>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour. i'm jane dutton live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in this program. peace talks between row russian rebels and kiev are called off amid more violence in eastern ukraine. feeling trapped, al jazeera gets a rare look at what life is like for residentslying in iraq's second largest city which is now under the control

of isil. robert mow -- mugabe for chairman. ♪ we begin in ukraine, where prorur sha rebels say at least seven people have been killed in the eastern city of donetsk. a spokesman says the attack at a cultural center also wounded 23 people. charles stratford reports from eastern ukraine. >> reporter: the wreckage of a car. the dead have been covered. the aftermath of more killing in eastern ukraine. >> translator: i can barely walk. i'm going to faint says this woman. witnesses say the attack happened as people queued to receive food handouts at a

cultural center in the city of donetsk. a second attack hit a trolly bus close by. people started jumping out and hit behind the wall. i drove closer and some people started to run towards me says this man. he ducks as yet another explosion rings out. there has been a dramatic escalation in the violence in this region in recent weeks. the separatists seem to have grown in confidence since they claim to have taken control of donetsk airport on january 20th. the fighters who refer to themselves as soldiers in the army of the donetsk people's republic have promised to widen their offensive. they have said they are not interested in truce talks. the u.n. says that more than 5,000 people have been killed in

this conflict so far, and an attempt to restart truce negotiations on friday failed with both the ukrainian government and the separatists blaming each other. no one claiming responsibility for these attacks here today, but one thing is for sure they highlight just how very difficult it is to try to restart these peace talks. charles stratford, al jazeera, donetsk, eastern ukraine. the peace talks between the ukrainian government and pro-russian separatists were set to take place in the city of minsk, but they have been called off. rory challands explains. >> reporter: it seems there has been some gamesmanship going on with these talks. represents from the separatists flew in to minsk on friday morning and started waiting for the other parties to rife. but kiev representative never

turned up. kiev says that is because the separatists sent the wrong people. it says they will only talk with the exact same individuals who were in minsk in september. so where does this leave us? well the representatives of the separatists territories say they are happy to leave minsk, but might come back on saturday. kiev has always suggested it might be having a change of heart and the former president may be heading to minsk on saturday in which he is fairly confident there might be some sort of ceasefire signs. but of course these talks have been fraught with uncertainty. we'll have to see what saturday brings. fighters from islamic state of iraq and the levant killed more than two dozen soldierings in attacks in fallujah. a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives close to an iraqi

army base killing 15 soldiers. at least ten isil fighters were wounded in an exchange of fire that followed. isil fighters have killed a senior kurdish commander and at least 25 of his soldiers in kirkuk. gunmen stormed a hotel, triggering a fire fight. dozens were injured in the violence the peshmerga control of kirkuk province in june when the iraqi army abandoned its positions there. many people in this city told al jazeera it has become almost impossible to leave. mosul is considered iraq's second largest city and was home to an estimated 3 million people. tens 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 water and power. kurdish fighters have control of the dam right now. many sunni has become resentful of the government and welcomed isil fighters when we group took control of the city in june of last year but 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 residents to leave. isil no demands they provide a guarantor to ensure they return. >> 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 communicating from inside mosul to his friends in erbil.

even they hide their identity. they left the city when isil took over in june. the armed group has cut off most communication lines inside mosul, but the voices that do come out speak of isil's harsh laws and hardships. >> there is food but there is no money, because there is unemployment. but we can -- we can still have hope that the liberation -- it is this hope that keeps us alive. >> some of the people welcome them but at the same time there are hundred of thousand people who were sitting home crying about the city. >> reporter: many in the predominantly sunni city welcomed isil fighters when they first entered in june. the iraqi army was seen as sectarian and accused of targeting sunnis. now there are reports that opposition to isil is increasing. we can't independently confirm that. but videos like this one have

been emerging showing the so-called mosul brigades targeting isil members. >> from august mosul brigades they want -- like announced to fight isil in mosul. they have done more than a few hundred 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 bitter history with the shia-lead government forces. in jordan the army says it is working around the clock for information on a jordanian pilot held postage my isil. jordan is demanding proof that the pilot is still alive, before going ahead with the prisoner swap. in a video isil flet

flet -- threatened to kill the pilot if an iraqi woman on death row isn't released. it is also trying to secure the release of a japanese hostage. andrew simmons has more. >> reporter: this is the campaign headquarters now for the pilot's family part of a large and influential tribe who are unhappy about jordan's involvement in the coalition against isil but nevertheless supportive of the government efforts to try to do a prisoner swap for the young pilot. what is happening right now is unclear in terms of whether or not isil is going to make a statement of any kind whether it is still negotiating with jordan and possibly japan as well. very unclear, because now it's more than 24 hours since the sundown deadline when it was said that unless the iraqi

woman, the would-be suicide bomber on death row would be exchanged for the japanese journalist well that's unclear as to what is happening. the journalist hasn't been heard from since the last audio recording when he was spelling out the situation, which was never fully verified but assumed to be accurate. so right now, there is really a question mark over who is alive, and who is dead and what is the next move? very very difficult situation, very sensitive, very tense, and the people here the family don't know really what to do next whether to demonstrate, cry out loud for the moment they are simply appealing to the isil hostage takers to let this man free. egypt has launched a military operation in the sinai peninsula after renewed

violence. at least 45 people have been killed including an army general. the attacks prompted egypt's president to cut short his trip to ethiopia. in yemen, talks to fill the power vacuum left after the president and his cabinet resigns has hit another snag. leaders from the southern separatists movement have pulled out of discussions to form a presidential council. various factions are trying to form a presidential council to fill that vacuum. tell us what has gone wrong there. >> reporter: well jane after there was that initial apparent break through late on thursday night when the agreement in principal set up that regional council was reached the southerners those representing the southern area here in yemen pulled out, and the reason they pulled out because the talks are

taking place under gunpoint. essentially the fact that the resigned president and other prominent political figures are essentially under the guns of the houthi fighters who have taken the capitol hostage, really since september. there's no point in these talks because they are not being carried out under people's free will. now also a significant development in the past couple of hours is the fact that the party belonging to ousted president saleh, the people's congress party, they said they were going to leave these discussions in order to give more freedom to the opposition parties, to try to find some sort of solution. it's important to know that even though saleh once upon a time was a swarn enemy of the houthis, he has been their main

ally ally. so a very message situation indeed. people aren't too optimistic particularly with this suspension of the southern parties in participating in these negotiations. >> thank you for that jamal. there has been a bombing in pakistan in a mosque. the blast killed at least 49 people and injured more than 30 others. the anti-shia group has claimed responsibility. gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: chaos in the moments after, people try to help the injured get loaded on to cars motorbikes rickshaws, any means of ferrying them for treatment before the ambulance arrives. it's a scene that has become all too common in pakistan. a shia mosque under attack. this time the bombing happened in the city in the southern sind

province. the mosque was packed during friday prayers when an explosion ripped through the building. the blast was so powerful that part of the roof collapsed. trapping people underneath. many were killed and others injured. the 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. still to come on this news hour south africa grants parole to the man dubbed prime evil one of the country's most notorious assassins. find out how the success of greece's syriza party has

breathed in life. and in sport, we go to the australian open final. [ cheers ] ♪ hezbollah's leader says the lebanese armed group isn't afraid of war with israel and has the right to respond to what he calls israeli aggression. hezbollah accuses israel of an air strike in the syrian side of the golan heights earlier this month which killed six fighterings. it says a flairup in cross border violence on wednesday was in retaliation to that attack. two israeli soldiers and a u.n. peace keeper were killed. nicole johnston has more from beirut. >> reporter: one of the strongest messages from hasan nasrallah came in his case he was making against israel.

he said while israel targeted hezbollah inside syrian golan heights they have done nothing about the al-qaeda group nusra front which controls about 65% of that area. he went so far as to accuse israel of having an open door policy towards them of treating their wounded. the other strong message that he put forward was that the rules of engagement with israel are open. that hezbollah now has the right and ability to strike israel anywhere any time it chooses and on any open front. >> translator: the operation took place when the israelis were on high alert. they killed us in a brood daylight. we killed them in brood daylight, at 11:30 to 11:45, we

targeted them at 11:30 till 11:35. two weeks met with two vehicles in an ambush and both two persons were killed in the face of our falling markets. rockets for rockets. >> reporter: he also said there is a lot to learn from the latest round of violence. it had been much bigger than the usual confrontation, but less than a war. he emphasized that hezbollah did not want a war with israel right now. but he did say that the group was not afraid of a war. this will go some way to placating those people inside of lebanon who have been very concerned about where this violence was heading, concerned that it could drag lebanon into a war with israel. but it seems that hezbollah is still a -- very much focused on the war and the fight it has going on inside syria. it sends thousands of fighters

into syria to fight on the same side as syria's president. chad's air force have bombed boko haram fighters and driven them out of northeast nigerian town that they held for three months. chad sent hundreds of troops into cameroon last week to use that country as a base to launch attacks against the armed group. this man says the government has no problem asking neighbors countries for help to fight boko haram. >> the nigerian government has never never shied away or even pretended to say that it would not so -- need the cooperation and support or even collaboration -- active collaboration of its neighbors in the fight against terrorism. that is why it initiated the move to get this coordinated action by all the countries within the sub region especially in the commission area to confront the insurgency

which has come on to our territories and borders, but as the news was unfolding, also the nigerian soldiers have taken back other places. it is an ongoing effort that like i said needed coordinated collaboration of all of us within the sub region. and like i also said there are other communities that are being taken back by the nigerian armed forces. we have consistently not shied away from [ inaudible ], we said we have capability we have capacity we have since 1998, initiated the joint task force which brought all of the countries, including chad together to work initially to fight cross-border crimes. now to tackle boko haram is one of the main issues being discussed at the african union summit taking place in ethiopia. the au is setting up a

multinational task force to try to halt the violence. it is always pushing for a power sharing deal between south sudan's president and his former vice president. the organization has picked picked -- zimbabwe's president as the leader. >> it's a group of old men and a couple of ladies sitting -- and they have lost credibility within the african communities. they haven't done much. they haven't shown leadership on the pandemic of ebola, or shown leadership on dealing with the challenges of boko haram and al-shabab. >> why has this been allowed to go on for so long. this has been an accusation for many years. what is the problem? >> the problem is they are not empowered by the member states

to -- for example, effect punitive measures for those who violate basic human rights. they have not been effective in using the peer review mechanism proposed. so it has not been effective because they do not have mechanisms to ensure that they implement certain basic things within the african -- african continent. >> but they have had small successes, haven't they? they were able to tackle the international criminal court, as well as troops in -- somalia. >> yeah they have done that. but there was a lot of original development. there was a very strong involvement from kenya for example. yes, there are certain things that they have done but by and large it's been just a -- a very ineffective formation.

germany has rejected any suggestion of trimming greece's debt calling the idea divorce from reality. the comments were made by germany's foreign minister. they come as the euro zone's top financial official is in athens to meet alexis tsipras. tsipras's party also want up to half of the country's debt wiped out. john has more from athens. >> reporter: greece east finance minister on his third day on the job announced today that greece will no longer meet with inspectors from its creditors, the international monitor fund the european commission and the european central bank. those inspectors have up until now been the main conduit. but this finance minister wants to reestablish dialogue directly

with the european institutions, but on an upgraded basis, and it is hardly surprising since this government derided the now defeated conservatives and socialists for meeting with those inspectors in years past and saying they made greece look like a debt colony. also the dutch finance minister who was in athens today did not outright reject the idea of a debtor's conference that might consider the idea of rescheduling or forgiving some greek debt. he said if we're talking about a debtor's conference that body already exists it's called the euro group. so it is almost as if he is putting himself forward and volunteering to lead the negotiations with the greeks here on out now that the established dialogue with the

inspectors is no longer in existence. the success of the syriza party in greece has galvanized far-left groups across europe. in spain the far left group is gaining ground. >> reporter: the supporters of this group are spreading the word about 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 a similar left-wing party won the general election in greece last sunday. the leader took part in that campaign, and he hopes to replicate that victory in spain later this year. the greek party and the spanish party share similar goals to ditch austerity programs imposed

by brussels. >> translator: we have had six years of austerity imposed by brussels, and it doesn't work. greece has gone worse, so has spain and sport gal. there's more inequality unemployment and the economy isn't growing. >> reporter: nearly a quarter of spanish people are out of work. the government has cut sub lick spending so welfare benefits are vanishing at a time when many need them most. it's tempting to draw parallels between grooegs 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-wink and right-wing aren't relevant anymore. the rise comes at a time when the spanish economy is finally showing signs of recovery. the government says this proves

the economic medicine is working. but 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 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 is still a new party, untried and untested and the general election is still many months away. jacky rowland, al jazeera, madrid. 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. the russian currency fell by more than 2% following friday's announcement. still ahead, the government in central africa republic has rejected a ceasefire deal. we'll explain why. i'm finding out why milk is now cheaper than bottled water in u.k. and what it means for dairy farms like this. i'm in equatorial guinea finding out if more than just football stadiums will be left at the end of this africa cup of nations. ♪

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy let the journalists live.

>> because i was african american i was trying to fit in >> misty copleland's journey wasn't easy >> dancing gave me the opportunity to grow into the person... i don't think i could be

without it >> now, this trailblazer is opening the door for others >> i wanna give back to ballet what it's done for me... >> every sunday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america ♪ quick run through of the top stories on al jazeera. pro-russian rebels in ukraine say at least seven people have been killed in the eastern city of donetsk after an attack on a cultural center. ukrainian defense ministry says five of its soldiers also died in the fighting. a rebel spokesman has warned that the separatists will take over parts of eastern ukraine soon. at least 49 people have been killed in a bombing at a mosque in southern pac stan.

the explosion happened during friday prayers. around 30 people are believed to be wounded. hezbollah's heard says the lebanese armed group isn't afriday of a war with israel and has the right to what he calls israeli aggression. now the government of central african republic has rejected a ceasefire deal signed between militia groups. the government says it wasn't part of the talks in kenya, and doesn't recognize its outcome. sectarian violence has killed thousands and displaced many more in the country. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: after more of a year of fighting members of the rival groups from central africa republic have agreed to a ceasefire. they have been negotiating in kenya since december. >> translator: the next step will valve a frank discussion

with all political actors and civil society to try to see how we can implement the agreement. >> reporter: the factions want [ inaudible ] the fighters they are also calling for a transitional setup to replace the interim president. but the government in bangui has rejected the agreement. a statement released by its communications minister said vrment : violence started in 2013 when muslim seleka fighters took over parts of the country. hundreds of thousands fled leading to a backlash from a christian's group calling its anti-seleka. france is backing a separate initiative to be discussed in

bangui in march. >> translator: but the militia groups are warning of more violence if the proposal is rejected. >> translator: we would like to call upon our external enemies to stop the manipulation. that's why we're here to make sure that lasting peace is restored. >> reporter: the interim government has been unable to provide security a government minister and a french aid worker were kidnapped in the capitol in january. thousands more are still living in refugee camps in neighboring countries. they face an uncertain future as the political leadership and rival militias wrangle over how to bring the crisis to an end. an assassin from south africa's apartheid era has been granted parole. he was known as prime evil for organizing the murder and torture of anti-i apartheid activists. he was sentenced to more than

200 years in prison for the crimes he committed. tania page has more. >> reporter: eugene de kock confessed to 100 murders instances of torture and fraud. he was known as prime evil. one of apartheid's most brutal weapons. as commander of the police counter insurgency death squad, he was tasked with identifying, hunting, and killing anti-apartheid activists. the minister said he was eligible because he served more than 30 years and showed remorse. >> public pressure did not form the basis for the decision that we made. and that it was solely on thef dense before us, and applicable law. >> reporter: the president supports the justice minister's

decision but on the streets of south africa there are differing views over the parole of one of the apartheid regimes most feared and despised individuals. >> let's forgive and forget. >> i think it's not good. looking at the many lives he has taken during the days of apartheid. >> reporter: de kock's victim's families were consulted. he has been helping police find the remains of those he killed but his parole is an uncomfortable reminder for some of how few were held accountable. de kock accused many generals and former cabinet ministers of having blood on their hands too. but at the time amnesty was offered as part of the new south africa, and now de kock has a second chance too. tania page al jazeera.

let's bring in a political analyst joining me now from joe hand necessary berg. what did you thing when you heard this news that he had been granted parole? >> well i had mixed feelings. i do think that it is important that this decision is taken. i think that south africa struggles every day to come to terms with its past and indeed to build a future that is meaningful in our society. so i received it with a measure of yeah mixed feelings. >> do you think this closes possibly a dark chapter in order to help some people move on? >> oh absolutely not. i think that mr. de kock has served a very lengthy sentence. i do believe he was very forthcoming in the truth commission in telling quite a lot of what he did, what he was part of.

i don't believe that a parole of one single person is going to resolve -- you know the past and close this chapter. instead, i think it throws into sharp relief a number of contradictions that remain in society, and most importantly the fact that significant people who are decision makers who are master minds -- who masterminded the process, who were political commanders like former president have never taken any responsibility. they have never come open -- in the open and tell us what they have done. >> yes, of course because de kock blamed the president for some atrocities didn't he? why do you think those politicians as you are talking about, or those other people who worked with de kock haven't faced any justice?

what went wrong there? >> well there's nothing that went wrong. the effect is that often the political principals the people that give commands for atrocities to take place throughout history never take responsibility in the end. mr. de kock was not [ inaudible ] by any measure. he in fact gave instructions for quite a lot of the atrocities that were committed under his leadership nevertheless the political principals the generals the [ inaudible ] the master minds and as i say, especially people like mr. declerk have never really taken any decision have never felt it important or necessary for them to tell us what they have done. that is how history evolves, that those who hold big positions of power never take responsibility. >> and quickly, if you don't

mind. everybody was so taken aback by how south africa was able to forgive the process, but you say more needs to be done. what still needs to be done? >> i don't think that the truth under console lags process was meant really to just make people forget and move on. i don't think we have moved on as a society. i think we continue to search forrances. we have a number of questions. we continue to wrestle with our past and indeed with our present, which is shaped by inequality and brutality. we continue to expect and hope that people like mr. de kock and other senior principals will show some level of humanity which they have not shown in the past. >> good talking to you. thank you. the family of jailed al jazeera journalist peter greste has renewed calls for his freedom. they have just returned from

egypt where peter has been held in prison for 398 days now. he was wrongly accused amrong long with 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 brother 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. >> 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 7 and 10 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 president has always said he wants the situation sorted out as soon as possible, but so far those words haven't been followed up with action. >> 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 -- and the -- you know the -- egypt is going through a seven-day period of mourning for the saudi king so that sort of -- that announcement we understand has been put on hold. >> peter greste's parents have

just returned from cairo where they visited him several times. >> the last time we saw him wasn't his best day, but it wasn't his worst, and he has had a few grim days but everybody does, and of course perhaps a few more in prison, but he's holding up okay. and, you know, he's -- he's -- 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 were unable to deliver any good news and once again they hope the next one will be different. wayne haye al jazeera, brisbane. the former u.s. presidential candidate mitt romney says he will not run for the white house in 2016. the announcement comes despite comments the republican made three weeks ago stating that he was considering a third campaign. romney was defeated by u.s.

president barack obama in 2012. three months after a landslide swept their homes away survivors in sri lanka are still waiting to be compensated. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: we first met this woman a day a land slide destroyed her village. she and her grandchildren were in shock back in october. three months later, we saw them again. >> translator: we don't even think about it or talk about it. sometimes we say we don't have dad or mom, but that passes. we try not to remember. >> reporter: the family is one of 75 staying at this temporary shelter about 20 kilometers from the disaster zone. most lost everything but the clothes on their back as they scrambled to escape. the silence is deafening here

where more than 300 people lived before the land slide. it's unlikely that survivors of the tragedy will ever return. this man and his wife are on the list of 37 missing people. just 11 bodies were recovered from the site. he says housing is an urgent need. >> translator: bringing up my grandchildren in this environment is difficult. if we get a house, i can do this peacefully. >> reporter: buddies agreement over the relocation has meant little progress. this foundation stone meant for the new houses is all that exists so far. but those families who are forced to building on the new site say that's fine by them. >> translator: getting to and from is difficult. we want somewhere close to where we live. in the surrounding center community that we were familiar with. >> reporter: the new chief minister for the region told al

jazeera that the affected families will not be forced to move. he said the priority is to find them a safe alternative. until then the families here will have to call this converted tea factory home. we have got the sport in a moment including action from the australian open plus -- >> i'm in sydney where the main conversation here isn't surfing but the socceroos. ♪

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farmers in the u.k. have been affected by a price war with supermarkets over the cost of milk. in the last month dozens of dairy farmers were forced to leave the industry all together. in the second part of our series on global milk prices we report from southern england. >> reporter: tim has his favorites in his 250-strong herd. but the milk market is in freefall putting two farmers out of business every day. tim is still in the game but barely. >> we have seen probably 30 to 40% come off of milk prices driving the producers to the point of unviability now. >> reporter: the cost of producing a liter of milk is $0.45. but prices have gradually eroded

and now many farms now operate at a loss. it's a problem of supply and demand these cows enjoyed a good summer and gave more milk than ever while russia's ban on import has created a backlog. also to blame are supermarkets. their price wars have made milk cheaper than bottled water. a short-sighted tactic say dairy supporters. >> we want to say if you want to discount milk to get people into your shop then you pay for it. don't make the dairy farmers pay for it. a lot of these big retailers drive the price of milk down through cheese. >> reporter: in april the e.u.'s milk quotas will vanish flooding the market with even

more milk. the future of the next generation looks bleak. from milk to sport. >> thank you, jane. good to have you along everybody, djokovic will meet murray in the final. djokovic beat the defending champion. for the third year running the pair went the distance at melbourne park. and went back and forth until djokovic ran away with it. he'll hold the upper hand over murray in sunday's final. the 2011 and 2013 finals against the scotsman in straight sets. >> looking at where he was in '02 and his game at the end of 2014 season maybe people were not giving him such a great chance to get to the finals but to me it is not sura huge

surprise because i know what his qualities are. kenya's runner [ inaudible ] has been banned from the sport for two years after failing a drug test. he was the winner of the boston and chicago marathons for the last two years tested positive for a banned substance in both her a and b samples. former french international is out of the fifa race. no such problems for the prince of jordan who has officially launched his campaign. the current fifa vice president of asia says he has obtained the required backing from five fiebl associations, and launched a website and social media pages. loui spiegel says he is also an official candidate. the election will be held in

surrick on may 29th. the president of the asian cup says there is a desire to removere re-australia from the organization. >> 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'll win. they lost in the first round, but -- you know they had a lot of opportunities, so, yeah it should be good. >> i think they are going to win. >> i certainly will be wanting to know the result. and i have watched a little bit. >> reporter: after a poor world cup in brazil where asian teams didn't win a single game this tournament has been a huge success with over half a million

fans attending, and for people like mark who had been involved with the game when it was almost a minority sport, these are certainly exciting times. >> huge. it's by far the biggest tournament that we have hosted and to have -- you know the socceroos, the national team in the final is massive. >> the australian team went into the tournament having not won for three games and having scored just the one goal. however, in this cup, they have won four out of five matches, and even a report that gulf nations are leading a drive to have them kicked out, isn't dampening spirits. >> we have a great a deal of respect for all of the other nations in this confederation. and i have had enough rows discussions with opposition coaches from all over asia. >> reporter: south korea will take heart from the fact they are the only team to have beaten the socceroos in this tournament and have yet to concede a single

goal something the large south korean community in sydney is hoping will help their team pick up the asian cup title. >> i hope it's a hard game and really enjoying. >> reporter: ahead of kickoff this area will be a sea of people. this country that for a long time saw football as slightly the poor relation of rubby league, but not anymore. the first quarter finals will be played at the africa cup of nations on saturday. this tournament has seen games be played in remote parts of equatorial guinea. many there are hoping that more than just a new stadium will be left. >> reporter: this man has been deploying his distinctive barbecuing style in the main market for much of his life.

he has 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 hoping the africa cup of nations will bring more than just football to this remote part of equatorial guinea. >> translator: they assured us the project will start after the cup. the government says all of the big companies are coming. the cup finishes on the 8th then the business begins. >> reporter: huge oil deserves were discovered here in the mid-1990s, and since then it has become africa's third largest oil producer but very little of the vast wealth it has produced has made it past the elite. nearly 10% of children die before the age of five here. 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 on. >> translator: we thought it was mission impossible. the biggest problem was bringing live grass from spain. it was a huge effort. >> reporter: game day have seen the locals cashing in on some rare passing trade, and in this market we couldn't find any dissenting voices about the decision to spending millions of dollars on the stayed ument. >> 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 pedro or the majority of people here need but for now, it's all they have. andy richardson al jazeera. former ac milan manager is one of the leading figures in world football asking for more opportunities for black coaches. al jazeera 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 currently taking place are black. and two at the world cup last year. discrimination in society is being reflected in football. >> i think the wide question is of course something everybody wants to know. discrimination, prejudice, fear thinking about stereo types that -- you know that is very much in society. because people need to remember that football is just part of society. >> and that al jazeera program

is called "sport matters, too black to coach." it's on the air on friday a little later. 1950 gmt. rory maccel roi has moved into the lead on friday. he finished the day on 8 under 64. it gives mcelroy a one-shot lead over his scottish competitor. >> going into the weekend, i felt like i played very nicely today. you can't ask for much more. i set myself up nicely for a good run at it over the next couple of days. >> that's your sport. >> thank you. [ inaudible ] rowland has another bulletin of news coming to you from london.

thank you very much for watching. ♪

a surge of violence in iraq as isil attacks kurdish and iraqi army forces in several cities. ♪ hello there. you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up. at least 49 killed in a bomb attack at a shia mosque in southern pakistan. people queueing for food along the latest victims of shelling in eastern ukraine. and why south africa is releasing it's