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there was a fear. workers are on a mission to rescue miners. east of johannesburg. >> at this stage rescue operations have seized on the site of the incident or the sites have been handed over through to the mining securities. 11 miners have been removed from the site, checked by the medical operations from the place. we worry about severe dehydration. however, they have been cleared. vital signs have been declared stable. from there they have been moved through to police custody. >> it's said more people could have been trapped in the mine. some illegal miners may be scared to come out, fearing arrest.

industrial operationseneded years ago. the miners were 30km east of johannesburg. >> unemployment levels here are high. some of the miners risk their lives to make end meet. when they come up,way they make is not enough to feed their families. >> they enter the mines trying to find precious metal left behind. this is the only way some can make a living. when we try to call, there was no more answers. we suppose that those were the 11 people we had there. >> mining is one of africa's biggest industries. there are several mines in the areas surrounding the area. workers behave unsafe conditions on the ground. some are involved in crime, and battles between groups extracting the minerals. illegal mining for some is the

only way to put food on the table. >> there's proof that north korea committed crimes against humanity. this comes after a year-long investigation including testimony from survivors who escaped. some of the evidence approves that crimes like executions, rape, forced abortions and enslavement were committed by three generations of the ruling kim family. it's been recommended they be sent to the international criminal court. >> next was quick to react to the news of the upcoming report. a spoke person tells my colleague that the investigation can only have a positive result. >> this may be the best chance we have in a long time to raise the profile and get attention into the grave situation and put pressure on the government at the u.n., and by other second governments to make change on the ground. raising awareness is one thing. following up and taking action

against the regime is another because china is likely to veto any action against the ally by the security council, isn't it. >> it's possible that would happen. the effort of getting the security down put human rights on its agenda to link human rights with ongoing peace and security when it comes to north korea would be a major step forward in raising the level of discourse which would increase the pressure on the government. the north korean government is the ones that have the end the human rights violations. these kinds of efforts of the u.n. can be important and getting second governments. as you mentioned china has been repatriating people to north korea to face the arbitrary detention and the horrible situation and political prison camps that won concrete steps. >> what kind of change are you expecting in north korea given that the government is denying

that human rights abuses are taking place. >> no one is as naive to think this could mean change. it's an ongoing look, shining a light on what is going gone inside north korea, that will eventually have an impact. we can't rely on any one means to achieve the challenge. we have to work on multiple levels, and the u.n. is one tool that we can use. >> meamnesty international has monitored reports for decades. >> 9 million peace talks about remain in limbo. >> geneva were useless. it gave them more time to kill the syrian people. the real conference will be fighting the regime by the revolutionaries.

there's no other solution. >> i support stopping the negotiations with the regime immediately. we should stop the negotiations because they'll never get anything from the regime. superpowers couldn't, how could a weak delegation get anything from the regime. >> a united nations mediator apologised to syrian people hoping for a settlement. stefanie dekker is across the border to show conditions refugees face in lebanon. >> it's a difficult situation here. people are very angry. people are saying that they are being kicked out of their tents. they have nowhere to sleep. the army isn't allowing them to leave. i'll bring in a man that's been here for a few days, and he can explain to you what it is like for syrians living in the camp. thank you for giving us your

time. can you explain what it is like for you here. >> you see our situation here. it is still new. the tents without colour. people are sleeping on the earth under the rain. no more food. you have one - one time for the food. the institution here is too sad for our people. please, if you can, if the world can help us, we are human. we are not animals. no more way to help.

we are not animals. my word for european union especially - you see, so many families stay under the sky, the earth, the children. the area too cool. we need more decent - where is the decent... >> what do you say to those people who say they speak for the syrian people sitting together in geneva with the syrian government and the americans who can't figure out how to speak to each other. those people are not dealing with us. those people sitting, having a big salary.

do we stay here without food, without water, without - from the people in the world, please help us. we need our country. we need our house. we have no other way to do. >> thank you very much for that. that very direct message from - that's a very direct message from the mouths of people lying what they describe as a hell, and that nothing is being done. it gets cold here at night, and many don't have a place to stay, no roof over their head. they are straight and they want something done. >> that was stefanie dekker on the syrian-lebanon boarder. >> the palestine president tried

to calm israeli fears. mahmoud abbas said he didn't want to flood the place with palestines. >> let's put the issue of refugees on the table, because it is on issue that must be resolved to put an end to the conflict so the refugees can be satisfied with the solution. >> abbas comment imply he might accept israel's demand refugees be allowed to return to a palestinian state under a peace deal. president obama issued a warning to uganda today, saying the relationship between the u.s. and east african nation could be in trouble. ugandan's president could be to sign antigay laws. president obama said in part:

>> despite outrage by activists legislation has a lot of store r support. >> uganda gets more aid from the u.s., more than $400 million a year. >> the secretary of state john kerry addressed a group of students. he spoke of the dangers of climate change and dismissed those who refuse to recognise it. >> we should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and idea logs to compete with scientific fact. nor should we allow any room for those who think that the cost associated with doing the right thing outweighs the benefits. >> comments follow joint deals by the u.s. and china to kerb

greenhouse gases. china and the u.s. are two big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. >> another site hacked - which site this time. >> the marijuanaer of time warner cable and comcast could challenge the way you use the internet. >> there's a storm exiting the midost coast, another in the west. i'll show you how much snow is heading our way from the midwest to the atlantic, coming up n. -- coming up next.

sna >> another popular website has been hacked. kick starter - the company didn't say how many accounts were compromised but said credit card numbers were not stolen. it's encouraging users to change their passwords. >> comcast's proposed acquisition of time warner cable

could mean that they can meet 30 million internet customers. the memoryirger is bringing net neutrality into the spotlight. it will treat all online traffic equally until 2017. after that it's possible services could be given a competitive edge. >> earlier i spoke with consumer advocate about how customers could be affected and if there's a chance, comcast will charge people more to watch certain things online. >> what we are hearing today is the fcc who makes the decision is thinking about letting the country say, "trust u we won't do that." we think they'll do it if and when they make more money. it's kind of the thing where things can change, and companies are smart about this, they can do things slowly and make it unnoticeable, rather than on day one block websites or discriminate against al jazeera,

or net flex. they can change things slowly over time, and wait for the government to lapse and let them do things. the net neutrality applies to comcast. it wasn't long ago they bought another company. they bought n.b.c., and are bound by the condition for a couple of years. they can offer to expand that. again, trusting the company's promises doesn't sit well with us and other consumer watch dogs. >> thank you to matt wood. >> use of electronics may travel further than you think. scrap dealers are recycling devices. we have more on the dangers of recycling e-waste. >> hundreds of thousands of electronic devices are being imported from the u.s., britain and japan, and sold in pakistan. only a small percentage is useable. the rest is recycled in the

absence of disposable centers. local businesses trial to salvage what they can and don't let most coast to waste. old picture tubes are taken out, and given a thorough polish. they put into new cases and imported. like that, one man's garbage is another's new tv. >> translation: we import the circuits from china to make tvs. we have been doing this for six years. my 19 employees make 150 a day. >> a scrap dealer picks up the empty shells and cables. here they are broken down further, and the process is more hazardous. experts believe improper disposal of the boards releases toxins such as lead, cadd myium,

chromium. some of the workers are oblivious to the damage, and they work for $3 a day. some knowingly do it, just to earn a living. >> we found school-going children who work 12 hours a day to make ends meet. >> i didn't want to go school at first, so i started working here. i have eight brothers and sisters. now, i go to the school some mornings, and come to work here. >> the scrap dealers are an open secret. surely the disregard of the environment has to break laws. but it isn't. >> despite the dangers, there's no law on the books that deals with the waste. >> i couldn't find it. >> the law and environment minister admitted the government's failures. >> the environmental laws we made include written detail. but electronic waste is not considered as detail. this is a concession that i

made. >> the government has no data to show the impact on the lives of these workers. they continue to try to earn a living from what the world discards as waste. >> the department of energy is keeping an eye on a radiation leak discovered this weekend in new mexico. high levels of raid nation were picked up at a facility where nuclear waste was stored, in under ground levels of the plant, where it's stored half a mile below ground. workers were not underground and have not tested positive for contamination. crews on cape cod are rushing to restore power to parts without it. parts of massachusetts were hit with more snow. 10,000 are without power, due to fallen trees and downed powerlines. they are hoping to get that

number down. >> in central colorado, two skiers were killed by an avalanche. the two bodies were found. three others were hurt. >> the west is faced with more storms. it's been a relentless winter. >> and with the temperatures going up, the snow in the mountains is compacting itself. you get rain and it gets cold, snow levels come down and you get the powdery light snow. you get layers and that's why we have problems. that's why there's avalanche warnings across utah, nevada, and other places. wind gusts up to 60 k/hr for the washington and oregon coastline. the winds are windy as you get towards mon tonna. here is where the warnings are in effect. also into it idaho mountains. not into the clear waters, but

you see it moving into montana and utah. these are problem areas, because of the snow and levels coming down. here is where the snow warnings are at. advisories will be piling on one to two feet of snow, above the 4,000 foot level, overnight tonight into the morning hours. you add in the wind and you have problems. forecast for the new storm is hitting and making its way into the midwest. we have a storm in the midwest, pushing to the east coast, right behind one that brought blizzard conditions for us yesterday. looking at the forecast, expect more rain to continue. flood conditions are being watched. the concern into the east is the snow weary. get another one to three inches of snow. it won't be a lot, but we may

not want to see it. wint gusts, seattle. it is wet. here is where a flood warning is. you can see a high wind warning. we'll talk about what the new storms will bring in the next hour. >> def jam cofounder russell simmonds is one of the most influential people in the music industries and has strong views on gay rights. soledad o'brien sits with him on "talk to al jazeera". >> michael sams has just come ou. you are vocal when it comes to gay rites. tell me why? >> people are suffering, peel need to wake up. consciousness, it's the same thing. you have a voice. gays should get the rights that

we want for ourselves and give to others. the respect that we demand nor ourselves we should give to others. that's a simply mantra i try to lie by. i want to get married - again. not now. >> let's here what news we are making. go ahead. >> i want to get married again. people should have the right to get married. so things like that - if you see justice, and don't say anything, maybe you have other issues. >> this kid that plays in the n.f.l. >> he can play. >> he has to get to the draft, would he be the first openly gay n.f.l. player. >> good for him. bad for america that he's the first openly gay - there's a lot

of gay football players proud of him, rooting for him. gay football players right now in every locker and team that are rooting for him. straight guys like me, rooting for him. that's good. >> you can see the interview tonight here on al jazeera. >> soledad o'brien's conversation with russell simmonds coming up. >> still ahead in this hour, they were hard-learnt lessons of the handling of the conflict in the 1990s. we examine the lessons, to see if they can be applied to the crisis in syria. >> a rogue wave slams into a cruise ship.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at your top

stories on sunday night. four are dead following the bombing of a tourist bus. the attack happened on the sinai peninsula. it was carries south korean t r tourists. >> 11 miners rescued in south africa are now in custody. the remaining illegal workers are trapped in the mind, refusing to be rescued for fear of being arrested. >> claims that north korea committed crimes against humanity, according to an amnesty international report out tomorrow. it includes rape, forced abortions, enslavement. it's being recommended it be sent to the international criminal court. >> time for "the week ahead." we look at the ball can wars of the 1990s, and arriving what lessons do they have for

diplomats trying to bring peace to syria today. we begin with background. >> near 20 years ago the bosnia army murdered men and boys. it was the worst massacre europe had scene. screb needsa shocked and embarrassed world leaders. when bosnia serbs bombed the marketplace, president bill clinton and european leaders ordered a bombing campaign. it led to a cease fire and date and peace accords. fast-forward to 2014. world leaders are making comparisons between syria and the 1990s balkans conflict. some experts like david phillips say the powers missed the screb nitsa moment when world powers realised they could not stand on the sidelines. the moment to intervene in syria was a year and a half ago. the absence of international

intervention created a g gap, filled by extremists. >> despite the u.n.'s security council's unwillingness to act. he says n.a.t.o. could have taken other measures. >> it takes vision and leadership. we have not seen a lot of that. people are being slaughtered in large numbers. >> unlike the ball caps, there's no leadership or government structure to take the place of bashar al-assad's regime. >> this has to be addressed more seriously than it has been. >> as a u.s. diplomat christopher hill was involved in the peace negotiations. he heads the denver school of international studies. he believes lessons can be ascribed to syria. >> the international community came together. >> the only way forward to resolution is creating a future government that is it acceptable to syria's sectarian groups.

>> what has to happen is more of an effort of identifying what is syria going to look like in the future. will it have a prime minister, a ceremonial president, a strong president. there are a lot of questions, and i think until those are answered, it's hard to foresee an effort by a country like the u.s. to be militarily involved. >> that is not happening. assad wants the community to rid his country of terrorists. the opposition demands that assad go. so far the talks are resolved little. >> the minister of foreign affairs believed action was necessary in syria, but he told us he now has had a change of heart. >> last year i called on the international community to act

in syria. but since then the occupation in syria has moved in another direction. i think the best way is through dialogue, through peace conference to find a solution. given syria, and i think what the united states and other european allies and arabic, islamic states are doing, it's the right approach. >> interesting change of heart. let's talk about this. a lawyer that implemented the peace agreement. and richard murphy, serving as u.s. ambassador to syria. i want to start by looking at the impact of the syrian war. we have numbers of what we are facing. syria was a country of

21 million people. millions have been forced from their homes. they fled the country. when you tink about the impact and you look at the wars in the balkans, what is the take away from that that can be applied to syria, i hope what happened eps is the unity of action, that they could be replicated. we are not moving in that direction, we are not seeing the possibility any better today than a year ago. is that the key? does it solve this? >> no, it doesn't solve it. it will be solved ultimately by the efforts of the syrians. a harmonised approach between the russians and the moneys and a day between the iranians,

russians and americans will make a difference. >> what do you say? >> the parallel that i see is that you can do, in terms of humanitarian needs on the ground. this was involved in trying to bring humanitarian aid to people on the ground, lasting 2-3 years. if we focus on energies on trying to alive kate humanitarian concern, there may be a tendency to forget to address the root cause of the conflict. i see that parallel between bosnia and syria. >> is it fair to compare the two regions seeing how different the two are? >> there are similarities that could be made, but there are

differences. if you look at the broad geopolitical level, i don't think the u.s. and its western allies have the same type of power as they had in the 1990s. the relationship between the u.s. and russia is not the same as it was. russia's foreign policy is more assert if. it leads us to a situation where the international community is not united. the capacity of the u.s. and western allies to gender a brode coalition is diminished. >> what needs to happen to get russia more on board with the united states? >> i started a little time ago thinking we could shame the russians, the positions they have taken, which is so against what we would consider normal humanitarian support. they have rejected that saying

the approach and talk between the traditional government is a way of helping the terrorists. you have to remember the way they treated the chech nians, there's a unity of view between the russians, and the syrians as to how to handle your opposition. you crush it, liquidate it. and -- >> and that's the approach now. they are proposing in syria. >> they have been following that in syria. they used scud missiles, barrel bombs and a range of weaponry. >> i want to read a quote. it's two years old but is applicable today. it's from the secretary-general when he told the new york times. he said: >> you hit on that, and i want

to hit further, particularly when it comes to iran. the importance of trying to get iran on board here with the talks in syria, since they've been pushed to the side. you mentioned russia, but what about the iranians. >> well, our approach with the iranians was to keep the the focus on the nuclear weapons issue and not let other issues intrude. i think both we and the iranians are capable of handling more than one issue at a time and to start to consider them possibly cooperative manner in handling the syrian situation, the hezbollah relationship. they responded very well in earlier years, in the run up to iraq, and the run up to the invasion in afghanistan. i hope we can get to that, but the mood in washington is dead-set against it. >> makes me wonder if we have

missed the moment, if the moment has passed for intervention in syr syria. >> you can place yourself at any point in a conflict. >> do you thick the moment passed. >> i don't think. nicholas sperins wrote in the "boston globe", that he isn't think we met the srebenica moment. >> that was the stadium incident. >> that was the massacre of 8,000 men and boys. it was a u.n. safe area. that event in july 1995 really changed the international community >> you don't think we've had that in syria, the gas attacks. >> sadly, i don't think we have had it yet. >> do you think it will take something like that to motivate the world to bomb, move in on

syria. >> hopefully not, and sadly we have not reached a situation where the public opinions are apo apoll -- appalled by what is going on. i do hope that we will be able to intervene effectively in syria, and that we hadn't missed the opportunity. you mentioned public opinion polls. at least with the united states involved. last september at the height of the syrian debate, barely a third of the americans, half were opposed. you compare it to the balkans on the eve of n.a.t.o.'s war. some 40% of americans were in favour of intervening. we were opposed and yet we wept in and bombed the balkans and

came to a resolution here. is it fair to use public opinion polls to decide these kind of issues? >> i think politicians will look at polls, but i tend to agree with you. people will rarely support - public opinion will rarely support that type of intervention. if we were going to lisp to public -- lisp to public -- listen to public opinion, there would be no leadership. what is important to look ot when we compare bosnia to syria, we are dealing with two different countries in terms of population or territories. the neighbourhood is different. we can hardly compare the position of croatia or yugoslavia, iran, iraq, israel. different neighbourhood. the types of center and the deppsity of the interests in the

region are different. those are elements taken into account by people who died on intervening or not. >> is the bottom line that we do not have strong enough leadership. >> you have a leader re-elected to help speed up getting us out of afghanistan or iraq. in the '90s, the public had not been taken flow the turmoil. the time had not come to involved the united states in a middle east conflict. >> if it means something as simply as air strikes, we are not talking about boots on the ground, air strikes could make a big difference. why reluctance to do that? >> that could be a first step. he's aware of how easy it is to slide into other actions. that didn't do it, let's try a protected zone, requiring ground forces - not ours, but somebodies has to go in.

the future he's thought about decided he didn't want to get into it. there's talk of re-evaluation or the various options. assad felt he was taken off the hook last august on the decision not to move against him using the american air force. that could be revived. it may be on the table as a military option. he says it with little enthusiasm. >> doesn't seem like a real option. >> what is your biggest take away seeing you were involvement with the date and peace accords. what is the biggest take away. >> the biggest take away for me and - one of the reasons for success in the balkans was a

unique military case. richard holbrook was to bring the parties through a technique called diplomacy backed by force. that is a take away from bosnia and kosovo. the ability for the military force to create opportunities. i don't see it right now in syria. if there's a threat of force off the table or partially off the table. that limits the political space. >> you think it's a mistake pulling force off the table, not having it out there. >> unless the military situation on the ground changes, i don't think we'll see much movement in geneva, and i think that is something that we have to take into account, for sure. >> that is a sobering thought. thank you both for come in

tonights. we appreciate it. before we wrap up, here are a few events in the week ahead. former president pervez musharraf appears in court. on thursday libyans go to the polls to elect a new constitution. still ahead - a tuny insect - a major threat to lives and live stocks. the fight for american skiers in sochi is not in the hills, but against father time. we'll have those stories with jessica taff next.

>> a woman whose husband died on a cruise ship is demanding answers. the ship docked in england. over the weekend it was hit by a large freak wave going through the english channel. waves smashed through a window of a dining room, killing an elderly man and ipp juring another. >> i was sitting next to him. the window caved in, and the sea with it. we were all very wet. a woman, i think, was taken to hospital. my husband was going to go in the helicopter but he died. >> the victim's widow blamed the country for not maintaining the ship. the cruise ship says it's not the case. >> protesters in ukraine pulled out of kiev's city hall, after the government said it would dlop charges against the -- drop

charges against the activist. the announcement was made by the prosecutor germ. >> translation: starting from tomorrow, law enforcement and judicial institutions will carry out -- >> anti-government protesters were in caracas for the fifth straight day calling for the president to resign, blaming him for rising inflation and high crime rate. today's demonstrations were peaceful. the opposition blames the police for the deaths. the president points to the protesters calling the pois american backed fascists. >> now to africa and a disease affecting millions of people and animals. it's caused by a little fly. we talk about how a cure may lie in a counterintuitive place.

>> this is the latest effort to combat one of africa's destruct difficult diseases. it is a parasite that floods the bloodstreams. it affects live stocks, but humans suffer to. >> if the stock get sick, we can't make money. there's no vaccine against the disease. >> attempts to get rid of the disease have failed, until now. health officials from the united nations believes that the solution is in the box. inside are the blood-sucking flies, responsible for spreading the disease. the flies are different, bread in vienna at the international atomic agency. the insects received radiation to make them sterile. >> they'll not mate or reprust. it will eradicate the fly and the disease altogether. >> this is a multi-million

dollar operation. during the flight every 20 seconds a box of fly assist dropped. at this pace the tutsi flay will be wiped out. >> it feels like a military operation, and the united nations believes it's a needed intervention to stop the disease spreading. here is the catch. scientists don't know what the eradication of the fly will do to the eco system. we only know what they do on the animals. we know very little on what is happening to the rest of the eco system. what is the role and function of those flies on the wildlife. do they have a certain control or control measure. u.n. officials believe the benefits. they say if it is eradicated

farmers will have healthier livestock. the plan is to expand the project across the continent, an area over twice the size of the united states, home to a rich, unique and fragile eco system. >> jessica taff is here with sports, and we have a lot to talk about. surprises in the alpine ski team, good prices. they struggled this winter olympics, when one of the oldest, and another with more surgeries than top so finishes made it to the podium. it was an emotional day. bode miller making history in the men's super-g. willing his way to a bronze. miller the oldest skier to win within olympic measure, and his 6th olympic medal a record. only one other skier in the world has more.

miller would have had the silver had andrew wiebreck not passed him. as for bode miller - he's happy about the medal but not so happy about the run. >> today was a struggle that felt like a true struggle. i'm skiing well enough that i could have got a medal easier, in a way, if i had skied the way i have been skiing without mistakes, and had been - you know, my ability or whatever matched the circumstances. the way it was, definitely was a fight, a struggle. in a way, you know, that is a little bit of a special type of achievement. >> so the surprise there, and this one not a good one. american lindsay jacob-ellis fell in the second-last term in

the second semifinal of the wim ens snow board cross. this is how the medal standings stand: >> let's go to the us men beating the host team, russia, in a shoot out thriller. what can they do for an encore. how about keeping the foot on the gas against slovenia. it was phil kessel's turn to be the hero. the toronto maple leaf start leading the team to a victory, the first american to car -- to score a hat-trick. team usa face the chubb lick on wednesday in the quarterfinals.

the important thing we focussed on is the win would have been for nothing, had we let this slip away. there wasn't as much pressure, but we had a goal to win the group, and it was obtainable today. at the beginning of the game we accomplished it. >> the u.s. is halfway through the two-me bobsleigh race. as it stands, team usa in third with a day more of competition. host team russia is your leader. the u.s. trailing russia by 3600 seconds. switzerland is second. they are right there much. >> >> first time. >> we'll see what happens. thank you. >> that's the show tonight. headlines after the short break.

>> you're watching al jazeera america, live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the headlines. >> in egypt three were killed, 13 others hurt when a bus exploded in the sinai peninsula.

three south korean tourists and their driver died. >> 11 illegal miners have been rescued and handed over to police. >> survivors recounted crimes in north korea, rape, forced abortions, enslavement. it's recommended that the investigation be sent to the international criminal court. >> hackers broke into kick starter and stole user information. they do not say how many accounts were compromised, but credit cards were not stolen. companies are encouraging users to change their passwords. in sochi, the ice hockey team beat slovenia. the netherlands lead with 17

medals, u.s. and russia tie pd. america captured four cold, four silver, is a bronze. >> those are the headlines. i'm jonathan betz. up next al jazeera presents the toughest place to be an e.r. nurse. >> emergency nurse maria connolly is leaving her job at the royal hospital, preston, to work in ciudad juarez, mexico. she'll find a city engulfed in a brutal gang war. >> do we know if it's a gun or a knife? >> where doctors and nurses are