being david chater, al jazeera, donetske. >> while david chater was reporting he had to take cover. take a look at that that. >> if you can make out that was the actual base on fire. >> luckily david chater and his crew they're all okay. in fact david continued his reporting. we'll continues the coverage in eastern ukraine. >>> the battle against are rudd and eastern ukraine, given crown another week to pay its bill in full. >>> syrian presidential elections are set for tomorrow but it is feared that violence will keep people from the polls. over the weekend at least 50 people were killed in the embattled city of aleppo. syrian president bashar al-assad is expected to retake presidency. >> most senior most respected international diplomats in the world. former u.n. secretary-general kofi annan and lakhdar you brahimi. brahimi. >> no one is able to keep an accurate count but it is without doubt the most deadly conflict this century. >> the hard work starts now. >> both annan and brahimi's peace efforts were based on a rare moment of international agreement. the geneva accord of june

al jazeera david chater is in luhansk. he was watching the gun battle. >> as you can hear behind me the fierce fire fight going on. heavy explosions, if you can make out that's the actual base on fire. bullets are coming over our heads so we've had to take cover. the camera is still rolling so you can see exactly what is happening. so an increase in the fighting there. we've had a half hour of cease-fire. we thought it was safe. but the bullets are flying at the moment. >> reporting in luhansk. let's get more. kim, we could see in that report from david chater how much the violence is escalating in luhansk. what is happening right now in ukraine? >> reporter: well, i can just tell new the past few moments we've just had confirmation there has been an explosion in the administration building in luhansk. the fighting has spread to the outskirts of the city. that's where the battle began in the early hours of the morning. we understand that there are now as feign as 500 pro russian separatists taking part in this attack. and

here is our correspond effort david chater. >> reporter: after another night of intense clashes in they, some of the girls and boys ended up on this school bus without their mothers. >> translator: who is going to look after them, one woman demanded? >> reporter: they have been driven across the russian border and will be found a safe half then crimea. a last look at the streets in the country where they were born. anxiety etched on their faces, not knowing the dangers they will face to the road ahead but leaving behind a city now engulfed in a war. the bright sunshine belied the somber mood. it was a day filled with funerals. the people of the city and its leaders came to pay their respects to the separatist fighters who died this week defending their self-declared republic. nobody knows how many more candles will have to be lit in memory of the dead here. the ukrainian government are calling their military offensive an anti-terrorist operation. the people here say the real terrorists are the ones now in power in kiev. the base behind me is still refuse to go surrender. they have heav

. >>> let's join david chater live in donetsk, eastern ukraine. even with fukudome there are peace talks or a seize fire it will take a long time before the bad blood of the people in the area goes away. >> reporter: david, that's right. there is a very goose phrase to describe the situation, it's that ukraine's past is always eating its future. now will a 15 minute conversation and a brief handshake mean that ukraine can escape it's a past and find a new and peaceful future? we have to wait and see. i think it's a very good sign that has been a little bit of draw down in luhansk. i think the mood on the ground amongst separatist fighters that i have been with is that this war is going to continues. they are going to continue fighting against the ukraine government because they call them terrorists, they have vowed

david chater reports. >> the latest cruets to ukraine's battle against the separatist uprising in the east. these volunteers have joined the so-called azoff battalion. a special force raised by the interior ministry in kyiv. they're getting basic training in tactics before being sent to the front line in the so-called people's republics bordering russia. >> just behind me is the crimean peninsula. some of the volunteers have come from crimea, come from sweden, come from russia. but the one thing, headquarters in a beach hotel is they believe in national socialism. they're all neofascists. this russian volunteer from the urals has adopted the battle name of uram. >> in another ten years i will not belong in my country. a lot of people will not belong in their country. we'll be like the red indians in america. >> reporter: also among their ranks we found a 52-year-old italian who left behind a wife and child to fight for ukraine. >> my political information, i fight where my comrades are so i felt immediately at home. and they let me feel at home too. >> border guard came under rocket a

david chater has the latest. >> separate uprising in the east. these volunteers have joined the so-called azoff battalion, a special force raised by the administration. just over the horizon behind me is the crimean peninsula, some of the volunteers come from crimea, from sweden and from italy and most surprisingly some of them have come from russia. but the one thread that links all of these men's, getting a crash course in assembling rifles, adopted the battle name of murman. in another ten years i wit willt belong in my country. a lot of people won't belong in their country. we'll be like the red indians in america. >> we found a 52-year-old italian who left behind a wife and child to fight for ukraine. >> for my political information i fight where my comrades are, so i felt immediately at home. and they left me people at home too. >> border guard had quarters in maripole calmer under a rocket attack overnight. this is a city that is supposed to be back kyiv. separatists showed me their fortifications in the old greek quarter of the city. >> t

david chater, al jazeera. >> police used tear gas in sao paulo to break up striking metro workers. it is three days and counting until the start of the world cup. the police were called after protesters started burning garbage on the streets. >> we're outside of the metro station here in sao paolo, and you can see riot police are out in front walking any protesters getting inside the metro station. it's completely shut down because of the metro worker strike. follow me over this way. you'll see what is left from this morning when a couple of hundred protesters mostly university student activists started burning trash in the street completely blocking traffic in this major intersection. that's where riot police come in. tear gas broke the entire thing up. these student protesters were basically showing their support for the metro workers that are on strike. the metro workers are now entering their fifth day of the strike here in sao paulo causing traffic chaos in the city just four days away from the start of the world cup in the city. >> reporting from sao paulo. >>> president obam

a dorm attack by dms our correspondent david chater is in luhansk for us. >> our ukrainian border guard post under attack, the troops inside thought to number around spi have been surrounded -- 70 have been surrounded by a force around 500 strong. ukrainian jet fighters were scrambled flying missions from lu lance -- luhansk. heavy plumes of bill owing smoke are rising. local administration headquarters in the city. one of the many sites that have been taken over by the separatist forces. the mayor has ordered air raid shelters to be opened for civilians as the fighting escalates. the region near russian border northeast of the city of donetske has seen a sharp upsurge of volunteer fighters, helped with ammunition and new weapons. they have sworn to defend the self declared people's republics by ukraine's forces. military mission against them laiblghting them as -- labeling them as terrorists and enemies of the state. it's attacks like these that could endanger that mission with each day that passes. more and more volunteers are coming in. many of them battle-hardened veterans with mili

david chater is in luhansk sending us this report. >> the russians have condemned the deadly attack on the regional headquarters in luhansk. a sukoy jet fighter attacked the building with rockets. this footage shows how the quiet, tree lined square was transformed by deadly cloud of shrapnel. the authorities in kyiv claim it was caused by a missile, deploy deployed by the separatists themselves. five people were killed in the attack and many more were injured. the crowds were angry and wanted their voices to be heard. >> translator: ukraine should stop this war, there should be round-table negotiations. topping the citizens of ukraine will never forget this. >> opened up all air raid shelters in the city which houses more than 400,000 people. instructions are handed out to the population telling them what to do whether the air raid sirens go off. >> it is a tactic that they have used in the middle east and other countries. >> reporter: the american government has accused the russians of committing a war crime here. russian sponsored idea of creating humanitarian corridors to allow fami

david chater, al jazerra luhansk. >>> wounded in a shooting at a university campus in see at.the gunman opened fire and shot four people before attempting to reload his gun. he was then subdued by university personnel with helper spray. police said the 26-year-old suspect appeared to act alone. but had it not been for university staff, it could have been much worse. >> during the incident itself, the subject was armed with a shotgun and a knife. he also had additional round on his person. and but for the great response by the people at seattle pacific university, this incident might have been much more tragic. >>> canadian police have arrested a 24-year-old man they believe killed three police officers. a manhunt has been underway since wednesday night in the city of new bankruptcy quick. people had been advise today stay indoors while the gunman was still on the run. egyptian prosecutors in the trials of three al jazerra journalists have demanded the maximum penalty. they are accused of supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they want seven years in jail for peter and 15

david chater, al jazeera, luhansk. >> accused russia of being behind the trouble in ukraine. barack obama was talking from the g-7 in brussels. from brussels, joe nah howe reports. >> warnings this russia could face more and harsher sanction he over ukraine. but president obama suggested there was a way out. >> the kinds of destabilizing activities that we now see, funded and encouraged by russia, are illegal. and are not constructive. and that there is a path in which russia has the capacity to engage directly with president poroshenko, now, he should take it. >> the leaders have to decide what circumstances might constitute escalation by russia, against their former g-8 member, what circumstances might constitute russian compliance and a genuine deescalation and how to being step up diplomatic efforts in ukraine. those dploito diplomatic effortl continue almost immediately with the leaders of france, britain and jerming any when they gather for -- germany when they gather for d-day events and president barack obama will be there. he says he's got a peace plan to present. ge

david chater thank you. >>> joined by washington, d.c. bi by ambassador kurt voelker. back. president obama seemed to be snubbing president putin before they finally met somewhat informally and had a little bit of time to speak. according to a senior administration official it was something that they expected. how important is it that they were at least able to have that small talk on friday? >> well, you know i think that it doesn't boil down to whether meet. it is the actions that russia is taking and the actions that russia believes united states and europe are taking or not taking as the case may be. we've seen words from putin before about pulling troops back from the border, we've seen words about supporting ukraine but in the end we continue to ground. i don't think the discussions that president obama and president putin had are going to change anything on the ground. we have got to get those actions and push back for the russians to take those actions. >> putin did tell president obama that deescalation meant that russia had to recognize petro poroshenko as ukraine'

if you make out that that is the base on fire. [ gunfire ] >>> fortunately david chater escaped unhurt. i'm joined from washington d.c. from former ambassador to ukraine, vice president for the middle east and africa for the u.s. institute of peace. he was in ukraine at the end of may as an observer for the country's election. good to see you. last week ukraine's president-elect petero poroshenko said ukraine would crush the separatist. it doesn't seem that the forces are capable of doing that. from this incident and others, it seems that the pro-russian forces are not backing down. >> it appears that the support from russia for the separatists continues. it's due to the support implied and explicit from the russians, that they continue to keep up the fight. if vladimir putin were to say torp that this should -- tomorrow that this should stop, the borders should close and the separatists should lay down their arms. it would disappearing. >> there are reports that arms are crossing the border, and it's a long border. ukranian government spokes person told the reporters that a separatist

david chater is in luhansk. >> the exodus has started, women and children first.ut moscow's call for humanitarianing rlg corridors to be set up. the fighters are doing the job themselves. april another night of intense clashes within the city, some of the school boys ended up without their mothers. who's going olook after them, one woman demand he. they are being driven across the russian border, finding a safe haven in crimea. anxiety etched on their face, not knowing the dangers on the road ahead but leaving behind a city now engulfed in a war. the bright sunshine belied the somber mood. it was a day filled with funerals. the people of the city and its leaders came to pay theirs respects. to the separatist fighters who died this week defending their self-declared republic. nobody knows how many candles will have to be lit for dead here. calling it an antiterrorist operation. the people here now say the real terrorists are the ones now in power in kyiv. the border guard behind me is still refusing to surrender. they're heavily outnumbered and are being attacked e

david chater, al jazerra, luhansk. >>> spain's will hand over the rule to his son in june.and son haven't appeared since the a abdication. spain's monarchy is controversial. on monday 10s of thousands protested against the king. here is a report. >> reporter: his first appearance since the abdication, king juan carlos looked frail and u unstable. his son and successor for instance felipe always by his side. the king may have lost his popularity in recent years, but for many people here, he bill always be remembered as a man who made democracy popular and united spain. >> catalonia, very different people, but all of us have a common king. and the king represents spain. >> reporter: with the grandeur and history of ceremonies like this seem out of the step with the reality of life under austerity. millions of spaniards can't find work and 10s of thousands of people came to the streets on monday calling for a referendum. >> translator: i think it would be better if the whole family abdicated. and allow us to be governed by politician that his we elect. >> reporter: but the spa

while reporting from luhansk, lag reporter david chater had to take cover. >> reporter: that's the base on fire. [ gunfire ] >> luckily david chat er and his crew, they are all together. and, in fact, david continued with his report while ducking for cover. our team will stay in luhansk to continue covering events in ukraine. >>> syrian elections are expected tomorrow, over the weekend 50 people were killed in the embattled city of aleppo. they are expected to win re-election and that could jeopardize efforts to stop the conflict. >> they are arguebly the two most senior expected diplomats in the world. former u.n. secretary kofi ann annann and negotiator brahimi. but all efforts failed, and the death toll is higher than anyone could have imagined when the conflict started more than three years ago. no one is able to keep an accurate count but it is without doubt the most deadly conflict this century. >> the hard work starts now. >> the peace efforts were based on a rare moment of international agreement with geneva acard of jan 2012. if called for a new transitional government in syria

david chater reports. >> training on the shore of the sea looping the coast of russia and crimea. the latest recruits to ukraine's battle against the up rising in the east. these volunteers have joined a special force raised by the interior ministry in kiev. they're getting basic training before being sent to the front line in the self declared people's republics bordering russia. just over the horizon are some of the volunteers who have com come from cr crimea. they've also come from sweden, from italy. >> reporter: but the one threat that takes all of these men on howing tis they believe in national socialism. they are all neo-fascist. this volunteer has adopted the battle name of murman. >> soon i will not belong to my country. we will be like the indians in america. >> reporter: an one man left behind a wife and child to fight for ukraine. >> i fight where my comrades are. so i feel immediately at home. they let me feel at home, too. >> reporter: further east in russia a rocket sack overnight. this in a city that is supposed to be backing tv. i found the separatist fighters do

david chater, al jazeera, dondon. >> more from europe in the newshour. now back to laura. >> lauren, thank you very much. el salvador has a new president in the past hour. salvador sanchez sarin, the former leftist leader narrowly defeated his right-wing opponents. he vowed to crack down on gang violence that has killed more than 17,000 people in the past five years. a new leader will inherit a two-year-old truce 2010 two gangs but there are signs it's disintegrating behind the deaths of 81 people over the weekend. sanchez joins a police patrol in the capitol, san salvador. >> elite units out to arrest gang members. the number of murders in may doubled compared to last year. the out going government is stepping up it's crackdown in the final hours to smooth the political transition. we he went too patrol with the streets. most streets are empty at night. >> the police are on high alert. only last weekend, 81 people were killed around the country. the homicide rate spaced after the government cut its support to a truce between gangs and launched the crack

in a moment we'll hear from david chater in slovyasnk, but first we have reaction to the inauguration. >> reporter: many people are divided over whether there will be change in the east. many people have for a long time felt neglected by the kiev. >> they couldn't even arrange presidential elections here. there were no elections of this poroshenko. what local elections are we talking about? yet again he's throwing out words and making promises he can't keep. >> the doneskt people republic, he says the fight in the east will continue until ukrainian troops withdraw. >> i'm standing in no man's land between ukrainian government troops and the checkpoint 400 yards away from me and separatist fighters who hold a position about a kilometer up the road. behind me is where most of the fighting has been over the last 24 hours. it's quiet at the moment. this is the area where mortar attack came in on the checkpoint, the ukrainian government checkpoint, one man was killed and two injured, so it's very tense at the moment. they're not letting anybody thro through. it's the fighters over slovyas

. >> david chater reporting. >>> massive floods in china have caused five deaths and thousands have had to evacuate. emergency workers demolished the damaged building to keep it from falling into a nearby river. the flooding has caused an $80 million in damage, rain is still falling in that region. coming up on al jazeera america its been 25 years since tienanmen square massacre. the changes and restrictions that are in place now. >> the fda has approved a if you battle against the super drug mrsa. it's delivered inter convenientously. and according to the cdc one in 25 hospital patients will get anti-resistant infections such as mrsa. >> another teenage girl was found dead in india, she was found hanging from a tree. this comes after to other girls were gang raped and killed. many say the officials are not doing enough to protect it's women. >> they are mourning the death of two young girls who were allegedly gang raped and murdered after leaving their homes at night. the attack had shocked the nation. the family said local police had refused to acted because they are considered a low

david chater, al jazeera, dondon. >> the italian coast guard says it has rescued about 3,500 my grantsver the weekend. they were picked up in the m mediterranean sea off of the coast of sicily. there were hundreds of children and at least 300 syrian ref jeez among them. italy is a common point of entry for my grants trying to reach europe. they have asked for help with the influx of refugees. around 4 three-quarters,000 people have crossed into italy from africa so far this year. >> a man has admitted to carrying out last weekend's shooting in a brucels -- in brucels in a video recording. >> the french citizen was detained in the southern city of marsailles. police say he was carrying the recording when he was arrested after arriving on a bus from brucels. three people were killed there in a shooting at a jewish museum. police were tipped off because the suspect was carrying two guns, one of them similar to the weapon used in the shooting. he's being held by authorities. three of our al jazeera colleagues were back in court in cairo today. the trial of peter gresta, mohammed fami and b

david chater, the azoff sea, al jazeera. >>> joining forces with the detroit art museum, will i.t. be enough? today is your first day to buy new cheaper apple stock but is it worth the new cheaper price tag? tag? the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. >> welt, as you know, the city of detroit is struggling to emerge from bankruptcy. part of what's called the grand bargain, is not enough to save the city. bisi onile-ere has this report. >> ford, general motors and chrysler have pledged a total of $24 million to help ease the city of detroit through brups. this money will specifically be used to pps help the dia. lose some of its prized artwork through this bankruptcy process. a number of organization he have

. >>> yes, we will, david chater, thank you very much indeed. >>> now to afghanistan where the fronter that country's presidential run-off race has narrowly escaped death after on bomb attack on his can vo. three of his bodies guards were killed and another 16 people hurt. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: a busy schedule of campaign events was always going to present ample opportunities for bombers to strike. and on friday morning in kabul, that risk became a reality. there were two bomb blasts, though the exact circumstances remain unclear. police said the explosions were cal cause booed i two separate suicide bombers. other reports suggest that the second blast may have been a roadside device. either way, the result was deadly. >> translator: we suddenly heard a huge sound of an explosion when we were coming downstairs. the blast shattered the windows and stirred up the dust. we couldn't even see each other. let alone figure out the situation at that time. i fell on dr.' abdullah and his body guard piled on me. there was another attack when we were about to get up. >> reporter:

david chater has this update from luhansk. >> reporter: the fact that the separatist fighters overran this border base after a fierce firefight is not just a humiliating defeat for kiev and their anti-terror operation, it has strategic consequences. this is the base, the headquarters where they control and coordinate the russian border crossings, where they communicate with the border posts, which are emptying, and have no way of communicating with the border guards. that means a large blind spot is opening up on the russian border. it means the people in kiev, the government in kiev, the security services no longer have eyes on parts of the russian border. sprattist fighters -- separatist fighters say they are trying to create a humanitarian corridor to role a safe passage for women and children. a safe way flow the front lines that are closing in on luhansk. the women and children are bussed through the russian border and taken to crimea. now the separatist fighters have control of a corridor coming out of luhansk, coming into the russian border. traffic is always two ways. >>> g7 l

david chater has more. >> reporter: russia condemns the attack in luhansk. coming at the height of the fighting in the city. a jet fighter attacked the building with rockets. this footage shows how the tree-lined square was transferred by a deadly cloud of ship rap nel. reason shrapnel. the evidence on the ground contradicts some versions. on the street outside the headquarters you can see where some of the rockets landed. five people were killed in an attack. more injured. the crowds at the scene were angry and wanted their voices heard. >> translation: ukraine should stop the war. there should be round-table negotiations. stop destroying the citizens of ukraine. we'll never forget this. >> the local council opened up air raid shelters in the city, housing 400,000 people. instructions have been handed out, telling the population what to do when the sirens go off. >> it's an american tactic. they used it in the middle east and other countries. moscow accused the ukranian government of committing war crimes. more civilians are getting caught in the conflict.

i did that william chater in eshatner,thank you for watchingu tomorrow.kins were scalped today, the nfl team had their patten stripped by u.s. at that time ent and trade park -- patent and trademark office. will they force dan snideer to change the team name, but he is thinking of selling it to donald sterling uwith great new mascot ideas how about the washington brown skins? and he is not even close to being the most admireed modern president. who do you think holes that stk-rbtion. we'll tell you, a lot of stuff, it is about to get more expensive for your summer car