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tv   News  Al Jazeera  September 10, 2014 12:00pm-12:31pm EDT

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determined to defeat the islamic state group, john kerry visits iraq, as the u.s. prepares to unveil its strategy. ♪ welcome, the other top stories on al jazeera, a new man on the top of siria's most powerful rebel group. more clashes in yemen as police try to disperse anti-government protesters. at least one is killed. the yes campaign for scottish independence accuses
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the british prime minister of panic, as he flies north to urge scots to vote no. the u.s. secretary of state is in bagdad. where he has met the new prime minister. the meeting comes hours before a live televised speech by president barack obama. john kerry has praised the creation of iraq's new government, but says more must be done to bring stability back to the country and fight the i.s. group fighters. >> obviously the hard work is very far from over. we all know that. in many ways it is just beginning, establishing a government doesn't mean a lot if it is not able to govern effectively or doesn't govern inclusively. and it particularly needs to govern inclusively in order to
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represent the interests of all the iraqi people. >> let's talk to john hendren about this. he is in e-- erbil, how do politicians feel about him being there? >> well, this is a country with a sot of sectarian differences, but one thing many agree on is the u.s. air strike have been helpful, and they will accept a number of partners when it comes to taking on the islamic state. the shiite leader said today that gulf countries should cooperate, but that iraqis should not cooperate with the occupiers, that includes the u.s. and other countries.
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so there are still obstacles. but a number of groups agree that they need to unite in order to fight the islamic state and that's an opportunity the u.s. said they would assist with. >> and those fighting on the ground, what do they want from this? >> reporter: well, the fighters, particularly up here in the kurdish territory, they would like more weapons. tanks, artillery, that sort of thing. and that's a touchy thing, because if you arm one group, other groups are concerned that one day they may end up facing those weapons. but all of the groups in favor of u.s. involvement are looking for things like air strikes, intelligence, special forces training of iraqi troops. those are all things we are likely to see here. john kerry was talking about a kind of brood offer of u.s. assistance here, and assistance from a number of other countries
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involved in helping out there. >> i'm going to leave you there, john, and go over to washington, d.c. to get the view from there. we are waiting on barack obama he is expected to address the nation at 1g, i believe. any idea what he is going to be saying. >> well, i can bring you up to date with what he has been doing ahead of that speech. he called the king of saudi arabia, had a meeting with intelligence chiefs and so on, meanwhile on capitol hill the administration has redoubled efforts to try to get congressional support. as for the speech itself, we keep being told that president obama will explain he understands the complexity of the situation. in that he knows the u.s. simply can't bomb its way out of a
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problem like the islamic state, and understands the need for a coalition, and the need for sun sunni support, the need for an inclusive iraqi government, however, he is going to have to convince some who are wanting to go beyond toughing sound bites and rhetoric that recognizing the complexity isn't just what he does. he has some sort of plan to overcome that complexity, and that he is simply not opening up another chapter in the war on terror that has lead to the rise of these islamic extremist groups like the islamic state. >> i'm sure he is also going to have to convince the american public that this is a good idea to go back into iraq. >> well, it is interesting, we have had a number of polls in the last couple of days, suggesting that the chatter we have had in the media is having some effect. more and more americans feel the
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islamic state is a major threat to the u.s. homeland. we are having administration officials having to come out and say actually it isn't necessarily a threat to the u.s. homeland. that rhetoric has gone a little bit far in this the view of the administration. as far as congress is concerned, many seem to be quite happy, at least the leadership seems to be happy with president obama just bombing and not asking for their approval. there are midterm elections coming up, the democrats don't want to be seen as authorizing another war, and the republicans are quite happy with a more forthright position, and happy for president obama to take responsibility if this turns out to be yet another disaster in the middle east. >> thank you. there have been more clashes in yemen. troops and police are being accused of firing on civilians. hashem ahelbarra has the latest
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from the capitol sana'a. >> reporter: this is where the injured houthi protesters are being treated. >> [ inaudible ] gunshot in different side, lower limbs, upper limbs, chest, abdomen, also there is one days by, gas inhalation toxicity. >> reporter: they say the army and police intentionally opened fire on civilians. >> translator: it was a peaceful demonstration. we were carrying the quran in our hands. and suddenly they opened fire on us. >> reporter: at least 20 protesters were admitted to this hospital. their relatives want justice for what they describe as police brutality. this is where the clashes took place. security forces managed to break up the protest, but they still insist they didn't open fire on
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the demonstrators. >> reporter: this is a camera manor a channel run by the shia houthis. >> translator: there was a fence separating the mro testers and police, but suddenly they opened fire, i started filming, then a soldier shot me in the chest. >> reporter: angry fighters attacked this base. they were planning to join the protesters, but were stopped at this check point. this area could become a front line if fighting between the army and the rebels spreads across the capitol. hashem ahelbarra, al jazeera, sana'a. one of syria's biggest rebel groups say it has picked a new leader. this comes the day after the leader of the group was killed. the new leader, has called on his fighters to stay united.
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>> translator: if one of us is killed, there are a lot of us still there. you are the only and one true men. don't feel despair. meeting allah is the real target. for allah we help the needy and vulnerable, and fight every tie grant until -- tyrant until the last day of our lives. syrian activists say government war planes have dropped bombs on islamic state targets. syrian refugees who have escaped across the border into lebanon are facing threat and intimidation. locals want them to leave because they are scare of an up surge in violence from fighters hiding amongst them.
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>> reporter: this woman walks around the remains of what used to be her home. all we wanted was security she says. the mother of five describes how lebanese men drove by, shot at the camp, through rocks, and threatened more if the refugees didn't pack their things and go away. so they packed their tents, their water tanks, and what little they had and went on the road. >> translator: it's not safe for us anymore. neither amongst the sunnis nor shiite. we have nowhere to go. >> reporter: thousands of refugees are on the run again this time in lebanon. they escapes the violence in syria, looking for safety here. but now they are being ordered to leave by their lebanese hosts. what sparked the backlash is the
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kidnapping of 25 lebanese soldiers and police officers by syrian fighters. it happened after the syrian fighters took control of this lebanese border town for five days. the soldier's families have started a campaign to get them released. here a -- sit-in the capitol. there is growing hostilities towards the refugees with so many lebanese blames the refugees in their country for the increasing sectarian and security tension. there are calls to close the borders. >> translator: we can't tell who is who. if they are refugees or militants hiding amongst them. just like isil. they use them as human shields,
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but then you feel bad for the women and children. it's not their fault. >> reporter: like this man and his seven children. >> translator: i am left with no choice but to go back to syria despite the violence there. it is probably safer there now than here. >> reporter: some lebanese have criticized the recent violence against syrian refugees, they have also appealed for angry lebanese to distinguish between genuine refugees and fighters. >> translator: what are we l guilty with? it's not fair. a criminal is a criminal, but we have nothing to do with these criminals. we just don't. australia's prime minister has met the parents of imprisoned al jazeera journalist peter greste. his parents at tended a national press club event where abbott was speaking. he said he has spoken to the
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egyptian president and will keep up the pressure for his release. peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed have now been detained for 256 days. they are appealing their conviction. al jazeera continues to demand their release. coming up, liberia's defense minister warns ebola is devouring everything in its path. some kenyans are turning electronic waste to profits. i'll tell you how. ♪ >> on the stream, >> children of divorced parents are twice as likely to drop out of high school than their peers. is it time to time to rethink how we're approching the social and legal aspects of divorce. >> the stream, on al jazeera america
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the top stories on al jazeera, u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in bagdad where he has met the new iraqi prime minister, haider al-abadi. he is expected to outline the u.s. strategy for tackling the islamic state group. the entire senior leadership of one of syria's biggest rebel groups has been killed in an unexplained explosion. ah haral-sham have been fighting the government and islamic state group. there is also fighting in yemen that is keeping protesters from reaching the capitol. poroshenko says the eastern regions will remain part of ukraine and is rejecting federalization. and says the ceasefire is
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largely holding. 70% of russian troops have moved from eastern ukraine back across the border. amnesty international says it has evidence of war crimes on both sides of the conflict in ukraine. separatists at the other side have committed war crimes, it says. >> there is indiscriminate shelling from both sides. it is difficult to determine who is responsible for this shelling. we have called for an urgent investigation of all allegations. military commanders in ukraine say at least 200 of their fighters were killed in a devastating defeat. rebels say the real figure is
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500. harry fawcett has been to the region. >> reporter: the sunflowers are withering unharvested in eastern ukraine. in these fields farming gave way to fighting long ago. here lies the grim evidence of how ukrainian forces gaining ground for weeks were suddenly routed in the last days of august. it is clear these vehicles were hit with artillery fire with deadly accuracy. >> reporter: the question now under investigation was this a battle or a war crime? ukraine says it has encircled fighters with guaranteed safe passage only to be picked off by the russian army. a few days later a russian soldier would post this victory snap. only a handful managed to escape on foot in small groups through the fields. from hospital they tell the story of a slaughter. >> translator: we were coming
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out thinking we had a corridor, but it was a trap. there were russian paratroopers waiting for us. >> reporter: there is also suggested shun that their own side broke therms of the deal. >> translator: the russians were waiting for a column of injured soldiers. and had ordered not to fire unless the soldiers did. but then they saw we had tanks at the head. >> reporter: it was the ukrainians who broke the rules of war this man insists. >> translator: they wanted to bring in new troops through this humanitarian corridor. we didn't allow them to do this. >> reporter: whatever the deal, whoever broke it, one fact is inescapab inescapable, there was a vast group of soldiers pinned down by
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sheer force. we have come into the trees behind the burnt out convoy. you can see what appears to be shallow graves dug. if you come around further there is another one, and that one is still covered over. we got quite close to it, the stench of death is unmistakable. it bares the scars of the battle at almost every turn. rebels say as many as 40 civilian deaths of ukrainian shelling. the kind of shelling that amnesty international last week called a war crime. this house belongs to elaine's mother. show and her sister are doing what they can to shore it up. last year this girl lost her mother to alcoholism and now she's going through this. and the nearby shelling of the
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town where she lives with her grandmother. >> translator: we were sitting in our neighborhoods yard, two shells came down. they were grads. >> no, no not grads, they were grenades. >> translator: it was the first time i was scared. it was beyond anything i could imagine. >> reporter: either side can escape blame for what this war is doing to the children of their country. the german parliament has commemorated the beginning of world war ii. the speech by the polish president spoke at the ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of germany's attack on poland. he says it is a miracle that europe has overcome hatred and hostility to poles and germans are working and living together in peace. the british prime minister says he would be heart broken if
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the scots voted to break away from the united kingdom. lawrence lee has more. >> reporter: the british prime minister was here not to kiss babies, but to speak to members of a leading pension fund. the message was insist enth, believe us when we say we care about you deeply. >> i care hugely about this extraordinary country, this united kingdom that we have built today. i would be heart broken if this family of nations that we have put together, and that we have done such amazing things together, if this family of nations was torn apart. >> reporter: outside the camera crews didn't have much to do but look through the windows.
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discount for a second the fact that his dialogue is taking place in an office rather than out on the streets, and this is the financial quarter, a small mirror of the city of london, which so many nationalists blame for causing so many of scotland's problems. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: just down the road at the same time the scottish nationalist leadership was being swamped by cameras. lots of small children here and loyal supporters, and not only scots either. listen to this londoner married to a scot. >> there's no much money in london, it's like a drain. and politicians are just completely drawn by that money. and they don't look elsewhere. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: it wasn't just david cameron trying to tell the scots that they are loved, the national leaders of the other
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two parties fanned out across scotland. moving on to the campaign to control the ebola epidemic, doctors say a student believed to be the first case of the virus in sin gal is improving. but in liberia, which is the hardest hit, with more than 1,200 deaths so far. the situation is just as severe in sierra leone where another doctor has contracted the virus. senegal hasn't recorded any deaths but three patients are being monitored. >> reporter: there is simply no escaping the ebola warnings across west africa. people traveling through freetown international airport in sierra leone are subject to medical checks. over the border in guinea where
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the outbreak first struck, security barriers are being set up around schools. >> translator: this is a war. there won't be a civil war in guinea. that i can guarantee you. but there is a war against ebola. everyone must participate in this battle. >> reporter: but it's liberia that has been hardest hit. it alone accounts for more than half of all cases and fatalities. >> the ebola virus has caused a disruption of the normal functioning of our state. the disease has now reached urban centers including the capitol. it is now spreading like wildfire, devouring everything in its path. >> reporter: the w.h.o. issern wag liberia will likely face many thousands of new infections in the next three weeks.
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the foreign minister has appealed for the international community to lift all travel bans and reopen borders to ease the movement of much-needed supplies. >> we regret that some of our african brothers and sisters are taking action that are disproportionate, vis-a-vis the magnitude of the problem, some of which border on still ma tiezation. >> reporter: this is the worst outbreak of ebola in history. the disease is associated with po poverty. these countries are among the poorest. liberia's leaders say they need help against something that threatens their national existence. for those of you who eyeing the iphone 6 the problem looms what to do with the old phone. many end up in the bin. all sorts of electronic gadgets
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often contain toxic chemicals. but in kenya some have found a way to profit. >> reporter: at the only electronic waste recycling plant in east africa, these employees dismantle, compress and ship the waste, some of which is dangerous to europe. used electronics are one of the fastest growing sources of waste in kenya. there is what is generated locally, and what comes from the west. and that's where the problem lies. the country seems to generate more e-waste than it can safely dispose of. >> a lot of e-waste is [ inaudible ] and because there is no [ inaudible ] it ends up to rivers. so when it goes to the rivers, it -- it pollutes the environment, and this is what you get, they cause like this
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[ inaudible ]. if it is not dispoesed well. >> reporter: kenya produces about 17,000 tons of e-waste every year, but only a fraction gets to this recycling plant. so here in one of the garbage sites in nairobi, collectors try to find what they can. lucy tells me that she is quite lucky to find this computer mother board. it sells at about $5. she has also managed to find some small electronic parts. this is a good day for her. in another neighborhood alex and his friends have found an unlikely way of using the waste by making ornaments with different computer parts. the group creates and sells mostly earrings and key holders. >> we wanted to create that
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awareness that we have use in our society and this is how we're going to deal with it. it's a way to create a culture change. >> reporter: there is no shortage of e-waste in the world, by 2017 it is estimated that 65 miltons will be produced. much of it will end up in africa. in kenya the idea is to safely manage the waste and make money while doing so. nuclear regulators in japan have given approval for two reactors to restart. this power plant is the first to meet new safety practices. put in place after the fukushima disaster. the plant still needs local approval and must pass an on-site testing. passengers in germany have
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once again been stranded by another pilot strike. they want germany's largest airline to maintain 60% of their pay if pilots retire early. it's the third such strike in a week. ♪ >> hi i'm lisa fletcher and you're in the stream. children of divorced parents are twice as likely to drop out of high school than their peers and less likely to go to college. is it time to approach the thinking of legal and social aspects of divorce? not only a generation's view of what's on the surprising alternatives that tying the knot that minimal yules ar