>> no deal overseer i can't's chemical weapons at the u.n. the u.s. and russia now try to agree to a plan in geneva. ♪ ♪ >> good to have you with us. separatist rebels attack a second town in the southern philippines four days after taking more than 100 people hostage. the dutch government apologize for his killing thousands during indonesia's struggle for independence. and as london fashion week looms, campaigners step up the pressure on manufacturer to his

improve working conditions. ♪ ♪ >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is on his way to geneva to meet his russian counterpart, now they will be discussing a russian plan for syria to hand over it' it's its cheap cal weapons earlier they failed for agree on how they should be brought you were control. we'll get the latest from moscow and a geneva in a movement but first this report. >> reporter: with the russians playing host the five veto keeling members of the u.n. security council met on wednesday evening to discuss the wording i've resolution requiring syria's chemical weapons be destroyed. russia doesn't want the resolution to be militarily enforceable. the u.s. and some of its allies doing. so now it's up to these men in geneva on thursday, the u.s. secretary of state and russian foreign minter will discuss the

practicalities of putting those weapons under international control. the idea was russian. holding on to the diplomatic initiative press vladimir putin has spoken directly to the american people. writing in the new york times president putin warned that a u.s. strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. it could threaten tire system of international law and order out of balance. millions around the world would increasingly see american not at a model democracy but as relying solely on brought force. >> reporter: in u.n. the next second general says his organization is guilty of a collective failure for its inability to find common ground on the syria crisis. >> i hope that the current discussions related to safeguarding syria's cheap cal weapons stocks will lead to the security council playing an effective role in promoting an end to the syrian tragedy. >> reporter: in damascus the

fading threat after an em natural u.s. strike seems to have relieved tension building up there. >> after the russian i accomplish tiff tensions began it ease on the streets of duh mass yodamascus, it's obvious fe activities in the markets. >> reporter: but outside the apparent calm of central damascus this is a conflict that has claimed of lives of more than 100,000 syrians and forced 2 million out of their home, while president b into shar will not use chemical weapons most of the tkeg dead has been killed by conventional weapon. >> let's first go to moscow. vladimir putin put that go opinion piece in the new york times seemingly out playing barack obama and the push for a diplomatic solution, how is that being seen there? >> reporter: well, i think vladimir putin was getting a lot of frustrations off his chest. if you look at the contents, i

think what you are seeing is russia's sentiments really about the directions of american foreign policy for over the last 10 years or so. back to iraq, libya as well. a feeling that the americans increasingly are, you know, an unrestrained imperialistic power and the consequences of their actions, particular kni particue middle east are dangerous and ill thought through. personally, i wonder a little bit if vladimir putin is overreaching himself or perhaps over playing his hand, he and the russians have had a very good week, their diplomacy has been extremely clever, it's been extremely swift footed, it has averted the imminent threat of american strikes. but i am not sure that vladimir putin is the best person to tell the american public or the american people who are, who frankly were already skeptical

about an attack on syria, that never not an exceptional power and that they are acting like a brutal billy. i don't think that advice will necessarily be terribly appreciated in america. >> barnaby phillips live for us in moscow, thank you. separatist rebels have attacked a second town in the philippines four days after taking ha hosta, the government forces moving in. the new attack happened early on thursday. now, the national liberation front accused the government of going back on a promise to development the improver i should region, joining us now live from there and as you can see, she is in protective gear. so what's happening there now? >> reporter: well, over the last few hours we have seen an unusual movement of military heading in to the area where

they are actually holding over 100 civilians hostage. we have seen at least about 200 civilians, 200 soldiers with tanks heading in, we are hearing more and more mortars being fired and more and more gunshots, there has been talks that there will be an assault any time soon but it's not been confirmed by the government so judging from what we are seeing actually this is more intensified fighting that we have seen since this started early monday morning. >> as you can speaking we can hear the sound of sirens, at the same time as this offensive is happening, ther there are still hostages being held by the rebel group. can you tell us what moves are being made to release them? >> reporter: it's actually confusing for many of those earlier at the presser for many of the journalists -- >> okay, we seem to have lost her there. she is reporting live from the

philippines where hostages are -- or a rebel group has taken hostages and there seems to be a standoff between forces and those separatist fighters. we'll, of course, get you more on that as the story develops. we can now move onto indonesia where the dutch government has apologize today for the mass killing of i understand near ans during colonial rule. thousands were killed in the war of independence which ended 1949. more than 60 years on the role of the netherlands in the war is still a sensitive issue between the two countries. >> on behalf of the dutch government, i apologize for these excesses. today i also apologize for the [inaudible] >> al jazerra has more on this from jakarta. >> reporter: 66 years after the war crimes have taken place in indonesia the dutch government

has finally apologized an apology that lasted only five minutes and there were also no representatives of the indonesian government present nor the widows that the apologies were meant for. the dutch government had decided to hold the ceremony at the dutch embassy and not go to the location where the war crimes actually have taken place, they did that because they wanted to make a broader gesture than they did ever before. they wanted to apologize for all the war crimes, the executions that have taken place between 1945 and 1949. the whole idea that this is all very sensitive in the netherlands it shows because of the wording that's being used and the way the ceremony is being held. in the netherland a lot of veterans still pressuring the government not to apologize because they feel that they are also vic victims themselves of s very dramatic experience during that period in the 1940s which the indonesians were fighting for independence. >> for london fashion week

beginning on friday and campaigners hope it will remind the british public of the working condition conditions ing manufacturing units in bangladesh and elsewhere. this event coincides with a meeting between western retailers and unions over compensation for the victims of the plaza disaster nearly five months ago, lawrence lee has this report from drop 67 the british economy may a has takena turn for the better but cheap disposable close arer readvertisresit atthatbly popul. pressure on the retailers. protecting work ends against thing like fire yet others didn't, new pay rates for something approaching a living wage for garment workers still hasn't been set. this union leader who been lobbying in london think it's a thin outcome off the deaths of more than a thousand people. >> it means that they are

actually not interested to make a progress for the workers, for the development of the workers, they simply think about their profit. >> reporter: and just as mean spirited in the view of campaigners is the refusal by several household name multi-national chain to his offer any compensation to people killed or made destituted by the building collapse. >> they are making huge profits at the expense of the workers and when something like this happens, which was both avoidable and should have been avoided the fact that the companies aren't coming to the table to pay the compensation is disgraceful. >> reporter: which makes london fashion week a good opportunity if not a duty for the industry to reminds people of the bizarre relationship between glamor and poverty. a few leading lights in fashion are trying to keep the pressure on. >> what we have seen over the last 10, 15 years is a lot of window dressing from the british high street, european high street, where on the website one might say one thing, but actually in practice the design,

buyers, manufacturing teams are doing quite a different thing. >> reporter: much of the campaigning work here is being done quietly by people who recognize that they are unlikely to h get shoppers to protest whe they buy their clothes a petition signed by a million people calling for more dignity for garment workers tells it's own story but there hasn't been enough yet to force change. lawrence lee, al jazerra, london. >> and still to come on this program, police in mexico fight with angry teachers, protesting against a new education role. plus a new face on the block, we hit the campaign trail with a man who is aim to go become germany's first black member of parliament. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> hello again. our top stories. the u.s. and russia are going to meet in geneva to try to work out what to do about chemical weapons in syria. diplomats at the u.n. headquarters in new york have failed to come up with an agreement about how they should bring them under control. in the philippines separatist rebels have attacked a second town while a four-day standoff continues. the new attack in the town happened early on thursday. the dutch government has apologize today for the mass killings of indonesian ans during colonial rule. thousands were killed in the war of independence which ended in 1949. now let's return to our top story and it's that upcoming meeting between the u.s. and russia on sea syria chemical

weapons, what is expect it from the meeting? >> reporter: well, it's going to be a very, very difficult two days of talks between john kerry and the russian foreign minister, that is absolutely certain. john kerry is expected here within a couple of hours, sergei later on in the day. it's i essentially like toy focs technical shape and storm of ridding syria of its chemical weapons arsenals and, that will focus essentially three areas to consolidate where exactly those weapons are stored and located over syria's territory. to take control over those weapons with a view to essential i destroying them. but,, of course, the civil war rages on in the country how will hundreds of scientists be i believe to enter in syria and establish the exact location to his essentially destroy the arsenal eventually.

questions that they will be hammering out. we know that both men are traveling here with their own weapons inspector chemical weapons experts. so undoubtedly they will have something to say also, but i think more than anything, it's trust between syria and the united states and also the russians that is going to be key and all important as these talks progress. >> and indeed, that's one of the points i want to explore further. both sides as you say are coming in with their own experts. the fact that they are meeting bilaterally is a development in itself. how open are they going to be to each other? >> reporter: i've lost sound. >> okay, i am afraid we seem to have lost knee barker there, he was updating us on the upcoming meeting happening in geneva between john kerry and russia's foreign minister, we'll get you more on that as the meeting

takes place. we are now moving to hleb than. here is the story. >> reporter: anger and grief for palestinian refugees in beirut. he was killed on sunday and five other palestinians were wounded at a hezbollah checkpoint just outside the camp. hezbollah arms men insist odd searching the wedding party and opened fire when they refuse today stop. >> we have no security here. we are being searched at the gates of the camp. every single one of us. enough injustice. enough oppression. where else can this happen, not in israel or any other country. have you ever seen a bride being searched during her wedding procession? isn't it a shame on hezbollah to do this to us?

>> reporter: the check point was one of many set up by hezbollah after a massive car bomb in the group's strong hold in southern beirut. which is right next to the camp. after sunday' shooting, various palestinian groups note calm the situation. >> we met with hezbollah and lebanese officials and we decided that this is an isolated incidents that should have no political or security impact. but is a sounding bell and if it not being on the will from all sides to limit the damage. >> reporter: the incidents has highlighted the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees. >> everyone is being seen as a suspect and being stopped and searched in the camp. the situation sin tolerable. any solution should include elimination of checkpoints and stopping the friction between the personnel.

they have decided to hand over any criminal suspect to the security. >> reporter: it's aimed atta sroeugd further problems. atta voiding any further problems. security and confrontation in the past and now they say that the situation in lebanon is more dangerous than ever before and that no amount of pressure should push them to do anything that can compromise their status as refugees in the country. >> there is an international plot against pal 10 vinnie 10 s. >> reporter: the palestinians say the conflict is lead to go more violence in the camps and that any u.s. military strike could make their lives even harder. al jazerra, beirut. >> at least 33 people have been killed in two bombings in the iraqi capital of baghdad,

worshipers were leaving a mosque when a dar bomb exploded a suicide bomber then blew himself up as people rushed to help the wounds. 55 people were injured. no group has claimed responsibility for on the atta attack. two explosions in the sinai ma minutes los angeles killing six soldiers were claimed to be a revenge attack. two cars rammed into the check point. military operation has been carried out in the past few days against rebel fighters. and protests are continuing in turkey over the death of a 22-year-old man. he died early on tuesday a at an anti government march. for a third day crowds sets off fireworks and burned barricades police have arrested several protesters. now, the u.s. national security agency has been sharing unfiltered data with israel a -rd do to gaccording to new revs

from the guardian newspaper and drawn from material leaked by edward snowden. a report includes a secret deal allowing for the routine sharing of war intelligence. but the agreement does not require the nsa to filter and remove information belong to go u.s. citizens, data like e-mails and phone calls. and the deal reportedly place no, sir limits on how israel may use the material. while trevor tim is a cyber security analyst and he says the nsa has repeatedly overstepped the bounds of its surveillance activities and it's time for congress to rein them? >> it's a huge amount of information that the u.s. has access to and it seems like this report that they are sharing it with israel and while sharing it, they are not minimizing it, which means taking out u.s. communications like they are supposed to be doing domestically anyway. they are just giving them everything that they are getting off the wire. and you know, that's a real worry for people in it the u.s.,

given that, you know, their privacy could be violated by other countries and, of course, people around the world who don't necessarily even have those protections that u.s. citizens have. when we just talk about the rules involved and the domestic surveillance the nsa is involved in in the u.s., those rules are very lax too, you know, the patriot act they have had this secret interpretation of this law allowing them to gather all of this phone, metta date dadea on every american sit sit testimony they have it h* it for jeers, and scanning large quantities of e-mails going overseas and americans barely knew about this. so there is the privacy protections for americans have really been weakened and unfortunately weakened almost in secret. so hopefully these revelations will force congress to act to -- and pass real reform. >> and still in the u.s. the mayor of chicago has apologize for the actions of a former police commander and others involved in the torture of black

suspects. the a poll i apology is part ofa $12 million settlement. >> reporter: the price for more than two decades behind bars in chicago, an apology and $12.5 million. that's the amount of city council agreed to pay marvin reeves and ronald kitchen after police allegedly beat and tortured them to confessing to four murders in 1988 the city later declared them innocent. >> we do not kid ourselves that the fight is over. or that the city has somehow become a kinder and gentler one. i don't think that's the case. >> reporter: mayor rahm emanuel called the scandal a dark sharp ter on the history of the city of chicago and gave a long awaited apology. saying i am sorry this happened. let us all now move other. the man accused of heading the torture team was police commander john, now serving four and a half years in prison. earlier cases bring the city's total cost and settlements and legal fees to $85 million. it was here the commander

oversaw the unit accused of torturing and beating black men in to false confessions in some cases they were nearly suffocateed with plastic bags and others the men say police used elect tick cattle products their genitals. ronald kitchen who spent 13 years of his sentence on death row, said no amount of money can give me and my family back what was so viciously stolen from me. i want everyone to know that an innocent man was tortured and wrongfully convicted. >> this struggle is not by no means over there is still men in jail who were tortured in to giving false convention these need new hearings in k0u6r789 the torture case might not be over. one defense attorney has called for a $20 million funds for all of the victims still awaiting justice. john he hendrix, al jazerra, chicago. >> in mexico leaders of the teachers union have agreed with the government after bitter protest over education reforms, at least 15 people were injured on wednesday in demonstrations.

adam is in in echo city. >> reporter: weeks of protests by feature teachers in mexico ce resulted in this, a long standoff with riot police, police used smoke to disburse people. they were been camping out and holding daily march on his highways and avenues to protest against the pending education reform, a reform that takes hiring and firerring power from the union and gives it back to the government. the plan changes also include an evaluation system, teachers say this could be just a cover for the government to privatize schools. but the president says the reform is needed to improve mexican students chances of competing in a global iced marketplace. although the protests have been going on for weeks, wednesday's demonstration was different. it comes a day after the reform was put in to law. >> we won't take a step back, we

will make sure that we move four ward faster to guarantee the right of all children and ye you go to a higher quality education. >> reporter: but the teachers say they don't care. they are now out to repeal the law. >> during the revolution and the war for independence, everything was done out of conviction. there were fights and people joined because of their conviction. we are also here because we believe in what we are doing. >> we'll succeed through peaceful resistence, we want that known everyone where all over the world. it's not possible to go back 50 years taking everything from us. >> reporter: thousands of teachers have come here to the gate to the presidential palace but standing in their way is say huge barricades and hundreds of riot police. still they will meet the protest leaders on thursday, it's very likely that the law will be repealed. the teacher's union have other goals they want to build a

national movement repeal it and allow private investment in the state oil company. >> hundreds of thousands of people have shown their support for independence from spain by joining hands in a massive human chain. organizers wanted to join the entire coastline of the region stretching from the french border to valencia 400-kilometers away, catalonia is thome around seven and a half million people and traditionally one of the economic powerhouses of the country, the central government in that madrid is posedded to any possible -- opposed to any possible split. germany's general lex on september 22nd could put the first black member of parliament in to offers. he was born in sen dal and orphaned when he was seven. for 20 years he's been a member of germany.

another. >> reporter: another campaign bus in another german city for another candidate. it's election time. but this social democratic dan is one of a kind, he's black. he holds a doctorate in chemistry, was beat be up for his skin color years ago. in much of the former east germany racism runs higher than elsewhere. but that's not stopping him from meeting the voters. quite the opposite. >> cultural openness in our society is in its infant state we are a developing country in this regard regard, polight tics identify the potential of immigrants and the experiences of their background that could really enrich the political process. >> reporter: nationwide only around 4% of the candidates running for parliament are of immigrant background but around 20% of the population is of immigrant stock. so the proportion of minority representation in is far below that in the parliament of france

or great britain, for example. part of the problem is a german law which requires immigrants to give up the citizenship of their countries of origin in order to become jeff plan and vote and many don't want do that. another part of the problem is the way germans with old traditional family roots here see immigrants. since one of the very few turkish german m.p.s. >> still they have difficulties with the name, and i think it will take sometime to have a more normal situation that people don't ask like does she speak german, or is she able to understand everything that's going on there. it's still not normal. >> reporter: he is high up on a party list and has a good chance of getting elected. he says he doesn't want to be a curiosity or an m.p. told by his party to specialize in immigration issues because, well, he's an immigrant. he just wants to be a member of parliament like any other german can hope to be if he or she wants and tries and wins. al jazerra.

>> and here is a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all of on our news on our seibel wit at aljazerra.com. it has extensive coverage of our top story in syria including a live blog, take look.