i can't see. techknow. we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. sending u.s. trooping back into combat in iraq. >> no soldiers, but barack obama promises he'll help iraq defeat sunni lead rebels overrunning towns and cities. ♪ >> the fighters are tightening their grip on iraq's north and east, as they threaten to march towards bagdad. hello there, i'm barbara sarah. also coming up on the program. problems in the pipeline. your next question's prime minister warns of eminent cuts in russian gas after talks broke

down. troubled waters were out on patrol with the vietnamese coast guard. and in sports mexico take on cameroon, in the latest match of the world cup. we'll have all of the highlights coming up. ♪ >> hello there, welcome to the news hour. u.s. president, barack obama has told iraq's government that he will help them fight off a sunni-lead rebellion, but can't do it for him. one by one, iraq's towns and cities have been falling to the rebels. they are advancing south towards taking towns, including one on the main road to bagdad. the fighters are already in the

country's second city in one area, as well as in the north. sunni fighters which also include tribal groups seized the main cities in a province earlier this year. imran khan reports on the latest events. >> reporter: in the holy city, a call to arms. through his spokesmen, the most influential shiite in iraq, he says the people must act. >> translator: i call on iraqis who are capable of carrying arms and fighting the terrorists in defense of their people, their country, and their holy shrines, should volunteer to join the security forces to achieve this goal. >> reporter: an act they have. young men flocked to the local recruitment center to join the iraqi army. >> translator: we have volunteered to defeat the criminal fighters who harbor

malice towards our country. god willing will might them. >> reporter: they will be a confident military group like this one. and while there's an uneasy calm in the city, those left are finding it difficult. some are returning to villages. >> translator: by god the situation is terrible. our normal life is being destroyed. our fate remains unserb. we are all turkman, else that why we were afraid they would target us. >> reporter: this is a crucial flash point. a shrine is based here, and when

the shrine was attacked by al-qaeda in 2006, it set off a brutal sectarian war. the rebels continue to push on. they have taken two other towns, and are pushing towards a third. if they take the third town. the pri vince is theirs. only making the crisis in iraq, worse. we can cross live to bagdad and speak to our correspondent. give us an idea of what is happening across the country right now. >> reporter: well let me start with incidents in faluja in ambar province. two trucks loaded with explosives, exploded at a gate, killing at least 14 soldiers,

and injured 29 others. all in the east of the city, fighters there from the islamic state of iraq and the lavanth as well as others were trying to storm another case. separately in tikrit, north of bagdad, iraqi army helicopters launched several rockets at a target. they believe they were either isil fighters, but four civilians from the same family were killed. and the target had nothing to do with the fighters. when it comes to bagdad, there are a group of -- shiite parties also along with volunteers parading their fighters.

heeding the call by the grand ayatollah to take up arms. >> just over an hour ago, president obama spoke about the situation. keeping his options very often open, but also hinting there might be some kind of u.s. intervention. how would the iraqis react to that? how would they feel about more u.s. intervention? >> reporter: i think it will be welcomed by the politicians. what will not be welcomed is what kind of intervention. i think it's fair to say that the shiite-led government, some politicians from different groups will favor u.s. involvement in terms of a military strike to help the government forces regain the upper hand. i think the opponents of the prime minister, the shoeny politicians as well as the

kurds, they would want involvement from americans to troy too convince and pressure the prime minister to reach out to his opponents. because remember when u.s. withdrew from iraq in 2011, iraq's problems really started and the opponents of the prime minister said he turned into a totalitarian leader. >> omar, thank you very much for that. barack obama says he is weighing up his options about how the u.s. can help iraq's government. here is some of what the president had to said earlier. >> this should be a wake-up call. iraq's leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises to bring the country together. in that effort they will have the support of the united states and our friends and allies. iraq's neighbors also have some

responsibilities to support this process. nobody has an from in seeing terrorists gain a foothold inside of iraq, and nobody is going to benefit from seeing iraq descend into chaos. the united states will do our part, but it's up to the iraqs as a sovereign nation to solve their problems. >> let's cross live to washington, d.c. and speak to patty culhane. they are not making it clear what the part would be. how is the speech being interpreted in the u.s.? >> i think what he wanted to do is reassure americans who are very war vary that there won't be more boots on the ground. he said basically nothing is going to happen for a couple of days. and reason would call in to question how effective their massive surveillance program is, because he said they need a

couple of days to find out any intelligence to come up with a plan, which seems to indicate they didn't know this was coming. the u.s. has been pressuring the prime minister to make concessions. he said we're going to need some promises before the u.s. would consider taking military action. and the u.s. unilaterally acts militarily when it is in the u.s.'s core interest. we didn't hear that today. he seems to be drawing that distinction, but what that would mean from the obama administration point of view is they are going to need to coordinate with allies before the u.s. intervenes. >> patty thank you. let's go to your next question now where the prime minister has ordered the nation

to prepare for gas cuts by monday. russian president vladimir putin says russia has not received, quote, appreciate response from kiev during the talks. for more we can cross to neve barker live in donetsk in eastern your next question. have russia and your next question run out of options? >> reporter: well, it really shows that your next question is bracing for the worst. the worst being a total shut off of russian gas supplies to your next question. if a solution isn't reached any time soon, the concern is this could spark a major row.

earlier the prime ordered the country's energy and nafta gas as of monday. monday was the deadline for the payment of almost $2 billion in russian gas supplies. he has now said that he will take ukraine's case to stockholm. but they do have other gas supplies, but there are still deep concerns that this ongoing dispute between kiev and moscow could have a knockout effect on any whole of the country, as it did back in 2009. tabb 15% of europe's gas from russia comes through ukrainian

territory. we have already started to see the price of whole sell gas in london start to creep up. clearly this has a much wider implication on the whole of europe. >> yes. neve barker in donetsk. neve, thank you. ukraine's government says it has driven pro-russian separatists out of an area. kim vinnell reports. >> reporter: left to deal with a war these people say is not their own. this is the aftermath of a fierce battle between ukrainian troops and pro-russian separatists. fighters had been holed up in this central city building until the early hours of the morning

when ukrainian troops moved in. >> translator: first shooting with guns [ inaudible ] and after that i don't know how many shots were fired. the sound was so deafening windows shattered. >> reporter: we're told the separatist base is just a few blocks from here. we're still hearing sporadic gunfire, but locals are just going about life as normal. as the shots rang louder, however, scared residents took cover. children tentatively looking out at the men taking over their cities. some soldiers were wounded and 30 separatists were detained. they had only pockets of pro-russian fighters who nearly managed to take full control. >> translator: what am i

feeling? of course here. i was worried. we don't know what was happening. some supported the men in black. others supported the other side. we don't know who was right. >> reporter: it is calling this a victory, but residents aren't convinced. and they say it is only luck that kept them alive. greek and u.s. authorities have con if is -- confiscated a shipment of heroin weighing 1.1 ton, hidden in construction materials in a town just outside of the greek capitol. 11 people have been arrested as part of any operation, which was lead by the u.s. drug enforcement agency. still to come, the workplace hazards faced by millions of children in the philippines. and the scandal, the children

who died while in the care of nuns and buried in unmarked graves. plus this friday the 13th will reproduce the world cup final from four years ago. we'll have the 2014 world cup update. ♪ china and vietnam have taken their maritime dispute over territory in the south china sea all the way to the united nations. the latest standoff is over an oil rig. china, vietnam, and the philippines have all at different times claimed ownership over the area. it is thought to be rich in mineral deposits. however, earlier this month,

china moved its oil rig off of the coast of vietnam, sparking a standoff in the waters. rob mcbride sent us this update. >> reporter: we are on patrol with the vietnamese coast guard in the area hotly contested between vietnam and china. a dispute that has been caused over a chai knee oil tanker that moved into the area months ago. the vessel we're on is headed towards the oil rig. with us are other vessels from the vietnam coast guard. they are expected to come in to contact with chinese vessels. there have been a number of clashes in recent weeks. the vietnamese accuse the chai

knee of ramming their vehicles. and the chinese claim they have been rammed countless times by vietnamese vessels. there are lots of ships in the water at this moment, as the both sides try to assert their claims here. thailand's military has completely lifted the curfew that has been in place since seizing power last month. the army also plans to have an interim government in place by early september. the general says once the government is set up, a reform council will begin work on political reforms designed to reunite the country. a high-speed ferry has crashed into a sea wall. the accident happened on friday

morning. it's the third accident in eight months on the ferry root, which is one of the world's busiest. it is estimated that 85 million children around the world are working in hazardous environments. al jazeera returned to a charcoal factory in manila in the philippines. >> reporter: 12-year-old johnson says he has got no time to play. every day for the last four years, he has been here alongside his mother, making charcoal for less than 3 usd a day. >> translator: with what i make, we get to buy food. it's good, because i get to have coffee in the morning before coming to work. i dream of being a policeman some day. >> reporter: but he doesn't really believe it happens. his mother says she has no

choice with six other children to feed. >> translator: i feel guilty. this is not the life i drefrp t for him. but he simply don't make enough money. life is not easy here. >> reporter: more than 200 children work here. they are exposed to toxic emissions. many suffer respiratory illnesses. the united nations says this is one of the worst forms of child labor. across the country, more than 3 million children are working in hazardous conditions like this. that amounts to 10% of children in the philippines. the majority of these children are young boys. we were here two years ago. we interviewed children who back then dreamed for a way out of

poverty. when sworn into office in 2010, the president promised to eliminate child labor by 2016, but the number of children out of school and in conditions like this has not declined. the government admits expectations must be tempered. >> we have taken steps to ensure that child labor, where it is -- should be reduced, a commitment made by the president. >> reporter: the country's city has been growing sense. but the growth does not seem to be inclusive. and the number of children out of school and in dire conditions like this, has not declined. >> you have to contend with one, population growth. the government is also still struggling with the strategy of incluesing girls. and the series of calamities

that have effected the philippines. >> reporter: this is one of five charcoal villages. it has become a tourist attraction. for them who come here this is a world far too surreal to believe. but not for the children that work here. the irish government is promising a full inquiry into the deaths of perhaps thousands of children who are under the care of catholic nuns. the former mother and baby homes where women were forced to go if they became pregnant outside of marriage. lawrence lee reports. >> reporter: ireland's history is being dug up once again, and it's witnesses are people like john rogers. he was born here when this was a

mother and baby home run by nuns, to detain women who committed the sin of becoming pregnant outside of marriage. >> i remember being on this bed for weeks and months -- i can't ever recall how long exactly it was, but i was on that bed for a long long time -- >> with what? >> i don't know. >> tb or measles? >> it could have been tb or measles, or any number f things. >> the nuns took him away from his mother which was the usual practice. all she was left with was a lock of his hair before being sent to work in the laundry without being paid. >> they would show up and say i'll take the child -- if they

were able-bodied, or if it was a weekling like me, nobody took me out. >> reporter: this is one of several places where the bodies of hundreds of children might have been buried, unmarked by the nuns. all of the headlines around this which have been shocking enough have focused on perhaps there could be 800 young children buried in the ground, but none of that addresses the much larger crisis for the kat rick church in eyre r ireland which is that it stands accused of being involved in child trafficking, enslavement of women, and a giant financial racket under the guise of religious morality. even though at the time, society knew all about the mother and

baby homes, a forpicture of what they actually represented is only now becoming clear, thanks to historians who have unearthed extraordinary evidence of the carefree way the church did all of this. >> this was their policy. it's hard to separate who is who, because there seems to be a total overlap of church and state at this time. >> reporter: all of this after the scandal of forced labor of women in catholic work houses which the state took years to acknowledge, and for which no compensation has yet been paid. and this may be worse still. >> i think this is a point of return. and certainly when we look at the church's involvement in our entire school system, primary and secondary, and there is a will out there, and a call now for -- for that separation to take place. ♪

>> reporter: for campaigners then the aim is the final separation of church and state. and if the deaths of perhaps thousands of children don't change things, it's hard to say what will. lawrence lee, al jazeera, ireland. still to come, turning washed up flip flops into knickknacks for gift shops. the women who are cleaning up kenya's beaches. plus african security forces at full stretch ahead of saturday's presidential runoff. and the san tone spurs on the verge of dethroning the miami heat.

>> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app,

available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> guns... >> there are two to three million guns in a population of only 8 million people. >> ...and gun laws... >> after those laws came in, there have been no more mass shootings... >> how different countries decide... >> their father had a gun... their grandfather had a gun... >> who has the right to bear arms? 5 days: guns around the world a primetime news special series all next week only on al jazeera america ♪ hello, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching the al jazeera news hour. the u.s. president warns that the sunni attacks in iraq are

the result of a break down of the government. an influential shiite has called on iraqis to arm therms. hundreds of young men have gone to a recruitment center to join the army. and fighting continues in eastern ukraine. there is a warning that moscow could shut off gas supplies. let's go back to our top story now, the suedes of territory being seized by sunni rebels in iraq. >> here to help explain how those gains might be reversed. i'm joined by major charles heyman. thank you for joining us. first of all, explain to us how and with what equipment, and strategy isil has been able to achieve so much.

>> isil came out of syria, and they are an offshoot of al-qaeda, and they are very well trained, and highly motivated. they believe in what they are doing. and they have moved outout of syria. they took the city of fallujah a couple of months ago. and now they have taken two other cities, probably surprised at their own success. and with the iraq opposition crumbling before them. >> what does the iraqi army need to do to stop this seemingly unstoppable tide? and do they have the tools to do the job? >> put yourself in the boots of the iraqi army chief of staff. he has to stop them and fix them in position where they are now. this is phase one of the operation. and he has to put blocking

positions in. and he seems to have a good one north of bagdad. and he has got to make sure that that movement south is stopped. >> iraq's neighbors are watching very anxiously, they feel they are involved. this is a regional issue. let's look at turkey. what do the turks have and how might they deploy those sources. >> turkey has a big military arsenal of one sort or another. and it certainly has enough attack aircraft and helicopters to deal with this situation probably on its own, but it's almost certain it won't. it has a hundred hostages now, including the consol. and they most certainly don't want to get involved in this

war. >> let's move to iran. what do you expect from the islamic republic both in terms of what they can deploy and what they would be willing to deploy. >> they could deploy an awful lot of people, but probably won't. they desperately don't want to really upset the americans. so they are going to help the government try to stabilize, and probably by sending a couple of units of revolutionary guard and maybe special forces as well to try to bolster the army. >> last but no means least, the united states no longer on the ground in iraq, but president obama willing to look at other options to support the iraqi government. where are the u.s. resources in the region? what are they? and how can they perhaps tip the balance? >> first of all the americans are probably going to come in

here with air power. they have the carrier in the north arabian gulf. and that's probably an hour's flying time from iraq. so that could happen very, very quickly. in addition, nato air bases in turkey, and bases in the gulf, which they can bring aircraft in from diego garcia. >> as president obama dropped on friday, probably no action for 48 hours, at least. >> i think he wants to try to get only allies on side, and i think he will probably be talking to london at the moment about british aircraft being involved as well. >> thank you for your analysis. the u.s. is urging iraq's prime minister to do more to put

differences aside in his country. ethanol and political divisions are being blamed by many for the current crisis. >> reporter: a divided country urges toward s iraq's collapse. the army seems unable to prevent rebel fighters from seizing territory. many blame the shiite prime minister for taking iraq to this point. neglecting the interests of the sunni population. >> maliki has appointed every senior officer in the iraqi army right now, and he's -- frankly done a poor job. it's very obvious at this point to everyone that he has done a poor job of managing the security services. >> reporter: the deep-rooted sectarianism has taken a heavy role in the past year.

this week with two cities falling to armed groups. with bagdad under threat. maliki on wednesday called for political leaders to come together. >> translator: the meeting today is aimed at uniting our stance and not to get involved in the political arguments that we used to see. this is a situation we need to face united and determination should not relenth. >> reporter: he has long failed to include sunni politicians in the upper echelons of power, and remains at odds with kurdish leaders. now that he needs their help, his pleas could prove too late. meanwhile in syria, the government is continuing to bomb rebel-held areas. activists say the army has targeted two towns. these pictures are said to show

an attack in a military town. they are also going to regain control of a town mere damascus where several people are reported to have been killed. afghan security forces are on high alert ahead of the presidential runoff vote. an increase in taliban attacks, as reported now. >> reporter: the only way in or out of maydone, the capitol city is through check points like this one, operated by the afghan national police, vehicles are searched, and so too are the passengers. it's part of increased security ahead of saturday's presidential runoff. although less than an hour from

kaboul, the armed group has great influence here. this colonel is in charge of the forces. he says he is confident the poll will be held without incident. >> they want to create insecurity and disrupt the election, but we are prepared for it. and the people will be protected. >> reporter: with over 22,000 polls stations to secure across the country, it won't be an easy job. afghan security forces did well in the first round. there were no major attacks and voters came out in record numbers. but in the past few weeks there has been a sharp increase in taliban action. last month the taliban launched its so-called spring campaign. but this food vendor says the

threat of violence won't stop him from voting, although he has noticed fewer people on the streets, he says he wants to cast his ballot for change. >> translator: the security situation here isn't very good, but i'm definitely voting. i want peace. i don't want war anymore. god willing the new government will bring afghanistan peace. >> reporter: but are polling stations like this, peace for many afghans may feel a long way off, even with a new participate. an egyptian court has extended al jazeera correspondent abdullah al-shami detention for another 45 days. his lawyer had requested his immediate release on medical grounds. he has been held without charge since last august and has now been on hunger strike p strike for more than four months. he insists he will not break his fast until he is released.

and three al jazeera english journalists falsely argued of supporting the muslim brotherhood, are, have now been held for 167 days. last week they demanded the maximum penalties for them. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its journalists. now the poaching of elephants remains come pant despite international efforts. and for the first time, the number of ivory seize seizures in african exceeded those in asia. a new report shows more than 20,000 el facts were killed in after ga last year, more than 40,000 kilos of ivory were confiscated before leaving africa last year.

three countries alone accounted for 80% of those seizures. the secretary general told us about the ongoing fight. >> over the past year, we have seen east african states really step up their effort. and i think that's reflected in the figures you just shared with your viewers. namely the large number of seizures taking place. this shows an enhanced enforced effort. but these gangs are starting to look at angola, west africa, and egypt as alternative roots. so what we need is a selective effort. we need all hands on deck and focus not only on the african states but on the new states being targeted. they are one of the most

common forms of footwear in the world and now one of the biggest pollutants in the indian ocean. one company, though, is working with a group of women to turn trash into cash. katherine reports off of kenya's south coast. >> reporter: it's no ordinary job for these women at the coastal island. every morning when waters recreed, the women from the tiny village walk to the shoreline to collect garbage the ocean left behind. this woman leads the groups, who's daily struggle is to get a meal on the table for their families. >> translator: we decided to do this because our oceans and beaches are very dirty. so we thought what can we do to do this better. we decided to collect

flip-flops and make items to sell. >> reporter: when the tide is high, water comes all the way here, and leaves behind piles of garbage from countries that share the indian ocean. there are all of these flip flops. lots and lots of flip flops. these are the second largest pollutants of the indian ocean after plastic. in a new hours the women's task for the day is complete. back in their backyard, they clean the flip flops from countries they have already just aernd of. some of the flip flops end up here in the capitol of nairobi, with women transform them into art. this product is sold in the u.s.

to homes and agencies. >> it's really about using trade -- a trade-based solution to a problem of global pollution, and -- in the ocean. and this is really an african solution to this global problem. >> reporter: so here in this shop, they do their bit. they see it as a new solution to protecting the beaches and reducing poverty. well, world cup fever is increasingly taking hold in brazil after the protests and strikes that overshadowed the build up to the contest. lucia joins us live from rio. so over the past few weeks we have talked about all of the problems in brazil, and the unup to the world cup.

what about now, though? are people happy especially since brazil won the first game? >> reporter: very much mixed feelings. obviously they are ex-static about their victory. they couldn't be happier about that. brazilians are perhaps the most fanatical of all football fans. all watched and rooted for their team, but doesn't mean they are still not critical about what happened. little by little, though, of course, there is this kind of atmosphere like you have during carnival. everybody talking about thinking about football. and that should increase as the weeks go buy. particularly if brazil goes forward to the ninal. >> which is probably pretty

likely. there will be a match played in rio on sunday. and the city will it's a hold four world cup matches. as gabriel reports, excitement there is spreading fast. >> the day's catch at the fish market in the amazon capitol. these fresh water fish are known to be some of the tastiest anywhere, but when tourists come here, they are usually looking for one type. >> translator: foreigners look like for pie ron that, because the soup is said to be an after dee shee ak. >> for most people this is one of the world's great once in a lifetime adventures. unlike many other brazilian

cities, caught up in labor protest, there is noticeable excitement here, especially on this street where they are putting the final decorations on. it extends more than one kilometer down the street. >> translator: during the first game we are going to be 100% happy watching the game, because this time we'll be champions at home. >> reporter: while the and it is still a work in progress. the stadium is getting its final touches. the stadium is a spectacular site here. but a lot of people say the world cup has been a missed opportunity here, primarily because a major mono rail is line never got off of the ground. it was so delayed the entire project was canceled.

>> reporter: but back at the fish market, everyone realizes the uncertainty that the country and city face in coming weeks off of the pitch, but are willing to get it aside now. >> translator: this is the first time an event of this size happens here. >> reporter: so before they fooef, they try the -- leave, they try the famous soup. i'm andrew thomas with australia's soccer rues. the people on paper that is the least likely to win the world cup. ♪ r

is justice really for all?

♪ >> and now let's go to doha with all of the very latest from the football world cup. ♪ >> barbara thank you very much. we're going to start with the latest from brazil where mexico have beaten cameroon in the city. terrible conditions for this group a class, but it was the mexicans that dealt with it the beth. one goal of the name. just after the hour mark. what is more that was just after mexico had two seemingly good goals disallowed. but no matter. they scored that one. they go on to play brazil who won, of course on thursday. now to lee wellings who is in

rio. mexico as you well know had a terrible qualification campaign, and yet all of that will be forgotten with this result. >> reporter: that's exactly right. it will be forgotten. they scraped through to these finals. and therefore, the optimism wasn't high. the last five world cups, they haven't gotten past the final 16. so this was a great opportunity and a good performance against cameroon. but they deserved to be ahead with the disallowed goals. before peralta got the winner. very, very encouraging results indeed. >> cameroon had a terrible build up in the leadup to this game. it will be very difficult for them to get out of this group, now. >> reporter: yes, because they have got to play april and you

can't really see on the evidence of today of getting anything against brazil. and cameroon may be the weakest of the five strong african challenge. there are something of each of the four nations representing africa, but they are not out of it yet, and they will be trying to fight back hard. >> just stay there, we're going to talk to you again in a moment. but we're also going to focus on the biggest game of the world cup this friday. spain will take on the netherlands in the opening match of group 3 b. >> reporter: they have won the last world cup, the last two european championships, and they are ranked number one in the world. there is no doubting that spain are a tournament favorite and they know it. >> translator: we're not afraid of anyone.

all of our players are extraordinary. we're not here for what we did in the past, but what we'll do in the future. >> reporter: the netherlands have made it to the knockout round in their seven previous world cups. however, they had a disappoi disappointidisappoin disappointing performance at euro 2012. >> translator: we're not thinking about at that the moment. we're only focused on the match. it's history. it doesn't matter any longer. >> reporter: three experienced stars will lead them up front. >> translator: i'm not a fortune teller, so i'm not going to say that we're going to win. i have never done that. sometimes you predict things. but in this case you are playing the world number 1. we will do everything we can to be the surprise of the tournament.

>> translator: i understand any team playing spain will do anything to beat us. but we will go as far as possible to doe -- defend the title we won four years ago. the game kicks off in just a few mn's -- minutes. a win or even a draw against chile will be a huge achievement. >> reporter: as joke at one of australia's last practice. >> let's say we haven't had too many advanced bookings. i think we'll be back almost straight after the third game. >> reporter: of the 32 teams, australia is ranked the lowest.

since qualifying mid-last year, they have lost two friendlies against france and brazil. the team coach has been sacked. the new manager brought in youth, but with that inexperience. in the group stage australia is facing some of the toughest teams in the tournament. chile, and the netherlands before the defending champions of spain. >> i don't think anyone is expecting the team to get a win, let alone get out of the group. >> reporter: have you had a dream where you are holding the cup? >> yeah, i have. i would be sitting here lying if i said i haven't. >> coffee cup. [ laughter ] >> reporter: since arriving in april, though, there has been a bit more optimism. they lost a friendly against croatia, but only narrowly, 1-0.

training has gone as planned, and there have been rumors of injuries to some of chile's players. we can cross back to lee. australia the second favorite in that game. just focus on the other match just about to kickoff, the repeat of the world cup final in 2010. for me this is the standout picture of the first round of group games. >> yes, and it's so unusual to have these two powerhouses to play each other in the opening group. they played in the last final, and it might be a cagey affair, because the netherlands with the coach who is going to go to manchester united to try to cope

with this team. and it will be interesting to see if these two teams are the ones that actually qualified for the group. >> one other quick question on [ inaudible ]. he has been provisionally suspended from all football-related activities, because he refused to cooperate with michael garcia, and his investigation in the world cup bid of 2018 and 2022. what is your reaction to that? >> reporter: this is a story people need to be very careful about. because there are a lot of claims being made around the world cup bidding at the moment. franz point of view was he didn't need to cooperate. he is no longer on the executive committee. and he put it down to issues of

politeness or otherwise of the approach. but it's not just about qatar 2022, some people say it's about both world cups. and it's interesting such a huge figure in football is banned for 90 days. >> so the nba and the san antonio you spurs on the brink of clenching the championship title from the miami heat. leonard was once again the star of the spurs. >> i just think like we're playing spurs basketball. we're just moving the ball and playing the way we have been playing all season. we like to do good to great. extra pass. we preach that and right now we're clicking. >> that's it. more later. thank you very much, and that is it for this news hour. do stay with us, we'll be back in just a few moments with more

of today's news. thanks for watching. bye-bye.

>> next on al jazeera america presents... >> the catholic church of the 21st century is a global financial power. the pope might just be one of the biggest landloards in the world. the church is now spending heavily on political lobbyists. >> 21% of the dioceses told us that they never audit their parishes. we found that 85% of the dioceses had experienced an embezzlement in recent years, many more thanne