we're here in the vortex. >> monday, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour live from headquarters in doha and coming up, this hour. >> yemen is collapsing before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. >> reporter: the u.n. chief warns the world about the deteriorating situation in yemen. granted bail two al jazeera journalists are free after 411 days in prison. ceasefire, a deal is reached to

stop the violence in ukraine. ♪ and thousands of people attend the funerals for three young muslims killed in the u.s. state of north carolina. ♪ the u.n. secretary-general moon called yemen to stop descending and anarchy and u.n. security council has been breached on the situation there, a coup carried out by houthi rebels last week led to further instability. >> yemen is collapsing before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. the countries are facing multiple challenges. a dangerous political crisis continues in sanaa and rebel

hadi the prime minister who led and government ministers and other state officials must be granted freedom of movement. i'm concerned by reports of excessive use of force to disburse a peaceful demonstrators and the use of arbitrary arrest and detention of civil society activities. i call for the protection of human rights especially the rights of peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression. >> reporter: yemen military launched air strikes against al-qaeda fighters in the southeast of the country. [gunfire] it follows an attack by al-qaeda fighters on two army bases in the providence and the soldiers and four attackers were killed. and jamal has more now from the southern yemen city. >> more warnings from the u.n.

secretary-general ban ki-moon and yemen people are asking what the united nations is willing to do in order to solve what is becoming a more and more dangerous situation, a more and more unstable state as everyday goes by. a lot of people particularly the political parties who have been involved in these negotiations have become more and more pessimistic with regards to the u.n.'s role particularly the envoy because consistency with negotiations as they continued is the houthis and the malitia who has the coup are more and more powerful as long as negotiations continued and are asking why u.n. continues the strategy and surely must be another senior politicians and another strategy to ensure that this coup is reversed and that legitimacy is restored. on a security perspective and security front more violence across the country, this time on thursday there was an attack by

what is understood to be al-qaeda militants on an army base in the providence the significant here is that this army base is close proximity to the oil production center of yemen. also significance is these al-qaeda militants who have taken control of the army base said they were doing this because they said the army had capitulated and given essentially its bases in other cities particularly a few days ago to houthis as the houthis advance southward toward the rest of the country and al-qaeda wanted to open a new frontier against them. more instability, more security concerns across the country. and egyptian court granted bail to two al jazeera journalists and they were detained for 411 days in the cairo prison and accused of going with the out lawed muslim brotherhood and they deny and al jazeera does also and resume on february 23rd and we report.

>> reporter: this could be the beginning of the end for an ordeal that lasted for more than 400 days al jazeera producers fahmy and mohamed granted bail at the start of retrail and come as a huge relief for their families. >> translator: i'm going immediately to tell the kids their father is coming home today and life will be beautiful. i'll wait to welcome him back life has changed today. >> reporter: he was asked by the judge to pay a security bond of around $33,000. >> we will abide by everything in egyptian law and i'm sure he always will be vindicated by this and indicated from this case. >> reporter: but the judicial fight for mohamed and fahmy will continue until the charges are dropped. he was initially sentenced ten years and fahmy 7 years in prison and that decision was recently overturned egypt's

highest court of appeals challenged the evidence presented by the prosecution saying the proceedings were flawed an ordered a retrial. [cheers] earlier this month another al jazeera journalist peter greste was deported to australia after 400 days in detention. fahmy who is an egyptian canadian was told by the authorities that his only way to freedom is to renounce his egyptian egyptian citizenship and fahmy and greste were arrested in december 2013. they were falsely accused of promoting the banded muslim brotherhood. the bail release is a small step in the right direction but it's a step that should have been taken 411 days ago. there is no evidence that they have been complicit with the muslim brotherhood and no evidence they have been involved in terrorism journalists are frightened and been made

frightened in their organizations have been frightened by the fact that these journalists are in jail. >> reporter: the trial has been widely condemned by the international community and human rights organizations. protesters from around the world demonstrated in solidarity with detained al jazeera journalists. six other colleagues from al jazeera were sentenced to ten years in prison. al jazeera continues to call on egypt to have all of its journalists exonerated. i'm parker with al jazeera. the united states has welcomed a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the war in ukraine but the u.s. called on russia once again to end its support for the separatists, leaders from russia ukraine and france and germany agreed on the plan in the capitol minsk and they say the implementation process will be difficult. >> immediately after the deal was signed by the group, the

russian terrorists thought it was offensive operation and why it's vital importance for us for all of us to make pressure to keep the promises about the ceasefire, about the control of the heavy artillery and immediate release of hostages about the withdrawal of all the foreign troops from the ukraine and territory and about the close the border as a key element for the county. >> reporter: the ceasefire deal is due to start on sunday. withdrawal of heavy weapons from eastern ukraine should begin two days later and be completed within two weeks. the process will be monitored by the osce with the support of a tri-partite liaison group and includes the withdrawal of foreign military forces this should allow the ukrainian government to get full control of their border by the end of

the year. all unlawfully detained prisoners and hostages must be released. rory has more from minsk. >> reporter: putin described it as not the best night of his life. presumably the other three leaders agree, more than 15 hours of wrangling trying to reach a breakthrough on ukraine. the waiting journalists have many hopes of announcement dashed then well into thursday morning it came. >> translator: the first thing the cease fair starting on the midnight of the 15th of february the second thing is important of withdrawal of ukrainian troop and militia from the line specified on 19th of september and the political settlement taking account of the people who live in the region. >> reporter: these have been incredibly tough negotiations going in the germans were particularly down beat about

chances of success, even know with agreement signed angela merkel says much hard work remains. >> translator: i am under no illusion and we are under no illusion that a lot of work is still necessary but there is a real chance to improve things. germany and france france and germany together show that we have made a contribution in accordance with europe. >> reporter: of course we have been here before. literally. minsk welcomes leaders for a peace summit back in the late summer of 2014 but the ceasefire quickly fell apart. the agreements were never properly implemented. you can sign as many pieces of paper that you want but it's what happens on the ground that matters. and in eastern ukraine the fighting and the dying continued as the leaders talked. the separatists representatives have signed the new minsk deal and enforcing the new zone and pulling back artill arare i and

making sure hostages released and pushing through assurances of political reform in the east will be a torture of a process with many opportunities for failure, rory with al jazeera, minsk. despite the agreement fighting between government forces and the rebels continues in eastern ukraine, at least one person has been killed in the city of donetsk and the separatist seem skeptical about the ceasefire deal and charles stratford has more. >> reporter: we drove across the fields to the front line only hours ago, the ukrainian military had rockets at the road. the separatists fighter with us said we should switch off our mobile phones and drive fast. there were few fighters here at this former ukraine military base and say their primary role is to try and monitor ukraine army movements. we are in a separatist position south of donetsk, the fighters tell us that the ukrainian

forces are about a kilometer in that direction and tell us we cannot go in front of the building because there are dangerous snipers. the fighters here are unsure what the minsk agreement will mean for them. >> translator: we will stay here unless we get an order from commanders to retreat or advance and holding defense position to help protect the town. >> reporter: separatist leaders said the agreement could have far reaching implications. >> translator: we can't deny ukraine this chance because the whole country will change as a result, the attitude and people will change. in fact, the people of ukraine we are still with them we totally consider them our people this chance is given to ukraine to chance the constitution which is specifically mentioned in agreement documents, to change its attitude. >> reporter: the minsk agreement fails to define the status of the people's republicans. some of the people in donetsk are in favor of independence. >> translator: donetsk should be independent.

unity won't work. to return to ukraine means to be governed by inadequate government. >> translator: how can we return to ukraine after everything that they have done to us? >> reporter: thousands of people have been killed in indiscriminate shelling on both sides of this conflict three shells hit this hospital in separatist controlled donetsk on wednesday night. at least one person was killed. >> translator: this is where we could and the patients were under the dust one bed was destroyed by shrapnel and terrifying. >> reporter: so many people died since the last ceasefire collapsed in september and there is great uncertainty among the people here as to whether this latest truce will be implemented and held charles stratford al jazeera eastern ukraine. at least seven people killed in a suicide blast at a market in northeast nigeria and happened in the town of borno state and the latest attack in a

region considered a stronghold of the armed group boko haram. lots more to come on this al jazeera news hour. the u.n. security council tries to squeeze the flow of money to the islamic state of iraq and the lavante. india demands action from authorities in the u.s. state of alabama after an indian citizen says he was attacked by local police. police. >> i can't say there is a prejudice but there is a clear bias against us. >> reporter: the man in charge of the 2022 futbal world cup says he believes the country has been unfairly targeted for criticism. ♪

to iraq and they are fighting i.s.i.l. fighters to try to regain control near the country's largest oil refinery and khan reports. >> reporter: after 103 days under siege by the islamic state of iraq and lavonte the special forces unit is finally free. mid november iraqi forces retook the town here 15 kilometers from one of the largest oil refineries. the forces were stretched and having secured the oil refinery they were unable to hold the center of the town. i.s.i.l. took advantage and pinned this unit down. every day for 103 days they fought but neither side advanced it was a stalemate. then just two days ago a breakthrough. reenforcements from the army were able to cutoff an i.s.i.l. supply line help was finally at hand. >> translator: we have managed to cut the enemy supply line from the town considered the

central point of terrorism. we have advanced further to the front towards the town and now the corridor is under our control. our future plans is to retake the towns completely. >> reporter: both towns are important if iraq army is to successfully retake it but it won't be easy or happen soon. >> translator: we have separated and the people know how crucial these two locations are, and they have been in control entirely since 2006. but now we have made good gains by making that separation and we are still pushing through. >> reporter: these holes in the road are caused by i.s.i.l. improvised explosive devices killing my rack cherokee soldiers and tools on the road this construction equipment was once used as makeshift roadblocks. on wednesday president barack obama said that i.s.i.l. were on the back and that may be the case in some areas but in beiji

seemingly not and they pinned down a special unit for 103 days has to be of concerned for everyone fighting the group, khan for al jazeera in baghdad. u.n. security council is trying to stop i.s.i.l. by hitting it where it hurts, in the wallet. kristen has more. >> reporter: the international community has a new weapon in the fight against i.s.i.l. resolution 2199. that is a legal obligation put on u.n. member states to cutoff i.s.i.l.'s primary funding sources, oil, ran somes and increasing concern the looting of cultural. >> translator: we took an important step of suppressing the funding of terrorists and as a result of the illegal trafficking of oil. >> reporter: the united states said the resolution doesn't go far enough. >> as we applaud the threat by

i.s.i.l. we talk about the persistent failure to address one of the main factors that led to the group's rise there is no better recruiting tool for i.s.i.l. than the atrocities of assad regime. >> reporter: fighting i.s.i.l. on home turf welcome the measure. >> we are very pleased to see that the council has moved finally in the right direction, towards establishing and setting a wider framework to combat terrorism. >> reporter: this resolution shows the security council is united when it comes to fighting not only i.s.i.l. but also other groups affiliated with al-qaeda. some of the measures are not new. but this raises the stakes for countries that do business with them by threatening them with sanctions. kristen with al jazeera, the united nations. the u.s. senate has approved the appointment of ashton carter as new defense secretary and will help lead the united states strategy in fighting i.s.i.l.

earlier this month he told the senate armed services committee defeating i.s.i.l. will be his top priority. he replaces chuck hagel who resigned in november. hagel is leaving the pentagon after two years on the job, and we look back now at the successes and difficulties on encountered by a man they believe just wasn't right for the job. >> reporter: chuck hagel's farewell ceremony was filled with high notes and emotion. >> ladies and gentlemen, i want to introduce to you my friend our 24th secretary of defense and an outstanding american mr. chuck hagel. >> reporter: his warm send out with the time at the pentagon was difficult, and he had been hired to do to things over see the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and cut the military's bloated budget by 10%. but after two years on the job

hagel and u.s. president barack obama agreed that the job and the mission had changed. >> we both came to the conclusion that i think the country was best served with new leadership. he thought it was over in this institution. >> reporter: the rise of i.s.i.l. overwhelmed u.s. foreign policy in 2014. administration insiders claim hagel never offered clear or new ideas for stopping the group's advance in syria and iraq. but an analyst say the insiders are wrong. >> it's hard to understand why hagel gets criticism for a policy where his boss has been very, very clear from the get go that the united states is just not going to get any more involved and absolutely minimally required. and so i wouldn't -- i think it's a little bit of a scapegoating frankly. >> reporter: there was also frustration that hagel wasn't making progress on one of the president's top priorities

posing the military prison at guantanamo bay and men cleared for release have not had transferred approved and hagel wanted to be certain he wasn't releasing anyone who could pose a threat to the u.s. >> we know that some of the detainees that have come out of guantanamo have gone back to the fight, the battlefield. we are aware of that. >> reporter: hagel did however have some notable achievements. he over saw the integration of women into nearly all combat assignment and helped deploy the military cyber security policy. he deployed a missile defense system in the pacific two years ahead of schedule because of increased threats from north korea. the defense secretary also visited the region six times part of the administration's effort to increase its influence in the asia pacific. but with the u.s. in an on going war against i.s.i.l. the obama administration decided it needed a different soldier to lead the charge.

roslyn jordan with al jazeera. police in the u.s. state of north carolina are investigating whether racial hatred played a role in the killing of muslim students and barakat and wife yusor and sister mazan-abu-salha and shot dead in their apartment and a 46-year-old man with an antireligious comments on facebook has been charged and we have more from north carolina. >> reporter: an incredible show of solidarity in raleigh, north carolina, so many people have turned up for the muslim community the mosque behind the camera is too small to take them and they are in the field behind me to pay respects to the two families and the three victims. despite this being a day of mourning muslim civil rights leaders are calling for law enforcement officials there to investigate this crime as a hate crime. they say that craig steven hicks

picked on the three young people because of faith and the police investigation indicates this was an argument over parking spots outside the apartment where these three young people lived but clearly today it's not about this it's about a show of solidarity and had the state's district attorney here also the chief of police all come to show their solidarity and we saw in great force last night at the university of north carolina where about three or four thousand students simply stood in silence with candles to pay respects to three young lives that showed so much promise and were cut short. india is demanding that u.s. authorities in the state of alabama investigate the case of an indian citizen who says he was attacked by local police. the attorney for patel says he is now partially paralyzed. he came to the u.s. two weeks ago to help care for his grandson. the incident took place last week when patel was approached by police following a phone call

about a suspicious man walking in the neighborhood. the u.s. state department says the incident is regrettably. >> the secretary and the state department certainly expressed our strong condolence to the family for everything that he has been through. this is being handled by local authorities and certainly we would address any koreans through private diplomatic channels. >> reporter: a lawyer for patel and he joins us now via skype from huntsville in alabama apparently we have just lost our guest. we are going to try and reconnect with him a little later in the program. still ahead this hour former south korean airline executives begins a year-long jail sentence over a bag of nuts. ♪ and in sport find out why tiger woods has decided the time is right to take a break from golf.

♪

>> an al jazeera america special report >> unfortunately, you can't "should have", all we can do is move forward >> a nation forced to take a closer look at race. >> ...check which ethnicity... i checked multiple boxes... this is who i am... >> what does it really mean to be the minority? >> black history comes up, everyones looking to hear what you have to say, because you're the spokesperson... >> how can we learn from the past? and create a better future? an al jazeera america special report race in america all next week part of our special black history month coverage on al jazeera america >> there's more to financial news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, could striking workers in greece delay your retirement? i'm here to make the connections to your money real. >> "real money with ali velshi". tonight at 10:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

welcome back the top stories right here on al jazeera, the u.n. secretary-general bank cherokee monday appealed for action to stop yemen to going in anarchy and fighting between the army and al-qaeda in the south and growing political instability after houthi rebels seized power last week. the united states has welcomed a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the war in eastern ukraine. but washington has once again called on russia to end support for the separatist leaders from russia ukraine, france and germany agreed on the plan in the russian capitol minsk. and egyptian court granted bail to two al jazeera journalists, fahmy and mohamed have been detained for 411 days in cairo accused of colluding with the out lawed muslim brotherhood and trial resumed on february 23.

india demanding u.s. authorities in the state of alabama investigate a citizen saying he was attacked by the local police and the attorneys for patel says he is partially paralyzed and came to the u.s. two weeks ago to care for his grandson and this incident took place last week when he was approached by police following a phone call about a suspicious man walking in the neighborhood. and we have the lawyer for patel and joins us via skype from huntsville in alabama, i hope we have got you this time. please tell us what happened exactly as you understand it. >> well one important thing is that a video about the incident has just been released by the madison police department and it's going to be available. what happened basically is he was walking in the neighborhood and somebody made a call about him and police stopped him, explained he couldn't speak

english, explained and pointed to his son's house and they had patted him down and an officer really for no reason slammed him into the ground and you can actually see on the video his head hit first and he ended up paralyzed. it's tragic. >> reporter: what condition is mr. patel in now? he is partially paralyzed you say? >> he is making a little bit of progress everyday. he has very little function right now in his left leg. he has regained movement of his arms but has little grip strength but he is making a little bit of progress everyday and only hopes and prays he will make a full recovery. >> reporter: what are the police doing about this incident? >> well shocking enough and i'm sorry that y'all don't have this information but he was the officer actually officer parker was referred for termination and arrested on third-degree assault

just an hour or two ago. >> reporter: and has mr. mr. patel's family decided to sue as i'm reading, is that what is happening? >> we filed suit this morning. when we didn't know whether the police department was going to take any action or not. >> reporter: is the city going to pay for his medical bills, do you know? >> i do not know. i mean that is certainly one thing we would seek recovery of in the lawsuit. >> reporter: okay sir, thank you for speaking to us. and he is the lawyer for patel. in south africa a major opposition party has been thrown out of parliament after interrupting the president, jacob zuma state of the nation speech as erica wood reports from cape town party members demanding answers over a resent spending scandal. >> reporter: 7 minutes in his state of the nation address the president was interrupted.

>> which rule are you using? >> reporter: the house was forced to stop procedures and call in security to eject the leader of the economic freedom fighters party or eff and all of its members out of the chambers. >> please allow us. >> reporter: minutes later anger over how it was dealt with also led to the walk out for the main opposition democratic alliance party and promised weeks ago he would use the occasion to demand the president pay back some of the taxpayers funds it used on making security upgrades to his private home. last year the public protector the found he spent $20 million on the upgrades. she said he should pay back at least some of it from his own money. so far he has paid nothing. the state of the nation is the president's chance to highlight the country achievements over

the past year and challenges lying ahead. but this year's address has been unprecedented in terms of anticipation and controversy. in part because the scandal and also because of the electricity crisis which is causing blackouts across the country and others say interrupting the state of the nation speech is the wrong way to demand the president pay back the money. religious leaders did try to mediate before it got to this point but they failed. this concern now is this may set a precedent for future state of the nation addresses. >> it's about the president making a statement and addressing the nation. >> whatever issues we have it should be resolved in an important manner following the procedure of the parliament. >> reporter: analysts say while the stunt succeeded at creating a parliamentary circus it doesn't do much. >> it's for the media and

interesting for people here watching but at the end of the day it's not going to take them further substantively. >> reporter: if some don't agree with the way the opposition parties have dealt with their grievances many say they are suffering from real issues the president has failed to deal with. erica woods, al jazeera, cape town south africa. saudi arabia released two women detained for challenging the ban on female drivers and the two women had been detained since december it's unclear why they were released. saudi arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive. a former south korean airline executive is beginning a year-long jail sentence over a bag of macadamian nuts and guilty of obstructing safety after forcing a flight attendant off the plane giving nuts on a bag instead of a plate and harry faucet has more now from seoul.

>> reporter: in custody sense the end of december heather was spared the cameras at seoul's western district court. she was brought by bus from jail to the back entrance, it wouldn't be long before she would be making the return journey as convicted criminal and it's a position weeks ago as vice president of korean air of the giant firm putting her in the middle of the elite. the lawyer said no decision had yet been made on whether to appeal after his client was found guilty of breaking law of changing flight path of plane interfering with the cabin crew execution of duty december 5 on the first class cabin on a new york runway she had fury to being served nuts in a bag and not on a plate and assaulted the cabin crew member who served her an ordered the head flight attendant from the aircraft forcing the pilot to go to the gate and he later testify he

treated him and his colleague as slaves forcing them to kneal before her and 8 months for impeding the investigation and a person involved in the investigation given a suspended sentence but it was the judge reserved his harsh language saying her expressions of regret were insincere and she trampled on the self regard of fellow human beings. >> translator: the fact that she only got one year for abusing power is just another instance of how much privilege these powerful people have. >> translator: the court might have thought the sentence was appropriate, but from an ordinary perspective it is more. >> translator: people make mistakes. i don't think they should have been viewed of the issue of powerful versus the rest. >> reporter: heather erupted in anger two months ago she could not imagine her actions would lead to a one-year prison term but many in the country she

symbolizes entitlement and impunity surrounding the families, a sense they have been getting away with this kind of behavior for too long harry faucet al jazeera, seoul. pakistan forces arrested 12 members of taliban suspected of being involved in the peshawar school attach last year that killed 140 people mostly children. another 9 members of what is believes to be a 27 member cell have already been killed. the head of the pakistan taliban is believes to be hiding in afghanistan and the two countries are working closely to capture him. indian authorities have demolished a temple built to worship the country's prime minister modi hundreds of modi followers in the home state donated funds for the temple. the prime minister and his page said that he was appalled and shocked by the idea.

students against the government in venezuela are moving to get people out on the streets once again. it's the first anniversary of anti-government protests which turned into clashes and left 43 people dead hundreds injured and thousands detained and davis has more from caracus. february 12 was a day for students in venezuela to commemorate what is called the day of youthful rebellion. but last year an occasion that had served to demand change became a tragedy when three men were killed marking the beginning of the country's worst political violence in a decade. [gunfire] despite the risk of violence gained this year some students remain defiant and plan on hitting the streets. page, a student leader is inviting classmates to a march and a mass for those who died in 2014. his tone might seem conlike this

but he is calling for political change. >> translator: students will be on the streets protesting and we are convinced we will achieve it soon. >> reporter: but last year's clashes left a bitter taste and many students feel the need for a different approach one that calls for nonviolence. even so not everyone will be joining the protests. a once unified front is showing cracks. >> translator: i'm afraid of being killed during a march or being under age and thrown into a cell, brutality of police and students against students is still there. >> translator: the marching got us no where and not saying to be quiet, we need to wake up and find an alternative to street protests. >> reporter: also feeling some of the students' fear is a

resent decree that allows police to use leather force at their own discretion during protests. opposition students have organized different events across venezuela hoping to rekindle last year's protest movement. if they succeed in getting people out of the streets again despite internal divisions and government intimidation the meeting of february 12 might be changed forever. david mercer al jazeera. farc rebels in columbia announced recruitment of minors and declared it during peace talks with the government in december they declared a unilateral ceasefire and rebels fought the colombian military for almost 50 years and we traveled to the northern region where in the past some of the worst fighting has taken place. ♪ once a month for the last 15 years the people of columbia's worry-torn region here have been

using this as a form of resistance resistance. they have been through the worst of times when fighting between the columbia military and farc rebels were almost daily occurrence and they are still dancing as the guns have fallen silent following a ceasefire in late december. >> translator: there is a sense of newness with no clashes and with us and the sons this has been a blessing. >> reporter: a promising start of the year in columbia fewer people have died in the country's armed conflict than any other time in the last 30 years. so there is renewed optimism in the air, although everybody knows this truce is fragile and the war is far from over. he runs a motorcycle shop in the town where people have long found themselves caught in the middle of this conflict accused

of aiding either farc or the government. while his business has gone up since the ceasefire, he worries that this is only temporary. >> translator: we still have doubts because they tried many times before to bring peace and failed so it is difficult to believe that this time it will be real. >> reporter: this is a central drug corridor the surrounding mountains providing a safe haven for rebel fighters. the president santos insists the military must maintain offensive until a peace agreement is reached but many observers say there has been already a slow down in their operations. something the military denies. >> translator: yes, there has been a reduction of farc attacks on population but that is because of our military control of the territory. we now are in control of every town and rural area and the rebels are unable to move easily and move explosives as they used

to do before. >> reporter: the fighting may not be over but the calm here has renewed hope that the dancing from now on will be to a different tune and not to the drums of war. al jazeera in columbia. one of six former detainees of guantanamo bay transferred to iraguay and traveled to argentina and calling on them to grant asylum still at the detention facility a 46-year-old syrian wore a jump suit for an interview on thursday with argentina's t.v. and claims he was tortured and that conditions at guantanamo are getting worse all the time. still ahead this hour all the sports. i'm wayne from new zealand preparing to host a major international sporting event less than four years after the

city was struck by a major earthquake. ♪

♪ welcome back leading marine scientists warning that this year could prove devastating for choral reefs and saying the colors may fade threatening sea life and steve reports from indonesia where some of the most important reefs are facing destruction. >> reporter: for decades this incredible under water landscape has been the focus of study for

martin welding. a marine scientists and working to protect the diverse region and home to 75% of the choral species and fish and marine life. >> this is the home for fish and grown for fish and breeding ground for fish. >> reporter: climate change is warming the ocean causing bleaching and die off around the globe and fears this year's el-nino will warm the waters and take the reefs one step closer to extinction. >> if they disappear this will disappear from the area. >> reporter: there are other threats to the choral and a diver's operator has been battling an iron ore mine set up shop by the choral-shoals and

last year it was violent with rocks being thrown and mines protected by local officials. >> authorities have been very aggressive in keeping divers away from their operation so what we are going to do is dive in here swim over as close as we can get to the jetti under water. >> reporter: the visibility is so poor it's all we can do to stay together and when we find the reef it is covered in layers of thick silt and the visible patches are choking. after only a few minutes we surfaced. how was the choral before? >> lots of colors and lots of fish and now there is nothing. >> reporter: but not all is lost. and the reservearches found climate change is not having as big of aim pact here because the triangles reefs are close to deep colder water and to protect them from destruction there are teams to guard the reefs.

>> i have confidence that if they do something, if they have the reef it will still exist and live resources of the people still exist, people still can eat for tomorrow and in the future. >> reporter: and with the way currents carry it through the oceans they believe preserving this under water paradise can ultimately save reefs worldwide. steve cho, al jazeera in the triangle. time for the latest in the sporting world. >> thank you very much. the man in charge of organizing the 2022 world cup says qatar is the victim of clear bias and has told al jazeera he believes the country was unfairly focused on during a corruption investigation. qatar was cleared of serious wrongdoing in the report that was put together for fifa that is the governing body by american lawyer michael garcia

and he was investigating all the countries for the 2018 and 2022 world cups and he says qatar has been singled out. >> all the reporting that came out in terms of michael garcia the description was that the focus was on us it was on 2022 bidding at qatar and that was inaccurate. the simple fact was the investigation was on all bidding nations, 2018 along with 2022 this other fact is we were very open and accepted an investigator coming from a nation that is or coming from a country that was a competitor to us in 2022 we never raised an issue because we are confident of our position and we embrace the whole investigative process because for us it was an end to allegations and accusations unfounded, unbiased or unfounded allegations that came out. nevertheless somehow the focus

still seems to be on us and i think that if nothing else clearly shows that there is a bias. >> reporter: well you can see that interview in its entirety on talk to al jazeera where the qatar will host on the world cup project and bidding relationship with disgraced former agent futbol president all included there, it's first showing this saturday at 0430 gmt. tiger woods is taking an indefinite break from competitive golf the former world number one says at the moment his gain is unacceptable for tournament play and the former champion withdraw from the event at torrey pines after 12 holes and posted the worst score of his professional career and last month he said he has to do a lot of work on his game before a return and the correspondent lee weldings believes woods will be back.

>> tiger woods is adamant this is not the end at all. this is a short term thing and wants to go away and practice and he doesn't want to be exposed on the golf course until he gets his game right. but really how quickly can tiger woods come back? he says he can be back by the end of february but will he be competing any where near the level he wants to be let alone the level in which he dominated golf for many years. this is a man remember that won 14 majors looked like a phenomenon, was called a genius and won 100 golf tournaments and people could not compete with him. the struggles he had part psychological i think but also of course the physical struggles he has had, whether with his back causing most problem over the last 12 months to a couple of years or the problem with his elbow and a problem with his leg and he did manage to battle back from and win a tournament in 2008 a major then. but it's going to be a very difficult part for tiger woods to be at the level he was at. he was humiliated finishing 132

out of 138 and doesn't want that to happen again. michael clark ruled out of the cow host world cup opener against english on saturday and still recovering from an injury. he was able to make it to one of two opening ceremonies. ♪ events taking place in both australia and new zealand and will host the first match of the tournament when new zealand takes on sri lanka on saturday. almost four years since a major earthquake struck the church and the impact is still being felt there. the world cup starting there suggests the return to normality and in many places it's not the case. >> reporter: following the 2011 earthquake and doesn't really look like a city that is preparing to host a major international sporting event. but on the edge of the business district it's half is alive and well. the park redeveloped cricket

oval is about to host the game of the world cup. >> it's a fantastic opportunity to prove itself to be the host city we have always been. >> reporter: at the same time the lives of so many people who live here are still in limbo. in some suburbs and surrounding towns communities have disappeared. in this area there used to be almost 600 families now there are just three. brent and his family turned do you know offers to move out and he is helping others to get the money they are owed from insurance companies so they can rebuild. >> this is one of the reasons we are starting to launch claims with oecd in terms that we believe that insurance companies, some of the insurance companies have breached people's human rights. >> reporter: similar situation for many commercial buildings and facilities. the 2011 earthquake occurred less than 7 months before the stadium and the church was

scheduled to host games in the rugby and this has been untouched ever since and hosted cricket games but like many buildings it's the subject of an insurance dispute and therefore its fate is unknown. with so many reminders of the disaster it's hope that cricket will provide a distraction. chris harris played 250 one-day internationals for new zeeland and helping new players and he was born and bread here and believes the world cup is exactly what the city needs. >> a lot of families and people still having issues here so it's wonderful to think you can have these events and help cheer up the community. >> reporter: also hoping when the game is shown around the world it will send a message despite challenges the city is open for business. wayne with al jazeera, christ church. more sport of course on our website, you can check that out,

al jazeera.com/sport, all the built ups of the cricket world cup you can find it there, the games get going on saturday. al jazeera.com/sport. okay more from me later and that is it for now. >> thank you very much andy and spain is a world leader in organ donation, in the last 25 years donation rates in the country have sored as part of our special series on the issue of access to vital organs emma reports on why spain is leading the way. >> reporter: when the telephone rings here it really can make the difference between life and death. >> we had donor and we have emergency in one part of spain. >> reporter: people with organ failure in spain have a realistic chance of eventually getting the life-saving surgery they need. when a family decides to donate medical staff calls through the national coordination center where the process of matching a donor with a potential recipient really begins. spain is a world leader in organ

donation. few people carry donor cards here. the key to spain's success are oncall trained transplant coordinators. it's their skill in being able to identify potential donors which has helped turn around donation rates. doctors are trained to sent and steer families towards donation if they are faced with the most difficult decision of a loved one. who may have been declared brain dead. doctor raphael devised the program. >> the most important, and most important is this critical moment when a person has died. but tell heart is still beating. it's very complicated to explain to family this person is really dead. and so to have the adequate person and adequate place at the adequate moment is practically the main reason which makes the

family say yes or the family say no. >> reporter: and that moment can make all the difference. julio had three kidney transplants, the first two from anonymous donors the last from his sister. >> translator: it's very important for a society to know what it means to be able to donate an organ. it can save a life. in my case it allowed me to grow from child oadult and go to university and have a family and to have a plan. >> reporter: his future is looking bright offering hope to others who also may be pulled back from the brink by the kindness of strangers, emma hayward al jazeera in madrid. just a reminder this is the address for our website once again, al jazeera.com, check it out for all the latest sports news and lots more. we are heading up for a quick break, we will have more news for you when we come back.

♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city i'm thomas and tony harris has the night off. ♪ a fragile ceasefire, after a marathon talks ukraine and pro-russian separatist once again agree to stop fighting. washington calls it a significant step toward a lasting peace but ukraine's president warns making it work can be very complicated. >> i think we have a problem of trust with russia. ♪