watching. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next live from doha. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour i'm richelle carey live from our news center in doha coming up in the next 60 minutes. welcome relief aid begins to slowly arrive for those caught in the middle of the war in yemen. seeking new friends to avoid economic collapse. the greek prime minister meets vladimir putin in moscow. plus a white u.s. police officer is charged with murder after shooting a black man in the back. i have all of the sport,

including collected to host the 2017 africa cup of nations, beating bids from both ghana and algeria. ♪ and we begin this news hour in yemen where aid is slowly starting to trickle in as the saudi-lead air strikes continue. iran's state media says tehran has sent two warships to the gulf of aden. fighting has been focused in the area in the southeast of yemen, 30 houthis have reportedly been killed in battle with other tribal militias. on yemen's border suspected al-qaeda fighters stormed and took control of a remote border post. and jordan is pushing a draft resolution at the u.n. to try to stop this conflict from escalating. the humanitarian situation on

the ground in the port city of aden has been described as catastrophic. but some aid as arrived. >> reporter: bombs from the sky light up the night over yemen. air strikes have now entered a third week but the coalition hasn't been able to defeat houthi houthi houthi -- rebels who took control of the country in a coup earlier this year. on the ground fighters who support the current president engage in street-to-street battles. the fiercest fighting is taking place in the southern port city of aden a strong hold for hadi supporters that was also his final safe haven before he was forced to flee to saudi arabia.

560 people have been killed since the start of the fighting an estimated 74 are children. on the border there are still people trying to escape. >> the situation is getting worse, that's why the company advised us to leave immediately. >> translator: i live in the center of sana'a close to several military bases. i had to flee. there were several air strikes. it was terrifying. >> reporter: despite calling by several governments to allow aid in to yemen, and assurances by saudi arabia that it will facilitate the aid of workers, very little has been able to enter the country. the fighting on the ground coupled with the consistent bombardment from the air means that one thing for sure is violence. doctors without borders says 2.5 tons of medical supplies

have arrived at a hospital in aiden, and unicef says it has also delivered humanitarian aid. i spoke with a representative who explained why it is so hard to get aid to those worst affected. >> we're trying to get into sana'a tomorrow 16 metric tons of medical assistance and water and sanitation supplies. and it has been very very difficult. we and other humanitarian organization have found it very tough. you have difficulties about getting clearance, both over the air, into the airport, and finding planes that are prepared to go in it's just incredibly tough, and the assistance we're bringing is nowhere near enough to cover the needs of the population directly and indirectly affected. we have seen hospitals that have been targeted schools occupied by armed groups. the problem is the fighting.

we can provide some assistance and -- but we need civilian infrastructure and ambulance workers, doctors, schools, hospitals, and children to be respected and not targeted. it's very difficult to calculate the needs, because you have the short-term needs of the conflict and then you have bigger problems for the country. we have a million children out of school today. in aden the water system where some parts of the city haven't seen water in six days. a million people in aden depend on the water system and there are other areas around the country which are having similar problems. and vaccination which are beginning to fail we have huge problems and dealing with the immediate problems and the more long-term issues that this conflict is generating is going to be a huge task. the requirements for the population are beyond what we can cope with. we have been able to deal and work in yemen for years, for

decades, but the needs are just rocketing, this is a country plunging towards a humanitarian disaster. we have about a hundred thousand people who have fled their homes in the last few days and they all are going to need help. and even if we could cover it without the possibility to move freely within the country, without fear of aid convoys being hit, then it's going to be very difficult. a charity in qatar is trying to raise $10 million for food and medicines for the people trapped in the war in yemen. it says it needs money to help thousands of families. qatar is part of the coalition lead by the saudi arabias that are attacking the houthis. >> reporter: this charity has

been sending food and basic supplies to poor yemeni families for decades, but says this is one of its toughest challenges yet. charity workers here are appealing to yemenese that live and work in doha as well as other communities to donate money. >> they are considered our brothers you know, in islam, and there is a lot of ties between, you know, the yemenese and qatarese so i'm looking forward to everybody helping in this cause. >> reporter: it takes about a day to drive from here in doha to the yemeni capitol, sana'a. and that's how the charity got basic supplies into yemen in the past but it involves going through saudi arabia which organizers say right now isn't an option. >> at this time we are

concentrating only in food and health because we cannot now enter to yemen. so what we'll do just we'll take all of the item from the local market. >> reporter: it already imports almost all of its foods. supplies are running low, and prize sh -- prices are rising steadily. >> reporter: this is a renewed push to establish a corridor to the refugee camp near damascus. there is a shortage -- a severe shortage of food water, and electricity. some people have managed to escape. but aid agencies say 16,000 people remain mostly palestinian refugees. two car bombs have killed at least 50 people in aleppo. the first suicide bombing happened near a rebel base in a

village. activists have blamed isil for attacking fighters from a rebel group which opposes the government. isil has released more than 200 members of iraq's yazidis minority after reportedly holding them captive for eight months. among those released are children and senior citizens. they were on abducted in northern iraq. no reason was given for their release. israeli forces have shot dead a palestinian man after he stabbed two soldiers. one of the soldiers is in critical condition with a stab wound to the neck. a judge in pakistan is ordering criminal charges be brought against two former cia officials in connection to the deaths of two civilians. they were killed in 2009 by a u.s. drone strike that was part of a cia program. now pakistan has developed its own missile firing drone. nicole johnston reports now

there islamabad. >> reporter: the drone is designed to kill. a remote controlled aircraft be laser guided missiles. pakistan has wanted one for years. in the end it developed its own, and is using it on the border with afghanistan. >> it boosts our capability because these are not airplanes that can carry out aerial bombing, it is the drones. >> reporter: wur one bureau tracks drone strikes. since 2004 the number of people stilled in pakistan by drones in pakistan is between 2,500 and 4,000. this man lost his father and two young brothers when a drone missile exploded near their car.

>> translator: it is difficult all the time. you hear the buzzing of drones. it affects you mentally. the children are afraid. we don't know where they are going to hit. >> reporter: last month the military showed off its new drone in a parade. many are too afraid to challenge the pakistan military for carrying out the strikes. >> it would be very dif kurlt for a civilian to stand up and say i am a civilian and i have been hit in a drone strike. >> reporter: the u.s. has been using drones expensively in the northwest tribal belt for the last ten years, but it has refused to supply pakistan with drones. this man is worried there will now be even more drones in the sky. >> translator: they flood our area [ inaudible ] if they find the same drones we are going

back to the same misery. >> reporter: it seems the fear caused by increased use of drones in pakistan is here to stay. nicole johnston al jazeera, islamabad. still to come here on al jazeera, from ecuador with love sending roses to russia was once a blossoming industry but not it has stopped. we'll tell you why. and in sport, there's a five-goal thriller in the german sup. we'll have all of the action. [ cheers ] ♪ greek prime minister is in moscow for official meetings with russian president vladimir putin. greece is in difficult negotiations over its bailout

program. russia has indicated it could offer some relief by lifting its import sanctions and boosting trade with greece. let's take a closer look at greece east debt problem now. the country owes around $348 billion in total. repayments on the largest amount $141 billion does not start until 2023. the more immediate problem is the $27 billion owed to the international monetary fund about $500 million of that is due for repayment on thursday. if greece were to miss that payment that was be unprecedented unprecedented. rory challands is in moscow and he joins us live now. rory why are people a bit uneasy about this meeting when tsipras and vladimir putin? >> reporter: because it throws

essentially the whole unity of the european union's position on sanctions against russia into doubt. what the e.u. leaders were particularly worried about was that tsipras would come here be offered some deal by the russians that he couldn't refuse, and that the russians would demand in return for this offer, the use of greece's veto within the european union to essentially soften the effect of sanctions on russia. now what we were sort of expecting or at least what was being touted coming into this meeting was that there was going to be possibly some lifting offered by russia of the -- the embargo on trades -- sorry, on food and food products that it hits the whole european union with. there is expectation that maybe it would be lifted from greece, an exemption would be given to

them. we didn't get that. what we got at the most from russia was an offer of maybe some partnership, increasing joint companies that would export fruit and vegetations and such things to russia. we also heard that russia would not be offering greece any kind of specific aid package, that greece didn't ask for it and it wouldn't be offered by russia. that doesn't mean to say that there isn't going to be some sort of cooperation on big energy projects and that sort of thing, whereby loans could be given to greece. let's listen to the greek prime minister and see how he puts the kinds of deals that are being talked about between these two leaders this afternoon. >> translator: we have discussed in detail how we can boost greek exports to russia covering the huge negative trade balance.

and we also talked about how we can strengthen our cultural scientific and educational ties. i want to say how important it is to restart and forget the past. >> reporter: now tsipras before he came here to moscow had been warned by the european parliament president not to break the european line on sanctions against russia. now if he was given that warning, he didn't really seem to have listened to it because one of the things he said in the press conference following neating with vladimir putin was that greece -- or he and his partners have always disagreed with the european union sanctions against russia. he says that they exacerbated a trade war, had a risk of turning it into a wider cold war, a renewal of the cold war between russia and the west and the best way to sort out the issue

was to come out with a dialogue-based solution that he was going to try to work out with in tandem with russia. >> thank you. rory challands reporting live for us from moscow. and the u.s. city of north charleston in the state of north carolina a white police officer has been charged with the murder of a black man. the evidence includes an amateur video shows the officer shooting walter scott several times in the back as he was running away. >> reporter: this 33-year-old police officer is behind bars after this graphic video went viral. a witness captured the moments the officer shot and killed 50-year-old walter scott in the back. scott, a father of four, employed and engaged to be married, is seen running away from the officer. the officer pulled scott over for a broken taillight. in his initial report he wrote

scott had attacked him, stolen his taser and his life was in danger. >> what if there was no video? what if there was no witness or hero as i call them to come forward? then this wouldn't have happened. >> reporter: civil rights leaders are calling for calm while activists are planning to take to the streets to call attention to yet another police shooting that puts policing in the u.s. and race relations right back into the headlines. >> we have 343 police officers in our department. this was a bad decision by one of those 343. and i think the lesson that we take out of this and hopefully the general public takes out of it is that when an incident occurs give us the appropriate time to investigate, find out exactly what happened and we

will act accordingly. >> reporter: north charleston is home to about 100,000 people nearly half are black, 18% of its police force is also black. the fbi and the justice department have announced that they are launching their own investigations into scott's shooting. his family says they are relieved that justice will be served. >> we can't get my brother back and my family is in deep mourning for that but the process of justice has been served and i don't -- i don't think that all police officers are bad cops but there are some bad ones out there. and i don't want to see anyone get shot down the way that my bother got shot. >> reporter: south carolina senator says the shooting was

was -- senseless and absolutely avoidable. the shooting is the latest flash point between police officers and african americans. ferguson has had its first city elections since michael brown's death. rob reynolds reports. >> reporter: torrential rain and pounding hail get voters away. many voters were hoping the vote would end months of turmoil. >> we have had our bad, and seen our bad, and now it's time to change that for everyone and make this the community that we all really want. >> reporter: it was the first local election since the killing of unarmed black teenager michael brown by a ferguson

police officer last august. the shooting left this city of 21,000 people scarred physically and emotionally, and ready for change. >> i want to see new faces, and new people and see if we can't go forward from this point. >> reporter: there were three open seats two were won by african american candidates on tuesday. giving ferguson's black community more representation than it has ever had before. now half of the council members are black. for decades white elected officials controlled the town even though two-thirds of residents here are black. extremely low african american voter turn out was partly responsible. voters like eva say there has been a double standard. >> one set of rules for one race another set for another. and it should be straight down the line just one set of rules for everyone. >> reporter: this is the spot

where michael brown died on august 9th. now it's a shrine covered with flowers and stuffed toys. the justice department report released in march show that the black -- african americans were targeted by the nearly all white police officer department. with new leadership the city hopes to put change into action. >> work together and get along. love one another as neighbors. >> reporter: all here agree, change will not come to ferguson overnight, but tuesday's vote may one day be seen as a turning point. rob reynolds al jazeera, ferguson missouri. thousands of people have been demonstrating in brazil against a proposed law that could allow businesses to outsource their labor force, but the rally turned violent when

scuffles broke out between the protesters and police. the unions fear the legislation could lead to local employees being dismissed with foreign workers accepting jobs for lower wages. in mexico gunmen have opened fire on a police convoy. 15 state police officers were killed and 5 others wounded in the attack. authorities say the gunmen were waiting for a convoy of state police to pass by and when they did, they opened fire. it's home to a drug cartel which is now among mexico's most powerful. in ecuador exporting roses to russia used to be a blossoming industry but now many russians can't afford to buy the flowers. leaving ecuador's rose market on the brink of collapse. >> reporter: ecuador's central

highlands, and this woman walks down row afro of roses. how long do the roses last after being cut in how long are their stems? does their bud flower in the classic style favored by her customers in moscow? the plan take owners are playing close attention. it's a rare site here in ecuador, the market for roses to russia has all but collapsed. >> translator: we were sending 80% of our roses to russia. >> reporter: roses from ecuador are prized in russia but the drop in oil prices and the fall in the value of the ruble have made roses almost unattainable luxuries. it has had a very dramatic effect on the rose industry. the owners of this farm had to destroy 12% of their plantations

because russian buyers were no longer showing up. >> reporter: many growers started planting other types of flowers more suitable for other markets. some say the days are numbers for the ecuadorian rose that the russians used to covet. >> translator: no crisis lasts forever, but this did leave a serious mark on the industry once plantations diversify it is hard for them to go back. >> reporter: this woman is more hopeful. >> translator: things change now but russians love roses, and i'm sure the rose market will live forever in russia. >> reporter: and the roses continue to grow and the growers remain optimistic and hopeful, but they have started looking for new homes for their stunning products. ahead on al jazeera, thousands of patients in peru wait for a banned biological drug to be able in the market.

plus it's lightweight, slim and can charge a mobile phone in seconds. meet the battery of the future. and we'll update you on chris copeland's position after being stabbed outside of a new york nightclub. ♪

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♪ welcome back. you are watching al jazeera. the u.n. has expressed concern over the rising civilian death toll in yemen, since the saudi military campaign against houthi fighters started nearly two weeks ago. aid supplies are starting to rife. doctors without borders said a boat carrying medical supplies is now in the port of aden. the greece prime minister has met with vladimir putin. greece is in difficult negotiations over the bailout of his debt. a white police officer has

been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a black man in charleston north carolina. doctors in liberia say an ebola treatment center in the capitol has been closed because there are no more patients to treat. the last confirmed case of ebola in liberia was on march 21st but the country is still a long way from officially being declared ebola free. charles stratford reports. >> reporter: these people can only hope their celebrations aren't a little premature. staff at the former ebola treatment union received certificates thanking them for their hard work over recent months. on each ribbon there is a name in honor of those who helped fight the disease, the monument lists those staff members who were killed by it. now there's a sense that the worst here at least may be over.

>> it's very very important for us. we think we have won the fight and we think now there's no need to be here anymore. we don't have patients so we can go home to our families. >> reporter: the world health organization says ebola has killed at least 10,460 people in the last year. the worst-hit countries are liberia, guinea and sierra leone. the world health organization says the figures are an underestimate. last august the united nations called the epidemic an international public health emergency, an ebola outbreak is declared over in a country 42 days after the last confirmed case. the last confirmed case in many liberia was on march 21st. >> we pry and hope that for the two days without any new case so we can be declared [ inaudible ] i mean that is a country free of ebola. but again, it is a warning that

we have to be extremely conscious. >> reporter: this particular building being used as an emergency treatment center is now closed because here at least there are no more patients to treat. despite the celebrations no one in liberia is under any illusion that ebola could not reappear. and there is still more than three weeks to go before the country is declared officially ebola free. the president of zimbabwe is in south africa for talks with the president. the two signed a bilateral agreement to increase trade, but there was no mention of the plight of thousands of zimbabweans who have migrated to south africa in search of a better life. >> reporter: full military honors destroyed on the visiting president on a long awaited state visit that delivered bilateral trade agreements desperately needed by zimbabwe's

struggling economy. but more than 100 kilometers away the people who fled that country didn't think he should have made it through the airport. >> south african police must do an investigation, but the south african government is quiet. he was supposed to be arrest interested in the airport. he is a criminal. >> reporter: many others escaped from torture and political abuse. an investigation is currently underway into senior members of the south african police force after allegations of the abduction of refugees being handed back and killed by the zimbabwean authorities. >> [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: there is little interest here into the visit to

south africa but there's no getting away from the fact that with thousands of zimbabweans fleeing to south africa that domestic troubles are having an impact here. but economic analysts don't believe the president will allow human rights concerns to affect the economic and trade agreements currently being discussed. >> it's a stable country at this point in time. there's no internal violence no threat of a civil war in any way, so as long as it's sufficiently under the radar, we're not going to be questioning, or the governments are not going to be questioning too deeply what is going on there. at the announced joint economic deals, the president hinted at a crackdown. >> there are problems naturally that must be resolved people moving without [ inaudible ]

south africa for example, jump jumping jumping across borders, thinking there is lots of work in johannesberg. we must find ways of controlling movement of people which is sanctioned. >> reporter: the president put on a united front, it's a image that makes zimbabweans nervous. a man once held in guantanamo bay has been arrested in connection with the murder of a local prosecutor. they are suspected of being linked to last month's killing of a prosecutor handling a case against the armed group about shabab. a vigil is being held in

honor of the victims of the kenyan massacre. hundreds of young polish men and women are signing up to join paramilitary groups the conflict in eastern ukraine is driving the movement. tim friend reports from warsaw. >> reporter: deep in the woods north of warsaw members of a paramilitary group are playing war games to the sound of real gunfire. their weekend hobby has suddenly taken on a new significance. just 4 hour's drive away is the ukraine border a country in real conflict. poland's part-time militia say no one can be concern of moscow's intentions. >> we want to be prepared so they -- the government wouldn't have to train people on the

spot. they will have someone trained before. and if something happens, god forbid, and we hope it wouldn't and we believe it wouldn't then we would do what we would have to do and if this means, you know fighting then we will probably fight. ♪ >> reporter: concerns about ukraine and online recruiting videos like this have prompted a sudden increase in volunteers for the paramilitaries to date back to the end of the second world war. it is estimated there are 120 groups like this across poland with a total membership of around 10,000. until now the government has kept its distance but now it wants to harness this enthusiasm to help boost poelandpoland's defense. the government promised more equipment and crash as a result

of more signup. this man recently returned from cooperation talks in kiev. >> we have to understand that maybe tomorrow today ukraine, maybe tomorrow maybe next country. this is why people of course they are nervous if they observe what is going on nowadays in the east of ukraine. >> reporter: russia says it has no intention of aggression against poland and most military analysts agree it's extremely unlikely but in a survey for the institute of public affairs think tank 76% said russia posed a military threat. the group wear face masks, because they have already been portrayed by some of the russian media as aggressors. they say they simply want to defend their homeland with their lives if necessary. tim friend.

police say the number of people using crystal meth has nearly doubled in the past year in australia. the prime minister says a new task force will head a national response to tackle the problem. >> this is an epidemic way beyond anything we have seen before now. and we will take every possible step to combat this dreadful dreadful scourge. in peru thousands of patients are waiting on a court verdict on whether they will be allowed to buy biosimilar drugs across the counter. >> reporter: carlos's life is in a countdown, his colon cancer has expanded to his liver. doctors tell him the only chance

to live longer than two years may be with a biological medical treatment. >> translator: i'm being treated in a public hospital and they are telling me that they can't give me the treatment because it's too expensive. >> reporter: the 50 doses of biologic medicine he needs costs more than $20,000, but though biosimilars cost at least 30% less. carlos and thousands of cancer patients like him can't get them either because many biosimilars can't be sold in peru. a group of companies have presented an injection in court to restrict sales of biosimilars. >> translator: we don't want the state to give a green light to products that have no proven safety and effectiveness. >> reporter: but critics say many of those drugs have already

been certified by the u.s. they say the pharmaceuticals here are only protecting their patents. >> translator: if we were absolutely sure that this agency was reliable not allowing itself to be pressured by lobby lobbyist, then we would will satisfied. >> reporter: as a result [ inaudible ] buys 75% of all medicine and treats 94% of all cancer patients in the country. the high costs of biologic treatments have pushed the system to the brink of collapse critics say the state is prevented by buying medicine at low cost in order to treat more

patients. a verdict that is now months away. carlos is now into his second year with cancer he says whether it is biologic or biosimilar he needs the medicine sooner rather than later to have a fighting chance at life. the u.s. economy has slowly crept back to life over the last few years. chicago has bounced back from the recession with an overall up tick in its industries. but only parts are experiencing the bloom. >> reporter: the city of big shoulders is lifting its foretures more than ever. it's not only the magnificent mile property values tourism, and retail sales are rising nearly city wide nearly. but this is the tail of two chicagos one to the north, prosperous and mostly white, the others for miles where police

activity is a daily occurrence it's blighted black, and intensely poor. >> coming back here is depressing. we have to hold everybody who we elect to represent us accountable. >> reporter: the city tends to fund projects downtown or in well thinker neighborhoods. this neighborhood may be home to the nation's first black president, but chicago has had just one african american mayor in its 178-year history. >> everybody wants the black vote but people are not willing to protect the black community's interests. we're last on the totem pole when it comes down to construction contracts. we're struggling right now. >> reporter: schools are funded by local income taxes. those in wealthy neighborhoods perform better those in poorer neighborhoods perform worse,

often leaving students unprepared for work and forming what socialologists call a pipeline to prison. this man has been looking for work since he left prison in 2013. >> they say do you have a criminal background in i say yes, and they say unfortunately right now we're not hiring anyone with a criminal background. >> reporter: there are now generations of black men struggling to work their way away from similar troubled pasts with similar results. >> i think that right now in chicago, we're watching this genocide unfold in front of our eyes not just chicago, it's naturally, but in chicago we're seeing it and 20 years from now we're going to ask people what is your biggest regret and they are going to say that was the genocide. we could have saved all of those lives. >> reporter: this postal carrier

was shot 11 times earlier this month as he climbed into his car to go to work. john hendren, al jazeera, chicago. french air traffic controllers have gone on strike leading to the cancellation of 40% of flights. travelers faced delays for hours across france. part of their dispute involves raising the retirement age for controllers from 67 to 69 years old. there are more strikes planned for the end of the month. coming up on al jazeera -- ♪ >> hitting the right notes, a piano playing superstar in china starts a booming trend. and in sport, we'll have an update on tiger wood's preparations ahead of his big return to the master's. ♪

♪ imagine a mobile phone battery which can recharge in under a minute. researchers at stanford university in california say they have built just that. their prototype uses aluminum to substitute for lithium cells. >> reporter: the lithium lithium -- battery has come a long way. but they can catch fire when overloaded or damaged and recharging them can take hours,

but a new generation of batteries is on the horizon. instead of lithium it uses aluminum and graphite which removes the fire risk and the thin battery is flexible enough to be folded. and it lasts many times longer than lithium versions. >> and it has a very long cycle life. it has no decay over hundreds of cycles even thousands of cycles. >> reporter: because it can only carry after of the voltage of current batteries, don't expect to see it on the market any time soon. but an israeli company says its battery will be on the market by the end of the year. the quest for a better battery followers inventors of a century ago who's painstaking work produced the electric light

filament. >> they are trying to work out what is the material what is the electrolyte juice in the middle that gives us the best and saferest performance. >> reporter: this could speed the quick-charging electric car battery. time for sport now. hello. >> hi rachel how are you? in the last few hours, gabon has been chosen as the host of the african nations. it was decided by the executive committee. it will be the second time gabon will stage the finals. the original host libya withdrew last year because of the country's instability. a football journalist in ghana explains why gabon was chosen to

host the african cup of nations. >> gabon had been reworded for political loyalty. you remember morocco chickened out of hosting the 2015 edition. gabon offered logistics, and we saw a lot of buses and planes that were given by gabon. gabon [ inaudible ] they have stadium, the infrastructure and so they are going to be using the facilities they used in 2012 as well. one picture i have mentally is after the final of the 2012 event, going back to the stied um to do a report, and it looked like there was nothing there. they had used a lot of chinese labor and material but this time they are going to have a lot of stadium and infrastructure that are going to be merm innocent. some football action now.

despite a difficult season [ inaudible ] is through to the finals of the german cup. calls from kevin and roberto came them a 2-1 lead in the quarter final. the striker appeared and scored an equalizer to send the match to extra time. the german midfielder fired in the winner to give them the 3-2 victory. [ inaudible ] are also into the last four. they were unable to get back the goalkeeper in the first half. but the penalty in the 72nd minute sealed the 1-0 victory. juventus have booked their spot scoring a 4-2 aggregate win. they are looking to win the

competition for the first time since 1995. top golfers are fine tuning their game ahead of the master's which begins on thursday. mcelroy, and tiger woods got in practice rounds at the augusta. woods is aiming for his fifth title here. however, he has dropped down to 111th in the world ranging -- rankings. >> i have working by e working by [ censor bleep ] off. that's the easiest way to describe that i worked hard. people would never understand how much work i have put into it to come back and do this again, but i -- it was sun up to sundown, and whenever i had time free time the kids were asleep i would still be doing it and then when there was

[ inaudible ] i would still be doing it. so it was a lot of work. >> the last two weeks have gone great. i have just practiced at home in florida, and made another trip up here a couple of fridays ago. all of the work i have done has been good and, you know, as i said at the start, i'm just ready for the gun to go off on thursday morning. nba player chris copeland was admitted to hospital after being stabbed outside of a nightclub. his wife and another woman were attacked. luckily there were no serious injuries and he is in stable condition. the suspected attacker has been arrested. nba now and the best team this season in the eastern conference the atlanta hawks made some franchise history, they crushed the phoenix suns to notch out their 58th win of the

season. that's a franchise high for them. jeff teague who has won of three hawks players to hit 16 points as they cruise to a 96-69 win. the loss thief -- leaves them 3.5 spots off of the finals. basketball star has made nba history, he has become the first-ever player of indian decent. he made his debut for the sacramento kings. he came on with 63 seconds remaining in the win over the timberwolves. he is currently with sacramento on a 10-day contract. nfl now and the minnesota wild have sealed their place in the playoffs by beating the chicago blackhawks. all of the goals came in the third period putting minnesota

en route to their 45th win of the season. they qualify of the post season out of the western central division. that's all of your sport for me. >> thank you very much. one of china's biggest classical music stars has started a booming trend. millions of children are now learning to play the piano. it's so popular that china has become the world's biggest manufacturer of pianos. harry fawcett reports. ♪ >> reporter: another morning at the keyboard for this girl. she has been playing since she was six. two to three hours a day. she is far from alone. across china an estimated 40 million children are learning the piano. >> translator: i have been one to lon lon's converts.

my mom used to say to me listen lon lon is so good. he plays piano so well. she said that over and over again. ♪ >> reporter: one of the greatest classic music stars arrived on the scene just as the growing number of middle class 1-child families were looking in ways to invest in the children's futures. >> translator: a few families get together and socialize. many family have pianos now. if you keep playing, the parent thinks, great. look i have got a kid who is well behaved. >> reporter: the island where this music school is located has a long european influenced history of piano playing, but the bug is spreading across china. piano ownership is predicted to grow by a third by 2020.

china is also the biggest piano manufacturer in the world. it's a mixture of machines and 2,000 sure-fingered staff produce 140,000 pianos every year. even in an economy who's growth is slowing, they still think there is a future. >> the chinese people are very concerned about their children's education, and also the culture in the family. ♪ >> reporter: china which has about three pianos per 100 house holds still has a long way to go to reach european levels but the gap is closing. harry fawcett, al jazeera, southern china. and stay with us here on al jazeera, another full bulletin of news is straight ahead with

lauren taylor in london. ♪

aid starts to trickle in for those trapped by think war in yemen, as air strikes against the houthi rebels continue. ♪ i'm loren taylor this is al jazeera, live from london. also coming up charged with murder a white police officer is behind bars after shooting a black man in the back in south carolina. making new friends. the greece and russian presidents