twitter, facebook, google plus and more. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the thu -- news hour. i'm martine dennis. coming up on the news hour, the end of a 27-year rule. the president of burkina faso resigns following violent protests. turkey's president rejects claims his country supports isil. as france's president supports the idea of a buffer zone in

syria. yemen's president is being told to form a new government within ten days or face the consequences. and where to politicians stand on the actual issues in america? but first the army chief in burkina faso has taken power, following the resignation of the long-standing president, blaise compaore. the military has dissolved parliament and a state of emergency is now in place. >> reporter: blaise compaore was president of burkina faso for 27 years. to come he was the only president they had ever known. his sudden departure was anoupsed by the military. >> translator: people of burkina

faso the national armed forces announce the resignation of the president. i will assume responsibility of the government and will start immediately. >> reporter: compaore's resignation will be welcomed by many, but it was his at -- attempts to extend his time in office that prompted the protests. he did agree not to seek eat term in office, but said he would remain in power until next year. >> translator: i call on all parties to put the country's needs first. for my part i remain open and available for transitional talks, until i hand over power. >> reporter: but opposition leaders wanted the president to resign immediately, and called on their supporters to keep on protesting. >> reporter: mr. blaise compaore

issued a statement in which he still considers himself the head of state. the opposition has said repeatedly that prior to any discussion of police cat transition it is pure and simple and unconditional that president blaise compaore must leave. >> reporter: tuesday marked the start of a civil disobedience campaign. they stormed parliament and set it on fire. they were trying to stop the vote that would allow the president to run for office again. after days of violence, people in burkina faso hope the president's resignation will bring an end to the recent chaos and violence they have had to endure. >> so how did we get to this point. in the decades after its independence from france, burkina faso went through a series of coups. the last coup was masterminded by mr. compaore himself in 1987.

he has ruled the country since then, but in that time it has remained in relative poverty. literacy rates are very low too, less than 30% of the country can read or write. all right. let's talk to mark schroeder now, the president of africa analysis. he joins us live now from austin int third quartexatexas in the . we have people demonstrating against a long-serving president. he is gone. but what they have got in his place is the army. >> exactly. thank you, martine for having me on your program. and you are exactly right. it's a transition of personalities, but not a substantial transition of the regime. we have seen the departure of president compaore today, but

it's replacement is really the system that has underwritten burkina faso since compaore came to power in 1987, and that is the military that has been the g garer to of national order. >> he was behind the coup in which the previous president was killed and it's almost as though his fortunes have now reversed almost 360 degrees. >> that's a good way of putting it. clearly his political opponent in burkina faso saw him as the organizer and manipulator of the coup in 1987 that brought down his colleague. both of them came to power in 1983 through a combined coup. and compaore, he has dawned

civilian clothes since coming to power in 1987, but has presided over the military regime ever since, and his opponents have recognized it's time for him to go. his bid this year to extend his term in office when elections were to be held next year, were was the end of the line as far as political support went. but that does not mean, and did not mean that the regime backed by the military wanted to see their grip on power are reduced. so we have this transition of personalities, but, again, it's not a regime transition. it's not a wholesale transfer of power to his political oppo oppoenents. and we adopt expect to see much of a shift in terms of the geopolitics of whatever new government is formed in the days and weeks to come.

>> that's what i was going to ask you mark. we have general traore who has taken over. he has announced he is going to put the country back on a rapid path to constitutional rule, and will hold elections within three months, 90 days, but it seems very much as though it is just power shifting between different faces within an elite. >> exactly. there has been, you know, all sorts of -- of controversy and criticism towards now former president compaore over his bid to win a new term in office in 2015, but there has been no opposition to the policies of the burkina faso government, to the priorities in terms of economic policy, sectors of the economy it wants to develop, or in its foreign relations and mediation efforts and

involvements in the west africa region. so without any substantial controversy or opposition towards substantial policies, we really don't expect to see a shift in whatever new government is formed. yes, there will be different personalities in the new government in the short-term lead by the military and the military's chief of staff, but it will include members of the opposition who are -- it must be reminded -- you know, members of compaore's party. they again had disputes with the president -- former president now, but didn't really have disputes with the policies, and so whatever national government is formed, or whoever is elected president in 90 days time if elections are held on-time, it's really not going to see a shift in policy, and likely, kind of the first moves that a new government will make will be to

reassure continuity to the domestic audience and the international community, continuity in burkina faso's policies. >> thank you very much indeed. now turkey's president has rejected suggestions that his country is supporting isil. he made these comes during a press conference with his french counterpart while in paris. >> translator: it has been reported in the international media that turkey is supporting isil. this is absolutely false and untrue. turkey is being falsely accused here, as we never provided any support to isil, nor do we plan on providing any in the future. >> he also says much more needs to be done to stop the violence in syria. >> translator: the international community shouldn't standing still. they should act as turkey is always acting first. that's why we must declare a

no-fly zone and buffer zone. we should also provide support and training to the free syrian opposition. >> the french president said that isil and bashar al-assad are working together. >> translator: in syria, we are conscious that we have two enemies. isil and bashar al-assad who continues to bomb his own people, including women and children. and we know there's a strategic alliance between isil and the syrian regime, that is why we should support and train the free syrian army. this was discussed in detail with president erdogan, as we have certain that no victory cannot be won without arming the fsa. >> andrew is a writer on turkey and explains why it stands on isil and how this has affected turkey's relationship with its western allies.

>> turkey has put itself in an odd position, because there is a heroic, in many people's minds resistance against isil taking place just on the other side of the turkish border in a kurdish canton called kobani. now turkey is pretty much sitting on its hands during this conflict. it is saying that the two parties involved, one isil are islamist terrorists, the others are kurdish terrorists, and it doesn't really care who wins. this has lead to opposition saying that it has de facto supporting isil, and this has been a terrible public relations defeat, i suppose for turkey. the united states has decided to support the kurdish resistance in kobani and pretty much ignored turkey's objectives, so turkey has fallen out with its principal ally over this issue.

yemen houthi shia rebels have given the president ten days to form a new government or they will form their own government. this follows weeks of upheaval which saw the houthis take the capitol. >> reporter: this tribal gathering wanted to send several messages to yemen's political leaders, among them a show of force and wide acceptance for any movement lead by the houthis. organizers called this a meeting of the noble and the wise of yemen, but this is the most important message the houthis wanted to send. >> translator: we will give a ten-day period for the president to form a government, otherwise we will form a national council and national government to save this country. >> reporter: as the crowd

roared, some pro-houthi military commanders spoke of forming military council to save what they call the september revolution. attendants agreed on a number of points, all of which agree that the houthis are in charge of yemen after they stormed the capitol and other provinces last month. >> translator: we agree to form committees to monitor the state's institutions. all options are open to keep the achievements of our revolution. >> reporter: critics of the houthi movement say the group wants to take over the country, and accuse it of wanting to form a council to replace the president. the president's office was quick to react. >> translator: this is a coup and will destroy what is left in are yemen. all of the state's institutions have collapsed. the army and state's institutions all go.

if this is formed it will be a coup by an armed group. >> reporter: they have rejected the houthi's demand. the houthi threat could be a political maneuver to put pressure on the president, the prime minister designate, and other political blocks to quickly form a new go. but the threat also indicates that the houthis are the real force running this country. there has been more fighting between palestinians and israeli security forces in jerusalem. the al-aqsa come pound reopened by israel earlier has been the focus of tension in recent days. the cite which is revered by both muslims and jews was closed after the killing of a palestinian who was accused of shooting a rabbi. still to come, fears for thousands of migrants as italy scales down its search and

rescue operations in the mediterranean. and find out why marathon officials are having second thoughts about whether to give this runner a check for half a million dollars. ♪ now isil's advance in iraq has displaced almost 2 million people now. half of them have landed up in the kurdish region of iraq. with winter months setting in, life will get increasingly difficult. as charles stat ford reports. >> reporter: there's around 7,000 people living in these unfinished buildings here. there is literally no room in the camps in the surrounding areas. winter is coming, and the conditions are utterly atrocious here. there's no running water, very little electricity, and we're

also hearing reports of people that have died from falling from some of these buildings. aid organization and local authorities say they just don't have the resources to meet the basic needs of these people. there is a rush to supply as much winter clothing as possible before the snows come. unicef has come here to start their distribution of clothes for children. everyone registers. they get a mark on their arms with respect to how many children thaey have, and they take their boxes and go back to their families. we followed this man who takes us to where his family is staying. this is where he lives with his family of seven. they brought their boxes from the unicef handout, and now we're going to see exactly what they have got in preparation for these harsh winter months ahead.

they await eagerly to see what is inside. these are some of the things that he has got for his family here for this winter handout. we have some warmer clothing. there are jackets, socks for the babies and shoes, woollen boots. bare in mind that the temperatures here in a month or so will get well below zero. there is no heating in this room, and -- well, these are the clothes that are basically going to keep these children alive. this family have lost so much. the u.n. says that there are more than 800,000 people like them across the kurdish region of northern iraq. egypt's military chief has been to northern sinai to oversee the creation of a buffer zone. it has been two days since the

military has started destroys homes along the boarder with gaza. the egyptian government says it is necessary following an increase in violence in the area. while some have left voluntarily, others are being forced out as our correspondent reports. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the egyptian military is showing its full strength in northern sinai. sources say the army chief is personally overseeing the destruction of homes in the area. the army says it is to create a buffer zone between sinai and the gaza strip. insisting it is to cut off tunnels which according to the army undermine national security and are used to smuggle weapons like the one used in this attack. at least 33 egyptian soldiers were killed last week when fighters attacked their check point. it lead to the biggest military operation in sinai in many

months, leading to the destruction of houses to create what the military calls a safe corridor. but safety has come at a cost to the people of northern sinai. some have left their homes voluntarily. others have been forced to leave, but they have been promised compensation, but activists say it is not enough. >> translator: it's a crisis. it's a catastrophe. they have been forced to leave for what? for only 42 usd every month. >> reporter: the military says it is taking all necessary measures to defend this area. it says victory depends on the cooperation of a few honest men in sinai. but those affected by the military operation say it's a heavy price to pay for security and stability. al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of its three journalists who have

now been detained in egypt for 307 days. peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed have wrongly accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera rejects the charges against them. now rush and ukraine have signed a $4.6 billion deal, so russian gas exports can resume for the winter. the european union managed to broker the deal signed in brussels despite the ongoing fighting in east ukraine. the russian energy giant gazprom turned off the taps last summer because it said ukraine owed it $4.5 billion. >> translator: this decision we have taken today will provide the energy security of ukraine but it will also secure the supply of gas towards the european union. >> translator: russia has compromised on the price. this is our contribution to the compromise in order to stabilize the situation in ukraine. we are convinced that our future

relationship will be constructive, and that our agreement will be fulfilled. >> reporter: let's get more now from moscow correspondent rory challands. >> reporter: it was an absolute marathon session of negotiations that got to this deal. 30 hours in this particular round of talks. but there have been talks going back for months. and you would hope given all of that effort that everyone came away at least partially satisfied with what they got. here is the deal. kiev is going to settle its already existing gas bill of $3.1 billion, and is it also going to prepay $1.5 billion for gas through and until march. russia has come down quite considerably on the price it was asking for that ask, to the e.u. commissioner on energy said that he thinks this is the first sign

of a thaw between these two countries. however, this only takes us through until march. there is another round of negotiations that will be needed to settle a much more long-term gas settlement. now who is paying for this? well, russia had asked for the european union to provide guarantees. the european union didn't do that, but that doesn't mean that the european union isn't paying. the prepaid money is going to come out of the kiev budget, and the money for the future is going to come out of an imf fund which the european union has contributed too. but all of this is reliant on ukraine fixing its wasteful system, and that means ukrainians will end up paying

more for the gas. 31-year-old eric frien arrived in court with his face heavily bruised after nearly seven weeks on the run. he is accused of opening fire outside of a police barracks, killing one state trooper and wounding another. ♪ now midterm elections will be held in the united states next tuesday, november 2nd, i believe. they are always held two years after the presidential election. all 43

[ technical difficulties ] >> six more seats that it already has to take control of the senate. and remember they already control the house of rep senttives too. so a republican majority in both would make life pretty difficult for president barack obama. you noticed the mistake, didn't you? tuesday is the 4th of november. the two dominant parties have been spending unprecedented amounts of money.

some politicians haven sought to taught their prowess in taming animals. but what do they really stand for. patty culhane takes a look. >> reporter: american voters are divided over a lot of issues, but one thing they all seem to agree on is the state of campaigning in this country. >> it's all about bashing the other candidate and not the issues. >> reporter: that has been especially true in television ads, one featuring a burping shark, and another a candidate actually fighting an alligator. >> i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm >> reporter: that's right. that doesn't tell you a lot about the policies they pursue. candidates need more than just members of their own party. a record number, 42% of the american people now call

themselves independent. more than the 25% who call themselves republicans, or the 31% that say they are democrat. the two parties have defined themselves simply, republicans stand for lower taxes, less government. democrats say they are for empowering the lower and middle classes with social programs. and over the last several years, both parties have all but refused to compromise on pretty much anything. >> i will not yield to you. >> reporter: what they do seem to agree on is the need to reform the tax code and immigration system. some analysts think that is much more likely to happen if republicans win control of the senate. >> republicans have gotten a reputation for being unbending, uncompromising, obstructionists, the principle producers of gridlock. in a phrase, the party of no. and the republicans have some inisn't ittives over the next couple of years to demonstrate that they can say more than no. that they can be a governing

party. >> reporter: this has been an election marked by candidates promising to govern, to make washington work, because if there's one other thing americans seem to agree on, right now the government is as broken as the building they work in. patty culhane, al jazeera, washington. still to come here at the al jazeera news hour, getting the parties together for peace talks. myanmars government holds a rare meeting between military opposition and ethnic groups. plus we'll report from zambia, a nation mourning the death of its president. and find out why pakistan's cricket players are giving this player so much admiration. that and more to come. ♪ senator from iowa >> the candidates last chance to convince voters they're the one... they will stop at nothing

to get your vote >> david young, how are you? >> run for congress >> it's important to be out here talking to voters >> director aj schnack's unprecedented series concludes >> it's certainly something that doesn't exist in politics on television >> america votes 2014 midterms only on al jazeera america

>> a deadly attack that shocked the nation. >> the front part of the ship was just red with blood. >> was there a cover-up? now an in-depth investigation reveals shocking new evidence. what really happened? the day israel attacked america. tonight, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. ♪ hello again. a reminder of the top stories here at al jazeera. the army chief has taken power in burkina faso after president blaise compaore resigned. this follows days of violent protests over the president's attempt to extend his 27-year rule.

turkey's president has jekted any suggestion his country supports isil. the president has also called for a buffer zone between turkey and syria. yemen's shia houthi rebels have given the president ten days to form a new government, warning they will otherwise form their own. it fallows weeks of upheaval. let's talk more now about the situation in burkina faso, particularly in the capitol. our africa correspondent is here with me, and we have heard reports of people being outside of military barracks. they are not at all happy, it would appear with the self appointment of general traore. is this a military coup? >> what the protesters out there in -- in the capitol right now

want to let the world know is it's not yet over. they are not happy with general traore, placing himself in a position of leadership and saying that he is going to be the head of state. instead they are chanting the name of former defense minister who fell out with blaise compaore in 2003, and they are saying they want him. there is also another likely leader, mark christian cabore who is one of the people who have been calling people to come out and oppose attempts by president blaise compaore to extend his power beyond 27 years. whether it's a coup or not right now is what many people are debating, but there seems to be a divide here with the speakersman for the army coming out and saying it is not traore who is going to lead the transitional period, but him. so we are hearing, you know,

different people within the military saying different things. and when you look at how compaore left, he left in a vacuum. he did not say who was going to take over. and it seems as if general traore has placed himself in the position. and he is a former aid of blaise compaore, somebody who was very close to the former president. >> indeed. what of blaise compaore himself? we understand he is in a convoy heading south to his heartland where his support comes from. then what? what becomes of him? >> as far as the people of burkina faso are concerned, blaise compaore is no longer something to worry about. he is on his way to po, which is his hometown, which most of his support is, and it's very close to the border. many people thought he was going to go into exile, go to places where he has a lot of support.

like in guinea or another country like senegal. but that hasn't happened. he seems set on restarting life as a civilian within the country. >> okay. i'm sure we will be talking a lot more about this. mohammed thank you very much. now to zambia where people are mourning the death of their president michael sata, and they are waiting to welcome his remains home because he died in london earlier this week. tania page now reports. >> reporter: this is a tradition for the late president's tribe. ash or any white powder is thrown of people to make them laugh, easing their grief. everyone knew michael sata was sick, but his death left many in a state of shock. he was popular and stood up for the pour. in some cases he doubled the

salaries of some public workers like this man. >> i was so happy, because he was the only president who came in and -- and thought he should help us. and we saw the fruits. and who are we not to say thank you. >> reporter: but the same government has frozen public sector salaries for two years. the union is threatening to hold nation wise demonstrations. he has to support six children, including three of his sisters. inflation is 8%, now everything costs more. >> they increase their -- i mean, their tuitions every year, and if governance is not going to consider trying to increase even talking, well, it's quite devastating. >> reporter: the government scrapped an average 30% subsidy on the price of maze, and 20%

subsidy on the price of petrol. mays is a staple food. -- sata's government promised it would use the money it saved to spend it on infrastructure. it has been very difficult for people to argue with that reasoning. the newspapers detail the president's death and the campaign to take his place. the government's promised his funeral won't be extravagant. that's welcome news to many year who feel greatly indebted to michael saw ta, although he wasn't always able to balance everyone's needs. aid is pouring in to west african countries hardist hit by ebola. almost 5,000 have now died from

the virus. james bayes has been speaking to the u.n. special envoy on ebola. >> let me be very clear that this is a quite large geographic call area, and the outbreak will look different in different parts of the area, especially as we have very good programs of case finding and contact tracing in different parts of liberia for example. so i would expect there to be regions that are beginning to show good results, whereas others are showing increased transmission. it's exactly as it should be, and that's what we are seeing. but let me be clear, as long as there is transmission of this virus, we have a global public health emergency. >> reporter: do you feel there are some medical personnel who are so busy they aren't reporting statistics, and some people who are dying without ever seeing a doctor? >> when people are hard pressed with their duties day-to-day, it

can be difficult to also do the reporting. and we are taking that into account in our accessment of the figures. and that means the government and the whole international community. >> reporter: are the international community doing enough in terms of medical resources and in terms of funding? >> there's been a really amazing generosity of nations responding to requests for help. and some nations have gone back to their ministers of finance two or three times and increased their level of support. yes, we are going to need more finance. we have had to up our estimates of the total resource needs for the united nations system since they were last estimated in september -- >> that was a billion. >> that was a billion, you are right. >> reporter: what it is now? >> well, we think it's probably going to be around $1.5 billion all in. and we find that the amounts of money coming into the united nations in response to these

appeals is slightly over half what has been requested, which is amazingly generous. these are very large amounts of money for governments who have lots of other calls on their resources. all i would say is keep looking at what is happening, and if you think it is going to be necessary to continue to provide the funding as your assessment suggests that resources are still needed, and of course they are, then put those moneys in now, don't wait, because now is the time when they can be most useful, and a million dollars spent now, can be as effective as perhaps $5 million spent in three month's time. now an italian coast guard operation that has been rescuing migrants from the mediterranean sea is starting to wind down. the decision to do so has attracted wide-spread criticism as claudia now explains. [ applause ] >> reporter: a round of applause for yet another successful

rescue. on friday, 250 syrian and palestinian migrants were brought to safety. they are among 150,000 people saved by the italian navy since the operation started one year ago. but now help could come to an end. italy's interior minister announced that friday is the operations last day, but for the navy it's still business as usual. >> at the moment we haven't received any orders, so at the moment, i can tell you that we still have ships down there saving lives, so nothing changes today. >> reporter: many among the migrants who were saved in the past year knew that there were warships like this one out there, looking for them. now the fear is that if this operation ends suddenly, others will attempt the life-threatening crossing of the mediterranean will be waiting for help that may never come. omar and his family were among

those brought to safety on friday. he says news about the end of the rescue operation traveled fast. >> i knew that. yes. yes. everyone knows that italian ship go over the sea to catch refugees like us, yes. so we are -- we are lucky men and woman to be here at the end date. >> reporter: the end of the operation coincides with the start of triton, a border security operation run by the e.u.'s border agency. but humanitarian organization warn that one operation doesn't replace the other. >> translator: from tomorrow migrants will continue to cross the mediterranean and nobody will be there to rescue them, because triton will patrol only a third of the area that the operation covered. >> reporter: italy's government

said the fazing out of the operation will take at least two months. again, let's talk to leonard who is a spokesman for the international migration organization who joins us live from geneva. you can understand the italian decision, can't you? it is costing them a fortune, and they haven't been getting a great deal of cooperation from their european neighbors. >> absolutely. the italians have done an extraordinary job, saving 150,000 people it looks like judging from the figures. many from shipwrecks and many who would have drowned trying to cross the mediterranean. so it is quite a cool reflection on the european union as a

whole. >> could it be argued, and i'm sure there are those who would proffer this line of thought, that the fact that there was such a comprehensive rescue service increased the number of people who were prepared to cross the mediterranean sea in these leaky boats which were almost inevitably going to run into trouble. >> i think if you see -- and you often show these else haves -- these life rafts which take to sea, which are falling apart, you really wonder if that argument stacks up. i think what we do notice, though, is f after conflict, we see more people from a particular place taking to the seas. after august we saw that most of the migrants on the vessels that were rescued were from gaza.

i think people are in such desperate straights that they are taking this journey. and remember that the journey -- the journey they take across the mediterranean is maybe the last leg of a very, very long journey. they may have come from africa or eritrea, where there's a lot of oppression. and it's difficult to argue, i any that they are being lured across by the prospects of being rescued by the italian navy. >> and who's responsible are they? these poor, retched people, who are escaping, in many cases, dreadful circumstances of conflict who really under international law should be taking care of them? >> that's a very good question. there are mixed migrants. some are refugees. and some are economic migrants, so they fall under different roofs. it's possibly the same question

that might have been asked at the end of world war ii. who was responsible for the vast numbers of people who were left homeless or stateless for that matter? the international community ultimately was responsible. and took the steps towards so many being rescued. so in the same way today we think people fleeing syria, libya, conflicts in the gaza strip, fleeing economic collapse need the support of the international community. migrants at the end of the day have the same rights as you and i do. >> okay. thank you for talking to us. the sri lanka military has brought in heavy machinery to try to find more people buried under a mud slide. officials say they have given up hope of finding survivors from

the disaster which happened on wednesday. residents and local police say 34 people are still missing. myanmar's president has been holding talks with the opposition, military, and ethnic minority groups. the government is under international pressure to agree on a ceasefire and protect the rights of minorities. the next general election has been announced for next year, and president obama is going to be coming to town within two weeks or so. still to come on the program, we'll have all of the sports news. i'm in doha find out which cities are in the running to host the 2019 world athletic championships. ♪

♪ okay. time for the sports news now. here is far are. >> martine, thank you so much. rita says the kenyan runner has failed a dope test, the 33 year old returned a positive sample in september. she won the boston and chicago races earlier this year, and will now have to wait for the results of her b sample. she was to receive a check for half a million dollars, but the awards ceremony was postponed a suspect has appeared in africaner court charged with the murder of this man.

he was shot dead in a house on sunday. three men were being sought in connection with the shooting. the goal keeper who was also captain of his club will be buried in his hometown on saturday. steven cashi is to return as the nigerian national football team coach. he was axed earlier this month with the supereagles third in the african cup of nations qualifying group, but the nigerian president intervened and requested he return. they have avoided a lengthy fifa ban over infighting over their leadership. and [ inaudible ] is ready to return to chelsea on saturday. the striker was in prolific form before picking up an injury. but in his absence veteran has scored in his last two starts. >> fantastic problem for me.

fantastic problem. and the -- the perfect problem is when he is back. that's the perfect problem to have -- to have all three. because when we made that group of three in the beginning of -- of the season, we think we did well. another high profile player set to be involved this weekend is loui suarez. he is likely to start on saturday. the striker returned from his ban for biting an opponent last weekend. and was criticized for his lack of impact. but his manager said as he gets his match of fitness back, he'll be an excellent buy for barca. >> translator: as i have been saying, suarez is in very good shape. and now that he is playing matches he is going to get

better. the two time champions have one foot in the semifinals, but they left it late in the first leg of their tie. a score in the 83rd minute. and they could have equalized when this player found himself in front of an open goal, but slipped up. and boca will take a narrow lead to paraguay next week. the host city for the 2019 world athletics championship will be decided in a couple of weeks. eugene, oregon could be the first american city. while doha is hoping to bring the championships to the middle east. andy richardson reports. >> reporter: a last stop for a group of people with a big decision to make. lead by former olympic champion, athletic's governing body has

been in doha to see if the capitol is ready to host the 2019 world championships. it would be a first for the middle east. >> if qatar got world 2019 athletics, it will support lots of girls here. they will think more to be a part of this. everyone will love to practice. >> involving all of these people to the sport for track and field, that would be great for track and field and the region to inspire the younger generation to get involved once you see this experience live. >> reporter: the city of eugene in the united states, a country who has yet to stage the championship as well as barcelona, spain are also in the running. this is the world's third largest sporting event. for the nine days of competition, a tv audience of up to 6 billion people will have their eyes trained on the host

city. every previous edition has started in august. high summer temperatures mean doha's plan involve a cooler late september window. it does one they don't believe puts the city at a disadvantage. >> in our season, by end of september. so i think this is going to be a good chance for the whole world to see the world championship -- i mean the season ending with the world championship. >> reporter: the football world cup is on its way to qatar, but there are unanswered question surrounding that event. when in the year will it be paid? a >> can this bid be treated in isolation, or would the iwif perhaps think this is the wrong time to be awarding another big event to qatar? >> we haven't spent, nor should we spent any time worrying about

other sports and other situations. it's entirely for us to make judgments around us, that's exactly what we have done. >> a final decision will be made on november 18th. andy richardson, al jazeera, doha. pakistan had another excellent day. they declared on 570 for 6. australia have already lost a wicket and look likely to suffer another big defeat. david garrett reports. >> reporter: kohn smashed 100 on the first day. without retrieve he was set to make it to 200. his partner went for 109, but the celebrations were muted.

but then another pakistanian took his place. the bat is getting quite a workout these days. another stellar knot following twin centuries in the first half. and a double century in this match. 106, and 103 in the first set in dubai, and this would be 213 by the end of its inning. 181 with a strangle hold. they finally bowled by peter, but pakistan riding high and then declaring it 570-6. and australia will resume. chris rogers followed by imran khan's delivery.

it is 20 years since pakistan won a test series against australia. david garrett, al jazeera. on to golf and the european tour is winding towards the culmination of the season in due by. the first of the four tournaments is underway in china. and nicklas leads in shanghai. the belgian carted an 8 under par to lead by one stroke. lebron james's return to the cleveland cavaliers ended in a loss to the new york knicks. he returned to his hometown team after four years with the miami heat. the cleveland crowd couldn't cheer their team to victory. an motional night for james but not a successful one. he made 8 turnovers and scored less than 20 points. here he gives the possession to

the away team. lebron was outshined by carmelo anthony. the cavs lost 95-90. some news just coming in now, and virgin's galactic spaceship two, that's the space tourism craft has crashed in a california desert after experiencing what the company is calling at least a serious anomaly. the firm says the status of their pilot is unknown at this time. the craft was undergoing manned testing. now you can see television images and just hearing that one of these pilots has died. and one is injured. the spaceship two is carried off by a jet and then launched into space. these are the latest pictures coming in from the california

desert. you are with al jazeera. ♪

>> a coalition of democracy reformers wants hong kong's government to be elected in 2017. the beijing government insists it needs to be elected from a predetermined list. working to galvanize public opinion.