>> hello and welcome to the news hour. we have your top stories. the prime minister tells al jazeera that he intends to return home as soon as possible despite reports of a military coup. u.n. peace keepers are attacked in the golan heights. egypt's highest religious authority reject death sentences given to the group and the gro

group's spiritual leader. sports details coming up later in the program. >> hello, a military coup is underway. the country's prime minister says he intends to return home as soon as possible. he told al jazeera from neighboring south africa that armed men had been hunting for him. soldiers in the capitol had taken over key buildings including the key headquarters. in june there was a no confidence vote. >> they were looking for me. what they were going to do, i do

not know, but i need to return home as quickly as possible. >> would you confirm once again there is a coup happening in your country. >> the definition of a coup. >> okay, what led to this situation prime minister? because you were part of a coalition. the coalition that you were part of has accused you of not respecting what you set out to do. and this was the reason that this situation is happening today, that you didn't respect your engagement. what do you respond to that? those accusations are unfortunate. the problem is that the corruption among ourselves, and i think that if i did not

fulfill that function then i would have to do my job. >> if the problem is about corruption, why did you suspend the parliament? why refuse to reopen the parliament that the deputy prime minister has been asking for? >> the parliament was not suspended by me. it was suspended in agreement of the government. just two days ago they say now with a road map. two other countries have been chosen to move through as quickly as possible.

we are very close to reopening parliament. but when we open parliament we must not repeat the incident that caused it to close in the first place. >> let's find out the latest and bring in tonya page near the border, people you've been speaking to, what are they telling you after this military coup? >> we will our contacts on the ground say that a coup issued by

the military and they were ordered to confiscate weapons, allegedly stock piled by certain elements. possibly one person was called. that option would come and they are not in full control of the military. >> all right, tanya, tanya page reporting for us on the situation in lesoto. u.n. peace keepers have come under attack in the golan

heights by groups fighting in syria. among the force of 1200 troops who monitor the line between the golan heights. jackie, they have come under attack? >> yes, we hear that they did come under attack. they have come under attack by rebels early on saturday. and there were exchanges and they were not going to surrender. they have rules of engagement and instruct ininstructions. there is one group of filipino peace keepers who are under force and siege by rebels. and another group of fijian

peace keepers who are being held hostage by syrian rebels. the u.s. has been in touch, and demanding the return of those abducted peace keepers and also the siege should be lifted to those other peace keepers who are in that area of separation between syria and israeli-held territory, and should be allowed to get on with their job, which is observing and keeping the peace. >> not the first time that the u.n.'s peace keepers monitoring that area that have been captured since the syrian war? >> that's quite correct. there are similar incidents. on each of those incidents the u.n. was able to secure their release, and that's the track

the u.n. is following now. the u.n. has been receiving information by various sources. apparently they have said they are holding the fijians for their own safety because they were operating and in an area which has been the suspect of intense fighting in recent days between syrian government troops and the rebels. but clearly the u.n. is not terribly impressed with this explanation and wants peace keepers freed immediately. >> thank you. seven people have been killed by barrel bombs. it happened in a district of the city. meanwhile, activists say a government offensive to recapture a suburb of damascus where two people were killed in

air raids there. in egypt, the second time that th they have imposed a death sentence. we'll bring you more on this story later in al jazeera. pushing back against what he calls invasion of russia, and president poroshenko says it is a threat to the whole of europe. >> unfortunately, this visit comes in extremely difficult circumstances. despite the consolidated international efforts and the try for peace ukraine now is the subject for foreign military aggression and terror. we have worsening the situation

from the 27th of august and thousands of foreign troops and hundreds foreign tanks on the territory of ukraine with a very high risk not only for the peace and stability for ukraine, but for the whole peace and stability of europe. >> simon mcgregor woowood is where the meeting is taking place. have the e.u. leaders come out with anything in response to what he has to say? >> no, not yet. the words of poroshenko were taken from a press conference along side the commission. there was a lot of talk that ukraine should have territorial sovereignty, and the this act

of aggression as they're calling it. behind the scenes we'll see president poroshenko when he appears before the 28 heads of government is a call for tighter more extensive sanctions. in july sanctions were ramped up, widening sanctions against mr. putins close circle of advisers and friends. the question is whether the european are going to do what they said they would, which is tighten the sanctions if situation escalated, and it certainly has escalated. will they outline tougher sanctions. we're not sure they will. >> when you refer to the

tightening of sanctions what could the e.u. be talking about here? as you said, sanctions have been imposed in the past. >> yes, i think what we might see being put on the table is some out of the box ideas about how to punish the russians. there is a sense that these economic sanctions are causing some pain, but they're not changing the behavior of mr. putin and his government. what we're hear something that more attacks against the presiege and standing, what we assume here they care about. they come out with the russians hosting the world cup. kicking them out of g-20 which has a meeting in the next few months. kicking them out of things that would appeal to putin's own

sense of grandeur on the international stage. of course taking away the world cup from russia is not a decision for the e.u. but if enough european union states died not to play in the world cup, it's things like that. >> reporting from bruce he wills. e.u. leaders are also expected to discuss ukrainian requests for military assistance. pro russian separatists are now in control of the large parts of the east of ukraine including cities around luhansk and donetsk. we have this update. >> reporter: maneuvering in the far southeast corner of ukraine has continued with pace over the

last 24 hours. the defenders of the ukrainian army and volunteer brigade of local residents have been digging new trenches on city limits between the main body of the city and this town has been captured and now occupied by pro russian forces. we haven't seen any russian-marked vehicles or armor ourselves, but we do know and we have spoken to reliable sources that we trust, and there have been movements of large groups of military hardware out of that town heading north further along the ukrainian russian border. as far as action in the air the ukrainian military has issued a statement saturday morning saying that an su 4 jet has been shot down. the pilot apparently ejecting, they didn't give a location for

it and they say it happened on friday morning, taking 24 hours for the news to come out. the ukrainian military said it was a russian anti-aircraft system that brought that jet down. that was specific in the statement. the ukrainians are clearly pointing the fingers at russia and russian backed. >> still ahead on the al jazeera news hour tens of thousands went missing during the 36-year long civil war are being remembered on the international day of disappearance. [ baby crying ] >> people living in gaza now face a new threat: disease. still ahead, chasing the leaders of the fedex cup playoffs in boston.

>> first, seven police officers have been killed and 21 people injured in a suicide attack south of baghdad. it happened in the region 32 kilometers south of the capital. the army gears up for a major offensive. that town has been surrounded by the. >> michael: s i.s. for months. >> reporter: for the town this is not just the front line. it's the last stand. these are local people, farmers and civil servants. not professional soldiers. they've held out 80 days against islamic state fighters just 500 meters away. the town next to sunni villages is now completely surrounded.

>> they had blown up our mosque but we're going to face them because we know them. because we were all from the nearby villages. >> iraqi armor and shia backing the farmers might break the siege but they won't stop the cycle of revenge. if it false to the islamic state group it could spark another civil war. the only way in and out is by helicopter. the town has run out of food and even the wells are running dry. iraq is breaking into pieces. not just regions but towns and tribes and families. they've been scattered by fighting and the fear of the islamic state group. the people of amerli have been taking shelter anywhere they

can. >> 21 people live in this house. in amerli they only have bread and onions left. almost everyone here was lifted by helicopter. layl a and her four children arrived four days ago. >> isis was firing at us. they hit us and the helicopter overturned. they ran carrying the children. when they fixed the helicopter we took off again. >> some of their female relatives have decided to stay in amerli. they say they would rather die than being taken by islamic state fighters. >> my husband has a gun with enough bullets to kill my children one by one and then my wife and then myself. >> her sister killed herself a few weeks ago. her husband was killed in the

fighting, and she said her father was trying to force her to marry one of the islamic state fighters. it's a conservative society where the idea of honor is more important than death. and the name of their small town has already gone down into alleged. al jazeera, baghdad. >> let's get a check on the world weather with richard. richard, if you were to tell us where all the tropical cyclones have gone. >> to be honest, nature is a mist to all of us. let's take a look at the atlantic ocean. there's africa and you can see this development looks as though it could develop into a storm system over the next few days. so far there have been only three hurricanes in the basin. still plenty to go we have got one area across the peninsula

where it will reform. so there are signs that we could see something developing in four or five days time. this is bringing the big surf along california, this is nothing much there at the moment. the bigger picture across the rest of the pacific. normally we would be looking at more typhoons. we have a few major systems over the last few weeks. looking at the pacific. it all looks very disjointed. not much seems to be forming as we look at the charts. nothing more than fires. and good news for most people. but for weather forecasters, a bit disappointing. >> the u.n. is saying more than 43,000 people are missing. and their victims have forced disappearances by armed groups and governments around the world which use that practice that do away with political opponents or

silence disisn' dissent. often they are never released or even heard from again. and once a tactic of military dictators enforces disappearances, it is now used by many states or to fight organized crime. well, this is international day of the victims of disappearances, and we'll be speaking with amnesty international, but first this report from david mercer in the guatemalaen highlands where one community is continuing to look for answers after thousands were disappeared. >> hoping to shed light on the pass, a team of forensic archeologists mark an area for investigation. they were led to this corn field. she said this was the last place she saw her father and brother after soldiers tortured and

killed them in 1982. >> we're not sure we'll find their remains but we'll try our very best, and we'll keep looking until we locate them. or until we're sure they're not here. >> 32 years after the bloodiest period of guatemala civil war, graves like this are still being dug up across the country. today it only takes the archaeologists a few hours to find human bones. and a handful of clothes. maria's tears are a mixture of grief and relief of finally putting her family to rest. removing the bones is only the first step. >> it is far from the mountain villages where the massacres took place. they'll analyze the bone samples and give evidence in criminal trials 1234 here they're using cutting edge tools to identify

victims from the country's 36-year civil war. homes are documented before being hammered into fragments and eventually ground into a fine powder. from here the powder is put through a few steps in order to extract the dna. it's a lengthy process but one that is yielding results. >> this work has become crucial because what it has done is has given familie gotten families to come forward and tell the stories that need to be told. >> reporter: whether it helps to bring men to trial or helping families find closure, forensic science is digging roots in guatemala. >> so it's international day of

the victims of enforcement disappearances. joining us live from london, good to have you on al jazeera. would you say that the disappearances are on the rise? and if so, why is that? >> you can't base a specific figure that it's on the rise or on the wane. they're really known as a legacy of the 1970's and 1980's in latin america. the forced disappearances. when someone is forced to disappear their family doesn't know where they are. they don't know if they're alive or dead, and the government who has disappeared them is given a blank check to do whatever they want with them. often it's the case of torture, ill treatment or execution. and it's torment for the families who have no idea what

has become of their love ones. >> speaking of the families of these victims. what kind of support is available to them? >> it's difficult. in many countries you hear of cases of families reporting of their disappeared relatives to the authorities and they get zero response. they don't have an knowledgement that the person has been abducted. they don't know where they are, they can even expose themselves to actually be at risk themselves if they report a member. it's difficult to know how many there are, and what cases they put forward. >> is it possible to say which countries over the past couple of years have had the highest rate of disappearances? >> we've got a case where they've greed that thousand people have disappeared in

mexico. we documented since 2012 in bangladesh the case of 20 disappearances nine of which have been found dead but activists on the ground in bangladesh tell us the numbers are much higher. at the moment, what is happening in syria where thousands have been arrested since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. >> this u.n. convention for the protection of all persons in forced disappearances. what has it done? has helped to prevent people from disappearing? >> obviously we want countries to sign up to that convention. but even signing up is not enough. in nepal thousands of people have gon disappeared, and you still need investigation in those disappearances.

but there needs to be investigations to take for the people who are relatives of those who have disappeared. >> thank you very much from london. well in new york affordable housing is extremely hard to come by, and now the city is giving tax incentives to new developers who offer units so lower income tenants, but critics say it's lead to go a new form of segregation. >> this two bedroom apartment with a few goes to $5,000 a month. but thanks to the tax incentive the owners of the complex has set aside a section of the building for low- to moderat moderate-income tenants. >> this is subsidized housing. this was a great break for me at a time when i needed it. >> reporter: but some say the

lower income tenants are being treated like second-class citizens. here and at a new building under construction on manhattan's west side which will have a separate entrance for the cheaper units. critics have labeled it the poor door. >> growing up on the west side. we always had one door for both. >> reporter: brewer and housing activists are working to prohibit separate entrances. they say everyone from tenants to developers benefits from mixed income buildings. >> these developments are built so the developer makes more money than if they build without the affordable component. the developer gets real generous zoning and tax abatements to build these kinds of buildings. >> while the corridor has outraged others. there is a huge demand for affordable housing in this city

with some 50,000 people living in homeless shelters and a third of new york representers paying half of their income for housing. some beneficiaries of the deal don't mind the separate entran entrance. >> if pool buy their apartment here, they're entitled to the facilities. i didn't buy this apartment. it's a gift from god or the city. it's fine. >> reporter: others say that taxpayers should not have discrimination. >> welcoming more than 3,000 fleeing the conflict. >> i'm at the venice film festival. where there is talk of war and it's dominating the competition. find out why. >> and the nfl gets tough on

domestic violence. robin is standing by with the details later in sports.

>> hello again. the top stories. prime minister has told al jazeera that the political process is on track despite a military coup. soldiers in the capitol have surrounded the police headquarters and the prime ministers' residents. >> an earlier decision to commute the death sentence of the spiritual leader of the

muslim brotherhood. it's the second time that they have rejected a court-imposed death sentence. u.n. peace keepers have come under attack in the golan heights. among the force of 1200 troops who monitor the line between the israeli-occupied area and syrian-held area of the golan heights. more on syria now and the refugee crisis called by the country's civil war. argentina has one of the largest well established syrian communities in latin mar america. we have reports from buenos aires. >> many of the first

>> why would they be occupying the police headquarters, and why would he be in south africa? >> this is not unique.

>> is it normal that they would issue a statement? >> they have issued the statement and that is the army operations, i'm not the prime minister. they changed the prime minister to the minister of the army. >> we will certainly be trying to do that. >> some people are saying

they're behind the coup. >> that is not true. this is not a coup. the prime minister, if there is a coup that has taken place. >> the word coup is being used by your prime minister. so let me ask you then-- >> which is unfortunate. >> do you condemn what is happening in the country? >> to me they have been given the reasons why they're doing that. they have given an end that has something to do with the

security of the country. there has been a rally in march. intending to have a march on monday, and that was stopped due to security reasons. that is the reasons given now with regard to security issues. that's where they have taken the operation. but they have not yet changed the feds now for me to say this is the position of government in this matter. >> we'll leave it there. thank you very much for talking to al jazeera. that's the department prime minister. thank you. >> three al jazeera journalists have spent 245 days in an egyptian prison. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste are falsely

accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. in june they were given seven years sentences. bader had received an extra three years because he had a spent bullet in his possession which he picked up at a protest. lawyers for the three men have filed appeals against their convictions. al jazeera network continues to demand their immediate release. the u.n. is warning of a looming health crisis in gaza. doctors say urgent action is needed to prevent the spread of water-born diseases. >> the three-year-old is not well. his father tries to soothe his skin after small blisters appeared around a week ago. since then he has had a high temperatures and vomits after most meals. he tells me that he's worried. >> we've been sheltering for

weeks. every is sick and he's only getting worse. >> they check and diagnose him with scabies and a high fever. [ baby crying ] doctor hashal has seen doctors with the same symptoms. he said shortage of water with weeks of heavy fighting has made it that people are unable to bathe. the people here are suffering from diseases an diseases. >> so the situation is really bad. there are only two baths in this

school. >> the conditions here no doubt are serious, but many fear if this situation doesn't improve people will be vulnerable to even more deadly diseases like dissen teatary. >> reporter: with water systems damaged or completely destroyed by israeli strikes, long term health implications could be in their words catastrophic. al jazeera, gaza. >> well, there's new hope in the fight against ebola. trials of a new drug have proved successful on monkeys. following news that senegal has become the latest country in west africa to be hit by the ebola outbreak. a student in guinea arrived carrying the virus.

>> a student from guinea came to the hospital infected. without hemorrhaging but hiding that they had been in contact with victims during the disease. he had been put in quarantine and given appropriate care. at this time the patient is in stable continue. >> reporter: health authorities have made a public call asking anyone who is living in this neighbor who have come in contact with his family. come forward, and get tested with the ebola virus. more than a sense of fear there is a sense of outrage. why did the young man lie to doctors? why did he live for weeks in a densely-populated area of this city, putting so many people at risk. the neighborhood in which he was living in is a densely populated

area, a place where there are lots of floods, a place that doctors say is breeding ground for diseases and virus. now health authorities have gone out there and disinfected the best they can the house where he was living in and the area around it. their main concern is to keep the population calm and ensure there is no tension between the large guinean population and the population at large. >> still ahead, robin is standing by with a sports update and a tough day for the manchester united boss. details coming up in just a moment.

>> hello again, the venice film festival may be filled with glamour but it's also filled with war. there are five films competing for the main prize. >> was this genocide? some say yes. turkey has always said no. regardless the deaths of armenians at the hands of the ottoman authorities brought to the screen almost 500 years later. this is a film based on real events, and it is strong. death, war, and displacement all big a this yore. movies like the look of silence. mass killings of indonesia

bringing a stark dose of reality and sadness in glamorous escapism and smiles. >> this place could not be further away from the war zone yet the horse of conflict is very much on the mind here. war is the dominant theme of the 20 films meeting fo competing for the top prize, five of them are about war and crimes. >> here there are unspeakable atrocities taking place in the middle east, in gaza, in the ukraine, we're in a very frightening moment, and i think it's understandable that filmmakers are as artists, are trying to bring--help us face those truths. >> the good kill brings back to the recent days. dropping bombs on afghanistan.

world war ii is tackled with a look at japan's role. time has passed but conflicts remain and the feeling here is that cinema has a responsibility to make man learn from his mistakes. >> the purpose of art is to force us or seduce us or to face the most painful truths. we seem unable to learn from history. we seem to be unable to heed the message of never again. not the message of never again to us, but never again. >> these are movies with fighting running through them but told through the human side, the consequences of killing. how do you ask a man why you ordered your brother to be murdered. a question few of us would ever have to ask. a question cinema would ask for us regardless of how painful the

answer may be. >> here at the al jazeera news hour. >> manchester united has made a summer signing with the $22.9 million acquisition of dutch international from ajax united. there is that shock for the league from a few days ago. champions manchester city at home at stoke. and qpr will take on sunderland . argentinian side announced a former player as the new head

coach. replacing veteran coach who garnered nine domestic championships. >> followed by women's world number one serena williams as she tries to avoid the fight of four of the top eight seeds. >> friday was a day of upset at flushing meadows. the second of which that was knocked out in the third round. halep knocked out in the third set. and. >> after so many years, this is

incredible. i wanted this so bad, and so many times i would get to the place where i could do it, but then i would want it so bad that i was burned out. i apologize. i'm so happy. >> 6'0" koverber. venice williams was another casualty after losing to sir are a errani. she failed to win a single game in the first set and responded by reeling off six to take the second. she would have a chance to serve in the deciding set but could not finish off her opponent. losing 6-0, 0 0-6, 6-0, 0-6.

in the men's role, roger feder federer's quest for a sixth title in his 15th consecutive appearance at the u.s. open. the bulgarian will play golfe golfan next. al jazeera. >> in response to the outrage of the league handing out a two game sun suspension. >> it was outrage in the united states. carrying an unconscious fiancé out allegedly beating her. the baltimore ravens' running

back has been handed a two-game suspension by nfl commissioner roger goodell sparking outrage from the public and domestic violence support groups. >> what came out of the nfl today is extraordinary in terms of its leadership, it's decisiveness and commitment to really make a difference on this issue. >> in response to that public anger goodell released a new nfl policy aiming to deal with domestic violence. it calls for a six-game suspension for first offense and indefinite ban from the league if it happens again. a second time offender may petition for reinstatement after one year, but there is no assurance it will be granted. perhaps the most telling of the new policy is that it applies to all nfl personnel. but critics argue there are bigger issues at play. >> roger goodell can do nothing about the fact that the game

consists of big men who bash each other's heads together. and women's role is basically cheerleader. there is not way you're going to fundamentally undo that. if this story teach us anything. it's the fans who will have to take the charge morally. >> goodell admits his handling of the rice case led the public to question our sincere hety, our commitment, and whether we understand. the policy is not retroactive. everyone starts with a clean record. >> the nfl should take a hard look at some of the gray areas in guys--guys are starting from the slate right now? how will this impact how many games they will be suspended? i think there is a mitigating factor aspect of it.

if you'rif you hit a pregnant woman. if you hit a woman in front of her children, the factors may increase beyond six games. the nfl will look at some of these other factors in their decision moving forward. >> the new policy is effective immediately. al jazeera. >> the 49ers linebacker alvin smith mass been suspended. he won't be able to play again until november 12th. he will serve three years probation after drunk driving and weapons charge last month. returning to the track since he hit and killed a fellow driver. it's been three races since the killing of kevin ward jr. authorities said they found no evidence of criminal behavior by

stewart. the next race will be in atlanta on sunday. >> this has been one of the toughest tragedies i've ever had to deal with. this is something that will effect my life forever. this is a sadness and pain i hope no one ever has to experience in their life. that being said i know that the pain and the mourning that kevin ward's family and friends are experiencing is something that i can't possibly imagine. >> that's it for now. we'll have plenty more later. thank you for watching. >> thank you very much, robin. that's coming to the end of the al jazeera news hour for our viewers in the united states. back to your regular programming next on al jazeera america. for international viewers we have much more news coming your way with stephen cole, who will be here in just a moment.

stay tune. >> on the stream, >> are ivy league schools turning our kids into zombies? an ex yale professor thinks so, find out why he says kids are afraid of risk. on the stream >> the stream on al jazeera america >> hundreds of days in detention. >> al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. >> thousands calling for their freedom. >> it's a clear violation of their human rights. >> we have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. >> journalism is not a crime.

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