in fact once said i don't run qatar, the prime minister runs qatar. all of that which has been said. then the emir abdicates. it was talked about for a year among the people i know. what happened. >> well, it's very simple. it's what says by the emir father is exactly what happened three, four years before the change happened he was thinking seriously to give more power to his son when he was the crown prince to take over as soon as possible. his highness believed that he has to transfer the power when the crown prince is ready. and at that time the prince he was capable and he did a good job during last four years when his father gave him a lot of responsibility he approved that he is up to the job and he can do it right. and this is why the change happened and it's been planned, it's not been done just like that. >> rose: again with respect, there's all kinds of speculation as you know. the nature of the region. >> this is conspiracy. conspiracy is the nature of the region. also don't forget we are not used to do it in that way in civilized way. it'

we cannot do it in qatar alone. all should have plans that within 10, 20 years, they should know that they could live without oil and gas. >> it is said all the reasons for the investment significantly in european and american companies is because you want to have income outside of energy. >> that is true. >> if we can do it together, if our economies are more joined in the gcc. if we have more unity -- and this is king abdullah by the way. he mentioned that he would like to see the government more close. and we support this idea and i believe it is a good, genuine idea. but it has to be done in a way where the people in the industry could feel that there would be a difference when it happens. >> does the new emir represent anything different in foreign policy than his father or you? he announced early on in his inaugural speech that he wanted to turn inward. i assume that's economic of -- economic development, relations with other countries. >> let me put it this way. i believe he is concentrating inside and he doe

qatar is power is moved to the sun. he is strong and healthy but he believes his son is capable and takes thatso so he position and we could see after almost one year that he's doing a good job. >>, to come back to that in terms of what changes there may or may not be. it was not for health reasons. >> definitely not. >> it was not because of other conflicts. >> that is part of the talk in the region. it's just not true. yes, we have some differences, to be frank. between me and others and also differences with me. the emir father would like to and to listen to everybody see the different opinion. we have been allowed to give our opinions freely to the emir before any decision. when there is two different used to, they are not the region for different opinion which is noton helping, i believe. >> power. you had a lot of it. it must be hard to give up power. >> let me tell you one thing. i am always frank. sometimes bring me some difficulties. >> you promised this about a year ago. ago promised you one year -- >> the fir

foreign workers may not have to get employers consent before leaving qatar. bigger fines could be handed to employers if they confiscate the passports of foreign workers, and to make it easier to change jobs, foreign workers may not need permission from previous employers. the announcement was short on specifics and did not free workers from the control of their employers. >> it still appears from this that a migrant worker needs the permission of their employer to move jobs, for the duration of their contract which may be up to five years. the employer maintains a right to object to the worker leaving the country. which we think is illegitimate. the government should abolish the exit permit. >> qatar's economic development depends on over 1 million migrant workers. some we spoke to expressed excitement on hearing the news. >> yes, i think it's good for us, for the expatriots. nice. 100% will be happy to see this happen. >> qatar says the reforms need approvals by the chamber of commerce and council before they become law. if passed they set up in the gulf re

they were being transferred to qatar.nd as secretary of defense hagel said, the united states would not the have done this deal if they weren't sure that the qataris would be providing the kind of security, the travel ban and probably other things that i don't know about and as you said, senator mccain interested in learning about those things. i don't think that the united states government would have done this, certainly we would not have, had there not been these assurance. >> in our final moments here, ambassador, do you see this oftening, if you will, the hard line of the taliban? >> it's too soon to tell. i think the add miles per hourstration has been verywise today to be very clear to say we don't know what will happen in the future about peace and reconciliation. this is the deal that was done for sergeant bergdahl. we will see what else happens in the future. >> ambassador marc grossman, appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. >>> the president will speak in just a moment. we will carry hez comments li

qatar has also come under levy scrutiny over treatment of its migrant workers.w is chief correspondent with inside world football. >> on this occasion there's some speculation and it depends who you listen to, that actually he was referring to qatar's hosting rights per se. the interview was in french, and he speaks several languages so it is often lost in translation exactly what he means. but it's very important to stress that fifa were very quick to clarify that he was again referring not to qatar's status as host nation, but to the decision because of the weather, because of the heat, because of the climate in midsummer about the decision to stage the world cup in midsummer. so it's -- it's -- we -- we still -- we still don't know precisely what he was referring to. but fifa have made it very clear that his office said that, look, he is not talking about qatar per se, he is still talking about staging the world cup in summer. >>> fossils of the long necked dinosaur as been discovered in south america. scientists are excited at the new evidence showing the sp

so qatar is one of the countries, one of those places in the future where you can expect to hear more from them as it relates to trying to some degree look at the situation like al-qaeda and the taliban have caused. so u.s. is fortunate to have qatar on its side, helping it out at this point. >> jj, randall pinkston just said this is quite a victory for the obama administration. can you add any light to that? to what degree do you think the obama administration is truly truly really excited about this development? >> they've had a lot of trouble. a lot of people have talked about the fact that the u.s. has been in afghanistan for 13 years, and the taliban is just waiting for the u.s. to leave. certainly the president's political opponents are talking about the fact that the u.s. have not won this war. that it has not done anything in this war. the administration would argue against that saying that it has taken away the safe haven for al-qaeda an. being able to get sgt.berg dol sgt.berg doll back. they've had a lot of trouble going forward with afghanistan. the reluctance of hamid kar

. >>> qatar submits a report on its migrant workers to the u.n. we speak to one man that works closely with them. >>> thailand's prime minister has been ordered to step down by the country's constitutional court. she has been found guilty of violating the constitution. the government continues without her, with the commerce minister replacing her. and the interim government will move ahead with plans for general elections in july. anti-government protesters welcome the constitutional court's guilty verdict. the legal troubles among several challenges that the former thai prime minister has been facing. for six months protests on the streets of bangkok failed to push her from office. but it may create a dangerous political vacuum. >> reporter: she was thailand's youngest prime minister, the first woman to hold the office, a successful business woman from a powerful dynasty. since coming to pour her leadership has been crippled by civil contest and a campaign to topple her. thailand has been gripped by unrest when her brother thaksin was deposed. he

guantanamo prison facility to the custody of qatar. during his captivity, taliban forces released several videos of bergdahl. in most, he was apparently fo forsed to criticize u.s. military presence in afghanistan and plead for the release of the taliban. in his statement announcing the released to, president obama said, i was honored to call his parents to express our joy that they can expect his safe return. mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal. today, we also remember the many troops held captive and who remain missing or unaccounted for in america's past wars. sergeant bergdahl's recover, said the president, is a reminder of america's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield. bergdahl's family released this statement saying they were joyful and relieved when president obama called them to give them the news that bo is finally, coming home. we cannot wait, said bergdahl's family to wrap our arms around our only son. we want to thank bo's many supporters in idaho, ar

qatar has found itself under the spotlight.he country depends heavily on migrants and domestic workers. rights groups and the u.n. wants them to move just as fast when it comes to safeguarding human rights for all those living there. >> for some politicians in mexico have introduced a number of bills to legalize marijuana. if the bills go through mexico will join uruguay in controlling the drug. >> reporter: an evening ritual. she said smoking marijuana helps her relax. >> i don't think i'm doing myself any harm. i have never really considered quit smoking marijuana because it does not interfere with my daily activities. >> reporter: once a fringe movement, such moves are becomingrowinggrowing. >> reporter: prohibition has generated too many widows, orphans in mexican society, it has not achieved any of its goals. don't cry over prohibition. >> some 100,000 people have been killed or gone missing in mexico's drug wars since 2006. a war that has cost the country billions of dollars, a war that many think is being waged just to k

this comes in the context of qatar hosting the 2022 world cup.have been listening in the last several months to lots of criticism from the outside world, humanitarian organizations, different countries about legal system in qatar, particularly with regards to foreign workers. so even though today, one of the journalists asked this specific question and the people of the ministry, the officials here of the ministry of the interior and labor, they tried to avoid the answers and say qatar has already a law that is in place for the workers and that law has always been a work in progress, and what's happening now, this announcement of changes to the labor law in qatar are part of that work-in-progress. but, yes, nobody can deny that this is coming in the context of the 2022 games. and these changes now are a proposal by the government. it is not yet a law. it is not yet a final decision. they are going to run it through some of the institutions including the consultative sembly and the chamber of commerce and other parts so that it can be approved. so

you've got universities, you've got duke in china, northwestern is in qatar, nyu is in abu dhabi. global 1% loves american universities, right? and american universities figured out, we don't have to wait for them to send their kids to us, we can go to them, right? it's a brilliant value proposition, but you start to get into pretty complicated moral terrain, as we're seeing here. >> nothing makes me happier to work at that other institution uptown right now than this story. look, this is the trend among rich elite universities. and we have to remember, universities are institutions of higher learning. they are also employers. and this is a very common tactic of employers in this country, and around the world. in a world of supply change, where a company hires a contractor to perform work, they are something called legal distance. so the primary employer tries to put legal distance between them and the contractor, knowing that there are a range of labor violations happening. this is common. this is common -- >> we saw, of course, the disaster in bangladesh, when the building colla

they're now in the custody of the government of qatar.d army colonel jack jacobs. with regard to what you know about the taliban prisoners who were released from guantanamo bay or the type of prisoners who were still being held at this point, share with us what this means, these five that are gone, leaving, i believe, 149 still in captivity there at guantanamo. >> these are the people who are perceived to be less likely to line up on the battlefield again, but they're still pretty bad people. the administration has been working for quite some time, trying to effect some kind of transfer so we would be able to get bergdahl back. you can also look at this as an attempt by the administration to, as quickly as possible, establish some sort of rapport with the taliban, and in effect wind up getting them involved in the government in afghanistan so they won't be as violent. but that's going to be very difficult to do. as you said, you still have over 100 people in guantanamo. what are you going to do with them, because the congress is not going

qatar is a developing nation. it's a top heavy government. some of the legislations and ideas take a while to filter to the bottom. the implementation phase is complicated. there we have problems. >> what do you think of the most urgent challenges that need to be addressed? >> well, i think your report accurately identified a few of those - workers rights, working hours, temperatures - there are issues to do with young men dying in disproportionately high numbers. in my own research i uncovered a lot of incidences of sexual abuse not reported to superiors. so these issues have to be looked at. i think the big one that etch is talking right now is this issue about the caffala system or the sponsorship system. it's been debated, and one which is beginning in qatar, and the first we are seeing of detailed conversation about trying to end this particular system of employment. >> michael staefference, thank you -- stevens thank you for joining us from london. >> chinese ecommerce giant alibaba has filed documents to sell shares in the u.s., expect

they have to stay in qatar for a year. the documents in the state department say these guys killed americans and they're going to come back and join the taliban and do it again. >> look, this is so many mixed emotions. it is thrill to go have one of our boys back. our troops are what is most important to us. at the same time, two of these guys that have been released are wanted as fox is reporting for war crimes by the united nations. and we've got -- >> we have to stop you because the president is about to speak. >> we're going to take a pause one moment to let our fox stations join us now. we're waiting for the president to make remarks regarding this breaking news story of the release of bowe bergdahl, the american soldier who was being held captive by the taliban for five years. early reaction is calling this a controversial exchange. please stay tuned to fox news channel and this fox station for more details on this story. >> as we wait the president to come out into the rose garden at the white house any moment now,

qatar would take responsibility for them. that is what the taliban wanted and for that they would return bowe bergdal. u.s. forces got the wored where to go along the border in afghanistan to pick him up and did that earlier today. it went very peaceful and quickly but there was plenty of concern about security. we know other u.s. forces were standing by ready to move in if things went wrong. but they did not, thankfully. we are told that bergdahl walked to the helicopter. he was able to walk. that he spoke to the u.s. troops that came to rescue him. i want to tell you that we have some video here now. you are seeing mr. and mrs. bergdahl, his parents, obviously, surrounded by security and walking to the white house just a short time ago. this is exclusive cnn video. we were the only ones there to record it. walking to the white house. we expect them, robert and jenny bergdahl to be standing with president obama when he makes his statement. aaron mcpike will have much more on that. they are moving in the coming house to perha

in terms of qatar's human rights record. allegation will be put to the human rights council that they have higher or a more impressive human rights record compared to their neighbours, pointing to the fact that there is qatar human rights department that is essentially semi-independent, which is a - which has a lot of freedom to ensure that the issue does not occur. >> thank you very much for that. that's jamal joining us from geneva. >> chinese giant alibaba filed documents to sell its shares in the u.s. analysts expect the company to raise between 15 and 20 billion, potentially surpassing facebook's share sails. alibaba's value has been estimated at $200 billion, more than facebook and amazon. it has several sub-sid yairies. >>> three al jazeera english journalist continue to be detained in ae gipt, hold for 30 days. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are falsely accused of conspiring with outlawed muslim brotherhood. the movement has been declared a terrorist organization by egypt. al jazeera rejects all

the amir of qatar, qatar in the past couple years, played a huge role, tried to play a huge role in then. that caused a real stir in kabul, they put a plank outside the embassy, this office inside qatar, saying this was an embassy for the islamic emrit, the flag could be seen outside the compound. it had to be shortened and taken do down. it didn't provide for negotiation between the afghan government and taliban to try to rejuice tduce the level of viol. it was hoped what the amir was doing would bring stability to afghanistan, that this was helping the united states effort in afghanistan, and may lead to release of bowe bergdahl. various parts of that just fell apart. dealing with the taliban is not an easy issue. >> and i want to throw something else at you that we have been talking about, talked about with peter bergen and general spider marks about the concept of negotiating with terrorists, which is something that is anathema to many americans, but it is one thing to not support something in theory, it is another to be knee deep in the realities of war. you have been around, you'v

the talk here has been an sending them back to qatar, a deal health brokered by the emirate of qatar.works for a number of years and it's fallen down as various times. we're talking, the prisoners we're talking about are a former interior minister. a former deputy defense minister, a former deputy head of intelligence. a former senior taliban figure who was governor of two different provinces in afghanistan, and another senior taliban figure. so these it are significant figures. people the taliban themselves have said that they want back. the essence of agreements and the few details that have come to light about agreements in the past is that these people would operate now at a political level, would be out of the fight. what are the guarantees in that? we have no idea. what is operating any other a political level for the tall boone mean? does it mean getting financing to help finance the fight? we don't know what they're intention is, but this hastsch long time. >> excellent questions and what john mccain is frying to point out. we don't know what it means to have assurances they w

there is no company in qatar. they have money for athletic. >> it's more football. >> everything is football. >> his career was launched at qatar's elite sports center. since graduating he yet ids his recent -- credits his recent success with to his close relationship with coach. >> he's like a father and son. i don't see him as a coach. we spend so much time together. >> his hero is mohammed articly. his target the olympic champion. if he does that, then he will live up to the slogan on his shirt. >> that's all the sport for now, more from me later. >> thank you. stay with us here on al jazeera - if you are able to. i'll be back with another full half hour bulletin of news for you. fresh allegations the u.s. didn't properly recognise the threat from the terror group in nigeria that kidnapped hundred of girls. witness the chaos in ukraine. an american reporter that was kidnapped and beaten joins you. venezuela. >> and the whistleblower whose charges of academic fraud led to a scandal at a powerful american univers

he said it has been made pretty clear behind the scenes that he did not vote for qatar.uestion is now what kind of influence will he wield in the future weeks and months and years in terms of exactly when and where the tournament is staged. it can't be held in january, because that would clash with the winter olympics, and fifa have already made it pretty clear that they favor a switch to the winter months. so we're probably looking at november. that would be my guess, but we won't get a decision on this, in terms of the exact timing of the tournament probably until early next year, early 2015. >> messi has committed his future to barcelona by signing a new contract. it is believed to have been worth in excess of $30 million a year. >> translator: we have plead sure we keep the best player in the world. evidently everything good for him will also be good for us. it's good news both for bosa and leo. >>> the former bossa player has confirmed he will step down as the head coach at the end of in season. >>> well disturbing scenes at the bulgarian cup final where crowd viole

only he is grand champion in qatar.here is no company in qatar that have money for athletics, ball. everything is football. >> his career was launched at qatar's elite sport center. since graduating, credits hiss recent taste of success to his close relation with his coach. >> he is like a father to me, like a relation father to son. i don't see him as a coach. we spend most of the time together in the track, talking about different stuff. it's a teacher of me. >> his hero is mohammed ali. his target to be an olympic champion and break the high jump world record. if he does that, he will live up to the slogan on his shirt. al jazeera. more build-ups as the die monday league on the website. >> it is quite extraordinaril e thank you very much. >> welcome to the city of culiacan sinaloa, a place that is known as the cradle of drug trafficking. >> ahead of you lies a treacherous border crossing. >> people have died there and so we're like practically walking into a death trap. >> this is the most dangerous part of your trip

before they land back in qatar. >> absolutely fascinating.he obvious question is, how does this work? you just gave so many details about it, about, you know -- you read about these things in novels, watch it in movies and tv shows, but this is real life, and just the idea of making this kind of recovery, rescue, and then doing it as part of a swap and -- and having faith that the people you're dealing with are doing so in good faith. the way you describe it, it's absolutely fascinating. i want to go back to what you said about the taliban, or the people who have been at guantanamo, being in the air since you said 2:00 p.m. eastern. can you shed a little more light on that leap of faith? maybe that the taliban took? because it's clear that -- that the army sergeant was released before those at guantanamo were. >> yeah. maybe only a little bit, dana. what we know is that these five detainees were turned over to -- or we are told these five detainees were turned over to qatari custody on the ground at guantanamo bay. so the qataris had custody

so i met the take in 2009 in qatar. we stumbled across each other in a couple years later having stayed in contact, decided we should do a book about the problem since so few people hear about it. this book, "balochistan: at a crossroads" is a part of that. i'm hoping to do some thing people will pay attention to more and more. human rights organizations and other journalists talking about it at that are openly and it's very much a taboo subject and as a consequence, i am blacklisted in the country for writing this up so that its volume stories of people on this province. so i think i'm going to leave it there and if you guys have questions for me, we will happily take them. [applause] >> there's a microphone coming behind you. it's just a [booing] go for it. >> today the taliban and -- [inaudible] in a different taliban and -- [inaudible conversations] what is the difference between the two coming from the same will, either object is the same? >> i think they are the same. but we call them the afghan taliban and becaus

it's a poison gift that we have given to qatar. now we are in the eye of the hurricane. there are things to do, dangerous problems involving the workforce, and qatar is doing things about this. >> michel djotobia's status -- adam scott's status as the world number one is under threat. he needs a solid finish or may be under take pt world number three is taking in the bmw championship. scott overcame a shaky start. six shots behind pga garnett who is leading on 7-under at the halfway mark. scott needs to finish in a similar position to stay world number one. >>> indiana pacers charge paul geulph storm -- paul george is clear to play after suffering a concussion in game 2. he was on the court for the final training run. cost he's 100% fit. the series is tied. the trip to miami will be no beach holiday. >> we think of winning games. we need to win one game down there. we'll go down to win game 3. >> we lost. our backs were against the wall. going down was not an option. we came out with the mindset. you can go on, it's doesn't always result in a win. our mind-set going into

michael stevens is the deputy director of the royal united services institute in qatar.said it's too early yet to see if any real improvements are being made. >> certainly we've not seen any substantive legal changes here. we hope that those are coming, and we hope the government is working along with human rights organizations and the u.n. as well. i think there are top policymakers, and i think they feel hurt by the criticism that has come their way. some of these legislations and ideas take a while to filter down to the bottom, and actually the implementation phase is more complicated, and there we have problems with urgency. there are issues of young men dieing in disproportionately high numbers. in my own research i've uncovered quite a lot of incidents of sexual abuse not being reported to superiors. these issues have to be looked at. i think the big one that everyone is talking right now is this issue about the sponsorship system. this has been heavily debated, and it's a debate which thankfully is beginning it qatar, and it's the first we're seeing a detailed con

like many of the rebels who were sent to qatar, 21-year-old hussein had never had any previous military training. >> they trained us to ambush regime or enemy vehicles and cut off the road. they also trained us on how to attack a vehicle, raid it, retrieve information or weapons and munitions, and how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush. >> narrator: the rebels were outfitted with brand-new uniforms and boots. >> the americans were warning the fighters not to tell this story at all. and even at one point, they told them if in any case this story will be published, we will stop funding you or arming you. >> narrator: the cia and the state department declined to comment on the fighters' accounts of arming and training, though the obama administration has said it plans to step up support to the rebels. and there have been other reports that the cia is running covert training out of jordan. >> i don't think that there is any potential source of support for nationalist syrian rebels beyond the united states. without the united states, they're basically finished. >> narrator: a

. >> they were flown to qatar on a u.s. air force. and they will be in qatar custody for a year. both parents thanked the emir for the deal. >>> the scandal engulfing the va, and after days of growing calls for his resignation. the man in the top. er is. shinseki's resignation is not enough to fix the organization that is bloated. >> his resignation is not going to solve this problem. what will solve this problem is aggressive digging and figuring out what happened and what within wrong and how to unwind it and get out of this mess. that's what we have to be focused on. it is not going to make a material difference. >> one report from the office of the inspector general found systemic problems about the wait times. as many as 1700 veterans were off of the wait list for appointments. officials in the va are reaching out to the men and women individually. molly is live in washington tonight. secretary shinseki is out. but is that taking pressure off of the president. >> it takes it off regarding secretary shinseki but the va problems are still there. some members of the president's

is general secretary describe conditions for a migrant worker in qatar you find your contract is torn up you can be paid up to listen hoth of the wages you were promised you could be in another job you forced to live in squalor you work in extreme heat six sometimes sivan hours a day eight to twelve hours a day and in fact when you want to go home when it's all too much you find yourself trapped in good time because the reason exit required and the person who owns your life won't sign it your employer workers serve have a range of motivations of course they dispute for a job but that does doesn't mean that the richest nation on earth can treat workers as listen human. well german filmmaker peter exult traveled to qatar and was even detained and imprisoned for trying to investigate workers' conditions he told us the authorities did not take into consideration the migrants dire living conditions there causing such a high death toll most of these deaths as far as we're hearing are being caused by natural causes so we're talking heart attacks but what does a twenty something year old work

but it's a poisoned gift that we have given to qatar, because you they are in the aye of the hurricaneways of the dangerous problems involving the work force and they are doing things about this. >> the drawing has been made for the french open which starts on sunday. raphael helping with the women's draw is attempting to win a ninth title. the world number 1 may have to get past last year's finalist in the quarter finals. he has lost three times on clay this season. the first time that has happened in ten years. >> this is the most special place in my career, so i always feel always special memories when i have a chance to be in this tournament. i will try my best. >>> serena williams may face her sister venus in the third round. >>> thomas bourn and shane lawry are tied for the lead on the 10-under in the pga championships. rory mcelroy who fought back. the northern irishman is five shots behind. italy's player has won the 13th stage of the tour deitalia. what started out as a mainly flat stage, turned into heavy rain followed by a freak hail storm. he sprint finished to win the stag

qatar's in a race to save face over its much maligned preparation for the world cup which it hosts in a.t.s. numerous human rights groups point to clear evidence of the lethal mistreatment of those working to build stadiums but take a look at this a senior member of qatar's a world cup a delivery committee says that not a single worker had died or had been heard during the ongoing preparation it's a statement that's left the international trade union confederations appalled its report found that over twelve hundred employees have lost their lives since two thousand and ten and that's only according to data received from the indian engineer police embassies in doha migrant workers from over a dozen other nations are believed to be risking their lives on a daily basis in qatar surround bro who is the general secretary of the id you see which carried out the study outlined its concerns you find your contract is torn up you can be paid up to listen hard of the wages you were promised you could be in another job you forced to live in squalor you work in extreme heat six sometimes seven hou

those five gitmo detainees at this hour on their way back to qatar, the taliban informed of that, and that apparently being inform they'd were going to get those people released is what really clinched the deal for the taliban. we're told that once it all fell into place, the u.s. wanted to move as quickly as possible, get it done one official said to me before anybody in involved changed their minds. >> yeah, i bet. barbara starr, great reporting, thank you so much. erin mcpike at the white house for us today. erin, what is the white house saying about bergdahl's lease and we're hearing criticism from a house republican about how this all went down. >> reporter: randi, that's right. we're hearing some criticism from the republican ranks and we just received the strongest statement yet in terms of criticism from mike rogers. he's a republican congressman and an important voice on this because he chairs the intelligence house committee. he writes i'm extremely troubled that the united states negotiated with terrorists and agreed to swap five senior taliban leaders who are responsible f

the qatar based network wants to go to another court, suing for $150 million. al jazeera is basing its legal claim on a 14-year-old treaty between egypt and qatar that stipulates the mutual promotion and protection of investments. since last year's coup that ousted the muslim brotherhood, al jazeera has had its channel kicked out of the country and says its other networks have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and the jamming of transmissions. according to al jazeera, the interim government has also breached its treaty operation of the right for the news to be freely what in the current climate and under today's egyptian legal system are the chances of al jazeera winning it's lawsuit given at that judge has sentenced 683 members of the muslim brotherhood to death over the killing of one policeman last year, you would have to say not great. ethiopia has a dismal record on media freedom. the latest series of arrests there is disturbing even by its standards. last weekend, three journalists and six bloggers were detained for, according to the prosecution,

>> as you mentioned, the deal was brokered by the government of qatar.he gulf emirates agreed to host the five taliban inmates. they are expected to travel to the capital today. the sergeant was captured by militants in june of 2009 after leaving his u.s. base in the eastern part of afghanistan. i think the circumstances surrounding his decision to walk out of the base have remained murky. he was captured a couple of weeks after he arrived in afghanistan, so he was probably young and not very experienced. today, he was brought to an american helicopter. he broke down in tears when he saw he was safe. the special forces told him we have been looking for you a long time. his parents live in idaho. today, they are in washington. they were notified their son has been released. president obama said in a written statement that he was honored to call his parents to that they cany expect his safe return. i think there will be a press conference tomorrow in washington and we will hear more about that tomorrow. >> we hope you will be following that for us. we will

and it's a credit to the qatar government that they were willing to step forward.rybody wants, eventually, some kind of political reconciliation. and we can't be too prejudgmental about what the implications of this are. it is what it is. and whether it would lead to something else in terms of reconciliation between the afghan government and theel taliban remains to be seen and it would be a stress to assume something like that is around the corner. >> general, it is indeed good he is released. but what concerns do you have about the nature of the conditions of his release, and that was to exchange him for five detainees at guantanamo, five afghan detainees? those detainees, as you know, may end up on the battlefield in some future time against our soldiers. >> well, i think we have to make the assumption that's likely to happen. that's just a harsh reality of it. the fact of the matter is, from an american perspective, and from nato perspective, our force levels are getting down very low, and in a couple years, we're going to be out of there entirely. so the risk

. >>> qatar has announced changes to controversial labor laws affecting migrant workers.ponsorship system gives employers tight control over employees. workers cannot leave the country without permission. they will now apply to the government rather than the employer for an exit visa, and companies will face stiff penalties for withholding a worker's passport. mohammed is from the qatar ministry. >> translator: the moment we cancel -- when it comes to employers withholding worker's pass ports this will be illegal, and the penalty will be 50,000 reals. the laborer has to pay for anything that needs to be done. >> james lynch is a researcher with amnesty international. he says the proposals don't go far enough. >> there is a little bit of -- left unclear in the air about these -- these proposed reforms. we have seen a press release and still have many questions about what is meant by these measures. having said that, i think while we would welcome the government's attempt to improve conditions, we do not think these measures are going to go far enough to address the fundame

thanks to game the first president reveals a french and german business interest help secure qatar twenty twenty two world cup as a gulf state is under fire over the alleged thousand deaths of migrants building stadiums . and. obsession a with political correctness and some western countries has led to a series of scandals and arrests for those who don't toe the line prompting calls of freedom of speech is being eroded. it is seven pm in the russian capital you're watching on t.v. national we begin with breaking news well a journalist who's reporter there a lot for us on ukraine graham phillips has been shot out by the ukrainian soldiers and yes despite him wearing a press vest let's now cross to graham and talk to him. well graham what can you tell us about what happened. you know me i'm saying sure because it's got some actual character because you know that we've been covering nuclear in great detail with people who just seven soldiers every day that's what i was going to press. for them hello i'm crying this is an airfield which will become a tool for what we call me or the show to be

they believe the spotlight that the tournament brings will help bring change. >> i voted for qatar. i don't see why i would say it was a mistake. i thought it was a good thing, and i still say that. but now they are in the eye of the hurricane. there are things to do and all these dangerous problems involving the workforce, and qatar is doing something about this. >> mercedes continues their domination. in the last hour they snapped up the first two places in qualifying. rossberg is on pole. hamilton is second, and unfortunately, hamilton had to slow down and could not improve on his time. and not looking happy at all. carter are third fastest. >>> adam scott status as number one golfer is under threat. the australian needs a solid finish at the invitational, and may be over taken by henrik stenson who has been playing in the tour's bmw tour. adam scott's first round shaky. scott needs to finish very close behind stinson to stay number one. >>> paul george has been cleared to play in game three of the eastern conference finals against the miami heat on saturday. that's after sufferi

they also were helped by qatar. president obama thanking them today in his statement, announcing this release of sergeant bergdahl. president obama calling his parents earlier today. let me read you a little of what president obama had to say. quote, on behalf of the american people, i was honored to call his parents to express our joy that they can expect his safe return. mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal. today we also remember the many troops who remain captive or missing. sergeant bergdahl's recovery is a reminder of america's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield. so that is president obama speaking today about the release of sergeant bowe bergdahl. i asked a senior administration official about the u.s. policy not to negotiate with terrorists. of course, that is a question that they are going to be asked in the coming days. this is the response i got from a senior administration official. it says, sergeant bergdahl is a member of the mil

. >>> well, abdullah is an assistant professor of history in qatar. thank you for making it into the studio. it seems like it is a foregone conclusion that will have a certain victory. put this into context for us. apart from his personality, what is driving his popularity. >> in many ways this harkens back not to the elections that we have seen in the last couple of years, in which there was a context, or symbolic elections that we have seen hosni mubarak win year after year throughout the three decades that he was in power. in that sense it's meant to legitimize a regime that came to power, using forceable oppression and violence and is trying to show there is many that feel uneasy about the revolution, an uneasy democratic revolution. destroying networks, things that were there from the hosni mubarak years. it's an attempt to reinstate those things by state's institutions like the security sector, all of whom ben fitted from the arrangements. >> let's make this clear, those who were against president mohamed mursi, the previous president were not n

they will remain in qatari custody in qatar for a year we're told. >> thank you very much. for more now we turn on this topic talking to steven yates. steven is a former dem ti assistant to vice president cheney for national security affairs and a distinguished fellow at the hamilton foundation. thanks so much for joining me. >> happy to be with you. >> i want to pick um right where jennifer griffin left off. we're talking about, first of all, we know this is good news, that sergeant bergdahl is back in american hands, and there's nothing short of jubilation for that. but let me go where jennifer left off, and that is the five taliban members who were basically given up in exchange for sergeant bergdahl. we'll put up the pictures again. jennifer -- we're talking about top-level taliban people here. one is the department minister of intelligence, the head of their department of minister of intelligence, and someone accused of war crimes. talk about who these guys are and how treacherous they are and the fact that they're now -- they've been released. >> well, this is a tough

i got beaten up in my hotel room in qatar in 2006. was warned, you're not supposed to come here, you're not supposed to talk to the taliban. that was qatar were renew the taliban leadership were hanging out or reorganizing, were running insurgency. the pakistanis were basically telling me, get out of town and don't come back. a threatened all the people who worked with me. of pakistani journalists in that town were told stop working with foreigners. it became very difficult to operate there. i'm sure willem will tell you his experiences, but a really important area because that's where they orchestrated the whole resurgence of the taliban and this enormous push against american forces and against the whole project in afghanistan, the presence of foreign forces they didn't want. they didn't want a successful government in afghanistan. they wanted, pakistan wanted to keep afghanistan under its own some in order to it and dominate it so that it could use afghanistan as an annex or a client state, like. so those are the real things that i

fixed get even fief as president reveals that french and german business interests helped secure qatar the twenty twenty two world cup as the gulf states under fire of the alleged thousand plus deaths of migrants building stadiums. and obsession with political correctness in some western countries is led to a series of scandals and a rest for those who don't toe the line prompting calls that freedom of speech is being eroded. over giving she joined us ten pm euro moscow i'm kevin zero in this is r.t. international and first the russian cargo rocket has crashed just minutes after liftoff no casualties or damage reported on the ground though as that process burned up in the atmosphere the launch had started out as planned here the stage is just to remind ourselves of how it kind of works with a booster rocket separating off the failure happens in the third stage and that's when mission control lost track of the rocket and expert commission has been set up to try to find out exactly what went so badly wrong here but in a coaching of the reports. it was carrying a russian communications sa

he was in doha, qatar where he still works for al jazeera. i began by asking about when he was first arrested. first, i would like to thank you for giving me the chance to meet with you and discuss an issue that is 10 years old. of course, the place where i was arrested was the district north of baghdad, about 10 years ago. this was the first place of arrest. after that, i was moved from one place to another until ended up in abu ghraib prison. >> can you explain who arrested you? and then describe what happened you at abu ghraib. >> actually, the people who arrested me in the district are from the american army, but i cannot really differentiate if there truly individuals from the army or from private security companies because most people there used to where military outfits and without military ranking and cigna that might have verified their affiliation to the army or other institutions. >> where were you arrested? can you talk about what you were doing at that time and even before you made it to abu ghraib , where you were taken? >> of c