with nearly 100,000 hits online we have made it the web video of the week. we will see you next time at "the listening post." the taliban hail al principals swap as a big victory. five taliban officials have arrived in qatar. in doha, the other top stories on al jazeera america, al jazeera america's journalist imprisoned in egypt have had their trial adjourned again. the latest on the media crackdown there. renegade general in libya targets militias in the eastern city of benghazi. now, we meet a colorful

brazilian artist encouraging others to use creativity to break out of poverty. >> five taliban officials predfreed in ex sheathing for an american soldier have arrived in qatar after more than a decade in guantanamo bay prison. the deal was brokered with the help of qatar that says it has given washington assurance over security. the details. >> the taliban leaders are now in doha. they were released in a prisoner swap mediated by qatar. foreign minister said the mediation was pure lee humanitarian but stopped short of elaborating on what role " qatar played. >> i thank the negotiating delegation who adopted the best practices and with respect to the details, excuse me for not

disclosing any, however, when qatar takes the role of intermedia intermediary, it plays this role on a humanitarian basis. >> reporter: the release of the taliban leaders who spent 12 years in guantanamo was in exchange for a u.s. soldier, bowe bergdahl who spent five years in captivity in afghanistan. u.s. president barack obama said national security would be safe guarded. >> we worked for several years to achieve this goal and earlier this week, i was able to personally thank the emir of qatar for helping us get it done. as part of the effort, the u.s. is transferring five detainees from the prison in guantanamo bay in qatar. the qatari government has given us ainsurance that it will put in place measures to protect our national security. >> but some con congressmen have denounced the release of the guantanamo detainees. first u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel said the

penitentiary penitentiary acted quickly to save bergdahl. >> were that could lead to possible new breakthroughs with the taliban, i don't know. hopefully, it might. but we pursued this effort specifically to get sergeant bergdahl back. >> the deal could signal a softening in the taliban's hard line position and pave the way for talks on the future of afghanistan. we don't know at this stage whether the five taliban leaders will be placed under any restrictions or if they will be allowed to play a future political role. but the prisoner swap has been a crucial demand for the taliban on afghan reconciliation. al jazeera, doha. >> live in washington, d.c. for us, there is a lot of jubilation

over bergdahl's release. but there are those who are unhappy with the way the negotiations were conducted with the release of five taliban prisoners. >> right. senior republican officials here in washington are raising questions about that. the obama administration broke the law in releasing detainees from guantbay without alerting congress first, without giving it 30 days' notice. the white house argues these were exceptional circumstances and another issue is that old chestnut of negotiating with terrorists, whether as a result of this, the united states en knees will be emboldened to kidnap more americans to further their political ends. the u.s. government and the obama administration rejects that saying, quote and this is from chuck hagel, this was a prisoner of war exchange end quote. interesting terminology given that the u.s. has long maintained its detainees, all of its conduct in its wars on

terror have nothing to do with international legal norms and geneva conventions. in fact, these five afghan detainees were slated for indefinite detention up until yesterday. we will have to look at how seriously thought out that particular phrasing was from the defense secretary. >> what about bergdahl, himself? any details on him and what's happening to him now? >> he's at the regional medical center in germany. he is slated to be sent to another medical facility in texas at some point. we don't know when. he is undergoing what's being called a, quote, reintegration process where he will decompress. he will reconnect with his family through telephone calls and video conferencing. it will be interesting when we hear from him because he was very critical of the u.s. and its war effort in afghanistan at the time of his disappearance. we hope to here from his parents at some point in the next few hours. they will be holding a press conference.

they will take questions at some point. >> should be interesting. they have been pretty out spoken about the u.s. in the past as well. we will keep an eye on that. >> thanks very much combined for that in washington, d.c. there. at least 799 people were killed in attacks across iraq during the months of may. the official figures released by the united nations makes may the deadliest month so far this year. 603 of those killed were civilians. the rest were iraqi security forces. the u.n. figures don't include casualties in ambar where the army has been fighting armed groups since the beginning of the year. a libyan army official says three militia positions have been hit by airstrikes in the eastern city of benghazi. the strikes were ordered by retired general halifa hafta as part of his push against hard-line militias. a target of date. stefanie dekker has more from the capitol, tripoli.

>> reporter: the method message is clear, he says he is going to continue in his operation to rid libya of what he calls terrorists, three airstrikes in benghazi on sunday haven't caused much damage on the ground, both groups, february 17th and at a time area he targeted say they didn't suffer any casualties. this operation hasn't changed anything on the ground as yet. but certainly, he does have a lot of support in terms of his message when it comes to people here who feel that libya has become increasingly unstable, the most dangerous than it's been since the revolution, so they believe in his message to try to reign in these extremist groups as he calls them and to try to get some form of stability. it comes at a time when this country is polarized, two prime ministers, two governments and the formal general says he doesn't believe in the gnc, the acting parliament and one of the

mi prime ministers elected under some controvital signsversial circumstances according to some. libyans will tell you it is impossible to predict how everything will play out. 3 al jazeera staff imprisoned in egypt have had their court hearing until june the 5th. they are falsely accused of aiding the muslim brotherhood. they have been in jail for 155 days. another al jazeera correspondent has been held in a cairo prison without charge for more than nine months. the crackdown on the media has been widespread as nicole johnston reports. >> reporter: as the defendant stood in the caged dock their lawyer their lawyers challenged the evidence. they cross examined three members of a technical committee appointed by the court to assess video material. under strong questioning, the head of the committee admitted he was with police officers when they arrested al jazeera correspondent peter grista and

producer, mohammed familiari. >> led the lawyer to question how he could be described as an independent witness. another member of the technical panel was challenged to identify a single report that was edited to show the muslim brotherhood in a positive light. he replied: i can't remember. the lawyers also pointed to the fact that written statements by prosecution witnesses were identical, word for word, but their submission in court contradicted them. this court case is part of the broad media crackdown in egypt. >> shut down t.v. station, raided offices of media outlets and detained more than 65 journalists since july and in addition, they prosecuted and persecuted a lot of self-styled activists. >> former head of the military appears set to win the presidential election. >> sisi is going to have a lot

of difficulty with international community getting aid getting investment and having legitimacy to say that he is running the country towards a democratic government unless he releases all of the journalists who are behind bars and prosecute those who are responsible on killing journalists. >> now that he is about to be president, sisi will have the power to deal with the media any way he wants. nicole johnston, al jazeera. six egyptian border guards have been killed by smugglers, targeted on patrol in the western dirt area. a flow of weapons across the desert borders has increased since the uprising and a conflict that topelled mumar combat gaddis in 2011. opposition rebels in syria say there has been fierce fight with

government troops in alamalia town in dam afternooning u.s. >> meanwhile, syrian rebel fighters have released this video of a group of women and children being held hostage. they are from the alawite sect, the same president that bashar el asaad is from. >> thousands of troops and police have been deployed in a thai capitol bangkok to stop ant anti-coup demonstrations. some people are refusing to accept the military takeover despite a law banning procetest activists have been planning a large weekend rally. the army banned political gathers of more than five people. >> still to come, we speak to separatist fighters controlling the poorous border between

ukraine and russia. and beautiful but not as busy as they used to be. why kenyas beaches are losing their appeal. stay with us. >> al jazeera america presents the system with joe burlinger >> the dna testing shows that these are not his hairs >> unreliable forensics >> the problem the bureaus got is they fail, it's a big, big deal... >> convicted of unspeakable

crimes did flawed lab work take away their freedom? >> i was 18 when i went in... when i came out i was 50... you don't get it back... >> shocking truths revealed

welcome back from stories making headlines. five taliban leaders have arrived in " qatar. they were released in exchange for the u.s. solid sergeant bowe bergdahl held by the taliban in afghanistan for almost five years. qatar helped broker the exchange

deal. three al jazeera staff i am principled in egypt for 155 days have had their court hearing adjourned until thursday. they are on trial falsely accused of aiding the banned group, muslim brotherhood. a libyan army, officials of three militia positions have been hit by airstrikes in the eastern city of benghazi, they were ordered as part of the push against hard line militias. let's get more on our top story now. >> prisoner swap between the u.s. and the taliban. five afghan men had been held since 2002, part of the afghan leadership before the u.s.-led invasion of 2001. mohammed fazl was the deputy minister of defense and a senior demander of the taliban army: haka was associated with osama bin laden, the deputy minister of intelligence was central in

forming groups. noori was a fighter against the could al list force ins 2001. nabi served in leadership roles suspected of having strong links to al-qaeda. malikia is an afghan historian and afghan in afghan state building. she says some are worried about what the release would mean. >> these five taliban prisoners who have been released are not your ordinary, run-of-the mil foot soldiers. they were very high officials, some of them closely attached to the intelligence apparatus of the taliban. so, there is a lot of apprehension here incable among large segments of the afghan stithe including women as to what their release would mean in the future and whether they will rejoin the taliban and launch

attacks against afghan civilians as many released taliban prisoners have done. >> syrians in lebanon could lose their refugee status if they cross back into syria. the lib in these decision is likely to discourage many from voting at polling stations on the border in tuesday's presidential election. a statement released by the lebanese interior ministry says all displaced syrians and those registered with the u.n. high commissioner for refuge easy are asked to refrain from entering syria as of june 1st of 2014 under penalty of losing the refugee status in lebanon. >> tens of thousands of syrians cast their ballots last week in an early round of ex me tray on the voting. the large turnout and support angered some lebanese opponents who said any refugees who took part should be sent back to syria. well, the u.n. says there were

1.1millian syrian ref us but aid groups believe the number is higher. lebanon does not recognize the group as refugees because it hasn't signed the convention of refugees. the issue of syrians is political in lebanon. the country which has its own sectarian divisions is divided into many pro-and anticamps. rami kouri is an editor at large with "the daily staff." this is what he has to say. >> there is a lot of pressure on the government politically inside lebanon to try to reduce the flow of refugees. the pressures on infrastructure in lebanon, water, housing, electricity, medical care, education, these pressures are getting intense. there are political resentments in lebanon by many people who feel some of the refugees are taking advantage of freehandouts from international aid

organizations like unhcr. there is ref jopling ease who are here in some cases and then they go back to syria for personal thing they have to register a child or attend a wedding or something and then they come back. so there is many lebanese who are really getting fed up with the sense some refugees at least are maybe taking advantage of this situation and, also, the mass display of support for president asaad at the syrisad if people are so happy with the president in syria, maybe they should go back to syria and not stay here. so there is quite a few different reasons that have come together now. >> the leader of a separatist group of fighters in ukraine's east says six men have been killed as they tried to collect the body of fallen comrades, the eastern border is at the center of their fight against government forces. cossack manneders have taken charge of border towns.

david shaffer reports. >> driving east toward the russian border, you drive through checkpoints manned by cossacks. most are former miners but they have been reinforced by kazakhstan with more than a sprinkling of chechnyans. the second team of monitors from the organization of security and cooperation in europe disappeared on thursday. the guards are vig leapt. on the roadside, we passed two men forced to the ground with their hands tied behind them. the separatist fighters placed an armed guard in a van and took us to headquarters. the town takes its name from anthrocite coal. it's a transport hub for volunteers moving across ukraine's porous border with russia. hundreds of fighters ahave used this route over the last few weeks as these pictures testify.

we asked a local kossack commander if we could go forward where apply envoy had been ambushed. he advised us against it. we also asked him if we could film in the town. he politely told us we could end up shot. whoever was in charge of the fighters surrounding his headquarters, it clearly wasn't him. we were then asked to sample the traditional cossack hospitality. they talked about the recent fighting. >> we have been sharing a meal and a bit more with the cossacks manning the roadblocks toward the russian border. we have been told that there were americans there. there were polish there and there were also women snippers from the ukrainian area. >> see, here, it is written in ukrainian: we do not want to separate the country. we are not separatists. it is the government who is dividing the country. at the latest rally, the loudest

cheers were raised to honor those killed in fierce fighting at the city's airport last week when it was announced the bodies of 33 fighters had been repat treeiated to their home lands in russia. >> thank you, russia. big thank you to russia. >> moscow's troops may be withdrawing from ukraine's border but volunteers throughout the former soviet union are now rallying to the cause of defending the self-declared people's republic. david chatter, al jazeera, dondon. >> the sudan easy government official said a woman sentenced to death on charges of aband oning islam may soon be released. miriam ibrahim's lawyers are skeptical. a report. >> reporter: her plight has captured the attention of the world. this 27-year-old sudan easy woman was sentenced to death by hanging for apostacy. it caused an outcry, brought up as a christian by her mother despite having a muslim father, she had claimed in court that

she had always followed the faith of her mother. but the prosecution demanded she follow her father's faith. she refused. married to a christian american man, she was also charged with aadudultery and sentenced to 10 lashes while she was heavily pregnant with a baby she gave birth to in prison. her husband was granted access to see the child and their 20-month-old son in jail. he spoke of fears for her health and the legal battle they faced to release her. >> the decision of the court is basically wrong. it is an oppressive sentence against an ordinary human and it's not legal. if we read the details of the decision, it lacks wisdom. >> the international outcry that followed and campaign to free her has perhaps taken the sudan easy government by surprise. the announcement by the government of her imminent release comes as an enormous relief to her family. it is still dependent on a court order. >> this statement is just a political statement.

even it's note the judiciary of sudan. the body who has to determine m overtime riam's situation. there was a long history of christianity insurdan but minority rights are restricted there. many say her case highlights how the government should do more to protect those from other religions in line with international agreements. al jazeera. . >> tourists from a number of countries are being advised not to travel to kenya. the concern stems from recent attacks blamedshabaab. a look at the impact on tourism. >> the white sandy beaches of some of kenya's most prestigeous hotels remain empty. occasionally, you can see tourists. they are getting rare. >> a series of attacks have prompted some current trees like the u.s., u.k. and australia to warn their citizens against travel to parts of kenya including sections of the coast. >> i think the hotel --

>> the beachries ort, when the advice occurs were issued, the owner lost a lot of business. >> one day, the travel advisory came out. we had an arrival of 108 british tourists at the resort. our occupancy at this time was 157. for low season, not very bad. and after the tourrists were evacuated on saturday, we had only 20 tourists left. >> tourism is the second largest source of foreign exchange revenue after agriculture. it drives the economy here along the coast. now, about 20 hotels have been closed. roughly $7 million lost in tourist cancellations and thousands of employees laid off. >> this is the low season for kenya's tourism industry and it's not unusual for hotels to cut down their costs by reducing their employees but a low season, together with negative

travel advisories are damaging, especially with the high season fast approaching. tushtism ministry's cabinet secretary says it's time for the country to expand its markets and reach out more aggressively to african countries, the far east and eastern europe. >> we had a plan. so we are ruling out that plan. we had identified other markets that we thought would stabilize the tourism sector. >> more worried about the short-term, one of thousands who have been laid off and unlike in the past >> he's not certain if or when he is getting his job back. >> tourim >> translator: if tourists don't come, we will be devastated. i will start repairing generators. i won't get customers because nobody will have money to pay. >> he has five children to

sustain and not many options. katherine soi, southern kencath several fifa members have been accused of corruption by a british newspaper. the "sunday times" claims to have millions of documents leaked inside bought's governing bottom. they allege the former fifa vice president made payments of around $5 million to other ball officials. creel claim claiming they were a payment to ensure his nation won the right to host the world cup in 2022. the organizers have released a statement saying he played no official or unofficial role in the 2022 bid committee as was the case with every other member of et community. we had to convince him of the merits of our bid. we ve hehemently deposit it.

we defend the integrity of qatar's bid romero britto is known for joining attention to the pop genre of art. he parents on cardboard and newspaper. he is based in miami. he wants to inspire others to break out of poverty like he did. >> i am romero britto and live in miami beach, florida. ♪ i think the mention of my work is a positive message and it's about love. and i think this is what i put on my work, lots of love. well, i was born in brazil and sips i was a kid, i loved drawing. i did a lot of drawings on notebooks and my mother used to tell me don't do, too many drawings because you need to leave space to do your homework. so, i start drawing on my mother's walls, everything i

could put my hand on. one of the biggest things that happened in terms of propelling my career was that i did this series of maintings for vodka and after that, i designed watches, painted cars and i did so many things i would never imagine. but i think it's so important to anybody in the world to do something for somebody else. you know, you can do for your family. you can do for your community. you can for your country. i love the idea of giving back. i am thankful for the opportunity that i have that i have been given to have this gift for me to be able to create my art and that people relate to it. >> you are? >> so nice. very outspoken. my goodness. >> the picture here, you see here it's an actual picture of me working the pyramid. i do want to do very larm installation like i have done in hyde park, in london, like i did a few other ones, you know, like i did here in miami with the super ball. you know, it's great to know a

lot of very special collectors collect my work. but i like my art being enjoyed by the masses of the world. a lot of people see my work and think, oh, my god, romero must be the happiest guy in the world. what i paint is what i want my life to be, you know, every day and that's how i do it. . >> hi. i am lisa fletcher. >> i am lisa freletcher. you are in thestream. identity thebes are targeting most vulnerable pray, your kids lighter the price to pay for the 21st century classroom. how a studentes every click is being tracked by data collection agencies. agencies. are the digital perks worth it?