from london. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome you are watching the al jazeera news hour, live from our headquarters here in doha. 60 minutes of news. today brazil's president is openly defiant has she swears in her prez sesz or into her cabinet, as her chief of staff. >> daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including the yazid yazidises, christians, and shiite muslims.

>> reporter: john kerry says isil is responsible for crimes against humanity. the united nations says it is still unable to deliver aid to six regions in syria where people are starving. [ shouting ] and the south african president is shouted down in parliament while answering questions about his links to a powerful family. ♪ our top story this hour to brazil where the lower house of congress has decided to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. rousseff spoke at the swearing-in ceremony for the former president just in the past couple of hours. she has added him to her cabinet. the allegations are that she made the appointment to keep him safe from prosecution. he is facing various state charges in a separate case. joining us now on skype from sao

paulo is the worker with a latin america bureau, a non-governmental news outlet. rousseff what is she up to? >> reporter: dilma is fighting for her life. because if they impose impeachment proceedings, then she is gone. but she is also facing protests in the streets, and violence between those who want her out and those who want her to stay. so she is walking a bit of a tight rope, and bringing lula into the cabinet was a gamble. but it must be remembered that lula in fact hasn't yet been charged with anything. he is being investigated, but so far no charges have been brought against him. >> and it looks like these proceedings that have to do with

impeachment of her, they are now officially getting the green light. but that case has to do with petrobras. it has nothing to do with dasilva, and his ownership of a luxury beach side apartment. >> reporter: as i say nothing has been proved against lula. he denies that he owns that beach apartment. but, yes, you are right, impeachment proceedings will begin formally today in congress, but they still need two-thirds of the congress, over 240 deputies to vote in favor, whereas the minority, 171 could stop them. so it's still not guaranteed that impeachment proceedings will go ahead. although because of the increasing pressure from the streets, it seems very likely that most congressmen will in fact decide to vote for impeachment. but then the process has to go to the senate. so it's a fairly still long

drawn out process. >> we understand an injunction has been issued suspending that process of mr. lula da silva's appointment as her chief of staff. in your mind, how significant is that? >> it's difficult to say, because it's an injunction, which means that it still has to be decided in a plainary session of the court that could be overthrown. it has a temporary effect, but it could be overthrown in a b in of hours. this is what is going on in brazil at the moment. this sort of game between different levels of justice, between the different parties in congress, so it's extremely difficult, really, at the moment to say what the outcome of all of this is going to be. >> what does this tell us about dilma rousseff.

yes, she was his pro toe gauge -- protége, why is she choosing do batten down the hatches instead of listening to the voices on the street. >> well, there are still an awful lot of people in brazil who supporter. lula is well-known for his political experience and political ability, so she is gambling on the fact that lula will be able to persuade enough people not to vote to impeach her. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. now to the ongoing conflict in area. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry held a news conference at

the state department in washington. the take away point was that isil is committing genocide against christians and other minorities in iraq and syria too. >> daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including the yazidis, christians, and shiite muslims. daesh is genocidal by self proclamation, ideology, and actions? what it says, what it believes, and what it does. daesh is also responsible for crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, directed at the same groups, and in some cases also against sunni muslims, kurds, and other minorities. i say this even though the ongoing conflict and lack of access to key areas has made it impossible to develop a fully detailed and comprehensive picture of all that daesh is

doing. >> the united nations humanitarian advisor says they are still unable to deliver aid to six regions in syria where people are starving. the task force leader has revealed his fears that isil may target the air drops. >> it turns out that it was more technically difficult than we thought. this has to be from great heights since the i.s. may have surface to air missiles. so it has to be from a great height. it has to be at great speed, and the parachutes have to sustain this enormous jolt of the palettes leaving. >> let's take you live to geneva and james bayes. it was sounded as secretary kerry was trying to get people to coalesce afresh of the

reality of what is going on day-to-day despite the talks that are going on in that big building behind you. >> reporter: and you could say that there is one thing that both sides agree on, certainly in their public statements is that they want to see isil defeated. it's something the opposition talk about. it's something the government side talk about. what i think the international community would like is this process to reach what is supposed to be then goal, which is some sort of transitional government eventually to take syria to free and fair elections and that government then could work with the international community, perhaps work with some other arab nations to provide a ground force to go in and finally remove isil. of course we're a long way off that at this stage. >> on the list of pluses and minuses, is it now a plus that we have somebody nominated by vladimir putin, mr. putin gets a seat at the top table. he has got someone coming

apparently to join the talks in geneva? i think we have lost our communications with james -- >> peter i can hear you. >> okay. good to have you back. >> reporter: it's in and out. >> okay. it's good news surely as far as vladimir putin is concerned especially, that he has nominated somebody to go to the discussions, a man who knows how the kremlin thinks and he is also an expert on islam. that's a biggy for the russians? >> reporter: yes, i think it is. i mean what -- no one really is clear on is exactly what is the russian game now? what are they doing here? western diplomats will tell you that they now hope that the russian withdrawal is real, that they really are doing what they say they are doing. they hope that the russian talk about actually engaging in the

political process is real, and they really want to talk about some sort of transition in syria. i'll have to say that most people are rather wary of president putin, and perhaps he has something else up his sleeve which may mean that is not the case, but for now certainly, the feeling here certainly among the opposition delegation is must more enthusiastic. at the beginning of the week when they first arrived here, i think they were very concerned about the situation, and i think things have certainly turned against the syrian government, not just that beginning of the russian pullout, but the condemnation of the syrian government to get to besieged areas. the condemnation of the syrian government has been the main violator of the cessation of hostilities. and one other issue that has been discussed a lot here is the issue of detainees. they said that detainees need to

be released. now most of these detainees are being held by the go side, and the special envoy has made it quite clear not enough has been done by the syrian government. >> within that buoyancy, however, james, how do they deal with the kurds inasmuch as we have had this announcement confirming what they were talking about this time yesterday. the kurds aren't there, directly having face-to-face talks, be everyone has to deal with what they are demanding, and what they are expecting, i guess, as well? >> reporter: yes, absolutely. this was an issue that i think in the end, because there was disagreement between some of the key outside sponsors of this process, in particular russia and turkey. turkey very much did not want the pyd at this talks. russia wanted them there. i think the u.s. probably would have favored them being at the negotiating table. but it was decided that even

though political leader of the pyd had even made it to switzerland, he wasn't going to sit around the table. the idea, i think, was to park this issue and try to get some sort of dialogue going here, some sort of process going, and then, perhaps invite the pyd at a later stage. the pyd now have forced themselves on to the agenda, but even now, i think the u.n. position is we don't like what they have announced, but we're going to ignore it for now, try to make this a process going forward, and perhaps revis it their participate shion later. >> james thanks very much. these areas are along the turkish border in northern syria. an official with the democratic union party, or pyd said the declaration was made after a meeting with 200 delegates.

the announcement was immediately rejected by both the syrian government and the main opposition. an official in the foreign affairs director rate of cobahny says they will soon outline what shape they want this autonomous region to take. >> according to the news from meeting that are going to the second day, for people there to delegate, they agreed on the [ inaudible ] and north syria and now they are discussing about the -- making the final statement, the point -- the final results of the discussions with the final statement. we are expecting this final statement in the coming hours. >> okay. let's discuss all of today's

developments with our senior political analyst. what is your main take-away point on all of these cascading developments that weave together. >> they are complicating the picture, and we probably expected that to happen. you don't get things resolved in geneva in some sort of a clinical, type negotiation atmosphere, when things on the ground are so divided, complicated, and the issue of the way the kurds now are calling for their own federated system and autonomy, which apparently is rejected by most is certainly an element of complication to the situation in syria. i'm afraid that this is few steps back from the spirit of geneva that is meant to lead eventually to a united secular democratic syria. the way this is going is more on the division of syria, albeit

within one state where ethnicity and national counts. >> what is it about the kurds when they made this announcement yesterday, and we had it confirmed two and a half, three hours ago, why have they not gone as far as saying we actually want total separation? why have they said autonomy is what we want. because that doesn't seem to be much different than what they wanted back in 1992. >> is it is the same reason why the kurds in northern iraq are in a far better situation than in syria, and they wouldn't yet call for a separation. because that is basically going to bring everyone against them, but not just diplomatically through other means as well. look having said that, for our viewers around the world, let's be clear about this, the kurds throughout in syria, iraq,

turkey, and iran have grievances, and they have had trammingic history for the last century and more. there's no doubt about that. but there is also no doubt about who else in this region did not have tragic history and do not have grievances, right? i mean this is since colonialism for 100 years now. they have been living the arabs like the kurds have been living in unbearable situations. so that the question is today facing the kurds and the arabs what is the answer? is the answer more divisions on ethnic and nationalists lines, or is the answer multi-culturalism, democracy, secular societies under one constitution? >> very briefly, however, how do the talks in geneva choreograph that particular aspect of it?

because whilst these russians and the u.s. may or may not have been talking to kurds using back channels, but the reality is the turkish government big line in the sand. we will not deal with what the kurds want? >> right. look. it remains to be seen for the time being if this kurdish development is being used by the russians against the turks. or if -- and this is meant to be a factor that will go back to the negotiation's table in geneva basically trying to bring the kurds in some form or another that they have been prevented from joining the talks. look, having said that, it is going to be difficult for the kurds to make this happen. because even the united states have come up against it. no one now accepts it. and it's not only the turks, and not only the syrian regime, the syrian opposition in general against that kind of move being

made by the kurds in northern syria. >> thanks very much. plenty more ground still to cover for you here on the al jazeera news hour, including these stories, e.u. leaders arriving in belgium to discussion the refugee crisis. plus morocco cuts its support for the u.n. mission in western sar -- sahara. and south africa denies claims that it paid brides to host the 2010 world cup. ♪ the e.u. summit is meeting. it's taking place with turkey. they are set to take place within the hour. leaders have been arriving in brussel over the past two hours. they will focus on the refugee crisis. turkey has agreed to take back the refugee that leave in

exchange for certain political stipulations. the most controversial proposal is a deal to send new refugees and migrants arriving in greece back to turkey. for each syrian refugee returned to turkey, one other syrian refugee in turkey will be accepted into the e.u. for resettlement. now in return, turkey has asked for the e.u. to double the amount of aid to help it receive refugees. and turkey wants visa-free travel for its people in the e.u. to brought in quicker than originally scheduled. live now to brussels and neave barker. neave, the pushback to this has basically been the e.u. doesn't quite know what to do -- or it doesn't want to do more than it has been doing. so how do they square that circle? >> reporter: well, yes, arriving here a little bit earlier in the

day, the european council president said that he was perhaps more cautious than optimistic about a real outcome. but in the last ten or so days between the first meeting on march 7th, and this, round, two, a tremendous amount of work has been going on behind the scenes. we do know there is a slightly watered-down version of the deal on the table over the talks through the day, but you are right in saying there has been a significant amount of pushback from at least five e.u. member states, the loudest being cyprus that has an on-going conflict with turkey. and cyprus wants to make sure that turkey changes its views on that. criticism also from france and the czech republic who are

worried about turkey being able to use these negotiations to effectively blackmail europe into getting what it wants especially when it comes to visas or the speeding up of talks about turkey possibly joining the european union. and concern from top-level officials at the united nations who are deeply worried about the legality of this. so he isn't really understating the challenge that lies at the e.u. leaders over the next couple of days. the final deal is legally sound, and of course the turks are on side too. >> is anyone speculating as to how this will work in reality. because we have -- what three months ago now, we have e.u. teams being deployed to places like lesvos to speed up the process. in that didn't work. the border between greece and

macedonia is in lockdown, how can they organize this and make it operate properly, day-to-day? >> reporter: well, i think that's a question to be answered a bit further along the road. of course there will be a tremendous amount of wrangling that happens. but a workable deal needs to be agreed upon by e.u. member states, by turkey. it does need to be legally sound as well. what we do know from the deal that is on the table after the negotiations is that there is a series of practical suggestions, at least that there would be a refugee swap as it were, for every refugee that is returned to turkey, the e.u. has agreed to settle one on european union soil as well. exactly how that will happen is really yet to be seen. the e.u. said that it will fund that flow of refugees and migrants between the two

countries; that it would only be applicable to syrians, and according to that document, at least 72,000 syrians currently in turkish camps may well will eligible for resettlement in the european union, but there are a series of questions about exactly how that will happen. will turkey be able to completely seal off all routes, all channels, and prevent new ones from opening up in other areas from turkey to greece. a lot needs to be discussed, but first and foremost a workable solution needs to be agreed upon first before anything can move forward. >> neave thanks a lot. turning your attention to south africa where the president was shouted down by opposition mp's as he tried to dismiss the discussion that anybody apart from himself appoint cabinet members. he was responding to questions

in the parliament about his relationship with a wealthy family accused of influencing key state institutions. he said he had no case to answer. >> 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 anybody else. ministers who are here were appointed by me. >> live now to joe-berg. in the run up to that parliamentary appearance, the feeling had been whether he had the support of anc mp's. did he get it? >> reporter: the anc definitely supported the president when he was questioned by the opposition. it was the opposition who wanted

to question him. anc mp's were also happy to see members of the opposition asked to leave the chamber in parliament after they weren't happy with the answers given by the president. so far we have seen continued support by the president across a range of scandals. however this time around there is interest in that we could be seeing some level of discent within the party. there are reports of factions within the party, those for and against the president. and that could possibly be why these reports and allegations around the influence of this prominent and influential family in south africa are now emerging. we are hitting two local elections later this year. president zuma's term does come to an end in this 2019, and there is a leadership battle of sorts happening within the anc, but president zuma would

certainly be wanting support within the anc to ensure he finishes his term. >> so he lives on to fight another day, but is anyone there talking about the wealthy family. they must either be very arrogant or very stupid, or incredibly well connected that they think they can allegedly appoint government ministers or at least promote government ministers from being in one particular allegation from being the deputy finance minister, to being the finance minister. >> reporter: and that's how he described them. he says they are arrogant. how could they summon government officials to their home, discuss ministerial positions in return for preferential treatment. and he says there has to be an

investigation and more of these stories need to emerge. they need to understand what role the family is playing in how the anc is run, how government is running, and the influence that this family has on the country, and possibly the president. within the party there hasn't been very much criticism around president zuma. the negative sentiment has been around the family. the communist party has for some time now said there needs to be an investigation into what the family is alleged to be doing. this is the sentiment also from opposition parties, but they more in line want answers from the president, rather, and the role he has -- the relationship he has with this family, and how he seems to -- how it a app -- appears that he is

cowering to their demands. >> thanks very much. lots more news to come for you, and the international sports news can -- with far are. including australia's efforts to improve the lives and health of its indigenous people. also the peaceful giants caught in the cross fire of west africa's conflict. and in sports news, the defending champions with a milestone win. coming up with farah.

>> stopping the next generation of isis recruits.

teaching the youth on the front lines. working towards a better future. >> this is one of the most important sites in the century. >> proudest moment of my life. the top stories here on the al jazeera news hour. brazil's lower house of congress has decided to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. she is accused of protecting her former ally from charges of corruption by appointing him as her chief of staff. a u.n. humanitarian official has said that aid can't be easily air dropped to six different syrian cities due to the possibility of isil firing

surface to air missiles. he said the group is also not allowing trucks carrying supplies into certain besieged areas. the u.s. secretary of state says the islamic state is committing genocide against christians and other minority groups in syria. now in the northwest of syria there have been protest against the al-nusra front. lawrence lee reports from the turkish city on the changing face of the syrian revolution and the growing divisions in the opposition. >> reporter: something is happening in northwestern syria which could alter the balance of power in the war. al-nusra, get out chant these women. protests like this serve to undermine the view that nusra

has an unshakable grip in the areas they control. the popular movement against the group seems to be growing by the group. here they make an equation between the tyranny of assad, and the al-nusra groups. >> translator: we started this demonstration to support our people being attacked by the gangs of nusra. we are here to support them. >> reporter: and their confidence is growing. this crowd turns al-nusra supporters who have tried to get inside a demonstration in support of the free syrian army. the protesters were clearly more interested in the flag of revolution than al-nusra. the deals of the fsa has effectively been shouted down by groups like nusra and isil. and yet now this group, which is considered moderate in the west, and calls for all syrians to come together against the regime in damascus appears increasingly to be back in favor.

things like this, trashing of a nusra office seem to reflect a growing concern that nusra demands many of the same deeply conservative values that isil does. and many people in idlib aren't interested. the shifting alliance has also affected this group, which was fighting with nusra, but now has appeared to change its position. >> translator: the talks about setting up a civil state in area among other things are to be addressed later. this is delayed because we are now focusing on toppling the regime. this is the same objective that we share with the rest of the opposition forces on the ground and the revolutionary forces. the priority is to bring down the tyrant regime. >> reporter: with nusra front under growing pressure to release men from the fsa it is

holding, it seems the message is to stop fighting other syrians. lawrence lee, al jazeera, southern turkey. the kurdistan freedom fall cans or tak have claimed responsible for a car bombing in turkey on sunday. the explosion killed 37. the turkish government says it is determined to punish the perpetrators. our correspondent explains. >> reporter: the aftermath of sunday's bomb blast in ankara continues to be felt. the prime minister vowed not only to punish the mastermind of the attack and to go after members of parliament who he accuses of supporting terrorism. >> the issue is openly supporting terrorism. the issue is not that somebody talking in the parliament. they talk everything in this the parliament. it's not the problem.

problem is if you actively support the underground and collaborate with terrorists, and using immunity, this is not democracy. >> reporter: the kurdish freedom hawks claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing which killed 37 people. it is an offshoot of the pkk which has been at war with turkey for decades. both groups are considered terrorist organizations by turkey. although the government had been in peace negotiations with the pkk in recent years, those talks broke down last july after pkk fighters killed two policemen. since then the army has tacked locations in turkey and across the border in iraq. meanwhile pkk fighters have stepped up attacks against turkey. on february 17th a suicide car bomb targeted a bus carrying army personnel. that killed dozens of people.

the bomber of that attack as well as the most recent one have been accused of receiving training inside syria by the ypg, the kurdish armed group which turkey says is also linked to the pkk. it's why turkey says countries like the united states should not be supporting the pyg. security is becoming more of a concern inside turkey. germany announced on thursday it was closing its embassy, console late and one of its schools in istanbul as a precaution. the government has been praised for stopping violence. now many will be scrutinizing how it will deal with the increasing number of attacks that continue to rock turkey cities. the moroccan government is calling on the united nations to withdraw more than 80 staff members from western sahara. this is the latest development between the back and forth.

the tensions began when the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon described the territory there as under occupation. shihab has the latest. >> reporter: u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon described morocco's annex indication of western sahara as an occupation. as a result morocco says it intents to remove its civilian presence in the u.n. mission, stop helping fund it, and reconsider all of its other u.n. peace keeping operations. >> the secretary general crossed a red line, and it's [ inaudible ] that has never been used by the secretary general before. it has not been used by united nations security council. united nations and the secretary general are supposed to be impartial in this conflict. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took

to the streets. angry with what they said was banned prereceived lack of impartiality. but that was not the view at u.n. headquarters in new york. >> we do hope as i said to move on to a more -- to a constructive and positive relation with morocco. we'll obviously have to deal with the decisions they have taken. the secretary general said what he said. he does not walk away from it. he expressed from what i said yesterday, he expressed regret that there was the misunderstanding of the use of the world. >> reporter: the secretary general also no longer plans to visit morocco in the near future as previously announced. morocco took over most of mineral and possibly oil-rich western sahara in 1995. and fought a local independence movement until a u.n. brokered ceasefire in 1991. now backed by u.n. security

council member france, the moroccans say they are only prepared to offer autonomy. they also face opposition from other groupings around the world. >> translator: there will be no peace and stability in the region, as long as the people are denied the right to self determination and independence. >> reporter: for decades an humanitarian emergency has unfolded in western sahara with little attention. and some here wonder whether ban had simply had enough in his final year as secretary general. joining us now on skype from madrid is the coordinator with the united nations mission for a referend referendum? western sahara. what has to happen to deflate the tensions in the situation? >> well, morocco is a

[ inaudible ] position, is the only african country out of african union. morocco has problems with the european union after the decision of -- >> hello? can you hear us, sir? >> yes. hello? >> i apologize. the line dropped out for just a couple of seconds. please do carry on now with your answer. no, we have definitely lost communications there with madrid. we will go back to him if we can before the end of the program. the saudi-lead military operation in yemen may soon be winding down. a spokesman for the coalition says they will turn their focus to stabilization and reconstruction. speaking to a french news agency, the brigadier general didn't specify when the bombing mission would be complete.

the u.n. estimates since the operation began almost 6,000 people have been killed by the strikes and in the fighting on the ground. two palestinians have been killed by israeli security forces following an alleged stabbing incident. it happened in the northern part of the occupied west bank. local media said an israeli woman was stabbed and seriously wounded before her alleged assailants were then shot. 202 palestinians have been killed since tensions began to rise last october. the former israeli chief has died. he was responsible for leading the israeli intelligence services from 2002, to 2011. he was a critic of the prime minister, benjamin netenyahu, and openly disagreed with carrying out military strikes on iran. he died of cancer at the age of 71. australians on average have a longer life span than almost

anyone else in the world. but that's not the case for indigenous people who live an average ten years less than other australians. >> reporter: across australia, close the gap events like this are intended to draw attention to lagging health and education standards for indigenous australians. they are also about keeping pressure on the government to meet targets to address them. >> things in some cases are getting worse than better. so we need to be vigilant and we need to be -- not be complacent. >> reporter: initiatives like this one, mid-wives trained to understand how aboriginal forms differ. aboriginal infrants were twice

as likely to die than other australian children. >> they can relate to you in ever since. you get to know your mid-wives, and then also they know a whole lot about your history. >> sometimes the hospital setting can be a little bit off-putting for a woman that hasn't been in the system before. so we have clinics in the community. we do home visits. we also offer transport if women can't get there. >> reporter: the simple project has made a difference. but of seven closing the gap targets only two are on track to be achieved. on average aboriginal people die ten years earlier than others. they are likely as ever to be unemployed. and school attendance levels lack significantly. there are calling for extra targets too. leaders would like another set of targets introduced around incarceration. the differing prison rating between aboriginals and everybody else.

an 18 year aboriginal man is more likely to go to prison than university. aboriginal women make up just 3% of australia's female population, but 33% of those locked up. campaigners say alongside health and education, justice disparity should be a focus too. their aim is for parity with non-indigenous australians to be across the board. andrew thomas, al jazeera, sydney. do stay with us. we have all of the international sports news coming up. including nadal avoids a huge upset in california. ♪

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now to the u.s. where the republican presidential hopeful, donald trump is rising in popularity and could be on his way to securing the party's nomination. but international figures have voiced grave concerns, particularly over speeches in which he openly suggests a trade war with china and mexico. trump regularly calls for american companies to bring manufacturing back to america as a way to create jobs. >> with me, it is not going to happen anymore. we're not going [ inaudible ] [ cheers and applause ] >> you are losing your jobs. you are losing your income. you are losing your factories. they are going to china. they are going to mexico. japan is killing us with the cars. now it's everybody. we don't make good deals

anymore. >> well, just that kind of rhetoric from mr. trump has caused international economists to revaluate the problems he could cause. in part they said, quote frpt : and the global times, a chinese publication, printing an assessment of mr. trump, here is part of what they had to say, quote: victor is with the china energy security institute in hong kong and focuses on china-u.s.

relations. >> i don't think china is worried about a trump presidency. china will need to deal with whomever goes into the white house as the next president be it a gentleman or lady. however, it is very sad to see that even during the presidential election process the extremism, the bigotry, the prejudice and the lies perm mate throughout the process, and mr. trump is not an exception. he is very much carrying the presidential election in the extreme direction, and his remarks on muslims, on arabs, on mexicans, on latin knows, on refugees, on imma grants, and u.s.-china relations are very much verging on vulgarity and extremism. this is very sad for the rest of

the world to see these events can happen in the united states. the west african giraffe once roamed free across the region. niger has been trying to protect them, but now the animals face a new threat. >> reporter: on the lookout for west africa's last giraffes. this is the northern tip of a natural reserve. the african savanna stretched out as far as the eye can seen. but soon a herd shows up. there was a time when these light-spotted giraffes roamed across the region. but drought and hunting reduced them to a small group now found only in niger. authorities here have been trying to protect what remains of this species. they are proud of the result. >> translator: in 1996 we had

just 50 giraffes, now we have 45 giraffes. >> reporter: we tried to get a closer look, but as we approach we are told not to disturb them. the giraffe is not the biggest one in this park. the biggest one is very famous, and you can spending 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. >> translator: the giraffe is a peaceful an. -- animal. it is also very curious. i love them as if they are my own pets. there was one that carried my name, but unfortunately he died. >> reporter: but some people living in the area hardly share

this effect shun. >> translator: they don't see any used to them. they just destroy our crops and eat the trees. the giraffes are a problem for us, and there's nothing we can do about it. >> reporter: another problem affecting both people and giraffes consisted of two year's of drought resulting in meager crops and dryer vegetation. tourism has also been on the decline. >> translator: at the beginning we made some income, but now there is a crisis because of insecurity. we used to receive up to nine groups per day, but now it's five or six per week. >> reporter: at the entrance of the preserve, tour guides don't have much to do for most of the day. there is concern that violence in the area and drought could reverse the success that has been made in preserving one of the natural wonders. now before we take the sports news are far -- farah, i

want to take you to some pictures in syria. you are looking at an historic punctuation mark. what you are watching right now is the syrian kurdish democratic union party officially declaring its desire to have an autonomous region in that part of the world. officials of the pyd claimed autonomy in the kurdish-controlled area on tuesday f. what we're looking at there is representatives of the kurdish, the assyrian, the arabs, and other communities as well. they have been meeting to discuss turning three areas into one single federal system. they have stopped short of talking about full separation from syria. of course what is going on right

now, those pictures you looking at right now has been very strongly folded into the thinking of everyone that is attending the u.n.-brokered talks in geneva. as promised time for sports news here is farah. >> thank you so much, peter. south africa's sports minister has denied that the country paid a bride to secure the world cup. comments come a day after fifa announced t it was speaking 10s of millions of dollars. it highlighted a $10 million payment from the south african football association. the money was then routed to the bank account of disgraced fifa vice president jack warner. the sports minister maintains that money was intended for a football development program in the caribbean.

>> we gave this money and the supported effort [ inaudible ] of resources on the basis that this money was for development, and the fact that at the later stage it came to our attention that it was not used t for its intended purposes. and in fact it was embezzled and misused. two clubs will face off in the europa league later. liverpool have the advantage. liverpool do have the upper hand, but they lost on the past two visits. >> i think the challenge to be liverpool, and the challenge that we are two goals down, it's a big challenge, and -- and we have to believe in it. and it starts with the players,

of course, but it starts also with the fans. eight teams in total will be battling for a spot in the quarter finals on thursday. two are huge favorites to go through. bayern munich are back in training. the champions are preparing to face cologne in their next match on saturday. they netted a 6-4 aggregate win to go through to the quarter finals of the champions league. afghanistan's kwi kwikt -- cricketers are taking part in this battle for the first time in their history.

sri lanka reply to begin shortly. the golden state warriors beat the new york knicks to record that 50th consecutive home victory. klay thompson had five-three-pointers. but it was reigning mvp steph curry who dominated with 34 points and 6 rebounds, leaving leading the defending champions to 125-85 win. nadal is through to the quarter finals of the indian's wells masters, as he bids for his fourth title in california. he also fought off a match point in the third set to take the match, 6-7, 6-0, 7-5. and that's all of your sport for now. peter back to you. >> farah thanks very much. lots more news on the website, of course. our colleagues are standing by

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