this is al jazeera. fleischer >> this is al jazeera's newshour life from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next sixty minutes, a pro-russia separatist leader said serving russia solders are fighting in his ranks. also ahead... >> gaza central jail, exclusive access to a special ward where those suspected of collaborate with israel are held.

>> it is no longer just africa's problems. the mention from a top u.s. expert. >> let's make a comeback. . >> from batman to birdman, michael keeton gets the venice film festival off to a flying start. >> so we start this news hour with the crisis in ukraine and reports are coming in to us predominantly from the reuters' news agency of the petro poroshenko calling angurgent security meeting because of what he is calling a russian military invasion. as i say, a russian military invasion is what president poroshenko is calling the current situation in his countritries, plus a spoesh that separatist leader has come out saying that russian soldiers are

fighting among his ranks. we can go live now to our correspondent paul brennan north of mariapol. he has been following the stories for us. paul, tell us what you know. >> reporter: martin, the crisis here in ukraine, i think, is entering a very critical next 24 hours. two main questions on the table: firstly, how long can russia go on denying what is increasingly becoming undeniable, the presence of russian soldiers on ukrainian soil. secondly, what will be the response of the ukrainian government? i know from speaking to a source in kiev this morning, there were meetings taking place as to exactly how to you describe the ongoing incursions that are being reported just west -- sorry -- just east of where i am standing now by russian forces. whether they would call it an invasion, according to reuters' news agency, they are saying

that president poroshenko is actively calling it a russian invasion now. the lithuanians have come out in support of the ukrainian position. they, too, are echoing president poroshenko's call for an urgent meeting of the u.n. security counsel. saying lithuania condemns the obvious invasion. this is a direct quote of ukrainian territory by the armed forces of the russian federation. the reason why it's crist cal is because if this is an invasion, do we now move to an official declaration of war between ukraine and russia? now, are russian troops actually here? russia continues to deny that. we have also heard from the self-proclaimed prime minister of the donetsk's peoples republic, the separatist organization today. he seemed to admit that there were, indeed, russian regular soldiers fighting amongst the separatist ranks.

>> among volunteers from russia, there have always been many former military servicemen. they fight for us understanding that this is their duty. i will be even more frank with you. there are soldiers serving among us who prefer to spend their vacation not on sea beaches but among brothers fighting for their freedom. >> hearing in kiev protesters have started to gather outside of the ministry of defense demanding urgent military action from the government to relief a contingence of volunteer battalions which have been en circled near the do you think of elibask. >> that's one part of the urgent situation but there is also the question of what is russia's intention down here in the southeast of ukraine? is it simply to open another fronts, to distract from the conflict which has been raging up further north in donetsk and luhansk or potentially an effort to form a bridgehead between

mainland russia and the annexed territory of crimea? >> this is perhaps a critical moment. how would you assess the military balance in terms of the ukrainian government's efforts to try to recapture large parts of eastern ukraine? >> reporter: well, there has been large gains made by the ukrainian army. the regular army and its national guard battalions which have been growing from a volunteer force essentially just a few months ago now to a pretty well equipped and well organized national defense force. quite what the russia's intention is, as i say, remains very unclear, but it does appear that a major counter offensive appears to be ongoing by russian forces down here in the southeast of ukraine. the balance does appear to be shifting. they are making gains. this town of noboaskask does

appear to have fallen. there are conflicting reports. some say the conflict is ongoing there. it does appear to have fallen at the very least separatists backed by regular russian soldiers. some say the vehicles that are there, although they have donetsk people's flags, they are regular russian army vehicles. it's a very fluid situation. but it does appear that the russian military is now count counteroffensive to try to get back some of the ground which it has lost given the recent ukrainian army gains. >> let's go live to moscow and pete to peter sharp. there seems to be a growing body of evidence suggesting a russian presence, a russian military presence in eastern ukraine. >> reporter: i think that's right. it is really a step change in russia's involvement in the conflict in ukraine. only a few hours ago, the american ambassador in kiev,

jeffrey pierrt insisted russia was involved in sending military convoys and some of its latest weapons including it's latest ground to air missile system is now being sent to the ukrainian forces on the ground. and in europe, across europe, reaction, too, to russia's perceived growing involvement, the president in paris said if russian soldiers were inside ukraine, it would be both intolerable and unacceptable and he warned europe was facing the biggest crisis since the end of the cold war. if he fell fast on the heels of angela merkel demanding from putin about these para troopers across the boarders, the ukrainians say deep inside, about 40 or 50 miles inside ukraine and german's looking for a response there.

i think perception here that the situation is growing more serious by the hour. >> for now, peter, thank you. he will keep us up to date with developments from moscow. another man has died of ebola in nigeria. this happened in port harcourt, a major oil center of this oil producing country. meanwhile, health ministers are meeting ghana's capitol to talk about the crisis. more than 1 and a half thousand people have so far died in the four affected west african nations since the start of the year. erica woods reports. >> now, more than ever, doctors, disease experts, aid groups the world over have stark warnings about ebola. it's not a longer just africa's problem. >> the world has never seen an outbreak of ebola like this. i wish i didn't have to say this. but it is going to get worse

before it gets better. >> it will be some time before they have a handle on the spread of the virus. >> at the moment, our leaders say that they would estimate six to nine months before this outbreak can be contained. you want there to be no more cases of ebola. that's when you know it's maintained. it's a long haul still, a long distance to go form. >> this strain of ebola is killing more than half of those who are infected. it's spread through contact with bodily fluids. although there are controversial treatments now being trialed, there are no known cures. the major battle has been fighting the fear inside the affected countries and properly educating the public. >> the population as turned. they are now afraid. they are asking for help. >> health workers already trying to help treat and contain the outbreak inside the affected countries are you had staffed and under resourced. they simply cannot keep up. >> the numbers is going up

rapidly, faster than what we thought, forcing us to adapt our plans and strategy on a daily basis. it is really an extremely challenging situation. we can't do more than we are doing now. >> world health organization says it's helping 11 countries get ready for a possible spread of ebola inside their borders, mostly neighboring countries were offering training and protective clothing. the message from experts and leaders has been clear: the response needs to come from not just africa but the world over. erica woods, al jazeera. >> a journalist who just came back from sierra leone jones us from london. casey, tell us about some of the things that you saw in sierra leone which has been badly affected by this outbreak of ebola. tell us about how they are trying to contain it. >> i was up there. i went with unicef. and stayed with the usmf

doctors. there is some effort to try to contain it. it's not working. on the way to freetown to kalahun, the epicenter of the outbreak, there were about 20 checkpoints that i had to go through, which you think would be a good thing. but of those 20s, only one checkpoint where they actually took your fever and took your temperature to see if there are any sort of symptoms. the containment effort is just really under resourced. i think it's understaffed like you said in the piece. and the people there are really stretched. >> casey, can i take you through some of the really simple, seems to be offered steps to take and i wonder if you could give me some comments about them. one of the main recommendations is soap and water, washing hands regularly with soap and using clean towels to dry them. how is sierra leone putting that into effect? >> it seems really simple but in

the places that are the most affected, clean water and soap aren't things that are that easy to get. you know, things like washing hands, that depends upon people not being ignorant about the fact that touching the body is, you know, if you touch the body, come into contact with fluids, you are going to get it. most people don't know that. a lot of people are still in denial. i saw people with ebola and their family members were still touching them. they didn't believe they have ebola so they weren't doing simple things like washing your hands which can kill al virus which is not suited to the outside of the human body so it's not that easy to catch, but it's still spreading quickly. >> it sounds very much as though ignorance might be playing largest part in the spread of this? >> from what i saw, that was one of the biggest issues. not just ignorance of how to kind of contain virus but, you know, this is something that's never been seen in west africa.

people are scared. the doctors are trying to kind of tell people, this is what you need to do. being seen as like the enemy basically. people don't trust them. the msf doctors where i was told me that they had been -- they had got quite a lot of abuse in some of the villages they were trying to go to because people think they are bringing the disease in. people thdon't want to report i because they feel like the doctors will take their family away and they won't see them again and they don't realize that actually getting early treatment can save a lot of lives. so, yeah there is a lot of ignorance and superstition what we call juju had west africa which people from kind of following the rules that might help to contain spread. >> casey mark, thank you very much for giving us some of your personal observations, having just come back from sierra leone. thank you so much for that. >> thank you. >> along with the medical emergency, the impact of the

business on the region. many affected countries and their neighbors have closed borders in order to try to stop this virus from spreading. now, this has killed off what vibrant trade there was in commodities like palm oil. within the last two days, air france and british airways have said that they are suspending flights to the region. this is a move the u.n. says actually makes it harder to tackle the virus and, of course, it's hurting their economies. sierra leone had hoped to export $200 million worth of diamonds this year. but the government says the outbreak will present it from meeting this target. with miners too afraid to go to the dye monday pits in the country's east where there have been many cases of ebola. this week, the african development bank donated $60 million toward the essential supplies to try to help train medical workers, but it said the outbreak could cost the affected countries up to 4% of their gdp, their gross domestic project.

a maven hit for already very poor countries. >> foreign exchange levels are down. markets are not functioning. business people have left. >> that's very, very damaging. now, into that the fact that it is rainy season. price of produce is going up. at the time when purchasing power is limited, you are increasing poverty. >> there is a lot more on the ebola outbreak on the website. we have a special interactive graphic which looks at just how deadly the vitters is. >> that's at aljazeera.com. >> now, israel's prime minister is stressing more attacks on gaza as palestinian fighters violate the agreement. bingbing netanyahu : >> hamas was severely beaten.

it didn't get one of the conditions is demanded for a cease-fire. i take this tinge to say that if it resumes fire, we will not tolerate a sprinkle of shooting at any part of israel. what we get in response now, we will respond even more syringe rus rusly. >> off to sellbrations in gaza. hamas leaders are claiming a victory and dismissing any suggestions of making concessions in accepting the ceasefire. >> at least 18 palestinians expected of collaborating with israel were executed in gaza during the conflict and many more suspects are being held in solitary confinement. al jazeera has been given exclusive access to gaza's central prison. imtyaz has our report. >> we were certain below gaza's central prison to award where men suspected of collaborating

with israel is held. al jazeera was given access under strict security protocol. he tells me they are kept isolated because if others of their alleged crimes, they could be killed. >> there are eight prisoners here we only let them out to use the bathroom and to pray. but whenever we let them leave the cells, we cover their face with a hood. >> the inmates were instructed not to speak to us. we were told by prison officials they all deny the charges against them. >> suspected collaborators can spend days, weeks, and even years in these one by two meter cells before they face a revolutionary court who will decide their fate. >> on august 22nd, hamas executed 18 suspected israeli informants. 11 were killed publion this street corner in gaza city. it was the largest number of suspected oklahoma collaborators killed by hamas in a single day since it took control of the

gaza strip in 2007. it followed an israeli airstrike on a house that killed three of the most 7 ario military commanders, the single biggest strike against hamas's armed wing since fighting began. it's leaders made it clear anyone suspected of working with israel would also be punished. the family of one of the men who was executed buried him quickly and without the usual islamic funeral rights. they didn't want to call attention to the fact he was killed on hamas's orders. worried about being recognized, they wanted our camera crew to leave but insist he was wrongly accused. >> my brother is innocent. our lawyers say all of the charges against him were false. this is all a propaganda. >> israel has a long and successful history of recruiting collaborators and informers in the occupied west bank and in the gaza strip. they do so through a variety of different means. sometimes with money, other

times, it's through blackmail or by intimidating family members. while these menden having any ties with israeli forces, the mere suspicion of it is how most ended up here al jazeera at the gaza central prison. >> we have got a lot more to come here on the al jazeera news hour including america's gun culture is back in the spotlight after .2 accidental shootings. one of them involving a 9-year-old girl. freed from jail after 22 years, now this columbian hit man fears for his life. in sport, maria sharapova feels the heat in her second round at the u.s. open. a verdict is due in south africa in the trial of six men accused of trying to kill a rwanda general. the general in question used to

be a close associate of the rwandan president. they fell out and he fled to south africa. tonya page takes up the story. >> reporter: these men are accused of trying to kill the former chief of the rwandan army. he accuses them of working for the rwandan government sent to hunt down dissidents like him. he is under security protection but that didn't stop attacks on his life. it left his son holding his father's blood-stain clothing. a year later, police broke up another plot to kill him. six months ago, more armed men stacked his johannesburg house. the rwandan government and president have strongly denied the allegations. his lawyer accuses ragwami of wanting revenge. >> he said he would use the hammer to kill a fly.

so what was he meaning? he was giving the word to anybody, intelligence officials, to find a way out. so there is no doubt about he is the one who has given the orders. >> his own past is controversial but he has denied accusations he is responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes linked to the rwandan genocide. the 20th anniversary was commemorated in april. the president has always denied involvement in the attacks on yomasa and on his former intelligence chief who was strangled in a johanez burg hotel room this year. >> the security forces of several countries, including the u.k. and sweeden, have warned rwandan ex aisles of threats against them believed to have been issued by the rwandan government. the defendants in this case say they don't know who ordered the attack but that they were first approached by awe rwandan. >> this is a criminal try in

south africa, highlighted rwanda's violent past. there may be enough evidence of a conviction here but the question of who is behind it all seems likely to be unanswered. >> let's go to tania outside of the court in johannes berg. a magistrate is wadding through it now. when can we expect a verdictflw through it now. when can we expect a verdict? >> it has become clear that we are not going to get a verdict until tomorrow. partly because the trial is so long and it needs to be translated into two different languages for the benefit of the rwandan accused and the tansanianningsed. >> that's tripling the length of time. so much of this evidence has been incredibly sensitive so he needs to be particularly about the detail he gives, summarizing the prosecution case and the defense case. the most sensitive inform information, of course, testimony of general niomasa,

himself, who has accused president paul gadame who has accused hunting down dissidents like him. the prosecution told me clearly that he was only is able to present what was provable so he has presented evidence linking these six accused together, phone records, text messages particularly around accused number 6 who is basically believed to have been the go-between who moved back with the borders between the two countries, was captured on a million dollar with him with which it was alleged he tried to bribe the police and was found with a dossier if you like of newspaper articles about the general, his background, his history with paul gadame and the authorities and how they fell out. when asked explicitly who he worked for, he said i don't work for anyone. i work for myself. i am in busy. >> thank you for giving us the latest from johannesburg.

here with me a former bureau chief in southern africa. tell us: how do south african authorities feel about having post-genocide rwandan politics played out on the streets of johannesburg? >> i think the south african government is really concerned about it, but there is little they can do about it because south africa, you are bound to have the african middle class coming to go particularly johannes berg. many of them have second homes in johannesburg. >> people are in exile as well because this former general was seeking exile, wasn't he, in south africa. >> sure, sure. many of them are coming especially from rwanda coming to south africa. south africa is suddenly a refuge for all of those people who will find themselves oppressed in respective countries. >> how does south africa feel

about having to cope with issues that are not necessarily its problem actually but problems of surrounding countries? >> they have no choice because a long time ago, fighters different parts of africa. one would argue it's theirs to have no choice but to deal with them and allow them to operate within south africa. >> in so many ways with this case in particular in the doc is the government of paul gadame. this being one of several allegations about his dictatorial style is what many people are calling it. so how are relations between jacob zuma and paul gagame? and i wonder how they will be after the ruling. >> certainly sour but thaefb friend with the president and

nelson mandela and jacob zuma was the convener of the peace accord. the relationship isn't very good until recently. we see that now. things are turning sour. if you look at the guys who are from rwanda are all associated in military and intelligence, jacob zuma being one of the former intelligence operators so they use that local long-term relationship. >> a community almost? >> yeah. yeah. >> what will the verdict actually mean? what will happen if, indeed, it is found that these men are guilty of trying to assassinate this former general? what will that mean in terms of the way south africa deals with the are rhonda's presence of dissidents in its midst? >> a lot for south africa but i don't think south africa will take a stand-alone position in

this regard. it will probably involve the only platform that can really impose sanctions in which it is currently dealing with the national problems. so i don't think south africa will have a stand-alone position in this one. >> okay. thank you. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists jailed in egypt. they have all been in prison for 243 days now. they are wrongly accused of help, the outlawed muslim brotherhood. in june, mohamed fahmy and peter greste were given seven years. mohammed received an extra three years because he had a spent bullet on him which he picked up at a protest. australia and malaysia have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the search for missing malaysian airliner mh-317. the flight with 239 people veered off course on march the

8th. now, it's thought to have crashed in the indian ocean to the far west of the australian coa coast. a dutch contractor has been hired to conduct an underwater search. >> australia's national airline contest announced it's biggest ever loss. managers blame it on restructuring costs. >> keeping a close eye on southern china today. >> that's right. there has been a huge area of cloud with us for the past few hours. the question is: will it develop into a tropical storm or not? let's take a look at it on the satellite picture. you can see this massive area of clouds here it's working steadily toward the west. it's this particular part of this area of cloud that we have got to watch. >> that's the bit that's at risk of turning into a tropical storm. but at the moment, it does look like it's not going to make it in time because it's moving towards the west. it's going to hit land before it has the chance to intensify

enough to be classed as a tropical storm. another thing that's been disrupting it is that the upper level winds have been pushing quite quickly. >> that's been disrupting the system somewhat. so, at the moment, it looks like it won't develop into a storm but that's not to say it's not going to give us some very heavy rain. so for the southern part of china and for the northern half of vietnam, it's going to be very, very wet as we head through the next couple of days. the westest day is going to be between now and end of friday when we are going to have the most amount of rain and then gradually, that system will work its way away toward the west. following it, there is still doing going to be quite a few showers. so still some heavy rain. the main area of wet weather will be beginning to pull away. >> means on friday for the southern part of china and the north earn parts of vietnam, there is likely to be some flooding. >> thank you very much, steph. lots more to come on the news hour. we will be live in ankara where turkey's first ever head of state elected by popular vote is

about to be sworn in. >> later in sport, we will tell you how one rider managed back to backstage wins at the spanish vuelta.

welcome back to the news hour. let's remind you the top stories. rig -- rig reuters news agency is saying president poroshenko is describing a russian military invasion. the pro-russian separatists in

vain are saying up to 4,000 soldiers are fighting alongside them against ukrainian army. health ministers from across west africa are talking about the worst ever outbreak of ebola. more than 1500 people have died from the disease. >> syria, the number of foreign fighters. u.s. intelligence reckons 7,000 have joined the valths. president obama is to talk about the threat. the first government officials say the u.s. citizen, douglas was fighting for the islamic state group in shaq. reports say a second american being killed are also being investigated. britain is considering new laws after the killing of u.s. journalist james foley by a man who was thought to be british. the british government things that at least 500 britons have traveled to syria or iraq.

australia has tightened efforts to try to stop would-be flighters from flying to syria and iran. at least sixty australians are thought to be fighting there. the prime minister announced increased funding to try to stop more australians joining them. >> in kosovo, more than 40 arrests have been made. a report from pristina. >> a mother in the balkans decided to go on national t.v. to beg her husband to return their 8-year-old son. the last time she saw her husband and son was when she saw them off two months ago as they were heading for holidays in the mountains. a week later, she received the sms message. they are well, it said action and in syria. >> he always said he didn't belong here, that he wouldn't go anywhere until he provided for us so that we are comfortable

when he leaves but he never mentioned he would take our son with him. >> her husband is not the only one who decided to fight in foreign wars. kosovo police arrested 4 three people suspected of helping islamic state and el neustra fighters in syria. >> during the search, we confiscated 4 klasnokovs, hunting rifles, radio devices action military equipment, some explosives and electronic equipment. >> in court, the suspect denied they were members of any rebel group. >> i am pleased to say that these people don't have a terrorist mentality. they don't sympathize with terrorist acts and condemn every act of such character. >> also on their police investigation are a few imams suspected of inciting believers

to join the jihad. >> the islamic community of kosovo supported the police action and arrest of the suspects. we demand investigating suspicious persons. we were against people participating in wars in iraq and syria. >> she hopes her son will come back home. >> every morning, i wake up hoping he will come back. i don't sleep at night because i am afraid i won't hear him if he comes back. i spend days thinking when and how i will go to the airport to pick him up. i hope he will come back. now, ahead of a new school years, it's even harder for me. all of the other kids start school and i don't even know what will happen with him. >> kosovo police say they are doing everything to bring the 8-year-old back to his mother. she hopes the hope showing on

social networks will help convince her husband to return their son. >> turkey's prime minister is about to be sworn in as the new president. he won the first direct presidential election earlier this morning. he wants to transform the largely ceremonial role into a more powerful position and is expected to introduce constitutional reforms. his replacement as prime minister is the only foreign minister. let's go live now to ankara and talk to our correspondent. just a shuffling of the old guard really. isn't it? >> well, martin a, erudowan as dominated the political landscape in turkey for the last 10 years. no expect him to melt into the background once he assumes the presidency. he said as much, himself. so you can expect a president more involved in the day-to-day running of turkey. you can expect him to revive long dormant powers that the

president has such as the power to call cabinet meetings. yes, he has overseen already the appointment of the former foreign minister and now prime minister. he is a long-term, long-standing erduw erduwan loyalist. all of this is controversial because the office of the see is designed to be above politics. it's supposed to be a check on the power of parliament. as i say, erduwan has already said he wants to craft a more executive presence, and critics worry this fame lusly competent eudowan. >> he has a tighter grasp in terms of turkish politics. what does he need to put in place in order to have this more robust presidency that he envisages? >> his challenge is to create a more powerful presidency. >> is going to be a challenge.

he needs 2/3 parliament majority to change the constitution. that will means his party that he was the head of needs to win another 50 seats in elections next year to have that majority to change the constitution. >> that's boo no means guaranteed. there are plenty of critics who suggest the party has peaked. the prime minister will need to steer the party to the e leingsz and hopefully increase electoral support to affect the changes to create this executive princess. >> thank you very much, bernard, our correspondent live in ankara. >> u.s. gun laws back in the spotlight after a .9-year-old girl shot and killed her instructor at a shoot range in arizona. she was being shown how to lose the weapon. she lost control of it when it was switched to automatic. jennifer london reports from los angeles. >> turn forward. there you go. just like that.

>> this cell phone video showing a 9-year-old girl firing a fullly automatic uzi at a gun range in arizona tells only part of the story. >> all right. go ahead and give me .1 shot. >> what the video doesn't show moments later, the weapon's powerful kickback causes gun to lurch up. her instructor, charlie vaca is standing to her side. he is shot several times and killed. >> it made everybody more alert, certainly. >> it also raises a lot of questions. why would a child who may not be physically strong enough to control such a powerful weapon be allowed to fire one? bobberwin is owner of the gun shop in nearby las vegas, a destination that's led the way in what's called machinegun tourism. he says girl was within the ranges age requirement of .8 years old. he also feels what happened in the arizona desert isnub. >> i have been at this now for 40 years. we have been having a machine gun rental range and i have

never heard of any of this happening. >>erwin is wrong. it has happened before. in 2.008, at a gun expo in massachusetts, an .8-year-old boy accidentally killed himself while shooting an uzi. federal law has effectively banned the sale of fully automatic weapons to the public since 1986. but collectors and others are still allowed to have machine guns that were made before then. california gun laws are even tougher so you won't find an uzi at a gun range here. >> the gun simulator is inside here. >> let's step right in. >> greg block is only .1 of a handful of people in california licensed to possess and operate an uzi? >> this particular one is a micro uzi, the smaller version of the full size she was shooting. index there. put four fingers underneath the trigger guard and thumbs side-by-side. >> block uses a smaller hand gun in a virtual training simulator to give me a lesson.

>> i am firing this quite a few times. this gun is really heavy. >> yes and it's light compared to the uzi. the uzi is a much heavier gun. >> the uzi has a large grip which can make it hard for small hands to grasp. >> under any circumstances, can you see a reason why a child should be handling this kind of weapon? >> not really. full automatics are hard to shoot because they rise up and to the left. and unless you have got somebody with enough weight and enough upper body strength, it's impossible to control it. >> as this young girl on vacation learned too late. jennifer london, al jazeera, los angeles. >> in another shooting in the u.s., a t.v. technician has been killed by a policeman while filming a reality show. it was called "cops." the sound man was recording an armed robbery when he was hit by a stray bullet. it went in through a gap in his

bullet-proof vest. >> the people of colombia aren't divided over the release of one of the cocaine king's most notorious men. value esquez has confessed to hundreds of murders, including that of his wife, he has been freedom after spending 22 years in a maximum security prison. a report from bogota. >> he left prison under heavy police security, one of columbia's most notorious prisoners says he has an 80% chance of being murdered. given ib its history, the odds might not be far off. valuez questions who goes by the next name popeye started working for pablo escobar at age 18. by the time he got arrested, he had personally killed 300 people and ordered the murder of at least 3,000 more. he detonated hundreds of car bombs and organized kidnappings,

but he also cooperated with law enforcement, giving evidence against powerful columbian figures which led to ihis early release. >> he has completed his sentence and at the end of the day, what's happening here is in accordance with the law, which is what should always happen in a democracy. >> several victims disagree. his father died when escobar bombed a passenger flight kill more than 100 people. >> this criminal is getting out without paying for all of his crimes. many victims continue living with this impunity. we don't know the truth. we don't have justice or rep arrestations. we feel like it's a slap in the face of victims. it's like we are victims all over again. >> others agree with his release arguing that justice has now been served. >> the fact is that in colombia

we don't have life in prison or the death penalty. by our lawyers, 22 years is a short sentence. actually, popeye did pay for his crimes. there are many other escobar associates who were freed with much shorter sentences. >> he was handed over to his family in a secretly location. he will start a probation period of 4 years. it's an opportunity to close the door on one of the darkest chapters in the country's history. al jazeera, bogota. >> still to come on the newshour, michelle zlatini announces whether or not he will run for fifa president. we will tell you his decision in just a little while. >> in venus, the world's oldest film festival. who will take the top prize? the golden lion in 10 days' time? ?

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intimate, unexpected >> you will not believe what just happened. >> this is life >> i'm just gonna prove my family wrong. >> "on the edge eighteen" only on al jazeera america thank you very much, martin, the ahead of tulle has announced he won't challenge for the fifa presidency. the former french international told european delegates in monaco he wants to continues his work he says his decision is based upon where his passion lies. so that leaves just two current candidates for the presidential elecs to be held in switzerland next year. they will be voted by fifa's 209

member associations. there is seth blatter who has been in charge of football since 1998, standing for a 5th term which would take him to the age of 83. his tenure has been dogged by controversy and corruption. his rival, a former french diplomat who served as a fifa executive for 11 years before departing in 2010. he has worked as an add vice to blatter but he says it's time for change. for more on this, i am joined by our sports correspondent lee. calling for a breath of fresh air. he is not running, himself. why do you think that is? >> michelle, he and his advisors thought logicng arrested hard at this. he has been around the block. knows how this works. he knows incredible support sepp blatter has within fifa.

the rest of it, a 200 mer names of fifa are fully behind blatter. he would go for 4 more years as it looks like he will until the age of 8 three. what patini will do is beside his time. he will start euefa. he has support there. no problems at all with staying in that role when there is a new election next year. after that, i think at some stage, we will eventually see michel patini try to become fifa president. if he took it in 2019 at the age of 63, that's young in fifa terms. he could do that but he felt the timing was not right. now, much as i think he would love the chance to do it. >> for now, who do you think realistically can challenge blatter? >> it's not going to happen. there is one man you have mentioned, jerome champaign. the disappointing thing is that even in announcing he is taking

on sepp blatter. champaign said he knows he cannot win. >> that's going to be like 2011 where mr. benjamin wasn't part of the race. it was a one-man election: i have had the privilege of putting this to sepp blatter's face. it's outside of football fans that question it. he wanted to launch a proper attack on sepp blatter becauut thought better of it. it was thinly veiled some of the comments. i am not always sure blatter believes what he said. he said mr. about what timer will not be beaten in an election and go on unless a candidate comes straight out of left field and dares to take him on. >> we know patini has big spoken initials to deal with. doesn't he? >> he does. there is a complete overhaul of european qualifiers that starts next week. it's going to be completely different with the television rights. you are going to have blocks of matches played consecutive

nights. sometimes three nights in successions. people can watch more on television wherever you are. euefa hopes that will there. football in this region. >> thank you for that. the draw for the group stage of the u.s. are champions league takes place in monaco arsenal will be in the pot for 17th consecutive season. a new signing alex sanchez called his first goal for arsenal in their 1-nil win. . >> we did it against a very if team. you must give credit to besiktas when you see the results. in pre-season, you understand why they beat all of the teams they met because a closed unit well organized, physically very strong and technically very good. >> now, through with a 6-5 win on penalty thanks to the

defender who stepped in goal to make two saves. athlet cal beat nap lee 3-1. a win over sousalzburg. to tennis in 2006, winner maria sharapova needed three sets to avoid an early upset in the second round of the u.s. open. richard par wraps up action at day 3 at ing meadows. >> a hairy moment at the u.s. open. her hair got caught in her racket and she was unable to return against alexander sasnovich. the same did may to go through to the third round and straight six. >> maria sharapova came from a set down to win her match in swe sweltering conditions. the 2006 u.s. open champion

eventually beat world number 95. >> it was difficult. obviously the conditions were tart. you start in the sun, finish under the lights. it's a long match. overall, i felt like in the end i was in much better shape than she was and i could have played another few sets and mentally, that helped me a lot. >> the popol lost to 63, 6-4. >> i didn't play bad today. it was just her day and, of course, i could do something different maybe. but i really try my best and i was holding to the end. i couldn't do it. >> so such problem, second seed salip, the french open finalist only dropped three games in her straight set victory over lan

lana separola. venus williams is through for the first time since 2010. the two-time u.s. open champion beat bazinski of schwitzer land 6-1, 6-4. in the men's draw, australian open champion stan vabrinka needed four sets to get past valuchi. . >> i am playing better. the serve was really good today. my focus, also, i know what i did wrong, but i am not -- i know the more i win, the better i play. that's important for me. >> 2001 champion leighton hewitt's campaign has ended. the 33-year-old lost in straight sets to 6th seed thomas berdich. richard par,ays. >> later, stage 5 of the pan

issue of vuelta, his second stage win in a row. 25-year-old rider broke free from the pack with just 600 meters to go out sprinting his rivals to cross the finish line in 4 hours, 41 minutes and 47 seconds. australian michael matthews retains the red jersey and is 13 seconds ahead of title favorite quintana of colombia. there is more now. aljazeera.com/sport. there is details there had how to get in touch with our team use twitter and facebook w plus we have bloingdz and video clips from our correspondents around the world. the address again, aljazeera.com/sport. that's sport. hand you back to martin. >> we are going to venice. you like venice. >> i love it. >> because the prestigious film festival is underway there. the top film makers vie for their top award and all of the acclaim that comes with it. our man on the red carpet is

phil navell. >> sun is out. stars are, too, especially those trying to revile struggling careers here in venice the case in point, michael keeton. his career may not be lifeless but his character certainly is. birdman is the tale of an act who once played a super hero struggles to get past that part. this is the opening movie here at the venice festival. the winner? maybe. depends upon what the jury thinks. >> you know, anything can be the subject of a movie here at the venice film fest valve even the traffic. i am not channexaggerating of t that was what it was about, a busy road. it came seemingly from nowhere. it swooped under the critics' noses and took the big prize, the golden lion on the last night. >> that's one of the things about the venice film festival. it's got the red carpet, the flaingdz, blue skies, celebrities, tradition

>> but beneath the veneer, there is this fondness for edgy films, for cinema that challenges the norms. supporters say it's that variety that makes this not 7 one years old but 71 years young. nevertheless, there are some things that come up again and again this year. war is one of them. we have limarcial from screen international. lee, tell us why war is so popular in the french festival. >> screen righters need conflict to make good dramas and where better to go than a war zone? it's a continuing trend. i don't think it will stop any time soon. >> let's talk about the jury. it's a big mix this year. what kind of things would exciting them? >> difficult to second-guess because as you say, it really is a mixed bag this year. we have an indian writer, a french music composer. it could go any way this year. >> i know critics don't like to be tied down at this early stage. but give us a hint.

who do you think might take the golden lion this year? >> a documentary won last year. there is another one in competition this year, oppenheimer's look of silence, a follow-up to the act of killing in indonesia in the mid 60s. i put my money on that. >> what they will take home, the golden lion. the clock is ticking. the film world is watching. it is going to be a very busy, a very exciting 10 days here fill lavelle, al jazeera at the venice film festival. >> before we go, let's remind you of the new lines coming out on the situation in crain. tension is high at the moment because we have heard that the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko is calling for urgent security meeting because of what he is calling -- these are his words -- a russian military invasion. david will have more on that and the rest of the day's news in just a little while. stay with us here at al jazeera.

>> on the stream, >> from political activisim in the nfl, to protecting some of the worlds most vurnarable sea creatures. join us for a conversation with footballer cris kluwe and dolphin activist, ric o'barry. >> the stream, on aljazeera america >> as a mother, i ask for justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. >> a mother pleading with the islamic state group to spare her son's life. >> the f.b.i. investigating a major cyber breach at several u.s. banks. hackers reportedly forced their way in, customizing customer's information and accounts.