>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha and these are the top stories, thailand prime minister has a meeting with the country's new military ruler. streets clear away of what remains of the protest camps. to 12 years imprisonment. >> reporter: a war lord is jailed by the international criminal court forward crimes.

and fighting the winter blues in australia, sidney's famous landmarks are lit up for the festival of light. ♪ but first the army general who is now in charge in thailand has summoned the former prime minister as well as political opponents for talk and shinawat is banned from traveling abroad and we have the story from bangkok. >> reporter: once the stage for the anti-government movement in bangkok taken down and removed the morning after the military coup. the protesters left thursday night, most felt their effort of more than six months paid off because of the goal of removing the current government had been reached. and he goes by one name went to

work as normal on friday. she is relieved the army is in control. >> translator: personally i support koo-da-ta and if they didn't do it the country would turn into a message there is a compromise to make the situation better. >> reporter: 100 people from both sides of the political divide have been summoned by rulers to discuss the situation and it's a spot in bangkok where it looks like a coup has taken place and she supports the government and feels betrayed by the army and outside the compound where the talks were held and showing her support for shenlock. >> translator: e want -- we want her to be the prime minister again and fight for the people. >> reporter: the streets of

bangkok appear to be normal but with detentions, travel bans, control over the media and the constitution suspended there was no question that the army was in control. yet military leaders have given no answers as to when the country will be ruled by civilians or returned to a democracy and i'm scott in bangkok. >> let's go live to scott and get the very latest, let's talk about the political talks as well as political opponents being summoned for this meeting, is that meeting still going on? >> yes, it is and we have got a little more detail about it and sounds like there were several meetings that went on and the general army commander went to all of these meetings. one was with civil servants working with the government in different ministries and we know he shared a meeting and discussed what should be done in the coming days and in other words we need to keep this government moving and what do we

need to do to keep it moving and they are working with that. and some were summoned to come to that government complex where were we at most of the day. we don't really know what the details of those meetings were and then there is going to be a third meeting that probably just started over the last couple of minutes and that is going to be a briefing if you will to foreign diplomates here in bangkok explaining the situation the general will be doing, why he called for the coup, maybe what is going to be happening moving forward because when he made the announcement of the coup on thursday, immediately after he said that he was taking control of the government he said that all relationships, international relationships that thailand established with countries around the world remain intact and he made another point of saying that the embassys and foreign nationals living in thailand will be protected and obviously that is a very important thing to the general and there is that meeting going on probably right now that he is explaining to the

diplomates here in thailand why he did this and what is going to be happening over the coming days. >> and scott we will be talking about that a little more later in the program because it's a very, very important element to what is going on in tie thailand but can you tell us on both sides of the divide and how they are feeling about the possible sir -- circumstription and their camps. >> reporter: right, both left without too much of a fuss and the red shirts are pro-government movement and their camp was an hour outside of the central part of bangkok. they were forcibly removed by the army, there were no scuffles, there was no violence at all and the army provided transportation for those who didn't have any way to get out. then you look at the yellow shirts, that is the anti-government movement on the streets of bangkok in one way or

another for six moves and they left on their free will because they see the coup as a bit of a victory for them because what they have been fighting for is the then current government to be removed and the prime minister to be removed. that happened through a military coup and they view it as a victory and we were thereon thursday when they were packing up and cheering and someone on the loudspeaker saying this is our victory and that stage is being dismantled this morning so you have two different sides of this, one seeing it victorious and the red shirts and government people feel their party who is democratically elected to run the country has been unseated by the military. >> scott giving us the very latest from bangkok. as scott alluded to a number of

countries have already condemned the coup and the french president called for an immediate return to the constitutional order and for the fundamental rights and freedoms to be respected and william hague returned the military to set out a quick, clear timetable for elections and u.s. secretary of state john kerry said there is no justification for this military coup, urging the restoration of, civilian government immediately. let's talk now to forsyth who is a specialist on southeast asia at the school of economics and joins us from london and thank you very much from talking to us and we heard from scott, our correspondent in bangkok that the general is already preparing to brief the diplomatic core in bangkok, an indication of how foreign relations really matter for thailand. >> yes, indeed, i think the

military is holding back a long time and could have acted in my month before today and they have and they are in a damage limitation exercise making sure they do not lose credibility doing this. >> in the absence it would appear a roadmap or a plan or a schedule for a return to democratic life in thailand. it seems as though their credibility is going to seriously be in need of an up lift because nobody is prepared to listen to them once they are in charge. >> well, i think it depends on whether they can do what the foreign ministers have been asking them to do which is to come up with an immediate short-term plan to hold general elections. i think there is one big justification behind this coup which is that with election of

shinawat, and on the streets you have groups of the red shirts and yellow shirts growing and it could lead to violence. excuse me. the army therefore are acting in ways -- sorry -- in ways are acting in ways to try and get rid of that potential violence but they can only really have credibility as long as they name a process of the general elections. >> okay, tim, take your time and clear your throat, quite often this happens to me you get a frog in your throat. i would like to ask you particularly then about the strength of tourism and tourism has 10% of the entire economy and we had the use tral -- australia to travel to thailand at the moment and this conceivably be a big hit to the

economy, couldn't it? >> yes, it could and politicians in thailand act in ways that do not take account of tourism. but the coming months of june, july and august are the low season for tourism in thailand mainly because it's rainy. i think if they can sort out the problems by the end of the month of august, then i think the main tourist season will not be affected but it's a worry. one study revealed the economy has contracted by 2% during the first quarter of 2014 and people are blaming that upon the political troubles so yes it is a concern. >> all right, for now time thank you very much indeed and a specialist on southeast asia at the london school of economics in london. now a former malitia leader in the democratic of congo is sentenced to 12 years and he had earlier been convicted of being

an accessory to war crimes including the killing of village's and after a five eyear trial in the hague he is the second person to be convicted by icc and his time in jail will be reduced because of the time he has already been detain ed. >> a joint sentence of 12 years imprisonment and orders that time spent in detention in accordance with an order of the court, that is from 18, september, 2007 to this day, 23, may 2014 shall be deducted from his sentence. >> and we are watching events in the hague and we have mr. barber and you have been at the icc once the sentence has been given on mr. katanga and it will disappoint people he got 12 years and, b, he will not serve

that term in its entirety. >> reporter: i think you are right and let's remember that katanga was actually brought to the hague in 2007. his trial started in 2009 and lasted about 4 1/2 years. what he was convicted of were crimes which happened during an attack on a village called bogoro in the democratic republic of congo in 2003 and there were rival malitias trying to gain territory from each other and originally katanga lead one group and members of that group are proved to have carried out a raid on a village which happened while most of the people there were sleeping. it was particularly horrific because it involved not only people being shot, shot down, hunted and shot down and also being killed with machetes to

save bu bullets in some instanc but he wasn't convicted of charges related to sexual violence. a number of woman were known to be raped and forced to be held as sex slaves but the court ruled that he was directly, not involved in that. that is following the trial in this case and very annoyed because they say there was evidence that he would have known about what kind of crimes in terms of sexual violence were about to take place for those under his command and about to attack civilians. defense team are likely to appeal as well but i think there is a lot of push from people who are trying to bring katanga to justice and they will try to get an appeal going in terms of, a, the charges he was acquitted of but also a tougher sentence to

send out a message in terms of deterrence. >> mr. barber is live in the hague. thank you. now at least 21 people have been killed in an attack on a pro-government rally in syria. this happened in the southern city of dora and supporters of president assad were outcome painting for his reelection in the polls due on june the third and we will have the latest talking to our correspondence who is in lebanon and beirut and this happened in dara and of course that is where the revolution actually began, wasn't it? >> reporter: yes, this is where the protest began in march 2011. and that is why it has a lot of symbolism. now the government in the past few days has been adamant to try to regain as much control as possible of as many areas in southern syria to try to claim that they can hold these

presidential elections scheduled on june third because they want to show the world they are legitimate, they are credible and there are enough people who went to the ballots and voted for assad and it's valid and legitimate. the opposition is trying to do exactly the opposite and they are trying to escalate their attack on government troops, on government and even voting centers on government rallies and assad rallies to say you cannot hold elections, fair elections, under such conditions. the country is in war and the opposition is not allowed to compete. the president has control all over the country in terms of banning the opposition from taking part in these elections and they are a force. so that is why we are anticipating more such attacks on centers, on voting centers and rallies that are for assad or other candidates for the presidency. it's a major task for the

opposition. one last thing to mention we heard from islamic troubles in southern syria ands to marks a new campaign in order to support rebels in syria and southern syria to liberate more areas there and people are expecting more deadly clashes in that area. >> and we are up to date with the latest in syria today. still to come on this news hour, the year-long state of emergency has extended in northeastern nigeria to combat killings and kidnappings. and will the el nino be a major or minor help to farmers in california. find out why the face of u.s. football will not be heading to the world cup and we have the details in sports. ♪ security officials in egypt say the leader of an al-qaeda

inspired group has been killed in the sinai peninsula and the head died in a drive-by shooting with three associates and the group has been behind attacks on security forces. since the army deposed mohamed morsi in july. now there are an estimated 8 million coptic christians in egypt and subjected to several attacks of the last days of the muslim brotherhood but things improved since the military take over in july 2013 and still they face an uncertain future and as nico nicole johnston reports. >> reporter: the largest christian community in the east but in egypt they are a minority, out numbered by muslims. christians are no more than 10% of the population. over the years many in the community have done very well in business.

still that i suffer from discrimination and attacks and that hasn't changed a lot sense the over throw of mobarac in 2012. many christians were uneasy when he was elected president two years ago. christians were worried about the growing influence of the group and the protection of their rights. so when morsi was over thrown last year many christians were relieved. their pope spoke at a news conference supporting his down fall. all this was too much for some muslim brotherhood supporters. they blamed cops for conspiring to over throw president morsi and things turned ugly. >> in cities across the country enraged people targeted and burned churches, i think 37 churches were destroyed or badly damaged and there was a pattern where the police did very little to intervene, even though the

writing was on the wall and it was clear that this thing was at risk of happening. >> this is what is left after the church in the city of minya was set on fire last year. muslim brotherhood supporters accused of attacking police station and churches and an egypt court sentenced more than 600 people to death for carrying out the violence. >> what has happened since the ouster of morsi is supporters of the muslim brotherhood accused the christians of having supported the military back ouster of morsi and are continuing to support the military-backed government of egypt and as the oppression tightens against the muslim brotherhood and their suspected supporters the animosity towards the christians has grown. >> the pope has been open about his support for the

military-backed government and it seems many christians agree. after supporting the over throw of mubarak and morsi looks like the former head of the military sisi could be their preferred candidate for the next president, nicole johnston with al jazeera. >> the trial has been adjourned until june the first. they have now been held in an egypt prison for 146 days. they are falsely accused of conspiring with the out lawed muslim brotherhood and their parents have frus -- frustration at the way the trial is going. >> we have made little progress so far and it's almost beginning to look at if the attempts to grind us down are succeeding and

that's not just ourselves as a family, but the efforts of a lot of other people. >> helplessness and frustration like you wouldn't believe, you know. i guess a certain amount of anger as well. you know, you can't help but feel angry over this whole thing because it's so unjust and unfair and everything else. i know there is a lot of unfairness in the world, but this is over five months or more that it goes on and we are not to the end yet. this is the hard part. >> now yemen is a main target of u.s. drone strikes since 2002 and the pentagon says they are targeting al-qaeda fighters and habara reports from the capitol and there is growing anger at

the hundreds of people who have been killed. >> he and his wife lost their son in a u.s. drone attack last year. this is their lawyer. he was traveling with his cousin ali when it hit their car. four other passengers were also killed. this is a funeral for salem and his cousin. >> translator: salem was innocent and had no links to al-qaeda. the oldest child and he was the family's breadwinner, in the morning he went to university and in the afternoon he worked as a taxi driver. the u.s. is killing our son. >> reporter: an investigation by the ministry of the interior vindicated salem and his cousin and when the family went to court the prosecutor refused to take on their case. their lawyer accuses the government of failing to act.

demands for an end to aerial strikes by unmanned drones are growing across the country. he is an activist who accuses the government saying it is making them stronger. >> al-qaeda, they make it stronger and they kill civilians and so far they have proved themselves to be doing more harm than good in taking down akip i guess. >> reporter: this is in the province here and dozens of people were killed last december. their relatives insist they were all civilians. despite the growing anger among people, the government defends drones as a crucial tool in the fight against al-qaeda. >> the drone attacks are taken under the guidance of the

government when it's proven and it's an intrusion on the sovereignty of the country. these attacks are a necessity in these very remote areas and there is damage even without the drones. >> reporter: but he couldn't disagree more, his brother alli was killed in the same drone strike that killed salem and dismissed by the prosecutor he holds the u.s. and president responsible. like millions of yemenizee they want the drones out of the skies. when it's active there is an again sentiment here because the government is desperate for support in the fight against al-qaeda we won't be able to call an end to the u.s. drone camp page, i'm with al jazeera. time for a look at the weather and richard is here and clouds over the caribbean,

richard. >> and we get into the rainy season as you know but it has been very cloudy of last week to ten days and certainly there is no real sign as a change in there and as i run the sequence there is a cloud against jamaica and clouds and rain in the recent days and noah is u.s. ocean and atmospheric administration have come up with a hurricane forecast for the season which runs from the first of june to the end of november and predicting nothing worse than an average to below average hurricane season which gives 8-13 tropical storms and potential 3-6 of these developing enough to form into hurricanes which could cause severe problems but says it's not a particularly active season partly because the waters in the atlantic are slightly below average and in the pacific we

have an el nino beginning to develop but in the shorter term we have the rainfall to contend with and across the region you can see the forecast there through friday and on into saturday, likely quite a few showers and rain too across parts of central america. >> richard thank you very much indeed. richard mentioned that el nino is coming and fruit and vegetable farmers in california are hoping they got it right and a lot of rain is coming its way and this is a major problem and they cannot say if el nino will be a big one or a small weather event this year and rob reynolds has the story. >> reporter: as california continues to bake in a record-breaking drought, the farmers and growers who produce nearly half of the u.s.'s fruits and vegetables are anxiously scanning the skies for any sign of rain. >> everyday, almost every hour, every minute, i continually am

always looking up in the sky and i want to see what the clouds are doing. i'm always looking to see what the trees are doing with regards to wind like we have today. >> soon california could get more rain than they bargained for and scientists say there is 70% chance of a major wet weather phenomenon hittel the western u.s. later this year and it's called el nino and he studies dynamics at the south of california. >> it's pointing to an el nino event and it's a matter of how big it's going to be. it could be a moderate one or it could be a very strong one. but of course if it rains too much then floods can be a bad thing and land slides are a bad thing and it can lead to loss of lives and destruction of property. >> el nino is formed when a vast blob of heated water gathers in the pacific by indonesia and

goes to the americas and this is 1997 and the red indicates the hotter than normal plume of water and when it reaches the land mass it causes downpours. >> a very large volume of water, millions of square feet by, you know, several dozens of meters in -- out in the height and it's an amount of heat that is unfathomable to civilization. >> it had more energy than bombs and caused 2100 deaths and $33 billion of damage in north and south america. at this point for most people in california any rain at all would be a blessing. >> mother nature is our ultimate boss. i don't care what we do mechanically as human beings, mother nature is always there and she is always in control so we have to figure out whatever

we can do to counter act what she throws at us. >> reporter: scientists should know in a matter of weeks if this year a's el nino will be mild or a monster. rob ronalds l.a. >> more to come on the news hour and including we will have the latest chinese city on the edge after the latest bomb attacks and election results are in malowii after the president demanded a recount and montreal played out against the rangers and find out who came out on top. ♪ r

♪ these are the top stories on al jazeera, the army general in charge in thailand summoned the former prime minister and political opponents for talk and one of 150 prominent ties band from travelling abroad. >> sentenced katanga to 12 years imprisonment. >> reporter: a former malitia leader in the democratic of congo is sentenced by the international criminal court and katan gshg a -- katanga has already been sentenced forward on the villages. al-qaeda sanctions has black listed the group boko haram and sanctions include an

international asset freeze, a travel ban and an armed embargain go and the nigeria government actually requested boko haram to be put on this list earlier in the week. the group has been links to the death of an estimated 10,000 people since the creation, live now to abuja the nigeria capitol and our correspondent there and mohamed as we already pointed out nigeria requested boko haram be put on the list and what impact will this have on the running of the organization? >> well, at face value putting sanctions on boko haram might look like an exercise in futility because for this group they don't put any money in account in banks. they use banks to finance their activities and trouble for them means sneaking in and out of the

border, the border that nigeria shares with the north neighbors. however when you look critically at what the government intends to get from these, request of the united nations which always has been granted, there is always suspicion in nigeria and people in government that there are politicians using boko haram for political aims and most has fallen on politicians in northern nigeria and with these now the freezing of assets extended to the financiers of boko haram it's likely the government is sending a message to those politicians that it's financing the group and it's not going to be business as usual from here on in. >> this comes an a time, doesn't it when boko haram has spread its theatre of activities from the northeast of the country into the central part of the

country and it seems very much as though the nigerian security forces are on the back foot. >> indeed. boko haram militants have been carrying out an extra ordinary campaign of violence in the past five weeks especially. the kidnapping of the girls definitely was a game changer but what followed later in terms of attacks including attacking in the vicinity where the government is saying they sent 20,000 troops to rescue the girls is what has many nigerians here worried and also boko haram extending and attacking places and not attacked before but was great sensitivity is also making nigeria ask for the nigeria army to stop the campaign of violence by boko haram and many believe that it's the corruption that has been epidemic in the country

and now is becoming an obstacle to the army and being affected in the fight against boko haram. >> thank you very much indeed. mohamed there live from the nigerian capitol abuja. we were just talking about that campaign of violence that's been waged by boko haram over the last five years or so, killings and kidnappings particularly in the northeast part of the country and parliament extended the year-long state of emergency affecting three states in the northeast. but as we report now from yolo, the capitol of the state, the continuing security crack down is proving bad for business. >> reporter: struggling to remain in business, he used to be one of the leading business men in the northeast. but five years of violence nearly ended his business. half of his workers have now left.

a state of emergency declared last year brought some stability. >> translator: our business partners across the boarder stopped coming and some say harassment at security checkpoints and the presence of soldier has restored some confidence. >> reporter: the confidence is not shared by all, another business man sees the state of emergency as a hindrance. >> translator: they are everywhere at checkpoints and in our homes, the state of emergency has not stopped anything. the attacks have intensified. i would like the government to send the troops to get the attackers. >> reporter: the nigerian president ordered deployment of troops to the northeast an ordered to end the wave of violence by boko haram in the region. but one year on the fighters have become bolder and attacks deadlier and they are feeling insecure and many of them want a state of emergency scrapped and

others say that will be a mistake. >> the nature of the present state of emergency will not allow the military to win the w war. winning a more comprehensive state of emergency, as i can put it roughly, the crimes that were in place during the civil war because what we are fighting now is worse than a civil war. >> reporter: and parliament approved a six month extension of emergency rule and nigeria in the northeast wait to see if conditions will finally improve for them. i'm with al jazeera, yola, nigeria. >> to mali where rebels have taken control of two towns in the north of the country. [gunfire] this video was provided by the separatists and it apparently shows fighting during a failed army offensive to retake kadal.

the defense minister has said 20 soldiers were killed on thursday, the rebels say the death toll is more like 40. and the fighting began last saturday during a visit by the prime minister, musa mara and threatens to tip the northern part of mali back in a state of war and france that has troops in the country said it wouldn't have been. election results are due in malowii a day after the president demanded a ballot recount. the election commission dismissed her allegations that vote rigging was widespread. and we report now from the commercial capitol of malowii, plantar. >> the democratic progressive party accused of vote rigging and the president and her party officials all his opposition party infiltrated and hacked in the counting system.

>> therefore she has made the allegations and opposition, i don't see how the opposition can rig an election, we don't know how to do it. we don't know what it means to do this. but this is finding an excuse. >> reporter: they want a manual count of votes but they told her the computers have not been hacked. a recount could mean more delays and officials keep telling them result also be announced as soon as possible but uncertainty here is making people uneasy and some people are concerned about what could happen if those who lost don't conceive it. local and international observers appeal. >> this has been the election

for malowii and we urge the political party to ask their supporters to patiently wait for the announcement of the official results. >> reporter: voting was extended in some places because of delays in distributing voting material. the polls will end on tuesday. the president says she is concerned some people may have voted more than once. life seems to be moving along but the entire country is in limbo and not sure what lies ahead, al jazeera. >> the south korea is describing an incident there with the maritime with north korea as a provocation. the government says the north korea military fired a shot that landed near one of its navy patrol ships on thursday. the south korea president says she regrets what has happened and the government in north korea denies the incident. chinese media is reporting five suicide bombers were behind a

deadly attack on a market in the northwest region. 31 people were killed when 2 suvs plowed in the market and one exploded and they called the attack a serious terrorist accident and it's the worst in five years after riots in july of 2009 left nearly 200 people dead. and adrian brown is there. >> reporter: for the state controlled media is reporting that five assailants were killed and up to four vehicles were involved and people escaped and this is impossible to verify. the information flow in this part of the world is very tightly controlled. a number of foreign journalists were briefly detained this morning and also soldiers also tried to stop us filming.

outwardly the streets seem pretty calm but i think beneath the surface there is a lot of nervousness and china's government called this a serious terrorist incident and certainly bore all hallmarks of a coordinated suicide attack and it was a soft target, a morning market, ordinary shoppers going about their business. the state-controlled media is also reporting that many of the dead were elderly people and some of the injured include children. china's president ping promised for find those responsible and will be punished and punished severely. >> they go to the polls on sunday to vote in a tightly fought presidential election and they clasheded in a tv debate on controversial issues and from bogatar we report. >> reporter: columbias got a chance to see the two candidates confront each other in a televised debate what is widely

described as the dirtiest campaign in history and it showed that he and the rivals are practically tied. but that was before farc rebels talked about drug trafficking and on going peace negotiations between the rebels and the government. he was grilled about a damning video that is leaked showing him being briefed of secrets obtained by a hacker who works for his campaign and is now in prison. >> translator: the voices are not ours. this shows that this is a trick done to prejudice or campaign. there can be no doubt about it. >> reporter: he is accused of lying to the colombian people and things got more heated when he was accused of being a puppet, and peace talks with rebels. >> translator: the president hounded me from the first day because i wasn't precisely his

puppet so i wish you good luck, doctor, because you are going to have a tough time. >> translator: i demand respect, this is a debate of ideas and i won't expect you disrespect me just because you are the president. >> reporter: middle of the mug slinging a big question is whether the debate will give a boost to the floundering president who in the end appeared the colombians give a mandate to have peace talks with the farc rebels which he's the hallmark of his administration. >> reporter: he is a billionaire and chocolate king and judging by opinion pons in ukraine he is a strong contender for sunday's presidential election and nick spicer reports from the odessa region the potential leader who thinks he can solve the ukrainian crisis. >> reporter: he needs her vote and the country probably does need something like a savior.

and shenko is far ahead in the polls but still doing retail politicians. >> promise 0 tolerance and modernization of the country and european association. these are four main messages. >> reporter: if elected he won't be the first billionaire president. just the first who didn't become one while holding office. >> translator: i know him from his region where he made a fortune. he will be a tough president and he will unite ukraine if nobody gets in the way. >> reporter: his money comes from people's sweet tooth and the chocolate and candy brand and he says he will sell the company if elected but not the tv channel and the protest in kiev last winter saved the country. his stand for the demonstrators and his standing between them and the police earned him respect of many and so does a

hefty political resume and in 2004 he helped lead the orange revolution, a people power fight in an attempt to steal the presidential election in a year. he served later as for and an economy minister. >> this is about ukrainian future and about ukraine people. >> reporter: bringing ukraine closer to europe and guiding his platform as he told al jazeera right before all the unrest began. >> i just want to have my country formed. i hate the idea to keep conservative and effective economy, this unfair political system. this judicial system. this is the level of corruption. i simply cannot accept that. and the european standard and european barrier and european b bar barrier is a form of motivation and for ukraine to

reform their country. >> reporter: in the week before sunday's vote he was polling so well it looked like he might win more than half the vote, eliminating the need for a second round of voting. if he is elected he will face giant challenges and fighting separatists in the east of country which the government says are controlled by the separatists, a country on international life support and a country where majority involves east and west and want peace, prosperity and a new politics free of corruption, nick spicer al jazeera. >> still to come in the sports news is it time for the u.s. football team the washington redskins to change its name and they say yes. ♪

now, winter is closing in on australia and traditionally meant tough months for tourism but andrew thomas reports a festival of lights in sidney is helping to ease the pain. >> they are australia landmarks and more usually seen in bright sunshine but it's winter now in sidney and that means longer nights for a festival of lights that has taken over the city. projections on water. office blocks as canvass. the chance to conduct an orchestra of lights. for lucy and nicholas the opportunity to bring to life a 1960s building designed by harry

sidler was a dream commission. >> it was traffic to land in the trees in the middle of the concrete and make it grow out of the ground in 60 seconds. >> of a day in the life of a tree allowing you to ponder what used to be here before buildings. ♪ but beautiful the illuminations are the motivation for this event is economic, a strong australian dollar was hit hard and sidney is known as a city but it's quiet in june and august and they needed something to keep the tourists on their toes. >> looking for ideas how to fill hotel rooms in winter in sidney and that is how vivid sidney was born. >> last year the shop's revenues went up 70%. >> it gets bigger every year and more people and come when the sun goes down and stay until

10:00, 11:00 at night. >> reporter: expectations for this year's festival are larger than ever and expect almost a million people to see the lights and contributing $20 million to sidney's economy. it helps that this year's winter so far has been exceptionally warm. outdoor winter festivals do particularly well when it doesn't feel much like winter. andrew thomas, in sidney. >> reporter: more excuses to go to sidney, you have them. >> it looks spectacular, doesn't it? let's talk sport shall we. the face of u.s. football for a decade and no place for him at the 2014 world cup and u.s. top scorer donavan was left out of the squad for brazil next month and 32-year-old striker was going to make the fourth world cup and they left him out. >> his disappointment is huge and i totally understand that

and took it very professional because he is a professional player and he knows i have respect for him but i have to make decisions as of today. i have to make decisions what is good today for this group going into brazil and there i just think that, you know, the other guys right now are a little bit ahead of time and i told him that and he understands it but obviously he is very disappointed. >> as you can see the football manager's job is always p precarious and plenty of faces next season and the one with the most attention is the first woman to manage a professional team in france and paul reese reports. >> striding through the doors of a french second division football club puts a manager in the glare of the international spotlight but this is no ordinary manager. and he has become the first woman to be put in charge of a men's team in the top division

of europe's major five football league and 36 she is the same age as chelsea coach but it's her sex and not age to bring attention to her team who finished five points above the are relegation last week. >> this is a man's world mainly so i know it's an important day but we are in 2014 so look at me as a normal coach. >> reporter: and this is a breakthrough but men's football is hardly considered an equal opportunity employer. and she is one of three women on the executive committee alongside 24 men. when business woman karen brady entered food -- football she would have to be consider better than the men and that pressure caused carolyn to quit the third tier side after just two games

in 1999. have you found any obstacles in terms of sexism? >> i will not lie. yes, i did. but i'm here so and i'm here by the work. i'm not here for other things. >> reporter: players and supporters to the club just want to win matches. >> translator: i'm proud this role is going to a woman. it's always men and women are just as capable of training a male team. >> translator: i think it's positive for her and for us because we are waiting for her to start and i think she will show she can do just as well or better than a man. >> reporter: it's perhaps a sign how far football still has to go and women are leading nations and running businesses the fact that one has been chosen to lead a group of male footballers is being questioned and the only question that she will have is if she can lead the leaguer along the side and i'm paul with al jazeera.

to the nhl and the canadians pulled back the eastern conference finals to 2-1 beating the new york rangers and it didn't start well and new york was one up in the first period through paul hagland and level in the next period and 2-1 lead in the third. it looked like montreal were on the brink of victory but new york is not going down without a fight. and chris equalized with less than 30 seconds less to force over time and the canadians finally sealed the win through alex and the final score was 3-2. half of the united states senate is urging the national football league to rename washington d.c. football team n a letter of 50 senators said the name the redskins amounts to a racial slur and john reports. >> reporter: the controversy over their name won't go away, spurred on by the speed with which the nba moved in donald

sterlings case when he was caught on tape with racial remarks and they have written to roger and the nfl saying the time has come for the redskins as a name to go and they wrote we urge you and the national football league to send the same clear message as the nba did, that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports and the letter went on, the nf lchl can no longer ignore this and use the name for what it is, a racial slur. in a response nfl spokesman tweeted the intent of the team's name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image. in the past redskins owner dan schneider has been blunt about refusing to change the team's name and says the team honors the name redskins and native american traditions and last may he was quoted as saying we will never change it, it's that simple, never, you can use caps.

but for some native americans the name remains an insult. ray halbriter of the u.n. is leading the fight to change the redskins name. >> if it's offending people then it's time to change it. >> reporter: it may be time but there is no sign yet that the team or the league is ready to make a change any time soon. john with al jazeera, new york. the french open starts on sunday and world number one nadal is once again favored to take the title and won eight times before and the eiffel tower is the back drop and williams is marking the start of this year's championship and nadal will silence doubters after a season so far and williams is chasing a 18th grand slam title. that is all the sport for now and more later. >> thank you very much indeed. a lot more to come here at al jazeera. including a bulletin coming up, in about a minute or so from now.

>> the military takes over thailand officially declaring a coup d'etat. >> the house passes a bill to curve n.s.a. spying on american citizens. some say the move doesn't go far enough. >> this one's closing, also this one right over here is closed. >> struggling american communities getting a helping hand from the peace corps. how that group is using skills