. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. hello from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. this is the newshour. coming up in the next 60 minutes - europe's refugee crisis back on the agenda in brussels. the e.u. has a plan but needs turkey to agree. >> government forces launch an offensive in syria, a huge blow to opposition fighters if they win also - myanmar's government

agrees on peace with rebel groups. many signatures are missing and suspended u.s. chief michel platini finds out if he has the support of his own organization, as they hold a crisis meeting to discuss his future. e.u. leaders are meeting in brussels to try to find a solution to europe's growing refugee crisis. the summit focussing on working with countries outside europe's border. turkey is keep. the e.u. wants to make sure the refugees it's hosting stays there. turkey is hosting the largest number of syrian refugees - close to 2 million. thousands are crossing into europe, most arriving on greek shores in boats. that's a problem for europe. it's buckling under the pressure, 600,000 entering

europe this year alone. neave barker is in brussels where the leaders are meeting and bernard smith in istanbul. what do e.u. leaders want from turkey on tuesday the european commission published a plan, a list of requests and requirements for hopes that ankara would fulfil, in what is described as a challenging test of unity within the e.u. since the e.u. formed in the 1950s. in his honour for aid on top of the aid given to turkey. the european submission hopes turkey will reduce the push fact. reasons why refugees and asylum seekers head in the direction. european union. the hope is that the money will

be used to help repatriate tens of thousands arriving in turkey from places like syria. according to european submission figures. 350,000 passed through turkey, 50,000 stayed on. the request to europe is that all changes to make sure some of the strain is shared. the request is that bosheder patrols are tightened. that turkey works with the border agency, and the e.u. and turkey work together on repatriating failed asylum seekers back to the country of origin. >> earlier, angela merkel stressed the rn importance to show european solidarity for those in need of help from the

european union and rit vated the pivotal role turkey could play in bringing an end to the crisis. >> reporter: without a doubt turkey plays a vital role in the crisis. over 2 million seek protection and it is taking the biggest share of refugees. the major city that come from europe travel by turkey, we will not get a crip and stem the flow. that means we must better support turkey in caring for the refugees and providing humanitarian aid angela merkel is off to turkey on the weekend for more negotiations. as well as the refugee crisis, e.u. leaders meeting here, with a host of different problems that beset the union at this current time. we talk about youth unemployment in the europe southern states. we are talking about the lingering effect of the eurozone crisis and the possibility that the u.k., a key member may leave

the e.u. in 2017, when it holds its referendum. if there was a need for university within the e.u., now is the time. >> neave barker in brussels. let's get the view from turkey. is turkey holding a lot of cards here. what will they get out of this, and importantly, perhaps, what does turkey want from europe? >> well, turkey does hold some of the cards, yes, and it wants out of the european union, visa free access to the union for turkish citizens, it want more money to help pay for the syrians it's looking after in turkey, turkey spending $7 billion since the start of the syrian civil war and wants more progress towards turkey assist accession. the talks have been dragging on for 10 years. if agreement is reached.

there are practical problems that turkey would face in preventing syrians leaving. turkey does not give syrians the right to work here. syrians wants to put down roots, that's why they head across the agean. turkey's land borders are strong, it is again why peoplear taking to the sea. the only practical way that turkey can stop the flow of refugees is to physically stop them. we are talking thousands of kilometres of coastlines. crease has said they are not prepared to take control of the coastline, turkey has been in dispute as to who controls the seas around the agean islands in. enormous challenges. >> bernard smith live in

istanbul turkey. breaking news - u.s. president obama is to announce he'll slow down the withdrawal of u.s. troops in afghanistan. let's bring in jennifer glasse joining us on the line from kabul. the afghan troops has been under pressure. that was a surprise by the u.s., coming as a surprise. >> i think it will come as welcome news to the afghan officials here, the u.s. special forces have been working closely with afghan forces, as they battle the taliban. a little over two weeks ago. it meant afghans had to call in u.s. forces, u.s. air strikes and support, it was needed to battle back some of that offensive. and afghan forces in charge of the - of kunduz city. the fact that u.s. forces are expected to stay - 9,800 u.s.

forces are expected to stay through 2016 before trimming down - that's what we are hearing from the senior u.s. officials, and then in 2017 the u.s. is planning to draw down to 500 troops at four locations in afghanistan, here in kabul at the air base, jalalabad in the east and kandahar in the south. that will be welcome news to afghan forces under severe pressure from the taliban around the country. >> what will be the role of the troops that stay on beyond now, 2015 into 2016. >> we have not heard specifics, but we imagine the bilateral security agreement, and the status of forces agreement that govern the forces will remain in effect. the n.a.t.o. troops are here to train, advise and assist afghan security forces. there are u.s. forces acting under the u.s. mandate. we have seen them working

closely with the afghan security forces on the ground, helping them plan operations in the south and helmand province a couple of months ago. american special forces battling the taliban. the americans provide air support, something the air force is young and working hard, but doesn't have enough manpower, skills to cover the entire part of the country. those kind of skills, i think. they'll continue to help the afghans with, and helping to plan active operations on the ground. >> thank you so much. news that president obama will slow down the withdrawal of u.s. troops in afghanistan. >> the syrian army launched a long-awaited offensive in the countryside. focussed on two areas. they are on a highway linking the provinces.

the government want to help bring supplies to battles up north in idlib and aleppo and secure a corridor between the strongholds and the capital damascus. >> let's bring in zeina khodr, monitoring the situation. >> tell us about the offensive in homs, and how involved are the russians here? >> well, the syrian military confirmed that the ground operation has begun. this is a coordinate air and ground operation. what we understand from activists on the ground is fears fighting. governments forces shell the ground. heavy russian air strikes targeted positions since the early hours of the morning. homs, the northern countryside of homs is opposition controlled

territory. the government wants to recapture it. they need to open the main highway linking the capital of whommize. this offensive is under way. there's tens of thousands of civilians in the enclave. for the past few years government forces have been positioned around the countryside of homs. we understand that there were routes out. but it leads to government-controlled territories. those that are wanted are those that are afraid. there's a lot of fear on the ground that they will be caught in the fighting. there's reports of casualties among fighters. >> how about the new offense, how does it fit in with other offenses. the government announced an offensive in hama further north. what is the plan here. what are they trying to

accomplish? >> well, yes, the homs offensive is un doubtedly part of a larger military strategy. days ago they launched on offensive. this is further north of homs. this is a stronghold of the rebels, and they were threatening the government stronghold of latakia. that has pushed the rebels back. they are on the defensive. and now we are noticing that the russian air strikes have been concentrated in the western corner of syria. you talk to people in the opposition. they believe it is part of a plan to divide the country, to consolidate the government's control of damascus, all the way to whom, reaching to hama. undoubtedly there's a military objective - weaken the opposition and protect the government-controlled territories, there's another objective. this is the first time a big

offensive, a big operation has been launched simultaneously has been launched on many fronts. that objective is to step up military pressure to get political concessions. this is about using force to make the opposition weaker and accept a peace deal. for the time being, opposition, the political and amped opposition refusing any sort of political settlement and rejecting the latest u.n. peace objective. >> zeina khodr, thank you for that. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is planning to visit the middle east to help calm tensions between israelis and palestinians. israel tightened security around occupied east jerusalem following a wave of points, 32 palestinians and 7 israelis have been killed since october. >> mike hanna joins us from occupied east jerusalem. tighter security measures, what is the situation like. are things as tense as in the

last few days. >> indeed they are. what we see is a change in police procedure. those entering the gates of the old city through which the police wish to search, it's done at a distance. no hands on searches. clearly a sign that the police procedures slightly altering in terms of the threat they perseize of attack. rising panic, scenes of panic in a mall overnight when rumours spread of a terror attack about to take place. also on a train they came to an emergency halt after passengers believe an attack was imminent. linked to the panic seen in israel is intensified security measures in occupied east jerusalem, whole neighbourhoods are cordoned off. concrete blocks placed in the road, funnelling traffic to checkpoints erected around the

perimeters of the east jerusalem neighbourhoods. a direct correlation between israel and the height of security crackdown in the occupied east jerusalem area. >> thank you for the update. >> there's more ahead on the al jazeera newshour. the controversial ad campaign sparking anger in mexico, the government asking people to stop complaints deadline for iran - they need to satisfy the nuclear watchdog concerns. and the blue jays and texas rangers play out a bad-tempered game 5 in major league baseball. details later with sanaa the european union's human rights court has found it is not a crime to deny that the mass killing of armenians in turkey

100 years ago was a genocide. that was announced a few moments ago in strasburg. the case states to 2007 when a swish court found a turkish politician guilty of racial discrimination for saying the armenian genocide is a lie. two years ago a court rejected the ruling saying it violates freedom of speech, but the swiss hit back saying it was a worse form of discrimination. there are different views as to how the killing should be described. turkey says it was war. more than 20 countries describe it as a genocide. markelize, executive director. international bar association joins us from london. for much of europe, there's a consensus denying genocide is like denying the holocaust. what do you make of the ruling in strasburg today?

>> two things. the fact is that only switzerland made the extra step into criminal lies, the denial of armenian genocide. many countries indicated that it was a genocide. this case focuses on switzerland where are moving a step further saying if you deny what they conversation an historical fact of genocide against the armenians, that that is a criminal act. and this is a case that was before the court. and i think the lower court, i think, probably got it right, simply by saying that the swiss parliament had gone too far in restricting the freedom of speech for the sake of social cohesion. and it all comes down to the interpretation of the genocide or the definition of genocide. and this is what makes it so

complicated for this particular case. >> what is the legal definition of genocide, where it says the other waves, the events of 1915, how they've been characterised. >> it's been characterised as crimes against humanity. that's a widespread attack against a group of individuals. genocide says it's an intent to destroy in whole or part a group, such as a nationally, an ethnic group like the armenians. this is the trick to this. you have to show specific intent. that is hard to show, because you are indicating that there has to be a coordinated plan that the intention was solely to eliminate a group in this case the armenians. and turkey has always denied that what occurred during this episode was genocide, because they denied that there was specific intent to destroy this

group. to destroy armenians. the fact suggests that up to 1.5 million armenians were killed, and the other opposition side would say that is, in fact, a genocide. there's nothing that could have been anything but a genocide. and that is where the - the real, i think, contested elements of this case falls on. >> coming back to that particular case, turkey claimed that this is about freedom of speech. when you look at turkey itself, it does not give the same freedom of speech to citizens who have talked about the armenian mass killings, describing them as genocide. is this aum a bit hypocritical. >> i think that's right. this is perhaps an opportunity for europe as a whole, particularly through this court, to say that there are going to be times when there are contested facts, interpretations of history. and you must permit this debate.

you must permit an opportunity to engage in this type of assessment. and that it's very difficult to legislate against ignorance, for instance. if somebody wants to deny the holocaust. if they want to deny an armenian genocide, this court is saying we have to permit the space for that individual to do that. we shouldn't criminalize that as such. certainly with the armenian genocide. it will be interesting if this has an effect on the anti-denial laws that exist about the holocaust. it was - the court, the lower court made clear that they felt there was a distinction between talking about the armenian genocide in the holocaust, and argued that the holocaust is uncontested. >> this case was brought by switzerland, will the ruling be

binding throughout europe? >> it will be legally binding. because switzerland is the only country that has criminalized the denial of the armenian genocide, it's more specific to switzerland. this would mean that it is very difficult for any other country in europe to initiate or enact legislation that would suggest that if you deny the assistance of the armenian genocide, it is a criminal act. that will not happen. >> thank you for your insight. mark ellis joining us from london myanmar's government signed a ceasefire with rebel groups it hopes will end decades of violence. less than half of the organizations sign the deal. >> the deal, which has been years in the making was signed at a ceremony, what was

signed as a nationwide agreement was a top priority of the president when he took office four years ago. >> today is an important historic day for myanmar. we have launched a new road to a peaceful future. >> it's a nationwide agreement in name only. eight ethnic groups signed the deal. several others did not. they included the independence army, fighting to maintain control of large parts of northern myanmar, and there has been fighting in other areas. the president says the door remain open for all groups to sign the agreement in the future, so the suffering can end. >> there has been armed conflict in the country since we won independence. tens of thousands lost their lives. hundreds of thousands living in a conflict area. >> political talks will be focussed around a desire for a

federal system, to give the states greater autonomy. and there'll be talks on putting monitors in areas and ultimately troop withdrawals. much is in doubt given an election is due to be held on november the 8th. >> after the election. one thing we'll see is can the constitution be amended. and with autonomy and utilisation of power so the ethnic armed group, so that they can... >> there's mistrust between the rebel groups and myanmar's leaders. >> the turkish media named the two suspected suicide bombers behind the killing of 99 people in ankara on saturday. the newspaper says an attacker is believed to be the brother of

an i.s.i.l. farmer. the turkish government dismissed the police chief following the attacks in the capital. >> security agencies in australia say a 12-year-old is monitored yection with a police employee. the boy is among a number of suspects that could have been involved in the killing. andrew thomas has more from sydney. >> the child that shot dead a police worker was 15 years old. police have been investigating who may have helped him. they arrested adults. it's been revealed among the wider group of friends that may have encouraged or helped him was a 12-year-old boy. the police commissioner of australia said he is shocked that someone as young as that could have been involved, and australia prime minister says it highlights how important assist

to engage with someone young, malcolm turnbull hosted a meeting of the police chiefs and intelligence agencies to discuss ways to achieve that. >> as we deal with the threats and people that seek to turn children into terrorists, we have to be as only il as they are. >> as well as training teachers and community leaders to look for signs of radicalization. the government is pursuing a parallel approach. it seeks to lower the age in which control orders apply. they can monitor people. following them, children can be banned from contacting friends and using the internet. >> we'll have no tolerance for extremist violence, for terrorism wherever it may occur

or whoever it may seek to perpetrate it. targetting children is likely to make it more radical, not less. monitoring children is necessary. >> time for an update on the weather. what is the latest. >> it is still a tropical storm at the moment. we'll see it intensify. it could cause flooding. look at the size of this. it is huge. we'll see it continue to drift west wards as we go on through the next few days, and sustained winds at the moment. it will strengthen through the next couple of dales, expected to make landfall friday into saturday. the eye of the storm looks

likely to sit over the northern portion of luson for 2-3 days, allowing it to produce copious amounts of rainfall. that is the position for friday. we'll see the strong north-easterly winds. it will produce tides. storm surges. that will add to the flooding, and the rain setting in as we go through friday and saturday. it will make its way west, slowly but surely. it could be monday. the outer bands clearing away from luceon. some could see as much as 500mm of rain. 900. looking at china, fine, and will stay that way. the energy is consenn tra.d

temperatures in hong kong at 31. >> still ahead on the al jazeera newshour. beijing denounces a u.s. plan to conduct an exercise close to the disputed islands in. >> warnings of a medical emergency, some african countries come close to running out of venom. >> 17 days after the end of the gulf season, the u.s. pga tour is set to resume, we'll hear from rory mcilroy later in sports. stay with us. we'll be back.

welcome back. you're watching the al jazeera newshour, a reminder of the top stories. the german chancellor angela merkel is urging european countries to show solidarity ahead of a summit to discuss of the refugee crisis. angela merkel asked for support from turkey, hosting the largest number of syrian refugees. u.s. president obama is set to announce a slow down of troops in afghanistan. a decision will mark pa dramatic shift in strategy after they announced they'd reduce troop levels. >> and the european union's humans rights court found it is not a crime to find the mass gp killings in turkey was a genocide. >> the u.s. says a final push to retake the iraqi city of ramadi is imminent. iraqi forces say they've been making advantages to take back a

city from i.s.i.l. fighters. ramadi is the capital of the largest province of anbar. imtiaz tyab has more from baghdad. >> a fast-moving twice ach -- situation around the western iraqi city of ramadi, a city that has been in the hands of i.s.i.l. since may of this year. it was a stinging blow to the iraqi security forceless, who had to beat a hasty retreat when the armed groups seized the city. since then the iraqi prime minister promised to retake ramadi, but there's about significant delays to major operations to retake the city. one of the key issues is a bill he'd like to pass, effectively giving legal cover to sunni fighters, sunni tribal fighters in anbar to be a part of the anbar security forces as they retake the city, similar to the legal cover given to shia militia fighters as well. the reason we had to step up is the deep-seated divisions,

deep-seated sectarian divisions seen in iraq. that, of course, led to the deadlock we have seek in parliament. mr ramadi is left with a decision to make. does he go ahead with the offensive to retake ramadi without that building past, or does he try to unbreak the deadlock. at this stage we don't know what he's going to do, but he seems to be under a lot of pressure with the u.s. saying now is the time to retake ramadi. iran is facing a deadline to submit information on the nuclear programme. the council approved a deal in relation to sanctions relief. it will relieve billions in froze ebb assets, opening up their economy. trade with the european union, totalling $8.3 billion could balloon 400% by mid 2018.

iran's 420 economy is predicted to accelerate as much as 8% in the coming years. that would match the growth of asia's tiger economies during the boom years. the trade and investment will revive well-worn health, transport and energy sectors in iran, and bring opportunities to entice hundreds of thousands back home joining us for more on this is a political analyst. he is live from tehran. good to have you with us. tell us, first, if you know the details of what iran will be giving the the i.a.e.a. later today. >> well, a nuclear delegation in order to finish off the instructions regarding the implementation of the nuclear deal with the west. over the next three days there'll be a huge discussion. technical discussions on how to

implement the deal and on monday, as we speak, all sides will finally ratify the agreement and on the same day, the united states and european allies will announce the lifting of all economic sanctions on iran. some will be suspended. that's the end of it. from monday, the official implementation of the deal will begin. >> there was opposition to the deal from hard-line lawmakers opposed to president hassan rouhani in iran. was this just for domestic political purposes, or would they doubt that iran would ratify the deal? >> you are absolutely right. everything that you here from the iranian media is all only for domestic consumption. they want the politicians to stay in power and keep their

seats at the parliament. let's not forget the facts that the parliament ratified the deal in less than 15 minutes. what does it mean - they don't care about the nuclear programme or the deal. they have a political future in the country, they better support the deal. it has the backing of the voters in the country, and soon there'll be parliamentary elections. the hardliners stand to lose, the government has the winning partner in the form of nuclear deal. it's either you win the next elections by supporting this deal or you lose it big time. >> how does iran's regional strategy come into play? i'm estimating the ground pressure said to be passing along the troops of bashar al-assad and hezbollah in syria,

how does the nuclear deal affect the strategy in syria, and its involvement in the war in syria. >> that's an interesting question, iran doesn't have to worry about the nuclear programme any more. it can focus attention on helping allies, iraq and syria. we know that over the past few days, there were iranian military commanders killed in syria. they are under immense pressure to deliver on this presence in syria and iraq, and it has to come in the form of victory. yesterday the commander promised the iranian nation that there'll be victories in the next coming days if not weeks. they are more than ready to deliver, and they better deliver, because people are watching them closely. the international community is watching them closely. they have no choice. they don't have other excuses.

we cannot fully commit ourselves or our troops to the war in iraq and syria. they don't have that excuse any more. i'm positive because of what they had promise, we will receive bigger victories, in the coming days and weeks. if not months. >> thank you for joining us. nuclear power has been switched on in japan, despite a widespread opposition. a second reactor was started. dozens of reactors were shut down four years ago after an earthquake and tsunami caused a fukushima meltdown. >> china will host an informal meeting of defence ministers. the summit comes amid rising tensions in the south china sea. china claims the 12 nautical

miles around the spratly islands overlaps with other countries in the south china sea. beijing announced a u.s. drama. the u.s. is beefing up preps in the region. >> reporter: two world powers flexing their muscles over several small islands in in the south china sea. satellite shows buildings on coral reefs reclaimed by china. it includes an escort which is in international waters. >> u.s. plans for military exercise in the disputed area is adding to existing tension. >> it will add to existing tensions in the area. and, of course, a lot of countries are looking at this very carefully, and we hope that it will not create a new spiral

of tension. >> china denies it is militarizing the reefs. there are islands in claimed by taiwan, malaysia and the philippines. u.s. armed forces increased the presence in the asia-pacific region and intensified exercises like this one, off the coast of indonesia. the u.s. navy admits to helping provide security for south-east asia, the water surrounding these countries, and it's part of the rebalance to asia pacific. >> during the exercise 600 u.s. marines and sailors took part in the assaults. >> the united states showing their presence in the south-east asia, with tensions rising in the south china sea, exercises like these are seen as a show of force, and one that is crucial.

>> many around the region hope the two superpowers will be able to control themselves. >> such an event is not immediately sold. this in regard to this kind of thing happening. and still where they control each other's warships to avoid the crash. >> south-east asian nations hope to speed up negotiations about a so-called code of conduct. and aims to regulate freedom of navigation at sea, and overflowing rights to peace at sea. it may be too late, with u.s. plans to test the water and carry out freedom of exercise very soon now, a medical emergency is looming for snake bite victims in some african countries. the last batch of an effective

venom and anecdote will expire next year. we have more from northern nigeria. >> reporter: this hospital in in north-eastern nigeria treats snake bite victims. this man covered more than 100km to get to the health facility for specialized care. it may be run down, but at least he is being treated. like most victims here, is a poor farmer barely able to bring his family. >> i was reading my farm, grabbing the snake unknowingly, it bit me. after i started to feel dizzy and fainted. it's a painful bite. >> reporter: every month 370 patients come to the hospital for help. this hospital struggles with a huge number seeking attention after being bit by snakes. facilities ever overstretched, many that are brought to the

hospital do not survive. the situation can get worse when the last batch expires. it's a big concern with medical experts. >> if the stock of antivenom, they'll be in for trouble. many will die. most of the indian drugs are not specific. there'll be negative consequence. >> this hospital has to make do with an anecdote limited to venom. >> outside the hospital, pt farming community is facing a crisis. a growing pop up lyings means an increase in demand. that set up a conflict between people and the reptiles. that called the rocket community home. the situation reached a point where a bounty was placed in any field. >> we try to get relief.

we spent two years. when they are coming from britain, they said they should stop. it will kill them all. there'll be nothing to produce venom for others to use. >> reporter: if the anti-venom runs out communities may be forced to ignore the device to protect themselves. still ahead on the al jazeera noose hour. once common, now rare, where in the u.s. the administration is on to save the oshinged. in sport, silence raised over whether michel platini will run for the f.i.f.a. president city. stay with us for more on that.

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. now, in mexico there are a lot of complaints about a government advert urging the public not to complain. john holman has been seeing what causes the controversy. >> reporter: this is a promo video the mexican government put online and took down after an outcry. in working class mexico, a carpenter tells a workmate moaning about the government's reforms, and ends a lecture with what the p.r. department thought was a killer line. >> translation: enough already of your complaining he says in slang. >> reporter: that line angered

many mexicans. >> translation: how are we not going to complain when there is so much wrong with the country. >> it's like they are mocking us because they know a lot of people will get annoyed. a lot of people say the reforms are helping. >> if they are tired of the complaints, they should do their jobs. simple as that. if they solved the problems they wouldn't complain. >> twitter jumped on the theme where a loaning list of complaints they do have in a country where corruption and impunity dominates. within hours, the video was gone. >> it's the latest setback for the president, who served to power a wave of orchestrated appearances on mexico's subservient tv channels. the online world is difficult to tame, as more mexicans are elected, it proves a launching -- connected, it proved the launching pad for protests against government

corruption and ineptitude. no more so than the abduction of 43 students. marches were organized online, the government was slow to react. subsequent attempts to turn social media in the president's favour, like this light-hearted post to disprove a resumor that he ran a marathon in mismatched socks bombed, leaving him echoing the words of his administration spot - enough, already, of your complaints time to catch up on sports with sanaa. >> thank you. the toronto blue jays won a controversial decider 6-3. the texas rangers going into the series with a game. locked at 2-2, the rangers in the 7th - the empires judged that a blue jays throw hit the bat of the rangers player. the rangers celebrated, the blue jays protested. toronto showed that they hit what would be the deciding home

run to put the blue jays ahead in a first post-season win at home since 1993. >> there was a lot of emotion, a lot of changes to the dynamics of the game and momentum from team to team. obviously in a do or die game tensions will be running high. and, you know, people's emotions get involved. it's a different type of gim. ultimately we come out on top. and we come here to do kansas city royals beat the astros. this was a game 5 decider. they play toronto next. houston astros go home. >> it's very touch. there's not a man in the room that wanted the season to end. and, you know, there's going to be 29 teams that go through what we go through today. there'll be one champion. so it hurts.

it hurts to know that, you know, we put everything that we could into the season, and it ends abruptly. >> prince hussain submitted his candidacy for the upcoming f.i.f.a. election. he failed to unseat sepp blatter in may's election. his resignation created a vacancy. it's scheduled tore the 25th, f.i.f.a. is discussing delaying it with the executive committee. prince ali warned against delaying the meeting, which he believed could create instability in f.i.f.a. >> a week after receiving the backing backing of u.e.f.a. colleagues, the f.i.f.a. representatives discuss ethics. michel platini was suspended for

90 days and is understand investigation for a $2 million payment made by sepp blatter in 2011. the absence of a written contract of payment caused several countries to reconsider the vote for michel platini in february's elections. the frenchman denies wrongdoing and hopes to clear his name in time to stand or the presidency of world football. >> well, for more on that we are joined by lee wellings, live from london. is michel platini in more trouble. what is discussed in this meeting. >> michel platini is in a lot of trouble with the role in world football, whether it's f.i.f.a. or u.e.f.a. it's a difficult position for u.e.f.a. to be in. the two meetings taking place bsh - one is the executive meeting, and the 54 member natives, representatives, meet as well. there's so much to discuss and decide. what is the next move in the

crisis, what will they do about michel platini. if they support him within u.e.f.a., can they afford to support him in a bid for the presidency, a bid that looked in complete ruins, how can they stand the way things are. they have to decide should we ask the elections to be delayed. who should we back. the sheikh is a figure, could u.e.f.a. get behind him. where does this leave prince ali, that used to have support from u.e.f.a., he had the support. it's a real mess and plenty to discuss. >> let's go back to prince ali, when he said the meeting should be delayed. issee saying that because he's in prime position.

>> we expect prince ali to say that, to confirm his candidacy. arrests started being made, suspensions handed out. he is the man in place. he is the man who hasn't been discredit discredited, is ready to stand an election, everyone is falling. other candidates are banned and out of the running. it's who else might stand against prince ali. a lot of people want is to be someone not tainted by anything. to come in from the outside. there are others who just don't want to get behind prince ali. they don't feel he has the qualities needed for a president to get them out of this crisis. >> thank you very much for that. they tee off in a few hours. the first event of the pga season. coming 17 days after the end of

the last season. jordan spieth ended as world number one. rory mcilroy saying he is hopeful he'll get back to the top spot. but that f.i.f.a. deserves his success. >> no, when you look at the gulf jordan played. you talk about the wins, and go back to australia at the end of last year, tiger's tournament as well, where he won. he won seven times in the last 12 months, i guess. so, yes, it can change. i mean i feel like i played okay. i've won three times in the stretch. they have not been majors. >> novak djokovic and andy murray are third round winners at the shanghai masters on thursday. it was a much tougher day for rafael nadal in the second world watch. the spaniard given a work out. going to three sets.

spanning a total of two hours, 43 minutes. rafael nadal winning the surge on a tie break. >> of course, that's all the sport for me. more on the us meeting late. back to you. >> thank you very much. schoolkids in the united states helping flours that are common but rare. orchids struggle to survive. botonist's try to reintroduce them with the help of those from miami. >> reporter: at the school in miami, they are planting for the future. but this is not your average gardening projects. >> you measure the roots, the bases where the leafs come out. the schools and others take part in a scheme to reintroduce

native orchids. >> the idea is based on a similar project in singapore. and the aim is to bring the blooms to miami's urban streets. >> this is the future, and this is almost a bleak reality, we are losing habitat, populations are growing. we'll find ways to be creative. and we need to start with the majors. the million orchid project funded by the donations hopes to establish a healthy population within five years. challenges are huge. the single orchid can produce a million seeds. if conditions are not perfect, they die. >> biologically little is known about the orchids. in many cases the general nation process is a -- germination project is a mystery. those behind the project know it is high intensity to ensure the success, the ownid by volunteers,

each side is nursed to maturity, the man behind the programme hopes to restore the population. >> i would like miami to be an orchid city, to see the show of orchids coming into bloom at various times of the year. >> all kids at low levels. in part because they were ripped and sold. those behind the project accept a theft. they hope it will be part of a rebirth. >> new plans that grow. here in the industry, and knowing that you helped them. >> there are a few orchids in the wild. if all goes well, it could soon be home to a healthy populationful rare blooms stay with us here on al jazeera, a full bulletin of news is ahead. back in a few minutes.

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breaking news - president obama is extending the time line for keeping u.s. troops in afghanistan. thousands more will stay longer than expected to battle a resurgent taliban a meeting of the minds. brussels meeting. among the issue refugee crisis. >> countering hate at home, the new government push to night the people plotting attacks on u.s. soil. >> and a teenager beaten to death, his brother injured in a church. parents and other parishioners accused of trying to get them to confess their