>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> hello, there, welcome to the al jazeera, news hour in doha. the top stories. the chemical compromise, will the u.s. support russia's plan to destroy syria's stockpile and avert a strike. plus how monkeys might hold the key to finding a vacation

for hiv. >> and i'll have all of the sports including the seal of approval. the toast of kabul after winning their first ever international trophy. >> well, if it works it could mean the syria government would give up its chemical weapons, fit doesn't the united states might end up bombing syria, and the russia deal with live or die in a few hour's time. >> reporter: russia doesn't want the resolution to be military enforceable, the u.s. and some of its allies do. so it's up to these men. they will discuss the practicalities of putting those weapons under international control. president putin warned that a

u.s. strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. it could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance. millions would increasingly see america as relying solely on brute force. >> all eyes are now on geneva. both men will be travelling with their own chemical weapons experts. it will be a technical discussion on how to collect and destroy assad's chemical arsenal. the chemical attack on august 21st, was carried out not by the syrian army but by the forces of the opposition, a view strongly rejected by the foreign minister. >> translator: it will say a chemical attack took place.

in theory it's not part of its brief, but it will certainly givecations, as long as only the regime has supplies, we're entitled to draw conclusions. >> reporter: in new york the un secretary general says its organization has a failure to find common ground. >> i hope the discussions will lead to the sewerty council playing an effective role in promoting an end to the tragedy. >> reporter: and in damascus the fading threat of an imminent u.s. strike seems to have eased the tension. but outside the apparent calm of central damascus this is a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than a hundred

thousand syrians and forced 2 million people to leave the country, while the regime may now start losing its arsenal, most of the dead have been claimed by regular weapons. i talked about if it was a break through the two sides were talking face to pace. >> i would expect them to sit down very seriously and see if they can come together on something they can present to the security council, perhaps in conjunction with the inspector's reporting where everything has to come together, focusing both on accountability for the use of chemical weapons and on bringing the chemical weapons under international control for destruction. >> but there's so many points of

contention between russia and the u.s., can they get past them? >> i think everyone condemns the use of chemical weapons and the accountability is an important one. my solution would be to hand it over, refer to the international criminal court, because everyone agrees that chemical weapons have been used. there is now a wide agreement that there is a need to deal with the issue of chemical weapons and it should be enforceable, it's not easy, but should find a mechanism to bring them under international control and destroy them. so i think there's a brood area where convergence should be possible. >> do you think france upstaged russia as far as the un security council resolution goes? is a french proposal dead in the water? >> not necessarily, the french

proposal is on the table, but i would expect that will be a suggestion from other members of the security council, and i would expect that to be a debate among all of the security council. it is a give and stake that is necessary in order to find a solution. >> a knew days ago, sir, you said at a nato conference that any international effort will require commitment for decades to come, and the west is being short sided regarding the instability in the middle east. how so? >> well, i would say if you really tried to fix all of this, you would have to really go in for a long period of time. i don't think that is in the cards. what is necessary here is to try to find some sort of political solution. and perhaps if there is the

possibility through the security council to sort this particular crisis, it could provide a bridge over to the geneva is two conference, in order to bring the security situation in syria under control in order to alleviate the absolutely staggering human suffering that we are seeing. >> do you think the u.s. and russia should include iran in any talks for them to be successful? >> one way or another, i think so. it think it has been encouraging, not surprising, perhaps, to see the strong reaction coming out of iran about the use of chemical weapons. so i think the fact that we have everyone condemning the use of chemical weapons, moscow, theron, stockholm, or whoever, that provides a basis to the

work. >> so do you think helping end the bosnian crisis will help in syria? >> yes, in the sense that you can never bring civil war to an end if you don't have an agreement between the major international entities. so the unity or the agreement in the security council, but i'm happy to include iran as well, all of the relevant actors, i think that is key in order to exert pressure all of the actors on the scene in syria. north korea may have restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons. bernard smith has more. >> reporter: the reactor has

been out of operation since 2008. that was when a cooling tower was destroyed by the north korean government. but in april they said they would restart the reactor. now satellite pictures show steam rising from their building that houses turbines and generators. >> they are building up their nuclear capabilities. part of that mean increases their stockpile of material and nuclear weapons, part of it means trying to perfect their means of delivery, you know, through construction projects at this main site. they are probably in preparation for future tests. >> reporter: russia's news agencigy, describes the reactor as being in a nightmarish state.

it produces plutonium. >> translator: when the nuclear reactor is restarted plutonium will be able to produced continuously. i think north korea should stop the running of the 5 mega watt nuclear reactor. >> reporter: the u.s. special representative for north korean poli policy is in north korean for discussions. government forces in the southern philippines are now fighting muslim rebels on two fronts. and al qaeda has now united forces. they have attacked and are believed to be inside one of the

cities. >> reporter: it has been four days since fighting broke out between the philippine government and the fighters. still there is no sign that these clashes are going to slow down. here the city remains on lockdown. over 100 civilians remain hostage in several suburban villages here. we have seen government forces move in, and we have spoken to some who have said this is increasingly a humanitarian concern. at least 14,000 have been forced to leave their homes, and there are still families trapped between the fighting and unable to get out. there are several bodies that have been de -- decomposing

since the fighting broke out. now they are starting peace talks between the government and the liberation front. they said these talks are not inclusive, and does not represent the needs of the moral people. the government said they are looking at a peaceful solution to solve this crisis, but the military have also said that they are making sure the commanders will be held responsible. so right now there seems to be a disconnect between the central government. the dutch government has formally apologized for what it calls excesses committed in i o indones indonesia, and offered widows who's husbands were killed a financial compensation of

$26,000. >> reporter: the chairs at the dutch embassy were reserved for the videos who's husband's were executed by dutch troops in the 1940s, but only a handful of representatives attended the apology ceremony. >> on behalf of the dutch government, i apologize for these successes. today i also apologize to the wid widows from these areas. >> reporter: the apology came 66 years after thousands of indonesians were killed in an efforts to stop an indonesian uprising against dutch rule. this woman lost her father and brother during the confrontation. >> translator: if i had a chance

to meet the ambassador, i would tell him, you are too late, sir. even if of the children of the victims have died and only now you are saying sorry. if you would have waited 100 years nobody would have been here. >> reporter: although it happened 66 years ago, the brutality still causes deep wounds. appreciated by those who are still alive, but too late for many others. >> officials from the indy knee shan government did not at ten the ceremony. >> translator: it is good to give compensation to individual victims, but we cannot recognize this as an apology to the

nation. >> reporter: the dutch government has now promised to compensate all widows who's husband's were executed, but the children of the victims say they are not happy and want to take their cases to court. there's lots more to come in this news hour . . . protesters in south africa demand justice over the americana mine shootings. doctors help a boy recover from an attack. and in sports, floyd mayweather, jr., faces off in a world title fight on saturday. ♪ right back now to our top story, the attempt to strike a deal over syria's chemical

weapons. let's take a look at why the issue is so crucial to the international community. the un says 1 million people have been killed by chemical weapons since world war i, half of those were killed by agent orange in vietnam, and that was used by the americans. chemical weapons were also suspected to be used against iran from iraq in the 80s. 189 countries have agreed to ban, seven states have refused to join the treaty. and yet member countries have accused each other of breaking the convention. and the u.s. has been criticized for using white phosphorous. the former head of the

international atomic energy agency ask on the phone with us now. sir, welcome to the program. reigning in chemical weapons around the world sounds like an impossible task. how will they do this in syria? and how feez -- feasible is the russian plan? >> [ inaudible ] commit itself not to have chemical weapons and commit it's a to a surrender of them. however, when it comes to carrying out the inspection this will be nearly impossible if not impossible during a civil war. but i think the first part is important because there is an opening here to further talks.

we now know that mr. kerry and mr. lavrov are in geneva today discussing. and i think the world would like to see a ceasefire. you can't tell them fight the war as you do but without chemical weapons, and the dialogue opens a hope, a chance to start the dialogue towards a ceasefire and a conference. >> do you believe the verdict of western intelligence agencies that the syrian government is responsible for this aledged chemical weapons attack near damascus on august 21st? >> i think the un having the inspectors, it requires that we listen to what they have to say in their report. however, personally i have been impressed by the evidence that has come up from other sources so far, and it seems to me most

probable that the regime was behind the large-scale attack. the size of it does not point to rebel groups, and we also heard independent observers in damascus pointing to the government. so despite the fact it had not been in their interest at all to do so, i think the evidence points to the government. that doesn't exclude the possibility that the rebels used chemical weapons on a limited scale previously. >> military action on syria is on hold but not completely off the table. do you think there should be any military intervention in syria? >> no, i don't think so. i think -- military invention likely is a punch in the nose to assad, and that is to say stay away from chemical weapons, but you can go on with the war, and

that is not really acceptable line to take when over 100,000 people have been killed and several millions are on -- refugees. we need within the security council a continued dialogue to come to an end of the war. i don't think the process can continue with the war, unless they receive money and weapons from the outside, and there are reports about weapons coming from the outside, from saudi arabia, qatar, maybe russia, and these countries can say we demand you accept a ceasefire and have a conference. >> the swedish foreign minister has told us that any international effort to try to solve the crisis will require a decade of commitment. do you agree? >> i think they will have to

submit themselves to a peaceful solution. mr. obama said he did not draw the red line. it was the world community that drew the red line. but the world community also drew the red line with the uncharter. and the us and france will not be acting in self-defense and they don't have authorization from the security council. so the council has to find another solution out of it. >> okay, sir, thank you for speaking us to. the egyptian military has stepped up and cracked down on the sinai peninsula. more and more military vehicles are moving into the area every day. however, the solders are coming

under attack. our reporter in cairo, who can't be named for security reasons, explains. >> reporter: this is the security headquarters for north sinai. it was attacked by suicide bombers on wednesday. one car with exclosives blew up a check point. the other hit the building. no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. the sinai region has been difficult to control for years. and since the president was removed from power, it has gotten worse. and the sinai's proximity to israel means the country considers it strategic to its security. armed men have been attacking police stations and check points, and the army is care rig out a campaign against what it calls terrorist groups. solders are searching homes and traveling around the sinai is tough. activists say the army has

destroyed houses and mosques, and people have been killed and injured. >> translator: i was with my cousin who gave me a lift, then a helicopter came and killed my uncle. i was injured and this is part of the rocket that hit us. >> reporter: the union is describing the military campaign as a genocide. >> translator: what happened today and yesterday is a shame on the conscious of the egyptian government. the army has destroyed more than 50 houses, burnt more than 50 cars, and killed our cattle and camels. it's a real tragedy. >> reporter: there's no sign the fighting will end soon, and so it seems likely the region will remain unstable for years to come. al jazeera, cairo. al jazeera has launched

legal action over the authorities over the continued detention over its journalists. they are being held. the network says it will take action in international courts and at the united nations. let's get the latest weather now. wildfires are still burning across northern argentina, but i hear cooler, wetter weather is on the way. >> that's right. good news here. it has been a long hot spell. but this area of cloud here heralds something of a change over the next few days. the very, very hot weather has caused these fires to rage. is just to the northwest of ben necessary aries. those fires have been fanned by some very strong winds as well. here comes our rain. it will push in as we go on

through friday. earlier this week we're getting up to 29 celsius. and here is the rain that will make it a little further north as we go into saturday, so really good news year, a top temperature of only 12 degrees. they make their way up the western base in, and we see quite a bit wet weather across the caribbean as well. this area may well develop into a tropical storm. we have already seen flash flooding and mud slides from that. there is also flash flooding across parts of the southwestern part of the united states, this is known as the monsoons, and we have seen some big downpours

throughout the region. arizona, new mexico, pushing up into colorado will see very heavy rain. we have seen flash flooding as far north as colorado. but hopefully a little less wet as we go into saturday. >> thanks very mump. new research has found that a vacation has effectively eradicated hiv in monkeys. if the vaccine is found be effective in humans, it would transform the treatment of the millions of people around the world with hiv. >> reporter: monkeys like these are susceptible to a vieries like hiv and has long been considered to be a disease that can't be eradicated from the body. researchers infected 16 monkeys

with modified herpes virus. it activated the immune system. >> the virus got in and effected themselves, and moved into various parts of the body at a low level, but it was subsequently cleared, so two, three years later, the monkeys looked like normal monkeys, and there was no test that detected the hiv of still being there. >> reporter: patients have shown promising results, but the procedure is expensive and too dangerous to carry out, unless the patient already has blood cancer. >> we might be able to use this vaccine either to prevent

infection or people get it to have that inflection cleared or to apply it to individuals who are already infected and are in antiviral therapy. >> reporter: researchers have already started work on a human trial vaccine. the hiv virus may have originally come from monkeys, and now monkeys are playing a crucial role in the hunt for its cure. still ahead, while many gather in london for the city's fashion week, others are using the event to he light the plight of those who make the clothes. and we meet the man who is aiming to become germany's first black member of parliament. ♪

♪ hello, there, welcome back. you are watching al jazeera, these are the top stories this hour. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in geneva to discuss a russian plan for syria to put its chemical weapons under international control. the philippines army is fighting on two separate fronts on the country's south. al qaeda fighters have joined the fight after a four-day standoff. north korea may have restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium.

here is the latest on what is happening inside syria. >> reporter: this damascus neighborhood has been under constant shelling and air strikes. the area is under rebel control, and the government is desperate to retake it. an eastern district of the capitol, activists have posted a video, showing this doctor streeting victims of what he describes as chlorine attack. al jazeera cannot dentally variety the video. the aledged attack comes against the backdrop of international efforts to destroy syria's

stockpile of chemical weapons. but the rebel's top military commander says more needs to be done. >> translator: we check the russian initiative. we call on the international community not only to seize assad's chemical weapons but to try him in the international chemical court. we also call on our friends to beef up arms supplies. >> reporter: the rebels had high hopes military intervention by the u.s. might tilt the balance in their favor, but for the time being, they have to rely on their own. here in nova, the rebels are trying to capture this strategic hill, but not without heavy casualties. these rebel fighters were killed during the offensive. faced with the brutality of

government forces, anti-government fighters have warned if they don't get support soon, the war will take longer and thousands more will die. protests are continuing in turkey over the death of a 22-year-old man. he died early on tuesday at an anti government march in the southern province. for a third day istanbul set off fireworks and set up barricades. spanish emergency services are struggling to contain two forest fires in the region. emergency services have raised the alert level to the highest possible. hundreds of minors are holding protests in the south african city, and they want the state to pay the legal fees for hundreds of men arrested during

a shooting. 34 workers were shot dead by the police then. >> reporter: this is the background to the story. last year minors took part in a strike over pay, the police opened fire, killing 34 of them and injuring hundreds of others. now the state is saying it no longer has the money to pay for lawyers to venn the minors. the minors are angry about this because they are stale paying for lawyers to represent the police. now the president fought to ignore this. next year is an election year, and he wants a second term as president. we have seen various opposition parties coming to the floor, capitalizing on this moment, and some even say taking over the

situation. whether the chooses to give the mine nors what they want, and if he doesn't he is very well aware the opposition could use this to air advantage. in mexico, leaders of the teacher's union have agreed to meet the government after bitter protests against education reforms. at least 15 people were injured on wednesday in demonstrations. [ shouting ] >> reporter: weeks of protests for teachers in them inco city have resulted in this. smoke has been sent out to disperse them. they have been holding daily marches to protest against the pending education reform. a reform that takes hiring and firing power from the teacher's union and gives it back to the government. the plans also include an

evaluation system. teachers say this could be a cover for the government to privatize schools. but the government says it gives students a chance to compete in the international marketplace. >> translator: we won't take a step back in applying our education law, rather we will make sure we move forward faster to guarantee the right of all children and youth to a higher quality education. >> reporter: but the teachers say they don't care. they are now out to repeal the law. >> translator: during the revolution and war for independence everything was done out of conviction. there were fights and people joined because of their conviction. we're also here because we believe in what we're doing. >> translator: we'll succeed through peaceful resistance. it's not possible to go back 50

years, taking everything from us. >> reporter: thousands of teachers have come peer, but standing in their way is a humg barricade and hundreds of riot police. still the top secretary will meet the protest leaders on thursday, it is very unlikely the law will be repealed, but the leftist teacher's union has other plans too, they want to build a national movement strong enough to repeal the plan. and the u.s. national security agency has been sharing unfiltered data with israel, that's according to new revelations published in the guardian newspaper. the report details a secret deal between the u.s. spy agency and israel allowing for the routine sharing of raw intelligence. the agreement does not require

the nsa to remove and filter private citizen information. we have a cyber security analyst, and he says the nsa has repeatedly overstepped the boundaries of its surveillance activities. >> it's just a huge amount of information that the u.s. has access to, and it seems by this report that they are sharing it with israel and they are not minimizing it, which means taking out u.s. communications like they are supposed to be doing domestically any ways. they are just giving them everything that they are getting off wire. and that's a real worry for people in the u.s. given that their privacy could be violated by other countries and people around the world that don't necessarily have those prote protections that the u.s. citizens have.

the rules are very lax -- the patriot act they have had this secret interpretation of this law that has allowed them to gather this phone metadata, and scanning large quantities of emails going overseas. so there's the privacy protections for americans have really been weakened and almost in secret, so hopefully these revelations will force congress to act and to pass real reform. people in germany could vote in their first black member of parliament. he was born in sin gal, and often when he was 7 years old, for 12 years he had been a german citizen. >> reporter: it's election time.

but this social democratic candidate is one of a time. he is black. he holds a doctor at it in chemistry was beaten up for his skin color years ago. in east germany racism runs higher than elsewhere. but that is not stopping him. >> translator: [ inaudible ] infant stage, we are a developing country in this regard. political parties haven't recognized the potential of immigrants. they could really enrich the political process. >> reporter: nationwide only about 4% of the candidates running for parliament are of immigrant background. the proportion of minority representation is far below that in the parliaments of france or

great britain, for example. another part of the problem is the way germans with old traditional family roots here see immigrants as one of the very few turkish german mps. >> they have difficults with the name, and i think it will take some time to have a more normal situation that people don't ask like, does she speak german, or is she able to understand everything that is going on there? it is still no, ma'am normal. >> reporter: he is high up on the party chance and has a good chance of being elected. he said he doesn't want to be an curiosity, he just wants to be a member of parliament, like anyone else. the horrific us in of a boy

who had his eyes gouged out in rural china has millions enraged. but one doctor has forever changed the boy's life. >> reporter: late in the afternoon on august 24th, 6 year old was playing in farm land near his home. he was grabbed from behind, his attacker gouged out both of his eyes. thousands of miles away eye surgeon dennis lamb was sickened about the situation. >> this was a big shock. it is something unthinkable. it is so tragic, so i wanted to do something for him. and at the same time being a father of two kids, i know the family will be facing a lot of difficulties, and i also want to do something for the parents. >> reporter: on tuesday in a

four-hour surgery, he received implants that will ultimately become prosthetic eyes. they won't help him see, but they will make him have a normal appearance. >> we want him to have a normal life as much as possible. >> reporter: the clinic has set up a fund for him for his care. since he was able to see for six years, he has an advantage. he knows how things look. the camera on these glasses captures an image. >> just put this on -- >> reporter: so he feels the image? >> yeah. >> reporter: benben's recovery is going well, and that's in part thanks to his attitude. >> the doctor is doing surgery and making things right for him, but daily meeting with him is

like [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: doctors tell us he has been able to help his real parents stay positive too, something critical in what will no doubt be challenging times ahead. that poor little boy. i do hope that technology works. still to come all of the sports including the $250 million handshake as the world's two most expensive footballers get ready to become teammates. ♪ ç]

♪ >> hello there, welcome back. london fashion week begins on friday, campaigners are hoping it will remind the public of the conditions of garment workers in bangladesh and elsewhere. warren reports from london. >> reporter: the british economy has taken a turn for the better, but still cheap disposable clothes are irresistibly popular for most. the plaza disaster placed enormous pressure on the global clothing retailers. new pay rates for something approaching a living wage for garment workers still haven't been set. this union leader thinks that is

a thin outcome after the deaths of more than a thousand people. >> they are actually not interested to make the progress for the workers. they simply think about their profit. >> reporter: and just as mean spirited in the view only campaigners is the refusal by several household names, multinational chains to offer any compensation at all. >> they are making huge profits at the expence of the workers, and when something like this happens, which should have been avoided, the fact that the companies aren't coming to the table to pay the compensation is deplorable. >> reporter: a few leading lights in fashion are trying to keep the pressure on. >> what we have seen is a lot of

window dressing from the european high street, where on the website one might say something, but impacted the design and merchandising teams are doing quite a different thing. >> reporter: much of the campaign work done here is being done quietly by people who realize they are unlikely to get shoppers to help. a petition has been signed by a million people calling for more dignity for garment workers hasn't yet caused much change. in the last few minutes it has been announced that kate verde has been kicked out of the world cup. the sports world governoring

body feel that cape verde had has player that should have been suspended earlier this month. for more on this, i'm joined by lee wellings who is in our london studio. lee this is on the face of it a very sad story. they looked to be on their way to the world cup in brazil. but that dream looks to be over now. >> yes, well they may have cause for appeal, and that's what they will be clinging on to. but this news is just emerging from fifa, and it's so disappointing for cape verde. and they have done so well in

world cup qualifying to finish on top of a group and then have it taken away from them. the man should not have been playing in that game, and they complained to fifa, they would have been in a playoff draw. they all play each other, leaving five qualifiers, so there were five draws to take place. they are not now going to be there on monday. if they do appeal, there is going to be huge disruption to african qualifying. but they would have been the smallest nation to ever reach a world cup finals, and they were only two games against the same opponent away from that, now it looks like it could be snatched away. i really would expect an appeal over this. >> and they wanted to see the

teams in that draw, and would have had a weaker team to play against, and probably would have reached the finals. in your experience is there something sinister to them, or was at it genuine mistake, and someone is feeling, well, rather silly right now? >> there has been a mixture of both. fifa has to stick to these very rigid rules, and that's why they are in very serious trouble here. but at the same time, you do feel sorry for them, because it was quite a complicated process. >> thank you very much lee. a late-breaking story, and we'll be speaking more about that i'm sure. afghanistan is celebrating their first-ever international football trophy ever.

on thursday the team arrived back in kabul to a euphoric reception. the country's president was also on hand to welcome the team. it seems the celebration in kabul, a rare show of joy and unity. jane ferguson joins us. >> reporter: for once, gunshots in kabul were fared in celebration. the football cup victory brought thousands on to the streets. the nation's team defeated indy 2-0 in katmandu, and the party started in kabul immediately. after years of violence the police force were happy to let these fans take over the streets. the next day they were still celebrating. >> translator: in afghanistan after 30 years of war, this is a small happiness. we're so happy to celebrate. >> reporter: this is the first time ever afghanistan has won a major football tournament during

the taliban they were allowed to play but not on an international level. the partying here in kabul is likely to go on for days. this was the biggest show of unity in years, and afghans are proud their country is making headlines for the right reason. >> translator: it shows to the world that afghans are not after war. they are not only warriors. this is a peaceful message to the world through sports. >> reporter: afghans have not had much to celebrate for decades. these parties will end, but for the next generation, sports has given them some inspiration for the future. jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul, afghanistan. to the opposite end of the football spectrum now, real madrid teammates have checked in for training for the first time.

in the moment -- the two players have combined value in excess of $250 million. but injury has restricted him to just 30 minutes of football since july, but the 24 year old could play some part in the game on saturday. boxing floyd mayweather, jr. and sol alvarez have held their final press conference. after the complimentary words they had for each other on wednesday this event was slightly more tense. mayweather could win as much as $60 million. >> he hasn't faced 42 floyd mayweathers, because he would be 0-24. whatever any fighter can do good, i can do great.

i'm at the pinnacle. i'm the face of boxing, and i'm dedicated to my craft. >> translator: it doesn't matter. he can say whatever he wants. once you get in the ring, words don't mean anything. let's see saturday night if he says the same thing after the fight. >> floyd mayweather is currently the world's best-paid sportsman. the man who used to hold that title is preparing for a round in chicago. woods is second in the playoffs behind sweden's golfers. >> it was a little bit work. i normally won't work this hard in a pro-am, but i had to do a little bit of work, because i wasn't out here yesterday. trying to get the speed of the greens a little bit.

they were a little bit quicker early on, and slowed up as the way went on, but overall the golf course is in absolutely r perfect shape. in the 10th inning on wednesday, this game was tied at 3-3, but a grand slam homer for the red sox gave them the 4-run lead that they managed to hold on to for the win. meanwhile the arizona diamondbacks beat the dodgers. schmidt helped arizona avoid a series clean sweep by the dodgers. races six and seven for the world cup take place later. tuesday's second race was postponed after oracle requested time to figure out why they were

losing so badly. the kiwis lead by four points. the mourn boat has even course on britain's most decorated olympic sail for ever, to try to turn around their fortunes. south careenian athletes will be competing in north korea for the first time ever on wednesday. they have travelled to compete at the 2013 asian cup and interclub weight lifting championship. north korean officials say they will allow the south korean flag to be raised and national anthem to be play if an athlete wins. there is lots moore ahead on al jazeera, but first time for a quick break. good-bye for now.

♪ you're watching al jazeera, i'm richelle carey, here are some of the stories we're following. assad says he has agreed to surrender syria's chemical weapons in response to russia's offer and not because of the threat of a u.s. attack. syria quickly accepted the proposal. and secretary of state john kerry is in switzerland at this hour preparing for talks with his russian counterpart trying to hammer out a deal. and putin warned against u.s. strikes on syria. he wrote