>> nigeria's military is accused of killing more than 7,000 people in its fight against boko haram. i'm barbara serra. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. how russia and qatar won their world cups now under scrutiny in the fbi's fifa investigation. fighting in eastern ukraine cuts electricity trapping hundreds of miners underground. and families protest in

china as recovery efforts are stepped up. hello, thank you for joining us. amnesty international is accusing the nigerian military of committing war crimes during it's fight against boko haram. it said that the military, including senior commanders, must be investigated for the murder torture starvation and suffocation of thousands of people. it's report said that since march 2011 more than 7,000 men and boys died in military detention. and that there at least 20,000 men and boys including nine-year-olds who were arrested on suspicion of being boko haram members and tortured. amnesty said that the findings are based on years of research and analysis of evidence including leaked military reports as well as interviewed with more than 400 victims which is and senior members of the security forces. but the nigerian military has

rejected the report, calling it biased and concocted. yvonne ngege reports from abuja. >> these are secret communiques obtained by amnesty international. >> the amnesty report named nine military commanders. they are accused of murders of 7,000 men and boys. they're accused of beating starvation. amnesty international said that it interviewed more than 400 victims and witnesses. it says more than 800 official documents were submitted along with 90 pieces of video evidence of crimes committed. sources from not named. amnesty suggests that many of the dead were boko haram fighters. >> the question whether these people are boko haram faculties isfighters are an open one.

the military will go through a community, round up all of the young men and pass them in front of a hidden pointer someone the military is paying, who will just say yes or no, you are or you are not boko haram. >> my jeeranthe nigerian military said that the report is biased. some analysts say semi yearn troops have fought boko haram in difficult circumstances. >> it can be ruled out that some of them are boko haram and others are not boko haram. the military has always also explained it is handicapped in a sense that it there are no official authorities. there are no police any more. >> amnesty international has

handed over its report to nigeria's new president muhammadu buhari. he is in chad to discuss how to defeat boko haram. amnesty is demanding that the new president and new government evaluating the alleged crimes. president buhari has yet to respond to the report. but before he was elected he promised to evaluating the allegations. the question now is will he and we know. yvonne ndege. abuja, nigeria. >> the fabulous' investigation into corruption and fifa has been expanded to include the bidding process behind the next two world cups that's according to u.s. officials. russia and qatar won the rights to stage the tournament in 2011 2018 and 2022. meanwhile, sepp blatter received a standing ovation from staff a

day after announcing he would be resigning as president of fifa's governing body. >> zurich headquarters sepp blatter was still at work. there were yao playing mix youth playing football on the grounds. >> we know that the $45 million spent was effectively wasted because of a corrupt and tainted bidding process. >> it is a decision that shouldn't be made considering what was surrounding him.

look i'm not in blatter's shoes b it did not seem to be a good idea. >> who should replace blatter? michel platini perhaps the investigation into russia's award of the cup will make them upset. the campaign group believes someone with a true global significance, perhaps former head of the united nations kofi annan should act as a control figure within the new fifa to offer a source of reassurance to everybody. >> we at fifa now made a proposal in january when we launched in bruce he wills the

creation of the implementation of an independent reform committee, and that needs to be lived by. someone such as mitt romney. mitt romney took on the role in salt lake city with the ioc and did a great job there. >> it's worth bearing in mind that blatter has not gone yet. it's not clear how long he'll hang around or whether he intends to find a successor cut from the same cloth as himself. the trouble for that or opponents there is no other obvious unifying figure in world football to move fifa forward. none of this is going to be resolved quickly. the question in global cooperate football is whether it is actually possible. >> south africa meanwhile has categorically denied that $10 million paid to a fifa official in 2008 was a bribe. they said that the payment to the former vice president jack warner was quote above board but did he not know what

mr. warner did with the money. >> the payment of $10 million was made above board, it does not equate to bribery. those who alleged should prove their allegations. we refuse to be caught up in a battle of united states authorities and fifa. and we do not intend to speak on what have of fifa. fifa has to speak for itself. >> in other news ukrainian forces and pro russia fighters have fought their first serious battles. ukraine's defense ministers said that they tried to take the town of maryinka with tanks and fighters. it was the most significant escalation of the conflict since a cease-fire deal was agreed to in february. the separatist accuse groups of

firing rebel territory around donetsk. they say supplies have been cut off trapping hundreds of miners underground. we have this update now from moscow. >> it can really be described as a worrying violence. ukrainian army accusing separatist launching what it describes as a large-scale assault against government troops. saying separatist fighters used ten tanks and up to a thousand men in that attack. ukrainian army said it was forced to use heavy weaponry to repel the assault. now we've heard here in moscow from the presidential spokesperson who says that russia is monitoring the situation, and is deeply concerned by what it described as provocations by the ukrainian army. it said that it's very worried about what it says is the shelling of civilian areas in donetsk and around the region.

now, the fighters, the separatists themselves deny that they started this fight. today they say that a number of civilians were killed, and a number of fighters, too. there are also reports that hundreds of miners were trapped under ground and it's reported that they're ongoing efforts to try to rescue these men in mines that suffered electricity blackouts in the shelling. there are reports from the donetsk mayor this evening. although the violence seems to have subsided sporadic shelling continues, and there are concerns for pay patients in hospital who is had to be evacuated because the electricity was down. this comes as a seriously critical time here as both sides try to forge some sort of lasting peace agreement, some sort of lasting political settlement in eastern ukraine. >> at least 70 people have been killed in an airstrike in northern iraq. the attack targeted what is

believed to be isil region. >> airstrikes took place in against an isil stronghold allegedly in the town of hawija. 70 people are said to have been injure: it is an area where isil has been pushing to take that town. the kurdish peshmerga has been able to repel them. we don't know who took part in these airstrikes whether it was coalition or iraqi air force but we do know that if this was an isil target that's confirmed. it will be a blow against isil. they've been using hawija as a communications base. >> meanwhile in syria 20 people have reportedly been killed, and

several others injured in barrel bomb attacks by government forces outside of aleppo. the bombings on the town also destroyed many buildings. fierce shelling in the area added to the destruction of the town. well coalition airstrikes have once again been targeting yemen's capital of sanaa. aircraft led by the coalition of saudi arabia are said to have struck a factory. while in yemen houthi have been repelled by forces loyal to exiled president abd rabbuh mansur hadi. still to come this half hour, we go out on the front line of the mediterranean migrant crisis with the italian police patrol. plus... >> i'm in london where there is a steady stream of people with one goal in mind, how to beat

the hackers. find out what risk cyber criminals pose to you and me. nd me. a real look at the american dream hard earned

>> a reminder of the top stories on a al jazeera. accusing committing war crimes during it's fight against barack boko haram. 7,000 men and boys have died in military detention since march 2011. there has been an up search of fighting in ukraine between government forces and pro-russian separatists.

and the fbi's investigates into corruption as fifa has been expanded to include the bidding process for the next two world cups which were run by russia and qatar. staying with that story. an u.s. judge is expected to release some of the testimony given by charles blazer in the coming hours. he's one of the fifa executives who was charged with corruption charges. it is evidence that is thought to have led to the arrest last week. we're joined by a member of the sports team and new york daily news which has been investigating chuck blazer for some time. nathaniel, thank you for joining us here on al jazeera. everything seems to point to the fact that chuck blazer is central to the whole case. when is evidence to be released that we're expecting today what are you expecting to find? anything that we don't already know or suspect?

>> well, the judge is due to receive the testimony. it's really a guilty plea hearing script today from prosecutors who will make that public today maybe late tonight, maybe even tomorrow, but it will come out. it will include details about his corruption. we know quite a bit since last november when we first reported on his cooperation with the fbi. we've seen some of these transcripts already and they do contain small details about what kind of cooperation mr. blazer gave to the feds. parts of it will be redacted. parts will be blacked out because it's still an ongoing investigation. >> a lot of people were surprised yesterday, of course, when sepp blatter president of fifa stepped down having just won the election, to stay on as the chief of the organization just a few days before. would you link the two in any

way? >> well, yes i certainly would. they were stress close, charles blazer was the--he was on the executive committee-- >> forgive me--i was wasn't clear in my question. would you link the testimony realized today the timing of it all, and sepp blatter announcing that he would step down yesterday, would you link those two? >> i see yes you know, i think that we don't know exactly what led sepp blatter to resign when he did. i think he's in contact with the factors in this case. as far as the release of charles blazer's courtroom transcript,

that's something that as soon as his indictment was made public, reporters in new york pressed the court to release it, which is a constitutional right here. that's the main reason we're going to see the transcript come out soon. >> we also know that the fbi is going to expand its investigation into the happening of the world cup to russia and qatar for 2018 and 2022. was that a surprise, do you think? >> not really, i think the bids for those world cups were part of the whole ecosystem if you will of bribery and kickback going on with all of these fifa figure who is were implicated. i think it's almost--i think i would be more surprised if those bids had not become part of the

investigation. there are offshore accounts, secret deals and money moving around the globe. it's difficult to separate them. >> thank you so much for having joined us. >> now as european countries continue to deliberate on how to repatriate thousands of migrants arriving on their shores, al jazeera has gained access to a distressing rescue situation on a daily basis. we would go out on the water with the italian police to witness the crisis from the front line. >> it took 15 hours to reach this part of the mediterranean sea. we are around 14 nautical miles off the coast of libya. weather conditions are good enough. the crew has no doubt that

somewhere in the vast blue there are helpless migrants. it's just a matter of finding them. the camera combs the water and here they are. the commander says that there are two boats in the area. as we approached the closest one it becomes clear that the rubber dinghy is overcrowded. 14 people are packed into a small ten-meter space. they had been at sea for at least eight hours. they're saying that they left at 6:00 in the morning and this skipper abandoned them. they have no more water. now, the reason we cage on this dinghy is because the water--the sea is slightly rough. they would rather escort the dinghy to the main vessel than actually bring the vessel, which

could create a for a more waves. they could panic and then it would capsize. >> it's a delicate maneuver. slowly pushing the fragile vessel towards the ship. the migrants could not know how to swim. they are tired. some suffer from scabies and others are dehydrateed. language can be an barrier. some ask for help. in arabic i pass on the message. they are safe, but they need to sit down and above all stay calm. the first one off is the only child on board. [ yelling ] >> at times it's a struggle for the rescuers. the last one off was this

eritrean man. he has a broken leg. he had been lying at the bottom of the dinghy. it's made of plywood. it's soaked, and water is sinking in. a little longer they would have all sank. eight nautical miles north another rubber dinghy. here there are 110 somalis. they have little fuel, but it would never have been enough to reach the closest coast. the yengich broke down so they were floating aimlessly. there are many women here. some are pregnant. they have been in the water for about 20 thundershowers. every is exhausted and frightened. their legs are number. some need to be held helped. others liverpooled. in a little over than an hour over 200 people mr. saved. the crew is tired but proud that yet again they have saved lives.

people here are hungry, but they cannot eat yet. the tea is getting rougher and they could get sick if they they had food. >> rescuers in china have started cutting into the hull of a cap saysed cruise ship as they search for more than 400 missing people. only 14 have been saved since the ship sank on monday. we have this report. >> on a day of fading lopez the chinese government is throwing what it can at this operation. more than 5,000 emergency workers have so far been deployed. they heard yells for help from the hull, but nothing.

this is reportedly the last glimpse of the vessel called by a nearby ship a half hour before it capsized. access to the site remains blocked by police and paramilitary troops. but on wednesday the government argued a boat trip to the area. the message the operation will continue if there is even a slight chance that someone is alive. >> we'll focus on the operation in finding these survivors. >> the government has promised an investigation into why the eastern star sank so quickly. but it's clear that what happened on monday night is turning into the country's burst maritime accident in recent times. state media says that the vessel was hit by a cyclone. still unexplained now is how the captain and chief engineers both survived.

relatives of the missing are demanding answers as well, and try to stage a demonstration in shanghai. this city where many of the elderly passengers are from. >> for now they're not allowed to visit the rescue site, either. so some go further up stream to grieve by the riff's edge. adrian group al jazeera, southern china. greece's prime minister has apprised to try to breach the differences between it and the creditors. >> the biggest difference appears to be on debt repayment. he has spinned 2.5% of the economy now both sides do agree

that greece must collect a lot more taxes because it face as shortfall this year. but while athens has to find an extra $1 billion, creditors say the amount needed is double that. the greet got has made compromise on some of its main direction promise. early retirement will end. greece's pension funds will streamline benefits to affordable levels. but athens is determined to make its proposals the main subject of their talks. >> security experts have found tools online which allow anybody to become a hacker and demand a ransom even if they have little technical know how.

it's a worrying sign of how prevalent cyber crime has become. >> what does a cyber criminal look like? him? him? they are trying to find out. they're all in london searching for the same answer. >> organized crime has moved in big time. we think that it's more involved in cyber crime than drug crime. because they're ruthless businessmen. there is a much bigger return on their investment. why walk into a bank with a sawed off shut gun when you can do it from another country with lower the english by the year year 2018 they reconcile that they'll they will collect

$2.1 trillion globally the biggest tactic right now is a thing called cyber ransom where you inadvertently give access your machine to a hacker where they take control of your data and then blackmail you. they'll say pay up or we'll share it. >> it's been increasing once again and i'm not picking on the industry. it's more profitable to do this rather than attack 1,000 people. >> another concern is the superintendent ever things from kettles to toothbrushes to light bulbs, our homes are getting more and more plugged in, and more and more hackable. in the future where even our

cars will one day be online it is a worrying time for the experts. they had a long and unpredictable road ahead. >> well, loots more on our website www.aljazeera.com. >> wildlife poaching is big business... worth more than 17 billion dollars a year and growing. the slau