hello. a very warm welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha. to strike or not to strike? an emergency meeting of the permanent members of the u.n. security council has been called over action over syria. barbara is in london as western powers weigh up options for possible strikes on syria. >> it's not about invading other regime change. >> britain's prime minister defends the case for military

action. another leader from the muslim brotherhood's political party is arrested in egypt. the barrier keeping the water back, a special report from the flooded chinese region. eight years after hurricane katarina we visit new orleans and nose instrumental in rebuilding the city. we start off with the latest on syria. in the next half hour permanent members of the u.n. security council will be gathering for an urge the meeting called by russia. they will discuss what action, if any, to take against syria over condemn wall weapon attacks on civilians. military jets and other hardware are being positioned in the mediterranean and british

politicians are debating whether to take part in any action in the country. inside syria the president has appeared on state tv. assad says syria would defend itself against any aggression. our correspondent is standing by in london to give us more on the debate in the british parliament. first, let's get the latest from the u.n. with james there at u.n. headquarters in new york. hi, again, james. all five permanent members of the u.n. security council to meet again after their first meeting produced no decision? >> reporter: yes. remember, this is a british draft they're putting before the five permanent members, and then maybe they'll take it to the full security council. maybe it will go to a vote. we'll find out in the next hour or so. the first time they had a meeting that took place 24 hours ago, there was no agreement at all, but all the ambassadors agreed to take the draft back to their national capitals. i think it's significant that

this time one of those that in the past that has always opposed any military action, russia, is the one that asked for the meeting after moscow looked at this draft. we have no information on the russian position. i can tell you, though, i was speaking to one of the security council ambassadors, not one of those that is a permanent member. i was told they thought it was most likely that what was going to happen was moscow was going to come back and say, we read your draft, and no way are we going down that route. >> meanwhile, james, there's been word about the u.n. chemical weapons team and when they'll wrap up their investigation in syria. >> reporter: there is word about the chemical investigation team, and there is some confusion about this as well. the chemical weapons investigators, we're being told directly by ki-moon finished their work on friday, this initial inquiry on what happened on august 21st, and that they will leave by saturday morning.

that much is clear. i have to say among diplomats at the security council, there's an expectation that very quickly they're going to get a report from the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon, some talking about a special meeting of the security council on sunday. i've been told by high-level u.n. sources that those investigators on the ground, while they have what they believe are good samples they've taken at the site, medical samples, other chemical samples of residue they took from the site, they have no mobile laboratory with them in syria. so they're going to leave syria by saturday morning, but then all their samples have to be sent to laboratories in europe for analysis. that could take some time. i've been told it could take weeks. although the security council very keen to hear the results of this these investigations, those investigations may not be the -- the results of those investigations may not become

clear for some considerable time. other bits of information i hear is when the weapons inspectors leave, they might not be the only u.n. personnel leaving at that time. as i understand it, u.n. personnel -- there are about 100 that are serving in syria, international staff, are being encouraged to take leave at this time. they're being told this would be a good time for you to take your holiday. i'm told that u.n. staff apparently are outside syria. do we want to extend your leave, you can. the reason for that is they're worried that there could be strikes, and they want to reduce the footprint of u.n. staff inside syria. other preparations are being made, if there were air strikes, i'm being told, by sources, that they're getting ready for even more refugees who could be fleeing syria if there were to start to be air strikes on damascus. they're making preparations at all the borders including preparations for medical

facilities. remember, there already are close to 2 million refugees in the neighboring countries. >> james, thank you as ever. james spade is there with the latest from u.n. headquarters in new york. in the u.k. the british prime minister is telling members of parliament why he thinks the west should intervene in syria. it's over to barbara in our london broadcast center. barbara. >> reporter: yes, david cameron said evidence pointed towards the syrian government carrying out the chemical attack last week that killed hundreds, but he said it would be unthinkable that britain would launch military action against syria in there was overwhelming opposition in the united nations security council. barnaby phillips has more now from london. >> order. order. >> reporter: britain's parliament recalled in an emergency session and the chamber is packed. the prime minister says a possible attack against syria would be legal, and that president assad has used chemical weapons on a number of occasions.

>> i think we can be as certain as possible that when we have a regime that is using chemical weapons on 14 occasions that is most likely responsible for this large scale attack, if nothing is done it will conclude it can use the weapons again and again with impunity. when people talk about escalation, the biggest danger is if the world community, not just britain but america and others do nothing. >> reporter: the government released a summary of an intelligence report. it says the weight of circumstantial evidence points to assad's forces using chemical weapons. the prime minister admits this is a judgment call. there is no consensus in parliament. the opposition are unhappy, and in david cameron's own conservative party many think britain should hold back even at the risk of upsetting the americans. >> america could undertake this without britain's support. they would like britain's support there. we are allies, but having said that, it's important to stick to

the principle of the issue and not do something just because we're friends. in our view many of us here in parliament, it is clearly wrong to rush into military action before we've seen the evidence and before we've asked questions about the legality of such action without a u.n. resolution. >> reporter: the british government's plans are at least delayed by the realities of democracy. david cameron can't afford a defeat in parliament if he's to pursue military action against syria. legacy of iraq is very important here. at that time many british politicians and the wider british public felt they were misled and cheated, and that helps explain the caution and suspicion in britain today. the protests are small, but the prime minister has to win over the doubters. >> in the coming days, the government has a responsibility building on what the prime minister did today but more than what he did today, to set out its case for why the benefits of intervention and action outweigh the benefits of not acting.

now, i do not rule out supporting the prime minister. i want to make this point. i do not rule out supporting the prime minister, but i believe he has to make a better case than he did today on this question. >> where is the evidence that convinces us? >> reporter: for all the heat, noise and passion in parliament, david cameron promises another debate and vote on military action after the u.n. weapons inspectors issue their report. that could happen next week, and that means this is just an opening skirmish. simon is outside the houses of parliament in london and joins us now. the prime minister was definitely sounding persuasive in parliament. do you think that he managed to convince many doubters? how do you think he fared today? >> reporter: i think neutral observers will give him at least the credit of laying out his argument in a very passionate and clear-cut way, but it was clear that he did not convince the leader of the opposition, the labor party leader, and i

have to say as this debate goes on, we have about three hours to go, barbara, before the voting starts later. the atmosphere inside the chamber continues to be governed by parliamentary rules. it's essentially good-natured, but outside the mud is starting to be slung by prime minister david cameron's camp of dave mill band. they're accusing him of flip flopping. about 24 hours ago the mood between the two parties was good and positive. there was a sense they were working towards this together. the conservatives david cameron is accusing them of changing their position, making it much harder to get this position through parliament. his staff are denying it. there is intempent language at the least on both sides. there is a lot of love between these two leaders over this issue. any hope that prime minister

david cameron could build an across-party consensus on this issue certainly looks to have failed. we look forward to the votes later being a critical measure of whether he succeeded. >> simon is live for us outside the houses of parliament. thank you. as the united states prepares its position on syria and britain debates where it stands, we've taken a flavor of the appetite for military intervention across europe. on the streets of paris, london and berlin, the desire to get involved is very divided. here's jackie roll land. >> reporter: shoulder to shoulder with the leader of the syrian opposition, but hollande was more measured than a few days ago. >> translator: everything must be done for a political solution, but this will only happen if the opposition appears as an alternative with the necessary strength, notably with

their army. we can achieve it if the international community puts a temporary stop to this escalation in violence, to which the chemical attack is just one example. >> reporter: a new opinion poll on the international response suggests the french are deeply divided. when asked about a u.n. military interventi intervention, 55% agreed. when they were asked if france should intervene, 59% disagreed. we found the same divided views among people we spoke to in paris. >> well, if something actually did happen by the regime in syria, it's a very serious problem because it's about a man killing his own people. you know, we can't just stand by and do nothing. >> translator: i am not in favor. we have intervened in many countries. we are still in many, but uf unfortunately, it doesn't make muff difference. >> leaders across europe are

pulling back from some of the strong statements they made a few days ago, but the military build-up around syria is continuing. that needs to threaten for the threat of intervention to appear credible and for the pressure to be maintained on the authorities in damascus. in the united kingdom people are cautious about intervening in syria. memories are still fresh of british troops sent to iraq and afghanistan. >> i think it's a tragic situation, and i do not think we should go into the middle east and into that area and get involved in another war. i don't think we can afford it. you know, something has got to stop on the humanitarian grounds. >> when people hear the facts and they're presented properly to them, i think the british public always come to the right decision in the end. >> reporter: a cautious approach in berlin, too, where people are sensitive to germany's military history. >> translator: usually one wouldn't be in favor of military intervention, but there are certain circumstances such as

now where human rights are massively hurt, and then it's time for a clear response. >> translator: i don't think germany should get involved in the conflict. it's difficult to take which side to take, and you don't have the full picture of what's going on between state and citizens. >> reporter: back in paris military commanders say all preparations are in place. they are now waiting for the president's orders. jackie roland, al jazeera, paris. we'll have more from the european news later in the news hour, including -- >> revolutionizing schools. there's an app for that. i'm looking at the steve jobs schools in netherlands and why not everyone is happy that technology is taking over. coming up here, media outlets covering egypt's revolution are being squeezed. journalists are arrested and channels are being threatened with closure. plus, one of the most wanted men in india is arrested after five years on the run. in sports the nfl agrees to

a multi-million dollar payout over the head injuries sustained by players. details are coming up. a car bomb in the iraqi city of samarra killed 16 people, and the vehicle blew up in the busy market town 100 miles north of the capital, baghdad. at least 27 others were wounded. it comes only a day after a wave of bombings in the iraqi capital killed at least 75 people. pakistan has ordered the retrial of a doctor who helped the cia find osama bin laden. he had worked for u.s. intelligence by collecting dna to verify bin laden's presence. he was sentenced to 33 years in prison on may 2012 for being a member of a militant group. both he and the group deny this.

one of the most wanted men in india has been arrested. he's the alleged founder of the indian mujahadeen and has been accused of a series of bombing. >> reporter: indian authorities have been searching for him in connection with a string of terrorist attacks in india between 2008 and 2013. they allege he orchestrated this attack in mumbai in 2011. three simultaneous bomb blasts rocked the country's financial capital during evening rush hour, killing at least 18 people and injuring 131 others. the arrest comes just weeks after another man the government alleges to be a key figure of the militant group was captured in the same area. the director general of the police force says these arrests are significant. >> so far with the infiltration

of the minds of people running it, and getting them has been marginal. his arrest comes on the heels of an arrest of others should be able to provide an opportunity to the indian investigating agencies to get a much clearer and sharper focus on what is happening. >> reporter: over the years the indian government has accused the group that he co-founded of targeting indians as well as foreign tourists across the country. this attack in 2010 was the first big attack on indian soil since the 2008 mumbai massacre. the country's foreign minister says the arrest is a big step towards justice. >> translator: such people will not have any place to hide now. india's case will now all the more be strengthed. it's very satisfied all those

people harming india are answerable for their misdeeds in india or outside it. >> reporter: it's anoff shoot of the islamic muchlt of india. over the years they've claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, but the masterminds have remined elusive. emergency teams in china are struggling with surging water levels after 33,000 people were evacuated because of floods. rescuers have been reinforcing dikes and the military is patrolling near the river. we have more from the city. >> translator: i know everyone is tired, the soldier says, but we must keep our morale high and fight to the end for final victory. it's a battle against a relenting enemy, the massive waters of the helem river. these are the worst floods in more than 100 years. today is the first day in weeks

the water level has held even rather than rising. with rain on the way and the fear of more water flowing down the street, the fear is nonstop. >> translator: the biggest challenge now is that the soldiers are so tired. wive been working 12 days and nights, but we must succeed. >> reporter: he essentially it'n outdoor sandbag factory. this is the barrier hundreds of meters from the true riverbank. despite the tremendous effort to keep this barrier intact, authorities here are splitting resources in case this embankment gets overtopped and the water rushes in. so several kill meters -- kilometers away a huge earthen wall is being built, the last line of defense. in between villages have been evacuated apart from this one where people are relying on their local mullage. >> translator: my father told me about a great flood 80 years

ago. it flooded over there and over there, but the bridge wasn't completely flooded. >> translator: at first the government told us to evacuate, but later because they said it's higher than other victimages, we can stay. >> reporter: in this town, some of more than 30,000 in this region because they've been moved, others because their homes are flooded or they're at risk. just outside work continues. the hope is it won't be needed. al jazeera, china. to news out of egypt now. the opposition leader has been arrested, he's the second general of the freedom and justice party, which is the political arm of the muslim brotherhood. he had been in hiding and recently spoke exclusively to al jazeera. this footage is the last time he was before his arrest. the national alliance called all egyptians to come out on

friday to pro pest. alliance members welcomed any initiatives to calm the current situation, but they refuse to support the militia coup. >> there are no differences between them. we welcome any initiative. we will go with our activities. our activities are piecemeal as it is the full right of the sit sfwlens to express their viewpoints. again, we welcome any cooling down or any dialogue, but we will continue with our progress and other activities. al jazeera correspondent wayne headache, the cameraman and the producer and local producer mohammed are detained by egyptian authorities held since tuesday. they were in cairo covering events there for our global audiences. they're journalists and these are pictures of wayne. we urge them to release our colleagues unconditionally. the egyptian government is taking steps to close one of al

jazeera's channels accusing it of illegally operating and threatening national security. it has had its signal jammed, studio raided and journalists have been locked out of the office since former president morsi's removal in july. it's broadcast under the same license as the english and arabic channels. >> translator: dena is a busy woman. she and her team can hardly keep up with the increasing number of journalists being arrested and imprisoned under the new leadership. she says she's never seen anything like it, and what's particularly worrying is the nature of the charges being filed against journalist including five being held for spying. >> most of the cases are really political. i think in maybe more cities or

before the cases were more about elections, but this time it's a clear separation between two parties of who is with the army and who is against. it's really a political cut between -- and it puts the media in a very critical wags. >> under the deposed president, several journalists working for state media complained of having articles critical of the muslim pulled and they were charged with insulting the president or islam. on the night morsi was deposed five broadcast stations considered sympathetic to the brotherhood were shut down. 200 employees were taken in and interrogated and most were let go. since the coup in july 25 journalists have been arrested with cases still pending. almost half are in detention. they include al jazeera journalist shami in detention

relating charges in attacking police officers, public, and private property. journalists both local and foreign have been killed. five died covering the crackdown on the sit-ins. last week a journalist was shot by a soldier at a checkpoint after curfew. his colleague, who was in the car with him, says the army fired despite them stopping at the checkpoint. hours after this interview he was detained and accused of possession unlicensed weapons. the army maintained they only shot at the car when they wouldn't stop at the checkpoint. army chief general has said part of the transitional road map is a proposal to draw up a charter demanding press freedom and neutrality. in an environment where the message sent is you're with us or against us, neutrality and freedom are taking a heavy hit. eight years ago hurricane

katrina killed 2,000 people and new orleans. we report on the influx on creative people instrumental in rebuilding the city. >> reporter: matthew's come a long way since helping his father fix up houses in vermont. he's a respected furniture designer with a booming business. >> this material makes my work beautiful to me. >> reporter: like many other creative entrepreneurs he was drawn to new orleans in the desperate days following hurricane katrina. >> i visited and fell in love with the city, the music, the young people moving here that wanted to be part of rebuilding the city. >> reporter: the influx of the young and the talented is obvious across the city. shared workspaces like baiter in the heart of downtown are increasingly common and new orleans is ranked as one of

north america's biggest brain magnets, a trend that a finance minister says is a game changer. >> the real difference after katrina is it raised the bar for the city and what they can do here. >> there's little doubt this new generation helped new orleans stage a remarkable comebacks. when you come to the lower ninth ward, it's obvious some problems still endure. >> good job, good job. >> reporter: problems that sonny lee is keenly aware of. he grew up in the lower ninth and runs a program that mentoring fatherless boys. many people simply never return to his old neighborhood. >> whoever used to live here, the person across the street knew. this was a family, you know. at new orleans we're all a family. to look across the street and not see your neighbor there has got to be an empty feeling and lonely feeling. >> reporter: the picture for

new orleans then is of a slow bud steady recovery. thousands never returned after hurricane katrina, but many more have and are proud to call the big easy home. coming up up in sports, as the u.s. open continues we look at the poor state of men's tennis in the u.s.

>>a. >> >> what happens when social media uncovers unheard and fascinating news stories? >> they share it on a stream.

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories. russia called a meeting of the permanent members of the u.n. security council in under an hour to discuss syria. they will design whether or not the u.n. will back military action. earlier the british prime minister david cameron led a debate about the issue in the u.k. parliament. he said the syrian government has used chemical weapons at least 14 times and it's highly likely it carried out last week's attack near damascus. the british government moved six fighter jets to an airbase in cypress. they say it's a precautionary measure at a time of tension.

edward is a kuwait professor of gulf and arabian peninsula affairs at george washington university and a former ambassador to jordan. welcome to the program, sir. the u.s., u.k. and france seem to be taking a slightly softer tone then in the last few days. why do you think? are they trying to step back from the brink of military action? >> no. i think it's worth saying, though, that the world, the united states and europeans find ourselves in a position we don't want to be in. it's only because of this heinous use of gas against his own people. something that the syrian regime said it wouldn't do that has led us to it point. i think there will be action, and i think that there are just some developments that need to take place. the debate in parliament, in england, consultations here in kashz between the president and congress and an explanation to the american government.

they will take place and there's a reaction to the syrian action. >> so are you saying they'll go ahead with military action even if that resolution doesn't pass at the u.n. security council if russia and china block it as expected? >> oh, i do think so. in fact, i think we anticipate that they will. in fact, it has been, i believe, their refusal, the russian and the chinese, to join in any way to bring about pressure on assad and his regime to stop this kind of action that leads us down the path of what may well be unilateral or multilateral but not a u.n.-supported action. >> do you think the u.s. would take unilateral military action if, say, the u.k. votes against it? >> the president has said we wanted to do with allied support. we made it very, very clear that the use of gas on people,

particularly at this terrible incident we just had, would lead to a reaction. the credibility of the united states and the president himself are somewhat engaged, i'd say. >> but the u.s. public does not want military vochlt involvement in syria nor does congress, does it? >> you're correct. the polls show the american public are not in favor of getting too involved in yet another middle east military situation. the president addressed that a bit in remarks today saying that this would be a limited action and would not lead to that kind of involvement. yes, you're quite right. there have been voices in the congress questioning the wisdom of doing it. there are voices in congress putting enormous pressure on the president for not taking action. >> do you think if the u.s. takes this expected military action, do you think russia and iran are just going to sit back and let it do that?

>> honestly, what can they do? they can bluster. they can talk. there are other issues, other areas where maybe they could take action that would squeeze the united states in some ways, but there's not much they can do in syria itself. >> okay, sir. thank you very much for speaking to us. edward ganum is a former u.s. ambassador to jordan. thank you very much, sir. it's predicted that any military action against targets in syria would most likely come from the air or sea. let's join our european news center with details of the possible logistics. barbara. >> they say the u.k. parliament die baits the response to last week's chemical attack, there's a flurry of activity across europe. a french naval warship has left a mediterranean port, but it's not confirmed it's sending to syria. russia is sending two warships,

a missile cruiser and an an antiship in the mediterranean. earlier thursday it sent six typhoon jets to cypress. al jazeera has the update now from outside the british airbase in cypress. >> reporter: it's an intriguing day for military analysts watching the commings and goings here on the southern tip of cypress. in the mid-afternoon we saul the arrival of the first two typhoon aircraft fast intercepted jets dispatched from the u.k. on thursday morning. the ministry of defense in london insisting it's purely a contingency plan. that they are defensive assets. in the statement from london, it went on as purely a prudent and precautionary measure. although one has to say it's open to enter interpretation in

different ways. we also saw the arrival of two american u-2 spy planes. they can be based many thousands of miles away from their targets, so it's intriguing to know why they have been brought here to this strategically sensitive area at this politically sensitive time. could the americans be sending a message to the neighborhood that these type of planes and asset is in the vicinitvicinity? as far as the prospects of a military strikes go, the cypress authorities are concerned, but they've been told there will be no surprises. they assure the cypress population there's no surprises. although this is a sovereign territory, they'll be kept in the loop. that said, there is concern among the ordinary people here in cypress that the bringing of military aspects to the shores puts them almost in the firing line. >> as we mentioned earlier,

syria's close ally, russia, has stepped up the military presence in the region by sending two warships to the eastern met terrainian. however, the country insisting it's a routine exercise and has nothing to do with the possibility of military action by the west. peter sharp reports from moscow. >> reporter: it was at the height of the cold war that the deal was struck. in 1980 the ages bresnef signed a treaty with the then syrian president. it was a master stroke of soviet strategy that turned the soviet union and later russia into a major player of that tinderbox of the middle east where the soviets have sold weapons to syria since the 1973 war, 40 years ago. what does russia get from the deal today? it has access to a naval maintenance and supply base at the syrian port, russia's only

military base outside the former soviet union. lucrative arms sales. 10% of all weapons exported by russia go to sear yeah, $1.5 billion a year. lastly, unparalleled access to the security apparatus. little surprise that russia over the last two years has consistently voted down resolutions calls for sanctions on syria. one voice remains silent. putin has indifference to the threat of u.s. intervention in syria was 6,000 kilometers from the kremlin on tuesday inspecting flood defenses in the east. >> i don't think that tut -- putin has something to say just now. to come up and say this attack will be wrong and the mistake and the crime and don't do it, while i think everybody knows that it will happen anyway.

it doesn't make any sense to putin. i'm sure he will appear after the strike and strongly condemn. >> reporter: as for the russian people, a poll reveals 39% had not heard of the war. >> translator: at the moment i'm occupied with other things. i don't follow the news. >> translator: they once invaded iraq, and it turned out there were no chemical weapons. it's the same story now. they'll use this as an excuse to launch an attack. >> what's moeing important for the kremlin is not to be seen by the people as bending to u.s. pressure and maintaining its roll as the protector of syria. to that end two russian warships were deployed to the eastern mediterranean on thursday as tensions continue to rise, a reminder to u.s. naval forces in the area that this is not solely an american pond. so the one man, vladimir putin who has enough clout to

president assad to encourage him to go to any tables before strikes on the country remains fundamentally opposed to the military action that brings about these new talks in the first place. staying in russia, but on a different topic. the russian president ordered an investigation into the handling of the country's recent floods. this came after putin flew over the flood-ravaged far eastern region to inspect the damage. the flooding was the worst in russia for 120 years and it cost the country about 1 toll toll billion. putin wants an inquire in the way local officials have responded to the flooding. unions have been on strike and staging demonstrations across the country. it's part of an autumn protest campaign they launched to stop the government from cutting thousands of jobs. the austerity measures are

required by international lenders. it sounds like a vision from the future, but it's happening right now in the netherlands. schools there are going ultra high-tech using tablet computers for pretty much everything. even teacher are largely relegated, and as fill reports from the dutch government, they're planning to open even more. >> books, boards, bags, that is so last term. a new school year and a new approach in the netherlands. 2013 is all about the ipad. >> we have to prepare those children for that very fast changing world. >> maurice is proud of his child, a steve jobs school one of seven with three more on the way. the books relegated next to their successes boxes. pupils starting age 4 get an ipad and the entire curriculum involves around it. this is, he hopes the future. >> i saw my daughter when he was one years old, and she started

to use the ipad. she's 4 years old, and school doesn't use the ipads. then she's coming out of the future to the past. >> is that a teamer? no, she's a coach. that's how they're rebranded heeg. no strict start and finish times. the ipad is the teacher with them at school and at home. even by dutch standards this is a very informal, relaxed approach to education. the critics say it's also about learning about discipline, roux tone, respect, building relations and social skills chls. when it comes to those things and these things, there isn't an out for them. >> i've seen too many experiences with pupils getting too late education, no teachers whatsoever. so we have to be careful. >> reporter: this school is a few minutes' walk and yet a world away for now. there's only one ipad here, and it's used to complex rather than

replace tra tishl les sons. >> i would support, and it's more practical. they need to learn it in the real world rather than the virtual world. >> at the jobs school you find few criticisms, certainly not for the steweds or parents. >> it's not all fun of games. kids are learning something. >> these schools are not affiliated with apple. no doubt they will watch closely. the dutch government certainly is. that is it from the european news center here in london. now let's go back to doha. barbara, thanks very much. barbara, who will be here with all the spots including the graed and good of football championship in monaco. this and more when we come back. saudi arabia for that. ♪

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hello there. welcome back. u.n. peacekeepers in congo say they witnessed shelling into rwandan territories. it came from positions occupied by m-23 rebels, but they're blaming the congolese army for the attacks. from goma malcolm webb reports. >> reporter: these people are furious. bombs have landed in their neighborhood. one person inside was killed and eight more were injured by the blast and shrapnel.

>> we don't know. we suspect it came from rwanda. we heard a blast and the whole house shattered. >> reporter: police try to calm the crowd, but they're not having it. they bring a tire to burn to start a roadblock. police collect the injured and leave. we leave with them. the injured are brought to hospital. she was so frightened by the blast doctors say she's hysterical. they try to remove shrapnel from her back. daylight comes, and there's more bombs. this time they land just over the border in neighbors rwanda killing a woman and injuring a baby. congolese soldiers and border police try to work out where the shells are coming from. this is the border with rwanda. on this side is ra wand do da and this is goma. the two cities are joined

together and shells are landing on both sides. they said they heard shells being fired from the rwandan side. the congolese army spokesman says rwanda is shelling themself and possibly them to stir up tensions. >> translator: i don't know why rwanda did it. perhaps to create panic among the population. they had heavy losses, and this is proof they're desperate and it's proof that ra wand what firmly supports m-23. >> reporter: rwanda says the congolese keeps deliberately shelling them and they won't tolerate it anymore. people in goma pick through the rubble. nobody here knows when or where the next shell will land. as tensions rise between these two countries, the people caught in the middle feel less and less safe. malcolm webb,al gentleman zero

ya, congo. the government wanted them to move to the occupied west bank. sue turtan reports from jerusalem. >> they're packing up the few possessions not demolished by the bulldozer. this has been home to this bedwin community for over 60 years, but ten days ago the bulldozers arrived. they threatened to evict over the past 20 years, and now they made good on the threat. 11 homes were demolished and a deadline of wednesday given to leave. they were told the army wants to build a military base here, but this is their home. they've been here for it, and we have been planting here and living off the land. we lived on the ground and grew

up on the land. >> the israeli authorities used the absentee property law to evict them. the owners of the land live abroad, and they say they have permission from them to live there. israel doesn't recognize their claim. the few olive trees and number of livestock helped to sustain their community of 50 people including 26 children. they've been told to go to the west bank and find a new place to camp. >> translator: our children are destroyed. what can we do? their books have been destroyed. everything we had is destroyed. they set the dogs on our things. where can we go? we have no land to live on. we don't know where we will live. >> reporter: they have watched over the decades how buildings have appeared next to their camp, even a cement factory was built. now the separation rule directly next to where they live. despite the noise and dust they

lived here for generations and don't want to leave. we contacted the office of the municipality of jerusalem to ask why it was destroyed. they replied the municipality didn't carry out any housing demolitio demolitions. they removed uninhabitable tin structures located on public property designated to become a national park. >> translator: they have to right to relocate people that lived here before '67. these boudins have been living here. they are nomad dick. >> they made a home here since the '50s and fought eviction for two decades and now they're in search of a new home where they will be welcome. now it's time for all the latest from the world of sports. >> thank you very much. nfl has agreed a multi-million

dollar settlements with thousands of former players suffering from head or brain injuries. the $765 million settlement which could go up to $1 billion with legal fees follows the cases of players accusing it causing brain injury. one of highest profile cases was seau who committed suicide in 2012. later it was found he was suffering from a type of chronic brain damage common among former nfl players. for more i'm joined by john henry smith live in new york. for those who don't follow american football, give us a sense of how huge, how significant this settlement is. >> reporter: well, i think very early on the first reactions to the settlement were that this is a win for the nfl in terms of the amount of money we're talking about, $765 million

sounds like a lot of money, but then you consider that the nfl made $9.5 billion last year. it works out to about 8%, but when you think about it deeper, it's a really significant win for both sides. the players don't have to wait five to ten years for this case to be litigated to get some money out of this. the players can get some money today. when i say the players, i mean all 18,000 former players around right now are eligible. they can get their money now, and the nfl doesn't have to go through that litigation and have the skeletons in their closets where concussions are concerned borne out for public view during that time period. both sides win for not paying attorneys for five to ten years, which can be quite expensive. >> are the nfl effectively saying they knew about the dangers but hid the risks from players? could they be open to more lawsuits? >> that's a very good question

you asked. the answer is no. you settle out of court a lot of times to avoid making any such admission. if you go through this settlement, the nfl has clearly avoided making any admission of guilt they have settled out of court. by mediated instead of litigating they avoid having to formally admit guilt. >> where does it leave american football in terms of players' safety? do helmets have to be changed now? >> i think it's not a controversial statement to say that this concussion drama that the nfl has undergone and the players over the last few years has changed the game forever. in terms of -- there's a lot more money committed to research and development of newer, safer products. but also the rules of the game changed significantly. you can't strike players above the head area. now there's a thought process that that has driven players to

hit players lower in the knees, and that has caused some injuries. now they're looking at potentially penalized players for hitting below the waist as well. if that happens, of course, that could lead to a point where hey, maybe there is no tackling at some point in the distant future. >> great to talk to you. the draw for the stages of the uefa league has been made in football. also at the end the uefa award for best player in europe. riberi came in ahead of messi and renaldo. group a is led by english champions manchester united. group b includes nine-time winners real madrid, and their new manager is a champions league winner as a player and

coach. the stand outteams in group c are ben fikka and pierce. the main challenge for the new man will probably come from manchester city. marino never wonl the champions league with chelsea, but he's confident to qualify out of group e and f. it includes last year's runner up. finally porto heads up group g and group f where barcelona joined them. serena williams continues the defense of her u.s. open crown. they won in the second round in straight sets. second seed victoria asranka is up later. roger federer is the last game in the morning session. he takes on argentina's player. this 2010 champion ralph nadal

makes it. wednesday also saw the retirement of james blake, who is 14 years tennis career ended with a loss to carla vich. the only u.s. player with a chance of reaching the latter stages is john i see n-- esner. we talked to thompson to see where all the u.s. greats have gone. >> i don't think we can't sugar coat the fact this is a low point in american tennis. we put a lot of works for the few players and we had no one in the third round for the first time in 101 years. that was a year that nobody entered. i think that, you know, you're looking at tennis as going through a period that a lot of other industries has gone through. globalization has changed the landscape, and the days when american men would routinely win grand slam tournaments and be a third or or more of the draw on

the tournament is long gone. a lot of forces have changed the way that tennis and spread around the globe, the fall of the iron curtain and the collapse of the soviet union opened up a lot of opportunities for players and athletes that were not there previously. you know, we hit a dry spell as far as the talent pool is concerned in this country. we'll finish with major league baseball. the red sox beat the orioles on wednesday, but they had to come from behind with a home run by chris davis putting baltimore up 3-10 in the fifth. in the seventh he got an rbi single and in the next winning still the final score, 4 identify -- 4-3 boston. that is your sports. thanks very much. as ever, that's it from me and the team here in doha for now. thanks very much for watching al jazeera.

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hello. i'm tony harris and here's the latest. the white house plans to brief congressional leaders on the situation in syria tonight. that briefing will take place as the five permanent members of the u.n. security council meet to discuss the issue. it also follows a debate in the british parliament. the nfl is agreeing to a proposed $765 million settlement with thousands of former players. the players claimed the league failed to warn them of the consequences of sustaining multiple head injuries. the money will fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation and a program for medical research. a nationwide fast food protest is under way at this hour. workers in new york, chicago and detroit have walked off the job