thank you for watching. i'm richelle carey in new york. let's go to london now for more news. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome along. this is the news hour, live from london, with me david foster. let's take a look at some of the stories we're covering in detail. the u.s. bombs isil targets in western libya, killing as many as 40 people. [ explosion ] russia calls a u.n. security council meeting says it is worried that turkey could launch a ground invasion of syria. the day after a policeman killed a taxi driver bringing angry protes across egypt. the president orders a crackdown

on those police who attack citizens. and harper lee, the author of "to kill a mocking bird" has died at the age of 89. hello, everyone, robin adams here with sports. athletics says it needs more time to clean up its act. we'll hear from the kenyan sports minister later. ♪ so the united states has carried out multiple air strikes in libya. targeting, it says, fighters lined with isil, the islamic state of iraq and the levant. libyan officials have confirmed that at least 40 people were killed in the attacks on the coast, the northwest coast of the country. the pentagon says the operation hit an isil training camp, and was aimed at killing a senior tunisian man. the man accused of helping to

organize deadly attacks on a museum in tunis, and a tunisian beach resort last year. rosiland jordan joins us live from washington, d.c. we have heard from the pentagon, the department of defense within the last hour. what have they said about this? >> reporter: well, david, what the spokesman said was basically the u.s. considers isil a national security threat, and that it reserves the right to go after isil targets any time, anywhere. here is just a bit of what he had to say near the beginning of his briefing in the past hour. >> overnight we conducted an air strike in libya, targeting an isil training camp, a tunisian national who is an isil senior facilitator in libya, and associated with that training camp. we took this action after determining that both he and the isil fighters at these facilities were planning

external attacks in the region. of note he was named a suspect in the march 18th, 2015, deadly attack on the bardo museum in tunis, and had facilitated the movement of potential isil affiliated fighters from tunisia, libya, and on to other countries. this is a clear demonstration of the commitment to go after isil metastasis wherever they emerge. >> reporter: peter cook said but would not get into detail about allegations that the people at this training camp apparently were trying to plan attacks on the united states and u.s. interests. he also alleged that the senior facilitator apparently was involved in moving foreign fighters in and out of libya to

other locations. again, he wouldn't be specific. it was frustrating for reporters in the room, who were trying to get more details about when they decided to go after this -- this training facility, how it was that they got the intelligence, how they planned to confirm exactly who was killed, how many were killed, what their nationalities were, and so on, because he said that basically he didn't want to reveal -- reveal the u.s.'s sources and methods for carrying out this attack, but he did say that this was conducted with the knowledge of libyan authorities, and that if they have to do it again, then they will. >> rosiland jordan thank you very much indeed. that's our correspondent in washington, d.c. now u.s. and russian military officials have been having talks in geneva on efforts to bring about what they call a cessation of hostilities

within syria, trying to narrow down their positions before they hold meetings at the u.n. later. vladimir putin talked about the syrian crisis in a telephone call with saudi arabia's king. the kremlin said the two leaders who back different sides in the conflict, as they put it, expressed interest in settling the syrian crisis, and russian has called for a u.n. security council meeting in two hour's time because it is worried that turkey could launch a ground invasion of syria. military experts and diplomats are in geneva talking about the practicalities of any pause in fighting in syria. but turkey's president has criticized the united states for supporting kurdish fighters in syria. from the turkish-syrian border, zana hoda looks at what it all

means for the war in syria. >> reporter: intense shelling across the border. turkey is targeting positions of the ypg, a syrian kurdish armed group. the government says it has evidence a suicide car bomber who targeted a bus on wednesday was a ypg member, and that he received help from the outlawed pkk inside turkey. >> translator: we have critical data on who is responsible. turkey is facing an attack organized by the pkk and ypg once again. >> reporter: security is increasingly a concern in turkey. the bombing in ankara wasn't the first. and since july the southeast of the country has been a battleground between security forces and pkk affiliates. turkish officials wan their western allies to sever their links with the kurdish syrian

fighters. >> translator: the fact that the west persists in refusing to name the terror groups makes us sad, despite the fact we have passed many documents on to them. europe and the european union have declared the pkk a terrorist organization. but on the ground, the u.s. continues to provide air cover to the ypg and its ally, the syrian democratic forces as they push deeper into isil-held territory. in syrian's eastern province, the kurdish fighters are closing in on a main supply route that isil also known as daesh uses to move its strong holds in syria and neighboring iraq. >> it's not about choosing sides here. there's no doubt about turkey's membership in the coalition. obviously there is no doubt about our commitment to a fellow nato ally, and there's no doubt

that some of the strongest fighters against daesh inside syria have been kurdish fighters. >> reporter: but in recent weeks they have also been taking ground from opposition groups backed by turkey. for turkey is that is a red line. ankara wants to prevent further ypg advances. particularly close to its border. ankara has made clear that it will take all of the necessary measures to prevent this. it also wants its western allies to stand by them in this fight. for now, turkey's options are to continue the cross-border shelling, and provide support to the non-kurdish syrian opposition. the west has signaled it won't back turkey's call for a grand operation inside of syria, and the u.s. has signaled that it won't choose sides. the estes ka lating tensions are complicating an already

difficult process aimed attending syria's war. zana hoda, al jazeera, southern turkey. a group called the kurdistan freedom fall comes are now saying they were behind the attack in ankara. in that is a breakaway faction of the pkk. let's get more on that security council meeting russia has called to talk about turkey. daniel lack is at the united nations for us. russia's concern with turkey is what? >> reporter: well, russia has said it wants this meeting that is going to be held later today in new york, because it is concerned with turkey's plans to hold a ground offensive in syria. now it has to be said to be fair, that turkey has not actually said that in so many words. it did call earlier this week for a multi-lateral ground operation that would involve troops not just from within the region, but also outside of the region, and that's definitely not on the able, and after the car bombing on wednesday, turkey

said it reserved the right to take any measures to resolve any situation. so if you add it up, it may seem like they are threatening that, but they haven't said it explicitly. russia seems to think they are though. this is the second meeting that russia has called this week. russia is obviously backing the kurdish groups in northern syria, and is going to probably get the security council members to try to agree on some sort of expression of concern, perhaps even a resolution, but that will take a lot longer than one closed meeting on a friday afternoon. we'll have to wait and see. >> indeed. thank you very much for now. daniel lak at the united nations. now isil, the islamic state of iraq and the levant is send agreeing number of child fighters to their deaths according to a study. researchers took a look at the 89 death notices which were posted on twitter and other

social networks in 2015. it found that the overall number of children and used killed in iraq and syria was double what it had been a year earlier. and the study looked at fighters under the age of 18, reporting just under two-thirds of those kills were between the ages of 12 and 16, but some were as young as eight as nine. 29% of those were used as suicide bombers. another 33% were used as foot soldiers and died in combat. let's talk to the author of that report. we'll talk about isil in particular in just a moment, but your study found that it wasn't just this one group that was using more and more children in combat. >> no, of course it's not. isis is across the notorious,

the most infamous group using child soldiers, but of course there are lots of other ones, incluesing forces that are fighting isis, and other groups like al-nusra, they are using children and youth in their operations as well. this is a widespread issue, and the report that we have -- we have released today focuses specifically on those who died fighting for -- for isis, but of course it is, as i say, a much larger issue than that. >> and much larger within the group called isis, much more widespread than you believe many people understood. >> yes, so what we found was that there were a lot more child and youth deaths than the most commonly sited estimate. so everyone knows broadly about the fact that isis is using children and youth in their suicide operations and foot soldiers and prop ganists, and in [ inaudible ] operations as well, which are more akin to ma

rodding operations. but when you have the data set in front of you, and then translating it to get as much detail from those photographs as possible. it's very striking. and also what is more worrying is the fact that it is accelerating very rapidly. there are a lot more children and youth being killed in many isis operations this year, than this time last year. >> one of the things that struck me, and i would like to get your thoughts on this, you said child are using the child soldiers different than the child soldier norm. what did you mean by that? >> yes, so the child soldier norm, obviously there should be no child soldier norm, but what we have come to accept is children used in militant groups, primarily used to boost

the ranks of their group. with the way that isis is using children. what we're seeing is young people operating alongside adults, and yes, adults are being utilized too, and the youth are being eulogized along those adults. age is seemingly incidental to the isis propagandaist. and we're seeing an entrenchment of shield soldiers in their training in the areas controlled by isis. >> and you say as small numbers either defect or escape from the islamic state, and more accounts emerge of children experiences,

there is an urgent need to plan and prepare for the reintegration of former youth militants. in other conflicts has that been possible? >> yes, it has been possible. in fact my co-authors of this report, they both were involved in this kind of work in pakistan where there are a number of institutes to help deradicalize children. but with the isis, it's very carefully institutionalalized. and i think we can envision a post-isis world without thinking about the longer-term issues nch children have grown up seeing nothing other than the world through isis's jihadist version of islamism.

that is going to be an incredibly difficult issue to resolve in the coming months and years, and i think we really need to think carefully about planning for that. >> when you look beneath the surface it is really a hideous war. thank you very much for talking to us. coming up on the news hour . . . ♪ >> there is anger in uganda as police retain once again the main opposition candidate. it's the fourth time this week he has been held. and we'll have the latest as david cameron tries to secure a deal to keep britain in the european union. and in sport, calling stops on his test career. new zealand's cricket test captain prepares to walk. ♪ egypt's president says he

will propose new laws to curb abuses of power by the security services. the president's statement was a day after a policeman shot and killed a young taxi driver, and that lead to protests. the officer in question has been detained now, but it is just the latest in a string of incidents of alleged police brutality. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: picking up a police officer as a passenger proved fatal for this taxi driver. he was just 24 years old. according to the egyptian interior ministry, the police officer shot and killed him by mistake, after an argument over payment. but the thousands who gathered for his funeral don't believe the official version of events. they blame the security forces who they say act with impunity. witnesses to the killing say the police officer verbally abused mohamed, and when he objected the officer shot him. the victim's relatives fear

their demands for justice are falling on deaf ears. >> translator: i want the government to bring me justice. the president himself. why would this policeman shoot my son? what was he guilty of? is the president happy? we elected him to represent us and protect us. not to let these criminals kill us. he needs to stop them. and every corrupt policeman must face justice. >> translator: all they care about is [ inaudible ]. as long as there is chaos, no one will get justice. enough is enough. every day one of us gets killed. why doesn't the government send an official to attend our funerals? because we are poor. we are nobody. >> reporter: last week thousands of doctors protested after two colleagues said they had been assaulted by police in a cairo hospital because they wouldn't falsify medical records. more protests are planned. human rights groups say egyptian

security forces often act above the law. >> i remember two years ago, mr. sisi was addressing men in uniform, and he explicitly encouraged them to use successive use of violence against civilians, and promised them that nobody will be punished. >> reporter: many believe this has lead to a culture of police brutality, which one of the main factors in the 2011 uprising. five years after that revolution, it appears the security forces are still to be feared. united nations says that the war in yemen has left the country as it puts it on the brink of catastrophe. access to humanitarian help has been severely limited, and the u.n. says millions have been displaced by the conflict. >> the situation in yemen is extremely difficult, and while

it was already mired in crisis before the war, it is now on the brink of catastrophe. the ongoing conflict has turned a situation where you have over 2.5 million people displaced. you have also got a situation where you have got some 21 million, out of 26 million people who are in need of some sort of humanitarian support. the main opposition canada in uganda's presidential election has been arrested for the third time this week. kizza besigye was detained during a raid on his party's headquarters. police fired tear gas at opposition supporters who gathered outside. votes are now being counted, but sol polling stations are still open, and election papers arrived too late for them to vote on thursday. so far the president looks set to extend his 30-year rule.

he has 62%. mr. besigye has 33.5%. and the former prime minister and close alley of museveni has just 1.5%. >> reporter: opposition leader kizza besigye and some of his party officials l called press to their party headquarters. they wanted to announce some provisional results from their polling center. they say this is because the electoral commission's polling center and itself results are rigged. the electoral commission denies it. before announcing their results to the press, the police came to the party headquarters. they fired tear gas. they broke up the meeting there. and besigye and some of his other party officials were taken away in a police van. that prompted some protesting in that area and some

neighborhoods. police fired tear gas and guns to break up the protests. the city remains tense as they wait for the results. malcolm webb reporting there. britain's prime minister appears to be digging in for the long haul in brussels, trying to convince other e.u. members to change the terms of britain's membership with the e.u. talks are dragging on still. the terms of any deal will be put to the british people in an in-out referendum on membership of the european union. let's go to emma hayward, standing by in brussels. it's a sort of hurry up and wait situation isn't it emma? >> i think david -- david

cameron would have wanted to be home by now, speaking to his cabinet, telling them he got a good deal. but he is not at that stage yet. he came back here at about 11:00 this morning, having left just after 5:00, so a very, very long night of negotiations and a very long day of negotiations too, he has been in by lateral talks all day where the leaders of denmark, with the leader of poland, and italy, really just trying to iron out any kind of differences, but we're certainly not in any way in sight yet of a deal being made here in brussels tonight. >> what about this poll in the united kingdom that says that more people now than before want to get out of the e.u.? >> reporter: yeah, this seems to suggest that slightly more people would like to leave than want to stay, but they also

suggest 23% of people who are undecided, and that just shows that david cameron might have been uphill battle to try to persuade lots of people. of course, he wants to stay in the e.u., but many people sill sat on the fence. but he wants to go back with a good deal that he thinks can convince the british people to stay, and this referendum that he wants to hold could happen in just a few month's time, so he needs to get back and present that deal as quickly as possible. >> and you shake your head as you say it, thank you very much. emma hayward there in brussels. the e.u. leaderships have also been talking about their partnership with turkey to try to limit the flow of refugees into europe. austria started imposing its new quota system for the somebody of refugees crossing its borders. the government says it will allow no more than 80 a day.

but the e.u.'s top mie -- my grags official says they have a legal obligation. australia's prime minister has yet to decline or accept new zealand's offer. >> in the future if the australian government decided they wanted to, that's definitely possibility, all i can simply say is the offer remains on the table. >> we are utterly committed to ensuring that we give no encouragement, no marketing opportunities to the people smugglers. we will take into account what john has proposed.

what john has offered, but we do so very thoughtfully, recognizing that the one thing we must not do is give an inch to the people smugglers. the american author, harper lee has died at the age of 89. she was a reclusive a author, and only published two novels in her life, best known for her first novel "to kill a mocking bird". a second book featuring the same characters in a different time, was published 55 years later. she died just a few miles from the house where she had grown up. still to come on this news hour, why ruling party supporters in south africa are on the streets fighting racism, more than two decades after the end of apartheid. and banking going bio metric,

launching voice and fingerprint recognition for all of its customers. we have the sport too. and how a former u.s. military man has become a star of mixed martial arts in pakistan. ♪

let's run through the global headlines. the u.s. has launched air strikes on places in libya, hitting an isil training base. a spokesman for the pebt gone said the attack lead to the death of a top isil commander. turkey continues to attack kurdish pyg fighters in syria. it blames them for wednesday's bombing in ankara. but another group has claimed responsibility for that suicide explosion. and the egyptian president has announced tougher measures to bring an end to police brutality, a day after a police officer shot dead a taxi driver bringing these protests.

at least 19 people have been killed, more than 50 have been hurt in a suicide attack in northern cameroon. it was in a market on the border with nigeria. it isn't known exactly who was behind the attack, but bombing is the latest in a strength of deadly incidents suspected to have been carried out by boko haram. niger's current leading is hoping to return to power with a promise to crush boko haram. he has pledged to modernize the army and raise living standards. from the capitol, mohamed vall reports. >> reporter: the capitol is on high alert, within 48 hours millions will go to the polls. it's a moment of uncertainty in this a country that is waging a war against armed groups

including isil, and boko haram. niger has thousands of kilometers of porous borders with libya, mali, and nigeria, where those groups are active. al-qaeda has also proved capable of striking at the heart of west africa. its recent attacks have caused concern that something similar may happen here in niger. the government says it controls the internal situation but the world should help more. >> translator: niger is table and peaceful. it has protected its citizens and their property. no single armed terrorist group is based here. however, we regret the fact that western powers are ignoring what is going on in the chad region with regards to boko haram, cameroon, chad, nigeria, and niger are in need of much more assistance as they are combatting faceless barbarism

there. >> reporter: they have tried to months to crush boko haram. but until now the group is still capable of mowning attacks on lake chad, leaving behind sderted villages. the opposition accuses the go of failing to protect people in the east. >> translator: if you go to east niger you will see the extreme suffering caused by a lack of security. by we, i mean the current government is responsible. >> reporter: security is a rallying cry in this country during this election season. that's why many of the candidates have spent weeks in the east before they come back to the capitol for the final vote. supporters of south africa's ruling party have been holding marches against racism. thousands of demonstrators say

they need government action urgently after a number of recent racist attacks. the issue back again in the spot light for the party more than two decades after then of apartheid. our correspondent has been at the protests. >> reporter: thousands of people have gathered here at the government seat of power, and while the african national congress, the ruling party says this is a call for all saut africans to come together to make a stand against racism, to show support for democracy and a united country, the vast majority of people if not all are anc members. they are here to support their party. >> we are here today to warn us who are calling us names like monkeys, that no one who is a monkey in south africa. >> reporter: the anc has also used the opportunity to rally support ahead of government elections later this year. but use the opportunity to get

keem to register and also to [ inaudible ] the opposition party, they say harbor racists. racism has come under the spotlight in recent weeks with a number of prom meant incidents rallying south africans against racist incidents. the democratic alliance has hit back at the national congress saying the party has not done enough to eradicate racism through economic empowerment. so it's very much becoming a rallying point for political parties to garner support. india's supreme court has referred the case of a student leader awaiting trial on charges of sedition back to a lower court. he was charged after anti-indian slogans were allegedly chanted at the university in new delhi. his arrest lead to days of protests across the country. our correspondent sent this

update from new delhi. >> reporter: the judicial custody until march 2nd. he has been accused of holding an event at his university in which anti-indian slogans were allegedly used. students at his university have boycotted classes and held protests in his support. the university is one of india's most liberal and socially diverse and has produced some of the country's top diplomats, and journalists. activists are linking the police crackdown on students at the university to what they say is a rising tide of intolerance within india's governmenting party. the protests have spread across the country, despite warnings from government ministers that any anti-indian sentimentses will not be tolerated. the biggest march took place on

thursday with thousands taking to the streets of delhi. people from all walks of life took part. but the bail plea has yet to be heard after violence disrupted proceedings on monday and wednesday. on wednesday he himself was assaulted on his way to the courthouse despite being flanked by police. his lawyers have now lodged a bail application with deli's high court saying they fear for his life. now to kosovo, the main opposition party there has employed rather unusual tactics to delay a parliamentary session. tear gas was released three times to put pressure on the government to denounce deals with serbia and montenegro. and after third incident, the police removed all opposition

politicians. the link -- or the possible link between the skwv and a brain disorder in babies could make months to establish. world health organization says it is gathering evidence of a suspected association tweeb the mosquito carrying virus and what is called microcephaly, a neurological disorder in babies. but it could take another four to six months to prove the case one way or the other. thousands of pregnant women particularly in brazil have been infected. the w.h.o. declared the spread of the virus a global emergency and thereby unlocked millions of dollars in extra funding. a spokesman from the vatican is trying to calm down the pope's comments that donald trump's views are not christian. he said it was not a personal attack, but rather the comment was an affirmation of the pope's long-standing belief that migrants should be helped and

not persecuted. pope francis said it was not christian to put up walls instead of building bridges. the front runner has promised to build a wall along the u.s. mexican border if elected. the bank hsbc is interviewing voice recognition, and finger touch security services for its customers in the u.k. a move that could do away with pass poreds all together. the idea is to get rid of the memorable information in pass words in favor of what is called the most secure technology, the human body. the service will be offered to up to 50 million people across the country. let's get more in the u.k. roger moore is there. a professor of spoken language processing. mr. moore is this very complicated technology? >> it's reasonably complicated, but it's not so much more difficult than what is already on everybody's mobile phone, so,

you know, the voice is processed using some fairly standard signal processing techniques that have been in firms for many, many years. no, not so complicated. >> my -- my mother used to think that me and my brother sounded identical. so would you be able to impersonate somebody easily? >> well, you can impersonate someone within a reasonable degree of proximation, but when people are related that makes you quite similar indeed. the voice is not as good of biometric, as for example, fingerprints or iris scans or some of those much more physical measures. >> so would you be happy using it? >> i would be reasonably happy. one has to bare in mind, if you have a cold, for example, it might not let you in, or if you are standing in a railway

station and it's incredibly noisy it might not let you in. so there are some issues. >> yeah, absolutely. part of the problems with passwords is we forget them. and we can sound different, particularly if we are under the weather. so it's more difficult to get it absolutely right. because a pass word, you can press a button, and you can reset it, you can't do that with your voice? >> no, you can't. of course, the disadvantage with voice-based pass word is that somebody could record you for example, and play that. but what they are trying to get at here is some of the fundamental characteristics which are personal to you and your voice, but, yes, the voice is not going to be full proof in this particular application, there are other stronger biometrics, but those require

specialist equipments. so they are not -- the voice is easily available. that's i think what they are trying to do here. >> yeah, do you think this is the future? i mean is it going to be only a matter of a couple of years before i put my phone in front of my face, it looks at my ayes, listens to my voice, checks my fingerprints and that's it? >> yeah, as i say fingerprint recognition is already on many phones. mostly what i work on are things like speech recognition, trying to figure out what somebody is saying. and siri has the ability to recognize who is speaking. if you have two iphones on the table and you call yours, only one will come up. so already this is appearing. the technology is around. >> mr. moore to thank you very much indeed. perhaps i could send around the

lady that lives in my flat, and you can teach her how to speak so we can all understand her. thank you very much indeed. we'll look at how things are really taking off at the air show. and lindsey vonn losing more than just her balance. as and virgin galactic reveals a new spaceship, we'll look at whether the space tourist industry is really taking off.

♪ air travel in asia is pretty high at the moment. but as demands towards airlines, they are struggling to find enough well-trained pilots to fly the aircraft. >> reporter: one out of every three airline passengers in the world last year, took off or lackeded in the asian pacific region. growing middle classes are pushing numbers up. last year the number of passengers here grew 8% more than anywhere else in the world. industry leaders say if governments remain focused on global standards, there's no reason why growth should come at the expense of safety. at the regulator in december downgraded thailand's safety record that is more of a focus an ever. >> the united nations faa for

example has downgraded thailand, and there are some other countries around the region where the governments are having to work to step up to the plate. >> reporter: many new airlines have taken to the air. that is causing established airlines to rethink how they operate. in financial trouble, thai airways is in the middle of restructuring. this may make it more competitive in the longer term. >> while we are restructuring, which means our cost base is high, both our competitor, they keep dropping the price as well, right. >> reporter: the growth of the airline industry here in asia pacific has been so rapid over the last ten years, there are concerns that the infrastructure is not keeping pace, and that airlines are scrambling for experienced pilots and proper training. years ago, most pilots came from the military.

not anymore. >> the training of pilots is done by airlines and flying schools, and that system works well, but it has to keep pace with the growth in demand. >> reporter: regional shortages of pilots drive up salaries. so while the demand for these seats is increasing, there are challenges. for the airlines the challenge is to expand carefully in this area of thinning profit margins. and for the governments to make sure that safety standards do not slide as the industry expands and demands new busier airports. the figures show the last five years of commercial aviation have been safer than the previous five. this is a trend airlines and governments will want to maintain. scott heidler, al jazeera, singapore. time for robin adams to take it sky high. >> david thank you very much. kenyan athletics says it needs two more months to show the

world that it is changing. they are desperately trying to avoid exclusion from the rio games. they say they are cooperating fully, and wheels are in motion to launch an anti doping see in the country. kenya have three top officials on suspension at the moment for misconduct. the ceo is also taking a leave of absence after accusations of bribery. around 40 kenyan athletes have been banned for doping in the last three years. there's a very, very international cricket match play itself out right now. 134-8. right now they are 72-2. they need another 63 runs to win

all 60 balls. and new zealand is in a hunt for a new cricket captain. if the the black caps win this christchurch, he will end his career as the most successful test captain. the aussies of course, won the first test. >> at the moment i'm just focused on trying to enjoy this last test with the boys and make sure we play in a manner in which we have been able to perform over the last few years. >> the march will be his 101st and final test. the 34 year old making his test debut against england. he made history by becoming the first new zealand batsman to hit a triple century in a test match. and last year lead his team to

the first ever world cup final. the outgoing fifa president says he won't back any of the five candidates who are set to replace him. he continued to defend himself and his governance of the troubled organization that is still facing corruption investigations. >> translator: what i regret is the way the media moved in to kill me from the get-go. the condemnation of the fifa president by the media when i was not responsible for the actions of the members of the committee, my regret is maybe we didn't take the necessary measures to avoid having members of the committee who hadn't passed the integrity test. a new car has been unveiled for the formula 1 season. ferrari is believed be the

biggest challenger for the upcoming season. jordan spieth may be the world number 1, but he is not living up to that ranking. he shot one of his worst tour scores ever in the first round of the open. spieth sits nearly bottom of the leader board, while rory mcelroy did better. he is four strokes off of the top after an opening round of 67. the columbian carding a first round 63. swiss skier won the women's world cup downhill race taking place in italy. she reclaimed the lead from lindsey vonn who didn't manage to finish the race. as you can see she took a nasty fall there.

her 18th career win in total, and of course she finished 1.02 seconds ahead of her austrian opponent. mma is becoming very popular in pakistan. >> i'm a martial artist, and one championship, where i represent pakistan, i'm known as the godfather of mixed martial arts in pakistan. before i started mixed martial arts, i was a student at university in george mason. i was in the military as a medic. i had the desire to compete in mma because competing against

someone who is trying to defeat you is really the best way to know whether the things that you have learned will work. this is my first fight. a very important fight for not only me, but for mma in pakistan. ♪ >> i believed in myself, everybody else believed in me too in pakistan, and it was a war, it was a war of a fight. you can see from all of the blood, but i came out with the win. mma in pakistan has grown substantially since i first came here in like 2005. from this gym people i have taught personally, there is [ inaudible ] who has already competed in many one championship, and you have a pakistani marshall art that resembles mma. the list goes on and on. pakistan is going to be known as the home of champions. we don't get any support from

the government and that doesn't bother me. because if the government did support us, there might be strings attached. i'm funding this from my own pocket and what i get from the gym. our ngo creates and manages training for underprivileged youth in bad neighborhoods. this is a great organization that gives a very positive image for the port of mma across the world. i'm mighting february 20th in jakarta, in one championship against a fighter from the philippines. i have been training very hard and smart. he is a tough opponent, i look forward to challenges myself by competing with him. but i see myself as being victorious in the first or early part of the second round. nasa says it has received a record number of applicants,

about 18,000 for its next class for astronauts. we have been getting a glimpse at how space tourism is shaping up. tarek bazley is our man. >> reporter: you might never have considered taking in the view from the cloud nine observatory on venus, traveling to jup -- jupiter, but nasa hopes these new travel posters will get us thinking and talking about the idea of taking a trip into space. a number of private companies have been working on the first step. virgin galactic's new craft replaces an earlier model that broke apart and killed a pilot in '2014. virgin promises passengers a ride that will take them beyond the boundary of space. once there, they will get a few

minutes of waitlessness. u.s. company x-core is also selling tickets for flights on board his space plane. it has made advances on engine technology, but hasn't said when it will start flying the plane. blue origin recently tested its technology in texas. it hopes to offer passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. another contender is world view, it is developing balloon trips. >> with some of these spacecraft eventually the flights which are going to be just up and down and land more or less in the same place, but in a few years we will be able to go in orbit around the earth, and perhaps in the future to build space stations which will be accommodating like a space hotel. >> reporter: even if you do dream of space travel it might

be the cost of the ticket that holds you back. one bizman paid about $20 million for his stay in space in 2001, virgin's tickets are going for a quarter of a million, excore is charging 150,000, and world view cost $75,000. there is plenty of testing to still be done, so you have might want to hold off until the technology has actually been proven before you book your next holiday in space. now some rubbish, a cargo ship full of garbage up there has left the international space station. it carried over 3,300 kilos of supplies to the iss, it was up there for 72 days. it was emptied out over bolivia, but is expected to burn up in this the atmosphere somewhere over the pacific ocean. ♪ >> i have envoyed it. i hope you have. we'll be back in just a moment. ♪

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the u.s. bombs an isil training camp in libya, saying it posed a threat to its national security. ♪ hello, i -- you are watching al jazeera live from london. russia calls a u.n. security council meeting saying it fears turkey could launch a ground offensive in syria. harper lee has died at the