hello and welcome to the news hour from doha. here's what's coming up in the next 60 minutes, turkey continues bombing kurdish fighters in syria despite the u.s. askinging a where a to stop. the death of and the to know scalia overshadows a heated debate between republican presidential hopefuls. >> why are more and more civilians being killed and injured in afghanistan? we have a full report. hope for a return to peace

as people in central african republic both elect a new leader. we begin in northern syria. ankara wants fighters from the y.p.g. armed group to withdraw from near syria's border with turkey. the u.s. backed y.p.g. and kurdish allies refuse to give up their gains. the pressure continues, the syrian government trying to

achieve two objectives in aleppo, one is to encircle the rebel-controlled east of the city. they are just a few kilometers away from lying siege to the neighborhoods inside that city and trying to reach the border towards turkey. heavy airstrikes, the opposition facing pressure not just from the skies. it is facing many enemies on the ground. you have the syrian government, as well as their allies, fighters from the lebanese movement hezbollah as well as from iran and iraq.

you have the syrian government, as well as their allies, fighters from the lebanese movement hezbollah as well as from iran and iraq and now the y.p.g., the kurdish armed group and its allies are closing in on rebel-controlled areas. >> the battle for syria's northern corridor, opposition groups are still holding out being targeted by russian jets. the ground forces are a few kilometers away and r.p.g., kurdish armed forces approaching from the east. turkey stepped in and shelled positions of the y.p.g. and allies. it's not just a message to a group turkey calls a terrorist organization, it's an attempt to force it to retreat from recently captured territories close to the border. >> the y.p.g. will immediately withdraw from aziz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again. it will not attempt to shut their corridor ever again. it will not have delusions of using the base to attack the opposition. >> over recent days, the y.p.g. and allies captured ground from syrian armed groups backed by ankara, taking advantage of the russian push backed up by russian jets across aleppo province. the u.s. allied to the y.p.g.

called on the kurds to stop taking ground, but the group said it doesn't plan to retreat. >> we recently captured the air base. our aim is to reach isil controlled territories. turkey wants us to retreat. this won't happen. we are advancing, we won't retreat. >> the advances by both the government and the y.p.g. are putting pressure on the opposition. many observers believe the y.p.g. which is drawn from syrian kurds is linked to the p.k.k., the kurdistan workers party in turkey. syrian opposition fighters know that alliances could be shifting. >> we have been stabbed in the back in the northern countryside where the p.k.k. and its ally took advantage of the fact that we were fighting on two fronts against the regime and isil. >> a new front has been opened in an already complicated war. turkey's policy has been clear from the beginning. >> turkey wants regime change in syria and wants to prevent a kurdish state created along its border. it wants a safe zone along the syrian side of the border to serve as a buffer to protect its interests.

so far, the international community has not accepted that demand. turkey's latest actions serve as a message that it will stand by its red lines. >> for the government, one of those lines is a rebel controlled town a few kilometers from the border. turkish officials promised to protect it, which is home for thousands of displaced syrians. for now, ankara has few options, because russia controls the skies. al jazeera, southern turkey. saudi arabia's foreign minister once again accused the syrian government of bombing civilians. riyadh offered to send in ground forces into syria to take on isil, but has left the final decision on when that will happen to the u.s. led coalition. >> the syrian regime has to open the way for the humanitarian

support and aid immediately, and the syrian regime has to stop the military attacks against the civilians, including the bomb barrels that are being used. this has to be stopped immediately. the syrian regime has to be involved in the political process in order to start the political transitional period in syria. while syria's opposition coordinator has called for an end to the violence to allow real change to happen in syria, the former syrian prime minister was speaking at a conference in munich. >> we have gotten used to conferences and words put into hope, but what we need is action, and action is that i see is that russia is killing syrian civilians. you ask me if i accept the ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, i ask you why is the onus on the opposition and whether it has preconditions for negotiations? i would like to see a single day

of a cessation of hostilities in order to give a chance for real political movement. >> we are joined now with our analyst. we'll start with the events in turkey. turkey shelling kurdish fighters, the syrian government responded, saying turkish shelling of syria, calling it crimes of the turk irv regime. how much does this complicate the situation? >> terribly. incredibly. it's like the turks have just thrown hand grenade into some russian-american complicity in supporting kurds in the north. the configuration within syria, over syria are changing to rapidly, it's no longer clear who stands with whom and who stands against whom. so much now, you have this force now that for once, the americans agreed to that they will be fighting isil, but the turks are

saying these are the enemies, the terrorists and they started shelling them. in so many ways, we have 10, 12, 15 various foreign forces now, fighting it over syria object fighting in syria. it's not clear to me or definitely not clear to the syrians how these various military forces aligned with one another or against each other. it's definitely complicating the situation. >> when it comes to also the comments made by saudi arabia, saudi arabia saying its jets will now be stationed in turkey, also saying that it's opened to sending ground troops into syria to fight isil, but when that will happen, depending on the u.s. led coalition. two questions, when do you think that is going to happen and secondly, what do you make of this increasingly vocal tone that saws rain is taking on? >> well first of all, clearly the so you hads have started to send out their troops and their

heavy equipment, including jets and so on and so forth. clearly there's a turkey-saudi arabia understanding to move on breaking the super powers coalition. turkey feels they have a lot at stake in syria and they are not going to leave it to the big powers to decide the future of the country and not let them take the country down to the sewers, if you will. already, according to the syrian research center, 470,000 syrian dead, 1.3 million injured, syria is burning as the americans and russia are talking hitch critically about syria. saudi arabia is definitely in a bind. it is still involved in yemen. we are not seeing any end to that question there, so saudi arabia among an arab coalition is involved in yemen, and now it's committing forces and

committing the kind of strategy needed to fight isil on the ground. what does it mean by that? well, to a large degree, the saudis are calling washington's bluff, because for a long time, the obama administration has said we cannot go on the ground, we are not going to fight any further bombing, because regional powers needs to step in, now the saudis and turks are saying we are ready to step in, what are you going to do with us to fight isil. that, the united states has to answer. >> thank you, very much for that. >> now, iraqi militias involved in renewed fighting outside of tikrit, a town that was controlled by isil. the fight is concentrated on neighboring oil fields and iraqi forces say they are coming under increasing attacks each day. imran kahn reports from baghdad. >> in april, to much fanfare, militias announced retaken ticket. today just outside that city,

this his the scene. isil mounts attacks on the oil fields there. the battle over tikrit is crucial to iraqi forces and their advance towards mosul, iraq's second largest city, controlled by isil. tikrit is an important hub on the main highway leading to baghdad. the oil fields produce up to 25,000-barrels a day. with iraq's economy plummeting, that is crucial. isil hasn't managed to take control of the oil fields but is proving to be a difficult foe for the iraqis. >> every day, we have an attack by isil. you can see them over there. they are using suicide car bombers and motorcycles. yesterday, we had a suicide motorcycle across the canyon, but we managed to repel the attack. >> further north from tikrit, over in kirkuk province, isil is firmly in control of the town. some residents managed to flee. others remain trapped.

the escape for those that got out wasn't easy. >> we left in a hurry with total fear. we had to walk through farms to avoid discovery by isil. we managed to escape and thank god, we left. >> the civilians have fled. they are in a village outside tikrit. with isil mounting attacks on oil fields, how long they will be safe there is not clear. >> there's no doubt isil fighters are taking advantage of the fact that the iraqi army is stretched and fighting on multiple fronts. the iraqi army says that these remnants of fighters mounting attacks on the countryside are simply isil's last stand and they will be dealt with soon. one of the u.s. supreme court's most conservative members has died. justin antonin scalia was 79. his death has the potential to shift the balance of power in the court. the appointment for his successor will now sit firmly at

the center of the election campaign. >> as the flag dropped to half staff over the u.s. supreme court, the death of antonin scalia could set off what could be an epic battle between the white house and congress. >> antonin scalia was a lifelong presence on the bench, brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, an incisive with it and colorful opinions. >> he was a consistent conservative who often tilt would the scales of justice. named by ronald reagan to the nine member court that interprets the u.s. constitution, he was confirmed by a vote of 98-0 after promising not to transform the court. >> i am not going on to the court with a list of things that i want to do. my only agenda is to be a good judge. >> he pushed the court in favor of the death penalty and the individual right to bear arms.

>> he will best be remembered as a witty and powerful and pungent writer, very, very distinct. >> he believed in an unchanging constitution saying the founders would have scoffed at gay rights and affirmative action. >> you cannot adopt a theory that the constitution is evolving and supreme court will tell you what it means. you cannot do that without causing the supreme court to become a very political institution. >> critics say that's exactly what he did. he struck down restrictions on campaign donations and helped decide the 2000 election in favor of george w. bush. >> scalia's death sets up a titanic struggle that could tip the balance from a conservative majority to a liberal one. president obama intends to name his successor. >> there will be plenty of time

for me to do and for the senate to fulfill its responsibility to give a fair hearing and vote. >> the u.s. constitution says the president names supreme court candidates and senate confirms them. the man who sets the schedule for the senate, republican leader mitch mcconnell said he thinks that decision should be made by the next president. unless president obama can come up with a common ground candidate, with little common ground between him and the congress, that makes it unlikely he'll have a candidate be confirmed by the upcoming presidential election. alan fisher reports from greenville, south carolina.

>> a moment's silence to mark the death of a supreme court justice just before the debate and the question of a replacement dominated early exchanges, the question, should president obama appoint a replacement. >> i think he's going to do it. i think it's up to mitch mcconnell and everything to stop it. it's called delay delay delay. >> i think we should let the next president of the united states decide who is going to run the supreme court with a vote by the people of the united states of america. >> the supreme court decides on important constitutional questions. >> the senate needs to stand strong and say we are not going to give up the supreme court for a generation by allowing president obama to make one home run liberal appointee. >> jeb bush was happy to defend his brother from an aggressive donald trump, who said he'd lied. >> jeb is so wrong.

jeb is absolutely so wrong. >> this is a guy who gets his foreign policy from the shows. we're living in dangerous times. this is a man who insults his way to the nomination. >> marco rubio had an awful debate in new hampshire but seemed to get back in the groove here, launching this attack on ted cruz. >> this is a disturbing pattern now. ted cruz that just been telling lies. he lied about ben carson in iowa. he lice about marriage, he's lying about all sorts of things and now he makes things up. >> this was a bad night for donald trump, and he came under attack from almost everyone. the reality is, here in south carolina, he still leads the polls by more than 20 points. >> south carolina senator licensed. >> i graham said the death of scalia is a huge issue.

>> if you want win the election, you can't appoint a supreme court justice. i hope conservatives look at this as an opportunity to nominate somebody that can win the white house. >> this was of the loudest angriest debate that shows how the stakes for the man who wants to be president are getting higher. >> so that's what happens at the republican debate. now, john, the big question is who will succeed scalia and who will actually appoint him. will it be obama or the next president. >> yeah, you can see by the morning papers, that is the biggest issue right here in the states today, and that debate you heard last night continued on the sunday morning talk shows today. republicans can agree on almost nothing when it come comes to te debate, but they are all speaking with one voice when it comes to who should appoint the next supreme court nominee to replace scalia, they all want

that decision to be postponed into the next administration. ted cruz says there has been an 80 year precedent where the president has not appointed a nominee in his last year in office. that's only true by one month. ronald reagan appointed kennedy in november of 1988. that was reagan's last year in office. that appointment was confirmed by a democratic congress. this is not entirely without precedent. as you heard president obama say, he is going ahead. he's going to make that nomination. one option he could choose is to try to find consensus candidate, but there's little common ground between him and the congress and that will make that decision difficult. mitch mcconnell, the guy who sets the schedule tort senate is the republican leader. you heard him in that story say that he believes that the

president should postpone this decision for the next president, but in 2005, he said something like the opposite, that was the second term for george w. bush and at that time, mcconnell said any presidential nominees after a full debate deserve a simple up or down vote. those words are going to come back to haunt him. this debate will continue to go on. it's safe to say that all three branches of government, the presidency of congress and the courts now are in play for the 2016 election. >> don, thank you. >> lots more coming up on the al jazeera news hour, including hundreds of palestinians travel to gaza's border with egypt after it's open for just three days. tens of thousands of penguins have per i should since an iceberg blocked oh route vital for their survival. arsenal upset the premier league leaders.

first the united nations report says more than 11,000 civilians have been killed or injured in afghanistan in 2015. it's a 4% increase on the previous year. we have this report from kabul. >> more civilians were killed or injured in fighting afghanistan last year than at any time since u.s. and international forces invaded in 2001. the bleak statistic released in the u.n.'s latest report on civilian casualties in afghanistan. according to the report, more than 11,000 civilians were killed or injured in 2015. among those casualties, more than 3,500 died. the u.n. report blamed the taliban and other anti-government forces for 62% of the casualties. 17% of the deaths and injuries were caused by afghan and international forces. >> nicholas, the head of u.n.'s

assistance mission in afghanistan told a news conference here that he wants all parties to the fighting to make an effort not to harm civilians. >> until we have a peace agreement, we must call on all those parties engaged in the conflict who have it within their power to reduce the number of civilians casualties to commit to taking every step that will avoid harm and injury to civilians. >> the report comes as the afghan government is pushing to negotiate with taliban factions who want peace while promises to fight those who don't. the record number of civilian casualties that coincides with an increase in afghan casualties injects another element of insecurity that fights off the insurgency. in haiti, an interim leader has been chosen.

he will lead a caretaker government intended to last for the next 120 days. haiti has been plagued by violent protests in recent weeks. we are joined from party a prince for the reaction over the appointment of this interim leader. >> many are hoping that this latest election will calm the situation down. as they're seeing it, as it was a victory of those who had been on the street for weeks, demanding either new election or a change in government. let's not forget what's been happening here. there's been lots of unrest on the streets, lots of protest of people demanding free and fair election. he is a man that used to be former president, minister of

interior. he was detained for two years, accused of killing and persecuting political opponents. he was a political president of the interim government by the government that replaced the leader of the alleged coup. he is considered a moderate between the parties, someone that can talk with all different sectors of society and that's basically what he's been saying, that miss main objective is going to be to build consist and stability in the country. >> thank you for that update from haiti. polls in the central african republican are about to close where voters are choosing between two prime ministers in a runoff vote. it is being held after two years of fighting between muslim and christian communities. the country plunged into turmoil

when rebels seized power in the majority christian country. fighting broke out between christian and muslim communities. in 2014, the leader of the coup quit his role as president. by november last year, there was no clear winner in the first round presidential election. let's cross over to central african republican's capital and speak to head of the u.n. mission in central african republic. good to have you with us. can you tell us your observations of the vote, how it's gone, that's taking place now in central african republic? >> well, so far, so good. the voting has been going on since this morning, early this morning. some police stations were open from 5:30 in the morning, and we are getting close to the closing time around 4:00, 4:30, and then

electoral officials would be starting the counting, and this will take certainly a good chunk of the evening. >> so far, it's been smooth? >> absolutely. i think that is the electoral board. >> how confident are you, sir, that this vote will restore democratic rule? it will end years of violence? >> the people have been clear about their eagerness and strong will. we have had a strong debate for those going into the second round of elections, presidential elections, and they have been remarkable in their commitment

to abide by the rule of law and also by accepting outcome of this elections, so we really hope that what has been the major trend throughout this electoral pros and we have not even noticed, not even any violence so far, and i think this is an indication that the people want to reach. >> the commitment is one thing, but practically speaking is another thing as we often see. do you think that this election, do you personally think that this election can really solve the deep rooted system take problems, can it bridge that divide between the christian and muslim communities? >> well, let me put it this way. the people of africa republic, muslims and christians are just tired. they're tired of manipulation. they're tired of being told that they are different.

religion, communities mostly muslim and communities from another neighborhood have just decided to sign a pact of no one aggression. this was just two days ago and through that pact, they are actually putting an end, and you know, on a situation whereby muslims were not anymore able to bury their dead, you know, in a dignified way. these were done by people themselves, the u.n., other key partners, friends in the u.s. were just -- >> speaking of the united nations, what is the role of the u.n. going forward with central african republic? what should the role of the u.n. be? >> well, i mean our role was to be multi-dimensional. as you know, this country is faced with huge huge challenges of governance. there is almost -- there was

almost no more stakes, authority throughout the territory, securities at these wars. we see that in a number of armed groups in the country, so the improvement that we have made will need to be maintained, and it's already the commitment of both the two front runners to ensure that moving forward, the u.n. will remain a central partner for this country. i think it would be too early to believe that the country could stand on its own. >> ok. we thank you very much for speaking to us on al jazeera. >> thank you. >> now the former u.n. secretary general said the presence of groups like boko haram and al jazeera continue to destabilize africa. >> we cannot ignore that from mauritania in the west to somalia in the east, the flag of jihad is being raised. more than a dozen sub sahara

countries are concerned and tens of thousands have already died. boko haram actually killed more people last year than the islamic state. attacks in many places are a daily or weekly occurrence. >> still to come on the news hour. chaos on the campus of one of india's most prestigious universities. >> i'm jonah hull with the soldiers of odin patrolling the streets of northern finland, protecting they say the citizens here from refugees. >> in sport, phi phil mickelson edges closer to ending the longest title drought of his career.

>> the violence and the threat of violence is ever present. >> i deal with this every day of my life! >> i don't like to see people get killed. >> al jazeera america's hard-hitting. >> today, they will be arrested. >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning investigative series. >> the stop stories, turkey has shelled kurdish held positions ins northern syria. ankara wants y.p.g. fighters and allies to withdraw from borders

near turkey, but the group refuses to retreat. u.s. supreme court justice antonin scalia has died. >> why are more and more civilians being killed and injured in afghanistan? most have the deaths were caused by groups opposed to the government including the taliban. pope francis is preparing to arrive in the town just outside mexico city. he's expected to lead sunday mass. adam rainy looks at what the town hopes to gain from the pope's visit. >> a sprawling poor suburb on the edge of mexico city, for many represents the problems and promise of mexico, and perhaps that's why pope francis is coming here to say mass.

hundreds of thousands of people commute into the capital every day to working class jobs. they work hard and scrimp to save. they are often held back by corruption and violent gangs. jorge moved here 25 years ago. land was cheap. he wanted to be his own boss. he succeeded but after being kidnapped and ba beaten by police, a common occurrence here, he is afraid he will be kidnapped again. >> we are more afraid of the police than we are of criminals. if a patrol pullles you over, you don't know if it's a legitimate stop or if they're going to rob you. >> robberies on buss common as is extortion. there has been attacks by angry mobs. victims hope the tell the pope about the violence that is endemic here. >> the government is absent. it puts a false face.

reality is much crueler here. i don't want my country or mexico to have this image, but we want international attention so our government takes a lard look and works be to resolve this huge problem. >> meanwhile, the local government appears to be doing its best to make the area look clean and safe at least for sunday's mass. i asked them why they are out painting. he said they are painting bushes and trees to make it look nicer for the pope. >> the local mayor from the ruling tart sees opportunity in the pope's visit. >> it's a big boost for the economy and also a motivator to move forward and give our owl and work hard to make it better. >> residents say it will take more from its leaders to make it

safe and provide a spark for change they need. hundred was palestinians have traveled to the gaza border with egypt, which is open for the first time this year for just three days until tuesday. more than 25,000 people hoping to use the crossing, including some with medical conditions, needing urgent attention, but only a fraction of that number have been given permission to cross. we have this report. >> they've been waiting for days, and some even for years to get out of gaza, and now some palestinians have been able to leave the gaza strip, but many more are still waiting and hoping. egypt rarely opens its border crossing with gaza. it was sealed after the egyptian military took control. >> we have over 25,000 registered humanitarian cases in the gaza strip. our best estimate is that 1,000 will get to travel during these two days, which means there will be 24,000 people in need of help, still suffering.

>> this teenager is in need of medical attention. he lost both legs during the conflict in gaza in 2014. more than 2,200 palestinians were killed during the 51 day war. thousands more were injured. >> he needs surgeries and therapy. we've been trying to get help for more than a year. we've been applying for permits and renewing them. >> nearly half of gasses are unemployed. they really on human help to get by. for some, their only hope is to leave. >> i'm a stand and today my visa ends. i used to have a resident permit in turkey. it expired so i renewed my visa. all of this because of the crossing closing. what can i do?

>> in 2007, hamas took control of the trip from fatah. egypt and israel both regard them as a terrorist organization. >> i've been trying to travel since last year for eight months. i live in saudi arabia and i almost lost my job because i haven't been able to go back. >> those who don't get out of gaza this time have to face the harsh reality that their freedom of movement is decided by others. al jazeera. finland government will deport 20,000 refugees. finland has struggled to deal with the influx of asylum seekers. some locals have formed a vigilante group. >> named after a norse god of war, the soldiers of odin take their self appointed mission

seriously, patrolling the streets of towns, keeping women and children safe from refugees. >> about 80% of the refugees are men of fighting age. to me, it doesn't look like they need help. >> back in their clubhouse in the woods, they insist they are just concerned citizens, though the nazi type paraphernalia suggests otherwise. >> we only use violence to defend ourselves. it's far more likely than not that asylum seekers will be turned down. it's far more likely than not that asylum seekers will be turned down.

>> the main thing is to make good picture for refugees. we are good and helping and we are good people. >> he helped hundreds of refugees who crowded into this concert hall before formal centers were established. he regrets the change in mood. >> i've heard hundreds of stories of why they come. some are true, share lies, but who has the right to decide? that makes me sad especially as a christian. we should help all people. >> as the public mood seems to be hardening here in finland towards the refugees, it seems that the prime minister himself has been forced into his own about-turn, having said that refugees were welcome to come and stay here in this country house in the north of the country, he's now said they can't, ostensibly for security reasons. >> the house is said to be too public. as a refugee center, the tightening controls are sinking in.

>> society have some good people and bad people, even refugees, there is good people and there is other people. >> will you respect if it comes to it, a decision to send you home? >> they send us back, i will respect that, but, you know, we will face death there. yeah. >> you have to wonder why they'd want to live in the freezing cold anyway. such is the desire for safety. jonah hall, al jazeera, finland. >> thousands of protestors have rallied in new delhi after the arrest of a student leader on sedition charges. the government said it is cracking down on what it calls anti international elements. >> this is one of the most diverse universities in the country and students known for voicing their opinions and being

able to vocalize their thoughts. they now say they are worried about speaking their minds after one of their student leaders was arrested on sedition charges. there is a serious champ down on streets. >> every day we go back we think maybe tonight they will raid our hostel. there is a kind of fear in it that this is precisely what the state wants to do to generate fear so that everything breaks down. >> the general public joined students and teachers to form this human chain. it's not this university that's concerned. the whole country is watching these protests very closely. they say these arrests are the latest example of a growing intolerance under these governments. >> the deaths of 150,000 penguins could give scientists a glimpse of the potential impact of climate change on the world

wildlife. they've perished since an iceburg blocked a route vital to their survival. they normally choose rocky areas within two to three com terse of open sea. an iceberg became grounded in an area known as commonwealth bay. the winning wins needed to walk 60 kilometers to find food. researchers say this has resulted in a population of 160,000 penguins being reduced to just 10,000. scientists are concerned about how long term environmental changes will impact wildlife in the an arctic. we'll talk about this with phillip, a scientist with british surveys, phillip, can you first tell us what you know about the penguins that are surviving? what is the outlook for them?

>> i think the first thing to remember is that there are many different colonies of daily penguins around an arctic continent. if one colony is in decline, it doesn't mean to say that all penguins are in decline. >> we are speaking about this particular colony, the numbers we have here, they were at 160,000 and now they are down to 10,000. just talk to us specifically about the outlook for this particular colony. >> yes, so this particular colony, then when the large iceberg actually moved away from the continent, it's likely that sea ice will return to its normal pattern, that means the foraging trips will go back to normal and the colony quite likely will begin to increase in size again. for the colony to be as large as it used to be, there must be god

foraging. that is a poor outlook for the moment, but when the iceberg disappears, when the ice returns to normal, then it will be business as normal for that colony. >> all right, that is good news for that particular colony. just tell us about the environmental changes, phillip, and how that will impact wildlife in antarctica and work you will do. >> so the an arctic is a really nice experimental system for studying climate change. there are signals which are different in different parts of the continent. in the an arctic pennsylvania, which is where i'm close to at the moment, climbs change appears to be much stronger than in other parts of the continent. in the peninsula region, the ice is diminished, and stocks have declined and it's not that has

has led to keyclines in penguin. there will be some losers in the climate change scenario, but then there will also be winners. some species will do better. the challenge for the scientists in the future is to protect which will be the winners and which the losers. >> again, phillip, we thank you very much for speaking to us. thank you. still ahead on the al jazeera news hour. the fight for top spot, the countdown begins for britons prestigious film a wards. former tennis world number one nidal takes another hit. we'll have the details coming up shortly. ((úz@úxóxkxñ($9

the movie industry's awards season as well underway on sunday, british films will be hoping to sign at the original bafta awards in london. we look at actors, actresses and films looking to make a bill impact. >> these are the ones most people will be talking about, best director, actor, actress and best film. best director, he was in town last year for birdman. he lost out but stands a strong chance here for the every haven't. he has strong competition from todd haines, adam for the big

short and ridley scott, he is directing royalty, up for the martian. steven speilberg, his bridge of spies a very hot favorite to do well here. >> we've got our guy, our spy pilot. they've got their guy. we want to you negotiate the swap. are you good at what you do? >> this will be a first for the both of us. >> you should be careful. >> there is best actor, michael fassbender. matt damon, the martian, he survived being stranded on mars. will getting a bafta be as hard for him? leonardo decaprio, his role seeing as the one to beat. >> he won for the theory of everything back then. will the danish girl bring him a

second year of success? my whole adult life, it's killing me. >> it's my only hope. this is not my body. i have to let him go. >> maggie smith may be in her 80's but will be battling the younger contenders. up for two awards here at this year's baftas, up for her role in room but listen to the critics. they will tell you to watch this woman. this is cate blanchett and this is carol. >> would you like to come visit with us sunday? >> yes. >> then there is best film. this his the big one. the danish girl, carol again, before i got spies again. the big short, as well, but it is the revenant, this is the one

to watch, lee in order dough key cap rio. this is a wide open competition. previous years have given us lots of surprises at the baftas. the only certainty is that it is going to be a very exciting night and there is not long to go now. >> now time for the sports news, here's farrah. doreen, thank you so much. arsenal closed the gap 2-1 at the emirates stadium. lester was just ahead at half time. equalizing for arsenal with 20 minutes to go.

>> they sealed the 2-1 victory. it was his first apparent since last year due to injury. >> their last two trips haven't been successful. they lost 4-1 and 6-0 to manuel pell greenee's side and haven't won there since may, 2010. >> it's not the last game, but i think it is very important. it is very important to them and we know, they know after we go into the very important period on the league.

>> very important game. after that, you have six points, but for our team, i think it's very important to try to return as soon as we can to the top of the table to try to reach the point to at least two of the three teams at this moment. for our team, it's very, very good. >> the three forwards for spain were going through 8-1 on ago degree gets. they lost their last two meetings. >> i think they're the only rival that have beaten us twice since i started coaching. the first game was a very clear victory. it means they are a dangerous and attractive rival. for me, they are one of the most

attractive sights to watch on television. they're brave, cheeky, they know how to pressure our area. >> england's rugby players have just wrapped up their second straight win. they were convincingly beating italy by 40 points to nine in the six nation championships. cricket now in australia remain in control of the first test against new zealand. new zealand finally managed to take the wicked for 239. australia all out for 562. new zealand are 178-4. in their second innings, they trail by 201 runs. >> flipped to a surprise semifinal defeat. the current word number five who is often unbeatable on clay lost

three sets to one. nidal heads to brazil next week for the rio open. >> it was a complicate game. i did not have the opportunity to win. i congratulated the winner. he played well. it is important to try and i have to just keep working and believing, which is what i've done. it is a shame. i needed just one more point to reach the final. it's ok. we have to carry on. >> hosting the all-star game sunday, it's the first time it will be played outside the united states. kobe bryant will make one last all-star game appearance. the 37-year-old who helped the l.a. lakers win five championships during his 21 year career will be retiring at the end of the season. brian has been selected to the all-star game a record 18 consecutive times. >> i'm looking around the room and i'm seeing guys i'm playing where that are tearing the league up that are four of them. how many players can say they

played 20 years and actually have seen the game go through three, four generations, you know what i mean? it's not sad at all. i mean, i'm really happy and honored to be here. >> five time major winner phil mickelson has a two round lead in california. the american got two birdies on the final two holes to card a 66 and his 16 under over all. he hasn't won an event since 2013, world number one jordan speith is having his worst tournament in two years. he's down in joint 54th. that's all your sport for now, back to you. ok, thank you very much. thanks for watching the news hour on al jazeera. we're back with a full bulletin of news. we hand you back over to our team in london, they'll be with you in a moment. do stay with al jazeera.

>> people loved him. teachers loved him. >> we were walking the river looking for him. i knew something was really really wrong. >> all hell broke lose. >> people were saying that we were terrorists. >> how are you providing a cover for your brother to do this? >> we saw the evil side of the social media take off. >> at 9:30 - "america tonight" - top investigative reporting, uncovering new perspectives. >> everything that's happening here is illegal. >> then at 10:00 - it's "reports from around the world". >> let's take a closer look. >> antonio mora gives you a global view. >> this is a human rights crisis. >> and at 11:00 - "news wrap-up". clear... concise... complete.

turkey shells kurdish fighters inside syria, accusing them of attacking other opposition groups. you're watching al jazeera live from london, coming up, the polls have just closed in a presidential runoff election seen as vital to central africa republican's hopes for peace. >> palestinians race to get out of gaza after egypt reopens the border crossing. why the death of a u.s. supreme court judge has led to political agreement over