>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm here with the top stories here on al jazeera. gunmen attack a university in pakistan. top diplomats from the u.s. and russia try to iron out their differences and keep the syria talks alive. we'll live in dabos, where everything is being discussed at the world economic forum.

as chinese investments grow, some south african schools begin teaching mandarin. but not everyone is happy. ♪ we begin in pakistan where the head of the taliban there is strongly condemning an attack on a university following an earlier claim for responsibility by a taliban sprinter group. at least 20 people were killed including a professor and several students. the attack took place in the northwest. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: security forces now patrol the fields alongside the university. gunmen had earlier take advantage of thick winter fog to scale the walls, storm buildings and open fire on students and teachers. >> translator: we heard firing from the back of the campus.

we thought maybe some people were fighting. then the gunfire increased. we said stay in the rooms don't go out. then the security forces came. >> reporter: classes had begun for the stay. 3,000 students study here, and there were hundreds of others at the university too. 600 special guests were there to mark the death of the man whom the university was named after. universities in the area, the same region where fighters attacked a school in december 2014, killing 134 children. that attack was linked to the pakistan taliban. reactions spurred pakistani government officials to crack down on the taliban and other fighters, hundreds of suspects were killed or arrested. in this latest attack, security forces combed the campus for hours looking for gunmen.

they say they are now confident they have killed them all and an investigation is underway, leaving families and thousands of students to mourn the dead. a suicide bomber has blown himself up in the afghan capitol, killing at least seven people. the incident happened near the russian embassy in kabul. so far no one has claimed responsibility. defense ministers from seven members of the coalition against isil are meeting in paris. france and the u.s. are jointly hosting the meeting. jacky rowland joins us from paris. we are expecting them to be making a statement shortly, aren't we? >> reporter: yes, we are. the meeting -- it was a three-hour working meeting that took place over lunch, has

wrapped up now, and we are expecting those two ministers, the u.s. secretary of defense and the french defense minister to step up to those microphones and address reporters about some of the themes that they have been discussing. certainly the objective of this meeting was to find ways of accelerating and intensifying the fight against isil, and they will have been looking at ways of better coordinating their efforts, sharing information, and crucially, training forces on the ground, but they the iraqi army or the kurdish peshmerga fighters, because essentially air strikes alone, targeting supply routes, financing, et cetera will not ultimately defeat isil because the battle on the ground clearly is the crucial part, and that part of the campaign is very much being raged by as i said

the iraqi army, kurdish peshmerga and certain insurgent forces in syria. >> interesting, though, jacky the countries participating in this meeting and those that are not there, like russia and turkey. >> reporter: yes, the absence of russia and turkey is clearly a fairly serious shortcoming if this meeting is indeed designed to better coordinate and better organize the fight against isil, since these countries are obviously vital players in the whole scenario. we have turkey, whose territory is used as a vital supply route, bringing through fighters financing. logistical support into syria to support isil there, and turkey has come in for quite a bit of criticism about having this porous front here, however, recent attacks, notably the

suicide bombings in istanbul a week ago -- >> jacky let me stop you for the time being. because we'll crossing over to the rush man foreign minister sergei lavrov speaking. let's listen in. >> translator: -- a critical decision that the communique of 2012 remains in place, and the basis for us to move forward and in connection with that resolution, we discuss a number of measures which have to be taken in order to provide for a ceasefire. and obviously apart from isil and al-nusra, they remain our

enemies. they cannot be subject to ceasefire. and we will continue to fight them. secondly, we confirmed the need to resolve the humanitarian problem in syria, and we also pointed out that russia is making the necessary moves to make sure that the humanitarian organizations the u.n. and other organizations are safeguarded, and we'll be coordinating very closely with the americans in that area, but the main thing we addressed is coordination, first and foremost on anti-terrorist activity. and a somebody -- number of proposals were made by the american side particularly in conversations between president obama and president putin, and

between myself and mr. kerry, and these proposals in principal, i think, go along the right lines, but the french implementation of joint actions, the distribution of labor, if you would like, and the support still remains a task and here i think that we can find much more effective agreement than the memorandum which we have at the moment. and the procedure which allows us for avoiding flashes or [ inaudible ]. we both obviously active on the syrian front, and we are obviously both completely behind the political process. we believe that that can begin with the ceasefire.

and the political process will begin, we hope, as soon as possible at the end of january. we don't know the actual date yet, but we are going to put forward and support the recommendations, particularly made by the u.n. special envoy for syria. and the security council of the u.n. is obliged to make sure this meeting of all of the syrian players takes place soon, and we hope very much that this will be in this month. i would just like to stress that the process -- political process must begin because we have

already made the taskings that is the resolution by the security council in new york. so that, essentially, is what we talked about in terms of syria, and of course russia as well as all of the other members will not be taking part in these negotiations, that will be between the syrian government -- >> all right. so we leave sergei lavrov for a moment and take you over to paris to ash carter and the french defense minister talking of the result of the meeting they have had on isil. let's listen to what they have to say. >> translator: ukraine -- i think there bares witness to the closeness of our links.

france and the united states have demonstrated in practice after the barbaric attacks in paris in november, they demonstrated the presence of those links. our cooperation in terms of defense is remarkable, i would say, and unprecedentunprecedent. i would like to thank mr. carter for his personal contribution. it has been really defining in terms of the bilateral dynamicism which characterizes the relations, and interoperability is admirable. ash carter was kind enough on the 19th of december to visit

our area naval facilities. a force 40 contingent which is working closely with the americans in the persian gulf. france and the united states are acting together in many parts of the world in order to ensure stability, security, police, and guaranteeing the safety of their own populations. and that is true in the [ inaudible ] as in lebanon. the united nations today plays a key role in the fight against daesh or isil, and in heading the international coalition against isil. france is also on the front rank in trying to combat isil.

more than 3,500 french servicemen participating in the operation in lebanon, but also in the [ inaudible ] as well, by the side of their allies. and france is putting much of its reforces against daesh and we have bombed three times mosul last weekend, and joint efforts as well as the efforts of all of the coalition is bearing fruit. this is something which we have noted during the day, and we have observed over the last couple of weeks the damage done to daesh, and we have

[ inaudible ] this coalition will help us to improve actions or activity against these organization, and we are absolutely determined to uproot them in the area concerned. on the ground, because daesh is retreating, we have managed to really impact their resources; that is essentially what our collective efforts have done, and we have done that in a consistent way from the air, and remain objective of this meeting was to bring together all of our allies and to determine that

raqqa must be taken, and by allies, i mean italy, canada, the u.k., france, germany, and the netherlands. we have to make sure that syrians can take back the territory which has been taken by isil. this effort can, however, only be successful if there is a political process, a process to reintegrate all elements of society under the president in iraq, for example, and an intra-syrian process, which must be acceptable to the entirety of the syrian population. and so that all of the military forces of the country can

concentrate their efforts to push back daesh and isil. it is important also to uproot the idea of isil in people's mentality. this is a war of religion. this is something which is happening across the border in syria, iraq, but also in north africa and here in our own territories, our own countries. our youth is being seduced by the propaganda of isil. there are a number of french nationals and u.s. nationals going out to syria to join them. and that in the interests of installing some kind of totalitarian order. finally, we're determined to

intensify our joint efforts and to will together the french-u.s. alliance. we have identical objectives in this campaign. we will continue to damage the resources of isil, isolate them from the external world, and to see mosul and raqqa liberated from this scourge. so we are quite prepared to answer any questions, but before that, i'm going to hand the floor to mr. carter to speak. >> thank you very much, mr. minister, and bonjour, everyone. i want to begin by thanking the minister for welcoming me to

paris, this magnificent city, which has shown such remarkable resilience, fortitude, and determination. this morning, it was my solemn honor to place a wreath in memory of the victims of the november attack. i know i speak for every man and woman in the u.s. armed forces when i say that we will always stand by the people of france, our oldest ally. and our men and women in uniform are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder every day around the globe with french service members, helping ensure peace and stability, and defeat extremism in the middle east, north africa, afghanistan, and on the ground, in the air, at

sea, and in the cyber and space domains. i want to come mend the minister for his steadfast leadership, particularly in the campaign to deliver isil a lasting defeat. there is no other minister of defense that i have spent as much time with, discussing pressing issues that our two nations and our men and women in uniform face. we were on the phone together hours after the november attack, coordinating a crushing response to isil in raqqa. enhancing sharing of intelligence, and discussing the next steps for our coalition. and long before that day, in fact, the minister and i met at the pentagon to discuss ways to accelerate the campaign against isil. his incisive observations, and

strong resolve played a critical role in remaining our military campaign plan against isil. last week, i described the elements of this military campaign plan to the troops of the 101st airborne division of the united states, no strangers, by the way, to french history, who will soon deploy to iraq to execute a part of this campaign. the next day i sat down with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and two of our top commanders, general lloyd austin, and general botail to review the execution of the counter isil military campaign plan, and how we can accelerate its execution. and at the end of the week, we discussed the plan with president obama, and the

national security council. the next logical step for what -- was for us to go over this campaign plan with some of our closest allies in this critical fight against isil, and that's what i'm here in paris for. the three key objectives of the counter-isil military campaign are first to destroy the isil candors parent tumor in iraq and syria, by collapsing its two power centers in raqqa and mosul. second, to combat the metasta s metastasises of the isil tumor worldwide, and third to protect our people at home. to accomplish these objectives, we are enabling local motivated forces wherever isil has spread as the only practical strategic

approach, not only to defeating isil, but also of sustaining its defeat thereafter. we're doing this by, first, providing a plan and clear leadership, and second, by the power of a global coalition, wielding a mighty suite of capabilities, ranging from air strikes, special forces, advice, and assistance, equipment and training to local motivated forces, cyber tools, intelligence, mobility, and logistics. all of this. this is the plan by which the united states is doing more to accelerate the defeat of isil, but as the minister has emphasized this must be a

coalition effort. so we had a productive conversation with our coalition partners, these members who are already making strong contributions and who share our determination to accelerate the campaign. i described the military campaign plan, and there was brood agreement, not only on this overall plan, but also on the necessity as the minister has said of accompanying non-military efforts, which are important also. next, we turned to the capabilities needed to carry out the military command plan. i asked admiral fox to describe these capabilities. this discussion provided an opportunity for us, all of us ministers to align our views on the capabilities needed to prosecute and indeed accelerate

the campaign both military and non-military. we agreed that we all must do more. i believe today's discussion gave every minister the opportunity to discuss with their goes what else they can bring to the table, and how they can better align their efforts with our common goals and strategy. for my part, i will bring the thoughts and commitments directly to president obama upon my return to the united states, and i would also like to announce that i have invited defense ministers from all 26 counter isil military coalition nations, plus iraq, to convene in brussels in three weeks for a first-ever discussion among coalition defense ministers to

discuss the opportunities they and we have before us and must seize to hasten isil's lasting defeat. every nation must come prepared to discuss further contributions to the fight. and i will not hesitate to engage and challenge current and perspective members of the coalition as we go forward. today's meeting of those who are already making strong contributions was further proof of the strength of this coalition, and the enduring partnership among these nations. and as i said on the french aircraft area, charles de gaulle when i visited it in the gulf last month, we are all one family in this fight. we are very proud to be your

friend and ally. and on a personal note, i have been proud and grateful to call this minister my friend over the last few years, and i look forward to continuing that friendship long into the future. thank you. >> so you were just listening to the u.s. defense secretary, ash carter in paris and before him was the french minister of defense, and they were speaking about their isil campaign meeting that they have been having. so defense members from seven coalition members in the campaign against isil have been meeting in paris, and the result was these two gentlemen coming out and speaking to the press and just giving them an update of what they discussed in that meeting. for more on what they have to say, jacky, and the take-away message from these two men, jacky rowland joining us from

paris. >> reporter: yes, we saw very much what we expected in terms of their approach to the challenges facing them in this fight against isil, predominantly in syria and iraq, but of course we musn't forget that isil has also been very active, growing in power in libya, also we have seen attacks in recent days in burkina faso and paris last year. the u.s. defense secretary putting a lot of emphasis on the importance of training local forces on the ground wherever isil may be, so in iraq, we're talking obviously about the iraqi army, kurdish peshmerga forces, and in syria, armed opposition groups that are fighting the syrian regime, but

notably not the syrian regime itself. emphasis obviously very much on using proxy forces, really, there's no talk about putting western coalition forces on to the ground. he also said he will be convening a meeting in three week's time in brussels of defense ministers from all 26 coalition members contributing military efforts and iraq in order to discuss new ideas, new strategies, better ways of cooperating in the fight against isil. as for the french defense minister, he talked about different fronts in which the fight should take place. he said it was very important to pursue the political front, noting the talks between the different political forces in syria. also he said it was important to combat isil not only on the grown, but also in people's

minds, clearly a reference there to deradicalization programs, prevention of radicalization programs, which are really taking off in many parts of europe now, and he also spoke about the need in a more logistical -- on a more logistical front about the need to attack supply routes, cut off logistical support, command centers, communications for isil, so really between the two men, a pretty comprehensive summary of the different ways in which they aim to continue the fight against isil. >> okay. jacky, for the time being we'll leave it there. thank you, jacky rowland reporting from paris. now world leaders and business executives are meeting for the world economic forum. the annual meeting is being overshadowed by the plunging price of oil.

kamal santa maria joining us. >> reporter: there is plenty to talk about here, not just how incredibly cold it is at the moment. we woke up this morning and heard about oil falling to below $28 a barrel overnight. and that has been a big talking point, and the subsequent fall on chinese markets. i was here three years ago, and we were talking about economic recovery, but when you start getting this sort of news, you realize maybe it's not about recovery, maybe it's about a second recession. people have been saying that to me. we heard from the oecd, the organization for economic cooperation and development, and they were talking about there not being enough ammunition left, it could be worse than 2007 because there isn't any fire power now.

>> we continue to rely on the central bankers. they have run out of ammunition, because they have been the heros of the last four or five years. now it's a time for the finance ministers, for the trade ministers, for the environment minister, the education ministers, it's a time to go structural. it's a time to go green, institutional, it's a time to go social. it's a time to do all of the structural measures that we did not take. >> reporter: so he is talk about long term issues, structural changes to deal with, and to put off any further economic decline, but there's also a short-term problem to deal with, isn't there? i mentioned the markets and the oil. our next guest is going to talk to us about that. i guess we can't really overstate how important oil is to russia, when you hear the news what is your reaction? how does the russian economy

deal with this? >> it is a challenge. but we believe that this decline has been factored in the market and the price of the ruble, so definitely a big challenge, but it creates new opportunities as well. >> reporter: again, as i referred to before, these are acute problems which you do need to deal with now, but markets react as they do, they go down, people lose confidence. >> yes, but the decline of the ruble stimulates sections of the russian economy, our ak cultural sector is offering some of the lowest-priced agricultural products in the world. it's a way to diversify from oil, and we can see lots of investors wanting to move in and talk advantage of some of the lower valuations we have seen. so definitely very challenging

time, but we also have lots of opportunities, and our investors doubled the amount of commitment they have with us, the gathered $25 billion from our partners to jointly invest in russia. >> reporter: russia has problems on the international stage with the international relations. in the last year, again, since you and i have spoken, things haven't been going well internationally for russia, when you come here, do you strike problems? >> well, first of all, we'll announce a major $1 billion investment jointly tomorrow with a major middle eastern player, so we see people investing a lot with us, saudi arabia committed $10 billion cently. we had a good visit with the emir of qatar recently. we also see that many people start to understand and more respect the russian position. even in the u.s. >> reporter: what do you mean?

>> recently hillary clinton and don mentioned that russia should be treated with respect. the isolations that many people are trying to impose are hopefully going to become a thing of the past this year. as people understand that russia wants to do a good thing in the world and the middle east. >> reporter: so have you found we have got to find new relations, recently? >> yes, we have great relationships with lots of middle eastern countries. so we have a concerted effort for the last two years, and we believe that joint investment is a very positive background to actually have good political ties as well, because dialogue is very important to make sure that we move forward in integrated good fashion. >> reporter: pleasure talking to you. thank you for joining us on al

jazeera, so you see it is about talking. this is not the kind of forum that comes out with a communique, it is about essentially in the end networking, but there is a lot of people here from all over the world, and we'll hear more from them over the next few days. >> thank you for that update, kamal. well the world oceans may have more plastic debris than fish by the year 2050. in that is a prediction pub lired by the world economic forum. the reports authors interviewed 180 experts, and analyzed the findings of more than 200 research papers. the amount of plastic being produced has increased 20 times in the last 20 years, and in the next 20 years it is expected to double again. most of it so used for

plasticing, used once then discarded. 8 million tons ends up in the ocean each year. at current rates that will have grown to two trucks a minute by 2030, and four a minute by the year 2050, by which time by might there will be as much plastic in the oceans as there is fish. let's bring in the executive officer at the organization behind the oceans report. so you are presenting this report at the world economic forum, what are you hoping to achieve by putting it out at this time and there. >> yes, we are submitting the report as we speak. if you allow me to take a step back this report stems from an

initiative that we set up together with the world economic forum two years ago here, looking at various value chains and material chains within the economy, because we have an inherently linear economy at the moment, we extract stuff, and then we turn it into products that get discarded. and the idea with the project main stream is to gather collaboration and create the dialogue in order to create a system that works -- >> is it just dialogue that you are looking for at this point? or how can business step up in and how can governments be asked to legislate when it comes to plastic? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, dialogue is only part of the solution, of course, and project

main stream is a ceo-lead initiative, so it brings together a lot of key players in the industry to try to work out a new design, new system to harm harmonize, and look at the transparency around this, so that value can be captured because there is a way to make those materials fit in any system to bring them back to productive loops and to make sure they don't escape, and dialogue is one of the solutions, global plastics protocol is another one, looking at [ inaudible ] the materials themselves, trying to harm -- harmonize the system. and could there be value in the fact that we try to explore solutions around benign types of plastics, which accidentally leaks out of the system and ends up in the ocean can self degrade.

there are big ideas like that. in that might be a good solution going forward. and it's a question of engaging policy makers, and that is part of the plan going forward with the initiative. >> put this in context for us when it comes to the ocean. what harm is it hoping to marine life? >> i think that's -- that's not our area of expertise actually, and a lot of people are in a much better place than us to say that. i think this fact highlights -- highlights the fact that there is something inherently problematic with the system if so much of the material is allowed to escape. that's what we wanted to do. we wanted to pinpoint really a symptom of a system that can and needs to be optimized. >> okay. thank you very much for speaking to us from davos. thank you. now back to one of our top stories.

we have been telling you about the meeting john kerry and sergei lavrov. let's listen to what lavrov had to say. >> translator: we pointed out that russia is making the necessary moves to make sure that the humanitarian organizations at the u.n. and other organizations are safeguarded and we will be coordinating very closely with the americans in that area, but the main thing that we addressed is coordination first and foremost on anti-terrorist activity. >> paul brennan joining us from zurich. >> reporter: he kept us waiting. he waited until the very end of that very short statement to talk about the political process, as in the syria talks

which are due to take place in geneva, and what he said was not conclusive. we were hoping the talks here between john kerry and sergei lavrov will confirm whether or not the talks will place take on the 25th in geneva. he said we hope they will begin as soon as possible, but we don't know the exact date. we hope very much that it will happen this month. and pointed out that there are still 11 or so days left in this month. so i think it's looking less and less likely that the talks as scheduled will get underway next month. but the belief is that they have not been blown out of the water all tonight, it's just that the talks are necessary, that they work at exactly who can represent opposition interests around that table.

>> paul thank you for that update from zurich. for more on this, let's peek to al jazeera's senior political analyst. so still a lot of doubt and uncertainty about whether those talks on january 25th are going to go ahead when it comes to the syrian war. what do you get out of what kerry and lavrov had to say. >> certainly there are major disagreements on the makeup of the delegation. the russians seem to suggest a third delegation. and there is delays on the ceasefires as we have heard from lavrov and a number of places as well as release of prisoners and humanitarian assistance. so all in all there are issues, and there are disagreements between the americans and the russians -- >> when you talk about the issues and disagreements, what are they? >> well, basically, if they are going to go to -- to talk in

europe, they are going to have to agree that there are going to be two delegations. if the russians insist on the makeup of the one delegation, for the syrians this is a no-go. the agreement and the u.n. resolution that basically paved the way for these talks, talk about ceasefire, and we haven't been seeing these ceasefires. they talk about humanitarian assistance, we have seen some. but i think mostly what there is, is also the disagreement over the fight against isil which we listened to in paris. clearly there are three positions now, although the french and the americans seem to agree on everything, but i think the french are underlining the importance of the political process, in order, one, to unite the people against isil, and

then to unite the various forces on the ground against isil, but also to united states the mind set of the culture against isil. ash carter the american secretary of defense talks about strategy, military, military, military, i guess the sense -- i don't know about you, but i get the sense that ash carter is definitely milking this thing. talks about a great coalition, but in reality, isil still arms children, enslaves women. it is still beheading people, and still destroying the inh inheritance in syria and iraq, like it did today. so while we hear this bravado from the american defense secretary, and while he is trying to get this coalition of

24 countries, two years -- it has been two years since the coalition started against isil. certainly the bombing has been going on for more than a year, and what is the result? isil remains and is still sponsoring attacks around the world. so really this bravado is way over the top. >> so you are saying they are not taking this issue seriously? >> yes, i am saying they are not taking this issue seriously. i think in the beginning they certainly did not even address it. the russians have been bombing various opposition locations, not really isil. the americans have been taking on isil for a year and a half, two years. nothing happen. they built a coalition of 60 countries, 24 are active. >> look the u.s. earlier this week said it's a that it had leaked documents showing that

isil have cut their fighters' salaries by half. >> they have been cutting salaries by half in the gulf too, you know? that doesn't mean that things aren't going bad. and isil is still carrying out bombings, and carrying out bombings everywhere. they are still enslaving women and training children, and they are not taking it serious enough. >> thank you very much. still ahead, on the al jazeera news hour, japan shatter saudi arabia's olympic football dreams. details coming up in sport in just a moment. ♪

♪ school kids in south africa will soon be speaking mandarin, a pilot program is being launched to teach the chinese language in some schools, but critics are questioning why children aren't learning local african languages instead. >> reporter: welcome to a mandarin chinese class in south africa. these children are learning one of china's popular languages. >> reporter: what is the song about? >> it's about three little kids, they are singing together, and they are working together.

>> reporter: but this 7-year-old admits, it's not as easy as it seems. >> if you say [ inaudible ] for instance, then you can't just say me-how, because it's not the right term. >> reporter: the government is piloting the project in at least 30 schools in this province. >> children are like sponges and they can just absorb, and they can remember for a long time. >> reporter: children here have to learn two south african languages in school. and any foreign language is a third additional option. south africa have 11 official languages. most speak at least two. the education department says mandarin is not being forced on children. >> this year all schools that don't offer an african language

now have to offer an african language as compulsory. it will be incrementally introduced until eventually the whole system does at least one indigenous african language. >> reporter: china is africa's biggest trading partner. >> we are not seeing government emphasizing that china or chinese people should also learn our languages. we looked at it as, perhaps another form of colonization. >> reporter: other feels that african schools have other priorities like textbooks and proper facilities. the go admits there are huge challenges in the education sector, but exposing the children to other languaging could mean more opportunities for the future generation. now it's time for the sports

news. >> thank you. novak djokovic is through to the third round. the world number 1 raced toz a two-set lead against his french qualifier. the 19 year old fought back in the third set, forcing a tie break. djokovic was too strong, though, closing out the match, 6-1, 6-2. >> powerful player beforehand, and just being aggressive every time he had an opportunity. he was just firing shots from both corners from back of the court, and, you know, deserved the credit and applause at the end of the match for -- for a fight. >> roger federers also advanced through. he insists he hasn't made a decision on when he will retire. >> i think a lot of retired

players could still be at this level too, you know? they just choose not to do it anymore. so the mind, the body, family, whatever, traveling, there are just so many things that are part of this whole thing. >> reporter: in the women's draw, serena williams is still on course for a 22nd grand slam title. the american beat her taiwan opknown ent. it took just an hour to wrap things up. sharapova is also through. the russia made light work of her opponent. she beat her belarusian opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. allegations of match fixing

in tennis entered the spotlight this week, but the betting industry is getting ever-closer to the sport, with a book maken chosen as one of the main sponsors. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: big names have made tennis big business, and that goes for betting on the game too. with hundreds of tournaments and thousands of matches, there's almost always a game set or match point on which to place a stake. a recent estimate put the tennis betting market at $5 billion, and with such big money changing hands, it has lead to a shadowy practice known as court siding. a person uses a mobile devise to spend a message.

it gives the person receiving the message an advantage. >> there is billions of dollars on the market being trades each match. especially at the grand slams. i have heard of matches where $60 billion have been traded on line during the space of a couple of hours. in each tournament there would definitely be at least five court siders. this year, or 2015 i think there were around 40 to 60 people court siding. >> reporter: it came out of the shadows in 2014, when a british man was arrested for using a devise in his shorts to transmit scores. but the practice isn't illegal. >> i don't care what you say, taking advantage of the technical differences, but

regardless when [ inaudible ] that's cheating. it's the same as doping. >> reporter: they are now putting warnings on tickets and spotters in the stands. tennis bodies are already selling their scoring data for millions of dollars. >> all sports today have become so integrated with sport betting, it's almost an interdependant relationship. that's what it is really about. >> reporter: tennis's integrity unit is behind the crackdown. they declined to comment on court siding, it told al jazeera it's work is carried out confidentially. while the majority of tennis plan fans are at tournaments to see their idols in action, some may be interested in a different high-stake's game. the oklahoma city thunder

have won their fifth straight game, beating the denver nuggets on tuesday. kevin durant was the standing-out performer, doubling doubling with 30 points and 12 rebounds. denver came within 3 points of oklahoma city in the fourth, but the thunder held on, oklahoma winning 110-104. there has been some redemption for one of russia's top athletes. he has been cleared of doping. the former world youth champion may still miss the rooe you olympics, though, russia are currently banned from world competition. with less than 200 days to go until the rio games, they

have been forced to make more cutbacks. brazil is suffering from its worst economic crisis in decades. only around half of the 4.5 million tickets set aside for locals have been snapped up. saudi arabia has crashed out of the asian under 23 championships which is doubling as a qualifier for rio 2016. they needed to beat japan to stay in contention, but the samurai blue defeated them 2-1. and that's all of your sport for now. now back to you dau reen. >> thank you very much for their update. that's it for the news hour for myself and the team here in doha. but we hand you over to our team in london. they'll have a full bulletin of news is coming your way in just a minute.

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the pakistani tall been condemns an attack on a university that killed 20 people and wounded dozens. ♪ hello there, i'm felicity barr and this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, defense ministers of seven countries in the coalition against isil meet to discuss new ways of stepping up the fight. syrians cut off by fighting, burn whatever they can to keep warm, and questions around planned talks to end the war. he is the master at