promise and wanted to give them every opportunity to succeed. >> patty colhane has more from washington, d.c. >> reporter: this is unusual, the first time michelle obama has taken over the weekly address from her president trying to raise awareness about the plight of the school girls in nigeria. is she said the reason she is doing it is personal. she widen it out to talk about the young women across the world trying to get an education saying 65 million young girls are not in school worldwide. now, this is unlikely to change u.s. policy.

it has not exactly been a robust response offering maybe about a dozen or so experts to try to help with the surge. what the white house is saying officially is that they have no intention of doing anything when it comes to rescue operations. right now, they are sending in a handful of experts to try to find the missing girls regardless of what michelle obama said, the u.s. position is not expected to change dramatically. >> the african national congress has won a 5th is consecutive return. this is the sar m ceremony it i pretoria. we saw jacob zuma. he is in power for the next five years. the anc took more than 62% of the vote. >> that's a lower percentage than last time.

again, pictures out of pretoria where students are singing as we wait to hear the official results of the presidential election. jacob zuma in attendance. he is expected to speak once results are made official. let's go live to johannesburg where tanya page is standing by. the victory is not a surprise but they were hoping for a bigger victory? >> reporter: absolutely. they were hoping to at least hold on to the major that they had from the last election, which was about 65%. if you go back a little bit further, the election before that, they were at 69 and a h1/ they have dropped a considerable amount of support. everybody here is in a joyous mood, celebrating. there are lots of smiles here people are going to here

president zuma delivering thanks to them for voting for the anc. no doubt, lots of questions behind the smiles with the voters here and the staff just to identify exactly where was that support going, and how can they win people back? >> a lot of criticism of the anc before the election. tanya, people complaining about lack of service delivery. people wanted better housing, better he had educate indication, water, electricity and so on. so what sort of changes, then, can we expect from zuma and the african national congress in the next five years? >> obviously the anc's problem is delivery because despite all of those things, almost daily protests and also, the fact, you know, that at currently in the platinum mining sector, the country is in the midst of the longest strike in history sdpooichlt all of those criticisms, the van van despite they believe it is the party of liberation, the party of their

dispute they have delivered on their promises of reducing inequality, eliminating it most of the people are young, from the universities. this is a young country and by 2019, they want the economy to grow. they want jobs. at the moment, half of them are unemployed. >> tanya, thank you very much indeed, as president jacob zuma prepares to thank his supporters in pretoria after his national african congress won the elections there. let's head to ukraine now and people in the eastern city of donetsk. will head to the poles on a referendum that could lead to secession. it's already been declared illegal by the central government. even the russian president has called for it to be postponed. jonah hull reports.

>> the voters of eastern ukraine are encouraged to see their country in stark terms. blood-thirsty . the only answer, a tick to yes for the idea of their own people's republic. opinion polls suggest that popular support for the idea is low. we found it to be divided at best. >> translator: i will be voting yes in the referendum. i want police. i don't want the west to come here and shoot at our kids. >> translator: i am not going to vote, but, of course, it will have an impact on us. >> translator: i will go and vote. i won't go and vote. it's the point i don't find the referendum legitimate. >> reporter: neither does the government in kiev, but there doesn't seem much they can do to stop polling stations from opening. the head of the commission says

the referendum will meet all international standards. here is something that international observers might have cause to question: a sign in the window of the polling station, itself, with the instruction, "say yes" to the republic. there aren't going to be any international observers. >> with the polling station workers, the outcome isn't in much doubt? >> when it comes to the percentage, i cannot tell, but i believe it will be no less than 60% in favor. >> if the polls are right, that there is a majority against, then veteran civil society campaigner marina olenik says there is good reason to stay silent. in recent weeks many of her colleagues have been abducted, beaten and intimidated. the colors have almost vanished from the streets of the east. >> at the beginning, it was

hooliganism. there was no punishment. then this evil group started to arm themselves. we only have our hands. >> as security and civil society have fallen away so violence and lawlessness have risen on both sides. it's hardly an ideal environment for any exercise in democracy. >> the red shirt supporters of a thai government have been rallying outside of bangkok angry at the intimatal of the prime minister three days ago. the yellow shirt opponents of the government are holding rallies of their own, calling on the entire cabinet to step down. veronica pe rojas a has more >> reporter: thousands and thousands of demonstrators have streamed into this area to show their support for the governm t government. of the prime minister ousted on wednesday because the constitutional courts ruled she

had abused her power. she was then the next day by the national anticorruption commission set for impeachment at the senate. >> that's a process that's expected to play out over the next few days. it would prevent her from running in elections that are due in july. leader after leader of this group here has gone on to the state. you can probably hear them now, they have gone on to the stage t they have been saying what they've got to do is safe guard democracy and what happened on wednesday was a judicial coup. and they want to guard against the possibility of further judicial decisions that may dismantle the government further and also against the possibility of a military coup. they voted in a majority for this thai government to come in, the party of yingluk shinawatra. there are various analysis of

what they want. they say they want to get rid of the corrupting influence of the yingluk shinawatra dmribling dynasty's flew he knew on societies. but there are those who say that they are backing an establishment that is loathe to give up power. >> yemen remains on high alert over at a time threat of al-qaeda attacks. the armed group has lost ground to the government in the last few days, raising fears of revenge attacks in the capitol >> reporter: tight security, soldiers search vehicles of the northern entrance to the capitol. a massive hunt for potential suicide bombers and al-qaeda operatives is underway. >> translator: i am worried sending my kids to school walking by government buildings. i am constantly thinking a blast might happen any time anywhere. >> this is the military checkpoint that was attacked by

unknown gunmen near the presidential palace on friday. security forces and government buildings have been targeted many times by al-qaeda. despite the high security here, there are concerns al-qaeda might take the fight to the heart of the capitol and launch major attacks across the country. >> the military presence comes against a backdrop of a major onslaught against al-qaeda in shabawa. that was al-qaeda's maine military camp abandoned by occupants leaving behind weapons and explosive devices as well as communications equipment. drantran we defeated the terrorists. i want to reassure you we have chased those who fled until they surrender or get killed >> reporter: the army now controls most of the area. al-qaeda may have lost some battles but not the war.

many of its fighters and leaders are believed to have retreated deep into the mountains a vast desert land controlled by sympathetics. still ahead on al jazeera... a last push on the final day of campaigningly in india's mammoth elections. stay with us.

we know back.

a reminder of top stories on al jazeera. international security experts arriving in nigeria. the first lady michelle obama has called the kidnapping as unconscionable act. the african national congress has won a 5th consecutive term in south africa's elections. these are live pictures from johannesburg where victory celebrations are underway. the results are being announced in pretoria. german and france say they are ready to take further sanctions against russia if ukraine's upcoming election doesn't go ahead as planned. the vote is scheduled for may 25th. south sudan's president has signed a cease fire agreement with rebel leaders. the u.n. has accused both sides of crimes against humanity since fighting broke out in december. it's hoped the deal will pave the way for a peaceful future

for the world's newest state. more from the ethiopian capitol where the cease fire was agreed. >> it's the first time they have met since the south sudan conflict met five months ago. after a day of talks and consultations with mediators and representatives from the international community, they finally, reached an agreement. the deal the two men will issue immediate troops to end and to allow humanitarian aid. a permanent cease fire will then be worked on before negotiations on the formation. the national unity. >> the signing today is an agreement. i am sending this conflict must

be ended peacefully. he didn't leave any room for doubt who was in charge? >> i am the president of south sudan and i will always remain in that position as the president. >> the body language of the two men have two worried. there were no handshakes, no smiles, no reaching out to each other, forcing the ethiopian leader to issue this warning: >> make no mistake that the region and international community will not sit idly by when killings occurs. >> this is an agreement that could ease the hardship of people of south sudan have been facing for the past five months. it's the fears of a looming humanitarian crisis of human rights violations that led to the international community to

pile pressure on the leadership in the south sudan conflict to come to an agreement. >> the conflict has left thousands dead and more than 1 million homeless in many parts of the world's newest state. the u.n. has accused both sides of crimes against humanity including mass killings and gang rape. the hope is that the latest cease fire deal will finally, end the spiral of violence that has engulfed a nation. mohammed, al jazeera by ethiopia. >> the world's largest democracy is gearing up for a final round of voting. saturday marks the last day of campaigning in india where the opposition bjp as the party most likely to form a government. the ruling party hasn't given up just yet. >> a final push to win the hearts and votes. it's the last day of campaigning in india. political leaders like the congress party's rajul gandhi

are going all out to charm voters. >> these elections spread democracy. young people want a strong nation and country. >> that's why i am going to work for the congress. >> for months, politicians have used song and slogan to woo voters. the ruling congress party is facing a tough antiincumbancy waive while the common man party is gaining popularity thanks to the anticorruption campaign. before analysts say it's the opposition bjp that we should be watching. >> the bjp is widely expected to win the most number of seats in parliament. if that happens, their candidate is likely to become prime minister. but many are concerned about his candidacy. >> in the back lanes, the muslim

fabric weaver believes modi is antiislamic because of the failure to stop riots in 2002. violence that left more than a thousand people dead, most of them muslim. >> all muslims are worried, not just the ones in baranacy, all over india. he didnsays you guys should go pakistan. why should we? isn't this our country. >> indians are preparing to vote in the final phase of elections on may 12th while results are impossible to predict, it seems the flames of change are burning in india. al jazeera. at least 14 people have been killed by government shelling in the iraqi stit of fallujah. a spokesman for the city's general hospital stated at least 35 people have been injured. he added that since the military

surge started in late december, 321 civilians have been killed and over a thousand injured in the violence. there has been intense fighting around aleppo as the united nations accuses the syrian government of removing medical supplies. osama bin jabi reports >> reporter: these fighters are trying to gain access to more areas in syria's largest city, aleppo. fighting around aleppo his pris /* priningz has intensified. both sides are continuing to fig fight. some aid has trick he would into these areas. thousands of people are still unreachable and places within reach, the united nations is warning that the syrian government is blocking medical aid. >> medical supplies are being

removed from convoys as part of a strategy to deny the wounded medical care. this is an abomination in terms of who are taking the medical supplies out of the convoys. it's the government of syria who are either not authorizing the free movement of all of the medical supplies that need to more or whose officials are removing from the convoys the medicines that -- the medical supplies >> reporter: activists have long accused the government of deliberately brolocking access medical care and targeting hospitals. the u.n. is calling for external help. it wants all of those who can influence the government and fighters to allow access to the nearly 10 million people in sgat need of aid. u.n. officials say they can't provide help but allow access to weapons inspectors.

in homs where a deal was brokered, it will allow fighters to leave the villages. >> we are at the limit of what we can do. we are at the limit. our colleagues are putting their lives on the line. our colleagues are losing their lives in this conflict. and yet, we cannot reach millions. . >> 5,000 people are being killed in syria every month according to the united nations. as the del toll mounts, aid workers say the world is becoming num to the scale and extent of the syrian conflict. three al jazeera english journalists have been detained for 133 days. they are falsely accused of conspiring with the outlawed

muslim brother, which has been declared a terroristorg. our correspondent al shami has been on hunger strike. rebate blood tests show his health is deteriorating further t al jazeera is demanding their immediate release. the u.s. tech giant apple is close to acquiring beats electronics more than $3,000,000,000. apple is hoping the brand known for the trendy headphones and music services will help. >> they are big. they are bold and sold at ultimate symbol of swag. the beats headphones is a center piece of beats electronics founded by dr. dre and jimmie

ironbean. >> it's now firmly launched in pom culture. sported by musicians, celebrities and athletes and driven by a savory, aggressive marketing campaign that tech giant apple wants a bite of the action? >> a pair of the head phones costs anywhere upwards of $150 although it's set to deliver inferior with rival brands, it owns between a 55 and 60% share of the lucrative market for premium headphones and it helps explain why apple is reportedly offering $32,000,000,000 for the company. >> if the sale goes through, it will be apple's biggest acquisition yet, a sign of what industry watchers say is an attempt to revive its flagging sales in digital music. beats also operates a new and popular streaming service,

something apple hasn't had much luck in. >> beats is the coolest thing in the digital music world right now. they have the coolest executive did. they have got a great brand and a rapidly growing consumer base for the hardware and the digital subscription service side. apple is grabbing on to their coattails trying to keep their own brand aloft as long as thing. >> the deal would make beats co-founder dr. dre the first bill yon air in hip-hop, the stunning turnaround for the bad boy rapper whose music used to carry an fbi warning. it's a marriage that sees apple investing in an area of variable fashion technology as red hot as earphones, themselves. charles tan, al jazeera. >> thousands of school children have cheered pope francis in saint peter's square. the pope announced that ease put another of his predecessors on

the road to sainthood. paul paul vi will be held in october. he declared two rebate popes including john paul ii saints. i think one of the big things where we have to recognize that we are complicit. i am only talking about the negatives here because i think we have far too comfort addicted >> his perform applications on screen have made him one of hollywood's most respected act orders. oscar freedom? >> i think the press needs to have absolutely do