>> announcer: this is al-jazeera. >> hello there. good with to have you with us. welcome to "the newshour." i'm live in al-jazeera headquarters in doha. a third day of russian airstrikes inside syria. turkey accuses russia of escalating the conflict in syria. the prime minister says he'll talk to putin about civilian casualties. plus -- >> we talked about this after

klein, after tucson, after newtown, after aurora, after charleston. >> frustration from president obama after another mass shooting in the u.s. and forced into wedlock. we're in niger, the country with the highest rate of child marriage in the world. >> russian airstrikes inside syria are continuing for a third day. monitoring groups say overnight air raids killed 12 fighters. opposition groups in italy are also said to have been targeted. turkey has asked russia to stop attacking syrian opposition groups largely supported by the west. it says moscow's military intervention will only escalate the fighting on-the-ground. france, which has also started airstrikes against isil this

week, says russia shouldn't target groups other than isil. the french president has been meeting russian president vladimir putin in paris. >> for over a week, world leaders have been in new york, and all the key figures have all said their priorities is to get peace efforts going in syria. while they've been here, what's changed? the answer is this -- whether they were timed to coincide with this global gathering or not, russian airstrikes in syria are a game changer. the u.s. says they add gasoline to the fire of the war already 4 1/2 years old. russia says it's a positive step, aimed at those they label terrorists. but given that the russians were invited in by president assad, does that just mean all his enemies, even those groups directly supported by the u.s.? i tried to get clarity from the russian foreign minister. >> in addition to isil, which specific groups in syria do you believe to be terrorists? >> well, if it looks like a

terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, if it walkings like a terrorists, if it fights like a terrorists, it's a terrorist, right? the representatives of the coalition command have always been saying that their targets are isil and other terrorist groups. this is basically our position as well. we see eye-to-eye with the coalition on this one. >> but on the biggest issue of all, president assad's future role, there's no agreement. to explain the reason for russia's policy on this, mr. lavrov used the recent history of the arab world. >> saddam hussein. is iraq a better place, a safer place? qaddafi, murdered in, you know, in front of the viewers. israel a better place?

can we try to draw lessons, you know? >> there are two new initiatives that have been put forward during the u.n. general assembly, but in my view neither is one that can stop the bloodshed in syria. one is a new draft resolution russia is putting forward to the u.n. security council on countering isil. the idea is the idea of a contact group on syria involving key international and regional players. but as the u.s.' allies on syria arrive for a meeting, a diplomat from one of the countries said a contact group is usually used to advance an agreed plan, but right now there's very little the u.s. and russia agree on, and despite over 250,000 deaths there's no international strategy. >> we're monitoring the situation in syria from neighboring lebanon. we're joined live from beirut. we've seen more airstrikes in syria.

bring us up to date with those latest bombardments. >> well, yes. like you mentioned, a new wave of airstrikes. the russian defense ministry saying they carried out 18 sortees targeting 12 positions of isil. this is what the russian defense ministry is saying. they're pointing out that the strikes happened in the provinces including aleppo. what we heard from the observatory for human rights, airstrikes targeted two main isil strongholds, but there was no confirmation from the russians on the airstrikes in those two areas. really this campaign is -- there's a lot of controversy surrounding this campaign. a lot of people in the opposition who we've been speaking to are questioning, you know, what is the objective? what is russia's objective? if they're fighting isil, then why are they targeting places where isil is not present? why are they targeting places

where syrian opposition groups fighting the syrian government are located? for them russia has joined the fight on the side of assad. they believe that russia's goal is to eliminate whatever is left of the so-called moderate opposition to tell the international community that they only have two choices, the syrian government or isil. but what is also important is we need to look at the map. we need to see where exactly those russian airstrikes have been taking place. it kind of surrounds the regime strong hold in the coastal area, almost trying to help the government protect those areas, because they have to remember the rebels were on the advance -- were on the offensive over recent months. they've taken the whole province of idlib, pushing south. the government has had a hard time keeping them back. all these airstrikes will help the government survive, protect

the government's heartland along the coast. so these strikes are continuing. the opposition is asking a lot of questions. in fact, they're calling the russians aggressors. some of them are questioning whether or not the u.s. is actually colluding with the russians, because for them what they've been telling me why aren't we seeing any actions from the americans, apart from words saying "we're expressing great concern." >> thank you for that update from beirut. the turkish president says he will be speaking to putin about the civilian deaths in syria as a result of the russian airstrikes. >> translator: i'll personally tell him how concerned i am about the airstrikes. i will urge him, being two friendly countries, to reconsider his steps. turkey is the most affected country by the suffering in the region. russia does not have borders with syria, but turkey does.

i'm concerned about what's going on. turkey hosts 2 million refugees from syria, and turkey, not russia, takes care of them. i want to understand from him why is he so interested in syria. i'll remind him the results of our recent meeting in moscow in addition to the meetings between our two foreign ministers. we will together evaluate the next period. >> a former turkish foreign minister joins us. russia says it's tackling isil, and that's the turkish goal as well. what are the main turkish concerns over the russian airstrikes? >> of course turkish concerns are entirely different, contradicting to a large extent with the russian concerns. turkey supports moderate

opposition factions in syria, while for russia, these moderate, or less moderate factions are also part of the targets, because initially, at the very beginning, russia has already pointed out that it is going to take as a target not only the isil, but the other terrorists, and their definition of terrorist is the definition that the syrian authorities use. so at the beginning, they already said that it was going to target non-isil targets as well. this is what they are doing. >> are you worried that russia's motive is to support president assad? >> well, i think russia has more than one target there. one is to help the syrian regime, because thanks to this

support russia will be able to settle down in syria to begin with. then from there to expand to other middle eastern countries, perhaps one thinks. secondly there's another target which appears more important for russia than helping syria. it is to kill the terrorists of the russian origin, or russian citizens from the northern caution origin in a distant country rather than killing them within the russian territory. so it is targeting all the other factions in syria so that it can reach -- it can prevent these terrorists from coming back to russia and commit terrorist

acts. >> it looks like russia will be present in syria for quite some time. it's saying that the airstrikes will take three to four months. could that change if there is sufficient pressure from leaders like the turkish president? >> well, if you -- you said that he may stay three to five months. it may be through three to five decades also that they may stay there, because i believe that russia wants to use this in order to settle down in syria to begin with, and expand from there to other places, if possible. but it is not only for the elimination of the terrorists threat, which is directed at the regime in syria. it is more than that. and whether turkey initiatives or turkey's request, turkey's

warning to russia would make any sense, turkey and russia have already decided to compartmentalize their relations, which means they wouldn't like to see this affect negatively their cooperation in other fields. they are trying to do it, because whether there are divergences in one area you cannot easily prevent these negative things affect the areas of cooperation. it may even turn to a clash. >> thank you very much indeed for speak with us live from istanbul. >> regional players like saudi arabia say the only solution to

the syrian conflict is for president bashar assad to go. >> the only solution to this crisis is a political one, based on the geneva one declaration, to maintain the unity of syria and preserve its state institutions, both civil and military, and to form a transitional council, where bashar assad, or those whose hands have been stained with syrian blood, have no place. >> syria's only agenda during a meeting in paris between the french president and vladimir putin, angela merkle, and others attended to discuss the situation in ukraine. this meeting initially called to discuss yo ukraine, but now talg about the russian airstrikes. >> absolutely, because this is

the first contact the russian president vladimir putin has had with western leaders since ordering airstrikes on syria. in the last 24 hours tensions between russia and the west have grown significantly, particularly after russia accepted they would be willing to hit targets other than isil in syria. that's raised some concerns of the united states that u.s.-backed syrian rebels will also be targeted by the russians, too. we gathered that bilateral talks are going on behind closed doors here between president putin and chancellor merkle of germany, along with the french president also. the message from western leaders will be that russia's bombardment in syria is indiscriminate, and it could end up prolonging the war in syria even further. the response from russia, though, will clearly be that

only by supporting bashar al-assad's attempt to quell the opposition by isil will there be hope of lasting peace in syria. as the russians said, they intend to stay on, continuing with airstrikes in syria for at least another three to four months. >> okay. obviously the crisis in ukraine laceration going to be discussed there -- also going to be discussed in a four-way summits with those four leaders. how are they hoping to turn the cease-fire currently in place into a permanent lasting peace? >> well, in many ways the normandy four have a lot to be happy about. the cease-fire in eastern ukraine is holding. it came into force on september 1st. that's essentially given some breathing room for the politicians here to be able to work out how to push ahead with finding a permanent peace, but it's not going to be easy. they now have to work out exactly how to implement aspects

of the minsk two agreement, signed earlier in the year, but largely fell by the wayside as fighting erupted once again. now it's a second chance. within the minsk protocol are 13 different points that range from withdrawing heavy weaponry to having elections in separatist parts of the country. we're a long way from any kind of reconciliation, but the hope is that it will provide a new life, a new degree of stability for people living in eastern ukraine. how it's likely to pan out in the region. here's an early report. >> the latest cease-fire in eastern ukraine has opened up vital space for diplomacy. when the normandy four meet here in paris, they're looking for lasting peace. when the leaders of russia, france, germany and ukraine, met in minsk in february, they spent more than 15 hours locked in talks before announcing a breakthrough. but the truce collapsed almost immediately amid further

fighting. last month, both sides agreed to try again, offering thousands of people trapped by the conflict the hope of a return to normal life. so far the cease-fire appears to be holding. now the normandy four has a chance to give the minsk protocol another go. it includes 13 key points, including the withdrawal of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters from the conflict zone, the control of the russian/ukrainian broader, and regional elections. but with the tensions as they currently are the road ahead is challenging. >> the key issue here is the control of the ukrainian/russian border, because ukraine believes once they have control over this border then really they're controlling what's going in around out, so they're controlling the supply lines from russia into the rebel-held region. >> in return for signing the

minsk agreement, russia is expected to ask for an easing of international sanctions that have hit the country's economy hard. since the conflict in eastern ukraine began last april, 8,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed. towns and villages have been laid waste by indiscriminate shelling. the fact that neither side wants to continue fighting is an important first step. lasting recovery and reconciliation may be harder to reach. so two conflicts on the table here, negotiations between the normandy four. firstly ukraine, and now, of course, syria, that's taken on a newfound prominence given russia's airstrikes in the country. and questions now also exist as to what extent russia's involvement in syria are likely to have on finding a lasting peace in eastern ukraine too.

now that russia has turned its foreign policy gaze from one to the other, it raisings a whole new series of questions about exactly whether or not lasting peace will ever be attainable in eastern europe. >> neave, thanks for that, in paris there. staying with us. you're watching the al-jazeera news hour. still to come, israeli police investigate the scene where an israeli couple was shot dead near the west bank. plus, in sports, all the action from the rugby world cup.

fire indiscriminate. >> we have confirmation that the shooter is deceased. he's a 20-year-old male. >> after being searched, students were put on buses and evacuated while police searched for possible booby traps. the leading national prosecutor in oregon said investigators have been looking into reports that the shooter had issued a race-related manifesto on social media before the crime. this was the 45th school shooting at an american school this year. since the 2012 massacre of 20 young children, and 6 adults at a connecticut grade school, the u.s. has seen 142 school shootings. but tighter gun controls have been ruled out by the republican-led congress where gun rights advocates hold sway. president obama vented his frustration with that opposition. >> we spent over a trillion dollars and passed countless laws and devote entire agencies to preventing terrorist attacks on our soil. and rightfully so.

and yet we have a congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths. >> yet despite support for expanded background checks on purchasers, a recent national poll showed that for the first time more americans say protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership. tom ackerman, al-jazeera, washington. >> well, gun-related deaths are increasing in the u.s. thursday's attack in oregon brings the number of mass shootings this year alone to 294. that's more than one a day. since president obama was elected for a second term in 2012, nearly 1,000 mass shootings have happened in the u.s. in the last two years alone, over 1200 people have been killed, but those don't include other incidents of gun violence, which are have resulted in

10,000 people losing their lives this year alone. hurricane joaquin is a category 4 storm. residents are making last-minute preparations for before the storm hits. the system is moving toward the u.s. east coast. no casualties have been reported so far. well, what's the latest on the hurricane? >> it's the strongest atlantic hurricane since 2010, five years then. this is a bit of a beast. it's unusual to get two major hurricanes in a strong el nino year. so that's just one for the record books. what we've got at the moment there, you can see the storm just to the bottom of your picture.

a long cloud up the eastern sea of the u.s., into the canadian maritime, producing heavy rain over the last three or four days. flooding rains actually for the likes of south carolina. this system has become stuck here, and hence this area of cloud is unable to make its way out into the atlantic. we've had the heavy rain in place. portland, maine, 89 millimeters of rain. and a little further south, south carolina, has seen 71 millimeters over the last 24 hours. i suspect we could see similar values over the next 24-48 hours, or even longer. let's go back to our hurricane. it's swirling away just around the bahamas. outer bands still very much in place there. still a strong system. sustained winds of 210 kilometers per hour. still a category four hurricane. it will weaken making its way further northward. i'm pleased to say it looks like likely to stay offshore. not quite as bad as it might be for the eastern side of the

u.s., but heavy rain will continue here for the next three or four days. >> thank you very much indeed for that. there's more to come here on al-jazeera, including as turkey's election looms, political parties compete for the all-important kurdish vote. plus, the u.n. is accused of failing the people of yemen and missing an opportunity to prevent a further escalation of the war. in sports, the head of bangladesh cricket says the fans have been let down by australia after they postponed their tour. we'll have more on that later in the program.

>> welcome back. the top stories, the u.k.-based observatory for human rights says russian airstrikes have killed 12 opposition fighters. the french president is holding talks with his russian counterpart vladimir putin in paris on moxie actions in syria. turkey and its partners in the u.s.-led coalition have asked russia to stop attacking syrian opposition groups. the turkish president says he will speak to the russian president about the deaths as a result of airstrikes. a gunman in mag mass shootig oregon has been named as chris harper. jennifer joins us live from oregon. we're waiting for various press conferences from law enforcement officials there.

are we getting more details about the shooter or the victims? >> a little bit, but not very much. not as much as we might expect at this point. we can explain that the information on the victims might take longer than usual, longer than you would expect, even if they know who the dead are, because this is classified as a mass casualty situation. there are more rules and more things that need to be done before identifications are made and released and next of kin is notified. as far as the shooter goes, there have been dozens of fbi agents working to kind of backtrack, talk to his contacts, the people he spoke with in the days leading up to this, looking at his social media profiles, and postings online, things he'd written, gathering evidence from his apartment and from the scene of that shooting. just to see what might have

sparked this tragedy. the sheriff came out here this morning and told us that -- just a few hours ago -- that he wasn't too much closer to figuring out a motive for this shooting than he was a few hours before, before they had all the information, that it's still pretty much a mystery as to what motivated this 26-year-old man to walk into a classroom in a university, at a college, where he was not a student, and opened fire on complete strangers. >> jennifer, how are residents in roseburg dealing with this tragedy? >> well, the school campus is shut down now. this was only the fourth day of school for students here. it's a small campus. there are only 3,000 full-time students. there was a candlelight vigil last night overnight. hundreds of people came to show their support and offer support

to one another. so there's going to be a lot of healing in this town, and the sheriff, when he came out, said there's been so much talk about gun control. right now his priority is to get the families of the victims through this difficult time, and save that conversation for another day. >> okay, jennifer, thank you for updating us on that. jennifer bjorklund in roseburg there. voters in turkey go to the polls on november the 1st for the second time in just five months. kurds is 25% of the population, and they're needed to stay in power, but as a result of isil and the syrian war many kurds are reevaluating who they'll be voting for. we met kurds considering the people's democratic party. >> this is a working class kurdish neighborhood of turkey's southern city.

most people who live here are conservative. they have a type of voter that have kept the party keep a grip on power for the past 13 years, until june's elections. that's when shop owner mehmet joined tens of thousands of kurds across southern and eastern turkey in giving their vote to the pro-kurdish people's democratic party. >> we hope they would bring peace to the southeast of turkey. the president came to speak tonus 2005, we sunny this is the leader we're looking for. he will bring peace. >> in the months leading up to the election in june, the two-year peace deal between the kurdish separatist and government began to unravel. earlier in the year, like many kurds, like this restaurant owner, were angered by the turkish's government perceived indifference to the fight to stop isil taking over the syrian

town of kaboby. >> i voted three times for him, but i changed my mind. isil is beheading people. my people are defending their honor. >> across kurdish regions official results show as muchs as a 20% swing helped them get into parliament. for business owners, a weaker economy, higher frustration and w bureaucracy, caused the support here. >> we are becoming weaker because of taxes and other financial burdens. the first and second terms were good, but in the last term they've strangled, so to speak. if they sort things out, i could vote for them again, but i might have to hope for the hdp in november. >> in its campaign, the hdp

leadership reached out to liberal and left wing voters, but it was the conservative kurds who got the party into parliament. >> so the akp's challenge is to win back those religious or socially conservative kurdish voters. without them, the results of november's election could again be inconclusive. >> yemen's government says it's breaking diplomatic ties with iran. the saudi-backed government made the announcement on state-owned television. the president returned to aden last week from six months exile in saudi arabia. the yemeni government sources backed by the saudi-led coalition have had strategic victories in the past couple of days. the capital was taken over last september. human rights watch has criticized the u.n. for failing to set up an inquiry into human

rights abuses and alleged war crimes in yemen. instead a saudi-led resolution approved by the u.n. bypasses the establishment of a fact-finding mission in the war-torn country. the u.n. estimates more than 2,000 civilians have been killed since march, and a further 4,500,000 have been injured. the u.n. says 21 million are in need of assistance with many of them on the brink of famine. that's 80% of the population. 1.5 million have been forced from their homes and almost 3 million children are unable to go to school. well, phillip damm joins me live from geneva. good to have you with us. human rights watch have criticized this resolution presented by saudi arabia as being deeply flawed. why is that? >> this negotiation is disappointing, because it fails

to recognize the gravity of the situation. it would send a message to all parties of the conflict that they have to -- >> there was a proposal by the dutch on the issue of human rights abuse, and what happened to that? >> well, there was indeed a proposition for a resolution that was presented and negotiated over the past few weeks. that resolution was offering an opportunity to establish a u.n. independent probe into violations into all parties -- committed by all parties in yemen. unfortunately between tuesday and wednesday of this week the dutch decided to change their approach. there was a u-turn. clearly there was a lack of result support of delegations

from the u.s. and u.k. in in favor of that resolution. they wanted a consensus. when pushing for consensus, while the saudi delegation and the other members of the coalition representative in geneva were saying the consensus was a push for a probe into a violation of parties. >> okay. let's leave it there, phillipe. thank you very much for that. >> thank you very much. >> netanyahu has blamed a shooting near an illegal jewish settlement in the occupied west bank on palestinian incitement. police say an israeli couple was killed when a palestinian gunman opened fire on their car. four children in the car were unharmed. the shooting happened as

tensions continued. hundreds of demonstrators in malaysia have shown their solidarity with palestinians on the controversy. they rallied against israel's restrictions on the mosque. here's a report. >> they're registering about what's happening in jerusalem. >> we must give a global condemnation. we want to condemn with trampling the rights of the palestinian people. >> hundreds of demonstrators, not just malaysian, but egyptians, palestinians, have joined in this protest, carrying banners, chanting slogans, saying "long live palestine, the

al aqsa mosque. the u.s. is seen as a key ally of israel. the strife has risen in the last few weeks over what's happening at the al aqsa mosque. they're confusing them of violations, and the clashes have spread throughout the west bank. >> a passenger plane with 10 people on board is reported missing over indonesia. the plane leaving to an indonesian airline was flying when it lost radio contact. it was oarescue team has been se area. sri lanka is looking at alleged war crimes during a long conflict, following a watered-down u.n. human rights resolution on thursday which calls for an investigation involving foreign prosecutors. here's more.

>> remembering hell on earth, this doctor was one of five doctors working during the final battle between government forces. he filmed this video showing dozens of civilians dead or injured. >> every 50-100 meters, there's no place without any. all the area, the accommodation place, hospitals, every place were attacked. >> those attacks were highlighted in a u.n. report presented to the human rights council in geneva, recommending a special hybrid court be set up, a court with international involvement to investigate

serious human rights violations, but the resolution unanimously adopted in geneva on thursday has been watered down. it calls for a domestic siri lankan mechanism with some foreign involvement. they want to ensure justice. >> if it's a probe, you have to have the commitment of the justice system, the criminal justice system, that we have in sri lanka, is it credible? no, it's not credible. can we have independent credible investigation into what happened at the end of the war? definitely not. >> the new government has drawn praise for its engagement with the u.n., a marked difference from the previous regime, but it's worked hard to monitor interference in its internal affairs. >> we have a credible system within this country.

without the intervention, we have very good junction, very good with legal procedures in this country. >> tens of thousands of siri lankans from all sides lost their lives during 26 years of fighting. the minority relation suffered some of the worst excesses. they say need closure to move on. >> more than six years after the end of the war here in sri lanka, the u.n. resolution is drawing mixed reactions. the main contention is whether a domestic investigation into war crimes allegations can ever be credible, but for victims and survivors finding the truth remains key. >> the leader of presidential guard short-lived coup has handed himself in. the general is being held at a police station near the capital. he'd sort refuge at the vatican embassy after a standoff between the army and his supporters who refused to disarm.

on wednesday the arm raided the barracks of the presidential guard and made more arrests. explosions in nigeria. they went off in the capital. officials say at least 39 people were injured. the fourth bomb went off outside a mosque. the attacks were carried out by men dressed as women. more and more children in. [inaudible question] niger are being married. it's a practice that's proven to be impossible for the government to stop because of the extreme poverty in niger. >> a traditional wedding. the women here are known for their stunning beauty, but behind the celebrations and joy

lie abuse. poor and uneducated, most of these women have been forced to marry while still children. many are promised to rich nigerians. this woman couldn't get used to life in nigeria. she returned home, poor, the single omother of a daughter. >> the reason i got married was to financially help my poor father and improve our living conditions, but the marriage collapsed. i have a daughter that i need to raise and care for. >> child marriages are common practice in this part of the world. parents can't resist the big dowries, but child brides often end up suffering mistreatment. there's abuse and stigma when they return home divorced and

humiliated. >> niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. 25% of girls married before the age of 13, and 75% before the age of 18. unicef has sought a dialog within the local communities, telling them child marriage has a huge negative impact on society. we're educating girls to put an end to the practice. >> but ending the practice in niger, one of the world's poorest countries, has a long way to go. this woman has defied her family who wanted her to marry a wealthy man. many others cannot, especially in the face of overwhelming poverty. >> still to come here on al-jazeera -- >> i'm on the south pacific coast, where hundreds of thousands of turtles arrive here year, but the majority of their

eggs are being stolen. >> and in sports, the new york yankees look to secure a wild card spot and place in the mlb postseason. details next.

>> welcome back. mexico's specific coast beaches are prime nesting sites for hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, but their eggs are prized locally, and poachers are increasingly capitalizing. here's a report. >> they arrive one by one, lit

only by a sliver of moonlight. a million endangered olive ridley turtles claim ber on to the beaches of southwest mexico each year, one of only two experience to stage this mass invasion in nesting season. sell as local delicacies, even as the mothers lay them. it's illegal, but the men from poor and isolated communities say they have little choice. >> i'm here because i need this work. we all have families. we don't have education or the fires get regular jobs. >> over 70% of the eggs on this beach were recently taken, and the number has halved in the

last 50 years. apart from human predators, there are risks from animals and birds, and that means that less than 1% of them are going to make it to adulthood. middlemen sell the eggs for 10 times or more what they pay the men in the nearby market, where they've been part of traditional cuisine for centuries. the illicit trade flourishes in full sight of the mayor's office. the navy used to guard these beaches year-round, but was pulled off to battle mexico's cartels, only returning when massive numbers of turtles arrived. now the government is stepping up protection efforts again. >> we've just signed agreements with the navy, federal police, and the army to support us, and we are also using drones to protect the turtles. >> the government also offers

occasional work programs to give poachers other options, but while full-time jobs are scares, and eggs seemingly plentiful, it's hard to resist temptation. >> >> okay. new zealand back in action at ththe rugby world cup. ththe all blacks player was suca success in the super rugby tournament, his coach had no doubt about picking him in the squad. >> here's a guy who probably was the player of the super rugby had, top scorer, and gives us

genuine pace and ability to beat people. you know, it's exhorting to someone like that in your group, to have him out on the track, after the disappointment thinking we might not be able to select him, to get a second chance is wonderful. >> the captain has called their victory over figi one of the toughest of his scores. they scored only two tries against the pacific islanders, going on to record a 23-13 victory. it's now three wins from three for them. england faces australia on saturday. >> that was one of the tougher matches i've played in the first half. i was worried i would be pulled off, because i was moving slowly and i was exhausted. we didn't want any sort of negative talk on the group, on the turf. that's when i realized, that match, that bonus point was going to be extremely to get.

it's disrespectful to figi to have bonus points before the game, because we knew it would be one of the tougher test matches we played in. >> in pool d, france recorded their third win of the tournament against canada, 17-0, when the canadians managed to get two tries before the interval, but france pulled away in the second half to win 41-18. the 2011 finalist getting the bonus point by scoring five tries. next up for the french, ireland. to football now. arsenal manager has reacted angrily to journalists asking about his team selection for goal. >> do not come back with the same story. you lack creativity in the press at the moment. it is very, very, very boring. i don't go along with that.

you if have interesting question for sunday's game, i can answer it, but apart from that let's not come back always to the same story. >> to baseball now. the new york yankees have secured a wild card spot and a place in the mlb postseason for the first time since 2012. they were taking on the boston red sox at yankee stadium on thursday. carlos beltran got things going for the yankees with his homer in the second inning. then completed the scoring with this home run in the eighth giving the yankees a 4-1 lead, but victory wasn't a concern until they struck out boston's josh rutledge to begin the celebrations in earnest. quite a man, alex rodriguez, the yankees' star, only returned to the game in january having served a year-long ban. australia banned their game with bangladesh after an

independent security assessment found a risk of terrorism in bangladesh targeting australian nationals. the head of cricket said they had no choice to pull out of the sees, but added they were try to rearrange the two test series for a future date. >> security has met with bangladesh cricket and members of their foreign affairs department in bangladesh. in the end, all things considered, unfortunately it was my decision to postpone the tour for now, and we'll enter into discussions with the bangladesh cricket board to work out when we can play this cricket series next. >> bangladesh cricket is disappointed with the decision, saying there hasn't been with a terrorist attack since 2005. despite the setback, the game is enjoying an unprecedented year of success. here's how the country has

prioritized cricket development and how it might be jeopardized. >> in the alleys you can still see the children playing old-school street cricket, painstaking pick up tennis balls to make them bounce more like their leather counterparts. why need wickets when bricks will do? such scenes, once common, are now rare in bangladesh. there's a cash influx in cricket that their parents' generation could barely dream of. new money means they can play on a decent pitch. >> we didn't have facilities growing up, no cones no, proper field. we were desperate to even find a ball. >> a few hundred meters away a new stadium is being built. since bangladesh became a test-playing nation, there's been an enormous amount of money being poured into cricket from less than a million dollars in

2000 to about $15 million this year. that's around twice the money going into all other sports in the country combined. the biggest victim of the almost single-minded focus on cricket is football. once the country's most popular sport. the football infrastructure in this country isn't very developed. i'm a football fan, but i like going to cricket games more. it's a bigger event, and the crowds are bigger. football games aren't very fun. >> bangladesh cricket board officials say that unlike with other sports, most of the money going into the game isn't coming from the government. almost all of the $15 million comes from ticket sales and sponsorships, and it looked like it was paying off with three consecutive series wins against heavyweights pakistan, india and south africa. but the tigers' momentum has been halted with high-profile

visitors like australia, worried about potential attacks on their team. now many are worried this could harm cricket development in bangladesh. they point to the example of pakistan, forced to play their matches abroad, because of security concerns. they also say there have been no major security incidents since 2000 when bangladesh began hosting test matches for the first time. the kids play on. for now, the street is their stage, their pitch. one day, though, perhaps they'll have a chance to shine on the global cricket stage. >> djokovic and nadal are playing right now in an exhibition match in thailand, organized to help boost confidence and safety after the bangkok bombing in august. before their match, djokovic and nadal visited a shrine, the site of the attack, which killed 20 people. both players wore traditional

thai clothes in respect of the country's monarch can i. apparently that was part of the agreement for their $4 million fee. for more go to al-jazeera.com/sports. >> thanks increased for that. a piece of art called donkey documents by graffiti artist has sold for $250,000 at an auction in california. the mural created in bethlehem in 2007 was expected to fetch more than half a million dollars. the piece shows a donkey having its identification papers checked by an israeli soldier. it was one of a series works left by banksy in the area. stay with us. i'll be back straight after the

break with more of the day's news.

a third day of russian air strikes inside syria. they claim to have hit isil t targets. i'm shiulie ghosh. you are watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up on the program. >> we talked about this after columbine, after tucson, after newtown, after aurora, after charleston. >> frustration for president obama after another mass shooting in the u.s. and top politicians accuse