only on al jazeera america >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the nows hour i'm jane dutton live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in this program, feeling trapped. al jazeera gets a rare look at what life is like to residents living in iraq's second-largest city which is now under the control of isil. piece talks between pro-russian raebl -- rebels and kiev are called off. at least 35 people are killed after an explosion in a

mosque in pakistan. robert mu -- mugabe confronts several challenges on the continent. we begin with attacks by islamic state of iraq and the levant. isil fighters have killed at least 15 solders. a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives close to an iraqi army base. at least ten were walkeded in the exchange of fire that followed. isil fighters have killed a senior kurdish soldier. gunmen stormed the hotel in the oil-rich city triggering a fire fight with police and kurdish forces. dozens were injured in the

violence. the kurdish forces took control of kirkuk province in june when the iraqi army abandoned its position there. al jazeera has gained a rare incite into what life is like for people living in the iraqi city of mosul, which is under the control of fighters from isil. mosul with considered iraq's second largest city. tense of thousands have since fled the violence there. it is considered strategic because of the nearby mosul dam which supplies most of the country's power. right now kurdish fight ersz have control of the dam. the city is predominantly sunni. many of who welcomed isil fighters when the group took control of the city in june last year but as zana hoda reports, there is growing opposition to the group's rule. >> reporter: mosul is under the control of the islamic state of

iraq and the levant. it has become almost impossible for its residences to leave. >> we cannot leave. the isis guards refuse anyone to depart. >> really? >> they want us as human shields. >> reporter: for security reasons this person has to remain anonymous. he has been come communicating from inside mosul to his friends in the kurdish regional capitol erbil. even they hide their identity. they left the city when they took over in june. the armed group has cut off most communication lines, but the voices that do come out speak of isil's harsh rules. >> there is no money, because there is unemployment. but we can -- we can still have hope that the liberation -- because this hope

that keeps us alive. >> some of the people welcome them, but at the same time there are hundreds of thousand people who were sitting home try crying about the city. >> reporter: many welcomed isil fighters when they first entered in june. the iraqi army was seen as sectarian and targeting sunnis. videos like this one have been emerging showing the so-called mosul brigade targeting isil members. >> from august mosul brigade, the one who like announced to fight isil in mosul, they have done more than 300 operation against isil. >> reporter: and outside mosul, mainly sunni volunteers from the

city have been training for the fight. their role is important in any counter offensive against isil. the people of mosul, may not want isil rule but they have had a be it ore history with the shia-lead government forces. zana hoda al jazeera, northern iraq. and in jordan the army says it is working around the clock to get information about a jordanian pilot held hostage by isil. jordan is demanding proof that the pilot is still live before going ahead with a prisoner swap. isil has threatened to kill the pilot if a prisoner isn't released. japan is also trying to secure the release of a japanese journalist taken hostage last year. anymore details coming about this potential swap? >> reporter: jane absolutely no details whatsoever. as you rightly point out, the army is saying that all

southeast are working around the clock here in jordan from japan word from there that they are doing all they can to cooperate with jordan and other countries, but of course there are competing interests in this. i'm standing right now at what is effectively the campaign headquarters which is part of a large influential tribe. the big tent behind me. the portrait is there, he has been missing in action as its described here since december when his f-16 crashed in northeastern syria, and now the issue is this is he alive or dead? and is the japanese journalist alive or dead in and is there a possibility of a three-way deal? or is it that islamic -- that isil is effectively still in the position where it's only

prepared to exchange the japanese journalist in return for the iraqi woman who was on death row for an attempted suicide bombing, in fact her fellow suicide bombers succeeded in their mission back in 2005, more than 60 people were killed. the exchange -- could that take place? it's a total mystery right now as to what is going on. because nothing is being said publicly. 24 hours since the deadline -- the sundown deadline on thursday when there was supposed to be -- if the exchange hadn't taken place, then the pilot was supposed to have been killed. >> all right. andrew thank you. egypt has launched a military operation in the sigh any peninsula, coming after renewed violence believed to be the work of a group that has pledged allegiance to isil.

at least 45 people have been killed including an army general. im has the details. >> reporter: the force of the explosion can be seen from far away. fighters from an armed group called sinai provines they are responsible. they have pledged allegiance to islamic state of iraq and the levant or isil. the attackers used a barrage of rockets and a car bomb in the province shall capitol and a nearby town in four separate attacks. one journalist told al jazeera why the military base may have been chosen as one of the targets. >> translator: what i have learned is that many were injured, and many of the civilians detained inside the 101 battalion were seriously wounded. the battalion is not only a military base but houses prisons and detention sterns for what the army describe as extremists. >> reporter: it's unclear whether the attack was designed to set free the prisoners, but it is being taken very seriously

by the government. al-sisi cut short a trip to ethiopia and has returned to cairo. this attack is one of the worst since october. after that attack the egyptian government insisted it had increased security measures even going as far as building what it called a buffer zone and increasing patrols. attacks around iraq have killed more than two does penal. a car bomb targeting a market killed 11 people. further north a suicide bomber killed seven kurdish forces fighter. and to the west seven people died in an attack on a security check point. four of those killed were police officers. pro-russia rebels in ukraine say at least seven people have been killed in the eastern city of donetsk. a spokesman for the rebels says the attack at a cultural center

also wounded 23 people. the ukrainian defense ministry says five of its soldiers also died in the fighting. both france and poland have called for an immediate ceasefire and urged russia to stop supporting the rebels. >> reporter: i'm here at a cultural center the site of one of at least two attacks here in donetsk today. we have spoken to witnesses who tell us the strikes happened around 1:00 p.m. they described three missiles hitting this car park and the nearby buildings. they say there were hundreds of people waiting to receive humanitarian aid. we have heard an escalation in the fighting -- seen an escalation in the fighting in this whole region in the last few days. in the last couple of days we have been out towards the airport and seen in-coming and outgoing missile strikes. rebels say they have no interest whatsoever in these trust talks

and are determined to continue fighting. and of course this comes on a day where there was a new foefrt to try to bring the various parties back to the table and initiate some sort of truce. and this highlights how difficult that is. >> those peace talks that charles mentioned there were set to take place in the city of minsk. let's bring in rory challands in moscow. they are not going to happen. why not, rory? >> reporter: well it seems like there is a bit of gainsmanship going on this the donetsk people's republic representative. and the luhansk people's republic representative showed up and kiev never sent their representative. this we have heard was because the separatists representatives who had been sent weren't the right ones.

they weren't the ones who signed the minsk memorandum back in september of 2014, and that according to the terms of the ukraine contact group was an incorrect protocol. so essentially they said they weren't going to turn up. what does this mean? does it mean the whole thing is abandoned? we'll have to wait and see. >> okay. then what do they take with them for the next talks? where to from here? >> reporter: well the former president of ukraine and is kiev's representative he has indicated that he is now going to be flying to minsk, and the representatives who have been sent from the separatists territory territories, they have said that they might head back to minsk again tomorrow and pick these things up. so there is hope that

potentially things could kick in again tomorrow, on saturday. but having said that there is still a lot of ground to cover. there, as charles was pointing out, still a lot of violence going on on the ground in eastern ukraine. and the representatives of the separatists territories have suggested that they are perfectly happy to carry on prosecuting their offensive, if kiev and the ukrainian army continues as the separatists say to shell urban centers like what has been happening in donetsk. >> rory challands with that update from moscow. thanks rory. there has been a bombing in pakistan at a mosque. the blast killed at least 35 people and injured more than 50 others. the anti-shia group has claimed responsibility. >> reporter: chaos in the moments after. people around the area try to help the injured. they are loaded on to cars motor bikes, rickshaws, any

means of ferrying them for treatment before the ambulance arrives. it's a scene that has become all too common in pac. a shia mosque under attack. this time the bombing happened in the southern sind province. the blast was so powerful that part of the roof collapsed, trapping people underneath. many people were killed and others injured. pakistan's shia minority have been caught in a recent wave of sectarian violence. just three weeks ago, a bombing outside of another shia mosque killed eight people. shias make up a fifth of pakistan's population. community leaders say the government isn't doing enough to ensure their safety and that attacks like this show they are a target.

gerald tan, al jazeera. coming up on the news hour bez -- hezbollah's leader says the armed group is not afraid of war with israel. and greece's syriza party has breathed new life into leftist groups across europe. and in sport, we will have the australian open. ♪ chad's air force have bombed boko haram fighters and driven them out of a town they held for three months. last week chad sent hundreds of troops into cameroon to use the country as a base to launch attacks against the armed group. mohammed has more from chad's capitol. >> reporter: chadian defense officials have confirmed that

their forces on the border between nigeria and cameroon have taken on boko haram fighters in the village in northeast nigeria. they say they first used a jet bomber to attack the fighters and those who fled towards the border were then attacked by their ground forces, who were stationed in the cameroonian boarder town. chadian forces do not have authority of nigerian government to fight boko haram inside nigeria, and this reluctance by nigeria to allow chadian and cameroonian forces in their country to fight the boko haram fighters is putting at risk the entire regional efforts that have been put in place to fight boko haram. nigerian authorities are said to prefer troops from countries that are members of economic community of west africian state.

cameroon and chad have also been affected by the boko haram attacks with chad with trade links at risk because the road that links it to nigeria is currentingly closed by boko haram. director general of nighian's national orientation agency and a spokesman for president goodluck jonathan joins me now. good to have you on the program. talk us through what is happening as far as the offensive is concerned, that is happening at the moment and chad's role in it. >> well first let me correct the instruction, i'm the coordination person for the national information center. i'm not a spokesman for the president. >> okay. i apologize. >> the nigerian government -- the nigerian government has never shied away or pretended to say that it would not need the cooperation

and support or even collaboration -- active collaboration of its neighbors in the fight against terrorism. that's why it initiated the move to get this coordinated action by all of the countries within the subregion, especially in the [ inaudible ] commission [ inaudible ] area to confront the insurgency which has come on to our territories and borders. >> can you tell us exactly what the chadian troops will be doing? they have already been successful in recapturing a town. so it shows that boko haram can be tackled if the desire and the equipment is there, for example. >> but as -- as the news from [ inaudible ] was unfolding, also the nigerian soldiers have taken back other places. it is an ongoing effort that

requires the coordination of all of us. like i also said there are other communities that are being taken back by the nigerian armed forces. we have not shied away from [ inaudible ]. we said we needed capability. we have capacity in terms of human resources. we have seen since 1998, the task force which brought all of the countries including chad together. >> the african union is calling -- sorry. the african union is calling for a 7,500 regional force to help you in the fight. how is that going to play out? >> well our position is clear. any support that will come to nigeria that is not to undermine the territorial integrity of nigeria is welcome, but the emphasize is -- has always been help us with the resources to fight the war, we have the men.

we just need additional capacity. this is what the government of nigeria has committed, which requires time to acquire. but the nigerian armed forces are achieving in the fight against terror. >> i have to ask you something rather important. the human rights groups raised just yesterday -- just thursday some of the issues the abuses conducted by nigeria's armed forces the fact that they adhere to these abuses in the fight against boko haram, it seems to be justified. how is the government going to stop that from happening? how are they going to stop that from getting out of control now? >> you cannot stop -- you cannot stop -- you cannot stop what is not happening from happening. that is -- >> well you can stop human rights abuses against people. >> no but -- no, but what i am saying even if it is not

happening, what do you stop? what i clearly say is that the nigerian armed forces is not engaged in any form of abuses against its citizens. it is not. they will not do it. it is not within the charter. nigeria has little tolerance for any abuses at all. and allegations have been coming -- and i know that whatever excuse or [ inaudible ] nigeria gives it will be dismissed from countries that are actually engaged in human abuses. if it is alledged it is thoroughly investigated and if it ever happened those will be dealt with. >> that's good to hear. thank you very much for talking to us on al jazeera. let's stick with boko haram how to tackle it obviously one

of the main issues being discussed at the african union summit. the armed group continues to attack northeast nigeria. so the african union is setting up a multinational task force. and pushing for a power-sharing deal. from al jazeera's research center for studies joins me now on the set. the african union say they are going to tackle some pretty important issues. can they do it? >> i don't think so. african african african -- union has become a talk shop. they haven't shown leadership on the pandemic of ebola, or shown leadership on dealing with challenges of boko haram and al-shabab. >> why not? why has this been allowed to go on for so long?

what is the problem? >> the problem is they are not -- they are not empowered by the member states to -- for example to effect impugntive measures for those who violate human rights for example. and the peer review which was proposed by the regime during those days so it has not been effective, because they don't have mechanisms to ensure that the -- that they implement certain basic things within the african don't -- continent. >> but they have had some small successes successes. >> yes, but there are a lot of regional involvement in dealing with somali. it was not the african union that saw the pushing back of boko haram. there was a strong involvement from kenya, for example.

yes, there are certain things that they have done but by and large it has been just a very ineffective formation. >> robert mugabe he is now the chairman. what sort of message is that considering what is happening in sim -- zimbabwe. >> well it is ceremonial. i don't see him really changing any cause effect shun -- >> or his credibility. >> or his credibility. the only person who tried to do so was moammar gadhafi that wanted a second term. so i don't think he is going to make any changes. but the credibility of the african union will continue to drop with a person like robert mugabe being at the helm given

his track history. so that's the only challenge i think. >> thank you. still ahead on the program. south africa grants parole to the man dubbed prime evil one of the country's most notorious assassins. and i'm finding out why milk is now cheaper than bottled water in the u.k. and what it means for dairy farms. i'm finding out with more than just football stadiums will be left at the end of this african cup of nations. ♪

♪ quick run through of the top stories on al jazeera. isil fighters have killed at least 15 iraqi soldiers. a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives close to an army base. more than a dozen others have been killed in separate attacks across iraq. at least 49 people have been killed in a bombing in a mosque

in southern pakistan. the explosion happened during friday prayers. around 50 people have believed to be wounded. pro-russia rebels in ukraine say at least seven people have been killed in the eastern city of donetsk after an attack on a cultural center. five soldiers also died in the fighting. a rebel spokesman has warned that the separatists will take over parts of eastern ukraine soon >> hezbollah's heard says the lebanesed armed group isn't afraid of war with israel and has the right to respond to what he called israeli aggression. he has been addressing thousands of supporters at a rally. he accuses israel of an air strike in syria earlier this month which killed six fighters. he says the violence on wednesday was in retaliation to that attack. let's go to nicole johnston who

joins us live from beirut. >> reporter: perhaps the strongest message that he had was the case that he made against israel. now, he said that israel has targeted hezbollah inside the syrian-controlled part of the golan heights, but they had effectively ignored the al-qaeda group which is operating there. the nusra front controls about 65% of that part of the golan heights. he said they have an open door policy towards them and talked about how israel treats the wounded from the nusra front group. the other strong message that he had to give to israel was that the rules of engagement have changed. not only have they changed, they are actually over. he says now hezbollah can strike

israel anywhere any time and on any front that it chooses. here is a little of what he had to say. >> translator: the operation took place when the israelis were on high alert. from sunday the israelis have been listening to us. the spies, the intelligence the telecommunications, and they have been watching every single movement. however, hezbollah, in brood daylight carried out this operation, and the israelis failed their army with all of the resources. >> nicole why are some lebanese increasingly angry with hezbollah, if i can put it that way? >> reporter: really lebanon is deeply divided on the issue of hezbollah. during his speech he did say that he does not want a war with israel but that they are not afraid of one. the reason that lebanon is so divided is because husband bow

la is at the moment deeply involved in the neighboring war in syria. it is fiekting on the same side as syria's president, so in the very sort of sectarian divided country of lebanon, you have many of the shias of lebanon, of hezbollah supporting hezbollah in its role in syria, and many in the shoeny community they are on the other side. other people in lebanon say that hezbollah's role inside syria has made life more difficult in lebanon. it has divided the country. it has emphasized the sectarian division and there has been bombings and suicide attacks, and we have a couple of thousand syrian opposition fighters now inside lebanon. so many people in lebanon are not happy with hezbollah's role

in neighboring syria. >> thanks for that. . in yemen protesters calling for independence of rallies in the southern port city of aden. they reject that houthi leaders and political parties are trying to form in the capitol. it comes a week after the president and cabinet resigned. south africa's government has granted parole to an apartheid death squad leader. he was jailed for the kidnap torture and murder of a number of anti-apartheid activists in the '80s and '90s. tania page has the details. >> reporter: reaction to the news greeted with mixed feelings here on the streets. one woman said that he should be forgiven. it's time for the nation to move forward.

another man said he has only served a very small fraction of the huge sentence -- more than 200 years that was handed down to him, and he should rot in prison. he confessed to about 100 instances of murder torture and fraud, carried out as he was the commander of the police insurgency unit. which was tasked with identifying, hunting, and killing anti-apartheid supporters. the justice minister says that has no bearing on his decision. he says he has the support of the president in granting him parole. that he meets the requirements. he is eligible. he has shown remorse. he served more than 20 years. he has been helping police identify some of the locations of some of his victims, and that the minister of justice said it was in his best interests and the best interests of national

reconciliation that he be granted parole. the family of jailed al jazeera journalist peter greste has renewed calls for his freedom. he was wrongly accused along with other two al jazeera journalists, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed, of working with the outlawed muslim brotherhood. wayne haye reports from brisbane. >> reporter: by now they thought they wouldn't have to be doing this. the family of peter greste spoke to media in brisbane australia, to talk about their son and bother still locked up in cairo egypt. >> it has been a long time of anxiety and stress largely because we feel very sad that in fact we have come home empty handed. >> reporter: peter greste mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed were arrested in cairo, on december 29th, 2013. in a trial widely dismissed as a farce, they were sentenced to

between seven and ten years in prison for aiding the outlawed muslim brotherhood. at the start of this month, a court in cairo ordered a retrial in the case of the al jazeera three. the convictions were set aside, providing some hope that the president of egypt can now intervene. last year he issued a presidential decree that would allow for foreigners to be deported to face trial or serve time in their home countries. that was encouraging for guest ta and mohammed fahmy. >> the 25th of january there was quite a lot of talk around the possibility of the guys being pardoned as yet there's been no news of that and -- the -- you know egypt is going through a seven-day period of mourning for the saudi king so that sort

of -- that announcement we understand is being put on hold. >> reporter: peter greste's parents just returned from cairo, where they visited him several times. >> the last time the saw him wasn't his best day but it wasn't his worst. he had a few grim days but everybody does and of course perhaps a few more in prison but he is holding up okay. and, you know, he -- he -- he's -- does everything he possibly can to maintain his -- i was going to say sanity. >> reporter: this was yet another media conference where the family of peter greste were unable to deliver any good us in and once again, they hope the next one will be different. the international criminal tribunal for the former youing go slaufia upheld the convictions of five men that played a role in a massacre.

they were convicted in 2010 of taking part in the 1995 massacre of 8,000 muslim men and boys. four of the men were high-ranking officials in bosnian serb army at the time. the fifth man had his sentence reduced by one year. a national day of mourning has been observed in the philippines for 44 police officers. they were killed while fighting separatists on sunday. >> reporter: a somber fairwell to heros. that's what philippine president called the 44 police officers who were killed last sunday in a fire fight. >> translator: this symbolizes that they lived and died for the sake of the filipino people. we recognize their harrowism and

sacrifices and offer our condolences to the families who lost loved ones. >> reporter: this woman's husband is now among those honored. like many filipinos she wonders why that happened as it did. >> they were left on their own. i could tell he don't want to go on this operation. but there was nothing they could do about it. >> reporter: the police were meant to be serving arrest war rents for two so-called high-value targets who had been wanted for years for committing what officials call acts of terrorism. the police had to go through areas petroled by rebels controlled by the mlif. the rebels signed a peace deal with the government last year but say they thought police had broken the ceasefire and fought back in defense. things were complicated further by the presence of other armed

groups in the area. government forces have been killed in so-called misunderstandings before but this is the first time it has happened since the country's peace deal was formalized last year. the deals details including how to decommission rebel forces are still being fine tuned. but support for the deal and the establishment of an autonomous muslim entity is fading. it isn't just the intentions or sincerity of the rebel group that are being questioned but also those of the government. the president met families of the police officers at the memorial service, but was notably absent when the bodies were first brought to manila the day before. angering many filipinos by attending the opening of a car manufacturing plant instead. the grieving and shock goes

beyond this group of mourners. many filipinos say they are tired of seemingly empty words, finding it difficult to keep a clear mind when their hearts are heavy. the chairman of korean air has testified at the second court hearing for his daughter who is charged with violating aviation laws. before entering the courtroom in soul he apologized at what has been dubbed the nut rage incident. the daughter forced a crew maybe off of a plane after being served nuts in a bag and not a dish. russia's central bank has cut its key interest rate from 17 to 15%. the bank said it made the move because inflation is

stabilizing. the move is meant to help the economy amid falling global oil prices. germany has rejected suggestions of trimming greece's debt calling the idea divorce from reality. comment frsz the german foreign minister come as the euro zone's top financial minister is in greece. tsipras has formed his government four days ago. the party wants up to half of the country's debt wiped. the success of the party has gal van niced far-left groups across europe. in spain a group is gaining ground. jacky rowland reports from madrid. >> reporter: the supporters are

spreading the word about a march for change taking place on saturday. the name of the party means simply we can, and ordinary people are attracted by its message of social justice. it is riding a wave of euphoria after the syriza party won in greece last sunday. the heard took part in that campaign and hopes to replicate the victory in spain later this year. the greek and spanish party share similar goals to ditch austerity programs imposed by brussels. >> translator: we have six years of austerity imposed by brussels, and it doesn't work. greece has gone worse, so has spain and portugal. >> reporter: nearly a quarter of spanish people are out of work. like in greece the government

has cut public spending so welfare benefits are vanishing. it's tempting to draw parallels between greece and spain, but the comparison only goes so far. here in spain, they want to change entirely the way people think about politics. it says the old labels of left wing and right-wing aren't relevant anymore. but the spanish economy is finally showing signs of recovery. analysts say the group is about more than the economy, and that's why the party is currently leading in opinion polls. >> the real success it has had among the spanish people the reason why it has been escalating in the polls is because of its stance with regard to corruption and the reform of the political system

in spain. it's a much more reformist party. >> reporter: it has successfully captured the public mood in spain, but it's still a new party, untried and untested and the general election is still many months away. jacky rowland, al jazeera, madrid. [ inaudible ] air wares have bought a 10% stake in the parent company of british airways. it makes the company the largest single stake holder in the international airlines group. qatar airways say the deal will also strengthen its operations. still ahead on the news hour -- >> i'm in sydney where ahead of the asian cup final, the main topic isn't surfing, but the

soccerooos.

♪ [ inaudible ] in the u.k. have been affected by a price war with supermarkets over the cost of mill. in the last month, dozens of dairy farmers were forced to leave the industry all together. charlie angelo reports from southern england. >> reporter: this man has his favorites in his 250-strong herd. their milk has given him an income for years, but that may be about to change. the milk market is in freefall.

putting two farmers out of business every day. >> we have seen probably 30 to 40% come off of milk prices for certain producers in the u.k. driving those producers to the point of unviability. >> reporter: the cost for producing is $0.45. but prices have eroded and now many farms operate at a loss making only $0.30 a litter. it's a case of supply and demand these cows produced more milk than usual. and china's appetite for foreign dairy is waning. >> reporter: also to blame are supermarkets their price wars have made milk cheaper than bottled water. a short-sited tactic. >> if you want to discount milk

to get people into your shop then you pay for it. processed cheese is a problem where they buy it across the market and a lot of these big retailers drive the price of milk down through that. >> reporter: in april the e.u.'s milk quotas will vanish. unless a way is found to stabilize this market the future of the next generation looks bleak. coming up in part three of our series on global milk prices we'll report from the world's largest dairy exporter new zealand which has been hit hard with some farmers being forced to take desperate measures. but coming up right now, sport with farah. >> jane thank you so much. top seed djokovic will meet andy

murray as he bids for a fifth title in melbourne. the pair went the distance at melbourne park. they went back and forth through four tight sets until djokovic ran away with it in the fifth. he'll hold the upper hand on sunday. kenyan marathon runner has been banned from the sport for two years after failing a drugs test. athletics kenya came to the decision after two weeks of the hearing. the runner was the winner of the boston marathon for the last two years. the prince of jordan has officially launched his campaign to challenge seth vlada as fifa

president. he launched an official website and social media pages. and loui says he is also an official candidate. the president of asian football says there is a desire from some gulf nations to remove australia from the confederation. it joined in 2006 after switching from oceania, it comes as the socceroos prepare to face south korea on saturday. >> reporter: summertime in sydney usually means a day at the beach, but even here the main topic of conversation isn't surfing, but the socceroos. >> i think they will win. they had a lot of opportunities, so it should be good. >> how do you think socker is going to go? >> they are going to win.

>> i certainly will want to know the result. >> reporter: after a poor world cup in brazil this tournament has been a huge success. 70 goals scored, 8 soldout matches and half a million fans attending. and for people like this who were involved in the game when it was almost a minority sport, these are exciting times. >> huge. it's by far the largest tournament we have hosted and so have the socceroos in the final is massive. >> reporter: the australians came into this tournament having scored just one goal. however, now they have won four out of five matches, scoring 12 times, and even a report that the asian group is threatening to have them kicked out of the confederation.

>> i have had numerous discussions with opposition coaches from all over asia and there's a great deal of mutual respect. >> south korea will take heart from the fact they are the only team to have beaten the socceroos in the tournament and have yet to concede a single goal something they hope will help their team pick up a third asian cup title. >> very very tough game. i hope it's a hard game challenging, and i hope it's enjoying. >> reporter: this area will be a sea of people the match and 80,000 such as been interest in this game. a country for a long time saw football as the poor relation to the rubby nation. the first quarter finals will be played at the africa cup of nations on saturday. this tournament has seen games being played in some remote

parts of equatorial guinea. many there are hoping that more than just a new stadium will be left behind when the football ends. andy richardson reports. >> reporter: pedro has been deploying his distinctive barbecuing style for much of his life. he also had a degree in logistics, and works as a warehouse manager, but he says recently shifts have been hard to come by. he like many in his small town is opening the africa cup of nations will bring more than just football to this remote part of equatorial guinea. >> translator: [ inaudible ] the government says all of the big companies are company. the cup finishes on the 8th. then the investment begins. >> reporter: huge oil reserves were discovered in equatorial guinea in the 1990s, and since then it has become africa's

third-largest oil producer but very little of the vast wealth has made it beyond the country's ruling elite. the united nations estimating that nearly half of the population still don't have access to clean drinking water, and nearly 10% of children die before the age of five. the president has been in office since 1979. his image and influence are everywhere. human rights watch says the oil boom has been used to entrench and enrich his position at the expense of the people. but when there is the political will public projects can be done. take the football stadium. weeks ago this venue was overgrown and half built until spanish expertise and grass were called upon. >> translator: we thought it was mission impossible. the biggest problem was bringing live grass from spain. we flew in four 747s full of equipment for the pitch.

>> reporter: game day have seen the locals cashing in on some rare market trade and we couldn't find any dissenting voices about the decision to spend millions of dollars on the stadium. >> translator: i want to thank god and our president for doing what they do. we're very happy to be hosting the cup. >> reporter: a football tournament isn't really what pay row or the majority of people in equatorial guinea need but for now it's all they have. former ac milan manager is one of many leading figures in world football asking for more opportunities for black coaches. al jazeera has explored the lack of opportunities for coaches across africa and the globe in a special program. only three coaches at the africa cup of nations are black. discrimination in society is being reflected by football. >> i think the wide question is of course something everybody

wants to know you know, discrimination prejudice, fear thinking about stereo types, that -- you know that -- that is very much in society, because people need to remember that football is just part of society. >> and the first opportunity to watch sport matters too black to coach will be at 1930 gmt on friday. and that's all your sport for you. >> thanks for that. it might be the end of sport, but we have more news coming up. the united kingdom is paying tribute to winston churchhill. the late heard's family retraced the journal to his final resting place. churchill was the british prime minister from 1940 to 1955, and again. he died on january 24th, 1965. good-bye for now. ♪

>> the fight over defense spending, could bucket cuts cripple the military. the pentagon's main spokesperson joins us. >> major changes in saudi arabia days after a new king took over, will they lead to progress on human rights? the key stone pipeline passes the senate, but the president's threatened veto puts it on a road to nowhere. those stories and more, straight ahead. >> president obama taking on republicans over forced spending cuts. >> obama's expected to propose a $534 billion defense budget.