>> the international criminal court drops charges against kenya's president. ♪ hello, this is al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead, barack obama picks former pentagon official ashton carter to be the next u.s. defense secretary. a pitiful response to a refugee crisis amnesty international accuses the world of abandoning syria's most vulnerable people. >> one and lift off at dawn, the

dawn of orion. >> reporter: and we have liftoff. nasa launches a rocket that could one day take us all the way to mars. ♪ the case against the kenyan president for crimes against humanity have collapsed. all charges against him have been dropped. he was accused of orchestrating post-election violence in which over 1200 people died in 2007 and 2008. prosecutors were unable to collect enough evidence against him to take the case to trial. violen violence broke out in 2007 in kenya days after the presidential election results were announced. in 2009 icc prosecutored opened

a request to open an investigation into the killings, and two years later charges were brought against six people, including the president, and the current deputy president. but in december of 2013, the prosecution requested a three-month postponement due to a lack of evidence. in october, they requested an indefinite adjournment, and now the international criminal court has decided to drop the case against the president. we'll have more on the story including reaction out of nairobi when we speak to our reporter katherine soy, who is on the ground for us. u.s. president barack obama is set to announce ashton carter as his choice for defense secretary. if confirmed by the senate, this

would be the fourth man in the top defense job in six years. live to kimberly in washington for us. kimberly there have been several high-profile candidates for this job. tell us more about obama's pick. >> well, it is a pick that is expected to be confirmed rather easily. because ashton carter is a person that is well-known and well liked at the pentagon, we're told. he comes from an academic perspective. he is a physicist in fact, and a rhodes scholar, so he brings a lot of that academic wealth to the approach, and he is seen as somebody who is very personable. he really has been up until 2013 when he left the man that was running the day-to-day operations at the pentagon as the deputy defense secretary. so his fingerprints are really all over the recent decisions that we have seen in many years.

he is seen as a sharp contrast to chuck hagel, of course who resigned under pressure very recently, and we also know that he did work very closely with robert gates. in fact he was a chief weapons buyer under gates. >> if confirmed he'll be the fourth defense secretary, kimberly, in six years. what sort of challenges lie ahead for him. >> the big challenges right off of the top will be afghanistan and iraq. with respect to afghanistan it will be with the u.s. draw down there. is there a need to slow down that draw down when it comes to iraq? and of course does the u.s. need to do more with respect to helping the iraqis combat isil. so those will be issues of top priority, but in national security circle, ashton carter is viewed as somebody who is a little bit right of president obama, and really feels that the

u.s. should do more and use and exert its power more with respect to national security issues, and as a result he really subscribes to preventative diplomasy, and also he is said to be someone who advocates very strongly for fresh thinking at the pentagon. we'll have to see if confirmed if he is the one that can pull that off. >> kimberly thank you very much. we take you now to nairobi, ken kenya. live to katherine soy. katherine what are people saying about this decision? katherine, can you hear me? >> reporter: i can hear you -- i'm having a problem with my ear piece.

if you asked if this was widely expect, the answer is yes. this was widely expected. the chief prosecutor has said many times her case was weak and does not have enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is guilty. joining me to expand this further is tom ality he has been following these cases very closely. it was a very high profile case, and very difficult for the prosecution. what do you think went wrong? >> two key witnesses of the prosecution withdrew. [ inaudible ] told the prosecution earlier are not things they witnessed or been participants of. another key witness said he no longer wants to testify. and the prosecution was unable to persuade that particular witness to testify. and related to that is the fact that the prosecution seems to

have been -- almost playing catchup as the case evolved. because the judges in several decisions have noted that the prosecution has performed below par. >> reporter: and tom what will be the impact of this decision by the prosecution? what will be the impact to the prosecution, the impact to icc, to kenya as well. >> i think the biggest impact will be to the prosecution. they are going to suffer the most in terms of negative criticism. in terms of questions around did they do enough? the judges themselves have asked those questions several times. in kenya, of course, the president and his supporters are going to be -- [ inaudible ] -- something they have been asking for, something that they have been arguing [ inaudible ] saying this case has been pending a long time ago. there is no reason for it to even get to this stage. >> reporter: thank you very

much, tom. and let me just tell you, the president has just issued a statement, saying that he is excited and relieved of the news. he said that he has maintained his innocence all along. the president said the cases were rushed without proper investigations, that human rights organizations and the icc conspired to portray victims of human rights violations. and he said the tragedy of this travesty is beyond words. >> thank you very much, katherine soy, there. now the world stands accused of abandoning syria's most vulnerable people. nearly 4 million syrians are now living as refugees. most in turkey, lebanon and jordan. the human rights group, amnesty

international says the response from some richer countries is pitiful. 380,000 people are in need of settlement. it says that not a single syrian has been vetteled in the six arab gulf countries even though they are some of the richest in the world. in europe, britain has just admitted about a hundred people. germany has accepted the most, followed by sweden. finland and france have resettled 500 refugees each. now i spoke to amnesty international representative a little earlier, and he explained the reasons why he believes vulnerable syrians are being left out in the cold. >> it has been clear for a long time, that syrian's neighbors will not be able to cope with

that number of refugees, but unfortunately people are living in extremely difficult circumstances in places like lebanon, jordan, and turkey. and all of the countries around the world have only pledged to take in 60,000 people. and this hasn't happened. they just said they will take them. >> what are the reasons for them not taking them in? >> you know, the only thing i can think of, it's apathy. it's for everyone to see -- we here worldly how they standing with syrians, and how we should support syrian refugees and syrian shriv-- civilians, but i only talk. if we look at the european yuan

-- union, if we exclude germany, all of the others combined have pledged to only take 6,000 people. >> the gulf states, which include some of the world's wealthiest countries, and some of which are have directly supported the syrian opposition, financially, have not offered to take in a single refugee from syria. why is this? this is quite surprising isn't it? >> absolutely, and we would expected they are close to the region, they have many historical ties with syria. there's a common language, and common religion for many people, but despite that they have not taken a single person. some of them are giving money. [ inaudible ] has given lots of money for the humanitarian assistance, others not so much. but it's not enough. just money will not solve it. there are people who have

survived torture, rape, unaccompanied children, elderly people who need a place that can provide them with health care, education, and decent housing. >> so a shortfall in the number of placements, is that there's a funding crisis now when it comes to food aid. so which is the most urgent right now in your view? is it realistic to address the issues of resettlement when the current refugee camps don't even have food. >> turkey has spent $4 billion of its own money to look after syrian refugees. it has taken more than 1.5 million people. you can't do both. and it is very important to do both. yes, the money is needed. that's absolutely needed. the food crisis has to be solved immediately. but that is not enough. you also need to take think

people who are vulnerable and who are not able to find adequate protection in neighboring countries. germany is taking half of the number of people that -- you know, half of number of resettlement places in the whole world is going to germany. >> some of those leaving syria are trying to enter europe illegally on foot. dominic kane reports some migrants are using railway lines to get across the country with tragic results. >> reporter: the morning train leaves. it should take around 2.5 hours to get to its destination. but the driver cannot always travel at full speed. often he has to slow down because of migrants on the tracks. >> translator: when you notice a group of people a hundred meters

away, the only thing left to do is to blow the train whistle and pray. i don't have a lot of time to react to stuff. >> reporter: the people risking their lives here, have already risked much on their journey. they come from afghanistan, syria, and some african countries. they have walked to macedonia from greece on their way to serbia and then western europe. in this footage a migrant has taken refuge in a tunnel. at night he is very difficult to see. while here, another is hanging from a bridge to avoid the oncoming train he has only just spotted. >> translator: it's really sad to watch these people. they are exhausted. even when i warn them with the whistle, they cannot move off of the tracks. that's how tired they are. it causes real problems for us. it's very stressful for us.

>> reporter: but the stress for the migrants is even worse. they have been walking for days. and have already been sent back to serbia three times. one man asked for his face not to be shown, because he used to work in afghanistan for a firm from the united states. >> the taliban two time, not one, two, three times they give me warning. after that they attacked my car, and also set a small bomb in my home. >> reporter: this girl is just four years old. she and her father have prepared food for the journey to germany. her mother is waiting there. one of many people who have already walked this long and arduous route. still ahead on al jazeera, we mark 100 years since the adventures in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. ♪

welcome back, the top stories on al jazeera. the case against kenyan president has collapsed. all charges against him have been dropped. he says he is relieved at the outcome. u.s. president barack obama has picked former pentagon official ashton carter to be his next defense secretary. if confirmed he would be the fourth man in the top defense job in six years. and amnesty international

says 360,000 syrians are in need of settlement, but nobody will take them in. now it may be late, but it's up. >> two, one, and liftoff at dawn. the dawn of orion. >> and after a series of delays due to poor weather, the orion rocket has finally launched from cape canaveral in florida. andy a successful launch? >> reporter: a perfect launch. actually we're about halfway through the mission. i'm looking over at the mission clock, we're 2:15 into it. the orion capsule is somebody like 6,000 kilometers above the earth. and it's going well engineers have been saying time and time again, that this has been

textbook so far. so a great start for nasa and the orion program. this is an unmanned test mission. and eventually it's hoped four astronauts will climb aboard this capsule and go out to near-earth asteroids. so there is a feeling here that nasa is entering a whole new era. >> so, you know, the question that many people are asking, andy now, is when will actually a man be sent to mars? when will this happen? >> reporter: well that is a key question, but this is a long process, safety is a top priority. we have never been this deep into space before as human beings, so it is a few years before we'll see those astronauts get on board. so it's a long process, and basically this is just a stress test, there's something like

1200 sensors on board today, engineers will be taking in information every second of this launch. it will be tested for radiation, and the heat shields will be super heated as it comes down in a couple of hour's time and slashes into the pacific ocean, but so far, so good. >> thank you so much, andy. andy gallagher live for us in cape canaveral, florida. hundreds of people are taking part in protests in egypt. people came out on to the streets after friday prayers. now local egyptian channel has aired an audio recording they say is of a top military commander. the leaks are said to be from the office of sisi who was defense minister at the time.

>> reporter: a pro-muslim brotherhood tv channel has broadcast what it says are leaked recordings from top military aids. the aids can be heard discussing forged evidence, the proceedings against ousted president morsi. the tv channel maintains that their recordings reveal a number of generals discussing ways to deceive the public and court over the whereabouts of morsi. he was being detained by the army in july 2013. he was being held at a secret military location, and that made the generals nervous. a man said to be the military's legal advisor explains what is at stake for sisi. >> translator: he will appeal

against his detention, and his detention will be considered illegal, and then he will be released. >> reporter: in a second recording, the same advisor tells egypt's navy commander what needs to be done. >> translator: we have to be ready for the worst-case scenario, otherwise this case will fall apart, the spying and the [ inaudible ] will be undermined. the place morsi was detained from july 3rd, until he was sent to prison will be proven illegal. this will undermine all of the cases against him. >> reporter: the egyptian military and the presidency has v not commented on the recordings, but they have accused the muslim brotherhood of spreading fabricated news, and staging recordings to destabilize the state. they were broadcast just days after a criminal court in cairo through out the case against the

deposed president mubarak. he had been accused of being complicit in the deaths of more than 800 protesters in the revolution of january 25th. egypt's prosecutor general has accused the muslim brotherhood of fabricating the audio leaks. the family of an american journalist held hostage in yemen has released a video pleading with his captors. >> please show mercy and give us an opportunity to see our luke again. >> reporter: luke summer's brother and mother say they have no knowledge of a recent attempt by u.s. special forces to rescue him. he was kidnapped in september last year in yemen's capitol. a activist sentenced to three years in president for tearing up a picture of the king has told al jazeera that she is ready to go to jail.

she was given the option of paying a fine to remain at liberty until her appeal. now to indian administers kashmir where there are reports of several attacks at an election rally. the latest follows an early morning attack on an indian artillery attack. eight soldiers, three policemen, and one civilian have died so far. here is our update from new delhi. >> reporter: it has been a bloody day here. it started at 3:30 this morning when a group of gunmen stormed into a military camp in a village. this village is very close to the line of control between india and pakistan. a fire fight lasted several hours. by the end of it, police confirmed that at least eight indian soldiers had been killed, three -- as well as three police

officers, and several of the gunmen. several attacks followed after this initial incident. there was a fire fight between gunmen and police officers on the outskirts of the state capitol, and a grenade was always thrown into a crowded public place after an election rally in the south. it's a highly sensitive time for the state. it's right in the middle of state elections. five phases of elections, two of which have already been completed. security analysts say that separatists groups are perhaps trying to destabilize security to put voters off from coming out and voting. in the first two phases we saw a turnout of 70%. lots of paramilitary troops have been deployed in the lead up to these elections.

however, the question now is will they be able to keep voters safe as the elections continue. >> 100 years ago, earnest stack lton set out on a journey that was one of the greatest in history. >> one of the most inhospitable places on earth. 100 years ago, one of the greatest survival stories of all time began, when the explorer set off on a perilous journey which nearly cost him and his team their lives. he left south georgia in the atlantic, and it would be more than 500 days before they would see land again. this was at a time when competition between explorers was fierce. in early 1915, the ship became trapped on the ice forcing him and his crew to abandon it. they waited five months for the ice to melt sufficiently, so

they would launch small lifeboats into the icy ocean. then they sailed more than a thousand kilometers to safety, and raise the alarm about the men left behind. miraculously no one died. now the antarctic remains a great signifier about the health of the planet, drawing hundreds of scientists every year. >> a scientist explains why his expedition was so inspiring. >> i think it's because of the incredible story of survival against almost inhuman odds, continuously for months on end, and then to finally make a boat journey, which has probably never been repeated in its difficulty, and risk from a little island across to south georgia, and then having done that, to pioneer a new route

across the island from one side to the other, to raise the alarm, is just a story which has no parallel. now footage has been released of the moment a yacht talking part in a round the world race hit a reef in the indian ocean. the 65-foot yacht smashed into the reef, tearing a huge hole in the hull, and leaving the crew stranded. >> five hours, we're on the reef, the bow section is fine. the aft -- can't quite say it's the same. what you just heard was a bit of cracking, behind the bulk head doors behind me, there is zero boat left. >> reporter: the australian skipper told the crew to abandon

the boat despite the coast guard telling them they were in shark-infested water. they were stranded for three days before being rescued. there's plenty more news of course on our website, aljazeera.com. four officers pounce odd eric garn neve garner for resist a grand jury found no reason to indict. michael brown was shot after an encounter with a missouri police officer that began with an argument. are police train today lower the temperature or raise it. it's "inside story." ♪ ♪