>> >>. government forcers fight muslim rebels in the southern philippines. >> hello, welcome. you are watching al jazeera. the top stories from around the world. syria report - u.n. inspectors are to reveal if chemical weapons were used on the outskirts of damascus. >> the biggest marine salvage operation in history is underway off the coast of italy. they have one chance, and no plan b. . >> it makes me sick, but i'm

grateful that we are all alive. >> counting the cost of flooding in the u.s. state of colorado - more rain harmers efforts to rescue of the people. >> first, after 300 families in the philippine city of zamboagna are trapped in fighting between government troops and muslim separatists. the violence enters its eighth day. we go live to zamboagna. we hear rockets fired from military helicopters, air strikes, hostages killed. can you bring us up to date with the latest from the city? >> yes, indeed. we have seen earlier rockets being fired from military shoppers. this has been confirmed by the military say that these are in

fact limited air strikes intending to restrict the movements of the mlf fighters holed up there. it's a concern for human rights observers, human rights watch released a statement saying they are urging restraint from both sides. there is believed to be 300 people still trapped. the number of hostages is unknown. now, the leader of the moro national liberation front, the commander heading the results in zamboagna spoke to a local news paper. he said he's prepared to die, there's no surrender, and his men will fight to the end. >> the rebels, if i'm right, and you'll confirm this or not, are thought to belong to a number of different rebel groups led by nur misuari. tell us about him. >> well, nur misuari is - seals to be a charismatic, educated

professor, who led the muslim rebellion in 1960s in the southern philippines. he set up the national liberation front and signed a peace agreement in 1966, which was never fully implemented. he was given a chance to reform the area of southern philippines. that addresses the grievances of moro people - the issues of injustice, poverty and corruption. nothing has changed in 20 years in the southern philippines. they are opposing peace talks with another group saying they are not inclusive or in the best interests of the moro people. they say they have to do what they have to do. in order for the government to heed to their demands, implementing a final peace agreement. >> lastly - hostages - can you update us on those?

>> nothing is really sure, exactly. nobody knows for sure what the situation is like for the hostages. there have been reports that some hostages have been killed - allegedly by military fire. those reports, according to human rights observers, who say they have spoken to some hostages, that when the military starts the assault. they are used as human shields. these are, in fact, still unconfirmed, obviously. now, what the human rights observers want is that there should be a clear observation to allow all the civilians that are trapped to escape and be able to allow aid and assistance to get into the areas. >> thank you for joining us jamela alingogan. >> riot police confronted protesters in the cambodian capital of phom penh.

police fire killed one protestor, others were wounded. they gathered to protest the election results. >> the united nations report into an alleged gas attack in syria will be looked at later today. more than 1400 people are reported to have died in the incident on the outskirts of damascus. the un report can say g -- say only if they were used, not by whom. >> much of the world believes chemical weapons were used on the people in syria. we'll know if the united nations report found the same thing. the head of the u.n. was given the results of the investigation on sunday. ban ki-moon is expected to speak to the security council on monday. he spects the report to prove that chemical weapons were used. >> i believe that the report will be an overwhelming report

that the chemical weapons were used. i cannot say at this time before i received the report. >> no matter what is revealed a diplomatic deal has been put forward to rid syria of a chemical arsenal. >> translation: syria will accept what comes from the u.n. security council on the deal. syria accepted the russian proposal and is joining the chemical weapons convention. >> foreign minister sergei lavrov from russia and u.s. secretary of state john kerry agreed on a deal whilst in geneva. it may prevent a u.s. strike on syria, but force is sill an option much. >> the threat of force is real, the assad regime and those taking part need to understand that president obama and the united states are committed to achieve this goal. >> it wasn't part of the un mandate to say who was responsible for any chemical attacks. the report might give a good indication with details on how

the weapons were delivered, showing who fired them. based on their own assessments the u.s. and allies say there's no doubt that assad's forces were social. >> the united states has been drawn into this. obama will feel like he's exhausted all options for a peaceful resolution if it doesn't proceed according to plan. >> leaving syria a week to reveal details of its chemical weapons stockpiled. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry has arrived in paris to talk with the french president francis hollande. mr kerry will hold meetings with the british frectry mallory hagan -- foreign secretary william hague. he's seeking adherence. >> translation: we must be clear that the military option

must remain, otherwise there won't be pressure. >> seven have been killed in bomb aattacks in iraq. 10 were killed in a town called hilla. it follows a series of bombings on sunday were 40 died. salvage cruise off the coast of the italy are working to pull the "costa cordia" off the rocks in giglio. 32 people died in january last year when the cruise liner hit a reef. charlie angela is at giglio island. has work started lifting a 115,000 tonne ship off the rocks - how is it going? >> well, they have entered the control room. we have been delayed by three hours because there were electrical storms last night, forcing divers out the water. they were putting in place this

barge, which you can see behind me, where they are doing the remote control operation from. they'll use underwater cameras put on the back of five unmanned submarines and will relay images back and forth to see how the ship responds to the cables which will take the tension and strain, and hopefully pulling the "costa cordia" upright. we haven't had that part of the operation begin. when it does we expect to hear creeking, groaning as the ship is pulled up by 65 degrees. it will take 12 hours, and we could be losing the light soon. >> okay. after the creeking and the groaning, if it's successful, what happens if the ship is uplight. there's a lot in the base of the ship, including food and

supplies. >> absolutely, when this cruise ship set off, it had a week voyage ahead of it. it crashed on the first night of that voyage. 4,200 passengers were on board. there was enough food to entertain them lavishly, feed them buffets every day for a week. there's tonnes of meat, something like 10,000 eggs, 17,000 tea bags - all floating around in a dig toxic rotten water soup inside. so when the ship is brought upright, a lot of that water is spected to go out. it won't be too damaging to the environment. they have put in preventative measures, including absorbent barriers in the water. there'll be furniture, grand pi pian joes, and chanda leers. there's a net to catch some of the debris as it falls out. the priority will be on looking

for the two victims whose bodies are missing. it's believed they could be pinned under the ship. hopefully images relayed from the underwater submarines will pick up their impact location >> an italian mother and indian waiter. relatives today perhaps will get closure on that. charlie angela in giglio. >> a complex in north korea has reopened, a sim bol of intercore korean negotiation. >> the latest sticks to repair a difficult relationship. fences have been down a kilometre inside north korea, home to 100 south korean factories. 53,000 north koreans were left out of work and now the park is open for business. >> i cannot tell you how glad i

am. i hope it can be a good opportunity for the south and north to renew their relationship. >> there are many people who felt hurt. i hope the suspension of the industrial park does not happen again. >> it's been tough to have the complex shut down. i am sure my company had a hard time. for me, personally, it was tough. >> relations detear rated in march when north korea accused its southern neighbour and the united states of conducting what this described as provocative joint military exercises. months before north korea success fully launched a long-range rocket. the west claimed it was capable of delivering a nuclear war head and it conducted a third nuclear test. by may the only direct phone line between seoul and pyongyang was cut off. since then they have tried to rebuild a relationship left in tatters. some believe it could

open the way for talks on the nuclear issue and the relationship between the two coreyas. >> an armisities was achieved in 1953. not a peace treaty, north and south korea remains at war. the united states remains at wore, china remains at war and this is a dangerous trip wire place precisely because north korea is isolated, it is weak, it is poor, and it's under heavy pressure. >> this reopening, albeit on a trial basis is an initial step. it's given thousands of people on both sides of the border cause for hope. still to come - rhawandans go to the polls with the ruling party dominating the assembly. flash floods and landslides - mexico gets ready for more bad weather on both coasts.

>> welcome back. top stories on al jazeera. up to 300 families are trapped in the southern philippine city of zamboagna. fighting between government troops and muslim separatists has entered its eighth day. rebel fighters will not surrender to armed forces and are ready to die. >> a u.n. report into an alleged attack in syria will beunveiled monday. >> more than 1400 died. america and allies say forces for bashar al-assad were responsible. >> the "costa cordia" is being

pulled upright and off the rocks. 32 people died when the ship hit the reef off the island of giglio in 2012. >> rwandans are voting for a new party. the president dominated since 1994. voting has been calm. there was a grenade attack in the capital over the weekend. we don't know whether that's linked to the election or not. let's get more from peter crester. rpf dominated the last assembly. who looks liking to win? >> the rtf, there's no doubt about it. they won the last election with 78% of the vote. the nearest opposition party, the social democrats got 15%, 14% of the vote. there's no doubt. the rpf will win, and win hands

down. >> the roou andan government, as -- roou wandon government, as you know, says it's trying to develop the politics of consensus. what does that mean? >> it's an interesting term, isn't it. to a lot of outsiders and critics of the rwandan government, it is a oouf 'emmism for saying we won't tolerate dissent. a lot of government officials say that is a misunderstanding of the origins of the political system. the system evolved out of genocide, and builder a lot of features of the system designed to decouple politics from confrontation. it's intended to be don't see head to head fights amongst politicians. voters don't have a choice between candidates, just

parties. so we don't end up with head to head fights and political battles. this is trying to device a new form of politics. as you said, a form of consensus as opposed to confrontational politics. >> if they are not adversarial, are they free and fair? >> that's the other very good question. we have been talking to election observers who said so far the conduct of the polls themselves seems to be relatively free and fair. a question doesn't play to the way the polling is held. as the amount of political space for other parties to operate. the social democrats said that they - they believe that they have had enough opportunity to campaign, fight for the elections. others say they have been shut out. there are administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that stop them campaigning and registering

in some cases. this is a difficult and complex - the party does admit the rpf, the patry otic front admits there's work to be done, and they need to open up political space. the signs of political oppression really aren't there. >> in columbia six have been killed after police raided an illegal nightclub. witnesses accuse the police of force. tear gas was used and patrons were crushed in a stampede for the exit. police in bogga tea say they responded after bottles were thrown at them. mexico faces extreme weather on both case. 21 have been killed by tropical storm manuel on the pacific coast and the gulf coast is getting ready for hurricane ingrid. >> david mercer has more. >> cases of torrential rain poured down in mexico leaving a trail of destruction on the

pacific side tropical storm manuel unleashed two months worth of rain in a couple of days. up to 11 were killed when a building collapsed and a landslide landed on top of them. there has been scenes in which up to 2 metres of water has been left on the streets, massive flooding. the storm is decreasing on the other side of mexico, over on the gulf coast, hurricane ingrid is expected to make landfall early monday morning. now, the authorities evacuated about 6,000 people, but already the rivers there are overflowing. a couple of people have been killed when they were pulled down stream by fast-moving water, and with half a metre of rain expected to fall in the next few days in this region. it's imagined there'll be more casualties to come. >> seven people are thought to

have died in severe flooding in colorado. emergency workers have tried to evacuate people from some of the 14 counties. tamara banks reports. >> today is no ordinary sunday for this wane weary congregation. timber-lined church in fort clins doubles as a red cross shelter for those that fled the floods. >> chris stayed at the shelter overnight. she fled from drake, colorado with her dog. they have no home to return to. >> we sat down to eat our spuper and the water was at the ends of the driveway and by the same we had seaten our supper it was up to the woinds of our vehicles. >> to the south the scene is grim. the thompson river and buckhorn creek overflowed their banks. diane's house was not spared.

>> it makes me sick, but i'm grateful because we are all alive. we didn't lose anything that can't be replaced. >> heavy rain and unstable conditions continue to wreak havoc up and down 150-mile stretch. >> there are hundreds of people that need to be evacuated. the only way out for some is via helicopter. the helicopters are not going anywhere. the weather is so bad they'll be grounded. >> they rescued hundreds friday and saturday. sheriff geoff smith got up in the air for a tour of his count rip. >> how will be recover. i know inch by inch, mile by mile, community by community, we'll take it back. >> president obama it's iing nated three colorado counties as dasser areas. colorado's governor is asking for three

more to be added to the listism. >> we'll come out stronger after the storm than before. >> in the meantime, the larimer sheriff is asking people to be patient. >> my message for folks is take it day by day. colorado is coming together. no doubt the nation will be pouring in assistance and help. >> help that many people here need desperately. >> german chancellor angela merkel is leading the polls. it's the last week of campaigning, the green party says it will put up a fight, but a green fight. it's struggling to compete with merkel's environmental policies. we have this report. >> on the stage of our tour of germany ahead of a vote i'm riding an electric bike in front of the regional parliament in the hands of the green party. we thought this would be a good

place to see what the greens hope to achieve on the national level. >> this metal recycling plants shows both sides of the region - extreme but increasingly ecological. germany's sensed an opportunity yip. a memer of their parliament campaigns by touring the firm and meeting with company bosses. many german leaders are worried that taxes will be raised to spend on environmental issues. the mp is finding a receptive audience. >> everybody enjoyed talk tag about green issues. -- talking about green issues. three or four years ago it was not possible. you were called to be crazy, insane, out of this world. >> a big problem for the greens is recycling works in politics as well. and the german chancellor angela merkel has taken a flag ship

issue and made it hor own. ending -- her own. ending nuclear power, days after the fukushima disaster in japan, merkel announced germany would shut its nuclear plants. the green party has deep roots awes you can find -- as you can find in villages like this. locals decided solar panels will provide electricity, and using gas and natural waste from farms produces more heat than the villages need. most green voters are sticking with the party but admit it's almost a victim of its own success. >> translation: i think green policies have been widely accepted. what is difficult is that some of the main states are dated. like the opposition to nuclear power. they now have to find themes again that appeal to the wider

population. >> the greens have other planks in their platform - promises to create a national minimum wage, ban weapon sales to dictators and better control the financial markets. they hope to govern in a coalition with the social democrats. election results might make for another combination - one between the greens and the party of chancellor america. >> finding a doctor when you need one is a problem for many countries. that, includes, of course, the united states. one in five americans live in places were there are not enough doctors to go around. that could get worse in january when millions of people are eligible under obama health care. robert ray went to mississippi where there are 63 doctors for every 100,000 people. >> sister anne brooks is a

doctor. at age 75 she worries who will take her place at the clinic she runs. >> 74% of my patients can't pay me, how will i earn enough money to pay the salary of another doctor. it's very sticky. >> sister brooks is one of three primary care positions in her poor rural county. >> you are there when grandma dies, or when the baby comes. you are with the family. they become part of you. >> it's a nationwide problem. the american association of medical colleges predicts a shortage of 45,000 primary medical positions. >> here this college was started as a solution to the shortage of primary care physicians in the gulf. >> dr james turner is dean of william cary college of osteopathic medicine. he predicts the situation will

become worse because millions of americans without health insurance will be eligible. >> adding a burden to the system will make it worst. >> 24 medical schools opened in the u.s. since 2008. turner says it's only part of the answer. >> what we are about to see is a backlog where students get to a point where they won't be able to go into practice and solve the problem, because they won't have the opportunity to have post-graduate training. his school is trying to set up res den sis where sister brook is. with so many doctors, people may find it tough to get an appointment. >> there's not enough doctors. it to see the patients. it will be increasingly difficult to get in the cea primary care position with a present shortage. >> people here will have no choice but to rely on sister

anne brooks u.d. >> i still think you'll be a doctor when you get big. yes, you are. okay. >> just a reminder - that's the front page of the al jazeera website. that's what you click on to for the latest on the meeting in paris today, of course. afghanistan's future grows increasingly uncertain, as years of foreign aid and intervention come to an end. in the jostling for money and power, competing forces are fighting for the wealth buried deep in the hindu kush mountains. that wealth is precious rubies,