this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour live in doha. the top stories on al jazeera. >> we are as serious as you are about engaging in substantive, meaningful negotiations. >> the united states and russia began key talks in geneva to put syria's chemical weapons beyond use. meanwhile, the united nations confirms it's received syria's application to join the chemical weapons convention. i'm in london with the

latest from europe including -- >> everyone is very energized and looking forward to it. quite xielted. >> they're poised and ready for the unprecedented task of salvaging italy's costa concordia. >> we have all the sports from the world cup hopes. i'll tell you about that later in the program. plus afghanistan has the celebrations over football and marked their biggest achievement on the international stage. syria's words alone on chemical weapons are not enough. that was the message from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry in geneva as key talks get underway with his russian court part sergei lavrov. >> i have seen reports that the

syrian regime has suggested that as part of the standard process they ought to have 30 days to submit data on their technical -- on their chemical weapons stockpile. we believe there is nothing standard about this process at this moment because of the way the regime has behaved, because of not only the existence of these weapons, but they have been used. >> live to kneel covering the talks in geneva. we heard from both the russian foreign minister and the u.s. secretary of state. both very keen to show that they're serious about these talks, but is there common ground on how to proceed to disarm syria? >> reporter: i think you're absolutely right. ahead of these talks, these all-important pivotal talks that could well shape the future of syria, both russia and the americans expressed that they would be both committed to making sure that bashar al assad

hands over his chemical weapons. i think that there will be something of a struggle when it comes to meeting each other in the middle. it comes to essentially finaling common ground. john kerry a little bit earlier on reinforced washington's point of view that it was necessary to hold on to the threat of a strike intervention in syria. so make sure that the syrians toe the line and go ahead with the russian-led initiative to allow weapons inspectors, chemical experts into the country with a view to essentially handing over and destroying its k chemical weapos arsenal. >> so i understand that both of them, both sergei lavrov and john kerry, have arrived with a huge delegation, a team of experts basically. what exactly will they do the next few hours or next few days? >> reporter: you're absolutely

right. unusually large delegation from both the russians and the americans made up of top level diplomats of chemical and military experts. a lot of what's going to be tapes place here will, of course, be happening behind closed doors. it probably will be more technical than it is political. the preassumption is that these experts will be trading information, potentially sharing intelligence, collating information they have about syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. most importantly also they'll try to work out how to send potentially hundreds of experts into what is still essentially a civil war with a view to eventually destroying syria's chemical weapons arsenal, but that does not look like it will happen anytime soon or with any ease. >> thank you very much. neve live for us in geneva. as we've been reporting, syria's application to join the chemical

weapons convention has arrived in the united nations in new york. >> in the past few hours we have received a document from the government of syria, which is being translated, which is to be an exception document concerning the chemical weapons convention. so we'll study that document, and i believe that is meant to eventually be circulated as a document. >> live to james spaeth, our diplomatic editor at the united nations. the u.n. received the document, so what's the process now? is syria going to be part of the chemical weapons convention? how long is it going to take, basically? >> reporter: the document has been received. the document is then translated. that's the normal procedure, but this is just the first step. it's syria writing a letter saying, we would like to be part of the convention. there is then a procedure to be followed. it sounds like good news because

all the international community, the russians and the u.s., agree that this should be the procedure. interesting that john kerry picked up on this announcement when he spoke at that news conference with his russian counterpart in the last half hour. he said that the normal procedures -- he's talking about the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons -- are 30 days for syria to lay out all the chemical stocks where there's located in syria. well, he says these are not normal times, and i think what they're trying to do from the western side and the u.s. side is trying to speed up this procedure because what they're worried about is that all of this becomes a stalling procedure by the syrians that is dragged out for days, months, possibly even years. that's the fear. >> and how much hope is there? how much faith is there at the u.n. there that these talks between kerry and lavrov in geneva could yield a positive outcome? are people optimistic there? >> reporter: well, i think that

they know this is really the only chance. yes, there are diplomats here coming up with all sorts of proposals. we've seen two draft resolutions. the first one came up with by french diplomats. we understand the french went to other western colleagues. this is the second draft that al jazeera has obtained. all this work is being done in preparation of some sort of breakthrough in geneva. i know they know that the dynamics around the tail of the security council have not led to any agreement for two and a half years. so they're hoping on this issue of chemical weapons, with this russian initiative, that maybe these two men -- you saw them joking at the end of the news conference when it ended just a few minutes ago about the translation and the fact secretary kerry couldn't hear the last words of the translation. you saw there the smiles. these are men who have known each other for years and they have a rapport despite all the difficulties of the relationship 2002 -- between the u.s. and russia, they hope they can come

up with some sort of breakthrough. if they have a deal and compromise, it comes back to the hard work at the u.n. to make a mechanism for all of this. that is extremely difficult sending inspectors into an active war zone. very difficult. some experts tell me probably impossible. >> okay, james. thank you very much. our diplomatic reporter james spaeth live at the united nations. let's turn to other world news. soldiers in the southern philippines are fighting separatist rebels on two fronts. the government says al qaeda-linked fighters have joined the battle and attacked a second town. it's after four days of fighting where we have this report. >> reporter: elite military forces moved towards with the fighters of the liberation front have been holed up for days. it's a siege that has shut down the city in southern philippines. >> the government's assault early this afternoon, military forces managed to secure this

area where snipers were once positioned. there are at least 300 soldiers now securing this area. around 200 of the fighters are holding at least 100 civilians hostage. the violence began on monday when the military took in five armed members of the liberation front marching in combat uniform. the mnlf led the muslim rebellion in the 1960s. it signed a peace agreement in 1996, though that pact was never fully implemented. now its opposing government has more peace talks with the groups. it says these talks do not address the grievances of the people. its founder made the renewed declaration of independence months ago. now he's denied he's involved in the siege, but the philippine military says it's not convinced. >> the armed forces of the philippines will remain firm in

its operations and mission at the moment to contain them in this area, to prevent them from leaving and make those with international police responsible answ answerable. >> humanitarian assistance is a concern. families remain trapped where fighting is concentrated and 14,000 people have been forced to leave homes, many of them living on the streets with very little to eat or drink. >> we need to talk to these groups. if you truly want to protect your ethnicity, your culture, your rights, you're not doing this, and who do you think you're doing greatest disadvantage and dishonor? the very people who you claim to represent. >> reporter: the government says it remains committed to a peaceful solution for ending this crisis. al jazeera, southern philippines. in south africa hundreds of miners have been holding protests in pretoria.

they're calling on the government to pay the legal fees for hundreds of men arrested last year during a shooting at a mine. an inquiry is already underway into the killing of 34 miners. we have the report from pretoria. >> reporter: miners in south africa say they want justice and answers. in august last year police shot dead 34 dead colleagues while trying to disperse them. many more were injured. it was called the americana massacre. they want the government to pay those representing the survivors and families of deceased. >> nare fighting for the deceased and for change. they're fighting for the land that still bleeds. 34 mine workers, that's why i'm here. >> reporter: miners say they make barely enough to feed their families and couldn't pay legal fees. they're trying to find out what went wrong and so many were killed last year. the survivors say they withdrew

from the commission because they don't have the money to do their job. government officials say there is no money to pay for legal representation for survivors and families of those who died last year. miners want to know why the state is paying lawyers to represent the police. they went to court to try to get funding. next year is an election year. president zuma is running for a second term. opposition parties are already capitalizing on the situation, using the memory of the anti-apartheid activist to stir up emotions. >> because ordinary black people who are killed, their life is cheap. no one cares. no one says, hey, let's stop and listen to these people. remember, earth will remember what happens today. black men, you're on your own. >> reporter: they feel with the legal representation, only one side of the story will be heard.

still ahead on the al jazeera news hour. >> i'm veronica and i'm in paris. igo to a secret hideout that human traffickers used to transit desperate refugees from myanmar. why monkeys could be crucial to finding a possible vaccine for hiv. in sports, floyd mayweather jr. and saul alvarez face off in iverson las vegas with their world title fight on saturday. north korea might have reached restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons grade plutonium according to an american research institute. scientists say the satellites picked up the activity. >> reporter: north korea destroyed the cooling tower in

2008. the public confirmation of the reactor's closure the previous year to comply with an age of disarmament deal with neighbors and the united states. in april the north said it would restart the reactor, part of kim jong-un's new strategic line giving equal weight to economic and nuclear development. now researchers at johns hopkins university in the u.s. say satellite pictures show steam rising from the building that houses turbines and generators. >> they are building up their nuclear capabilities. part of that means increasing their stockpile or material and nuclear weapons. part of it means affecting their means of delivery through construction projects at this main site. they are probably in preparation for future tests. >> reporter: this can produce about 6 kilograms and make one nuclear warhead's worth of plutonium every year. this restart comes as no

surprise, but at a time when relations between north and south korea had been improving. just this week they announced they would re-open the shuttered joint complex at kasong next monday. so far south korea isn't confirming the restart, but the defense ministry spokesman went as close as he dared. >> translator: the south korean and u.s. governments are keeping a close watch on north korea's nuclear issue. the picture was taken by a satellite. there's no smoke without fire. you can think of it like that. >> the u.s. special representative for policy is in tokyo on the last stop of the regional tour. he made it clear washington won't resume stalled six-party talks on north korea's program as long as pyongyang continues to assert its nuclear status. more than 35,000 rohinia are known to have fled from myanmar this year. the refugees are often abused and exploited.

veronica pedrosa visited a transit point in thailand to investigate. >> reporter: designated a national park to preserve the natural beauty, the island is just a few kilometers from a major malaysian tourist destination. there's a much more menacing side to this place. rangers from the thai department of natural parks guard the area and pointed us to the very next cove to find what we were looking for. so close it's hard to believe they didn't know about it. a camp that we learned was a transit point for literally thousands of desperate from myanmar. it's just been shut down following its discovery and exposure in the media. >> translator: they took us to an island. we saw big tarps among big trees. we were surrounded by the sea. we couldn't see any other land.

many of us got severely ill. some were so bad they couldn't walk. all of us were very weak. >> reporter: mohammed spent a week on a ship from myanmar and then 19 days on the island before his family could come up with enough money to get him released for the next part of the journey. he describes a living nightmare. >> translator: they gave us mobile phones and made all of us talk to our relatives to ask for money. we were beaten even while we were talking on the phone. they would beat us to get the money from our relatives. if we didn't get the money, they beat us again and again and they tortured us continuously in many different ways. if we paid the money, they would stop beating us. if we couldn't, they severely tortured us and beat us so much. >> reporter: he says there were around 500 people at the camp. the violence wasn't limited to

the men. >> reporter: we heard that women from the two shipments before i arrived were severely dishono d dishonored. we remember were kept in a separate big house, not in the tents, but sometimes we could see them. >> reporter: his ordeal is over, but many more people are expected to take the same journey in the coming months. their futures are in the hands of profiteers who count their lives in dollars and cents and turn the people's hopes to ashes. veronica pedrosa, al jazeera, southern thailand. in thailand dramatic footage emerged of a storm that ripped through the school in the eastern province. wind and rain knocked over walls and caused part of the ceiling to collapse. the school is now appealing to the community to help it rebuild. japan's launched a protest against the french newspaper for poking fun at its damaged fu

fukushima plant. it showed sumo wrestlers with extra limbs. they say the cartoon insults those affected about i the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster. some of the world's largest clothing retailers are due to meet in switzerland to negotiate repatriations for the bangladesh deadly garment collapse. felicity. >> reporter: campaigners are attempting to divert the spotlight away from the catwalk and onto the plight of the workers. they say progress towards improving their rights has been slow. >> reporter: the british economy has taken a turn for the better, but still cheap, disposable clothes are irresistibly popular for millions at the heart of the

people who make them. the disaster placed enormous pressure on the global clothing retailers. some 80 western countries gradually signed up to protect workers against things like fire, and yet others didn't. new pay rates haven't been set. this bangladeshi union leader thinks that's a thin outcome after the deaths of more than 1,000 people. >> it means that they are actually not interested the make progress for the workers, for the development of the workers. they simply think about it. >> just as mean-spirited in the view of the campaigners is the refusal by several household names, multi-national chains to offer any compensation at all to people killed when they're destitute by the building collapse. >> nare making huge profits at the expense of the workers. when something like this happens, which was both

avoidable and should have been avoided, the fact that the companies aren't coming to pay the compensation is disgraceful. >> reporter: that makes london fashion week a good opportunity if not a duty for the industry to remind people of the bizarre relationship between glamour and poverty. a few leading lights in fashion are trying to keep the pressure on. >> there's a lot of window dressing from the british high street and european high street where on the website one might say one thing, but there's the design with the merchandising team doing a different thing with their supply chain. >> much of the campaigning work here on behalf of bangladeshi workers is done quitely by people that are unlikely to get shoppers to protest against outlets where they buy their clothes. a petition signed by a million people calling for more dignity for garment workers tells its own story, but there hasn't been enough yet to force change. lawrence lee, al jazeera, london. a child is reportedly among

at least eight people who have died after flash flooding in eastern romania. rescuers say 700 houses were flooded in 12 villages during a six-hour rainstorm that began late on wednesday. 45 people have been rescued so far with more than 300 others evacuated, and more rain is forecast in the coming days. crews in spain's northwest have been struggling to contain two wildfires burning in the region. the fires, which together have blackened 1500 hectares and threatened homes in the regions north. the fire started late on wednesday. engineers in italy say the biggest problem they face now is the weather as they plan to salvage the costa concordia cruise ship. they want to begin rolling the ship into an upright position on monday. this unprecedented operation comes 21 months after it capsized off the italian island

of gigilio. >> this time of year it's the end of summer, so weather is the single biggest risk to the operation. >> al jazeera explains how the operation will happen in all goes to plan. >> reporter: the costa con card ya weighs is 14,000 tons and rotating it upright will be a delicate and complex operation. right now it's resting on rock held in place by computer controlled steel cables. to roll it upright, they have attached metal flotation tanks to the hull that fill with water. the steel cables tighten and the ship will pull up helped by the weight of the tanks. it's an operation known as par buckling that takes up to ten hours. one upright which will give the ship enough buoyancy to be towed away. that won't happen until next

year. from europe still to come, but right now let's go to doha. >> thank you very much indeed. new research suggests that a vaccine has effectively eradicated the hiv virus in monkeys. it's a different strain than in humans, but the finding is promising. the next step is human testing. we have more. >> monkeys like these are susceptible to a virus called siv. it's the same virus from which hiv is believed to have originated and like hiv is considered to be a disease that can't be eradicated from the body. in the hope of finding a vaccine, they infected 16 monkeys with modified herpes virus. it activates the monkey's immune system. they infect them with siv and saw encouraging results in more than half the animals. >> the virus got in and infected some cells and moved into

various parts of the body at a low level, but it was subsequently cleared so that by two years later, three years later the monkeys look like normal monkeys. there's no evidence of the siv virus still being there. >> reporter: earlier this year, hiv patient timothy brown was declared effectively cured of hiv after he had a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia. two more patients have promising results, but the procedure is expensive and too dangerous to carry out unless the patient already has blood cancer. that's why researchers are focusing on developing a vaccine. >> we might be able to use this vaccine either to prevent infection or if people get it to have that infection cleared or potentially even to apply it to individuals who already are infected on antiviral therapy. it mate well work to help clear the infections so they can go off the drugs.

>> reporter: the researchers started work on a human trial vaccine. they have to test it in the next two years. the hiv virus may have originally come from monkeys, and now the monkeys are playing a crucial role in the hunt for its cure. still to come on al jazeera, security in the sinai. we look at the egyptian military's operation to restore order to the peninsula. plus, the boy who could fly. we meet a chinese youngster with a special talent. and the latest arsenal. find out why they decided to in ghana in sports coming up. do stay with us.

welcome back. you're watching the news hour on al jazeera. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and john kerry held a joint news conference in geneva. the united nations kirms it has received documents from the syrian government seeking to

join the international convention banning chemical weapons. the philippines army is fighting separatist rebels on two fronts in the south. they're going to join the fight after a four day standoff. a u.s. research institute says north korea may have restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium for weapons. more now on the top story and the flurry of diplomatic activity around syria. syrian president bashar al assad is willing to give up his chemical arsenal. >> translator: in the next few days, syria will send an appeal to the u.n. and to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. in my opinion, this agreement will come into force one month after the signing. syria will then start handing over data to an international organization about our chemical weapons, but i want to make it clear to all that these mechanisms will not be fulfilled

in a one-sided way, but it also depends on how russia's proposals will be received. when the u.s. stops threatening to attack and stops supplying weapons to terrorists and the process can reach a final stage. >> the french government has estimated syria's chemical weapons arsenal at more than 1,000 tons. the weapons are held at five main storage and production sites, although analysts say they've been frequently moved around. facilities produced sarin and vx nerve gas and bases in homs and hama. syria a patchwork quilt with different factions. many of the main roads in the north shown here in the red are under rebel control. securing the weapons and destroying them would be a difficult and dangerous task requiring boots on the ground and cooperation from all sides.

earlier aaron finnegan asked him if the russian plan could work. >> well, i think, first of all, the russian plan is a sensible one. one that one would expect. all the points you make make it exceedingly difficult. now, we were very successful prior to 2003 in iraq of doing this sort of thing, but it wasn't under fire. i think one of the first things that has got to be sorted out is some sort of local cease-fires around the five or potential ten sites that you mentioned and others where those chemical weapons are. once the information has been declared by assad, the team of inspectors, the u.n., the g-5 need to get in and ascertain exactly what's in the sites and needs to decide what to do. >> all right. so once that information has been declared, if it is declared

accurately, and one thing thinking of libya finding an undeclared stockpile after it decommissioned all of the weapons, how long would an operation to actually destroy these chemical weapons take? who would undertake it? >> well, first of all, it's going to be a lengthy operation. i believe that the only way to do it is to move those stockpiles of chemical weapons to a central location either somewhere relatively safe in syria or more likely to a neighboring country. i don't see that you can destroy these weapons and it could take a year or two in a civil war without a cease-fire. i don't see that happening at the moment. who does that? >> sorry to interrupt you. you say it will take a long time. why? is that because facilities have to be built to deal with the weapons to actually dismantle these things?

they're unstable and difficult to take apart? >> yes, by their nature they're highly toxic, and the casualties we saw on the 24 of august is testament to that. yes, you either incinerate the chemical weapons or you de mille them, which is a combination of incineration and chemical degradation. you would need some sort of facilities, but it's a long process. america has taken over 20 years to render chemical weapons safe. although these are slightly smaller and we've heard a thousand times and i think that is very realistic, it could take a year or two doing this in somewhere like aleppo i can't see happening. i think it has to be moved. >> i interrupted you as you were about to tell us who you think would do such a job as this. perhaps you can continue with that answer at the same time and tell me how verification would

be undertake once the weapons have been destroyed and who would do it. >> well, i think, first of all, who would do it, there's got to be some u.n. involvement and no doubt the security council alluded to them. the team that will do the analysis of the two, they and people like them form the basis of it. you need a range of military and chemical experts as the background i have to put it into perspective. usually under the chemical weapons convention the country responsible, i.e., syria, would provide manpower to support the destruction. again, that might be unrealistic, but getting the experts together under a u.n. g-5 banners if people are around and available it will be resource intensive and perhaps over a two-year period is possible. but i think not on the sites they are at the moment. >> you say that syria would provide the manpower and there would be no foreign boots on the

ground. how many people -- how many boots on the grounds would there need to be to make sure that such a site was secure? >> this is a hunl challenge. the u.s. quoted 70,000 quite a long time. 70,000 troops outside of syria, i don't see it happens. usually the host nation supports it. this is hugely difficult. this is why i favor very much securitying the sights and moving the chemical weapons outside syria, and that can happen in a relatively short time, a couple of months i guess. there's a cease-fire and protection of the u.n. g-5 teams on the ground. that challenge in the detail is yet to be worked out. i think the plan is do-able. we have a window of opportunity here, and i don't see anything

else viable at the moment. it's not going to be easy, and it's going to take all sides, the g-5, russia in particular and the u.s. and syria and the opposition to go forward with this. so there are a few challenges ahead. egypt's interim government extended the state of emergency for another two months. meanwhile the military stepped the crackdown on the sinai peninsula. our reporter in cairo we're not naming for security reasons has more. >> reporter: this is the security headquarters for north sinai. it was attacked by suicide bombers on wednesday. one car with explosives blew up a checkpoint and the other hit the building. no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. the sinai region has been difficult for the central government to control for years. since president mohamed morsi was removed from power, it's got worse. the sinai's proximity to israel means the country considers it strategic to its security.

armed men have been attacking police stations and military buildings as well as checkpoints. the army is carrying out a campaign against what it calls terrorist groups with air strikes from apache helicopters. soldiers are searching homes and traveling around the sinai is tough. there are checkpoints everywhere. activists say the army has destroyed houses owned by civilians as well as mosques, and people have been killed and injured. >> translator: it was nice. i was with my cousin, and he 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 that represents many of the main tribes in the sinai is describing the military campaign as a genocide. >> what happened today and yesterday is a shame on the conscience of the egyptian government. the army has destroyed more than 50 houses, burned more than 30 cars, and killed our cattle and

camels. it's a real strtragedy. >> reporter: there is no sign it will end soon or groups will stop attacking security forces. it seems likely the region will remain unstable for years to come. al jazeera, cairo. >> al jazeera has launched legal action against the egyptian authorities over the continued detention of its journalists. correspondent abdullah seen here the cameraman are being held. the network says it will take action at the united nations. back to london now with some worrying european economic news. felicity. >> reporter: the unemployment has reached another record in in greece at 27.9%. the rising jobless figure prompted dpon stra demonstratioy unemployed people in athens. many blame it to austerity measures linked to the bailout.

unemployment has tripled since 2008 during a six-year slump it wiped out a quarter of greece's economy. awusterity cuts could force more into poverty by 2025 if governments don't change course and increase spending. that's according to oxfam. i asked max wilson to explain why. >> even the imf are now saying they made a mistake. instead of rushing into austerity and forcing people leading to this terrible hardship for poor people, there were plenty of other things to do. for example, the attacks of the financial sector, we've done very little to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion, which they're beginning to do. all of these things would have helped the public purse without implementing these cuts. 20 million people are in poverty. i work for oxfam, and people

think we talk about africa. i'm talking about hungry people many britain and greece given free food. it's a scandal and unacceptable. german voters could be about to elect the first black member of parliament. the doctor who was born in senegal is a candidate for the main opposition social party. we have the story as part of al jazeera's coverage of the german election. >> reporter: another campaign bus in another german city for another candidate. it's election time. but this social democratic candidate is one of a kind. he's black. he holds a doctorate in chemistry, and he was beaten up for his skin color years ago. in much of the former east germany, racism runs higher than elsewhere. but it doesn't stop him from meeting voters. quite the opposite. >> reporter: the cultural openness in our society is in

the infant stage. we're in a developing country in this regard. the political parties have managed to identify the potential of immigrants. they don't use their abilities and the experiences of their different cultural background. they could really enrich the political process. >> reporter: nationwide only about 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 is far below that in the parliaments of france or great britain, for example. part of the problem is a german law that requires immigrants to give up the citizenship of their countries of origin to become german and vote, and many don't want to do that. another part of the problem is the way germans with old, traditional family roots here see immigrants as one of the few turkish german mps. >> they have difficulties 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 sf? is she able to understand everything going on there? it's still not normal. >> reporter: he says he doesn't want to be a curiosity or an mp told by his party to specialize in immigration issues, because, well, he's an immigrant. he just wants to be a memory of parliament like any other german hopes to be if he or she wants, trying and wins. nick spicer, al jazeera. the german chancellor has warned the eu on imposing tough environmental standards on her country's luxury carmakers. angela merkel told crowds too much regulation would hurt innovation and economic growth. she blocked a deal to set ambitious targets to cut carbon monoxide emissions in seven years. prince william has left

operational military service after finishing his tour as a search and rescue pilot. the second in line for the throne is expected to focus on royal duties, charity work and helping to look after his 2-month-old. you're update from here in europe. back to doha. >> thank you very much. now to mexico where leaders of teachers union agreed to meet the government after bitter protests against education reforms. at least 15 people were injured on wednesday in demonstrations. aid adam raily reports from mexico city. >> reporter: weeks of protests result in this, a long standoff with riot police. police use smoke to disperse them from the capital's main avenue. they've been camping out in the main plaza and holding daily marches on highways and aefrns to protest against the pending education reform, a reform that takes hiring and firing power from the main teachers union

back to the government. the plan changes also include an evaluation system. teachers say this could be 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 globalized marketplace. although the protests have went on for weeks, wednesday's demonstration was different. it's a day after the reform was put into law. >> translator: we won't take a step back in applying the 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: the teachers say they don't care. they're now out to repeal the law. >> translator: during the revolution and the war for independence, everything was done out of conviction. there were fights p people joined because of their conviction. we're also here because we believe in what we're doing. >> we'll succeed through peace of the resistance.

we willett that be known everywhere all over the world. it's not possible to go back 15 years taking everything from us. >> reporter: thousands of teachers have come here to the gate, but in their way is a huge barricade and hundreds of riot police. still the top second will meet the protest leaders on thursday. it's very unlikely the law will be repealed, but the leftist teachers union has other goals, too. they want to build a national movement strong enough to derail the president's plans for the tax code and to allow private investment in the oil company. still to come, they're going crazy in kabul. afghan football fans finally have something to shout about. we have all the details coming up next in sports.

welcome back. now, a 5-year-old chinese boy is hoping to become the world's youngest pilot. he's been taking flying lessons for weeks and spent time in the air. it's part of his father's plan to teach his young son what he calls important lessons in live. dominick king reports. >> reporter: readying himself for another airborne adventure. this is the 5-year-old's regular preflight routine. he hopes one day to set a world record. with his trainer in the back seat, he's already racked up more than 45 minutes of flying time. but he says his main ambition is

one day to take his father for a spin. although many people might question the wisdom of allowing such a young child into the cockpit, his father says it's the best way to learn. >> translator: my eagle training method is pretty much based on how parents train their bodies. they will push the baby eagle down the cliff as they grow up. the eaglet learns how to fly while falling down the cliff. this whole process brings out all the potential of baby eagle. >> reporter: but not everyone agrees. people think that he should be in playgrounds, not planes. >> translator: think of the mental and physical harm to the child. when a boy thinks even my father goes against my will and forces me to do things that i don't want to do. this will make him no trust in his surroundings when he grows up. >> reporter: flying isn't the

only challenge he's faced. his father filmed these images of him attempting and failing to climb japan's mount fuji. he says it's all part of his plan to toughen up his young son and teach him some lessons in life. his next plan is to trek through the tibetan plateau, but before that, like all youngsters, he must first make his bed. dominick king, al jazeera. time to catch up on all the sports. here's robert. >> good to have you alone. we start with football in cape verdi verde. they have been kicked out of the world cup for fielding. fifa ruled that cape verde players should have been in suspension and have ordered

tunisia a 3-0 win. they go into monday's draw for the playoffs. cape verde told al jazeera they will appeal the ban, and they say despite the fifa sanctions, it may not be over for cape verde. >> it's so sfodisappointed for people of cape verde whose football team made great process. in the last year or two this happened with the great performance of the african cup region before losing to ghana. they've done so well in world cup fall kwieing that they needed to get through ahead of tunisia. it was fernando, the man who shouldn't have been playing in that fame against tunisia who, of course, complained to fifa and overturned a 3-0 win to tunisia. there are basically ten teams left in africa. they play each other leaving five qualifiers, so there are five draws to take place.

they're not now going to be there on monday. it's tunisia. if they do appeal and fifa looks into that, there's a huge disruption to african qualifying. this is something that's such a shame for them. 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 have been snatched away. afghanistan's football is celebrating the first ever international trophy. they defeated india to win the cup. the country was pulled apart by decades of war, the scenes of celebration in kabul were a rare show of joy and unity. al jazeera's jane ferguson joined the party. >> reporter: for once gunshots in kabul were fired in celebration. afghanistan's international football cup victory brought thousands onto the streets on wednesday night. the nation's team defeated india 2-0 in the final at the

championships 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 take they were still there. >> reporter: in afghanistan after 30 years of wars there's smaum happiance. >> those celebrations got more raucous when they arrived back from katmandu. karzai was eager to bask in the reflective glory of the team's success. this is the first time ever afghanistan won a major football tournament. during the taliban they were allowed to play, but not on an international level. celebrations in ka wul are likely to go on in days. this was the biggest unity in years, and afghans are proud their country is making headlines for the right reasons. >> translator: it shows to the world that afghans are not out

for war. they're not only warriors. this is a peaceful message to the world through sport. >> reporter: afghans have not had much to celebrate for decades. these parties will end, but for the next generation sports has provided more than a distraction from war. it has given them some inspiration for the future. jane ferguson, al jazeera, ka l kabul, afghanistan. that's football news, and arsenal has presented the latest signing to the media. the german international joined them on the final day of the transfer window from real madrid. it cost them $66 million. that's the most arsenal has ever spent on a player, and it's the largest fee paid by any premier league team. the influence was key in him joining the gunners. >> translator: that was very important for me, how he thinks about me and what he wants to do

with me. i decided to come here because i have the trust and the respect in a family surrounding, and this was very important to me. he told me his opinion, what he thinks about me, and that is the reason i decided to come to arsenal. floyd mayweather jr. and saul alvarez held a final press conference ahead of the light middleweight world title fight in las vegas on saturday. after the complimentary words on wednesday, this event was a slightly more tense affair. the undefeated mayweather could earn $65 million and it's clear he thinks he's worth every penny. >> he hasn't faced 42 floyd mayweath mayweather, because he'd be sfwlooing on 42. i don't worry about who he has faced. whatever any fighter can do good, i can do great. i was born to be here. i was born to be at this level. i'm at the pin condenaclpinnacl. i'm although the face of boxing and dedicated to my craft. >> translator: it doesn't matter. he can say whatever he wants.

once you get up in the ranks, words don't mean anything. let's see saturday night. let's see if he says the same thing after the fight. some attention to baseball now. the boston have a lead in the american league east after beating tampa bay in the 10th inning on wednesday. they were tied at 3-3 after regulation nine innings, but a grand slam homer for the red sox get thim the win. >> the arizona diamondbacks beat the division leaders, the los angeles dodgers. they lead the league in rbis this season at the 108th and 109th to avoid arizona or help them avoid a series clench. places six and seven of the america's cup take place later on thursday as oracle team usa

goes against their opponents new zealand. it was postponed after they requested a time-out to figure out why they were losing so badly to the opponents. they lead by four points after the first five races. the american boat called on britain's ben ainsley the most decorated sailor to to try and turn it around as they aim to hold onto sports oldest trophy. >> thank you very much, robin. we leave you now with a fishy tale. it doesn't look like anything more than a face and lump of jelly. this grumpy-looking fish is now unofficially the world's ugliest animal. it's the new mascot of the ugly animal preservation society. the fish is rarely seen as it lives in teep waters off the coast of australia. very ugly. stay with us on al jazeera. more news coupling up live from london next.

we're back in a moment.

hello, everyone. you're watching al jazeera. i'm tony harris. here are the stories this hour. secretary of state john kerry met with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in geneva today. they discussed russia's plan. afterwards kerry said military force has not, has not been ruled out. >> mr. prime minister, we are serious, as you are, about engaging in substantive, meaningful negotiations even as our military maintains its current posture to keep up the pressure on the assad regime. also today the assad regime sent documents to the u.n. indi