>> announcer: this is al jazeera hello, this is the news hour. i'm jane dutton. thousands gather for the funeral of king abdullah. we look back at his legacy and forward to the man who is replacing him. also on the news hour yemen slides deep into chaos after the resignation of the government and the president. ukraine's conflict has claimed 5,000 lives, says the u.n. we are in the country's east

where people are living in fear. and heading for a radical shift, greeks will soon vote in an election that could see the left party come to power. first to saudi arabia where the funeral has been held for king abdullah who has ruled since 2005 and died early on friday morning, local time. tributes have been pouring in. erica wood reports. >> reporter: dignitaryies from all over the middle east and beyond arrive to pay their respects to heard seen by many as a reformer. among them the mayor of kuwait.

after they arrived they gathered for a simple funeral, lasting less than an hour the ceremony was a chance for foreign dignitaries to greet his family including his successor. international leaders passed on their respects through statements. the kingdom of bahrain said: >> and u.s. president barack obama said: and a similar sentiment from the former president of israel. >> it is a real loss for the middle east. and a real loss for the peace in

the middle east. he was an experienced leader and a wise king. >> reporter: the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon said: and it's a legacy that stands out in saudi history, one his successor will have to choose how he will carry on. >> he unleashed a foreign policy that was far more dynamic than any other king. this is very unusual for saudi leadership but this is one of the things that -- that he has done. >> reporter: countries like qatar and bahrain have announced official periods of mourning but saudi arabia will not. and the former king will be

buried in a family plot in an unmarked unremarkable grave. as you heard in erika's report there has been a huge amount of reaction to king abdullah's death. let's take a listen to what some other diplomats have been saying. >> he was a father figure in the muslim world. and [ inaudible ] the stability and the cooperation is his role in establishing peace between -- and putting an end to the arab/israeli conflict and the palestinian/israel feud was his [ inaudible ]. >> i am very saddened by his death. i had met him several times. and he is going to leave a big legacy but a great loss as

well. he was a great leader implemented lots of reform at home and he was a strong advocate of women in a discrete way. it was very gradual, appropriately so for the country, but i discussed that with him several times. >> it was during his reign that we agreed on a employment contract. this was followed by the signing of an agreement on domestic worker recruitment, which aims to better protect the welfare of filipino household service workers in the kingdom. these actions will be remembered by our government and by those who were positively affected by his decisions and efforts. saudi arabia's neighbors in the gulf are also paying their respects. flags will be flown at half

staff and offices will be closed. let's bring in a professor of political science. i want to talk about the relationship between saudi arabia and kuwait. how will they be viewing his death? >> thank you very much. along at the beginning at though outset i want to express our deepest condolences of the passing away of a great heard, and all of the best for the new monarch and the saudi people. king abdullah will leave lasting legacy for sure. his role has been extremely important and a pivotal role in the gulf countries and all over the world. he transformed saudi arabia into a major power to be reckoned

with. he played a major role in reconciling the path that took place about ten months ago between qatar and the other countries that he played a major role with the cuteye kuwaitis. the relationship between kuwait and saudi arabia is extremely strategic. the saudis played a major role in 1990, 1991 in hosting 17,000 troops played a pivotal role in liberating kuwait. since then the relationship has been extremely strong. >> so what do you think -- excuse me for jumping

in here. what do you think the two countries will be looking for now? kuwait in particular? some sort of continuity in saudi arabia i should imagine. >> yeah for sure king abdullah laid the ground work for a major reform in the succession as everybody has seen regardless of the nay sayers that were expecting anything but a smooth transition. the transition has been extremely smooth and extremely clear. they are putting the saudi house in order as an indication and if you will take also the speech by the new king salman that he will be continuing the path of the founding father king abdullah, whether it's a on the domestic front or foreign fronth, that means continuity is the game of the game unfortunately king abdullah died and the region is in the grip of

extreme instability. what is going on in yemen, the vacuum that could spill over is extremely worrying for us. the ongoing war against isis in iraq and syria is extremely violent, and also the oil prices that have been plummeting and what kind of a policy we could talk about in the next few months. all of these issues will play a major role in shaping the saudi role that everybody is looking at saudi arabia as a swing producer whether it's in the oil sector the saudi role leading the pack in syria and iraq and yemen, so everybody is looking at the new leadership now with a lot of calm and a lot of confidence that the new saudi leadership now will be continuing down the path of king abdullah's path that he left behind. >> and obviously very important at the moment that the gcc

states are quite united along him after that issue you mentioned earlier about what was happening here in qatar, because for saudi arabia i should imagine going forward, it is still pushing back that shia concern that seems to be dominating the regional issues at the moment. >> yeah i mean clearly there is an ongoing cold war mentality between the -- the gulf countries, lead by saudi arabia the new regime now saudi arabia will continue the path against iran. iran that is playing now a major role as an expansionist in the region. the latest push by the iranians by their ally houthis taking over in a coup in a major coup in yemen, is an extremely worrying sign that the saudis eye long with the gcc allies will be looking at in a very, very keen way. the latest the major meeting of

the foreign ministers of the gcc countries that took extremely important steps, but this has to be materialized on how they could transfer that position that they took from rhetoric to a clear strategic policy. there is a need right now for a clear alliance among the gcc countries to speak with one word, to have the same approach and the same priority and we could see from the outpouring of support and the presence of the leaders of the gcc countries lead by kuwait bahrain, qatar, and probably for health reasons not from -- from uae, and ohman because of the health reasons of their heads of state, but still the presence of the gcc of major dignitaries and high profile at this stage mean there is a vote of confidence and a vote of support and allying with the saudis for the next -- for the next -- for the next

administration lead by -- >> let's leave it there. thank you very much. excuse me for cutting you off. thank you very much. appreciate your time. >> no problem thank you. let's take a closer look at king abdullah. >> reporter: the world learns of the death of one of its few remaining absolute monarchs. the path to power for abdullah was shaped from his birth by tradition and conservatism. >> translator: the problems of the world are caused by people jekting the principles of justice. terrorism and crime are the enemies of god and every religion and civilization. >> reporter: young abdullah was trouth religion, literature and science by islamic scholars. his mother was desended from bedouins. as crown prince he took control

of the country in 1995 when the previous king had a stroke. ten years later, abdullah became king. there were hopes that the conservative kingdom would at least open up. >> during his reign he has inspired a greater openness in two particular areas in -- for women, and in freedom of expression. there is an outburst of criticism, social criticism and also of government policy in saudi arabia that has happened with the -- let's say tolerance to some degree of the saudi government. abdullah inherited a kingdom basking in an oil boom yet intet by terrorism and accusations of corruption. he failed to address the prospects of jobless young saudis. he granted women the right to vote and run forrous office. they were allowed for the first

time to do business without involving a male guardian. but domestic concerns gave way to global ones when the united states was attacked on september 11th, 2001. 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudi citizens. he took on al-qaeda when the group began a campaign of bombings against westerners in his country. his record on human rights has remained controversial. activists ended up in jail and political parties and public demonstrations were banned. king abdullah's next major challenge was iran. the king's foreign policy focused on what the monarchy saw as the increasing evidence of the shia-run influence in iran. but by sending troops to support

bahrain's protesters he may have rekreeled saudi fierce of an iranian backed revolution next door. the king confronted uprising at home in a different way. he spent $130 billion in housing, jobs and other social benefits. his critics, though say he could have done more. stay with us here on the al jazeera news hour. we'll be looking at saudi arabia's new king salman and the challenges he faces as the heard of the oil-rich gulf state. plus more harm than good why these people in haiti want united nations peace keepers to pack up and leave. and in sport, japan are stunned in sydney. we have the action coming up later. ♪

first to a developing story out of syria, where there has been more fighting near homs and damascus. let's go to nicole johnston. >> reporter: we're still getting the information, jane but so far we know an attack has been carried out east of damascus. now the information that we have is that some 35 people have been killed at least. 60 people were injured and that this attack took place as people were leaving the mosque after friday prayers. it happened near the main square of the town. this is a rebel-held town. the other attack that we're hearing about is the town of hula four people have been killed, and this is in the countryside around damascus. act viszs have been telling us that there have been quite a big increase in the number of air

strikes carried out by the government because the weather has cleared up. on some days there are more than 100 air strikes being carried out in those rebel-held areas. >> what about the border fight with lebanon? what happened there? >> reporter: we're still getting more information on that. that has been underway since early this morning. and we just had some of our security sources tell us that it appears that three soldiers from the lebanese army have been killed at least three, a number have been missing, and a number have been injured. this fighting is taking place in lebanon close to the syrian border, around 10 kilometers from the town which is in the peca valley. and this is an open front between lebanon and syria, about 65 kilometers long, 10 kilometers wide. it's a real trouble spot for

lebanon. we know in august of last year not far from that area is there were fighters who came in from -- fighters who pledged their allegiance to the islamic state of iraq and the levant as well as fight frers the nusra front, they went into a neighboring town for five days. it's a very difficult area for the lebanese army. and we know so far that fighting is continuing. >> thanks for that. fears are growing that the resignation of yemen's president and cabinet could plunge the unstable country into further turmoil. politicians need to approve the resignations for them to take effect. the president had been at odds with leaders from the houthi shia minority who took control of part of the capitol in september. their fight verse surrounded the

parliament building and the presidential palace. we are joined by a yemeni human rights activist. thank you for joining us. first update us on what is happening in sana'a at the moment? what the feeling is there? how frightening it is? >> well good evening, everybody. well we are now [ inaudible ] power unfortunately [ inaudible ] happening. however, we have been informed that [ inaudible ] minister's houses are under houthi -- houthi protection they call it for the safety of the ministers in case they were [ inaudible ] assassinations or any kind of [ inaudible ] so that the houthi could not

[ inaudible ] happening. however, the whole country is now waiting for what the parliament is going to decide about the resignation of the president and the cabinet. there has been talk about -- that the [ inaudible ] actually is not legitimate because it has -- i mean [ inaudible ] has finished the [ inaudible ], so it is not [ inaudible ]. however, the constitution says the resignation of the president, the parliament should take over and run the country for two months until new election takes place in the country. >> okay. can i just in here quickly. i know you have been involved in many of the political processes leading up to this. are you surprised that this has happened? i know both sides are blaming

each other? is there a chief protagonist here? >> actually we are not surprised at what is happening, because since the conclusion of the national dialogue last january, there has been a lot of mistakes a lot of issues that we will actually [ inaudible ] over the political leaders that this -- many issues that are implemented. it was not -- they were not according to the outcome of the national dialogue. we were disappointed for not really expecting the out come of the national dialogue [ inaudible ] the same goes for the [ inaudible ] so the principal parties unfortunately [ inaudible ] president, they were not honest in giving them real guidance. that is not how the country should be run. we have agreed on certain issues

in january. the political leadership should respect what has been done. >> all right. >> this is what hand after the peace and partnership document -- >> okay. let's leave it there, please. yemeni human rights activist updating us on the politics and the feeling on the ground there in sana'a. the united nations says the number of people kill interested in the conflict in eastern ukraine is now more than 5,000. intense fighting between ukrainian troops and pro-russian separatists has seen the conflict enter its most violent stages. the separatistses are gaining more territory, and their leader says he will not take part in ceasefire talks. we are hearing about a rebel push by the leader. what do you know about that charles? >> reporter: that's right, jane. yes, the rebel leader today coming out saying he was no

longer interested in truce talks, and a promise to push forward, a promise to advance. out of the five routes out of donetsk, he has promised to push both east and north of this city. we went out of donetsk today around 30 kilometers to a new front line and this is what we found. we followed a rebel escort and headed north out of donetsk. the rebels at this check point said we could go no further. ukrainian military had retreated from this village only hours before we arrived. the rebels were in control here now. this is about 30 kilometers north of donetsk, and up until yesterday it was occupied by the ukrainian army. the rebels have now taken control, and all that references of the military presence is the bunkers, and their dead.

a few personal belongings are scattered around. >> translator: it's my motherland i fight for it. there were injured solders, we tried to help them. >> reporter: this is a video he said he shot of ukrainian soldiers. >> translator: i want to put this on the internet so their families know they are still live. >> reporter: he shows us graffiti he says were written by the ukrainian soldiers it reads russian alcoholics get out. most are reluctant to talk. >> translator: i don't support either side this lady told me. i just want peace. >> reporter: rebels tell us that the ukrainian military retreated. as we prepared to leave, explosions could be heard in the distance. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the rebels say they expect ukrainian forces to try to retake the village at

anytime. >> the civilians that we saw in your report charles, what sort of impact has this conflict had on them? >> reporter: well increasingly bad impact on the lives of millions of civilians across this region. those people we saw there in the village as i say, living amongst the destruction, braving these attacks on either side day and night. as we drove out of that village, there were groups of people standing on the side of the road trying to flag us down as we heard automatic weapons being fired in the nearby vicinity. and new regulartions by the government as well restricting movement in and out of this area. now it's necessary for people who are from donetsk, who want to come in and out, they have to

have the right paperwork and apply for it. we saw people yesterday in buses and cars being turned back at the check point in to donetsk. we also know the ukrainian government here has already stopped paying pensions stopped paying government schools, so there are massive pressures here on civilians. reports as well that hospitals are running out of vital medicines, vaccines for things like polio, and tb and the united nations calling on certainly the ukrainian government to -- to look at these restrictions that they have put on in terms of getting access for this humanitarian aid to come in. a huge impact developing along here for civilians, and these very worrying signs that the conflict is indeed potentially escalating. >> thank you for that charles. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. still ahead, from the streets to the courtroom, the government in

democratic republic of congo rounds up people it accuses of organizing days of demonstrations. and later in sport, roger federer is knocked out in the third round of the australian open. ♪

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested >> i know that i'm being surveilled >> people are not getting the care that they need >> this is a crime against humanity >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> what do we want? justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> they are running towards base... >>...explosions going off we're not quite sure... >> fault lines al jazeera america's

emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series... ♪ hello, again, you are watching the al jazeera news hour. a reminder of our top stories. people in saudi arabia have been paying their respects to the king who died on friday. his body has been buried in an unmarked grave. at least 35 people have been killed including six children in the latest fighting in syria. there's been government shelling near the capitol as well as the city of homs. the u.n. says more than 5,000 people have been killed by the conflict in eastern ukraine, pro-russia separatists are gaining more territory, and their leader says he will not take part in ceasefire talks. let's turn to our top story, the

death of the saudi king abdullah. the path of succession has been clear, but a look at the family tree shows how complex it could become. abdullah was the latest of the change in power. and now power has passed to salman who is already 79 years old. that makes the new king's brother only 10 years his junior. there are hundreds of princes potentially in line for the thrown. the new king has just appointed his nephew deputy crown prince. so questions remain over the stability of saudi arabia during the transition of power. king salman tried to address some of those concerns in a televised address he said he planned to stay on the course his father set for the nation.

>> translator: we are going to continue with the approach of father who built the state and is followed by his sons. we are going to continue to implement the quran and the character of the prophet muhammad into our legislation. >> traditionally succession goes to brothers rather than sons but that has meant an aging royal line. >> reporter: this is the next king of saudi arabia. he became the crown prince in 2012. salman's swift appointment was seen as shoring up the succession line and avoiding a struggle for power. he is one of seven powerful brothers. they are the sons of the founder of saudi arabia all from the same mother. all of the remaining sons are over 75 years old. he was governor for nearly 50

years. during his tenure the saudi capitol grew into a major modern city. he attracted foreign investment and was seen as politically and economically aligned with the west. he became minister of defense in 2011 and was also appointed to the powerful national security council that oversees foreign pollty security, and intelligence. salman is not likely to introduce significant change. but at 79 years old, there are concerns about his ability to govern. his health is rumored to be frail. he has rarely spoken in public in cent years. the rules stipulate that the eldest and fittest among the brothers inherit the thrown but the rules are not clear enough about more complex situations. once all of the sons of the king die, and the crown passes to the

next generation the several dozen grandsons may battle for power. prince salman is seen as the most likely person to quell any decent, whether he is able to rule a powerful country will be his greatest challenge. >> joining us is al jazeera presenter sami zeidan who has spent a lot of time covering developments in the gulf and saudi arabia. let's pick up on that last point. those in the country agitating for change. and campaigning for political reform. how does this play out. >> let's give a little bit of background first of all, jane. in 1993 at the beginning of this trend to try to establish something of an accountability system for the government you have the late king making the council, and you had new bodies being established in 2005.

there would be municipal elections. that's on the plus side. however, those bodies are largely appointed. very weak power when it comes to investigating, questioning the government. so i would say that -- for -- for many in saudi arabia the reform process hasn't reached what many people would like to see yet. there has -- there has been some movement but there's also been some pushback. we saw new laws brought out in the time of the late king abdullah, a series of new laws implementing anti-cyber crime, terror crime acts brought out. some of which human rights organizations say were used to silence political opposition. we have seen some bloggers briefly put into jail when they have covered stories which are sensitive about economic issues poverty in saudi arabia. we have seen human rights

lawyers jailed in july of last year. and then the question which you pose is okay what is the way forward? that depends on who you ask. saudi arabia is a very traditional country, but there have been movements to send a lot of saudis abroad for education. perhaps hundreds of thousands of saudi students have been educated abroad. there is a large number in the united states of america. in 2012 alone there was 130,000 saudi students sent abroad for ed a decision. sometimes you find communities which are living very different lifestyles behind some of the come pounds in saudi arabia then you find fellow citizens living in other parts of saudi arabia the division for which way forward? what is the role of the government? of accountability? of religion? freedom of the press. some of these ideas i think you

would find people polarized over which way forward the government should move the process. >> and the issue of women. how do you think that is going to be dealt with going forward, and how important is that from an economic point of view? because even though it is considered to be a very wealthy country, there is a lot of poverty there too. >> yeah it's not a black and white situation. often what we hear is one side of the story. women don't have the right to drive. there was a royal decree in 2011 about women participating in the next round of votes. women enjoy high levels of wealth ownership, and are active in the business community. that is an important challenge. when you look at some of the stats, it's estimated -- although people think of saudi arabia as this

super rich oil country, that doesn't mean there aren't some challenges. up to a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. we have seen instances during the peak of the arab spring where some of the video bloggers were making videos about some of these problems and some of them ending up in jail because of that. when you look at the largest group in the saudi age group, it's the working age group. there's an increasing trend towards urbanization. government has tried -- it has made things like the king abdullah economic city it has launched affordable housing projects but that is still a big challenge for any new leadership to meet when some of the people are getting disillusioned, and some of the saudis are going across the border joining very radical groups because they are not

happy with the situation inside saudi arabia. >> all right. sami zeidan thank you. >> thank you. on sunday people go to the polls in greece to decide who they want to put in charge of their country and their struggling economy. opinion polls suggest the radical left party is poised to win. the message there that has resinated with young voters struggling with unemployment and a lack of opportunities. more now from barnaby phillips. >> reporter: they are on the verge of a victory that will spread excitement and fear across europe. greece's left-wing party and its leader. for young greeks he says an end to austerity means an end to mass unemployment. a message of hope to those who have suffer sod much in the economic crisis but not so excited about these elections. this editor who thinks none of the parties can be trusted. he is planning to immigrate because he says young people

can't make a living in greece anymore. >> i want to have a family. and i don't think that i will be able to raise a family in greece because i'm not going to have the money. we have to live with our parents. we can't live by our own. we can't buy stuff for us. like -- i haven't -- i haven't bought any clothing for -- for a year i think now. >> reporter: so many young greeks will vote for change and some want to leave the country all together. but even those who are suspicious of the radical left agree that the old political system based on corruption and patronage has ruined this country and should never come back. alexander will vote for the conservative new democracy who lead the outcoming government. not because he is happy with the way things are, but because he thinks they offer the best chance of reform.

>> translator: the old greece was a country where most people would work in the public sector. but we want to be a modern western country, not a country living on deception as greece was before the crisis. >> reporter: they feel their time has come. they are ready for con con -- confrontation. many in this crowd, young and old, feel they have nothing to lose. the leader of libya's militia group has died from injuries he suffered while fighting in benghazi. he was admitted into hospital after fighting government troops several months ago. he fought against forces loyal to the late libyan leader. the following year he founded the militia, which has a

presence in a number of libyan cities. egypt's president has said that he would like to see the case against three al jazeera journalists resolved. our colleagues have now been imprisoned in egypt for 391 days. mohammed fahmy peter greste and baher mohamed were falsely accused of colluding with the outlawed muslim brotherhood, charges they deny. >> translator: we don't have any interest whatsoever to put any citizen under detention. journalists or otherwise. outside the rule of law. but there is pint also that i would like to highlight here, which is we are trying very hard after four years of turbulence to regain the rule of law. thailand's parliament has voted to impeach the prime

minister. the attorney general's office announced separate plans to indict her on criminal charges for negligence in the rice scheme. representatives of the u.n. security council are set to arrive in haiti, but they won't be met warmly. it has to do with upheaval in the country that the president is under pressure to solve. james bayes reports from the capitol. >> reporter: an angry crowd, marches through the streets of port-au-prince just hours before the u.n. security council arrives in haiti. in recent weeks the prime minister has resigned and parliament was dissolved. these protesters say the new cabinet is in fact stacked with loyalists of the president.

the so-called consensus cabinet has not resolved these almost daily protests. what do people here think about the united nations? >> translator: the undermission here only causes problems. we see a lot of soldiers every day. and we don't know what they are here for. they brought cholera to our country, and they rape our women. >> translator: they have been in our country for 11 years, and nothing has improved. >> reporter: one prom next activist says the u.n. is now hated many in the country. >> wherever you have soldiers stepping in a foreign land you are going to have abuses. this is kind of part of it. but the real trouble people have with the u.n. has been this

cholera outbreak. i mean you know, it killed more people than all of the so-called insecurity in haiti has done. >> reporter: the u.n. mission costs more than $30 million a month, but if the ambassadors of the security council speak to ordinary haitians while they are here they may well discover most would prefer they packed up right now and went home. the senators in democratic republic of congos have rejected con tro version changes to electoral laws. the amendment that would have delayed the presidential election will not pass back to parliament for debate. large and violent rallies were held and opposition leaders say dozens of people were killed. malcolm webb met the family of one man who died in the capitol. >> reporter: luke says his 17-year-old nephew had no interest in protesting or

politics. thousands have been demonstrating here in congo's capitol. they say the president is trying to stay in power beyond the constitutional limit of two terms. they were watching police arrest protesters from this upstairs window. >> translator: we heard boom! we both went down. i got up but he didn't. i tried to wake him. then i saw he was injured in the neck. a lot of blood was coming out of the wound. >> reporter: he died here on the floor. luke thinks the shot must have been aimed at him. his family say they weren't to take legal action against the government. here at the high court the government has been quick to begin proceedings against the people it says are responsible for looting and organizing the protests. it says police arrested more than 300 mostly young men who will be tried here in the coming days. the first suspects were brought

here in this truck. they sat here for hours. this man says that he is innocent. he didn't do anything. lawyers arrive and the first trial begins. the two suspects are charged are looting. one of them says he was a bystander. he was arrested by police. the political opposition who called for the protests condemned the mass arrests. meanwhile the government denies that planned controversial changes in election laws are intended to extend the president's rule. >> translator: it's disorder the demonstrations calling on people to cause civil disobesence are acts of barbarism. we're in a legal process of improving electoral law. how can that lead the opposition to send youth to destroy people's property? >> reporter: back at the house where he lived his family come

together to mourn. his mother has no money and she was depending on him to look after her in old age. meanwhile the government still want to change the laws. but the politics won't bring him back. malcolm webb al jazeera, in the democratic republic of congos. i'm at the africa cup of nations in editorial guinea. find out why it has been described as the united nations of football.

let's go to sport.

what is happening? >> a lot of football action for you. the semifinal lineup at the asian cup has been played in australia. japan were knocked out of the tournament by the united arab emirates while iraq face their fierce rivals, iran. >> reporter: four-time asian champions, and with a population roughly 14 times that of their opponents, japan's clash with the united arab emirates was a mismatch on paper. but the uae took the lead early on. they leveled the score with nine minutes left in regular time. it went on to extra time and then penalties, where two these players both let japan down. and they marched into a

semifinal date with hosts australia. the earlier quarter final pitted together two sides with a lot of history between them iran and iraq. but with iran the top-ranked side in asia it came as no surprise when they started the scoring. the march turned sharply though before halftime as iran went down to ten men and the iraqis capitalized in the advantage. levelling the score at 1-1. the gulf flooded in extra time. twice iraq went a goal ahead, only for iran to pull level each time. at 3-3, the match was forced to a penalty shootout both nations missing their first attempts

but it was iran who stubbled twice. sending iraq to the semifinals 7-6 on penalties. they were celebrating in the streets of bagdad as well. south korea now await in sydney on monday. moving on to the africa cup of nations where favorites algeria will take on ghana for a place in the quarter finals. that match will kick off in a few minute's time. the desert foxes are opening for further improvements from their opening game. algeria came from a goal down to beat south africa 3-1 in the so-called group of death. later south africa will need to beat senegal if they are to stay in contention for the quarter finals equatorial

guinea's host my be start, but it has been successful. andy richardson reports on the side that has become known as the united nations of football. >> reporter: in africa the ambitions to one day wear a football shirt in europe is not uncommon by in equatorial guinea the talent flow appears to be in reverse. more than two-thirds were born in spain, and qualify through having parents or grandparents from the country. >> the jersey is red, has a bit of green and blue and white, and well looks like a salad. and that's what they are. they have players from all around the world playing for them.

and it's a problem for peers of africa and global [ inaudible ] because they feel if any country has country, they can naturalize anybody. >> reporter: a footballer has to live in a country for five years before they can play for a national team but that's a rule that equatorial guinea hasn't also follow. they kicked out of the african cup of nations for having a foreign-born player only to be given a second chance when they agreed to host the african cup. they have dropped their south american imports for this cup of nations. the spanish-born players remain though including the midfielder who's father is from the country he chose to represent. >> i played in a lot of peoples in spain, but the feel isn't a

special feel. when you play hereinafter hereinafter -- here in africa it's special. >> the fans seem to be appreciating the decision to pick a team with closer connections to their country. >> translator: it doesn't matter if they are spanish guineian when which put on the national shirt, we're all brothers. >> reporter: andy richardson al jazeera. tennis now, roger federer has been knocked out of the australian open in the third round. he was beaten in 4 sets by his italian opponent. the 33-year-old now hasn't won a grand slam title since wimbledon

in 2012. >> i guess i'm on the wrong points out there today. and i knew how important that second-set tiebreaker was. so clearly that hurt losing that one, but the end wasn't pretty you know? wasn't easy to play with the shadow but it was the same for both of us so just a disappointing loss you know. raphael looked in strong form and didn't show any sign of illness after suffering from cramps in his previous match. he cruised this one. he'll next face his south african opponent. in the women's draw maria sharapova beat dias in straight sets. she will now go to the quarter finals. the new england patriot's

biggest named player and their coach have adamantly denied accusations of cheating in a case that has been known as deflate gate. the nfl is investigating allegations that they deflated 11 of the 12 balls used in the sunday's match. >> i have no knowledge of anything. i have no knowledge of any wrongdoing -- >> reporter: nobody did anything wrong? >> yeah i'm very comfortable saying that. as far as i know. i don't know everything. i also understand i was in the locker room preparing for a game. i don't know what happened over the course of the process with the footballs. >> and that's your sport for me. robin adams will have more for you later on. back to jane. >> thank you very much. we have another bulletin coming up in the next couple of

minutes. i'll see you then but thanks for watching this one. ♪ >>tomorrow. >> visibility was 3 to 5 nautical miles. >> weathering the storm. >> we want to show people how to replace property against the worst mother nature has to offer. >> experts forecast how to stay safe. >> i'm standing in a tropical windstorm. >> in extreme weather. >> oh my god. >> 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 affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. tomorrow at 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> al jazeera america presents a breakthrough television event. borderland. six strangers. >> let's just send them back to mexico. >> experience illegal immigration up close and personal. >> it's overwhelming to see this many people that have perished. >> lost lives are relived.

>> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> will there differences bring them together or tear them apart? >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves. >> which side of the fence are you on? borderland, sunday at 9 eastern, only on al jazeera america. the middle east has loft reason an influential leader. king abdullah dead at the age of 90. conflicting assessments over america's fight against i.s.i.l. in syria and iraq. and the man behind the controversial cartoons depicting prophet muhammad will join u despite being marked for death by al qaeda. i'm david shuster in more antonio mora, welcome to "consider this". those stories and more straight ahead.