tv News Al Jazeera May 11, 2014 4:00am-4:31am EDT
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>> to stay or to go. eastern ukrainians vote in a referendum on self rule. hello, welcome. syme steven cole -- i'm steven cole in doha. the top stories. >> the son of the former libyan dictate job muammar gaddafi is about to go on trial. we are live in tripoli. plus... >> i'm reporting from the jordanian refugee camp - how they are trying to improve security in the world's largest
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refugee camp for syrians another five years in office - jacob zuma declared the winner of south africa's election. first polling stations in parts of eastern ukraine are open as separatists hold a referendum on self rule. those in areas under separatist control will be able to vote, in donetsk and luhansk. let's cross to dooun esque. tell us what is the wording. what is asked on the ballot paper? >> what is being asked here at the polling station in donetsk and the region and lugansk is whether the people favour
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self-rule. but think about it. that word, self-rule, is home to different interpretations. the feeling is the posing of the question, the wording has been made coy in order to allow for the there's a widespread variety of opinion, hard liners that would like to rush into the control of russia and others thinking it should remain the east of ukraine, with greater autoon omy. so the wording of the question has been left deliberately vague, if you like, to catch as many people as possible, and bring them into the ballot. >> self rule or separation is the key, and as you identified is the nuance as well. what is moscow's stewed? do we know what their attitude is in terms of whether they want a separate east or a more
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east-leaning ast? . >> in recent days moscow has publicly at least separating itself from what is happening in the east of ukraine. vladimir putin appealed effectively to the leaders of the pro-russian elements here to postpone the ballot from taking place, postpone it to another day, so probably wasn't helpful. that said, there was a question mark as to what is said in public, corresponds to what is believed in private. there's no clear indication from the russians as to whether they'd like to have eastern ukraine as part of russia's territory. it will be flawed with difficulties. >> it's likely that the people who do turn out to vote are likely to be the people who want autonomy. that's the likely reaction of the voters, isn't it? how
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binding would this referendum be. it's called illegitimate. some western countries don't like it, would it be binding on kiev, a temporary government anyway? >> well, it wouldn't. the international consensus is that this ballot is illegal, irregular, non-binding. it's a nonsense. that said, the control of the areas is at the point of a gun. there are balaclava clad men in the streets with kalashnikov rifles, and it's they who hold sway, not the police. there's a crisis of government here. there's a good turn out. let's think about what the election is not. it's not an official poll. let's look around the polling station. people are queueing up. they are coming in, there's eight registrars. people show their passport. they are given a ballot paper and often they are ticking the
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yes box. if you look around you can see there's no voting booth, so there's no privacy. people do it at the desk or come to another desk. there's a perspecs ballot box into which people put their balloting cards. i haven't seen a single no vote. there's no observers, an abundant possibility for electoral fraud. once they've given their details, they can give their details at another polling station 100 metres or so down the road. it's a powerful expression of the sentiment of these people. there are many pro-ukrainians boycotting the ballot, too scared to come out. roads are quiet in donetsk. it's a powerful expression among pro-russians, about how much disdain they hold to kiev government. that cannot be ignored. >> paul brennan in donetsk,
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thank you. the son of muammar gaddafi is due to give evidence in court. he's being held by militia. he'll be tried via video links. he was facing charges raging from corruption to more. three mun men have been killed after attacking a security checkpoint in yemen. the military said the incident took place in the capital. so now, three people were killed in a car bombing in iraq's capital. the blast in the shia area also wounded at least 14 others. a series of bombings across the country killing 19 people on saturday. >> in syria, there are reports that many residents in aleppo have been without water for a week. the al qaeda lioninged rebels
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said the al nusra front cut water to the east and west. residents have been queueing in front of wells to collect water. >> jordan has made jurty at the alzat arty refugee amp a priority. a discovery of an explosive device forced the government to implement a more effective plan. we report on the new technology used at the overpopulated camp. >> it's the second largest refugee camp in the world, home to 100,000 syrians. maintaining order in the camp has become a matter of national security for jordan. riots and clashes broke out here in the past, and jordan doesn't see the camps closing any time soon. that's why a comprehensive plan here is seen as essential. tighter security means everything and everyone entering
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the camp gets thoroughly searched. last month the army found an intact improvised device near the camp's gate. that sounded alarm bells. >> what is going on inside syria. a lot of parties working there. a lot of parties trying to transfer the crisis up to jordan. so we know some of them, in jordan, they make problems for us. >> police patrols increased and every day a team of 2,000 security personnel are needed to cover three shifts. there's a hands-off approach. refugee community leaders are trained and paid to carry out internal policing and report threats. when there's a problem, we try to solve it ourselves, and not go to the security forces. if we can't, we have to tell them so the issue does not get
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bigger. since the beginning of the year the government started to userize scans to use refugees to document sirrans onored anian territory. >> they have expressed fear of sleeper cells. >> the groups are believed to be quietly working on behalf of the syrian government, and are suspected of planning to create chaos and stability inside and outside refugee champs. >> refugee agrees there are syrian government loyalists living amongst them. >> they are infiltrators, syrian government loyalists that want trouble and turmoil. they are in the camp and many in the area. i used to live here, i moved. >> it's not just syrian government loyalists that are here. refugees say groups established a foothold in the camp, a reason why jordan is taking the security of these camps so
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seriously. a look at other news from around the world. after five months of fighting a ceasefire in south sudan is holding. residents salva kiir, and former vice president riek machar called on the army to lay down their weapons within 24 hours, both agreeing to open humanitarian corridors to allow aid to be delivered to people. hundreds of anti-protesters fought with police in caracas, calling for the release of demonstrators. supporters say they'll stay on the streets until the protesters are freed. >> thousands of thai government supporters are rallying on the outskirts of bangkok, angry at the dismissal of yingluck shinawatra. on wednesday, two grenades were fired. two were injured. >> the african national congress has been declared the winner of the south african elections. it cements jacob zuma's
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presidency for another five years. we have this report from johannesburg. the african national congress celebrates its fifth win. jacob zuma is upbeat. millions of south africans have given him the administration another chance. the president survives accusations of poor delivery of services. >> who can defeat us if you are with the people. who can? no one. those who are not with the people, the people are not going to vote for them. that's what has happened. that's why other parties of those who spoke so violently in parliament. they've been reduced. the party has been voted into power as a party of government, but this time with a
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reduced majority. >> they have lost the a.n.c. in two elections. it fell from 70% to 66%. now from 66% to 62.5%. so the big question you have to ask. they are saying that we are unhappy with jacob zuma and the behaviour. >> the new kid on the block got more than 20 feet in the national assembly. the main opposition party, the democratic alliance increases the share of the vote. >> reporter: the public and the a.n.c. celebrate their win. they'll likely head to the drawing board and go forward. elections are in 2016. they can't afford to lose more support. >> the international congress is more than 100 years old. it's seen as a party that lib
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rates them. let's say it's a wake-up call to party officials, but south africans have other options if the a.n.c. fails the electorate. still to come on al jazeera - excluded from the biggest election. why millions of indians have been impossible to cast their votes. plus... ... >> i'm nick clark reporting from a desert in chile. where a giant telescope will stand in 2020 to answer questions about the cosmos.
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welcome back. the top stories in al jazeera. in eastern ukraine people are taking part in a referendum on self-rule. voting is happening in parts of the separatist-controlled allegiance of donetsk. the african national congress won the fifth consecutive term in the south african elections, falling just short of a two-thirds majority, taking 62% of the vote. the son of muammar gaddafi is due to give evidence via video link to a court. dozens of former officials are facing charges raging from corruption to war crimes. libya's interim interior ministry says tripoli could help asylum seekers get to europe if the e.u. doesn't stop them using libya as a transit point.
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libya is suffering because immigrants are spreading disease. the north african country has been a springboard for africans seeking a better life. >> translation: with did regard to illegal immigration i'm warning the world and the european union that if they do not shoulder the responsibility with us, the state of libya will take position on this matter, to facilitate the passage of this flood of people flow india, since god made us a transit point. a medical report shows our colleague from al jazeera arabic is close to death, abdullah al-shami. he's been in custody since august and been on a hunger strike for 111 address. a report she is signs of microsciatic anemia, it's
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preventing oxygen getting to organs. the kidneys are not operating. he has a urinary tract infection, his liver close to failure. three al jazeera journalists continue to be held in the prison for 134 days now, peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are accused of conspiring with the muslim brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist organization by egypt. al jazeera rejects the charms and demands their release. >> thousands of people gather said in the egyptian capital to rally in support of cecily mcmillan and his presidential campaign. the former military chief is touted to win the election. the final phase of india's 5-week election is coming to an
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end. tens of millions are prevented from voting. we went to meet some of them. >> reporter: three generations of the rappi family talking about one thing, the elections. most are unable to vote. but raj and his wife goodnight. >> there's a lot of emotions. at the end of the day, you want to action on what you take. so you don't want to work for apartheid. and the day comes, you go there and you don't see your name in the list. you feel frustrated, helpless. >> they have voted in previous general and local elections. no one can tell him why he was not on the electoral role. they are two out of millions eligible to vote, but couldn't. they include airline cabin crews in transit. indians working or travelling abroad. the government estimates that
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there are over 10 million working abroad. many are low-paid migrants working in the golf. then there are others whose issue is not cost nor distance. recently this woman had surgery. it meant she missed the chance to vote. >> if the government had provision for ballot, and if i had the paper coming into my house, i would have - i don't know why the government has talked about it. >> only a few people can vote by mail. they include security personal, polling staff. india's supreme court ordered the commission to look into the problem. the postal ballot has to be the exceptionment it should be available for people who, for a valid reason, not apathy, lethargy or watching a movie, they should not be the reason to people use postal ballots.
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>> analysts predict that india is heading for another government. many millions prevented from voting would have an effect on the final count. what is clear is the world's largest democracy has a problem that can only be fixed by the electoral commission. michael sam is the first openly gay player to be selected for america's biggest football league, the n.f.l. he finished his college football carree, making headlines when he announced he was gay. the former university missouri player will join the st. louis rams. in cuba hundreds marked through havana calling for an end to homophobia. people waved flags and danced in the streets. it was led by the daughter of raul castro. an outspoken gay rights
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activist. she managed to influence cuba to give certain rights to gay communities. >> in brazil hundreds rallied to call for the legalization of marijuana. asking for it to be used for medicinal purposes. it was part of a global day. uruguay became the first country to allow the manufacture and trade of the drug. in some parts of the world people are celebrating mother's day. in other places it's marked as a day of protest. in mexico mothers are calling for the police to do more to find their children. we have this report if mexico city. >> reporter: "where are your children?" demands this mother marching in mexico city on mother's day. many that joined her travelled from over the country to protest
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against the government for not doing enough to find their sons and daughters. sara's 31-year-old son disappeared last september. a successful chef and father, he planned to open a restaurant with his mother. after having dinner out, he never came home. >> i don't have anything to celebrate because i'm missing one of my kids. i miss him. i don't know where he is. authorities are not investigating. there are thousands of mothers throughout mexico searching for their disappeared children. the president promised that his government would help them find their loved ones. these women say they feel frustrated, angry and let down. >> more than 26,000 people have gone missing in mexico since 2007. that is when the former government declared war on the drug cartel and violence
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exploded. after president penn yetto took office, he formed a special missing person's unit to help him investigate the disappearances. it's been a year since the unit was cree stated. sara is waiting for help. investigators haven't collected evidence to track down phone or email records or trace her son's bank accounts. every time a masked parade is discovered, she calls a forensic expert to give details about her son. >> translation: i'm the detective. i'm looking for him alive or dead. i don't want to give up hope. otherwise his body may be in a mass grave turning to tuft. >> not enough cases have been solved and they haven't veriated a database for the missing. it's frustrating. >> translation: it doesn't matter what we do.
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even if we kill ourselves, analyse we find him alive. the mothers always feel we aren't doing enough. >> her words may sound offensive, but they are accurate. sara and the other mothers say all they know is that the children will be taken alive. in the yates police say they have recovered the body of a second person on board a hot air balloon, that caught fire and crashed in the state of virginia on friday. they are searching for the remains of a third victim. the balloon caught fire after hitting a powerline. cuba held a cliff-diving competition. a british diver won. he beat out or beat a koex can diver who won last year's
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competition. the diver's first event of the series, which ends in brazil in deep water in october. in chile astronomers say they have found one of the oldest stars in the universe. it's thought to be 13 billion years old, found at the atacama. scientists hope it will help them understand the origins of the universe. chile's atacama is favoured by astronomers because of clear dry air and cosmic discoveries are set to become more spectacular with the introduction of a brand new telescope. nick clerk has spent some time with a team based in the desert. >> to explore the cosmos you need to capture star light. it could have travelled billions of light years. to do that you need a clean merritt.
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it's made from seven tonnes of class. but in six year's time, the majellan telescopes will be overshadowed by what will be the most powerful telescope on earth. it's being built 250mm right up. >> reporter: the pace of astronomical discovery appears to peer into the universe. it knows no bound. a mountain top has been blown aurt and flattened in our quest to answer the pressing questions, the nature of dark energy and dark matter. the story of black holes and stars and how galaxies involved. >> this is how it will look. it's approaching 1 billion of mirrors and cosmic engineering. it will produce images 10 times faster than the hubble telescope. an incredible tool. >> the majellan telescope is
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going to hope up the skies for us, and allows for myself to go after stars and dwarf galaxies that are swirling out and about the milky way, which we have trouble observing. >> down below the majellan chefs are hard at work. you need to be well fed turning starlight into spectre. anna sets up the light from the galactic center of the milky way. >> it's fascinating to combine the research work, that looks not very appealing because it's not a pretty image, giving us information about the cosmic objects with the images that the same sky gives us. >> meanwhile fellow astrologer is on the hunt for super-novemberi trashing back
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three -- tracking back three or four years. >> we are able to see the super-novemberi. it took the light three or four years to get here. you can mention the ex-participation of universe at that point. it was discovered that the expanse of the universe is accelerating instead of desell rating which is what we spected. a few hours later, a nice movie clip of the rising milky way, especially the galactic center. you can see the structure, and this is the spiral arm back lit by the galactic center, where there's a lot of gas and stars. it's bright. that's what makes the milky way special. >> so another night's observations are over. data, spectra and knowledge. bit by bit we build on the understanding of the universe, and our place in it.
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and there's our website aljazeera.com. that's the home page ukraine eastern regions, holding the self rule vote. worth looking at for background to the news and good features as well. death. >> that makes it all the more disturbing because it's been known about in larger circles for years and years and doctors and hospitals are still unaware. >> did you know about did? >> not until we started doing the show. that's why i have been freaked out since we started working on it. the next time you visit your doctor, think about this, your x-rays, drug dosages and even medical records could be controlled by an outsider. it's a scary thought. but according to a new study, it's way easier than you might think. from the radiation level on your ct scan to defibrillators to ventilators and even refrigerators storing blood
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