>> to say, to go - eastern ukraines vote in a referendum on self rule. hello, welcome. i'm steven cole in doha. the son of the former libyan dictator muammar gaddafi is about to go on trial. we are live in tripoli. (♪) another five years in office - the a.n.c. officially declared the winner of south africa's application. plus... >> i'm reporting from a camp and

i'll tell you how the jordanian authorities are trying to improve the security for the world's largest refugee camp for syria. first, voting starts in parts of eastern ukraine as separatists hold a referendum on self-rule. there are not many questions about the legitimacy of the poll. the election is held in two regions. the combined population of 6.7 million people. only those in areas under separatist control will be able to vote. let's cross to donetsk and talk to paul brennan. paul is at a voting station. tell us what is happening around you, paul. >> reporter: welcome to polling station in school 95. it's been open since 8 o'clock this morning and has seen a steady stream, a torrent i would describe it, of people coming

down. there's a queue nearly 200m long outside with people waiting to vote. people are queueing up here, there are eight to look over my shoulder,ate registrars, and what the process is that people come in, show an id card and passport and are registered. they put their name on a register, they signed their names and they then - they don't go into a voting booth. there's no privacy, there's no voting booths, most tick yes in front of a registrar and put the voting papers into the perspex ballot box. i have not seen a single no vote. you can see an overwhelming vote from this station in favour of the question, and the question is this: do people here favour self-rule for the donetsk people's republic, the self-declared entity coming into

self-declared existence is a matter of weeks ago. what self-rule means is top interpretation. there are many nuances of opinion here. there are those that would like to ses seed to russia, those that insist that the area stay part of ukraine, those that are in the middle and would like independence from ukraine and russia. the question is coy and open, open to interpretation by the people in charge of the city administration booth in donetsk and lugansk. >> if there's an overwhelming yes vote, and i take it most coming out to vote would vote yes to autonomy, they are obviously want it to send a message to moscow in terms of support, and kiev to say "we don't necessarily want to be separate, but we want a greater say in who we are, and what we do." is that basically the

conclusion of the messages. >> there are many lim stations. you highlighted some of them in the introduction to it. the vote is taking place in those areas which are directly under the control of the people with the guns and the balaclava, that's barely half the population of the east, a dozen towns, a couple of cities in the state of play. that said - look, the other thing is there's no international observers, nothing to stop people presstering, voting, going to the next polling station down the road and doing it all over again. they don't dip their finger in a pot of ink. there are issues about the integrity of the vote here. that said, although the international community declared it as legitimate, and the acting president said the people votingar taking a step into the abyss, they are expressing deeply felt sentiments - pro-russian, about the against the situation in kiev. although there have been actions

at the point of a gun, this quasi democratic process cannot be ignored by the international community and the government in kiev. now, as you know, because you covered it there, this has a background of fighting over the last few weeks. and the referendum will go ahead despite vladimir putin asking for the referendum to be postponed. so in some ways the pro-russians define vladimir putin here. to a certain degree, yes. when vladimir putin of russia appealed to the leaders, that was his public stance. many people question whether it is what he believes. the kiev government, for example

insists russia is pulling the strings and is behind the action taken by the pro-russian militia. which we see in the streets. there's potentially a contradiction between what vladimir putin says publicly and what he privately believes. that said, there's a crisis of government in the east, to be addressed by kiev. if there's a vacuum of authorities in recent days, kl cause a problem for weeks and years to come. the son of the late libyan leader muammar gaddafi is due to give evidence in a court in tripoli. he will be tried via video link. former officials are facing charges raging from corruption to war crime.

some are accused of murdering protesters during the uprising in 2010/2011. the african national congress officially wins the election in south africa. the a.n.c. took 62% of the vote, 249 seats in the national assembly. the leading opposition party took 22%, and made the biggest gain, securing 89 seats. >> is we go to the victory party. >> reporter: that's the sound of people celebrating in this square. people of allation came to celebrate the victory. president jacob zuma addressed them and told them that he's hope that they have given him and his administration five years in government. he told them about the past, about apartheid and said the a.n.c. is doing the level it can

to deliver on the promises to the poor. they promised all the things that they wanted. jacob zuma knows he has a long road ahead, and he said tonight people will sell brace and tans. come form corning, he and his administration will go back to the drawing board and find a way forward. he'll do the level he can do deliver on promises. >> there are reports that residents in aleppo have been without water for a week. the syrian observe try cut water to the east and government-held west of aleppo. residents have been queueing in front of wells to collect their water. jordan made security at the

alzatary refugee camp. the discovery of an explosive device forced the government to act. we report on the new security technology in a crowded al jazeera camp. >> it's the second-largest refugee camp in the world, home to 100,000 syrians. maintaining order has become a matter of nation ol security for zordan. riots and clashes broke out here in the past, and jordan doesn't see the camps closing soon. a comprehensive security plan here is seen as essential. tighter security means everything and everyone entering the camp is thoroughly searched. last month the army found an intact improvised explosive device near the camp's gate. sounding alarm bells. a lot of parties trying to

transfer up to jordan. we know that some of them, they go to jordan to make it for us. >> police patrols increased and every day a team of over 2,000 security personnel is needed to cover three shifts. higher sound barriers aim to protect refugees from entering and leaving the camp illegally. >> there's a hands-off approach. leaders are 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 bigger. since the beginning of the year, the government used iris scans. the scord cane an -- jordanian authorities expressed fear about the presence of sleeper sells across the country. the groups are believed to be

working on behalf of the syrian government and are suspected of planning to create chaos and instability inside and outside refugee champs. >> refugees agreed there are syrian government loyalists among them. >> translation: they are infiltrators, loyalists that want government turmoil. they are in the gamp. many in this area. i lived in this part of the camp. i moved. >> it's not just syrian government loyalists that are here. rebel groups established a foothold, a reason whioredan took the -- why jordan took the security of the camps seriously. a report is showing that our colleague from al jazeera arabic abdullah al-shami, is close to death in an egyptian prison. he's been in custody since august and on hunger strike for 111 days. the report obtained by al

jazeera shows signs of microsciatic anemia due to iron deficiency and prohibition of oxygen getting to organs, his kidneys are not functioning and there are high amounts of urria in the blood. his liver is close to failure. three al jazeera journalist continue to be held in an egyptian prison for 133 days 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 charges and calls for their immediate release. still to come - michael sam becomes the first openly gay man drafted into the american football league. what's in a word, the growing linguistic quite between north and south

♪

what is this place? where are we? this is where we bring together reliably fast internet and the best in entertainment. we call it the x1 entertainment operating system. it looks like the future! we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before.

welcome back. the top stories on al jazeera - in eastern ukraine people are taking part in a referendum on self-rule. voting is staking place in parts -- taking place in parts of the separatist controlled donetsk. and lugansk, the afghan national congress won the election. jacob zuma vowed to create jobs and improve infrastructure. the a.n.c. took 62% of the vote. the son of the late muammar gaddafi is due to give evidence via a video link in court. he and other former officials

face charges ranging from corruption to war crimes. let's go to tripoli now for more on this. omar alsala is live for us there. tell us about this strange or unusual arrangement an a trial in one place heard by another. >> yes, this is the only way libyans agreed to have the trial starting. this is the second time he will be heard from his prison. he will be moved into a court in tripoli, and this is the only way to convince the rebels for fighters because they refuse to hand him over to the libyan authorities, saying that they

are very weak. this is the only way to convince the fighters. others are held in misrata. we'll have two links. the spy chief and the former prime minister and the foreign minister will be present at the court in tripoli. >> why, omar, are they reluctant to hand him over to tripoli. >> i have been speaking to, in the past, with the rebel fighters in charge of the prison and the commander said, basically, the government is very weak. and they fear they could be killed by foreign intelligence, because he has evidence against dealings with western countries

with the late leader muammar gaddafi. that is first. second, they gave examples that the government is very week, the interim government then and now. there's a spread of militias. and they say he'll either be killed and not face a proper trial. while she'll stay in zinc tan, he'll get the failed trial. >> that report from tripoli. in iraq, police say 20 soldiers have been killed after their convoy was ambushed by an armed group. the troops were on their way to a village, south of mosul. gunmen reportedly kidnapped soldiers and then killed them a few hours later. the afghan election front runner abdullah abdullah received a boost to his campaign, receiving 44% of votes in april.

one of his opponents has backed him, rossul, backed him saying they'll form a coalition. we are joined live from kabul. this will be a boost, will it, to abdullah abdullah's campaign. >> very much so. a happy man, after standing with rossul who will support him. at this stage in the counting it looks like mr abdullah abdullah doesn't have enough streets secure the 50% majority he needs to become president. he's at 44%. if a run-off vote is called, which is looking likely. he'll need the supporters, who backed rossul. over a million people cast his

ballot in his favour. no doubt he want the people to support him too. >> do we know why mr rossul decided to back abdullah abdullah? >> well, he said he did it for the unity of the country. there's politics at play here. the reality is that mr rossul didn't perform as well as he hoped, getting 11% of the vote, joining acted , who is likely -- abdullah abdullah, who is likely to be the next president he secured a place for himself in the cabinet. we asked mr abdullah abdullah if he'd give a place to mr rosul and he said "yes, he would." this is interesting, because rosul is close to the current president, hamid karzai. he privately did support him.

it would appear the union between the candidates mean that hamid karzai, even though he'd no longer be president would have his eyes and ears on the ground in the next government. >> all right. thank you. in cuba, hundreds march through the streets of havana calling for an end to homophobia. people dance in the streets. it was led by the daughter of cuban president raul castro. in the united states michael sam is the first openly gay player to be picked for the national football league. >> reporter: it's taken nearly a century for the game of american football to arrive at this moment. >> with the 249th pick, the 2014

n.f.l. draft. the st. louis rams select michael sam from juste of missouri. shortly after celebrating with family and friends he took to twitter saying: . >> michael sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted in the n.f.l. the league makes about 10 billion a year, driven by major advertising revenues. athletes in the past kept their sexuality private for fear of losing endorsement deals. but with a changing social landscape, this n.f.l. draft is seen by some as generating new initial opportunities. >> to this time sexuality hasn't been a part of that. whether at the professional level, they are ready for

michael sam, that will be interesting. i think people will be rite to have the doubt. sam's selection follows a high-profile move in a lucrative game. in february jason collins became the first publicly gay pro-athlete in a popular american sport, when he joined a national basketball association team. clins may attract attention for breaking barriers, but it's not just their talent judged, but their ability to attract sponsors that want to cash in on the changing space of pro-american sport. people are celebrating in mexico, but it has been marked by protests and rallies. thousands of mother are calling on the government to do more to find their children who they sha were taken by corrupt police and drug gangs. [ chants ]

. >> reporter: rmpt where are our children demands this woman as she marches in mexico city on mother's day. many that joined her travel from all over the country to protest against the government for not doing enough. >> sara's 31-year-old son disappeared last september. a successful chef and a father, he planned to open a restaurant, but 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 aren't investigating. >> there are thousands of mothers searching for their disappeared children. they promised that the government would help them find a loved one. the women feel frustrated, angry and let down.

more than 26,000 people have gone missing in mexico since 2007. that's when the former government declared war on the drug cartel and it exploded. after the president took office he formed a special missing purpose unit to help him investigate the disappears. it's been a year since the unit was created. sara was waiting for help. they have not found records, traced bank acts or phone records. every time a new mass grave is discovered, she calls forensic experts and gives details of her son. >> translation: i'm the detective, looking for him alive or dead. i don't want to give up hope, but i have to consider he's dead. otherwise his body may be in a grave turning to dec. they haven't finished creating a

database for the missing. the human rights director is committed but frustrated. it doesn't matter what we do, even if we kill ourselves trying to find the children. unless we find them alive the mothers will always feel we are not doing enough. >> her words may sound offensive, but they are accurate. sara and the other mothers say all they know is that their children were taken alive, and that is how they want them back. in venezuela hundreds of anti-government protesters clash with police in the capital caracas. they are calling for the release of 200 demonstrators arrested in a raid on camps last week. supporters say they'll stay on the streets until all the protesters are freed. more than 40 have been killed in months of protests against nicolas maduro's socialist

government. >> thousands of thai government supporters are rallying on the outscurds of bangkok -- outskirts of bangkok. two grenades were fired at anti-government rallies on saturday night, injuring two people. >> the korean language is changing. 70 years of operation between north and south is creating two distinct vocabularies. more than half of the world are different. we have more from seoul. >> reporter: this is a one-woman success story. a north korean detector, she's built up a restaurant promoting lost northern korean culture. if it has a separate cuisine, the same can be said of the language. when she studied in seoul, she understood only 30% of what was said. her recipes were different were her classmates.

>> translation: it's okay if you don't understand english, it's basically the same language we don't understand, so the smuping created a -- misunderstanding created is deeper. >> we met two university student, one born and raised if south korea, and one a detector from the north. it comes down to basic things like a donut, what is that. >> foreign relations committee. >> and in north korean [ speaking foreign language ] . >> and habit a pen. >> [ speaking foreign language [ speaking foreign language ] . >> translation: i used to wash south korean movies and dramas in the north. at first i couldn't understand anything. over time i realised that it was the same language, and i was able to understand what was going on. that helped me when i asked here. there were words that i didn't know. since 2005, the team have been working with a north korean counterparts on a unified

north-south dictionary, due for publication in 2019. he says it stems from contrasting words. >> translation: we found 52% of words used by south koreans in dally conversation differed from north koreans. and by professionals, 66%. differences were deepened. >> in count seoul they celebrate a hero, the copying who was responsible for the creation of the korean alphabet, spreading communication across the peninsula, he was not to know his country men were divided by a border, and increasingly by diverging language. an international cliff diving competition has been held in cuba for the first time. and a british diver won. he beat a mexican diver who won

last year's competition in australia. 14 divers from seven different companies jumped from a 27 metre platform, and is the first to be held in brazil. they are the top stories on the week site. past is not dead, it isn't even past. northern ireland still lives in 30 years of deadly strife, known as the troubles. recorded reminiscence of the bad old days become the subject of a legal battle and it's the inside story. hello, i am ray swarez.