>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, this is the news hour live from london. coming up in the next 60 minutes. defiant and insisting democracy has been disrespected. desperately needed humanitarian aid reaches outlying areas of damascus, a week after syria's fragile truce started. tens of thousands of people stage anti-government protests

in baghdad. and status update. facebook agrees to pay millions more in tax here in the u.k. i will have all of your sport, including a report fails to rule out the possibility of vote rigging, surrounding the 2006 fifa world cup. ♪ the former brazilian president da silva has insisted he has nothing to fear after being detained by police for questioning over corruption claims. police raided lula's home in sao paulo on friday and spoke to him for three hours about a multi-billion dollars scandal involving petrobras. a former senator turned whistleblower has implicated the former president and the current

president. supporters of lula who ran brazil from 2003 to 2011 clashed with police outside of his house after he was taken away. he described his arrest as nothing more than a media circus. >> translator: i'm not upset with the journalists, i'm upset with the behavior of certain media outlets, and the premature judgment. today the headlines what prosecutes people. i told my friend at the worker's party, the only way forward is not to be afraid. >> reporter: the inquiry known as operation car wash is investigating allegations that more than $2 billion was paid in bribes. dozens of other ex-somebodyingtives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation. one line of inquiry is focusing

on whether funds were used to pay for the development of a ranch and luxury beach front apartment used by lula. >> translator: today we are looking at evidence that the former president and his family obtained an range is tajs to eventually perform certain actions within the government. there is evidence of payments, but there isn't a plausible motive for those payments. >> let's now speak to margo in rio. we were hearing earlier from lula himself, he seems to be quite dismissive about his allegations, but he must be very worried. >> reporter: he says he totally did not appreciate the way the police operation was conducted; that they feel they are being

persecuted, he is calling it a media circus, as you mentioned. he says all they had to do was ask and he would have willingly come in. as you mentioned as well, he is not the only high-level politician involved in these charges. there are at least 50 being investigated. police clarifying that the former president lula was brought in for questioning. he has not been charged or arrested. he has now gone back to his home where supporters are outside basically chant [ technical difficulties ] people stand opposed to him are determined to bring the current government down. >> exactly we know the current president has also been implicated in this. dilma rousseff has been speaking out defending her mentor. what else has she been saying,

margo? >> reporter: she herself just spoke a few moments ago saying she thought the police action was extreme. they both have said this is a sad day for democracy in brazil, and things cannot go on as they have been. it has made the country basically -- the political turmoil has paralyzed the government here. nobody has been able to do much else except deal with corruption allegations. the president herself is now facing an impeachment hearing in congress. they are wanting to bring her down, despite the fact that there have been no charges against her. >> thank you very much, margo. joining me now via skype from sao paulo is assistant professor of international relations. thank you very much for speaking to us.

lula is really a towering figure in brazilian politics, isn't he? how would you describe reaction there to these allegations? >> lula is certainly today the most important political figure, even more important i would say than the president, because the president today is lula's protege, she was fairly unknown before being elected five years ago. so he really continues to dominate the political discussion, and the fact that the corruption scandal has now reached him has caused quite an earthquake and created a lot of discussions here in brazil. since this morning, and there is of course the possibility of lula returning and running for office again in 2018, so it has quite a massive impact. he is seen as perhaps the most important politician in brazil's history.

>> yes, exactly. the one that really presided over the economic rise of brazil as one of the key emerging economies in the world. how significant it is, though, that the investigation has reached him, as you say? the fact that you have a powerful figure in the country who is the subject of a criminal ini choirry there. what does that say about the judiciary and the police? >> many say it is a good sign and shows that democracy is quite mature. there has been a lot of pressure on the current president to intervene in the investigations, because after all lula is her ally and a lot of people haveth

because one of the major problems of the economic crisis is that there's only a very weak government to address this economic situation, so we have kind of a duel crisis, so a lot of people are looking towards the next couple of months are worrying what these investigations will bring to light, considering that it is not only those two key political figures, but a lot of other parts of brazil's political and economic elite that are involved. >> thank you very much, appreciate your analysis. now the french president has criticized his syrian counterpart, saying his plans to hold parliamentary elections in the coming months are totally provocative and unrealistic. his comments come as representtives of several european nations held a phone conference with the russian

president vladimir putin. moscow is a key ally to president assad's regime, but has given assurances it will continue to respect the cessation of hostilities in the country. hollande says the only military action tolerated in syria will be action against isil or the al-nusra front. >> translator: any other action would violate the ceasefire. we have all agreed 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 syrian people. they find themselves without basic goods. now a week after the cessation of hostilities came into play in syria, the country's opposition has occurred the government of breaching the agreement. >> reporter: a moment of peace.

for many people in syria, these scenes are unusual. life seems normal in this marketplace in the city of aleppo in northern syria. >> translator: people are out and buying. women are even stopping to bargain about the price. before the truce, they didn't, they used to be scared. >> reporter: but no one is under any illusion. the temporary pause in fighting could be shattered any minute. the opposition says it recorded over 150 violations by government forces and russian air force, while the russians accuse the rebels of more than 30 violations. >> translator: the regime is using the truce as a means to regain its strength after the big came pains it launched and suffered in daily. >> reporter: in some areas the war never stopped. government forces are trying to advance in different areas. in the northern and southern countrysides, latakia's countryside as well as the

province of idlib. the government is fighting al-nusra front and isil, neither group is included in the ceasefire deal. opposition fighters feel the government's recent move is part of a plan to besiege the city of aleppo. russia air strikes and rebel forces were targeting the main highway between the province of latakia and idlib. it is not far from a rebel-held town which is the government's target. on the humanitarian front the trust hasn't made a huge difference. the u.n. wantings unrestricted access to half a million people in besieged areas. so far eight convoys have reached areas as part o as part agreed on before the truce started. the world health organization said it delivered a truck of medicine to two towns north of aleppo. u.n. officials in damascus say

it's too early to assess what impact the truce has had on the delivery of urgent aid. the syrian opposition says the syrian army and its allies are continuing with their military campaigns while rebel groups are accusing the government of mobilizing more troops. so far, it has lead to a drop in violence, however, and that is good news for many syrians. two syrian men have been sentenced to four years in prison after five refugees drowned including a toddler. a turkish court convicted the two of human trafficking. the 3-year-old's death attracted wide-spread international attention and sparked a global outcry for the plight of refugees. both men were acquitted on a separate charge of causing death through negligence.

a growing number of refugees are turning to gangs in at thens who are selling forged e.u. passports. many want to use them to avoid the long and dangerous trip through europe. our correspondent has this exclusive report. >> reporter: victoria square, athens. a place popular with refugees and migrants. every day they come here to get information about the border, and alternative routes to get out of greece, but for some these desperate people are a business opportunity. the cafes around the square are teeming with human smugglers, they are middlemen and negotiators. >> really you can just say just after five minutes, i'm sure about this, somebody says if you want, go to any country, i can help you. >> reporter: with the northern border effectively closed for

most refugees they say they have two options to pay smugglers or go back. they will keep taking their money as long as war guaranteed a steady supply of the desperate and uprooted. through refugees contact we were lead to a smuggler from south sudan. he asked us to wait for his call. later in this the evening he turned up with a british passport which he said will cost 350 euros, but before my photo was laminated into it, the smuggler wanted his money. it was at this point we decided to stall the process. >> we'll give you the money and then you can deliv deliver -- [ inaudible ]

the smuggler kept calling us the next day, but we didn't respond. the smuggling business is a vast industry with different layers. greek police acknowledge they face an uphill struggle against the smugglers. those who can afford to buy fake european documents are forced to walk across unofficial crossings. here refugees filmed their journey north across several borders. thousands are on the move every day. it's the hope of being closer to a new life that many of the refugees say keeps them moving. al jazeera, athens. there is more to come for you this hour, the u.n. reports a sharp rise in allegations of

sexual abuse by its peace keepers in ten different countries. also republican versus republican donald trump takes aim at mitt romney during the latest debate to find a presidential nominee. and champion's league football is set to embrace technology. ♪ to iraq now where tens of thousands of people have taken part in anti-government protests outside of baghdad fortified green zone. the rally was lead by the prominent shiite cleric who says the government is too corrupt. from the capitol, jane arraf reports. >> reporter: it was a challenge and a warning. iraqi security forces had banned this demonstration just a few meters from the so-called green

zone where iraqi officials and diplomats work. but the rally went ahead, and security stood back and watched. this are followers of a shiite cleric, he is part of iraq's political landscape, he is influenti influential, and his supporters are perhaps the last people security forces want to battle. he said he was giving the government one last chance. >> translator: in a final attempt i call on all political parties to begin dialogue with its people, their representatives to remove this nightmare and the corrupt government. >> reporter: sutter has set a deadline for the end of this month for the prime minister to implement reforms he promised last year. if that doesn't happen, he said his political block will withdraw confidence in the prime minister, and he says his

followers won't just demonstrate at the gates. >> if they don't meet our demands we'll end terer this green zone. >> reporter: the core of his support has always been the shiite poor and disenfranchised. >> translator: this is a revolution of the hungry, and the revolution of the poor, like the ones in history that swept russia and europe. >> reporter: a lot of the younger men are unemployed, some say they are victims of a corrupt system where you have to pay to get a government job. the cleric doesn't seem to have enough support to change the government. the 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, and political parties standing to lose power

if they do that, it's not clear there will be change. sutter's followers say they will do whatever their leader asks them to. he is telling them to be patient for now, but not for long. a damming report has redealed a rise in allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by u.n. staff members. latest figures show there were 99 reports of abuse in ten different countries in 2015. that's up from 80 in 2014. 69 of those were against personnel on peace-keeping missions while the remaining 30 involves other u.n. staff members. military and police personnel accused of sexual crimes come from 21 countries. nearly a third involve peace keepers from the democratic republic of congo, serving in the central african republic. but troops and polices from

germany and canada have also been accused. they are calling for the creation of a dnc registry of all peace keepers. daniel lak reports. >> reporter: another damming report of u.n. personnel. 99 cases were investigated last year. 69 police or soldiers. citizens from 21 countries were accused. no criminal prosecutions took place. many cases are pending. senior officials admit that trust in peace keeping is badly damaged by even a single case of abuse, let alone the dozens reported here. >> i am a peace keeper of more than 20 years duration. i strongly believe, as does the secretary general, and everybody else, that anyone serving under

the u.n. flag should prey on the vulnerable is truly an am bomb nation. >> reporter: last august secretary general ban ki-moon took the unprecedented step of firing the head of the peace keeping mission in central african republic. later an independent panel found the u.n. guilty of gross institutional negligence. activists say the latest report shows the u.n. hasn't taken the recommendations seriously, and are calling on u.n. member states to takeover investigations. >> the member states, i think need to be reminded, they are in charge. peace keeping is their collective will. it's being undermined. it's reputation is being destroyed. it's not being carried out effectively because of what the secretary general himself has called a cancer on the system. >> reporter: among the proposals from ban ki-moon court-martials in victim's countries, dna

tests, awareness training before deployment, and more compensation for victims. the u.s. is drafting a security council resolution calling for repate ration of troops from countries where there is pattern of abuse. this is an issue that continues to plague the united nations. it's clear the u.n. has a long way to go if it's to restore its credibility not least among the world's most vulnerable people that it is supposed to be protecting. donald trump has decided not to attend the conservative political action conference this weekend in yet anotherhe republican race for the white house has turned ugly. trump who is considered the front runner for the nomination was branded a fraud and phony. and time is now running out for the party establishment to stop

him from winning. alan fisher has more. >> reporter: fewer 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, he should have beaten president obama very easy. he failed miserably. >> reporter: from ted cruz a suggestion that trump diz not have the experience and tall lenlt 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 as their candidate. >> two thirds of the people who have cast a vote have voted against you. they do not want you to be our nominee. >> reporter: 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, >> all right. let's hear it big done called -- >> gentlemen you have got to do better than this -- >> this guy has the number one absentee record -- >> mr. trump i want to ask a question -- >> reporter: donald trump was asked if his position on immigration was simply playing to people's fantasies. >> i'm playing to the fact that our country is in trouble, the border is a disaster, it's like a piece of swiss cheese. >> reporter: and on torture. >> if i say do it, they are going to do it. >> reporter: john kasich who has yet to win a state in the primaries appealed for calm. >> there are a lot of people out

there yearning for somebody who is going to bring america back where we can begin to reignite the spirit of the united states of america. and let's stop fighting. >> reporter: another republican debate that was all about donald trump. and despite all of the efforts to derail and decry him, he still dominates the polls and the race. let's speak to shihab in washington for us. we know in his latest move, donald trump has pulled out of a major gathering of conservative political figures. has there been much reaction to that? >> there's disappointment from the organizers, they are suggesting that he won't turn up because he didn't want to answer questions from the audience. but he doesn't need the sort of establishment conservatives. they have proved themselves to be utterly irrelevant to the

campaign. this is more of a ted cruz sort of crowd. there was also word there might be some sort of walkout during his speech. why bother he must have been thinking. why not campaign in kansas and florida. florida key so many delegates there. rubio has to win this, and polls are showing he might now and he might be out of the race. >> and then we know that there has been this bit of a shift in strategy by the republican party establishment in their efforts to stop trump, but how is that going? >> reporter: well, what is this new strategy. a great example of that, was after the presidential debate on thursday night, the candidates spent hours talking about how trump was a disaster, and at the end say, we all support him if

he becomes the nominee. marco rubio had to explain why the hashtag they are popularizing, hashtag, never trump, doesn't mean never ever. they are hoping he can't clench enough delegates. that will be a bad strategy if rubio loses florida, and kasick loses ohio. we have mitt romney talking about tactical voting. it's unclear how much sway he has over voters, and that just playing into trump's rhetoric that he is the anti-establishment candidate. we are getting reports about what is being talked about at cpac, the establishment conference, the intercept just published an article, it is breast taking how extreme their

positions on, particularly on the muslim phobia. it's breathtaking, and that's without trump. we have got to remember that. >> thank you. very interesting. more to come for you on the news hour, we'll tell you how the death of federal prosecutor alberto nisman is still divides argentina society. also all of the latest sports news coming up. the final test before the season starts. find out who is setting the pace in sport. ♪

>> celebrity chef, marcus samuelsson. >> i've had the fortune to live out my passion. >> his journey from orphan to entrepreneur. >> sometimes in life, the worst that can ever happen to you can also be your savior. >> and serving change through his restaurants. >> we hired 200 people here in harlem... these jobs can't be outsourced. >> i lived that character. >> we will be able to see change. ♪ welcome back. let's take you through the top stories. former brazilian president is adamant he has nothing to fear despite being depaired for three hours over a multi-billion

dollars corruption scandal. french president has chris sited the syrian president for calling for elections during a pause in fighting. it's now more than a year since the mysterious death of argentina's federal prosecutor, alberto nisman, he died just a day before he was to appear in court to testify about an alleged cover by by the president. >> reporter: it was a death that shocked the nation, and forced thousands of people on the streets. prosecutor alberto nisman died over a year ago. he was found with a bullet wound in the head. now some authorities believe that it could have been murder.

>> translator: if he killed himself he would have had gun powder on his hand. he didn't. we did several tests with the gun that was used and there was gun powder. nisman had none of his hand. >> reporter: accusations said that the president received bribes in exchange for the cover of a bombing of a jewish center. members of the judiciary seem to be more willing to pursue an investigation. in the last year conspiracy theories have flourished in this

country. some are convinced he was murdered because he was a threat for the argentine and iranian governments. this is a former spy master with close links with the cia and israeli intelligence. the only image of him is this picture. he has recently said in court that those behind the killings were close to president curber in and suggested that iran may have been behind his death. but this man says he should be investigated as well. >> translator: this man was fired by the administration, and he was angry, and his way of seeking revenge was blaming the government for nisman's death. >> reporter: analysts say the investigation into nisman's death has been marred. >> translator: evidence was destroyed. there was a cover up of the bombing of the community center

in 1994, so we really don't know the truth. who killed nisman, we may never know. >> reporter: it may be another crime in argene tina that will remain unresolved. >> reporter: a human's right group is alleged a connection between heavy metal in drink water and an oil spill. the sign of hope organization says 180,000 people are facing life-threatening health risks. our correspondent filed this report for us from south sudan. >> reporter: the people in this village take ground water straight from the source. but within site of this small community is the oil facility. it hasn't functioned for more than two years since the oil

company evacuated at the start of the conflict. now broken pipes lie rusting in pools of filthy water and spilled oil covers the ground. at the hospital staff see health issues, which they believe could be caused by exposure to pollution. this doctor says he wouldn't drink the water. >> i think for me, because it has got high salt. if you put it in a container until morning [ inaudible ] you can see it with the make eye. >> reporter: oil equipment can be seen everywhere. the rel -- rebels came through at the start of the conflict and

destroyed everything they could. much of the oil facility here has fallen into disrepair, pipes drip toxic oil into the ground. >> translator: the water we drink is right by an oil well. it contains the oil that comes from the wells that have been drilled around here, but we trust god and drink it. if you have smell it, it's not suitable for humans. >> reporter: al jazeera contacted the government and oil company several times, but are still waiting for a response. meanwhile despite their suspici suspicions, the people here have no alternative but to drink it. social media giant facebook will soon be paying a hefty tax bill in britain. the company faced heavy criticism after rev lyingses it

routed u.k. advertising sales through ireland. >> reporter: with 1.59 billion users every month, facebook isn't just a tool for keeping in touch. it has become big business. some of the revenue came from advertising. it may surprise you to know, in 2014 in one of its biggest markets, the u.k. it paid just over $6,000 in tax, far less than the average worker in britain. facebook has been routing advertising sales through ireland where taxes are lower. a lot of campaigners say that's not fair. how can a single worker pay more tax than a multinational corporation. facebook has announced from april all u.k. advertising will be taxed through london. so the tax bill is likely to go up by millions of dollars, but it raises questions about how money is moved about. >> joining now from nottingham

by an accounting lecturer, at the university of nottingham, thank you for speaking to us. what prompted this move by facebook now when there has been controversy around the tax situation for a few years. >> i think two things. the first is public pressure, and the second one is the introduction by the british government of an anti avoidance legislation last year, a so-called diverted profit tax which ended up catching facebook. >> so difficult question to answer, i know, but i suppose the key question here is how much more tax facebook is going to pay. >> it is very difficult to answer that for two reasons. the first one is that we don't know how many sales will be booked in the u.k., what

percentage of those sales will actually result in taxable profits in the u.k., and we need to bare in mind that the u.k. companies also has some deferred tax assets which means it can use these assets to reduce its future tax responsibilities. so it's very difficult to understand how much of the overall supply chain profits will be taxed in the u.k. >> just to be clear about this, we know -- we keep hearing that there is going to be a significant increase in the amount of tax that facebook pays, but you are saying even though sales won't be routed through ireland, there are still structures and methods in place that can help them keep their tax down. >> yeah, if you consider ireland, all of the sales routed to ireland in the past, were

then further transferred to tax savings, which ended up not being taxed at all, so in this case -- the amounts won't be significant, because we're talking millions. it is likely that facebook will pay millions of tax in -- in the u.k. over the next few years, but you need to bare in mind, that the number is in the billions rather than the millions. >> all right. thank you very much for bringing a bit more clarity to this story. appreciate your clarity there. >> thank you. more than 8,000 people died in nepal's earthquake that struck last year. many more were injured and the himalayan nation is still struggling to recover. as part of al jazeera's through a parent's eyes series, we spoke to one father to find out how his family is coping.

>> translator: it all happened suddenly, when the quake struck there were clouds of dust everywhere. i called my mother and daughters and started digging around. i found by eldest daughter, she was dead. then i found kindl. her leg was smashed. i kept looking for my mother, shhe is -- couldn't be found. my wife was working in kuwait. i just cried and cried. i became weak. kendall told me to stop crying. she threatened if i didn't stop, she would start crying too. everything in this the house was buried. on the third night a foreigner came to our village.

it was raining. he put some medicine on kendalls wounds, maggots started falling out of it. we made a stretcher and took her to the district center. the helicopter came that evening. he told me to go back and search for my mother. he took her to the hospital, and when he came to visit the next day, her leg was gone. i found my mother, and cremated here. when i saw kendall, all i could do was cry. my only daughter who survived lost her leg. i really had to tell myself i have to survive for kendall. i said she'll get better. now she has a prosthetic leg. she doesn't like to put it on. i hope she will be comfortable with it, and confident on it. once she feels like it, she exercises, otherwise she

doesn't. when she grows up, i hope she can work and take care of herself. there is much to be done in my village, but i can't go back. i have to take care of kendall. i have been staying here to take care of my daughter, but when i'm alone i get restless. still to come for you on the news hour, peru's state oil company is accused of not doing enough to stop spills like this. a nasa astronaut talks about how his body has coped after a year in space. and we meet the rwandan cyclists making uphill climbs. ♪

♪ welcome back. police in los angeles are investigating the discovery of a knife believed to be from the home of o.j. simpson. simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murder of his wife and her friend. it was discovered by a member of the public during demolition. peru's state oil company is being accused of not doing enough to stop spills. john holman has more. >> reporter: a very familiar sheen in peru's amazon region. the 20th oil leak in just five

years, from a pipeline owned by the state oil company. this woman is taking us to see the damage this time around. she is a leader of the indigenous communities who have been hit hardest. we meet this single mom whose fields are ruined. >> translator: it is a huge problem. who is going to give us food? because we can't eat what we grow here. officials from the oil company haven't yet inspected here when we visited. in fact weeks after the spill relief efforts had only just begun. >> translator: our authorities are acting really sloely, because we're not important to them. we're human beings just like them with rights too. a year ago we had another spill and none of our people got

compensation because they didn't know their rights, but now we're up in arms. >> reporter: i asked the man in charge of the cleanup operation why spills have become so common. he blames it on everything but the company itself. >> translator: it's happened several times, but because of natural causes in the majority of cases, or because of sabotage of the pipeline. >> reporter: but the exdirector told us that the state firm is under economic pressure and cost cutting frantically to survive with inevitable consequences. >> translator: the company doesn't assign enough resources or carry out the necessary activities to make sure the pipeline operates occur -- accurately or security. there is a real mistrust of the

people who live here towards the authorities because for years they felt like they are at the bottom of the government's list of priorities. and this oil spill and its aftermath hasn't helped things. at worst it leaves people like this woman in limbo, struggling to feed her children with no idea if she'll get help or be able to grow in her feels again. time no for your sport with jo. >> thank you so much. german lawyers say they can't rule out the prospect that votes were bought in the race to host the 2006 fifa world cup. a report commissioned by the german football federation was released on friday after allegations of corruption were made in october. germany beat south africa by 12 votes to 11 in the year 2000 to host the tournament. investigators say they weren't able to speak to all of the individuals they wanted to,

including sepp blatter. i spoke to a lecturer in business ethics at the european school of management and technology, and he believes there are plenty more revelations to come. >> we have a -- few information. we know about dubious contract, we know about 6.7 million euros ending at a company in qatar, but we don't exactly know who was the real beneficiary, who signed which contracts and agreements, and i think it partially results from the fact that the german official prosecutors confiscated more than 100 folders with information that was not accessible to the internal reports, so i hope we do see more information, but it was a good first step. >> uefa has confirmed that goal line technology will be used in this year's champions league

final for the first time. and they have appointed a replacement for the platini. they are not looking for their own new president just yet to replace the suspended michel platini. formula 1's week of preseason testing has come to an end, and it's ferrari who has come up with the win. they were fastest on five of the eight testing days in barcelona ahead of the season-opening race in melbourne on march 20th. >> relieved that it's over. [ laughter ] >> looking forward to heading home tonight, and, you know, it has been a lot of laps -- i think something like 600. it has been the best winter in terms of training, but i just want to race. great britain have got the defense of their title off to a

mixed start. andy murray comfortably dispatched his opponent in this match. murray won the first rubber in straight sets, but his teammate, dan evans, lost, so it's 1-1 as they go into saturday's doubles. world number 1 recovered from his eye infection to give serbia a good start in their tie against kazakhstan. he won in straight sets. competitive cycling has gained an unlikely foothold in rwanda. the country's first organized team came together less than ten years ago, but already rwanda's riders are making their mark all over the world. 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 with team rwanda competing throughout africa and beyond. >> 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. >> reporter: the first american to compete at the tour de france, came to rwanda ten years ago to organize a local race. after experiencing the excitement that caused, he decided to stay on and put a national team together. >> there's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of bicycles here already. mostly taxi and transport, and you don't see that in any other country, so when i test a rider,

already they have the muscles for riding a bike. >> reporter: the riders live five days a week here at the training camp. a life-changing opportunity, but an expensive one to sustain. when it first started in 2007 there were five unpaid riders. there are now 18 on full-time contracts earning up to $50,000 a year, and while there is some government assistance and sponsorship, team bosses still need to find around half a million dollars a year to keep these riders on their bikes. the lift in profile an olympic appearance provides one way of raising support. this man has qualified for rio later this year. he follows the trail blazed by his former teammate. he became the first black african to make it to the

olympics. >> cycling improves my country, because we will [ inaudible ] many countries people allowing [ inaudible ] about rwanda for cycling. >> reporter: enginelish grammar well as engaging gears is part of the days teaching. >> 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 country's sporti sporting culture and the lives of its riders. >> that's all of your sport for now. >> thank you very much, jo. nasa astronaut scott kelly is

talking about how his body is reacting to spending a year in space. he spent 340 days aboard the international space station. it was an experimental mission, with nasa studies how the body reacts after spending time in space. he says his joints ache and his skin is so sensitive it burns when he walks. >> my level of muscle soreness and fatigue is a lot higher than it was last time. it almost makes me think maybe there's a linear function to it. i also have an issue with my skin, because it hadn't touched anything for so long, like any significant contact, it's very, very sensitive. >> fascinating experiment, isn't it? that's it for the news hour, but i'll be back with a full bulletin for you after the

break. i'll see you in a few minute's time. bye for now. ♪ >> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

>> that harmony, that politeness and that equilibrium that japanese people call "wa." at the other side of history, fukushima's heroes were not enough. people have lost their trust, especially in the authorities. the myth of nuclear energy, of it being economic, safe and clean has been swept away.