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tv   News  Al Jazeera  June 1, 2014 2:00pm-3:01pm EDT

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this is al jazeera. >> hello. welcome to the newshour. in doha with the top stories here here on al jazeera. the taliban hail a prison swap as a big victory. 5 taliban officials have now arrived in doha. the trial of three al jazeera journalists in egypt is adjourned. we will bring you the latest on the media crackdown. a frenchman allegedly confesses
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to shooting three people dead outside a jewish museum in brussels. >> in russia, half. population still smokes. this weekend, a smoking ban is coming in which means in bars and restaurants people are being told to stub it out. >> all of the day's sports including qatar's world cup organizers deny alleges of clippings. five taliban officials freed in exchange for an american soldier have arrived in doha. the deal was brokered with the help of qatar, which says its given washington assurance that u.s. national security won't be threatened by the releases. the men have now been medically examined after more than a decade in guantanamo prison.
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negotiations took place in the qatari capital after two years. th the two sides never spoke face to face. the five men will stay in doha for a year with their families who will be joining them. here are the details. >> reporter: the taliban leaders are now in doha. they were release the in a prison swap mediated by qatar. foreign minister said the mediation was purely 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 intermediatiary, it plays this role on a humanitarian basis.
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>> the release of the taliban leaders who spent 12 years in gaupt guantwas 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 safeguarded. >> we have worked for several years to achieve this goal. earlier this week, i was able to personally think the emir for his leadership in helping us get it done. as part of this effort, the united states is transferring five detainees from the prison in guantgaubt bay to qatar. the qatari government has given us assurance that it will put in place measures to protect our national security. >> but some congressmen have deny ounced the release of the gaurpt gaubt detainees. first, u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel says the penta goodeon acted quickly to save bergdahl. >> whether that could lead to possible new breakthroughs with the taliban, i don't know.
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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 to launch talks on afghan reconciliation. al jazeera, doha. >> three al jazeera staff imprisoned in egypt have had their court hearing adjourned until june 5th. they are on trial falsely access did of aiding the muslim broth r
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brotherhood. they have been in jail for 155 days. and al jazeera correspond event abdullah he will shamy has been held without charge for more than nine months. the crackdown on the media has been widespread. >> reporter: as the defendants stood in the cagled docdock act their lawyers challenged evidence. they cross examined three members of a technical committee appointed to assess video material. >> ninety % of the media they have are in english language. the gentleman mentioned he watched the videos. no one is able to analyze these videos unless that person is able to speak each english. my question is: did you analyze these videos in the sense that they changed, were neutral or biased towards one party like the muslim brotherhood example and do speak english or not. >> under strong questioning, the head of the schmidt he was with police officers when they
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arrested al jazeera correspondent peter gresta and producer mohammed famy. >> 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 -- puscuted a lot of the activists. >> former head of the military,
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el sisi appears set to within the election. >> he will have a lot of difficulty with international community getting aid getting investment, and having legitimacy to say that he is running the country toward a democratic government unless he releases all of the journalists who are behind bars and prosecute those who were 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. >> al jazeera is banned from reporting in egypt. cnn correspondent saya has been following events for us inside the court in cairo. >> reporter: this was the 10th hearing in the trial of the al jazeera journalists. with us again, the headline remains the same. once again, the prosecution is seemingly failed to provide any
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compelling evidence linking these individuals to any crime or terrorist activity. the focus of the hearing was on the video evidence presented in this case and the technical team assigned to analyst it. remember, one of the more serious charges these journalists are facing are accusations that they doctored and alterred the video in an effort to create a more favorable view of the muslim brotherhood. however, when members of this technical team took the stand and were cross examined by the defense, they simply failed to explain how and where this video was doctored and incredibly one of the witnesses acknowledged he was part of the police team that raided the marriott hotel in late december, the night these these journalists were arrested. the defense's position, their argument was simple: how can you be an impartial, objective analyzer of this video when you were part of the police team last night. the journalits, once again.
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r resilient as ever but you sense their growing frustration at one point, mohammed fahmy yelling out the prosecution should be in jail. a strong day for the defense. they made the case look weak. >> six egyptian border guards have been killed by smugglers. an army spokesman said they were on patrol in the western desert area of alwahat. the flow of weapons across the desert borders of egypt and libya has increased the uprising a & subsequent conflict that topelled gadaffi in 2011. >> a libyan army official says three militia positions have best of my knowledge hit by air strikes in benghazi. the strikes were ordered by retired journal kalifa hafta as part of his push against hard line militias. a compound was targeted as well as an area where radical group
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are based. ceph stephanie decker has more from tripoli. >> the message from the former general is clear. he says he is going to continue in his operation to rid libya of what he calls terrorists, the extremits gross. three air attacks in benghazi on sunday haven't caused much damming on the ground. both groups, february 17th say they didn't suffer any casualties. this operation has not a really changed anything on the ground but he does have a lot of support in terms of his message when if comes to people here who feel that libya has become increasingly unstable, most dangerous it's been since the revolution. they believe in his message to try to rein in these extremest groups, as he calls them and get some form of stability. it comes at a time when this country is polarized, two prime ministers here, two governments and the formal general has actually said that he doesn't
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believe in the gnc, which is the acting parliament and one of the prime ministers elected here under controversial circumstances according to some, so it's a very, very difficult situation at the moment. and libyans will tell you it's impossible to predict how everything is going to play out. >> still to come here on al jazeera, taking charge in a country where fourteen people are murdered every day. we look at the challenges ahead for el salvador's new president. plus: >> i am libby standing on the border of india's newest state while millions of people are preparing to celebrate, there are big challenges ahead. >> and in sport, roger federer's surprise exit from the french open. we will have all of those details. 799 people were killed in
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attacks across iraq during the month of may. the official figures released by the united nations indicate that may is the deadliest month so far this year. 603 of those killed were civilians. the rest were iraqi security force. the u.n. figures do not include casualty in ambar province where they have been fighting since the beginning of the year. >> opposition rebels in syria say there has been fierce fight with government troops in a al malia town. the syrian news agency is also reporting the army has killed and injured a number of fighters in the suburbs of damascus. >> meanwhile, syrian rebel fighters released this video of a group of women and children being held hostage. they are from the alawite second same as president the president and his family. >> a frenchman who is in custody over the fatal shooting of three
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people at a belgian jewish museum is said to have spent a year fighting in syria. let's get more on that from lauren taylor in our european newscenter. lauren? >> yes, he is being held at the french anti-terrorism headquarters in paris. they say the 29-year-old has confess today carrying out the may 24th attack which deeply shocked belgium's jewish community. naddeen barber reports. >> this was the moment,b. french say they are holding a man suspected of carrying out the attack which killed three people including two israeli tourists and left another critically ill. he was arrested as he got off of a coach in marsaille. he has been transferred to the anti-terrorism forces had a r. fle and another weapon with a camera and a video recording where he admits the shooting. french authorities say he served five years in prison for robbery before travel to go syria.
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>> on december would 31st three weeks after his release, we want to syria from brussels vie a london, istanbul and stayed over a year in syria where he joined the ranks of jihadist terrorist organizations and islamic state of iraq. >> the federal prosecute said it highlights a growing threat to domestic security. >> the new elements in this investigation draw the attention once more to the problem of the returnees. in other words, the people going to syria in order to participate and combat and return afterwards to our country. all of the european countries are confronted tus moment with this problem. >> the director of the brussels museum says the problem that needs tackling is anti-semitism. >> it's like eyesberg what does he and what is underneath. what is underneath is much more
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important than what you see. >> how can you arrest somebody? and then... >> meanwhile, at this makeshift shrine outside the museum, they are struggle to go make sense of the attack. nadin barber, al jazeera. >> syria's due to hold presidential e elections within days which the president is almost tape to win. many sirrias living abroad say nothing will change in their war torn home land. jonah hull has been speaking to some of those expats. >> shepherd's bush is a long way from war-torn syria. among syrian expattriots enjoying sunday brunch, many with family back home, the war is strongly felt and the coming election feels a long way from peace. what do you believe is the future for your country? >> i am sure.
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>> if that happens in your country, will you and your family go home? >> yes. why not? it's my country, and i love it. >> there is no challenge because there is no chance for any other to be the president? >> no. >> this man didn't want to be identified on his phone, he keeps pictures of his family in syria. >> i have a picture of my father. by now, he is 70 years old. my nephews and niece, my sister, also. >> you don't want to show us the pictures of your family. why is that? >> because, actually, any picture shown, then they will follow, who are they? and what the relation between me and them, and they will be hurt. >> do you, as a syrian living abroad in britain have a wider sense of what's actually going on syria? >> it's like a game between
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great countries. u.s.a., iran, russia, and let's say it's head and hands from britain. >> if there is support for the government among these syrians abroad, it's well-hidden. >> i just really don't know what to describe. it's an absolute joke, election. i want bashar assad to control the country, first, to stop kill arrested from his sight, to charge them for what they did. he should be charged for using chemicals, for destroying the country and for killing people. >> this week's election isn't the solution many here hoped for. jonah he is hull, london. >> to john boehner now, armed men in the east are fortifying their positions throughout their stronghold ofdon done. many are separatists wanting to merge with russia. al jazeera's david chater went
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toward russia's border and discovered not all are pro-moscow. >> driving east, you pass through checkpoints manned exclusively by cossacks. most are former miners. their ranks are reinforced from kazakhstan and abkarzia a with more than a sprinkling of champions. the second team of monitors from the organization of security and cooperation in europe disappeared on thursday: the guards are vig lent armed guard and took us to their regional headquarters. the town takes its name from anthocite coal. a transport hub for volunteers movingcross ukraine's porous border with charr.
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we asked the local cossac commander if we could go where there had been an ambush. he advised us against it. we asked if we could film in the town. he told us we could get shot. whoever was surrounding the headquarters, whoever was in charge, it clearly wasn't him. we were 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 some of the road blocks toward the russian border. we have been told there were americans this and snippers. we do not want to separate the country. we are not separatists. it's the government dividing the country. >> at the latest rally, the
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loudest cheers were raised tohon those killed in fierce fighting at the city's airport last week when it was anounced the bodies of 33 fighters had been repat treeiated to their home lands in russia. thank you, russia. >> troops may be realing to the cause of defending the self-declared people's republic. david chater, al jazeera, dondon. >> more from europe in the newshour. now back to laura. >> lauren, thank you very much. el salvador has a new president in the past hour. salvador sanchez sarin, the former leftist leader narrowly defeated his right-wing opponents. he vowed to crack down on gang violence that has killed more than 17,000 people in the past five years. a new leader will inherit a
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two-year-old truce 2010 two gangs but there are signs it's disintegrating behind the deaths of 81 people over the weekend. sanchez joins a police patrol in the capitol, san salvador. >> elite units out to arrest gang members. the number of murders in may doubled compared to last year. the out going government is stepping up it's crackdown in the final hours to smooth the political transition. we he went too patrol with the streets. most streets are empty at night. >> the police are on high alert. only last weekend, 81 people were killed around the country. the homicide rate spaced after the government cut its support to a truce between gangs and launched the crackdown.
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mediators have brought together cage leaders. the government never explained. government's change of heart, gang members are losing jail benefits. those who represent them on the streets are being arrested. >> car loss is a gang leader. he insists many gang members are fed up with violence. his supporters call themselves the criminal gangsters are staying away from trouble with the police. car loss blames rivals from the 18th street gang for breaking the truce and the government turning its back on them. >> what i want from the new government is to sit at the negotiating table that was already formed and hold talks. there has to be a dialogue. otherwise, we will get nowhere. >> polls suggest 80% of salvadorians want the new government to change its strategy to combat gang-related crime. san sez ceren said combatting
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gang violence will be his government's priority. he will could not having the army and police run joint operations. the truce brought homicides down by two-thirds while it lasted. but the country is on track to become one of the most violent countries in the world. al jazeera, san. >> in japan, an i will ness has killed some. an extreme weather warning. temperatures have reached over 36 degrees celsius for a second day. a thousand people have taken part in a march in hong kong calling for democracy in china. knot straightors want beijing to acknowledge the crushing of protesters 25 years ago. the government has never released an official death toll.
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rights groups estimate several thousand died. many are commemorating across china on wednesday. two of the suspects arrested in connection with the gang rape and killing of two teenage girls in india have confessed. the cousins before they were found hanging from a tree. the girls had gone miss from their home on tuesday evening. five suspects have been arrested including two police officers accused of negligence. monday, the 29th state from india when it splits from androperesh. those who campaigned this, the future looks bright, for more than 200 tribal villages that straddle the new state boundary, their response spects are uncertain. libya has more. >> foraging for food is a way of life. these leaves are a source of nutrition and income for the
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tribes he blocks to. but if a major dam is built upstream, his forest will be swallowed by millions of liters of water. i count on leaves. we eat what we find in the forest and sell it, too. >> the leader of the community is urging people to stand up and fight. the best chance this village has of avoiding being wiped out is if it becomes a part of ghana. the leaders of newest state have promised to strange the structure to save a belt of tribal communities along its border. the indian government has assigned this and more than 200 other villages and says the plans are final. >> we don't like being told that we have to be part of it. we want to be a part of terangana. the politicians have to ask us
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what we want. >> as the state of telengana becomes a reality, the lives of more than 200,000 people hang in the balance. on the ground, those likely to be affected can only build meager lines of defense. >> i am standing in soon-to-be telengana. if i walk across the bridge, i will be in the state of semondra. it's taken foreign must years at times violent protests to get to this point. at the heart of this division is a battle over resources. >> these are the people who will activists claim were denied access to the natural riches of their homeland and treated like second-class citizens. >> the water is used there but not in telenga in: and the jobs were not given to them. they were taken from people from andra. so it has been neglected.
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>> he tries to provide his family with the things they need. >> which side of it he ends up on is a matter of life and death. al jazeera, district on the border of telenganda and sism mandra. more to come on this newshour including beautiful but not as busy as they used to be. why kenya's beaches are losing their appeal. keeping the military on its toes, a flash-mob style protest. in sports, mark mark cisms had ma make it 6 out of 6 winds at the it al i can't be grand '? later in the program.
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>> i'm joe berlinger this is the system i am joe berlinger. this is the system.
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people want to believe that the justice system works. people want to believe that prosecutors and police do the right thing. i think everyone american needs to be concerned about that. we do have the best justice system in the world, in theory... the problem is, it's run by human beings... human beings make mistakes... i'd like to think of this show as a watch dog about the system... to make sure justice is being served. wrongful convictions happen, we need to be vigilant. with our personal liberties taken away from us, it better be done the right way. is justice really for all? >> hello again. top stories here on al jazeera. five taliban leaders have arrived in qatar after being
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freed from guantanamo bay prison. they were released in ex change for u.s. soldier sergeant bowe bergdahl bergdahl. catcat helped broqatar helped broker the deal. >> five. >> on trial, axed of aiding the banned group, the muslim brotherhood. forces loyal to a retired libyan general have carried out airstrikes in the eastern city of benghazi. the strikes are part of the push against hardline militias and the government. thousands of troops and police have been deployed in the thai capitol of bangkok to stop anti-coup demonstrations. some people are refusing to accept the military takeover despite a law banning protests. activists have been planning a large weekend rally but the army has banned political gatherings
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of more than five people. in response to the crackdown by the authorities, protesters in thailand have taken to social media and to a new type of demonstration from bangkok, veronica explains. >> thailand's military rulers responded to the at least of popular protests according to the playbook but what's become clear is the protesters are determined to seize the initiative, make their own rules and run rings around the police and army. >> everyone thought there would be demonstrations tus main enter section. the whole area was sealed off, trains different stop at stations in the area. it was a set piece of preemptive crowd control, affirming the zero tolerance stance tie's military rulers have taken on protests. but then, word came in through social media. it says, see you at terminal 21. >> that's a shopping mall in a different area.
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troops and police moved in quickly, fire power included a humvee mounted with a light machinegun. everything looked pretty normal. this clearly wasn't the kind of traditional mass protest that bangkok has seen so much of over the past six months. this was protest flash-mob style. perfectly ordinary people would suddenly hold up pieces of paper, some blank. they would shout for elections and pop up in different parts of the area. the police have had to block this entrance into a well hine known shopping zone in the central part of bangkok because of the cat and mouse game they are playing with the protesters. >> while opponents to martial law seized the initiative >> police and troops had to chase around the place when they heard shouts or chaptering. they even started playing marshal anthems trying to counter the anti-coup songs by
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demonstrators. all of this is in violation of the crackdown on protests ordered by the military but the handful of protesters here didn't seem to care. >> no. i am not afraid of being arrested. my rights are mine. why do i have to be afraid? i am being robbed. instead of helping me, the cops protect the thiefs and work with them to arrest people whose rights have been stolen. >> it was like the traditional t thai saying, riding an elephant to catch a grasshopper. verona pedrosa, bangkok. >> let's get more now on the top story, that prisoner swap between the u.s. and the taliban and the five afghanman in qatar who had been held since 2002, part of the afghan leadership before the u.s.-led invasion in 2001. mohammed fazel was the deputy minister of defense and a senior
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commander of the taliban army. the minister of interior was directly associated with osama bin laden. the deputy minister of intelligence was central in forming alliances between the taliban and other groups. noori was a senior military commander during fighting against the u.s. and coalition forces in late 2001. mohammed noabi served suspected of having strong lengths to al-qaeda. a criminal defense lawyer who is currently representing two guantanamo principalsers joins us live from albuquerque in the u.s. state of new mexico. thanks for being with us. first of all, what do you make of this release of these five afghan prisoners? >> well, it's very interesting that just a week ago, we all believed and were told that the national security of the united
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states required that these men who were part of the group that were to be detained forever essentially were too dangerous too release. and now, they are not too dangerous to release. so what it tells me is that when the government says -- uses the banner of national security that we really can't trust that at all. >> yes. as you say, these men were labeled high risk prisoners. what does it mean for perhaps your two clients who are still in gaurnt guant? >> it means what we have always said was which was the government takes the position these men and one of my clients mohammed alsawalihi never have been charged with crimes and have never been released. >> that's as a result of protection, the need to protect the united states. >> that's what national security really means. and, of course, now that there is a reason to do this
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exchange -- and i am very glad about the exchange. i am glad the american soldier is home. i am glad these five afghani men are going to be home and certainly will be reunited with their families. it means we really can't trust this and the government ought to release the rest of the people from gaupt guantwho they have never charged with crimes and have been there for a decade, have been tortured there and shouldn't be there. >> the afghan government which wasn't involved in this deal is unhappy to see these five men being passed to a third country, to qatar and not returned back to afghanistan. would you be happy to see your clients pass today a third country? >> ask one of my clients, abrel abhim, the government is trying to kill him. they have charged him with being the mastermind of the usscole
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although there were other master minds before. >> case is going to what the government calls a trial, although i wouldn't call anything in gaupt guantreally a trial. my other client, mohammed e el sawalhi, the court found that the government didn't - -- couldn't produce any evidence, sufficient evidence to hold him. that was four years ago. and he is still in gaupt guant. he could go home immediately to moritania, where he is from. he doesn't need to go to a third country. there are many people in guantanamo who have been cleared for release who could go home, and they should. >> indeed, obama has pledged to close guantanamo bay. we have many republicans unhappy that at this instance, he by passed congress to release these five prisoners, five men. so how likely do you think it is that he would do so to close the whole facility? >> well action i see no reason why he can't. he said that in his signing statement, that if necessary to protect the executive power, he
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would do exactly what he did, and he should continue doing that. and all of these men who have been cleared for release for years, many of them, should go home immediately and then we should work on getting the rest of them out. there are only, i believe six or 7 people who are actively charged now and the whole history of guantgaubt, only eight people have been convicted. it's a sham and a mockery of the american justice system and it should end. >> nancy hol ander, we appreciate you taking the time for talking to us. british prime minister david cameron has apparently given another blunt warning that his country may leave the european union. back now to lauren in london with those details. >> david cameron's latest reported remarks have to do with who is favored to become the
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next european president. his likely elevation in brussels will destabilize the u.k. government in london. that may lead to an earlier referendum of whether it should leave the eu. he was the prime minister from luxembourg and he is a veteran of eu politics. for years, he served as president of the euro group made up of finance men sisters from countries which which use the euro currency. he is a strong supporter of eu integration and federalism. while he isn't david cameron's first choice to lead the eu commission, he does have firm support from the german chancellor. >> it terns out the european peoples's candidate has become the strongest political power. >> that's why i am now conducting all talks exactly in the spirit that john claud juncker should become the
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president of the eu commission. >> the influx of my grasped coming across the mediterranean sea, more than 3 and a half thousand have arrived on italy's shores this weekend along, 1,325 on this naval vessel taken to the situation i willyanport. locals are sympathetic. one had this message for the eu. >> i hope that europe will intervene in a stewsive manner to help us resolve the problem that this huge influx of migrants is bringing us. >> a report of seven bodies recovered from a helicopter crash in a russian lake. two of the 18 people on board survived the crash in the northern region. the cause is still being determined. >> it's now illegal to smoke inside russia's bars, restaurants and cafes. the ban came into effect on sunday has many critics in a country still widely addicted to tobacco. according to official figures, almost 44 million russian adults
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are smokers. 70% of russian men regularly light up while over a quarter of women smoke. as many as 400,000 people die every year from smoking-related diseases. more from moscow. >> it's early evening. a post-work crowd is settling into its drinks. here, a drink usually goes with a cigarette. the hudson bar is popular and as russians say, the air can get so thick, you could hang an ax. from june the 1st, the bar's american owners will be telling smokers to stub it out and they couldn't be happenier. >> we have a lot of people. we are crowded, busy bar, popular bar. when people don't come here because there is too much smoke. so, i am looking forward to getting that kind of clientel back. i think it will be good for business. >> the hudson bar isn't typical. it's crowd is mostly a fluent muscovites, many who have kicked the habit all right.
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>> russia is attached tovises. cigarettes are cheap. one or $2 a packet. half the population still smokes, and that means russians do tend to die young. the average russian can only expect to live to 66 years. come para that to the european union for the average life expectancy is 79. >> despite the death toll, a smokers' rights group has collected 100,000 signatures urging the government to make the ban more flexible. >> i think smokers should be able to smoke everywhere they go, in theaters, hospitals, stations, airports, work, but in specially organized places so they don't violate the rights of non-smokers who don't want the stink or to en see people smoking. >> andrei admits there is tobacco company money funding his campaign but observation is real enough. 82% of bar and restaurant and calf air owners think the ban
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will hurt business. >> it's not order. it's mess. this is not correct for people. it may be correct for the lawmakers but not for us. >> however, the government tends to get what it wants in russia and it's been quite smart introducing this legislation in the hot summer months. going outside for a cigarette where it's minus 35 won't be fun, but by then, the smoking ban will be yesterday's news. rory challans. moscow. >> that's the latest. let's go back to laura in doha. >> thanks very much. a sudan easy government official said a woman sentenced to death on charges of abandoning islam may be released. her lawyers remain skeptical and say the decision still lies with the courts. she is married to a christian with u.s. citizenship and gave birth earlier this week while in jail. she has rejected charges of apostacy arguing she was raised by her christian mother, not her
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muslim father. >> torism is one of kenya's main industries. recently, it's come under increased pressure. a series of attacks blamed on al shabaab have made some governments issue travel warnings. catherine soi reports from the southern coast, the impact has been devastating. >> reporter: the white sandy beaches are some of kenya's most prest eagleous hotels remain empty. occasionally, you can see tourists. but they are getting rarer. a series of attacks have prompted some countries like the u.s., u.k. and australia to warn the citizens against travel to parts of kenya including sections of the coast. >> i think the hotel -- >> one of the openers lost a lot of business. >> one day before the travel advisory came out, we had an arrival of 108 british tourists
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at the resort. our occupants tus time was 157. >> that's low although it's not very bad for the low season. after the tourists were evacuated, on saturday, we had only 20 tourists left. >> tourism is the second largest source ofphon 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 the tourim industry. it's not unusual for hotels to cut down their costs by reducing their employees. but a low season together with negative trouble add -- travel advisories are damaging, especially with the high season fast approaching. >> tourism ministry's cabinet secretary says it's time for the country to expand its market and reach out more aggressively to
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african countries, the far east and eastern europe. >> we had a plan. so we are rolling out that plan. we are identifying markets we thought would stabilize the tourism sector. >> the owner is worried about the short-term. he is one of thousands. he is not certain if or when he is getting his job back. >> tourism. >> if tourists don't come, we will be devastated. i will instead of paying generators, i won't get customers because no one will have money to pay. >> he has five children to sustain and not many options. catherine soi, al jazeera, southern kenya. >> still ahead, all of the sport including history being made.
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find out who held on to the pink jersey. later.
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>> now let's get all of the sport. >> thank you very much, laura. fresh allegations of corruption have been made in regards to the 2022 fifa world cup in qatar. a british newspaper claims to have millions of documents leaked by a whistleblower inside the ball governing body. former fifa vice president is alleged to have made $5 million
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in corrupt payments top secure the 2022 event. the qatari football boss tried to challenge for the presidency but was later banned from football activities for life by the organization's own ethics committee. >> among the claims made by the sunday times are that of the $5 million used tore bribery. he made payments to the presidents of 30 african football federations and these were an intend to drum up support for qatar hosting the world cup. a total of 1.6 million was allegedly paid to form former fifa vice president jack warner who stood down in between. it's claimed ben harris haman paid around $400,000 in legal fees to ensure fellow fifa executive member could appeal a ban for offering to sell his world cup vote.
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he had been replaced by a man who it's believed would have voted for australia rather than qatar. the qatar 2022 organizers released a statement saying mohammed binjamin played no role in the bid committee and was the case with every other member of fifa's executive committee i. our bid team had to convince mr. been hammam of the merits of our bid. we deny all allegations of wrongdoing. we will take whatever steps are necessary to did he have femmed the integrity of qatar's bid. our lawyers are looking into this matter. we are joined now by football journalist radnish who lives in listendon. qatar 2022, live from london, as we heard, denied that ben hamman played any part in their bid. what role do you believe he played in securing this
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decision? >> well, the position of been hammam was president of the asian confederation, overtly, he had to be even-handed because there were three other members of the asian confedracy, australia, japan and south korea also bidding for the world cup and, you know, to all overt intents and purposes, he kept his particular distance from the qatar bid. so, you know, to all intents and purposes, that was how it appeared. >> okay. from what we have seen, is there any evidence of bribery from anyone officially involved with the qatar 22022 bid? >> no. there have been no allegations or any claims at all that anyone from the qatar bid committed any sort of bribery. qatar certainly spent a lot of money in worldwide promotion of their bid, but obviously, that's something different. and, also, obviously they worked extremely hard behind the scenes to lobby for political support.
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it was also claimed that by a number of people that several foreign governments suggested to their own members of the exco, german and france that they might have particular interest in where their vote we want. but certainly, in terms of specific corruption, no, there has been no smoking guns at all. >> so where is the sunday times getting all of this from? who do you think this whistleblower could be? >> well, this is going to be one of the fascinating questions that may come a little clearer in the next few weeks. the sunday times appears to have access to some sort of electronic surveillance whether it's, you know, internal passwords into the fifa technical system. >> that's one thing. there have also, obviously been other documents and leads that have come out. i would think possibly both from
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someone within fifa, but also possibly maybe someone who has been within the asian football confederati confederation. >> in your opinion, is there any chance that qatar will be stripped of hosting rights and a revote held? >> in my opinion, it's extremely unlikely. the reason for this is that the 2018 and 22 bids were run simultaneously. so, if you want to revote on 2022, you have to have a revote on 2018. and 2018 world cup is in russia and only four years time and something tells me that vladimir putin would not look happily on that prospect sdmrrn fwaubl journalit live from london, thank you so much for that. roger federer has made a surprise exit at the french open. the 17 time grand slam champion was knocked out in the fourth round by earnest gulvet. here is more. >> reporter: roger federer faded
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in the quarterfinals for -- his remarkable record was ended by a latvian on the rise. 18 seed beating 2009 champion in five sets, the second time in 40 grand slams federer has failed to reach the final 8s. >> gulbis will face berdich, the 2010 finaltist had a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 over american john eyesner. >> of course, i am confident if you win four matches, then you feel good. >> that's my case. >> jokovich quest for a soaked remains intact. the number 2 seed was a favorite. >> andy mary had to wait until a second day to security his spot in the fourth round. this scott's magic games had
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been suspended the previous evening evening. he eventually prevailed 12-10 in an epic final set. murray will next face despo. >> stop, the match probably helped me a little bit because if i had played seven or eight more games, probably wouldn't have been great, but today was a pretty high standard, i thought, for probably the best standard of the match, i think, from both of us. >> bushar is the youngest player in the women's draw. the 20-year-old brurpd aside kuba to reach the last phase. he lease hallman, al jazeera. >> she has won the first grand tour of his career with victory in the de italia. the first columbian would won a pink bicycle.
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after the final stage. >> mark marquez claimed the trophy. on the hoppeda back, he took lorenzo at the start of the dramatic final lap. marquez held on to take the race to complete a clean sweep having held a poor position and won all six races this reasons, he stopped standings on 150 points while valentino rossi is second with 97. there is more. let's check with aljazeera.com/support. there are details there how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. that's it for me laura. >> thanks very much. we will see you later. do stay with us here on al jazeera. there will be another full bulletin of news with lauren in london right ahead. thank you for from watching for america. we will see you again later.
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hello and welcome to al jazeera america. i am thomas drayden in new york. this is special coverage of army sergeants bowebeyberg release. we will take you to boise, idaho. you see the podium on your screen as soon as family members begin to talk, they will be talking with reporters in boise. we will bring that event to you live. you may remember yesterday, bowe's parents were at the whitehouse hours after receiving a call from president obama who told them bowe will be returning home safely. right now, sergeant bergdl