at least 60 people reported to have died and 250 are missing after a boat sinks off the italian coast. welcome to al jazeera live from our news center this doha. also ahead on the program, help for the starving in syria. the u.n. asks for immediate access to send in aid. the leader of greece's far right golden dawn party is jailed as his second in command appears in court. blackhawk down 20 years on.

we look at how a falled u.s. mission in somalia still affects washington's thinking. we start with news that a boat sunk off the coast of italy. at least 60 people have been killed and 250 are still missing. the vessel went down about half a mile from lampedusa. it's thought to have carried illegal migrants. what more do we know, sonya? >> reporter: we know the latest figure that has just come out. we hear that at least 80 have been found dead and still 250 missing. from the sea rescue workers are describing scening of horror

with bodies being found in the sea. this is an enormous death toll for this boat. now, they described how many of these people have been in the water since the early hours of the morning, and emergency workers have been really racing against time to try and rescue as many of the survivors as you can see. what apparently had happened was that there were approximately 500 people on board a boat that was carrying subsaharan migrants. there was a small fire on the boat to try to attract the attention of coast guard after the vessel underwent a technical failure. there seem to be, from what we can gauge from emergency rescue, enormous panic on board, which then caused the boat to flip over. >> unfortunately, sonya, this

isn't the first time that something like this has happened off the coast of lampedusa. it is quite close to africa, and there have been many migrants who do try to enter italy through this route, don't they? >> reporter: absolutely. in fact, just before this boat had arrived another boat with around 460 people on board mostly from syria arrived from lampedusa. earlier in the week there was a capsized boat resulting in 30 people dying. this is really quite a critical point for a lot of refugees to enter and escape conflict in the middle east and in africa. just alone they've documented approximately 6,000 syrians who

arrived on this sicilian coast just this year alone, and even now at least 26,000 refugees have arrived from the sea into the island. it really is a critical situation. the u.n. refugee agency has stressed the importance of trying to reach out to these very vulnerable people, and not only that, but once they do get processed through the island at lampedusa, they face more challenging as they try to get in a system that has people fleeing wars and violence from their homelands who have to try to deal with not being able to speak the language and living in strange sicircumstances. >> sonya is on the line from rome on that boat carrying at least 500 people that sunk off the coast of lampedusa in the

mediterranean. the u.n. demanding immediate access to syria to help the millions of people in need of help. it's describing the situation now as horrifying, and the security council is calling on all sides of the conflict to allow in aid. this is what the u.n.'s humanitarian chief had to say. >> this consensus statement clearly calls on all parties to do their utmost to end the violence and stop targeting civilians. it also reminds them that they must facilitate the swift provision of vital humanitarian aid, and that there are serious consequences for violating international humanitarian and human rights laws. >> syrian opposition groups have called on al qaeda-linked fighters and the free syrian army to stop battling each other. fighting between different rebel factions try to overthrow bashar al assad have been fierce closed

to border with turkey. they're also fighting the government on the edges of damascus. activists say at least 12 have died in fighting there. the second man in command of the greek golden dawn party is in court. he faces the possibility of being remanded into custody. a court decided his party leader will remain in prison pending his trial. he's accused of running a criminal office and is one of several party members arrested in recent days. a government crackdown came afr a national outcry over the murder of an antifacist musician. we're in the greece with latest. >> reporter: we know the party leader will join his deputy and also a local party boss in prison. they could be remanded up to 18 months before trial according to greek law.

the reason these three have been kept in prison is they're connected to the killing two weeks ago of the left wing hip-hop artist who was stabbed in the chest. there is a network, a member of phone calls between the three men that police believe are connected to that event. so they are deemed to be very highly sensitive suspect in this case. also at this hour appearing in court is the deputy party leader. he will be deposed before the court of first instance, and at the end of that process we will know if he, too, will be remanded in custody. there's been another look at japan fukushima power plant. tepco said some liquid may have reached the pacific ocean. it was discovered close to where 300 tons of toxic water escaped in august. wayne is in tokyo live now with the latest.

what more do we know about this? >> reporter: as you mentioned some radioactive water may have leaked into the ocean. the operator of the fukushima nuclear power plant, tepco, not exactly confirming that saying they cannot rule out that possibility. what happened is workers at the site were transferring more water into one of the many storage facilities at the site. as they were doing it, this particular tank located on a slope overflowed and some flowed into a drainage ditch that leads into the ocean. we have the statement from tepco on thursday saying they cannot rule out the possibility that some of that water did, in fact, enter into the ocean. now, the leak is relatively small in the grand scheme of things. some 430 liters, but the water contained in that particular tank has very high levels of

radiation. >> the questions that a the lo -- that a lot of people will ask is why is this happening again? we heard assurances from japanese officials and tepco that they were on top of this. >> yes. these announcements from tepco seem to be happening a lot more regularly about leaks happening back in august. there was a particularly large league, some 300 tons of radioactive water leaked out into the pacific ocean. we heard from the representative of the japanese government on thursday, the chief cabinet secretary commenting on this latest leak and also the management of tepco saying while they believe the overall situation is still under control, the government is saying there shouldn't any water leaks happening there and they believe tepco should be doing more. >> all right. thanks for that live in tokyo.

malaysia's lawmakers have approved a controversial law change that allows authorities to hold people without trial. opponents fear it could be abused by authorities to keep people behind bars for years, but the prime minister has defended the move has necessary to combat organized crime. he's assured malaysians they won't be victimized and that authorities will follow clear procedures. let's get more on this now from our correspondent live from squall la kuala lumpar. thank you for being with us. now your view on this detention, it is about tackling crime, but are you afraid of the wider repercussions about this on civil liberties for malaysians?

>> yes, i am. the problem with the current amendment to the pro vinceal crime act is it repeats many human rights violations provisions present in the act and the emergency ordinance which the prime minister had repealed last september in a sort of gesture of good faith as an attempt to rally more liberal support for him prior to the elections in may this year. now, the major problem with those legislations has been resurrected right now under the prevention of crime act is the ability for the government to detain people without trial and for periods up to two years and this can be extended at the discretion of the government as well. there's also the inability of the judiciary to intervene in terms of a review of this kind of process. >> as i understand it, crime is a major issue in malaysia, and

the government wants to be seen to be doing something to tackle it. what do you think is the right way to go about it? >> crime is certainly a problem, and there's been a very extensive raw commission on the reform of the police that has a report sitting around for years now, over five years. the government has not followed the recommendations tabled within the report, which was chaired by a very senior judge, and the report recommended basically streamlining of the police force so they could focus more on proper crime-fighting functions. the vast majority of the police force, nearly 75% doesn't focus on fighting actual crime. it's a legacy of the long counterinsurgency problem malaysia had between the malaysian communist party and the government falling into independence. much of it is jungle fighters and riot police and spying police in a special branch, and

we have a situation where, for example, the special which is a special unit has as many officers as the criminal investigation department. the criminal investigation department has a heavy burden of sometimes up to 30 cases per officer per month. that's like a case per day. so it's very unreasonable to expect the investigating officers to build and process those crimes with that work burden. the report of the raw commission recommended that the number of investigating officers in the criminal investigation department be dramatically increased. the government isn't forthcoming. in? the large number of police that are jungle police are also an important source of what we call postal votes during elections there's some 14,000 officers can send votes in, you know, which can also be secrecy of their vote protected by the government. >> good to get your thoughts on

all this from the institute in kuala lumpur. thanks for your time. lots more to come including china battling a wasp invasion that killed more than 40 people. fifa is defended by the man who led the organization of london olympic games, despite questions whether it can stand the summer heat. that's all ahead.

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al jazeera. a boat carrying 500 people has gone down on the southern italian coast near lampedusa. italy's coast guard says up to 80 undocumented migrants have drowned. witnesses say a fire broke out on board of vessel before it sank. the united nations security council is calling on all parties in syria to allow immediate aid into the country. the opposition is warning of a humanitarian disaster in a suburb of damascus where government forces have imposed a siege. greece's far right golden dawn party is to remain in prison pending trial. he was charged with running a criminal organization and arrested with other party members following the murder of a rapper. in myanmar, security forces are struggling to contain violence against the minority muslim community. buddhist gangs set fire to

dozens of homes in a third day of unrest. the president is urging the public to remain calm after making his first visit to the region. charles stratford has the details. >> reporter: the burning aftermath of attacks against myanmar's muslim community. it started after a buddhist taxi driver said he was verbally abused by a muslim shopper. crowds of buddhists burned, beat and killed. groups of hundreding of buddhist villagers, some with swords, roamed the streets and stabbed a 94-year-old woman to death. one man told al jazeera why he joined in. >> translator: we are doing all of this just to protect our own religion because we heard that the muslim man abused buddhism. >> reporter: in one village some say police stood by as the mobs moved through. >> reporter: the police are merely shooting into the air and not doing enough to prevent the

violence. >> reporter: the sectarian clashes first broke out in june last year. more than 200 people have been killed since, thousands have fled their homes. not all buddhists agree with the gangs. >> translator: we are all natives of this region. if this violence persists, all the businesses and community here will be affected. >> reporter: the president is in the state for the first time since the conflict broke out. he's been criticized for not bridging mayayanmamyanmar's div. he said it has to come from the people. >> translator: just military and police forces aren't enough to control the situation. these burnings, killings and violence will not happen if we maintain peace. >> reporter: right groups have accused security forces of being complicit in the violence. it's an allegation the government strongly denied. >> the government won't tolerate that kind of violence to happen

again. that was very clearly stated by the president. so we will take necessary measures to stop that kind of violence. >> reporter: thousands have already fled the country. these latest attacks have pushed more men, women and children into hiding afraid for their lives in the forests and remote villages of western myanmar. at least 17 people have been killed by a suicide car bombing in northwest pakistan. the attack on the compound happened in the tribal region. he was formerly a taliban leader and switch allegiances and was fighting against them. he wasn't present at the time of the attack. nine people have been killed in the iraqi capital after two separate bomb attacks. police say 18 people have also been injured. one of the attacks took place outside a shia mosque where three people were killed.

more than 6,000 have died in the violence since the start of the year. talks to try to end the deadlock over the u.s. budget have ended in failure. president barack obama met with congressional leaders at the white house but not he won't make any concessions on his health care act, which is a key demand of the republicans. chinese president jinping wants disputes in the south china sea to be handled peacefully. he made his remarks in an address to indonesia's parliament. he's on his first visit to indonesia. his indonesian counterpart signed an agreement to encourage more economic cooperation across the region. >> translator: we plan to improve bilateral ties with a comprehensive, strategic partnership in a bid to continue the development of our relations. indonesian people say it's easy to make money but difficult to make friends. our relationship proves that.

an increase in wasp attacks in northwest china left 41 people dead since july and more than 1400 have been serious. it's so serious they have sent out an army of pest control officers to destroy hundreds of hornets' nests. >> reporter: he was working on a farm when he knocked a wasp nest out of a tree. he says he's lucky to be alive. >> reporter: i didn't see the hive and the wasps flew at me surrounding me. i used a basket to cover my head and saved myself. >> reporter: three cities in the province have been plagued by wasps in the last three months. the rise in wasp numbers is due to milder winters and hotter, more humid summers. the main offender here is the asian giant hornet. it's a particularly large is and

aggressive type of wasp growing as long as 5 centimeters and wielding a stinger half a centimeter long. they don't lose the stinger when they attack, so while a strike by a single hornet can be nasly, the venom from multiple stings can have problems like acute renal failure and death. they have sent pest control officers, police, and firefighters to destroy hundreds of hornet nests. a jury in the united states has found michael jackson's concert promoter, aeg live, not guilty of negligence. jackson's family accused the music promoter of hiring an incompetent doctor who missed important signs about the failing health. jackson died in 2009 from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol. riot police clashed with

protesters in mexico city during a demonstration marking the 45th anniversary of a student massacre. at least 40 people were injured. the rally marked the anniversary of the 1968 killings of student protesters in mexico city. now, it's 20 years since the u.s. suffered the embarrassment of a failed military intervention in somalia, an incident captured in the movie "blackhawk down." it left a scar on the american psyche a psyche. we have more now from washington, and a warning to viewers. this story contains some graphic images. >> reporter: it started as a mission to save lives in somalia. it ended in the worst firefight for the u.s. military since the vietnam war. 18 troops killed, some of their bodies dragged through the streets of mogadishu. it has haunted u.s. military and

diplomatic policy ever since. >> the lesson that most people took away from the battle of mogadishu was that the american public was casualty averse, and you couldn't do a military operation that resulted in dead american service members. >> reporter: the troops were ambushed on october 3, 1993, while trying to capture a warlord. his fighters shot down two blackhawk helicopters and captured one of the pilots. americans were shocked. osama bin laden mocked u.s. soldiers calling them paper tigers. president bill clinton called for a slow withdrawal from somalia as a show of u.s. power otherwise. >> all around the world aggressive thugs and terrorists conclude the best way to get us to change our policy is to kill our people. >> reporter: even seo, mogadishu has haunted u.s. policy for

years. they decided not to intervene in the slaughter in rwanda in 1994 and took officials six years to agree to lead the nato air war on kosovo in 1999. the u.s. reluctance persisted 20 years ago on you with the obama administration not criticized for not responding to the condemn cam weapons attack on citizens in syria. the president's response. >> the united states is chastised fof meddling in the region, but at the same time the united states is blamed for failing to do enough to solve the region's problems. >> reporter: can the u.s. ever recover the will to intervene on humanitarian grounds overseas? what's now known as the responsibility to protect norm. >> i think it's more war wariness. it's not so much related to the casualties as it is a perception that we're not very good at this. we're not getting much bang for our buck. >> reporter: a conundrum of the first order when the u.s. sees

trying to save lives as one of the best reasons to send in troops. an executive committee of football's body is meeting in zurich to discuss qatar's 2022 world cup. the man that led the organization of london's olympic games has defended the decision to hand it to qatar. we have the report from doha. >> reporter: the 2022 fifa world cup is qatar. >> reporter: it was nearly three years ago when qatar was awarded the right to host the world cup, but almost immediately questions were asked about how a country where temperatures exceed 40 degrees celsius could handle a football tournament in the summer. sebastian coe is an expert in organizing big sporting events. london's 2012 olympic chief says issues such as the climate shouldn't stop countries like qatar from bidding or hosting world cups or olympics.

>> we can't just sit here over the next 20 years and say, well, only a relatively few handful of countries are in a position to host great sporting events. we should also recognize that in building that global capacity, we are going to confront challenges. sometimes they're climatic and stimz political or cultural or social. >> reporter: from the outset the organizes of qatar 2022 said they'd have the technology in place to deal with the heat. carbon neutral air cooled stadium were the centerpiece of a bid to fifa and the technology doesn't come cheap and the gulf state doesn't hold back whether it comes to splashing the cash. when it estimates it will cost qatar $220 billion. of that 140 billion will be spend on transport infrastructure, new roads and airport and brand-new rail and

metro system. 4 billion is set aside to build nine brand-new stadiums including upgrading three existing one and also $17 billion will be spent on increasing the up amount of accommodation. qatar promises they've have 90,000 hotel rooms in qatar by the time the tournament gepts underwent. it's estimated qatar has to employ a million migrant workers to complete the projects. although the venues have yet to be built, the general working conditions of these mainly south asian workers have been called into question. in response to the criticism, qatar 2022 released a statement saying, the health, safety and well-being and dignity of every worker is of the utmost important as we are committing to ensuring that the world cup serves as a catalyst towarding sustainable improvements to the lives of all workers in qatar.

nine years away from kickoff and still plenty of challenges to be overcome. the qatar 2022 organizers insist it will be ready for the world cup. al jazeera, doha. that just about does it for this program, but there's plenty more on our website as always, aljazeera.com. parents who depend on federal funding are feeling the pain. who's on track to be the world's biggest gin producer. it's not saudi arabia. a case involving the "f" word but not one you're thinking of. i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." >> this is "real money" you're the most important part of the show so join our live conversation for the next half hour by using the hash tag aj