takes over the hosting in september. thank for watching. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next live from doha. ♪ this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha. the world's heritage at risk of destruction. isil fighters enter the ancient ruins of palmyra. thousands of refugees from burr burr -- burundi are in tanzania. fears for wildlife in california as over 400,000 liters of oil spills into the

sea. hello there, i'm robin adams with all of the sport. the fifa presidential down to just three contenders now. also ahead as cricket returns to pakistan, we hear from an umpire who is also making his comeback after being injured in an attack that took the sport away from the country six years ago. ♪ monument ool ruins of an agent city is at risk now. isil fighters have entered palmyra in syria. the narrative has been that isil momentum had been stalled, but not anymore, it seems. the ramadi and now palmyra the cradle of civilization in its hands. carolyn malone reports. >> reporter: this appears to be the final stages of fighting for

a city at the heart of syria. [ explosion ] >> reporter: isil fighters push syrian government forces out of palmyra. they are now in control of the city's infrastructure including the national hospital and security headquarters and of course thousands of people. >> there are about 140,000 people here including some displaced from homs. people are afraid. there's no water. we can only use local wells, and there is no power most of the time. >> reporter: palmyra is surrounded by gas fields and is home to a prison where political prisoners are housed. >> the military significance is mostly in terms of the prison. the human cost in terms of the refugees and death has been huge but the cultural loss has been incall cuable. >> reporter: the site is 2,000

years old and has priceless artifacts. some of them were bundled up and takes out of the city but much of the site remains at risk. >> we may have different beliefs. we may have different views, but we have to protect such incredible vestiges of human history. and destroying heritage will not achieve anything. >> reporter: fighting between rebels and government forces has already damaged parts of the site. the u.n. says it has been used a syrian military camp. activists released a video showing the ancient walls covered in bullet holes and accuse soldiers of looting. so much of the past has been preserved in this ancient place, but it's future is uncertain. we're joined by the former

head of the center for archaeological research at the center of damascus. good to have you with us. we understand the syrian authorities had moved a lot of artifacts out of palmyra before the city fell. but tell us what you know about what is still there, and what this fall of palmyra means for some of those ancient sites. >> certainly. well, yes, the department of antiques in damascus has already put in place a number of plans to save and -- and in some cases remove or hide many of the important artifacts not just from palmyra, but also in other cities and towns too. so that's part of an overall plan. we know they have moved some of the more valuable movable objects, but i'm sure a lot still remains there and much of it is not really moving. it's too big or bulky and not

really practical. and all of this will have fallen into the hands of the isis occupiers of the city. in the larger scale, the city itself is a very, very rich source of -- is going to be a very rich source of archaeological material. it has excellent preservation conditions due to the arraid climate there, and the kind of material that's likely to be found underneath the ground if looting begins -- or continues i should say, but at an accelerated rate as usually happens when isil takes over historical sites the damage will be terrible. the other aspect of isil dealing with cultural sites is where they commit atrocitiesatrocities. so we're very concerned for palmyra at the moment.

>> you are very concerned but you are also a member of the opposition group that is opposed to the regime in syria there, i'm wondering what you feel when you hear it has fallen out of syrian hands. are you celebrating? are there mixed feelings? >> look this is very very frustrating for me and other members of the syrian opposition. the -- the fact that we have been forced into this situation where, you know, you have a binary [ inaudible ] that it is either them or this extremely awful and unacceptable version. and it's very frustrating that the assad regime has succeeded in allowing for such a terrible alternative to become available, to take over these sites. so no there is no celebration

in that isis has taken over the city. for us isis is just the flip side of the same coin that is the regime as well. [ no audio ] >> -- other opposition groups have on isil as it now appears to be one of the major, if not the major opposition force to the assad regime? >> i mean there -- really there's very little -- by way of influence, there's very influence to be had on isis from the opposition. isis has certainly controlled a very large situate of territory, right across much of eastern syria and western iraq as you well know. at one point, they were really putting the syrian -- you know, what we refer as the moderate syrian opposition under a lot of

pressure, but that has since changed and we see isis reducing its efforts in the north of the country, and in favor of moving further east and south towards, say, a place like palmyra, and they are probably taking advantage of the fact that the regime is overstretched as a result of the resurgence in the north and the south of the country as well. but there are two separate areas, and one is in the west and one is in the east and there is very little cooperation or communication between the two sides. they view each other as enemies and fought many many battles. in fact if you think about it isis has been checked both around [ inaudible ] and other oppositions in the south of syria and in the idlib province as well. >> so perhaps little influence the numbers of oppositions can have on isil as it perhaps considers what it does next with palmyra. thanks for your thoughts.

isil began its attack on tuesday last week. the threat of the ancient ruins have captured headlines. but control of the city gives isil access to the east and the west the group now controls five cities in iraq and syria. from baghdad zana hoda reports. [ explosion ] >> reporter: there is a new front line in anbar province. in the east of ramadi there is a fierce fight. isil has taken some town in this district. forces loyal to the government are trying to prevent the armed group from getting closer to a main base a few kilometers away. the islamic state of iraq and the levant hasn't lost its momentum just days after seizing the provincial capitol, ramadi. there are those who believe the armed may not just want to grab

territory. it wants to drain the resources of its opponents. >> does isil want to settle or to be a moved group. this is the idea of to be a moving combat or let's say a moving group, is that you are always threatening so many fronts especially when the defensive military forces are not equipped and not ready. >> reporter: shia militia commanders are moving some of their troops from the front lines towards anbar. this is part of ongoing preparations for the promised counter offensive. these men are known as the popular mobilization force. and they will lead the fight in the sunni province. they were called in after the regular forces in anbar's local police were not able to hold off the isil assault. there is a shortage of government soldiers in anbar,

and authorities are now asking for volunteers to join. the prime minister also says that they will speed up the training of the local police and arm and recruit sunni tribesmen. it is not the first time aabdi makes such a promise to integrate sunnis into the security forces. many are sceptical this plan will work because there has been long time opposition from shia politicians. on anbar's front lines, shia militiamen are seen fighting alongside the police and soldiers. the government has been trying to show this fight is being waged by iraqis and is not a shia war against anbar sunnis. there is a need to create a non-sectarian army in iraq. the country is at a dangerous cross road and with multiple front lines, iraqis need to

unite now more than ever. now russia says it's ready to send weapons to the iraqi government to help it confront isil. sxeeking before a visit by the iraqi prime minister to moscow russian foreign minister said his country would help in any way it could. in the united states there have been calls from some republicans to deploy troops to support the iraqi government. alan fisher is live for us in washington, d.c. for more on this. alan sending troops to iraq doesn't sound like a campaign message that will get you the white house. is it picking up much traction there? >> it's coming mainly from republicans, we had rick perry making that call saying there should be boots on the ground and it should be the u.s. along with their allies. gorge pa tackky was also saying that he would like to see boots on the ground. the most significant call has come from senator lindsay graham

who is a big friend of john mccain, and he said the u.s. needs around 10,000 troops on the ground. he believes that would help. the reality is unless the situation in iraq changes remarkably, very quickly, the white house has no intention of putting u.s. troops on the ground there. in fact that point has been reiterated in the last 48 hours by susan rice who says for the u.s. they are simply not in that game. they intent to continue with that strategy of training the iraqi forces providing weapons where they have to but not getting involved on the fighting on the ground. >> thanks much. alan fisher there. much more still to come here on al jazeera. things aren't so golden working under the golden arches the fight for higher wages by mcdonald's workers spreads to more american cities. i'm in the skies over lithuania, as nato increases

their rhetoric over the russia threat to the baldtic states. lee brown james helps his team in the series. details coming up. ♪ well security forces are out on every street corner in the chilean city where protests are beginning once again. 150,000 people rallied there last week. security is tight in the city after a state of the nation address by the president. lucia newman is live for us from the city. tell us where this protest is heading. >> reporter: hello, sammy, this is where the congress of chilly is based.

riot police have been playing cat and mouse with the protesters for hours now. protesters clashing with riot police who are armed with tear gas and water cannons. but the demonstration itself was a lot smaller than many expected as the president gave her address. this perhaps is because of the large number of riot police out here, at least 2,000. and two students were killed exactly one week ago during that demonstration that you just spoke of. >> all right. thanks so much lucia newman there. california has declared a state of emergency in santa barbara county after an onshore pipeline leaked oil. 14 kilometers of coastline has been affected. environmentalists are warning wildlife could be harmed.

>> reporter: this is what the california coast looks like after nearly 400,000 liters of oil spewed from a pipeline. the health department is urging people to stay away from the oil and its fume. nearly a fifth has reached the ocean. >> we currently estimate a portion of that or near 500 barrels, which is approximately 21,000 gallons of that 105,000 gallons may have migrated to the water. >> reporter: environmentalists are warning that the leak threatens wildlife. >> we have crews out combing the beaches, looking for affected wildlife. >> reporter: over 100 cleanup crew and nine vessels are trying to limit the spread and collecting oil from the surface. >> we are actively on the beaches, and we have the contractors on the beaches removing oil from the sand. that is the first step because

that's the easiest thing we can get to on the beach area and we have plans, obviously to continue the cleanup of the rocky areas, the pebbles and the out crops. >> reporter: there was a major oil spill on this coast in 1959 and it is credited with giving rise to the environmental movement. >> it's terrible. you know this is some of the most pristine coastline we have in the county and to see it covered in crude oil is -- it's terrible. it's really sad. a few pelicans started washing up, a few seals as well. >> reporter: the pipeline carries nearly 1200 barrels of oil an hour to a distribution hub hundreds of kilometers away. the company that runs the pipeline says it is sorry. >> we apologize for the damage

that it has done to the wildlife and the environment, and we're very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience this has caused on the citizens and visitors to this area. >> reporter: an investigation is underway to determine what went wrong. but the ecosystem is already paying the highest price. now a team of scientists say there is a definite link between the massive oil spill in 2010 and record number of dolphin deaths along the northern gulf of mexico. the study found large numbers of dead bottlenose sdol fins suffered from lesions swauzed by swimming in oil-contaminated seas. bp says the dolphins were likely suffering from common respiratory injuries. thousands of workers have taken to the streets to demand

an increase in the living wage. campaigners are hoping the pay hike will push other cities to raise the minimum wage as rel. >> reporter: for low-wage workers outside of mcdonald's headquarters in illinois 15 is the magic number. a rallying cry being heard coast-to-coast. it's the hourly wage they say they need to feed their families. this woman currently makes $9 an hour in new york. >> it's very difficult because a 40 hour week only pays two thirds of my rent. that doesn't include the late fees that i'm charged or court fees if i should happen to wind up in rent court. >> reporter: the fight for $15 an hour started with fast-food workers here in new york and has spread to other industries and cities around the country. earlier this month, new york's governor convened a special board to consider an increase a move strongly supported by

new york city mayor. business groups are fighting back with ads like this one, claiming the hire wages will mean fewer jobs a point that is debated among economists. >> reporter: but with rallies like this one, there is growing pressure from labor groups around the country not to settle for an increase of anything less than $15 per hour. >> three years ago the president was calling for a $9 minimum wage, last month he called for raising it to at least $12 an hour. there's huge momentum. >> reporter: five cities have proposed a local minimum wage of that is above the federal one. most correctly los angeles, the second largest city in the country, whereby some estimates more than half f the population currently makes less than 15 an hour. >> it's called game changing. game changing.

and look we have a presidential election in this country, and these presidential candidates are going to have to tell us how we lift people up and we have to hold them accountable to a real living wage in this country. >> reporter: for fast-food cook alvin, it's not just a political issue, it's a moral one. >> you could barely survive. you don't want to depend on government assistance. >> reporter: and that's what may be making their calls so difficult for the politicians to ignore. kristen saloomey al jazeera, new york. the observer mission to ukraine says both sides in the conflict have violated the ceasefire several times. the organization for security and cooperation in europe has also warned about the spread of violence in eastern ukraine. the head says both russia and ukraine have failed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the

region. nato is considering a request by the three baltic states who want thousands of troops to be deployed to protect against a possible russian invasion. the move would break a nato pact with russia. but countries like lithuania are worried. russia military jets routinely fly over the baltic sea and that has already lead to increased tension with nato. lawrence lee reports from lithuania. >> reporter: it's a drill, but the intention is real enough. the pilots have 15 minutes from the alarms sounding to take to the skies. they will scramble for real 150 times last year to shadow russian aircraft over the baltic.

the current lead nation in this mission is norway backed up in lithuania by the italians. this is all about reassuring the tiny baltic states that they won't let the russians do to them what they did to ukraine. >> we show them our presence, show presence by being up there, and show them that we are nearby, and that you are on alert, we are airborne within 15 minutes, and there is a show of force, and show them that you are here. >> reporter: lithuania looks at ease, but the government is bringing back conscription to bolster its army. they have been war gaming about scenarios for a land invasion as well as an air war. as well as having russia to the east there's the russian enclave to the west. the trains carrying oil and

russian troops pass straight through. lithuania feels surrounded. so as well as calling on nato to defend itself skies, this country along with two others has formally requested a standing nato army of 3,000. that's a real test of nato's stated commitment to protecting these countries. >> we are asking to get together with us if the process will continue on the ground as well as the air, it will be good. >> reporter: of course the russians say this is scare mongering. we were refused an interview with their ambassador. one of their diplomats say to me, some people say we have our hand in everything. in propaganda terms that's no match for nato's open-door policy to journalists. nato admits there has never been

a single incident of a russian war plane breaching the air space of any of these baltic states, but they practice over and over again just in case they say they ever have to do it for real. >> reporter: some officials admit it looks strange on spending so much effort on preventing an air or ground war that is extremely unlikely. but they prefer not to take any chances. still ahead on al jazeera -- >> i'm in tunis, i'll have the story of one young tunisian man who went on a killing spree. >> reporter: and the beginning of human technology go back to a

must more distant past. and later in sport, a controversial american football star could return to action after a domestic violence case. robin has got the details.

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welcome back. let's recap our headlines here in the news hour. the ancient syrian city of palmyra has been captured by islamic state of iraq and the levant. it is home to one of the world's most famous heritage sites. russia says it is ready to send weapons to the iraqi government to help it confront isil. the iraqi prime minister is in moss cow. isil hasn't lost its momentum. skra kra has declared a state of emergency in santa barbara after an onshore pipeline leaked oil. environmentalists are warning it could impact the wildlife and corrals. more gunfire has erupted

across the burundi capitol as police and soldiers fight with protesters. [ gunfire ] police have shot dead a protester in a suburb in bujumbura. they oppose the president's bid for a third term in office. parliamentary elections have been delayed by one week. those who fled the violence are facing a new threat. at least 27 refugees have died from cholera in tanzania. al jazeera correspondent joins us now on the line where thousands of people have fled. tell us first of all what is being done to confront the problem of cholera that has now arisen. >> hi sami. the situation is still rather bleak for the thousands of

refugees. there is some 64,000 refugees living in this village literally on the shore of the lake. i went there today by boat and the refugees are literally living in the open on the shore of the leak. there is very water supplies and sanitation. these conditions are very very poor. in fact the w.h.o. officer called it pathetic. in terms of the cholera, sami according to the w.h.o. there have been at least 3,400 cases since early may in this region but many of the cases may also be acute diarrhea. so they are still trying to confirm the numbers. today there were just nine people coming for treatment. the u.n. agencies are dealing with the crisis by trying to

encourage people to come forward and also to improve the sanitation. >> is being done with these people if they continue to pour across the border. >> the authorities say they are struggling, but they can deal with the crisis us. they have had many many refugees come across from burundi before. but this is a little village that is only accessible by boat. so what is happening now is this little village of 10,000 people are being crowded by these refugees that have come from elsewhere. so everything in that place has been -- has been -- has collapsed. so the priority for the u.n. now is to move the people out where they can access the main camp. >> what about the efforts to try

and arrange a political solution to the problems across the border? any news on the progress on that front? >> reporter: from that end, that -- that is difficult to say, because the process is continuing and the east african community has been trying to speak to the president, president pierre nkurunziza and there seems to be no -- there seems to be no development on that front. >> all right. we'll leave it there for now. thanks so much. ethiopians will head to the polls on sunday in parliamentary and regional elections. the ruling party is widely expected to retain power. our correspondent explains why. ♪ >> reporter: apart from the occasional campaign trucks with songs blaring from loud speakers there is little else

to show this is an election week in ethiopia weak opponents, and a clamp down on free speech has made it difficult. >> we say this is a house in the making. and democracy cannot be built within few year's of time. but the thing is we believe that we are on the right track. >> reporter: supporters of opposition parties agree that the ruling party is likely to retain its overwhelming dominance. it will be the fifth time for the party. it is also widely expected that this man will remain in power. he assumed office in 2012 of the death of the former prime minister who ruled for 21 years. >> we had a prime minister.

and now we have a prime minister office. more the party structure that makes decisions collectively, but it's very different from [ inaudible ] things because he seemed to handle most of the policies. >> reporter: the prime minister argues that ruling by consensus is at the heart of its party's philosophy. >> we feel it is a collective party policy being implemented. i'm here to implement whatever policy is there. i have a cabinet, and i cannot decide myself without endorsing. >> reporter: with victory for the ruling party almost inevitable analysts say they expect to see a more powerful prime minister when he begins his new time in october. only then will he and ethiopia be able to get out of the shadow of the previous leader.

>> you can watch the full interview on "talk to al jazeera." malaysia's prime minister has ordered the navy and coast guard to search for sea-stranded migrants. thousands are adrift with nowhere to go. most are rohingya refugees. thailand says it will no longer push back boats. step vaessen has more where some asylum seekers are being treated. >> reporter: they all they were going to die. doctors who have examined them say their condition is very very bad. most of them are die hide rated, malnourished infections and all kinds of skin diseases and authorities here are struggling

to take care of them. >> translator: we thought we had died already. and would meet god soon. we had lost all hope of survival. we were so scared. >> reporter: indonesia and malaysia have agreed to temporarily accept 7,000 migrants many still at sea, but the navy says they are not actively rescuing anyone who is still stranded in their boats until they get a direct order to change the policy to send away everyone who is illegally entering the territory. this means that time is running out for the thousands who are said to be still at sea, and looking at the condition of those who have just arrived, it's clear that there's no time to lose. europe is also under pressure to find a solution to the growing number of migrants coming out of north africa. an italian coast guard vessel caring 188 people arrived on thursday it was made up of

palestinians and syrians who cheered as the ship docked. british prime minister has announced a new set of measures to curb illegal immigration. including giving police new powers to seize wages. new figures show the significant rise in the number of migrant theres the u.k. the italian police say they have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the attack on tunisia's museum. 22 people were gilled when gunmen stormed the museum in march. our correspondent spoke to the family of one gunman behind the attack. >> reporter: this is how this man likes to remember his cousin. he used to spend his summers at this family farm. he describes a young man who studied french and enjoyed going

to weddings. he worked at a travel agent. on march 18th he and another tu initialian, government attacked the capitol's bardo museum in three hours they killed 22 people. mostly foreign tourists. his cousin says they were close, and there were no signs of what he was planning. but he has his theories about why he did it. >> translator: it is the [ inaudible ] of our identity. international groups and weapons barrens exploiting this feeling among arab youth, to turn them into the hands that carry out their dirty work. >> reporter: the tunisian authorities say he and hundreds have received military training in libya. it blames the attack on a group

linked to al-qaeda. tunisia's president is in the u.s. to talk about libya and ask for help. >> military assistance may improve security here but it won't solve the problem of why so many are joining armed groups. the government estimates around 3,000 young people are fighting in syria, libya, and iraq. >> reporter: this man advises the government on what he calls religious security. he says people should be arrested and reeducated before they join these groups. >> reporter: what has lead these people to practice terrorism is firstly total ignorance of religion. they also have psychological problems. they may be sadistic. >> reporter: the authorities estimate up to 20,000 tu

tunisians are ready to fight. the government needs to deal with its root causes of why it's own citizens are willing to kill or risk being killed in the name of religion. amnesty international says qatar has not done enough to improve conditions for migrant workers despite promises of reform as it prepares for a 2022 world cup. qatar says it has increased the number of labor inspectors and is building new accommodation for more than a quarter million labors. still to come on the news hour the fifa presidential race down to just three challenges. robin will update you on some new developments shortly. ♪

♪ archeologists have discovered a collection of stone tools in kenya they say predate the emergence of modern humans. this suggests our ancestors were not the only and possibly not the first to use tools. stone tools were found, that are 3.3 million years old, making them the oldest known stone tools. until now it was considered the ability to make stone tools were unique to our own ancestors. it raises the question of who made the tools 700,000 years

earlier than our ancestor. one thought is this. a skull found about a kilometer from the tool site. joining us is a reader in archeology evolution in london. how conclusive is the evidence that these are in fact tools, and how old they are? >> well i think there is compelling evidence -- there is very conclusive evidence that these artifacts are as old as the scientists are claiming, so the artifacts have been security dated with dating to 3.3 million years ago, and i think there's no -- no problems with the dates that they are proposing, so i think we can be confident that the dating is -- is correct. >> okay. >> in terms of -- uh-huh. >> sorry, i was going to say. how conclusive is the evidence about who made the tools and that they were definitely not

made by any human ancestors? >> well we can't tell for sure who the authors of these artifacts are. we now know it definitely wasn't the [ inaudible ]. it was thought the [ inaudible ] was the first stone tool knapper, but by 3.3 million years ago it has to be someone else. in this context, what we have [ inaudible ], so it has to be either of these making these stone tools. what it means was it wasn't the genius homo it was another species. >> does that have an impact then on concepts of theories of human development and theories of evolution? >> absolutely. before we thought that there was

a correlation between the appearance of the species as the first representative of the genius homo and the appearance of the early system tools. with this new discovery, we know that that's not the case. it appears in the record much earlier. it means the genius homo is no longer related to the making of the stone tools. so this is very important in our understanding of evolution. >> might the time line go back even further than this. >> sorry, could you repeat the question. >> yeah, might the time line go back even further for this sort of technology? >> oh, i mean there's no reasons to believe that it will not do it in the future. this has been back 100,000 years now with this new discovery, so there's no reasons to believe

that in the next few years there will not be other discoveries that push it back even further in time. so, yeah why not? >> that really opens up the box for all kinds of questions, but unfortunately we are out of time. thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. all right. let's pick up on some sports news how. >> the fifa presidential election is down to three candidates now. in a statement one candidates says he has switched his support to the prince of jordan. the election takes place next week in zurich. the editor of world soccer

magazine says that this seth remains the favorite. >> it was always expected that one or possibly two would step down and leave one or two challenges against him. prince ali may have a clear run against step blatter, who is still the overwhelming favorite. the captain is headed to qatar to spend [ inaudible ] reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with doha. along the way he has picked up eight league titles and three champions league trophies. the spanish cup, and the

all-important champions league final taking place in berlin on the 6th of june. american football player ray rice could soon be returning to nfl action. the former baltimore raven running back has had the charges against him dropped by a judge following a pretrial intervention. rice's contract with the ravens was terminated in september last year after video footage appeared to show him physically assault his then fiance who is now his wife. the cricket empired injured in the attack in 2009 says he hopes to put behind him that experience as cricket now returns to pakistan. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: this was the attack in 2009 that forced cricket out of pakistan and changed the lives of all of those who were there. gunmen shot at the sri lanka's

bus as it was heading to the stadium, killing eight people and wounding several players and officials. among the wounded was this pakistani umpire. >> i had two bullets first in my tummy, second on my right lung which is now not working at all. 22 bottles of blood, i spent 27 to 29 days in intensive care three days in coma. so it was a horrible day for me and for the pakistanis. >> reporter: since then the national team have played all of their home matches abroad. the security situation in their own country deemed too risky by other teams to tour. but now, six years on top-level international cricket is returning to pakistan with zimbabwe's tour starting on friday. >> the main event is the zimbabwe has broken the spell,

as it were and that it will i hope pave the way for other countries to follow suit later on. we have interest from other countries, and i think within the next year or so, we'll be having more tours from world level countries. >> reporter: it also marks a comeback for this man who will umpire his first international game on his home ground since the attack. >> i'm very much excited. i can't express myself because after six years no cricket in pakistan, it is the big sporting event in pakistan. >> reporter: but the overall security situation in the country remains unstable. and the international cricket council has refused to send officials to pakistan. with thousands of security personnel on the ground and in

the sky, the team is confident their safety is being prioritized. >> as players, we're not worried about -- i know pakistan has done a lot to secure us so that we'll be safe. but the main thing for us is to play good cricket. >> reporter: tickets for the match have soldout as cricket fans prepare to take their seats. of course security forces on high alert for possible attack. kamal hyder is there. >> reporter: preparations are underway at gadhafi stadium. today everybody is now excited and waiting for the first game which is going to be on friday. now as you can see, everybody is hoping that this will be good

cricket despite the security considerations, there are thousands of security forces out to guarantee that no incident happens, and that the match goes smoothly. now the pakistan cricket board officials are upbeat about the zimbabwe visit, and says this may open the door for other teams to come to pakistan. lebron james has helped his team take a 1-0 lead against the atlanta hawks. he scored 51 points and help bring the cavaliers to a 97-89 win in their opener with the hawks. >> i think if we continue to attack and play with pace and move the ball better then, you know, i think that's going to give us our best chance, you know going into game two. on thursday the warriors

face the rockets. warriors will once again be expecting big things from their star player who has been fined $5,000 for flopping. something that has baffled the current mvp. >> you never know how they determine what is a flop and what is not, and all of that stuff, so i -- they didn't even talk to me about the play at all. so i -- i figured they would call and ask what you were doing or what you saw and get my side of it but it's all right. the nhl game 3 of the eastern cob for instance final series between the lightning and rangers, certainly went the distance and more. drama from start to finish is. tampa bay came back from 2-0 down. charged into a 4-2 lead. celebrations short lived though because the rangers soon made it

4-4. and it was 5-5 when the game went to extra time. the winner was scored 3:18 into the extra period to lift tampa bay to a lead. game 4 takes place in tampa bay on friday. >> it's a one-goal game. it's a game where i thought we showed a lot of character of coming back and evening this up in regulation. it got a little unfortunately on the game winner there, but our guys were battling and we're going to look at the game see if there are areas we can improve on and get ready for the next one. fifa and the develop on the presidential race on our website, aljazeera.com/sport. that's where we leave it for now. andy richardson has more for you later. thanks for watching. >> thanks so much robin.

now to a bright spot set against the mountain tops of indian controlled kashmir. the memorial tulip garden. it opened to the public in april, and is attracting a growing number of visitors. the hope is the garden will help tourism grow and get local businesses blooming too. >> the tulip garden is absolutely wonderful, amazing. it is very you have to go to the netherlands to watch this, and today we have it in our own countries. so it should come up very well as feasibly possible. >> the garden also offers a glimpse into local culture with visitors treated to folk music and dancing. it is looked after by the government of horticulture which

imports most of the bulbs from holland. and let's bring you some lines coming into us here. the isil expansion in syria and iraq, and we're now hearing the u.s. president, barack obama say he doesn't think he is looking the fight against the islamic state of iraq and the levant despite the setback with ramadi. you will recall a few days ago the iraqi army has lost control of ramadi. the u.s. president goes on to say, the coalition needs to ramp up training in sunni areas of iraq, and get sunny tribes more activated in the fight. we'll bring you more details on that when we come back with another full bulletin of news coming up in just a couple of minutes. do stay with us here on al jazeera.

lauren taylor is back next. ♪

isil fighters make major gains in iraq and syria just weeks after predictions the group was in retreat. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. all thes also coming up the malaysian prime minister orders his navy to search for more migrants. in the u.k. the government talks tough on immigration, but fears it is missing its targets. >> while a strong country isn't on