a day at aljazeera.com where the news never stops. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello from doha, everyone. this is the news hour on al jazeera. [ gunfire ] >> unholy alliances the u.k. says evidence the kurds are siding with president assad and russia is, quote, very disturbing. more momentum for donald trump. he celebrates a big win in

vegas. iranians head to the polls in key elections. we are live in tehran. all of that, plus -- i'm phil lavelle in los angeles, where we are now days away from the oscars, but it is who and what isn't nominated this year that people are talking about. ♪ so we'll start with syria, there is said to be evidence that kurdish forces are coordinating with the assad government and the russian military. the evidence of such coordination is called, quote, very disturbing. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: syrias complex civil war has become even more complicates by the presence of isil both in syria and iraq, leaving combatants and their backers fighting on multiple

fronts. the british foreign secretary has been briefing the parliament. there was extraordinary resellence of kurdish fighters in iraq, but syria is different. >> what we have seen is very disturbing evidence of coordination between syrian kurdish forces, the syrian regime, and the russian air force, which is making us distinctly uneasy about the kurds role in this. >> reporter: the military wing of a syrian affiliate of the pkk which turkey and britain regard as a terrorist group. the united states military support for the ypg is therefore deeply problematic. but the syrian kurd's loyalty to the west is consistent this

spokesman says. >> they besieged kobani, and [ inaudible ] and [ inaudible ] many other kurdish places. >> reporter: one analysts says cooperation betweens a -- assads forces and the ypg is only when they are fighting isil. >> you have multiple actors, multiple external actors trying to coordinate with partners on the ground who can act as proxy forces. but you have very different objectives of what they are trying to achieve in syria. >> reporter: the session accusation of hostilities expected this week couldn't be more fragile. we also have this video showing a town under attack.

russian forces have hit the neighborhood in the northwest. the video posted to social media shows at least two wounded children being taken to hospital. and then this is the damascus. a united nations convoy has delivered relief aid to suburbs. nine truckings carried food supplies and six others brought in medical supplies, local aid sees say other places needed much more than that. >> translator: we want to say this to the world, for three years we have been locked up here under siege facing starvation and the u.n. is doing nothing but playing games to serve assad and hezbollah. this is the price we are paying for the sake of our dignity and freedom. assad is responsible for all of those killed in syria. the russian president vladimir putin has spoken on the president to the syrian

president. the kremlin says they were discussing the ceasefire that is due to begin on saturday. we're live to moscow now. rory challands joining us on the news hour. i guess you have russia playing the diplomat here. they have got the deal with the united states with the ceasefire, but they are allies with syria and they are in the middle now. >> reporter: yeah, it has been a busy day for vladimir putin. he has been on the phone numerous times to numerous different leaders in the region. he has spoken to president bashar al-assad. he has spoken to rouhani of iran, the saudi arabia king, and prime minister benjamin netenyahu of israel. it seems a message is being conveyed not just to the united states, also to the leaders of the middle east, that russia really is a force to be

reckoned with now. it likes to think of itself as a key power broker in the region. one of the things that vladimir putin was saying to -- to president bashar al-assad is essentially, you have got to be on board with this russian u.s.-brokered peace process. remember that bashar al-assad went slightly off message last week when he said that syria would carry on fighting -- or he would carry on fighting until he gained the whole of the country, russia essentially told him to shut up and get back on message. you get the real sense, i think, coming out of the kremlin at the moment, a sense of cautious optimism that they are achieving exactly what they wanted to achieve, at least the two key aims, which is support president bashar al-assad as much as they can, stop him from collapsing, but also to basically convince the united states that russia is

a key player in the region and should be treated as an equal partner. >> thank you, rory. rory challands live from moscow with that update. we know the war in syria is a major driving force in europe's refugee crisis. and more have arrived in sicily. five refugees did die. more than 6,000 people have arrived this year alone. and europe's handling of refugees is facing more questions as well. human rights agencies are accusing them of blocking refugees from entering sending them back without giving them an opportunity to apply for protection. >> reporter: these are the

refugees on the military outpost in the east aegean. for the new arrivals there is the stability of rock, but that is all. humanitarian groups aren't allowed there. this man spent an hour before being ferried to a nearby island. >> there is maybe four or five militaries, and there is a lot of refugees. they didn't give us anything. just they told us that -- wait to the boat. there is no place to -- to sleep or anything. >> reporter: here it is a different game all together. migrants play soccer with the volunteers who care for them. organizations run shelters in buildings loaned by the municipality. it's an entirely volunteer-based effort. but here too, the military is acquiring a role. as europe becomes increasingly

wary of new arrivals, its response is increasingly military. this is the new reception center just days away from completion. now the military has taken over and finished the project in just three weeks. the importance of the camp is not just that it could house a thousand people which could be vitally important in the months to come, it is that here, fingerprinting will happen quickly. more troublingly nato patrols in the aegean aim to prevent as many arrivals as possible. this may effectively cut refugees off from access to asylum. >> translator: the nato ships will make it very difficult for boats to embark on turkish shores or reach greek ones. militarizing border control, and returning people to supposedly

safe third-word countries, where is the european union headed. >> reporter: here humanity and the law are carefully balanced. ahead on al jazeera's news hour, european companies accused of filling surveillance equipment to egypt. almost nothing left in fiji. and in sport the kings give their playoff chances a boost. farah is here with all of the latest from the nba. ♪ on friday, iran holds elections for its parliament and the assembly of experts, the body tasked with selecting the supreme leader. more than 12,000 candidates

registered to run, but more than half were disqualified mainly because they are seen as reformists. 586 are women, they are all vying for those 290 seats in parliament. as for the assembly of experts, 161 approved clerics are competing for 88 seats there. andrew simmons has our report. >> reporter: iran's old guard is rallying loud. they have formed an alliance of conservatives and hard liners. these clerics all prayer leaders in the capitol are being briefed to tell people it's their duty to turn out, vote, and give support. >> translator: the enemy wants to infiltrate. america wants to get in through the back door, and infiltrate our decision making. >> reporter: posted outside of the mosque, an array of

candidates. the conservatives and hard liners place an emphasize on mosques for their social outreach, reformer -- reformists are connecting with the online. whatever the restrictions on websites, people manage effectively. one in four iranians are estimated to be using the telegram app, which has so far escaped any block. one of these two english teachers says she wants an tend to visa restriction. >> it really matters to me. and i do care about it. because as a human being, we all have rights to travel around the world. >> reporter: it would be wrong to say there's outright decent here, but the people do want change. >> translator: one of the most important achievements of rouhani is fulfilling his

promise to get sanctions lifted. it has made people happy after eight difficult years. >> reporter: the popularity of president rouhani, seen here at an awards ceremony is rising, but the conservatives and hard liners have control of key islamic institutions. the conservative guardian council throw out more than 6,000 mostly moderates and reformists, that's more than half of those wanting to stand in the parliamentary elections. it also barred nearly 80% of those wanting to be candidates in the assembly of experts, and that's the body which will choose the next superpeople leader. for now absolute power still lies with the supreme leader, even if the conservatives and hard liners do lose control of parliament. andrew simmons, al jazeera. >> here is andrew simmons now

live for us in tehran. you talk about the conservatives and the hard liners there. they have been in control for a while. is there any chance at all that could change? >> reporter: you know it really is hard to call kamal. there have been a total of 12,000 potential candidates for these elections. that was cut down by half as you heard in that report. an array of colors and policies, but really at the end of the day people are more concerned about the economy, what happened in light of the nuclear deal on july 14th, which was basically described as a break through for iran, but we haven't seen the effects of lifting of sanctions on the streets yet. so whether or not people will sway towards the reformists and the moderates isn't clear. but one thing is certain, all of the campaigners of all colors,

of all persuasions are desperately trying to get people out to vote, because these are the parliamentary and the assembly of experts elections, not the presidential elections. for example in 2013 there was a 72% turnout. and this is a litmus test of his popularity. >> you talk about the assembly of experts there. just explain that a bit more to us. >> reporter: well, there really isn't a system of government like it anywhere in the world. this assembly of experts, i supposed could be compared to the cardinals in the catholic church. there are 88 places in this assembly, and there were a total, in fact, of 801 people who wanted to stand for it. that was cut, again, vetted by the -- the guardian council and brought down to only a matter of

168 candidates for 88 seats. so really there is a situation there, where there is hard liners and conservatives getting stuck in and influencing the situation of power in this country. there is no doubt about it, there is not really a fair election, but there is a lot of competition, and no one is quite sure what the results of the parliamentary elections will be. >> could you describe the mood of the people ahead of these elections? >> reporter: well, when you consider what people have been through with -- with the whole situation with the economy, zero percent growth, a recession, wages very low indeed, it is the poor who are getting poorer that is the really problem. traditionally they go for the hard liners and conservatives which really filter through right to the supreme leader himself, that is expected to remain the same, unless they get

convinced that their life could be better under rouhani's policies, which could mean foreign investment. what the hard liners are trying to tell people on the streets be careful with all of this mourn investment, it's america getting in through the back door, this sort of language is being perpetrated a lot. those who follow rouhani and the reformists are quite clear in their knowledge that their believe there will be a free market economy here, and there is huge potential here right across the board in the manufacturing industry, in the oil sector, in service industries, consumer goods. it is the second biggest economy in the middle east. it could be huge. there could be a real transformation, a revolution if you would like in iran given the

actual wherewithal, politically to do it. whether that happens in months or even years is unclear, but there is certainly potential for great change here. whether or not that might happen remains to be seen kamal. >> andrew simmons live in tehran, thank you. donald trump says he is growing more confident of winning his party's presidential nomination after an easy victory in nevada. some see the win in nevada as a seal of approval from the party's base. that's after previous wins in new hampshire and south carolina. >> reporter: even donald trump seems surprised by the scale of his victory. we love nevada. trump won almost half of the latino vote despite his comments last year in which he said mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists. >> we won with young, we won with old, we won with highly

educated, we love with poorly educated. and you know what i really am happy about, 46% with the hispanics. 46%. number 1 with hispanics. >> reporter: early indications are that florida senator marco rubio came second. but it's still not clear if he will now become the anti-trump candidate. >> reporter: the vast and overwhelming majority of republicans do not want trump to be the nominee. so as long as we have four people running, you are going to get results like we saw last night. the sooner we get this race narrowed down, the easier it will be to beat him. >> the undeniable reality that the first four states have shown is that the only campaign that has beaten donald trump.

and the only campaign that can beat donald trump is this campaign. [ cheers ] >> there's no doubt trump is on a winning streak. >> we love you. >> reporter: first new hampshire, then south carolina, now nevada. and until the republican field narr narrows, the polls suggest donald trump will remain the clear front runner. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. we heard from bill sneijder, visiting professor at the university of california in los angeles. he is an expert on political campaigns. he told us donald trump has every reason to be confident in future polls. >> one word, anger. you have angry voters all over the country. they are exasperated by the fact that politics in washington and the establishment in this country can't get anything done. they just are totally in gridlock. donald trump comes across as someone who can make things

happen. will he knock heads together. he will make deals. he can make things happen. that's what people want in a leader. super-tuesday could be a blowout. he could win most of those states, maybe not texas, which is cruz's home state, if we beats cruz in texas, cruz is out of the race. i don't see a single state that marco rubio looks strong in. there might be delegates he can win in a few states, but generally speaking trump looks strong everywhere. >> reporter: protests have been held around the world to support apple's refusal to help the fbi to gain access to iphones. >> apple, apple, what do you say? >> keep the fbi away. >> reporter: protests against the government's order across the u.s. in d.c. they gathered outside the fbi headquarters.

>> the fbi is asking tech workers to deliberately undermine the security systems that they themselves are working to build. >> reporter: yet one poll suggests a majority of americans don't see what the issue is, and one of the softwares pioneers suggested the government has a case. >> this is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. they are not asking for a general thing. >> reporter: but facebook, google, and microsoft's ceo and chief legal officer have expressed misgivings. apple doesn't have the pass word, those are all stored on the phones themselves. so instead the government wants apple to create a new program to bypass the security system so they can have millions of attempts at cracking the code. if ten erroneous attempts are made at the moment, all

information is wiped. >> what the government is seeking is a legal precedent that can be used multiple times in all kinds of circumstances, and not just involving cell phones but everything that is connected to the internet from cars to appliances, medical devices. >> reporter: the white house assured technology companies it would not seek a potentially contentious fight over legislation forcing the installation of so-called back doors in encryption technology. but it has been reported that the obama administration instead order ordered government agencies to find work arounds. the all-rits law to compel apple to help the fbi break into his customer's devices, would appear to be an attempt to do that. even those who accept the strategy that a complex precedent is being set. >> would you be concerned if

russia or china used ancient law to get a back door into encrypted technology in their countries? >> absolutely. i am concerned about my own privacy and my own personal family information. we have the brain power across this land to bring them together, so that -- in a way that allows law enforcement to do its work, and still allows us to be protected. >> the case goes to court in march. authorities in fiji are struggling to reach isolated communities after the nation was hit by a record-breaking cyclone. the death toll is at 42 now. it is expected to rise those. al jazeera has the first television crew to reach one island. andrew thomas has our frort there. >> reporter: it's not much, but it is a start in this town, soldiers from fiji's capitol have arrived and are starting to

clear debris. there is an enormous job ahead. in some nearby villages virtually every house has been destroyed. many aren't waiting for the soldiers and have begun their own temporary repairs. but there is a common plea. >> i need help from government. so -- to rebuild my house. so i can start my life again with my family. >> reporter: the island was one of fiji's prettiest. in 2014, al jazeera filmed here along the old colonial main street. then this. filmed from one of the strongest buildings in town, it gives some idea of the wind and the pounding waves. it looks different now. every building has holes, some without roofs. the port building has collapsed, and churches are badly damaged, but it's the smaller villages

that look the worst, shattered over a storm that hit the area at lunchtime on saturday and didn't pass until 7:00 in the evening. >> six solid hours. it just picked the roofing in the wind. >> reporter: in the remnants of another village were more stories of terror. about 40 people were sheltering in that yellow building behind me when the roof was ripped off. so they ran to this building. all but one ran out just before the collapse. the 72-year-old lady who couldn't was buried on sunday 50 meters from where she died. for the living, establishing the basics is a priority. many without homes are sleeping

in schools. schools won't be schools again here for weeks or months. children's worlds have been turned upside down. hundreds of students were evacuated out to fiji's main island early on wednesday. no one seems to have any idea of when they, nor normal life will return. still ahead on this al jazeera news hour, several gulf countries issue a travel ban to lebanon for their nationals. we'll live in beirut for the details. israeli-based rights group release a report siting abuse and torture by israeli prison guards against palestinians. i'm in argentina, where football here and the rest of the region is under the spotlight like never before. ♪

>> people take money. wicked people. >> you are creating a society that can be rotten to the core. >> anas risked his life to report the truth. >> to save his people. >> doesn't matter who you are, i come with my cameras. >> only on al jazeera america. ♪ you are on the news hour here at al jazeera, and these are the top stories. the british foreign secretary says kurdish fighters are working in coordination with the

syrian government and russia. the ypg has gained ground in several areas at the expense of isil. iran is preparing for parliamentary elections on friday. where they are also be elected the expert panel. and donald trump has won the vote in nevada. florida's marco rubio has come in second. ted cruz third. let's go back to syria where the syrian observatory for human rights says more than a quarter of a million people have been killed since the war began nearly five years ago. and with some of the worst fighting going on in and around aleppo, we have a report about the volunteers, the ones saving lives there. bernard smith has their story. >> reporter: for many syrians, this is the only emergency service they have. where is it they shout?

these are the white helmets. they are volunteer rescue workers. like everyone else in aleppo, they spend a lot of time looking up to find out where the next bomb will fall. there isn't much of the city still standing. >> translator: there were two families in this house. we pulled out four people, one woman died. the rocket passed through two buildings, and exploded here, and here, look, for syrian kids, life continues. in spite of all of the damage, they are still here. >> reporter: in aleppo most of the injuries are the result of syrian or russian bombings. this man says an aircraft dropped some bombs while he worked in an internet cafe. half of his leg was blown off. the russians say its rockets are

aimed only at what are called terrorists. >> translator: there are only civilians here. no one else. show me one fighter. show me the militants they talk about. show me. everyone here is a civilian. >> translator: is it russian they ask? yes, it's russian. the white helmets say they are committed to helping everyone. they say they have risked sniper fire to retrieve the bodies of soldiers. this time they are responding to another attack by the russian air force. before the war, these volunteers were students, engineers, carpenters. but here normal lives are no longer possible. today what is normal is crawling through rubble, hoping to find survivors of another bombing. bernard smith, al jazeera. and you can see that film in

full, syria under russia's fist, 2230 gmt. kuwait has issued a travel ban to libya, over the latest escalation between hezbollah and saudi arabia. it has asked its citizens to leave the country immediately. kuwait just the latest country to issue that ban. live to beirut. mohammed jamjoom is our correspondent there to explain more. just review what the tensions have been and why it has lead to kuwait and other countries taking this decision. >> reporter: yeah, kamal, it certainly looks complicated, but really it's not a surprise that kuwait would take this action. since saudi arabia announced it was issuing a travel ban, and advising citizens in lebanon to leave and goback to saudi

arabia, and you had bahrain and now kuwait doing the same thing. this happened after the saudi arabia embassy was stormed. since then the tensions between iran and saudi arabia in the region have really ratcheted up. lebanon, of course is one of the front lines in the proxy war that has been going on so long between iran and saudi arabia, and when lebanon didn't really fall in line with saudi arabia's expectations after that happened with saudi arabia's embassy in iran, saudi arabia expressed displeasure and announced it was cutting military aid to lebanon, a package around $4 billion to try to help lebanon purchase weapons from the french government, the saudis said they were going to stop providing aid

to lebanon. and then you have these other countries, allies of saudi arabia, members of the gcc doing the same. it complicates the regional rivalry. it certainly complicates things here in lebanon. you have one of the prominent government blocks that is sunni nominated and another dominated by hezbollah, which of course is backed by iran. lebanon a very complicated country when it comes to all of this. this is going to complicate things further. a lot of officials here have urged saudi arabia to reconsider. earlier in the day, you had the saudi arabiian ambassador meeting with officials. it's unclear what saudi arabia will do at this point, if they will actually reconsider, but it seem that right now they are

continuing to maintain this hard line, that they have made a decision they are unhappy with the fact that hezbollah has a not of dominance here, and they are trying to make their point, cutting off aid, and now urging their citizens not to come here. this is certainly not the first time that saudi arabia or these other countries have advised their citizens not to travel to lebanon, or travel away from lebanon if they are here. many times in the last couple of years, lebanon has been deemed a threat for these gcc countries. >> mohammed jamjoom with that update from beirut. thank you. israeli-based rights groups have released a report that show abuse and torture by israeli prison guards. they allege the violations took place in southern israel between 2013 and 2014. the reports are based on witness

accounts. they include sleep deprivation, sometimes for days, being bound hand and foot to a chair with movement restricted for hours on end, being subjected to shouting, swearing, threats, spitting and indignitndignity. one third of the people have been beaten or abused by the soldiers. ahmad says torture is regularly used in israeli policy. >> the israelis has been using torture as a systematic policy against palestinians for a long time. physical violence against palestinian prisoners a practice condoned and sanctioned by the israeli high court, and legitimized, and therefore it is a state policy, and there is no type of remedy for any

palestinian subject to torture. the israeli high court set a doctrine, called the ticking bomb, which means if any palestinian voices a threat to lives of israelis, the israeli security forces can use torture against him or her. of course this doctrine has been used to legitimize all types of torture. there is no criteria for what is considered an immediate threat, so it's up to the security officer to determine if the palestinian poses an immediate threat. in the absence of internal accountability by israeli justice system to palestinian victims, we have to seek for international justice. >> south africas finance minister has presented what has been described as a crisis budget. he raised taxes and targeted what he calls wasteful and

corrupt government spending. tania page has been following develops there. a crisis budget, tanya? >> reporter: absolutely, and some sobering core numbers coming out of that budget delivered behind me by the prime minister. he expects economic growth to slow to 0.9%, public debt to rise to 51%. extra money put aside for cap on university fees and the drought as well. increased taxes for particularly the upper middle and wealthy. joining me is the shadow finance minister, south africa also facing the possibility of a sovereign debt rating shot down quite a bit. >> i have no doubt that the finance minister is committed to beating that downgrading.

but i think the minister probably has not done enough to beat a ratings downgrade. >> reporter: what are the positives taking away from this budget? >> one of the positive aspects was the fact that the minister announced that south african airways will be consolidated, get a strength in board, and begin to look for a private equity partner. so there will be part privatization of south african airways. that was a positive aspect of the speech and certainly a positive development. >> reporter: people will be pleased as well to hear him talk about cutting government waste and spending. what are the negatives you will take away from it. >> reporter: the minister announced that expenditure would be cut over the medium term, but there will be no spending cuts this year. and i thought the minister given expectations would have

implemented far more extensive cost -- cost cutting. particularly on consumption expenditure, our bloated cabinet which could be scaled back and save the taxpayer about 4.7 million rand a year. in this financial year, we'll send about 147 billion rand on 17.7 million social grant beneficiaries. that's about a 7.5% increase. but bare in mind that that is still far below the food price inflation -- increase with inflation, which is about 11%. but in our view that is not enough. >> reporter: what does south africa have to do. the continent's second largest economy to see the growth that many believe it has the

potential for? >> there were new measurements to boost job growth in south africa. what the government needs to get serious about is starting to learn at the binding con strarnt -- constraints on the economy. what is holding us back this year. and we think the minister needs to look very seriously at the labor market and making the labor market far more flexible. but at the end of the day, it's about looking at the binding constrains holding back economic growth and job creation in south africa. >> thank you very much for being with us. tania page in cape town. thanks, tania. al jazeera has seen documents showing that the german telecom giant sold

equipment to the egyptian government. it could also be used to spy on the public. the revelation has lead to calls for european companies to come clean about their dealings with egypt. >> reporter: these documents obtained, cast a new light on the sisi government and the mubarak one before have gone to in order to protect themselves. they demonstrate the existence of a secret arm of state called the technical research department, or trd. it shows that the german national has sold equipment to the trd. enabling them to conduct massive surveillance. >> they are the ones who get budget in egypt for surveillance technologies, and they are the ones who are always looking for the next new technology, the more high-tech, up to date

technology to conduct surveillance, so of course, from the perspective of western companies that are trying to sell new products, this is the obvious customer. >> reporter: the sales of surveillance they enable date back to before 2011, when mubarak was ousted as president. it does appear all of the technology has proved useful to the current government. this audio clip lifted from a mobile phone call, is between the son of the jailed president, and close friend, in which they discuss what to do after hundreds of protesters were killed by egypt's security services in 2013. the clip was played on egyptian television. he and his father were arrested and jailed. his brother is convinced the technology helped the state to portray them and thousands of

others as traitors. >> they try to take personal information from there, now it comes for many activists now who are in egypt and trying to work in the fields of human rights, for example, or work in the fields of trying to -- any civil society actions, they have to take extreme security precautions, because they know the security services want to have surveillance on them. >> you have to hack your target. >> reporter: this re lugs comes after an italian surveillance company was itself hacked and thousands of documents put in the public domain. they had been selling the egyptian government malware to allow control of people's devices. no european companies can export this kind of equipment to egypt would the person mission of

their government. >> we have a responsibility for our companies here in europe, and those companies accept that they are responsible for the united nations view on human rights. and it's very clear to me that those guidelines are being breached and these exports are wrong. >> reporter: hacking team pointed out that the sales are legal, and western governments also sell war planes and missiles to egypt. and they claim it could help the west's fight against terrorism. lawrence lee, al jazeera. still ahead on this news hour, the most famous awards show in the world is days away, but the races and row continues to overshadow the build up to the academy awards. and the superleague comes to aengd. all of the action with farah in sport. ♪

only a few days to go now until the oscars, but each year the nominations are subject to increasing krut -- scrutiny over the lack of diversity. phil lavelle reports from los angeles. >> the doors tonight have been opened. >> reporter: it was for halle berry in 2004, the first, the only african american best actress at the oscars. but that door not even ajar at this year's awards.

the best actor nominees all white. same for best actress, there are no other races here. oscars so white, that is the hashtag everyone is fighting about. >> we'll continue fighting until we see more representative films coming out of hollywood. you have films like "creed," it's a about a black boxer. and "straight out of compton," it is the white screen writers who are up for awards. in a year only 28% of big roles went to non-white actors, and if you think that that doesn't sound like very many at all, it was even worse behind the scenes. only 12% of directors from other ethnic groups got the job. are we talking about oscars so

white here, or the industry in general being too white. ben runs a theater group downtown. he is an industry veteran. >> race is a factor in this country, and it permeates this country. look around. >> is the academy racist? this >> no. i think they think there is a problem, because of will smith and spike lee saying there is a problem. >> reporter: this man has been making films for decades, he is white and older. here is his take. >> they don't hire. they honor people. you do good work, bingo, you get nominated. if you don't do good work, you don't get nominated. but they don't hire or make those movies, so to take it out of the membership, i think is wrong. >> reporter: the academy says it

is going to double the number of female and ethnic members by 2020. the promise by the boss, we're going to lead not wait for the industry to catch up. farah is here to talk sport now. i know that cup behind you means champions league. >> that's right. the last 16 of the champions league continues on wednesday. manchester city is in contention for three trophies this season. they are into the english league cup final and sit fourth in the premier league. >> the important thing that the performance of the other [ inaudible ] tomorrow [ inaudible ] trying to -- we know it's a game of 190 minutes.

[ inaudible ] >> and the other tie, athletico madrid take on the dutch champions. athletico go into this match with only two wins in their last five games in la liga. chelsea manager says he is not sure what his next job will be. he was visiting singapore on wednesday. poor results caused chelsea to fire the 53 year old. he was hotly tipped to take over from current manager at manchester united, but says he wants to take his time before making his next career move. >> if i have to return tomorrow, i return tomorrow. but i always feel that it is better -- it is better to wait, not to rush. starting the next season with a new club, a new project, i think is probably the best thing for

me. >> reporter: the new head of the footballing world will be decided on friday. fifa's new president will be taking over an organization that is embroiled in scandal. latin america has been hit hardest where several top executives were arrested as part of u.s. investigations. daniel has more. >> reporter: this the plush headquarterers of the football federation. nine of the 11 executives on this plaque no longer serving, either in jail or wanted for questioning. >> translator: nothing that happens in football surprises me anymore. not in our own football or the rest of the continent. it would surprise me if we saw something positive happening. >> reporter: this is the new president. he replaces this man, who was one of many named by u.s. and swiss officials investigating corruption in world football.

>> he wants to restoert [ inaudible ], but [ inaudible ] is paraguayan, and if you ask me if there will be real change. we don't know yet. >> reporter: meanwhile the game continues. football here in argentina, as in the rest of the region is part of the fabric of society. the fans keep coming, despite the prices rising constantly, and talking about corruption, but doing very little about it. this football legend began his career here. eventually pursuing his dreams in europe. many more followed and keep following him. however, the concrete financial benefits from those sales are rarely apparent in these often ramshackle grounds. so where is the money? >> translator: that's a good

question. we need to do better accounting so we know where the money we give for those players goes. >> translator: poor management, what can i say. things are not run how they should be run. >> reporter: many critics believe the problems blighting world football, corruption, violence, and lack of transparency must be tackled here in south america, before world football can get its house in order. >> if we don't investigate where that money goes, who will? >> reporter: the fans have spoken. the investigations continue. latin america at the heart of world football, is under pressure to respond. al jazeera, buenos aires. in the nba the rockets maintained their win in overtime. the kings made their case in denver on tuesday. sacramento got off to a strong

start, and held the lead. they bounced back to a 110-103 victory. islamabad united has been crowned the first-ever pakistan superleague champions. after setting a target of 175 in dubai, james smith lead the chase. australian wicket keeper chimed in. and then hitting the winning run. united winning by 6 wickets be 8 balls to spare. and that's all of your sport for now. >> farah thank you so much for that. that's your news hour then. more new comes from our

broadcasters in london in just a couple of minute's time. ♪

>> there is so many changes in my life... i was ready for adventures. >> from burlesque dancer to acclaimed artists. >> art saved my life. >> reflections from her new memoir. >> no no no no no... i'm way to dysfunctional to have an ordinary job. >> see what lies ahead for molly crabapple. >> who emerges from life unscathed? >> i lived that character. >> we will be able to see change. >> al jazeera america brings you independent reporting without spin. >> not everybody is asking the questions you're asking me today. >> we give you more perspectives >> the separatists took control a few days ago. >> and a global view. >> now everybody in this country can hear them. >> getting the story first-hand. >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now.

>> you're watching al jazeera america. russia says it has started ceasefire negotiations with rebel groups in five syrian provinces. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. final day of campaigning in iran as people get ready to go to the polls in two elections. documents show a european telecoms giant sold surveillance equipment to a secret branch of the egyptian government. plus -- >> i'm phil lavelle in los angeles where we a