♪ ♪ welcome do the news hour. i am sammy in doha. coming up in the show. a crucial moment for iraq. sunni leaders say they are ready to support the new prime minister el baddie. u.s. police name the officer who shot an black teenager ma missouri sparking rioting. ukraine says they have engaged rush an force that his reached its borders. >> reporter: and i am andy richardson with the latest sport, we'll be hearing from

luis suarez as the banned footballer is finally allowed to train with his new club. ♪ there is signs the political deck lock could be broken. nouri al-maliki agrees to step down. crucially, the country's sunni rebels led by trialal sliders say they may also be willing to take up arms against the islamic state rebels. they have provided -- that's provided their own demands are met. >> translator: we condemn terrorism in all forms, that is of i.s.i.l., the militias of al-maliki or the terrorism employed by certain politician to his serve their own purposes. with respect to the demands raised by dr. roger ha i.d.

we direct the government directly to take the necessary measures to put an end to the em barred. and withdrawal all the so-called security personnel. and the european ube upon foreign ministers are holding a crisis summit on iraq. we'll go to sue there shortly but first to jane as we heard there the sunnis may be reaching out to the new prime minister, but they have some big demands. >> reporter: they absolutely do. he is a key sunni tribal leader. he's head of the biggest tribes in iraq. but not the only sunni leader, certainly. they remain a very fashionallized group. in fact, part of his comments were to lash out against those he said were affiliated with prime minister nouri al-maliki. but he did layout the way forward if the government choose to his accept. it's a pretty tall order,

though, he wants air strikes to stop. he wants the military and other security force to his withdraw. and then there is a whole host of other demands. but he did say, quite dramatically, leave it to us, and we will fight the islamic state. that is an important indication if they are right. there are many tribal leaders to cooperate with the government in that fight. sammy. >> all right, thanks so much, jane. let's go to sue in brussels. a lot of diplomatic action where you are, sue. >> reporter: how far are europeans going to sending aid and arms to iraq? >> reporter: well, sammy, we just got the conclusions through from the meeting of the e.u. foreign ministers that, meeting hastily arranged. an emergency meeting while they were all on holiday having to come back here, this statement that they have put out doesn't really call for the e.u. country to his get involved. it approves of those saying that they want to get involved.

in particularly to respond to the kurdish peshmerge. basically following france's decision early this week to sends weapons and ammunition. u.k. foreign minister fill up hammond now saying that the u.k. will look favorably on considering whether to do that really diplomatic speak for saying, they yes, they are pretty much going to do it. the dutch are saying the same thing, and the czech republic saying they are will send aminu missions by the end of the week. the german chancellor said he wants to go see himself but will going to the limits of what is legally possible. the germans were holding back saying they were worried about where the am munitions were going to end up.

which is what prompted the meeting the nations not capable of giving am munitions are willing to giver aid which is basically a constant supply of aid being shipped and dropped down in to the particular sort of northern iraq areas, desperately in need of aid. a unified response that everything is desperately trying to helpful the key nations saying they are willing to get behind the kurdish forces and to really try and help them hold the line in northern iraq. >> all right, thank you so much, sue in brussels. now more from the american friend service committee joins us from washington, d.c. it's an organization that promotes peace and faith.

good to have you with us. first of all, if we could analyze some of the demands outlined by some of the sunni leaders today. things like they have remember dumb on autonomy that no al-maliki aids should be part of the next government. how will the new prime minister deal with that in. >> these demands are coming from one tribal leader in one iraqi province. i think there are different levels of demands and different levels of even interest in the collaborating with the central government. yesterday there were a couple of other statements put by former bath assists and pima fill 80ed with the former regime. and other arms malicious in the sunni areas saying they have they have no interest in

collaborating with the central government whatsoever. they said the change of al-maliki means nothing to tell. these are a step in the right direction for some in iraq. especially if some of the sunni leaders were a i believe to rejoin the political process that will be good to iraq's future. but i don't see this as a statement coming from the majority of sunnis. it's just a group that have made the step. >> is there anything which al-abad i can do to insure that iraq continues to exist as a unified state. >> there are huge issues facing him. one-third of the country is under the control of other

groupings including the islamic state. one-third is under kurdish, like the ruling parties in that region of iraq. and i think the u.s. and europe supporting ethnic a militias in iraq correctly such as the peshmerge undermines al-abadi. so there are real challenges, there are huge challenges that have been compiling for over a decade. many people are spectacle that people coming from the same political party as mr. al-maliki, the same political black and ethnicity and sect as al-maliki could be able to help with the sectarian divisions. >> should the u.s. and even u. be thinking about how to get

more militarily involved in iraq or how to help constitutional change instead? >> my organization and me personally have been against all u.s. military interventions in iraq. and unfortunately, we were proven to be right in the last two decades, every time the u.s. interferes through a unilateral or, you know, military intervention things get worse. so while there is a consensus that iraq is facing a humanitarian and political and military crisis, i think the questions at hand are who will fix the crisis, and how? i don't think the u.s. has any moral or legal authority in iraq yet to fix the crisis. and i don't think dropping more bombs on iraq will fix the crisis. iraq will not be bombed in to moderation or stability. so there are many ideas to effect that change from within the country or with regional and

multi-lateral effort. but i think u.s. and european unilateral moves will not cause anything other than increasing the divisions and increasing the problems in the long run. >> all right, thanks so much. now police in the u.s. state of missouri have named darren wilson as the officer who killed an unarmed black teenager. 18 year olds michael brown was shot dead last saturday in the city of ferguson sparking days of rioting. al jazerra's diane estebrook is with us from ferguson. good to have you with us. first of all, what do you make of the underlying issues that have been fueling the scenes of anger that we have seen coming from ferguson and elsewhere as people protest about what happened in missouri? >> reporter: well, the ranger up until this point has been over the fact that there has been very little transparency in it case. police, "a," did not release the details of what happened prior

to the shooting and during the shooting and they were not releasing the names -- or the name of the police officer involved. but we did find out today, which is very important to this case, is that police saying that 18-year-old michael brown and his companion, dorian johnson, were suspects in a strong-arm robbery of a convenience store just before brown's fatal shooting. they say that they have -- and they have stills of surveillance video in the convenience store allegedly showing brown and his companion going in to the store attempting to steal cigars as they were trying to leave the store the clerk stepped in front of them, barred them from leaving and police say brown took the clerk by the shirt and threw him in to a display case and then came back and stood over the clerk in a very threatening way and then exited the store. during the press conference that we had earlier today when police

released the name of the officer they mentioned the robbery before the shooting, but didn't say if there was a connection between the shooting and -- the shooting and the robbery. we saw police reports after that. we looked through it, and clearly michael brown and his companion and his companion were suspects in that robbery. toes that clears up some questions. but the question remains and, with a lot of people here, why did they not release that information earlier because maybe it could have dispelled some of the problems that we have seen here this week. >> all right, good question there, thanks so much diane estebrook there with the the -- the missouri state highway patrol will take over security there after tear gas and rubber pellets were used. captain ron johnson will now oversee the security effort. >> the american people realize

that we have some wounds to heal. this is a community that has some issues that they feel haven't been addressed. and as law enforcement, that's part of our job to make sure that our citizens trust us and that we protect and that we serve them and that everyone feels that their rights are the most important thing to us when we put this uniform on. missouri state senator joins us from ferguson right now. good to have you with us. first of all, what's prompting these protests on the streets? one assumes that it's more than just the shooting as tragic as it is and the killing of the black teenager. >> yes, i believe that it is. there have been several isolated events where young people have been targeted, testify been intimidated. they have been harassed by authority and police officers in the past and having michael brown shot by a police officer

only brought to bear the feelings that have already existed inside. and so this whole situation has just made them angry and hurt because they feel from their experiences that michael brown could have been them. >> a lot of criticism, of course, focused on the conduct of the local police force, but what do you make of the criticism of the obama administration in that its policy hasn't gone far enough to addressing race issues? >> well, i agree the obama administration has not gone far enough. and i will also tell you that i don't think that our president is very familiar with the history of race relations with governor nixon, our governor, who has been absent from the african-american community for his entire career. frankly, this governor has not even shown up to ground zero. he's been in the city to the north of ferguson, he's been in to the city to the south of ferguson, but he has never been to ground zero and at ground

zero you have all of these young people who are very hurt,. [ inaudible ] and have an incredible amount of anger and without talking to these young people listening to their concerns, the governor is completely disconnected. even in his press conference yesterday when he was speaking, you could tell that he was disconnected from this community. and you can't be a true leader if you can't even step food in ground zero. now yesterday our u.s. senator claire ma classical came down to ground zero and there is a young lady who just got out of jail and i introduced her to our u.s. senator and what came from that is our u.s. senator opened her arms and let the young lady cry in her arms and tell her who is in her heart. that is leadership. that is not the leadership that our governor has taken he's decided to lead from far away instead of at ground zero.

that's a platform. concerns of the police officers, they -- let me tell you, i was in iraq in 2010 and i was attacked by gunfire with a group of people and we had to get in to a bunker for an hour, i will tell you that my experience in 2010 in iraq doesn't even touch this experience. i felt as though i was in iraq in my own district, which seemed like a war zone for this last week and it's unfortunate because it's furthering intimidation of people who are peacefully protesting. i didn't deserve to be tear gassed for three hours. i didn't do anything. i didn't the 150 students around me during the tear gas attack, they didn't deserve they were tearful and didn't didn't serve the teargas attack. this community is angry.

a chilling comparison by many americans, no doubt. thank you very much. coming up in the news hour, we'll be making the anniversary of this marvel. >> reporter: 100 years ago the atlantic to the pacific was open to the world. also ahead chinese farmers begging for help to stop developers from taking over their lands. in sport another setback for tennis world number one ahead of the u.s. open. ukraine's military says it's engaged russian force that his breached its board. ukrainian artillery fired on a column of russian vehicles and part of it no longer exists.

let's bring in emma heyward who is in luhansk. what are you hearings about the clashes between ukrainian and russian forces, emma? >> reporter: well, it's coming from president poroshenko's office, the ukrainian leader. it seems in a phone call to the british prime minister he said that some or moored russian vehicles which have come across the border had been in some kind of fighting with ukrainian forces and have been destroyed in that fight. now, clearly that would be some kind of critical moment in the fight between the separatists and also the ukrainian forces. of course ukraine has long said that russia has been backing the separatist movement here in the east. now, earlier there were some reports that british journalists who were following the aid convoy had seen russia military vehicles come over the border. it is quite a porous border,

around 60-kilometers of it is controlled by the separatists here in eastern ukraine. >> and emma, talking about the rushing an aid convoy, what is the status of that right now? >> reporter: well, sammy it's still parked on the russian side of the border where it stopped yesterday. earlier today, inspectors, border guards crossed over along with customs officials in to the russian side of the border and started their inspection of the convoy. now, remember, it is quite large, there are around 260 vehicles which russia says are carrying much-needed aid for the people in the cities like luhansk which have been badly hit by the fighting. now what appears to have happened is an agreement has been made which will see the convoy move in to russian territory, but it will not have a military escort. this will be overseen by the international committee of the red cross, which will, i think, appease the ukrainians who, as i said before, have been very

suspicious about the motorcycle tiffs of this aid mission. >> emma heyward there, reporting to us, thanks so much. >> warning of abuses by pro-russian separatists after hundreds of abductions, a report from slovyansk. >> reporter: the physical damage of war is quit quite obvious, bl of this can be fixed. but the emotional wounds. this is a picture of their son, he disappeared several weeks ago when the separatists arrested him. they said he was stealing. there are reports that they executed him in a type of crude summary justice. maria has been looking for him everywhere. she says she has to believe that he's still alive. she saw him in her dreams last night. when the separatists were in charge, this building was their

military headquarters. it was partially destroyed in the fighting, but we were allowed inside. this was the office of their command door. and these are the cellars where he kept his prisoners. under the separatists, slovyansk was a city of fear and what people dreaded above all was being brought to these rooms where people were held as hostages and where they were interrogated. on the wall traces of what looked like blood. and here marks, perhaps where someone has been counting off the days. a pro-ukrainian activist was held in that cellar for 10 days, he thought he would die there. >> translator: they tied my hands together and blindfolded me. they beat me with a rubber stick. they kicked me. they put a bucket over my head and i struggling to breathe.

>> reporter: he told me that a friends of his, valentin was murdered bicep tests because they discovered that he was giving information to the ukrainian army. >> translator: at first i hoped these bandits would be punished but i am losing hope every day. police didn't do anything when the separatists were in charge and still don't do anything. >> reporter: we went to the farm where he says valentin was murdered, neighbors confirmed the story, but his family did not want to talk to us. back in slovyansk, 14 bodies were found in this grave. only four have been identified. apparently killed because a separatist leader wanted to take over their business. we don't know who the other 10 bodies belong to. but this is a town where many are still looking for officers. barnaby phillips, al jazerra, slovyansk. well, it's the 100th anniversary of the panama canal construction. and there is a multi-$000 million expansion underway. the project will allow bigger

shipping to was through the canal, there are increasing doubts as to panama's ability to make use of it. al jazerra's rachel joins us live from the panama canal. hour people marking the anniversary today? >> reporter: well, there was a very small ceremony. we are at the one of the locks that ships have to pass through to get from the pacific to atlanta. the ceremony really involved panama canal workers and earlier this week we spent the day with one of the pilots here on the panama canal. climbing aboard another ship is the least challenging part of vilma romero's day. after she checks in, she literally takes command and begins plotting the navigation of the 10,000-ton vessel. the panama canal is the only place in the world where captains have to turnover

control to canal pilots like vilma. 16 years ago she made history by becoming the first panamanian woman to steer these ships through these waters. >> many times the captain says that's my first time working with a female pilot. so we are not too many around the world. but after we go through the first locks, they kind of ease up. >> reporter: it's a high-stress job and one she has to do at any time of day or night. and even in the middle of a storm. >> when it's raining, visibility is also, of course, diminished. and when it's windy, you have to fight the wind or work with the wind, looking at the size of a ship just calculating. >> reporter: after the lines are cast and the engine is cut, vilma commands the crew. there are three narrow locks to be slowly navigated on the 80-kilometer journey. >> slow ahead. >> reporter: it's a delicate task helped by tug boats and locomotives which pull and guide

the ship. this is the most difficult part of the journey, these cargo ships carrying millions of dollars of goods have to pass through these narrow locks, sometimes with just inches to spare. and for pilots like vilma, there is no room for error. operating the canal and getting ships safely from the atlantic to the pacific is the work of 10,000 people. every day dozens of vessels make the shortcut between the two oceans. one of the most ambitious engineering projects in history. it took nearly 40 years to build. nearly 26,000 workers died, mainly from diseases like malaria. when it was complete, it changed international trade forever. now a new era beckons, panama is spending $6.5 billion to widen the canal and double its capacity. back on board, vilma has a long journey ahead. but she loves the challenge and the adrenaline. >> i am doing a little bit to

contribute that panamanians show to the world that we can handle this. we have done a pretty good job. >> reporter: for her and her thousands of colleagues, canal is a national symbol, not just of great success, but of great sacrifice by those who built it and changed the world. and we are now joined by another canal worker, it's actually a family affair, he's sixth generation, joining us now to talk a little bit about what this day means is kevin. kevin, can you tell us what does this day mean for you both as a panamanian and a canal worker? >> it's a pretty happy day. my great grandfather came down in 1883, so it's -- he came down from france so it's been a family affair as you said throughout the years, yeah. >> reporter: tell us a little bit about what the next phase is? i understand that you actually worked a bit on the expansion.

why is that so important? >> the new ships they are building, the regulations they are building them with are a lot bigger so they don't fit through these locks, they have to actually build bigger locks which are a little bit further west over there. so that's what they are working on right now. >> reporter: and what about your job is the most stressful? i understand that you are one of the traffic controllers. tell us by aiyegbeni little bit about that. >> yeah. they say to be a marine traffic controller, you do -- when you do your job well no one knows that you are actually doing your job and that's really true. so when things go bad that's when you hear about the marine traffic control. it's pretty stressful you have to manage all of these ships going by north and south and there are only two sides of the locks they can go on, you really need to prioritize which one goes first and which one second depending on all these external characteristics that they have. >> reporter: and i understand was this a dream of yours to always work on the canal like your family? how is it that you decided to

try to actually join the family business, if you will? >> yeah, a lot of pima ply to work at the panama canal, so i didn't think i would get in honestly, there were a lot of pima plying to one position so i was kind of lucky and i am pretty happen by this. thank you very much for joining us. so celebrations will continue throughout the week and the weekend. and, again, this is a very important moment for panamanians, it's a real sense of pride here for people. they feel that this is not only a symbol of their country, but a wonder of the world especially in terms of engineering and how this canal really transformed international trade. >> it did indeed, thanks so much, rachel lavine there. still to come in the news hour, we hear from some of the yazidi people who fled to the mountain to his escape the islamic state fighters. >> i am fez in india with the country's contribution to the first world war likely saved the western front.

coming up we'll see how those and other memories from the war are fading. why this runner was stripped of his gold medal at the european athletics championships.