>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour i'm in doha and coming up in the next 60 minutes, 12 people arrested in france over the paris attacks. cities across belgium on high alert and some schools closed as they averted a major attack. accused as using families as human shield in congo and defends the pope after he threw

a pretend punch talking about free expression and he is on a visit to the philippines. ♪ there have been a series of arrests in france in overnight raids, police say some of them may have provided logistical support and comes as john kerry meets with french leaders and said he is giving a big hug to paris and jackie is live in paris and jackie the white house has admitted they could have done with better representation for the march and what are we hearing from john kerry on this trip? >> john kerry has been at the palace the paris city hall is also on his list of places to visit and he paid a surprise visit to the kosher supermarket where the attack happened the third attack happened in the attacks of last week.

he has said he won't be making any public apologies or explanations for the level of representation at that march on sunday and he says he thinks that the friendship the long alliance between france and the united states is strong enough for that not to be appropriate but it is quite clear that the united states has admitted by the white house they did not really follow the protocol and maybe didn't realize how important this event was when you bear in mind they only sent the paris ambassador and others were sending prime ministers and chancellors. >> mentioning 12 people have been arrested in a series of raids in france what more do we know about this? >> well we are getting conflicting figures and you see some have a figure of 12 and some 10 and what is the greatest is the number of people arrested as part of the ongoing police and intelligence operations and

arrests carried out in and around paris and people arrested and now questioned are suspected of having provided of some kinds of logistical assist for transport to the attacker to the kosher supermarket although it cannot be brought out at this stage whether there might have been some connection with the attack of the charlie hebdo magazine as well. >> jackie in paris and thanks very much. a raid by german police in the capitol berlin. this involved around 250 police officers. they were searching homes of people believed to be linked to extremist groups two have been arrested after the raid on 11 properties. in other developments belgium cities on high alert and some jewish schools have been closed. it follows a police raid in which two people were called and say the suspects were linked to armed groups in syria and a major attack has been averted, a

third person was arrested 125 kilometers southeast of the capitol brussels and bell gun prosecution say an operation was underway to search the homes of ten people who returned from syria that is when the suspects opened fire at the police and barker is there and joins us live and what is happening in the city there and what more do we know about developments last night? >> well this st. the scene this morning on a quiet city street in the middle here still cornered off and there are still police here. you can see the scorch marks on the ground floor windows of the bakery where the special operation by belgiun forces and i talked to frederick who lives

the street and took footage of the attack and says the attack lasted ten minutes or so a fierce gun battle between special forces and several individuals inside the bakery up the road behind me. frederick said everybody in this area is very very shocked and he fears similar attacks and similar operations could well happen elsewhere in the country too, in the coming weeks and everybody here in brussels and belgium and the capitol brussels is now on a height ended state of alert. this is how the scene played out here on thursday night. authorities say they prevented an attack on what they call a grand scale. shots rang out in the city and flames engulfed the ground floor of this building you can clearly hear glass smashing and police storming a bakery covered by sthiepers and surrounding

rooftops the police had been searching homes of ten people and say they recently come back from syria. >> during the investigation, we found that this group was about to commit terrorist attacks in belgium. during the search warrants certain suspects immediately opened fire with automatic weapons and special forces of the police and opened fire for several minutes before being neutralized and two of the suspects were killed a third one has been arrested. >> reporter: presidents have been told not to leave their homes, there were few that were not able to resist a look at the police and some claim to have heard heavy gunfire and at least three explosions. >> translator: i just left when i saw a police car passing me with his lights flashing and three seconds later i heard explosions like gunshots and thought there were fireworks and

there was a terrible smell and knew they were not fireworks and i came here and happened in two minutes and i didn't see anything but i heard it. >> reporter: the raid with ten searches in and around the capitol comes a week after bloody attacks in france. belgium security levels are at a new high. >> translator: a decision was taken after a meeting organized by two of my ministers to raise the terror threat level to three on a scale of four. we don't know concrete and specific threat and considering the situation we believe it is useful to raise the level of village vigilance so extra security can be taken. >> reporter: police uncovered bomb making equipment and also police uniforms and they believe that the cell that they said they uncovered were possibly

planning police targets and police station and not more known and brussels will give a press briefing shortly and they said now that this operation has come to an end they can move on to phase two, whatever phase two is it seems that the entire country for now is on high alert. >> reporter: after the hiring we await a press conference and waiting for more information about the circumstances surrounding what took place in that city just southeast of the capital brussels last night and we have not been told identity but three young belgium initials who recently returned from fighting in syria and we will head there as soon as it gets underway. the vatican defending pope

francis after he threw a pretend punch to have a point of limits of free expression and people shouldn't make fun of religion and said the pontiff actions should not be interpreted as justification for violence and on the way to the philippines and he is in manila and harry the comments by pope francis causing some issues. >> that is right, the comments made between sri lanka and philippines on thursday pope francis saying clearly in reference to the charlie hebdo no justification for this matter or other matters but as you just said he said they could not be the use of free speech despite the fact that free speech is a fundamental right and indeed a necessary good in terms of defending the common good he said but that could not extend to insulting or making fun of religion and if that happened and the response could be expected and i think it was the way in which he illustrated that

and standing next to a vatican colleague and said if this man insulted his mother and said a curse word about his mother he could expect a punch in return and some think he may have been saying some justification for the sort of response we saw in paris and pontiff is saying no and speaking in an informal way among colleagues and his presence is the first day of the five day visit to the philippines and he has been on the streets and a huge public welcome for him but he has not been afraid to mix it in politics and he is focused on family and poverty. pope francis wasted no time in tackling politics on the first full day of his visit to the philippines and told an audience the countries' leaders needed to get serious about corruption

poverty and what he called scandlous. >> it's more important that political leaders be outsiding for the honesty, integrity and a commitment. >> reporter: there has been an anticorruption drive and critics say disproportionately targets opposition figures. away from politicians the devotion and thousands in the streets of the cathedral to await the first mass of the visit and the sight of the man himself. >> pope francis is actually here. i want to be inlight ended and inspired and what he said yesterday are very doable and people will follow his example. >> reporter: his arrival brought new waves of excitement and expressions of love and in the cathedral where he began the sermon quoting the jesus words from the gospel and his main

message focused on poverty and the need for traditional catholic values in a society where church attendance following and contraception is on the rise. the philippine church said the visit and presence will be awake-up call. spoke english with people in and out of the cathedral to fight inequality and poverty and this is the theme of the first day proper of his visit, that and the sheer crush of people in the streets trying to catch a glimpse. later for families much more than a glimpse he emphasized the importance of family in a nation where so many are divided by the need for one or more parents to travel abroad to work. and that event is still going on in that huge indoor arena. these are live pictures you are looking at and pope has been hearing temperature from philippine families and one i was talking about in the package

has been divided by the need for one parent to go work abroad while the other stays home with children. that is something the pope has been making a point about during his time here already. >> reporter: all right, that was harry faucet reporting live for us and the pope there on the second leg of his ashun tower right now. there is an event going on a number of spiritual religious figure us and the pope's message is really one of combatting social injustice and inequality and as harry was saying it resonates in the country with a quarter of the population live if poverty and have a situation where parents either one or more members of the family go abroad to find work and the pope continuing his trip there in the philippines. more on that and much more still to come on the news hour including thousands displaced and crops disstroeed and we are

in malawi to look at the floods. and sri lanka president soon could be under investigation for corruption. andy richardson in a race against time to get ready to host this year's africa cup of nations. now the government in the democratic republic of congo and u.n. are about to launch offensive against a rebel group in the country east and fighters have been in congo for more than 20 years, and we report 60 kilometers from goma. >> reporter: we have to drive through eastern congo's hills for two days to meet with the rebels. most people living here have more contact with armed groups than with their own government and the fighters from rwanda

have been hiding here since 91994 and some accused of genocide back home and mass rapes and killing civilians in the congo. the spokesman shows us around and laid down arms and don't want to fight and want dialog with the rwanda government. >> translator: they tell us we are criminals. let them point out the criminals among us and we will sideline them but what about the rwanda army massacres of our people in rwanda and congo? solution to the problem is truth and reconciliation. >> reporter: no fighters or guns on show here instead taken to a meeting with wives and children and fdlr says they are among victims of attack and rebels were given a second of january deadline to surrender and few have done so and insist it's underway but say many are hidden in the bush preparing for battle and the groups using the

families as a human shield. government troops said there were fdlr fighters in the tops of the hills and meanwhile government troops are waiting for orders to go ahead with offensive and it is tough and the slopes very steep and curved in bush so even with the support of the u.n. artillery and helicopters it's going to be tough for them to defeat the fdlr. dialog is out of the question. we spoke to the foreign minister. >> fdlr is not a political organization, it's a bunch of thugs who commit genocide who have kept civilians, their families hostage. so that should be very clear. that nobody should even think that there is any kind of political claim that this group can have. >> reporter: back in congo

government soldiers deploy with fresh supplies and everybody here is waiting to see if and when the fighting will begin and if it can bring an end to a regional conflict on ethnic lines that dragged on for more than 20 years. >> we are there and joins us live and any indication as to when the offensive will begin? >> well the u.n. say they are ready and the congo government say they are ready and deploying some troops also the contributing countries for the u.n. brigade for men who do the fighting is south africa and tanzania and had some support for the fdlr support for dialog and wonder if they go ahead with it and said they will but it has not happened yet and we have a political analyst based here in goma and do you know why there has been a delay in starting this offensive against the fdlr?

>> well with this issue it's a long tradition in this region simply because they are nothing less than a money-making business for anybody who is involved in the crisis. >> reporter: do they have any legitimate claims? they say they want talks but is that something that people should take seriously? >> anyone claiming peaceful settlement has legitimate claims but fdrr they are playing games and a money-making business and these guys with uganda congo, south africa and tanzania i don't see them resolving the issue because do they have a team and gold and so forth to really say, okay let's put our acts together and tackle this and that is an execution of invasions into this country.

>> reporter: do you think that the political interests of the troop contributing countries, tanzania and south africa do you think the political interest is causing reluctance to go ahead with this operation? >> basically let me make it clear. the south africa and tanzania has nothing to do with restoring peace in congo. this has to do with tackling personal problems pride and those guys i don't see them committing to really talking about the issue because this should have happened. >> reporter: we are taking you now to belgium where we understand that press conference is underway and eric is speaking there this is about the antiterror operations that took place last night, on thursday night in the city some 125

kilometers southeast of the belgium brussels and two suspects kill and another arrested and don't know identity of the suspects but getting information about it so let's listen in. >> and radios as well as documents and a significant amount of money was seized. guns knives different objects were also seized. in addition to other people being arrested in france. the operation the intention was to dismantle the terrorist cell. the group was arrested because they were out and they intended

to kill policemen and police stations the identification of the two killed suspects is still in progress. 12 search warrants have been executed executed. 13 persons have been arrested during those search warrants. during the search warrants we found several weapons, among them were four ak-47, several small fire weapons, firearms ammunition and explosives. more over we found several police uniforms material for

communication and wakie-talkies and an important amount of money and we found a firearm, ammunition a knife, different cell phones and different objects important for the investigation. more over two persons have been arrested in france. this operation was meant to dismantle a terrorist cell not only the terrorist cell but also the logistic network behind it. this investigation for the time being has shown that these people had the intention to kill seven policemen in the street and the identification of the two suspects deceased last evening is still going on. that's about all we can say now. we will answer any questions you

want. i'll answer the questions and my colleague will assist with this. >> reporter: so we have been listening there to the federal prosecutor in the city where that antiterror raid took place last night. we know that two suspects were killed in the raid and a third arrested. now some interesting comments we understand police are actually holding and arrested 13 people after specifically 12 antiterror raids took place, further two were held in france. in terms of identification we heard the identification of the two suspects that were killed is still in progress but the police found a number of weapons including ak-47s and explosives

on top of that they also found walkie-talkies and cell phones and a substantial amount of money and the aim of this operation was not just to dismantle the cell but sort of infrastructure and logistics behind it and we also had confirmed that the target of this attack they thought was going to take place, anticipated attack and the target was going to be on police so there we have belgium police and belgium federal prosecutors giving us more information of what took place last night and we will talk to barker and joins us from there now and we understand that police have arrested 13 people as part of this operation. >> yes, that is absolutely right as well of course the raid that took place here on thursday

night. we gather that at least another ten searches similar operations were carried out in and around the capitol brussels and in a couple of other locations in the country as well. there seems to have been a very well coordinated series of searches and raids by the belgium police and what we gather at least the raid here have been planned for quite sometime. what we don't know though is why now was decided as being the most appropriate time to put these plans into action, was it of course in the wake of the attacks in france? police say that this particular incident here didn't have any district links with the situation and attacks that took place in paris last week but of course in the wake of those attacks the entire country now is very much on a heightened state of alert. >> all right live close to the

bell gun -- capitol of brussels. yesterday we talked about malawi and floods there and we will see improvement over the next couple of days and the circulation we have in the no mozambeeke and malawi and winds of 90 gusting to around 120 kilometers per hour so powerful enough winds and will be some damage but the wet weather is making its way across madagascar and this area of pressure and deep cyclone we have in the ocean is pulling away. here is what will bring heavy downpours across madagascar through saturday and pulling through as we go on through

sunday. the wetter day will be saturday very heavy rain across southern parts of madagascar and by sunday the showers ease and wet weather across malawi pulling away. we have another tropical system on the other side of the ocean and affecting the philippines and wet weather in the philippines saturday the pope has a mass taking place in manila and i'm afraid it will be very wet. >> thanks very much. mentioning the situation in malawi with flooding killing dozens in southern africa animal wee has been hard hit by all of this at least 48 deaths there reported some 100,000 people left homeless and catherine reports from malawi's commercial capitol. >> reporter: on tuesday at dawn when flood waters swept through this township in southern malawi the waters came down from the hills carrying huge

rocks. several people and livestock were swept away. 40 houses destroyed. her brother's home stood here and salvaged nothing and the 11-year-old nephew was sleeping. he drown. >> translator: and it went boom and when we come to check we found there was nothing. >> reporter: people are searching for those who are still missing. these men are looking for the bodies of a young boy and another man who we understand were living in that house. they think the bodies are under the mat. after several hours they found nothing but say they won't stop looking. a short distance away hundreds of those who escaped have taken refuge in the school and sleeping on classroom floors with little food and hardly any u

u utensils and she is happy she got her four children out safely. >> translator: we never experienced this before and i managed to take some of the children's clothes but nothing else. >> reporter: it gets worse as you go further south, thousands are trapped in villages that are hard to access and it's a disaster and the president says the country cannot do this alone. catherine with al jazeera, southern malawi. catherine is in the camp for displaced in the camp for people who have been displaced by the floods and joins us live now and i'm saying catherine you have an update on the number of people that have been killed as a result of these floods. >> yes, that is correct. we just got 56 from the district's commissioner's office and this is the standard district and the most affected in malawi and the city stakes

are 153 people in the districts alone have died so far, 85,000 displaced and the world vision say 176 people have died country wide. joining me now to talk more about this is a national director of world vision and it's the only one right now that is helping people. robert what are the priorities? >> right now our first priority is rescue people that are caught and marooned in areas that are flooded and the children that have been rescued come to need urgent help for food. we are scared about cholera outbreak and there are tents for people to be housed and particularly children that have no where to sleep. as you can see here we are in a school where children are staying with their mothers and their fathers in classrooms so

the need of tents is very urgent. food they were able to deliver 1000 boxes of flour and looking for more food and looking at the number of people around here. >> reporter: we are hearing that people are resisting to go to safer polices. they don't want to leave their home and want to salvage and we went this morning and how is this making your work harder? >> exactly, the problem is people have been used to the floods every year but today the floods are not like that and people thought the floods will come and go and it amplified the problem and people moved from the places where they are but they are refusing to move because they feel this is their own home and again where they are going they are not sure and no more amenities like water like food so a reason for not moving but that is a complication that we are facing urgency today.

>> reporter: thank you very much that was robert and i must tell you the president and the deputy president have been in the region and still in the region visiting some of the affected areas. now, the rains, the flag waters have receded. we are not seeing the kinds of floods that we witnessed earlier this week but the situation remains very very dire indeed. >> catherine at a camp for those who have been displaced by the flood in malawi thank you. there is much more still to come for you on the al jazeera news hour and talking about the price of oil, it is continuing to fall and community in texas now worried about job losses. plus. >> i'm in port au prince haiti and hundreds of public schools just like this one have yet to be completely rebuilt, we investigate why. and in sport an update on the condition of boxing legend mohamed ali as he is readmitted

to hospital. ♪

♪ welcome back you are watching the al jazeera news hour and let's take you through the top stories, 12 people arrested in france in a series of overnight raids. police say some of them may have provided logistical support for last week's paris attacks and u.s. secretary of state john kerry meeting with french leaders in the country now and elsewhere police in belgium detained 13 people in antiterrorism raids and federal prosecutors says police uniforms were items found in an apartment

where two people were shot dead. and the vatican has defended pope francis after he threw a pretend punch to make the point there are limits to freedom of expression and people shouldn't make fun of religion and made the comment flying to the philippines where he is making the first papal visit there in 20 years. in other news the united states is to send 400 troops to train moderate syrian opposition fighters this spring. the pentagon has confirmed that planned deployment and let's get more detail for us and he is in istanbul and what has turkey agreed with the u.s. about the training of these fighters? >> the u.s. and turkey reached this last year at the training and took a while to get the agreement and u.s. said they were foot dragging because turkey wanted the end game to be the removal of bashar al-assad

and, in fact turkey has been a supporter of the free syrian army for that reason and accused the western powers u.s. and european countries of not doing enough to support fsa which helped the rise of i.s.i.l. but no suggestion now the end game will be removal of bashar al-assad and the president of the national coalition said earlier on this month that these fighters will be used to fight i.s.i.l. >> bernard smith in istanbul thank you. italian aid workers held by a group in syria arrived in rome and greta and her friend touched down in rome and greeted by the foreign minister and released on july and believed to be taken by al-qaeda al-nusra front and will not say if ran some was paid. we demand the release of

journalist in prison in egypt for more than a year and they were wrongly accused of broadcasting false news and helping the muslim brotherhood and have a retrial and in jail 384 days and they are asking to be deported from egypt. the sri lanka government promised investigation into corruption during the rule and looking at projects near the hometown and this is from >> reporter: he has been working rice fields in sri lanka for 20 years, like many people here he is a big fan of the local man who lost in the recent presidential election. >> translator: i voted because he won the war and developed this area. i'm concerned the new government will forget us.

>> reporter: it was in a house very close to here where the former president was born so it should perhaps not be surprising he directed so much investment in big projects in this local area. but it's those projects that could well be the focus of an investigation into corruption by this country's new leader. the road is a four-lane highway with very little on it. and the 28-year-old son is the local member of parliament. and the empty international airport built with the help of a $209 million chinese loan the international cricket stadium rises above the coconut palms and it's the support and china lend $400 million for the first phase and $810 for the second. when the opposition at the time sent a factfinding team here

last year they were pelted with eggs and the local mayor charged them wielding what he later said was only a plastic gun. since then he was arrested and charged with assault after an enduring the election campaign and the new president says the funding process for these projects lacks transparency and lone loans unstable. >> justice must be done and seen to be done. it's not only about the people who stole, it's about the people who come to office as well. the justice is done and people who hold office in the future. >> reporter: al jazeera spoke to former governor of the bank two days before election and asked for him response of threats of investigation by the now newly-elected president. >> get up one morning and say look i have serious problems here and questions his credibility. >> reporter: and he resigned

the day after the election win. one political party has already submitted complaints to bribery commission about him and members of the family including the former president. but back on the form he says he will continue supporting his favorite local politician but with his election campaign in tatters the former president and many of his allies may need to come up with answers fast charles stratford in sri lanka. >> falling gas prices are good but not for produces and texas employs 2 million people and generates close to $3 billion a year and some communities worries over job security are growing and andy reports. >> reporter: deer park is the birth place of texas, a fitting description for a city and a state that built its fortunes on oil and this is the oil

community, refineries chemical plants and billowing chimneys are here and the they don't work directly to it itself they are connected to it in many ways and depends on their employment on oil prices and the drop in the price of a barrel of oil has many deeply concerned. this is where people like engineers welders and cleaning staff come to pick up new short-term contracts but things are changing. for the first time since many can remember workers are being turned away, one man told us they now call in the crying hole. >> down the road is a refinery and people live there and making an impact and friends that i know. >> we got to do something. i got to feed and support my family. i got to find something else. >> reporter: from george mcbroom and remembers the crisis of the 80s oil is a worry and

companies and workers and he is concerned about his long-term prospects. >> i'm at retirement age right now and i cannot just walk away and i have to stay here and even if you tried to sell the business it's going to be hard to do. >> reporter: economists like adam say the economy here is still growing. he predicts job losses of 20,000 and says people will need to move to find work. >> we've been through it twice and it's rough. even if it is being you have to switch to a different part of town it's still hard. but there is still plenty of opportunity here in houston. >> reporter: around a quarter of this state's wealth is made from oil, much higher in places like deer park and most here at the mercy of a market they can't control. andy with al jazeera, deer park texas. in peru student

demonstrators fighting with police over a controversial new youth labor law and new legislation allows to reduce the benefits of employees between ages 18-24, protesters say it will restrict workers' rights but government says it will reduce youth unemployment. the 2010 earthquake in haiti killed teachers and collapsed the system and access to the system is a challenge despite the new government program that offers free education to more than a million children and we report from port au prince. >> reporter: children hungry to learn in school pen in hand and looks during the first day of class. but teachers have called for a strike saying working conditions and supplies are inadequate affecting the quality of learning for the youngest people. some teachers say they have not been paid in months. >> translator: despite the bad

working conditions and that we don't have proper school supplies to work the salary is the biggest problem because if we can't get paid we can't take care of our family. >> reporter: rebuild school downtown port au prince saying how the public education system was decimated after the quake and dozens of schools badly damaged or collapsed and five years later this one no where near ready. >> translator: there is not one single public school that was damaged in the earthquake that has been rebuilt and functioning now. there are some in construction and others construction hasn't even started yet. >> reporter: look around port au prince and signs like this are everywhere. the government says they have paid for a program to put 1.4 million in private schools and makeup 80% of the schools in the country. the good news is the government has been able to get some children back in school but with so much of the emphasis being on private education it has come at

the detriment of the public school system meaning that the poorest of the haiti children still have very few options for their education future. like this one whose little hands should be holding a pencil in a classroom and instead they are picking apart scrap metal and doesn't go to school and cannot afford a private one, one of thousands who slipped through the cracks. ironically when we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he answers a teacher. at the public school the children may be too innocent to know the country has with trying to educate them with gaps of those who learn and those who don't growing by the day. i'm with al jazeera, port au prince. much more still to come for you this news hour in sport jordan futbol and match at the cup and the latest on that.

♪ >> call amy smith at work >> when we're behind the wheel >> basically we just don't multi-task as well as we think... >> are we focused on what's ahead? >> what could those misses mean? >> distracted driving... the new road hazard >> i'm driving like a maniac >> you're distracted...

>> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie... what can you tell me about my future? >> can effect and surprise us... >> don't try this at home >> techknow... where technology meets humanity... only on al jazeera america ♪ welcome back. rails finally laid on a rail in amsterdam and years behind schedule and massively over budget because of technical of wet soil and we have taken a look at the results. >> reporter: it's one of europe's historic train station and the busiest and over the last ten years an extraordinary construction project has been going on beneath it.

tracks are now being laid six years behind schedule and the finishing work on the station is well underway but an under ground railroad line through the wet soil hasn't been easy. >> we have to excavate a complete canal under the station and of course we have to take over the foundation of the station which is also built on wooden piles and 3,000 wooden piles had to be cut down and then after the canal was built we could load it in bring it under the stage and hang it up and then immerse it to this depth. so this was really extreme engineering. >> reporter: work was suspended midway when shops and homes above sank and eventually resumed but the cost of the project ballooned from under two to 3.7 billion. it was always going to be a

massively ambitious project, a ten kilometer train ride under the city built on stilts and arranged around canals and throughout the project engineers had to come up with new and innovative techniques to bore seal and finish these tunnels. and digging unearth more than 700,000 artifacts from the city's past allowing archeologist to rewrite its history. >> they fell from the hands of people and said i lost it but what they lost is our treasure so we have a completely new entry on the official history and the objects they are connected with daily life. >> reporter: there are plans to put some of the artifacts found on display in the stations. but for now the focus is on the finishing work with the first trains on this long awaited and costly line due to run the year after next. i'm with al jazeera, on the

north/south line under amsterdam. >> we have your sport. >> thank you so much. defending japan has booked the quarter finals with victory over iraq and put the blue ahead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute and proved the only goal of the match is japan two wins from two group games. earlier he scored contender for goal of the tournament to open the scoring for jordan and outdone by his teammate who then went on to score four goals and result keeps jordan in contention for quarter finals and palestinian said the strike was the first ever in fifi 5-1 the final score. on saturday the 30th africa cup of nations gets underway in guinea and the tournament was set to be hosted by morocco and sold out due to concerns about

the ebola outbreak and this is a former spanish colony located in west central africa and population is 760,000. the games will be shared across four cities. the capitol malabo and from where our correspondent andy richardson reports. >> reporter: in 2012 when the stadium hosted the africa cup of nations most in attendance would have thought they were witnessing a once in a generation sport spectacle but three years later here we go again. the big difference is unlike 2012 guinea will not be cohosting as they will be they will be standing alone and stadiums in the capitol will be used again as will this venue here but also smaller venues in the towns will be used for the first time. they have limited infrastructure and no hotels and question marks

about suitability. when morocco pulled out a couple months ago did so because of fears of ebola virus spreading in their country and asked the federation of futbol of postponement for one year but as far as they were concerned that really wasn't an option where lucrative t.v. deals and sponsorship contract and proud history of this tournament and almost six decades of the cup of nations there has never been a cancellation or postponement and we will not get in the habit now. they have taken a risk bringing it back here but as far as they are concerned it's a risk worth taking. >> reporter: could have a third rival for the presidency with former french international announcing the candidacy for may election for ability to follow through with intention is under question and needs support of five futbol associations to be eligible for elbowections and he

was backed by the prince of jordan and a french man champaign will say they will run against bladder. barcelona and madrid reached the finals and barsa without mesi 4-0 for a 9-0 aggregate win and torres the first goal for atletico since boy hood and scored in the first minute against madrid and added another just after half time. and rescored in a 2-2 draw but atletico was 4 aggregate. >> we played the best in the world and won the champ league and a huge stadium and it was full and withstood the pressure we did and did well and defended and did pretty well.

>> reporter: boxing legend mohamed ali readmitted to hospital in the united states the three time world heavy weight champion receiving care for a urinary tract infection and previously released on january 7 after three weeks of treatment for the illness and they hope he will be in time toll celebrate his 7 third birthday on saturday. indianapolis colt player made a court appearance since being charged with rape and put on the nfl exempt list and he cannot play or practice with his team until his legal issues are cleared up. the 26-year-old is facing charges of rape of criminal confinement and battery stemming from an incident which allegedly took place in december. and he denies the allegation. >> i know everybody is aware of the situation and circumstances. we placed josh on the commissioner's exempt list which will give him time to take care of things he needs to take care

of. i'm not going to go into any details regarding the circumstances. our focus right now is on one thing and one thing only and that is trying to get a win against new england. >> reporter: organizers for the next year rio olympics say 70% of tickets will be reserved for brazil residentss and sales begin in march at $8 and security forces in rio stepping up preparation and a drill staged on the metro network on thursday. the opening ceremony will be held on august 5th next year. lebron james helped the cleveland cavaliers snap a losing streak with victory over the lakers and bryant had 19 and 17 artists and james returns to action after two weeks lay up and pulled off a win on tuesday and made up for it on thursday in l.a. and scored 36 points to

lead them to 109-102 win, lakers have lost nine times in 12 games. and close to clinching the daca rally and it's 29 seconds ahead of rivals in the car category after winning stage 11 on thursday and expect to win his second rally when the race finishes on saturday and the bikes and spanish leads and 11th stage was led by country man web. casey shared the lead after the open round in hawaii the first field event on pga tour and casey quit the european tour to focus playing in the u.s. had five birdies to finish the day on eight under. 2012 u.s. open champion simpson also had five straight birdies and also ended the day on 62 simpson and casey have a

one-stroke lead ahead of columbia vegas, much more sport on our website, for the latest check out al jazeera/sport, there is also details there in how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook the address is al jazeera/sport. that's all your sport for now and back to you. >> thank you now here is a calming connection a use trail yanl man wearing a costume for charity said he was saved when a deadly snake tried to bite him and he was walking across australia dressed in the costume from the movie star wars to raise money for children's hospital and a king brown snake struck his chins and his plastic armore protected him from a fatal bite and that is it for me we have a full bulletin in a few moment's time and jane will be here. do stay with al jazeera. ♪

>> tuesday. from race relations to foreign policies, terrorism and the economy. >> if this congress wants to help, work with me. >> ali velshi kicks off our special state of the union coverage at 7:00. >> we'll take an in-depth look at our nation's financial future. >> then john seigenthaler breaks down the issues. >> we need to know what's going on in our backyard. >> plus, objective analysis and live reports from across the nation and reaction from around the world. the state of the union address. special coverage begins tuesday, 7:00 eastern. right here on al jazeera america.

♪ >> the big bank that made almost $5 billion in profit last year, claims its business is under assault from government regulators. i'm looking at financial reforms meant to reign in reckless behavior that republicans are trying so hard to dismantle. plus a bold new mission for a pair of astronauts are about to