this is al jazeera. ♪. >> hello. we can to the newshour. i am jane dutton in doha. coming up in the program: >> oh, my. >> jailed again, a court in egypt sentences al jazeera journalists to three years. the verdict is condemned by legal experts and governments across the world. >> police in thailand arrest a suspect and sees bomb-making materials in connection with this month's attack on a bangkok

shrine. >> thousands rally demanding the prime minister resign. ♪ a deliberate attack on press freedom. >> that's what al jazeera is calling the sentences of three of its journalists to three years in prison in egypt. baha mohammed, peter greste and fahmyt charges al jazeera denies. natasha gname has the story. >> hope and heartbreak as two journalists return to prison. a retrial was supposed to give bahar mohammed, fahmy and peterieste a second opportunity top clear their names. justice was denied yet again. >> i don't know how i am going to survive this without him.

>> the judge said he wanted to make clear to the people of egypt that these men were not journalists and doctored videos for air. then he sentenced them to more prison time. three years for fahmy and greste, three and a half for mohammed. they already spent more than a year behind bars. >> it's outrageous. it's just devastating for me. i mean i know my heart is with them. >> journalists in the courtroom describe a tense and angry atmosphere after the verdict. from the beginning, the case has been called a sham. leaders including president obama have joined journalists across the globe condemning it. the men have been convicted of aiding the muslim brotherhood, which the egyptian government now deems a terrorist group. >> they were arrested on false charges. they were convicted without a shred of evidence. >> at no point did any of the

unfounded allegations stand up to scrutiny. >> the canadian government is demanding fahmy's immediate deportation. his attorney says now that the egyptian judiciary has proven its driven by politics, not truth, it's time for the president to pardon the men. >> it sends a dangerous message there are judges in egypt that will allow courts to become i hope instruments of political repress and propagandaa. >> for now, the legal fight continues. but greste says they need the global community to fight with them by continuing to promote the free aj staff campaign. natasha gname, al jazeera. >> let's go to our glom attic editor james bays in london. he has been monitoring international reaction to the verd exhibit. james, what is it. >> at that court packed hearing, among those present were ambassadors flu a number of countries because these countries are all watching this case extremely closely, very

worried about what has happened today but, also, worried about the wider i mplications about te state of the judiciary of egypt and the state of press freedom in that country. a number of statements coming in from governments all around the world. among those making statements, the governments of the nationals that are affected. peter greste is an australian. the australian foreign minister came out with a statement deploring the verdict. similar statement coming from the canadian government, mohammed fahmy is a canadian. the canadian foreign ministry says it continues to fall on the egyptian government to use all tools at its disposedal to resolve mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. he renounced his egyptian citizenship and they want him to be allowed to do the same as peter greste and go to his home country. a statement has come through from the u.k. foreign office and their minister for middle east affairs, elwood. he says he is concerned and says

these sentences will undermine confidence in e gyp's strong long-term disabilitity. we have a statement from the united nations. this comes from the in the of the thigh commissioner for human rights. his spokesman spoke to me earlier on. he told me, we have had huge concerns about this case all along. and he added we are very disturbed by these three sentences and the extra pressure it creates on journalists in egypt who were just trying to do their jobs. >> thanks for that, james bays. there has been a lot of reaction to the verdict as far as social media is concerned. kamal, what has been said? >> a lot has been said. i want to talk about some of our competitors this hour because the support shown by the other news networks and journalists out there who we would usually consider to be our competitors. at this heartening, they know as we have said journalism is not a crime and they have supported us throughout this whole campaign. a few hours ago, if we bring up the ipad here, i have saved a

few tweets, peter greste speaking to martin stanford on sky news in the u.k. now, it's a u.k. channel but it has a lot of reach around the world. it ask seen in the middle east as well. they were showing an interest in the story a little bit earlier. and this was actually on al jazeera a little earlier. i took this. ian lee, correspondent for cnn international appearing on our network. now, that's a great sign of things, obviously we know we can't report from egypt and so our competitors at cnn offered to come on to our air and talk about what happened in court today. >> is important sort of stuff, another cnn correspondent who i followed, ben we'derman said fahmy and mohammed are innocent. it's that simple. he reports from cairo, himself. i wanted to bring you those. >> that's what some of our competitors have been saying. the only thing i wanted to talk about tweets is to talk about the personal side of this story. i sat down here with this from

kristin, a reporter, again, in the court today. she said mohammed missed his son's birth last year when he was jailed. one day after he celebrates his first birthday with the family, he is sent back to jail. think about that. you didn't see your son born. you get to celebrate that first birthday with him and a day later, you are going back to jail. i also saw some other tweets on that. in fact, look at this. there is this one here can we get a shot on this one? he said, keep shouting for us, my colleagues. i'm sorry. from now, we will not be able to keep in touch with you. says it all. >> that's very sad that that would be the last tweet he would be able to make, the last public comment he would be able to make because if i can find this one more tweet to mention to you -- no, i can't. i haven't got it in there but it was to tell you about the fact he didn't get to say goodbye to anyone, was whisked off back to jail very quickly.

>> huge levels like that for free aj attach staff is not realistic but we need to keep it going. can we get another shot here? i would say looking at this, this is of the impressions, about 30 million impressions, up at 120 at the moment. you want to keep it up here. that's where we need your help. i will make a personal flowning tweet about free aj staff every day from now on until our journalists

this this this they were given extra motivation this time when allegations surfed last month that the prime minister had taken almost $700 million from the state investment fund. he denies the allegation and says the money came from a private middle eastern donor. regardless, the movement believes it's time for him to go and for the power of the prime minister to be curtailed. he and the ruling party controls the legislature, and then they control even all of the different powers. >> that's not good for the country. we feel that that kind of thing has to change. >> this rally cut across racial lines with strong representation from the chinese and indian communities as well as the malays who form the nathan of the population. >> this is where the proceed at the time protesters are coming from, independence square right

in the heart of kuala lumpur. >> the protest leaders say they won't try to go inside the square, itself, which is being readied for the celebrations on monday. the police have blocked all of the entrances to a venue that is the symbol of malaysia's political independence. wayne hay, al jazeera, kuala lumpur. >> in syria, fighting between proceed government forces and reynolds has resumed in a number of key locations after a cease-fire ended. the 48 hour truce was in the rebel-held town of zabidani and al falluah. it resumed saturday after overnight talks on a broader deal and the evacuation of civilians broke down. an investigation is understandway symbol pa bomb attack that killed a policeman, 7 people including four police officers were injured in the

blast at a shia village west of the capital. the attack. >> reporter: at a glance, it would appear lebanon's rubbish crisis has been solved at least in the upper class neighborhood where the rubbish scapes are now empty. a few minutes' drive away, you have to start holding your nose. the smell is revolting, the rubbish piled on street corners. after weeks of anti-government protests, authorities appear to be trying to resolve the problem or at least make it go away. waste is being taken off of the streets but the question many have been asking is: where to? since the mainland phil is

closed. main rubbish as far as the eye can see. the capitol's waste is being dumped by the sea next to beirut's port, one of the arab world's most famous see fronltds, a symbol of romance is now being lined with rubbish. beirut is surrounded by mountains and green refrom mount lebanon to mount herman. the nature here is breathtaking. >>, too, is under threat. lebanon's natural has been tbite of the things that attacks so many tourists each year. i will put this mask on now. the reasonable why i have to do this is because of this scene in fronts front of me. piles of rubbish authorities have been dumping here for several weeks now it's important to note just a couple of days ago, the amount of rubbish here was maybe three or four times as much. locals tell us some of it was

burned. others, they claim it was dumped into the sea. the amount that is still here is huge. this scene is replicated across several other mountains around beirut. >> that's what is putting lib non-'s environment and natural habitat at real risk. joey is one of the activists calling on people to protest on saturday against the government's failure to deal with the rubbish. he is hopeful saturday's demonstration will not only help resolve the issue but usher in a new phase for lebanon. >> everyone knows the system they live in is not a good system. this is something that, as i said, even those who belong to political parties know it quite clearly and face it all the time. we want to show them they can demand for something new, they can demand for the rights as lebanese citizens living in a nation the basic -- the basic system you would have in most developed nations at least. it's really as simple as that at the ends of the day. don't have the basic standard of living. >> changing lebanonps political reality could take years if not

more. right now, however, a solution has to be found to deal with the country's rubbish because the environmental damage that can be caused could very well be be irreversible. jamal al shaya, beirut. coming up on this news hour, we look at the underworld smugglers making big money off pakistanis seeking a new life in europe. in sport, find out if there could be another gold won at the world championships. four people have appeared in a hungarian court over the deaths of 71 refugees in an abandoned truck. meanwhile, the flow of refugees has with hundreds of people crossing from serbia to hungary. andrew simmons reports. >> families walking in the sw t sweltering midday heat, most have run out of water, but they

still have the will to carry on. they are so exhausted that some don't even realize the white posts they are passing mark the border between serbia and hungary. a break in the party-built fence is their entrances into the european union. >> it's hard to take in the fact that these people have walked more than 15 kilometers in this t another long journey, and even though now, they are crossing into the european union, the problems aren't over. >> these people unlike hundreds of others haven't tried to run away from the hungarian border police. they are rounded up and taken to registration camps. women and children get priority. the bus leaves behind people who are frustrated and unsure of what happens next. this man is from damascus and syria. he made two attempts to cross from turkey to greece by sea. on the first, he was arrested

and detained. on the second, he was rescued by the greek coast guard. >> i thought the sea part was the most difficult. actually, it wasn't. it wasn't. no. this one. this, you know, this road that we had up from the greek border to here, it's the most i think i had experienced in my life. >> in the town of zagad, buses full of refugees and is migrants are arriving at a railway station. 2k3wr5i69 for food and water provided by a voluntary group, but they are confused about what's going on. scan they also have information. if they cross the border, step to the european union, what will happen? what is their rights? >> then. >> these refugees don't know their rights. this young woman from syria gets a travel paper. but within hungary only, she

fears she will be taken to a camp and detained. so instead of taking a free train ride, she looks for a taxi to take her to the capital, budapest. she is traveling with her 13-year-old brother. it appears they want to prepare the way for the rest of their family. >> get my father to germany. >> it is for your parents? >> yes. >> your father? >> and my mother. >> it's highly likely they will end up crossing the next border using people smugglers. as they leave, more arrive. and so it goes on 24 hours a day. andrew simmons, al jazeera, rusca, in hungary. >> let's take a closer look at the rights of regyou'vees and the responsibilities that countries have when refugees arrive on their shores. the 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 protocol helped protect the rights of refugees. 148 countries have signed up to that convention.

the connell intervention was limited to protecting european refugees after world war ii, but the 1967 protocol expanded its scope as displacements spread around the world. the cornerstone of the convention is the principle that refugees shouldn't be returned to a country where they face sirius threats to their life or freedom. other rights for refugees include the right to work, the right to housing, and other social benefits and the right to the an education, but refugees also have obligations. they are required to abide by the laws of the country, of asylum and measures to maintain public order. alexander is a senior emergency coordinator en massedonia for the united nations, high commission for refugees, she is at the macedonian town at the border with greece. >> reporter: we have around 250 refugees currently here there was a train just desperating

with 520 refugees and since yesterday, we have seen a steady flow. so we have figures which indicate that from 6:00 p.m. yesterday until now, over 2,900 people pass did. based upon the statistics of the minister of interior, over 47,000 have been registered, declaring their intention to apply for asylum of those 49, actually have applied for asylum. the country has done and what we welcome very much is to open -- reopen the borders again. you can see here now, the situation is very calm, very organized. registration is ongoing

>> deployed and currently the government in order to send out better conditions in order to receive the refugees here. >> along with thousands of middle eastern, african refugees, young pakistani men are trying to reach europe. agents and smugglers are making millions of dollars for their search for a better life. nicole johnson reports. >> reporter: with a few phone calls, shafik arranges to send pakistani men thousands of kilometers away from home. he is a people smuggler, a job that earns around $35,000 in a good year. shafik isn't his real name. >> translator: people are crazy about going to europe. the euro is the powerful. they want to risk everything, including their life to get to the europe. >> what's the success rate like for people trying to make it to europe. >> 50/50 chances.

it is unpredictable. going by ship or over a mountain is dangerous. they have to walk for days. sometimes they will be at sea for 14 hours with no captain. sometimes there is no agent to guard them. they are attacked or missing or die from hunger. >> shafik has been in this business for eleven years. he says there is no shortage of men prepared to pay up to $6,000 for an illegal passage to greece. sicily, malta, italy. >> most migrants travel from pakistan are looking for a better life. here, there is high unemployment and security so people are desperate to leave. their parents sell everything they have to send them away hoping he will beability support the whole family. >> it's a lot of pressure for young men like ezaz.

he studied engineering but can't find a job. so three months ago, his family, including his uncle, gave $9,000 to an agent to send him to the u.k. ? >> i was desperate to go to england at any cost. that's why i made a deal. the agent told me everything was ready and suddenly, he disappeared. now, i have lost my money and my passport. >> agencies are already working against the agent and tcheating people. i want them to take stronger. >> the government does have a special investigations unit that deals with people smuggling. it has a lits of over 100 wanted ringleaders. smugglers areability operate beneath the radar. >> yes, there are so many cracking down on this. it can't be done openly so we only deal with people who have been referred to us are.

>> the calls keep coming. there are more clients to meet n pakistan, it seems, a smuggler's work is never done. nicole johnston, al jazeera, islamabad. >> tropical storm erica blamed for at least 20 deaths on the island of dominica is beginning to weaken. heavy rains caused flooding, triggered mudslides and destroyed roads the storm has set the island back 20 years. it might be getting weaker. i think we should talk about it more. rob? >> yes, it's like a tropical storm from space. it's an oblong massive cloud. the forecast has been difficult. the satellite picture shows this is about 24 hours ago as it went over dominica. now, south of hispanolia. it is the from the winds and the amount of rain which it fell. 840 millimeters in nine hours. can you imagine that?

a meter of rain falling in such a short time. you can see why so much damage was done to the lesser antilles. i am not sure what has happened in hispanola. t it was gusting 113 kilometers per hour. it was never a windy storm. just categorized as a 2r07 cal storm and come okay to cuba now. look at the shape. so with winds not being the problem, where does the rain go? if this thing survives cuba, and it may well do, it gives cuba a good washing. and then it disappears somewhere. probably, is it goes across cuba up towards florida. now, it's not certain. it might stay south of cuba and go further west. it might collapse completely. it's difficult to forecast. when it goes tom florida, it ask doubling rain what has formed so far. a late start for the wet season in florida, but this red circle, the red heart, has had over 400 mil meters, a good part of florida. to dump that again, in a day,

that could cause trouble. jane. >> thanks, rob. people in myanmar will go to the polls in november for a general election. it will be the first vote in 25 years to be contested by opposition leader, the national league for democracy. it will be the first since the semi civilian government took over from military rule four years ago. flor earns lorrie reports. >> reporter: at an office in downtown, civil rights groups are working with designers to get some key messages out to the public. all revolve around the upcoming elections. voter registration, voter rights and why it's important to vote. >> if my vote can change the future like maybe when we vote. the right person. >> they are harnessing the power of technology from youtube videos calling on people to vote to mobile phone applications for checking voter registration details. this is myanmar's first general

election since the semi civilian government took over in 2011 and in nearly 50 years of military room. the last election 5 years ago was considered a sham by the international community. prior to that was an election in 1990 won by the opposition, but the military leadership ignored those results and continued to rule. >> they are still powerful. the ruling union solidarity and development party consists of many former generals, wideley perceived to be still loyal to the military. perhaps swlair of the perceptions against it, the party has unveiled some new facesunaware of the perceptions against it, the party has unveiled some new faces such apes lyn for wider appeal. >> people might doubt i can do the job but at the same time, this is a great stunt opportunity. >> it is found in the con -- a great opportunity. >> 25% in parliament gives it an effective veto power. the main opposition party, the

national league for democracy has spearheaded campaign for constitutional reform. >> we want a democratic society. we don't want the military to participate in in party politics. >> at a time government has to operate within, and whether constitutional reform,on the table. >> my manmar pittsburgh steelers beginning. more though come in the newshour. trapped on the front line, we are in the town surrounded by isil as a battle against the

armed group continues. plus our learning the let'sons of katrina is putting the environment in new orleans at risk. can something as simple as knitting change perspectives on migration. our project in senegal trying to do that. jordan spieth's reign as world number 1 comes to an end after 13 days. we will tell you why a little later. ♪

an attack on press freedom. recent thailand, a foreign man thought thought to be involved in this month's bombing in central bangkok. officers found bomb-making materials and several passports when they arrested him at an apartment on the outskirts of the capitol. thousands of malaysians have gathered calling on the prime minister to resign. they want electoral reform and more transparency in politics. let's get more on our top story, egypt's convince of three journalists. peter greste was deported in

february and retried in absent that andrew thomas was with him in australia as he heard the verdict. >> peter greste was with his lawyer in sydney watching for news from cairo via a post on social media from journalists in the courtroom. >> oh, my. >> the verdicts when they came were not what he was hoping for. >> what is your immediate reaction? >> andrew, i am finding it very hard to find the words to describe how i am feeling at the moment. you know, we dmoour there was always a danger because the authorities have faced so much. they have got so much at stake in this, inverted so much in this case. but i am just absolutely devastated for my colleagues in particular. you know, i won't be going back to prison. i am not going to go to egypt.

but my colleagues will and i know what they are going to have to go back to. i know the prison conditions. i know the families they are going to be leaving behind. it breaks my heart to know what they are going to have to go through. >> what are the options from here for you and for the others? >> well, there are two separate path did. the others still have the option to appeal once more to the court of kashsian. they have 60 days to lodge that appeal. but for me, i have no option for appeal because i am not physically there. i don't have to be physically

present the australia an government seems right behind me. i am pleased i have had that expression of support. >> peter, thanks very much. sglufrnling. >> joining me from washington, d.c. is an american egyptian activist imprisoned there for almost two years. two of our colleagues will be going back to jail. you have experienced it. tell us what happened to you and what they can expect going back. >> well, first of all, i would like to, you know, express my sorrow and honestly shock at today's verdict. it's a sad day. it's a sad day for the judiciary system. it's a sad day for freedom. it's a sad day for journalism all over the world, and, you know, my prayers, my heart goes out to the families of peter, with bahar, mohammed fahmy.

and others who were also convicted. it's a sad day. and, you know, i think that the wi what the verdict does, it sends a very dangerous message, and it's a lee best of my knowledge rent insult to the international community . >> why why do you think it went this way? >> excuse me? >> why do you think it went this way be way? what sort of pressure? >> the judiciary system in egypt is a very, very politicized one. so this is not a -- the egyptian regime continues to face no real consequences for its escalating represses, whether it's on journalists. you have 80 plus journalists in egypt and the aj staff are just a representation of that.

40,000 detainees. the judiciary system and the rule of law is used as a fa -- facade. >> why is there no pressure? why is there not suffered pressure on the regi e-mail to stop this from happening? r reg. >> i don't know. i don't know why the international community -- i mean, the lip service some of the -- you know, i am really surprised that the canadiens have not done anything for fahmy and others. again, the international community. you know, it's been clear from day one, especially about this case, that the officials have made it clear to the egyptians, these guys need to be out. and, you know, today, again, a show of that. it's, you know, they are not facing any real consequences just, you know, lip service, and it's kind of like, you know, the

military regime just takes it as a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, kind of thing that, you know, so long as they are not facing consequences, they are going to continue escalating and repress. >> also -- >> can i jump in. >> the message to -- >> freedom for mohammed -- mohammed will be going back to jail. if i could take you back to my original question, you were there. tell us about your experience and what they can expect in the egyptian jails. >> i mean honestly, you know, when i was in there in the beginning when they had started with either the welcoming or the hazing, where personally, i got beat up. i had a broken arm and they were beating me on my broken arm. i had to run through two rows of solids that basically were beating us with batons, with bolts, with whips for two straight hours. and that's just a welcoming process, the hazing process,

initiation process into any jail. t there is complete lack of medical care. there is -- it's just the conditions, it's underground done john, some of the cells don't even have air ventilation. they don't have windows for sunlight to come in. and, you know, when they did that for a while when my own case started getting a little bit of -- a little bit of attention and, you know, there was a little bit of pressure from the embassy and whatnot, they basically designated an entire building for me where they just basically used as a psychological torture chamber where they tried everything from incitement to commit suicide where they would explicitly say, after guards were passing me razors and doctors telling me where to cut myself so i could end their misery and mine to exposing the electric wires and telling me to hold them on with both hands and from that, to

threatening to being assassinated to sleep deprivation to flickering lights to spot lights. >> okay. and all of this just because you were an activist. mohammed sultan, thank you for sharing your experience with us. the story certainly elicits a lot of passion from everybody we speak to. thank you. thank you. >> the tension between colombia and venzuela has increase would. both have recalled ambassadors. thousands of colombians have been deported. virginia lopez has more. >> on friday when the president announced another closure into colombia. >> to clean our country of para military activity, crime, smuggling, drug trafficking, that is why i have decided to extend the closure of tborder w

colombia to sector two. >> the closure of several border crossings began what has been an escalation of tensions between the two countries. diplomatic talks earlier this week failed to ease tensions. both countries have now recalled their ambassadors. people continue to line up for hours waiting for scarce food to arrive. >> closing the border has done nothing. queues are as long as always because it's us venzuelaans who do it to ourselves because selling cheap goods became a way of life. >> heavy foot and pet two sib sid employees for the rise. government insists an em based sector in what they refer to as the oligarchy is to blame. >> the mag toured of i will is it trade taking plates here was above our capacity because we

have subsidized socialists goods, everything was leaving for colombia, food, petrol, everything. >> venzuela authorities report mass seizures of i will is it goods and called the operation a success. mass deportations have angered the colombian government. they insist it's colombia's that brought on the spat. >> the impact of the political dispute has come at a huge personal and financial cost. >> this was an animated town. they have lived here like brothers. now my columbian employees fled or left in fear. >> ties between the two countries run so deep that the border crossing claims closed, construction on this new and

bigger bridge two kilometers away is taking place at full speed. it is a joint project that both countries have said stands as a symbol of their enduring relationship t al jazeera on the border between venzuela and colombia. >> family members of those who decide when a south korea e an ferry capsized has marked 500 days since the sinking. they held a rally until seoul and demanded urgent recoveries of the bodies of nine victims missing. mostly children died when the ferry went down. the captain and several crew members have been jailed for failing to protect the manies. former u.s. president george w. bush says it's time tom celebrate the resurgence of schools in new orleans. he was in louisiana to mark the 10-year anniversary of hurricane katrina. bush was president at the time and blamed for the slow response to the disaster.

as andy gallacher reports, the process of rebuilding is far from over. >> when hurricane katrina hit new orleans al decade ago, it was too much for the city's aging levee system. catastrophic failures of flood walls and levees led to the sub merge he knew of almost the entire city. sten years later, new orleans has invested $14,000,000,000 in pumping stations and higher flood walls. the system is supposed to offer 100 years of protection and it's a project many are proud of. >> it's been done here it gives -- affords us a greater protection than we have ever had before. before, what we had was a system in name only, even in the corps' own words. i am absolutely happy with it. >> reporter: outside the relative safety of the high-tech levee system, it's a different story. fred eberhart grew up here and said it's a unique landscape that's changing fast. >> that low point right there

was a ditch. you couldn't fit this boat in. all of that was land. that was all land back there. all we had was one little ditch that run through here, run through that pass over there. this is destroyed. >> land loss is a critical issue in louisiana. the state is home to almost half the nation's wetlands. erosion is being blamed on oil exploration, storms and bad management. but it could have more deadly consequences. >> billions of dollars are already being spent here on coastal restoration projects, but they can barely keep up with the pace of land loss. >> that's significant for new orleans because these barrier islands act as a buffer to storms, and if they go, it leaves new orleans exposed. >> families like the sereens have been working these waters for generations but now feel like their way of life is under threat. john and his father have already lost 200 acres and say this may just be the start. >> a lot of land, yeah. it will eventually be awhile, years before, you know, but it will go.

there is nothing to stop it. >> new orleans now has a state-of-the-art levee system. what's happening beyond the walls could be the biggest threat in years to come. andy gallagher, al jazeera, new orleans, luke. >> still to come, the head of world act lettics anti-doping department fights back. . >> you can't win. when you do things, you expose, catch cheaters like we are doing and then the conclusion of it is that your sport is dirty.

thank you, jane bolt has won his 100 meter and 200 individual titles, he made the relay. this is the fourth time he won the title. a third time he has won three goals at the world championships. britain's mofara has won the 5,000 meters, the 32-year-old who claimed the 10,000 meters last week now becomes the first athlete to win both events at successive world championships. american ashton eton has won gold in the decath lon break his own world total in 2012. the anti-doping manager, the iaaf says he was shocked at the accusations that they had

covered up test results. earlier this month, british and german media alleged more than 800 athletes had recorded suspicious blood tests. thomas captivil has been speaking to soroman. >> i am shocked these accusations exist. they are groundless and unfair. groundless because we did everything we could at the time to catch the cheaters. we didn't turn a blind eye. we didn't shy away from our responsibility. we did tests when no one was doing tests. we did blood tests when it was not mandatory. now, we are being accused of having, i think, sitting on our ends nus period. and we, i think we vigorously defended ourself. we have and still do it. we have opened our files to the

world at see, which is investigating and a commission has been put in plates. we welcome them in office, opening the file and prove them that we did everything we could at the time based upon the resources we have and based upon the applicable regulatory framework. >> do you find that from continent to continuenent, there is a -- continent why people dope? >> we are a universal sport and we have to deal with 200 countries. every country has a different education message to be given depending upon the situation in the country. so every time we educate, nol educate kenyans as jamaican athletes or russian athletes because the situation is different culturally. >> that's a challenge for us is being able to, as we said before, have a tailor made doping testing program and a taillor made education program. >> fighting doping is perhaps more difficult for you as a sport whereas as sport like

soccer, we are very rarely hear about doping issues in that. does that wiirk you? >> yes. the accusation against us, at the time the blood testing be who was doing blood testing 10 years ago? a handful of organizations. and those should be investigated now. those not doing testing at the time. and in the communication, media, you can't win. so when you do things, you expose, you catch cheaters like cycling is doing and we are doing and the con you collusion is saying your sport is dirt. >> american golfer jordan spieth's reign as world number 1 has come to an end

>> 7 under at the halfway stage. he leads a group of four players by one shot. >> i reached that peak already, and i know it's going to be close enough to where if i just get the job done next week, i will be back in that ranking. but again, that ranking, it's great once you reach it, but it's not something that i am going to live or die on each week. it doesn't really make much of a difference. >> ball now and arsenal have beaten newscastel 1-nil. the short league champions chelsea will take on crystal palace looking for their second win of the season. manchester city will try to make it four wins out of 4. they face watford. >> to play against watford is

the same to play against chelsea, manchester united. i think all of them are teams of the premier leagues. here, if you play with a little less intensity or not enough concentration, everything can win the game. >> barcelona are in action on saturday. they take on malaga at the new camp. they won their opening game against belbal, 1-nil last week. set to play his first game of the season after missing barca's opening because of illness, the 23-year-old scored 29 goals last season in which he helped his club win the treble of premieraliga. i saw him train very well. almost recovered if not fully recovered. it's a normal situation for a player who has been away for two weeks. but he trained very well. he was very good and now, we shall see. >> real madrid will look to get their season going when they play on saturday.

real were held to a goalless draw against another promoted site in their opening match. their new coach expects the return of striker karin to make a big difference. >> he has quality. he can dribble. he can play a 1-2. he can run in to space. he can do everything and everything very well. we have to give him consistency and he has to work towards that, and we will try to help him. i have set him that goal. he has agreed to score between 20 to 25 goals and give assists. >> cricket now a century to help india recover on day 2 of the third test in colombo having been reduced to 180 for 7 in their first innings of what's been al test, managed to reach 292 for 8 at stumps. the winner will take the series with the side's level 1-all. that's all of your sport for

now. jean, back to you. >> thank you very much for that. deep in the remote countryside of senegal, a unique art center is aiming to bring inspiration to villages. it's called "the thread." the ambition is to widen the appeal of modern art away from hubs such as london, new york and berlin. nicholas has the story. >> syria is a top fashion design ter. a resident artist at the thread at a remote village in senegal. she didn't know what to expect. she became inspired by the local fashion. she started knitting hats as well as muslim skull caps. the unexpected happened. curious young men like jalo joined in. >> why not knit my own hats? we are practicing muslims. we need this to cover our heads. it's fun and useful. >> she calls this a creative

conversation. no words. no judgment. just letting inspiration do the talking. >> my favorite thing about being here is that there is hardly any phone reception. there is no internet. so you can just turn your phone off and have 100% focus in just being. >> western ngos and development workers have come and gone in this region. the art center is a brain child of this village doctor. he says people here needless aid more art. >> we have lots of judge men uninspired who are tempted to migrate to europe illegally, doing it not just for money but for the adventure. i hope the art center can remind them adventure can be found at home. >> i have a na bovich is a film maker with a fashion for the light and countryside here, a passion she wants to share with the villagers. this community is not accustomed to visitors, let alone

contemporary artists but the people behind the thread believe that this might bring some attention to this area and, perhaps, elicit some inspiration for the young men who would otherwise be >> to strike a conversation and quietly start knitting. nicholas hawk, al jazeera, senegal. >> that marks the end of this news hour. the outrage and disgust at the sentencing of three arningsz journalists to three years january scan al jazeera in the al jazeera journalists to three

years in jail continues. we will see you then.

>> egypt sentences al jazeera's journalists to three years in prison as their retrial in cairo. >> live in doha. also on the program. leaders in thailand arrest a suspect and seize bomb-making materials after the attack on a baca bangkok shrine. there is something rot no one