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of the legacy of the william shakespeare, as he celebrates, if he could, his 450th birthday. first, russia says it will take all steps to free international military observers taken captive in eastern ukraine. a group from the o.s.c.e. went missing in slovyansk, after being detained by pro-russian gunmen, the detention coming as the g7 say they are ready to impose a new round of sanctions over its position on ukraine. let's cross to barnaby phillips. he is in donetsk, in eastern ukraine. the latest, please, as those military observers still being held after being seized on friday. are negotiations still ongoing? >> the only piece of good news is that the russians are calling for their release. whether the russians are calling for the distinction of foreigners, a dane, a poll, germans, a swede, a czech republic national, and ukrainians - five of whom come from the ukrainian military is important. we don't know the answer and don't know whether the armed men doing the detaining will draw the distinction between the different kind of hostages, prisoners, who they are holding in slovyansk. . >> reporter: the town of slovyansk at the heart of a kidnapping. slovyansk's self-proclaimed mayor said the foreign observers were accompanied by a ukrainian man suspected of being a spy. >> reporter:. >> translation: i have heard there was someone from the headquarters. it doesn't look good. if people come from the european union and bring a spy, it doesn't look good. >> a helicopter was shot in the fuel tang as it was taking -- fuel tank as it was taking off. the size and scope of russia's exercises alarmed the ukrainian government and those in the west. russia said if the lives of ethnic russians in ukraine are threatened, it deserves the right to take action. at a volunteer camp near donetsk they are learning skills. there are 100 ukrainian men, most not prepared to show their faces but are preparing for a russian invasion rmpts of course the men are no match for the russian army in terms of numbers, training or equipment. but the existence of this camp suggests one thing - that if the russians were to invade, they would encounter some resistance in eastern ukraine - unlike crimea. >> translation: we have gathered to save ukraine as a united country, to stop the traitors and incertainlyingens. we want to save our families and cities. if not us, who will do it. >> they are learning battlefield first aid, a skill they hope not to have to use. in eastern ukraine, nobody is taking anything for granted. indeed not taking anything for granted. rebel militias occupy many buildings in eastern ukraine. can you give us a flavour of what life is like where you are? >> it's a very strange atmosphere, stephen. normal life continues in the center of donetsk. i have been for a long walk around the city center, it's a beautiful morning. but when you approach the government buildings, they are heavily barricaded, barbed wire, sandbags and separatists are in control of those buildings, and everyone else going about their business making their way around those buildings, and that is the pattern i have seen in other cities in eastern ukraine. when one goes for a long journey along the roads, it's almost surreal, because you pass consecutive roadblocks. some manned by separatists, often masked. you'll drive on a little further and you'll find the ukrainian army showing their appearance. they often wear masks as well. you'll drive on further and find more separatists. so both sides very much present here, but in a way keeping their distance from each other. and on the whole, despite the flashpoints you saw in my report, there is an uneasy calm across eastern ukraine. >> barnaby phillips in donetsk in eastern ukraine. thank you, barnaby. we are getting romps of a nate -- reports of an n.a.t.o. helicopter crash. five members of the security force are reported to have died. it's not yet known why the helicopter went down. when we find out more we'll wring it to you. the palestine leadership is meeting to discuss the peace talks after israel said it was pulli pulling out, angered by a unity deal between fatah and hamas. mahmoud abbas described the challenges of previous talks. >> translation: what we have noticed these days, and the talks these days stressed that israelis do not want a wise reasonable two-state solution living together in stability and security. >> we go to our correspondent in the west bank. tell us more about what mahmoud abbas had to say? >> hi there. well, he still is speaking. it's been an hour now. what was very unique to this talk, it's the first time we have seen him go into detail as to why he thought the talks with the israelis were going nowhere at this time, pointing the finger to israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu. he said that binyamin netanyahu, from the start, was not a viable partner in this, stating that every time he put in requests to u.s. secretary of state john kerry binyamin netanyahu replied that he didn't trust mahmoud abbas. he discussed what would keep the palestinians in the talk if it goes beyond the april 29th deadline, it-suspended by is -- it had been suspended by the israelis, but president mahmoud abbas said to go forward with the talks, the israelis have to give them the last batch of 30 prisoners they are waiting on to be released. it was discussed last year to have the talks begin. he said they must discuss the borders, the borderses of a future palestine state. they must discuss the borders with jerusalem as its capital, and there must be a freeze on all israeli settlements. in fact, president mahmoud abbas said that from the first block to the last block, it's occupied land. he does not acknowledge the settlements and wants them to stop now. >> thank you for that update from ramallah. more than 180 people have been killed in floods in afghanistan after three days of heavy rains. thousands had been displaced. survivors are in need of medicine and drinking water. more from caroline malone. . >> reporter: flash floods turned people's lives upside down in remote parts of north and west afghanistan. thousands of homes were hit across four provinces. >> translation: results of heavily rain and floods - people have suffered from destruction. >> people are beginning to pick up the pieces after the floods. they say they urgently need help. >> translation: our shops and houses have been destroyed because of the floods. so far we have not received aid from the government. >> the afghan military rescued people from the worst-affected province. the regional police chief found many bodies and expect to find more. >> translation: people took the dead bodies to the hospital. they were handed over to the families. around seven villages in my area were destroyed by flooding. >> it's the start of spring, usually a wet season, not to the extent seen in recent days. the disaster relief committee says more than 5,000 people have been displaced and medicine and drinking water are running out. >> fighters belonging to baba al-yaman say they are behind a series of explosions in which at least 37 died in baghdad. the bombings happened at an election campaign rally ahead of parliamentary elections. the group behind the attack had hundreds of members fighting against the government in syria. the blast left many iraqis concerned about the security during the wednesday vote and wonder if security forces are up to the challenge of safeguarding the capital dash not just for the -- - not just for the vote, but in the long term. >> reporter: this is baghdad operations command, as the name suggests they are responsible for baghdad security. cameras are rarely allowed into this, the nerve center that controls the movements of troops on the ground. as iraq's election gets closer the government understands it faces security challenges. >> translation: the enemy is trying to demoralize us by spreading sectarian hate red, preventing iraqis to vote. stakes are high. we have a concrete plan to guarantee security. checkpoints such as this dot the area. soldiers understand the threats faced. >> translation: we are the spear head of the open war on terrorism, fighting on behalf of the reason, especially in iraq and baghdad. the war continues with al qaeda-linked groups and are confident of securing the city. >> his confidence is not shared by many. there are attacks and the damage is clear to see, along with frustrations for politicians. >> according to the united nations over 2,700 people decide as a result of violence in attacks like these since the year began. that grim statistic will likely have an impact on people as they visit the polling booths come april 30th. a welcoming ceremony is being held for the u.s. president in kuala lumpur. barack obama arrived after a 2-day visit to south korea. malaysia is the third stop in mr obama's week-long tour, the first visit by a u.s. president in more than 40 years. you are watching the newshour from doha, i'm steven cole. still to come - remembering those left behind. we'll be life in the nepalese capital with a climber that just got back from the base camp. >> and a country that wanted to reunite with russia. barcelona's football station reunited for grief as they remember a former coach. south sudan is facing one of the worst food crisis. they could face famine year. south sudan is the size of france, but 60% of its roads are unusable in the rainy season. they need 1.3 million tonnes of food and produces only 900,000. it costs $1,300 to drop one tonne of food - four times the value of the commodity being dropped. not all the country is at risk. in the south-west food is plentiful. we have this report. >> reporter: this is south sudan's green belt. morobo county in the south-west. down here the land is fertile and farmers produce the surplus of food. they have a saying - a hungry man is an angry man. during 20 years of civil war, the ability to farm was lost. gradually with the assistance of ngos people have been relearning agricultural skills and harr vests were up 20% on the 5-year average. here on the border there's no shortage of food. elsewhere in the county poem are suffering from -- people are suffering from severe malnut rights, on the -- malnutrition, on the brink of starvation. they do not produce enough food to feed its population. if it could, the problem is getting to the people. there are almost no real roads in this vast country. huge numbers are unreachable by land. in desperate times the world food program has no choice but to airdrop food. it's an expensive thing to do, seen as a last resort. sometimes it's the only way to get food to the people that need it. aid workers are becoming concerned that if the fighting continues, it will make the situation worse. >> from the earliest part of the crisis we said that there's a risk of famine. it's important to stress there's no famine now, it's not only about food availability, but people accessing the food. like today, the rebundance. people in the east are not able to access it. >> aid agencies move food around the country. they are restricted by the fighting. if the situation does not change, there are predictions people could die of hunger and related diseases. let's get more on this. we are joined live from juva, oxfam's country director in south sudan. welcome to al jazeera. how is it possible that a part of south sudan has plenty of food, but in other areas, people will die of hunger because of the lack of access to food. >> well, first of all, there are few parts of south sudan that have plenty of food. there's a huge potential for action due to poverty. few parts of the country produce a lot. and in a normal year this country has food insecurity. this is here because of the conflict. and it will be a famine in coming months if we don't do something on time. >> going back to the last part of your answer, you are saying, predicting a famine. humanitarian organizations predicts if the fighting continues it will get worse. you're saying there'll be a fam jip, is that what -- famine, is that what you're saying? >> there's the participation. we don't have one now, it's important to say. this is a fragile poor context. last year, for example, when we didn't have expensive fighting in the country. 4 million people needed support to feed their families. here, with the conflict, it's affecting 1 million people. 1 million are not facing agriculture or what they should be doing. if in a normal year we have people needing food. here, with one million affected can be a disaster in months to come. >> is the situation one of the - the difficulty one of food distribution. there is food, a level of food in south sudan. but, for example, people in the east rarely find access to that food. why is that? >> there is some food, but not much surplus. unfortunately, it's more than exception than the rule. we hope that we work on development in the areas so we can have more of the examples in the country. in the areas affected by the conflict. the rains will make the rains impossible to go through them very soon. it is closed due to security. the government closed to be cannot use it, the highway of south sudan. and many airstrips are filled with mud. they get muddy. we cannot land on them. the only way to get food examples is make airdrops. some of the food is spoilt. it's difficult to control who has access to the food. we are left with the only option. >> all right. live from juva, thank you for joining us jose. we reported about floods in afghanistan. let's get an update on the weather in afghanistan and around the world from everton. thank you. as we know in this part of the world it does not take much to cause the rain we saw. there was a lot of rain in a little space of time. i ran the satellite sequence back a couple of days. the clouds produced 50mm of rain in less than six hours. hence we have seen it. you see how the skies cleared. brighter skies in behind. things in the process. this band of cloud. it may see one or two showers through the next couple of days. essentially things will improve over the next couple of days. kabul with rain and sup ship. >> indeed, it pushes to a good part of turkey. you can see how the wet weather is setting in across the western side of turkey. it's disturbed around the balkans pushing across to the south-eastern corner of europe. brighter skies looking good. ukraine fine and dry. warm sunshine. temperatures well up into the teens. as you can see for moscow, getting up to around 17 degrees as we go into the week. the wetter weather continuing to the south-eastern corner of europe, with heavy rain in the west. thank you, everton. >>. a pakistani prison is facing criticism for offering art and other classes to prison mates. they say it has improved prisoner behaviour. we have this report. [ singing ] . >> reporter: it may be a song of sorrow, but the inmates say this is the happiest part of their day. for one hour every afternoon they gather to sing and play. part of a programme to introduce prisoners to the arts. this man has been here for 10 months, awaiting trial for murder. >> you want a way to express yourself. it's like meeting people that are like minded. making everything more bear ail. >> it's not just music. inmates are taught to draw and paint. some had their work displayed in high of end gall ris. the aim is to teach prisoners to challenge their energy. and to provide a stage to express their emotions. >> not everyone supports programs like these. critics say prisoners serving sentences are not here to enjoy themselves, but to repay their debt to society. >> critics like this, who has campaigned against the programme at a karachi central gaol, saying inmates are there to do hard time, not enjoy the arts. >> translation: i have been to this prison, and i have met the prisoners. they are criminals. they cannot be rehabilitate by programs like this. the point of gaol is for it to be so bad that when they get out they never want to go back. >> but inmate like mansour disagree. he says without his daily music sessions, he would not cope. >> prisoners want to believe that the world at large has not forgotten them, they care. in return they care about the world and think about their own mistakes. >> a hopeful perspective from a place which traditionally offered a narrow one. and there have been more avalanches on mt everest, throwing the climbing season into further disarray. 13 sherpa guides were killed when tonnes of ice and snow crashed down on them last week. three are missing, presumed dead. many col eyeings are refusing -- colleagues are refusing to go to work. we talk to a survivor of the avalanche from kathmandu rmpingts managing to smile despite losing his friends. this sherpa considers himself lucky to be alive. he was one of six that survived the disaster a week ago. he didn't want to speak on cam yes directly. he said it happened quickly. he's been a sherpa guide since gait and started to climb a year ago. his family didn't want it him to scale the peak, "when you see the view from the top it's magical. we lost so many. when i get better i'm returnabling to my -- returning to my village to be a farmer." 13 were killed. many are not returning. they are worried about the situation. >> translation: mountaineering is the backbone of the economy bringing in there 26 million. for this to, we in the tourism association node an address the concerns of the sherpas. it's the height of the tour of the season in nepal. the optimum time to climb is in may. tourism generated millions last year. when it comes to the financial help the government can give to guides who cannot climb, the position is clear. >> we do not want to climb. so in that case i think it will be difficult for us to, you know, provide assistance because it is a huge number of people. >> but the government is taking care of the health care costs of the sherpas and guides injured in the avalanche. . >> reporter: earlier this week the nepalese government said it would increase insurance cover and set up funds for the victims and pay for children's education. that after criticism that they generate millions in reeve knew, but do little for sherpas. they insist anyone can climb, but there are no sherpas to guide them up. katherine turner is an australian mountain ear on everest. we are joined live from kathmandu. tell us what you saw on your experience of this avalanche, kevin. >> i was climbing, about 6:30 in the morning. i was climbing with my sherpa, and we heard an enormous loud noise, a loud thud, and i looked up and suddenly there was an enormous avalanche coming towards us. for a few seconds i thought we were going to be in the main impact zone. the power of the avalanche weakened. we were covered in snow dust. it was a horrifying moment. >> but other sherpas were not as fortunate. 13 died. have they held funerals for those sherpas? >> that's right. the reports are that 13 died, and i believe three sherpas are still missing. yes, it was extraordinary, the high fatality rate. last weekend on saturday there was a memorial for the sherpas that died, and that was attended by hundred of people from the community, and all the sherpas at base camp at the time. >> was this just a terrible accident or could those lives have been saved? >> well, you know, a bit of both really. it was - technically it wasn't an avalanche, it was more of an ice collapse or a large block of ice falling off the shoulder, falling down. so unlike an avalanche which, to some degree which can be predicted with snow pack analysis, an ice release can't be predicted. it happened at 6:30 in the morning, considered the safest time of day to be climbing. what could be minimised, and this is a point of discussion that has taken place since then, is the amount of trips which sherpas take through the ice fall each season. climbers go through the ice fall three to four times on acclimatisation rotations on the way to the summit. sherpas often go through 20 to 25 times in one year, one climbing season. it exposes them to a great deal of danger. >> lastly, briefly, is everest of closed to climbers now? >> great question. it's a fluid situation. most of the large teams have pulled out, and that means most of the small teams have to pull out because the small teams rely on the larger teams to do the majority of the work. i left there two days ago, i just did a two-day walk. there were some teams hanging out to see what happens with the negotiations between the government and the sherpas. i believe for the first time in history, it looks like the everest season will be closed. >> gavin turner, thank you for talking to us. more coming up including - it's africa's biggest economy. nigeria is missing out in billions in tax revenue. we tell you why. >> in sport he's back in the pool. what made michael phelps swim the wrong stroke during this race in arizona? european diplomats agreed to hold emergency talks to discuss the crisis in ukraine. a drop of observers have been taken hostage by pro-russian gunmen. russia says it will take all steps to free them. experts in south sudan predict that some areas of the country could face famine by next year. the world's newest country is facing one of the world's newest chris sees - coupled with violence. at least 180 people died in floods in north and western afghanistan. thousands have been displaced. many are in need of medicine and drinking water. going back to the top story, and the crisis in ukraine, tensions in the east are threatening stability. a self-declared state between ukraine and moldova trying to formulate its soviet state. people are armed and ready to defend their land. >> reporter: the cossack regiments describe themselves as the army of christ. they played a decisive role when the state broke away from moldova two decade ago. they maintain combat readiness as they watch developments in ukraine, prepared to defend an unrecognized country. >> translation: historically cossacks are the patriots, and we rate them as patriots. they grow up as defenders of the land. >> the president insisted his country's future was in moscow's orbit, but alarmed about the events unfolding in ukraine. >> translation: it indicates what could be the start of a civil war, when brother attacks brother. this is the worst thing that could happen. moldova and kiev moving to europe. here we move in the opposite direction. we respect their choice, but for stability sake and the long-term tragedy of conflict, we must respect the opinion of the people that live here. >> outside the russian embassy long queues of people gather to get a passport. theirs are not recognised by any country. they feel it's a key to unlock jobs and the future for them. >> reporter: what happens next is in moscow's hands. will they recognise it as an independent state or will vladimir putin issue a decree like with crimea, and make it part of the russian federation. >> work crews were in force preparing for the 70th liberation from german and the ukrainian occupation. they saw a threat from the west and salvation from the east. two female protesters have been killed during anti-coup demonstrations in egypt. they were shot. demonstrations have been intensifies across the country before the presidential elections next month. jazz continues to call for -- al jazeera continues to call for the release of three journalists held in egypt. the trial has been adjourned until may the 3rd. they've been in gaol for 119 days. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohamed badr, are falsely accused of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood, declared a terrorist organization. abdullah al-shami, a fourth al jazeera journalist has been held without trial since august and been on hunger strike for the last 96 days. al jazeera rejects all the charges and continues to demand the immediate release of its staff. the u.s. assistant secretary for human rights and democracies says president obama brought up the release of al jazeera's journalist with the egyptian government several times. >> we have publicly called for their release. called for their release at the highest levels in conversations with the egyptian government. i can assure you we will continue to do so publicly as i am today, and continue to do so at every level as we talk to the egyptian government. this is a matter of great importance - not just to me as the assistant secretary for human rights and democracy, but to my boss john kerry, and his boss barack obama. i heard them speak internally and they continue to raise it with the egyptian government. >> saudi arabia announced 14 cases of middle east respiratory syndrome or mirs bringing infection to 313. 92 have died since 2012. during ramadan and october where millions perform the large. >> it's africa's largest economy, but mij is missing billions of tax revenue drew to corruption in the oil industry. the government says it's trying to crack down. we have this report from the capital abuja. >> reporter: drivers in abuja get their tank filled with petrol that travelled many kilometres. it's produced locally, exported for refine. and reimported. nigeria lacks the capacity to refine two and a half million barrels. it needs investors, when they come, they underreport the amounts reduced and profits in a trend called mispricing. the enormity of the problem forced nigeria and african countries to seek help. >> it's a challenge resulting in financially the entire continent. when you have natural resources you know some of them, the contracts, and the way they are shaped allows room for some of these things to happen. >> this is how some countries do it. an oil company may sell oil at a low price of $60 to lip ten stin, a tax haven. the company declares little profit and pays no taxes. it is sold to a third party in the united states at a true market value. nigeria losses out on tax revenue it is owed. >> before, getting so much tax and concessions and declaring so much profit. ultimately it affects our development. >> activists blame poor enforcement. tax authorities say that is about to change. >> yes, in the past we take the prices given. we don't go back and say "this is not right." we go forward. we are looking at the principal application as they apply. >> in this case, to make sure a nigeria subsidiary does not hide income. >> the country has no business being poor. taxes are unduly collected. many individuals and businesses do not pay. most do not see the need to do so when a small bribe can saviour life. >> it is this attitude and the innocent dealings of big businesses that experts say is preventing growth. it's impoverishing a population where 60% lives on $2 a day. nokia once dominated the mobile phone industry. it's officially about out of the business. the finished company completed the sale of its device division to microsoft to $7.5 billion, closing a chapter in nokia's history. it became one of the first companies to produce mobile phones. phones using gsm technology helped to make it a world leader from "98 to 2012. as people moved to smart phones nokia lost ground to newer players like apple and samsung. wall street journalist in stockholm described how the purchase by microsoft was a serious move. >> microsoft struggled to compete with apple and google and needed something to improve the odds in this space. that's why nokia and microsoft have been cooperating closely. that's the rationale behind the deal. microsoft will have a lot of work to do with the handset business. it's not in great shape. the market position is dismal. they have 4-5% of the total market, and a lot of work to do with the unit, if they want the acquisition to mean something. still to come - could cracks appear in rafael nadal's game. find out what happened in the clay at barcelona's sport. he's one of the well-known playwrights, if not the best. 400 years after his birth william shakespeare still inspires. celebrations are taking place in the u.k. we report from the bard's stratford upon avon. >> reporter: william shakespeare wrote that all the world is a stage. no truer words could be said when it comes to his plays. 400 years after his birth, this play "hamlet" will tour every part of the world. a true icon. >> his plays are about anything. in this play it's domestic drama, political, philosophical. >> shakespeare's birthday is celebrated in the english up to in which he was born. stratford upon avon is proud of his song. this is where it began. the bard's birth place. tourists flock here to immerse themselves in all things shakespeare. while stories started here. the work transcended cultures and borders. shakespeare's plays being performed around the world from inside prisons to the great wall of china, translated into scores of languages. [ singing ] >> he creates a landscape that is not connected to one specific place. so i think anybody from around the world can find something of themselves in his writing. >> nowhere do they feel the connection more than in stratford, where the wind and the rain adds to the drama. kate williams is a literary historian at the university of london and joins me from paris. what i don't want you to do is obey shakespeare adage of give thy thoughts no tongue. you can have free reign to your thoughts. a genius to me and many. tell us more been him as the politician, maybe, or the revolutionary. what was he, apart from a playwright. >> if you like, shakespeare was a genius, as we assume, say. the greatest writer in the english language. he has taken the english language worldwide across the world. there's no one who beats him, no playright, poet. no one has his imagination, poetry, language. there's a huge industry of shakespeare studies, because his plays are so rich. what is ipp trying about him is his politics. what kind of politician was he. he was complex. essentially you could look at his plays as supporting the rule of law as saying don't overthrow the king, like "macbeth", or saying there are bad things going on in courts and kings can be do despotic and fallible. courts and monarchs could be full of failures. one of the key things about shakespeare is his legacy is his plays. we have amazing plays. unlike a lot of context ris, he didn't leave a lot of detail about further political thoughts and activities. we could see him as a supporter of elizabeth the 1st to a rebel against. there are arguments to which we can see either side. >> we live, as we know, in sensitive religious times, elizabethan days were sensitive times. was he catholic or protestant? >> incredibly sensitive times. catholics sussed under elizabeth -- suffered under elizabeth the 1st. you have to pretend. and those that were catholics had a difficult time. certainly william had a lot of exposure to catholicism. he may have been a catholic. we don't know. you can read his plays. it's been catholicism and scholars say he was not religious. he had a greater religion. you can see a darkening in his plays after the death of elizabeth the 1st. the agreed elizabethans - they were confident, world conquerers. it was a reign of clory, when you see -- glory, when you see the end, there's no heir, who will continue, it's insecure. that's when you see plays like "hamlet" questioning the rolt of the monarch -- role of the monarch and hierarchy. after the succession of james the 1st, a copying that was despised and the thing written about macbeth, when catholics tried to blow up houses of parliament when they felt dispossessed and ignored, you can see a lot of engagement with contemptry and political life. i think plays are incredibly comply cade and so much richness about cashing fer and shakespeare knew the character is complex. the man is complex, he has catholic and protestant. every man has different choices and decisions. at the same time you see that he says "okay, i want to invoke the biggest audience", and that is catholics, protest apts and people that are undecided. >> many thanks. one man in his time may play many parts. thank you kate williams. thank you for joining us from london. talking about one man playing many parts, here is andy richardson with a look at sport. >> beautifully done. barcelona's stadium a focus for grief. fans and players gathering following the teeth of tito vilanova, aged 45. we have this report. >> reporter: barcelona's first team should be getting together ahead of an important league game on sunday. instead, they are united in grief for their former coach tito vilanova. he died on friday night aged just are 45, after a long battle with throat cancer. tito vilanova's time at barcelona, as an assistant and head coach coincided was a successful period in history. his illness meant he was barca's manager for a single season. >> translation: i am sure the barcelona family and those that are not fans are suffering for the loss. >> translation: he was the number one for barca - loveable and will be unforgettable, an unforgettable coach. >> tito vilanova was the assistant in 2008. the pair guiding the club to 14 trophies in just four seasons. tito vilanova took over as coach in 2012. barcelona going on to make their best-ever start to a season with 18 wins from their first 19 games. but in december of that year, he was diagnosed with cancer for a second time, and had to temporarily step down. he returned in time to see his side win the league with a record points hall, before announcing he was leaving the job to concentrate on his treatment. >> translation: this team has shown they are capable of winning more than anyone could imagine. 14 titles out of 19. and tito vilanova's last year with a record 100 points. at this time things look tough. >> a relatively disappointing seen on the pitch has been made to look all but irrelevant. football's world governing body expect only investigation into how the russia and qatar world cups were voted for to be completed soon. the f.i.f.a. secretary talked whilst overseeing last-minute preparations ahead of the world cup in brazil. f.i.f.a.'s own ethics committee is examining allegations of corruption in relation to the awarding of the nest two tournaments. >> i think we should have rah final position and the best would be before the world cup 2014. that we can move and work on the next world cup. >> ryan giggs will take charge of manchester united against norwich later on. the club dismissing reports that a deal had been done to bring in dutch coch louie van hall. giggs replaces david moyes for the final four games. and says alex ferguson has been on the phone offering advice. united's game against norwich, a late kick off. with three games left. everton can go fourth into the champion's league with victory at southampton. >> it doesn't matter who you play in the games or who you are fighting against to get into the fourth spot. there's points tally that matters. i think i will go even as far as say that if you get nine points and don't get into the champion's league , you can be proud and happy. michael phelps's comeback meet finished earlier than expected. the 18-time olympic champion missing out on qualifying for the 50 metre free stone final in arizona. the 28-year-old's comeback cut short when he used the heat to help his butterfly stroke instead of freestyle. he finished in seventh. that ended his first meet since retiring from the olympics. >> it's a good starting point to get races under my belt. and like bob said, the schedule that was today wasn't ideal for what i should swim at this very moment. >> the houston rockets claimed game 3 of the western conference outlasting the trailblazers. portland trailed by 11. this lay-up sent the game into overtime, tied with 12 seconds left before troy daniel scored three points putting the rockets ahead, going on to win 121-60. rafael nadal's 11th year winning streak at the barcelona open came to on end, beaten by nicolas almagro. bringing rafael nadal's 40-run match to an end with a three-set quarterfinal victory. rafael nadal won all previous matches against the world number 20. >> what happened today - it was not my day. i felt i did a lot of things well. at the end remained a little bit. just accept the situation and fight. >> maria sharapova is on course to defend her title in stuttgart after winning in straight sets. she faces italy's sara eroni in the semifine on saturday. >> more sport later. that's it for now. as digital books are common, so are digital textbooks moving to an online curriculum. our christian sal umy visited one that made the transition rfferents the method for solving a logia rith mick equation has not changed. how they do has? >> if you turn to 463, you see the richter scale. >> instead of thumbing though a textbook they turn on laptops and tablets. >> there's a portal for all the high school level books. >> all the private school textbooks are digital and available online, with the bonuses of tute torials and videos that compliment lessons. >> they seat the videos and homework help sessions and access supplements which are now at your fingertips. they don't have to search for them. >> every student must bear the cost of purchasing a computer. the cost of books has gone down from $600 to $150. for the school it meant investing a million dollars to improve infrastructure - a cost that is harder for most public school systems to handle. they have an old-fashioned library. fewer and fewer of them are going home with the students these days. technology is changing the way students access information, and the way teachers teach, but also what they teach. with so many facts at student's fingertips, teachers can focus on analysing information and creative thinking. >> the challenge is about helping kids become excellent thinkers. systems analysts. being able to access information and figure out what it means and how they can use it to make change for themselves and the world in which they live. >> look up the information we have. the school blocks the internet so they won't be tempted by social media. for the tech-savvy generation. >> everything is more organised. you get all the textbooks in one library. forgetting your book is no longer an excuse for not getting things done. >> homework is focussed online. the only excuse is i didn't do it. >> at the end of the day, fewer books to bring home makes for a lighter backpack with all the information a student needs a click away. >> that was the al jazeera news hour with me, steven cole. martin dennis with you for the next half hour. stay with us on al jazeera. >> on the brink - fears of a possible invasion in ukraine as the g7 imposes more sanctions against russia. plus, the path to saint hood. hundreds of thousands flock to roam for the canonization of not one, but two popes. on high alert - weather services warning people of violent storms. 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