protests in brazil after former president lula da silva is detained as part of a widening corruption investigation. hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, france's president says bashar al-assad is provocative for scheduling parliamentary elections next month, as syria's fragile ceasefire just about survives its first week. the u.n. reports a sharp rise in allegations of sexual

abuse by its peace keepers in ten different countries >> facebook agrees to pay millions more in tax in the u.k. i'm in the philippines on the trail of a dying language that is only a few speakers away from dying out all together. ♪ hello, thank you for joining us. the multi-billion dollars corruption scandal involving brazil's state-owned oil company has now spread to the former president. he was questioned by police for three hours before being released. hundreds of supporters clashed with police both at the airport where the questioning took place, and outside of his apartment. police say there is evidence that lula was one of the main

beneficiaries of the petrobras scandal. >> translator: today we are looking at evidence that the former president and his family obtained advantages to [ inaudible ] actions within the government. that is still a hypothesis in our investigation. there is evidence of payment, but there isn't a plausible motive for those payments. >> reporter: former president lula is no longer in police custody, but the fact that he was brought in for questioning, and that his home and several other properties were raided by police on friday are being seen as the most politically explosive development in relation to corruption investigations to due with the oil giant petrobras which is state run. lula has denied any allegations of wrongdoing, but police say they have evidence to the contrary. he is one of over 50 high-level

politicians who are under investigation for receiving kickbacks. dilma rousseff has yet to officially react to any of the most recent developments, but this has emotions running very high in brazil. people have taken to the streets in support to the government and those who stand opposed to it, wanting to them taken down. ♪ the french president has criticized his syrian counterpart, saying his plans to hold parliamentary elections in the coming months are totally provacative and unrealistic. his comments came as representatives of several european nations held a phone conference with the russian president. moscow is of course a key ally to president assad's regime, but has given assurances it will continue to respect the cessation of hostilities in the

war-ravaged country. hollande says the only military action that would be tolerated in syria would be action against isil or the al-nusra front groups which are not involved in the pause in fighting. >> translator: any other action would violate the ceasefire. we have all agreed that there is a communal will and more or less on the ground it has been observed. we have also wanted for humanitarian aid to be brought to the civilian people. they are the victims of this conflict, and they find themselves without basic goods. >> reporter: paul brennan has been following events in the french capitol and joining us live now. another meeting about syria, paul, and again, a call for countries to try to do more to help the situation. >> reporter: yes, barbara, in particular for russia to bring its influence to bear on the regime of bashar al-assad. the foreign ministries involved here in europe, prime a marly, germany, france, and britain,

met this morning and acknowledged explicitly that the cessation of hostilities which has been in place coming up on a week now, is by no means perfect, and they basically said there needed to be a lot of work in improving the quality of the ceasefire. and that was echoed when the leaders got together. that's the french president francois hollande and angela merkel. they got into conference call with all of the leaders, and in that conference call it was impre impressed upon vladimir putin that the russians are the linchpins in all of this. they have a huge amount of political and military influence on the damascus government and the situation on the ground, and the call, which according to the european leaders was heated and

acknowledged by vladimir putin is that russia has a huge role to play and apparently will agree to play that role. it's important because the bilateral meetings which have been taking place today on thursday too, are all leading in many one direction, and that is to brussels on monday where there will be an e.u. and turkey summit meeting, to discuss any situation as far as the refugees goes. and all sides recognize that the key issue in all of this is to resolve the conflict. if they can get humanitarian aid in, somehow quell the fighting, then in doing so, they will reduce the reasons why people are fleeing syria in the first place. it's a case of cause and effect and the politicians are well aware of that. >> paul brennan thank you. well, the ongoing fighting on the ground in syria wasn't the only issue being discussed in paris. the french president met the

german chancellor to discuss europe's refugee camp. he says syrian refugees should be hosted by the nations closest to them. the leaders want turkey to do more to control the flow of people coming to greece. border restrictions in several countries are creating a bottleneck now. from here wr we find hoda abdel hamid at the greek side of the border. she joins us live. hoda the bottleneck is almost like the latest installment of a refugee crisis that has been going on in europe for a very long time. they do have a six-point plan, do you think that could solve the problem at man made camps like where you are now? >> reporter: i think in the long run, it might regulate the flow of refugees coming into europe, and streaming them into vep shun centers before relocating them,

but now we are facing on emergency here in this camp that grows by the day. the latest figure is between 11 and 12,000 people who are living in dire conditions here. it's very cold. it has been raining. there's mud puddles everywhere. children are getting sick. it is a very difficult situation. the border is more shut than open, just to give you an indication, the latest figure we got is that only 84 people were allowed in from 6:00 this morning to 6:00 this afternoon. now in any given hour, you have probably more than 100, 150 people who keep on pouring here. so that bottleneck is not going to get smaller any time soon. the conditions are going to get more and more difficult in the days to come, and now, the fact is that these refugees have run out of money. tempers are flaring.

the uncertainty they were facing a few days ago keeps growing by the day, and to try to solve this issue, it's going to be extremely complicated. i have been here for three weeks now, watching this crisis unfolding, and at no point anything was done concretely to contain this bottleneck, and that's what we're seeing now. >> hoda abdel hamid with the latest on the greek side of the border. as always, thank you. two syrian men have ben sentenced to four years in prison over the drowning of five refugees, including a toddler. a turkish court convicted the two of human trafficking. the three year old's death attracted widespread international attention and sparked global sympathy for the flight of refugees. both men were acquitted on a separate charge of causing death through negligence. while german officials brace

for the influx of more refugees in the summer months, there has been growing violence against asylum centers. many of the attacks are in the eastern state of sachsony. >> reporter: this is a hotel that should soon have been housing up to 300 asylum seekers. instead it is now a wreck. when the fire was raging, the emergency services reported that some people could be heard cheering the burning and that a few people deliberately hindered their efforts. those people have since had charges brought against them. the mayor here says such incidents will not deter him from providing a welcome to refugees. >> we are not going to let arsonists decide who is going to come here, what number of people, and under which circumstances. we're not going to give way to

these arsonists. >> reporter: but in sachsony such incidents don't happen in isolation. more than 20% of all attacks on asylum-seeker centers are in this state. yet there are fewer asylum seekers in sachsony than anywhere else in germany. and there are other examples of anti-refugee sentiments in this state. perhaps half an hour's drive away this is town. in this house refugees are being given shelter. but just a few weeks ago, a crowd gathered outside, shouting insults and verbally intimidating the refugees who were trying to get off of a bus. this video of the event went viral, and in the aftermath ministers denounced what hatched. but why is there such andy refugee sentiment. i put that to a local academic.

>> people are getting even more anxious about the people coming in the country and so they feel themselves justified to some kind of resistance, and that's my -- why some of them even take refuge to violent attacks. >> reporter: the market is underway. this is a prosperous and pict e picturesque town. the local mayor says the refugees are still welcome here, but it appears a growing number of people do not agree. you are watching al jazeera. still to come on the program, why the zimbabwe president says he is taking over all of zimbabwe's diamond operations. plus we'll show you new images from nasa that appear to

show mountains on the solar system's most remote planet.

♪ a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. there have been protests in brazil after former president da silva was detained and later released over a multi-billion dollars corruption scandal involving the national oil company, petrobras. french president has criticized the syrian counterpart for calling parliamentary elections and turkey is being urged to

do more to control the flow of refugees entering greece as over 10,000 are now stuck at the border with macedonia. in turkey violence has broken out between police and fighters from the kurdistan workers party or the pkk in the southern region. the kurdish majority city has been under lockdown for the last three months as turkey aims to flush out the fighters. >> reporter: this is the old quarter. on any given date this place should be buzzing with people, shoppers and tourists coming through this main road here. but it's not because of the ongoing clashes going on. check points have been set up in and around this area, anyone coming through is searched there is a constant sound of gunfire taking place, and one of the effects of these ongoing clashes is that shops and businesses have been forced to close, which

has had devastating impact on the local economy. there are at least six neighborhoods still under constant curfew because of the clashes. the government says they are trying to flush out the pkk. there are those locals that 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 who have been forced to flee their homes. there is a constant flow of military vehicles patrolling the streets, trying to restore some sort of order, they say in trying to route out those mill lants. this conflict has been going on for several months now, ever since the peace process collapsed just around a year ago. it appears there is no end in sight. however, the government and officials say that they will not

rest until they defeat these militants. thousands of supporters of a shiite cleric have gathered outside of the gates of baghdad's green zone to demand a new government. authorities have banned the protests. from baghdad, here is jane arraf. >> reporter: we're near the entrance to the green zone behind layers of security and blast walls there's a city within a city. iraqi's first started demonstrating there to protest against u.s. occasion, but now it's the iraqi government they are protesting against. a cleric set a deadline of later this month for the prime minister to make serious changes. if that doesn't happen, he says his political block will withdrawal its support of the government, and instead of

demonstrating here, he'll send his followers inside. he of course was the one who's militia fought against iraqi forces as well as american forces. he has since emerged as a major political figure, but there is still a threat behind demonstrations like this. iraqi security forces could clash with his supporters. a lot of people here are young and jobless, and they form a major start of his constituency. they are also the one that's would be the most effected if this economic crisis continues. corruption has been going on for more than a decade, but now that iraq has no cash to cushion the blow, it has even more of an impact on people's lives. political parties now are meeting to see if they can come to a decision on a way forward to try to restructure the government or implement some of these reforms, but with so much

at stake here, it's not clear there will be change. the u.n. has reported a sharp rise in allegations that its peace keepers and staff members have carried out sexual abuse during missions. a new report catalogs 99 accusations in ten differented countries. missions in central african republic, democratic republic of congo, ivory coast and mali account for most of the claims. >> reporter: peace keepers were supposed to come to the rescue here, instead they have been accused of sexual exploitation. the allegations reached 99 last year, compared with 80 the year before. in a statement it says:

the report further names all 21 countries who's nationals are allegedly involved in sexual abuse. the secretary general spoke out on the issue last year. >> i believe the disturbing number of allegations we have seen in many countries, but particularly in the central african republic in the period before u.n. peace keepers were deployed and since speaks for the need to take action now. enough is enough. >> reporter: it was in 2014 that allegations of wrongdoing in the central african republic first came to light when french troops were accuseded of sexual misconduct. the mission is made up of more than 10,000 personnel from more than 45 countries, and the u.n. says it takes time to investigate such allegations. but u.n. soldiers in haiti were found to have sex in exchange

for food and medicine. the most recent report calls for the establishment of an on-site court-martial proceeding, and calls on member states to obtain dna samples of alleged perpetrators. but so far it doesn't seem to be working. >> there needs to be improved vetting so troops that are implicated in their own country shouldn't be sent on u.n. peace keeping missions. there needs to be improved training, and the structure of accountability needs to be reformed. >> reporter: reports say women and girls are raising babies who are the alleged children of u.n. troops. >> in the last hour a u.n. representative has called the allegations an abomination. >> i'm a peace keeper, i stro

strongly believe that anyone serving under the u.n. to pray on the vulnerable is truly an abomination. we will never, never agree to protectors turning into predators. >> let's go to zimbabwe now, where the president says his government is taking ownership of all diamond operations. he says he was forced to make the movement because existing minors have robbed the country of its wealth. >> 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.

and yet we think that well over 50 or more billion dollars have been mined in that area. >> reporter: to keep track of funds any 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. >> everyone is saying we're not going to supply 100% of the capital just so we can earn income from 49% of the capital on which we pay taxes and very heavy royalties. >> reporter: two years ago zimbabwe was the eighth largest diamond producer in the world, exporting nearly 5 million kerrat. most zimbabweans don't know how many diamonds have been found, the value, and where they have

gone. >> reporter: opposition leaders doesn't believe the president knows where most of the money has gone. >> senior people within the administration have actually had their pockets lined and made billions of money -- billions of u.s. dollars, and they should simply have that money repatriated back to zimbabwe. >> reporter: this diamond field has been mined by the chinese and some local companies. the president says mining companies in zimbabwe have to either comply or leave. a rights group is warning that dangerous levels of heavy metals from oil production have leaked into drinking water in south sudan's north. the german, based rights organization, sign of hope, says 180,000 people are facing life-threatening health risks. toxicology tests have been carried out in the

oil-processing plant in unity state. the area has seen some of the heaviest fighting during more than two years of civil war. >> facebook will soon be paying a heavy tax bill in britain. the company has faced heavy criticism after revolutions rooted sales through ireland where taxes are much lower. they paid just $6,000 in 2 to 14. yet the firm has global revenues of $17.9 billion. that was for last year. japan is suspending its plans to relocate the u.s. air base in okinawa. it follows a long-running legal dispute between the japanese government and local authorities. tokyo wanted to move the u.s. outpost to a landfill site in a less populated area of okinawa.

the philippines has 184 languages, and a number of them are dying out. in the second part of our series on languages at risk, rob mcbride traveled to visit a community with what is considered to be the most endangered language in the country. >> reporter: it is a remote, rice-growing area of the philippines, but not remote enough for its local language to survive. it is only spoken by a few. the leader of this indigenous community is one of them. when she wants to hold a conversation using it, she has to seek out a neighbor, like this woman. in her 50s, she is one of the youngest speakers left. her son can't speak it, and at the school which he and others from his community attend, tribal languages are not taught.

>> translator: i am sad with relooking this connection to our ancestors, and i would prefer if younger people would want to learn about it. >> reporter: the language is first translated into a more widely used tongue, then english, and back again. when the villagers moved down to this area, their language started to die. >> translator: there are different standards of the language spoken, and as more people have married outside of the group, it has become less pure. >> reporter: it's one of 15 languages identified in the philippines as being at risk. the others may not be as endangered, but the fear is they could go the same way, taking with them cultural heritage which will be lost forever. with the rich diversity of languages across the

philippines, institutes like this one are vital in preserving them. catching digitally words that are at risk of vanishing from every day use. >> we want some record for it, not only for linguists but for the people who's ancestors spoke that language. at some point it becomes important for them too. >> reporter: for some languages that task is becoming more important than ever. right-wing mcbride, al jazeera, the philippines. and in the next part of our languages at risk series, we visit guatemala to investigate a community almost completely at a loss for words. the u.s. space agency nasa has released a new photo showing what appears to be ice on pluto's mountains. sign lists believe the bright

material could be frozen methane. they say it is an area slightly bigger than alaska. you will find more on that, and everything else we have been covering on our website. the address, aljazeera.com. ♪ the last person that hillary clinton wants to face is donald trump. that i can assure you. >> let's move on, and with all due respect, we have questions. >> verbal assaults and sexual und in -- innuendos take the spotlight. and in alabama a police officer faces murder charges for shooting a black man believed to