[ ♪ ] announcer: this is al jazeera. hello, welcome to the newshour. with the help of russian air strikes, syria's army says it launched a major offensive against the opposition n.a.t.o.'s chief says russia's action is a troubling escalator as officials meet to discuss a response. e.u. ministers discuss ways of getting tough on people fleeing to europe who don't

qualify as refugees. and why an orkts dweller known as the blob could be about to wipe out huge errors of global reefs. but we start with some breaking news. reports of a stabbing in east jerusalem. the latest in a series of recent incidents. let's go live to mike hanna, who can update us on the details. who do we know happened, mike. well, according to the police, a 15-year-old palestinian attacked a 25-year-old student. the student has been seriously injured, say police, the palestinian was arrested and has been custody according, once again to the plus. this is the 7th stabbing attack since saturday night. however, the first three attacks

were localized in and around the old city. what is of particular concern to the police is the random nature of the four attacks that we see over the past two days, they've been in different areas at different times, carried out by a different type of demographic person, a woman in one case, here you have a 15-year-old palestinian youth responsible for the stabbing. according to the police. >> what is binyamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister doing, to try to couple of tensions. >> all sorts of steps have been taken in recent days by israeli and palestinian leaders. there has been a meeting between palestinian and israeli leaders, according to the military. the israeli prime minister called on the ministers to drop the level of their rhetoric. he's forbidden ministers from going to the al-aqsa mosque

compound where a number of government ministers pressed for greater access to a compound that is sacred to muslims, and forbidden in terms of religious law to jews. he had taken steps, in the steps problems were created. once he banned the ministers, he's forbidden arab israeli ministers, members of the knesset from doing the same. it provoked a strong reaction from members of parliament. steps are being taken. each time there's this type of random stabbing attacks, the tensions rasped up a little more, difficult to keep control of a situation in which attacks are becoming so random, and so widespread. >> mike, thank you very much indeed for that. mike hanna in west jerusalem there. >> in syria, the chief of staff

of the armed forces said on state media that the military started a big attacks to take back towns and villages. the army is getting support from jets and missiles. zeina khodr joins us from beirut. tell us more about the new military offensive and support from the russian military. >> well, the army issued by a statement saying that a ground offensive is under way to goat areas suffering from terrorism. that statement did not mention areas that have been targeted. what we understand from military sources, and the opposition, an offensive began yesterday in the countryside of the western province of hamas. a strategic location for warring sides. it is located between three provinces, the provinces of

idlib and latakia, which is the strong hold, part of the core area. now, with this offensive. and with the russian air strikes, the government is hoping to push them back and protect the area. this is a strategic fight. it is the first time we see coordination between the russian army. the aerial campaign began a week ago. they were targetting opposition errors in hamas as well. now we are going to see the coordination and whether or not they can make advances on the ground. the syrian army commander saying the strikes helped the syrian government. but the opposition is making clear and is vowing to fight back. they uploaded a video showing one of the rebel forces, a u.s. trained force, using u.s.

anti-armour tank miss ails against the approaching syrian tanks. we are still at the beginning of this offensive. the government wanding to change the balance of power on the ground. >> thank you very much indeed. zeina khodr this beirut. >> n.a.t.o. involved russia's involvement in syria. the secretary-general has been speaking in brussels where defence ministers are meeting. >> in syria we have seen a troubling escalation of russian military activities. we will assess the latest developments, and the implications for the security of the alliance. this is particularly relevant in the view of the recent violations of n.a.t.o.'s air space by russian aircraft.

n.a.t.o. is able and ready to defend all allies, including turkey, against any threats. >> neave barker is in brussels, and n.a.t.o. there they are worried about russia's involvement in syria, and the air space violations. >> they certainly are. staten burg and the alliance are well aware of the growth and continuous raising intentions between russia and the alliance, ever since, or a week ago russia began a bombardment of specific targets within syria. there is deep concern amongst the alliance, but it is more than the targetting of i.s.i.l. and al qaeda-related groups that russia is interested in, and on a list of potential legitimate targets for the russians, are also groups backed by the united states and the c.i.a. add to that, of course, the fact that there are two reported incursions by russian fighter

planes into turkey earlier on in the week, and turkey, of course, as an n.a.t.o. member is subject to a guiding principles, as a threat to one should be perceived as a threat to all. this is very much a meeting aimed at showing a coordinated response to an n.a.t.o. alliance. western powers as a whole. they disagree to the provision that russia is now got under way in syria. something the russians say will continue for another three or four months. >> thank you for that neave barker, live from brussels now, europe's staggering refugee crisis is due to be discussed by e.u. minister in luxembourg. they'll consider plans for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from europe. 600,000 arrived in europe this

year. people flee conflict in syria and other countries. the u.n. says 8,000 refugees are entering europe, more than half are from syria. more than 428,000 refugees arrived in europe through greece, followed by italy, with 132,000. that's more than half a million people this year. more than 3,000 have been died making a hazardous sea journey. we are joined from luxembourg, and ministers meeting to discuss plans to return immigrants who are refused asylum. tell us about the plans. >> these ministers are reacting to what they say are just proportions that are unprecedented of numbers of people that they see coming into e.u. territory. now, what they say they aim to do is to try and find means of

getting as many of those people as they say who are not seeking refugee status, or failed in gaining asylum status back to their countries, there's talk of countries which - some of these people are coming from, there's almost a find of veiled threat of well, if you do not take your nationals, we are going to withhold aid and certain other packs which there are between the e.u. and the countries, it's basically come to a point - it's all come to a head where the e.u. is seen to - has to be seen to be doing something. they say there's an immediate concern to be doing something, something in the short term, but to establish long-term solution to the waves upon waves of people that have been seen coming here. >> the other side of this is the

meeting at this evening with delegations from turkey, jordan, lebanon. these are the countries which took a huge number of refugees from syria. >> absolutely. and there is, of course, an acknowledgment of that here as well. that the countries surrounding countries such as syria have been dealing with the burden of this. what they aim to do is establish some sort of system where they can give additional help for those fleeing war and conflict. also, there's a concern about what's when people try to move out of those areas, those countries, the neighbouring countries and try to move into europe and there's concern how this whole way of dealing with the tide of people here is profited people smuggling networks, mainly in turkey,

there has been a focus on what the e.u. can do to help turkey stamp out or at least minimise the work that they are doing in getting people on to those unsafe vessels, and getting them into europe well. that will be a focus as well as giving support to countries in the balkans who have been seeing so many coming up to the borders and through the borders. >> thank you for that. from luxembourg. coming up this newshour, bucking a national trend. the u.s. city of san francisco is closing its last weapons' shop as a debate continues on gun control. >> indonesia faces heat from neighbours as toxic fires choke part of south-east asia plus all the sport for us. it's a waiting game for sepp blatter. find out why the f.i.f.a. president could be suspended from his job

the saudi-led coalition in yemen when has been accused of bombing a wedding. 38 were killed, and many injured in a rebel held town. it's the second such attack. riyadh denied bombing a wedding in september. more than 130 were killed in that attack. >> meanwhile houthi rebels confirmed their commitment to a u.n. peace plan. they are willing to commit to a ceasefire and withdraw from captured territory, including the capital sanaa. the rebels made a verbal agreement. the yemeni government insists that the houthis must withdraw first before dialogue can take place. >> the war can push the government to the brink of humanitarian cats as trophy. >> the health industry has been the hardest hit.

we have this report. >> reporter: she was told it was too late, her daughter didn't survive her injuries. we hear her say "may god avenge those that killed my daughter." the woman blamed the hospital for poor medical care. health facilities across yemen are overwhelmed with a growing number of victims from the conflict. many have been killed or injured in the military campaign that entered its 7th month. >> translation: my father was injured in air strikes targetting the people. my father was coming down. he suffers a head injury. >> reporter: thousands are stranded or fled from their homes. in the capital sanaa, where coalition forces led by saudi

arabia intensified air strikes. people are struggling. international aid agencies say yemen is critically short of foot, fuel and medicine. >> translation: there is no authority that controls the fuel, cooking oil and flour. each bakery imposes its own prices and we pay the price. bread is expensive. >> reporter: many hope the conflict ends soon, but the country's warring factions stop dialogue. as the conflict rolls on, many face a difficult future president obama has apologised for a u.s. air strike on a hospital run by the aid group doctors without borders in afghanistan. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan has also apologised for what he describes as a mistake. 22 people including 12 med cam

personnel died in the attack. doctors without borders is calling for an independent investigation. >> over the coming days we'll hold meetings with the key government officials, and request a stop to false allegations regarding the kunduz attack which calls in direct question our humanitarian mandate and stops us providing assistance in afghanistan. we ask the avk government to accept the principle of an independent investigation. the deal to form a unity government in libya is getting closer. the u.n. special representative has been tsked with bringing -- tasked with bringing together libya's rival governments. and he says talks are reaching a conclusion. >> after consultations with all the libyans participating in

this dialogue, i come to say despite waiting for the g.n.c. to make a decision, unfortunately this decision has not been the one we were expecting, in terms of proposing names for the national unity government. but we have decided to go on, and we'll continue to work on the formation of this unity government, and hopefully tomorrow we can propose the government ukranian president is praising pro-russian separatists for delaying elections, it's a sign of protests in fragile peace negotiations. delayed elections will ensure a compromise can be reached. >> three countries devastated by the ebola epidemic had the first week in 18 months without new cases. the world health organisation is warning a risk of an outbreak.

more than 11,000 died of a disease in liberia, guinea and sierra leone. >> rwanda's highest court threw out a change to constitutional changes that could allow the president to run for a third term. the green party mounted a challenge. rwandans can be asked to vote constitutional amendments into law. the president is terming a second term of office and has not declared he will seek to extend his day in power. >> brazilian president lost a major legal battle that could clear the way for opposition lawmakers to impeach her. the court ruled the government break the law. the administration borrowed money from state-owned banks to make up for the budget shortfalls during the election. the government will appeal to the top court to overthrow the

decision now u for many across the united states, buying a gun is not difficult. shops selling firearms and amlun unition -- ammunition are a common sight on main street. not in san francisco, melissa chan has gone to take a look. >> reporter: these are the last days of the last gun shop in san francisco. people shopped here since 1952. inventory is clearing quickly as they count down to their closure. for the manager, the city's gun proposal was the last straw. >> this is this one, and next year it will be something else. we know, we understand why they are doing it. we understand this, you know, there is a homicide problem in san francisco. we disagree that that is going to help curb it. i don't think it will.

>> the bill will require a video record and require the store to submit a weakly support of ammunition sales to police. because this is the only shop in the city. it pretty much targets the arms. >> looking at 2015, san francisco lost not only its last gun range and gun shop. from my perspective, it's the result of many years of anti-gun pressure from city elected officials. >> city supervisor mark farrell says he want to go what he can do keep people face. >> from my perspective congress failed us in our cities and urban courts. it's left to the cities, to our own devices to do what we can. locally, in order to protect our residents. >> reporter: he sas there's nothing revolutionary about what we propose. san francisco is following other places such as chicago, which tapes gun ammunitions. . >> transition data is in multiple jurisdiction in california. >> this is, after all, liberal

san francisco, and many people don't like guns. workers say in many ways all the regulations are against the spirit of this usually tolerant city. >> the attitude i have is that as a san francis can, if you don't impose it on me, and you are not bringing it to my door stop, if i don't like it, i ignore it. the bill needs to be discussed in committee before the board of supervisors vote. if the mayor signs it into law, new rules are likely to be in place before the end of the year, weeks after this shop closes. all right, let's get the weather with everton. how is it looking across asia in the next few years. >> there's better weather for japan, the tropical storm is weakening. looking at the satellite. much of heavy rain. 123mm of rain in 24 hours. here we go. cloud is pulling its way around. when you see a hook like that,

it's indicative of strong winds coming through. nasty weather coming through here. there's the position of the storm at the moment. it will make its way further north ward. brisk winds heading down. going into saturday, they ease. brighter skies back in behind. things will cheer uch. fine and dry across japan. dry and fine across northern india. we'll see heavy rain here, hunting 28mm in 24 hours. following the line of cloud across the southern part of india, there's a little circulation, and the downpours set to continue over the next few days. showers too. that wet weather will slide further southward. also it's stepping down to the northern parts of thailand.

it will stay unsettled here. that area of cloud and rain continuing to be across northern thailand, into the gulf of thailand. a rash of showers across malaysia. further south it's largely dry. we have showers continuing into the malay peninsula, into a good part of sumatra. showers in borneo, into a good part of the philippines, and it will change in the next couple of days. no signs of useful rain over the next few days. >> thank you very much. staying with indonesia, they are seeking international help to put out the fires that sent a choking haze across south-east asia. an after weeks spent insisting they could deal with it alone. president joko widodo expects assistance from russia, japan, malaysia and soing pore --

singapore. it set to be the worse. haze has been drifting across neighbouring singapore for weeks. the n.a.s.a. satellite image fan in september shows plumes of smoke billowing across south-east asia. the red marks are hot sports where n.a.s.a.'s temperatures are associated. we have this report. >> borneo's forests, considered a major supplier of the planet's oxygen is on fire. emitting dangerous greenhouse gases instead. the fires raging inside the thick layers of peat are nearly impossible to stop. they are causing a haze of smoke that spread beyond indonesia's borders. causing tens of thousands to fall ill. the government brought in the military. experts say it's too little, too

late. >> a story about enforcement. and the intention to stop this from happening. most of the work that will be meaningful should have been done before the fire happened. before the el nino year happened. >> to protect one of the last remaining rainforest. the conservation company hired villages that practised slash and burn techniques instead of setting them on fire. 200,000 hectares of greece. >> every time we plant trees we never get the chance to grow and be productive. they are destroyed by fire. that's why they help stop the fire. >> it's not only borneo's

farmers who burn to clear land, plantation owners do too. 200 companies are suspected of causing fires. one has lost its licence. a palm oil company next to the rainforest that villages are trying to react is under investigation. >> on the border of a rainforest. construction is closing in . most of the haze is coming from fires, and although this one seems to be now under control, the fire can rage on for many months and flare-up in many minutes. president joko widodo instructed canals to be dug to keep the land wet to stop the fires. experts warn it trains water increasing the fire. the government admits more should be done to prevent the disaster. >> from the start of the year, the president has warned to prevent the fires. orders were clear. the fact is the fires happened meaning the measures have to be

improved. >> indonesian government leaders are yet to involve the communities considered crucial to solve the crisis. indonesia's disasters hope to stop the fires by the end of the month, a prediction that is too optimistic just a bit of breaking news - the f.i.f.a. ethics committee has said that it banned the f.i.f.a. president sepp blatter, and the u.e.f.a. president and f.i.f.a. vice president michel plantini, tipped to be sepp blatter's deputy, and another. that is the latest news from the f.i.f.a. ethics committee, more live reaction from the ban, which are expected to last for 90 days in the sport with farah. still to come on the newshour,

reporting from pakistan administered kashmir 10 years after a massive earthquake hit the region and a father looking for his stolen daughter, a report on international parental abduction. >> and the first female duo to complete in an annual matter race in 20 years.

welcome back - a reminder of the breaking news. the f.i.f.a. ethics committee

banned f.i.f.a. president sepp blatter, u.e.f.a. president michel platini, and the secrete general and banned them for 90 days, let's speak to andy richard. we were talking about sepp blatter being banned. we have three names banned. >> effectively this ends sepp blatter's rein as f.i.f.a. president. he said he would resign in february. when the when the new f.i.f.a. elections were due to take place. he insisted that he was the man to lead reform. he could hand over power. and that changed when he became the subject of a criminal investigation 10 days ago. that meant the committee, the committee he started to root corruption out of the

organization began its own investigation into the president, and they have concluded in the last few minutes that he would be suspended from all activity, football activity for 90 days, and the investigative arm of the committee could suspend that from 45 days, if they need to. that takes you pretty much up to the elections in february. >> are you surprised about michel platini. michel platini, michel platini - the reason - one of the reasons for the criminal investigation beginning, a charge laid at sepp blatter's door is that he made a disloyal payment to michel platini of $2 million. sepp blatter and michel platini insists it was for work carried out under an f.i.f.a. contract. the suspicion is that it took place in the late '90s, and early 2000s. and the claimant turned up three months before sepp blatter was backed in a presidential election.

michel platini issued a statement saying he intends to stand as f.i.f.a. president, and the leak of information that he was to face the ban was insidious, and he would cooperate, but now, to stand. he has to undergo a test. >> he failed that. >> he failed that. >> what is your gut feeling, is this good news or damaging for football. to rescore the reputation you have to clean out the top level. now, there were three people intending to stand. michel platini, a south korean,

who has been banned as well he has been banned for six years. the only man so far is prince hussain of jordan, a man who is not a friend of sepp blatter, at the moment is untarnished and is the only man left standing. there is time to put the name forward. nominations come around in october. it's a case of waiting to see. >> waiting to see what happens. it's fascinating, isn't it. >> thank you, indeed for that. >> right, europe's refugee crisis is discussed by e.u.'s ministers. plans are debated to deport economic migrants and strengthen borders. hungary invested more than 100 million euros or razor wire fencing to keep people out. we have more from the border. >> arriving in the croatian

town, heading north, no one takes the route for granted having sealed the border with serbia and with a vens across the border, only the smallest window into hungary remains. >> this is it, a gap into the fence, croatia on one side. hungary up ahead. through the gap, past most of the refugees heading to europe. 4,000 app day and into the pitched darkness of night. the european union's entire policy depending on what hungary may or may not decide to do with this gap in the fence. >> the government made it clear that the gap could be closed at any moment. hungary doesn't want the refugees in its territory. it's seen as a threat to christian values. this is a brightal route to the future that these people grave.

before you came here, you heard there was problems with the border. >> yes. >> what have you found now? >> completely different. i >> i fear that i never come here. >> does it matter to you which country you get to in europe? >> no, i'm looking for a safe country for me and for my children. i'm, sorry, i need to go. >> reporter: good luck. good luck to you for now, the way through hungry is open, albeit sanitized and controlled. the refugees are crammed on to trains and whisked away to the austrian border, they'll barely see hungary, and it will barely see them. >> what would happen if they told you you had to go to another country in europe. not germany, but another country. >> i have no idea. i just hope. >> you hope for the best. >> sure. just safety. i don't want more.

>> hungary and other central european countries oppose a plan to share the refugee burden among the member states. there's talk of poland, slovakia and czech republic sending troops to help hungary keep the refugees out. that would cause damage, pitting european nations against one another, and leaving thousands with nowhere to go well amnesty international issued a report criticizing hungry's policies against refugees and migrant. john gleeson is the director for europe and central asia, joining us from london. amnesty international is saying that hungary is spending a lot more on border controls than setting up processing centers to look at people's asylum applications. why is this worrying?

>> what hungary is trying to do is isolate itself from a refugee crisis going on around it in europe, and, indeed globally. the construction offenses which competed with serbia, is in the process of doing so with croatia. combined with a number of laws allowing it to return people back to serbia. effectively resulting in the system where they are systematically denying protection with the refugees, violating a range of human rights in the process. this is a problem not just for the respective rights in hungary, but a bigger problem for the european union. as you have countries opting out of a shared solution. we were heightening tensions taking place in other countries. if you see the progressive disintegration response, we'll see more of the crisis in recent months.

>> indeed. now, e.u. ministers are talking about not only strengthening their borders, but toughening un the deportation policies to remove more and more refugees and migrants from the border. i do worry that it is becoming a fortress. >> it's long been a fortress, and it's becoming more of a fortress. albeit at the moment a porous one with hundreds of thousands coming in. the problem with the returns policies we see advocated is they won't acknowledge the particular circumstances of individuals arriving from nonobvious conflict countries. and there's talk of returning to safe third countries, an arbitrary position. arbitrary with countries like

turkey and serbia. even basic rights of not given effectively, this is problematic at a great many levels. thought needs to go into expediting a processed return system. it is an important issue, there's a lot of loose talk at the cost in respect of rights for hundreds of thousands. >> thank you for that. a group of parents in australia is calling on the government to criminalize international child abduction. 300 children are stolen by a parent and taken overseas. we have the story of one father trying to find his daughter in

indonesia. >> reporter: in jakarta indonesia, an australian father, kennedy kendall is dreaming of the moment he gets his daughter back. >> it's been five years since i last saw her face. i felt every day. >> you know, i counted every day. >> the 6-year-old was taken by his ex-wife to indonesia five years ago. since then he had no contact. >> you will leave the vehicle, and we'll start the recovery. >> kendall hired col chapman, a child recovery expert. he will hep on his mission. >> we only need a short head start. six seconds for you guys to block them and we are up the end here. australia has the highest rate of international parental abduction in the world. every year more than 300 are stolen by parents and taken overseas. >> if a jumbo jet carried 300 children that disappeared.

there would be an outcry. public would demand for things to be done. they mostly disappear beneath the radar. >> there are calls for the australian government to change the law and make abductions illegal. in a statement government officials say they are going more to help families, but as to whether to make international abduction a crime. they are mum on the matter. >> many countries signed the hay convention, finding help to find and return a child to home. indonesia is not one of them. it costs tens of thousands and is controversial. it risks traumatising a child. . >> do you feel it's right for you to take care of that. >> i don't know any parent that wouldn't want to give their child access to the best opportunities in life. this is what i want to do for my daughter. >> hiring a recovery expert is

no guarantee of success. security is tight at a school that kendall's daughter attends. >> we'll be surrounded by them. >> i can't guarantee you that the recovery will go ahead. i can't guarantee you. we can have a go. i can't guarantee the result. >> i can't go back to australia without seeing her, after all these years. >> reporter: kendall says until governments tighten laws, parents and children will continue to be torn apart and you can see steve's full programme "bringing them home", on 101 east, 2030 greenwich meantime. here on al jazeera now, ten years after a devastating earthquake in kashmir, the rebuilding work is going on. more than 80,000 people, mostly

in pakistan administered kashmir died in a 7.6 magnitude quake. in the aftermath of the tragedy the government promised to build new towns away from the tremor zone. kamal hyder is live for us - how is the reconstruction looking? >> well, if you look behind me, you can see that it looks like a practically new city, brand new, and that is because of the help that poured in. we have today the secretary for the earthquake construction and rehabilitation programme here for the government in kashmir, he is here with us. tell us that the earthquake that struck this region was perhaps the worst in living memory. what lessons have been learned and how prepared are you for

another earthquake. >> yes, the earthquake that struck in parts of ktk was one of the strongest, and resulted in the death of 46,000 people. and the total cull was 73,000. in fact, this was a big earthquake, and there was a loss of life. a tremendous scale. often that quake, where it's established to see the restriction process. we undertook to complete 8,000 projects. out of that, completed 5,000 projects. and the work on remaining ones is in progress. lessons learnt was to build safer constructions seismic resistance, and there should be complete monitoring and quality control. >> can you tell us this

particular region, i mean, it's seismically active. what sort of steps have you taken to inform the people of what to do in case there was a major earthquake. >> in addition to the reconstruction process, there was a parallel effort to sensitize the people about the effects of the earthquake, and the danger that it poses to the people, and especially to the vulnerable children. >> in addition to that the government set up a policy, and it's another organization fully functional, and 112 services that operate. there has been good effort in tackling disasters in future. >> kind of you, thank you for taking time out. that was the secretary in charge of construction and rehabilitation here. today across this particular region, people are thinking about the disaster.

officials holding ceremonies as well. >> thank you still to come on the program - we'll have the sport including usain bolt has his eyes set on becoming a legend. farah here after the break.

sign tists are warning that huge areas of coral reef could be wiped out because the oceans are getting hotter.

researchers believe a warm patch in the pacific known as the blob may be to blame. not much is known about what caused it, it covers a wide area off the coast of north america. climate change led to about record high temperatures in parts of the ocean, causing coral reefs to lose their colour, known as coral bleaching. in all, 12,000km are in danger of being wiped out. 5% of a total. why does it matter. coral reefs are home to men fish. joining us live is a researcher. good to have you with us. clearly coral reefs are important ecosystems, and, of course, this is a life form that takes thousands and thousands

of years to form. >> yes, exactly. we don't have time to waste. this is a major warning now coming from science, that society should respond to. bleaching at this magnitude is very bad for biodiversity. one of the first things with climate change that we can put our finger on, it's bad for tourism, local communities that depend on the reefs, and it's bad because the reefs breathe for us, producing oxygen. >> do we know where the worst affected areas are. >> the scientists are pointing to the north pacific, around gaum. around south-east australia and in the caribbean around florida. the world's largest - the great barrier reef and australia, the third-largest barrier reef from miami. it will likely be affected.

>> we have the climate conference coming up in paris. can this be reversed. can steps be taken. >> it might be too late. this is the scary thing. it takes - after bleaching, it can take some years, 5-10 years to recover. it depends on water quality is a big issue for cells to repair themselves. at the rate of climate change, it might not be enough time to naturally protect themselves and adapt to the climate events that we are having. >> it is disturbing. climate change - is that the main cause of damage. how does it prepare to human activity which can also damage coral. >> human activity can damage coral in local ways. if we touch a coral, you can kill it. it protects it.

so divers should be trained never to touch coral, but to look at coral. for example, sewerage - sewerage treatment, going right from land into the reefs is also a big thing. clean waters are essential for healthy ecosystems. it is only as healthy as the waters that surround it. >> dorothy, it's a depressing picture. thank you for talking us through it okay. let's get the sports news, here is farah. >> thank you so much. >> the governing body of football banded sepp blatter, yourself avice president michel platini, and jerome falcke. sepp blatter is under criminal investigations by swiss authority. he's been the f.i.f.a. president

since 1998 and was the secretary-general. earlier this month a number of sponsors called for the swiss to step down immediately. sports correspondent andy richards joins us. surely is marks the end for blatter. >> it's hard to imagine a more serious situation, not just f.i.f.a., but sepp blatter. his former director of communications made a joke that cost him his job on television. he said there's a car containing the f.i.f.a. president, the general and the director of communications. who is driving. answer, the police. now, that was a joke, but it's increasingly true to life. sepp blatter, who set up the ethics committee in around effort to rid the body of corruption is shown the door of

that body. michel platini, the man favourite to take over from sepp blatter, and now suspended for 90 days. the main accusation, the reason that sepp blatter is the subject of a swiss criminal investigation is accused of making an addition loyal payment to michel platini. the money was about $6 million for work done under contract. around the time, from 1998 to 2001. they only received a payment 10 years later, two or three months before he backed sepp blatter in a presidential race and decided not to run himself. both denied wrongdoing. in terms of the presidency, it looks to be over. the gan, up to 90 days takes him to january, a few weeks before the election. it could be defended by a further 45 days. and to stand as an f.i.f.a.

president. it's unlikely he can pass an integrity test. >> thank you so much. we'll talk to you later in major league baseball, the chicago cubs are celebrating a win, beating the pittsburgh pirates 4-0. chicago kyle schwabber and dexter had run, jake ari ata truck out 11 in a complete game shut out. they had not won the world series since 1908. the longest drought in sports. >> the whole team, you are talking about three rookies, all contributing in a big way, offensively or offensively. jake... >> usain bolt says he has one more thing to do before he can call himself a legend. jamaican is in mexico, coming off a world championships, where

he won the gold medals. he heads to the rio olympics, having won cold, 200 meters and a delay at the last two games. he wants to see his status by doing it again. >> i'll be confident of a win, i'll say then that i'm a legend. i say i want to do it one more time. are you a legend. they can say i'm a legend. i want to be among the greats of the world. >> now, motor racing fans in australia are getting revved up for the weekend and so are an all female team competing for the first time in years. in a sport dominated by men, the novelty of female drivers brings attention. bathurst is an endurance event,

two drivers sharing 261 laps, this is the first female pair to compete in 17 years. both drivers, mostly on the indy car circuit. the ladies are used to standing out. >> it starts from the beginning when you look at go karting, there's hundreds of boys, then, you know, in the beginning, the ratio is different. it costs hundreds of thousands to compete. ability and possibility of winning attracts sponsors. so does novelty. gracy suggests she gets more support, because she can wear a skirt and look pretty. racing last year was her boyfriend, who was fifth.

>> reporter: you hope this weekend to beat your girlfriend and win the race. >> both really. >> formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sports. there hasn't been a woman in the international grand prix since the 1970s. >> i hope someone can get to formula 1 to prove everyone can do it. now, they are just the start of bathurst. in is all part of the ras mat as that goes with the big race. it's in the driving seat. they want more women to do the same and that's all the sport for now. i'll be back with more later. that is it. from this newshour. don't forget, you can get the updates on the website which is aljazeera.com. i'll be back straight after the break with another full

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[ ♪ ] with the help of russian air strikes syria's army says it launched a major offensive against the opposition. i'm shiulie ghosh. also coming up from the programme. a stabbing in east jerusalem increases tension in israel and the occupied territories. f.i.f.a.'s ethics committee bans sepp blatter and other top