hundreds are still trapped in a southern philippines as they fight muslim rebels for the 8th day. welcome in doha and this is al jazeera and this is the top stories from around the world and they are seeing if chemical weapons were used on the outskirts of damascus and the operation for a passenger ship underway off the coast of italy plus we go to the polls with the ruling of france dominating the

assembly. ♪ but first after 300 families in the philippine city of zamboanga are entering the 8th day of violence and we report. >> reporter: a city paralyzed by armed conflict and government forces continue to battle national liberation fighters in zamboanga in the southern philippines and the fate of hose adjusts and those remain trapped are more desperate by the day. monday is the fighting, the heaviest so far. human rights watch is urging restraint from both sides. unknown number of civilians are trapped in 5 coastal villages. >> worried about the civilians still trapped in the villages because we have not seen any

sort of how do you call this, strategy by the military on how to get them out safely. >> reporter: the human rights group says the military continue distinguish between civilians and rebels worried that civilians may already have been killed and may have violated the rules of war by turning the largest hospital in the city into a military and where soldiers are based and deployed from but military is aware of the rules of engagement. >> these are the things that we don't wish to do but maybe it's the urgency of the situation. as much as possible we want to avoid it but we are not in a normal situation. we are if a battle area and rest assured we will remind our commanders and our soldiers have to do those things. >> out of the --. >> reporter: they are demanding

implementation to adjust the grievances of the people of the southern philippines and the peaceful solution here is unlikely. the rebel commander on the ground says his men will fight to the death. >> reporter: we are live for us now in zamboanga and you talked to the rebel commander who said they are going to fight to the death. what else did he say? >> well, he said basically that they don't believe the national liberation front says also he doesn't believe the philippine government is in fear in finding a peaceful solution and said there are windows where the government could have a chance to actually find a way to negotiate for the release of the hostages and he is not prepared to die and will continue to struggle. when i asked him what the fight is for, the people of the

southern philippines and islamic fighters from the southern philippines but admits sometimes it is collateral damage and muslims and christians have become collateral of war and denies allegations that the accident is half and no direct order from the founder and he says he is working under direct order from them and he says that they are ready to fight in the end and don't believe the government can be trusted to continue on with negotiations. so assault on the ground and nothing is changed and seeing more and more troops surging in toward the area where the fighters are located. >> reporter: and we are if zamboanga city, many thanks. united nations is going to unveil its report into an alleged gas attack later today and 1400 were killed last month in damascus and they can say if

they were used and not by whom. >> reporter: much of the world believes chemical weapons were used on these people in syria but soon we will know for sure if the united nation's report has found the same thing. >> translator: the head of the u.n. was given results of investigations on sunday. and they are expected to speak to security council on monday. he has rerevealed it to say that chemical weapons were used. >> i believe that the report will be an overwhelming, overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used even though i can not publically say at this time before i receive the report. >> reporter: no matter what is revealed a diplomatic deal is moving forward to rid syria over the chemical arsenal. >> they will accept what comes from the u.n. security council

and has accepted the proposal and the convention. >> reporter: russia and u.s. secretary of state kerry agreed on a deal last week in geneva and may prevent a u.s. strike on syria but force is still an option. >> the threat of force is real and the assad regime need to understand that president obama and united states is committed to achieve this goal. >> reporter: it wasn't part of the u.n. mandate to say who was responsible for any chemical attacks but the report might give a good indication on details on how the weapons were delivered showing who fired them and based on the assessments that they there is no doubt that president assad forces were responsible. >> united states is drawn into this negotiation, its credibility is on the line and i think obama will feel like he is exhausted, all options open to him for peaceful resolution if

this doesn't proceed according to plan. >> reporter: leaving syria with a week to reveal details of the chemical weapons stockpile and carolyn al jazeera. >> reporter: the u.s. and the european allies britain and france agreed to press on for a strong resolution, following talks in paris there is deadlines on the chemical weapons removal from syria and the threat of military action must remain. >> translator: we can now seriously think of the diplomatic and political solution but i want to add to be absolutely clear that the military option must remain otherwise there won't be pressure and hope it can be imposed by the u.n. security council. >> reporter: and al jazeera has reached the front line in damascus where the fighting goes on and we have an update from guta a rebel held area of the capitol. >> translator: the buildings as you can see are damaged because of the heavy bombing.

now you can also see the closed streets where the two tanks have been hit by opposition fighters and black smoke all over the place because of the shelling. these are the worst hit buildings in the area and if we move this way we may see the capitol of damascus and these are scenes on the front line of the flashes in damascus. >> reporter: police bus came under fire in the sinai peninsula and nine people were hurt as fighters fired rocket-propelled grenade on the gaza, egypt border and 7 killed in iraq, a car bomb exploded in the district killing five people and ten more died and ten others injured when a cafe was attacked

in northern iraq and a wave of bombings on sunday which 40 people died and most bombs targeting sheer areas. crews off the coast of italy are working with the costaconcordio off the rocks and people died in january when it hit a reef and charlie is at the island. charlie bring us up to date with the progress or otherwise of writing the costa concordia. >> reporter: the operation was meant to start at dawn and delayed three hours because of terrible storms last night but it is officially underway and i can confirmed it moved a little bit. i will step out of the way so you can see the ship a little bit better and you see under the bow line a brown line and that is the bit that has been raised out of the water so far. it will be heavily rusted and to the right of that is a

storage-like container lined by flags because this will be done using remote control and cables attached to hydraulic pumps and they will monitor the progress of this using under water submarines mounted with cameras and rely images back and forth and the cables will slowly pull up the costa concordia at 65 degree angle and power buckling has been done before but never on this scale. engineers are giving us constant updates and so far so give. >> power buckling the technical term you also gave us creeking and groaning which is probably more accurate i would think for the sounds coming off the ship. what happens when it's pulled up right? >> well, pulling it upright is

going to take at least 12 hours. very, very slow process because of the tension on the cables pulling up 115,000 ton ship with a force of 24,000 tons. once it is upright they will have to stabilize it and keep it here in the waters throughout the winter. so they will keep it very low in the water and only next spring or summer when the weather clears will they be able to partially reflat it just enough to tow it out to a report and they are wrangling who will get the ship because of the size and the content will be a lucrative contract and that is a political decision that italy has to make. >> reporter: briefly charlie risk of toxic pollution when it is pulled upright? >> well, inside the ship,

swirling in the water is the debris and luggage of the 4,000 passengers setting off on a cruise. grand piano and chandaliers from the dining halls and food enough to feed the people. some of it sealed, a lot of it wasn't including eggs, tea bags and milk and cheese and tons of it which will be rotten if it has not been eaten by the officials and the water will spill out and there is a net around the ship to catch the debris and hopefully it will because the waters here are protected and they don't want to see it leaking out and spoiling the beaches. >> reporter: thank you, and who wants to buy an island in greece? a new property tax triggers an unprecedented sell off. and landslides and more bad weather on both of the coasts.

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♪ welcome back, top stories on al jazeera, 300 families are trapped in philippine city zamboanga and fighting between troops and separatist is in the 8th day and rebel fighters and are ready to die. a u.n. report and suspected chemical attack in syria will be unveiled on monday and the u.s. and allies of france and britain are pressing for a resolution on the chemical weapons. hundreds of workers are trying

to pull the cruise ship upright and 32 people died when the ship hit rocks in january 2012. and the polls are opened in the parliamentary elections and 5 million people are eligible to vote and they dominated the assembly since the genicide of 1994 and parties are shut out of the political process by the ruling party and peter reports. ♪. >> reporter: the closing campaign rally for the front had the relaxed feel about it, the celebration nobody doubt rpf will win the election and overwhelmingly. critics say that is because rwanda is a one party state but the rpf crushes opposition and the party says that is not true and the constitution that

guarantees democracy. >> it's a difference everyone needs and not just one group. and the freedom of inspiration. >> reporter: the social democratic won't 14% in the last election and hopes to do better this time around. but its leader said they have the space to campaign but intimidation is not an issue. ♪ this is democracy rwanda-style and says their role is not to oppose. >> we are bringing a program and bringing forward things and if we can convince in addition to ideas this is good. >> reporter: the critics complain the space for political opposition here has narrowed drastically and examples of intimidation that badly need investigating but anyone who

complains about the failure of the politics in the country is missing the point, they have tried it before and turned out very badly. the genicide museum records the shocking consequences of a political system that divided the party along ethnic lines and used democracy to hide a bloody tribal contest, the political power. >> from that time, we need to think different in most cases when you have elections you have various, why? because democratic expressions have been hijacked by ethnic discrimination exploration. >> reporter: and so the ruling party supporters celebrated the election to keep status quo with politics. >> reporter: the new prime

minister of australia, it's a single woman in the 19 member line up and they promised to scrap taxes and crack down on illegal immigration. in southern thailand police used tear gas rubber farmers protest and 20 0 demonstrators are blocking and telling the government they want a price for rubber. this is the simple symbol after ten shuns rose on the peninsula but both countries are back at the negotiating table as marianna reports. >> reporter: the latest problem and a difficult relationship, the shutters are down at the industrial park, a few kilometers inside north korea but home to 100 south korean

factories and 53,000 out of work and now the park is back open for business. >> translator: i cannot tell you how glad i am, i hope it can be a good opportunity for the south to north to renew their relationship. >> translator: there are many people who felt hurt so i hope the suspension of the park doesn't happen again. >> reporter: it's been very tough that the complex shut down, i'm sure my company is having a hard time but me personally it was really tough. >> reporter: relations deteriorated in march when north korea accused the southern neighborhood and united states of conducted what it described as provocative joint military exercises and months before north korea had successfully launched a long-rage rocket capable of a war head and a third nuclear test. by may the only direct phone line between phone and yang was cutoff and negotiators are

trying to rebuild a relationship in tatters and believe it could open the way for talks on the nuclear issue and the relationship between the two koreas. >> and this was achieved in 1953, not peace treaty, north and south korea are at war and united states remains at war, china, in fact, remains at war and this is among the most dangerous trip wire places in the world precisely because north korea is isolated and weak and poor and under heavy pressure. >> reporter: this reopening all be it on a trial basis is an initial step and it's given thousands of people on both sides of the border cause for hope. al jazeera. >> reporter: in columbia 6 people have been killed when police raided an illegal nightclub and they say they used excessive force and tear gas was used and crashed in the stampede

for exits and they responded after bottles were thrown at them. mexico is facing extreme weather on two costs, tropical storm men well killed 21 people on the pacific and the gulf coast is getting ready for hurricane ingrid. 7 people are now believed to have died in severe flooding in the u.s. state of colorado. emergency workers are trying to evacuate people from some of the 14 countries affected as ms. banks explains. >> reporter: today is no ordinary sunday for this rain weary congregation. timber line church in fort collins doubles as a red cross shelter for those who fled the floods above the city. >> pray with me for the first respond responders. >> reporter: she fled from colorado with her dog fred and no home to return to. >> we sat down to eat our supper that night and the water was at the end of the driveway and by

the time we got done eating our supper it was up to the windows of our vehicles. >> reporter: to the south, the scene is equally grim. the swallow river and the creek are full and not spared. >> we didn't lose anything that can't be replaced. >> reporter: hef rain and unstable conditions wreak havoc up and down the stretch here and hundreds of people who need to be evacuateed but it's via helicopter but the weather is so bad they will be grounded for quite a while. but choppers did fly friday and saturday rescuing hundreds and the sheriff justin smith got up in the air for a tour to survey his county. >> how can we ever recover from this? i know exactly, inch by inch,

mile by mile, community by community, they are taking this stuff back. >> reporter: on saturday president obama designated three colorado counties as disaster areas. colorado's governor is asking that 12 more counties be added to the list. >> rebuild better than it was before and that is a community we are going to come out stronger after this storm than we were before. >> reporter: in the meantime, the county sheriff is asking people to be patient. >> my message to folks is take it day by day, colorado is coming together and no doubt the nation will be pouring in assistance and help. >> reporter: help that many people here need desperately. tamra banks, al jazeera, fort collins, colorado. >> reporter: finding a doctor is problem when you need one including the united states, one in five americans live if places where there are not enough doctors to go around and we went

to mississippi where there are 63 doctors for every 100,000 people. >> four months, you are hungry. >> reporter: sister ann brooks is a doctor in the town of tutwiler and at age 75 she worries who will take her place in the clinic she has run for 30 years. >> if 70% of my patients cannot pay me how will i earn enough money to pay the salary of another doctor, it gets to be sticky. >> reporter: she is one of three physician in her poor rural county. >> you are there when grandma dies and when the babies come and they are part of you. >> reporter: it's a nationwide problem, the american association of medical colleges predicts a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians by the end of this decade. >> and here at hatisburg, mississippi this was started for

the shortage of primary care physicians in the gulf. dr. james turner is dean of the college of osteopathic medicine and predicts the affordable healthcare act will make the situation even worse because millions of americans without health insurance will suddenly become eligible. >> adding a burden to that system is only going to make it worse. >> reporter: 24 medical schools opened since 2008 and he says that is only part of the answer. >> what we are about to see is a backlog where all the new students are getting to a point where they won't be able to go into practice and solve the problem because there won't be residency training. >> reporter: like where sister brooks is but with so many doctors even people who have healthcare coverage today may soon find it tough to get an appointment. >> there are not enough doctors and too many patients and it's

going to be increasingly difficult to get in to see a primary care physician with the present shortage. >> there you go. >> reporter: people will have no choice but to keep relying on sister ann brooks. >> i still think you will be a doctor when you get big, yeah, you are, laughter. >> reporter: robert ray, mississippi. >> reporter: greece will axe jobs by the end of the year to keep it alive and the worst hit by the global crisis and new taxes are forcing many homeowners to sell and we report. >> reporter: he is selling his island and has been in his family for 130 years and his grandparents made a living here with wheat and this is by athens

and it has rasbitts and cricket. >> we are selling because it does not benefit and people trespass and we were seamen and now moved to tourism and our ancestors used to live off the land but who will come and pick olives here. >> reporter: the tourism is a hotel built on a nearby island and he and his family work hard to keep it a float. >> good time to buy property and prices have fallen 11% over the past year and athens they have fallen 6% and the government is offering residents permits of purchases of $330,000 or more but less good on the selling side. like millions of greek property owners he will face taxes next year where the government will tax unbuilt land for the first time to service a national debt of 430 billion and the prospect

of the tax is triggering an unprecedented sell off and adding to that is thousands of apartments where they cannot pay mortgages. the government is reviewing a band on bank repossessions of primary residents and many families are likely to lose their homes and the homeowner's association says that private property owners cannot be scapegoats to pay the national debt. if we go on with this looping system, up with property owners which we have today, then we have the whole society exploding and restoring the whole economy because the property is the most important asset of the greek people and family. >> reporter: the government could try to sell some of the hundreds of billions of lands it owns but selling public assets hurts pride so the money will come from investors and all the dwindling numbers of greeks to preserve the property they hope

to pass on to their children, al jazeera on the island in the suronic gulf. >> reporter: that is the website and you see al jazeera.com, changing all the time from rocket launches to the latest on syria. >> tent towns are popping up - at what cost. we go to a west virginia city taking drastic measures to pay its pensions. what is it like living in the middle of distress in detroit. i'm very well , this is real-- money. >> welcome to real money, you are the most important part of our show. tell me what you think by tweeting me at: