that he will make minimum wage or more in the near future that's our show today. thanks for joining us. the news continues here on al jazeera america. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the al jazeera news hour live from our headquarters in doha with me elizabeth, coming up, in the next 60 minutes, several arrests in brussels after a series of police raids in connection with tuesday's attacks. two prominent turk everywhere journalists are on trial for charge of revealing state secrets. for change and demanded a new cabinet and end to corruption. what they are hoping for talks

in geneva plus why ethiopia's largest community is protesting against the government. ♪ we begin with the latest in the investigation into tuesday's attacks in brussels. several people have been arrested in a series of police raids in the forest suburb of the capitol on friday morning, earlier six people were arrested in raids in other parts of the city, the suburb was on lock down as police searched an apartment and boxes of evidence were seized as part of the probe into the i.s.i.l. suicide bombers that killed at least 31 people and wounded hundreds and people found access to their homes blocked. >> translator: i was coming back from school and found the entire area locked so i couldn't

get home and i asked and said police have to do work here and i don't know what is going on. i live close to here, next to number 20 where they searched the house. >> reporter: meanwhile najim laachraoul the brother of one of the suicide bombers has spoken out about his shock and sadness after the attacks and says najim laachraoul who degreed electronics did not show signs of being radicalized and he asked his face not to be shown. >> translator: he was a nice boy, clever, there you are. that is how i will remember him. i'm sad, overwhelmed and touched by what happened. i couldn't believe it was him but well there you have. as my lawyer said we don't choose our family. it was us who had to tell the police. they didn't know. after the paris attacks our house was searched, nothing more. it's over. i will try to turn the page. what is done is done.

>> reporter: well for more on this we are joined by correspondent paul brennan and we are hearing more waves this morning. >> reporter: yes, we've had as you know six raids, six arrests which took place last night, that is thursday night into friday. a series of raids across a wide area of the brussels and surrounding suburbs. places like sky beck and yeta and three arrests in brussels outside the federal prosecutors office and one arrested in the burrow of brussels itself and will be more information released by the federal prosecutor some point during this morning on those. this morning we heard of yet more arrests and yet more raids in a district called forest. the prosecutors so far only saying that several raids and several arrests without being specific about the numbers were promising more details when they

are able to clarify the situation. as far as the people who were arrested yesterday, they will now have to go before an investigative magistrate and rule on whether or not there is sufficient evidence to press charges or continue with their detention and that will be sorted out during the course of the next couple of hours. >> and, paul, how are people feeling and two suspects of course remain at large i believe, more raids, more arrests and more information being revealed about the attacke attackers? >> reporter: yeah, there was the initial grief and shock clearly after thursday's blasts. people very, very unsure. but the city of brussels itself is returning to some degree of normality. the metro stations have largely opened. i have to say the security measures here in the city center have relaxed a little bit just in the last 24 hours. sold dpers are no soldiers no longer wearing hard helmets and wearing berets and security

checks at the metro stations eased up a bit as well. people are moving from shock and sorrow to a certain amount of defiance and anger so i think the belgium people are in a transition period at the moment. >> paul thank you very much for that. that is paul brennan with the latest from brussels. and much of the investigation into the attacks in paris and brussels have centered on the molenbeek area and jackie roland went to find out more about the area. >> reporter: gained a certain reputation, yes, there are challenges, poverty, unemployment, a young population but it was by no means inevitable that salah abdeslam and some of his friends would be tempted by a message of mass violence. there are more than 20 mosques and informal pray rooms here, that is quite a concentration in one neighborhood but it doesn't

provide many clues as to why young people are being radicalized. >> translator: the recruiters have known for a long time they are not welcome in the mosques, no one is listening to them, if you say to someone i want your son to go to syria for jihad everyone says go away and mosques have nothing to do with this. >> reporter: these days young people are more likely to be approached away from the mosque. maybe on the football picture in a cafe. she runs a youth problem at the town hall. she says young people are most vulnerable to i.s.i.l. messaging when they are in their early 20s and trying to find their way in life. >> translator: recruiters move under the radar and usually not from here but in the area where young people hang out and spot the ones who look angry or fragile and approach them carefully pretending to be friendly and eventually start

talking about syria and draw them in. >> reporter: the revelation that some of the paris and brussels bombers lived here is hurting a whole community. the negative stereotypes that many people have about molenbeek are part of the problem and imagine you are a young person who just finished school or maybe you got good grades but an employer sees the word maalbeek on your cv and that is the end of your chances. here is one local man who decided to go against that trend. he has opened an organic cafe with a difference offering salami and meats to muslim and non-muslim clientele. >> translator: because i'm from molenbeek i work through poverty and get ahead and improve their lives. >> reporter: it's an alternative vision to the one pushed by i.s.i.l. recruiters. the idea that you can be a full european citizen while still being proud of your own culture

and heritage. jackie roland, al jazeera, molenbeek. a man suspected of planning attack in the country, a french national taken in custody on thursday in one of paris northern suburbs and interior minister says preparation for final attacks were in the final stages. >> translator: this raid followed important information issued by the interior security general which allowed us to conduct advanced mission. this individual is a french national, he is suspected of being an accomplice in his terrorist plan and no link to the previous attacks in paris and brussels and interrogation is going to close in on this criminal organization and people who are accomplices. >> reporter: let's move on to the other news now and thousands of iraqis are in baghdad to urge the prime minister to form a new cabinet. supporters of iraq's cleric are

calling for an end to corruption, tens of thousands of people have turned up and want prime minister abadi to replace some ministers and more on this developing story later on in the news hour. now, i.s.i.l. fighters are losing ground in two countries iraq and syria. the iraqi army says it has begun offensive against the group in mosul as part of a wider plan to retake the providence of naniva and fell to i.s.i.l. forces in june 2014 and forces backed by air strikes are battling to retake palmyra and took the important city last may and recapture would be a significant victory for president assad's forces and mohamed reports. >> reporter: these pictures broadcast on syrian state television are said to show a significant advance. syrian government forces fighting to recapture the historic city of palmyra from

i.s.i.l. and planes and helicopters flying overhead as soldiers approached on the ground, observatory for human rights said they fled after they told them loudspeakers that fighting was drawing near. but i.s.i.l. is resisting claims it's losing palmyra and quickly released the video shows the fighters driving around parts of the city as syrian government troops advance. some analysts believe the syrian government advance will be a morale booster. >> given all the bad news coming out of europe and focus on i.s.i.s. and the terrorist organization this focuses attention at i.s.i.s. as the military operation as a state and failed state at this point of time and u.s. and russia seem to be working cleesely together in terms of air strikes and diplomatic channels in geneva a setback for i.s.i.s. and not the end yet but seems to me to be the beginning of the end. >> reporter: includes a unesco world heritage site and captured the historic city in may and

began a campaign of mass executions and destroyed ancient sites and it's situated on a desert highway in central syria, strategically located between the government held capitol of damascus and i.s.i.l. stronghold of dizur and government control of palmyra would cutoff a supply root and ceasefire of forces and opposition rebel factions significantly reduced violence but excludes el nusra front and i.s.i.l. considered terrorist groups by the syrian government and withdrew forces from syria after launching air strikes for six months. but this is evidence that the government of syrian president bashar al-assad is still making advances, mohamed with al jazeera. more on the situation in syria we are joined by the turkey-syria border, omar? >> reporter: yes, we heard from

mohamed the continuation of fighting in parts of syria, those parts of syria are not in the truce because it involves fighting i.s.i.l. the over all level of violence has dropped dramatically on sunday, one month of truce will come into effect. now the truce idea is first to stop the level of violence and to try to decrease it and also to allow much needed aid. well now to discuss the situation the humanitarian situation in syria i'm joined now by mohamed and you are from the syrian american medical association, if i ask you one month of truce, how did it affect the flow of aid to besieged areas inside syria? >> with the besieged areas in syria and besieged people and not enough to respond to those people because the need is too

huge. until now deliveries prevented by u.n. damascus and not enough because the majority of the besieged area are non-government areas. and u.n. and damascus don't have good access for area and assistance for the people on the ground. until now all the convoys which entered and respond for 32% for u.n. and 32% of besieged people it's not quantity or quality or component until now and the war sector was not involved in those so people there don't have clean water and basically for the local community like heating and fuel. >> is the syrian government cooperating with the u.n. to allow the flow of aid to besieged area from your observation? >> from our observation comparing with 2015 it's 10% of

the request were approved by 90% were rejected now. there is about 50% of the requests were approved during 2016. it's very little which is not enough to respond to such a huge disaster that people are living in besieged areas sd thank you. >> thank you very much and you heard right there the situation is dire from the humanitarian point of view. now i've been speaking to syrians and turkey has more than 2.2 million refugees and there are also people inside syria. the overall opinion about the peace talks or the truce remain in doubt. it's almost a month since the start of the truce which appears to be holding. leaving the city of aleppo bustling with people and where scenes of relative ease and calm. talks in geneva to find the political solution have

adjourned without major breakthrough. and he is not convinced it will work at all. >> translator: we hope god brings peace but if we waited for geneva and europeans it will take us long. >> reporter: others think the negotiations should have one outcome. >> translator: if there is some humanity left in those leaders in geneva they need to do something. it should lead to return of refugees and won't happen unless bashar al-assad and his gang leaves. >> reporter: neighboring turkey over 2.5 million syrian refugees and few have plans to return any time soon. this restaurant and cafe is where many syrians gather. these opposition activists have differing political views but they all share deep trust towards international community. >> translator: if the international community hadn't left the assad regime killing syrians until today there would

have been no i.s.i.l. or other fan atic factions. >> translator: if you ask a young syrian man in the street are they able to remove bashar al-assad and they will say yes in one phone call, we home the international community wakes up and doesn't look for interests, it's in their hands to stop the blood bath. >> reporter: the truce has reduced the level of violence and bombardment. but crucially it's also restored regular peaceful protests. >> translator: the revolution's anniversary came at a time where the civil activity of the revolution was restored after we lost it. the truce gave it a little lifeline. i fear it won't last long. >> reporter: the war, the truce and the talks are likely to drag on. most syrians are resigned to watching through the haze. they know their future will ultimately be decided by politicians in a distant land.

>> reporting on the turkey-syria border there. we have a lot more coming up, on the news hour. the latest on the investigation in the killing of italian student in egypt. and in sport football worldwide pay tribute to dutch great, the man who revolutionized the sport. ♪ to turkey now where two journalists are on trial in is-istanbul for press freedom in the country and they published a story alleging that turkey was arming rebel groups in syria. they are being charged with trying to over throw the government and with revealing state secrets. more on this let's go to our correspondent harry faucet, he is outside the courthouse in istanbul and what has been happening there, harry?

>> reporter: well, the trial is underway. it has been going all morning. it has been based on an argument about whether this trial should be held in public or not. and within the last few minutes the judge in the case decided it won't be, that the public and the media will be barred from the courtroom during these proceedings. it all centers as you say around a story published by the newspaper of which mr. dundar is editor in chief and the other is the anchor bureau chief. it was published last may using video to show what they said was a shipment of arms coming from the intelligence service here in turkey, going south into syria to arm what they call jihad rebels and government denied this and said this was a cargo bound for ethnic turkmen's inside syria and president of turkey said he personally would pay a heavy price and the government brought against these

two men charges are trying to over throw the government of espionage and aiding a terrorist group. pretrial detention was ended in february when the constitutional court said their rights had been infringed upon and before he went into the courtroom he said that he hoped that in this case the judge would find similarly. >> we are so confident about the occasion of the court because the condition of the court has already said that this news is not an act of terrorism but it's an act of journalism so this judge we hope that will approve this decision and drop the case. >> reporter: we are taking you live to brussels now where prime minister michelle and u.s. secretary of state john kerry are meeting and have been meeting and are addressing media

following tuesday's attacks in brussels and let's listen in. and we will go back to that news conference when we have translation for the belgium prime minister. let's listen in. . >> translator: to deal with this at the international level with the united states and the whole international that fight against da'esh. belgium has initiated an investment plan at the end of

last year and we wish to remain loyal partners with the u.s. in the case of an agreement with the netherlands, we will debate in the government nl the parliament whether the parliament whetheri the parliament whethn the parliament whether we are completely convinced together that the challenge that we are facing is the challenge of defending our communial values. democra democracy, we share their

conviction that freedom, tolerance, diversity are all virtues we must defend. and we have the opportunity to reaffirm these fundamental values today. the alliance between europe and the u.s. has been important throughout history. we must keep up our level here in belgium of this partnership with the u.s. the victims of these attacks in brussels on north are victims. i want to express sympathy on behalf of belgium of u.s.

victims of the attacks. these are all the things i wanted to tell you and to receive today your support. and also just to say i'm so grateful for the friendship that the u.s. has offered us particularly after the attacks.

so we are listening to the belgium prime minister charles michel standing next to secretary of state john kerry and let's listen. >> good afternoon and i want to begin thanking prime minister michel for remarks and especially his leadership in this challenging moment and please to be here also with my friend and counterpart the foreign minister of belgium. on behalf of president obama, aball of the american people, i offer our deepest condolence to

the people of belgium and to all of the families, all those individuals who suffered inconceivable loss in the last few days. the united states i want you to know is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those who have bp very cruelly taken from us including americans and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks. as i told foreign minister on tuesday when we talked by telephone the united states stands firmly behind belgium and with the nations of europe in the face of this tragedy. we join you in thanking the very brave first responders who rushed to the scene on a moment's notice in order to care for the wounded and to save lives. and we will continue to provide any assistance necessary in

investigating these heinous acts of terrorism and brentinging bringing those responsible to justice. in america we remember very clearly how in the days after 9/11 belgium and other europeans came together around in this city, around the events of world trade center and you showed your solidarity with us, with the victims in new york and washington and pennsylvania. and then voices all across europe declared so now we declare it. those whose lives were torn apart this week were not combatants in any kind of conflict. they pose no threat. they wish no one any harm.

they were simply going about their lives. airport and subway workers, peruvean mother of twins training to be a chef, an american personal trainer flying home for easter, an indian employee of a high-tech firm, morman niche arteries and public servants and missionaries and these people, innocent people with the twisted killers who planted the bombs and terrorists whose sole aim was to kill and maim and sew fear. they are in the sharpest relief possible we see in that the difference between life and death. between decency and evil. and between civilization and

those who revel in destruction and we all of us representing countless nationalitys have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here or in paris or in ankara in tunis, san bernardino or elsewhe elsewhere, we will not be intimated. we will not be deterred. and we will come back with greater resolve, with greater strength and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nealistic beliefs and cowardess from the face of this earth. da'esh has claimed responsibilities for these attacks but there is not a government on earth that supports the terrorists of da'esh, not one. in fact, a coalition of 66

nations, including belgium, stands united against them. and the very reason that da'esh is resorting to actions outside of the middle east is that its fantasy is collapsing before their eyes. it's territory is shrinking everyday. its leaders are being decimated, its revenue sources are dwindling and its fighters are fleeing. so as we have said many times, president obama, myself and others, our mission to defeat and destroy da'esh is not going to be accomplished overnight. it's going to take some time and patience and persistence. it will require resources and commitment and cooperation across many cultures and beliefs and the recognition that this is, in fact, truly a global challenge. but i am absolutely confident that we will be successful and there are so many measurable

ways of which we have already been rising to meet this particular challenge. it's also important that we respond to the killers inhumanity by underscoring our own basic decency and humanity ourselves. we should learn from the example of an american doctor, laura billing who had just left the airport here in brussels when she and a friend heard the bombs go off. she ran to a nearby police station and started to triage victims. she tended to any victims who came through the door. doing what she could to treat shrapnel wounds and burns and other injuries she had never seen before. she had a few supplies, very few, but that didn't matter to her. there are people hurt she said. and i'm going to help these

people. i am going to help these people. no statement could be simpler and yet no statement could really be more powerful. no commitment could be more directly opposite to what da'esh and similar groups represent. mr. prime minister, your nation has suffered a cruel and unfair tragedy this week. people are hurt. but we are all of us going to help. no act of terror can undermine the foundation of our friendship or the values that define our alliance. our fundamental openness, tolerance and diversity and pursuit of justice, our dedication to preserving the blessings of freedom for ourselves, our children and generations to come. on tuesday lives were viciously cut short and hundreds were

injured. it is with irreplaceable loss in mind we will renew or vow to come together against a common enemy in order to keep our people safe and it is with their memory in our hearts that we must always stand in solidarity as friends, as allies and partners. so we have been listing to u.s. secretary of state john kerry now speaking in french alongside the belgium prime minister charles mechel and have held a meeting following tuesday's

deadly attacks in brussels. let's do to our correspondent paul brennan joining us live from brussels and has been listening in, very much a message of solidarity there, paul, both by prime minister michel and u.s. secretary of state john kerry and two the united states and belgium really stand together against these attacks. >> reporter: indeed. the message is that came from the news conference were very much expected but nonetheless very much welcome to the people here in belgium and in paris as well i expect. what they said in the news conference it was unscheduled visit by john kerry and he wasn't scheduled to come here but he changed his schedule to make this visit. he said the deepest condolence to the people of belgium. he said the u.s. is praying and grieving with you. many went to the nuts and bolts of the assistance that the u.s. is going to offer to belgium and has been offering previously. talked about providing any assistance necessary in

investigating and apprehending those responsible and you will remember that back last week when salah abdeslam was arrested the suspected 10th paris attacker it was made very clear that the u.s. and the uk had been making available certain capabilities from an intelligence point of view to the belgium and one suspects that kind of electronic eavesdropping and surveillance type of capabilities that belgium are not so sharp on but the u.s. and the uk do have. in order to assist the security forces in their effort to try to hoover up all the people who are responsible for this what seems to be quite a wide network of radic radicalization and john kerry talked movingly about people caught up in the blasts and background and variety of nationalitys making it clear it's not just an american or belgium issue, this is an international crisis that has been caused by the bomb blasts in the airport and at maalbeek

station and it is a challenge but have confidence we will succeed. >> paul thank you for that, that is paul brennan with the latest on that news conference from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry and the belgium prime minister charles mark ichel. let's take you back to turkey now and media freedom deteriorated in turkey over the past five years and reporters without borders have ranked the country's press freedom 149th out of 180 nations since 2013 and freedom house grades it as not free, independent agency had a crack down on the media in the third quarter of 2015 with censorship imposed on websites, twitter accounts and news out lets and 24 journalists and distributes in prison during that period and more on this we

are joined with a turkish journalist and founding member of p24 the platform for independent media and joining us live from berlin, and very good to have you with us on al jazeera. i can start by asking you about this case against john dunda and i know you are very familiar with it, does the government have a case? >> well, this is a very clearly a case that has been severely criticized by the lawyers and experts perspective et cetera, et cetera, what is happening, the developing story today, just as you know in between half an hour the court, the judges decided that it would be held on the closed doors, behind closed doors because citing confidentiality of some documents, it's a case that prosecutors are trying and attempting to relate the case to some sort of terror organization link and also spying. this is the latest in the chain of events that is trying to create an equation between

journalism and criminalization and journalism and spying and enemy to the state, et cetera. this is the old pattern of turkey we recognize from the earlier decades and it's now back with full force. >> and i believe as we mentioned, in fact, there are something like more than 30 journalists actually currently in jail in turkey, 13 of them being held in direct retaliation for their work. what is the current state of press freedom in turkey? it's getting so much criticism from rights groups. >> well, i'll give you a concrete example and today's event which has a global news value this court case is not being reported by any t.v. channel in turkey except two sort of very tiny channels, hawk t.v. and another t.v., the rest

of the t.v. channels, more than 20 of them basically ignore the story. and we will see also the reports tomorrow in the large chunk of pro-government press and media either completely ignoring the story or distorting the story in favor of the powers. so this is a sheer example of how the media has been systematically strangled by legal, financial means to nothingness, and this is what the state of turkish media is as of today. >> are those media organizations is it getting such little coverage in turkey because we had seen so many especially independent media organizations being closed down under the current government, why are we seeing the state of press freedom, media freedom deteriorate like it is in turkey? >> well, it goes in two ways.

what we see very clearly in the past four years or so is a systematic, constant sort of calculated assault on two main pillars of any democratic society, the judiciary and state the media. the judiciary and also the main bulk of the media institutions have now been forced to be subordinated, to be submissive and this is where we have the diminishing of separation of forces and the state as an independent and free voice and platform for public debate. this is what brings turkey much closer in an accelerating speed to the central asian caucasian domain rather than bringing it closer to european union or western domains. it's a country now shifting with

accelerating speeds to the values that will bring it down to third or fourth rate of families or countries where there are almost no press freedom at all. this is where we are heading i'm afraid. >> in the mean time turkey wants a bid for eu membership accelerated and all right we have to leave it there with our turkish journalist joining us live from berlin, thank you very much for your time, we appreciate it, thank you. now, egyptian police released photographs of some of the belongings of the italian student found murdered, police say they found his student id and passport when they raided a gang who had been posing as police officers. and his badly tortured body was discovered on a cairo back street in january and he was there to research trade unions. the largest ethnic group and rights groups say 200 may is

been killed in a crack down by security forces and charles stratford reports. >> reporter: she and her eight-year-old brother say they were shot in their legs. it happened during a crack down on an anti-government demonstration near their house last month. >> translator: i was in the backyard walking to the house when i was shot. my brother was in the house. i couldn't walk. i was bleeding. then i was hit again. when i was on the ground i felt the pain and my brother came to help me and he was shot too. >> reporter: despite the ethiopian government crack down sporadic protests continue and anger with the largest ethnic group response by the government so forced integrated development plan. the government says it wants to improve roads, development and services in the aromia region and they say it's a land grab. the government has now cancelled the plan and says it wants to consult them on how to move

forward but the people have for decades accused the government of corruption and ignoring their rights. have been protests in towns and villages across here, the largest region in ethiopia stretching hundreds of meters around the capitol. local and foreign journalists suffered intimidation and have been detained. and some local journalists we have spoken to said they are too afraid to try and cover the crisis and human rights investigators say they are literally putting their lives at risk trying to gather accurate information. rights abuse investigator insisted we hide his identity. >> translator: it's very dangerous. everybody is living in fear. they inprison everyday and doing this work is like selling my life. >> reporter: this lawyer describes what he says are testimonies from families of the dead. >> many of those people were killed after the protests took

pla place. many people were shot in the back and some shot in the head which shows it is demonstrated and corroborates the reports we had from the victims' families. >> reporter: the government says the claims are exaggerated. >> people whether they are civilians or official whose have been involved in excessive use of force for example will be held responsible. >> reporter: they recover at home, young people here say suffer the consequences of demanding a better life, charles stratford, al jazeera. now brazil's president is warning any attempt of removing from power illegally would leave lasting scars on brazilian democracy, a mass march is held in south palo in support of dilma rousseff and refusing to resign and denies fraud in the

biggest ever corruption scandal in brazil and congress is threatening to impeach dilma rousseff involving billions of dollars of the giant company petrol brass and will appeal the 40 year sentence for genocide and war crimes and he was found guilty of 10 of 11 charges at the international tribunal for the former yugo and nationalists protested the sentence and people in belgrade said it was against all people and he was convicted because he is an serb. good friday observed by roman catholics around the world and include 19 million in the catholic philippines and easter weekend and elections due in may are on the minds of many as we report. >> reporter: the philippines has one of the largest christian communities in asia pacific and

19 million population, the large majority are roman catholic and many are attending services in cathedrals like this where family groups are now gathering for concession and also to meet friends. here they get a chance to commemorate the suffering that jesus christ faced during this period in history where he was incarcerated, condemned and then crucified. and it gives the philippines to reflect on what jesus christ went through and opportunity for them to reflect on a positive future for the philippines. >> translator: i'm praying for trouble free election and for people to elect the right person. >> everybody is displaying and this is the time for repent and everybody is looking forward for 2016. >> translator: i'm praying for progress and that the next president will prioritize the needs of the poor. >> reporter: it gives

opportunities for the philippines to reflect on the crisis and lead up and build up to the addresses that we expect to hear on easter sunday from the heads of the christian church, the angelo church and uk and philippines here predominately catholic will listen to what the roman catholic pope has to say, pope francis, a message on sunday which we assume will be one of peace, tolerance and a prosperous future for the global community. >> reporter: coming up, in the news hour the "rolling stones" roll into rock cuba. 55 years after communist leader banned rock music. and in sport the man everyone in basketball wants to emulate finally meets his match. ♪

defeated in the ground and they lose more and ♪ it's time for the sports news now. >> thank you very much elizabeth and yohan remembered as a man who changed the way the world saw football and the netherlands in the barcelona great dies on thursday, age 68 and we have more. >> reporter: the move that changed football, between the netherlands and sweden at the 1974 world cup, a turn and the name of yohan was known across the world with silky football

skills mimic. 43 years later he is remembered as a man who changed football. flags were lowered at the headquarters of the dutch club he joined on his tenth birthday and outside the amsterdam home he was born in floral tributes from fans young and old. >> in the states i watched him play. we are the best and we got the best player in the world and it was like watching ballet. >> reporter: he had a golden era of dutch football and held three consecutive european cup titles between 1971-1973 and netherlands to the final of the world cup a year later. although they were beat by west germany total football had been born, a dynamic style of play that still echoes across football today. >> translator: the whole world knew him and through him knew the.n the netherlands and dutch

football. >> reporter: applause at the 14th minute, the number matching the jersey he made famous. ♪ f silence though at barcelona, the club he joined for then world record of a fee of $2 million in 1973. later as a manager he led the team to four consecutive la-league title z and the first european cup trophy in 1992. >> the most important person in the history of football worldwide and also barsa. >> translator: all barcelona has been achieving is because of him, a person who changed the way of thinking in barcelona football and loved by everybody in football. >> reporter: his health also suffered, he was a heavy smoker before under going heart surgery 1991 and he revealed last year that he was suffering from lung cancer. his family say he passed away peacefully at his home in

barcelona. yohan was 68 but his influence on football that has been present for decades will live on for sometime to come. footballers unable to play at home because of the turmoil in their country but the team are on track to advance to the next stage of the qualifying for the world cup and flashed 6-nil and temporary home venue and won six of seven qualifying and one point behind japan in group e and they meet next week and the game will decide who clinchs the automatic spot in the final round of qualifiers. and reached the final stage of qualifying for the first time since 2002, 2-2 with iraq in to seal progression and it's a good time for football in the country and the manchester city are toppling the english premier

league. world cup qualifying games have been taking place across south america as well and argentina came from behind to beat chile 2-1, cambodia and columbia defeated bolivia with a stop time winner and ecuador lead the qualifying and drew here with paraguay and shared points with peru and venezuela as well. and brazil will also be in action on friday, they are currently fifth in the qualifying standings with two wins from four, they are hosting iriguay with an international return after the ban he received for biting during the 2014 world cup. pakistan's cricket has taken on australia right now in a game crucial to both sides, chances at the world 2020 championships. both teams need to win if they are to stay in contention for the semi finals and bowlers have applied plenty of pressure on these but captain steve smith is doing some late big hitting, the

latest score there is 167 for 4 with two overs remaining. while later the west indies will face south africa in a victory here for the indies they will join new zealand in semi finals and most win and well aware of the threat posed by their opponents. >> that is the thing about us and put a lot on this and it's a good bowl and very deep but for us we are used to the options. >> reporter: on the course on thursday with a back problem and world number two golfer jason day was back in action on day two of the wgc match in texas and surprised himself with 5-3 victory which now puts him in the same position as jordan spieth. world number one spieth who will

defend had a stress free day and 5-4 win on france and mcilroy fought back from behind twice to continue the unbeaten start to his title defense and northern irishman beat smiley coughman. >> i feel like it's hard for the quality to be that good out here today because the wind is gusty and even you see on 17 there i felt like i had a great charge right over the pin and the pitch is 10 or 11 yards big so it was always hard to judge your distance but, yeah, i didn't have my best stuff today but i hung in there and had good shots when i needed to. >> reporter: tennis world one williams started bid for the ninth miami open title, american booked her place in the second round and williams who has not lost in florida since 2012 quarter finals beat opponents kristina in three sets

6-6-3-5-7-6-2 and the ninth consecutive win at this tournament. golden state warriors star player curry has no shortage of achievements under his belt this season but now earned the wax double as well. the basketball star looked impressed as he took selfies with his statute and posed for family pictures, a team of artist and sculptures spent two months making 250 measurements and that is all your sport more me and i hand you back. >> thank you very much. now finally the "rolling stones" are about to rock cuba with their music used to be ban and due on stage on friday night for a massive free concert. cuba's communist revolution leader banned it in 1971 and are ready to show cubans what they have been missing as latin america editor reports from

havana. >> reporter: until recently this is the closest that a legendary british rock star ever come to cuba and the count down started for the most exciting rock concert in this history, the "rolling stones" are coming and no one wants to miss them. >> translator: when i was her age i dreamed of going to a concert like this but it was never within our reach. >> translator: it is the first time we will see something like this and maybe the last. we want to travel abroad to see them. >> reporter: the famous british rock band brought in 500 tons of equipment and playing before an estimated crowd of hundreds of thousands. ♪ this will be the grand finale of the "rolling stones" latin american tour but only here are they performing for free. ♪ hola cuba.

the stones sent a message on youtube to the cuban people with mick jagger speaking in pretty good spanish saying this was a historic concert and that he hopes the cuban people will see it that way too but practically no one has seen the video because internet access here is so limited. still it will be an extraordinary event in so many ways. >> translator: cuba is not in the circuit of major music tours and you can imagine and also the stones span three generations of fans. >> reporter: it also is worth remembering for decades the beetles and "rolling stones" music was ban by the communist government which called it ideological deviation and president obama's first here earlier this week was also historic. but this concert is left institution and embraced by a rock band that is a living legend which would seem to indicate that culturally cuba is coming full circle. that is it for the news hour

but back for another news bulletin in just a few minutes. ♪

♪ european crack down police in france and belgium on attackers and admit mess stakes mistakes. they step up offensive on i.s.i.l. stronghold. off the court and nba thinks about moving the game and north carolina of passing an antigay law. ♪ and rocking out in cuba, the "rolling stones" get ready to play a historic free concert days after president obama's visit. ♪