>> announcer: this is al jazeera. welcome to the newshour live from the headquarters in doha. ukraine's president orders his army to raise the flag over the rebel stronghold of slovyansk after claims separatist fighters have fled. fury in berlin as allegations emerge - a double agent spied on a parliamentary committee. a powerful explosion rocks mogadishu after bombers target

the parliament building. >> i'm robin adams with your sport and world cup semifinals comes at a price. neymar is ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a fractured vertebrae. now, ukraine's president is claiming victory over pro-russian separatist. rebel forces are moving out of the former stronghold the slovyansk, and the ukranian army has been ordered to raise the flag over the city. scott heidler joins me from outside donetsk. can you confirm for us, scott, is the ukranian flag now flying over the buildings that were held by anti-government forces in slovyansk? >> we can't confirm that that flag is flying. what we can confirm, we have seen a separatist tanks and armoured personnel carriers

coming down the road that i'm standing on. in the direction of donetsk, the second-largest city, a strategically important city heading in that direction, or if they are around in between the two points that the separatists held for weeks on end. that is left to be determined. the president ordered that the flag fly over slovyansk. if that's happening right now we are sure that's about 90, 80km away from our position. we can tell you that these fourses, separatist forces, are on the move. are they gearing up for a fight. it has not started yet. donetsk is the second-largest city. how the ukranian forces are going to deal with the situation if the separatist most is going there and bunkering themselves in there, that's left to be determined. it's a much more fortified city,

than where we saw the last fights in the last couple of hours. >> that would be my next question. >> what about in donetsk. what posture or government forces are taking place there. >> we have not seen anything yet. we see the number of six armoured personnel car yours coming down this road. there's a checkpoint about 100km. they stopped traffic. they stopped vehicles for a bit. that's when we saw the vehicles pass through. obviously there's accord nation to an extent. where the forces are going, that's left to be determined. are they falling back to regroup or are they retreating and going be, you know, going into the country side. that we don't know. but what we do know is there are reports that there has been air

strikes, we have heard aircraft overhead. we have not seen anything in donetsk. it's the second-largest city in ukraine. what the government forces will do, how they attack if they will, it will be a more delicate situation than what we have seen so far. >> more to talk about in the coming hours. scott heidler there. >> three have been killed in the somali capital of mogadishu. a car bomb went off injuring a number of civilians, there has been no claim of responsibility and an investigation has been underway. i spoke to a somalia spokesman earlier. >> we know that the soldiers were killed, and two others were injured. we know also that a number of civilians were injured in this explosion. >> was this an attack on the parliament building or the presidency. >> this explosion took place

outside the parliament on one of the gates, not the parliament. >> all right. and any idea of who is responsible, any claim of responsibility or evidence? >> i think it's rly to say in this explosion was al-shabab, but to what we know, this kind of explosion is from al-shabab, and the investigation taking place at the moment. and i don't know what - that, you know, this kind of terrorism, if it actually is - is killing innocent people during ramadan. the government of somalia will continue hunting and, you know, bringing those to justice. we will not allow all terrorist groups to continue and kill other people. >> there has been three members

of parliament killed this year. >> do you see a link here, is there a campaign to undermine parliament. >> obviously, you know, there is a link which al-shabab are frying to create a fear within the other somali individuals. what we know is that the somalis are strong enough, and that they are strong enough to make sure that peace and prosperity will continue in mogadishu, and across somalia in afghanistan 400 fuel tankers have been set on fire on the outskirts of kabul, happening late on friday in a parking area. there has been no reports of casualties. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed the trucks were supplying fuel for foreign

forces. two sized bombers blew themselves up in the building in saudi arabia, according to state media. they were surrounded by security forces when they set off their devices. the incident follows an attack on friday on the border with yemen which killed six people. initial autopsy reports indicate that mohammed abukhdair was burned alive after being kidnapped in east jerusalem, according to the palestinian attorney-general. the family believes he was killed in a revenge attack or murder of the israeli last month. nisreen el-shamayleh has more. >> reporter: the israeli authorities handed mohammed abukhdair's body over to his family on friday. thousands joineded the funeral procession in the boy's neighbourhood. people came here from all over jerusalem. when his body was found, it was charred. his distraught mother tells how

she refused to see her son's corpse before he was buried. >> translation: how am i supposed to see him if his body is burnt. i don't want to remember him like this. no mother would do this. would the killer's mother accept a burned body like mine was. >> reporter: although the israeli authorities found the body wednesday, they did not release the body until friday. >> the body was burnt beyond recognition, his parent couldn't have identified him directly. the only way was through dna samples from the martyr's parents. >> reporter: scuffles between protesters and israeli police are continuing. the palestinians say mohammed abukhdair was kidnapped and murdered in a revenge attack after three israeli settlers were found dead in the occupied

west bank. israeli forces deployed additional forces for ramadan, and restricted who would pray at the mosque, banning males under the age of 50, all in openings of mohammed abukhdair's funeral. after a painful two days waiting for the body. the parents are ready to bury lair loved one, saying the pain of burying someone so young will never go away more to come on the newshour - including five years after deadly riots between weekers and happen chinese -- uyghurs and han chinese, we return to see if anything changes. violence in minor -- myanmar, a night-time curfew.

and germany qualifies for the world cup time. the general jp government demanded -- german government demanded an explanation from the u.s. government in berlin after a man was arrested for spying for the u.s. >> reporter: this parliamentary committee was investigating u.s. spying on germany. now it appears it may, itself, have been spied on. a 30-year-old employee of germany's intelligence agency is reported to have been a double ate, accused of stealing confidential documents and passing them to washington. >> translation: this is a serious incident. that's why the federal state prosecutor has become involved. espionage activity is not something treated lightly. it's a matter for the federal state prosecutor and the investigating criminal office, and it's in good hands. >> the suspect was arrested on suspicion of spying for russia.

he told his interrogators that he was working for the u.s. the white house refused to comment on the latest arrest but german politicians are outraged. >> translation: if these spying allegations are confirmed it would be an outrageous attack on the freedom of our parliament and against our democratic movements. >> translation: should the allegations be true, it would be a scandal and in constitutional democracies, parliament controls intelligent services not the other way around. >> reporter: this is the latest and puts the u.s.-german ties under strains. last year edward snowden revealed washington was spying on its allies, including monitoring angela merkel's

mobile phone, an attempt to create an intelligence agency collapsed in may when washington refused to rule out spying on its allies. after the snowden leaks president obama ordered a review of spying on its allies, with the new implications it could reach beyond washington and berlin. security has been tightnd in the chinese region of zinc significanting. it's been five years sint fighting between han chinese and uyghurs. >> reporter: the wounds of five years ago have yet to heal. in a pour uyghur neighbourhood this group of weekers hesitate before talking to us. >> translation: i'm here looking for a job. they don't want me to talk to you. what can i do. >> reporter: by "they" he's

referring to the police who have been watching us as another man is explaining the mood here today. as officers surround him he says the atmosphere is getting better, but not as good as in the past. he insists hahn chinese and ethnic muslim uyghurs live too. but the only hahn faces we see are those of the police. they break up the gathering, hurting the crowd away. today it is more tense than peaceful. this is the way it was five years ago. the ethnic violence as sudden as it was savage. they were the worst riots sense the foundation of the people's republic of china 65 years ago. armed with whatever came to hand han chinese and uyghurs turned on one another. that strike has been cited as a reason for the continuing bloodshed here. in may, suicide bombers struck

at a mark market in the area. uyghur groups say the response of rounding up suspects is playing into the hands of militants. >> therefore, it is highly unlikely that uyghur people will accept the chinese brutal rule and out of desperation some may take matters into their hand and use violence against china's state. >> reporter: china blames the violence on extremists, and say it's proof they are prepared to kill civilians in their fight to end chinese rule here. propaganda is the other weapon. state television has been showing courts imposing doth sentence, 13 -- death sentences, 13 on the same day.

>> this anniversary copysides with rama dap. taking pleas against a backdrop of security and a fear in both communities of when the next attack can happen. a chinese researcher with amnesty international joins us from hong kong. good to have you with us. we under there has been mass arrests leading up to the anniversary. what sort of impact is that having on the uyghur community? >> well, as your report mentioned, may 22nd there was a violent incident and afterwards a government announced a strike-hard policy. after a month they had broken up 32 terrorist groups and arrested 315 people. so what is important to emphasise is that they are emphasising the speed, the speed of grabbing people, detaining them, arresting them and sentencing them.

and they are also saying that terror should be treated like rats in the streets. it's worrying what is happening right now. there's a high chance that there are unfair trials going on and many people are getting caught up in this. >> it is the month of ramadan, perhaps you can clarify the situation when it comes to reports. reinstructions of muslim uyghurs being told not to fast. >> well, what we have seen is that many different counties in the uyghur autonomous region posted things on their website saying that students should not observe ramadan, and that party members are called to maintain their credentials and should talk to friend, neighbours and convince them and not believe in

superstation and engage in religious activities. this is worrying. we have seen the restrictions before. because many people have seen the calls on websites throughout the region in many different counties, schools and so on, there's reason to believe there was more intensify in trying to maintain the restrictions this year. >> on the chinese government side they'd say they are investing, trying to improve life in the region. is any of that going to meet the concerns of the uyghurs who feel they are being suppressed? >> the government is trying to increase economic development. it's a key strategy, it's a continued focus on urbanization. along with that there's questions about employment discrimination. many of the jobs, of course in the region and elsewhere in

china and the private sector, and we know that many countries are preferring to higher hans, the majority ethnicity and uyghurs are not in a position to get across there, grievances with respect to discrimination. we see people, a prominent professor who set up a website dedicated to ethnic dialogue, detained in january on separatism charges and denied access it a lawyer for six months. if it can happen to an individual like him, there's concerns for other lesser known people. >> to put a bit of context to it, this problem dates back decades and has to do with the settlement policies, and a struggle between two populations, correct? >> well, it does go back a long

way. there's a lot of reason to believe that 10-20 years ago many people say that, yes, there were problems, but ethnic tensions are not as bad. the influx of the population, the way in which economic develops has been happening and the restrictions on culture and religion, of course, that are fuelling the grievances, there is a person who tried to start kindergartens teaching in the uyghur language and he was detained on illegal fund razing. peaceful advocates, advocating dialogue like him. they are not allowed to engage in their activities, and have better relationship with the majority pop u lights, this is one thing -- population, this is fuelling ethnic tension. >> thank you for your perspective on that. three days of religious

riots and the death of two people in myanmar's second-largest city caused the government to impose a curfew. hundreds marched through the streets chanting slogans. >> reporter: a funeral procession turns into a hate rally. hundreds of people, some armed with knives and sticks, marched through the streets. there's little security presence to deter them. the crowd threaten to kill all muslims, saying they want to get rid of them, avenge the death of a buddhist man killed by mousse limits during riots that started on tuesday. the fighting began after rumours circulated that a muslim man raped a muslim woman. officials in the second-largest city are fearful of violence spreading further. they imposed a night-time curfew. they detained five people and

raided a mosque. the muslim population accuses the police of unfairly targetting them, stand i about and allowing buddhist crowds to rampage across town. an imam at the mosque says the muslim community is not happy. >> translation: law enforcement is week. so far two people have been killed in the latest round of violence. in the muslim neighbourhood a family mourns for a man killed on his way to a mosque. over the last two years myanmar has been gripped by an anti-muslim hatred. the violence targetting the minority community killed more than 200 people, and made 140,000 homeless. all right. let's get weather with richard and see what is brewing with

hurricane arthur. >> it is a hurricane no more. it has been downgraded. it's a tropical storm. an interesting feature that you see on the satellite as it retained its shape and pushed northwards. we had significant rain fall reported. the upshot was nasty flooding. the shots coming from boston and the rain coming down in a period of 48 hours. 100 to 150mm of rain. along the coastline these shots come from the new jersey coastline. we had big surgeon and swells. anyone trying to make the most of the holiday was having their work cut out. it was a miserable spell of weather. >> that system is on the way. up to the bay of funding. it will be interesting to see what it does in terms of sea

levels. it pushes across and away towards the labrador strait. and spewed into the atlantic where it may form an air of low pressure. heavy rain across the north-east and into canada. eventually we'll see brighter p investigating a video showing an officer beating a woman on the side of a freeway in los angeles. it was filmed by a passing motorist. the woman doesn't appear to resist as the officer punches her in the face repeatedly. the california highway patrol says she was stopped for her own safety. >> what we under to have occurred at this point is she started to work down the on-ramp, turned around, came back crossing lanes of traffic, endangering herself and motoring public. people are not anticipating a

sit zn being on the freeway walking rescuiers in southern honduras are looking for eight men trapped in a goldmine, 100 metres below the surface after a tunnel collapse after 22 got in. half got out. three more were rescued on friday. neymar no more. brazil are into the semifinals of the world cup, but the star player will not be there after fracturing a vertebrae in his back. this is not the way brazil wanted to see the star striker leaving the pitch. an injury with a columbian player forcing the brazilian star off in pain. he was rushed to a hospital where a doctor confirmed he had a fractured vertebrae. it would need a few weeks to heel. fans were saddened. but not deterred by the news. >> we are sad.

neymar represents the team and we are dependent on him. >> translation: neymar is very important. we confident we can get to the time and raise the championship trophy without him. >> translation: i believe the team is united after the game and we can win without neymar. >> reporter: after neymar was discharmed from the hospital, he was brought -- discharged from the hospital he was brought here and boarded a plane to go back with his team-mates. >> a tragic lose for the brazilian team, considering how well this day was going until his injury. >> reporter: the atmosphere was charged before the kick-off. columbians brought thousands of supporters to bring on the team,

believing they could pull off an upset. >> translation: i cannot describe what i feel, it's an historical day. we are going to win. >> reporter: but the home-team fans packed into the stadium with energy that eclipsed tournament games. when it was over columbian fans depleted in defeat. brazilians streamed out full of joy, they had not had the news about the severity of neymar's injury. now the quest for another championship got harder. they face germany, hoping to cheer even if they are playing without their star. >> all right. now it's time to bring in the sports presenter, expert, resident nice guy in the studio. the loss of neymar, is it the end of the world for brazil. >> i don't know about end of the world, but it is a big loss.

we are looking at the poster child for brazil's campaign as they came to win the world cup. a lot of pressure and expectation coming from this young man. and he's out for what we expect to be six weeks, a tragedy for him. >> absolutely. >> you have to wonder how this would impact the rest of brazil's campaign, whether the coach will go - whether this galvanizes the team or whether this is a one-man show and the loss shows in the next match. >> looking forward to some of the matches, and how they'll fair, i know you haven't written off belgium yet. >> no. the smart money is on argentina. brazil, obviously, got a tough outing against germany. they have been in hot form.

they are going to brazil, and will be missing neymar and the captain. all the pressure would be on brazil. in terms of the fan perspective. they are expecting to lift the trophy and win the world cup. >> 100% required. >> we'll hear more from you. we have more sports coming up. >> still to come - why greece is facing criticism over its treatment of asylum seekers. we are in kenya where flowers are a big business and working conditions for some are far from pretty.

you welcome back, you are watching the al jazeera newshour, it's time to recap the headlines - pro-russian separatists are reported to have fled from slovyansk. president petro porashenko ordered the army to raise the flag over the city. three people have been killed in an attack on the somalia parliament building in mogadishu. the armed group of al-shabab claimed responsibility for the car bombing. the u.s. ambassador for berlin has been summaned by authorities, arrested on suspicions of spying for the u.s. iraq's prime minister insists he'll fight for a third term in office despite pressure to step down. in a statement, nouri al-maliki promised to continue fighting the islamic group.

nouri al-maliki's coalition of parties has been accused of spoking continuations. imran khan joins us from baghdad. i want you to pick up on a line about the loss of an iranian pilot. it shed light on the depth of iranian fighting going on. >> that's right. an iranian pilot was killed, and has thrown into focus the role of iran within iraq. iranians officially don't have a role. hassan rouhani said the iraqis need to ask for help. but we do know that the head of one of the forces and a germ has been in and out of -- general has been in and out of iraq, and has been advising the prime minister's office and the iraqi milt on tactics -- military on tactics op how to fight the

islamic state. the alcutes force is here, at least one contingent, helping to advise the iraqi troops, making them advisors alongside the u.s., also with those advicing iraqi troops. there's a big role. it's kept quite. the iranians don't want to the escalate what they are doing, but they are keeping a close eye on the holy shrines. for them, any attack is an absolute red light and something that will likely cause an all af out sectarian war, and that's a reason there's an iranian involvement here. >> an egypt shan court sentenced the head of the muslim brotherhood to prison.

he was convicted to prison. along with 36 other figures from the muslim brotherhood, they are facing the death penalty in two separate cases. supporters of the former president held demonstrations in several cities overnight, calling for mohamed mursi to be re-ipp stated. these pictures are from geesa from the outskirts of the cap pal. al jazeera's journalist mohamed fadel fahmy has been admitted to hospital for a shoulder injury. he was sentenced with peter greste to seven years yich. baher mohamed was given 10 years because he had a spent bullet in his possession picked up at a protest fight. al jazeera relates the convictions and demands the journalist be freed.

a police officer has been kld in a blast in barr rain, the explosion taking place south of the captial. there are no claims of responsibility. the government faced protest by people demanding more rights. >> in macedonia police fired tear gas and water canon to prevent protesters storming a court building in the capital. about 2,000 demonstrators gathered to protest the life sentences imposed on six ethnic albanian muslims. they were convicted of murdering five fishermen in a float to destabilize the country. the men deny the charges. greece is the gateway to europe. it's coming under security for policies. under the grebe law, the -- greek law it has been extended.

in 2009 it's more than 18 months, if individuals are thought to be not cooperating, they can be detained indefinitely. the european court of human rights ruled that conditions in greece was amounted to degrading treatment. minors are detapt. they are released to detention centers, and without enough places they are stuck in the system. we spoke to migrant that spent months in the camps. >> reporter: on long distance calls to pakistan, this boy tells his mother everything was fine. he may have months to live. he was released from a center after he and a fellow inmate grabbed hep c. >> police said "you are not ready to die." you have months to go. when you are close to death, we'll let you in. >> reporter: he learnt to not

complain about the poor sanitation. he explained what happened when guards were removed. >> translation: they beat him so badly a lot went out of their mind with fear. no one complaupd. we realised -- complained. we realised if anyone was sick and died we couldn't tell anyone, we had no rites. >> reporter: he spent 15 months at this detention center. 6,000 are in similar centers in greece. in some conditions are appalling. raw sewage seeps through the floors in photos dane by doctors without borders. people are confined indoors. the aid group reports some tried to kill themselves. these conditions were limited to periods of up to 18 months. greece may be violating european law. employing what humanitarian

groups say is a slight of hand. >> the government is extending detention. the policy kept 300 people behind bars than longer than 18 months. the government has limited resources. they coped with 1500 rivals, setting up an asylum service with officers in border areas, and is basing long-term detention on an opinion and an advisory body. a greek court struck down the opinion. human rights suspects that detention is about deterrence. >> even nationalities that may not be deported because of a situation in their country, such as somalis, eritraens. this is an indication that detention is not used to encourage deportation.

>> reporter: he has applied for asylum, but it is clear that greece's days of tolerance are over. we are getting reports that a 5.9 earthquake hit indonesia. the quake struck off the island of assume art ra. no tsunami alert was issued, so far there's no reports of damage or casualties. almost 200 million indonesians are expected to head to the polls to choose the next president. the race has been heating up between the two candidates. frmpingts front runner joko widodo on campaign trail, seep as a man of the people. -- seen as a man of the people. his popularity wept up due to his -- went up due to his personal touch. the campaign of the governor has been struggling, blamented on the lack of -- blamed on the lack of organization and a smear

campaign. a tabloid newspaper said joko widodo, who was a muslim was a chinese christian. the tabloid was banned, but the damage was done. ethnic issues have dominated the campaign, now joko widodo has to prove he is a muslim. >> when i go to the people i explain about the issue so i forget - i am sure people know that i'm muslim. >> it's not because he has a better campaign that he is getting closer to you? >> no, because there's no complaint. [ sings ] . >> the other candidate, former general prabowo subianto came under fire when a singer used a nazi uniform in a campaign song. he said this was a fashion statement. >> if we talk been black

campaign, we have our portion of black campaign that aims to us. for example, if someone is killing someone or there's a picture of prabowo subianto depicted as a hitler. >> reporter: this campaign showed how indonesian elections are about personalities, rather than politics. other issues have hardly been addressed. to most indonesians the choice between joko widodo and prabowo subianto sa choice between a firm president with links to the past or a new leader with a different style. on july 9, 147 million voters will decide who will run the third-largest democracy. >> kenya is one of the world's

biggest exporters of flowers, but concerns are raising about the industry. we have this report from the flower-growing town, north-west of nairobi. >> reporter: flower growers across the world show off beauty. where else better to do it than kenya, the third-largest explorer. they contribute 35% of the world's flowers. we developed a good name. we are the number one supplier of roses to the japanese parked and to the e.u. we are looking good, pretty. >> reporter: it's labour intensive. the workers rush to beat the deadline. 250,000 systems of rozes have to be three to europe by the end of the day. buyers raised concerns about the

welfare of thousands of workers helping to make sure that these flowers get to market fast. the flower industry, kenya, employs about 500,000 people. this group asked us to hide their identity, saying they were forced to resign from a firm where they worked. most had been sickly and believe long exporges used on the flowers. they talk of long work hours and poor pay. >> translation: they don't care about us. when i was employed i had no problems. now that i have a problem with the hand they set me aside. i'm now black listed by others. >> officials of the flower industry reg u lights coup told us that such cases are not common. when abusers happen, workers do not report to relevant authorities. >> workers are not perhaps able

to articulate the issues as well as they should be. how do we know this, to help us develop communication strategy. what this has said it our weakest link is in terms of the way we communicate with the workers. >> reporter: strict international reg u laces makes it more difficult. reg u lightses do not stop bosses from victimizing them with the latest from the world cup coming up with robin, including how fans in brazil are acting after neymar was declared out of the game. vé

all right, back to robin, sports fans. >> thank you, good to have you op. host nation brazil, if they are to win the world cup, they have to do it without neymar. he fractured a vertebrae in his back in a 2-1 victory over germany. we have this report. [ ♪ theme ]. >> reporter: neymar off the pitch and out of the tournament. a knee in the back late in the match resulting in a fractured vertebrae. he was taken to a hospital. fans gathered as the seriousness of the injury became apparent. neymar will be sidelined for up

to six weeks. >> translation: we tried to come to see him, but we didn't catch him. we are sad. we don't know how it will be from now on. >> reporter: a mood of despondensy after brazil's high, booking a spot in the semifinals. after the first-half goal the result was all-but secured with a brilliant first kick. the columbians forced a tense finish, rodriguez with a peoply, taking his tally to six. the tournament's leading goal scorer in tear, consoled by his opponent, finishing 2-1 to brazil. two stars to matthew rodrigues and neymar, playing no further part in this world cup. brazil will need to regroup tuesday when they face germany.

our correspondent is in rio with more on what neymar's injury will mean for brazil. >> the injury itself is that it's not serious for the long term for neymar. this is about the short term, the world cup, a world cup in which he is the main man, the poster boy, the person that brazil turps to, the -- turns to, the man that carries them. brazil has not found their form. brazil is nervous and struggles to get behind the team. neymar was not at his best and didn't need to be. with a semifinal coming up, he'll be strong in the tournament. he has another player who is suspended. they are in a difficult situation. at first the coach was - thought this might affect the semifinal and said this is a problem, neymar may not play in the

semifinal. the doctor confirmed that he is out of world cup entirely. for the people, the brazilians that have been able to get into the spirit of the world cup, celebrating a good win, it's a bittersweet experience. >> we can go to columbia's capital where we were watching with thousands of tfans. >> it was great when it lasted. we are here with some of the brave ones that stayed despite the defeat. only a few seconds ago we witnessed a roller-coaster of emotions. people cried, laughed, they were anguished for moments on end and a roar over the square when the team scored the penalty. the square was packed with people, with fans, a few minutes ago.

it was emptied in a matter of seconds people were so sad and we saw them crying, disappointed. everyone was rooting for the columbian team, thinking that history would be made and we'd beat brazil. it was not the case. a few people remain. they tell us that they wait for the beloved columbian team, they are waiting for them to come back and are happy with the overall performance. germany booked their spot in the time four with a 1-0 victory. the header enough to put the germans through, the first nation to reach four consecutive world cup semifinals. the last time the tournament was won was in 1990. the other two semifinalists will be decided. netherlands take on costa rica, and argentina face belgium. both sides won all four games. argentina will be favourites as they bid for a world cup semifinal in 24 years.

the coach insists the team is bigger than lionel messi, scoring four goals in the tournament so far. >> translation: i think there is a team that supports lionel messi, that makes him stronger, feels good, and this makes him achieve the performance that we can see. four years ago he was criticised and now they say that we rely too much on lionel messi. >> lionel messi is not the only striker. he is a big fan. he's one of the best strikers he played with. beside him, they have others coming back. players on the bench. we have to defend as a team, like we did in other games, and we'll be strong enough to stop it. >> let's go live to the football journalist and give a sense of what the feeling is in brussels

about belgium's chances. >> belgium is doing a fine job. they are getting crazy at the moment. everyone is enthusiastic about the game. everyone expects a lot. we didn't lose a single game in the tournament. we have nothing to lose against argentina. >> you had a brilliant round in qualifying seeing the team rise from 53 in the world rankings to five. what is the reason behind the meetioric rise, do you think? >> yes, in the beginning we had young talent. at the moment we have top players playing in key leagues in europe, chelsea, arsenal, spain's champions. so now at the moment we have top players in top leagues. that's a quality. they play every league. >> is there a sense that the players you name can take belgium to the time and lift the

world cup trophy? >> yes, definitely. today is an important match for eden. he can become a so far. and the coach knew that. he held long talks with him and i think he can explode. it's not only lionel messi, but the belgium team has eden. watch out argentina. >> belgium is divided. would you say the football teams unite the different groups. >> definitely. belgium national football team is important around the world. it shows that belgium is, again, a united country, not divided. it's a moment, but in the future it is very important. >> it's been class in brussels. thank you for that. belgium plays argentina, much like the rest of the world,

gripped by football fever. swdaniel schweimler went in seah of the argentina that doesn't like football. >> reporter: when argentina plays in the world cup, the nation pays attentionment. they go anywhere they can find a tv screen. stores and offices are closed. streets are deserted. the intensity increases with furniture. everything is blue and white. not quite everything. we heard rumours there are some argentina, a rare few, for whom the world cup is no big deal. we'll find one and question him. they are not here. we won't find them here either. here is one.

here is a writer and translators, trying to stave off world cup fever. >> in trying to turn away from it is hardly possible. you are bombarded by tv ads, and the radio. everywhere is talking about it. the way you are interested is not fully interested. >> what is it like growing up in a country where football among men is the only topic of conversation. >> if you don't like soccer, you are told names, and it's hard to find your way through it and pretend to be a normal trial. >> reporter: then there are those for whom the world cup is an opportunity, an opportunity to do thing unhindered by the crowds. >> i get to do the shopping, there's no lines, no waiting. that is good about the world cup. >> i love football, the world

cup, and i find it hard to under those who resist the joys of the beautiful game, especially here in argentina where evidence of that passion is everywhere you look and is looking back at us everywhere we go. >> if you like football, even if you don't. join us for an update, a daily wrap of everything going on at brazil 2014. andrei richards and the team preparing for the show. you'll have live guests and correspondents in buenos aires, brussels, rio and costa rica. we'll have a sense of how the countries are feeling ahead of saturday's quarter files. don't forget you can get more on brazil 2014 on the website aljazeera.com/brazil2014. there's a live blog updated. results, fixtures and report from around the world and video clips much the address again

aljazeera.com/brazil-2014. in the next few hours eugenie bouch ard is against kvitkova. >> i don't think it will be easy, i didn't see the final of last year, so i don't know what happened there. i'm ready. >> i'm proud of what i accomplished. the job is not over. it's a great tournament and a great moment for me. i'll try to number it as much as i can. >> the 2001st edition of the tour de france gets under way in the next few hours. it will be 20 stages long over three weeks, finishing in

yorkshire and paris. britain's defending champion will be there. that's it for sport. before we go, we'll leave you with images from the 4th of july fireworks display in washington d.c. and new york, commemorating independence za. -- independence day. ♪ america ♪ god shed his great on thee [ ♪ music ] ic ♪ ]

>> hundreds of days in detention. >> al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. >> thousands calling for their freedom. >> it's a clear violation of their human rights. >> we have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. >> journalism is not a crime. fireworks on the force as protesters clash over immigration at the border. [ gunfire ] meanwhile, the tension continues between palestinians and israeli police over the death of a teenage boy. and police under fire. a californian highway patrol officer under investigates f