anchor:: first though, international football is reeling, one day after sepp blatter has stepped down, and they are being investigated for widespread corruption. it is said they are now looking into allegations of bribery surrounding the awarding of the world cup to russia and qatar, and in europe, interpol has added several fifa officials to its wanted list, and some of

been accused of overseeing a bride to secure the 2010 world cup for south africa, and today, he said he had no reason to step down. >> there is nothing telling me that i should stay on as secretary-general. i certainly do not feel guilty. i do not feel i have to justify my innocence. anchor: philip is in washington with more on the investigation into fia an-- into fifa. they are widening their net. this could have some serious implications, right? reporter: despite one law enforcement official being quoted by the news agency writers -- reuters, saying that this may be just a matter of time. what the fbi is doing, they are looking closely at the awarding of those two world cup in 2018

and 2022 in russia and qatar. they were awarded to the respective countries in 2010 and, of course, they are the most controversial world cup awarded possibly in the history of football. no denial from the fbi so far and essentially, what we are looking at is the fbi is doing pretty much the same investigation that this was authorities already started a few days ago. we got these were very separate investigations on different matters, and the fbi, the department of justice and the united date looking at what attorney general loretta lynch called and democrats and within -- called endemic corruption, and this is very much at the center of the story and the investigation led by the department of justice and by the

fbi, and the main reason for this is that some of those allegedly actions and some of the alleged corruption went through u.s. banks in the u.s. financial system. that is why the united states believes they have jurisdiction, and that is why the u.s. is investigating all of this. anchor: some believe they also have sepp blatter himself in their sites. philip: when he resigned, maybe he already knew that the noose was tightening, because what the fbi is doing now, according to u.s. media, is looking exclusively at sepp blatter. he is now the subject of a federal corruption investigation by the fbi and federal prosecutors per you he has still not been named as a suspect but that could happen relatively soon, because these are the tactic that the department of

justice and the fbi are using. they are talking to these 14 people who have been arrested since this story broke, and the hope is, pretty much the expectation is that at least one and probably more of those people will start talking about sepp blatter, because one thing for sure, the department of justice and attorney general loretta lynch, they want to take this to the top. they want people to talk openly about sepp blatter and make that link between what the department of justice calls endemic corruption and sepp blatter at the top. they want to take this all of the way to the top, and that, of course, includes the leader of the organization, sepp blatter. anchor: ok, philip crowther from washington, d.c., thank you. we are being joined by a guest

from of mugabe. thank you for being here with us on "france 24." and thoughts now turn inevitably to fifa's future. are we going to see some wrangling to secure a new future?omar: the fact that blatter did not resign, it is basically the 133 members of the fifa group, they did not want one person to be the next president. all of the members and everyone who wanted blatter out, so the plan was all along, when the reelection and then to have someone who is an ally of blatter, and what i have been told by insiders is that the

chief of the asian olympic council is being really campaigned internally by blatter to be the next president. anchor: and there is a certain amount of glee and schadenfreude, if you like. do you think his reputation is deserved? omar: it is difficult to say, because blatter has done a lot of good work around the world. he has taken football around the world. he has taken it to south africa and then he was very instrumental in trying to promote it to the middle east for the first time, and going between israel and palestine all great work. there is the media circle and everything, corruption and bribery cases.

there is too much in the media so it is difficult to say. talking about what he has done for the game, and then there are some that talk about what is going wrong with fifa around the world, so judging blatter's legacy not fifa. anchor: that is right, and talking about endemic corruption that is not good for the game, is it? omar: no, and not for the fans, and we are hearing that they are denying the bribery. they are claiming it was some kind of payment for some program , and then interpol, jack warner, another fee for official -- fifa official, i do not know

how to put it. it is really bad for the game and four foot wall around the world. -- for football around the world. anchor: omar al raisi, thank you. taking a look back at the unfolding of events. reporter: wednesday in may, the troubles for sepp blatter several arrested on charges of racketeering and corruption and money laundering, the fbi and justice department accusing them and several others of being involved in a bribery scheme worth more than $150 million over the past decades. fifa says it is cooperating. >> this is good what happens. it confirms that we are on the right track. reporter: moments later swiss police launched their own investigation, looking at the 28

teen and 2022 world cups allocated to russia and qatar. sepp blatter is seeking a fifth term. his jordanian rival says he is ready to fight for the job. >> we are ready for a change, to have. reporter: and he is not the only one to call for blatter's resignation. another turned against his long-term friend. >> i am disgusted. i am sick of all of this, and i have had enough. enough is enough. >> blatter is defiance, and the elections go ahead, and the prince decides to throw in the towel. >> mr. blatter is reelected on 22019. reporter: blatter earned the

nickname of the godfather in the press. on tuesday, his deputy, jerome v is linked to a paymentalcke, -- jerome valcke is linked to a payment. >> although the members of fifa have reelected me as president this mandate is not afforded by everyone in the world of football. reporter: sepp blatter will remain in charge until you elections. and in ukraine, some of the worst fighting. pro-russian separatists clashing in the east of the country.

kiev says a rebel attempt has been thwarted. we have the story. reporter: these low level excursions, they defy the cease-fire. showing rebels engaged in intense gunbattles, and a separatist commander insists his fighters were not responsible for any new offenses. this is leaving 15 people dead. but the ukrainian military remains adamant it is russian bank to fighters that launched into their territory just west of the stronghold of donetsk. >> at 3:00 in the morning, the enemy started a massive shelling using heavy weapons around the area. tanks, mortars, and artillery were used. the enemy was trying to advance

but we successfully held the position. reporter: they also confirmed an attempt by pro-russian separatists had been halted for now. they officially remain in place, but a new wake of violence will severely test us once more. among the latest victims, two civilians killed in the luhansk region when they were hit by heavy shelling. anchor: two diving -- guarding pyramid's were shot. one of the officers was killed on the shot, while the other died in hospital. jihadists have greatly attacked them since the ouster of mohamed morsi back in july 2013. and there have been angry protests in shanghai after a fe

rry disaster on the yangtze river. only 14 people have been rescued. reporter: this but for news, they descend on the main square, demanding information from a local government. a quarter of those traveling on the eastern star, from the city. >> nobody came to us. there is nothing. you can see all around there are only policeman. i do not know what they are doing. reporter: there are those who want to stage a protest, and they are ushered away by police. some say they fear the police. >> today, we have seen many people here, and they have taken photos of me. i reckon i am already on the

blacklist, which is ok, because i do not have any family left. reporter: an official visited again, and the yangtze river downstream, it is believed many bodies may have been far from where the ship overturned, but some who travel to the nearest town say they only hear of developments through state media. >> at the moment, we know absolutely nothing. we want to go to the site, but we can't. we want to cb latest develops, but they tell us all the same, to watch it on tv. x -- reporter: they say they are not making unreasonable demands. they just want to know if their loved ones are alive or dead. anchor: a new visit by the king of spain, attending a commemoration for those who fox in the second world war, and at the time were the skeptics are

on the rise comments he told lawmakers that they need more. king: as a friend and it myra of your country i want to say that without france, there would be no europe. without a confident france, a france that has values and continues to defend them, the world and europe would lose a precious reference, a fundamental reference. we want more of france to remember that critical thinking is the best way to protect ourselves from totalitarian philosophies of all kinds. reporter: now, as the fifa scandal continues, bringing together firmer -- former foes. a final score four-one, americans, and this is the latest step to renewing ties

between the two countries, the u.s. and cuba, after 50 years of hostility. reporter: despite a downpour, soccer fans refused to let the rain dampen their enthusiasm. international goodwill was on display as cubans wave to the american flag, and the u.s. national anthem played before the match, something unheard of in cuba. the cause of all of the cheer? a friendly soccer match between new york and the cuban national team. it is the first visit to the island by a u.s. professional sports team since the two countries announced they would restore long severed diplomatic ties, even though the cause most ended up winning, but cuba still saw a silver lining. >> to me, the game seemed very in point. sports can be meaningful relations between the two countries.

i think it is something all cubans are looking for. >> that they can come here and play and that we are spectators it is a great idea. reporter: thousands came out to cheer them on, including soccer legend pele. the improved relations marked the real win. anchor: the headlines this hour, as fifa's troubles continue with the fbi investigating the next world cup in russia in 2018 and guitar in 2022. clashes erecting in eastern ukraine between government troops and pro-russian separatists, the worst in three months. kiev is blaming a rebel attempt to take a town, and is greece finally close to a deal with europe over its debt crisis? french president françois hollande has been pressing for an end to the gridlock as greece

goes towards default. well, let's get the latest on that now. marcus is here with the business news. gridlock, that has been the situation between greece and the others. are we any closer to a deal this wednesday? marcus: this wednesday, the greek prime minister and the greek government, they have taken their bid for this, and prime minister alexis tsipras is there, holding talks with head of the european commission jean-claude juncker, and others also in the room. a 7 billion euro lifeline for greece is in the balance. without that money they will have trouble paying their debts, but differences remain with what creditors want in return. before leaving for brussels, the

prime minister called on editors to be realistic. let's listen in. alexis tsipras: today, it is important for the institutions and leadership. they are negotiating the rights of the greek people for the benefit of the united europe, which today is more necessary for the people than ever before. markus: he set a deal could be days away. they are looking at an agreement later in brussels. we spoke to a correspondence, who was also in the belgian capital, and he outlined the divisions that still need to be overcome. reporter: i think there are still quite huge differences. you have to remember they have been trying to bridge the gap for the past three months. now we know, for instance, that the objectives on the budget

surplus are not the same. 42015, the greek bond, 0.8, the europeans now at 1%, and it is even a wider gap for next year. we know that the greeks propose to speed up the reforms and a curb on early retirement, but what we do not know is if the greeks are ready to accept what the europeans and the imf really want, which is labor reform and pension reform, and that is going to be the main topic of the discussions tonight. markus: i reporter from brussels. moving on global growth is slowing down, with a forecast being cut. organization says the u.s. is weighing on the global picture. the american economy slowed in

the first quarter of the year because of harsh winter weather which, for example, kept shoppers home, which brought down consumption. the organization says more action is needed globally to incite businesses to boost investment. taking a look at the businesses, they now expect 3.1% global growth, which is down from almost 4% previously. the u.s. growth figure was the biggest casualty, so to speak in comparison to a previous forecast from two months ago. the european forecast looks stable this year at 1.4%, and the china growth rate was downgraded ever so slightly from 7% to 6.8%. china is pretty close to the target that has been set up by the chinese government for this year. now, the federal reserve has said that there are signs that the american economy is picking up again during this current quarter after the weakness we saw from january to march.

that maybe helping stock markets. we are seeing gains on american stock markets with a little bit less than 14 minutes to go of this trading day. a recent batch of economic data there was optimism that there will be a greek debt deal. the dow jones industrial average up about half of 1% this hour, the nasdaq performing very similar to the dow jones industrial average, and the s&p 500 up about 3/10 of a percent. we also saw a pretty upbeat mood in the market this session. with, of course, the focus on greece and an index up nearly 4% at the end of the trading day, and investors also digested the most recent policy-setting meeting at the european central bank. the european central bank at decided to keep its benchmark interest rates at the record low

, which was largely expected there by investors. let's move onto some other market news now. saudi arabia signaling it is not ready to bow to pressure from other opec members to cut oil production. there was an opec form in the anna with a closely watched policy-setting meeting set for friday. we have more details. -- there is an opec forum scheduled with a closely watched policy-setting meeting set for friday. >> looking at prices. the saudi oil minister is speaking at a time when prices have rebounded from hitting six-year lows in january. his position is supported by three other gulf states, which represent a huge state in their output, but all of the 12 member

cartel countries are in favor of keeping production levels unchanged. >> we prefer to maintain a comfortable price level of over $100 per barrel. reporter: saudi arabia maintains holding off supplies is knocking back competition, particularly u.s. shale, but it's strategy may have to change once i ran get back on the market. if there is a new deal at the end of june. markus: let's bring you up-to-date with a few other stories. a government meeting during which the future of a state owned nuclear company was discussed. they had been bleeding money and it is believed to need as much as 7 billion euros to survive. they say the state is ready to recapitalize areva and they may have someone by the reactor

business. an airbus has more on the crash of their transport plane in spain. three out of every your failed shortly after takeoff. they say the problem is likely a technical blog. four crew members were killed, and there are also fears of cost overruns. it was brought into service in 2013, delayed, and billions over budget. and high hopes to land a fourth export order for fighter just before the end of the year. after a long situation, and international breakthrough this year since the start of 2015. india,

rom pacifica, this is democracy now! >> the residential school experience is clearly one of the darkest, most troubling chapters in our collective history. in the period from confederation until the decision to close the schools was taken in this country in 1969, canada clearly participated in a period of cultural genocide.