in washington, i'm ray suarez. >> >> announcer: this is al jazeera. hello. welcome to the newshour live from doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes - the iraqi army gets a military boost as it fights sunni rebels who vowed to march an baghdad. israel launches air strikes on the gaza strip after a surge in rocket fire from the palestinian territory. detying beijing - -- defying

beijing, people head to the polls for a right to elect their leaders and the underdogs confounding the skeptics. costa rica to face greece in one of their most successful tournament in world cup history. first, the turmoil in iraq, and an important test for the largest military offensive yet by government forces. the iraqi army says it's ready to retake the city of tikrit. state television is reporting that reenforcements have arrived and are taking control of the villages, they are preparing themselves for a major battle. troops are being deployed west, at the same time. they want to secure the highway leading to the border with jordan and syria. to help them the first batch of the russian fighter jets arrived. the government says

the five se coy planes will be combat ready in a couple of days. imran khan, tell us the latest from the battlefield and the fight for tikrit which both sides claim to be in control of. >> that's right. it's what both sides are saying. what you can tell you is in the last couple of hours the battle seems to have slowed while the iraqi army brings in reenenforcements and pro-i.s.i.l. athat is what they are doing. the army has vouched the south of the town, taking the key villages, and cut off escape roots that the i.s.i.l. fighters might have. the i.s.i.l. faces have taken over many of the palaces of saddam hussein, it was his former town. they know the up to, but so do the iraqi army. that's why all sides are waiting

for a push inside. it's likely that the iraqi army are going to use the helicopter to go in first, and they'll drop bombs from the helicopters. i.s.i.l. fighters know the territory well and we have seen them fight street to street before, and that's likely the kind of battle that we see, slow, deliberate, street to street. >> as the fighting intensifies, iraq is facing a humanitarian crisis much the u.n. says over 1,000 people have been killed in the recent violence, most civilians, and says that the total number of people displaced in iraq this year is more than a million. as a result, the u.n. tripled the aid appeal to $312 million. a lot of people are on the move as a result of fighting if tikrit in mosul. where are they heading to and what assistance are they getting? >> well, the kind of assistance they are getting is little. quite simply, all the aid

agencies are facing a shortfall. let's put it into a dollar amount for the united nations alone. $278 million. that is a massive amount of money, and they need that to build camps, tents, and iraq is not really helping them. iraq faces a budget crisis right now. it's not because they don't have the money, but the politicians have not been able to agree on a budget to the iraqis have not been able to release funds. what does that mean practically. if you flee mosul, you'll go to the nearest city. rents have tripled there. in some cases the hotel rates are almost quadrupled there. you can't afford to live in those places. you look for charitable friends, people that may be able to put you up. people are finding that a struggle as well. some are giving up and going home. others that can afford it and get on a flight. they are booked up - internal

and external - trying to get to places like jordan to see if they can get medical help or get out. we are in a position where families are not once, not twice, but three times displaced. a desperate situation, imran khan reporting live from baghdad. iraq's air force used to be one of the strongest, but def stated after the war with the united states and iran. it was reduced to six planes. in 2008 it made a deal to buy 16 f 18 gets from the united states, and due to arrive in 2014. washington says it could arrive in the autumn. let's bring in a military expert from a research group in london. he was involved in a training of the iraqi military. thank you for speaking to us on al jazeera. so the iraqis are waiting for

the americans to deliver their fighter jets. in the meantime the rush judges a delivered the sebbing oi planes and are waiting for more delivers, what message does this send - the russians are in, the americas are not? >> i'm not sure that it's russians out - rather, americans out and russians in, but it is a message from prime minister nouri al-maliki to the american government na they are not -- that they were not entirely dependent on the americans and the russians are there to help them, and prime minister nouri al-maliki said perhaps they should have support from the british or the frermg -- french. it goes back over a week ago when he asked the americans for air support. they announced they were sending 350-odd ground personnel, but there was little in the way of air support, apart from

surveillance and close support through drones for their own force application. so this is nouri al-maliki saying to the americans "if you are not going to give it to me, i'll find other sources." >> there are military advisors on the ground. how much of a difference is this making on the battlefield right now, in the fight against the sunni fighters? >> well, the russian jets have not been deployed yet. reportedly it will take a few days, according to the iraqis, they are planning 3-4 days. i suspect that it will be a lot longer than that. it takes a long time to reassemble an aircraft to do the maintenance. more importantly, you have to get the crews up and ready. it's unlikely that the iraqis have crews trained for this. the question really is who is going to fly these things. i would suspect that it could be

russian or eastern bloc pilots who will fly the sortees. that will be interesting for russian, sympathetic air cruise in the air and russian forces onned ground. >> the iraqi officers appear convinced they can defeat the insur insurge ents, how really equipped are they in their push towards baghdad? >> they are determined. the equipment varies. there's a lot of captured equipment from the iraqi army. they captured equipment in syria, they are well equipped, certainly in terms of unfantry soldiers, grouped-based - -- ground-based, they have a fair amount of equipment. the iraqi army is more determined, because that is the thing that they lacked at the

initial stages. what we'll see is a very fears fight for tikrit and mosul, and other areas in the next few days and weeks. >> thank you very much, indeed, for your insight. a consultant fellow a the the royal united services institute in london. the sunni rebellion has drawn several factions into sometimes an uneasy alines. i.s.i.l. attracted the most media, but there are others with their own agenda. >> reporter: the sudden appearance of fighters of the i.s.i.l. or islamic state of iraq and levant, sent a shock wave from baghdad to washington. the black flag flying over the war bounty - u.s.-made military

vehicles and equipment. it comes months after widespread sunni protests against the policies of nouri al-maliki, proceeding as sectarian. the government crackdown was brutal. like here in this town. it happened last april. this is a former officer in saddam hussein's republican guard. he doesn't want to be identified, nor does he want to give clues of his whereabouts. >> the protest started because of the marginalization of the areas. it reached a point that in anbar when ever someone was detained, you knew they'd be killed. families would make preparations for the funerals. the alienation pushed sunnis to welcome fighters from i.s.i.l. they deny that i.s.i.l. is taking over iraq. >> translation: this is the extension of the resistance that started in 2003. i.s.i.l. is irrelevant. it's a sunni resolution directed by the former army, people with

military experience, people humiliated and oppressed. is the time of reccaning. in sunni areas, i.s.i.l. fighters have been waged a hearts and minds campaign. they have a brutal side. this is a video showing shi'a soldiers hurdled into a ditch and executed. it was a few weeks ago. sunni leaders say i.s.i.l. does not pose a threat to iraq. >> the tribes in iraq will not accept the i.s.i.l. it's not to our advantage to fight them now. it will come later. the priority is to fight nouri al-maliki. the world should help us in our cause and we'll deal with nouri al-maliki. as long as iran is in iraq, i.s.i.l. will remain, as long as sunnis will be oppressed, the fighting will continue. >> most groups say government forces are carrying out mass

killings. amnesty international says there appears to have been a pattern of extrajudicial killings. every day that passes brings a share of death and destruction. the risk for iraq is as the conflict widens, the voices of moderation will be drowned out. now, the world news. the israeli military says it carried out air strikes on several sites in the gaza strip. it says that in retaliation for six rockets fired from gaza into israel, two hit a factory. there has been an address in rockets fired at israel, with more than 60 launched in gaza. >> during the weekend the israeli defense force attacked a large number of targets in retaliation from fire. we are ready to broaden our activities if necessary. i wish to remind everywhere that since the formation of the

palestinian unity government, the person in authority practically accepted responsibility to prevent the firing into our territory from the gaza strip. >> jane ferguson joins us live from jerusalem. why are we seeing increased activity. >> rocket fired from gaza, israel responding. why now? >> the exchange of rocket fire is something considered relatively normal. it happens throughout the year. as it stand now, the israeli forces are telling al jazeera that since friday, from friday until now, 15 rockets were fewered from gaza into israel. 12 making it into israel. two were stopped. last night, as you mentioned two

rockets hit into the town, one hitting the factory. no severe fires at this point. on friday two palestinians were killed. they were salafists travelling in a vehicle, part of the popular resistance committees and was accused of the exchange of rocket fire. it is significant because of what is going on in the occupied west bank now with the israeli military operation, one of the biggest in so years to find three missing settlers. two 16 yields and one 19-year-old. however, at the minute, what is happening in gaza does not appear to be a major escalation. we are not seeing the casualties. those targeted seem to be from the smaller salafist groups. tenses are high, but doesn't seem to be a major escalation at this point. >> the israeli foreign minister

said they should reconsider reoccupying gaza. >> he did. he was quoted in the israeli press of saying that this morning. he said after what he called a limited occupation in the occupied west bank he said "we have to decide whether to explore the alternative of full occupation of the gaza strip." the israeli foreign minister made these comments before, and many have. it's not likely that it will be tape seriously. there has been talks amongst the right wing politicians and activists in israel, about going back into the gaza strip. that is unlikely to be taken seriously at this point. it's not a very popular policy or a popular move across israel. that's not to rule out any participation escalation of the counter rocket fire in the coming days or weeks. >> that's jane ferguson reporting there live from

jerusalem. >> a libyan man accused of planning an attack in benghazi has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. he is making his first appearance. >> reporter: his name is ahmed abu chattalah, the main suspect in an attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi libya on september 11th, 2012. it killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens, and three of his staff. on saturday he has flown to washington by hypo, by a u.s. navy ship. he was held on board and interrogated by investigators since a capture two weeks ago in libya. on saturday he appeared here before a federal judge amid tight security. ahmed abu chattalah pleaded not guilty, insisting he is innocent and did not direct the assault on the u.s. consulate.

he has been charged on three counts, p cluing murd -- including murder and providing military terror to terrorists. jj green was in court and said nasser al khatter's purposes in court was the first opportunity for the judge to determine if ahmed abu chattalah was fit to stand trial. >> people were trying to get an idea of what state of mind and health he was in. clearly a number of people wanted to make sure that he was, indeed, clear and present. >> the attack is highly controversial in the united states. days before it occurred, an anti-islam video posted on youtube sparked protests at u.s. embassies in the muslim world. the obama administration initially blamed the benghazi attack on what it said were spontaneous protests against the video. it emerged that the attack was planned and coordinated.

republicans alleged that the administration was covering up important details about the case to protect president obama's chances for re-election two months later. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk one night who decided we'll go kill some americans. they claimed secretary of state hillary clinton's review was suspect. she, too, said to have aspirations for the white house. democrats fired back, but it's been said it's nothing more than a right-wing security. republicans saying it highlights failed white house policies. there has been countless investigations including by a congressional committee. still, the trial of ahmed abu chattalah is expected to be watched closely by politicians on both side. north korea has test fired two short-ranged missiles. it happened days after pyongyang

tested what it called new precision-guided missiles. japan's foreign minister says the missile test will not affect plans to hold talks with north korea over the kidnapping of its citizens in the 19 '70s, and 1980s. representatives are due to meet on july the 1st. kim jong-il admitted in 2002 that 13 japanese citizens were abducted to be trained as spies. five have been returned, the other eight are missing. >> translation: the talks focused on humanitarian issues, and they will take place, and during a time the platform is forming, it will not benefit north korea. in the indian city of cheppi, more than 100 people are believed to be under the rubble trapped after a tower collapsed. the construction workers were

among those killed. 19 are dead. two directors of a construction company have been arrested, that was building the tower. pakistan's army chief has flown to a disputed part of kashmir, marching the second anniversary of an avalanche that killed 140, mostly military. this glacier is claimed by india and pakistan, both have forces stationed there. to ukraine where the military said there has been sporadic attacks by pro-russian gunmen in the east despite a ceasefire. a second group of international observers have been released who had been held captive for a month. the o.s.c.e. members were released on friday. >> we welcome the return of the last four of our o.s.c.e. special monitoring team-mates after a mopped away. we ex -- month away. we express colleagues in the

press to allow them time with family and colleagues. many have worked tirelessly to secure their release and we publicly thank them. the participation of o.s.c.e. monitors, their detention cop strapped provisions at a time when objective information has never been more important. we consider the continued work of the mission essential in helping to restore peace and stability throughout ukraine. >> there's more ahead on the al jazeera news hour including date imented what is happening to the children in these areas. me are meeting with them breaking the cycle of abuse. one woman's work to save girls in south sudan from a life of exploitation. plus, the surf is up in gaza, o is the suage. find out why this stretch of coast line is polluted.

in and sport - columbia in the quart quarterfinals for the very first time. voting is under way in hong kong in an unofficial referendum on democratic reform. so far close to 800,000 people have participated, far exceeding organiser's expectations. it is part of a civil campaign that angered the chinese government. adrian brown is in hong kong and september this report. >> it's almost 17 years to the day that the former british colony was handed back to china. the showdown with beijing is a test of china's promise to allow hong kong a high degree of autonomy. that promise was made during negotiations with britain before the happened over in 1997. the issue at the moment is the

election of the chief executive and the method that should be used. there's been an unofficial referendum where people have been invited to put forward their ideas as to how the chief executive should be elected. 800,000 people have taken part in the poll so far. beijing calls it an illegal farce and says it will ignore the outcome. >> in a sign of discontent in hong kong, lawyers and judges staged a protest, accusing beijing of under mining hong kong's judicial independent by calling on lawyers and judges to show more patriotism to the mainland. on tuesday there'll be a rally in hong kong. people will not just protest over the issue of the chief executive , there's anger over the inequality in income, and

the fact that people feel the government is too timid with the government in beijing. myanmar's opposition leader is considering changes to the law allowing aung san suy kyi to run. she's urging a chaining to the law that stops anyone xos partner or children are foreign nationals. heavy rains triggered a landslide in south-west china. four were buried in a village, three were missing. rescuers are searching the scene for survivors. >> let's go to the weather. >> we have been talking about rain. you see a long line. this is where we go to the south-west of china follow the cloud.

further south, and towards chang high we see huge amounts of rainfall. 60mm in 24 hours, leading to flooding. look at the speed of the water. massive devastation. and major problems we have in and around the area. as we go on through the next capital, we see the rain making its way south wards and eastwards. looking at the pictures, huge rainful coming through, causing problems, widespread flooding as a result. massive ra massive rain to the south, continuing here, down towards the south-west of china, a big area. seeing big rain fall. southerly winds feeding the weather to the southern parts of china, as we go on through the

next few days. rain intensifying in hong kong. it stays wet to the east of the area. nearly 200 april world cup protesters tried to march to the maracana stadium in rio de janeiro. police stopped the demonstrators reaching the venue where columbia knocked uruguay out of the tournament. protesters are angry at the billions brazil spent on the world cup. costa rica have become the world cup story. they have earn a draw. they face greece in a match decide who will go forward and home. david mercer has more from the capital. it's a love affair that starts at the young age.

hundreds of children take to the pitch in costa rica's capital. it's a ritual, practicing and playing a few games. some of the youngsters could become the country's top players, and with costa rica's world cup success, there's no shortage of footballers to look up to. >> translation: the national team players sets an example for the kids, helping to encourage them to practice. not long ago one came to help with the training. >> reporter: while fewer than 5 mill join live in costa rica, they think big when it comes to football. they describe themselves as football crazy, a place where people eat, breath and sleep football. that's why there's much excitement about making it to the knockout stage, something they magged to do only once before. qualifying for the 1990 italian world cup transformed the costa

rica team into heroes. when they made it to the second round, it was historic. former team captain remembers the highs and the lows during the world cup. he hopes their success will ipp spire the players today -- ipp spire the players today and challenge them to go further. >> translation: i think this team will surpass what we achieved in 1990. it's important for a country to have these markers. all athletes need to raise the bar. >> now the question is whether costa rica can beat greece to make it to the quarterfinals. >> translation: costa rica did well against uruguay and england. i believe that costa rica's story is just beginning to be written. whether they win or lose the world cup, it's gip costa ricans plenty to celebrate.

still ahead on the newshour - out of israel. african asylum seekers are trying to leave but are held back. we explain why. plus... >> i'm in india where an ancient community is fighting for survival. and in sport serena williams shock exit from wimbledon. we have the details, stay with us.

welcome back, you are watching al jazeera, live from doha. a reminder of the top stories,

iraqi government sources are on the outskirts of tib rit, preparing for a push into the city. the military deployed troops west of the baghdad to secure one of main highways in anbar province. the israeli army launched app air strike, it says in retaliation for six rockets fired into israel. the foreign minister says they should consider reoccupying the gaza strip. people in hong kong vote in a referendum on democratic reforms. african asylum seekers in israel are hoping to return to their countries and met with representatives from the u.n. ref any agencies. they have -- refugee agency. exodus - what comes to mind of a scene, but in this case a

reverse exodus. these people want to return to africa. >> we came seven years ago. we didn't recognise we were refugees until now. for seven years, it's enough. we don't need to be in prison any more. >> reporter: as they marched to the southern border, israeli security forces blocked them. a scuffle followed thousands were turned back. they staged a sit-in. defying orders to return to a detention camp. the migrants are housed in a facility in the desert. they are free to move around, but are not allowed to work and must report back each night. many living there call it a prison and want the u.n. to intervene. >> we try to go to the fence and cross to the other side to go back to africa, let them kill us

in africa, it's better than staying in israel and you get persecution from the public, the government, officials. >> people in israel for more than five years without a work permit are september here. opened last december, the detention center houses around 2,500 people, most from sudan, and eritrea seeking asylum. israel built an electric fence to stem the tide of people getting in. it worked. the israeli government is upped scrutiny for how it -- under screwed ni for those that do get in but now want out. protesters in canada held a protest for mohamed fadel fahmy. he holds canadian and shan

citizenship. protesters are demanding the release of a resident aid to former president mohamed mursi. al jazeera continues to demand the release of our journalists in egypt. they were sentenced on monday and have been in prison for 183 days. peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy were given seven years. baher mohamed was sentenced to 10 years because he had a spent bullet in his pocket which he picked up at a protest. muslims around the world have begun to fast for the holy month of ramadan. it's the hoeliest month in the calman dar. from dawn to dusk and end with the holiday when they stop fasting. south sudan's children are sucked into a cycle are neglect and abuse. the fighting uprooted more than a million people and devastated communities. people are out of school and on

the street. they are the most vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse of young girls is all too frequent. >> reporter: cathy is a familiar visitor to juba's red light districts. she does not judge the women, she comes to extract children - young girls caught up in the sex trade. >> they have a meeting in the morning. they tell you what happened in the night. for me, i thought "what am i hearing? what is happening to the children, they are in these areas and men are sleeping with them?" . >> reporter: kathy saw girls as young assate or in my opinion. at this -- assate or nine working in the -- as eight or nine. this day we seat season. >> i sleep with three men a day. that's as many as i can manage because i'm so young. too many south sudan girls are living on the streets or slums,

at risk from sexual abuse or violence. the ones ending up in the brothel say working gives them independence and income. >> some say momma, it is better that you do it for money than for free. >> reporter: girls like these face risk. some become h.i.v. positive with no idea what that means. and war means men more often abuse them. cathy realised the girls would not stay in school unless she changed the home environment. with donations from friends, she set up a children's rev understanding for the girls and young boys. here, the girls sleep in spotless dormitories. they go to school, play sport and emily they stop running away when they believe another life is possible. >> it's good. everybody sleep, no fighting.

you eat. go to sleep and go to school. this is good. no fighting. cathy worries. these children are the casualties of south sudan's last civil war. with the country teetering on violent internal conflict she fears another lost generation. the south sudan government admits it can't do more tore the anywheres, with its -- for the girls, with its budget frozen by the fighting. >> with the crisis, people are not paying attention. >> so this one woman from uganda continues her battle to break the cycle of abuse of south sudan girls, hoping they, one day will keep the young sisters safe from harm. and for more on the child sex trade in south sudan, and the work of cathy and her ref uge, head to aljazeera.com, and click on the link to the

coverage. now, uruguay is home to 12 million head of cattle. and the life of each and every one is recorded from birth to the dipper plate. daniel schweimler takes a look at uruguay's trace ability system. >> uruguay with lush green open plains was largely built on the cattle industry. it knows its cows. for every head of cattle it's tagged after birded. details of life and death are locked in a computer system. this man owns more than three cows. >> translation: this is a list of my animals, transaction, this one 550623 - i know it's an aber deep angus, it's female, 7 years om. it's alive and she's tagged.

>> by law every farmer in uruguay must tag all cattle within six months of its birth. a number in one ear and a computer in the other. >> i consider traceability effective. it provide the consumer with security and doesn't present big problems for the producers. >> this young lady, a cross between an aberdeen angus and a shorten has been marked with a number 4739. it allowed the minister of agriculture to track here until, unfortunately, sheened up on someone -- she ends up on someone's plate. each peace of meat is tracked. >> translation: if we photocopied a problem, we can

check it. we call it the black box system. it's like the black box on a plan. in the institute we have people checking the traceability in real time for any problem with the meat. >> and even here with the steak sizzling on the other side of the restaurant, they can track the life of our lunch. euro guyans are some of the biggest meet consumers eating 60 kilos per person, per year. despite its size, it's one of the leading meat producers and exporters. their relationship with the meat is personal and detailed. >> a community in india is trying to stop its population becoming extinct. leaders are using different ways from speed dating to free housing to encourage people to

start families. we have this report. >> reporter: ever since she was 16 this girl has dreamed of being an orthodo nottist. she had little time for anything else - between marathon exams and earning a masters, she had no social life, let alone a boyfriend. >> everything is hectic. the competition that you have and the amount of money you are pumping in, you have to give full attention to it to reach somewhere. >> reporter: these are the pressures the young face, marriage and children are crucial. the community or parties as they are known, is dying out. the population has been reduced to around 60,000 here because career-driven professionals are having children delayed or not at all.

mumbai has a large consolation of parties. the numbers have halved since the 1940s. community leaders are doing everything they can to encourage people to marry young and have lots of children. the parties made significant contributions to india's economy and culture. they have built industrial empires. others are recognized as prominent scientists in entertainers to keep the community flourishing, organizations are offering a range of incentives to marry couples. conversions are not allowed, so marriage within the population is essential. >> when the career is established and they earn enough, they will not move ford for a marriage. this is what we are facing. to encourage we giving flats out of turp on priority -- turn on prurty basis for people with --

priority basis for people with a marriage certificate. >> translation: . >> reporter: they have founded zipping, to help people meet each other. and a match-making service. >> we have numerous activities, speed dating youth meets and event to get the youngsters toot to meet each other and start families as well. >> reporter: still some young say they'll only have children when they are ready. many in the older generation fear the rich traditions are dying with them. india's government is planning to build thousands of toilets along the gangy river in an attempt to stop people polluting the water. hindus consider the river sacred and go to pray and bathe. the ministry in charge will consult non-governmental groups,

religious leaders and scientists. a proposal is expected to be unveiled next month. gaza says pollution along the beaches have reached high levels. authorities can't operate treatment plants because there's not enough fuel. >> there are more people on gaza's beaches this summer than in recent years. it means there are few other places to go. people say they know about risks. authorities say the level of pollution is uppress depth and getting worse. >> translation: we saw the warnings on tv. where else can we go. there's no places for entertainment. the restaurants serve food. life is hard. >> jihad has 10 children and unemployed. they don't have the medicine in stock to treat children if they

get ill. >>. >> translation: i'm afraid the kids could get sick. if you go to the hospital, they can't do anything. >> reporter: close which is a suage outlet. it's hard to scribe how horrid the smell is. pipes like these are pumping a million litres of suage into the sea every day. a lack of fuel for generating electricity means raw suage can't be pumped, and the government can't buy fuel because revenue is down to 5% of what it needs. israel's blockade means almost all cash from exports have stopped. the government can't afford to pay 50,000 that it employees. unemployment is around 40%. people can't pay water and electricity. money to solve a sewerage crisis is not coming in.

israel's siege is the main reason for this problem. the palestinian unity government should deal with it. the same way as the occupied west bank. the problem is not just the sea, it's bigger than that. >> this man will continue to bring his family to the beach. there's nowhere else to go, but the sea. still ahead on the newshour - slowing down in space. the latest challenge facing n.a.s.a. reachers as they consider manned missions to mars. and all the information from world cup 2014. including a penalty shoot-out that had the host nation on edge.

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download it now welcome back, n.a.s.a. tested new technology it hopes will allow it to land a large spacecraft on mars. 150 million experimental flight was not entirely successful. >> reporter: getting a spacecraft to an alien world is one thing. when it arrives, travelling at 16,000, he'll need to slow it down. a difficult job. >> we want to land humans on mars. we get to larger payrolls and desell raters to slow them down. n.a.s.a. used a parachute,

rocket thrusters and a withdrawn to land on the marr shan surface. the technology is the same as 40 years. it is considered to be at its limits. >> that's why it's testing an airbag break and parachute. high in the sky. a rocket will be firing. to launch it to 60 k/hr, the edge of the stratosphere. it is similar to the atmosphere of mars. then every time - they'll test the strulenture and the -- structure and parachute at the high speed. >> reporter: n.a.s.a. reported the brakes - opened and supported. not so a mass of 33 meter wide

parachute, the largest tested and it failed to open. >> if we want to plan bigger things, we need new technologies, it's not just for the science, but the vision of putting humans and people on the surface of mars. n.a.s.a. plans three tests over the next year and hopes to have the technology ready for the next mars rover mission. time for the sport. >> the first quarter finalist has been decided at the world cup, on a day that saw the host nations nerves on end. columbia progressed to the final eight. next up for them, brazil, who needed a penalty shoot-out to move past chile. we explain.

>> reporter: it was an all south american affair, a clash between hosts brazil and a strong chilean side. brazil took the lead 20 minutes in, opening the scoring. it didn't stay that way for long. sanchez scared up. after the break, brazil pulled back the advantage only for the holt goal to be disallowed due to happened wall. it was 1-1 at extratime as they went to a shoot-out. brazil advancing, neymar scored. julio tezar saved two, before watching chile's time attempt pip the post. they'll face columbia in the last eight. after columbia took advantage of

uruguay. he's been banned for biting. a new star emerged with a remarkable performance. it started when he scored this stunning goal in the 28th minute. but one was not enough for the 22-year-old rodriguez who weaved more magic after half-time, grabbing the second goal of the night to propel columbia to the first world cup quarterfinal. sarah coates, al jazeera. >> to our report in bogota. >> reporter: after waiting 16 years to go back to the world cup after they were eliminated in the united states... (technical difficulties) (no audio)..rodriguez, a

26-year-old who scored the gold and who not only scored in this match, he's scored over the five goals surpassing naixar from brazil, and messi from armg. he turned into the big star of columbia. they had a solid team. they are a big star. they were able to have something in favour of them, the fact that luis suarez from uruguay did not play. despite the alcohol ban, everyone is celebrating. >> a new star in world football in rodriguez in the match-winning performance. this is what we know, the 22-year-old began his career in portugal, the youngest person to be named the portuguese player

of the year. he won three successively titles. he moved to monaco, he was the second-most expense i-columbian transfer. the price tag could be about to climb higher. four games propelled him to the top of the goal-scoring list. he's one of three big names. thomas muller of germany. neymar had four goals appease. two more quarters finalists will be decided on sunday. the netherlands will be produced. temperatures in the north-east of brazil is expected to top 43 degrees celsius. and they have asked match officials to allow waterbreaks. the netherlands lost one of

their last 10 matches. we remember the 2010 final in johannesburg when they were defeated by spain. as for monaco, they reached the last 10 world stages. >> translation: they play according to their style. their eagerness to one gives them the power they need. chile is similar, but mexico are more eager to win. you see it in every player when they are on the pitch. >> either you win or go home. they'll do what we have been doing until now. mexico is a team that release rivals. those that attack them on the pitch. we'll go for the win. costa rica is up against greece. the south american side have been a revelation at the world cup, topping the group. it included three former world champions, italy, england and uruguay. as for greece, they face a

hurdle. if they progress the contract expires in the next 24 hours, and he doesn't intend staying. for now, the focus is sweeping aside the costa ricans. >> translation: it remind me of what happened to greece. we were an unknown team that reached the final stages and it achieved an historical feed. we must pay attention to costa rica. they were a great team, right. don't forget to join us for a world cup update. a daily wrap up. andy richards is on the air in a little under five hours from now. you can get the latest on the world cup on the dedicated website. aljazeera.com/brazil2014. >> sunday is a day of rest with no matches. it comes after a shock. world number one serena williams

beaten by france's allize cornet in straight sets. it's the earliest exit in nine years for the 5-time wimbledon champion. the men's rafael nadal dropped his first set, and prevailed in four and plays australian nick krygios. >> he played well. i accept the match is lopping. i accept if he plays like this for 30 sets, i will be in trouble. always waiting that i cap improve one step and if i do, i am - i can be there. i think i did. >> thank you. that's it for the newshour on al jazeera. from me, and the team, thank you

for watching. my colleague steven cole is with you next. i hope you stay with us on al jazeera.

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