when it happens. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the al jazeera news hour. i'm martine dennis in doha. coming up in the program. hundreds of migrants are feared dead after a boat capsizes off of the coast of libya. the cost of war, the u.n. says 5,000 afghan civilians have been killed or injured in conflict this year alone. a protest in ammon against the possible closure of schools that could effect about half a million palestinian refugee children. outrage in guatemala after a

video showing the military beating up two teenagers goes viral. ♪ we start with breaking news that is coming from the mediterranean sea. a rescue operation is underway to try to save migrants from a capsized boat. irish navy commanders say 700 people have thought to be on board the vessel, very close to the libyan coast. local journalist joins us now on the line from the mortese capitol. karl what more do you know? >> reporter: this is indeed a major rescue operation which is currently underway after [ inaudible ] boat with some 700 migrants was reported capsized off of libya. [ inaudible ] some 250 have been rescued in the mission, which is now being coordinated by the

italian coast guard. 16 bodies are reported to have been taken on board one of the rescue vessels. however, unconfirmed numbers of how many migrants could be dead in this incident are still speculative. however, it is feared that hundreds are feared dead. the boat is reported to have sunk after it capsized in an event which seems to have happened when the boat was approached by the rescuers, after sending out a distress signal. according to the italian coast guard, a distress signal was received this morning, and once the irish vessel which is participating in the program, arrived on the seen, runs of migrants rushed to one side, throwing the boat off balance and capsizing it. the italians have redirected their coast guard ships together with other non-governmental organizations operating in the

area to assist, and other commercial else haves in the area to assist. the maltese government is providing a patrol vessel from its navy, and while the boat [ inaudible ] 700 migrants, this incident has happened some 22 miles off of the libyan coast. we know the situation in libya where migrants in the thousands are trying to reach the island of malta, in a bid to reach european nations. now we have a situation where once again, just a few months after another [ inaudible ] where some 500 migrants died, their boat went down, the european union is now looking at another major disaster within its confines and calls for action with regards to solidarity between european states. >> carl thank you. reporting live from the maltese capitol. meanwhile, up to 5,000 migrants are camping in the

northern french town of call lei. they want to get across the english channel to get into the u.k. charles stratford has been talking to some of the people there. >> reporter: you see more and more injured people in the camp these days. men, women, and even some children who left their homeland months if not years ago. most say they are determined to take a final life-threatening risk, to cut through or climb over barbed wire fences and cling to the side of a train to what they dream of as a better life. most, like this group of men from darfur in sudan won't speak on camera. one of them says he injured his leg as he ran to leap on a train a few days ago. he describes what his life used to be like in darfur. he knows the risks he takes every night here in france.

>> some people die. some of them broke their legs hand, sometimes like would fall in -- on the ground. >> reporter: it's difficult to know exactly how many people are trying to cross every night, or even make it to the other side, but medics here say they are treating an increasing number of people for hand and leg injuries every day. we weren't allowed to film patients being treated. this french charity says doctors are treating around 40 people a day for injuries they get trying to break through the fence. >> yes, it's true it's difficult. the health is not the first -- how to say it -- it's not a priority. health is not a priority. the priority is to cross. >> reporter: the police have bolstered security around the tunnel entrance in the last few days. fences on bridges have been put up to stop people from jumping on the trucks.

mr. are policeman on guard and sometimes helicopters above. >> translator: the tunnel site is 650 heckers with a 22-kilometer perimeter fence. so the migrants know it's really difficult to patrol it. that's why they focus on the tunnel, and that's why the site has become such a flash point. >> reporter: a place where men and women like these return to every night. charles stratford, al jazeera, calais. the fighting in afghanistan is continuing to kill and injure large numbers of civilians. the u.n. says the total is nearly 5,000 so far this year, which include a growing number of women and children. in a new report, the u.n. says almost 1,600 civilians were killed between january and june. that's an increase on the same period last year. another 3,300 afghan civilians

were wounded. that is already surpassing last year's figures. 23% more women are getting hurt, and 13% more children. jennifer glass has been speaking to one family mourning the loss of their son. >> reporter: this man says his days are full of suffering now. his only son was killed by the blast wave of a nearby suicide bomb attack. >> translator: he was a good, smart, and brave boy. he told me all the time that he wanted to be a lawyer. >> reporter: the attack that killed him was on the main road to kabul airport, the target was a military convoy of foreign soldiers, but afghan civilians were injured and died. >> translator: when these suicide attacks happen, the poor people suffer because in every suicide attack many people die, many are injured.

it's all civilians, poor people like me, who are working for their families. >> reporter: the united nations says civilian casualties are at a record high in the first six months of this year, with a 23% rise in female casualties, and 13% more children being hit. the report documents the devastating consequences of the conflict upon afghan men, women, and children. this destruction and damage to afghan lives, must be met by a new commitment by all parties to the conflict to protect civilians from arm. >> reporter: while anti-government fighters, including the taliban are responsible for 70% of all civilian casualties, the use of mortars and other indirect fire by pro-government forces meant they killed and injured 60% more civilians than last year. nearly 5,000 have been killed or injured in the first half of

this year. the main cause is ground fighting, roadside and other planted bombs, suicide attacks and targeted killings. amid the continuing violence, the u.n. is calling for a new commitment by all parties to protect civilians from harm. it's too late for this family, trying to cope with the loss of a brother and son. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, kabul. we have been speaking to the afghan interior ministry spokesman and he told us the government's priority is to protect its people, but that the taliban uses civilians as human shields 1234678 >> they do -- you know, the suicide attacks in the middle of a sport field in front of a bank, this is all in order -- the signs of -- of those, you know, violence -- extreme violence against civilians. so that's very unfortunate that we still see those attacks by the taliban in very populated

areas. they still discriminate the use of explosives, rocket attacks, mortars and any means they can have in their hands. so that's very unfortunate. but at the same time, we diffuse lots of mines. for example in [ inaudible ] we were able to diffuse more than 6,000 mines across the country which was planted by the taliban and villages on the road and everywhere. so we are saving lives and we try our best to save lives. >> let's go back to the report. and the logical finding is the only thing that is really going to improve the situation in afghanistan is peace. what is your assessment then of the status of the talks that had started with the taliban in pakistan, and then were deferred if you like since the death of mullah omar. what is the status of those talks? >> well, everyone hopes here in

afghanistan, the afghan people that finally there is an end to the conflict here, and the taliban realize they cannot reach their goals by continuing their fight. so we hope that -- that the death of mullah omar, or the news of his death, has an impact on those taliban who are fighting against the afghan forces and afghan forces. so that's what we want and what the people hope for an end to this conflict. but at the same time we are going to keep our pressure on the enemy, and the peace process will continue, and we hope that these taliban leaves fighting and battlefields and [ inaudible ] in the peace process. the cash crisis which could force the closure of schools for refugees has provoked protests in jordan's capitol. the u.n. relief agency says it is running out of money and may have to cancel classes for half a million refugee children.

>> reporter: they came here to tell the world that it's unacceptable to forget the plight of palestinian refugees. protesters angry because their children might be deprived of education. t united nations agency says it is funding an unprecedented funding crisis. if money doesn't come through by the end of this month, the academic year may have to be delayed. but refugees say they refuse to give up their right to education. >> translator: there is a hidden agenda. it's not possible that an international organization doesn't know years before where things would be headed without funding >> translator: i will never give up my children's right to an education. >> reporter: the decision to postpone the school year could leave half a million palestinian children out of school and 22,000 teachers out of work. a budget shortfall is not

impossible for the international community to pay, some say, that's why they feel donors are no longer interested in the protection of palestinian refugees who are guaranteed the right of return under international law. but it could eventually mean the termination of the operation. the world's largest camp for palestinian refugees is here in jordan. this man says he can't afford to enrole his daughters in a private school. >> translator: we have been deprived of food rations and we said okay, but they cannot deprive us from learning. if that's what they want to do, they need to return our villages to us. >> reporter: officials warn that suspending education services could also harm regional stability. >> palestinians value education

highly. and we cannot deny them that at a time when extremist groups are recruiting on the streets of the middle east. >> reporter: in the absence of a solution for the issue and the right to return, the u.n. assembly has repeatedly renewed the mandate most recently until june 2017. some fear extending the mandate beyond that will be pointless if major cuts are carried out now. two members of india's border security force have been killed in what it says was an attack by pakistani mill gra grant -- militants. one of the gunmen was captured several soldiers were injured. floods are being blamed for causing the double rerailment of two passenger trains in india.

at least 28 were killed, and dozens of others were injured as an express train troubled into a river, closely followed by another. >> reporter: officials are saying that they are fairly convinced that it was flash flooding that caused the derailment to happen. in that area sees dozens of trains go by all the time. but this is the monsoon season in india, so heavy rains have continuously been pounding the area. when those two trains came, that was enough for the ground to weaken underneath it and for both trains to derail. the government says they will be looking into the incident and giving compensation to the victim's families. however, critics say that is all that ever happens in this cases. there are dozens of railway incidents that happen every year, and critics say something

ever happens. they say there are thousands of kilometers of new tracks that need to be laid, unmanned crossings that need to be upgraded and until the infrastructure deficiencies are addressed, there will continuously be problems and continuously be more and more deaths every year. we have got a lot more to come here on the al jazeera news hour, including flash floods and landslides caused by moon soon rain killed 69 people in myanmar. and hiroshima is still a battle ground for survivorsover the atomic bomb. and in sport, it's a year to go until the rio olympics. find out how brazil's preparations are going. ♪ the supreme court in pakistan have upheld the establishment of controversial

military courts. this means that civilians can be tried and sentenced by military courts. the special courts were set up after a taliban attack on a school last year, which killed 150 people. but there was a legal challenge against them with critics saying they violate human rights and the constitution. military courts can now carry out death sentences on those convicted so far, and hear cases for the next two years. a human rights activist in pakistan says this means suspects won't be given a fair trial. >> it will be a totally secret court proceeding. this does not have any access. in spite of so many laws people are still being picked up and disappeared. and then because of the constitution amendment, and the army code amendment, many of these detainees will not have

human rights. there is an amendment that says that according to article 10 of the constitution, everyone has a right to fair trial. so they will not have the -- the facility or they will not have the privilege of being a human. so we are afraid that, like that, in army corps in secrecy they will be given -- awarded death sentences or life imprisonment, and there will be no one to defend them, no lawyers, no family. and the death sentences will be awarded by non-judicial people who are not from legal fraternity. they will be military people. 15 iraqi soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack believed to have been carried out by isil. military sources say the car bomb went off in a village north of ramadi. ten other soldiers were injured in the attack.

u.s. fighter jets and drones have started to arrive at the air base in turkey to prepare for a broader offensive against isil. turkey granted access to its bases along the border last month. the foreign minister says the battle will begin soon. turkey has plans to create an isil-free buffer zone in northern syria, while washington has committed to providing air cover to syrian rebels in the area. the remains of 17 people missing since the april 25th earthquake in nepal have been found. they were pulled from landslide debris in a hiking destination north of kathmandu. it's not yet clear if these remains were of local resing identify -- residents or treshgs. aid workers in myanmar are struggling to reach areas hit by

floods. flooding and landslides have killed 69 people. hundreds of thousands of others have been affected. the united states says it will provide an aid package after myanmar's government appealed for help on monday. florence looi has more. >> reporter: this is largely escaped the floods that have averaged other parts of myanmar. but the people here have been moved by the plight of their fellow citizens in flood-effected areas, and have started soliciting for donations. on wednesday the u.s. said it is preparing an aid package for myanmar. japan and china already assisting in flood relief efforts, and this comes a day after the myanmar government appealed to the international community for food, shelter, clothing, for more than 200,000 people who have been affected by the flood. aid workers are still having difficulty reaching some of the

other heavily flooded areas. flood warnings are in place particularly in the delta region. the concern is that flood waters from the north will flow into rivers that run through to this area. state-run media reports say the government is already moving some people to evacuation centers. meanwhile the u.n. has raised concerns that because this area is a major rice producing area for myanmar, there may be food security issues in the near future. claudia is deputy country director for doctors without borders. she has been speaking to us from myanmar about the extent of the crisis. >> it's indeed a terrible situation. there have been already heavy monsoon rains in july, causing floods in many areas, and the [ inaudible ] that has made landfall in bangladesh still added to heavy storms and heavy rainfalls and causing further heavy flooding as well. any help that is offered is very

welcome. many, many people are affected. they are likely to be more since many areas could not be reached yet. and i think the extent of this natural disaster, just requires that everyone is helping together. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is calling on countries in southeast asia to proserve peace and stability in the south china sea. the u.s. and china have been invited to meetings in malaysia even though they are not members of this block of southeast asia nations. rebels in syria have reportedly killed at least 20 government soldiers in the city on the outskirts of damascus, and close to a vital regime military installation. gerald tan has the details.

>> reporter: going on the offensive. opposition fighters in syria target the positions of president assad's forces on the outskirts of damascus. they attack a building and show an al jazeera crew the identification cards of soldiers say they have overpowered. the city has been a constant battle ground since the syrian war began in the spring of 2011. it's changed hands several times, but rebels are eager to control the territory, because of its proximity to one of the government's biggest military command centers. >> it's adjacent to the airport, and it shows the rebels continued ability to hit into damascus, even the core of damascus and upset the regime's base of power. >> reporter: in response to tuesday east attack, the regime military dropped barrel.comes on

the city. but once around 300,000 strong it is now estimated to have halved in size because of deaths and defections. the president recently acknowledged this lack of manpower, but he insists he will win the civil war that has already killed more than 230,000 people and driven millions more from their homes. gerald tan, al jazeera. during the years of war in afghanistan and iraq, american troops relied heavily on local interpreters, thousands were promised special visas to live in the u.s. because of death threats from the taliban, but there's a huge backlog of applications. kimberly halkett reports. >> reporter: former naval officer eric gardner and his interpreter john haven't seen each other since gardner's unit left afghanistan. it was a difficult good-bye.

>> he put his life on the line for our unit, and everyone came back here except him. >> reporter: john's identity has been concealed for his safety. he receives regular death threats from the taliban because of his work with u.s. special forces. he was assigned to some of the coalition's most dangerous missions, and now he lives under self imposed house arrest with his elderly parents, fearing for his life. >> if they find me [ inaudible ] we knew about that, there was a lot of risk [ inaudible ] afghanistan for those guys that were working with the u.s. forces, but when i started, i never -- i never thought that one day the u.s. forces would be leaving afghanistan and leave us behind. >> reporter: in 2008 the u.s. congress created this the special immigrant visa program to help iraqis come to the

united states. in 2009 the program was expanded to include those who assisted the u.s. in afghanistan. but the program has been mired in bureaucratic delay. in many cases they have not complied. this interpreter was reportedly captured by the taliban, tortured and killed. like john he had been waiting four years for the state department to process his visa. >> we recognize the process is challenging for some of the applicants. >> reporter: applications are often left idling for years without explanation. >> there are numerous individuals who wait upwards of five years even. >> reporter: guard near's interpret applied in 2011, and is still waiting for the answer. >> we have a moral duty to bring him back to the united states

because of the work he did for us. >> reporter: the state department has 4,000 slee sas to issue to people like john by the end of the year. it is estimated another 5,000 more, but that will take another act of the congress currently set to go on its summer recess. in kenya two children have died after a ferry carrying 23 passengers capsized in lake victoria. the ferry was traveling to an island when it collided with a fishing boat. the widow of former south korean president is making a rare visit to north korea. she is on a humanitarian mission. but there is speculation she could meet the north korean leader kim ki-jong. her late husband pushed for closer ties with north korea while he was in power. the 70th anniversary of the

world's first nuclear attack is on thursday. the united nations air force dropped an atomic bomb on hiroshima in japan. at least 140,000 people died in the attack, and in the months that follow the end of the second word war. harry fawcett has been seeing how hiroshima, and it's people have recovered. >> reporter: the hills offer fertile farmland, rice, and other products grow in abundance. locals put it down in part to the purity of the water. this man calls this down mroor a blessing from heaven. but 70 years ago these hills were cursed from a rain of man made hell. >> we were soaked in black. it rained so hard. >> reporter: when the u.s. air force dropped atomic.comes on japan, radioactive debris was

swept up into the air and fell as so-called black rain. but his village lies outside the officially accepted black rain zone. he and dozens of others have launched legal action to have their experiences and often their medical conditions recognized as stem thering the attack. >> translator: where every effort, i hope we can make the truth be recognized. that is my wish. >> reporter: there are more than 180,000 designated survivorsover the attacks still living. this year their average age rose above 80. the blast happened about 60 meters in the air, about 150 meters zeals of the dome. to prove a link between that moment and the present day illness, first you have to prove that as an adult, child, or unborn baby you were within two kilometers of that point within the first two weeks of the blast happening or you were exposed to large numbers of fellow survivors, or you were living

within a government designated radioactive fallout zone. this professor has studied the long legal battles that have resulted. >> the initial radiation relates to within two kilometer the [ inaudible ] spread more wider area. and depend on the age and the sex, the influence will be different. >> reporter: this man was four kilometers from the center of the blast in nagasaki. he has battled ill health including two bouts of cancer. the government recognized his cancer as a-bomb related, no so a new heart problem. >> translator: i can't watch my friends die one after another, i have to fight on in court. >> reporter: the land around here has long been cleansed of the radioactive poison, but for

many who survived the horror of those days, it remains a battle ground. washington has always argued that the nuclear bomb was necessary to end the second word war, but opinion remains divided. 140,000 people were killed by the blast, all from radiation sickness in the months after. around 70% of buildings were destroyed, inside 8 square kilometersover the city. the bomb was nicknamed little boy, it exploded 600 meters abo above hiroshima. mark webber has researched the bomb, and he is with us live with us from orange in california. they say history belongs to the victor, so it was perhaps understandable the americans put out this narrative that it was absolutely essential and that it

actually helped precipitate the end of the war. >> right. but that's a lie. for 70 years the atomic bombing of hiroshima has been justified on the basis that it was necessary to end the war. but that's not true. the japanese wanted to surrender. the united states imposed the condition of unconditional surrender, and the japanese knew they were beaten and wanted to surrender, but the united states insisted on this unconditional surrender. >> remind us of the -- the -- the kinds of information restrictions at the time. when a country is at war, there are often restrictions placed on media reporting of that war, aren't there? >> right. at the time, the president, who announced it, truman, claimed that the bombing was on a military base. in fact it was on a city, the

city of hiroshima, and the full extend of the horror and destruction and killing was not made known to the american public at the time. of course now we know just how terrible the bombing was. >> and 70 years on, how prepared is the united states to entertain this alternative view of history? >> historians are in pretty much agreement about the points that i just made now, but the mentality behind the atomic bombing is still in place in america. the mentality of the second world war and of wars eng by the united states has been good wars. that the united states is the good guy, and whoever country the united states is fighting is the bad guy. in that will shift, of course, over time. but this basically kind of righteousness is still very much in place, and we have seen it

many times in the years since the bombing of hiroshima, for example, in the attack against iraq and other wars the united states has engaged in. >> and very quickly, if you could, why then, given that the japanese had made overtures wanting to end the war peacefully, why did the united states go ahead with the horrors of dropping a nuclear bomb? >> partly it was in keeping with the moral righteousness of the war and the demand for what was called unconditional surrender. the very demand for unconditional surrender is very dupous morally and ethically. and the united states wanted japan completely destroyed, which is one of the aspects of why the bombing was carried out, even though it was unnecessary. >> mark webber. thank you very much indeed for talking to us here on al

jazeera. still to come on the al jazeera news hour. the british government pledges almost $8 million to fight the illegal wildlife trade. just four months after his historic victory, floyd mayweather is back. sunna will have the details.

>> there's a line of police advancing toward the crowd here. >> ferguson: city under siege. >> it isn't easy to talk openly on this base. >> and america's war workers. >> it's human trafficking. >> watch these and other episodes online now at aljazeera.com/faultlines. >> lezley mcspadden. one year after the death of her son michael brown.

>> so what do you think when i mention the name darren wilson? what comes to mind? >> the devil, that comes to mind. evil. >> an al jazeera america exclusive interview. ♪ hello, again, let's have a look at the top stories here on al jazeera. the italian coast guard says 400 migrants have been saved from a boat that capsized off of the coast of libya. it is thought there were around 600 people on board. the rescue effort is underway as we speak. the u.n. says nearly 5,000 sillians have been silled or injured to far this year in afghanistan. a cash crisis which could foergs the closure of schools for refugees has provoked

protests in jordan's capitol. the u.n. relief agency says it has run out of money and may have to cancel classes for half a million palestinian children. a government investigation has begun in guatemala after a video showing soldiers apparently beating two teenagers in the street went viral. the army says the teenagers were linked to gangs. as david mercer reports there have been more troops on the streets to crack down on violent crime. >> reporter: they are images that have shocked guatemala. soldiers savagely beat two young men 80 kilometers west of guatemala city. the soldiers asked the adolescence why they were running, and warned them that this is how they were trained. the video went viral over the weekend, and has called into question the military's role in helping to police the country. guatemalan human rights workers

say the video shows a clear abuse of power. worker has requested protection for the young men and their families. >> translator: using violence against violence isn't the way to resolve things. that's why there are procedures and laws that need to be respected. and human rights also need be pt ared by all people. >> reporter: in the department capitol, people were shaken by the video. maria says the soldiers acteds like drunks fighting in the streets rather than government authorities. >> translator: i felt their pain inside me. i have children. and it makes me think, what would i do if something like this happened to them? it's wrong. they were doing it for fun. >> reporter: street sellers like francisco are often victims of extortion, but rumors that the young men might have been hard

of a gang, hasn't hardened his opinion. >> translator: this is not the correct way to treat a person. we all have our rights. i think they should be judged according to the law. this is not the way to resolve anything. >> reporter: while the people we spoke to here say they condemn the violence, comments on social media show some agree with the soldier's actions. here in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world, an iron fist approach to crime is a popular one. it was this promise that brought this president to power in 2012, but for a country still recovering from a brutal 36-year civil war, many still view the army with suspicion. and while theilitary has identified the soldiers, and say they are continuing their investigations, images like these are be hard to forget.

we are going to live now to washington, d.c. and talk to eric olson, the associate director of the latin america program at the wilson center. thank you for you time. how representative are these rather disturbing pictures that we have just seen in david's report? how venntive are they of life in president perez's guatemala? >> well, this is a very unfortunate incident, and i'm sure it happens more frequently than we know. rarely are there film incidents of this type. the guatemala government is involved in security. the challenge is how do you hold the military accountable for these kinds of acts? historically, guatemala has been unable to prosecute,

investigate, and hold military accountable. so that's the real worry here. >> but the problems are that guatemala is still a very young country just coming out of civil conflict that has lasted for a very long time, and it has that latin america problem, doesn't it, of drugs and violence? >> absolutely. it has been a major transshipment point for the international cocaine industry, and it has also been a country dependent on the military for public security for many years. it's civilian police force is weak, is corrupt, it has had a lot of difficulties, and so the justification of using the military has been precisely the support of the civilian institutions. but it's difficult to hold the military accountable for abuses. >> and president perez

has -- has obviously made his mark by -- by promising to get tough on some of the scourges of guatemala society, but it sounds as though he has a slightly more heavy handed approach than guatemalas are prepared to accept. >> well, certainly when this abuse is on the airways people are agust by it. there is not much public acceptance for this kind of behavior. so despite his promises to be tough on crime, this kind of incident suggests that it's going too far beyond the rule of law, undermining people's confidence in the institutions, and proves to be very problematic. >> okay. thank you very much. >> you are very welcome. now any israeli prime

minister has made an appeal to american jews to oppose the nuclear deal with iran. in an online webcast, benjamin netenyahu said the deal risks a catastrophic war in the middle east. >> i don't oppose this deal because i want war. i oppose this deal because i want to prevent war. and this deal will bring war. it will spark a nuclear arms race in the region and it would feed iran's terrorism and aggression. in that would make war. perhaps the most horrific war of all, far more likely. >> that was the israeli prime minister in an address to primarily american jews, and within the next hour or so, we're expecting president obama to defend that deal with iran. he is going to be speaking at the american university in washington, d.c., and al jazeera's senior political an cyst is in london.

we will watching that speech as soon as it gets underway. he joins us now, though. it seems we have a battle royal don't we between netenyahu on the one hand, and obama on the other, reaching for the hearts and minds of american jews in the first instance. >> and that is what is so troubling. a tit-for-tat by an american president and israeli's prime minister. american jews are american citizens first, presumably. otherwise the skeptics who have been saying that the american jews have double loyalties, and they are a fifth column of sort for israel in the united states could be proven more and more right as prime minister netenyahu pushes the american jews to betray the interest of their own country in the name of some sort of a promise that he is providing about a better deal

with iran. so it's a very dangerous and tense situation. remember if the american jewish community does vote in some form or another against president obama that could backfire. the idea of the american jewish influence, the idea that they could be moving and shaking politics in washington the way they are, or the way they would be, all of that could translate into a major disaster for them if things blow up in the middle east in case of a no deal. >> president obama also has a major tussle ahead of him, doesn't he, with his own congress, just as congress prepares to close for its summer recess. he is still not really sure, is he, of how much support he is going to get come the vote in september? >> he does pretend to have a good vote, but for now he's just hoping or planning on making sure that 13 democratic senators

don't move to the other side of the aisle. and his argument in the next 45 minutes i think is going to be quite clear and quite stark. he is basically going to be saying, look, president bush and the republicans have brought us the war in iraq. that was a disastrous war. a disastrous decision with disastrous consequenceings. i am bringing you a diplomatic deal with iran, one that will basically put an end to the proliferation of any possibility of nuclear weapons in iran. it will put a stop for that at least for a couple of decades, and certainly will stabilize the middle east. that is certainly a far better deal than war. >> thank you. still to come on the al jazeera news hour, in sport, we'll have the latest from trent bridge as england look to claim the ashes. ♪

♪ now the british government is making more money available to fight the illegal wildlife trade that threatens species like rhinos, elephants and tigers. the spotlight has been on illegal hunting since cecil the lion was killed in zimbabwe last month. >> reporter: despite recent efforts to marshall international political will, the illegal wildlife trade continues to flourish. >> i'm talking about more than a thousand rhinos poached per

year, more than 30,000 elephants, more than 100,000 [ inaudible ]. the most illegally traded ma'amel in the world, and you probably haven't even heard of it. >> reporter: on tuesday a u.k. government minister was on hand to pledge more public fundings a year after london hosted a global conference on wildlife crime. just a day before, swiss authorities revealed a hull of ivory worth 400,000 dollars. and vietnam continues to be the biggest market for rhino horn, valued for allegedly curative properties. a quick question over here. how much do you think you can really achieve with 5 million pounds? >> it is an enormous problem.

i think there is hope. if you look at different countries, there have been progress. for example, black rhinos went from 70,000 down to about 2.5,000, and then got up to about 4,500 by 2010. countries like uganda have turned around their elephant population. so there is hope. >> reporter: it involves on the one hand dealing with demand, and on the other hand dealing with poaching communities, sustaining them, communities which often have little or no other way to survive. >> if you can get the political structures right, the criminal structures right, then it is possible to recover these populations. >> reporter: awareness is key. the cent killing of cecil the lion caused snowballing global outrage, while endangered species are killed daily with

relatively little international notice. now the sports news. >> thank you very much, martine. it is now one year to go to the start of the olympics in rio. one of the major challenges organizers are facing is the high levels of bacteria and viruses in the bay where sailing is scheduled to take place. they say they will continue to monitor the conditions. >> for the games what is important is that we will have good conditions for the athletes. there in the waters where the competitions are taking place, and there you have seen with the test event that everything is going in the right direction. it has to be monitored closely. it will be monitored closely, and then in one year from now, i think we will see great

competitions. >> despite being the fifth large est country in the world, brazil does haven't a history of great success at the olympics. they have only one three gold medals at london 2012. they are hoping to double their total of 17 medals over all at rio. while brazil are the most successful country at the world cup, they best has been at sailing and volleyball. they are investing nearly $700 million to train their athletes over a four-year period, that's compared to the 390 million spent leading up to london. the cricket captain has escaped an gun attack. he was on his way to sport stadium, when a man rammed a vehicle into his car and then opened fire before fleeing. the 49 year old says he was shaken up, but not hurt. it is still not known who was

behind the attack. the police claimed the incident appeared to be a case of road rage. >> i think it was road rage. >> translator: come get angry at the way people drive in our country. police have all of the details. police reached me within two minutes. michael clark has confirmed this will be his last chance to win an ashes series in england with game four set to get underway on thursday. they currently have a one-match lead. they will be without james anders anderson, due to injury, the likely replacement, says while his side is feeling confident, they are certainly not getting ahead of themselves. >> you can't fault the lads' enthusiasm, and two out of three games they have played some

really good cricket. can we do it again? yes, we have been consistently inconsistent over the last seven games, can we turn that around this game. >> there's only one way to do it, and that's be giving it your all. it won't be from a lack of desire, preparation, lack of hard work. if you get beaten, you get beaten, but i guarantee a red hot match. >> ray rice insists he is a changed man. he was released from his contract last season after this video was made public, showing him hitting his now wife inside of a casino elevator where he was charged with third degree aggravated assault, but avoided jail time by entering a rehab

program. >> i want to be able to rewrite the script to tell my daughter, daddy made the worst decision of his life. and so the survivors of domestic violence, i understand how real it is. this is a real issue in our society, and, you know, my video, you know, put the light out there. if you have ever seen what domestic violence looks like, and you look at my video, i can understand why some people will never forgive me. floyd mayweather, jr. is set to return to the ring in what he says will be the final fight of his career. he will go head to head with his contender in las vegas. and that's it for me. >> thank you very much indeed. don't forget you can keep up to date with all of the stories on the al jazeera website. stay with us, just coming up in

just a while, it's [ inaudible ]. ♪ son michael brown. >> so what do you think when i mention the name darren wilson? what comes to mind? >> the devil, that comes to mind. evil. >> an al jazeera america exclusive interview. we are interrupting our colleagues in doha to like you live to washington where president obama is speaking about the iran nuclear deal at american university. let's listen. >> i want to thank the american university family for hosting us

here today. 52 years ago, president kennedy at the height of the cold war, addressed this same university on the subject of peace. the berlin wall had just been built. the soviet union has tested the most powerful weapons ever developed, china was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear bomb. less than 20 years after the end of world war ii, the prospect of nuclear war was all too real. with all of the threats that we face today, it's hard to appreciate how much more dangerous the world was at that time. in light of these mounting

threats, a number of strategists here in the united states argued that we had to take military action against the soviets to hasten what they saw as inevitable confrontation. but the young president offered a different vision. strength in his view included powerful armed forces and a willingness to stand up for our values around the world, but he rejected the prevailing attitude among some foreign policy circles that equated security with perpetual war footing. instead he promised strong principaled american leadership on behalf of what he called a practical and attainable peace. a peace based not on a sudden revolution in human nature, but on adu