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..this is the latest offensive by countries inside nigeria. on friday a regional force, 8,000 troops, was approved.

we have our correspondent in the nigeria capital abuja. the fight against boko haram has taken a few urgency. the objective is to push the fighters into a corner ahead of the onslaught. so far many towns have been freed from boko haram. for chad, niger and cameroon defeat from boko haram is crucial. 5 years of violence, and it is the biggest economy. if group, if unchecked, will expand their area of control and become a bigger area. if nigeria troops won, they would crush the area in five years. >> we are adequately equipped.

we have taken delivery of the game changes, and a promise and letter by the president himself, we have taken delivery of new equipment, which is what you are seeing behind me there, and we can use them against boko haram. before the weapons, it was a defensive operation. now we are on the offensive. the military asked for six weeks to pave way for the elections. the group has been forced to resort to old tactics. over the weekend attacks on maiduguri, blamed on the group, killed more than 50, and injured more than 100. hours after, the group's leader pledged allegiance to i.s.i.l., as a desperate attempt to draw i.s.i.l. into its operations. friday, the creation of a regional force to combat the

group was used. this is expected to strengthen the effort of the multinational task force taking on boko haram. >> joining us live now, ahmed. the multinational force making important gains against boko haram. >> absolutely. so far the town sent in by chad and before then they succeeded in reaching back boko haram. by some charity. i remember earlier operations by cameroon as well from their own side of the border and they were working in collaboration why nigeria forces. boko haram gradually is being squeezed into a tight spot. and now to tell us how the nigerian security services have been doing, and what are they doing in terms of reclaiming

that territory is according to international information center, he is here to tell us what the nigerian forces have been able to achieve, now we have victories by chad, niger and cameroon. >> essentially, nigerian armed forces had fighting against insurgency in that area. coupled with enhanced culpability, and support, we are able to you know, manage and degrade the site. >> people are asking why has it taken this long for the nigerian government to deal with the situation. >> it is not on the shelf for the picking. the government of nigeria is aware of this. it went for it. it took time. some of the assets needed to be

configured. others to obtain them. and this took time. we are aware of the type of equipment we needed. we are getting them proper, for the proper use. >> boko haram pledged allegiance to i.s.i.l. are you worried when i.s.i.l. comes into play in this conflict, are you worried about the consequences. >> the government of niger envisaged something like this could happen. the president, he told the world that there was a need for a collaborative action to ensure that we fight the insurgency in these areas. and the pledge - i want to assure you that we put everything into it to ensure that nigeria's territory is nigeria. we do not have one united

nigeria, no one can say they have a right to any part of the country. >> the coming into play by i.s.i.l., eventually they fight on the side of boko haram. definitely this situation can only get messier than it is already. remember boko haram held territory in nigeria for a very long time, as far back as november. more than seven or 10 months from the nigerian forces. with the perhaps of i.s.i.l., if they come here the fight will be much more dirtier than it is already. >> indeed. thank you indeed. we are joined on the line by nick schifrin, who is in the north-east of nigeria. you are in an area which has been - is a stronghold of boko haram. there's a lot of violence in that area. tell us what you are seeing. >> well, i think there's an appreciation by the nigerians who have been in the north-east

especially in towns and cities that have been attacked by boko haram, that what they see is finally, in their words nigerian military taking book more seriously, combined with what we found on the story - more weapons, we are talking about chad and niger attempting a relatively large attempt, according to the chadian officials, a second front against boko haram, and new leadership in the division of the nigerian military units that are facing off against boko haram in the north-east. but i think there's a lot of people you talk to who are skeptical of how long the success will last, or how long this fight will take. boko haram has been at it, and according to a lot of residents i speak to the nigerian military, for a few months fear that for example people that had to fear their homes are not willing to go back. i spoke to half-a-dozen

internally displaced who say they will not go back to their town, even though the military is telling them too. in maiduguri, there's a curfew at 7 o'clock. no one is allowed out. there's a sense of insecurity. >> there's supposed to be an election in a couple of weeks time. do people think we are going be able to vote safely. >> they want to. there's a couple of people they spoke to across the area mostly against jonathan goodluck. the general, and they complain or fear that they will not be allowed vote. all you see is trapping political campaign. every 10 feet there's a political poster or flag. everyone is talking about the election, everyone is eager in the north-east. you see it not so much an

appreciation for example, for the government of boko haram, in the context of the election. a decision was made months ago not to vote. because this person took the threat seriously, that's why he voted for the general of appreciation of wanting to vote and expectation that it will go against jonathan goodluck. and in nigeria. there could be violence afterwards. >> thank you very much indeed. nick schifrin - apologies for the poor quality of the line. he is promoting part of north-eastern nigeria there saudi arabia says it has accepted a request by president abd-rabbu mansour hadi to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in yemen. it's not clear if the houthis will take part. last week they were trying to

destabilize yemen. on monday there was a series of attack. several killed in rada two more in a car where they were patrolling the area attacked. >> a pro-houthi activist sold me that the houthis will never go to saudi arabia for talks. >> saudi arabia and other states in the gulf declared hewittry a terrorist organization. in many statements of d.c. they declared it as an occupier of sanaa, and they take the fight, and are not neutral. the second reason is when the former president was in charge in sanaa, and they were in charge as well and in control, they haven't done anything they haven't dealt with the outcomes.

and they were targeted. two of the members of the national dialogue, but they take the national dialogue. so taking their place would not make a difference. >> regardless of where any negotiation takes place, surely there has to be some dialogue in the future because if there isn't, the violence and tension will get worse. and some analysts say it could spiral into civil war in yemen. >> no, it wouldn't reach civil war, the propaganda, the yemeni people. they would blame the houthi for anything happen. all areas that are under the control, they are secure.

we haven't seen - this were like saying as much as we see today, there's no step on the street. everything is going well. i do think there is a reason or security reason to change the fault, because the fault. it mostly continue in the capital. >> the situation in yemen is high on the agenda as arab league foreign ministers meet in cairo. it is due to take place in march. joseph is a senior analyst for research and islamic studies, and says the arab league will encourage negotiations between the rival groups. >> the consensus throughout the arab capital is that the national security requirements, the integrity of the capital must be maintained at all costs.

we'll see a prolong period of negotiations between president abd-rabbu mansour hadi so see if it can occur again. both sides are holding tonne strong positions. the league of arab states will probably encourage the neegss to occur some place in the region. it's a toss up at this point. no one really nose what will happen. >> residents in syria's rebel held districts have protested against a u.n. plan. both sides filed to agree on what the deal involved. zeina khodr reports from lebanon. >> this is what they were hoping to stop. but it has failed in syria's

second largest city. barrel bombs killed hundreds of people. it continued to fall in populated areas in the rebel-controlled city. >> the barrel bomb - it's more than a million that used to live in the world areas. now there is 300,000. there was a time when dozens of people were flying every day. >> the syrian government said that it would stop aerial and artillery bombardment on the city if the rebels suspend mortar attacks on the city of aleppo. the opposition rejected that deal. >> it has been a difficult process. from the start the warring side disagreed on the scope of the un-proposed ceasefire. the government wanted it limited to the city. the opposition wanted it extended across the countryside to the turkish boarder. there was no agreement. the u.n. tried to save the initiative by suggesting a

ceasefire from a battle ground district. >> the people accused the u.n. of caving in to the demand of the government. they want a comprehensive settlement that would involve the government stepping down and a ceasefire that would be enforced. >> they wanted to flee the fighting. then it became a city. we want to reject him and his initiatives. >> syria's war is entering its fifth year, the u.n. hoped the aleppo initiative could be the start of peace. the u.n. can only do so much without the backing of international players which support the warring sides. people u.s.-led coalition air strikes in syria hit an oil

refinery. north-east of talabia, making the turkish boarder. 30 poem were killed in the strike. the fight against i.s.i.l. continues in iraq. government forces are facing strong resistance as they retake the northern city of tikrit, crucial to the forces in an advance to mosul. it's been under i.s.i.l. control since june last year. >> tikrit is important. it's on the main road to baghdad in the harlland. -- heartland. one of the villages to the east of tikrit has been taken. capturing these areas cuts off the i.s.i.l. supply routes. they are further out in samara and baiji. these pictures are from alalam

18km from tikrit. iraqi forces say they have taken over the area. it's been under control of i.s.i.l. but i.s.i.l. set fire to oil fields to try to confuse forces. >> as part of the advance on i.s.i.l. held traditions troops massed outside ghana, in anbar, trying to push forward to fallujah. they have been under i.s.i.l.'s control for several months now. meanwhile kurdish forces are attacking i.s.i.l. positions advancing from the west of the city freeing villages as they go. the city itself is under kurdish control, but i.s.i.l. still controls areas. coming up here on al jazeera - egypt is ready for foreign investment. but is it violating human rights in efforts to boost the economy.

plus, the united states announces new sanctions against venezuela officials in the west diplomatic dispute. we'll be live in washington d.c. in sport, two giants of english football clash in the finals of the english f.a. cup. we look at manchester united versus arsenal. now one of the directors of a mine in eastern ukraine has been arrested in connection with a deadly explosion. 30 miners died. mining regulations are expected to have been violated. the pit is close to the front line of fighting between the ukranian army and pro-russian separatists the conflict is having an

effect on the economy. official inflation is 34%, and financial hardship is felt more so in the east where food splice are dwindling and prices rising. we have this report from donetsk of >> reporter: in separatist ukraine, some of the shelves are empty. this grocery store went from 10 suppliers to one. >> it's impossible to find new suppliers. as for the future we live one day at a time. >> in this grocery chain not far away you can buy meat and fish but the choices are slim. what is left you can buy, if you can afford it. eggs have doubled. others tripled. separatists might consider themselves independent, but they are not happy about the rampant inflation >> translation: prices

increased, and salaries have not. cooking oil used to cost 19 and now it's 32. >> translation: it is getting worse. they won't get better until kiev understands you shouldn't kill your own people. >> reporter: the official rate is 18.45." here in donetsk, it is higher and that is those that have access to money. pensioners and unemployed who remain have to travel outside the separatist area to collect money. for many it is expensive and can take days. with inflation and no banking system, everyone is poor. it turned bustling shopping centers like this into ghost towns. donetsk's minister of economic development says all new republic goes through birth pains here trade with russia will replace trade with ukraine. >> will things get better in terms of prices?

>> of course. it will get better more better. it is a range of good and the second is it will be changing in price. >> before the economy can stablilize, it is likely the fighting will stop, and the borders between ukraine and its separate nab will have to settle -- neighbour will have to settle. despite the ceasefire, neither appears within reach soon greece is pushing for the release of more funds, and a meeting of u.n. finance minister. creditors are insisting on a detailed reform. the greek government faces a cash crunch within weeks if it fails to secure loans, and promises to clampdown on tax dodgers to help pay the debt. we have this report. >> reporter: two years ago an anonymous whistleblower left

customs documents on the doorstep, showing some of the companies could not account for the delivery of thousands of tonnes of fuel. the fuel was effectively lost along with a tax that should have been paid. papers were drawn up into a court case into tax fraud which never happened. >> these customs documents were hidden in draws for years. they did not come to trial. this is a way of taking care of business when faced with indictment stuffing things in draws until the statute passes. >> unless the fuel is intended for export shipping or aviation but that tax free fuel can be diverted back to the streets. >> fuel tax brought $7 billion 12% of revenue. the tax insituation is estimated to cost $1.5 billion more.

>> the new government is rushing through a law to stop it. >> there's no system to measure what goes in or out. we don't know how many taxes there are. once the system is under surveillance, we know nothing will get past. >> the oil refining companies are ordered to fit gauges. they say they need more time. it is in short supply, and pressure for change is growing. tax evasion is connected to corruption. it's corruption that led the country to bankruptcy and humiliation. the money that is not flowing into state coffers is extending. >> the government reckons it can claw back $3 billion a year, and it has to if it's to deliver on promises to help the poor and lift taxes from the middle class. >> john, how is the greek

government going to claw back the tax? >> at the moment the government is proposing a slew of measures. the oil that we talked about is one area, one major injury and are proposing about $500 million on clamping down on online gambling. the two main areas where the proposals to the euro group are focussing are v.a. t, retail tax. this account for $15 billion of all tax revenue out of a total of 48 million, it's a huge area of income for the government. compare that to $3.5 billion made last year in corporate tax, and $18.5 billion on personal income tax. indirect tax produces more revenue than the direct taxes, because many are employed, and it's difficult to verify people's earnings. that's one area.

the other is large tax evasion. the government identifying 1,000 individuals who has discrepancies between their stated income for the last several years and bank deposits in greece and abroad. it's now draft papers and will present 5,000 people with the deposits and their tax statements, and it will challenge them to come forward with about 2.5 to $3 billion of tax that it says they should have paid and didn't. they are the main areas. >> will it be enough to impress the eurozone finance minister because greece is angling to get rescue loans out of them. >> well of course. they need the loans probably well before the beginning of may when they've been told is the earliest point that they might get them. they need to get them. at the moment the government is cutting pension fund and other institutions of all available cash sending it to the bank of

greece and keeping it on hold to be ready to pay down debt installment due at the end of this month. that is a disastrous state of affairs, if it comes to that for greece. the government says it is happy with the fact that the euro group accepted the principle, the seven principles put forward and hails this as the beginning of the process to implement the agreement reached on 20th february. however, euro group only discussed the proposals for about 20 minutes. there hasn't been any other agreement, that begins on wednesday, when the creditors meet in brussels. they'll take place in athens because of the political unseemliness of inspectors and creditors arriving and making this country, as the government says, look like an economy. this is an agreement in principle only. >> thank you for that update from athens there

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access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. >> weeknights on al jazeera america. >> join me as we bring you an in-depth look at the most important issues of the day. breaking it down. getting you the facts. it's the only place you'll find... the inside story. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". weeknights, 11:30 eastern. on al jazeera america. welcome back, you're watching al jazeera, i'm shiulie ghosh regional soldiers have helped to secure towns crossing the border on saturday a request by abd-rabbu mansour hadi to host talks has been agreed to to find a

solution to yemen. it's not sure if the houthis will take part the in the negotiations. greece is pushing for nor rescue loans at a meeting of the u.n. finance minister. they are insisting on a detailed programme from athens before releasing more funds. the greek government faces a cash crisis within weeks if it fails. more planes belonging to libya's recognised government reportedly attacked the last functioning airport. it is controlled by a rival government base in tripoli. fighting between the two killed hundreds. many of the victims came from misrata, 200km east of tripoli. >> reporter: this family is in mourning. they lost two of their sons. abdul was killed in fighting at tripoli's airport in july. and their other son, a doctor

died in december treating the wounded at a hospital when it was shelled. >> this shelling of hospitals, food stores and warehouses and pounding civilian airports. >> reporter: the family blames this man. former general khalifa haftar, a former army general. his operation started in may last year. his men have taken large swathes of territory, and he says he's going after fighters in the region linked to i.s.i.l. his rivals in tripoli are accused of bombing oil installations in the east. the family is also torn between sadness and pride. >> translation: he was fighting

a war. i expected him to be martyred. my other son was treating the patients. he was not involved in the fighting. >> it's difficult to final victims of misrata here. there's faces and names of people who died. there are many front lines across libya, and the fighting has been fierce. many here hope the u.n. led peace talks in morocco can end the political crisis and this conflict u.s. president obama impressed sanctions on several venezuelan officials, banning them from entering the country. they have been accused of corruption and human rights violation, in between washington and corakis. president nicolas maduro announced efforts to limit the

number of u.s. diplomats in venezuela. we are joined with the latest on those sanctions. what is happening? >> this is the situation - seven officials, including a top prosecutor have been cited for violating the human rights of venezuela citizens, including the arrest of political opponents, and in one case the killing of a protestor while in police custody. the officials are not going to be allowed to travel to the united states. any assets have been impounded and persons are not allowed to do business with them. this is after the obama administration's campaign to make venezuela respect the human rights of all its citizens and not just the political supporters of nicolas maduro. >> president obama signed the bill allowing him to impose these sanctions back in disease.

why is he only acting now then? >> this is the situation, at least as the way the state department spokesperson explains it. just because the president signed this order into law does not mean that it immediately took steps. there were logistic at processes that had to be completed before the process of identifying and sanctioning individual persons. i raised the question what about the prosecutor who was alleged to have brought all of these charges against the mayor of caracas, who is now sitting in gaol. and i was told and the other reporters that, look once the processes were put into place, we can move quickly but it was a matter of logistics, trying to take the time to implement all the provisions of the law. >> thank you for that. rosalind jordan in washington d.c. there

now since a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager in the u.s. state of missouri last august there has been calls for police reforms nation way. the new orleans police department has been under scrutiny for 10 years, and its problems have not gone away. >> reporter: commander paul nuer succeeded in cleaning up the sex crimes unit of the new york police department. >> i knew there were issues with cases not vetted properly -- investigated properly. but some things were a major shock after reports that the new orleans police were not internetting reports, noelle was drafted in and he cleaned a backlog, some dating back to the '80s. each repeating an allegation of rape that had not been improved. amid prejudices of training and

reforms, it was clear that little changed at the unit that he left behind. >> i was drugged raped, my car stolen. >> this woman was attacked at a new orleans club in june 2014. the initial police response was sympathetic. the subsequent lines of inquiry was not. it was about how much did she have to drink. what is she like. they were trying to make me out to be a liar and not about let's catch a rapist. the police didn't secure surveillance video from the club where the incident took place. that has since been erased. >> a positive initial response. nothing has changed. it's the same old no one doing their job, it seems. >> noel is back at the special victims section, this time heading a task force

investigating hundreds of allegations of rape and child abuse between 2011 and 2013 that were ignored by detectives. when he returned he discovered that the backlog of rape testing kits had again piled up. >> i would tell you we are probably not where we need to be. >> he insists this time he'll put in protocols for dealing with sex crimes, with penalties for those that don't obey. activists say it's not enough. >> perhaps all the way up to the attorney-general - someone needs to come in and investigate what is going on in new orleans. >> reporter: the experience of the new york place department is striking. because there are problems and so well documents since 2004 from local journalist investigations to department of justice censure, to setting up of systems of inspections from the inspector general. even the city's officials admit it has not yet been enough now, it's one of the biggest

challenges facing drug enforcement authorities in the united states - how to control a surge of cheap heroin from mexico. it's believed mexican drug cartels control all heroin smuggling to the u.s. distribution is using existing routes for crystal meth cocaine and marijuana. in the south-west of united states the issues of heroin almost tripled in the last five years. we've been told it's a tiny fraction of what gets over the border undetected. and heroin is easy to smuggle because it can be taken in smaller i am not sure, strapped to the bodies of individuals crossing the border. >> in the second part of the series adam raney reports from the u.s.-mexico border. >> you can put a lot of heroin in here. >> reporter: it's called the trophy year where veteran border officers teach recruits how to spot drugs secreted in

cars. soft drink bottles, gas tanks and firewood to stash heroin. on the job, officers have a few minutes to decide if a vehicle should be searched. it's clear that those that guard the gates that heroin is the biggest problem. >> we have seized double the amount of heroin than last year. and we are only a few months into the fiscal year. >> reporter: alerted to another drug seizure. this time the road into the united states. this person is a special agent with homeland security. his task to dismantle smuggling rings. he has seen the same pattern with heroin. >> we have 5 kilos. in 2014 we had over 200. we had a weapon inside the vehicle. narcotics are inside it.

the team intercepts drugs every day. it doesn't stop the flood of heroin that top u.s. officials say swapped american cities, feeding boom and addiction. with so much funny in play the cartels are watching too. >> that is mexico separating at the border fence. as you can see, those buildings - the house, the residences have a direct line of site into the operations of the port of entry. they can see what is going on, who is coming in who is leaving. >> smugglers told us there are many ways to get their drugs past the wall. sometimes tunnelling under it. sometimes walking across. heroin is so valuable in small amounts. you don't have to take it over the border. and cars more and more officials walk it from here to mexico over to the united states. sometimes they are seeing it strapped to old people's bodies and young children. >> customs, homeland security

and local police, three of a dozen agencies tasked with stopping the no of heroin. >> some on the front lines admit the battle cannot be won, because the market is insatiable. >> for every pandemic we stop from the united states there's 100 pounds more that we don't stop. so it's a drop in the bucket. deputy ahern says he's one of those on the last line of defense before drugs get past the border and out on to u.s. highway, a route delivering heroin to users across america we are joined live from mexico city. your report, that last officer was saying very specifically that they only managed to stop a tiny part of the whole number of drugs that managed to get through. does that mean they think the task is futile. ? >> exactly, we asked the police

officers if they saw their job as futile they say drugs are coming to america on a higher level. in fact maybe it's hitting 1% of all drugs. when i asked that question if it was worth it to take up the fight, all said these are criminal organizations, we have to fight back against them. drugs are dangerous products and we cannot let down our vigilance, does not matter if we get 1% or less. it was interesting to hear the response. to talk about who the policy is working on the border and across the states i'm joined by a former white house and town official and an expert on job policy. thank you for joining me anna much they are not getting any of the drugs at the border. why keep up the policy of trying to see the law enforcement policy? >> partially it's a law enforcement policy. the united states has been

investing more on prevention programs. part is most prevention programs don't work. one a person as an addiction, you invest a lot of money without knowing if a person will use drugs. i was at a conference and experts say you have to prevent kids having access postpone drugs the most possible. how do you do that without law enforcement. >> america is awash in drugs. mexico is unable to stop the people growing poppies and marijuana, and growing cocaine. >> it's complex, which is why people say you have to legalize the drugs, which i think is a drug. you have to create institution, i think in mexico to combat the organizations. nogales, i'm from that part of the country.

when you cross from nogales mexico into nogales united states, people respect the law. that doesn't happen in mexico. >> there's a lot of people in nogales united states happy to traffic these things through. >> absolutely. but at least there's incentives or some possibilities of getting caught. there is a reason why mexican drug cartel leaders do not like to be extradited to the united states. it's harder to get out of gaol and corrupt judges. part of problem is to build institutions strong fuf. >> rule of law is key, whether it's drugs or the violence. >> it's key in the long run. in the short run it's a matter of trying to mitigate the impact of the organizations. you talked about guerrero. you have armed, guerilla and organised crime that is

pedalling poppy, sending poppy to the united states. that's a problem. >> okay. that was very helpful to have that perspective, former white house and pentagon official. coming up on tuesday we visit virginia state that has had addiction problems and fatal overdoses from drugs. >> we look forward to that report. thank you for that adam raney, in mexico city there now, swine flu is spreading across india, claiming more than 1,300 lives this year. media are reporting 25,000 have been affected this year. india's health ministry is stepping up efforts to combat the virus. it will provide free treatment to swine flu patients. >> protesters from myanmar are speaking out from a new education law. those attending rallies say the

law restricts academic freedom by preventing students from forming unions. student protesters kept the rally short due to heavy security presence. still to come here on al jazeera - all the sport for you. it's a painful day for a belgium cyclist in france. raul will be here with all the details. hi, i'm matt mccoy. how long have you had your car insurance? i ask because i had mine for over 20 years, before i switched and saved hundreds with the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford. i had done a lot of comparison shopping. the rate was like half of what i was paying. $404 is the average amount

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sport. >> thank you. the head of international cycling, brian cook son admits the sports governing body assisted lance armstrong to cover up his drug abuse. a report attacked the u.c. i's attack to doping and suggests that it is rife in professional cycling. >> reporter: a sport that carried a black eye for more than two decades takes another hit. panel known as the independent reform commission compiling a 227 page report attacking the sporting bodies that appointed them to investigate how cycling lost its way. the conclusion was a culture of developing still exists and u.c. i helped it happen. of scrutiny the matter of how they allowed lance armstrong to get away with doping, failing to target him and covering up a

positive test to cortisone in 1999. >> it was something that u.c. i would prioritise the image and business of the sport over integrity and honesty of the sport. it was a signal out at that time. subsequently if we hadn't had that decision, we'd have a different landscape in the sport at the time. >> one of the problems historically in doping and cycling, and it's a common problem in international sports is the sport is too close, indeed fawning over some athletes. that's what happened with lance armstrong. >> reporter: the american was stripped of titles after admitting to doping. he spent two days being investigated and issued a statement saying:

brian cook son was brought in to power the u.c. i in 2013, promising a clean slate for the organization. the report is critical of former president pat mcquade who will be asked to give up his honorary presidency. they stand accused of prioritizing the public image over action. the report said: sports are in a degree of denial in certain case and they'll face the problems that we have faced and are facing too, in this report today. >> reporter: cycling had many so-called fresh starts. this chapter proves another test in the long-running battle that establishes faith in a clean sport. well hine verbru frks gen

was the u.c. i president between 1991 and '95 and he responded to the reports. >> more than ever after that we have been cleared of suspicions of cover ups. i think that was the major thing. that would have been a serious issue. now we have been cleared of that. so i'm confident as far as that is concerned. in addition to that, i don't have any more function i'm retired. >> professional cyclists back on liar bikes, following a nasty crash. belgium had to pull out the event with a broken left collarbone. alexander was at the front of the peloton, but prolog winner retains the leaders jersey in about an hour two of the biggest names in english football will crash in the

quarterfinals of the cup. arsenal are holders going in against united having not run at old trafford since 2006ment the cup represents a last realistic chance of winning. they are in the champion's league, but trail 3-1. as for manchester united their coach admits qualifying for the champion's league, rather than winning a cup is a major priority this season. >> it's a game between 11 players. different players. performing at high levels because arsenal and manchester united are placed third and fourth in the premier league. so it's nearly a final, i think. i think for me it is intentional. it's between two teams. we have a chance to win the competition, and both teams, if

you get over it, we have a good opportunity to win the competition. >> the united arab emirates will host the football cup. the u.a.e. hopes to build on the success of the asian cup hosted by australia, with more than half a million fans attending the maxes. the united arab emirates helped before in 1996, when they reached a final, but lost to saudi arabia. >> englands cricketers have been knocked out of the world cup by bangladesh to grab the spots in the quarterfinal for the first time history. the match in adelaide was a must win. the win would have kept them in the tournament. maladullah scored a centuriy. england lost two wickets in an over including owen morgan for zero. josh made a fighting half

century. england 238/7. the tail-enders couldn't conjure up an unlikely win. >> extremely disappointed. because within the group there was a lot of belief and expectation to go further than this. it's more surprising than anything else. >> the scenes in dakar. hundreds of bangladesh fans celebrating in the city following the victory. bangladesh into the quarterfinals for the first time. now, the i'd iter odd dog sled race will get under way. 58 mushers and dogs will compete

peat in alaxe ka. -- alaska. it was inspired when dogs were used to dlifr diptheria drugs. the winner collects $70,000 in prize money. that's the sport. more later. >> thank you very much indeed. from a snowy story to a sunny one. a giant solar powered plane left abu dhabi, landed in imam for a 6-hour layover. the solar impulse is making a trip over the course of five months. it's covered with 70,000 solar pan scpels has energy- -- panels and has energy storing panels to allow it to fly in the dark. it weighs as much as a car. two pilots are flying it around the world. that is it for this newshour. we leave you in the capable

hands of a team from london. bye for now.

joining the fight against boko haram, 200 fighters reported dead as troops from chad and niger take back two nigerian towns. ♪ hello there, i am barbara sarah, you are watching al jazerra live from london. also coming up on the program iraqi forces stepped up their fight against isil moving in on three areas held by the group. talk less and do more, greece's prime minister signs a warn to go his