>> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. only on al jazeera america. >> hello, i'm lauren taylor. this is the news hour live from london. united nations imposes an arms embargo on houthi rebels, but they hit back with aggression towards yemen. iraq fights isil and goes to washington seeking more help in the battle. "bring back our girls," a year on after the disappearance of 200 missing school children. and the u.s. presidential

hopeful hillary clinton makes her first public appearance. and in sport we have concerns over rio olympic venue after hundreds of dead fish wash up onshore. we begin in yemen and the united nations security council has voted in favor of a resolution which imposes sanctions on houthi fighters. it also calls on the rebels to stop fighting and withdraw from all areas they've captured including the capital of sanaa. it is calling on yemenis to protest the security council's move. there has been more fighting particularly around the port city of aden, the port capital and supply routes have been

affected. >> the u.n. security council sending a tough message to the houthis. before them for a vote, a resolution calling on the group to withdraw from all the territory they've taken in recent months, including the capital sanaa. the resolution passed but with one significant on sentencing by russia. it had wanted an immediate cease-fire. instead, there will be humanitarian pauses organized by the u.n. but in congestion with president hadi, which most security couple members including the u.s. supports the saudi-led operation. >> the houthis working with in close coordination with ali abdullah saleh and has threaten

the region's welfare and security. >> reporter: the council decided to extend sanctions and arms embargo. they'llwhat if the houthis don't comply? could that lead to saudi led coalition to a ground operation? >> the entire operation today is the product of the non-compliance of the houthis. if they're not complying they'll face more of the same. >> the resolution say that the humanitarian focuses should be organized in conjunction with the government of president hody but ban ki-moon said he wants immediate face-to-face talks and says ultimately there is no military solution to the crisis in yemen. james bays, al jazeera, of the united nations. >> meanwhile the egyptian presidency has discussed with

saudi a military maneuver in saudi arabia. and the moves could involve other golf states. they say it's spiritual leader has been killed in a drone attack. the united states had posted a reward for the cleric. we have more from doha. >> reporter: it remains to be seen how this whole compression was inacted. it makes sense that there has been some level of coordination between the saudis who have massive experience in dealing with al-qaeda and aqap in particular forces loyal to

president abd rabbuh mansur hadi active in the southern part of yemen, and the americans have been following top command. it's been very important in aqap. it's religious facade of the group. someone who issues religious fact someone who finds justifications for the operations conducted by aqap. he has been asking people all over the world and scrutinize the activities. he was also suspected of the

fight with aqap with al-qaeda and isil and his death comes with a major set back with al-qaida. >> iraq's prime minister haider al-abadi visits the white house, but they said that the battle would not be won overnight. >> the iraqi prime minister and u.s. president have met but both sides are telling a very different story of what the meeting was actually about. according to the white house press secretary the iraqi prime minister didn't have any specific asks for military hardware but we're hearing from the iraqi side a much different story. they asked the white house for drones and apache helicopters. the president was asked about that in the meeting. and said that's why we have this

meeting. the president did make the point that any assist stance foreign assistance given to iraq has to go through the iraqi government to protect their sovereignty and for accountability. did he announce an additional $205 million in humanitarian aid. >> you thank you very much, indeed for coming to talk with us. what do you think this difference in the kind of appears to be the two narratives coming from this one meeting? >> well, to be honest with you before we start to answer that question we should ask ourselves where does the ten years of training the iraqi army? the americans from 2003 to 2009 they were training the iraqi army and spent billions on this training. and if we don't want to include the $60 billion of free construction cost where does all this training go? >> because they didn't manage to fight against isil?

>> well, obviously. we've all seen the collapse of the iraqi army in mosul. they could not stand in the face of the isis-daesh and they were defeated within hours. and we saw that in tikrit. if the question of the iraqi government is for this budget to be to train the iraqi army, the question is does the american or iraqi government capable of training the iraqi army and prepare them to fight isis within six months? they couldn't stand for hours after ten years of training. what are they going to do within six months? i don't think it serves to train them for six months. >> the success window overred night. what is clear is we will be successful. do you think there is going to be more money coming in towards bolstering the iraqi army rather than helping the humanitarian

side as the military operation is going on as well. do you think it will be more aid in the fight against isil? >> if there is an serious american army to aid the army. no what we're witnessing in iraq because of the airstrikes of the coalition forces, and because of the iranian militias who are the actually iraqi show in tikrit and other areas occupied by the militias. and they now they excuse fighting but month so the casualties are from the civilians. other than 27,000 persons have been abducted. all this accounted into the

benefits of the iran militia who are the aid from the iraqi government. >> your view of the progress heralded here against isil is not as significant as suggesting? >> if there was serious obligation to get rid of isis, and what we are facing at the moment in mosul or diyala or we should--america should consider the iranian militias, the militias supported by the iranians. they are the actual leaders of the troops and they are fighting isis at the moment. but any chance if the iraqi government has managed to come to the american administration and get this request done and to get this done, then by default this aid goes indirectly to the militias because they are the

rulers of the sea. >> thank you very much for your thoughts. >> yes. >> . >> they it's too early to talk about awards for iran. a final deal has yet to be reached. iran's foreign ministers say sanctions on his country need to be removed before world powers reach a nuclear deal. the family work was reached in switzerland before marathon talks this month. >> whatever happens inside the u.s. and however they want to spin t all the sanctions economic and financial sanctions have been imposed on iran by the e.u. and the united states. must go in the first state. >> u.s. senate committee has approved legislation that would prevent the white house from lifting sanctions on iran. democrats and republicans reason

republicans reached a compromise and set up a 30-day review period. rosalind jordan has been following this at capitol hill. how significant is this? >> well, the significance is that if it basically removes one big obstacle between the white house and members of congress, both republicans and democrats on the wish of whether congress can actually have any say in the ongoing international negotiations with iran over its nuclear program. if the measure voted on tuesday makes it to the president's desk the white house indicates that the president will sign the bill. however, there are several members who don't think that this compromise is strong enough and you can expect to see in the next several weeks efforts to put more amendments as they call them lauren, to try to toughen

some of the provisions in this measure. of course, that could simply up end what many in the senate are calling a grand compromise today, but it does remove for the moment a source of tension between the white house and congress. >> but in the end we're not talking necessarily about the whole deal with iran are being scuffle? >> there are some who do not exist iran's rightdo not belief that iran is engageing in terrorism types of behavior. these are things that could come up as the legislation comes forward, and then there is the larger matter what if there is a deal accomplished by june 30th?

members of congress could then start taking a look at the measure and look at this legislation as it's signed into law as really ammunition to try to up end the u.s.' effort to a party of the final international agreement. it's still too early to say that the controversy in washington has ended. >> roslind jordan thank you very much indeed. still ahead on this hour further measures to bring cuba back in from the cold. and migrants rescued at sea by italy's coast guard. and we'll tell you which team has one foot in the semifinals. more details coming up with jo later on in the program. >> at least 20 iraqi civilians have been killed in a series of car bombs in and around baghdad. there have been five explosions

in total. the pictures shows the aftermath of a blast. to syria now where there has been more fighting in the city of aleppo. syrian military jets have carried out bombing raids. >> reporter: field hospitals in part of aleppo held by the opposition has done struggling with the growing numbers of the wounded. >> all of the wounded were civilians. there were no fighters among them. they are women and children who are still under the rubble. >> reporter: people there say the syrian government has increased barrel bomb attacks on this and other parts in western aleppo. people say that when these bombs drop entire families disappear and rescuers dig for days to

recover the bodies. >> why are you doing this? we're supposed to be your people. the fighters could bomb the areas under the regime's patrol, but they won't do it as a matter of revenge. we're muslims. take into consideration interest are women and children here. >> sirens sound and people take cover. overnight bombardment has intensified in areas in and around aleppo. activists say that it has worsened in recent days, and 135 schools and markets have been closed until further notice. barrel bombs are not the only threat. fighting between groups in aleppo have intensified. regime forces backed by hezbollah fighters are on the north part of aleppo. they fight the al nusra front. the country side near the

military airport it's held by isil trying to capture mortar tore. and it's not just aleppo. there are no more classes at this school in homs. it has become a shelter for people whose homes have been destroyed. had woman was forced to leave her home, but even here she struggles to feed her children. >> we were displaced and i don't even know what happened to my husband. i have three children. my son was killed while he was working. i don't even know where he was buried. >> as syria's war drags on there is no end in sight for their suffering. >> human rights watch says it has evidence that strongly suggests syrian government forces used toxic chemicals during attacks northwest of the country. rescue workers reported multiple attacks in idleb.

which killed six people including three children and affected more than 200 others. the group says that eyewitness accounts photographs and video foughtage from three of the attacks indicate use of a chemical agent possibly chlorine. the white house has said that president obama is to remove cuba from the state's list of terror. it's a key step towards normalizing relations between the two countries just three days after an historic meeting between president obama and raul castro. we have more from havana. >> reporter: julio ramirez was a soldier in the ethiopia in the 1970s. he was one of many troops that were sent to help the ethiopian government. >> it was a just fight. those who wanted to go could go. they were almost obliged to go. many of us went to defend the ethiopians. they're similar to us cubessens.

we got along very well. we made good friends. >> reporter: president castro called it an act of solidarity between comrades in need. while the cold war was still hot, washington saw cuban involvement in ethiopia, angola and others as unacceptable intervention. it is accused of aiding armed rebels it called terrorist organizations. freedom fighters or terrorist organizations, cuban history is built on emphasizing the battle of the oppressed against the oppressor. these trenches built in havana in the 1960s as defenses against the threat of u.s. invasion. the u.s. said cuba provided arms training and safe haven to rebel groups such as the farc in colombia and the basque separatists in spain. this monument is for north

ireland ira strikers who died in 1981. the following year washington placed cuba on its list. >> there is a mutual distrust from the power that believes that they can do whatever they want and it's more power and small power that looks at the united states as the big elephant that can hurt it no matter what they do. >> fidel castro said in the 1990s that the cuban support of insurgents was a thing of the past. while iraq was removed from the list, cuba remained, until now. the world has changed and u.s.-cuba relations are trying to catch up. al jazeera havana. >> we're live from washington. what happens next with congress over this then.

>> right because president obama all he has done actually is certified the state department certification that cuba has not been involved in terrorism in last six months and is not likelied to so soon. congress has had have 45 days to put together a veto-proof majority to prevent president obama from officially taking cuba off the terrorism list. that might be an uphill battle. we're hearing from the usual suspects in congress in a this is a terrible idea, and two of the potential republican nominees are already saying we can't do this. even though the polls know show in the u.s. that 50% of cuba-americans now agree. however, they're going to be saying we can't possibly do this. but there is another factor, that is the u.s. chamber of commerce. they have quite a bit of insurance as well.

by influence they spend an awful lot of money trying to convince people that their view is the correct one. it was at the summit in panama we'll have to see what affects deliberations in congress will have in 45 days. >> and might we get diplomatic deliberations? >> the state department will say nothing has been planned yet but cuba said they are not going to even consider the re-establishment of diplomatic relations until they got off this list. at the very least if they do move towards diplomatic relations banks that have been loathed to deal with cuban for fear of punishment by the government as they have been in the past. meanwhile president obama has

some latinoen american win. he has fostered a great deal of ill will from the beginning of his term when he supported the coup in honduras, something that hillary clinton is still boasting about now even to the recent weeks the obama administration speaking about sanctions, unanimously against that move in the regional groups. the u.s. under obama still meddling with latin america. obama needs a winner. at the very least president obama could claim a win and we'll see whether or not cuba does get off this list. >> thank you very much. italian coast guard said that 85,000 people have been rescued8500 people have been

rescued. they're thought to be from syria and sub saharan africa. . well, the united nations said that the military sea crossing is the most dangerous stretch of water in the world for migrants. back in 2013 almost 43,000 people attempted the crossing, and about 600 migrants were killed. last year that rows dramatically more than 170,000 people tried to make the crossing and about 3,400 died in the attempt. this year around 18,000 people have tried to cross the sea and 500 have already been killed. in sicily, they say that traffickers are taking advantage of people as summer approaches. >> reporter: what needs to be clear here is that the situation is out of control.

yesterday, more than 5,800 over the weekend the cost guard has been involved in more than 20 rescue operations yesterday. what is expected to happen tomorrow is that at least seven arrivals are expected. the weather conditions are very good at the moment. and this, of course, is making a lot of people leave and traffickers using people from across libya as much as they can. >> still ahead. [ children sing. [ children singing ] >> rallies asking to bring back kidnaps girls.

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>> criminal gangs risking lives >> it's for this... 3 grams of gold >> killing our planet >> where it's blood red... that's where the mercury is most intense >> now, fighting back with science... >> we fire a laser imaging system out of the bottom of the plane >> revealing the deadly human threat >> because the mercury is dumped into the rivers and lakes, it then gets into the food chain... >> that's hitting home >> it ends up on the dinner plate of people... >> techknow only on al jazeera america >> a reminder of our top stories here on al jazeera. a houthi rebels condemn an

embargo. and call it an aggression. the u.s. offered to $5 million reward for the capture of al-qaeda leader. the u.s. pledged $200 million for humanitarian aid to iraq. the prejudice was made during talks president obama and iraqi president who is in washington, returning to it the top story the vote to end the conflict in yemen. i asked what effect she thought the resolution a "a" would have on the ground. >> resolution 2216 adopted today was adopted under the provision of chapter 7 which means all the measures that has been

imposed implemented within that framework. and it didn't only impose extra sanctions on the two individuals listed but it has a whole new section imposing and arms embargo. on those individuals it has been listed on the sanctions provisions besides the former president ali abdullah saleh. >> the priority of those is to stop the fighting there. the russians have said they wanted an all inclusive embargo and that was rejected. we now know that the houthis have condemned the security council riggs saying that it aids aggression. what is your reaction to that? >> 2216 has been precise in the message it has sent. it has demanded the houthi toss

fully implement the stopping of the violence committed by the houthis, and withdrawing from the cities. they have seized including the capital yemen sanaa and it has asked to stop the internal action and threats committed against neighbors countries in the gulf countries. this has been set under the provisions of chapter 7. the resolution also asks the secretary general to report on the implementation of these demands, and in case of non-compliance measures would be imposed not only on individuals but also on entities. >> how worried are you about the effect of civilians in prolonged airstrikes? >> we are very much highly aware of the worsening of the

humanitarian situation in yemen. this is why the resolution--the draft that we have summited for consideration by the council that was adopted today has included elements that highlights the urgency of the the humanitarian situation. including requesting the secretary general to make every asset accessible. >> a vigil has been held in abuja to mark a year since 200 kills from kidnapped by boko haram. a roll call of the missing girls was read out. they were taken from a school in chibok in borno state. despite a global campaign they have not been found. yvonne ndege was there and

sent this report. >> reporter: peter joseph's sister elizabeth is one of the 219 girls still missing a year after being taken by boko haram from her school in chibok. it calls for global protest against the failure of former president goodluck jonathan to find the girls and deal with the group. >> hundreds of school girls march through abuja to mark the anniversary. these girls have brought their marks through education to bring government action to find the missing girls. they have given each of the girls an unique number and a hashtag never to be forgotten.

some of them were only seven or eight years old. >> the minister of education was not available to meet them. it's been mine months since the previous government knew where the girls are. they were last seen in this boko haram video. >> the country will not give up until we find them. no one is going to rest. >> peter hopes with the new government of president-elect mamado buhari, the girls might be found. >> i'm not expecting much. >> but the new government is not making any promises. yvonne ndege abuja al jazeera. >> the secretary general of the human rights organization amnesty international are we any closer getting these girls back home? >> i think the international forces which have brought together several african states

to push back on boko haram has had positive impact on the ground. we have a new president-elect who said that they're going to take the message of boko haram very seriously. but we wanted to highlight not just the chibok girls who helped to bring focus on this issue, but more than 2,000 women and girls have been abducted, and 5,000 people have been killed by boko haram. the problem is wider and the kind of brutality that amnesty's report which was released today and documented is mind blowing. it was done on the basis of 200 eyewitness accounts on the ground including 28 abducted women and girls. we have evidence of boko haram being involved in crimes against humanity and war crimes. it's a very serious situation.

>> can you tell us about more. i imagine these girls imagined to escape. but probably very few. what kind of conditions were they held in? >> our report talks of one example this girl called aisha not her real name. she was abducted when she was attending a friend's wedding. the bridegroom was killed. she was imprisoned in a camp, raped by six men and she herself was forced to become a boko haram fighter. she was forced to attack her own village. it's pretty brutal. she saw 50 men being killed in front of her eyes by boko haram including her own sister. so i think that the conditions are appalling. the things that these girls have had to go through the women have had to go through is just shocking. >> you've seen the coalition of

africa forces going against boko haram. is there any more that the international community should be doing on something in a has been highlighted talked about and something, a reaction that can be taken at all? >> first and foremost, nigeria is one of the strongest countries in africa. it has a very powerful army and security forces. they have no excuse for the inaction. amnesty has been raising this. i was personally in abuja and tried to meet the government. they've been in denial for years. frankly, nigeria has no excuse in asking for the international community to help them. we, boko haram is a big problem but what we've seen over last three years is that the nigerian army has been involved in human rights violations. yes, international community can do more, put pressure and support the nigerian government with the accountability lies with the government to protect civilians and also to hold boko haram and the nigerian military accountable for the human rights

violations which have been caused. let's not forget the underlying causes why people in the northeast are so un'. they're not operating in isolation. they're operating in misgovernance, corruption, lack of support in the region of the northeast extreme private. wepoverty. i think we should hope for more from the new president-elect. >> ten people were injured in the capital and hundreds of opposition supporters clashed with the police, this was the scene on monday when several people were shot and one man died. the demonstrations were against the fragile security situation in guinea and the timetable they said that would be pushed

through. the signing of a peace deal in nairobi. it drew questions about the jetcy of the agreement. >> two former presidents of the central african republic signed the document here in nairobi reconfirming their agreement to the peace process. just two weeks ago the two fighting factions signed an agreement here. but absence throughout the whole four months of talks here in the kenyan cap tag has been the central africa hubble current interim government. critics say that what happened here is meaningless. >> in sudan's presidential parliament election has been extended by two days in areas where they have been logistical problems. investigations into why ballot papers have arrived late has

also been announced. elections have been boycotted by farmers who say they've had enough broken promises. >> if is the end of the season in. they say it was a good harvest despite what they call the failure here in one of the world's largest irrigation projects. >> everything is destroyed. >> he is one of the 100,000 farm efforts leasing land from the government. he and the other farmers we spoke with are boycotting the elections because they're angry. they accuse the government of breaking its promise to give farmers loans to production and failing to maintain the irrigation canals. >> there is no support from the government at all. it's all talk and no action.

>> the alliance says that the government is trying to push out farmers. the families have worked this land for generations. and bring in private companies with ties to the government. >> it's a peaceful project and it has brought people together working together. but the government doesn't like that. it wants to divide people and bring conflict. >> the government disputes all of these allegations. it says that it has been taking steps to insure farmers maximize available land to increase crop production. >> by providing the necessary loans to use the best methods we're increasing the crops on this land. >> farmers are now preparing for another growing season. beyond living from harvest to harvest they say that they're also fighting with the government for their survival. natasha genan al jazeera.

>> authorities in peru are investigating the death of 18 bodies including children. the disappearance comes a week after as many as 20 bodies were stolen from another system cemetery. police believe that the bodies were taken by medical students who want to use the bodies for medical training or they were stolen by healers. teachers were jailed two to search years, they were found guilty of falsifying test results to secure bonuses and promotions. >> the judge gave the ten defendants in this long and difficult case a simple choice, either apologize to the court for leniency or accept harsh sentence. for two they did and she received light sentences.

for the other eight they received 20 year jail sense sentences, $20,000 fines and 13 years of probation. the judge in this case making it clear this was not a victimless crime. he said this is the sickest thing that has ever happened to this city, and thousands of children were let down by these teachers who cheated on examines on a huge scale. the eight defendants who are now being given fairly harsh jail sentences have 30 days to appeal rand expected back in this court during that time. >> presidential candidate hillary clinton has chosen the state of iowa to headache her first public appearance. the first leg of her 1,000-mile road trip has brought her to month cello. it will vote first in next year's primary race. >> she spoke at this community college and said there were a couple of things she wanted to focus on.

she wanted to focus on the economy, strengthen communities and she wants to fix the u.s. political system and get the money out of politics. that is pretty remarkable given just a few days ago her own campaign had said that they intended to raise and spend $2.5 billion over the next year and a half in this election. that would be twice as much as the record that president obama spent in the last race in 2012. on the one hand her campaign saying we're going to outspend everybody. but on the other hand there is the candidate herself saying the political system is broken, and we have to get money out of politics. it's an interesting contrast. >> a court in japan has blocked the reopening of a nuclear power plant. regulators say that the plant is safe but locals disagree. >> reporter: tuesday's rule something a big victory. they have blocked the reopening

of the takahama power facility even though the plant had met safety measures set by the regulator. this once again draws focus to the risk of the technology. >> we need to look at the reality behind the fukushima crisis and demand that takahama be stopped but other nuclear plants be stopped. >> those who campaigned against the reactors at takahama this, is the start of something much bigger. >> i just hope that starting here we can stop them all. >> this decision has butt the japanese government in a difficult situation. >> the government respect this is decision but would look like to look forward to a powerful restart. we would like to see what the power plant plans to do in the future. >> while the cost looks for ways to convince millions of people

to put their faith back in nuclear power the tokyo power company or tepko was trying to figure out why the robot it sent in was not able to get back. the speculation that mall function could be linked to high level of radiation. whatever the cause the tech break down may only increase demands across the country for alternative energy. >> a rocket has blasted off from cape canaveral florida. >> and lift off. >> space comparable resupply mission to the international space station. it left earth without a hitch and is due to arrive on friday to deliver 4,000 pounds of groceries and equipment.

one company had hoped to land it on a platform out at sea. but space x said that it landed too hard to survive. al jazeera's jake ward joins us now for. >> this would an tremendous thing if they had brought it down the way they intended, which is to bring the rocket down such that they could refuel it with fuel and start over again. it would be a game changeer for private space. unfortunately, elon mu usk said that it came down too hard laterally and tipped over and that does away with any chance of reusing it at any sort of affordable cost. >> is this the way forward for space generally? the commercial missions that sort out the logistics and resupplying and so on? >> absolutely, yes.

the way they're thinking about it and repositioning themselves as a mail service nasa would be outsourcing delivery runs to space x that's the nature of their contract over the course of a dozen missions in the course of this year. they're trying to bring that busker back. and it would bring up the cost $60,000 per launch doesn't it single million dollar digits. $7million and $7 million. this would make it a closer economic cousin to a flight of boeing 747 than the original apollo program and the affordability of being able to reuse a rocket again and again and again and makes it a cost effective kind of space flight. >> when you talk about the private space industry, getting people into space is still in its infancy how does that tie

in with national programs with space am. >> when it comes to the delivery of private citizens to space everything has really gone pretty dark. it has just been a really difficult road for that. the hopes of accepting extremely rich people into space for tourist purposes, that does not seem to have a very bright future at the moment. but bringing the crews up to space that are trained pilots, trained astronauts. that seems to be very much the plan both nasa and something called the united launch alliance a consortium of private companies competing to bring the next great capsule that will bring people up to space. crud missions, talking about official crud missions those could be delivered by companies like space x in the future. the tourism has a dark rode since these tragic accidents last year.

>> thank you very much, indeed, for that live update from new york. still to come, jo with all the sport. including something fishy about the rio lagoon where olympic events are set to take place.

>> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile planet >> now we have more in sport. >> it's a big night in europe, where else but at the finals at the champions league. juventus has one foot in the final core of the tournament.

they would have the vital 1-0 victory to carry to the second leg. the other match with a repeat of last season's final garreth bale had the best chance to score, but it finished goalless. they would make 147th champions league appearance and new competition record. the other two quarterfinals take place on wednesday with bayern munich. they have already beaten barcelona this season. 3-2 at home in the group stages in september. they have a plan for the messi and teammates. >> barcelona has not only one great player but many. we need to attackel it carefully just like we did in the group stage match. we proved we could inflict pain on barcelona as other teams have

done with quick counter attacks and free kick. they will be under strength when they meet at the first leg with both sides hit by injuries to star players. porto without top scorer martinez and bayern are missing robin and bastian. >> the situation is what it is. it's like they're meeting some fingers but we're missing a whole hand. we have more players missing than them. it's a difficult situation but we've been dealing with this over the past two or three weeks. we've had to adopt and face these problems as best we know how. >> the journey to the world cup in russia has begun with the draw for asian qualifying. group a includes uae and malaysia. and china and hong kong are in group c with 2022 hosts qatar.

and group d with iran and oman. singapore has been placed in group e along with japan. iraq has a fair bit of trouble in their matches of home games. group h features bahrain and north korea. and the four runners up will advance to the final run of qualifying. >> it would be disappointing to get the results of the last world cup. it's a very young team. that's why all these games eight international games. >> with less than 18 months to go there are heightened concerns about water athletes. thousands of dead fish were found washed up on the banks of

the lake which will host rowing and canoeing events. they're investigating the cause. it's the second venue under scrutiny. >> area' rowing and you start to feel six and nauseous. so you must go and rest. in terms of rowing the dead fish get in the way because they block the oars. >> the french open in may and the world's top players will have a bigger price on this year an increase of more than $3.2 million. but the players who will benefit most with an increase of 20% are those who are knocked out before the quarterfinals. djokovic has never won.

the 2011 women's champion lead won't benefit from the increased prized money now that she's retired. but the chinese star is one of six women nominated for the sports awards to be given out in shanghai on wednesday. li said she's happy to be preparing for a new chapter of her life. >> my life now is the same as everybody here. but to be honest my life after retirement is more busy than i expected. when i decided to retire i thought i would have time to arrange my own life but the fact is i still have a lot of work to do. like promoting tennis. i'm lucky i've made a successful change in my role from professional tennis player to expectant mum. >> now after a terrible time in last month's world cup england's cricketers are looking far more comfortable on their return to the test games in the west indy indies.

england's bowlers have also found form leaving the west intendy he is struggling on 154- 154-4 at stumps. and cricket will soon be played in the indian city where 1500 aware meters of solar panels have been installed at the city's stadium which has hosted international matches since 1974. >> this is the first time that the we will use solar energy. 40% of the energy will be received from the unit. >> thanks very much, indeed, jo. and you can catch up with all news and sport by visiting our website www.aljazeera.com. that's it for me and lauren taylor for this news hour. we'll be back with another full bull lynn of today's news.

bye for now.

>> houthi rebels in yemen criticize an arms embargo placed on them through a security council and calls for protest across the country. >> i'm lauren taylor. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, iraq's fight against isil. the prime minister goes to washington to seek more help in the battle. also ahead, president obama gets set to remove cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. and marking a year since the disappearance of more than 200 school girls in nigeria.