hello, and welcome to "the news hour" in doha and these are the top stories from around the world. former south african president nelson mandela leaves hospital and his condition is still critical. how to respond to syria's alleged chemical massacre. arab league ministers meet. australia's prime minister

launches his party's election campaign. and the environmentalists with chain saws. we're deep in the indonesian jungle where it's man versus nature again. first, former south african president nelson mandela has been discharged from hospital after almost three months. he's being treated for a lung infection in pretoria. the south african government says the former president and antiapartheid leader is still in a critical condition. tonya page joins me now live from johannesburg. his condition is described as critical and at times unstale. why is he being allowed to go home? >> reporter: well, i think the reason for that is explained by

the south african president's office, which is the official conduit of all information pertaining to the former president's health. they make it clear that they have reconfigured parts of the former president's home in the house and suburb in johannesburg to allow for intensive care treatment at his home. they say that the same medical team, private and public service, and military experts who have been treating him in that pretoria hospital will attend to his health in his johannesburg home. that will put lots of hearts and minds at ease in south africa where so many people have been so concerned about the health of the former president because he's been in that critical but stable condition for several months now. they are saying that they are hoping that there will be some form of recovery, but obviously they feel he'll be more

comfortable at home. >> so the large medical team at the hospital that's been caring for him, i take it a lot of that team will now move to johannesburg, but perhaps is it more out of the glare of the television crews and the journalists who have been at the hospital for some time now? >> reporter: well, exactly. i think, you know, what we're going to see is that same contingent is just going to relocate to outside his home, because there is such a great level of international and local interest in his care. we're going to see, i'm sure, over the next few days members of the public coming to his home, which really we can't see inside of, of course. it is quite a high fence. there will be security there as well. there is already a presence, and i think we can only expect to see that grow. >> he's been in hospital, tonya, as we know for some time.

his condition there -- we don't know what pictures we're seeing at the moment. his condition is described as critical and in times nonstable. can you let us know how hill or close to death the former president is? >> reporter: oh, look, no one is denying and certainly the south african presidency has been very careful to paint a realistic picture. this is a 95-year-old man, after all, with a history of medical issues related to his lungs because he contracted tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison. nobody is kidding themselves that this is a gravely ill man, but there are at pains in this statement to say he's been in this intensive care, critical but stable condition, and they have had to made several what they describe as medical interventions. they're not going into any detail purely because they want

to protect his privacy as much as they possibly can. he's going to get that same care at home, so i think the president's office is trying to walk a pretty careful line between giving people enough information that they are satisfied that they're being kept informed but not so much information into the nitty-gritty into the details what those medical interventions involve because, of course, they want to try and protect his privacy and that of his family as much as they possibly can. >> tonya page in johannesburg. thanks, tonya. we go to cairo. the a rab league is meeting there --

>> >> it supported nato's military action in libya in 2011, but egypt's interim government says it's against military action. jordan is a neighbor of syria, but its king says dialogue is the only way to end the conflict. lebanon is officially neutral. the foreign minister has spoken out against military strikes. iraq is also officially neutral but has warned that a rebel victory could unleash sectarian conflict. sue joins me now live from cairo for more on this. a statement from the local coordination committee in syria say the syrian people have never welcomed intervention from abroad. how has the snc reacted to this

delay of a military strike? >> reporter: i'm sorry. can you repeat the question? i didn't quite catch it. >> yes. can you hear me now? >> reporter: yes. i'm sorry. we're struggling. could you repeat the question? >> yes, of course. how has the snc reacted to the no-strike call by obama? >> reporter: i think you're saying how is the snc reacting to the no-strike call.

i think with great disappointment really. the leader is here and is going to be speaking to the foreign ministers at the arab league meeting this evening. we understand there's been one meeting between the libyan foreign minister and the general secretary of the arab league today, and then the ambassadors are getting together to hand over any recommendations they come to the foreign minister's meeting later on. but the fear is they don't get further forward than they did last tuesday when there was disunity among the foreign ministers. lebanon, iraq and algeria not wanting to be part of it. at the condemned the act, and they were pushing for the u.n. to take deterrent action but not endorsing any military action by the u.s. we're hearing from senior sources within the general secretary's office they don't expect to get any further forward than that.

there's obviously a lot of talking, and we know this meeting was brought forward after the u.s. president obama said on saturday that they were going to have to go to congress to get the kind of approval to go forward with this military strike. so there is some sort of impetus to sit down and talk again, but no real suggestion they'll come up with a unified statement on endorsing that action. >> thank you. let's look in more detail the u.s. president's waiting for congress for intervention. >> reporter: as u.n. inspectors arrived back at the hague, a u.s. strike seemed imminent. a small group of protesters outside of the white house urged restraint. their chants heard faintly in the rose garden as president barack obama came out to tell the world he wants to strike. he's ready, but it's going to have to wait. he now wants the approval of the

u.s. congress. >> while i believe i have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, i know that the country will be stronger if we take this course and our actions will be even more effective. we should have this debate, because the issues are too big for business as usual. >> reporter: it won't happen soon. the president is not calling congress back into session. some politicians will return in the coming days for a series of hearings, but there won't be a full debate or vote until after both houses have returned from summer recess on september 9th. it came as a big surprise, since members of his administration started talking tough on syria, they have avoided questions about seeking a congressional vote. >> we are engaging in what we believe or responsibility is here, which is to consult with congress. >> we'll consult with congress. >> it's important for his administration to consult with congress in a very robust way. >> reporter: the administration didn't ask for permission before

when taking much broader action in libya. they said they didn't need approval. air strikes and missiles didn't qualify. now they believe congress should weigh in on syria, a body that can't pass a budget or bills with broad public support. the majority of americans don't want to intervene in syria, making this vote a tough sell according to analyst bill schneider. >> i think about a third of congress is ready to support the president, and about a third won't support the president and conservative republicans and liberal democrats and a third are up in the air, including a lot of democrats and some republicans. they're up in the air. they're waiting to see the evidence, and we demand a very high standard of evidence after the experience in iraq. >> reporter: now that he made the move, the administration will likely have to answer questions it has so far avoided, like what is the legal justification, the national interest, potential consequences. until those questions are asked and answers and if nothing changes on the ground in syria,

it appears that for now u.s. intervention is on hold. p al jazeera, washington. >> omar, has there been any reaction yet from the syrian opposition after obama's decision? >> yes, steven. while an official statement was read to us on the phone, and it says that the syrian national coalition is calling on members of congress, of the u.s. congress to stand by the syrian people and to take their responsibility to save the city and people from a regime that killed more than 110,000 people. the statement also says that if the international community including, of course, the u.s. and members of the u.s. congress does not or do not take any action, then that will mean a

green light for the syrian regime to continue killing the syrian people. it's interesting to note, steven, members of the syrian opposition who are in d.c. and washington have already started to talk to members of the u.s. congress trying to persuade them and explain their positions. they are forming a sort of lobbying group. it's very interesting. this is the official line coming to us from the syrian national coalition. leading members of the syrian national coalition are very surprised and disappointed by president barack obama's decision to refer the case to congress, because they say this makes the president fluctuating in his policies and changing his mind. another leading figure said that, to him, it appears that the u.s. president wants to get his back covered if a small, limited military intervention

will turn into a wider regional conflict. that's why he's trying to get the u.s. congress covered. >> thanks, omar. you're watching "the news hour" in doha. coming up on the program, the vet cans new criminal code takes effect. plus, the attempt to unearth proof of a hidden past. while dozens of bodies are exhumed in florida. the two tennis legend with the u.s. open. tara will be here with that story. suspected members have ambushed and killed 24 vigilantes who tried to detain them in northeast nigeria.

the nigerian army has been fighting against boc shz horan who wants to encourage law in the country. they want to take up arms against them. these groups are thought to have helped the military capture hundreds of the boko scattered haram fighters. the latest attack is the third in a week. at least 20 vigilantes were killed in earlier acts. human rights activists warn at that abuses may occur since they have no legal standing. one is the burning of a senior politician's home in july blamed on a vigilante group. mike is a former director of security services. mike being up to 24 vigilantes were killed in an ambush when they tried to arrest members of boko scattered haran.

doesn't that highlight using them for what the government calls terrorists? >> from the reports i cannot actually confirm the casualties of civilians, but it should be noted that these civilians is a small group that has come out to assist the security forces to root out the boko haram. my worry is that they -- it's that they cannot embark on officials who tout the assistance of the rebel forces.

i think there is providing of informati information. >> how do the military -- if you even know, how do the military regard these vigilantes? do they accept them and want to work alongside them? >> of course. the military is ready to accept the detail because they volunteered because of the proble problems. the activities in that area were brought to a halt, and when there's this type of emergency, it gives courage and boldness to assist the security forces. so i think the relationship between them should be defined.

it's restricted on information which will be used to act. >> mike, we'll leave it there. many thanks for joining us. suez canal authorities say there was an attempt to attack a container ship passing through the canal. they say the vessel wasn't damaged and traffic wasn't interrupted. two he can mroegss were heard in the area. yemen's prime minister has survived an assassination attempt. he was unhurt after four gunmen fired at his motorcade at the tap cal. no one claimed responsibility for the attack. the yemeni government has been fighting fighters in the peninsula. radiation of a tank holding contaminated water at japan's fukushima plant has increased 18-fold. there's enough radiation to kill an exposed person in four hours.

a new leak has been found from a pipe connecting two other tanks. the australian prime minister has launched his party's campaign in front of next week's elections. polls suggest rudd is unlikely to hang on to power. we report from brisbane. >> reporter: this was kevin rudd among friends, labor party activists in a convention center in a part of brisbane where rudd is not the prime minister but the local member of parliament. safe territory for a final campaign rally, but for all the clapping and cheering, kevin rudd's prospects do not look good. they suggest nationally his party is well behind his opponents. his party looks unlikely to hang onto government. kevin rudd may lose his own seat in parliament. >> in this election we're engaged in a fight of our lives. it's a fight about the values

which underpin australia's future. a fight about our vision for australia's future. it's a fight about how we go about building australia's future, a future for the many, not just for the few. >> reporter: how did it come to this? in 2007 kevin rudd's party was elected with overwhelming support. after a flurry of that, julia jill yard proved more unpopular still. he launched into a comeback tour promising he's changed from the man colleagues described as dysfunctional as prime minister. he toughened asiel lum seekers and reformed the carbon tax and said his opponents would wreck the economy with spending cuts. none of that seems to have been

enough. >> he's been left out by his own creativity in coming up with a new political purpose, a new overwhelming, compelling, narrative and a vision for the country. >> sunday's official campaign launch was actually rudd's final chance to make a big set piece pitch. those in the room loved it. >> to those who say that he's already won this election, i say this. never, ever, ever underestimate the fighting spirit of the australian labor party. >> reporter: rudd knows he has to overcome doubts about his party's policies and personalities and convince people that the labor leadership sag fa, which has become a joke is all in the past. less than a week out, rudd's prospects do not look good. kevin rudd had hoped for a fairy tale comeback, but a latest opinion poll suggests that isn't going to happen. his best result at this stage might be an honorable defeat,

losing but on a less catastrophic scale his party would have suffered had they he not brought him in. al jazeera in brisbane. more than 50 bodies have been found in a graveyard at a school campus in the united states. the state of florida and forensic experts have been given permission to exhume the graves and determine how they died. those who attended the school say they were subject to horrific beatings by staff. natasha has the story. >> reporter: there are bodies buried on the campus the dozier reform school for boys, bodies buried over the course of 60 years next to a garbage dump on the side of campus where the black boys lived. >> i think it's something the whole world needs to know. >> reporter: it was where the state put people that got in

trouble. they were sent there in the late 1950s. >> scary, you know. >> this was a form, to me, of slavery, because they beat you to what they wanted you to be. >> reporter: they say they did back-breaking farm work. richard lost a toe in the cane fields. when they ran afoul, they were in the white house. >> it was called the torture chamber, because here is where you got your mind right. if you didn't know how to pray, you learned pretty fast. >> reporter: the state isn't launching a criminal investigation. the attorney general says only one staffer is still alive, too old to be questioned. still, forensic anthropologists could determine if a boy died as a result of, say, a gunshot or blunt force trauma. searchers have found 50 bodies so far, and they've only just begun their work using ground-penetrating radar. it's the kind of technology used

to find mass graves in the former yugoslavia. resear researchers are hoping to identify the remains. those they can't identify will be properly buried on the site. >> there's a legal only gauges to return the remains to families for proper burial. some say there's a moral obligation that the state has to do this. >> reporter: until then, richard huntley will have to speak for the dead. >> our life was cut short, and now hear we lay. if we are bones from these forgotten graves free us, free us, let our bones go home. let's take a look at weather around the world now. very heavy rains for a while causing, to say the least, problems for some motorists. >> that's right. you really wouldn't want to be in this car. take a look at these pictures. first of all, the mudslide, and then as if that wasn't bad

enough, the rock, which is painfully close to just toppling over onthat car. it wasn't an isolated incident. elsewhere we saw mudslides as well. here is another one. this landslide brought town this building. i don't think it was designed like that, and it's all thanks to the amount of rain for a matter of weeks now. first of all, we had tropical storm trami between the 15th and 21st of august around us and causing heavydown powers and the rain hasn't let up. we had another tropical storm, and that's now pulling away towards the northeast, but it's now within this area of clouds and it's intensified the rains here. there's more torrentially heavy downpours. it looks like yet more heavy rain to come, because we now have a tropical cyclone formation alert just to the north of taiwan. that is bound to intensify the rains for many of us particularly in the northern parts of the island.

so very heavy downpours here, but that system extends up towards japan. japan's got alerts on for very heavy rain, possibly ground-loosening, steven. >> thanks. the vatican's new criminal code has come into effect and sets out tougher punishment for sexual abuse of children and covers vatican employees around the world. sonya has this report. >> reporter: change may be ringing out at the vatican. in recent times the roman catholic church has had its share of trouble to deal with. it's reeled from one sexual abuse scandal to the next and faced accusations that it did more to cover up the crimes than punish the perpetrators. pope francis overhauling some of the vatican's archaic legal code is a point of urgency. it only deals with members of

the clergy and lay people that live and work inside vatican city. child abuse carrying a punishment of 12 years imprisonment and a hefty fine. >> translator: the church's awareness is changing, but we're not at the point where bishops are forced to denounce crimes. the question is how much of the law will be really implied. >> reporter: the vatican signed up to the u.n. convention, but it took 23 years to toughen up its own laws on crimes against minors, an enforcement after years of dealing with the repercussions of the sexual abuse scandal in the church. among the victims it's a sense it's too little too late. >> i think we're not going to see the catholic church put it's hands up and accept full responsibility for all the abuses that happened all over the world. this is simply a small step in the right direction. >> reporter: as well as the

child abuse scandals, the fallout continues to cast a shadow. an explosive scandal emerged when documents stolen by the pope's butler were published in the magazine together with allegations of rampant corruption within the highest level of holy see. they risk up to eight years of imprisonment as well as a fine. the church may take steps towards pulling back its credibility, and changing the laws might address some of that damage if it has the will to abide by its words. we've traveled to rain forests in two different corners of the world. coming up from french guinea hoz they're struggling to fight gold miners. living in a big city vulnerable to quakes. how tee rohn has a danger. the pga tour heads towards it's

final stretch. ♪

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories here. nelson mandela has been discharged from hospital and is going home after being treated for a lung infection. the south african government said he's still critical. president obama has asked the u.s. congress to approve military strikes against syria and the arab league is expected to meet in cairo to talk about the crisis. suspected boko haram members

have ambushed and killed those that tried to keep them. germany's chancellor angela merkel is hopes to win a third term in office in this month's election and going head to head with her rival. in a live televooized debate in the coming hours. we've been following her opponent on the campaign trail. >> reporter: try as he might, he doesn't excel at retail politics or selling a dream. even se of his social democratic party supporters admit he needs a miracle to become chancellor. >> right now i think he -- i think that the opinion in the public is not very good. i'm not sure. >> reporter: he was finance minister in a coalition government with angela merkel as chancellor when the global economic crisis started. after his party left that

coalition to join the opposition, they still backed merkel's policies on bailouts in europe, which he thinks germany should be more generous. >> translator: i want to remind germans at a time when other people helped us. have you forgotten already? it was a short time after adolf, the nazi, destroyed our economy and killed himself. >> reporter: what specifically separates him from the current chancellor can be hard to pin down. i wonder how you would deal with the crisis different than angle merkel? he's recruited the former chancellor who is a formidable campaigner but also has some political baggage. while chancellor schroeder overhauled employment and pension policies in a way that

transformed germany from the sick man of europe into its powerhouse. those reforms turned off many left wing voters. a decade on the party is still suffering. >> translator: the voters needed a change in the party's position towards liberalism, and they see it as a betrailer of the basic principles of the party, in particular the principle of social justice. >> reporter: schroeder told the crowd he was once far behind in the polls and bounced back to become chancellor. he has a lot of catching up to do before the vote on september 22nd. nick spicer, al jazeera, germany. malaysia's once robust economy is feeling the effects of asia's economy downturn. fitch has revised the country's outlook from stable to negative, and the central bank has downsized its growth forecast for this year. stephanie has the story. >> reporter: from the food store

this family earned $300 a month. one son's part-time job scattered a dispatch rider brings in another 350, and then the family of six scrape together the rest of the $1,000 a month they need to cover their costs with a series of part-time jobs. it's a constant struggle. >> translator: sometimes i can't sleep at night for the worrying. $300 from the store is not enough. it's a really big burden to earn the money to feed my family. we have no savings, nothing. >> reporter: though he's in a tough situation, he's fortunate. while he battles to stay financially afloat, it's estimated in malaysia household debt stands at around 83% of gross domestic product. simply put, that means that every $100 malaysians are earning they o83. the business is no better for big business, corporate debt is

95% of gdp. it means most of what those companies earn goes on servicing their debts. economists are warnings of debt levels hard to finance if the economy is hit by a wider regional slowdown. >> corporate is a more serious problem, because there's a higher level of debt. many of these we're not sure, you know. we're not sure whether these companies can afford -- if the project fails, then you have a debt crisis, you know. >> reporter: they say their economic problems vary across a wide range of sectors, but it's in much better shape than during the 1997 asian financial crisis when thailand, indonesia and korea suffered mass depreciations of their currencies. risks remain. a recent report by the world bank in scotland warned malaysia was exhausting its financial ability to ward off problems, especially with exports

decreasing along with the price. corruption is also a concern. experts say if the government truly wants to solve its debt problems, it should start with the basics. stop wasting money through overspending on government projects and introduce transparent spending. just hearing some very sad news that sir david frost, broadcaster for the last 50 years around the world and most recently here on al jazeera english has died. millions of hectares of rain forest of lost every year, the equivalent of at least one football field every second. though the rate of deforestation is slowing, it still is alarmingly high. al jazeera has traveled to two forests to examine efforts to save them. we'll get the story from indonesia in a moment.

first, let's go to french guinea. ga gabriel is on the outskirts. what's the problem where you are? >> reporter: here in french guinea, steven, this is an overseas department of france here in south america as you mentioned. this is a place that has over 90% of french guiana is amazon rain forests. you don't have to go far to get scenes like this behind me. this is a remarkable forest. this is one of the most eco-logically diverse parts of all of europe because this is part of france. we went to a small village in the middle of the jungle here where one mining company wants to start exploring for gold, and that has sparked a debate on the future and how to protect this forest.

for cedric, a walk deep into the jungle is not an exotic holiday. rather for him the rain forest is a way of daily life and survival. >> translator: here in the jungle we go to hunt and fish. it's our culture. without this jungle, we have nothing here. >> reporter: he and 70 other people live in the village here making this europe's largest national park and its only slice of the amazon. the residents of the growing eco-tourist destination have decided to protect the village from development for good reason. in only one hectare of forest there are most animal and plant species than in the whole of europe. there is something else here. gold and lots of it. that's why the government granted a small french mining company named rexma a five-year license to explore it against the wishes of the villagers. the area the company wants to explore has an estimated 8 tons

of gold along a nearby river, the main waterway for the village. back in the capital, an investigation is under way into allegations that rexma falsified environmental documents submitted to government authorities, but they deny any wrongdoing and say the whole controversy is overblown. >> translator: the area is 12 hectares. we're not going to destroy the world. these 12 hectares will give the people welcome job. >> reporter: they already have some offices set up and even three pieces of heavy machinery ready to start digging as soon as they get final authorization. the issue has practical and symbolic significance. >> translator: if a world power like france or europe can't preserve a piece of our own forest, how can we have the moral authority to tell others to preserve their forests?

>> reporter: as night falls, they wore it will mean pollution to the river and an influx of illegal gold miners in the area. as they gather for their daily game, all they can do is wait and see what fwovt government officials will determine the future of their home in this part of pristine amazon. >> when most think of amazon, they think of brazil but it is other countries as well. how does deforestation in french guiana compare to other countries? >> reporter: the amazon is in nine different countries in south america. the vast majority, over half, is in brazil. here we rented a plane and flew over the amazon area, and it's actually overall quite well protected here in french guiana compared to countries like brazil, peru and ecuador where

deforestation from mining and major agriculture projects is much, much worse than here in french guiana. what is striking here, steven, is that this is a part of france and by extension europe. it's often france and european partners that environmental conferences around the world are pushing developing countries to preserve their amazon. what this case has really pointed out with this mining company here is that france itself now has to confront some of these issues of development and exploration for gold in conjunction with preserving the forest as well. there's some really practical concerns here, especially for the people in the small village, but also some bigger sort of symbolic issues as well. this issue is going all the way up to high levels of government in france, in paris because they're going to be watching this very closely. there should be a ruling on this

particular case in the next couple of months. >> gabriel, we'll be looking out for that ruling. thanks to you in french guiana. steph joins me live. over to you. >> reporter: we are here in one of the largest remains protected rain forests in southeast asia. it's an area full of wildlife and an area with endangered species like orangutans and tigers. if i'm quiet now, you can hear the gibbon monkeys behind me. there's a lot of destruction already in this forest, and a lot of trees have already been replaced by palm oil. this has become one of the main enemies of the local communities here as we find out in the following report. it's a rare sight, environmentalists with chain saws. ironically they're cutting down

trees to protect the forest. these palm oil trees have been illegally planted, and after pressure from environmentalists the company handed them over to the government. cutting them down means the original forest gets a chance to grow back. in the past 20 years large parts of jungle have been reformed into a new kind of forest. it's good for the economy but bad for the rain forest. worldwide the oil is used for fuel and soaps, but community leaders say the palm oil tries are causing drops and making the land less fertile. >> translator: this palm oil is call colonizing our country and nothing will grow here. >> this is indonesia's last frontier in the island of

sumatra. there will be a lot less despite successful efforts by the government to save the remaining rain forest, economic pressure is quickly threatening what is left. this was a national park with protected forests until the local government recently allowed companies to grow palm oil. environmentalists say there are plans for 1.2 million hectares of aceh forest to be cut down, despite a government ban on logging. the government says it's a lot less than that. >> translator: this is our last remaining forest. the trophy of sumatra which really needs to be saved, because this is the last place where elephants, tigers, orangutans and rhinos can freely roam around. >> reporter: the destruction of the forest and forest fires have turned them into the third larges of greenhouse gases in

the world. >> translator: it's effective because people at least know there will be a punishment, but if there's logging still going on, we have to say first if this is happening within the area where the ban is active. if this is the case, the punishment will be stiff. >> reporter: although greenpeace and other environmentalists are happy with the ban, they fear it won't be maintained in the long run. it will take at least 20 to 30 years to grow back the trees that were cut down in just a few minutes. so there's a fierce battle raging here between economy and nature, and at the moment, of course, nature is losing very quickly. there is some hope with the awareness of the local community and all this ban by the government on logging. there's at least some hope that the speed of deforestation will be slower in the future. >> indeed. we all hope that.

steph reporting. thanks to steph and gabriel as well. more now on the sad news that the veteran broadcaster and al jazeera presenter sir david frost has died at 74. he suffered a suspected heart attack on the queen elizabeth ship. sir david's career spanned journalism, comedy writing and television presenting including the frost interview on al jazeera. he's known for a series of interviews with former u.s. president richard nixon. joining me on the line from sussex in the united kingdom is the executive producer of the frost show, richard brock. a unique interviewing style is a good way of describing sir david frost's way of talking to people. >> yes. he had great courtesy. he was a very polite broadcaster, and he used to embroil his guests in

conversations. when necessary, he could be tough, but more than anything, he wanted to extract as much information as he could without necessarily turning nasty. he was very, very polite both on and off screen. >> he also had a light touch, didn't he, richard? as well as doing the serious interviews, he could do some things that were almost comic-like through the keyhole. >> yes. that's part of what david was. he had a great sense of humor, and he used to constantly laugh and joke off-screen and also occasionally on-screen. he was a terrific guy. his sense of humor shone through everything he did. it wasn't all heavyweight political interviews. he really got a kick out of the life stuff. >> he certainly did. i worked with him three times. first at sky news in 1989 and

later at tv a.m. and now at al jazeera. unfailingly polite, as you say, richard, but as far as the light material, he did the series of interviews with richard nixon that really made his name globally. >> that's right. they were a series of interviews which i think, lasted something like 24 or 25 hours preediting. these were the interviews that made him a global and international figure. he turned the president around from being a stubborn, unwilling guest, not willing to give any information and eventually turned it in the interview and got the crucial information about watergate. of course, that's the world listening to it. suddenly david frost was a global figure because of the frost-nixon interviews. >> those interviews went on to

become a stage play and major feature film? >> yes. david loved it. he sat in for the edit on part of the film. he really enjoyed it. there were a couple of things they got wrong. he didn't like the bit about the money changing hands, but generally he was a great fan of the film and he believed that, you know, it was a good indication of what actually happened in those famous interviews. >> a representation. indeed, richard. also, he invested and paid for the first ones. i remember him telling me that. richard brock, sad news today. veteran broadcaster sir david frost dying at the age of 74. coming up in sports, spain goes to the wire, and it's business as usual for real madrid.

wouldn't believe there is a farm inside of it.

this is some of the most active suz mcfault lines. there have been more than 10,000 er quakes in the last year alone. so far tehran has escaped the worst, but they say it's a matter of time before a quake hits the capital. we have the report. >> reporter: welcome to tehran, one of the world's most dangerous cities not because of crime but because of nature. more than 250 earthquakes have hit the city in the past four months. it's a worry tehran has lived

with on a daily basis. >> translator: iran is an earthquake-prone country. we don't have low-risk areas. all faults are either average or high risk. tehran's earthquake threat is very high according to scientific cities, and the city has been destroyed several times already. we cannot predict it, but we should expect an average to strong earthquake in tehran. >> reporter: they're preparing for a 7.2 magnitude quake. one that seismologists expect will destroy much of tehran. just last year two quakes hit the country's north flattening villages in low-populated rural areas. survivors criticize the government for the slow response time and lack of rescue equipment. the city is forming volunteer squads across the city to avoid the same situation. >> translator: we have organized more than 800 volunteer groups

in tehran. we have trained them and provided them with the necessary equipment. more than 1,000 groups have been organized in different places like stores and the bazaar, but our plan is to get the number to more than 2,000. >> reporter: tehran has a fluctuating population of about 12 million people. it's congested, and disaster managers know it presenting an enormous challenge particularly in old neighborhoods. it covers 2,080 hectares in the city. there's a booming building, and already some of the newer structures are showing signs of wear and tear. a lot of homeowners seem more concerned with turning a quick profit than the future. al jazeera, tehran. time for a look at sports around the world. >> steven, thank you so much. the drama of the transfer saga

looks like it comes down to the wire. with the european transfer market closing on monday, real madrid are still without their star summer signing. real coach is going for his third win out of three. halftime there, and the score is 2-0 to real. move to the top of the table with a 3-0 win on saturday. the host took the lead three jeremy in the 23rd minute. just 7 minutes later, javier aquino doubled their advantage, making it 2-0. it maintained villarreal's perfect start to the season. elsewhere they won 1-0 to record the first home win of the season. roger federer and raphael

nadal remain on track for a quarterfinal showdown in the u.s. open. federer advanced to the fourth round with a straight set victory. his next opponent is tommy abroad doe. he's won all ten previous meetings with the spaniard. >> i know his game well, and he knows mine really well. we've played over ten times on the tour, and i think he's got on a great forehand. i have to be aware of that. >> nadal was just as comfortable as he won in straight sets. the spaniard extended his hard court record in 2013 to 18 wins and no losses. he next faces phillippe co kohlschreiber. >> i played better today than in

the previous two matches. that's always a positive thing. in the women's draw last year's runner-up survived a real scare against the second seed when she dropped the first set on a tiebreak before fighting back to win. caroline was knoxed out by the italian qualifier. they haven't made it past the fourth round at a grand slam since last year australia open. sergio garcia has a one--shot lead after the second round of deutsche banc championship in massachusetts. he eagles the 18th hole to end the day leaving him 13 under for the tournament. tiger woods birdied the last hole to finish the day. he's 6 shots behind garcia. >> i had a better day. no doubt.

i didn't make much out there, and i had a few looks. a couple little weird bounces out there, but overall it was a good enough day. in major league baseball the yankees were trying to salvage their season against the baltimore orioles. he three a three-hitter for the career shutout as the yankees had a 3-0 victory. that leaves the orioles in the wildcard race in the american league. mark marquez is expected to race in this afternoon's british grand prix despite injurying a collarbone. he's due to start from pole position after setting a new lap record in qualifying. he's won the last four races in his debut season. that's all your sports for now. back to you. >> thank you very much indeed. stay with us here on al jazeera. another hour of news is comes straight ahead. of course, we'll have the latest on that decision from president obama to go to congress about an

emergency strike. third. and you can kiss that puppy goodbye, chula vista would answer back. they would come up clutch. jianca rlo, and california is back on top, 4-3. but buckle up, this game was a rollercoaster ride. the bottom of the fifth, they these kids will remember. japan came in as defending champions, but teams from california came in dominating the competition. they both came in 4-0, so

something had to give. the big fella at 6'4" getting the party started at first, and shoots it the other way to give california an early 2-0 lead. he helped his own cause because he was pitching today. japan would rally back inned why some critics say the school is setting the kids up for failure.

>> barack obama -- >> these are some of the stories we are gofollowing at this hour >> the world with many dangers, this. >> president obama calls for strikes on syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack. then he challenged congress to approve a military option. after the unexpected presidential punt, the ball is now firmly in congress's court. the lawmakers are not rushing back from a break to vote on military action in syria. now, it could take weeks for a final decision. heading home, former south african nelson