egypt's highest religious authority cancels death sentences given to muslim brotherhood leaders, including the group's spiritual guide. this is al jazeera live from doha. also coming up, lesotho's prime minister tells al jazeera that the political process is on track despite reports of a military coup. e.u. leaders consider further sanctions against russia which is accused of invading ukraine. >> i'm phil lavelle at the

venice film festival, where there's talks of war and it is dominating the competition. find out why, shortly. hello. the highest religious authority in egypt upheld a decision to commute the death sentence of the religious header of the muslim brotherhood. it's the second time a court-imposed death sentence was imposed on mohamed badie. he was one of thousands arrested in a crackdown following the removal of a president. in april he was sentenced to death, along with 180 others for the murder and attempted murder of a policeman. the ruling was upheld by the grand mufti in jooup. saturday's ruling relates to another case. mohamed badie was sentenced to death again on the charges of

murder and firearms. let's bring in the any director of the egyptian commission for rights and freedom. give us your initial reactions on this? >> this is good new, we have doubts about the trials of the leaders of the muslim brotherhood, and it is good news that they have - that the penalty has not been the sentence. some of the gsts in the case you mentioned in absentia. there are other cases where the mussie, the leader of the muslim brotherhood, was sentenced to death, like the case of others.

one was where two people were killed in a protest in august, and this one stands too. how do you think the judiciary is likely to react to this news on the ground, about moouffedy. >> i think the mufti's opinion is not compulsory. it does exist to protect defendants from receiving the best penalty. there is another in guarantee against arbitrary death sentences. any case where a defendant is sentenced to death, the court would have to review the case and make sure that it has followed the procedures of the

trial. what is worrying in all the cases is how easily judges find it to mask and it is a point that the mufti can help with. >> as you are saying, the mufti's involvement in all of this. these are opinions, advisories, if you may, but they carry weight, don't they? >> they do. they have - it is - the judges in the end, it's up to them to decide whether they'll take the open end of the mufti, and at the end of the day, it will be a

decision was to whether the sentence was handed according to due process. >> thank you for joining us from egypt. >> three al jazeera journalists have spent 245 days in an egyptian prison. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed were falsely accused of helping the muslim brotherhood. in jooup mohamed fadel fahmy and peter greste from given 7-year sentences. badr received an extra three because he had a spent bullet in his possession, picked up at a protest. lawyers have filed appeals. al jazeera network demand their release. soldiers from the philippine in the golan heights are among a force of troops monitoring the line between the israeli

occupied area, and the syrian held area. let's brick in jacky rowland joining us for the latest. first the filipino peace keepers, and their situation. >> yes, let's get the geography clear. filipino peacekeepers are under attack within the area of separation. it's in the syrian golan heights, not the area occupied by israel. it is close to that area. rebels, those from al nusra front have been attacking there. they surrounded two bases a couple of days ago, held, where filipino peacekeepers were positioned. one of those bases has been made safe. the filipino peacekeepers are not under threat. it's the other base. 40 filipino peacekeepers have been exchanging fire with rebels who have been surrounding the

beats, attacking the base. so -- surrounding the base, attacking the base. the philippinos, we are told are within the base and resisting attempts. >> the 44 fijian peacekeepers, what is their situation and what is the united nations saying about they will. >> yes, as you say, it's a complicated and serious situation there, where we have different continge ents of u.n. peacekeepers coming under attack by syrian rebels, many from al nusra, we under. the fijian peacekeepers were captured on thursday. there are 44 of them. the u.n. says that it received reliable information that they are well, this they are unharmed. negotiations have been going on to persuade the rebels to hand them over. apparently an explanation has been received, apparently. the u.n. has been told that the

rebels took the peacekeepers for their own safety because they were in an area where there has been intense fighting between syrian government forces and syrian rebels. the u.n. is insisting that the peacekeepers must be released immediately, and that the rebels should hold fire, and not attack any other u.n. peacekeeping forces in that area of separation in the golan heights. >> jacky rowland reporting from jerusalem. thank you. the european union is considering more sanctions against russia after accusing russia of invading eastern ukraine. european union leaders are meeting and will discussion military assistance. pro-russian separatists are in control of large parts of eastern ukraine. they have recently taken the coastal town. paul brennan sent us this

update. that's where residents prepared for fighting to come their way. the military manoeuvring by both sides in the far south-eastern corner has continued with pace over the last 24 hours, the defenders of mariupol, the ukranian parpy and the volunteer brigade has been digging trenches between the main body of the city and the town which is captured and occupied by pro-russian forces. we haven't seep russian marked vehicles or armour but we know and have spoken to reliable sources. there has been hardware out of the town, heading north along the ukrainian-russian border to engage in combat with the ukranian forces.

>> as far as action in the air, the ukrainian military issued a statement saturday morning say that an su 24 jet has been shot down. the pilot ejecting. it's taken 24 hours for the news to come out. the ukranian military said it was a russian anti-aircraft system that brought the jet down. ukrainians are pointing the fingers at russia and the separatists being russian backed. >> ukraine's president petro porashenko has spoken in the last hour from an e.u. meeting in brussels and says the situation is a threat to the whole of europe. >> this visit comes in a difficult circumstance from my country. despite the consolidated international efforts, in our

strive for peace, ukraine is a subject for foreign military aggression and terror. we have worsened the situation from the 27th of august, and thousands of the foreign troops and hundreds of the foreign tanks. now, under the territory of ukrai ukraine and it's a rick for peace and stability in ukraine, and the whole of europe. >> we are clear there's no military solution, we need a political solution respecting the integrity and sovereignty. i believe it's more necessary than ever. we continued to urge russia to stop the flow of arms, equipment and personal into the conflict region, and withdraw forces from ukraine. >> so that was katherine ashton

speaking in mill jan. simon mcgregor-wood is in milan. that is where the meeting is taking place. what are we expect of course, first of all? >> well, we are expecting the situation, the escalating crisis in ukraine to dominate the deliberations. it's worth noting that president petro porashenko, speaking after his meeting, and mr barroso is in brussels, invited before the latest dangerous escalation took place. nonetheless he has the opportunity to talk to the collected members of to seek further expressions of solidarity, but i suspect he'll be looking for a concrete elaboration with what sanctions may be come up with by the end

of the day. >> the e.u. said, like they are saying, they are ready to sake strong and clear measures against russia. do we know what type of measure they are talking about. is there an appetite to do that. >> there are lots of bold proclamations about the need to push forward, tighten sanctions. they are cautious on this issue, they say the same thing there's no shortage of rhetoric. leading us to believe that's what they'll talk about. when you push the officials, we spoke to president boroso, saying is it not encum bant on you to deliver a list. that they were rather less convincing, more vague as is the case with the decisions. it had to be unanimous. they published a hard-hitting

list of sanctions. they will get tougher if the situation on the ground is escalated, whether they'll get that, and depends what remains to be seen. often it's the case as officials work up ideas to bring to the table. some of the things that the british are suggesting are much more interesting than pure old-fashioned economic sanctions. david cameron will come to the table and suggest things like perhaps russia shouldn't host the world cup in 2018, and should be kicked out of the g20 and other international forums. it will be discussed. whether there'll be decisions - not sure. >> the ukrainians said they'd want to join n.a.t.o., how much do we expect them to pursue that at this point. >> i don't think we'll talk about that. i think that will dominate some of n.a.t.o.'s discussions in

wales. there's a sense in brussels that the decision or the probleming clamation, yesterday is saying that we might want to join n.a.t.o. the secretary-general is saying if that's what they decide, they are welcome. that was ipp flaming what was a delicate situation. there's a reining back on that. it was interesting that petro porashenko, at this morning's press conference chose not to elaborate on the n.a.t.o. issue. >> thank you simon mcgregor-wood, reporting from brs you wills. a ukranian civilian airliner crashed in southern algeria, ordering to officials. there was a crew of seven aboard the flight, which was travelling to equatorial guinea. there were no survivors. a military coup appears to

be under way in lesotho. soldiers have vouched place headquarters and the prime minister's residents. tensions rose after prime minister tom thabane dissolved parliament to avoid a no confidence vote. this is what he said to al jazeera about the coup. >> i'm talking to you from a venue in south africa. i left yesterday, late. this morning those following mothetjoa metsing were looking for me. what they were going to do, i do not know. i mean to return home as quickly as possible. still ahead - yemen's president is meeting political leaders to discuss talks with the minority shia houthi

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[ male announcer ] tweet an expert and schedule a callback from any device. introducing the xfinity my account app. the top stories on jazz. >> reporter: the highest religious authority in egypt upheld a decision to commute the death sentence of the spiritual leader of the muslim brotherhood. it's the second time the grand mufti cancelled a court-imposed death sentence on mohamed badie. the political process is on track despite reports of a military coup. soldiers in the capital surrounded the police headquarters in lesotho, and the

prime minister's residence. tensions arose after the prime minister dissolved parliament to avoid a no confidence vote. the european union is considering sanctions against russia, after accusing moscow. e.u. leaders are expected to discuss ukrainian requests for military assistance. >> yemen's president is meeting with political leaders to discuss talks with the u.n. houthi community. it follows a meeting on friday calling on the hutus to end hostilities against the government. the latest from happena. >> president hadi has given the go ahead for the negotiating commission to travel and discuss sticking point, which is forming a government and finding a

solution to the issue of subsidies. the government is aware that he had to stop the subsidies. they were fighting into the budget. on the other hand 50% of the population, and they can't afford to pay rising prices of fuel. this could be the last chance given to diplomacy. the president warned if dip loam as i fails, armed forces were ready in an operation against the hutus thousands of libyans rallied in tripoli on friday in what they called a victory, demonstrating the end of fighting. they have called on the rush of the general national congress saying they would recognise the gns from the legislative policy. >> china's top leadership has been meeting in the capital to

decide how hong kong would slebility its new leader. a campaign of civil disobedience was threatened. >> reporter: 17 years since hong kong returned to chinese rule, the deal that made it possible is starting to be threatened. china promised hong kong a high degree of autonomy. the political temperature has been rising since this protest in july. it was organised by pro democracy groups organising a vote with every adult. china says fine, so long as candidates are patriotic and approved beijing. citation say it's not real democracy and warn of scenes like these. >> the chinese government tries

to give us fake democracy and more. they'll come out on the streets of central. that threat to occupy hong kong led to a large protest two weeks ago. it later emerged many of those taking part had been busted, paid and treated to lunch. the protests showed that the mood was hardening. >> we expect serious polarization in the society. although certainly law and order will not be an issue, but we expect a difficult scenario for all parties concerned. >> hong kong's current chief executive is cyleung, chosen by a committee whose members were approved by beijing, that's the kind of election china wants in

2017, and in no mood to compromise. protesters need to keep in their mind when you use demonstrations of protest for the goal of advancing democracy, and rule of law to start with. >> china's government wants to avoid confrontation. it may feel the time has come to remind everyone of who was in charge. >> al jazeera learnt that a group of gangs in el salvador re-established a truce after months of violence. homicide rates dropped by half after the m.s. 13 and the 18 street gang made a pact. that was in 2012. violence broke out in joint enterprise, when the rates the crept up to 9 murders a day. meanwhile tens of thousands who went missing during guatemala's

36 strong war are being remembered on international day. scientists are gearing up are aboriginal people to search for their remains. we have more. >> hoping to shed light on the past, a team of forensic archeologists mark an area for investigations. they were led to a corp field. she says this was the last place she saw her father and brother after soldiers tortured them in 1982. >> translation: we are not sure we'll find the remains, we'll try our best, and look until we locate them, or until we are sure they are not here. 32 years after the bloodiest period of guatemala civil war. clan des type graves like this are being -- clandestine graves are being dug up. it takes the archeologists a

few hours to find human bones and a handful of clothes. maria's tears are of grief and relief, finally able to put her family to rest. locating the grave and removing the bones is the first step. >> here in the city. scientists are analysing the bone sampling, and giving evidence for criminal trials. >> here dozens of young guatemalas are using tools to identify victims from the country's 36-year civil war. bones are document before being hammered into fragments and ground into a fine powder. from here the powder is pud through a series of steps in order to extract d.n.a. >> the work is crucial. because it has gotten a lot of

families to come forward. and allowing us to identify people we would not within able to identify. >> whether providing evidence to bring military many to trial. forensic science has taken route in guatemala iing . digging up the past may be the best way to move into the future. >> the venice festival may be full of glamour, but it is also full of war. conflict is the main topic. >> reporter: was this genocide, some say yes. tuckey said no. the deaths of armenians at the hands of the ottoman authorities is brought to the screen, almost 100 years lair. this is film based on real ept.

it's strong. death, war and displacement big at the biennale, movies like "the look of silence" sh about mass killings in indonesia, bringing stark reality. this place could not be further away from the war zone. they were very much on the minds here. 20 films competing for the golden lion, a quarter is about conflict. no matter how painful, they are stories that must be told. >> we are here in a time where unspeakable atrocities were taking place. they were frightening moments. it's understandable that film-makers are, as artists are

trying to help us face the truths. >> the good kill brings things back to the recent day, a story of a u.s. drone operator. world war ii is tackled, and fire on the frame. the feeling here is that cinema has a responsibility to make man learn from his mistakes. >> the purpose of hart is to invite us to face the truth. we seem ib capable of learning, we seem as a species to unheed the message of never again to us or anybody. >> the war in algeria is told through the eyes of a teacher. movies with fighting running through them. but told from the human side, the consequences of killing. how do you ask a man why he

ordered your brother to be murdered. a question few of us would have to ask. a question cinema asks, regardless of how painful the answer may be. sh terror threat dash - the u.s. tries to disrupt i.s.i.s. as britain goes on high alert. leaders of the european union consider further sanctions against russia as troops move further into ukraine. >> the car almost flipped over. >> a wild ride for five children after an alleged car jacker jumps in the