. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. here are the stories we are following for you. >> a deadly blast rocks the suburbs of damascus, killing more than a dozen soldiers. a nationwide manhunt for two convicted killers who walked free from a florida prison thanks to forged documents. six months of talks stalled. bart workers off the job - stranding thousands. [ ♪ theme ]. fighting and bloodshed again

in syria despite the presence of international weapons inspectors. an explosion outside damascus left 16 soldiers dead and others wounded. it happened after a group freed hostages held captive for more than a year. omar saleh is near the syrian border and has the latest on the attack. tell us what you know. has anyone claimed responsibility for the attack? >> well, what we know from sources in syria - at least five rebel groups launched a joint assault against a government army complex. one of the groups is linked to al-qaeda. the offensive started with a suicide car bomb. that attack killed at least 16 syrian soldiers. it's followed by heavy clashes

which left at least 15 fighters killed. so we are talking about at least 31 in total have been killed. we understand that clashes are ongoing around the complex. it's an important complex for the rebels. they have been trying to storm it for the last few months because it will give them a vantage point of looking at the government forces within the capital damascus. >> what do we know about the target? >> yes. the target of the suicide attack was the main checkpoint to that complex i was talking about a bit earlier. this is where the main entrance is, and they wanted - the rebels wanted to breach and storm from that point, to go inside the complex. they are - there are also other

attacks from other sides of the complex. they are trying to surround them. they failed. we are hearing that the fighting and clashes are ongoing as we speak. >> more about the hostages who have been held for about a year and they are free now - why were they released? what do we know about the timing of that? >> well, yes, the timing is crucial because in the last few weeks there was heavy diplomacy carried out by lebanese security officials with intelligence officials - a mediation. it's a complex mediation and it's a 3-way deal. there's nine lebanese hostages freed and returned. rebels who caught them demanded the release of female syrian

prisoners held in the prisons of the syrian regime. once the lebanese and female prisoners are released there's another two turkish pilots held hostage in lebanon released. everything is very complicated. we understand it's about to come to an end within the next few hours. >> of course all of this is happening - all the violence and explosions while international weapons inspectors are in syria. what do we know about their timetable, time line, how close they are to being done? >> well, when you speak to the speaks men for the chemical watchdog, he's optimistic. i was talking to him in the last 24 hours, and he did say that he is optimistic that the first phase of their mission is about to complete. they visited a lot of sites that the syrian regime declared has

chemical stockpiles. what is interesting is the spokesmen said that syria, after 1 november, will no longer have the ability or capacity to manufacture new chemical weapons, or the ability to mix chemical weapons, or lode ammunition with chemical agents. it's interesting. he's saying after november 1st, syria will no longer be able to manufacture chemical weapons. they are optimistic. however, he did say that it's a very difficult situation, they are operating under very, very dangerous circumstances. >> extremely dangerous. omar saleh live in turkey. >> chemical weapons inspectors say they are making progress on the ground in syria as omar reported. they checked 14 of more than 20

sites on the list so far. syrian state tv released a video of inspectors checking one such site. the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons says security is a concern for its experts inside the war torn country. inspectors have nine months to find and destroy all of syria's chemical weapons. the manhunt for two convicted murderers continue. authorities searching for the men who escaped a florida prison using fake documents. the manhunt conned at franklin correctional institution, and now is in the panhandle. >> these are the recent photos of joseph jenkins and charles walkr. they were taken just days after authorities say the convicted murderers used forged documents to get out of prin. they posed for the new pictures. after they got out they reported to the sheriff's department in orlando. the area where they committed their crimes. they registered as fell jobs,

possibly to seem less suspicious. the sheriff says there's reason to believe the fugitives are there. >> it's frustrating for us working in the system and us as a law enforce. officer. these individuals murdered members of the community. >> charles walkr and joseph jenkins served life sentences 300 miles away at the franklin correctional institution. someone faked a judge's signature to help them get out. even the judge was impressed. >> i've never sign anything like this. you have to give them "p" for being imaginative. the search goes on. the state is investigating. an obvious question - whether it was an inside job. >> the key is whether they had an insider, a person at the courthouse that took the document and slipped it into the paper work. that opens up a question that they could have had things

slipped in for years. >> florida correction facilities is adding checks to prevent a repeat. they are answering questions as to why two men never meant to go free walked out. >> no deal in san francisco. hundreds of thousands of commuters are without a ride. the union for bart rail system went on strike friday - the second time in four months. lisa bernhald joins us from san francisco. i know there are people that want to know - this is about to end. is it close to end? is there progress being made on the big issues? >> no is the really quick, simple answer. i'm disappointed to share with you. it is not close to ending. there seems to be no progress on the issues. that really is the truth here. late yesterday there was a

flurry of excitement that bart and the unions put forward a proposal saying the trains would run if the managers agreed to this proposal. the managers said truly it was smoke and mirrors, it was the same proposal that everyone walked away from late thursday evening. they are no closer. it's getting more contentious. no negotiations are scheduled. the federal mediator walked away. no, we are not closer to an agreement. everyone i spoke to in san francisco is grumbling about it. they are having to take the bay bridge or ferries to get into the city. a woman had to wake up early, pay money for a cab and travel though san francisco. she is irritated, as are many, that bart and the union cannot reach a compromise. >> i think it's crazy. yes, it's crazy. people need to go to work.

people can go to work. i saw the traffic today. it's not - they can't move, the cars. can't cross the top to the other one. it doesn't make sense. >> one woman tells us she had to do the work of her co-worker who couldn't make it to their jobs because of the bart strike. she is not happy about it. there is true impatience here with the stalemate in the negotiations that has been going on for six months. as i said, no end in sight. people are bracing for monday. it was a lighter day. seems a lot of people worked from home. monday, into next week people are worrying also about the economic knack on this region. it was $73 million a day that was lost - an estimated cost for

a 4-day strike by bart in july. >> that is a large number, and it's affecting people who can least afford it. thank you so much. live from san francisco. same sex couples are filing applications and many plan to be married monday. friday's new jersey's highest court ruled the state must allow same-sex marriage. governor chris christie said he will comply with the decision, but it should the people not the court. new jersey is the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage. >> texas gun activists will be lighting at alamo. they are testing the limit of gun laws. texans are not allowed to openly carry handgun, the law doesn't apply to long guns or rifles. heidi is at the rally now. what is happening there? >> the crowd has gotten bigger over the last hour. if you take a look, hundreds of

people are here, most armeded with long guns. that covers rifles, shotguns and a semiautomatic weapon. i should tell you they are loaded. on some of them there are red flags sticking out of the muzzle. they are guns with no bullets in the chamber. that's some of the weapons here. of course organisers say their mission is to normalise the sight of long guns in public. it's legal in texas, you can carry a long gun on a texas street. they picked the alamo as a place busy with tourists on saturday as a place to spread awareness of that law. obviously it's creating concern among other folk. i want to bring in a guest. we have stephanie birlinggame. you are with the mothers action

group. what is it like for you to be in this gathering? >> we have our own activity going on down the street. i wanted to check this out and make sure everyone was being safe like they promised they would, and had their guns flagged. we were very concern the about this. >> speaking to other tourists who were not aware that this would happen - they expressed concern. some were curious, others were alarmed. when you walk through a sea of people armed with rifles, is that threatening to you? >> i was raised in a military family, my father is a retired u.s. family colonel. i'm not accustomed to seeing these weapons on civilians in a public street. yes, it is alarming. >> your group is hosting an

anti-protest. what are you trying to accomplish? >> we had ours planned before. we have an organization around domestic violence. today was the day we were going to mark that agenda. >> and what is the message you would want to spread to folks here, who want to openly carried armed guns in public? >> well, we don't feel that this is - was what the laws are reflecting. we think they are there for hunters. we understand that for home protection - that sort of thing. but carrying these out in public like this doesn't make any sense. it is legal but that doesn't make it defense. >> thank you very much for your thoughts, stephanie. a lot of people here at the protest would defer from her

opinion. a lot of folks here, hundreds of them, carrying armed rifles trying to show that this is legal in texas and normalise this vision. >> live at the alamo, san antonio. thank you. >> in australia temperatures are rising, winds intensifying and wildfires spreading. hundreds of homes destroyed. andrew thomas is there with more. >> in the blue mountains west of sydney volunteers are fighting fire with fire. by burning big areas of undergrowth near homes, they are hoping that once the bushfires reach here, there'll be nothing left to burn. >> we'll go around and put a burnt line around the back of properties and areas. and then we'll look at burning at the smaller valley here, which is an offshoot of a bigger valley that is on fire coming up. >> the firefighters are working remarkably close to the homes. 50 metres up the hill are

people's houses. i can see from here their windows and doors. the volunteer firefighters are trying to stop these flames from reaching them. >> and these are all volunteers practicing firefighting is normally a weekend hobby. this, though, the real thing, is what that is all about. geena is a mother of two children. darryl manages a concrete factory. everyone thrown together by fire. >> i manage a cafe. make coffee, we have a builder, greg with garden maintenance. >> you are all volunteers? >> yes, do it for nothing. >> at the top of the slope are the homes they are trying to protect, and the people. this is an area prone to fire. >> we are 10 metres from the bush. as you can see you can get burnt out easily. we are taking all the precautions we can, with a sprinkler system, shutters on the windows, rainwater tank feeding the system, covering the

house in water. >> others took similar measures and lost everything. >> very frightening, frightening indeed. you watch the flames. personally, you don't know how you'll stop them. >> on a nearby road, homes are just ash. firefighters are taking advantage of cooler temperatures and lighter winds while they last, grabbing moments to rest while they can. >> pulled from a bus in front of her classmates, ordered back to her native country. what a kosovo teen is saying to the french president. plus, men signing up for vasectomy clubs - why they say they are doing it for their country.

. a 15-year-old girl arrested in france and deported with her family is being told she can return to the country. france's president says the rest of her family cannot join her. tim friend tells us what the teen had to say. >> the latest developments mark a twist in this extraordinary week in paris. a local incident where a young 15-year-old schoolgirl was detained whilst on a school trip in front of her classmates. there was outrage, and this local issue quickly became a national controversy. it ended saturday with a meeting, discussions between the interior minister who returned from an overseas trip - the president and the prime minister. they came up with a compromise. they'll offer leonarda dibrani the chance to come back to france, but not her family. leonarda dibrani says she doesn't want that, she wants to come back with all her family.

her father described that as a kat as trophy. the problems are not over for president francis hollande, and not least we heard from the leader of the socialist party who supports the idea of all of the family, apart from the father, being allowed to return to france. just to set this briefly into context. what happened in france in recent months is that the far right has been making gains, calling for tougher immigration laws, and on the left you have people who are outraged by the way in which this young girl, school girl, was treated by the police, even though the asylum denial was perfectly proper and legal. so there are the two arguments on either side, if you like, that president holland is caught between.

>> tim friend reporting. dick chaney says he took the possibility of a terror attack to heart literally. he told "60 minutes" that he had a wireless function of his heart defib rilator disabled. because he was worried it would be hacked. >> rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries. in an effort to show the fertilitiy rate the government came up with a rahhed strategy, encouraging men to have vasectomies. >> a group of villages gathers to an unlikely association. this is the vasectomy club. it's a gathering of men who have been sterilised with the procedure and those they hope will follow them. along with their wives who must

agree. in a deeply conservative community it is wrapped in secrecy. the government began the club to slow the population growth. they need to change the myths about what vasectomy does to men. >> you still will be strong and sexually active. vasectomy helps your family to grow. and the country to grow. when explained they understand it. >> it's not hard to see why there's a problem. the primary school has almost 2,000 students. it's so crowded here they teach in shifts. >> this is exactly why the government thinks its birth control program is critical. there's no way a country the size of rwanda can sustain this population growth. that's why it's telling families it's not just about the number

of kids they can sustain, but the number the entire country can support. the average rwandan couple has five children. the government's aim is to reduce it to three. nyrenger emanuel and his wife agree that the time is right for a vasectomy. he has nine children and admits that is enough. but they go through one more counselling session to deal with last-minute worries. >> translation: people say it makes men impotent and you'll never be sexually active again. i decided to do it for the good of my family. the doctors explained everything will be well. people gossip, but i decided it is the best thing to do. >> translation: i'm happy about the decision. it takes away the burden of family planning. i find that difficult. >> in an adjacent room after the vasectomy club meeting nyrenger emanuel has the operation.

the technique is new, fast and free. he'll spend half an hour under local anaesthetic before the surgeons begin the next operation. the government believes there's no time to waste. >> making history - more than 100 years later. an iconic treasure from the doomed "titanic" heads to the auction block.

. welcome back. it's been dubbed the first ever peanut free college football game. no peanuts will be sold or permitted during the game against the university of minnesota. workers pressure washed the stadium to get rid of anything with peanut residue. the gesture is in support of people with peanut allergies. >> heading out this weekend it is cool in most locations throughout the nation's

midsections. 30 and 40s over the midwest and great lakes. 50s and 60 as far south as the lone star state. temperatures below average. across the central u.s. we are feeling the warmth down to south florida. we are sitting at 84. it will be a nice day along the west coast. here is a look at what we have across the upper midwest. light rain showers pushing across the dakotas. some rain will change to early season snowfall, and we could see up wards to one, possibly 4 inches of slushy snow. keep it in mind or late evening fans. temperatures below average, 46 in minnesota, 56 the high in chicago. it's more than normal. we'll have 70s around houston, and looking across the west, low to mid 80s.

nice conditions. wet weather along the gulf coast state into new orleans. rain will taper off as we head into the rest of the afternoon and evening. no worries about it being an all-out washout. with showers and thunder storms popping up we'll deal with strong winds. keep it in mind if you head out there. parts of tennessee, we are dry. it will turn cold. we have frost advisories. as we head out across alabama and georgia, showers will be with us. >> sold for a record price. the violin played to calm passengers on the deck of the sinking "titanic" was sold for nearly $1.5 million. it was sold at auction in the uk. the original owner was wallace hartley, band leader, who drowned with 1500 other people. it took seven years for the instrument to be authenticated.

thank you for watching al jazeera america. "the stream" is next. and go to the website for other updates. aljazeera.com. thanks for your time. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." is diversity the key to keeping america competitive in science and engineering? our digital producer is here, and he's bringing all of your live feedback into the program. america was the first and only country to put a machine on the moon, and now people are concerned we're behind in technology. >> we haveen