giving diplomacy a chance, president obama says he will hold off attacking syria if ideal can be struck on its chemical weapons. ♪ ♪ >> hello there, i am sheila with the world news from al jazerra. good to have you with us. the final verdicts are expected in a gang rape trial that cause outrage in india. 10 years deputy president going on trial for crimes against humanity in the next hour. and the masterpiece found in an aattic, a van gogh uncovered after years finally goes on sh

show. >> a plan to syria to give up its chemical weapon is his being seen as a possible breakthrough. iran has welcomed the proposal which came on monday from russia's foreign minister. the *uz presiden u.s. presidentd put plans on hold. >> reporter: this is president obama's chance to convince about the needed describes in syria. the president announced he would give diplomacy a chance. >> i have instructed john kerry to talk directly to and run this to ground.

to deal with the chemical weapons in syria, aim all for it. >> reporter: he's crediting the russian with his the idea that syria turnover their chemical stockpiles to the international community to be destroyed. but it wasn't the russians idea. it came from an off the cup mark from john kerry. and he dismissed it as a possibility. >> he could turnover every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week, turn it over, all of it. without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. but he isn't about to do anything. >> reporter: the president's comments seem to contradict what we were hearing from even his own staff at the wheat house, at the state department, they spent most of monday trying to distance themselves from secretary kerry's comments saying it wasn't an official ultimatum and trying to down play the significance of the proposal they called russia's idea.

>> he made a statement about the scenario that we find highly inning likely. >> it's also important to know that syria has one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. it would certainly take time, resources, and probably a peaceful environment to deal with this. >> reporter: but president obama didn't express any of those doubts just a a few hours later. he did admit the american people are overwhelmingly against interveneing in syria. he doesn't have the votes in congress, so now the vote won't happen as expected on wednesday. >> i think what we need to do is make sure that the president has the opportunity to speak to all 100 senators. and all 300 million american people before we do this. >> reporter: the president will speak to the senate and the american people on tuesday. trying again to make the case for strikes in syria. polls show his arguments have so far been unconvincing and if not, confusing to the majority

of americans. patty, al jazerra, washington. >> well, the polls that patty mentioned don't make good reading for president obama, more than 60% of people want congress to vote against military action in syria. only 20% believe taking no action would encourage so-called rogue governments a key argument put forward by the white house. 53% are worried that strikes would lead to a long-term military commitment in syria. so it's just possible that the proposal for a chemical weapons hand over could offer a way out of military action. but the opposition in syria is still urging the u.s. to intervene. the top rebel commander has accused al-assad and mass could you of acting with deceit. >> we warned the international community, not to believe such promises, it's another conspiracy planned by russia in cooperation with iran. we stress the need and renew our requests for such attacks

against this criminal regime that has crossed all red lines. they are lying and we in the fsa together with the syrian people don't trust this group which only markets lies. >> omar joins us live from turkey. omar, you heard there the reaction from the free syrian army. what are the rest of the syrian opposition making of this way out of a military intervention? >> reporter: they head for the syrian national owe kicks described the russian proposal as as a big as far as and farcea political movement by assad and russia. in a separate statement the snc called on the international community to stand by its norms and calls to intervene against a regime they say that killed its own people. they also had that the response

should match the size of the crime and any political concessions should not free the perpetrators who committed crimes against humanity. that's, of course, according to the syrian national coalition. >> omar, just explain for us why the opposition are so keen to see a military strike in syria? because president obama has always said that it would be very limited, very narrow in its scope and certainly wouldn't remove president a sa assad fror so what benefit does it bring to the rebels? >> reporter: yes, they have been calling for a military strike against the syrian government forces to at least give them a chance to topple the syrian government. they say we are not expecting any military intervention or the west to topple the syrian regime, we want to do it with our own hands. so they were hoping that any kind of a military strike will degrade the military power of president assad's government and

also give the rebels a push, perhaps they can move on and take many parts of syria as well as the syrian capital damascus, so this is their hope. now, on the other hand, i have spoken to many syrian opposition figures in the last period and there is a deep concern and fear that they will not really 100 percent sure that the u.s. and the west will intervene for the benefit of the syrian revolution as they put it to me, they said the west has its own interest in all of this. so there was doubt in the first place that there would be a military strike against the syrian government. >> omar, thank you very much indeed for that update. omar in turkey there. and just a short time ago, the french foreign minister, reacted to the proposal to place syrian's chemical weapons under international control. speak on the ground french radio he said he welcome the russian

proposal with interest and caution. interest because it's the first time that there is this openness and caution, and because it's still a russian reversal. our firmness is paying and they realize that the evidence of a chemical slaughter is increasingly overwhelming. they want to be able to get out of syrian control a little. all right, let's move onto india. and a court is due to deliver its verdict in the case i've student dang raped and murdered last year. four men are on trial. a teenager has already been sentenced. the crime led to nationwide protests and forced many in india to take a hard look at women's safety. a report from new dehli now. >> reporter: a call to arms to protect the rights of women. actors from the theater group in new dehli dramatized the daily struggles women face from harassment to acid attacks. it's a message told mostly by men for other men. >> we are trying our level best

to make it safe for ourselves, our children, our girls, everybody, and also for our -- for all of our friends who are seeing us all over the world. >> reporter: the horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old student in new dehli last december focused the world's attention on the country's prejudices against women. thousands protested on the streets of india. and the media increased its coverage of sexual assaults. while men have welcomed the debate on women's rights, they are worried about the stereotyping of all indian men as sexual predators. >> i have been kind of interacting with many people who are now scared to, you know, say they are scared to come to india, or people who want to in fact, even, you know, my great out of india because they are seeing that, you know, and people who are, you know, scared of being alone with indian men. >> reporter: men's product companies are tapping in to this

public anxiety. this commercial for gill he had razors calls on men to join the fight against gender violence. women's activists say high levels of domestic abuse and the cultural preference for boys contributes to assaults on women. >> what men are experiencing when they grow up, is a simple thing, one is that violence is normal. which you know, women experience as well. but men also understand from a very early age in some indian family systems that they will get away with it. >> reporter: but there are men who are fighting these attitudes. this theater group has performed this play more than 5,000 times across india. raising awareness of about women's rights and disproving the myths that all indian men are against them. al jazerra, new dehli. >> okay, and even as that report was going out, we were getting

word from the indian court through the news agencies, that those four men have been convicted. so an indian court has convicted those four men of the gang rape of a woman on a new dehli bus in december. another man, a minor, he was under the age of 17 at the time, had been convicted previously. he had received three years in prison because he was a minor at the time. and that had caused fe fury from the family of the victim. who has died from her injuries. now, we know it's a guilty verdict against the remaining four defendants, we are still trying to hear what the actual sentence is. the family of the victim are hoping for a death sentence, we don't know if that is what has actually happened but we do have

our correspondence on the phone. do you know anymore about what's happened? >> reporter: right now we are just getting reports from the associated president tha press r men have been found guilty of the channels laid against them and apart from that, we don't really know what sentence they'll be given, in fact, it's not even clear whether the sentence will be announced today. there are reports that the sentencing could be delayed for a few weeks. >> were the family in court? we know that they are hoping for the ultimate penalty, the death sentence. >> reporter: that's correct. we have reports we have been waiting outside this second district court for three or four hours now. we have reports that the family was inside when the announcement was being made. they have publicly said that they want the death sentence and in fact, that seems to be the popular public opinion.

so even women's rights groups who do not support handing down of the death penalty so it will be interesting to see what the judge decides in this case. the -- according to indian law, a death sentence can be given in the rarest of rape cases and people are arguing that, in fax, this case was the rarest of the rare. and the convicted men should be given the maximum penalty. >> okay, thanks for updating us. and we'll probably get more information as that happens, but it's just happened in the last few minutes that four defendants have been found guilty by that court. updating us from ne dehli. >> the hostage crisis in southern philippines continues for a second day of army tanks moving in to take on separatists fighters.

♪ ♪ >> welcome back. i am sheila the top stories. u.s. president obama says he's ready to suspends plans for mill dairy strikes on syria if it under the circumstances its weapons under international control. earlier they welcomed a russia plan for the stockpiles. france welcomes the proposal and indicates that russia is reversing its position. a court in india has convicted four men in the case of a student who was gang raped and murdered last december. the four accused could face the death penalty. and kenya's deputy president

will go on trial in the hague shortly. accused of insighting violence following disputed election in for 2007. thousands of people were killed. let's go back to our top story now the conflict in syria. events in the week ahead may well yet change the course of the diplomatic tussle. in the coming hours, president obama will make his case to the merge people in a televised speech. the delayed senate vote on whether to go back to the idea of strikes may go ahead on thursday. by the end of the week, the u.n. inspectors who were in syria could release their report on the suspected chemical weapons attack. that prom pedestrian talk of military interception. guerci a prix fess or of american government in georgetown university here in doha. and join us in the studio. good to have you with us, we know president obama is going to give this great national televised address to the public, which originally i guess he was going to push once again this idea of military indention, it -

interim fence, it doeinter fict. >> you know, in a democracy, it's practically irresistible not choose the option that means debate, bargaining and compromise. >> and their popularity. >> and a lack of popularity. and these guys in the legislature will grab at any offer that gets them off the griddle of choosing force. so whether it's realistic or bears itself out i think the u.s. from under pressure from the lack of support in congress is going find it irresistible to follow through on this offer. >> let's talk about the really. of this or not. how would it be done? the russians put it forward as a

proposal after the seemingly off the cuff remark by john kerry. would this not have to be done through the u.n.? >> i think the details will be worked out by the diplomats, two themes that come out of this crisis, one is that if the syrians use chemical weapons again there will clearly be a military response by the united states. and slicked the congress will not be involved in that decision. in a curious way as much as we talk about this weakening the position of the president, in many ways its weakened the position of congress, congress has shown itself to be unable to act in foreign policy without strong suppress hal leadership. >> you think this is president obama's one strike and you are out to syria, the next time it happens, we ill just bypass congress and just do it. >> in. >> i was if the syrians and russia bees i would believe th that. >> it's been a a rule har realle for president obama. what position do you think it's put him in? we know the american public or

overwhelmingly against military i want vince and thintervention. and obama has put his prelsey on the line bay saying we can't let syria cross this line. >> reporter: the president came from a career as a teacher. so in many ways i would hope in these speech tonight he sees this as a teaching moment. and go back to some of the themes he talked about when he send a nobel peace prize. much as people don't want to see force used, it's inevitable. and it's also inevitable that the u.s. is the strongest nation in the world has to exert that force. and so i think it's a moment to talk to americans who are generally uninterested and uninformed about international relations on why he took the decision that he did. and why he needs public support to maintain the united states position in the would. >> gary thank you very much indeed for that.

prefoes or of american government, thank you. now kenya's deputy president is appearing before the international criminal court in the hague shortly accuse asked of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecuti persecution, the president is also scheduled to face his own trial later this year, the two men are accused of insighting violence after the disputed 2007 elections, katherine sawyer reports from the strong hold in western 10 10 ken kwr56789 ken. >> reporter: he will be one of the biggest tests of his lying at the hague for three months and intermittently until the trial end. >> we ask for your prayers. we will go there, speak the truth, and shame the devil. >> reporter: in western kenya, the epicenter of the 2008 violence, some members of his

community attacked those from the president's crime killing thousands and displaining many more, the president is also charged by the international criminal court with organizing retaliatory attacks. you can't really talk about the post election violence without remembering here, at least 40 people, including women and children, were burned alive while hiding out in the church that stood here. these are some of the crimes that the deputy president has been accused of helping plan and fund. elizabeth were hiding in the church that day, they both escaped, but it was not until a month late their they she found her son in hospital fighting for his life. shshe has never been the same again. she suffered a mental breakdown. he was severely burned on his hand and legs, since that time he has been his mother's caregiver and the breadwinner. >> i want the trials to continue

so that i can know the truth. how did it happen that my leg has been destroyed so much? >> reporter: they seem to have made peace between the two communities, that fought so brutally, but human rights campaigners say someone must still be held accountable for what happened. >> there is an obsession with the polight sayin poe lit sayins wrath their the. light of the victims, this case is about victims, not individuals or tribes. >> reporter: he also gets his biggest support here, it's his hometown. they feel he has been charged unfairly. and so they pray for him and for the country in these uncertain times, al jazerra. >> second people killed in gun battles since saturday. gunmen loyal to former president

francois, clashed with the groups that overthrew him. u.n. says 30,000 people have fled the region. in the fill beans at least 150 people be are being held toss hoss taj for a second day. six danks are going to the southern support city. >> the philippine army are surrounding sixville questions with up 2300 gunmen are hold up. 170 people are being held hostage and used as human shields accord to this mayor in the south of the country. the standoff began on monday when the military arrested five members who were wearing combat uniforms and carrying pistols in a suburb. eight people were killed in the

gun bat that would broke out on the streets of this crowded ci city. mormore than a thousand fled thr homes. hawpe wereit launched the attace government was been to again talks, the mlmf has felt left out of the negotiations, the rebellion has claimed more than 150,000 lives, those that managed to escape this fighting sheltered in a sports stadium. others spent the night sleeping on the streets, bernard smith, al jazerra. >> for the first time in eight years, norway has a new leader. the conservative party's has won the election. nicknamed iron erna she pledge today pro might health care and cut taxes it means defeat for the outgoing labor mim prime

minister. alexei's supporters have rallied in moscow against what they say was a fraudulent mayor oral election. the winner narrowly escaped facing him in a run off. peter reports from moscow. >> reporter: on monday night thousands of supporters gathered near red square coming with say shared sense of frustration and anger. many convinced the election was stolen from them. he preferred to look to the future. >> with this election, at last politics was born in russia. strong opposition was born, we know what to do and how to do it. >> reporter: alexei swept up far more votes than expected. opinion polls had predicted he would just get 10% of the ballots cast. instead he pulled in nearly 30%. a stunning result for the young opposition leader and one that will shock president putin. deprived of access to state

controlled tv, he energized his supporters in a series of nonstop rallies across the city. at the close of voting he disputed the results and accused his opponent of fraud and vote rigging and threatened mass protests. moscow's electoral commission said that there are no serious violations in the poll and a secretary runoff ballot would not take place. he may have lost the election, but he'll be delighted with the results. his vote was far in excess of even the most optimistic predictions. an endorsement not just of his campaign but a sign of growing dissatisfaction with vladimir puddin's administration. the kremlin will be worried. peeper sharp, al jazerra, in mass coulmoscow br* disputed tes continuing to cause tensions. columbia's president juan manuel santos has promisedded to stop anythinnicaragua's ambitions amn international waters, they are going to increase the size of

continental shelf of without that's once belonged to columbia. nicaragua wants to explore for oil. a long lost painting by have i sent van gogh has been unfaked in.netherlands, it would found in an attic. experts say it was painted during the artist's most celebrated period. rory explains. >> are you ready for it? >> reporter: aiyegbeni work of finally confirmed to be from the brush of one of the world's famous painters vincent van gogh. it's the first time in 85 years a painting by the dutch master has been discovered. the owners of the oil landscaped had banished it to the confines of the norwegian unattic i after being told it was fake after two years of research. experts of the van gogh museum are convinced it's his. the work entered life on the fourth of july 1888.

in a letter he wrote to his brother the day after. van gogh said he pointed it where small twisted oaks grove. >> from his period when he worked in the south of france, in pro vance and just to give some context it's the period during which he painted the sun now, he the yellow house, the broom. some of his really most famous works. >> reporter: experts determined it was a van gogh through scientific testing as well as assessing the style of brush strokes and colors he used. they are thrilled with the find and say such a discovery has great implications for the entire industry. >> as a result of this picture, there will be an examination of other pictures by van gogh that might not have been considered to be by him. so that's an exciting development. but the really exciting development in a way is that these forensic, scientific tests allow us now to check that pictures which might be offered as fakes are prevented from

entering the market. >> reporter: sunset will go on show at the von go museum in amsterdam later this month. rory, al jazerra. >> well, i wish i could find a van gogh in my attic. don't forget eight updates.