>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the ins hour. i'm dareen abughaida, i this is al jazeera live from doha. former bosnia serb leader is sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity. the hunt is on for this suspect in the brussels airport attack, and there are reports that another bomber is on the run. syrian government forces enter the ancient city of palmyra, controlled by isil.

>> i'll have all of the sport, including a sad day for football dutch legend. passing away at the age of 68. ♪ hello, a u.n. judge has found former bosnia serb leader guilty. ten out of the 11 charges for his role in the bosnian war. he has been held responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity. >> on the 27th of may, 1995, the accused approved an order to place captured u.n. personnel and others as potential targets that may come under air strike. >> bernie sanders -- bernard

smith looks back at the background of the case. i beg your pardon we're going to cross over to sarajevo, where our correspondent will give us reaction on the verdict in just a moment, but first we go to emma hayward. give us the reaction there, emma. >> reporter: i think there is a sense of relief among the families and victims inside the court. the judgment lasted about an hour and 40 minutes, and in the end we got that judgment. and he was found guilty of ten of the eleven counts against him, including genocide. we heard how the men and boys who were killed were taken away from their families and systematically killed over a few day's time. and he did nothing to prevent that.

let's speak to a man who lives here in brussels, but was a prisoner of war for more than 200 days. what is your reaction to this verdict? >> first i'm very glad this man finally got what he deserves, and obviously ten of the eleven counts were proven, meaning what he created served the public based on ethnic cleansing and blood was what was his goal, but i'm -- honestly, i hope that this sentence will also mean something for people in bosnia, because many people deny what has happened. many people deny war crimes, and i hope it will not only be the paper decision but also mean something for reconciliation in the country. >> reporter: do you think this may go in some way to try to heal the divisions, work towards

reconciliation along those lines? >> it should definitely. but even just a few days ago there were posters of him in parts of bosnia, glorifying this man. i'm really also astonished to see that children are growing in the way of division. they have hatred against each other, and i hope people will understand this is not a trial against the serbia nation and the serbs as such, but against the former president who has done what he has done. and the war crimes were unseen until after the second world war. >> reporter: what was it like seeing him there? >> i'm happy he is where he should be. i was detained for 200 days just for being bosnian. i'm glad to see him sitting there. although he is an old man, i think he will live long to at least think about what he has

done. although i do not have hope if i see how he reacted so far on everything which was proven against him. >> reporter: thank you very much for joining us here on al jazeera. so sentenced to 40 years in jail of which he has already served eight of those years. back to you. >> emma thank you very much. we're cross over to sarajevo now, and bring in our correspondent who will tell us what the reaction is over there now that the verdict has been announced. >> reporter: very strong reactions among many. of course sense of release and justice, but also sense of huge disappointment, because we had people from sarajevo and all over bosnia who were hoping he would be sentenced to life in the hague tribunal after

everything he was found guilty of. i would cross to the first charge where he was found not guilty, because many feem in bosnia have the sense that it was not justice. many people in the town for instance in the northern part of bosnia think that he was supposed to be sentenced -- guilty for many cases of genocide all over bosnia and not only for the genocide which happened in july of 1995. here in sarajevo, people were also talking about this verdict today during the day, because they were remembering the scars and memories of sarajevo under siege from 1992 until 1996, when one knows that more than 11,000 people were killed during the war that 1,600 children were also killed, that 50,000 of sarajevo civilians were wounded, and 10,000 homes were completely

destroyed, one can understand why people in sarajevo are watching this sentence, and hoping in the next process, because both sides have the right to . -- appeal, that he will get a lifetime in prison. >> and i suppose leading up to this day, there has been a lot of anticipation. >> reporter: of course, everything was talking about the verdict for the last several weeks. many people from bosnia actually left sarajevo because they wanted to be there in the hague to see the verdict for themselves. there are many groups that are gathering the families of the victims that are also strongly supporting the prosecution, and hoping he will in the next round of the process get lifetime in

prison. and as i said already, you can see still the scars of war all over the capitol city of bosnia. people of sarajevo this was the longest siege of a capitol city in history. and that's why they hold the leader responsible for what is happening in bosnia right now. they see a complicated situation and very bad economy is a consequence of the war which is the main thing that he left after he went out of bosnia and later delivered to the hague tribunal. >> stephane thank you. let's talk a little bit more about the tribunal proceedings. bring in sir jeffery nice, an international war crimes specialist. good to have you with us. 40 years imprisonment.

he is found guilty ten out of eleven of the charges. your initial reaction? >> in reverse order the way the judgment reads carefully and courteously is both logical and understanding of the gravity of the suffering that the court has been dealing with. and anything that puts the victims first, whether it's in the way matters are expressed or in the final decisions, it's going to be a good thing. second, the findings that there was no genocide in the '92, '93 count, count 1 is one that will disappoint people, and it may yet fall for further review in this or other courts. but the victims and those who sympathize with them must understand that the judges have the job, of course, of deciding whether something is proved to the state of being convinced

beyond reasonable doubt and so on, and what has to be proved is a particular mental state in the accused. and it's always a difficult thing to do, and you can't necessarily be critical of judges who make a finding about a particular mental state which is required for the crime of genocide different from that which the person observing it from a distance or heavily involved as a victim or perpetrator would want the court to find one way or another. >> what will happen next? our reporter was just speaking to us from sarajevo saying a lot of people want to see an appeals process and see him sentenced to life in prison. >> i was just coming to that. >> right. >> the 40 years will be disappointing to many -- many people, i think, because it's not a life sentence, and also because he has served a great

deal of time already. he probably would have some years at liberty, given that he is 70 now. and he -- he would only serve a part of that, and get credit for what has gone before. i must say it seems to me a surprising sentence to impose given that lie imprisonment has been imposed on others. it was also perhaps arguably, surprising to find that there was some reference to mitigation and his giving up his office in 1996. i think the judges said, well, by that time, the crimes for which he has been committed, had been committed. those crimes are of the utmost gravity. they include genocide. and genocide of over 5,000 people. we all know that agagenocide itf

was well over 8,000 people. so i would be very surprised if there isn't an attempt by the prosecution to appeal that sentence, and to have it converted to a life sentence. >> and there is a lot of talk that this could be one of the most important war crimes verdicts ever delivered, but it's also quite important for the court itself, isn't it >> well, yes to both parts of your question. it is a very important decision, but remember, that the policy of the tribunal has been to confine decisions about the genocide to offenders from because nia -- from serbia itself. from the bosnian serb community, and it has not, save a couple of cases, tracked back to the

direct involvement of serbia itself, belgrade. he was the only person ever charged in respect to genocide, the only person from serbia itself. the serbian leadership. and he died before a verdict was returned. the others charged with crimes in respect to this area were not charged with genocide. so that although it's a very important trial and the result is itself very important for the victims and for the people of bosnia, it's not as important of a decision as it would be if it had tracked a wider responsibility, and in particular the responsibility of serbia itself. as to the importance of this decision for the tribunal. well, the tribunal is nearly at the end of its life, so it won't have such anning important effect. and on that, i can only say, as

i said a little earlier, is the judgment reads as a very reasoned -- as a very fair, respectful decision, respecting the interests of the victims, and respecting the particular constraints of the law under which the judges had to act. so this may well be whether or not the sentence is successfully appealed and whether there are any appeals on one side or another, this may well be a judgment that will bring credit to the tribunal and certainly the judge is a highly respected judge, who has always shown himself to be scrupulously fair to all whom he deals with. >> all right. we'll have to leave it there. thank you for joining us on the news hour. >> thank you. good-bye. much more coming up next, including argentina's dirty war and the secrets the united states has been withholding. protesters say barack obama is

not welcome in their country. plus -- >> i'm adrian brown on a disputed island in the south china sea where this time it's taiwan making waves. i feel very sorry if in any way i hurt my female colleague tennis players. >> djokovic is forced to back pedal after a tennis sexism row. ♪ belgian police may be hunting not one but two fugitives in connection with the attacks in brussels on tuesday. detectives have identified the two suicide bombers who targeted the airport. they are also hunting a third suspect who fled when his devised failed to explode. and it is now being reported that the metro train bombing may

have involved two people not just one. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: now many attackers were involved in the brussels bombings? cc tv pictures showed two at the airport. belgian state media now says there may have been two people involved in the palace at malbec station, a suicide bomber and another man who may be still at large. in another strand of this investigation, abdeslam's lawyer ran a gauntlet of press conferences. the alleged tenth bomber from the paris attacks did not appear in person, and the case has been deferred to april 7th. but emerging after the hearing his lawyer announced that his client will no longer resist extradition to paris. >> because i think the most important part of the trial, and i think his explanation he has to give them there, and not in

belgium. >> reporter: the metro system has reopened now although malbec station remains sealed off, but commuters are fearful. >> we have to be careful because they are walking around between us. it's maybe today, it's maybe in a month. it's maybe in one year. but they are still going on for attacking us. >> reporter: belgium remains at the high estate of alert, and the city of brussels swamped with police and soldiers. this woman was passing as the bomb went off. she watched horrified as the dead and wounded were carried out. >> you could say we expected this, but i actually never expected this. >> reporter: one moment of silence has developed into more than five minutes of silent reflection now. and the public opinion is changing from initial grief and shock to anger at the apparent

failure of the police and intelligence services. the interior minister and justice minister have been offed to resign. their resignations were refused by the prime minister. state tv in syria showing pictures of government forces entering the ancient city of palmyra. earlier government forces took over two isil positions in the area. the operation was backed by russian air strikes. isil has held palmyra since may, demolishing several ancient structures and artifacts. the destruction caused international outrage. our correspondent is near the syrian border to tell us more about the situation in palmyra, and the gains that were made there by the syrian government forces. >> reporter: well, what we are told is that the fighting is ongoing still, and it's very fierce.

we also got information that isil was using loud speakers telling people to leave the center of palmyra, asking them to go out, because the fighting was closing in to the center of palmyra. however, some activists inside palmyra told us earlier that the government forces didn't actually yet enter palmyra, and they were at the out skirts. now, of course, the state television did show pictures, so now you know the two are arguing of who is in charge and who is making gains. but government forces about earlier this month, they were focusing on palmyra, because it's very important. it sits on a -- in the center of syria, not very far to the east deir ez-zor, and also to the north of a province under isil control. so the government for them it's key to try to cut the route.

and as you know deir ez-zor is also bordering iraq, so the other side of anbar province which is under isil, so it will be a very achievement for the syrian government, and their russian backers to get palmyra. >> thank you for that update. despite the ceasefire in syria, fighting does continue elsewhere in the country, between government and opposition fighters. the opposition has reportedly killed 20 members of the pro-government forcing during clashes in the east. meanwhile two opposition fight verse been killed and several other injured in air strikes which hit near the -- in the countryside, rather, of damascus. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says he wants to see further reduction in violence and greater humanitarian assistance flowing into syria. he is pressing his russian

counterpart in moscow. hoda abdel hamid is following all of the developments. tell us what has come out of that meeting between sergei lavrov and john kerry, hoda. >> reporter: we still don't have much details except for the words of the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry who said it was a very long meeting, one that lasted about four hours, in which they did discuss syria, and she underlined they discussed ukraine and north africa, and it's all we know at this stage. except also we know one more detail is it was the birthday of sergei lavrov on monday, and john kerry wished him happy birthday. other than that, both men are now heading towards the kremlin. they should be meeting with vladimir putin very shortly and after that, they will hold a press conference, and that's why we don't have much detail so far, the spokeswoman did say she

was not going to elaborate on that long meeting, but she said that also she can say is that they went through the details about how to come to this -- how to bring about this transitional government. they talked about the constitution, and again, how to make sure that the syrian government delegation stops procrastinati procrastinating, something that there has been complaints about, that they haven't been able to tackle that core issue, but we still don't know if they reach any agreement, if they have taken anymore decisions. but certainly the visit of john kerry here shows there is an acknowledgment that without moscow, these talks cannot continue. vt vladimir putin being the one person at the moment who can pull his weight on bashar al-assad. >> and we reporting just a moment ago on the situation in palmyra in syria, that government forces are making gains there. backed by russian air strike

strikes. have the russians said anything about the extent of their involvement in palmyra? >> reporter: the russians have been saying over the past few days that they were carrying out air strikes in and around palmyra, ever since they announced that surprise drawdown about two weeks ago. they did say clearly that they will continue with air strikes against the u.n. groups that are labeled -- the groups labeled as terrorists by the u.n., and that specifically means isil and al-nusra. so they have been saying they have been carrying out air strikes in those areas. we have seen reports on various russian channels, of reports -- they have even been showing pictures from the hills surrounding palmyra. now how we understand it here, at lease how it is portrayed in this the media here, well, these advances of the syrian government forces would be to

the northeast of palmyra in the hotel quarters of palmyra. but i think from what we understand here at least, government forces are still not in the center of palmyra. >> okay. hoda thank you for that update from moscow. al jazeera has learned that the next round of syria talks will start in geneva on the 9th or 10th of april. the latest negotiations are being adjourned after almost two weeks of discussions james bayes joining us with an update. >> reporter: these talks have been underway for almost two weeks, and on the key issue, political transition, no progress at all. the syrian government has not properly engaged the opposition says on that issue. now the u.n. special envoy will announce a next date for these talks. we are told it is likely to be the 9th or 10th of april. that puts the syrian government under pressure, because they wanted to delay the start of these talks until after

parliamentary elections. also putting them under pressure, i think is this paper that stephane daffan de mistura giving to both sides. the title is almost exactly the same as a document the syrian government gave at the very beginning of these talks. what is different here is that right at the center of what he is talking about here is what has been agreed by the international community, and the u.n. security council resolution, the idea of a transitional government leading syria after 18 months to free and fair elections, and that's the issue that the syrian government hasn't engaged in, in these talks. >> reporter: israeli soldiers say they shot and killed two palestinians who tried to stab them. video emerging of one of the palestinians being shot dead as he apparently lay incapacitated on the ground as ambulances

arrived, one soldier off camera appears to shoot at the man's head. [ gunfire ] >> so after a van passes, blood can be seen pouring from the man's head. the israeli military saying it is examining the video. 206 palestinians and 26 israelis have been killed during a series of shootings and stabbings since last october. crossing over to stephanie decker to tell us more about the video that is making the rounds now on social media, and what the military is saying about this. >> reporter: it is. well, we have had a statement by the israeli army saying that following preliminary investigation that it appears that there has been a grave breach of values -- military values, it's not how the army works and it's not what is expected of its soldiers and commanders. that soldier has been suspended. there is an investigation

ongoing. but it is extremely dramatic video. it shows one of the palestinians israeli army said he attempted to stab a soldier earlier on with another man who was shot dead when that happened. the second man, a 21 year old, lies what seems to be incapacitated. subdued, you then do see a soldier cock his weapon and then you hear a gunshot. and it appears that he shoots palestinian in the head. so it is an extremely shocking video that won't do much certainly to appease palestinian public which is already very tense. we have had six months of these stabbings, attempted stabbings. videos like this won't do anything to calm things down. >> and in hebron, i would say where this actually happened, and the situation in hebron we

understand over the past couple of months has been quite tense, so what kind of reaction do we expect in hebron? >> reporter: well, as you mentioned earlier, this is already the video making it's a round on social media. and hebron is a microcosm of this conflict. it is a city in the occupied west bank, around a thousand israeli settlers live there very close proximity with palestinians. there is a military presence protecting the settlers. the palestinians often complain of harassment. and i think that's why we have seen a higher number of these incidents happening in hebron. human rights groups will tell you it is palestinians who have lost all hope. usually young people who are desperate, fighting the occupation, targeting soldiers, et cetera, et cetera. but the israeli army has said it

has an open investigation, and the soldier at the moment has been suspended. >> thank you. still to come on the al jazeera news hour -- >> i'm catherine soi in northern kenya. these refugees are going back home. i'll be talking to him about their fears and hopes as they start a new journey to rebuild their lives in somalia. ♪

♪ top stories on the al jazeera news hour. >> the chamber hereby sentences you, radovan karadzic -- >> a u.n. judge as found former bosnia serb leader, radovan karadzic guilty of genocide. he was also found guilty of several other charges related to the bosnian war. police in belgian are searching for a suspect that was seen on cc tv footage.

syrian government forces have entered the ancient city of palmyra controlled by isil. russian air strikes backed the operation. more now on the conviction of the former bosnian serb leader, radovan karadzic. >> reporter: it's not so long ago that a capitol city excoo excooed -- echoed to the sounds of war. in the countryside people were hearded into camps. thousands of men and boys were massacred. they are still digging up bones today. radovan karadzic, president in the early '90s, was convicted for his role in the siege of

sarajevo, and the massacre. a psychiatrist, poet and ecologist, the war didn't always seem a natural fit. after the war karadzic disappeared. nato forces looked for him all over bosnia, but he was in neighboring serbia. when he was finally caught and taken to the hague, his trial lasted five years. he defended himself. >> the war was horrible. i expect and trust the chamber will study carefully all of the evidence. if that happens i have no doubt the judgment of acquittal will follow. >> reporter: in bosnia, many serbs still believe they were the victims. today's leader of bosnia's serbs call the trial a humiliation, he

said he was subject to selective justice. but what about sarajevo, the city which was his home for three decades. this man was shot by a sniper 21 years ago. what will a verdict in karadzic's trial mean to him? >> i'm looking forward to it, not because it will be a big satisfaction, but a step towards restoring the -- the -- the faith in our society today. >> reporter: for those who lost loved ones, the verdict is important. but if karadzic's trial was meant to reconcile bosnia to its past, well it hasn't worked out that way. this country is as divided as ever. plans underway to repatriate more somali refugees living in

kenya. around 12,000 have gone home so far under a volunteer program that the united states started in 2014. another 50,000 are expected to return to somalia this year, but more than 300,000 remain in camps in eastern kenya, from where catherine soi went this report. >> reporter: under the blistering mid-morning sun, 249 somalis collect what may be their last aid package. they receive money to start them off, and give up their refugees status. today they get to go home. this woman and her husband are taking their six children back to somalia, they have lived here for the last eight years. she told me it was a tough choice that had to be made. >> translator: i'm going back by some animals and become self-sufficient. i'm concerned about security. but we have been told that my

neighborhood is safe. >> reporter: also the refugees are from southern somalia, they will go back to a border town where they'll find their way home. there is excitement here. refugees are anxious, but cautious at the same time. they have been given non-food items like blankets, and $120 each to restart their lives in somalia. they say they don't know what to expect, but it's home. but some have come back to the camp. this woman went to mogadishu in august last year, and returned earlier this month, she says a mortar hit her home and she was badly injured by the shap nel and debris. >> translator: my children were traumatized. they couldn't sleep at night. they kept telling me, mommy, we want to go back to the camp. >> reporter: roughly 12,000

people have been repatriated since the program started a little over a year ago for a camp with hundreds of thousands of somali refugees this is a small number. but u.n. officials say the number of refugees registering to go home is increasing, and only a few are reappearing. >> we in three months repatriated the same number we repate at itted in the whole year of 2015. it is a big step, still people continue to [ inaudible ] to go. so far around 20,000 approach the help desks. >> reporter: there is still a lot of uncertainty and violence in many parts of somalia, and though going back are worried about their safety, but they are also proud to be going home, to rebuild their lives in dignity. catherine soi, al jazeera. the u.n. is setting up a commission to investigate human rights abuses in south sudan

after a u.n. report found atrocities have been committed since the conflict began in late 2013. thousands of people have died in the civil war. more than 2 million have been displaced. the underuphas set up a panel of experts to act on what it says are crimes against humanity committed by north korea. the u.n. council has concluded that north korea has carried out systemic human rights abuses including murder and persecution of political prisoners. pyongyang says it totally rejects the allegations. our china correspondent has visited an island occupied by taiwan. various nations, including taiwan, vietnam, and the mill fiends have territorial disputes

in the south china sea. and they are worried about the construction of artificial islands and runways by the chinese government. adrian brown reports. >> reporter: above the south china sea, heading for a speck of lant. taiwan's government had waited more than 50 years for this moment. to finally allow foreign journalists to see how taiwan is protecting and enforcing its sovereignty. tie ping is very small, just half a kilometer long and is dominated by the runway. to buttress its case, taiwan is spending more than a hundred million dollars upgrading the runway and the port. >> this is a natural formed island. sustainable and good for the

living of the people according to international law, so the island enjoys the -- the rights of the island. it's not a rock. >> reporter: the tour was to try to prove that life here is becoming sustainable. the population is now almost 200. coast guard personnel mostly, as well as a few scientists and medical staff. this doctor will spending eight weeks year. >> lonely sometimes. but that's okay. i think two months is a -- a great period, not too long, not too short. >> reporter: taiwan's government says its sovereignty claim grants it rights over the surroubing waters for around 370 kilometers. that's important because these waters may contain rich reserves of oil and gas. china claims almost all of the south china sea, and claims

taiwan. but china's leaders normally sensitive on issues concerning sovereignty have not objected to what taiwan is doing here. in these disputed waters, the two chinas appear to be on the same side. taiwan's isolated status means that it can't be represented at the united nations or other international bodies that have been trying to resolve the south china sea dispute. this trip was about trying to ensure taiwan's voice is also heard. adrian brown, al jazeera. it was a military rule where thousands were killed or went missing in argentina the u.s. president barack obama will mark the 40th anniversary of what people there call the dirty war. activists want him to declassify files which are suspected to show u.s. involvement. our correspondent has more from buenos aires. >> reporter: it has been 40 years since argentina was ruled

by a military. a time when those who opposed the regime was systemically disappeared. >> translator: my husband was kidnapped and i was pregnant so my mother started to participate in protests. she was taken too. i never saw her again. >> reporter: she has been trying to find what happened to her husband and her mother for decades. she says the u.s. has information that would have saved her years of pain. >> translator: we now know that the u.s. government knew about what was happening. some bodies were found in 1978. those dead persons had been kidnapped with my mother. it would have saved me a lot of time if i had known back then that she was dead. >> reporter: this used to be a clandestine detention center.

hundreds of people were detained and tortured here. this paper says the united states was also part of the dictatorship. human rights organizations are saying barack obama is not welcome here, because they are not willing to forgive or forget the role the united states played at the time. many of those killed in the '70s and '80s were victims of the condor plan, where latin america dictatorships persecuted opponents around the world. this man has been investigating the plan for years, and is impressed by the amount of knowledge the u.s. had about what was happening. >> translator: henry kissen jer said if you have something to do, do it fast. it's impressive how much knowledge they had. >> reporter: argentina's human rights secretary says that finding out the truth will help argentina move forward. >> translator: opening all of the archives will help us. the more we know about what

happened will help us unite. hiding the truth only generates more pain. >> reporter: she was able to find her mother's remains in a mass grave in 2005. but the hope is that the release of new u.s. documents will help find others. aircraft experts say debris found on a beach in mozambique is very probably from the malaysian airlines flight which disappeared two years ago. pieces of metal discovered by a teenager on holiday are part of the boeing 777. the flight with 239 people on board went missing after taking off from cakuala lumpur. still to come, celebrating a hindu festival in a muslim-majority country. and in sport, we'll have the

reaction to the news that the dutch football great has passed away.

♪ sana'a is here with an update on the sports stories. >> thank you very much, dareen. one of football's greatest-ever players has died at the age of 68. he was a brilliant forward and iconic player for the netherlands, and barcelona. >> reporter: in an era of football that wasn't lacking in

great players, johan cruyff stood tall. the made his name at the amsterdam club he joined on his 10th birthday. he lead the club to three consecutive european cup titles, and formed part of a golden era of football. it was in the 1974 world cup. it was here where his signature move was born. cruyff would lead the netherlands to the final of that tournament. the livly style of play.

then he moved to barcelona for a world record fee. a club he would become a treasured player for, and later managed. he lead the club to four successful la liga titles in the '90s. but his health suffered. he was a heavy smoker before undergoing heart surgery in 1991, and he revealed last year that he was suffering from lung cancer. cruyff's family say he passed away peacefully at his home. he was 68, but his influence on football that has been present for decades will live on for sometime to come. fifa president is among those to pay tribute. johan cruyff:

earlier we spoke to a dutch football journalist, and he says he is a huge loss to dutch football. >> he is basically royalty in this country, so you can imagine the impact people are -- are just really, really sad about it. a lot of famous people have come out and paid their respects to him and his family. before his debut, dutch football had basically no existence, and afterwards he was lauded for its inventiveness and greatness. he was part of a team that was the best of europe at one point. he revolutionized dutch football as a coach as well, and did the same in barcelona of course. he has been known as the most obvious trick that he has done that has become an international icon.

australia is one step closer to the next fifa world cup in russia. they opened the scoring after just two minutes? the latest qualifier. australia went on to win by 7-0. the win means australia needs just a draw against jordan on tuesday to win group b and book a place in the final round. tennis number 1 djokovic has apologized to female tennis players. sexism in tennis has remained the hot topic in miami, the current stop on the pro tour. andy gallagher has more. >> reporter: when it comes to the next generation of female tennis players, the university of miami prides it's a on turning out some of the best new hopefuls. the hurricanes as the team is known put in relentless hours of practice, but the statement from

a former official reverberate across these courts and throughout the sport. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] on my knees and thank god that roger federer and [ inaudible ]. >> i was very surprised that a high-ranking tennis executive would make these type of comments. >> reporter: as a former player and now professor of sport says the timing is deeply troubling. >> it has been a bad year for tennis. we have had to have difficult discussions about match fixing, perform enhancing drugs and now discrimination. so i think this is another good example of why leadership is so important. >> reporter: over the years sexism has reared its ugly head in the sport of tennis, but prize money in major tournaments is now equal.

having said all of that, commenting like the one made in the last few days could set the sport back decades. the women's tennis association says it stands for the principals. >> the women train as hard as the men train, you know? right? and the women are just as professional as the men. so and we talked about the moral part of it. morally it's the right thing to do. >> reporter: djokovic has since apologized. >> we are all part of the same sport. we all contribute in our own special, unique ways. >> reporter: but ever time players or officials make disparaging remarks about female

athle athletes, questions about sexism remain. >> reporter: the russian athlete will be stripped of his gold medal he won in the listen done olympics. the court decided the results should be canceled due to irregularities in their biological pass ports. the nfl are continuing to admit a link between football-related head trauma and brain disease. they had been previously hesitant to do so. but two weeks ago the top officer admitted that there was a link between the game and a condition called cte. >> we think the statement made through jeff miller and others have been consistent with our position for years.

we have funded those studies and support those studies. a lot of the research is still in its infancy, but we're trying to find ways to accelerate that. >> reporter: the world's best golfers are fighting it out. mcelroy was among the winners. spieth also delivered a solid performance. and that's it for me. back to dareen. >> thank you for that update. muslim majority pakistan is for the first time observing the hindu festival as a public holiday. the festival of color as it's known, marks the beginning of spring. >> reporter: the hindu community celebrates the festival of lyings and color all across pakistan.

the mood is certainly more jubilant as a few dozen people come to this small temple. entire families are here, and happy to know that their children don't have to go to school during this holy time anymore. and can take part in the festivities. >> we are very thankful to the pakistan government that they announced holiday for all of our festivals. the minorities feel like they have been blessed by god. >> reporter: the holy festival is deeply embedded in legend, and larges the beginning of spring. these pakistanis say the festival also celebrated the triumph of good over evil. this priest is happy that he can now feel proud of his country. >> translator: we now feel we are also part of pakistan.

after the government gave us what was our right, a public holiday. >> reporter: by announcing a public holiday on easter and [ inaudible ], pakistan is sending a message of tolerance in a country where the minorities feel left out. they showed solidarity with their hindu neighbors. >> translator: many muslims are celebrating holy. and will be celebrating the same with christians and sikh communities. >> reporter: slowly but steadily, holy is becoming more popular in pakistan. festivals aimed at showing people that their strength lies in unity, rich culture diversity, and tolerance for each other. that's it for myself and the team here in doha, but we hand you over to our teams in london. lauren taylor with you in just a

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>> we will be able to see change. the u.n. court centers radovan karadzic to 40 years for genocide and war crimes. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, belgian police are reported to be seeking a second suspect in the metro bombing. pushing back isil, syrian forces fight their way to the gates of the ancient city of palmyra. video emerges which appears to show an israeli soldier shooting dead an