>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ good to have you with us as we begin another news hour here at al jazeera in doha. i'm adrian finighan, the top stories. saudi arabia says ground troops could form a part of a new coalition against isil. a shaky ceasefire in yemen. columbia's agreement reaches an agreement with farc rebels to compensate victims of the civil war. >> and lift off. and russia and the west work

together on the latest mission to the international space station. ♪ hello, saudi arabia, says that nothing is off the table in doing what is necessary to fight the islamic state of iraq and the levant. the saudi foreign minister spoke just a few moments ago in paris. he says that the coalition will take two different approaches to tackling violent groups such as isil. >> the -- as part of this effort, there will be a joint operations room set up in riyadh that would coordinate the efforts on two tracks one is a security and military track that involves the exchange of information, training, providing of equipment, and forces will necessary. the second track involves combatting the ideology. how do you develop effective

messaging? how do you deliver that messaging? how do you counter the messages of violent extremists, and how do you protect our youth. >> they are putting together a military alliance which includes 34 mainly muslim nations. >> reporter: it was a rare news conference from the saudi defense min ter, the creation of a new military alliance of mainly arab nations. >> translator: we'll fight terrorism in many parts of the islamic world. we can be a partner, as a group of countries in fighting this disease. >> reporter: the so-called disease is widespread the alliance will confront the growing influence in iraq and

syria, and mali, nigeria, libya, pakistan and afghanistan among others. >> translator: the best answer to those trying to identify islam with terror is the unity of islamic countries against terrorism. therefore, turkey is ready to contribute to every effort. >> reporter: 34 nations are part of the coalition, it includes established military heavyweights such as pakistan and egypt as well as economic ones, qatar and the uae notably. iran is absent from the list. it is saudi arabia's main regional rival, iraq and syria both at the heart of the isil conflict are also not part of this. so how strong is the alliance. >> you have turkey that is also significant. they are a very, very significant military power, they are a member of nato, so yes, i do think it sends a very, very crucial signal that the muslim world, particularly the sunni muslim world is now united

against this sunni-lead group, isil. >> reporter: the saudi government is leading a separate military campaign in yemen. it has been engaged in nine months of warfare against houthi rebels. the united states has indicated that fire power might be better served in channelled toward isil. this coalition could be the first step. let's get analysis from dominic kane where who is paris. he said it is not a sunni coalition, or a shia coalition, it's an anti terrorism, anti-extremism coalition. what do we make of what we heard? >> well, i'm sure the french government will endorse that wholehearted wholeheartedly, since they are fighting isil both in the middle east and on their own territory, adrian. the french government yesterday

before the meeting of ten countries trying to thrash out some sort of agreement regarding syria. we know they thanks the groups taking part in the talks in riyadh recently andal looted them for the efforts they had come to. and they said yesterday they felt that bashar al-assad still had no future, which was a maintenance of their existing position. but then this morning came the communique which no longer referred to bashar al-assad directly, and said instead that -- that all sides need to go towards a credible political peaceful solution for syria. now we know that the french government as i say have been very active combatting isil, and so it is fair to bre assume and assume that they will endorse this -- this will as it were to combat terrorism, which he has been espousing in the last half an hour or so. >> what do we make of the saudi

foreign minister's assertion that nothing is off of the table in terms of sending ground troops to fight the islamic state. >> we no western governments have been hesitant to suggest that they wanted to send foreign troops, because of the fear that perhaps their own populations might not support that, which is why you have situations around many western countries, the french, the british where there are air strikes happening, but perhaps not military troops of their own. and there has always been the suggestion that if there was to be a military solution, then perhaps it had to be provided by muslim countries, and western countries should not be part of that. on the face of it, this suggestion from the saudis of a muslim coalition as it were which might provide ground troops, that would seem to be in tune with this idea that western governments have been putting

forward. but the devil will be in the detail. what exactly does it mean. he hasn't said that everything is on the table either, so clearly western governments and owe governments will be pouring over this statement now, what he has been saying in his news conference, to find out where exactly this goes, and let's remember, of course, that the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has been meeting the russian president vladimir putin in russia today and meeting with sergei lavrov, the foreign minister, and they have talked about setting preconditions before any talks with a prospect of a meaningful solution being held. so we are still quite some bay from the possibility of perhaps a u.n. security council resolution, although there have been some reports from unnamed sources that perhaps people were talking about this. whether we're any further along so far as that is concerned is not clear.

>> dominic kane reporting live from paris. as he was saying john kerry is in moscow. he took the opportunity to speak out against the islamic state of iraq and the levant. >> on isil or daesh, russia and the united states agree that this is a threat to everybody, to every country; that there is no negotiation. these are the worst of terrorists. they attack culture and history and all decency, and they leave no choice but for civilized nations to stand together and to fight and push back and destroy them. >> despite all of the rhetoric about isil, the talks about kerry and lavrov are expected to focus on the wider war in syria. the biggest sticking point between the two countries is

president assad's future role in the country. russia is conducting air strikes in syria on the regime's behave. more from peter sharp in moscow. >> reporter: i think despite the encouraging remarks from both sides, no one is underestimating the difficulties that lie ahead. both russia and the united states will try and narrow down their differences over the next set of diplomatic talks. basically, the future of president assad and also trying to bring together opposition politicians and militias who are prepared to sit down at the table and continue the process. now that is set on paper anyway for friday in new york. it seems unlikely that that will -- time scale will be met, but the -- the opposition groups are saying that it is totally

unacceptable that president assad will be present at those talks, and in fact they would not continue the talks if he would not remove himself before the transitional period. an internationally backed ceasefire in yemen has been violated just hours after it began. one pro-government fighter has been killed in a gun fight with houthi rebels? ta'izz. th that - that -- truce began as peace talks got underway in switzerland. let's remind you of the different sides involved in yemen. starting with the houthi rebels. so named after the man who lead their rebellion. they are backed by supporters of the former president, saleh, and they have the support of iran.

the houthis are up against government forces aligned with president hadi. he is currently in exile in saudi arabia, the same country that is leading that coalition of nine arab states against the houthis, and they began the air strikes in march this year, and have the backing of sunni tribes on the ground in yemen. then of course there are the secessionists in the south. they want to break away from the north and taking advantage of years of instability, there is of course al-qaeda, it is stanchly anti-houthi, but in no way is it aligned with the government either. let's get the latest from zana hoda. >> reporter: reports of violations to the ceasefire, by neither side has declared the ceasefire dead. it appears to be holding, and negotiations are gotten off to a

positive start. the very fact they are still sitting in the same room is positive in itself. what we understand now from the united nations is that the declaration of the cessation of hostilities having a positive effect on the ground. much needed aid and medical supplies will be delivered to the yemenies, especially to the city of ta'izz which has been the scene of fierce fighting. the u.n. has said this is going to be a difficult and complex process. both sides, their positions wide apart. the yemeni government wants the houthi rebels to implement u.n. security council resolution 226 calling for the houthis to lay down their arms and withdraw from the areas they are captured. the houthis are not going to

give up power without a fight. at the end of the day they still control the capitol. the war in yemen has crippled the country as come at a massive human cost. more than 5,800 civilians have been killed since march. more than 21 million are in need of assistance, many on the brink of famine. and around 1.3 million children under the age of five are malnourished. at least 2.3 million have been forced from their homes, and more than 3 million children are unable to go to school, with around 3.5 thousand schools closed across the country. the world health organization eventtives for yemen says he is hoping they can use this truce to send food aid to the people of yemen. >> in fact, ta'izz is a priority area for us.

we managed [ inaudible ] three times before. however, for the last two weeks we were not able to send supplies. we are hoping there is where we'll be able to reach ta'izz. the soonest i believe [ inaudible ] already moved to -- to ta'izz today. but we are not [ inaudible ] our target is all of the areas, which we believe they are in desperate need of support in different part of the country. >> you are with the news hour from al jazeera, still to come, crowding into camps. we meet some of the thousands displaced from south sudan. and a rebel leader has declared an autonomous state in the country. we'll tell you why. and in sports, sepp blatter bleeds its innocence as we prepares to go before a ethics committee hearing this week. ♪

columbia's government has reached an agreement with farc rebels to compensate victims of the civil war. the break through is a result of negotiations held in the cuban capitol over the past two years. both sides are trying to sign a peace deal by the end of march, but still need to discuss disarmament. our correspondent is there for us. what more do we know about this compensation deal? >> reporter: well, adrian, this is quite a remarkable deal. it's also a very large, and very complicated framework to compensate the victims and also set up what they are calling the transitional justice system to essentially recognize who is responsible for these victims and the way they will be compensated. for the first time in the history of the columbian

conflict, the farc rebels are recognizing their responsibility towards their victims, and they are saying they are willing to take concrete actions to compensate and repair the victims. this will happen to a very complicated system through which the farc rebels -- not only them, also the government and other groups that have played a role in this very long and complicated conflict, will essentially tell the truth of what happened and then a special jurisdiction of judges, both columbians and international will decide the material compensation for the victims. but what is spelled out here for the first time is the fact that, in particular, that the fact -- that the farc recognize their part of responsibility in the conflict, in the fact they are willing to put in money to compensate the victims to bring back or to help build the

infrastructure in the regions that were worst hit during the conflict. >> many thanks indeed. details are emerging in a raid conducted by nigeria's army over the weekend, in which tens of people may have died. the raid targeted the islamic movement which is a small shia sect. the military says the group was plotting to kill the army's chief of staff when members of the sect blocked his convoy. the leader of that sect was arrested. more from our correspondent in abuja. >> reporter: the group's leader has been something of a thorn in the side of various governments since the resumption of democracy in 1999. he has been arrested by almost every government that has been in power for, they say, extremist and fundamentalist

views. last year, 2014, there was violence in which three of his sons were killed in skirmishes with the military. but the violence that has been playing out over the last 72 hours for many is unprecedented. is international concern growing about what happened. the iran government has summoned its nigeriian representative to find out what happened. various other organizations voiced their concern, and are calling for an independent investigation into these allegations that the military committed some sort of atrocity in the area. the military say what happened was self-defense and they were simply trying to restore public order. a new report by hue moon rights watch says that child soldiers are being used in south

sudan's conflict. it is thought around 15 to 16,000 children are fighting for the government and rebels. boys, especially, from around the ages of 14 or 15 form the majority of child soldiers. they are treated more or less the same as adult fighters. a peace agreement signed in august in a bid to end the fighting could eventually lead to their release. a spokesman says the ongoing fighting has held back plans to release child soldiers. >> reporter: to hold somebody accountable is a process. it's not an event that can take place other night. you need to mobilize all of the -- the requirements for -- for taking legal proceedings against those who have perpetrated, you know, crimes against children. so it's a process. you cannot do it overnight. and last year, as an example,

before the start of the crisis, the united nations with the minister of defense, came together to implementing, going into the fields to identify where the children were recruited, in order for those children to be released to narnts, and bring to account those who have -- you know, perpetrated that crime. unfortunately the crisis [ inaudible ] overwhelmed the country from doing its procedures. it's normal process. independence has done little to bring peace to the world's newest country. two years after separating from sudan, south sudan has dekrengd -- descended into conflict. the conflict has forced more than a million from their homes and left nearly 4 million without food.

with heavy hearts and little hope, this 20-year-old leaves the small clinic in a camp set up here to shelter those displaced by the conflict. she had brought her 6-month-old daughter who was born with severe defects for a doctor's appointment. >> translator: i gave birth to my child in june. it was very tough labor, but this is what god gave me. the doctor said it is only in juba that she can be treated. >> reporter: it has been two years since this conflict began in south sue sdan. forcing people like her to flee and seek refuge. thousands of civilians are living in camps like these, where it falls to aid organizations to keep them supplied with food and adequate services. >> the challenges that they are facing, number 1, is this camp was designed to hold a smaller

population than what it has right now. so that we're having to deal with a lot more patients than our facilities were designed to support. so that causes strain in terms of supply, in terms of staffing, in terms of space for constructing our facilities. >> reporter: many familiar list live in small spaces, with limited water and not enough food to feed all. a fees agreement signed in august mostly remains on paper as fighting continues in many parts of the country. they all agree on one thing, people here need peace and stability to be able to go home and resume their lives. lives that have been put on hold for two years, and maybe a while longer if the fee agreement signed more than three months ago is not put to practice.

a rebel leader in the central african republic has declared an autonomous state. the leader of a splitter faction of the muslim seleka rebel group says it was proclaimed there on monday. a professor of anthropology at yale university, joins us now via skype from new haven. the transitional government in the central african republic has denounced this move. what do you make of it? what are the implications of this? >> this move is absolutely a negotiating tactic. i don't think that anyone in seleka thinks it's viable to create an independent state, but they recognize that it's a useful negotiating tactic now as

elections are up coming to try to get themselves either to postpone the elections or to get themselves some way of having more power. >> what do they want? more influence? >> so -- i mean this gets back to fundamental questions that were underlying the conflict over the last few years that have never really been discussed. such as the northeastern part of the central african republic has a largely muslim population. from the perspective of the much more populous south those people are foreigners who have no right to be in the country. that -- those feelings of animosity and those feelings that muslims are foreigners have only grown through the years, and so muslims, i think quite rightly still feel like that issue of their place within the country hasn't really been discussed in any kind of a substantive way. you will still find very high-level central african politicians saying things like

no muslim can be a central african, and doing things like preventing muslims from being able to register to vote. >> how willing be the transitional government be to negotiating with him? >> i think the more important question will be how willing with the u.n. mission in the central african republic -- how willing will that mission be to allow him to go on declaring this autonomous republic? they are the ones who have the real power to force him back to the negotiating table and to force the president back to the negotiate table. >> is there a risk that the central african republic could split apart? >> i don't think so. i spoke with a lot of seleka rebel leaders when i was in the country this past june, and, you know, they had all been counseled by various people from the u.n. and others saying look at south sudan, who you just

heard earlier on this program, it is a huge mess, independence is not the solution, and i think they understand that. they understand all of the challenges with independence. but they were very clear that this is going to be a useful negotiating tactic for them, and i think that's absolutely correct. >> professor many thanks indeed for being with us. we're approaching the midway point on this news hour. still to come on the program, support for south africa's president, jacob zuma. plus -- >> this is the ma gel land strait, hundreds of whales are dying here, and no one knows why. and hear what roger federer has to say about his future in tennis. we'll be right back.

>> i'm off the coast of hawaii. >> we are on the tipping point of an ecological disaster. >> this coral is not dead. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >> can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> let's do it. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity. hello, again, this is the news hour from al jazeera, adrian finighan from al jazeera.

saudi arabia says nothing is off of the table in doing what is necessary to fight the islamic state of iraq and the levant. it has announced the creation of a new coalition to combat terrorism. it includes 34 mainly muslim nations. the warring parties in yemen have begun peace talks in geneva switzerland. but the ceasefire is already appearing shaky, one pro-government fighter has been killed in a gun fight with huhthy rebels. and columbia's government has reached an agreement with farc rebels to compensate victims of the civil war. i want to show you some pictures now from the u.s. this -- the skies above los angeles here. schools in l.a. have been closed -- public schools that is, do to possible threat. the los angeles unified school

district, there are no details yet on the nature of that threat. there are more than 900 schools in the area and 187 charter schools. in that is the situation that is unfolding apparently sheriffs and police officers will search each and every one of those schools and the classrooms within them, and until they are given the all-clear there will be no classes on this tuesday morning. we'll keep an eye on that developing situation in los angeles. we'll bring you up to date with any details as and when we get them. that's a vast school district. now egypt is one of the worst jailers of journalists worldwide according to a new report. the committee to protect journalists says at least 23 journalists have been imprisoned there so far this year, compared that to 2012 when no journalists

were imprisoned for their work. the only country that jails more journalists is china which has 49 reporters behind bars. but it seems that fewer journalists are being imprisoned worldwide. let's get a view on this from the deputy director. those figures going to show journalism is still a pretty dangerous profession in many parts of the world. >> yeah, absolutely and it's a favorite form of censorship for many governments. you mentioned egypt, and that is really a marked deterioration in egypt over the last few years. it's sad because egypt is so important for the arab world. it should now be completely repressive. just a few years ago under

mubarak, there were no journalists in jail. but there are other countries which are worrying, one of which is turkey, which the number of journalists in jail has doubled in the last year. >> china, no great surprise, even our own correspondent there in beijing being hassled on the streets, and he said this is in spite of the fact that free speech is supposed to be enshrined in china's constitution. >> it is, but the constitution is not respected. you have nearly 50 journalists in jail in china. many are doing the kind of work which you would get prizes for if you did it elsewhere like investigative reporting into corruption. these are the kinds of journalists that are getting in trouble. because they are doing the kinds of work that we all take for granted. >> as far as turkey and egypt, just to play devil's advocate

for the moment. people running the country have big decisions to make. who is to say why they can't put pressure on journalists not to report certain unpalatable facts. >> because that's against international law and human rights standards, and a free press is a vital part of any democracy. these leaders whether it's al-sisi, or president erdogan, they are democratics and they are freely elected. then they need free press. they are bringing in laws to scoop up journalists for doing their reporting. south africa's ruling party says it still backs jacob zuma.

zuma has been criticized for a series of cabinet shuffles. tania page reports. >> reporter: south africa's president coming under an enormous amount of pressure. it started last week when he sacked the finance minister after just a few months in office. a lot of criticism from economists and political analysts. pressure from within the party as well, because on sunday he got rid of the finance minister and replaced him with the previous finance minister. he had had the effect of calming the markets on monday.

civil society and some politicians organizing a couple of marches on wednesday, calling for the president to be recalled. there were a few rumors on twitter from the anc's own account, saying the president was about to be recalled. however, the anc in and refuted those and said the account had been hacked and on tuesday it released a statement live to the country, saying that no, the president acted responsibly he listened to the concerns of the public and markets, and has our full backing. but he is under an extraordinary amount of pressure at the moment. donald trump has told a crowd in las vegas that any syrian refugees admitted to the u.s. now will be sent back if he wins the white house. he was speaking at a rally on tuesday. his poll numbers have risen

despite his controversial comments. allen schauffler reports. >> reporter: he is the republican presidential front runner. he still dominates the headlines and attracts bigger and bigger crowds. this one in las vegas. >> so i heard said when they announced the polls 41-14, and i like cruz. good guy. and here is what they announced. cruz surging. [ laughter ] >> i said, i don't know, that sounds bad to me. cruz surging. then they say trump 41, cruz 14. i said wait a minute, what is going on? [ laughter ] >> donald trump has changed the political play book in the u.s. his numbers in iowa went up. he criticized hispanics, and his numbers went up, and he called for a complete and total ban of

muslims coming into the u.s., he was widely criticized and his numbers went up. >> i'm just one of the biggest support ers of donald trump. early on i didn't take him seriously, but the more that he talked the more that i realized he was connected with ultimately what the american people want. >> i'm pretty sure he is pretty much trying to tell the truth. >> reporter: several times during his speech he was interrupted by protesters on gun control, immigration, and his stance on muslims. he excites republicans, but those that don't like him, really don't like him. >> it was hate mongering and trying to get people excited. >> reporter: why did you come? >> to troll. i'm a troll. >> reporter: he spoke for more than an hour, and covered many topics. >> because he speaks from the

heart, he is not a politician. he is a true leader. >> i love everything about trump. i'm lat -- latino and i support him 100%. >> he is still there, and still the man to beat. take you back to los angeles. it's just approaching 20 to 8:00 in the morning there. all schools in the los angeles school district have been ordered to stay closed this morning, due to a threat. it's the second largest school district in the nation. it has 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. now it has emerged that an electronic threat, whatever that may be, lead to the decision to close all schools in that school district on tuesday morning.

the threat is still being evaluated. in the meantime, parents have been advised to keep all students at home. the threat apparently against students generally and not just a single campus. more on that as and when we get it here on al jazeera. we'll keep a close eye on that developing situation. chile is asking for international help to investigate one of the largest whale strandings in history. more than 300 dead animals were found between april and june last year. our latin american editor reports >> reporter: this is the strait of magellan. earlier this year, scientists discovered a mass drive yard. first 30 dead whiles, and then

another 307 in remote fords of the region of chile, a discovery that is baffling experts. marine biologist took part in the first scientific expedition to try to discover the cause. >> translator: in samples taken from the contents of four whales we found red side this is a paralyzing toxic poison. but we can't say what the cause was either, why only the say whales and not other animals. say whales can weigh up to 20 tons and measure up to 18 meters. it's not certain if these died at sea and were swept ashore by the strong tide or if they were disoriented and became a beached. this professor, an expert in marine mammals insists there are many possible causes besides

toxic red tide. >> it could be a virus that effected their hearing system. another reason is if they ran into rocks which changed the magnatism of their hearing which can also disorient them. >> reporter: for more than a century whales were widely hunted here. they were sold for their meat, for making margarine, soap, corsets, even perfume. today killing whales is illegal in chile. and local scientists are calling on international experts to help them discover what is killing the whales dying on these shores. the appeal is being made in this week's marine mammal conference in san francisco. >> it should be studied in more detail, so that is why we're asking for collaboration from national colleagues from the

international whaling commission. >> reporter: this particular mass death is considered the largest registered in such a short period of time. and a mystery scientists are anxious to resolve, in order to hopefully be able to prevent a repetition. just ahead here on al jazeera -- >> take a peak into what hong kong could look like in the year 2050. >> a lot higher than i expected. and in sport, winter olympic icon, eddie eagle to be immortalized on film. ♪

hello again, this is hong kong's skyline, home to some of the most iconic buildings, many by renowned architects. designers of an exhibition have been asked to envision what the city will look like in 35 years. the theme was inspired by last year's street protests and political unrest. >> reporter: hong kong's high-rise buildings testament to one of the most densely populated cities in the world. its architecture reflects a colonial past merging with an uncertain future. the participants were asked to visualize 2050, three years after hong kong fully integrated

with mainland china, losing its semi-independent status. >> we were very interested in creating a platform for people to speak, for young designers and the next generation to have a way to communicate their thoughts and thinking. >> reporter: some thoughts needed interpretation, such as this exhibit, featuring a mint plants, a disco ball, and mojitos. >> this is a reflection of what we're going through in hong kong. the collapse of the government leaderships, just really, really chaotic. i can project 30 years from now it might get worse. >> reporter: the artist based his vision on how the government handled last year's pr pro-democracy protests.

the creator spend two months on the streets with protesters. >> they lack the structures and construction made by the protesters on the streets. so i wanted to create that ambiance so people can feel the same situation and think about what they were doing on the street. >> reporter: other exhibits stayed apay from politics. this structure was made by 3-d metal printing. it's creating believe the new technology can be used to build homes in the future with a computer program to designallying spaces according to what the homeowner envisions. our hong kongers may be living in stacked aluminum pods. ♪ >> reporter: this robotic chinese ink paining, projects a growing urban jungle with a skyline that keeps going

upwards. >> time now for sport. adrian thank you very much. sepp blatter has written a letter pleasing his innocence. he says nothing can stop him from clearing his name and criticizes the committee. the 79 year old, along with banned boss michelle platini have been involved. now the former president of honduras has flown to the u.s. after allegedly being involved in a corruption scheme. >> translator: he traveled by himself. he is not accompanied by any n

honduran authority. he is going to present himself to the court and the united states voluntarily. a total of 18 individuals and two corporations have been indicted as part of the united states investigations. this includes nine officials who worked directly as part of fifa. six officials have been extradited to the u.s. pending further charges. the remainder are either in custody or on bail fighting their extradition. steven is among three high-profile charges that have been banned by fifa for taking part in an exhibition football game in kuwait. two others have also been barred from playing in an all-star match on friday. fifa has threatened the players with penalties if they took

part. chelsea's manager says his work is being betrayed by his players. the champions remain just a point off of the relegation zone after a 2-1 loss. jamie scored his 15th goal of the season. a return to the top of the table while chelsea surfed their ninth league loss of the season. and question marks morenos future won't go away. >> in this moment we are [ inaudible ] we are below, what, five, or six or seven points. so we have to look at our opponents in another way. it's a very different story for lester, who it's amazing season continues. hiroshima can make fifa

world cup history if they beat their opponent in the final. they beat auckland fc 2-0, and then defeated african champions in the quarter finals. they are trying to become the first asian side to reach a club world cup final. >> translator: of course if approximate we do defeat river plate it will be quite an achievement. i'm sure most people around the world are thinking that river plait are going to win. but with football you know never what will happen. we are determined to defeat river plate, we believe we have a chance. roger fedor says he has no plans to retire any time soon. the 34 year old, is in the uae competing in the dubai league of

the international tennis league. the swiss who announced last week he was changing up his coaching team says he is looking forward to the olympics next year. >> [ inaudible ] was amazing in london. so i don't feel like the rio olympics needs to be the singles goal like everybody talks about. so that's why i'm going to be playing the doubles, and i might enter myself in all three competitions to have the most chances to win medals for switzerland. eddie eagle is one of the most famous olympic competitor in history, and now he is about to be made famous. the film tells the story of edyy edwards. he finished last in both events

he competed in, but became an international symbol for heroic failure. eddie the eagle will be released in april. that's all of your sport for you. >> many thanks indeed, farah, i just want to take you back to los angeles this developing story we have been covering throughout the last hour. it is just after 10 to 8:00 in the morning in l.a. schools in the city are closed -- or will be closed today because of a threat. also schools are going to be searched by police and sheriffs. we have no details yet on the nature of the threat, but the board of education has told parents not to send their children to schools. is there are more than 900 schools in that area. 187 public charter schools. let's hear from the lapd who

give an update a short while ago. >> the school district received a safety threat that we're in the process now of validating or vetting, to determine what if any validity it has. as you can imagine we take all threats seriously. nothing is more important to us than the safety of our kids. >> this vast los angeles unified school district is -- has something like 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. more than 900 schools, 187 public charter schools, heck of a lot -- of schools in -- in that. the second-biggest school district in the country. the nature of the threat, apparently is electronic. whatever that means. and the threat is still being evaluated. but there are kids, as you can see who were obviously on their way to school and then saw they

can't go to school, hanging around. looks like a free day for them. the threat apparently against students and not just a simple campus. we'll keep an eye on that situation. three astronauts have begun their flight to the international space station. the crew is made up of a britain, an american, a russian. they will carry out maintenance work and scientific experiments. rory challands witnessed theoff. >> reporter: russia is at the moment the only country putting people into space. the only way that astronauts can get up to the nation spaceation is where i am at the moment. and on the rockets that i have just seen launched. because nasa's space shuttle program was retired a few years ago, so the onus now is on the russians until there is any

other country that decides it is going to do the same thing. but russia has severe financial problems at the moment, and its space budget is being cut. it will be a while before commercial organizations can fully, kind of take any of that pressure after of russia, but russia has been going through a few problems over the last few years. various rockets have been going wrong. luckily no lives have been lost, but it is worrying time at the moment for the space industry as the financial impact of the 2008 crisis, and other geopolitical issues have been reverberating around the world. and the three astronauts are about five hours into their six-hour journey to the nation space station. david foster is standing by in london to update you on the

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this is a special ed decision of al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm del walters. >> and i'm patricia sabga. breaking news out of los angeles where all schools have been closed due to what officials are calling a electronic threat. >> it has more than 640,000 students and more than 900 schools in 187 charter schools, all of the students are being asked to stay at home today. children who are already at school are being taken to safe locations to be picked up by their parents. >> the threat was called rare and brood. he says all