>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello a very warm welcome to another news hour from al jazeera. in doha, our top stories. shot at and left to drown new s desperate attempt to escape to a new life. and while the drug-resistant tb could be re-claired a health crisis. the german bishop accused of a

lavish lifestyle is forced to leave the vatican. i'm in australia, where the bush fire situation is not as bad as has been feared. ♪ previously unseen footage of hundreds of mainly syrian refugees being saved from drowning has been released. the maltese navy pulled them from the water two weeks ago. the navy estimates about 200 people drown. at the time survivors said they had been shot at by libbians. >> the situation was very horrible. it can not be discrypt. it was very horrible.

all of us we think we will be dead. >> karl joins us live from the maltese capitol. what more do we know about what happened to these people? >> basically those are the comments you heard from some of the survivors who actually made it to shore after they had been rescued by the maltese navy. 126 of those migrants were rescued by the maltese navy. another 56 by the italian navy, but almost 200 people are thought to have parished in the pr tragedy. so we have another tragedy on our hands, and the ball now becomes a political one where the maltese, italian, and greek government have taken a single front and will be take their proposals to brussels on thursday and friday where european leaders are to meet to

discuss the malteses proposals for immediate and concrete action from the european union to address the situation regarding migration. it is not only a case of migration, but also a case of human trafficking, where a number of people involved in organized crime are becoming numerous in the north african state of libya, and malta is also asking the european union to love libya as one of the main [ inaudible ] so they can find solutions in the north african country to address the emergency situation. >> these refugees their allegations say that basically they were shot at by the very people who had arranged their passage across the mediterranean in a row about money. >> indeed any maltese president

flu to libya and met with the prime minister. after the talks, which were focused on the migration emergency. the prime minister made it clear that every single allegation, especially this one where the migrants claim to have been shot at will have be investigated and as far as i'm informed the investigation still going on. adrian. >> karl thank you very much. bush fires that have been raging in southeastern australia appear to be easing. but there is a still a real danger to people and property. thousands were asked to leave their homes. andrew thomas is in the blue mountains just west of sydney. here is his report. >> reporter: john cameron wasn't taking any chances. he was packed and if necessary prepared to flee. >> we will leave when we are told to, when -- when we think

it is appropriate. okay? >> reporter: everything is ready to go? >> >> reporter: everything is ready to go. >> a neighborhood was putting up signs don't forget the animals, watch out for the fuel. but she wasn't leaving yet. >> if i see glam -- flames coming up through the bushes i'll be out of here. i'm quite at ease but if the wind changes i think i will leave. >> reporter: it was the wind causing the most concern. although some helicopters were working, others had to be grounded. nevertheless from those taking a few minute's break, the early message was that things weren't as bad as had been feared. >> cautious optimism it hasn't been as bad this morning as he thought it was going to be.

but it is moving constantly. and we had a several flairups in the area. >> reporter: firefighters were watching as much as acting, the day was young and resources needed to be reserved. you can see how this is pouring smokes across the hill tops, but it is also spreading embers. if they are a threat they want to get on top of them. what they don't want to do is waist their water. the closest of the blue mountainstown, authorities urged residents to get out. north of sydney a new fire broke out. but by mid-afternoon the huge fires hadn't gotten much bigger. andrew thomas, al jazeera, in the blue mountains, west of

sydney. suicide bombers and gunmen have killed fore than 25 security forces in iraq. there were also tacks to the west. the world health organization is asking for drug resistant tuberculosis to be declared a health crisis. more than 500,000 people around the world have the disease and can't be treated with normal drugs. almost 60% are in india, china and russia, but it is also a growing problem across africa, where many countries lack the funds to offer treatment. in nigeria nearly 30,000 people died of the disease in 2011. our correspondent reports from niger

nigeria. >> reporter: these parents are being treated for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. it can't be treated by the two drugs normally used to cure the disease. they are hoping the world health organizations decision to declare the disease a global public health crisis will lead to a solution. especially patients like this one, who was taking normal anti-tb drugs for months, but the symptoms of the disease, coughing, fever, and tiredness didn't go away, then his doctor realized he was resistant to the treatment. he has to spend eight months in isolation and another 20 on medication. >> it is not easy. we are confined to one place for months. away from your family, friends, social communities. and subjected to taking drugs

every day, including injections. >> reporter: drug-resistant tb is normally caught when tb is not diagnosed properly. but there are enough hospitals to treat the disease that is resist important -- resistant to the drug. the government has opened three treatment centers in the last year to try to combat the disease. >> a lot has been done by the government. but the level of our [ inaudible ] in the community is very, very low. a lot of people in the community are coughing, taking drugs from chemists without the support of the government or the health worker. >> reporter: but it's not enough. these people are being tested for the disease, but they'll have to wait a week for the

results, by which time they may have infected other people, when the technology to get diagnosed within 24 hours exists. the solution is to diagnose and treat tu -- tu besh low sis cases fast. the vatican has suspended germany's so-called bishop of bling. the bishop of lemberg has been told to leave his post. he has reportedly sent $42 million on his house and flying first class to visit the pour in india. nick it was just the end of last week that the bishop was summoned to rome to discuss the

matter. >> that's right, adrian, and the pope made him wait eight days before granting him an audience, and there's really no surprise between an outcome between a man described as the pope of poverty versus the bishop of bling. pope francis doesn't want the church to be seen as one which is not respectful of people who don't have everything they need in life. and if you go through the list of what the bishop had built in his residence, he had a number of things that have shocked the german public. $20,000 bathtub. $600,000 worth of art as well as a $400,000 chapel. this has actually caused many roman catholics, around 30 a day, to leave the church. >> calls have been raised for

the bishop for his spending. >>s the lie prosecutors maintain he made in an affidavit regards a flight taken to bangalore india to germmy first class. it was said the bishop wrote an affidavit saying that is not true. however, a prosecutor here in germany says it is true. which might explain why he flew ryan air the lowest cost airline when he went to the vatican. but what determine the investigation is the spending in his residence which also includes a museum, not just his home. and whether he is personally responsible for the misspending or overspending. >> still to come here on the al

jazeera news hour. soaked for a second time. a report from mexico's ak pullco city. plus we meet the young recruits hoping to become the future leaders of afghanistan's army. and in sport a night of surprises in the european champion's league. we'll have all of the details for you a little later in the program. leaders from india and china have signed a defense cooperation pact to try to ease tension along their border. the two asian giants fought a car in 1962 and continue to have competing claims over their border. >> we have agreed that peace and tranquility on our borders must

remain the foundation for growth in the india-china relationship. even as we move forward, the negotiations towards a fair reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement to the india-china boundary quest. this will be our strategic benchmark. >> the two countries there having tensions over the border, more than 50 years now. so this is quite significant. they have had previous agreements on trying to find a way to understand each other along that territory, but it hasn't really worked out. in fact back in april there was a three-week standoff between the two armies. the indians accusing the chinese

of having trespassed in their area. they are hoping to work more closely in terms of timing their patrols. they are saying this more peaceful stand they are now taking on the border issue will strengthen further trade cooperations between the two giants. in recent years the two asian neighbors have emerged as economic global giants. but as reported now, the indian prime minister will be using this visit to try to change that. >> reporter: stocking up on all that sparkles. these colorful ornaments will adorn homes and bidses across india during the up coming holiday season. most are made in china. >> [ inaudible ] increase many fold like 60 to 70% of what we

sell is now from china. >> reporter: from decorations to clothes, the made in china label features prom nextly in india's landscape. but analysts say the significance of this relationship lies not in the individual trading capacity of both countries, but their collective global influence. >> these are going to be the most populated economies over the next 20, 25 years, and they are going to be growing quite fast because they are still relatively less affluent. >> reporter: the challenges this eastern partnership faces go well beyond trade deficit, from visa regulations to territorial

disputes, they have long struggled on issues of regional and global importance. last year india described the arrival of chinese troops in this territory as an inclusion. china argued it was rightfully reclaiming what it owns. leaders have now agreed to deal with territorial disputes. >> we have agreed that the tranquility among our borders must remain the foundation for growth in the india-china relationship. >> translator: we are two old civilization and our two governments have the ability to manage our differences along our border so they will not effect the overall interest of our bilateral relationship. >> reporter: during the annual festival season indians pray for peace and prosperity, wrapped in

politics and symbolism, that's the message these indian prime minister has tried to convey to his counterpart. the thick cloud of smog that has been covering beijing and surrounding cities has begun to clear. let's get a weather update now with more on why that smog has at last begun to clear. >> thanks, adrian, you can see the answer on the satellite, the swirl of cloud which is gradually pushing in somewhat fresher conditions. meanwhile we'll keep an eye on the semi permanent weather system across japan, because if it interacts with the typhoon we could have problems. is francisco, in fact we have a

supertyphoon further out. but this system doesn't cause too many problems, and if you have a look at the track, you'll see why. it stays largely well out over open water. but francisco could react with the front over japan, and really it's rainfall is going to be the main issue here over the coming days. if you look at the chart for thursday, cold air on the northern edge, so there will be snow developing here in parts of this season, could see about 25 centimeters building up over the next couple of days. the heavy of the rain could be 300 millimeters in total. fears that hurricane raymond

could cause widespread raining in mexico, and the region is still recovering from a tropical storm which hit only a few weeks ago. >> reporter: this man lost nearly everything last month when tropical storm manuel hit his neighborhood. now another storm raymond has flooded this low-lying area with gangs roving the neighborhood he asked us not to use his real name. >> translator: i'm devastated and exhausted this is the third flooding we have had to deal with. and my car is completely useless. >> reporter: an ongoing turf row between drug gangs made acapulco a major threat last year.

new areas have sprung up like this, attracting thousands, but as you can see they are prone to devastation when floods come in. 10,000 people are still displaced after the manuel swept through here. broke after years of rising crime and declining tourism,alco pullco declared bankruptcy last year. >> translator: there has definitely been poor planning here. and we're facing the consequences today, and we have to fix that. but that's what it is, bad planning. >> reporter: poor planning plagues much of mexico, which is rife with corruption. for oscar money has been tight.

it is even tighter now while he rents a place to repair his house. >> translator: these homes should never have been built here. it it's that simple. >> reporter: regardless he is planning to return. he doesn't have anywhere else to go. lawyers for the two accused of be of the boston city bombing. roslyn the judge is hearing argument about why the un convention against torture should be used in this case. why is this international treaty relevant here, the defense says? >> reporter: because the united states is part of the treaty. and part of the treaty provides

for letting people who say they are tortured bring those claims to court so they can get some sort of compensation as it were. i use that in the broadest sense of the word. in this case, which is a death penalty case, the defense lawyers argue that because their clients could be convicted and sentenced to death, they need to bring forth all of the evidence about how they were treated by the cia when they were in custody between 2003 and 2006. it's a controversial argument because there's a real question about whether or not the u.s.'s treaty obligations on the international stage have any legal authority in a military commission or even in a civilian court if this were a civilian court proceeding. >> rosalyn what do prosecutors

then say is the best way to handle classified information about the torture that the defendants may have suffered before they were brought to guantanamo in 2006? >> reporter: uh-huh. well, prosecutors argue, adrian, that just as in a civilian court in the united states, they have the obligation to bring forth all of the evidence, and present it to the judge out of public view as it were, so that they can decide exactly what information should be given to the defense so that the clients can be adequately defended. the defense argues by response, adrian that that's just not a sufficient remedy. it's not an equalling of the playing field as it were, that they need to have all of the evidence, not have things censored by the prosecution or the final judge who is supposed to be the neutral party here, so

they can try to save their clients lives which they argue is ultimately at stake. the relatives of those who were killed on september 11th say perhaps it doesn't matter, but we're not having a chance to sit with the relatives to find out their views on this process. >> rosiland jordan thank you very much. a mass grave discovered in northwestern bosnia could be the largest of its kind. >> reporter: this man is looking for the remains of his relatives. as a bosnian muslim, he could have suffered a similar fate after being detained in a serbian military camp in the 1990s. >> translator: i deeply hope god willing that this hill will give

up the truth and they will be found so we know they are here and we can have a funeral and we can have peace. >> reporter: these hills in a small corner of northern bosnia may well be the largest mass grave of ethnic cleansing in the country. bosnian serbed housed around 7,000 muslims and crow ats here. they were tortured and eventually killed. >> translator: so far we can say that this area contains the bodies of more than 600 victims. we expect to find the bodies of hundreds killed in the war prior. >> reporter: bosnia's institute for missing persons had known for years about the existence of mass graves in the area, but the exact location and details were

not known. it took a two year investigation and sentencing of 16 bosnian serbs to prison for atrocities to find them. for this man who now lives in france it's an important part of the heal progress. >> translator: i'm glad i'm here in this place, the truth should finally come out, so our souls can find peace. >> reporter: nearly 20 years after the end of the bosnian war, at least 500 mass graves have been discovered, the legacy of the conflict still very much alive. an opposition protest is underway in tunisia. it's been two years since the country held itself first democratic election. when the ruling party promised a new constitution and another vote. the long-awaited talking between

the opposition and the government are expected later. and the prime minister has previously promised to step down. he is also due to make an announcement shortly. facebook has agreed to remove a video of a woman being beheaded from its website. there was a public outcry against the social networking site after it lifted a temporary ban on images of violence on monday. it said it will now use a broader criteria to determine when graphic images are aloud on the website. older poorer, but still the only source of income for their families. the latest weapon unveiled between the global tech giants. and the start of baseball's world series. the details coming up in around 20 minutes in the sport. ♪

re# #a# #d# #y# ##fo# #r# ## ♪ you are seeing footage of hundreds of -- two weeks ago after their boat sank more than 160 kilometers offshore. bush fires that have been raging in southeastern australia, appear to be easing, but firefighters say there is still a real danger to property and people. and germany has banned the

so-called bishop of bling for reportedly spending $42 million on his house. afghanistan faces a tough challenge as it looks to take control of its own security next year. international forces are withdrawing, and the afghan army has been plagued by poor training and frequent defections. the first officer training academy has been opened there, nonetheless. >> reporter: these men hope to be the leaders of afghan's new army. but for now they just have to get through the training. the recruits are seen as the future of a sustainable military. >> translator: to make a strong army it's clear we need educational institutions like this, which are the basis of building of a country. >> reporter: most of the regular

soldiers [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: the academy is still under cop instruction. eventually 1300 men and 150 women are expected to graduate every year with the help of international mentors. >> we intend to be here until 2023 or until the afghan

military decide that is enough. >> reporter: the plan will be debated by a national gathering next month. if rejected this academy and the security forces could find themselves without international support at the end of 2014. south korea's government has been paralyzed bay deepening political scandal. the nation age tell against service has been arcued of interfering in last year process. >> this issue has been dominating the headlines for many weeks. it runs back to the presidential election of 2012, and the opposition accused the spy agency here of interfering in the election, stepping outside of its constitutional limits, in so doing, smearing its candidate.

initially the nis was cleared of any wrongdoing, but then in june this year, we had the indictment both of the then head of the national intelligence service and the police chief that lead the investigation that cleared him. since then we have had a long-running investigation lead by prosecutors which has been subject to infighting, occasions of bias and influence on both sides. we're seeing the prosecutor who arrested three national intelligence service agents last week, was dismissed allegedly for not following proper procedure. but he said he had brought his plans to his supervisor, and the supervisor said that would have given the opposition assistance, and therefore, his supervisor has now said fine investigate me

then. we have real political paralysis, the opposition has walked out only back in for the moment, and the president is struggling to get any of our main policies through the national assembly. the greek -- parliament has agreed to stop funding for golden dawn. but golden dawn has promised to fight on. >> reporter: the government lost no time cashing in on the popularity of the resolution. it says parliament may suspend public funding to parties if their leaders are indicted for organized crime or terrorism. but the government piled on 32 riders, including a stamp of approval for its controversial closure of public television last june. but there was also criticism

that the government didn't seek greater transparency and accountability for how all parties spend their money. >> translator: it's absurd for taxpayers to support a party the justice system says is engaged in criminal acts. this prosecution has been long overdue. >> reporter: golden dawn's heard and another five mps are accused ordering killings and beats of mostly immigrants. and then there were allegations that golden dawn murdered a greek musician last week. the efforts are designed to starve a force that the government and opposition see as a democracy.

>> translator: we can keep going because we haven't spent all of the money we have received from the state. parties get a lot of money. we were quite shocked when we saw how much is spent on parliamentary parties. we proposed a bill to scrap state financing, but were told it is unconstitutional. they are doing it now anyway on golden dawn. greek parties are allowed to accept private donations, but the lion's share of their revenue comes from state funding. this year they got $95 million, golden dawn's share was just over $2 million. and the party says that is far too much. it says it wants the state funding reduced by 80%. a drop in party funding is the last thing the socialists and conservatives want, they owe

money and need to pay their financing. a deadline is looming in the attempt to block a patent for a couple seeking ivf treatment. it comes at a price. many biologist believe it is wrong to try to patent something that is a natural process. emma reports. >> reporter: jasmine is the life of her parents life. at two and a half she is into everything. but her arrival into the world wasn't easy. as jasmine's parents needed ivf to get her. >> i just knew whether it would be an easy procedure or difficult procedure, we could go through it no matter what, because at the end of the day we

wanted a child together. >> reporter: she is one of an estimated 5 million babies. when ivf first started success rates were low. but new developments are happening all the time improving the chances of a patient having a baby. but that also means it is becoming an increasingly competitive market and the technology involved is changing all the time. this year a u.s. firm and university were granted patent for a technique called time lapsed microscopy. it helps choose the embryo with the best chance of survival. but questions have been canned about whether the patent should have been granted at all, with some biologist believe it is wrong to patent what they

believe is a natural process. >> to use natural information, in other words the time it takes for a cell to divide. that's a fixed natural phenomenon. to be able to patent that, i think is wrong, and it is a unfair commercialization of a process that everybody needs access to. >> reporter: the patent granted by the european patent office is being challenged, though. in a letter, oxygen, inc. told us, we respect the process and believe that the validity of the stanford patent will be reviewed and upheld by legal professionals. for jasmine's parents the emotional and financial cost of their ivf journey was of course well worth it. families may in the future have to dig deeper to achieve their

dream. one of the longest recessions in spain's history looks like it may finally be over. preliminary figures from the country's central bank showed that spain's economy grew by 4.1% between july and september. many are still finding it hard to make ends meet in spain as rory reports. >> reporter: the autumn years of one's life are for relaxing. at least that's the vision many europeans hold dear. but it hasn't quite worked out that way for miguel. the former miner is -- has had a tough life. >> translator: i helped my two daughters and my son when he was

alive. he was supported here at home by his two sisters and myself. also by 23-year-old grandson is unemployed. >> reporter: miguel is certainly not alone, in post crisis spain where jobs are poorly paid or lost all together, the family member's state pension can become a vital lifeline. >> translator: in 2012, 26% of familiar list survived on a state pension, one in four families live thanks to this. compare that to 2006 when it was 14%. >> reporter: spain's older generations may have run out of luck, despite the growing importance of pensions, it's likely tomorrow's elderly will be poorer than today's. the numbers are grim, 18% of

spaniards are pensioners, and the elderly population is growing, but pensions are not keeping pace with inflation and over the next two decades, pensioners could lose when 20 and 30% of their purchasing power. the spanish governments cannot afford the system in its current state. >> translator: current pension is a privilege compared to future ones because if society doesn't create jobs and young people don't work then income won't be generated for social security, and what this is leading to is the increase in private pensions. ♪ >> reporter: most spaniards expect the pension age to be put up in future years so future pensioners may be older, poorer, and yet still the only source of money for millions of people. now the season-ending wta

championships got underway in istanbul, but can anyone stop serena williams? we'll take a look at that coming up in sport.

♪ hello again before we move on some breaking news out of moli this hour, a suicide bombing is reported to have killed a boy and two un troops. the attack happened in the northern town. the two un soldiers were reportedly from chad. six others have been injured. we'll bring you more details

when we get them. the u.s. city of detroit has filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in the united states history, but in an irony of sorts even declaring it's a broke could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars. >> reporter: for the motor city, first came the debt then came the bankruptcy, then the bankruptcy bill, and it's soaring like detroit's historic skyline. the city council dutifully continues meeting, but since the state took over the finances, it is kevin orr who calls the shots. only his office knows the real total. >> my question is, has it exceeded $62 million and i don't have that answer and i should have that answer.

>> reporter: for this town, one thing is for sure the price of paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys, and i said it is going to cost 10s of millions of dollars, and they laughed at me, and they said it won't be 10s of millions of dollars, it will be hundreds of millions of dollars. >> reporter: those are just the legal frees. >> this is a contention case. the amount of money lost in this case by way of written off debt is going to be in the number of billions of dollars. >> reporter: the city is asking some creditors to accept $0.10 on the dollar. detroit is finding out that going broke is expensive. the law gets $18 million, the accounting official gets $8 million, and in the final humiliation, the city is paying the auction house $200,000 to find out what treasuries like

van go's self portrait would fetch if sold. the bankruptcy costs just add to the woes that have maken the once mighty motor city from a metropolis of $2 million people down to 700,000 and home to thousands of abandoned homes, vacant lots and a serious case of the blues. time now for sport, here is joe. >> adrian, thank you. last season's runners up have beaten the current league leaders arsenal. they equalized just before the break, but then saled the win, ending arsenal's 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions. final score 2-1. >> maybe the best tag in the

whole game. and brilliant cross and brilliant finish, so we -- for us we deserved to win this game of course. if you watch this game and you are not for us, you can say maybe they had some better situations, but they played at home, and we didn't come here to dominate [ inaudible ] we come here to get a result, and that's what we did. >> brazil's [ inaudible ] made his first champion's league start and had a hand in milan's first goal. but they equalized the spanish champions, keeping them top of group h. chelsea now share the lead for group e. chelsea and [ inaudible ] now

sit tight on six points after three matches. in arsenal's group . . . the well champions league group stages continue on wednesday. [ inaudible ] will host the ill at theian group you venn adverti advertise. they could play against [ inaudible ] and renaldo feels people need to stop putting pressure on his new teammate. >> it's better to leave him alone, because i'm sure 100% that he is going to do well for the club. he is going to help us a lot,

because he is a fantastic player, fantastic boy, and he always wants to learn, and this is the most important. munich is preparing for their match against [ inaudible ]. they scored 6 goals in their previous two champions league encounters. tennis now, world number 1 serena williams opened her challenge with a win. the defender champion faced the first round robin match. she comes into the tournament having won ten titles this year, her best showing ever. she beat the german in straight sets. up next for her, [ inaudible ]. over in the white group, world number 2 has a slightly tougher time as she took on [ inaudible ].

the italian forced a tiebreaker in the first set but then won it 7-4 to claim the set. boston red sox will open baseball's world series against the st. louis cardinals this wednesday at fenway park. [ cheers ] >> reporter: the boston red sox are into the world series for the third time in the last ten years. their opponents are there for the fourth time in the last decade, and both teams are looking for their third championship in that period. >> we're going up against a very complete team. we're still in our own process of getting familiar with them. they have very good young pitching, and very good pitching in general. what i have looked at so far, they are well balanced. >> reporter: the cardinals ace pitcher will be the starter in game one. the right-hander's strong post

season has helped st. louis with two wins. the cards will open up the world series in boston with the opportunity to practice at fenway and get used to a ballpark they rarely play in. >> looking forward to a good workday in fenway. get the guys used to the stadium, and getting one day closer to getting this thing going. >> reporter: the secretary of state will counter with jon lester. to counter lester's threat, st. louis is trying something new. their batters are preparing by practicing against their own pitchers, something rarely done in practice in baseball. >> yeah, it feels good to get out there and complete against pitchers. they are guys on our own team, but it's fun to take some seriouses at-bats. took eight to ten at-bats, i don't know what exactly it was, but it felt good and that's what i'm focusing on right now.

just taking good at-bats, and it's fun. on to cricket now. south african have gained the advantage against dubai. getting the first five 5-wicket hole. south africa finish 128-3, with 7 wickets remaining. over in india, australia are looking to take a lead in the series. they put on 295-8 of their 50s over india are 27-0 loss, with 5 overs, but rain has stopped the play. the dour -- tour de france

will take place in the uk in 2014 with the race starting in yorkshire in the north of the country. it will have five mountain finishes, and only one individual time trial finishing in paris on the 27th of july. for more on our website check out aljazeera.com/sport, and there are details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. that's all of the sport for now. adrian. am has unveiled its latest weapon in tablet computers. some economies experts says that it's rivals are making gains in the tablet market. >> the previous eye pad weighed 1.4 pounds. the new ipad air weighs just 1

pound. >> reporter: apple lifts the lid on its latest tablet. the ipad air is marketed as the lightest gadget of its kind and comes with free software previously for sale. the device is the tech giants attempt to remain traction. two years ago, apple's ios operating system commanded nearly two-thirds of the tablet market share. google's android lacked behind by just 13%. but google will soon take nearly half of the market. and there are other players hoping to make a mark. hours before the ipad air launch, nokia unveiled its first

mobile computer. it uses microsoft software, but the operating system is still struggling with a lack of applications. am has more than 475,000 apps to its name, but some say that is not enough. >> in the long run they are not inwoe vating and they are up against a software that google are giving away, and many manufacturers are willing to produce before cheap. >> reporter: apple turns the computer industry on its head with the first ipad three years ago. today tablet sales have surged to almost rival that of the pc. and in a tech war, it's innovation that determines who ends up on top. the news continues here on al jazeera in just a couple of moments, but that will do it for the news hour.

thanks for watching. see you later. bye for now. ♪

this is al jazeera america, live in new york city. i'm del walters with a look at today's top stories. the white house is defending its use of drones following a pair of damaging reports from human rights groups. those groups say drone strikes have killed dozens of civilians in pakistan and yemen. the obama administration strongly disagrees with the claims that the strikes are a violation of law. the president will meet with pakistani prime minister today. despite the effort to find common