The world cup is weeks away but well tell you why everyone isnt celebrating. President obama slipped into Bagram Airfield under the dark of night for a surprise visit to troops in afghanistan. He will spend the memorial day weekend visiting troops and Wounded Servicemen. There are 32,000 americans currently serving in afghanistan. The war there is one of the countrys longest lasting and will wind down by the end of the year. Joining us live is kimberley hawkin in washington right now. This visit comes as obama deals with criticism at home over the treatment of veterans seeking care at v. A. Hospitals. Is there a chance this surprise visit will counter the negative press . Reporter it will help. Theres the feeling from 32,000 soldiers in afghanistan that theyd like to be home with their families this memorial day weekend, here in person to be honoured for their service. The fact that the president made the surprise visit on the memorial day weekend had a lot of mileage. You could tell b
Film festival in cannes reveals life in the war torn country of africa china has evacuated 3,000 of its citizens from vietnam following a wave of antichinese riots in which two people have been killed. Police broke up an antichina rally on saturday. Protesters gathered near the chinese embassy. The decision to drill for oil caused widespread anger in vietnam. Our correspondent aidery Jan Brown Adrian brown joins us live from beijing. How is the evacuation going . Reporter elizabeth, the first of the vessels that china is sending is due to arrive in the early hours of monday morning. Each of the five ships carry around about 2,000 people, so we are potentially looking at an evacuation of 10,000 chinese nationals. The last time we saw an evacuation of foreigners on this scale would have been just before the United States began its speedy withdrawal of its nappingsals before the nationals before the fall of saigon in 1995. 3,000 chinese have been evacuated. The fact that china is sending
That could make the t rex look like a pip squeak. Good morning to you. Welcome to Al Jazeera America. Live from new york city. Im Morgan Radford. Tens of thousands of people in the balkans fleeing their homes, trying to escape the worst flooding in more than a century. At least 25 people are dead, forecasters are warning of rising waters today as well. The floods are creating dangerous conditions on several fronts. In serbia it is threatening the main power plant. In bosnia its washing away warning signs on unexploded landmines. Al jazeeras peter sharp has more. Reporter three months of rain in less than three days, the worst floods to swamp the ball cams since records began 120 years ago. More than 10,000 waited for rescue as the waters of the river surged across flood defenses, inundating three cities in its past. The air force helicopters plucking knows from the rooftops. Winching aboard the cargo. Following the rains, the landslides sweeping down from the surrounding hills, cutting
The streets of the capital bangkok. Jacob zuma is sworn in as south africas president for the second time. And preparing for the pope. Jordan welcomes pope francis on his first trip to the middle east. Im wayne reporting from new zealand where a maori tribe is trying to find a use for one of its products. Breaking news coming from the somali capital mogadishu. Latest reports suggest that there have been several explosions outside the Parliament Building in mogadishu. Heavy gunfire has been reported. Witnesses spoke of rebels appearing to launch an attack during a parliamentary session. Now, we understand that alshabab, the militant group, is behind the attack. Lets speak to our correspondent who jones us on the line from joins us on the line from mogadishu. Tell us what is going on at the moment. There has been an exchange of gun fire between alshabab inside the Parliament Building. And how long has this been going on. How many people have died. We are hearing of their being four bodie
Francis holds an open air mass in the occupied west bank city of bethlehem. Plus. Im Andrew Thomas in tasmania australia, on an experiment to chip and track bees. They hope to find out why bee numbers worldwide seem to be in terminal decline. Now polls opened across ukraine where 35 million are being asked to choose the next president. The interim government urged everyone to cast their ballot. Prorussian separatists threatened to block voters. Well be live with Hoda Abdelhamid who is close to donetsk. First, this report from nick schifrin, from the ukranian capital kiev. Reporter a record turn out is expected for a vote, deciding not just the state of ukraine, but the state of relations between russia and the west. 17 candidates are in the running. The ones in the lead want closer ties to the european union, not something that russia wants. These elections were called after Viktor Yanukovych fled the country and was deposed by parliament, and it is about what ukrainians want. Translat