>> announcer: this is al jazeera. welcome to the news hour. i'm i'm richelle carey in doha. top fifa officials arrested on bribery charges and an criminal investigation is being launched in into how russia and qatar were made world cup hosts. an isil suicide attack kills at least 55 iraqi soldiers on the second day of the army

offensive to retake anbar province. the e.u. asks its members to take in 40,000 asylum seekers to deal with the growing mediterranean migrant crisis. and 139 weird and wonderful species are discovered in southeast asia. we'll introduce you to them a little bit later on in the program. ♪ we begin with fifa football's international governing body is reeling after being hit with a double investigation. seven top fifa officials were rudely awaken and arrested in a dawn raid in switzerland over alleged bribes totaling $150 million. two are fifa vice presidents just two rungs down from the president.

sepp blatter has not been implicated notably. jack warner was not arrested, but has been indicted. at the same time the swiss have begun a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two word cups in russia and qatar. and u.s. investigators say it doesn't end there. right now there is a press conference being held in new york to outline their case outline their indictments. we're going to continue to monitor that for you. in the meantime richard parr delivers this report. >> reporter: a dawn raid in zurich, swiss police at the request of the united states department of justice, arresting officials from football's world governing body. they are suspected of bribery. the case is linked to commercial deals dating back to the 1990s

for major football tournaments in the americas. 14 people have been indicted including jeffery webb jack warner former south americans heads, and the man who oversaw last year's world cup in brazil. they also raided the headquarters in miami. swiss authorities also launched separate proceedings into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 world cups. the tournaments will go ahead as planned for now. >> what would you expect from us? that we start to speculate and say maybe, russia qatar, we have to redo the voting? i mean russia and qatar will be played this is what is fact

today. and i won't go into what will happen tomorrow and so on. >> reporter: fifa say blatter is not connected to the arrest. >> the president is the head of fifa but he is not involved in any, so how can you say, okay he has to whatsoever step down. he is the president -- he is the president -- he is the president and in two days there will be elections. if they reelect him then he is the president for the next four years. >> reporter: the vote will still go ahead despite these arrested. >> so right now the press conference continues in new york as justice department officials continue to update the press on their case on their three-year long investigation. but here is a little piece of

what the attorney general had to say earlier about the allegations of corruption in football. are >> in 2016 here in the united states, we are scheduled host the centennial edition of the copa america. the first time that tournament will be held outside of south america. what should have been an expression of international sportsmanship was used as a vehicle to line executive's pockets with bribes totaling $110 million. nearly a third of the legitimate costs of the rights to the tournaments involved. the criminal active did not solely involve sports markets. around 2004, bidding began for the opportunity to host the 2010 world cup, which is ultimately awarded to south africa. the first time the tournament would be held on the african

continent. but fifa and other authorities corruptioned the process by using bribes to influence the hosting decision. corruption and bribery extended to the 2011 presidential fifa election and to agreements regarding sponsorship of the brazilian national soccer team by a major u.s. sportsware company. >> a fascinating press conference and information coming to us from the u.s. attorney general, outlining an investigation that goes three years, using words like conspiracy, greed. let's go to kristen saloomey who is live for us in brooklyn new york where the press conference is happening. tell us more about what the officials had to say, kristen. >> reporter: well u.s. thorn general loretta lynch says the indictment that was rampant, suspectic, and deep rooted in the united states and abroad.

she described a corruption scheme that involved two generations of fifa officials, who she says abused their positions for millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes. 14 people were named in indictment that was unsaled this morning. seven were arrested in zurich the others are still on the loose, but with charges against them. the formal charges are wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering. it involved sports markets companies who allegedly paid millions of dollars to fifa officials in order to get the rights to various fifa events. once they get those rights they would be able to sell the broadcasts and other things and

make millions on their owns. of the 14 people charged, perhaps the most noteworthy is the current vice president of fifa jeffery webb and the former vice president, jack warner. not charged so far, sepp blatter, the president since 1998 but she did say this is an on going investigation. they already have six charges, six guilty pleas, related to fifa soccer. four individuals and two corporations who have pleaded guilty and are helping with this investigation, perhaps giving evidence that lead to these charges. >> all right. kristen saloomey live for us in new york. let's go to zurich where some of the arrests have already taken place. andy, the scope of these charges is truly breath taking and the justice department is alleging that this goes back to 1991, and

it's no secret that fifa has had a tainted reputation for sometime. can you put this all in perspective for us. >> reporter: it has echos of what was called the isl corruption scandal. it was the marketing company that worked with fifa and went bust, and as part of the fallout it was aledged that fifa officials had taken bribes from that company. the made its way into the swiss courts where very high-ranking officials resigned but at the time accepting commissions as it was described in swisserland were against the law in switzerland. but fifa has been through a number of corruption allegations

in the past. in 2018 and 2022 when that was investigated last year it was by a u.s. lawyer employed by fifa. and he wasn't happy with how fifa summarized his finding, resigned from his job, and disowned those findings and we have yet to give these full transcript of what he discovered. now it seems the swiss are taking that out of fifa's hands. they are really working overtime to try toe distance blatter, but ultimately he is the head of fifa, and how long can someone who has blacked the likes of a vice president, some would say he could possibly become fifa president in the future how can he continue to distance himself. blatter at the moment is still popular within fifa and

strangely enough regardless of all this happening, he is still the favorite to win the presidential election on friday. >> that's remarkable andy. stay close. i'm sure we'll be calling on you again. let's go next to washington, d.c. where alan fisher is standing by. the justice department had an organization chart to explain how fifa works and the lower governing bodies that report to fifa. confacaf came up a lot. can you explain the charges against some of those officials? >> reporter: well really against jack warner the allegations have been circling for years. he decided to resign from his position as the vice president of fifa at that stage, and that meant that fifa dropped the investigation. while the u.s. authorities were

obviously aware of those allegations and have continued to prescribe and now believe they have sufficient to serve an indictment on mr. warner who's son is one of the individuals who has pled guilty to the charges against him and offered to pay back some money. they will be investigated. their headquarters are in miami. fbi agents moved in in the last few hours. they have removed boxes full of evidence. and they have sealed those offices. as loretta lynch said in her news conference she wants to work with those who work there who are ethical, respect the law, and want to bring credibility back to their organization. this perhaps was something of a surprise to the fifa officials who were arrested but no surprise to those who have been following the internal

machinations at fifa and the allegations of corruption that have been surrounding the organization for several years now. >> all right. alan fisher live to us from washington, d.c. we'll continue to update you on the press conference as well. alan thank you. at least 55 iraqi soldiers have been killed by fighters of the islamic state of iraq and the levant. suspected suicide bombers attacked a military convoy near a town northeast of fa lou ga in anbar province. this happens on the second day of an offensive, by the iraqi army to try to retake anbar province. >> reporter: shia militias mount an assault. there has been sporadic fighting since tuesday. iraqi security forces are trying to take control of roads into to

towns and villages. they are also shelling isil fighters and cut off their main supply lines. once the towns and villages are secured the push will begin. >> translator: our aim is to meet our forces from other fronts. operations have exclusively shelling and advancing towards isil hideouts. >> reporter: now, [ inaudible ] says the iraqi army tactics against isil are failing because they can't prevent suicide car bombings. >> translator: the iraqi security forces lack the intelligence and the reconnaissance to prevent the attacks before they happen. and also the vehicles that isil use are heavily armored. the weapons the army use can sometimes to ineffective. >> reporter: despite that the operation goes on. this is major supply line to anbar province. military operations in anbar could come to a stand still if isil ever managed to close this

highway. surrounding baghdad you see these. they are called defense lines. in many ways it is the last line of defense before the capitol itself. after here you get the headquarters of the 24th brigade. they are in charge of reinforcements and logistics. keeping the road open between here and anbar province and keeping the military supplied is crucial. but equally crucial is how to deal with the car bombs isil is using. imran khan al jazeera, baghdad. let's speak now to al jazeera's senior political analyst live with us here in the studio. this big offensive to try to take back huge chunks of anbar province, why now? isil has been gaining huge chunks of land for months now. >> well certainly they are

getting desperate. it's not an easy situation where after a year of back and forth with isil clearly the central government in baghdad cannot contain isil let alone defeat it. and so the big question for me today, and i ask with a bit of a -- you know with a bit -- with a grain of salt where you will. is the central government in baghdad in the process of liberating anbar? or it is really defending baghdad at this point in time? because the -- the expansion of isil has been so dramatic over the last several weeks and months that it's clear for many in baghdad that the surprises, the attacks, and -- and so on and so forth by isil could eventually lead to certain breakdown that could bring it to the outskirts of baghdad. >> wow, okay. so defense secretary ash carter have a point when he says the

iraqi army doesn't have the will to fight isil? because they clearly have the manpower to do so. >> let's put it this way. the iraqi army has as much will to fight as much as america has a will to fight. this is what you call in so many ways the clash of wills. it's really a very transparently childish recrimination between washington and baghdad, where each one of the sides now is trying to say it's the fault of the other, when both sides know that they have both failed in the fight in iraq. the foot soldiers find no reason for them to die in a war that they know is not their war. >> but they will suffer the consequences. >> it's true but either you lead a political process that eventually leads to reconciliation of sunnis and

shias, otherwise the fight is not winnable. why? because the predominantly sunni areas that are trying to fight a war there are basically hostile to the central government in baghdad. they are hostile to the shia dominant militias who are attacking them. those who are trying to liberate basically hate us as much as we hate isil. the health minister says houthi rebels have been killed in air strikes. 20 shia houthi fighters were reportedly wounded in a raid. this follows an intense bombardment with the participation of aircraft and warships in the early hours of wednesday. much more coming up in the

news hour as thailand tightens its borders, they don't think any more migrant champs will be discovered. and struggling to stay cool in india where a heat wave has killed more than a thousand people. and in sport kind out where the cleveland cavaliers have done enough to book a spot in the nba finals. ♪ some malaysian policeman are being investigated for suspected links to mass graves discovered in people-smuggling camps. experts are exhuming the bodies of suspected victims. more than 130 graves have been found in abandoned camps on the border with thailand. most are believed to be rohingya minorities from myanmar who are being persecuted and also poor

migrants from bangladesh. scott heidler reports. >> reporter: those leading thailand's operations against the human traffickers don't think there are anymore migrant camps to discover and they have their key suspect in custody. for them the top priority is making sure that their borders stay sealed. >> our intent is not destination, just past. if you make them not comfortable to pass our country, they will not come. >> reporter: we went with the thai army up to one of their outposts set up to block the traffickers. this barbwire marks the border. it was put here four weeks ago as was a contendinent of government

soldiers. because of this clamp down malaysia officials believe the camps were abandoned in the last few weeks. now the channels are cut off. >> the investigations are not moving forward very well. we have in the thai side a focus primarily on local politicians, local police some police up to the provincial level, which is a good first step but there is a lot more to be done. we expect there is probably higher-level people involved. >> this is a robber farmer on the road that leads up to the jungle crossing. he used to see dozens of people packed into pickup trucks pass by ever week. >> reporter: i don't think they will dare to come back here. i was happening because the government never took this seriously. but now the traffickers are afraid to come back. >> reporter: they might be afraid to come back here but the challenge for thailand is fining those who helped the

traffickers, and make sure the networks won't restart somewhere else. scott heidler al jazeera. the european union has asked its member states to take in 40,000 asylum seekers over the next two years. the migrants have already landed in greece and italy. record numbers are making this dangerous journey across the mediterranean to try to find a new life in europe. now the italian government says it will house some migrants in abandoned buildings, but some italians say those buildings should be used to help italy's homeless. hoda abdel hamid has more. >> reporter: they keep on arriving on a daily basis. migrants who dream of a new life in europe for themselves and their families back home. to reach this point, they have put their lives at risk. this man's journey took him from eritrea, to sudan to libya.

>> translator: it was dangerous. my parents sold everything for me to be freed and come leer. they transferred the honey, and then i was taken to a beach and we left. it was raining. water was coming in from everywhere. we were about to drown, we were saved by the germans. i was so happy to see them. >> reporter: his rescue was part of operation tryiton but for most migrants italy is yet another transit point on their way to northern europe where they think there are more job opportunities. many here fear that under the current atmosphere across europe and with the tightening of the boarders holding centers like this one, could just become permanent homes. italy has so far bourn the brunt of the influx of migrants.

they have transported them across the country wherever there is an abandoned building. an abandoned school is also being refurbished in a neighborhood on the outskirts of rome. people living here fear the sudden arrival of a large number of migrants. >> translator: this area is isolated. there are few public services. there are no shops, pharmacies telephones, there is nothing. these are people who are still in the process of being identified. we don't know who they are. it is something that scares us. this is a private area. it could become a ghetto. >> reporter: a group of homeless people have also set up shop in front of the school. they say italians in need should come first. >> translator: there is nothing for us nothing. we can't ask for anything. we have nothing left and then we see these situations the

migrants get housing, they get help, and then what? i have nothing against them but we are the ones becoming foreigners in our own country. >> reporter: and while those who made it this far are relieved to have fled war-torn libya, many here worry about the future identity of their home towns. green peace india can start spending some of its money again at least for new. a court in new delhi has ordered the temporary reopening of two bank accounts frozen by the government. it also withdrew environmental groups licensing for breaking the rules on foreign-funded organizations. green peace india plans further challenges to try to win a permanent end the crackdown. and in southern india a heat wave has killed more than a thousand people. a red alert has been issued but there is relief in site.

weather forecasters say monsoon rains may fall in the next few days. >> it's mostly people who workout doors. people who have heat strokes. so what the local governments have done is people who work on government schemes have been asked to take a break between 11:00 to about 4:00 in the afternoon. according to the figures available from the governments in south india, the total figures right now stand at about 1100. but these are figures which can be questioned are requestable figures, because nobody really recorded whether the person died because of heat stroke or some other reason. so these are people who have been exposed to heat and have come into hospitals and reported heat stroke. so the figure could be higher

and the next few days the figures will remain. coming up the army is looking for al-shabab fighters the day after the group attacked soldiers. anti-government protesters in burundi refuse to come off of the streets. and in sport, we will have all of the latest from the french open. ♪

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♪ welcome back. here are your top stories now on al jazeera. swiss prosz cuters allege that fifa officials have been taking bribes and kickbacks for more than two decades. a 47 count indictment was charged against 14 people including high-ranking fifa officials. the u.s. is seeking to extradite nine of them. earlier swiss police raided a luxury hotel in zurich and arrested seven high-ranking

officials, they include jeffery webb who is fifa's vice president. three suspected isil suicide bombers have targeted a military convoy in iraq killing at least 55 soldiers. this came on the second day of a major offensive by the iraqi army to try to recapture anbar province from isil fighters. let's turn to our top story now and the arrest of those high-ranking fifa officials. jamie says the developments in switzerland are not a surprise. >> it's been probably the most shocking day of the history of football in my opinion. but having said that it's not that surprising when you consider the toxic nature of the corrupt culture that exists within fifa and the history of that -- of that culture within -- within the organization. it eventually had to burst at some stage, and hopefully this is it.

hopefully this is the big one. >> what roles do sponsors play in this? >> fifa have been lobbied by groups before be it government administrative, and clubs or fans and nobody has achieved reform. we believe the only group that can achieve that reform are the sponsors. in the wake of the salt lake city scandal, the only group that was able to effect reform were the sponsors. and you have to ask yourself the question how can these fifa sponsors continue to remain silent and complaisant to the degree that they have done when it's got to the point where six or seven fifa officials have been dragged out of their beds at 6:00 in the morning from the most exclusive hotel in switzerland? if that doesn't get them going, i don't know what does. >> so are you saying that it is in their best interest to deal with it? >> it's been in their best

interest for quite sometime with fifas brand being on the nose with the negative sentiment around the brand that will rub off of the sponsors brands too. they need long-term vision. they need to understand what the implications are. now i think that what we have seen is had it rubbed directly into their faces, so hopefully what has happened this morning has really made them stand up and think, and we're waiting with baited breath to hear one or some of them come out and condemn what is going on and demand proper reform as opposed to the rhetoric we have heard previously. the meaningless statements they keep rolling out. >> there have been arrested. so that's a beginning. and then there is the investigation that is the beginning of another process. do you expect more arrests? and do you expect officials to

start talking about what other officials have done behind closed doors? >> look it's very hard to predict what is going to happen behind closed doors. i can tell you what is happening in front of open doors. we saw the fifa communications manager today take a press conference and try to spin this as a wonderful day for fifa as and a great positive endorsement for the fifa leadership. it's a bit of an oxymoron using leadership and fifa executives together because there is no leadership whatsoever. so we just don't know what is going to happen. and whether the sponsors are saying something behind closed doors or not, we're urging them to come out and condemn what has been going on and to demand proper reform. >> reporter: the kenya army is carrying out massive security

operation in a refugee camp. they are searching for suspected al-shabab fighters. the somali-based group ambushed that area on tuesday. mo, what do we know about this ambush of officers? >> reporter: well richelle the ambush happened on the border of kenya and somalia, and not far away from the refugee camps that are home to up to 400,000 people most from sewomalia. and i spoke to the regional commissioner who is the chief administrator of northeastern kenya, and he told me that the men who carried out the attack in which 60 policemen were targeted have fled into one of the camps and international protocol forbids kenyan forces

from getting into the camps, and they are now negotiating with the u.n. to try to see how they can be flushed out of the camp. >> reporter: mo talk more about what seems to be changing tactics by al-shabab, and how that might change police tactics to try to get them to try to stop them. >> reporter: yes al-shabab's tactics are changing from bombings and targets institutions like they did at the university or in westgate in september 2013. what we know right now that there was -- that the al-shabab militias are now carrying out more brazen daylight attacks like the one we saw on tuesday, and they have also -- the

leadership of the group is also changing the narrative, whereas before they used to maintain they were at war with kenya, because of kenya's forces -- presence inside somalia, now they are saying they want to extend their rule as part of somalia, to include northern kenya, where they are accusing the government of kenya of mismanaging. and they have been appealing to the people. we saw al-shabab officials talking to people calling on them to hand over their sons to them as recruits to join the group and also support them in their fight against the kenyan government. >> okay. mohammed thank you. the united nations security council will hold a closed door meeting on the ongoing political crisis in burundi. there have been weeks of protests against the president's bid for a third consecutive term. the u.n. says more than 70,000 people have escaped to

neighboring countries because of the violence. haru maw tau sa is at a protest. >> reporter: these are people who don't want the president to run for a third term and they have put up a barricade and are stopping people from going into the city center. they say some people aren't participating, so they are using force to keep as many people back as possible so that they can protest. they are also angry, because recently they went home turned on the television and there was anned a vert of the president, and he is basically saying to people -- [ gunfire ] >> -- he is telling him the westerns have cut off aid and are trying to squeeze this country dry. so he is asking the people to give money to the government so they can hold the elections in june. these people say that is not

going to happen. but the president told the international community, stay out of my country, stay out of my business the international community is squeezing in on him, trying to isolate him. these people are wondering how long he can hold on for. and they plan to keep protesting until he announces that he will not run for this controversial session. nigeria's outgoing government has agreed to pay $800 million to oil companies to end the country's fuel crisis. for a month motorists have had to struggle to get petrol. businesses banks, hospitals and airlines have been forced to scale back operations. most companies in nigeria rely on diesel generators for power. egypt is being accused of not being a partial peace broker. they are meeting in cairo to find a resolution to the tribal infighting that is tearing libya apart. inside the country, the u.n. recognized prime minister says that he has escaped an

assassination attempt. erika wood reports. >> reporter: libya's under-backed prime minister says he managed to escape this ambush on his car as he was heading to the airport. it followed another tashg on his government's headquarters when gunmen are said to have stormed the building and demand he stand down. his spokesman blames rival tribal leaders for backing the attacks. their government was forced to move east to tobruk last august. and another government was installed in tripoli. each of the governments has their own militias backing them. they have been fighting for political supremacy, since the war that ended gadhafi's rule four years ago. cairo is hosting a meeting aimed at finding peace, but the leaders say that cannot happen,

until other countries stop interfering. >> translator: there are countries that aspire to seize libya's wealth. some arab and regional countries should be standing by libya, but they are not. there are seven tribal initiatives on the table, all aimed to ease tension. western countries must now help sew the country back together. >> reporter: the rival groups are also competing for control of libya's oil wealth. military aircraft attacked an oil tanker on sunday. the tripoli government blamed fighters loyal to the tobruk government. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the blame game between the duel leadership and fighting by rival groups has had a devastating impact on libya's oil exports. without some sort of resolution soon libya's financial future seems increasingly in doubt. a fire which swept through a

home for the elderly in central china, killing 38 people is raising concerns over lax safety standards. adrian brown reports from where the cause of the disaster is being investigated. >> reporter: as the authorities investigate the cause of the fire the care home is now a crime scene. 12 staff are being investigated. you can just make out the statute of chairman mou in the courtyard. and the banner behind with the words with our love make old people safe. but they weren't safe most of the dead were very frail and needed assistance to move. a relative of one of the dead told us she was waiting for compensation before being dragged away by a family member. fees in the privately run home were around $200 a month, beyond the reach of many waiting outside, including a 61 year old on a pension of $10 a month. >> translator: of course i worry.

but you can't expect the communist party to solve all of your problems. >> reporter: this investigation will focus on safety and why it failed here. but there's another looming problem, the shortage of care homes for a rapidly aging population. traditionally in china, aging parents were always looked after by their children, but changing lifestyles and the consequences of china's one-child policy are changing that. increasingly that only child is unable or unwilling to care for their parents. china is con tronting a rich country's problem but on a huge scale. the sgovment says 450 million chinese people will be over 65 by 2050. with supply unable to meet demand the government is turning to the private sector. but away from the big cities such homes are often poorly regulated and in this case plain unsafe. aid sdreeian brown, al-gaza

strip, in sentra china. still to come on the program, more than 139 new species discovered in an area known to be a biodiversity hot spot. and in sport we'll have further reaction to the arrests of high ranking fifa officials and whether or not the organization can survive this current crisis. ♪

♪ 139 new species have been discovered in the greater mee

kong. the list includes some bizarre finds with equally unusual names. kim vinnell has more. >> reporter: first up we have a wasp named after a character in the harry potter series. injects venom into cockroaches. from vietnam, the clear-changing thorny frogs. the mads have spikes. the females can tale the males who are ready to breed by how their thorns look. also in vietnam is the long-fanged bat. it's extra large campers allow it to compare on other prey. and then the snake from cambodia it's not venomous and just one has been found ever. many of these new species are

already under threat do to the destruction of habitat or poaching. a real commitment is needed but all of those in the area to protect them. health sole says this discovery can help raise public awareness and protect remote landscapes in the greater micong area. >> it is also great to learn more about the environment around us. we love the environment and are strongly for protection of the natural environment, and these discoveries show how important it is to protect these landscapes. and many of the places where these species were found are places that wwf is working to protect the habitat and species within them. and it's important to use this as an opportunity to raise

awareness of how biodiverse these areas are. because these areas strongly under threat from climate change, from development, and poaching in the illegal wildlife trade, and it shows us that this is such a diverse area from the rivers to the forrests to the eastern plain landscape in cambodia where we have the giant ibis using the watering holes there. for 240 million people this provides a direct support whether it's providing food water, but also cultural traditions and also livelihoods. all right. an historic day for fifa in the worst way possible. >> a notorious day.

the high-ranking fifa members, including two vice presidents were arrested at a zurich hotel in the early hours of the morning swiss time. and investigators from the fbi raided the headquarters in miami. and in a separate investigation, swiss prosecutors began an investigation into the alleged wrongdoing of the bidding of the 2018 and 2022 world cups. and the u.s. department of justice have been giving details in new york. they have announced a 47 count indictment with charges of racketeering fraud, and money laundering against 14 people. let's speak to a sports writer joining us live from washington. they have faced corruption allegations before but the case

laid out really seems to be very thorough. do you think this is a crisis that fifa can come back from? >> that remains to be seen. the u.s. attorney said this is the start of the case not the end. so going forward it could potentially grow even larger. fifa has shown a resilience to corruption charges in the past. i don't think it shocks anyone that there might be corruption within fifa. i think the shock here is that somebody is actually doing something about it now, so it's almost impossible to know how it will take shape going forward, and how fifa and sepp blatter will react going forward. >> what will this do for soccer in the u.s.? do you think the public might turn away from the game? >> i'm not sure. i think the general perception

of fifa in the united states has been that it's a little bit corrupt and things are going wrong there. that was the case with the coverage of the brazil protests and the way fifa treated that and the way it has treated the allegations in russia and around the 2022 world cup as well. i think the big question for the u.s. game here is the copa america, which is supposed to be a huge celebration of football in this country, a lot of the allegations stem from that event. so what happens to it? what happens to going forward with concacaf matches, and world cup qualifiers which begin later this year. this is something that could rock the sport here and globally. >> going back to the days of the former president, jack warner if these charges are proven how

do you think they managed to get away with it for so long. >> that's the big question. it took so long for someone to actually step forward and do something about this. and now the american and swiss government have done so i think maybe -- maybe the questions around the next two world cups have lead to an atmosphere around fifa, especially coming off so many questions around the brazil world cup last year in terms of how that was procured and done down there, created an atmosphere that it was time to do something, especially with so many allegations of corruption in michael garcia's report never getting to see that publicly. there was just sort of a tipping point, perhaps that lead governing bodies to act. >> travis great to hear your thoughts. thanks very much. >> thank you. to other sport now, the

cleveland cavaliers have booked their spot to the nba finals. guess is what lebron james once again was the star. he scored 23 points as the cavs roused the hawks. 118-88. >> when i made my decision to come back here i knew what i wanted to do. i knew it wasn't going to be easy. and it was going to take a lot of hard work and dedication and it is going to be the toughest task for me to try to get this team back to the finals. and i had to step up my leadership. i had to be very patient, which i'm not a very patient guy, but i knew i had to work on that. the nba, much closer in the nhl playoffs, the new york rangers have forced their series against the tampa bay lightning into a game 7. the rangers ensured their season didn't end on tuesday. the final score, 7-3.

the i final is on friday. >> it was pretty relaxed. so was the morning skate this morning, and we just came here and gave ourselves a good chance to win, and made plays, and we're pretty excited to go back in front of our fans for game 7. roger federer is through to the third round of the french open. the 33 year old recovering from a break down in the second set. next up for him, markos [ inaudible ]. in the women's event, the defending champion maria sharapova ha advanced to the third round. sweeping aside her russian compatriot in straight sets. she'll next play this

australian. hard to believe there was some other sport going on today. >> you did a great job with it thanks raul. riders from across the world are taking part in the literature festival. the weak-long event is taking place in several cities across the palestinian territories. the aim is to teach writers about the daily struggling under israeli occupation. >> reporter: it was standing room open at the opening of the palestine literature festival. it was held in the occupied west bank. the first of several taking place in cities across historic palestine. people will visit ancient sites and meet palestinian writers and activists. they will also travel to cities like hebron which hauz been divided by an israeli settlement, and to haifa, a seaside city in israel to see how palestinians live under the

israeli state. >> the people who come in are people who are influential in the field. so when they have the experience of having a culture festival in palestine, then they become part of the pressure of public international opinion. >> reporter: before this event in occupied east jerusalem, writers were taken on a tour. and where signs of israel's occupation seem to be everywhere. writers around the world will also see how palestinians live under israeli occupation. this is a writer and poet from london. this is her first visit to israel and the west bank. she sells me seeing israel's occupation of palestinian lands

is unlike anything she had imagined. >> i just feel really sad, and i feel helpless you know, and -- and also -- i don't think i'll be the same again from this visit. >> reporter: in past years events were also held across the gaza strip, enables writers from arab countries and the palestinian di -- but israelis refused the visit this year. so they say nothing will stop them from sharing their stories. thank you for your time today. stay with us here on al jazeera, another full bulletin of news. that is straight ahead. ♪

they did this over and over year after year tournament after tournament. >> a double investigation into fifa. seven top officials are arrested on u.s. bribery charges. as switzerland investigates how russia and qatar won their world cups. ♪ hello there, i'm felicity barr also coming up. hours after iraq launches an