shells hit the syrian city of homs, as reports that israeli jets hit russian made miles at a syrian military base. >> this is al jazeera live from doha. also on the program - a possible way back to that's correct. thailand moves -- way back for thaksin. >> the search for millions of missing people around the world. the discovery of what could be the largest mass grave from the boss nian war. >> can you get off my driveway. >> the mayor of canada's largest

city under pressure after police find a video said to show him smoking crack cocaine. >> joining us for a developing story out of syria, where u.n. arab league lakhdar brahimi has been speaking. he has been talking about efforts to end the war there, and plans for a conference in geneva. >> i am going meet representatives from russia and united states, our partners in the trilateral format - we have been working together for quite some time now. i think probably in the afternoon or the second day representatives of the rest of the p5 will join us and maybe other countries. there are some very, very

serious efforts being developed everywhere to try and make this conference possible. but, you know, we will say it's happened only when it happens. >> that was lakhdar brahimi speaking a few moments ago in damascus. let's get some comment from our correspondent hoda who is in lebanon. >> as lakhdar brahimi tries to get all parties to sign up to the geneva ii conference, he says the syrian people continue to suffer. as many as a third of them are directly caught up in the conflict. >> he said the solution was more urgents now than never because of the continuing situation. he puts the blame on both sides, saying both had to make efforts to make sure the syrian people

don't suffer further. the geneva ii - there was a momentum, there was a realisation that all parties need to head there. the syrian government signalled that it was willing to go there. he didn't really put the blame on the opposition, but said it would be best if the opposition would be less fragmented and more united. the syrian national coalition, the one recognised by the international community, and so far it's been introns gent.

some will not go without any talk of the resignation of bashar al-assad. >> thank you. hoda there in beirut. more on what lakhdar brahimi had to say in the coming hours. meanwhile israeli jets reportedly attacked a military base near syria's port of latakia. the strike thought to have tart russian-made missiles. it's not the first time they are thought to have struck in syria. two other weapon stockpiles have reportedly been attacked. more from stefanie dekker in jerusalem. >> the israeli army is not confirming the reports. there has been reports of air strikes. in january there was reported strikes on a syrian convoy carrying missiles to hezbollah. israel didn't comment on the reports, saying, "we are not saying anything about this."

later in the year reports that israel targeted a missile storage facilities close to the province of latakia. again israel not commenting on the reports. we do know israel takes the threat of hezbollah seriously and says if there's a threat to the israeli state they'll take actions. people say it's possible israel could have carried out the airstrike. the official line is no comment. >> there has been heavy shelling in homs during reported ongoing fighting between rebels and syrian troops. the the pictures - that we can't independently verify - show the after math. >> homs has been the focus of the uprising against bashar al-assad. government forces have recaptured the town of al-sifera south of aleppo after a month of

fighting. >> the u.s. secretary of state publicly admitted for the first time that the national security agency may have overstepped the mark in its intelligence gathering. john kerry said: s >> he added - and the president ... >> meanwhile indonesia summoned the australian ambassador over claims its embassies were used as spying hubs for the u.s. indonesia's foreign minister said his country was deeply concerned over the allegations, coming from information leaked by former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden. australia prime minister said that his government had not broken any laws. >> four palestine fighters in gaza have been killed by israeli troops. violence broke out after several

israelis tanks crossed the boarder into the gaza strip. it's the latest of a series of incursions into the area. >> thailand is one step closer to passing amnesty laws that could allow the return of former prime minister thaksin shinawatra. thousands have been protesting against the draft bill and more rallies are banned. thaksin shinawatra has been in exile following corruption allegations. >> in the early morning hours of friday the thai house passed pa blankets amnesty bill,ing it the opposition party have been against. there has been protests since this was introduced back in august. the last couple of days the opposition party in front of their headquarters in bangkok called in protesters. the numbers expected to be about 10,000, and that could grow throughout the day. the passage of the bill was a surprise in the early morning hours of friday. it was supposed to take place

24 hours later. there's concern that some convicted of crimes over the past decade plus will be allowed - will be let out of gaol and a former prime minister who is in exile. that is why the opposition party is against this. there's big concern about what might happen with the thousands of protesters on the streets of bangkok and a hot-button issue. 5,000 police have been sent out to keep the peace. as the hours go on, it will be interesting to see how many more protesters come into the city and how peaceful the rallies remain. >> workers in indonesia are striking for a second day. 2 million took part in the strikes on thursday. police say the figures are lower. >> china named the group that it thinks is responsible for the suicide attack in tiananmen square. the government says that the east turkize stan islamic movement organised the attack.

the group wants independence in the north-western regions. five were killed when a car ploughed through crowds, crashed and burst into flames. >> an antinuclear politician in japan wrote to the emporer outlining concerns over the fukushima nuclear plant. the emporer is not normally involved in politics and many are outraged at these actions saying the constitution has been breached. the fukushima nuclear plant has been leaking radio active water after being crippled by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> 18,000 japanese troops are preparing for one of their biggest military drills. they are simulating an island that china and japan lay claim to. it's the latest in a bitter dispute between the two countries. >> china and japan have been here before. both sides are talking tougher

than ever. the dispute over territory is deepening. both sites and war planes go into air space. japan's conservative prime minister has warned his troops: >> china has warned that any firing on its unmanned drone aircraft would constit tute a series provocation, an act of war. the question is how far they will back up their rhetoric. >> both sides are call kulative and would lie to you. >> previous encounters around the island have inflamed passions on both sides, playing well to domestic agendas. >> for an increasingly assertive china and the resurge in national lis m the dispute is

obvious. military conflict is unlikely. both sides are willing to escalate the war of words, knowing they can do so with impugnity. observers believe economic realities are likely to be a sobering influence. >> the business community wants the governments to be rational. it's likely the government will listen to them. pressure is faced by the chinese government. >> there are people within the chinese leadership, who are hard liners, more adventurist leaders, willing to take risks. >> coming up against aba. everyone knows the danger of an accidental military confrontation, taking the dispute into areas no one wants to go and whose outcome no one wants to see.

>> the weather next here an al jazeera, and recognising a third gender. more on germany's pioneering league in europe. >> the police operation against organised crime in malaysia leading to thousands of arrests and dozens of weapons seized.

hello again. the top stories an al jazeera. the u.n. arab league special envoy to syria says the opposition must attend geneva peace talks for progress to be made. lakhdar brahimi is trying to build a framework for the talks

over the war in syria to happen in the coming weeks. >> israeli jets reportedly attacked a military base in latakia. the trike is thought to have tarted russian made missiles. thailand's lower house passed a controversial political amnesty bill that could allow the return of former prime minister thaksin shinawatra, who is in self-imposed exile. >> a conference at the hague is highlighting the issue of people who have gone missing in global conflicts. the discovery of a grave in bosnia - thought to be the largest - underscorers the challenges to locate and identify missing persons. >> hidden for nearly 20 years. a mass grave near the northern boss nian town of priador, believed to hold more than 700 bodies. >> bodies are found piled up 10 metres understand the ground

surface. some identification documents were found next to bodies. we can say that victims are residents of four villages. >> the victims boss nians and catholic's killed during the 1992 to 1995 boss nian war. troops and separatists searched house to house in a campaign of ethnic cleansing and estimated 30,000 people went missing or are presumed dead. >> translation: my mum was killed. she was killed by her neighbours. people we socialised with, people who used to have coffee with us. >> forensic teams think this grave site could be lipped to another 10 -- linked to another 10km away. it's taken years for excavators to locate the site. many were bulldozed and moved around. it meant the remains of bodies

were separated, making identification difficult. if we take into consideration the numbers of remains of victims exhumed from the site and remains found. we can confirm this is the biggest mass grave. >> atrocities committed in the area have been known. the burial site remained a secret, with witnesses keeping quiet. it's hoped the discovery will give those who lost family in the conflict answers, and eventually peace. >> well, here is a closer look at the millions of people worldwide who are unaccounted for. in mexico at least 27,000 people have gone missing over the past six years - believed to be victims of drug-related violence. >> in columbia where the government has fought farc rebels, 64,000 are registered as missing. 12,000 are considered missing in

the former yugoslavia following the wars in the balkans. in iraq - 250,000 to 1 million - many vanishing under the regime of saddam hussein. and the committee for humon rights in north korea estimates 20,000 are missing from its labour camps. >> with us the director-general of the international committee on missing persons, joining us from the hague, where the conference is under way. thank you for joining us on al jazeera. what are the aims of your organization. tell us about some of the challenges you face? >> well, our aim is to ensure that the international community takes stock of the missing persons globally. as you noted in your reports, millions are missing around the world from conflict, from human rights abuses, and there are

thousands missing in relation to drug-related violence. it's high time the international community takes stock of this and we create an international mechanism dealing with these processes. >> how do you do that. what support do you get from governments. are you working with any of the international law enforcement agencies? >> we are. we were created to address the cases of missing persons from the conflicts in the former yugoslavia, where 70% of those missing have been accounted for, which is remarkable. we hope to continue our work globally. we are working in iraq, syria. what our work highlighted is the absence of a mechanism in the world and a need to sustain this. the dutch are supporting an initiative to have icmp become an international mekannism.

since 2010 we have been working with interpol to try to develop a platform for what we call disaster victim identification so we can respond to disasters. now there is no mechanism in the world. we hoped we'd learn the lesson from the tsunami where the world's police forces came together to try to address missing persons. what needs to hoppen is we can't just respond to cases where rich tourists from western countries went missing. there's a discrepancy between addressing missing persons from rich countries and poor countries. we have to end that. we need a standard capacity available for rich and poor countries. >> how do you operate in a country like syria, where a disaster is unfolding as we speak, or somewhere like iraq, where conflict is ongoing? i

think syria is a sad reminder to all of us of our failure to protect persons from missing, to end conflict. the reality is that persons go missing during war, and also the reality of syria is persons went missing for years, decades under brutal regimes - whether it's iraq, libya or other countries in latin america. in the case of syria 17,000 are missing for decades. in today's conflict 30,000 have gone missing, which is a huge tragedy. at this point all we can do is attempt to collect information from family members who are living in refugee camps to collect data or biological samples. to see if when the conflict is or, we can begin a process of searching for missing persons. it's difficult following conflict to ensure governments

have a nondiscriminatory approach. this is a continuing problem in yugoslavia. we have a platform that we hope will be implemented with interpol, allowing for a standard capacity to respond to cases of missing persons using the world's police forces. >> we wish you the best in getting the global mechanism set up and in place. >> police in canada say they have obtained amateur video that appears to show the mayor of toronto smoking crack cocaine. the existence of the footage was reported six months ago but n can't be found. rob ford denied using the drugs. >> what can you tell us... >> a bad day for mayor rob ford began with photographers outside his house. he had no comment. but his anger was obvious.

>> can you get off my driveway. can you get off my property, please? >> last may two media outlets said their journalists saw a cell phone video showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine, make gs racist and homophobic remarks. the toronto police have the video. >> i think it's fair to say the mayor appears in those - in that video, but i'm not going to get into the detail of what activity is deticketed. >> absolutely shocked. we have been shocked, frankly for a few months. much the same reaction at city hall where councillors called for the mayor to explain the video and documents lipping him to drug gangs. all against the backdrop of lure ied halloween decorations on the wall of the mayor's office. this is not the first time

toronto's mayor is in the public eye for the wrong reasons. he was elected as a tax-cutting populist. his behaviour and allegations of drug hughes have kept haunting him. >> i wish i could come out and defend myself. unfortunately i can't. it's before the court. i have no reason to resign. i'll go back and return my phone calls. i'll be out doing what the people elected me to do. >> so far the mayor is standing firm against allegations that might have felled other politicians. it's true only the voters can remove the mayor. more revelations lie ahead. the the pressure on the mayor is bound to increase. >> in brazil more than 300 have protested in the city of rio de

janeiro. demonstrators gathered saying police have arrested people unfairly and are using a newly past law that is meant to target organised crime. >> 14 died in nicaragua and thousands sick after an outbreak of danke fever. hundreds of workers have been sent to fume gait homes in the capital. >> the malaysian police say their 3-month operation to crackdown on crime has been a huge success. it's in response to a series of high-profile crimes in the capital. we have this report from kuala looum purpose. the tacks marred a city once considered safe. >> dixon moved to kl to become a make-up artist. now he is dead, the victim of a mugging. his family didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation. they have little faith the

police will get those responsible. >> my parents are sad. they can't sleep. amongst the siblings we are very sad. each time we close our eyes we think about them. it happened so fast. >> this case is far from unique in malaysia. look at the internet - it's full of videos of random and sometimes violent crimes. here a man walks into a cafe eyeing a couple using the ipads. he turns to leave and it's gone. so is he. in this video three men attack a cashier with knives and an iron bar before he fights them off. the level of crime prompted malaysia's police to launch a special operation to crackdown on organised crime, people trafficking and drugs. >> before launching the special ops on violent crime, a lot of people not fighting, but what is

the police doing to overcome the violent crimes. about 2,000 police are taking part in the operation across the country. results are impressive. since mid august more than 24,000 arrests have been made. more than 2,000 bullets confiscated along with knives, guns and swords. and the police say public confidence in them has risen from 30 to 70%. >> but criminalologist believes many people are still fearful of crime in the country. >> if you look at how people decided to have their own security guards in their own housing estates, you know, they pay to have gated communities, that shows that they are worried about crime. >> she says the police can't do everything. if the public want to see a reduction in crime, they have a role to play. >> while arrests and reduction in crime are welcome.

there's one thing that won't change. dixon wong is dead. and nothing can bring him back. >> an estimated one in 2,000 children born each year is neither boy nor girl. enter intersex. germany is the first european country to recognise the third gender. babies born without gender characteristics can be registered without a sex on birth certificates. >> born neither a boy nor girl, daniela spent her life in fear, shame and pain because of doctor's decisions. she's trying to make sure the same doesn't happen to anyone else. >> i was born with ambiguous genitalia. the doctors couldn't tell if i was a boy or girl. at 2.5 months they kavt rated me, throwing my testicles in the

garbage win. at seven they cut my genitals to make me look like a girl. doctors lie to me and my parents. >> it's estimated fewer than one in 1,000 babesies are born with no clear gender determination. hospitals in germany carry out operations like danielas. these people want a law to stop that. it allows parents to select blank instead of male or female. germany's green party proposed the change but parents could feel pressure to operate. >> translation: we need to ways awareness in hospitals, among medical staff and ensure parents are not pushed to make decisions that their children will blame them for later. we need to wait for when the child is grown up so it can decide for itself whether to change something. >> as the law takes effect there

are questions about what it means to live. australia allows individuals to intif as intersex. with the new law germany widens the debate. >> more on the website at aljazeera.com. hello, i'm libby casey. the capitol has been buzzing with high profile congressional hearings on nsa surveillance and the problems with the dare's rollout. in the halls of congress there's a heavy weight lobbying campaign under way to push comprehensive immigration reform. it's week applied by the chamber of commerce is forward.u.s. among others. it's a group founded by facebook's m