continues next live from doha. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the al jazeera news hour. i'm here in doha with 60 minutes of news and comment. the top stories, the former brazilian president is detained after his house was raided as part of a corruption inquiry. european leaders say russia is committed to upholding a fragile ceasefire in syria. the u.n. reports a sharp rice in allegations of sexual abuse by itself staff in ten

different countries. barcelona breaks yet another record in their match with bitter rivals real madrid. muse ♪ the police in brazil have raided the home of the former president as part of a kroup shun inquiry into the state owned oil company petrobras. dozens of executives and politicians in brazil have been implicated in the long-running inquiry. it claims widespread fraud and money laundering took place at petrobras. suspicious payments were made to the former president as well as to his relatives official say. >> translator: today we're looking at evidence.

this is still a hypothesis in our investigation. there is evidence of payment but no possible motive for those payments. >> so this is a far-reaching inquiry, margo, how damaging is this to him? >> reporter: well, this is -- he is one of the biggest fish, as it were that has been brought in for questioning here. this was actually a wid wide-sweeping raid. they were surreserving, they say 11 detention orders and conducting 33 different searches. now the former president who is widely popular here still as a champion for the poor has been brought in for questioning. hundreds of his supporters are gathering outside of the airport

asking for his release. they are not happy at this corruption investigation and stand with the former president that he is innocent of all charges. however, they are not alone, those who standing opposed to him and opposed to the government have also come out. and there has been quite a few heated moments while all of these people are gathered here. >> we are just seeing pictures of him with dilma rousseff. would it be normal in the country for her to say something publicly about this today? >> reporter: we have been waiting for reaction from the president today. there hasn't been anything yet. she said say something on thursday evening, as there were local reports that she herself might be under suspicion of involvement. she has denied this vehemently. the police have said that the current president is by no means under investigation herself.

>> these allegations have been swirling around for it feels like a long time now. one assumes he will mount a vigorous defense, and also can we assume that if it goes to court, it will take a long time? >> reporter: that is the assumption being made here. the police of course clarifying that no charges are being brought against him just yet. he has not been arrested. he has just been brought in for questioning. however, the first high-level sitting politician will now be formally charged as the supreme court has voted to do so, and he is the speakers of the lower house also in relation to this petrobras corruption scandal that has been under investigation for close to two years. >> we're looking at live pict e pictures of supporters who are obviously convinced he is

totally and utterly innocent. are we expecting some sort of public comment from him? >> reporter: the police haven't said yet exactly when he is going to be released and if so exactly where that might take place. there is word that he might be brought to the area in the southern part of brazil where this investigation was first launched. he is currently in sao paulo. these people intent to stay out there, they say, to show their support. very well, we could see this dragging across the weekend and into next week. developments here really rather fluid right now. >> margo thanks very much. we're expecting him to leave after some three hours, we're being told inside police offices there in brazil. representatives from france, the u.k., germany, and italy speaking to the russian president vladimir putin today by telephone from paris.

the french and german leaders say the trust must hold so that humanitarian aid can continue to be handed out. >> translator: the syrian cessation of hostilities must be respected everywhere, with the exception of targets against isil and al-nusra. any other violation would be a pretext to not implement it. >> translator: it was important that the four heads of state and the european head speak by telephone with the russian president vladimir putin, and i want to emphasize that the commitment to respect the ceasefire is an important message that was confirmed by the russian president today. it's aiming to restrict everybody to attacks against isil and al-nusra front. we have also asked russia to use

its influence on the assad regime. >> live now to paris and al jazeera's paul brennan. paul, so many fractures in the ceasefire. the russians this time yesterday saying 24, 25 breaches of the embryonic ceasefire, but the leaders emphasizing the need for the ceasefire to be comprehensive, they are sending a strong signal to moscow. >> they are, and via moscow to damascus as well. the theme was taken up early on friday, when the foreign ministers of britain, germany, and france met. the french foreign minister said that the outlook was positive compared to a week ago. but he said he wanted meetings to restart, and it was a question of goodwill on all sides. the british foreign secretary said the ceasefire was by no means perfect, but offered the

best chance, and the focus should be now on improving the quality of the ceasefire. when the leaders met, and then by telephone with the british prime minister, the italian prime minister, and the russian president was to impress on the linchpin role that vladimir putin can play in all of this. he is obviously a very close ally of president bashar al-assad in syria. it is up to the russians according to the europeans at least, to bring as much pressure to bare on president assad as possible, and although the foreign ministers were talking about some kind of task force which could monitor ceasefire violations and sort the wheat from the chaff as far as fact from fiction, the emphasis from the leaders was to try to dampen the whole thing down all together. in other words make sure the cessation of hostilities is

observed rigidly by all, apart from what they recognize as legitimate targets which is isil and al-nusra front. >> and as far as those leaders is concerned, this has got to work, because there is not a plan b. they simply cannot unwind the clock, three months, they cannot allow that to happen. >> reporter: yeah, i mean, the french media are already casting ahead to monday's meeting of the european union leaders and turkey who will get together and discuss the syrian conflict, primarily from a refugee perspective. there is no plan b. it is important that the russians who have such a central role in all of this, the russians have a large military presence in syria, in support of the government forces. they have a large influence

politically as well over president assad for many, many reasons. and it's up to the europeans, i supposed to impress on president putin the role that he can play for the positive in this. it is well-known the european leaders and russia have many deep differences, but they are hoping they can find common ground on this, given the situation that the conflict in syria feeds problems which are common to both of them. >> paul thanks for that. the u.n. refugee agency has put forward a six-point plan to deal with the -- escalating situation in greece. they will register people and resettle them accordingly across europe. the u.n. high commission of refugees is also asking for 10% of syrian refugees to be

resettled in other countries outside of the region. hoda abdel hamid joins us now at the border crossing between greece and macedonia. what is being discussed in france is all well and good, but one gets the distinct sense that again, when it comes to the reality of what you have been reporting on there for the past few days, they are kind of playing catch-up still. >> reporter: well, certainly you do get that feeling, and also we haven't heard specifically what they are planning to do with the now 12,000 people who are here at the border, relocating and going through -- and creating hot spots here in greece is all good, but it's going to take a while for all of that system to be up and running. in the meantime what happens to people here. there are mud puddles everywhere because of the bad weather conditions these days. we have been speaking to some of the ngo's, and they said there

is a very high rate of gastroenterologist in the children. you also have this other issue, that people are running out of money. they -- more and more people tell you they are completely at a loss now, they had some hope that things would be solved for them over the coming days. ? now they are very worried because they are running out of anything to sustain themselves. and finally there's the issue about what kind of paperwork, and what are these new restrictions at the borders. you all the time hear stories of people being pushed back by the macedonians, some by serbia, some by croatia, and everybody comes back here to greece. and they will tell you it was either something wrong in their paperwork, or the stamp of entry

into turkey was not enough. so this is a whole new set of regulations that make people fear that they won't be able even to apply for this asylum status they so want. >> hoda, thanks very much. do say with us here on this al jazeera news hour. still to come, a sign of concession in a long-running dispute over u.s. military base in japan. plus -- >> look here big donald -- >> don't worry about it little marco. >> reporter: the latest republican tv debate turns nasty. and a report looking at allegations of vote rigging over the awarding of the 2006 world cup to germany has been published. details coming up in the sports news in about 30 minutes. ♪

the united nations has reported a sharp rise in allegations of sex abuse by its own staff. a new report cataloged 99 occasions of abuse. u.n. missions in the central african republic, democratic republic of the congo, and the ivory coast with the most claims. daniel there must be a lot of embarrassment behind closed doors there. >> reporter: i think that's the only thing you can conclude, really, because what this report does, and everybody anticipated there would be an element of naming and shaming. what it does a provide a lot of break down on which countries, which missions, and it tells you that a lot of the problem is concentrated in a few missions. the central african republic accounts for nearly half of the

allegations. also the mission in haiti, the mission in sudan, in darfur, all of these missions are named. and as for the troop contend gents, the democratic republic of the congo has seven troops from south africa, nigeria, and police from the european union and two police from canada. there is an annex as well of what is actually being done about this. some have been sent home, some have had their pay docked. some have actually had criminal charges filed against them. so this is a bit of a start, if you will, to some sort of accountability. >> another of the problems here daniel, is this systemic, does this come down to how the

countries hire these peace keepers? >> reporter: one of the things that is not in here, and what we're hearing from critics is some form of external monitoring of foreign missions to see that this sort of conduct doesn't go on. but the report points out there are huge jurisdictional challenges here. you are sending in member country's forces, and others, each of whom have their own rules to follow. so they are suggesting a court marshal process here. another thing they are talking about is gathering dna samples from police and troops accused of these sorts of crimes. but critics are saying much more needs to be done. the fact that the "washington post" recently reported from the

central african republic that quite a few women had been abused and had not reported it, simply out of fear for their fate had they done so. so there really needs to be a lot more done around here. >> daniel, thank very much. gunmen have stormed a retirement home in aden, killing 16 people, 4 killed were nuns who worked at the facility. it is believed the gunmen surrounded the building before moving from room to room, handcuffing residents and then executing them. a court in turkey has sentenced two syrians for the deaths of refugees, including the three year old who's death made headlines around the world when his body washed ashare. two policemen have been killed in the southeast of

turkey. it happened close to the border with syria. turkish security forces and emergency services were quickly at the scene. at least 35 were reported to have been wounded. police in southern turkey have fought with fighters from the pkk. the unrest has forced businesses to close and many to leave the area. jamal is in the city with this update. >> reporter: this is the old quarter. on any given day this placing would be buzzing with people, tourists and shopperings coming through here. but it's because of the ongoing clashes that continue between the turkish military and fighters loyal to the pkk. check points have been set up around this area. anyone coming through is searched. there is a constant sound of gunfire taking place. and shops and businesses have been forced to close, which has had devastating impact on the local economy.

now, there are at least six neighborhoods which will still under constant curfew because of these clashes. the government says it is trying to chase out the pkk, which it considers a terries organization. there are those locals who are angry with what is going on and blame the government for what is happening. authorities have been forced to put up dozens of families, in fact hundreds of people in hotels and other places where people have been forced to flee their homes. there is a constant flow of military vehicles going through trying to restore some sort of order, they say, and trying to route out those militants. this conflict has been going on for several months now, ever since the peace process between the government and the pkk collapsed just around a year ago. it appear there is no end in site. however, the government and officials say they will not rest until they defeat those militants. iran has accused the gulf

countries of jeopardizing lebanon's stability by declaring hezbollah a terrorist group. >> reporter: the gulf cooperation council's formal designation of hezbollah as a terrorist organization is significant. many say it will have a wide-ranging impact across the region. >> this is a big deal, because saudi arabia is putting some order within the alliance. in previous times, the kingdom of saudi arabia, along with bahrain, and the emirates have already designated hezbollah as a terrorist organization. now we have the addition of kuwait and others. >> reporter: an escalation that indicates that lebanon finds itself once again on the front lines of a regional power struggle, coming as it does less

than two weeks after saudi arabia announced it was cutting $4 billion in aid to lebanon's army. and other countries warned their citizens from traveling to lebanon. the decision, which iran called a mistake, underscores the regional division between saudi arabia, and iran, hezbollah's backer. much of the tension can be traced back to january. protesters were protesting against saudi arabia's execution of a prominent shiite cleric. hezbollah's leader accused the saudi government of punishing lebanon. >> translator: the saudi arabia does v the right to sanction lebanon? the lebanese army? the lebanese people? and the lebanese residing in saudi arabia and the gulf just because one particular party took a certain position and raised its voice?

>> reporter: the gcc, however, insists the block decided to formally designate hezbollah a terrorist organization because of what it calls hostile acts by the armed groups within its member states as well as other countries in the region. analysts say the gcc is determined to stop hezbollah. >> i think the gulf countries are pretty much determined not to allow hezbollah militia to determine the fate not just of what goes on in lebanon, but also because of the militia's involvement in syria, iraq, as well as in yemen. >> reporter: just days ago came more serious accusations that hezbollah was aiding houthi rebels to plot and carry out attacks in both countries. for the moment, though, it's lebanon that could be most affected. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera. there have been anti-government protests across syria, many came out waving banners and demonstrating in several parts of the country.

there have been very few demonstrations because of the ongoing civil war. the north korean leader has told his military to be ready to fire nuclear weapons, quote, at anytime. he made the announcement while supervising a military drill. it comes 24 hours thaf fired short-range missiles into the sea of japan. china has condemned the latest moves by north korea. >> translator: regarding the security in the northeast asia region, i think we need to implement sanctions for now, see the results and make every part realize the importance of negotiations, but we need to break the vicious cycle effecting the region's security. china is expected to raise defense spending by up to 8% this year. the president is positioning himself as the country's most

powerful leader since [ inaudible ]. as adrian brown now explains. >> reporter: the chinese president made his rounds recently. but as journalists gathered around him, he issued his own blunt news announcement. >> his purpose was to say that the media have to fall in line with the central party, which means him; that no discent is allowed in the media. >> reporter: online the adulation is even more fawning. ♪ >> reporter: this song dedicated to the president, says if you want to marry, marry someone like uncle xi. the state news agency has turned to rap, releasing a cartoon video to promote party slogans. ♪

>> reporter: the lyrics don't exactly roll off of the tongue, the singer infuses, it's everyone's dream to build a moderately prosperous society come tremendoprehensi comprehensively. >> he is creating a cult of personality around himself. he is dominating the media. he is putting out a -- a sort of maoist style of leadership, where everybody has to line up with him. >> reporter: in the days leading up to the national people's congress, president xi ordered the party's members to study mao's guidelines on party discipline. earlier this year, the president sought a pledge of loyalty after announcing sweeping reforms in the people's liberation army.

they are aimed at wiping out corruption, and making the military a more effective fighting force. few world leaders face the economic and social challenges now confronting xi, but his campaigns against corruption and dissent suggest that what matters most to him right now is party allegiance. if some party leaders are resentful of the style, they won't be showing it. they know to survive they need to unite behind xi in both thought and action. still to come here on the al jazeera news hour. a way of life is at risk. nigeria's pot eerie makers struggle to pass on their traditions. plus pandas taking over the thai capitol. and a sports match is invaded by some unusual spectators. details coming up in about 20 minutes. ♪

welcome back. you are watching the news hour from doha. top stories today.

brazilian police have questioned the former president after raiding his house as part of a long-running corruption inquiry into state-owned oil company, petrobras. dasilva has denied any wrongdoing. e.u. leaders say russia is committed to upholding a fragile ceasefire in syria. they spoke to vladimir putin from paris where they were having their meeting. a new report cataloged 99 occasions of abuse in ten different countries. 69 were against peace keepers. the republican race for the white house has turned ugly. front runner donald trump was branded a fraud and a phony by his rivals. the barrage of attacks was at times crude with time running out for the party establishment to stop him winning the

nomination. >> reporter: fewer people on stage, more attacks and insults. donald trump put on the defensive straight away, the first question on thursday's criticism from mitt romney >> well, look, he was a failed candidate. >> reporter: from ted cruz a suggestion trump did not have the experience, the talent to be president. >> this is not about the insults back and forth between the candidates. this is not about what attacks we can throw at each other. >> reporter: marco rubio insisted republican voters didn't want donald trump who won seven states on super-tuesday. then there was this bizarre comment from donald trump. >> look at those hands. are they small hands? [ laughter ] >> and he referred to my hands if they are small, something else must be small.

i guarantee you there is no problem. >> reporter: and this exchange sums up a lot of the evening. >> don't worry about it little marco. >> well, let's hear it big don -- >> don't worry about it little marco -- >> gentlemen -- gentlemen you have got to do better than this. >> this guy has the number one absentee record -- >> reporter: donald trump was asked if his position on immigration was simply playing to people's fantasies. >> i'm playing to the fact our country is in trouble, that we have a tremendous problem with crime, the border is a disaster. >> reporter: and on leading military figures saying they would refuse an order from president trump to torture captives. >> if i say do it, they are going to do it. >> john kasich appealed for calm. >> there are a lot of people out

there yearning for somebody who is going to bring america back both at the leadership level and in the neighborhoods where we can reignite the spirit of the united states of america. and let's stop fighting. >> reporter: donald trump took the majority of attacks and dominated the air time, and despite all of the efforts to derail and decry him, he still dominates the polls and the race. >> live now to washington, and a former republican party chairman in texas. steve up until now, mr. trump has always absorbed criticism, but he has gotten bigger and stronger, and more ferocious in his message. does this feel different to you? >> no, not really. he has a base of about 35% of the republican party, and if you look at the polls for the last three months, he stayed within a narrow range. and two-thirds of the party do

not support him. >> some of the people that are condemning him, not so long ago, they were kind of going in the same direction as his central ideas. are they being slightly hypocritical today? >> no, because part of the criticism is not just on ideas. the criticism is that donald trump changes his position, but most importantly there are a number of people within the party that are concerned that we are exchanging personal insults, as opposed to exchanging ideas. and i'm personally very worried that swing voters tuning in will not be impressed by this type of discourse. >> because it will damage the republican movement? >> well, polls show we're down to about 26% of the voters. so we have to win independent and swing voters, and if you are trying to decide when the democratic party and the

republican party, i don't think you would be impressed to listening people insult each other the way kids do on the playground. >> as get closer to the presidential election, november 8th, i think it is, he will have to surely come up 100% knowledgeable when it comes to the nitty-gritty issues. when it comes to his fiscal poll ji, is he has got to be able to tell us what that is. >> well, there is three different problems. first he took completelier different positions before. second, he hasn't really given specifics, and now he says he has flexibility even on the issues he just took. this is raising a lot of questions from a great many in the party, and there is legitimate concern about whether or not he can beat hillary clinton in the fall. >> steve many thanks. >> you are welcome, sir.

japan has suspended construction work to relocate a u.s. air base. the u.s. has around 26,000 solders there. the government wants to move the base to a less-densely part of the island, but people living there want it shut down. >> reporter: this on the face would appear to be something of a concession by the japanese prime minister and the central government in tokyo in its long-running battle with the governor of okinawa. it also centers around a u.s. marine air base right in the middle of the main island, in the middle of a residential area. the japanese government calls it the most dangerous, such air base in the world because of that. it is december nated to be relocated to a bay very close to a current military base. but there has been a

long-running protests by the residents of okinawa, saying it is an environmental dangerous thing to do to reclaim the land in that bay. also they say they simply bare too much of the burden of the u.s. military presence within japan, and they want to see -- at least many of the residences and the governor of okinawa want to see that base taken outside, potentially outside of japan. there has been a legal challenge of the decision to provoke the permissions given. now he is saying that he will submit to a court-mediated process. they will drop their legal challenges, and try to come to some sort of peaceful settlement, but he says there is no alternative in the long run other than this plan. so that is still being hard lined in the long term by the japanese government, the real core of this issue still remains

as it was before this decision. the zimbabwe government is take control of all diamond mining. >> reporter: in a special broadcast on zimbabwe's state tv, the president explains why his government is seizing all diamond mines. >> we have not received much from the diamond industry at all. not much by way of earnings. iing don't think we have exceeded $2 billion or so. and -- and yet, we think that well over $50 billion have been [ inaudible ] in that area.

so we have [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: so to keep track of funds, the government is forcing companies to form a single diamond-mining company. it will be controlled by the state, which will have 51% of the shares. >> everybody else comes in, saying, well, we are not going to apply 100% of the capital just so we can earn an income from 49% of the capital, on which we'll pay taxes and very heavy royalties. >> reporter: this diamond mining group says two years ago zimbabwe was the eighth largest exporter in the world. it is a secretive industry. most opposition parties don't believe the president doesn't know where most of the money has

gone. >> we know this money has been externallized by very senior people. they have had their pockets lined, and made billions of u.s. dollars, and they should simply have that money repatriated back to zimbabwe. >> reporter: this field had been mined by the china and locally owned company. the president says he does not trust the private sector. he says mining companies in zimbabwe have to comply or leave. facebook will pay millions of poundingss -- pounds more i taxes in the u.k. facebook paid out just over 4,000 pounds in u.k. taxes in the year 2014. the company makes more than 1 billion pounds every three months, and britain is one of

its biggest markets outside of the u.s. israeli palestinian students are failing their high school exams at twice the rate of their jewish classmates. the israel government's curriculum which is based on so-called jewish values partly to blame. >> reporter: it's exam time for students across israel. israel palestinian teenagers are tested on several key subjects. this exam is part of the process for entering university. the palestinian students are increasingly failing it. only around half pass the exam, while nearly two-thirds of jewish israeli students do. educators believe one of the reasons for the poor results is because the exams don't represent the reality of the

lives of palestinian students living in israel. >> translator: in the civics material we're taught about the rights of and equality. when we write tests we are forced to answer things we don't belief, and are the opposite of how we have to live. >> translator: the materials have israel as a jewish state, so where am i as a palestinian. it makes unmotivated when studying civics, and that's why grades are low. >> reporter: poor exam results are a glaring example of the wider issues facing palestinian citizens of israel. although they make up around 20% of the population, their community only receives around 6% of the state budget. as well as chronic undering funding of government services for their community, more than half of the students also live below the poverty line. successful israeli governments

have also passed more than 50 laws which human rights groups say are discriminatory for palestinian. >> they are not just discriminated against, but also preventing them from using the formal democratic tools to change the situation and to seek basic citizen rights and basic equality. >> reporter: israel's education ministry says it will allocate thousands of hours to improve schools in palestinian communities, but it did not say what it would do with that time, or when it would start. so for now it seems palestinian students across israel will likely to continue to perform poorly in exams that are crucial to their futures. still to come on this program, a way of life at risk. nigeria's pottery makers

struggle to pass on their traditions.

pottery is one of the oldest products in nigeria. but plastics are ruining the tradition. >> reporter: for this woman, pottery making is a matter of survival and a question of pride. it has been the family business

for generations. it's the only job she knows, and the only skill she has, but as a source of income, the future of pottery is in doubt. >> translator: business has been tough. that's why the young are running away from it. i doubt if pottery will be around for long. >> reporter: just a short hour's bus drive from the capitol, many young people are turning their back on a craft that made their community so famous. many are attracted to city life and jobs. the center dedicated to preserving this traditional crafting is also called the bill clinton village in honor to the u.s. president who once visited. the center is one of the few institutions trying to save this art from dying out. it brings together the old and the young, and teach them new skills to give them a chance to earn decenting wages, but with more and more young people heading to the cities to look

for better opportunities, the future of this craft looks bleak. and cheaper plastics are replacing traditional earthenware. >> the plastics have come into play. people use them a lot. plus we also have aluminum products that have come to complete with potterty products. >> reporter: and that's why many younger people don't see a future in the art. this boy came to the center to hone his skills, and already he is thinking of switching to something more profitable. >> i'm considering taking another job, that pays well. not like the difficulty in the other area, where i'm facing difficulty of production, and

also getting buyers. >> reporter: those who choose to remain are left with just pride in the art they know, and the hope that it will still be good enough to bring them a liveliho livelihood. time for your sports news. >> thank you very much. barcelona have taken an 8-point lead at the so top and set a spanish record in the process. they beat their rival 5-1. 35 games without defeat. and they break a 27-year-old record set by real madrid back in 1988-'89. but over the years there have been even more impressive records. french tennis legend was unbeaten for 181 matches between

1921 and 1922. and then to arguably one of the greatest basketball teams of all times, the los angeles lakers were unbeaten for 33 games in the early '70s. and then the record of 104 games unbeaten was set between 198 6 and 1989. when it comes to dominating an event, there can't be many that can match this man. 16-time world darts player. he won 45 consecutive world championship matches, picking up eight world titles in the process. the 55 year old is still going strong. staying with football, an independent law firm have found no evidence that votes were cast in germany's world cup.

germany beat south africa by 12 votes in 2000. the germans commissioned the report after allegations of corruption began in october. they said that they couldn't completely rule out vote-rigging, as they hadn't been able to talk to everyone involved. from europe to asia now, the chinese superleague got underway on friday in a blaze of publicity. it is the biggest spending league in the world. one of the really big spenders were china fortune. they were in the opening game, and it was one of their new signings that scored the winner, winning 2-1. earlier, i spoke to a chinese football expert based in beijing, and he said there was huge excitement amongst the locals for the start of the league, but he was doubtful whether the success could

translate to success for the national side. >> there has been buzz around the world, of course, but particularly here in china. there has been a strong fan base in the last few years, comparable with some of the better european leagues, but obviously if you bring in a bunch of new players, and some of these guys were wanted by top european teams as well, new fans will be brought into the sport. the chinese superleague has a quota system. but i still don't see the chinese players dramatically improving overnight. they need to wait until the new generation matures in 20 years. china is used to accelerated growth in all areas, to the patience of those in charge will be tested, but it is going to take a significant amount of time to dramatically improve the

chinese national team. to golf now, after day one of the cadillac camp shon yip -- championship it was jordan spieth who came out on top. he is 3 shots point leader scott pearcy, and marcus frazier. rory mcelroy finished 1 under, while world number 2 shot back after his level par round of 72. >> it's pretty stress free when you are playing in a tournament like this, but you are playing with very similar people that you are used to playing with, and there is nothing crazy thrown at you. yeah, we had a great time, and we were able to feed off of each other in that round. and some slipups at the end from all of us, a bit of a bummer on

what was a pretty solid day for all three of us. competitive cycling is getting growth in an unusual place. andy richardson reports. >> reporter: rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills, and these riders have been up and down most of them. inside a decade, this is a country where race cycling has taken hold. >> it's the miracle of the way it happened, and i think it has been an incredibly rare opportunity to see a culture actually germinate and grow in a country. >> the first americans to complete at the tour de france came to rwanda ten years ago to organize a local race. he decided to stay on and put a national team together.

>> there's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of bikes here in rwanda already. they use them mostly for taxi bikes and transport, you don't see that in any other country. so when i test a rider on the veltron, already they have the muscles for riding a bike. >> reporter: the riders live five days a week at the training camp. a life-changing opportunity, but an expensive one to sustain. when they started in 2007 there were just five unpaid riders. there are now 18 on full-time contracts, earning up to $50,000 a year, and while there is skom government assistance and sponsorship, team bosses still need to find around half a million dollars a year to keep these riders on their bikes. an olympic appearance is one way of raising support.

this man has qualified to the mountain bike race in rio later this year. he follows the trail blaze by his former teammate. four years ago in london, he became the first black african to complete in the event in any olympics. >> cycle has improved my country, because maybe not [ inaudible ] many countries, people around the world that they know about rwanda for cycling. >> reporter: english grammar as well as engaging gears is part of the day for all riders, including this 20 year old, the first woman who sign with the team. >> translator: i want to be a full-time professional, and hopefully inspire other girls. they shouldn't be discouraged by our culture, which in the past made it taboo for girls to cycle. >> reporter: pace setters on and off the road.

team rwanda is quickly changing the culture and the lives of its riders. football match invasions are nothing new. but an estimated 1.5 million moths invaded a santa cruz game taking place in brazil. special mention for that cameraman who continued to do his job. >> i bet he was itchy after that. thanks very much. a unique exhibition in thailand, is becausing pandemonium. wayne haye has the story. >> reporter: these pandas have been flash mobbing their way around the world, and now they are here in thailand, and they will be popping up at various locations to try to raise awareness about the plight of their real counterparts.

back in 2008 when this exhibit first started it contained the number of pandas that are arrive in the wild. according to a survey in 2014, which was carried out by the world wildlife fund which is sponsoring thissing exhibit, there are now more than 1800 pandas alive in the wild, but they are still regarded as one of the most endangered bears in the world. nasa has released a new photograph showing what appears to be ice on pluto. scientists believe the bright material on this image, could be frozen methane. they say what looks like snow-capped mountains stretch across an area slightly bigger than the u.s. state of alaska. much more news whenever you want it on our website, aljazeera.com. our colleagues from london will keep you going in the coming

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protests in brazil after former president dasilva is detained as part of a widening corruption investigation. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah. also coming up on the program, france's president slams bashar al-assad for scheduling parliamentary elections next month as provocative. the u.n. reports a sharp rise in allegations of sexual abuse by itself peace kpe