>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour, live from our headquarters in doha. our top stories. egypt's president in talks on downing street with david cameron, warning that the russian passenger jet was brought down over sinai by an act of terror. >> we cannot be certain that the russian airliner was brought down by a bomb, but it looks increasingly likely that that is the case. and the search continueses

for survivors trapped under a collapsed building in pakistan. and 3 million people to arrive by 2017 to europe say the european commissioner. and i'll have all of the sport, including, the thing that happened in the singapore grand prix, and the same thing happens to this man. details later in the program. ♪ the british prime minister has been meeting the egyptian president in london. the talks are expected to be dominated by the russian passenger plane which crashed in sinai with the loss of 244 lives, an event that david cameron says was probably caused by a bomb. he defended his decision to suspend all british flights across the area. >> i have every sympathy for the

egyptians because tourism is vitally important to their economy. i want to restore our links and flights with egypt as soon as is safe and possible. but i have to and want to put the safety of british people first. if that russian airliner was brought down by a terrorist bomb, that means it is absolutely essential that we see that improvement at the airport. and that's what i will be discussing with the egyptians today. and we'll be working around the clock with our experts to put that in place. the aircraft's black boxing which record flight data are being investigated for clues. the russians have been using drones to survey the crash sight. britain's government says the jet may well have been brought down by an explosive device. egypt has also accused britain

of prejudging the result of an ongoing investigation. technical fault has not yet been completely ruled out. a an industry consultant says it is too soon to tell what caused the crash. >> well, looking from pieces of the wreckage, the photographs released from the media, it looks like a bomb or structural failure of some sort, but to conclude it at one way or another at the moment seems a bit premature. i think the foreign minister just decided to take precautions in the public interest, rightly or wrongly, but, yes, it can be misunderstood as in they conclude that it is like to be a bomb. we look at the photographs there are signs it could be, but to con official it we need to let the investigators find out whether there were traces of explosives that were involved. >> let's go live to our

correspondent outside of the british prime minister's residence on downing street. the two leaders are still meeting, jamal, but the crash in the sinai and the investigation will be obviously top of the discussions there. >> reporter: indeed foley, that meeting literally just concluded just before you crossed over to me. cameron escorted sisi to the door, and sisi left after what was an extended meeting or a meeting that took longer than originally expected, obviously probably because of these latest developments with regards to the plane crash. we heard the statements from cameron saying he regrets that he has called for all flights to be canceled. the egyptian tourism ministry have described that decision as regrettable.

the british tourists make up the majority of tourists that go there. the country's economy just continues to take dip after dip after that military coup in 2013. they are also trying to figure out a way to get things back to normal and figure out how the flights can resume sooner rather than later. >> this has been a controversial visit. i see protesters behind you. tell us what has been happening and what the people there are saying about president sisi's visit to the u.k. >> reporter: very controversial indeed. we tried to talk to president sisi when he walked out. i asked him when he expects to release the journalists behind

bars, as well as the thousand of political prisoners who are in jail. he refused to answer, and then the british press continued to attack us as we stood outside. on the streets behind me, you'll see those opposed to sisi's visit. they have been gathering there starting yesterday. they see the man who they consider to be a dictator, somebody who human rights watch has said is responsible for the worst massacre to take place in modern day egypt should never have been invited. there was a pro-sisi gathering on the other side. it appears the divisions within egyptian society are playing out on the streets. one of the placards have read if this protest was taking place in

egypt, we would ether be shot or detain. >> jamal thank you very much indeed. the european commission has said the refugee crisis will continue through the winter with 5,000 expected to arrive every day. for many the first port of entry is the greek island of lesvos. some of the refugees have been telling mohammed jamjoom about their physical and emotional scars. >> reporter: at a transit point in lesvos, the lines continue to materialize. even though the buses don't. here postures express it all, of journeys constantly impeded. of obstacles that can't seemingly been removes. this woman says she is abused

emotionally as the is physically. >> translator: it hurts all over my face. i can't either sleep. it hurts here and here and here. >> reporter: we first met her at the previous evening. she had gotten into a car wreck in turkey before crossing with her family to greece. she was in pain then she is in more pain now. her son just wants to be able to go get some help for his mother. >> translator: i'm young enough that i can handle being hungry and thirsty, but she was over 70, and she was in an accident. she needs attention. >> reporter: but with only three ambulances on this entire island, chances are slim she will be treated soon. for these new arrivals transport is near impossible. it's not just the lack of car that worries them. the ongoing ferry worker's strike makes them feel trapped

as well. their migration has for now come to a halt. surrounded by a sea of tents after traversing a sea of water. looking around it's hurdles they see everywhere. here at the firsten campment, you really see up close how greece has become for these refugees a gateway to europe. here space is running out, but people still keep arriving. it doesn't seem that this crisis will end any time soon. those strong enough choose to walk no matter how young their compani companions, no matter how heavy their possessions. by evening lines have disappeared. hundreds decided to leave on foot. >> people, they want to continue their journey as soon as possible. we try to convince them not to take the road, because it's a dangerous road, it's dark, a lot of curves. but people want to continue their travel, so it's difficult

to convince them. >> reporter: for the families that remain, comfort is no longer expected. warmth to ward off the elements, and strength to cope with the injustices are what is needed most. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera, lesvos, greece. coming up on the news hour, myanmar's democracy icon [ inaudible ] to wield power even if she can't be president after sunday's election. plus people in bangladesh are protesting against the murder of bloggers and writers. and widespread drug use in russian athletics, as thefallout continues. ♪ first any search continues for up to 150 people trapped in

pakistan after a factory collapse. at least 21 are confirmed to have been killed in lahore. it's not clear what caused the collapse, but there was structural damage in the area after last week's earthquake. kamal i understand there have been noises, signs of hope, perhaps, underneath the rubble? >> reporter: absolutely, and it is because of that, that the rescue teams are now working at a faster pace with the attempt to reach those people. they were identified certain places in this particular large factory building which has collapsed, and they are now concentrating on that particular section of the collapsed factory. now importantly, as you were mentioning, there was some structural damage after the major earthquake, but after that, there used to be a lot of vibration in the factory because

of the machines running, and despite the warning, the owner decided to add another floor to the building. but right now the only hope is the voices people have been hearing, the rescue teams sometimes they turn off all of their equipment and try to listen in carefully, but as you can see the pace of work has now picked up. they are still busy. this is the second night, and of course it is a race against time, because a lot of people who are buried there may not have warm clothes, it is already winter here in pakistan, another cold night in lahore, and it appears it will take several days to remove the rubble you see behind me. >> what about the families, how are they coping with this situation? >> reporter: most of them have been camped just outside the

factory. the security forces of course are not letting them close to the building, but they have been waiting there since yesterday, hoping to get some sort of news. most of them are sleeping rough on the ground. mothers, fathers, family members, it must not be forgotten that these were mostly poor people, bread earners, indeed a terrible or deal for the families who are waiting for some sort of news. >> kamal heidler, in lahore, bringing us the latest on that collapsed factory. protesters in bangladesh have been carrying mock coffins through the streets. as rob matherson reports any government is accused of not doing enough to stop the killings. >> reporter: protesters try to force their way towards

bangladesh's parliament in dakar. they are angry at the government which they accuse of doing little to solve the murders of seculars, bloggers, and publishers. they carry makeshift coffins. each represents one of the victims. patience is running out. >> we are going to start a coffin march against the impunity that already [ inaudible ] and, you know, against the killing of blogger, publisher and writers, and against the [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: the most recent target was hacked to death. he published secular books, including this one. this man was slashed to death in february. since then three other bloggers have been murdered.

what they all have in common was speaking out against religious violence, and an armed group says it is responsible for the attacks. bangladesh's government describes the murders as isolated incidents, and says that it are being investigated. but the protesters say that is just not enough. the syrian government says it has taken control of the strategic highway into the divided city of aleppo. but it has lost ground in another key supply line in northern hama. zana hoda has more on the battle for vital territory. >> reporter: this is just one battle in a war that is focusing on syria's highways. the opposition has advanced, taking control of most of the town on the main road in the west of the country. there has been weeks of fighting since the government and its allies pushed into this region. but the rebels have managed to take background in this region.

it is north of government-controlled hama city, it is close to a main highway that run through syria's major cities. the government wants to be able to protect its strong holds and push further north. >> translator: the regime pushed into northern hama and they need land routes. the opposition has now turned the tables and cut the road. the government is in a difficult position now. >> reporter: but it has regained ground on another front. its forces have recaptured an important supply route. when isil captured the road over a seek ago, it was seen as a setback for the government. this road is a lifeline for the military and the people who live in western controlled districts in the divided city of aleppo. but the main highway between aleppo and the capitol further south has been blocked by the

opposition for years. this new battle is about securing highways. it always has been. the army has had manpower problems. it had to choose battles. the goal of the government and its supporters now is to secure movement between the cities and maintain control of what it calls core territories. this fight, however, also has political goals. each side is hoping to change the balance of power in order to impose their own settlement, and while tactical gains have been made since the start of the recent military campaign, neither side has achieved a strategic win. roadside car bomb is reported to have killed at least five people in a lebanese city near the border. the town was briefly taken over by al-nusra and isil fighters

last year. now, the u.n.'s chief negotiator in libya is about to step down and is taking a job with a gulf country which supports one of libya's rival government. the u.n. security council is holding a briefen on libya with the envoy speaking. let's go lye to gabriel elizondo who is at the u.n. headquarters for us. gabe, what more do we know about the u.n. envoy leaving his post and why? >> reporter: well, he was planning to leave his post. he has been on that job for a little over a year now. he is giving a briefing in the next few minutes to the u.n. security council. it was a planned briefing kind of wrapping up his tenure, but it has been overshadowed by controversy, that he was allegedly negotiating a job at a think tank while he was wrapping up his tenure in libya as well.

this is important because leon was the key figure trying to bring both sides together to bring together a unity government in a u.n.-backed plan in libya, between the general national congress and the house of representatives. this is important because the house of representatives is supported by the uae, so the fact that he was potentially negotiating a job with the uae at a time he was working for the u.n. has certainly raised some eyebrows here. let's listen to an email that he apparently sent to the foreign minister. he said: >> so then, gabe, what has been the response from the libyan

factions? >> reporter: well, the gnc has sent this letter that we have obtained to the united nations and they are calling for the security council and ban ki-moon to look into this matter. they say they could essentially threaten the entire process that has been put in place to bring some sort of unity government together. they say leon has lost credibility on his way out. and in the letter they say the timing of the enjoy's new job: now i will say, leon, as he was walking into the security council briefing just about 15 minutes ago, we tried to ask him

specifically about this letter, and his response, but he ignored our questions and walked right past us, as far as the u.n. is concerned, we have reached out to a him as well, he does not have an immediate response. but there will be a briefing in about two hours from now. and we plan to ask him more. >> all right. gabriel elizondo live for us at the united nations. myanmar's opposition leader says she will be the true power above the president if her party triumphs in the election. >> reporter: the queue had forms hours before the opposition leader was due to speak. it shows the interest in the up coming election at home and abroad, it is being held as a test to the country's transition

to democracy. but there is caution about too much optimism. >> [ inaudible ] whether it is or not, we will have to wait and see after the election. because as i said already the election process is proving to be less than totally free and fair. >> reporter: for half a century, myanmar had been ruled by the military. it was in 2011, after an election widely dismissed as fraudulent, that a political party, one dominated by former generals took over. the up coming poll, too is not without its problems. opposition party, the national league for democracy, says it is earned about errors in the voter list, how advanced voting overseas had been carried out. in some parts of the country fighting between armed ethnic groups and the military will

prevent many from voting. in recent days, thousands of people near one high township has been displaced. the election commission has said polling will not take place in seven townships, and in as many as 600 villages around the country. it's disappointing for this man. he was planning to run as a candidate for a party representing the shan minority. >> translator: it makes people lose their voting rights, and the ethnic candidates have lost their chance to event the people. >> reporter: and in the west, hundreds of thousands of rohingya, an ethnic group the government does not recognize, will not be allowed to vote. they have been rendered stateless amist anti-muslim sentiment in the country.

some are questioning whether the ballot can be truly representative of the people. taiwan's president has defended his decision to break with history and meet his chinese counterpart. he has denied the talks due on saturday in singapore are a political stunt, but many in taiwan say they are aimed at boosting his ratings ahead of elections next year. rob mcbride reports. >> for taiwan's president, and his chinese counterpart, the watch word for their upcoming summit is pragmatism. he told journalists despite the differences that separate them, this meeting recognizes the realities of their two systems drawing closer together. there will still be no official recognition of each other's government, but recognizing the other exists a start. >> translator: we're trying to be as transparent as possible.

we want to show our dignity and equality. on this matter the meeting is a good thing for both sides. it will also help to maintain regional peace and world stability. >> reporter: coming at the end of his time in office, he is hoping this sets up a mechanism whereby the leaders of both countries can meet on a regular basis. >> translator: we made this meeting for any happiness of the next generation. we hope both countries will move forward and take the first steps towards normalizing ties. >> all he can really do is stake -- all right. we want to bring you now the press conference between the leaders of the british government and the egyptian president, who is on visit to the u.k. this happened just a few moments ago, i understand.

the meeting has now wrapped up. let's take a listen. >> translator: i am certain that cooperation between our two countries will have mutual benefits. my visit to the united kingdom reflects the deep-rooted relations, bonding the two countries, and the two peoples. i believe you share the same opinion that the strong cooperation ties at many fronts provide sound platform that will enable us in future to develop our political, economical, and social relations and expand our trade businesses and ties. mr. prime minister, we are racing against time to rebuild

our modern civil society, taking pride in the deep traditions and history, providing dignity, social welfare, and social justice to all of the egyptian citizens. therefore, we are looking at our ties of cooperation positively, believing that the future will hold the better for both of us. it is important also to stress that the world is now in dire need to join forces against

extremism, radicalism, radical ideology that provide nesting ground for terrorism, undermining the social values and several foundations. mr. prime minister, once again, i would like to express my appreciation and the delight we have for visiting the friendly country of the united kingdom. thank you once again for the warm reception and positive atmosphere during the visit, looking forward that our joint discussions will address and

bring about our converging views as reflecting during the previous discussions. >> translator: i look forward to the outcome of our talks, and i'm quite confident it will bring forward all of the agreement we had in our views during our talks. >> translator: in terms of our bilateral relations at the regional level. there's no doubt that by our joint discussions, we'll achieve deeper understanding of the shared issues. >> translator: we have come out of these talks better understanding and deeper awareness of our respective stands. >> translator: and also our views on the compelling issues and the prospect solutions

thereto. >> translator: there are ways to give more means to solve these. >> translator: also, giving an impetus to the british-egyptian relations as we have touched during this visit. we touched the resolve political will for further cooperation, and i hope we will live up to the aspirations of both of our peoples. >> translator: i hope that we will contribute together to meeting the aspirations of our peoples. thank you, your excellency. >> thank you very much, mr. president. we have two questions. one from chris [ inaudible ]. he is going to go first. >> reporter: no other country has taken the decision we have to suspend flights. why is u.k. intelligence so sure that there was an explosive

device on board this plane when even the russian's who's plane this was have not said that. do we have some intelligence they do not have? or do you think russians are withholding information? >> translator: why no other country have decided to stop fligh flights, in other words do you have any specific intelligence information which the russians do not have? >> you have reason today to be unhappy with the british response. firstly, you were not informed of the decision to suspend flights, and secondly, the u.k. now appears to be suggesting that egypt cannot run a secure airport. and as i understand it is an airport that you think is very secure.

>> translator: give us the reasons about the response made by the british government towards the incident, and do you believe that the airport does not have sufficient security measures? i would like to assure all who are following us about ten months ago, our friends in u.k. requested us to assure the security measures taken at the airport. and it was a natural matter as we appreciate how the government would like to be securely sure about the measures taken for the benefit of their subjects. we -- at that time, we invited british delegations to take firsthand information about the

security measures taken across all of our airports, even following the russian airplane crash, i had a telephone call with mr. cameron for further measures, and i really appreciated the response, and i appreciated how he wanted to make sure that his subjects are in secure environment. that's why we agreed to the visit. once again, we are ready to respond and positively deal with any suggestions in order to assure that the security measures at the airport are sufficient and effective. >> i just want to say that ten months ago, we were asked by our british friends to send teams to the airport to make sure that all of the security procedures

that are well enough, and provide the adequate safety and security for the passengers, and we undertheir concern, because they are really interested in the safety and security of their nationals, going to places to tourist attractions in egypt and other places in the world. we have received the teams -- received the teams. we have cooperated with them, and they shaw the security measures, and they were happy with that. and we are still ready to cooperation, not necessarily on one airport, but with all of the airports, this is -- we understand the importance of this. and even after the crash of the russian airplane there was a telephone call with his excellency, the prime minister, and we agreed on more coordination on checking the procedures taken, and i shared

complete understanding of his excellency's concern about the safety and security of his people. we responded immediately to the demands. we received the team to the airport, and i say here that we are completely ready to cooperate with all of our friends to make sure that the security measures taken are -- at our airport provide the safety and security needed for -- for the people who come to us. >> translator: i also touched that the prime minister is understanding -- not only understanding, but also appreciating our reaction. in addition, i also felt such understanding that this particular issue will have no [ inaudible ] impact in future

about future trips and visits by the british nationals who are warmly welcomed into egypt with pleasure. >> translator: -- from his excellency the prime minister, and how we are aligning -- aligning and coordinating our -- our measures together, and this is a good mutual understanding and we also talked about the -- the -- the actions needed to make sure that this will not have any negative ramification on the future of tourism in egypt, and that in as soon as time possible, we restore the movement of tourists to egypt, those who come to egypt to enyou their time, those who we are very happy to receive them in our country. >> thank you. chris. thank you mr. president. i completely agree. we have had some excellent

discussions today, not only about what egypt has done in the past to increase its own security and the security of tourists, but also the further steps that can be taken today that will help to make sure that our british citizens can return home after their holidays. to answer your questions very directly, you asked why we are the only country taking action, actually the united states has changed their advice, and there are some other european countries that are taking the actions that we have done. but my role is to keep british citizens safe and secure and to put their security first. i act on the basis of intelligence that we receive. i act on the basis of advice that i get. of course, i cannot be sure. my experts cannot be sure that it was a terrorist bomb that brought down that plane, but if the intelligence is and the judgment is that that is a more

likely than not outcome, then i think it's right to act in the way that i did. now, i understand that it is obviously concerning for those people who want to come home. and of course, i feel deeply for those people who were looking forward to a good holiday, who won't be doing that, who had their holidays canceled, and of course, i have great concern for our friends and partners in egypt who want to have a strong tourism industry, and who welcome a million british people every year, but the most important thing of all is that those people can come home safely, and that's why the extra measures need to be taken today. i think we have done the right thing. we have had very good discussions today. i'm sure we will be able to bring those british holiday makers home soon, and more than that, i'm sure that we'll be able over time to take the necessary actions so we can restore the holiday-making route

from britain to egypt and vice versa. so i'm convinced we'll be able to do that, but my job is to act on the basis of the intelligence, making the judgment that if it is the case -- we can't be sure -- but if it is the case that there was a terrorist bomb on that plane, then i have to take action. please the next question. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] middle east that the british policy is responsible for creating isis. once by the military action in iraq and libya that paved the way for this group to prevail. and once by harboring the leaders and advocates of islamic extremism, don't you think there is a need to review your stand and review your policy concerning terrorists and

fanatical groups without any exception, including the muslim brotherhood, which is the mother of all terroristic groups? thank you. >> first of all, i think those people who say the problem of islamist extremism was caused either by iraq or by action in libya or elsewhere, the fundamental problem they have to confront is this, that one of the biggest acts of islamist extremist violent terrorism, was of course the attack on the twin towers in new york which preceded those events in the case of iraq by two years, and in the case of libya by many more years. that came first, and i would argue that the problem of extremist islamist and violence has been a growing problem and it is a problem that is effectively a battle taking place within islam. i know and you know that islam is a religion of peace.

a religion followed by millions as a source of guide and strength. but there is a minority that has taken the tenants of this religion and poisoned them, justifying killing and maiming and all of the things that i.s. are doing. and it is this narrative that we should be trying to combat, rather than thinking it was caused in some way by the actions of others, as i say. twin towers, the actions of al-qaeda, that happened many years before the represents you are referring to. as for the muslim brotherhood, what we do in britain is judge people by whether they are inside the law or outside the law, and if people are fomenting violence, then they are breaking the law and the law should come

down on them. and in terms of our review of the muslim brotherhood, that will be published later this year. and as you are seeing a robust approach against extremism of all kinds. and those extremists whose world view encourages people to pursue a line of violence. and that's our approach here in the u.k. sorry, do you want to translate all of that. sorry. i should have stopped partway through. it was a rather long answer. [ translating in egyptian ]

>> translator: the biggest action [ inaudible ] was the attack on -- >> the british prime minister david cameron, along with the egyptian president, al-sisi, holding a press conference on downing street. this happened a short while ago. the two leaders praising the strong cooperation between the u.k. and egypt, but much of that press conference dominated by the crash of that russian airliner in egypt sinai desert and britain's decision to suspend all flights to and from egypt siting security concerns. britain and the prime minister reiterated this at this press conference, believes that a bomb may have caused that russian airliner to crash. something which the egyptians want to make sure has happened and much more cautious than the

british. let's bring in jamal outside on downing street for us. the crash of the russian airliner dominating the discussions. there was a bit of tension going into this meeting between al-sisi and david cameron, over this crash. did that tension dissipate? it is all over now? >> well, at least they have fried to show some sort of a united face and make out like it has gone away. but sisi is an embattled president. he had promised that through the military coup and his rise to power that the economy would be better, that egypt would be better off, and therefore, he is very much in need of any form of foreign currency that comes into the country. the suspension of flights, considering as we heard from cameron that there are a million british tourists that go to

egypt every year is going to hit him hard. cameron tried to allay sisi's fears by saying he has british li liv lives at heart first, but obviously the security situation is very much tied to another issue, which is human rights and the crackdown on opposition by sisi's government is something his opponents say is a reason for that increase in violence. and i want to introduce this person from amnesty international. nicklas, tell me what does this meeting mean in terms of the opponents of sisi saying this gives him the green light to continue in his oppression. >> i think it's a vital opportunity missed. david cameron shouldn't have let sisi walk out that door without talking about human rights.

and egypt is -- has a terrorism campaign that doesn't see any difference between a peaceful protester and a member of an armed group. they have killed hundreds of protesters, and rounded up tens of thousands of the opposition. they include a young man detained simply wearing a t-shirt to a protest with an anti torture logo. >> reporter: and do you agree with the idea that the increase in violence is directly caused by the increase in oppression? as a lot of the opponents of al-sisi and cameron have been saying? >> the crackdown is fuelling instability in the sense that thousands of the members of the opposition are behind bars. that's part of the problem. we're not saying sisi should have been barred. diplomacy means talking to everyone, but leadership means not letting the other guy walk

all over you in your own home. cameron should have called for release of prisoners and raising the oppressive laws. today i'm not sure he had what it took. >> reporter: thank you very much, nicklas. foley in the absence of those questions, al jazeera did try to ask president sisi about the imprisonment of dozens of journalists, unfortunately we didn't get a response from that. however, like we have been reporting, the idea of human rights, has been fairly mute and has taken a back seat and this visit focused a lot more in terms of security and trade between the two countries. >> thank you very much jamal. ♪ now, nasa has released breath-taking new pictures of

the sun. they were created from still images taken by the solar dynamics observatory. the state-of-the-art observatory captures images across ten wavelengths of light. the result is this beautiful depiction. joining us to talk more about this is a senior research fellow at the department of physics and astronomy at university college in london. thank you for being on al jazeera. these pictures are absolutely breathtaking. tell us about what we're seeing exactly in this video? what are the events that are taking place? >> the video is extremely spectacular for many reasons. this has been taken with the solar dynamics of [ inaudible ] which is orbiting around the earth about 30,000 kilometers high over the pacific ocean, almost above the galapagos islands, and the images we see here it's an animation that has

been taken one frame every 12 seconds, and what we see here is a kind of event that is happening in this video about 5 or 600 times faster than in reality. but what you see here, especially on the left, you see arches developing from magnetic fields. we're looking at a very hot part of the sun in these images. we're looking at temperatures of several million degrees. it is really, really fascinating to see it in this pristine detail. >> explain the different colors. we're seeing a lot of red, yellow, and blue. >> yeah. >> in the red it looks like solar flairs. what is that? or how can you explain this? >> what we just saw in the red was an [ inaudible ] and this was only a few thousand degrees hot. these are all artificial colors just to identify these ultra

violent wavelengths that we cannot see anyway. this brown color is a bit warmer. these are the arches of the magnetic fields, and the rest of the sun as you can see is very, very dark, because it is much cooler than these temperatures. >> briefly, francisco, how does this effect us? what do we know so far about how all of this -- the pictures are beautiful and all, but what does it mean for us? >> it means a lot. the sun is a big mystery. when it comes to magnetic fields in general in the universe, we know very little. and we know whatever happens to the sun, it's going to effect our planet, our weather, the way our technology works, it is going to effect astronauts in space. so we need to learn to understand -- and this is one of the best ways, using satellites like this, which is giving us information to start scratching

this major mystery, and of course the aim is to predict what the sun is going to do in the next few days or weeks, and we are still far away from that, but this is a way to do it, and i hope in the near future we will be able to predict the behavior of the sun, because we really need to know that. >> thank you for your time. all right. time for sport. >> beautiful pictures there, but not particularly sunny in london. >> no. >> we're going to start with moto gt, the hopes of an eighth top level world title has taken a big hit after his punishment was upheld for kicking. the incident took place with 14 laps to go. number 46 appeared to kick out, resulting in the spanish world champion crashing out. the italian finished third, but

he had penalty points, which means he'll have to start from the back for the season. he currently leads his teammate by just 7 points. star french footballer is facing up to five years in prison after being charged with a number of serious offenses. french police have charged him with conspiracy to blackmail and participating in a criminal group. it's part of an investigation into on extortion charge. the striker is not allowed to see [ inaudible ] which could effect france's preparations for next year's european championships. >> translator: he has nothing to hide. it's astounding to read what is in the press. he proclaims his innocence. he took no part in the blackmail or blackmail attempting.

he will show he acted in good faith and i hope this will be seen as soon as possible. >> five russian athletes have been banned for doping. it comes a few days before the world anti-doping agency produced publishes of the report. it was alleged there was a program of systemic doping in russia on wednesday. the former head had been arrested by french police. the ex-president is accused of accepting bribes from russian officials to cover up doping tests. earlier i spoke to the investigative journalist behind the documentary i mentioned. >> i'm 100% sure that they had full knowledge, at some high officials about wrongdoing of some officials in iaaf, particularly because one of the key persons in the whole process

was the son of the then president of the international athletics federation, and he is more or less as relevant of person -- he is the connection between the russians and also the iaaf. there was a kind of collaboration with them for a couple of months, at least, maybe years, and according to our information, as the case of one of the most famous american runners word wide is not the only case. she claims that she had to pay approximately $600,000 to cover up her suspicious blood levels in 2011, 2012, around, so this was really major concern for us to investigate in that story, and it reveals that top officials from the russian federations have taken the money from her according to her

information, and obviously it looks like that is now confirmed by the [ inaudible ] that meets with authorities in france and the investigative commission. report has revealed that the pentagon paid millions of dollars in exchange for displays involving the arms forced. >> reporter: they are calling it paid patriotism, the displays like this have been common place at u.s. sports events. armed services performing the national anthem and being app plodded by fans. >> thanks to in-depth investigations a lot of that patriotism is paid for, in fact as much as $6.8 million that we saw the department of defense spend on sports marketing

contracts since 2012. they obviously should not be doing this. >> reporter: a senate report released on wednesday revealed the demonstrations were taxpayer funded. a million million dollars program intended to promote the armed services and boost recruitment. >> there are a lot of good things that professional sports do to honor the men and women who served in the military, but these millions of dollars are not acceptable as an expenditure of taxpayer dollars. >> reporter: as many as 72 contracts were in place with up to 50 pro-sports teams. the payments totaling $1.9 million involved the nfl, nba, national hockey league, and major league baseball. >> we went to the pentagon and asked them to provide information, and it was like

pulling teeth, and we're still not convinced we have all of the information so far. >> reporter: the practice has since been banned, the teams that profited have been urged to donate the money to charities that help veterans. cricket, pakistan have claimed a 2-0 test series win against england. england started the fifth and final day of the third test match. pakistan spinners ripped through the english batting lineup. just 40 minutes into the opening session. pakistan winning by 127 runs. that is all of your sport. robin adams will have more for you later. >> great impression of robin. thank you very much. that's it for this news hour on al jazeera, more news coming up in just a few minutes live from our news center in london with my colleague loren taylor.

thanks for watching. bye for now. ♪

egypt's president promises to work with other countries to protect foreign tourists after the sinai plane crash. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the u.n. warns 5,000 refugees will try to cross from turkey to greece every day over the winter. the battle for syria's highways. the government takes control of a strategic road in aleppo, but loses a key supply line in hama. and the disappearing coastline of louisiana, hit by rising sea