>> this is al jazeera. ♪ >> hello and welcome to the news hour from al jazeera headquarters. coming up claims government forces in syria have used chemical weapons in damascus. new worries over the safety of the fukushima nuclear plant. in egypt a judge gets ready to rule on a corruption case against former president mubarak. it could see him released from

jail. and introducing i-cow, we go to kenya to find out about the new technology that is transforming traditional farming. ♪ but we open this news hour in syria where activists say government forces have fired rockets with chemical war heads into suburbs of the capitol damascus. it is thought hundreds of people, many children, have been killed. the rockets hit three suburbs in the eastern region. and a suburb in the west of the city. the syrian government say there is no truth in rereports. >> reporter: activists are calling it a chemical massacre.

they accuse the government of using banned weapons. around 3:00 am on wednesday, government forces fired rockets on a number of areas? the area east of the capitol damascus. they say rocket war heads contained nerve agent. activists posted these videos to prove the allegation. al jazeera cannot independently a verify these videos. >> translator: the strike hit houses and buildings. it was destroyed all civilians inside were killed. i heard a strange sound coming from the rockets like a fan. i went to the field hospital, it was full of bodies. all laying on their backs, some

shaking, some paralyzed and having breathing difficulties. some had foam coming out of their mouths. >> translator: the syrian government was quick to deny their reports. state television said the claims were an attempt to derail the work of un inspectors newly arrived in the country. 20 experts arrived in damascus on sunday to investigate reports of previous chemical weapon usage. opposition and activists are now urging the un team to investigate this latest incident. but in the last two years in syria, there have been many claims and counterclaims on the subject of chemical weapons. it means that people may never know the exact truth of what happened or how these people were killed. more on that story a little

later in the news hour. we go to japan now because the nuclear regulator has upgraded its alert level to level 3 serious incident, and that's the highest level of alert since the 2011 earthquake a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> reporter: 300 cubic meters of contaminated water has leaked from the plant. the authority has upgraded to their assessment to a serious nuclear incident. tepco still doesn't know for sure how the radioactive weather has got out. but enough water to fill an olympic-sized pool in a week has breached the tanks. tepco suspects the water got through a rubber valve connected to gauter.

and now the water gathering outside is so toxic. >> it is equivalent to the limit of cumulated exposure over five years. [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: tepco said contaminated water was also leak going the sea. tepco has been trying to deal with leaks of varying severity earth the earthquake and tsunami pushed the plant into crisis in 2011. this incident suggests that there is a long way to go before the area is anywhere safe again. matt is a nuclear scientist. he joins me now in the studio. three tons of contaminated

water. >> actually just 300 tons that have been leaking from this one tank. up with has to understand as we saw in the representation. there are a thousand tanks near -- in fukushima. they are simply taking the water that they are pumping into the four destroyed nuclear plants to cool the reactor -- >> so this is water being pumped into the nuclear plant -- >> to cool down the hot areas. now they take that water, which has become contaminated with radiation, and put them into these -- about a thousand steal drum trainings. then they pump the lesser radiated water into huge underground tanks made of poliest lean. a few weeks ago, one of them

spank a leak. so they have been busy with that. >> so these are more

[ technical difficulties ] >> so i -- i assume -- i think they will have to increase the radius -- you know, this is a huge decontaminator in a sense it can dilute a lot, but i think they will need to increase the limit of fishing. >> how much dilution would it take in terms of hundreds of tons of radioactive water going into the pacific sea. >> there are two kinds of

dilution, there is dilution -- >> i mean once it reaches the pacific. >> yeah, that's difficult to say. it depends on how much radiation you are actually bumping in. but the pacific is a huge reservoir of water. >> very briefly, and lastly, what is your estimate to humans in the area and biologically and eand eco logically. >> humans need to stay away from the hot spot, but in the sea, there will be the fish, and it has to be more regulated. >> all right. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. judges have arrived at the prison with hosni mubarak is being detained. they are set to rule on a corruption case against him. let's take a closer look at the criminal record.

in june 2012, mubarak was found not guilty of ordering the crackdown on protesters. he was found guilty of failing to put a stop to the protesters by egyptian forces. an appeal was filed and an retrial was ordered, and that began in may of this year, and goes on as we speak. but mubarak's lawyers say there is no legal grounds for him to stay in custody. he has already served the maximum amount of time allowed while on trial, so he could be freed. but there is a corruption case on claiming that he received gifts from the state-run publisher. they said the value of these gifts have already been paid back, and so the former president should be released.

i have just read a lengthy graphic about the background to this case, and it's complicated, but what we need to know, i think, mike is, is it likely that the former president will be released from custody soon? >> let's simplify this situation and go to the heart of the argument that is that hosni mubarak has not been formally convicted on any charge, and therefore should be set free pending judgment of these cases against him. now it must be understood too, that the prosecuting authority has made very clear that even if the judge should order the release of hostny mubarak, that procedure could take a couple of days because of course there would also be appealed involves by the prosecutors. so the situation very, very

unclear, very legally complex, but what would appear to be the case is there would be no imminent release in the course of the day. we wait to hear what the judge's decision is in this particular case from the lawyers. >> and as i understand it, mike, what further complicates this case is if he is released, the prosecutor general can have him rearrested almost immediately. >> yes, what we do have is an ongoing trial, which is a retrial on the original charges introduced in his original case. as we pointed out in the introduction that he was found guilty on a number of those charges, but now we are having a retrial on all of those charges. that procedure is underway. the next date for that court session is this coming sunday. in a separate case, another judge would order or overrule any decision taken by the judge today, but to take a full look

at this, one must understand as well that these legal procedures are happening within a highly changed political circumstance, when all of these original cases were underway, we had a swaying situation where an elected government was in place. that government has been deposed, you have been interim government put in by the military, and you have a very different political influence. certainly the public apprehension is that they will take cognizance of what is happening around them. one last point, there is a state of emergency in place, the military at any stage could unilaterally decide that hosni mubarak is set free or remains in prison. >> thanks, mike. we're going to stay in egypt. a media advisor to the muslim

brotherhood has been taken into custody. the two men were arrested while trying to escape across the border. meanwhile the alliance in the country says it will step up its demonstrations of civil obesence. lots more to come here on the al jazeera news hour from doha. filipinos counting the cost in the damage of property and lives. we'll have a report on that coming up. an uncertain future of health care in somalia. and ac milan take on dutch side psv, as we look back at

tuesday's champion's league action. ♪ let's go back to syria now and those claims of the use of chemical weapons. we have the director of the institute of mideast gulf analysis. thanks for joining us. the government is denying using chemical weapons. you have looked at the pictures. from those pictures, it is likely you think that chemical weapons have been used? >> yeah. i think looking at the bodies, it reminded me immediately of the bodies from the famous or infamous massacre in northern iraq 20 years ago. what we saw are bodies, dead bodies of people who have no signs of bullet wounds, injuries, that could have caused

the -- the death. they all look still on the ground and dead. others looked -- having a very hard time breathing, going into, you know, cases of -- looked very much like epileptic, having a hard time, grasping for breath. this is clear signs of a chemical attack that has just happened this morning. >> is it therefore possible to tell what type of weapons were used? >> it's very hard. you need to be on the ground, testing the bodies, and -- but it is certainly a nerve agent, only nerve agents cause such mass casualties. it's not just a simple mustard gas. it is a case of something like sarin or taboon.

something at this scale could have caused this mass casualties, and people looking, you know, in such agony. >> when you talk about this scale, what do you mean? >> the number of bodice. we're talking right now numbers have exceeded 600, and some reports saying above a thousand. this is a mass, mass attack. this is a weapon of mass destruction attack. >> and the mandate of the investigation team that is currently in syria, does that mandate cover this area? >> it covers all of syria. they should be allowed to go in there and investigate any area where chemical weapons were reported. the regime is actually making a mockery of the committee and the un by carrying out this attack during their presence.

unfortunately, this team has a mandate of just a verifying whether a chemical attack took place, but they don't have the mandate of investigating who carried out this attack, which is very strange. i mean these were conditions put on them by the syrians, and because of the split in the council, and the pressure put by russia and china, this team came with very limited mandate, and unable to do anything. i mean, basically, the syrian regime is given a cart blanche, a green light to go about killing people with -- with -- with whatever mean he has at his hands, including chemical weapons. what is really shameful for the community to be sitting still doing nothing about. >> many thanks for joining us.

>> thank you. the french aid organization doctors without borders has ended its operations in somalia. but now a new wave of attacks has forced it to withdrawal completely. >> reporter: this is the hospital, one of numerous medical facilities in somalia. formerly supported by doctors without borders or msf. they have yet to come to terms with msf's move to close down its operations completely. >> translator: msf has acted in the roll of somalia's ministry of health for the last 20 years. if we don't get another sponsor, we will have no option but to close the hospital. >> reporter: they provided for everything here from basic

medical supplies to equipment and surgery supplies. the position to pull out of somalia will deny many people access to health care. last year the organization provided treatment for 624,000 people, and admitted more than 1,000 others to its various hospitals across the country. it also performed surgeries on more than 3,000 others. leaving somalia, msf says has been one of the hardest decisions it has ever had to make. >> there is a widespread disregard for the value of humanitarian action. and as such, we are not able to ensure the safety of our teams, and haven't been able to carry

out independent assessments of needs. >> reporter: msf claims somalia were condoning attacks on its workers. >> translator: we have not released anyone convicted of killing msf workers in the nine months we have been in power. let's stop the blame game. we ask msf to reconsider its position. >> reporter: but despite these appeals they are vowing not to return to somalia as long as the current conditions prevail. india's currency, the rupe has hit record lows. the weaker currency has meant higher import costs and that has

pushed prices up. the government has tried to raise interest rates, but it is now asia's worst-performing country. we have a former advisor to india's finance minister. he joins me now from new delhi. what has gone with the indian economy? why have the investors lost confidence? >> well, there seems to be a decision-making crisis here there is a paralysis of policy making here. that has contributed as much that's changes in the world environment where suddenly the u.s. is changing policy and shifting gears. at that time the government needed to act, and there was a freefall of the rupe taking place for the last eight to ten

weeks. the government didn't intervene, and today we have patched a new law of 64 rupees to a dollar, and the rbi has finally begun intervening, and there has been some stabilization witnessed today, and some stabilization today in the stock market also witnessed. >> i noticed in the last few hours, i have been hearing that the government is going to inject 80 billion rupees into the economy. will -- is that a blip or will it make a difference? >> well, 80 billion given the size of india's economy is not very much. 80 billion rupees is actually, you know, what, 2 or $3 billion,

not very high. but, you know, what the government needs to do is instill confidence by showing it is capable of hard decisions. hardheadedness. everything seems to be going out of control. subsidies have risen from 9% to 16% in the last five years, there's uncontrolled spending on none capitol expenditure items. capital expenditure is down to about 8% of the federal government. we have seen a huge surge in [ inaudible ]. in july we had imported $39 billion worth of gold, which means we're looking close to something like $82 billion of gold alone. and then you have a slowdown in the middle east, and all of these things are cascading and

catching the government flat footed. >> okay. thank you. >> what we need now is to restore confidence. >> exactly. thanks for joining us from new delhi. monsoon rains have hit parts of the philippines causing landslides. thousands of people have been forced out of their homes. more than a hundred thousand people are staying in shelters across the eye land. rob mcbride reports from one of the hardest-hit areas. >> reporter: this province is suffering from unprecedented downpours. they are being lashed by tropical storms and also the seasonal southwest monsoon, the two combining to produce record

amounts of rain. so far this week, nearly a meter of rain has fallin. that's twice the amount that normally falls during the whole of august. trying to clean up as best she can, this woman says at one point the water level on the ground floor was two meters. >> translator: we get floods every year, but they have never been as bad as this. >> reporter: across the street at his tayloring shop, he is counting the cost. a business that took him a couple of years to build up, was gone in a couple of hours. >> translator: i have lost my six sewing machines and my fabrics, all submerged. >> reporter: forecasters are predicting the rain should ease by the end of the week. well there is one man who would know whether the rains

will ease by the end of the week, but we couldn't get him. we have got richard instead in our weather center. richard what is the latest? >> weather wise i think we'll see a continuation of the rain across the philippines. what it is doing is sucking the monsoon air in. now this time yesterday, i was showing you rainfall totals of 300 millimeters in 24 hours, and that has's eased back a little bit. we have had 1134 millimeters in four days in this area. that is twice the rainfall you would see in a city like london or paris in an entire year. but the real culprit lies up towards the north with the

topical storm system. the heavy reign has arrived and the winds are strengthening. and then once it makes landfall over mainland china it will begin to disintegrate. and then we'll stop drawing in the air, and hopefully things will improve by then. but in the shorter term, heavy rain. steven. >> thanks very much, richard. a u.s. soldier on trial for the murder of 16 afghans is to be sentenced. but what do the familiar list of the victims think he deserved? plus -- >> reporter: thousands of teachers have come from across the country to camp out and try to block a pending education reform. and afghanistan and pakistan mete on a football pitch. ♪

♪ you are watching the al jazeera news hour from doha. i'm steven cole. the arab league is calling on un investigators in syria to visit the site of an alleged chemical attack. activists say government forces used chemical weapons in a suburb of damascus earlier this morning. they have upgraded the

fukushima plant to level three, serious incident. judges have arrived at the prison where former egyptian president hosni mubarak. they are set to rule on a case charged against him. european foreign ministers are arriving in brussels for talks, and will stop short oil posing sanctions against the country. daniel joins me now from london. daniel, should we take this meeting seriously? >> i think anything that can -- in the middle of august get european foreign ministers to take a break from their summer holidays deserve toss be taken seriously, steven. >> but can they actually do

anything? >> i don't think anyone is laboring under the illusion that anything that comes out of bussels today is going to determine the course of egypt. that's true when it comes to america and the way some of the gulf states have been pumping money in to support the coup and support the crackdown. but there is an importance in today's gathering of the foreign ministers, and i think that is the following. the regime now i think has invested in the last days in propaganda effort in trying to stair down the west, and stair down europe, and say we're going to review our relations with you. so i think there's an importance to europe standing its ground and not being intimidated by the

pr campaign that has been launched in egypt. >> but daniel what is that ground? and they have no leverage? and does anybody take the european union foreign policy seriously? i mean the gulf countries are -- if you like substituting for -- american foreign aid is used as leverage, and that is not important anymore. because other countries in the gulf are a paying that aid. but europe, what leverage does it have? >> as i said i don't think this is a case of can europe change everything? but i think there are egyptians who are aware that europe is egypt's largest export market. the free trade agreement is not going to be on the table today. but if this crackdown continues i think you will have voices from within europe saying we

have to question the entirety of the relationship with egypt. the tourism is so important to egypt, and no one is going to come under these circumstances. i think what you will see today, and what is important about today's statement when it comes will be will the europeans -- not saying all sides, but will they stick to potion of apportioning blame, and will europe at least do something actionable like suspending arms exports? like suspending security cooperation. like suspending some of the programs that are linked to advancing democracy. that's not going to change everything in egypt, but it will make some people a little less comfortable, and let's be clear, the assistance from the

united states hasn't advanced or bought democracy for the last 30 years. but we can at least do the right thing and make the right statements. >> it will be interesting to see if more than just noises come out of brussels. daniel levi thanks very much. this week u.s. soldier robert bales will be sentenced for the killing of 16 afghan citizens. some families of the victims believe the potential punishment terms don't fit the crime. >> reporter: in the early morning hours of march 11th, 2012, robert bales killed 16 afghans. nine were children, four with women. among the men was this man's brother. >> translator: our strongest

demand from the american government is that this person should be sentenced to death. >> reporter: he no longer lives here, like the rest of the victim's relatives the memories were too difficult. he has moved out of the village to the city. here they know how bales should be punished. >> translator: he should be given the death penalty for sure. he should be punished and everyone in afghanistan should see it. >> translator: if he were given the death penalty, then the people would trust the .government and support it. it would be a good thing if he were given the death pen tail. >> reporter: local leaders worked quickly to avoid attack on the police, and calm the relatives. and the u.s. paid compensation too.

>> translator: $50,000 were given for death and 12,000 for each of the wounded. >> reporter: paying blood money sometimes brings forgiveness. not in this case. >> translator: if he's not given the death sentence, then i'll ask the afghan president that there should be a retrial. >> reporter: a retrial is highly unlikely. afghan lawyers here in kabul are divided. some don't understand the case, and others don't understand the system. pakistan's mill stair says an officer has been killed by indian fire. another soldier was said to have been wounded. india's government hasn't confirmed whether or not the shooting took place. al jazeera has been given

exclusive access to a prison in thailand. the national revolution front wants all of its fighters to be freed before talking to the government. veronica was the first person to be allowed inside the person. >> reporter: every day this woman goes to see her husband in prison. >> translator: there is no justice anymore. when we analyze what happened to anwar, and try to dig deeper, it is not possible to get justice. >> reporter: anwar is sentenced to serve 12 years in prison for belonging to the national revolution front, which has been fighting for a separate muslim state in southern tie lan. his 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 the conditions are like. prison officials asked us not to show any of the convicts' faces. one the leader of an armed group, says he doesn't regret his actions at all. >> translator: my responsibility is controlling the military operations, and i would like to tell the government if they want to do peace groups, don't just do it with one group. it wouldn't work. >> reporter: even if it includes only one of several groups, the talks have lead to significant improvement for some detainees. some have had their sentencing shortened, others have been moved to prisons in their hometowns. now they have become pawns in the negotiations.

as for anwar himself, a short conversation revealed his experience in jail has only strengthened his convictions. >> we want to use our rights to fight back peacefully for our land. >> reporter: the prisoners want to move on, out of the war, and into a new and different future. the columbian rebel group has accepted responsibility for decades that has been taken as a sign of progress in the peace talks being held between the rebels and government in cuba. >> reporter: this is a very important step in this peace process that has taken place in havana. he said that there has been cruelty and pain committed by their forces.

and they are saying they are not the only ones to blame in this conflict. this is coming right after juan manuel sanders admitted the human rights violations had been committed. they are asking for national and international experts to investigate the history and fine out the truth. for nine months they have been negotiating in havana. right now is the 13th round of talks. it took them six months to agree on the first point of the six-point agenda, and that is land reform. currently both sides are discussing the second point which is political participation. the farq want to be assured if they create party they won't be killed like in the past.

many people find it difficult to see members sitting in government even though they are discussing peace in havana, here in columbia the fight continues. two days ago the government killed two important members of the farq. a mexican teacher's union is trying to block a landmark piece of education reform. critics say students will suffer from the legislation. >> reporter: this is how teachers try to get their voices heard in mexico. they occupy the main plaza, and try to pressure them with people power. these people aim to block ed the education reform aimed at improving state-run schools, in

part by evaluating teachers. these teachers are hoping their members can hold high-level meetings and convince them to change or reject the reform. >> reporter: this is how some teachers reacted. 20 police were injured, three of them hospitalized. teachers have been protesting the reform for months. under the new law, for the first time an independent commission can hire and fire teachers. but these teachers say the reform has bun goal. >> translator: the government wants to privatize education, and make it to rich businesses take it over. >> we know in the long run this won't benefit teachers at all. in five or six years the

government will enact the true reform, which will lead to more unemployment in the country. >> reporter: on monday 2 million students meant to start the new year, couldn't because of teachers striking and protesting against the reform. the reform is a significant piece of the present administration's agenda. of the 34 countries in organization for economic developments student assessment program, mexico ranks last. but teachers say poor students shouldn't be judged against those with privileged backgrounds. time is running out for teachers to block the law. sports is coming up, and despite some recent bad form, maria is looking better and

taller. we'll look more closely at sugar pova. ç]

♪ >> australia lose an early wicket, but football is first. >> steven we'll go to that in a second. ac milan draw 1-1. the dutch side fielding a side with an average age of 19.5. psv still regarded as one of europe's best young teams, but it was milan that took the lead

after just 15 minutes. in the second half, the equalizer for the hosts. and nicely set up for the second leg. his second in a week's time. let's have a look at tuesday's other games. arson wenger is lashing back. he claims in the last 16 years he has been very successful in attracting players. >> they are a very experienced

team with quality players. some of them have played in england, some have played in france. they played in england and france. we have played against him, so we know basically [ inaudible ] but a very experienced team with quality. >> but ahead of that game, club officials will appear for the court of arbitration for sort to appeal uefa's match-mixing ban. now the head of the english premier league has defended the decision to host the 2020 world cup in quatar. >> the executive committee took that decision to hold a summer

world cup in qatar, and we are very supportive of the world cup being in qatar. this whole idea it is hot in those months, everybody recognized that, and you bid and won on that basis, therefore, in our view there is no reason why you can't hold the world cup in qatar in the summer. there are lots of cultural thoings things to do, and a lot of activity goes on late in the night when it is cooler. so we are hugely supportive. ryan dempster has been slapped with a five-game ban for intentionally throwing at alex rodriguez on sunday.

a-rod was in action again on tuesday. the game was much closer, but it was a struggle for rodriguez, striking out here for a 3rd time. and then it was jayson nix who got the homer. and then a single to finish the blue jays off. final score, 3-2 yankees. and paul of the arizona diamondbacks smashed his third home run of the season, and also the first-ever player in the national league to record 100 runs. chicket just got underway. and the home side has handed debuts, while the australians

have given the first test cap to their wonder. they are currently 27-1 in the first innings. darren layman has caused a storm after he called stewart brood a treat. he was talking to an australian radio station, when he said he hoped he would receive a tough time from the fans. he said . . . well the u.s. open starts on monday, and former champion, maria sharapova looks upbeat. she was all smiles at a promotional event on tuesday.

last week at the cincinnati open she suffered a shocked first round defeat, and prompted the russian to appoint jimmy conners after just one match. >> yeah, it was just not the right fit at this time in my career. i feel light is the right decision, and who knows what will happen down the line. jimmy is still a really good friend of mine, and great friend. >> despite the damage down to the tour de france, this year's race has been clean. there was frustrations of accusations during the race. he said he would like to see cycling drug cheats receive lifetime bans. afghanistan plays again pakistan for the first time in a decade. >> reporter: when pakistan's

team took to the field it was the first time in 36 years it had played in kabul. the stadium was packed. and although there weren't any pakistani fans, team was enthusiastic. >> reporter: i pray to god these two countries become more friendly. >> reporter: as the game got underway, police were out in force, but there was not hostility here, only excitement. >> reporter: this event is part of a continuing effort to help these two peoples better understand each other. the tv station that hosted the match held a number of debates this year. organizers hope that events like these will help the two

countries work together. back on the field, the afghan team dominated the game, scoring three goals and sending pakistan home empty handed. but not all fans are convinced sports diplomasy works. >> reporter: i would go home in the media saying there is a good relationship. but it doesn't bring the people in afghanistan joy. >> reporter: but the victory gave these people in this divided nation something toe talk about. >> that is your sports. steven? >> [ inaudible ]. >> possibly and he has ratcheted up the return after that series. and darren lehman is pouring petrol on the blames of what

ha already a very dodgy situation. i'm sure that all of the promoters are very happy about that match. >> indeed. to kenya where a new scheme is helping farmers raise their cattle. peter reports on this story. >> reporter: these cows have a heavy responsibility. together their feed, clothe, and education this man's entire family. four cows are are fairly typical for kenyan farmers. the milk is enough to live off of, but not enough to get expert

support. that's why one kenyan farmer worked with a software developer to develop i-cow. >> any product that can help increase production and yield to the farmers, and is on the marketplace is a huge value to the farmers. >> reporter: i-cow is designed for the mobile phone. >> carlin da. go to. >> reporter: farmers register their animals, and get key messages in the life of the cow. >> when was this cow born? >> a month ago. >> reporter: he signed on when he knew one of his cows was present. >> they tell me this is the time to -- to dry your cow, it is the

time to -- to stop milking. i saw -- i saw it's a good innovation, that's why i already just had my -- my cow -- >> he says the information is hugely helpful in managing his animal animals, especially if it comes at the right time. farmers simply can't afford, however, to abandon their traditional techniques. a glitch in the system meant that allen's information came a month after it was needed. but it could make life just a little bit easier for millions of farmers. well, you are watching al jazeera, so stay with us because there's another half hour of

news coming up in just a second.

♪ >> good morning and welcome to al jazeera. these are some of the stories we're following at this hour. syrian rebels accuse the government of launching a nerve gas attack, claims it killed hundreds, including children. this is hours after the arrival of teams looking for evidence of those very chemical agents. >> it's sentencing day for bradley manage, the army private at the center of the week key leaks scandal could spent years in prison. >> dozens of wildfires burning across 10 states in the west. the cost of battling the flames