civil war there. . this is al jazeera. hello, i'm lauren taylor, live from london. jailed al jazeera journalists are pardoned in egypt. >> this whole nightmare is over. we can live like normal people and go home and enjoy my life. martin wintercorn resigns as the fall-out from the emission

scandal continues. the pope is welcomed by barack obama at the white house. rugby reality has bitten. they are taking a hit after a heavy loss against scotland. jailed al jazeera journalists have been pardoned by the egyptian president. they have be freed from a group of 100 prisoners. none were granted to the seven who were sentence. >>reporter: freedom at last for al jazeera producer and free-lance producer. >> where are we going to start? we're going to travel the world,

we're going to celebrate, we're going to party. our family's have suffered so much and we're happy that they took this action and released us. >> this whole nightmare is over. the whole nightmare is over. we can live like normal people and go back home and enjoy my life. >> reporter: it is the end of a long ordeal, which began in 2013. he was appearing on an australian tv show when he heard the news. >> he has been pardoned. >> if he's got a pardon, i hope it means that they are out, too, because it's hard to imagine -- i'm sorry -- i mean, we've been fighting -- fighting for the past eight months for this. >> reporter: they face charges,

including aiding the now-banned muslim brotherhood. they threw out their convictions and ordered a retrial. in february, he was deported to australia. they were released on bail later than month but were unable to leave egypt. they were still serving a kind of sentence. it inspired a global campaign of susport. >> the issue of the al jazeera journalist in egypt, we've been cleared that they should be released. >> reporter: they returned them to prison, the retrial was supposed to give them a second opportunity to clear their names. justice was denied, yet again. the arrest and detention of them damaged egypt's reputation

abroad. there are other al jazeera staff. >> we're not hearing there's a pardon, but it is an egyptian holiday today. we're wondering whether the paperwork has not been released. if we're not going to be getting a pardon, we'll be lobbying the assembly to anyone who will listen and say we were just journalists doing our jobs in cairo. >> reporter: the happy closure of one chapter. and just a short time ago, al jazeera journalist joined me on the line from cairo. >> i would like to thank everybody, first, for calling my immediate release. i'm still in a shock. i can't believe i'm home with my

family. i'm still in a shock. last night -- like now and 24 hours ago, i was talking with family and our co-dependent about our appeal and what our plans are. now, when we heard this, it was a family visit and when the visit was over, i returned back and they said the president pardoned you. i couldn't believe it. i thought it was a joke, this is not a thing for joke. my kids are telling me, okay, no more of this bad work. when they came to visit me, they came to the same place they used to visit me before and they were so upset. now, when they see me, they start celebrating and shouting, especially my youngest son, he started calling me daddy and hugging me and he didn't leave me at all. when i told my children, my children start hugging me and they don't want to leave. seriously, they don't want to leave me alone.

i can't talk right now. one is hanging on my leg and one is on my back. one is in my arms now. i still believe this time, when i went -- i was sent back in prison, i don't know, it was a bit weird -- it was not hard, like the first time, because -- i start to realize and understood this was for press freedom. i will be back, i will be in the same position as other journalists who are still behind bars, fighting for press freedom. it was really hard but in my heart, i felt like this is our fight. this is the fight of every single professional journalists. we should stand strong. there are lots of great people around the world, standing behind us and calling for our immediate release. this kept me strong.

i want to say that we still have other colleagues behind bars all over the world. they are still going through the same ordeal and their families are suffering and they are suffering. so, the fight is not over. the fight is not over. our fight will be over when every single person is out of jail. >> "we're delighted from them both, and their families." it's hard to celebrate as this whole episode should have not happened. they've lost nearly two years of their lives for journalism. their families and careers have been affected. we urge the egyptian authority to quash their cases and get on with their lives." .

from the volkswagen cheating scandal, he resigned and is trying to get to the bottom of who was responsible for the scheme. >>reporter: a trio of volkswagen board members made the announcement. martin wintercorn was out. >>translator: part of this new beginning is for him to step down and the board acknowledges that with great respect. we want to stress the point that he had no knowledge of the manipulation of emissions. he took responsibility and volkswagen needs a fresh start. >> reporter: they were pursuing an internal investigation into how software found its way into a 11 million vehicles.

>>translator: we have the impression that criminal acts have played a role here. we will make sure the people concerned will be prosecuted. >>reporter: german's, including those who live in headquarter city are disturbed by the scandal that has soiled their reputation for quality products. >>translator: they all new about it, that's the sad thing about it. that is criminal dealing, if you ask me. it is like a mafia. >>translator: it can't be true that such a global firm ruins their image like this. >>translator: i am disgusted. just imagine, this is happening at the top. >> reporter: in the u.s., a chicago attorney is taking

action on behalf of volkswagen owners. >> the allegation is that the consumer has been harmed for the full purchase price, plus the damages with that. it would be the entire purchase price. the impact is just, you know, massive. >> reporter: german prosecutors plan a criminal investigation and in the u.s., vw could face charges of wire fraud and lying to regulators. a u.s. lawmaker demanded stiff punishments. >> there should be prosecutions and corporate executives, ought to be going to jail. >> reporter: they have already paid a heavy price for the scandal, with its stock falling and billions of dollars worth of fines luming over it. the biggest cost in the company cannot be measured in dollars or euros, that is, the loss of its

reputatio reputation. first of all, do you think it's likely we'll find other car makers have been up to these kinds of tricks? >> it is possible. there are many car manufactures that do talk to each other. this may not be the last we hear. >> what about diesel? they are told to buy because it is better for the environment. is it the death now, for diesel? >> in europe, it's about a 50/50 between petroleum and diesel. there would be a switch or a sway towards petroleum. >> one of the things some of the countries are doing is saying diesel cars were banned from city centers. some english cities are looking

at moving towards reducing the number of diesel cars. it's quite confusing for consumers. so what are they supposed to think? >> there has been an amount of pressure of diesel engines. this is going to compound the problem. customers who own diesel cars, hang on and wait and see. >> don't go selling it straight away? >> exactly. >> could we see development on hybrid or electric cars? >> many petrol engines are just as efficient as diesel and in some cases, a lot cleaner as well. yes, we could see an increase. >> to go back to volkswagen, how damaging is this? can they recover?

>> they built their reputation over the last 50 years and have reliability and honesty. they can get over this, but it's going to be a long time. >> remind us, they don't make engines for volkswagen, there are other cars that still have these engines. how much of a spill-over is this going to have? >> in america, it is volkswagen and audi. we could see things lithat have the same engine. >> there has been a call for a big investigation, europe-wide. how long is that going to take? >> well, there's been a lot of calls for them to take a look at itself, with mpg. they are quoting fuel

consumption figures in brochure and customers are not getting anywhere near the same level of claim. it's an interesting problem. they're really going to have to start looking at it to get trust in customers. >> thank you. coming up from london, interim president is returning to power. chinese president reassures economic reforms and fighting cyber crime. in sport, we'll hear from a rugby team. f . european nations are given an extra $1 billion for

refugees. the meeting comes a day after european administrators pushed through an agreement on how to relocate 100, 000 refugees. it was opposed by four countries. arriving at the meeting, hungary's prime minister says they have clear-cut rules on border controls. >> we have a european union who signed it and set clearly how we had to do it. it's mandatory, it's an obligation. if the prime minister will say i should not do that, there's no way to control the borders, i can find another political solution. now we have a clear-cut solution and a legal position and they still exists which means i have to fulfill directly. jackie has been following today's developments in

brussels. >> reporter: one thing that this meeting, on wednesday, is intended to do is actually look at some of the more practical measures to put in place to restrict the number of people entering the eu or install better controls on who is entering. there will be discussions about deploying new eu forces to help the police, the immigration in countries on the front line, like greece and italy, who have been struggling to cope with the number of people coming in, obviously, that is controversial. should the greeks and italians be policing their frontiers or europe? another thing will be the desire to pledge more money to some of the countries threw whom the

refugees travel like turkey, jordan and syria who have been carrying the biggest burden so far. a lack of funding meant that the un world food program had to suspend food. it means 1/3 of syrians in jordan will receive no help. >> reporter: they used to survive because of the united nations world food program. it was $1.5 a day, but enough to get by. they small amount has been cut off. it's illegal for immigrants to work in jordan. they take turns while the other works. they earn just enough to buy baby milk, eggs and yogurt. >>translator: we have no more fears for the future. >> reporter: the world food program says it is seriously

underfunded and has to make life and death decisions about who to feed and who to cut off. his family of 11 are in the same position. he works illegally on a nearby farm. >>translator: i was faced always to return to syria because i'm slaved here. my boss makes me work 13 hours a day for only $14. is it enough for my family? >> reporter: food and security levels are sky rocketing. they live under the poverty line. after losing their food assistance, refugees say they have lost faith. those who work for humanitarian agencies are frustrated because they are no longer able to maintain their services and are worried that some refugees will go back. it's a fateful decision they may

take. >> people are telling us they have lost hope for a better future. many people are considering returning to war in syria. those people in the worst situation say they will risk their lives to reach europe. >> reporter: in jordan, the authorities struggled to cope. now, those resources are also drying up, along with any hope. pope francis is on his first-ever trip to the united states. he's spending day one in washington, d.c., where he has been speaking with president barack obama. we are following his historic visit. >> reporter: pope francis is overwhelmingly popular in the united states.

that was clear by the welcome. 11,000 invited guests, here to witness all the pageantry. he arrived in a fiat, skipping the traditional limousine. >> your humility, your embrace, the generosity of your words and spirit, we see a living example of jesus's teachings. moral authority comes through words and deeds. >> reporter: pope francis is going to try to use that authority to spur action, focusing most of his remarks on climate change. >> when it comes to our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history. we still have time to make the

change needed to bring about sustainability and development. >> reporter: the pope doesn't need to convince the president, he already believes in climate change. they want to convince followers that they need to act and push their lawmakers to do more. he's also in washington, d.c. what came out of that speech? >> reporter: this is causing a great deal of anger. he addressed the bishops in the last hour. he also addressed the issue of the child abuse scandal, which the u.s. catholic church has been embroiled in. it was found not only that priests abused children across the country, but there was people covering that abuse up.

pope francis addressed the bishops and said, i'm conscience. i support your generous commitments to bring healing to victims. the largest group representing victims of catholic groups has fired back, this is from snap, we're sad that he claims that u.s. bishops have shown courage. they -- for the survivors of the abuse, we have talked to them and they say pope francis has said some encouragement. they wonder, what more advice does he need to actually act? they go there's a huge paper trail among the vatican which

knows who the abusing priests are. that's their point. clearly as yet, he has talked about zero tolerance but has not done enough for the abused in this country. >> what's going to be happening at the basilica? >> reporter: this is an interesting case of what the pope says anddoes. he is about to canonize. pope francis waved the second one needed. he's the man for brought genocide to the coastal californian tribes. they were always completely wiped out. we know the missions weren't these places where native americans went to be baptized.

they were forced later. once they were inside the mission, they weren't allowed out. there was cruelty. so native americans are a little confused. pope francis apologized. they say he was a good man, in bad times, and shouldn't be judged by his times and that he protected native americans. in the end, let's face it, as far as the catholic church is concerned, they were given eternal life. in the end, you know, that should be sufficient. >> thank you very much. chinese president is another high-profile visitor to the united states at the moment. he's in seattle, where he's been finalizing deals with boeing,

who is based in the city. they want to deepen investment ties and commit to financial reforms and an open economy and talked about cyber security. >>translator: the international community on the basis of mutual respect and mutual trust must work together to create a open cyber space. china is ready to set up a mechanism with the united states on fighting cyber crimes. more than 20 people have been killed in a bomb attack. up to 150 were injured. the group has been fighting to establish a state in north east nigeria for about six years. he has given up and the coup has come to an end. interim president announced his

return to power on wednesday, after being taken hostage last week. he's realized that it does not have the support of the people. >>translator: we fall together in misfortune, we have freedom now that i am free, i am returning to work and returning the legitimate government. they are taking back the exercise of the power of the state. still ahead on the program, we're in moscow where one of the biggest mosques in europe has finally opened after decades of construction work. >> it's not over until it's over. p

the top stories, jailed al jazeera journalists have been released from prison, following a presidential pardon in egypt. martin wintercorn resigns.

pope francis is calling for furth firth -- further action on climate change is. let's return to our top story and our released journalists. thank you very much for being with us. what's your reaction to the pardon and the release? >> hi, hello. well, in fact, they were extremely happy to hear about this news. i mean, so it was roth -- rather unexpected it come out today and we're happy to hear that these journalists were able to walk free out of prison. >> do you think this is because of the visit to the un? >> yes, it was perfectly chosen, this time, since this was the

muslim festativity and also it came out a few hours before a trip to new york to address the un general assembly. >> how much difference do you think media campaigns had or was it economics in the end that pressed the president to make this decision? >> it shows perfectly how campaigning can work sometimes for pressuring authorities. if they have decided to include the -- journalists, it is because of this case. we would have hope that other journalists have been included. they didn't receive the same coverage, the same international coverage, we're not as lucky, i

guess. >> even for al jazeera, there are still seven who haven't been pardon who have been sentenced. what do you think the future is for them? do you think this is progress or a decision from the egyptian government? >> i guess this presidential pardon is a good step, but it doesn't mean that we are not concerned about the future of the press freedom in countries. regarding the other six -- seven journalists who were tried, we're not sure about -- about what will happen, in their case, or what will happen with the other journalists who are imprisoned in the country. we hope that it's a start and that the regime will take into

consideration the -- the -- i mean, the -- the international standards and the respect the promises he made last year and will probably make this year to respect, to guarantee the freedom of press and the respect of all kind of human rights. >> okay, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. in iraq, they have closed down its elementary schools. 200 cases of the disease have been reported. >> reporter: with so many people packed together in harsh conditions, the fear is very real. several cases have been reported in this camp. she is a widow, her husband was

killed when isis took over their house. her son is now suffering from cholera. >>translator: my youngest son was vomiting and had diarrhea, we're living in taushl -- terrible conditions. >> reporter: clean water and sanitation is key here. what people are doing is using tanks like these and they're filling them full of water and adding chlorine tablets to them. the chlorine tablets are in short supply and the demand is risin rising. >>translator: we have implemented strict measures to contain the outbreak with mobile clinics and we check water cleanliness. >> reporter: with conditions

becoming more desperate, few take comfort in what the authorities are saying. they disputed this. israeli army claimed she was shot as she tried to stab a soldier at a check point. they say she was shouting at her before shooting her. no israeli soldiers were hut in the incident. president vladimir has opened the mosque. thousands of muslims were there to celebrate the holiday. >>reporter: the moscow cathedral mosque, sun-splashed in gold and marble. they say it's one of the largest mosques in europe. it can hold 10, 000 of the faith

faith -- faithful. hundreds of political and spiritual leaders attended the ceremony. among them, the turkish president and a palestinian leader. most of the $170 million cost came from a wealthy russian oil tycoon. the mosque took ten years. they have plans to build an even bigger one on the outskirts of the capital. they hope the new mosque will be seen as a measure for good in the volatile regions. it represents russia's own efforts to develop muslim

education. they hope it will resonate in the middle east, especially in areas where they are anxious to improve their standing. >> at the moment, we want to do something, in arab direction, muslim direction, it's necessary, because of general political situations, global situation. >> reporter: appreciation of the cathedral will be important. the new mosque is a vehicle that helps russia reposition itself in the middle east, as it expands its military footprint in syria. it's a tool for negotiation, it's a sign for good intention. as mr. putin tries to persuade other countries in the middle east to join his coalition against the common enemy, isil.

egypt will provide two warships to france. all ships were orded by russia at a cost of $1.3 billion. france scrapped the deal last year, as tensions were at their highes highest. he has announced a surprise trip to cuba to conduct peace talks with the armed forces of culumbia rr. at a meeting, it follows pope francis's visit where he urged both sides to end tension. what more do we know about them?

>> reporter: i can confirm that the president will be meeting with the rebels top military commander, here in havana in two and a half hours. they are expected to make the announcement that a transitional accord, an agreement on how to punish rebels who are responsible for gross human rights violations. this has been the most difficult points of all in the peace process, the rebels had refused to be punished. thcolombian pubc opinion demands there be punishment so this is a major,

major breakthrough, it will be announced very shortly. it does seem to improve the last major stumbling block to end more than 50 years of civil strife, which has taken 220,000 lives throughout that period. >> what role did pope francis play in this breakthrough? >> reporter: well, that's very interesting. the pope, himself, did not play a role in the details of the accord but he did make a major contribution and that is, three days ago, here in the plaza of revolution, he said, we cannot afford, we have no right to fail again in the process for peace and reconciliation. this gives ammunition for the rebels and the government for those who are opposed on the far

right or far left within colombia, they're a very catholic company so the support of the pope is important for this to move forward. >> thank you for that live update in cuba. ethiopians are being urged to return home to work for the economy. the government's attempts to whew them back home has been trouble. >>reporter: life's pretty good. after living and working in the united states for almost 20 years, they've come back to ethiopia and opened a night club. >> becoming an international city. in my experience, working in the

service industry, it is efficient for me. >> reporter: ethiopians left throughout the 1970s and 80s. since that was overthrown in 1991, the country's enjoyed years of relative stability and investment from abroad is pouring. there are buildings like this. ethiopia has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. if it is going to tackle issues of poverty, it has to attract investment from 2.5 ethiopians living abroad. $3 billion a year in remittencys. it's per capita is only around $550. they continue to encourage

ethiopians living abroad. >> they have to take part in investment, in trade, in technology transfer, maybe? in looking for markets, this is what they are doing now. we are brick-by-brick. this is a process. >> reporter: the international experience is vital. >> they will also bring, what i think is actually more needed in africa and ethiopia, the knowledge, the know-how and the global exposure and the world-class way of doing things they bring to ethiopia. you have to look at it from two aspects. growth of the ethiopian country,

when you see investment coming in large volumes and an effort by the state to attract these people and show them what's going on, it's starting to resonate. >> reporter: that's certainly true, a time to celebrate and contribute to a place they always called home. south korea's labor unions have clashed with police at the capal seoul. the union opposes reforms that would allow companies to fire employees for being incompetency. in indonesia, the number of cases of inspections is increases. 12 -- 120,000 have

been diagnosed. the forest fires are flash and burn practices. soldiers in the southern philippines are looking for captured tourists. tw tw twro. >> reporter: closed-circuit tv show our hotel guests were abducted. a group of around 11 heavy-armed men then sped off in a boat with the hostages. the canadians were seized, along with a resort manager and a local woman. police say, pursuit operations are well under way. aircraft and navy boats have been deployed. the identity of the attackers is unknown and it's unclear if the

victims were chosen at random or targeted. >> this is an investigation. we cannot predict this will be the outcome of the investigation. >> reporter: the resort is just barely opened. 30 tourists were reportedly checked in. they've been evacuated and some staff think the hotel will shut down. the last attempt was in 2001 when they tried and failed to abduct tourists from a nearby resort. they have endured decades of groups, claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced millions more. they have been spared of the violence until now. >> should the time come that we will be able to get near them, that will be a situation, a

decisiveness and it will be making -- >> reporter: police have an artist sketch of one of the gunman. it raises fears among many that the search and rescue operation may be a long one. more to come after the break, including, we'll have the latest from saudi arabia where more than two million pilgrims have gathered. just ahead in sports, why australia won't be entirely happy with their opening win at year's world cup. f

. thousands of muslims are gathering today. the journey is believed to cleanse the faithful of sin and bring them closer to god. they must move through rituals around mecca. more than two million muslims will take part from all around the world. the final rituals began on tuesday and will last for five days. on wednesday, muslims will gather to praise god and ask for forgiveness. >>reporter: this is the essence, if a pilgrim missed being here, he or she will have their hearts invalidateed. this is considered the pillar.

we have about two million pilgrims gathered here. they will be asking god for forgiveness, blessings. by the end of the day, around sunset, the pilgrims will leave and continue their rituals. having two million people in one place poises a security threat. they have deployed more than 50,000 security troops to secure the areas. they have had a health hazard, you have two million people, you need to deploy a lot of medics. we understand around 15,000 medical teams are deployed. we'll have much more of this on our website. you can walk through all the main sites with a 360-degree

view, including the cover. that's on our website. time for our sports now. after the shock win against africa, it has bitten japan. they took a hit after a heavy loss against scotland. japan beaten 45-10. >> reporter: after causing the biggest upset in world cup history, japan went into this match hoping for another win. japan started well, as he puts a first try over. japan's defense stayed tight and while their opponents couldn't make it over, he saw scotland going and leading 12-7.

as things were about to get much worse for japan as he muscled over. that opening try was to kick off a second half, scoring route. tommy executing this beautiful intercept before running in a brilliant, 60-meter try for the scotts. even just four days to recover from the win with south africa, japan was visibly tired. finished off, another one right under the pole. scotland, 45, japan, 10. despite that loss, japan has a chance to reach the

quarterfinals. next up for them. >> you know, they just build each other up. you know, that's what we're hoping for coming forward. it'll be interesting. they have seven days against us. what comes around, goes around. australia made not a convincing stop with a 28-13 win over fiji. this could be crucial in deciding who gets in. they need to score four tries. they are managing just three. david scored two of them. two-time world champions next play. japan may have shocked rugby by beating south africa.

the africans face new zealand in a match that will be played at london's olympic stadium on thursday. >> reporter: it's a minor miracle that the rugby team reached this world cup. they needed to win their last match by an unlikely 53 points. they won 89-10 and reached their fifth world cup. they have an opening game against new zealand. >> we have plays to come together to make a team they'll be proud of. >> . >> reporter: it's been an eye-opener, they have farmers, engineers and diamond traders

and train until 5:00 am. jack is one of the world's best forwards, a giant of rugby. >> i think that's the hardest part is to motivate guys and to say the right things when things are going south. you do lose a lot of faith when things are going really bad and i've been in the lost world cup, we had the same scenario and we take a beating like this and we're bleeding, how do we stop this bleeding? i think the best way to do that is to lead by example. >> reporter: you wouldn't expect the world champions to be complacent. >> rugby's a funny thing and sports a funny things a you report out. >>reporter: the good news is that they are resting 12 of their first-choice team after they had a tough opening victory

against argentina. it's unlikely to bring much. they are told by the president, give them hell. the spirit is there, but their first-ever world cup victory, that might be for another day. they are in spanish lead action. if they can score, he will become the all-time record scorer. barcelona are in action now, their game is at half time and they are trailing 2-0. they started their season with four straight wins. eight games in the english league cup coming up this wednesday, about to kick off. an important game for them after

liverpool's stumbling start. >> it's massive. it's up to the players to get fans going. we provoke them be playing attra attractive football and scores goals. and yogi bara has died at the age of 90. >> it's not over until it's over, kid. >> it inspired yogi bear and spent most of his career at the new york yankee. that is all your sports. we'll hand you back to lauren in london. that's it for me now. do stay with us, if you can.

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>> jailed al jazeera journalists mohamed fahmy, baher mohammed are pardoned in egypt. >> this whole nightmare is over. the whole nightmare is over. we can live like normal people and go back home, enjoy my life and that's it. that's it. ♪ >> hello there, i'm barbara serra. you're watching al jazeera live from london. e.u. leaders pledge an extra billion dollars for the refugee crisis as refugees