jazeera.com. >> a leak of japan's fukushima nuclear plant force authorities to put it on the highest alert since the 2011 tsunami. ♪ hello, other top stories in al jazeera. corruption charges should be dropped against mubarak. >> reporting from inside a prison where i've been speaking to convicted insurgents. >> and introducing the icow,

we're in kenya to find out about the new technology that is transforming traditional farming. >> japan's nuclear regulator on wednesday upgraded its evaluation of a radioactive water link o leak to a level the sensitive level. it's the highest alert since the meltdown of 2011 tsunami. >> 300 cubic meters of water contaminated by radiation leaked from the fukushima plant. authorities say they've upgraded their assessment to a serious nuclear incident. they're still not sure how the water got out but enough to fill

an olympic sized pool in a week has some how reached the metal tanks. they suspect the water got through a valve connected to a gutter, and now the water gathering outside is so toxic it would expose a person to more radiation in an hour than is healthy in five years. >> so we could say that we found the radiation level strong enough to give someone a five-year dose of radiation within one hour. >> two weeks ago they said contaminated water was leaking through an underground barrier and into the sea. this water is thought to be 100 meters away from the coast line. they have been trying to deal with leaks of varying severity since the tsunami pushed the fukushima plant into crisis i

in 2011. they suggest there is a long way to go before the surrounding area is anywhere near safe again. >> we have a knew cheer scientist joining us in studio. so the level has gone from a level one to level three, what does that mean? >> there are seven levels defined by the atomic energy. the first three are incidents, and this is the highest incident level. and then starting four is an subsequent, four, five, six, seven. this kind of designation is really no not agreed by all scientists. it mixes in intensity and magnitude. therefore the severity is not welwell defined. >> do we know anything? is it arbitrary by who defines it. >> it is arbitrary by those who

define it. >> how concerned are you? >> i'm not as concerned by this incident. it is just a little incident in a series of very immense controlling exercise. >> hundreds of tons of radioactive water pouring into the water that would presumably lead to the ocean. you're not terribly concerned? >> i'i'm not terribly concerned, but i am concerned. the really contaminated water coming from cooling the molten core, the uranium and the molten core, that seems through the holes in the cracks. it is filtered and put into these tanks. further decontamination.

>> isn't there a problem. no one believes japanese authority any more. they have a record of under playing the situation. is there a way of knowing what is going on at this plant. >> only those in control of what is happening know the magnitude. i would concede that the public relations of the japanese authorities regulatory and t tipco, the company, it is not 100% transparent. but incidents like these get blown up by the news, and they play on the fears of the public which is not really scientifically speaking are not that serious. it is just part of the glitches of a very demanding controlling process. >> in the coming hours, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> activists in syria say

government forces have fired rockets armed with chemical warheads in the capitol. these pictures are said to show the effects of the attacks. huge numbers are trying to escape the violence in syria. the u.n. said if the pace keeps up the number crossing over into iraq alone could reach 100,000 by the end of next month. conditions inside syria are said to be deteriorating even further. the red cross said 150,000 people will be without basic food rations in two months if they do not get more funding. kurdistan has sent entry of 3,000 refugees a day. but that has been wrong, 5100 landed on tuesday alone. authorities have closed the bridge into iraq to try to stop the influx. the refugees are mainly kurds.

aid workers say many children arriving are suffering from sufm dehydration from walking in the heat. we traveled to that region of iraq, and filed this report. >> reporter: some call it an exodus. others say they've never seen anything like it. thousands of tired, hungry and desperate people. since thursday syrian kurds have been crossing the border into northern iraq and more arrive daily fleeing from the war. this is norsheen. she fled, and it saved her life. >> they're killing us every day. they want the syrian kurds out of syria. we have nothing left in syria to live on. >> reporter: one of the groups fighting in syria and is said to be al-qaida affiliated. for many even the harshness they face here is better than syria

right now. but trying to move these people to camps is a difficult business, and in the fierce sun tempers often flair. getting people on u.n. buses is the only way to get them to the town two and a half hours away from here. but the u.n. organizing this is a problem. they want women and children on the buses first. however, that's not happening. these buss are simply being mobbed. >> reporter: for the united nations moving them is a logistical nightmare. >> they're exhausted and thirsty and hungry. we're providing them with water and food, but as they move as quickly as possible to get away from here and get to camp. >> reporter: local charities help by giving food. it is welcomed even though the distribution is haphazard. from here the syrian border looks peaceful, but as the fighting continues there will be more refugees arriving every day. how the kurdistan government will cope is now the question.

al jazeera. >> pakistani security forces say they've seized 100 tons of explosives from a warehouse in qatar. they saqatar--in quetta. ten people have been arrested. in the coming hours, a judge will rule on corruption charges against egyptian hosni mubarak. the 85-year-old is also facing retrial for negligence in the killings of protesters two years ago. mike hannah joins us now. could hosni mubarak be free in two hour's time? >> that is one of the many possibilities that has emerged in this case. what has happened is the judge will be hearing an appeal on m mubarak defense.

that being said, he is due for a retrial, which begins in a few day's time on sunday, so there are a number of possibilities in the upping, one of which the judge agreein agreeing with mubs defense and allowing mubarak build three pending investigations, but very difficult if not impossible to predict an exactly what will happen at this stage. >> if he is free you can't get more of an indication by the failure of the revolution. have things changed so much that mubarak could be freed, and this is acceptable to the majority of the public? >> whether or not this would be acceptable to the majority of the public is highly debatable, but it is a sign of the shifting changing circumstances that could be condemn plated even though it's perhaps a faint

possibility. but certainly it reflects the fact that an interim government is in force, put in power by the military, and as i state again the very fact that the release is even being talked about, thought about, is just a real sign of how things have changed in the past six weeks since the military deposed the previous government. >> thank you very much. you're watching al jazeera. coming up from bright to bleak, why some of the merging asian economies are on the wane. and despite war and chaos, we'll tell you why a leading aid organization has pulled out of the country. was not me. check us out 24 hours a day on

[♪ music ] >> welcome back, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. in japan has upgraded a water leak to a level three incident. it's the highest level since the tsunami of 2011. a judge will rule in corruption charges against hosni mubarak in the next few hours. his lawyer will petition the court in cairo demanding that he be freed. activists claiming that syria firing chemical warheads. there are fears for the health of some of asia's

economies. thailand is in recession. it ended the last time last quarter for the first time since 2008. malaysia is expected to pace it's second quarter of growth below 5% this week. and in china bad loans from banks is rising and the country's growth has been slowing. and the indian rupee has been falling because the government has failed to carry out long overdo you structural changes to the economy. and japan bounces back after it's stimulus package. live from singapore, what is your outlook, then? >> i think what we're see something a big rotation out of emerging market assets into develop country assets. that's because we're seeing the fed planning to end the--gradual

yodly en--gradualthe--gradually. emerging markets are suffering some difficulties. india is facing a lot of problems with high inflation, weakening growth. in indonesia we've seen a deficit that is widening and other problems in some of the other large emerging markets around the world. that's pulled money out of emerging market assets. now this rotation has now taken place. i think when we look down the road at the prospects for the global economy, particularly the large economies, the u.s. japan, and to some extent china, it does seem to be a little bit of better sentiment now, we're

seeing some of the forward-looking indices picking up in the u.s. quite strongly. and showing gradual improvement. and japan is having quite a big rebound. >> what can these economies do to attract investment back without impoverishing their own people? >> i think what we need to see in india is much more dynamic economic reform. in india the government has been lacking severely in put of in place attractive measures for attracting foreign investment. we've seen a very slow protectionist stance from the government in terms of reforms. that's gradually eroded foreign infester interest. a similar story in indonesia, where in the last couple of years it has been more protectionist legislation in mining and also in banking to prevent foreign firms from

acquiring local companies. these are the sorts of measures that are actually undermining for direct investment into merging markets. i think if we do see a pick up in global growth, many merging markets should benefit from that, and that should help the momentum in central east asia. >> thank you very much. chinese premiere has called for persistent efforts to save victims of the country's worst floods in decades. officially 85 people have died and 105 are missing. it's feared that the final toll could be much higher. they're getting help with a flood that hit china. many have been affected by heavy rain in recent days. it's difficult for rescue teams

to get to some because main roads are flooded. flooding in the capital of the philippines is starting to recede after the heaviest rainfall in record. half of manila has been cut off and tens of thousands have been trapped. residents outside of the capitol are also being investigated. >> in a prison in thailand where hundreds of separatists are being held. they wanted all of their fighters to be freed before holding peace talks with the government. we have this report. >> reporter: every day romna goes to prison to see her husband. he's one of 60 men here in prison for fighting the thai military. >> they have no news any more.

it is not possible to get justice. >> reporter: she served 12 years in prison for belong together brs, fighting for a separate muslim state in southern thailand. the supporters say the evidence is far too week to support such a tough sentence. this is the first time that authorities have allowed the international media to see for ourselves what conditions are like inside the thailand version of kwan tam know. prison officials asked us not to show any of the convicts faces. once, the leader of the armed group, who also wants a second state in the south, said he doesn't regret his actions at all. >> my responsibility is controlling the military operation, and i would like to tell the government if they want to do peace talks, don't do it with one group. it wouldn't work. >> reporter: even if it only includes one of several armed

and insurgent groups the talks have led to significant improvements in some detainees. some have had their sentences shortened. others have been moved to prisons in their hometowns. but now they've become pawns in the peace negotiation. >> i don't want to use violence. we want to use our rights to fight back peacefully for this land. my question will the rn accept this? >> the president here like ordinary people in the religion want to move on, out of the war and into a new future. from al jazeera, thailand. >> the french aid organization doctors out borders has ended all of its operations in somalia because of its increasing

violence. it's been in the country for over two decades despite wars and murders of two of its workers. now they're set to leave completely. >> reporter: this is the hospital, one of numerous medical facilities in somalia, formerly supported by doctors without borders. >> msf has acted in the role of somali's ministry of health over the last 20 years. if we don't get another sponsor we would have no option but to close the hospital. >> reporter: they provided for everything here, from basic medical supplies to equipment and facilities to performing major surgery. they have been playing the staff of the hospital.

now they have only three months of medical supplies and funding for the organization's top support. the decision to pull out of somalia will deny many people access to healthcare. last year the organization provided treatment for thousands of people and admitted 1,000 others to various hospitals across the country. it also performed surgeries on more than 3,000 people. living somalia, it's you been one of the hardest decisions they've ever had to make. >> it's a widespread of humanitarian action. as a result we have not been able to ensure the safety of our teams, and also we are not--we haven't been able to for a while now to drear out independent assessment of me. >> in one shocking case the

convicted to msf aid workers was sent to prison for 30-year sentence. it is a claim that he denies. >> we have not released anyone guilty of killing msf workers. >> reporter: but despite the uphills msf is vowing never to return to somalia. al jazeera, mogidishu, somalia. >> a sign of progress and peace talks being held between the rebels and the colombian government in cuba. we have more. >> this is a very important test

in this process that is taking place in havana. they said there has been cruelty and pain committed by the forces. let's not also perfect that they're not the only ones to blame in this conflict. this is coming right after admitted that human rights had been admitted by the colombian tape there will will be experts to investigate the history and find out the truth of what happened in this country. for nine months the government has been part of negotiations. it took them months to agree on the first point of the six-point agenda. they're currently negotiations while they discuss the second point of political, and if they

create a left-wing party they won't be killed like it happened in the past. there is also here, and many find it difficult to find members of the conflict even though they're discussing the peace here in a vanna. here in columbia. and the fark are asking for a bilateral cease-fire the government is saying that is not an option. >> the u.k. is waiting for legal action. he was stalked because of his relationship with a journalist who has been reporting exclusi exclusively on u.s. edward snowden. now in a fierce debate over the use of anti-terrorism laws. >> they didn't know whatever it was tha that miranda carried.

this has caused outcry around the world. they used a bit of the law that relates solely to ports and airline landings. he would have had all the checks and balances that the law has. >> in kenya a farmer has built an application for mobile phones. it's allo supposed to allow smar farmers the same information. it's now called the icap. >> they have a heady responsibility. together they feed, clothes and educate the entire family.

the priced stock and without that kind of support, that's why one kenyon farmer worked with some of the country's most promisepromiseed developers. >> i think the opportunities are huge. >> icow was designed for the most common form of communication in africa, the mobile phone. >> that's two. >> reporter: the farms register their animals in exchange they get regular sms messages. >> this could you was born a month ago. >> he signed on when he knew one

of his cause was pregnant. >> they tell me this is the time to dry your cow. it's the time stop milking. i saw that it was a good innovation. that's why i just had my cow. >> he said the information is hugely helpful in managing his animals, especially the cubs at just the right time. icow seems to be an blend of old fashion farming and new technology. farmers simply cannot afford to abandon their traditional technique. >> a glitch in the system meant that his supplies arrived a month out of sink. icows needs are not met as a substitute for the farmer's records, but it is offering a supreme court that could make

life a little easier for the next few years. >> a quick reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website at al jazeera.com with the possibility that hosni mubarak could be released.