>> hello and welcome to the news hour. these are some of the stories we'll be covering during the coming 60 minutes. >> leaders from syria's kurdish control regions vote to form an autonomous region. the south african president is shouted down in the parliament while answering questions about his links to a local powerful family.

the peaceful giants caught in the crossfire of the conflicts in west africa. >> we're going to bring you breaking news concerning syria. our diplomatic editor james bays has just left the meeting in geneva. james, what else do we know? >> this was a briefing on the humanitarian task force which is part of all the process here in geneva, the idea at a meeting of international leaders in mine nick was to take out of the main negotiation process this desperate need of people in besieged areas to get help to them. one of those besieged areas is an area that is besieged by isil. there's no way to get convoys in

there, isil will not allow the convoys in there. a short time ago, we were hearing from the humanitarian advisor to staffan de mistura, the special envoy. he explained more about trying to air drop aid to isil. he said their tests hadn't worked and he ordered new parachutes. he then explained that they had to do these high altitude air drops because the danger the air drops faced and he raised a very interesting prospect and worrying prospect. he said he had been advised that they couldn't go any lower than the height they were trying to operate these air drops from because of the threat of surface to air missiles in the hands of isil. this is the first time any u.n. official has ever talked about this possibility. he was pressed on that it and he said well, i'm not a military man, i'm not telling you that isil have surface to air missiles. i'm told we need to prepare for that threat, so clearly a

worrying development if it is true, coming there and raised by the humanitarian advisor on this human task force he leads. he did reveal that there has been away further delivery of aid to four towns that are besieged by the government, two by the opposition. he said there are a further six places which unlike darazor besieged by government forces. the government will not let the aid in and stripping from the con voice medical supplies, surgical kits, making it quite clear that he is unhappy with the syrian government and not doing what they're supposed to be doing. >> is it said it is a possibility or probability. if it is a probability, that's a game changer, surely. >> he mentioned it in passing, then of course, we asked follow up questions. he made it clear he does not know whether isil have surface

to air missiles but said they have to prepare for that threat and he was being told by his advisors and one assumes that in this u.n. task force which has all of the key international and regional players, there is military advice that they had to prepare for a threat from surface to air missiles. >> given the back story of the discussions where you are at u.n. headquarters, this means the conflicts will carry on a pace, because if isil have that kind of armament available to them, if they have surface to air missiles, there they are, there they stay, in effect in lockdown. >> well, the area there certainly, this his the besieged area that aid can't get there. this could be a very important development. as generalists, we need to treat this as the starting point and

now put it to others, like the pentagon, like other key players around the world and in the region, because certainly the fact that an official working for the u.n. now is saying that it's a big fear, i think we need to follow this very closely, this development in the last few minutes and we will bring his exact comments. it was an on camera briefing a short time ago. we'll bring you the briefing shortly. the main syrian kurdish group declared a federal region thursday on areas it controls in northern syria along the turkish border in the north of the country, including kobane. an official with the democratic union party or p.y.d. said the declaration was made after a meeting in northern syria. that meeting involved 200 delegates representing kurds, turkmen, arabs and a year ethnic groups. the announcement was rejected by both the syrian government and main opposition. >> an official in the foreign

affairs directorate of economy is one of three autonomous areas set up two years ago. he said they'll outline exactly what shape they want the autonomous region to take. >> according to this, from the meetings going to the second day. they are talking about making a final statement. >> the kurds seizing the initiative, that will be alarming turkey, ankara and the people working with turkey where you are. >> i think this is something

that they'd hoped here at these talks they could put on one side. they knew they were going to anger the kurds. one of the kurdish p.y.g. leaders when we had the first round of these talks made his way to switzerland. he was ready to come here waiting for an as a resultation that never came. russian news agency spoke to him in the last few minutes. he said he's ready to come to geneva to discuss issues, to discuss federalism and discuss the future of syria. for now, i don't think anyone else here wants him here or wants him to discuss this other than perhaps the russians who were pushing for him to be violated in the first place. it adds another complexity to tees talks. i don't think they will be happy with what has been done in northern syria and the announcements that have been made. from what i'm hearing, i don't think at this stage any plans to invite him to join the talks, at this stage, they want to get this process going.

we're only a few days into it and then maybe revisit at a later stage. >> as to the autonomous region, the united states saying we will accept it if the people of syria accept it. it seems as if the state department, however, is kicking that can down the road, presumably to some point after elections. >> what they're saying is we will accept it if the people of syria, and what they are talking about is this piece conference taking place in geneva. if the people here accept that idea, then that will mean the people of syria have accepted it. what the p.y.d. will tell you, yes, we are a significant part of the complex picture of syria. woe don't have a seat at the table. >> james, thanks very much. >> as we've been telling you here on the news hour, the russian president says his country's forces can be built up once again inside syria within

hours if needed and will continue striking what he calls terrorist groups. vladimir putin spoke as a ceremony to welcome home soldiers returning from service. he ordered war planes to return after away operation which began in september. mr. putin emphasized that the russian air base and naval facility will remain and enough forces stay behind to protect them. >> we have undertaken enormous work to enhance the legal power and statehood of syria. we have enhanced its armed forces. they are able to not only curb terrorists but maintain successful too fast against them. the syrian army gained the strategic initiative and continues to clear its land of terrorist gangs. we have created the conditions for the start of the peace process. let's take you live to the u.s. state department in washington, mr. kerry giving his latest thoughts on the syrian talks taking place in geneva and why the questions about the conflict. >> that is what we are doing.

in 18 months since, coalition airstrikes have helped deliberate kobane, tikrit, ramadi and other key cities and towns. we have pushed the terrorists out of 40% of the territory they once controlled in iraq and 20% in syria. we have degraded their leadership, attacked their revenue sources and disrupted their supply lines. currently, we are gauged as you all know in a diplomatic initiative trying to end the war in syria. that civil war fuels daish and in doing what we are doing now, we are working to further isolate, to weaken and ultimately to defeat them. we are working intensively to stop the spread of daish and its affiliates within and beyond the region. all of this constitutes an

extraordinary effort by a large segment of the international community and the united states. that effort is fully warranted by the appalling actions of the organization that we have oppose. my purpose in appearing before you today is to assert that in my judgment, daish is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including yazidis, christians and shia muslims. daish is genocidal by problem clam makes, ideology and actions in what it says, believes and does. daish is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and against sunni muslims, kurds and other minorities. i say this even though the on going conflict and lack of access to key areas has made it impossible to develop a fully

detailed and comprehensive picture of all that daish is doing, and all that it has done. we have not been able to compile a complete record, i think that's obvious on that its face. we don't have access to everywhere, but over the past months, we have conducted a review of the vast amount of information gathered by the state department, by intelligence community, but outside groups and my conclusion is based on that information and on the nature of the acts reported. we know, for example, that in august of 2014, daish killed hundreds of yazidi men and older women in the town and trapped thousand was yazidi's on mount sinjar without allowing access to food, water or medical care. without our intervention, it was clear those people would have been slaughtered. rescue efforts aided by coalition airstrikes ultimately saved many, but not before daish

captured and enslaved thousands of yazidi women and girls, selling them at auction, raping them at will, and destroying the communities in which they had lived for countless generations. we know that in mosul and elsewhere, daish has executed christians solely because of their faith, that it executed 49,000 eat eat christians in libya and forced christian women and girls into sexual slavery. we know that daish massacred hundreds of shia turkman at mosul, besieged and starved a city and kidnapped hundreds of women and raping many in front of their own families. we know in areas under its control, daish has made a systematic effort to destroy the cultural heritage of ancient

communities, destroying armenian orthodox and catholic churches, blowing up mon stares and tombs of profits, desecrating cemeteries and in palmyra executing the 83-year-old scholar who spent a lifetime preserving antiquities there. we know daish's actions has an ideology that kats yazidis as pagans and devil worshipers. daish has threatened christians by saying it will conquer your rome, break your crosses and enslave your women. shia muslims meanwhile are referred to by daish as disbelievers and apostates and subjected to frequent and vicious be attacks. in december a year ago, a 14-year-old boy approached the gate of a shiite mosque in

baghdad, unzipped his jacket to show he was wearing an explosive vest and he surrendered to the guards. he had been recruited by daish in syria and joined to serve islam, but he was told after his recruitment that unless he obeyed every order, shiites would come and rape his mother. daish said of see es, it is a duty imposed upon us to kill them, to fight them, to displace them and to cleanse the land of their filth. one element of genocide is the in tent to destroy an ethnic or religious group in whole or in part. we know that daish has given some of its victims a choice of abandoning their faith or being killed and that for many is a choice between one kind of death and another. the fact is, that daish kills christians because they are christians. yazidis, because they are yazidis, shia, because they are

shia. this is the message it conveys to children under its control. its entire world view is based on eliminating those who do not subscribe to its perverse ideology. there's no question in my mind that if daish succeeded in establishing a so-called caliphate, it would seek to destroy what remains of ethnic and religious mosaic once thriving in the region. i want to be clear. i am neither judge nor prosecutor nor jury with respect to the allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing by specific persons. ultimately it must be brought to light by independent investigation, and competent court or tribunal. the united states will strongly support efforts to direct can be document and observe and analyze the documents of a truce cities

and see to it that pepper traitors are held accountable. i hope my statement we will ensure victims that the united states recognizes and confirms the despicable nature of the crimes that have been committed against them. second, i hope it willhighlight the shared interests in opposing daish. after all, the reality of genocide underscores even more starkly the need for a compressive and unified approach to defeating daish both in its core in syria and iraq and more broadly in its attempt to establish external note works. part of our response to daish must of course be to destroy it by military force, but other dimensions are important, as well and we dare not lose track of that. in the past two and a half years, the united states has provided more than 600 million in emergency aid to iraqis

displaced from their communities by daish. we are working closely with local authorities to assist in the recover of cities that have been liberated and whose residents face gave challenges, both material and psychological. people who desperately need help in rebuilding their lives. we are funding the investigation of mass graves and supporting care for the victims of gender based violence and those who have escaped captivity. we continue to engage with the government of baghdad to make sure that its security forces and other institutions are more representative and inclusive. we are coordinating with coalition partners to choke off daish's finances and slow recruitment of foreign fighters. we are preparing for future efforts to liberate occupied territory with an eye to the protection of minority communities, in particular, the liberation of mosul, nineveh

province and iraq and parts of syria currently occupied by daish. that will decide whether there is still a future for minority communities in this part of the mild east. for those communities, the stakes in this campaign are utterly existential. this is the fight that daish has defined. daish has created this. daish has targeted their victims. daish has self defined itself as genocidal. we must bear in mind after all that the best response to genocide is a reaffirmation of the fundamental right to survive of every group targeted for destruction. what daish wants to erase, we must preserve. that requires defeating daish, but it also demands the rejection of bigotry and discrimination, those things that facilitated its rise in the first place. this means that as more areas

are militia rated, residents will need help to repair infrastructure and ensure minorities can return in safety, that they are integrated into local security forces and receive equal protection under the law. our goal after all is not just to defeat daish, only to find that in a few years some new terrorist group with a different acronym has taken its place. our purpose is to marginalize and defeat violent extremists once and for all. that is not he said, we know that. as president obama and i have consistently said, it won't happen overnight. today i say to all our fellow citizens, and to the international community, we must recognized what daish is doing to its victims. we must hold the perpetrators accountable and we must find the resources to help those harmed by these atrocities be able to survive on their ancestral land.

naming these crimes is important, but what is essential is to stop them. that will require unity in this country and within the countries directly involved ant determination to act against genocide, against ethnic cleansing, against the other crimes against humanity must be pronounced among decent people all across the globe. thank you. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry, the state department in washington with possibly one of the most robust wrap ups on his part as to where the u.s. administration and therefore the united nations sees the peace process so called progressing particularly through the prism of the talks in geneva. he was saying we have pushed 40% of the terrorists, that was his words, out, the civil war fuels

isil, he says the actions of isil fully are warranted by the actions of isil, pardon me, the actions undertaken by the coalition are fully warranted by the actions of isil. he was talking about genocide, ethnic cleansing. he was saying there is a lock of access, which means they can't get a complete record. that lock of access idea did you have tailing with what diplomatic editor james bays is telling us. these are people getting into different areas from a humanitarian perspective in northern syria, particularly. he went on to say how isil has killed tens of thousands have yazidi's, there were rescue efforts, many have saved, isil has killed christians, and raped women in front of their own families. he made the point that isil sees yazidis as devil worshipers, people who believe in the shia muslim faith as disbelievers and people are told to abandon your faith or you will be killed. he said the reality of genocide

means that the international community must work together. we must destroy isil by military force, but there are other ways to pursue that end game. he went on to talk about how the international community is funding those other ways, choking off the funding, the money and also the ability that isil has been displaying to recruit foreign fighters. you can get more on that story if you stay with us here on al jazeera on our program, the news hour. you can check it out on the website, aljazeera.com. we'll put those comments into context for you during the coming half hour or so, i'm sure. the african president shouted down today as he tried to dismiss suggestion that is anybody other than himself appoints cabinet ministers. jacob zuma was responding to questions about his relationship with a wealthy family accused of

influencing key appointments. >> i am in charge of the government. i'm in charge, i appoint. in terms of the constitution, there is no minister who is here who was ever appointed by the guptas or by anybody else. ministers who are here were appointed by me. >> it was a pretty robust performance on the part of mr. zuma. >> ultimately quoting the party

as they leave there was an incident where they landed a private plane at a military air base and at that point, questions put to the president as well as the of a of a national congress. the president all of a sudden fired the finance minister. he was replaced and because of the outcry, replaced by a

different minister. there are still questions about why he was fired, who he was replaced by and for what reason. the allegations are that the gupta family has a role to play in all of this. >> is the central accusation that the guptas or somebody from the family is deciding who are appointed or are they doing mr. zuma's bidding, is mr. zuma not using the custom and practice to appoint someone new to a big job or is it just being done by someday else? >> the president maintains his prerogative to fire and hire ministers, saying he has acted alone in that role. the allegations are that the gupta family has influenced who the president is hiring and firing for their own gain, for their own business interests. this is what's of major concern, the capture of the state or the corporate capture that the

opposition parties are maintaining. he says the goop tall family did approach me, they wanted me to appoint the finance minister, i told them no. they are making a mockery of the hard won democracy that we lived in. another government official said that the gupta family summoned her to their home where she was offered the position of the public enterprise minister and that position would have run the state airline. she said the guptas told me no you trop the south africa route in our favor, we will do this.

the kurdistan freedom falcons ever claimed responsibility for a car bombing in the turkish capital sunday. the explosion at a busy transport hub killed 37 people. they made the announcement on their website. it was retaliation for the crackdown by the government. also in turkey, the german consulate in istanbul has been closed because of worries about security. the turkish prime minister asked parliament to lift immunity for prosecution for m.p.'s. the government is accused of having links to terrorist groups. the vote could lead to the expulsion of m.p.'s from the pro kurdish h.d.p. it is the third largest party in

the parliament. the move could in flame tensions in the mainly kurdish southeast. ankara rewards the h.d.p. to be an extension of the p.k.k., the group fighting the turkish state for decades now. a turkish parliamentian from the ruling party a.k.p. joins us live. as far as we know, this declaration from kurds being fed into the talks in geneva doesn't specify that they want an actual separate state. they don't want to go as far as a country as yet, so in terms of how it would operate, if it starts operating, what's the issue? >> you mean the p.y.d.'s announcement? >> yes. >> first of all, p.y.d. do not

represent all kurds. actually, there's syrian branch of p.k.k. and it's a terrorist organization and they remove all other kurdish groups from the area. they are controlling on the portion of northern syria, but they are not representing all kurds, neither other groups, so this small military group, if you say that they are representing something, and then to attend general talks, that is problematic. >> when you use the worth problematic, you've nailed it surely. you have another problem, a consequential problem from this announcement we've been waiting for and we've got it in the past couple of hours. whether ankara likes it or not, the specter of the kurds is

being dealt with in geneva, therefore you have to at least deal with that. you don't maybe have to deal with them, but you have to deal with the fact that they are now front and center, part of the process. >> the coalition members, to uses them against isil and make them powerful, because of isil, but if you can support one terrorist group to another --

>> up created at a strong peshmerga on the ground because

the turkish government took its eye off the ball for three years and kurds went away, regrouped, retrained and they did what they did and do it arguably better than anyone else in that area in the north of the country. >> even peshmerga could not stay there because of -- p.y.d. was against peshmerga and on the contrary, turkey helped k.r.g. -- the problem is that no other groups other than p.y.d. can stay in northern syria because of this pose. that is the problem. >> just moving on to the other

line of the story in ankara, tell me how the plans will affect people having an immunity or built in clause of immunity stripped away from them. >> you know, the issue is that supporting, openly supporting terrorism, the issue is not that somebody talking in the parliament. they talk everything in the parliament. that's not the problem. problem is if you actively support the underground and collaborate with terrorists and using the immunity, this is not democracy. democracy, you can use democracy against democracy. the issue is now that in keeping the immunity, actually it is the

request coming from court because this is of course the decision. prime minister said that we have no fear of stripping out the other m.p.'s who are already, you know this ordered by the court that 506 at the moment that court orders for different m.p.'s other than h.d.p., so lets strip all of them immunity and let the court decide what to do. >> good to talk to you , sir. >> thank you. protestors filled the streets of several brazilian cities furious about the latest allegations about the president. >> receive. she has named the former

president as her chief of staff. >> tens of thousands of brazilians are back on the streets, some gathered in the presidential palace, others across the country's large cities. roussef's appointment of her predecessor desilva was meant to restore public trust but has done the opposite. lula credited with lifting millions out of poverty is now facing charges of fraud and money laundering in relation to petro brass. taking the cabinet post gives him ministerial immunity. penalty rousseff insists that isn't why she gave him the position. >> i am sorry, he is coming, he is going to help. we are learning to growth fiscal stability.

>> shortly after that, a federal judge released details of a conversation between rousseff and lula. lula had been tapped by federal police. >> demonstrators say they've had enough of the entire system of deep rooted corruption. >> the corruption investigation into petro brass has been on going two years now and brought down 100 business executives, politicians and could now bring down the entire rousseff administration. through all this, president rousseff insists she's doing what's best for brazil. many brazilians don't agree.

some politicians are already leaving the coalition government. brazil is in the worst recession in decades and some feel rousseff's leadership isn't competent enough to lead them out. now to weather to know and flooding in rio. >> many tamping down demonstrations there. rio living up to its name in a moment and roads have been turned to rivers, lots of heavy downpours. look at that line of clouds stretching down into rio. it's been raining here quite some time. you see how the showers continue to pulse through a similar area. there you go, flooded streets, very difficult to get traveling conditions there. those flood conditions do expect to stay in place for quite some time. very different story for northern areas of columbia, meanwhile. here we have a lack of rainfall and as you can see, this dry

river bed has certainly seen a little or no rain for quite some time. the next couple of days we'll see showers pushing their way. it should turn drier through saturday but sometime before the floodwaters recede. sometime before the floodwaters recede across the south of the u.s. this band continues to affect the southern states here. we are going to see showers through the remainder of thursday. i'm afraid that rain is going to pick up into friday. 21 celsius in dallas. cool air makes its way over the next days. dry weather at long last as we go on into saturday. >> in the u.s., the republican presidential hopeful donald trump is rising in popularity and could be on his way to securing the nomination.

international voices are concerned. he openly suggests a trade war with china and mexico and accused beijing of currency manipulation. trump regularly calls for american companies to bring manufacturing back to american so i am as a way to create jobs. >> with me, not going to happen anymore. you're losing your jobs, you're losing your income, you're losing your factories, they're bog to china, they're going to mexico, japan is can i go us with the cars, now it's vietnam, it's india, its everybody. we don't make good deals anymore. >> that rhetoric from mr. trump has caused international economists to evaluate the problems he may cause on a global scale. the economists have called him a global risk, in part saying a donald trump presidency pose as top 10 risk event that could

disrupt the world economy, lead to political chaos in the u.s. and heighten security risks for the united states. the global times, a chinese publication printed an assessment of trump in a recent opinion piece, saying: >> he's potentially causing danger. >> that's right. i think this is probably the most important phenomena full in modern american politics. you see, for a long while, america was famous for two things, one patriotism. a lot of the people are patriotic, meaning they love

their country and are very proud of it, they always say the best country in the world, so on and so forth. there is the issue of imperialism. during the bush administration, they didn't like it. many consider the country to be benevolent. some people like an international order under american leadership. they prefer that to chinese, russian or british or whatever. what we're facing now is what two former mexicans called fascism, this is a new kind of nationalism that we've seen it kind of in hungary, poland, russia, other parts of the world, spouting venom, laborism, even phallic language in the case of donald trump. this is the kind of thing getting the british and russians to agree, the mexicans and

chinese and muslims and french, they all think that this kind of american naggism is very dangerous for the world. >> what the economists are saying and the chinese publication, the fear is that he might actually point number one get the nomination, .2, win the general election, win the presidency, .3, he might actually do the things that he said he will do, for example, i watched them i think on one of the american news channels. he said if i get to be president i will do something that the world hasn't thought about with syria. diplomacy has failed, there's no on the ground campaign going on as such you with the outside world, so what easiest there? the big red button and it's genuinely frightening some very intelligent and informed people now. >> if we could take one step back. most of those people voting for donald trump, especially what you call white male americans,

angry white male america are not voting for him because of some international issue. they are voting for him for issues that are concerning the domestic scene of the united states, the white american male has lost to females, blacks, la tone knows and others and that's why most of the venom is against the other la teen knows, calling them rapists and like. he is getting everyone onboard in the kind of nationalistic language, the kind that will get white america around him in a populist discourse. that's why you write about the fact that, you know, it's not so much that he has a nuclear threat or button that he's going to press is bringing people onboard a nationalist fascist discourse, not only dangerous to the world, but the united

states, not only to the various treaties, but the various trade agreements. he nows some things that people like john mccain, who was himself tortured in vietnam, now trump says we are not only going to waterboard them, we are going to do worse than that. we are not going to only kill them, we are going to kill their families. this kind of discourse, racist, scenephobic rhetoric is not only heard by the world, it is disgusted.

doctors say the injured were hit by falling debris. still to come, the sports news, a huge upset at the masters in florida. do stay with us.

>> distinguished by its light colored spots, the west african

giraffe lived across the region, but drought and poaching have affected their numbers. >> this is the natural reserve. some 50 miles south of niger. it stretched as far as the eye can see, but soon, it shows up grazing. there was a time when these exclusively west african spotted giraffes roamed from senegal to lake chad. hunting reduced them to a small group, found only in niger. authorities here have been trying to protect what remains of this species. they are proud of the result. >> in 1996, we had just 50. now as we speak, we have 452 giraffes. >> we tried to get a closer look

but as we approached, we were told not to disturb them. the giraffe behind me is not the biggest in the park. the biggest is very famous and you can spend an entire year looking for him, because this is a very large park, more than the size of lebanon, about 11,000 square kilometers. nature here is quiet and beautiful and the giraffes seem to share both qualities. >> the giraffe is a peaceful animal. if you don't make a noise, you can come less than 15 meters from it. sometimes it would stare at you as you stare at it. i love them as if they were a pet. we name them. one was named after me. unfortunately he died. >> the people in the area hardly share this affection. >> we don't see any use to them. they just destroy our crops and eat the trees. we lived here a long time before the giraffes.

now they are a problem for us and there is nothing we can do about it. >> another problem affecting consisted of two years of drought resulting in meager crops. tourism is also on the decline. >> at the beginning, we made some income but now there's a crisis because of insecurity. we used to receive large numbers of visitors, nine groups a day. now it's six a week. >> there is concern that drought can affect preserving one of aftica's natural wonders. >> fifa is said it should

retract its statement after announces it was seeking tens of millions of damages as part of the united states corruption investigation. fifa highlight add $10 million payment from the south african football association. the money was routed to the bank account of disdisgraced fifa vice president jack warmer. sports minister maintains that money was intended for a football development program in the care bean. >> we gave this money and supported on the base that this money was for development. the fact that at the later stage it came to our attention that it was not used for its intended purposes, and in fact, it was embezzled and misused. >> the final eight has been decided in the champions league.

it's hard to see any team besting barcelona. >> you have as well at some stage we have two or three plays that transform and i respect that and i believe that of course it means suffering, but it's exceptional what he does. >> i don't know whether there's been another european club that's managed to reach such a level of performance. it shows the club's identity and the fact that it's doing things the right way and also the high standards of the players, not only from our soccer school, but

those of signing which is a matter of pride for us. lets look at the lineup of the last eight teams from five countries, you have man city for the first time. real madrid. the draw for the quarter finals of the champions league will take place in switzerland on friday. two clubs will faceoff later. liverpool take a 2-0 advantage heading into the second league against manchester united.

we have to play again. in the end, it's a football game and a really good one against two really good sides and i am really it excited about the opportunity to play it. >> i think the challenge to beat liverpool and the challenge that we are two goals down, it's a big challenge and we have to believe in it, and it starts with the plays, of course, but it starts also with defense. eight teams will battle for a place. huge favorites to go through, hoping to keep up their good run of form when they host swiss champions. in the nba, the golden state warriors recorded their 50t

50th consecutive home victory. klay thompson had five three-pointers and 19 points for the game. seth curry dominated for the warriors with 34 points and six rebounds, leading the defending champions to 101-85 win. afghanistan's cricketers will play in the super 10 stage of the word 2020 in the next few hours facing sri lanka. they won wednesday. chris gail smashed 11 sixes on route to his unbeaten century. he tight the record for the third fastest time in internationals. >> there's more to come. it was good to see the way how we played even from the start, i think this is we try to make sure they didn't go much part

that. we were happy to see how things went in the field, too. i think it will take care of itself but what we do in the field is going to make us during this tournament. >> nadal through to the quarter finals as he bids for his fourt. number four feed rallying. he fought off a match point in the third set to take the match 6-7, 6-0, 7 other five. djokovic is through to the quarter finals, needing just 66 minutes to win.

he is seeking an unprecedented fifth title. that's it for now. i'll be back with more later. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has accused isil of committing genocide against christians and minorities inside iraq and syria. the u.s. congress asked mr. kerry to determine if the isil atrocities were genocide. he said washington will do all it can to hold that group accountable. the reality of genocide he said means the international must work together and destroy isil by military force and other ways. he said the funding of the different groups working around the world to recruit foreign fighters. we'll be back at the top of the hour. hour.

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united nations says it is still unable to deliver aid to six regions in syria where people are starving. ♪ hello there, you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha. also in this program -- >> daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including asighdyes, christians and shiite muslims. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says isil is responsible for crimes