Transcripts For ALJAZAM News 20150310

Exile. Two French Olympians are among ten day after a helicopter collision while filming a Reality Tv Show in argentina. Hundreds of police have been involved in violent confrontations with student protesters in myanmar. Students marching were hit with batons and some were dragged into police trucks. They were calling for more education and more freedom. Florence lee has more from myanmar. Reporter a tense standoff between protesters and police turns into a confrontation. For more than a week the protesters have been camping here a town 3 hours drive north. They are unhappy with the newly elected education law, which they say restricts Academic Freedom and bans them from forming unions. On tuesday local officials said they would allow students to march, but when the activists found out they wouldnt be allowed to hold banners and chant slow gansz along the way, they became angry. They tried to Breach Police lines, and dismantel a tent. It doesnt take long for the situation to descend into violence. Pro testers are dragged into police trucks. Police also attack a vehicle used by the demonstrators. Police have responded to some of the protests some held in solidarity with students with force. Last week several people were arrested. Officials admitted using a vigilante force. But it is seen as a tactic used by the former military government, to break up peaceful protests. Tuesdays crackdown comes as the u. N. Representative on human rights in myanmar says the country is sliding back. And it has got many questioning whether the transition from military to civilian rule is genuine. Joining us now to discuss the situation in myanmar is Gwen Robinson senior asian editor of the asia review from bang kong. Thank you so much for being with us. This new government was supposed to be more open. Why are we sees such a brutal crackdown on these protesters . Thats right. One very clear thing is there is a disconnect i think, between yanggon and what is coming out of the capitol. I notice that being used to help break up the protests were a form of paramilitary being reported as vigilante forces. It is a very negative development. Some pledges to be more aggressive. On the other hand ironically i would say this is one of the most negative aspects of what has been a genuine opening, which has allowed various groups including land holders, squatters, and also indeed religious extremists to get out there and campaign for their own issues. Are you suggesting sorry to interrupt you are you suggesting that the Central Government isnt control of the Security Forces that were watching right now beat these protesters . Well frankly i think there is an element of disconnect, but it is negative on both sides. Its the go the Central Government does know about what is going on and has power to stop this really excessive action on these students and thats a negative as well. If it is in control and ordering place to go in and break up what were relatively peaceful protests thats also a negative. So there is nothing positive one can say about this it is going to add immensely to the perception of backsliding and rolling back on earlier pledges of reform. Indeed. Sorry, go on. Of Course International community is watching this closely. Tell us about some of the reform if any at all, any changes since the end of outright military rule in myanmar is 2011. Were you saying are there any changes . Any changes, any major reforms taken by this new government . That is what is so baffling about what is going on right now, because this is not in this governments interest perfectly separate from any issues about basic human rights its not in this governments interest in the last six to seven months of its term but many positive things have happened. They have come a long way. Lets not forget that four years ago there was no parliament in the country, the leader was locked up under house arrest. She ran for parliament. She is in parliament. She is a force. One might say in this debate over the education reform proposals that are at the heart of these student protests we have not heard a great deal from her or her party, although one would expect something to be said after the events we have seen this week and some of the really disturbing video of police just beating unarmed students with sticks. I mean possibly ten to 15 years ago, thesing students would have been shot under previous previous military regime. That said previous military regimes never promised openness and reform whereas this particular administration of the president has lead people to believe that they would take a different approach, they were different. And that still does not detract from how far they have come from the really dark days i would say. As i said we have got parliament, but the government itself has implemented many reforms released Political Prisoners and so on. You mentioned the leader and of course she has been criticized for not speaking out on issues relating to minorities and so on. Would she speak out today after this brutal crackdown or is she under pressure somehow not to . Yes, she is under pressure and she has suffered quite a lot of criticism internationally recently for showing herself to be perhaps more of a cynical politician than people ever expected her to be. I mean my think view is frankly a lot of people around the world as well in myanmar idol idolized her, wanted her to make a big push to if not be president , at least be influential in the politics in myanmar. But to be elected she has to be a bit of a cynical politician. That said in these tense negotiations between student groups and the government over the education reform proposals there was one very prominent nld member, member of her party, who was a key negotiator on the student side to represent students about the reforms they had 11 demands, including things like teaching in ethnic languages, and he was actually silenced by her. She did order him to either either desist or accept trait himself from the nld. Okay. Thank you very much. Now on to other word news now. The iraqi forces and shia militia are selling suspected isil hideouts in tikrit and preparing to attack the city. They have also gained ground on the outskirts of fallujah. Kurdish Peshmerga Forces have blown up a heavily armored truck today to be driven by isil fighters. It was apparently being driven towards kurdish lines on a suicide mission. [ explosion ] [ shouting ] but instead it exploded after an tack by kurd forces. The fighting was part of an offensive against kirkuk. In syria more people have killed by government barrel bomb attacks two civilians died and many more were injured in id lib. Also in syria, a camp for Palestinian Refugees have been hit by government shelling. The area has been under siege by assad forces for more than two years. Now to yemen where former president has accused the current government of destroying the country. He said president hadi who has fled from the capitol to aden should leave the country and go into exile. Mohammed some very strong words there. He seems to be back in the political scene, how significant are his comments today . Reporter yeah, its very significant even though when you ask people here in yemen, they tell you he has never been away from the scenes he has been behind the scenes pulling the strings. He has been accused of being behind the houthi take over of sanaa. And he has facilitated the houthi takeover of sanaa. Now he wants to show that he is still here but because the houthis seem to have taken everything for themselves, we have heard of frictions between him and his houthi allies behind the scenes and probably he is coming out to show he is still very strong. We have seen him attacking hadi describing him as an inefficient man, a man who destroyed yemen, telling him you can leave and we have better people to rule yemen. We have seen demonstrations asking the son to actually present his candidacy for the next election. So lots of things. And also his Army Generals in several parts of the country showing their might, trying to gain ground. So lots of preparations for saleh, so prove he will have a say in the next political talks. Thank you very much mohammed for the update. Theres much more ahead on the al jazeera news hour a relationship that has gone from bad to much worse. The u. S. Declares venezuela a security threat. Plus hidden sometimes in plain site. And india bid for a fifth straight win at cricket world cup. First ivory coasters former first lady has been sentenced to 20 years for her role in post election violence. Fore than 3,000 people died when her husband refused to step down in 2010. Dominic kane reports. Reporter she sits in court. She was once first lady of ivory coast, but in this trial, she was described as having undermined state security. [ explosion ] reporter prosecutors argued when her husband lost the president ial election of 2010, she organized armed gangs after he rejected the result. In the violence that followed more than 3,000 people were killed. She and her husband were arrested in 2011 by french and u. N. Peacekeeping troops. Her husband is awaiting trial at the International Criminal court in the hague accused of crimes against humanity. At the court here on tuesday his wife was found guilty. The verdict was welcomed by groups representing the victims. [ applause ] translator we are really satisfied that this trial took place. As for us it is a vic rim of criminal justice over impunity over promotion of those who have committed crimes random executions and the forced disappearances that have become the way to govern under this leader. Reporter but the legal team called the judgment political. Translator given the courts decision and sentences, and given the absence of fact and proof against her, this is nothing more than purely political decision to keep her out of the political game. Reporter ivory coast is due to hold a president ial election this year. With simon now contemplating a 20year prison sentence her involvement may be limited. Nigerian forces are gaining ground in the fight against boko haram. In giant offensive by chad and niger they are also making progress in neighboring borno state. Reporter there is fear that this group, if left unchecked will spread its tenty calls throughout the region. And thats why were seeing deployment in the northeast of nigeria. And it will be a very big political score for president Goodluck Jonathan . Maybe and maybe not. He promised before the elections will area will be cleared of boko haram to enable elections to be held. Now it will also be a big minus for him, because nigerians are beginning to ask questions. Why does it have to be smaller countries like chad and niger and cameroon who are here to help out . Now people are also asking why has the boko haram been allowed to fester for such a long time before nigeria woke up to the possibility that this is indeed a very big threat . Time now for the World Weather update. Everton what is the latest on the Tropical Storm . It has now gone through. But still lots of rain to come over the next couple of days so were not out of the woods just yet. You can see the swirl of clouds going eastward. And still a possibility of some damaging winds coming through. Thats the position of the storm at the moment to the east and it will continue to pull away over the next couple of days but it has brought huge amounts of rainfall across the area over the last three days, 406 millimeters of rain coming down. So it has caused widespread flooding. There are still showers as we go on through wednesday. There will still be showers in place for thursday. Not as heavy as they have been recently im pleased to say. And by the time we come to thursday those showers should increase significantly. But we do have flooding problems in madagascar at the moment. We also have flooding problems across central peru. That has made to major problems in and around city central and southern parts of the country. And that sketches down towards rio, making its way northwards over the next couple of days foley. Thank you very much indeed. Venezuelans president says he is going to ask for more powers to fight what he calls imperialism. He says the u. S. Wants to topple his government. The u. S. Has called the government a National Security threat. Despite strong economic ties in the Energy Sector the two countries have had spats in recent years. Last month the venezuelan president accused joe biden of plotting a coup to renovember him. Two weeks ago, venezuela demanded that the u. S. Slash its diplomatic presence in caracas by 20 . Last year the u. S. Targeted 24 highranking officials with a travel ban. And the u. S. Gave president obama the power to freeze the assets of officials involved in a crackdown of opponents to maduro. The social leader accused the u. S. Of plotting a failed coup attempt in 2002. Lets bring in virginia lopez now. This is the third time that the u. S. Has passed sanctions, but branding the government as a threat to interNational Security is a pretty serious event, isnt it . Reporter yes definitely. It is seen here by many as the worst of the spats between the two countries. Even since president chavez was in government the aggressions towards the u. S. Were constant. But this is certainly definitely taking those tensions one step above. And they also come accompanied by sanctions to some of the top officials. How will those sanctions work precisely . Reporter well these are targeted sanctions and the u. S. Government has been very clear they are not directed at the venezuelan people and they wont be affecting the economic ties between both countries. Venezuela is one of the top suppliers to the u. S. And that seems to still be in place. They will be targeted officials that are accused of quashing decent Human Rights Violations and even corruption. Venezuela is already struggling, virginia with the falling oil prices. How will these new sanctions impact it . Is it going to be even more difficult now for this country . Reporter to be perfectly honest, several of the political analysts we spoke to yesterday thought these sanctions could actually serve the opposite purpose, in that they would be given the venezuelan government the perfect distraction away from the economic woes that the country faces. The u. S. Has constantly asked venezuela to concentrate on the countrys rampant inflation, and chronic shortages instead of accusing the u. S. Of being behind a soft coup. But this seems to be giving venezuela a perfect distraction, and were expecting to see more antiimpeerist messages and less talk of the economy. Okay. Thank you virginia. Heroin is one of the biggest problems facing the u. S. Mexican drug cartels are now believed to control all heroin smuggling into the u. S. Seizures have almost tripled in the last five years. Border agents have told al jazeera that a tiny fraction of what gets passed is unpredicted. And heroin is can be smuggled in smaller amounts. Adam raney reports from the u. S. Mexico border. You can put a lot of heroin in here. Reporter they call it the trophy room where veteran border officers teach new recruits how to spot drugs. Look at the extent they went through. Reporter soft drink bottles, gas tanks, even firewood is used to stash heroin. On the job, officers have only a few minutes to decide if a vehicle should be searched. Its clear that heroin coming from mexico is their biggest challenge right now. We have seized double the amount of heroin that we did the entire year last year. And were only what maybe six months into the fiscal year . Reporter alerted to another drug seizure, this time on the road into the united states. Were rolling on to the scene this is a special agent with Homeland Security his task to dismantle smuggling rings. He has seen the same pattern with heroin. In 2012 we had 5 kilos. In 2014 we had over 200. Had a weapon and narcotics reporter his team intercepts drugs every day. But it doesnt stop the flood of heroin that top u. S. Officials say has swamped american towns and cities feeding a boom in addiction. With so much money in play the cartels are watching too. So that is mexico . That is motionco separated by the border fence. But as you can see those buildings, the houses the residences have a direct line of site right into the operations of the port of entry. And they can see what is going on, who is coming in who is leaving . Reporter and smugglers told us there are many ways to get their drugs past the wall. Sometimes tunnelling under it. Sometimes walking right across. Heroin is so valuable even in small amounts, more and more officials are seeing people walk it from here over to the united states. Sometimes they are seeing it strapped to old peoples bodies and young children. There are a dozen agencies tasked with tackling the flow of narcotics. But some say the trafficking cannot be stopped. Forever pound that we stop theres probably a hundred more that we dont stop. Reporter this deputy says he is one of those on the last line of defense before drugs get past the border area and out on to u. S. Highways. Adam raney, al jazeera, arizona, on the u. S. Mexico border. Three french athletes are among ten People Killed when two helicopters collided in argentina. They were among the dead five others were French Nationals and two were argentine pilots. Jo is here to tell us more about the athletes. What more do we know about the accident . What we do know is it happened in a remote part of argentina, about 110 1,100 kilometers away from bean necessary baun necessary aries. Among the ten dead were the three french athletes. We do know the names of the athletes the 2012 olympic gold medal swimming champion, she was 25 years old. She also won the silver medal and bronze. Also killed in that accident this man. He was 28. He was the 2008 bronze medalist boxer in the weight welterweight division. And a sailor, who was 57 years old, and perhaps best known for winning the transatlantic solo yacht race in 1990. The french president hollande spoke of his immense sadness, and the president of the International Athlete Committee Said they were great athletes and wonderful people as well. Indeed. There is a plenty more ahead on the al jazeera news hour. Its spend spend spend in berlin. And the force standing up for womens rights. Well have more on an afghan artist forced to go into hiding. And after facing racism throughout his career we ale hear from this man on how the sport should tackle the problem. Welcome back. You are watching the al jazeera news hour, a reminder of our top stories. Hundreds of police in myanmar have been involved in violent conflicts with student protesters. The students were calling for more freedom in higher education. Ivory coasters former first lady has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. And yemens former president has accused the government of destroying the country. He said president hadi who has fled to the Southern City of aden should leave the country and go into exile. Now Jordans King Abdullah has called on muslim countries to lead the fight against isil. He made the comments in a speech to the european parliament. Lets speak to Jacky Rowland who joins us live from the area. Tell us more about what King A Abdullah had to say. Reporter well it was a relatively short speech very much focusing on key issues of concern in the middle east and also shared issues of concern between europe very much the audience for King Abdullahs speech. And clearly the top of the speech was the war on isil. A war which has resulted in jordan taking in approximately 1. 4 million syrian refugees. He said that this was an issue, it was a fight that concerned both europe and the arab world. This is a fight that has to be carried out by muslim nations first and foremost. [ applause ] this is a fight within islam. And at the same time the danger of extremism must be seen for what it is. Global. Reporter he also touched on the issue of the nonexist important Peace Process between israelis and palestinians and he said the lack of any progress on that was really a damaging example of double standards on the part of the international community. Time after time the Peace Process has stalled. And let me say what the situation looks like in reality. More israeli settlement building, less respect for the occupied palestinians. Reporter now King Abdullah stopped short of asking european nations to do more to share the burden of the syrian refugee crisis. To give an example of how much of a burden this is on jordan he said it would be the same as france hosting the entire population of belgium. Nevertheless i think the question is clear whether or not european nations will agree to take in more syrian refugees. Thank you very much. Armed groups of isil and the alnusra front contain thousands of jordan fighters. Our correspondent reports from one of the main recruiting grounds for fighters. Reporter this 19yearold fought in syria for five months and when he returned home to jordan, he was sentenced to five years in prison. A court found him guilty of joining a terrorist organization. His father said he came back once the armed groups started fighting each other. Translator he called one day and said he wanted to come home. His mother and siblings had been insisting that he return. He said he wanted to come back because the different rebel groups like the Free Syrian Army and alnusra front were fighting each other, and he decided he wasnt willing to die for free. Reporter the sudden departure had shocked his family. It was through facebook from his home that he connected with a syrian fighter. He used money his parents had given him to pay his University Fees to buy a plane ticket to turkey. From there he got into syria, but when he returned to jordan he was arrested at the airport. Although more than 2,000 jordanian fighters in syria come from across the country, almost one third are from this area. This is the hometown of a former alqaeda leader. And poverty and unemployment have pushed religious men to leave for foreign battlefields but many also decide to leave their stable lives and families behind motivated by their belief in establishing an islamic state. Many see syria as a launching pad for their project to erase borders in the region and impose islamic law. And fighting in conflict is a potential career path. Others blame Government Policies that have made this home to many foreign fighters. Translator this is the mother of poor people. Most people who leave here to fight have no future jobs or education. Many residents here are deprived of jobs jihad becomes the priority of these men. Reporter his father hopes the court will suspend his sentence. Britains foreign secretary says russia could again be the biggest threat to his country. Philip accused russia of attempting to enter a strategic competition with the west rather than being an ally. He threatened further sanctions against moscow if the situation in ukraine worsens. We have now faced with a leader bent not on joining the International System but on subverting it. President putins actions, illegally annexing crimea and using Russian Troops to destabilize ukraine, fundamentally undermine the security of the sovereign nations of eastern europe. So were in familiar territory for anyone over the age of about 50. With russias aggressive behavior a stark reminder that it has the potential to pose the single greatest threat to our security. Russians Defense Military has launched exercises in the region of the country. In ukraine, a shaky ceasefire appears to be holding with heavy weapons being pulled back from the front line. Instead its inflation that is rocketing. John hendren filed this report from the separatists held city of donetsk. Reporter in separatists eastern ukraine, one price of independence is half empty shelves. Translator its impossible to find new suppliers. As for the future we just live one day at a time. Reporter this grocery chain not far away you can still buy meat and fish, but the choices are slim. What is left you can still by if you can afford it. Eggs have doubled in price, tea as tripled since january. Separatists might consider themselves proudly independent, but they are not happy about the inflation. Translator cooking oil used to cost 19 now it costs 32. Translator things are getting worst, and it wont get better until kiev understands skwlouldnt till your own people. Reporter here in separatists donetsk inflation is much higher than the rest of the country. And that is for those who have access to their money. Pensioners and others have to travel outside of the separatists area to collect their money. For many that is too expensive and can take days. Everyone here is poorer and that has turned once bustling Shopping Centers into ghost towns. Donetsk separatists minister of Economic Development says all new republics go through birth pains, here she says trade with russia will help replace lost trade with ukraine. Does that mean things will get better here . Of course, it will get better much more better. It will be two changes. First of all the range of goods, and the second is it will be changing in price. Reporter before the economy can stabilize, it is likely the fighting will have to stop and the borders between ukraine and its selfdescribed separatists neighbor will have to settle. Despite the fragile ceasefire, neither appears within reach any time soon. In germany people are spending more money than at anytime in the past decade because wages are hire and unemployment is low as nick spicer reports from berlin. Its good news for germanys european neighbors too. Reporter dancers put on a show at a travel fair in berlin. But they barely need to. German tour operators are preparing for a record year because when things are going well at home many germans think of going abroad. Translator the germans are known as the travel world champions. They take a lot of joy in it. They are traveling more and greater distances. Our company measured a 30 increase in Long Distance travel this year. Reporter according to stereo type at least, germans have a somewhat angst ridden relationship with money. Always saving for a rainy day. But people are now willing to spend their hard fearned cash and there are hard numbers behind that unemployment under 5 , and Consumer Spending at its highest levels in 13. 5 years. Along with travel the other big ticket item germans buy are cars. A boost for manufacturers and also german workers who are also consumers. A winwin situation adding to the general feelgood factor. The consumers are feeling, we have succeeded. We are the superstar of europe. Germany is growing much faster than all of its neighbors. It has a 2 growth rate this year and of course also wages in germany have been growing very rapidly the last two years, and unemployment has continued to decline. So people feel very confident. Reporter the increase in spending is also helpful to germanys european neighbors. Confirming germanys role as the economic locomotive of europe. Nick spicer al jazeera, berlin. Crowds in south korea have held a rally in support of u. S. Ambassador mark lippert who is in the hospital after a knife attack five days ago. Hundreds turned out to back the ambassador. He was attacked by a korean nationalist who was demanding the reunification of north and south korea. I feel pretty darn good all things considered. It was obviously a scarey incident, but im walking, talking, holding my baby. You know hugging my wife. So im i just feel really good. I have got a little rehab left to do on the arm. The face feels really good. But thanks to the great medical professionals, i feel like i said pretty darn good. Toxic flammable liquid has been pouring in. The chemical floats on water and is dangerous for people and wildlife. Investigators are trying to work out what happened. Now to afghanistan where an artist has gone into hiding after a daring protest against sexual harassment. She walked through the capitol of kabul wearing a large iron suit being a naked woman. Reporter she was just four years old when she was molested by a stranger. It translator it was on the street and the first of many such attacks. She remembers wishing her underwear was made of iron. 20 years later, she is making the point in the most public way possible. Walking through a part of kabul, where she says she was sexually harassed as an adult, many were outraged. They were saying slap her. Slap her. What the hell is she being . [ inaudible ] the motor bicycle motor bike [ inaudible ] arent you ashamed . Hide your sexual parts. Reporter some in the crowd threw stones. The artist said many afghan women endure a lifetime of being pinched and prodded by strangers. Abuse in afghanistan is common. It says 8 out of 10 afghan women experience physical psychological, or sexual abuse. Womens rights have improved since the fall of the taliban a decade ago. Although know quickly enough for some. Like this group who dawned berkas last week to demand an end to sex crimes. Please take care of afghan women. Afghans are your mom and sisters, dont accuse them. Dont treat them badly. Reporter they dont have to hide this artist on the other hand has received death threats, and is reported to left our home in kabul out of fear. Theres plenty more ahead on the program. Reporter im rob mcbride in phnom penh with the coffee kick that is good for the environment. And in sport well speak to the head of cycling as the sport faces up to its problems with doping. Welcome back. A Nonprofit Group in cambodia has come up with a novel first. A solar powered tuk tuk. Rob mcbride has the story. Reporter Early Morning at the Organization Behind the unique initiative. And the Coffee Makers prepare their load. Ready to dispense more than a fresh brew aalso bare a message of hope while helping the environment. With a regular schedule the regular customers are already lining up by the time the vehicle is open for business. For this employee it offers a real alternative employment to ska skavageing in rubbish dumps to feed her children. As the sun comes up this tuk tuk comes into its own. The solar panels that enable it to go up to 100 kilometers on one charge it is a welcome innovation on a city choking on its own exhaust. No pollution and no noise. This vehicle at the moment is running completely silently. A silence you would be able to hear if it wasnt for the thousands of other vehicles it has to share the road with. With phnom penhs notoriously congested roads, getting more choked with motorbikes and tuk tuks, this is a good innovation. It is just creating the problems to the air, so we we want something that reduced the pollution in the city you know . Reporter come the rainy season, the gathering clouds may slow things down but until then this Coffee Service is full steam ahead. All right. Time now for all of the sports. Thank you. Footage has emerged of two helicopters that crashed in argentina killing ten on board including three olympics. The two olympians and a sailor were contestants in a Reality Television show when the accident occurred. Daniel has more. Reporter this all that remains of the helicopters broken and burning in argentina. On board was a group of leading french sports men and women. Part of a tv show called dropped. Among the dead was an olympic swimmer that won three medals at the london 2012 games, including gold in the 400 meter free style. At the time she spoke of her pride to represent france. Translator you dont really take it in. Its true i won my title then the thing day the president came to visit me. Reporter another victim was the celebrated yachts woman. In 1990 she became the first woman to sail alone across the atlantic. Also on board was a boxer. He too had won a medal at london 2012. Bronze in the light welterweight category. The area is remote. It is reported that weather conditions at the time were good. The tv program the athletes were filming in argentina was inspired by a swedish reality show that flies contestants into remote areas and then leaves them to fend for themselves. Reaction in france to the deaths has been swift. The channel has expressed its Great Sadness and postponed the show. The rest of the crew will return to france. In statement the president said the sudden death of his fell lowe French Nationals was the cause of immense sadness. Well we can now speak to sport reporter who was at the French National Sports Institute in paris. How has the news been received in france . Reporter obviously the feeling is sadness. Every day of the year champions are learning boxing are playing football to become one day maybe like aleksei, or like florence, and they hope one day to become a star become a champion to win a medal. So everybody here is sad very sad today in france. This is again a dark day for our country, for france. This morning the man from Sports Ministry came to a press conference to explain his sadness, and to explain too that tomorrow there will be a tribute to to the three. How wellknown were these athletes . Would they have been household names . Here aleksei is very famous because, you know, here there is a boxing center. So in 2008 or in 2012 when he last went to the Olympic Games [ inaudible ] unfair decisions from the referees boxers were watching on tv and they were sad for him. He was a model, so sadness for them. And cammy was only 25 years old. She won the gold in 2012 too in london. She was one of the most famous swimmer in france. And [ inaudible ] who won in 1990 she was too very famous. This is a dark day, and this is a symbolic day for france is very saddened today. All right. Thank you. Pressure is on cyclings leaders to take further steps to fight doping in the sport. A report released on monday claimed that drug use is still common, and criticized the uci over their handling of past issues. They are accused of turning a blind eye to lance arm strong who was stripped of 7 titles after confessing to doping throughout his career. I spoke to the president of the uci, who doesnt belief doping is widespread in the sport anymore. Well i think there are some alternative points of view in the report. There was one rider quoted as saying that 90 of people were doping. Perhaps he was a riding who was doping himself and was trying to justify the situation. But others put the figure much much lower. Im not at all comeplacent about that. Doping is a problem in this sport, and it is something were determined to root out. I dont believe there is organized doping in teams any longer, but i believe there are still people chasing. The report shows us that doping very much has gone underground. It just says that the methods that have been introduced to to tackle doping in recent years have been effective. Things like the biological passport that we have and doping testing methods are very much better. So the problem is reduced, but it hasnt gone away. It is possible for riders and teams to compete without doping. They are very successful. I want to support those people those teams. But and i want to send the message that those are doping we will catch you. We will catch those people who are determined to continue cheating. India have poet posted a fifth straight win at the cricket world cup. They played ireland. Shaw ma posted 64. Ireland can still advance to the final eight if they beat pakistan in their final four games four time african player of the year has been honored for his work against racism in football. He has been awarded the european medal of tolerance. He treats to walk off of the pitch after fans taunted him with monkey chants. He has experienced racism throughout his career and has called for racist fans to be prosecuted. Translator it is not a bitter victory, because the fact is its just a step in the right direction. Meaning what i did on the pitch is just something that is going to grow and its a reward for all of the gestures i have made. Now what is important is that we move forward, share the recognition and work against racism in football. Always remember that football is just a reflection of society. It doesnt come from football it comes from society and spills on to football. Its good to see him get recognition for the incidents he has had to endure. Indeed. Thank you so much jo. Stay with us we have plenty more world news coming up very shortly here on al jazeera. Back in a few minutes. The stream, your Digital Community you pick the hot topics and express your thoughts the stream its your chance to join the conversation only on Al Jazeera America violent clashes in myanmar as students demand more rights and better education. Hello, this is al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. Also ahead, ivory coasters iron lady is behind bars. She gets 20 years for her role in post collection violence. Yemens former president tells his successor to go into ex