sparked a national debate. >> brittany didn't wan't to die the brain tumor was killing her, she simply took control over how that process would go. >> now see what her husband is doing to keep his promise to change "right to die" laws nationwide. america tonight only on al jazeera america. 27 people are killed after the syrian government uses improvised weapons in the rebel-held city of due douma. you are watching al jazerra live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up. protests in hong kong as politicians debate how the city's next leader should be elected. >> the only thing that really count is have we stopped the boats and the answer a resounding yes. >> australia's prime minister evades questions over a bribery scandal despite growing evidence. and we'll tell you why

surrendering to your sweet tooth may not be so bad for you after all. ♪ ♪ hello, we begin in syria where the government forces are being accused of using improvised weapons against civilians. at least 27 people have been killed in a so-called elephant rocket attack in douma. that's on the outskirts of the capital damascus. president bashar al-assad's regime has already been condemned for using barrel bombs bombs and chlorine gas on saville cells. just a warning that you may find some of the images in the report disturbing. >> reporter: it's a desperate scramble to rescue a brother and sister trapped in the rubble i've building destroyed in dual arm the rebel strong hold has been under attack byes loyal to assailed for the last three years, his palace in duh damascus is only 12-kilometer as way this time assad's forces used

elephant rockets named after the distinctive face they make when they launched the weapon is made by attacking rocket motors to much larger bombs increasing its destructive effect. the effects on people are clear in the local hospital where children are among the wounded. across the world john kerry summed up what he thinks of the attacks. >> i think everybody's patience is wearing thin with respect to the extraordinary depravity of the weaponry and mechanisms for delivery which assad has used against his own people. >> reporter: the question is what can be done to stop suffering from attacks like this? and from the continued use of chemical weapons despite a u.n.-backed deal to get rid of the government's to be stockpile would years ago.

medical doctors are going to give evidence wednesday that shows assad is using chlorine on civilians the u.s. ambassador to the unites nations says they are considering another restless lining to stop it. >> to make it clear to the world that just because chlorine say household product doesn't headache it not a chemical weapon in when it is put in a barrel bomb and drop odd civilians. >> reporter: at the same time, the u.n. envoy to syria is in damascus meeting assad. he is there to try to push if a political solution to end the conflict. he also urged assad to stop hitting civilians. since 2011, human rights groups have do you wanted 230,000 deaths in syria. half of those are people not involved in the fighting. victims such as those in the attack on douma. this time there were shouts of joy as a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a building blown up by assad's air force. while underneath her brother could still be heard calling for

help. caroline malone, al jazerra. >> as we mentioned syrian doctors will be testifying in front of the u.s. congress on wednesday and here is what one of the doctors had to say. >> translator: poisonous gases mostly chlorine are being used regularly and systematically. and the aim is not to kill because barrel bombs and war planes kill a much larger number. the aim is to drive people living in the opposition areas out of their neighborhoods the assad forces are always repeating and write on this walls it is assad or no one assad or we incinerate the country. >> meanwhile more than 20,000 syrian refugees have fled to turk any the past few weeks as kurdish forces captured a town in isil. syrian kurdish forces control 400 clem teres on the turkey-syrian border some syrian rebels are accusing the kurds of forcing out arabs and turk men. isil fighters have killed five policemen near iraq's

biggest oil refinery. they carried out the assault west of beiji as control over that refinery continues it's changed hands several times already. u.n. negotiators are urging direct talks to end the conflict in yemen. all sides are meeting in gentleman neave actual but they are negotiating through mediators high on the agenda is an immediate ceasefire. >> reporter: the are the houthis and allies of the deposed president saleh. they are in geneva for crucial talks aimed at stopping violence in em yemen the united nations has called on all the parties to agree on a two-week humanitarian truce. >> the fighting on the ground is an issue think but the biggest problem is the saudi-led air strikes the different sides can agree on a ceasefire but we want the u.n. and international community to put pressure on the saudis to stop the air strikes. >> reporter: the houthis and

forces loyal to saleh have the upper hand on the ground in certain areas. they have recently taken new areas on the border with saudi arabia. >> translator: yemen has been destroyed by all sorts of weapons. children and the elderly have been killed. this is why we want the war to stop and the blockade to be lift the. people are starve. there is no medicine, no fuel and no food. >> reporter: the ongoing fighting raising more questions instability. they have been fighting al qaeda for many years says the u.s., now it's concerned al qaeda might take advantage of the ongoing political divisions to he can pants across the country. the u.n. has been working for weeks to bring yemen's warring faction to his start political talks, for now the chance that

the government and the houthis will feet face-to-face are unlikely they remain largely divided over the future of yemen. >> let's cross over to yemen and get the latest on what is going on there. and how likely it is we'll see any sort of agreement coming out of the meetings. >> reporter: doreen, the chances for a break through here in geneva are slim because of the huge differences between the two parties. the houthi say they are willing to negotiate a settlement and a ceasefire, that they are willing to talk face-to-face with representatives from the government and the different political parties. but the government says this is not the point. the point is that the houthis have controlled areas in yemen using force and she would residential areas. they have to put an end to the fighting. put out and recognize that hadi is yemen's sole legitimate president. this is the issue you, this is why the international community

is trying to convince the party to his come to an agreement. but they know this is going to take some time. >> representatives from the saudi-led coalition as i understand it are not directly involved in the talks going on in geneva. right now. what if any is their role in the talks when one of the conditions being set is for an immediate ceasefire? >> reporter: they met with the unites nations secretary general ban ki-moon here in the talks in gentleman neave actual the president and they are talking with the different parties. just to give you an idea. saudi arabia, for example which backs the government of hadi says that for the air strikes to come to an end the houthis have to observe the resolution to 216, so you are talking about regional powers, international powers with different approaches to how to solve the crisis in generally. and the general understanding among the international community, particularly the

americans and the united nations is when we have some sort of agreement, where the iranians are on board, the saudis are on board because they have extremely huge influence in yemen, therefore we can convince all of the parties to move forward. but the biggest problem doreen that you have as we speak now is the trust deficit between the different parties on the ground in yemen. the houthis feel confident that they have the upper hand in different areas from sanaa. the government is losing ground in different parts of yemen and therefore insist their only chance is more international momentum pushing for an end to say lens andviolence and instability in yep glen thank you for the update in geneva. security stepped up in hong kong as legislators are debating a plan that could allow voter to elect. all top candidates have to be approved by china first this

had led to mass protests last year with action have a tests camping out on major streets. in march 2012, the city's third chief executive was elected by a panel of 1200 business men and politicians. unhappy at having no say over who runs their city, 10s of thousands of protesters took to the streets last july. in august beijing said it would allow direct he lexeses but only candidates they approved could be on the ballot lead to go more protests and demonstrators held out for about three months before riot police moved in. adrian brown has this update from hong kong. >> reporter: it's hot humid and very loud in this corner of hong kong. behind me some of the rival groups in this debate. these are the people that support china's proposal to extend democracy in hong kong. in essence they agree that hong kong can choose its next chief executive in 2017 by universal

sovereignty as long as there are no more than two or three candidates and those candidates are vetted by a special committee. the pro-democracy camp says that amounts to fake democracy which is why they will be voting against it. at the moment, the government needs 2/3 of legislators to support that resolution for it to pass, at the moment that seems unlikely. the scene here really is a reminder of just how polarized hong kong remains remember it's only nine months since thousands of student demonstrators were occupying not just this area but the center of hong kong itself. of course the quell now is could it happen all again. south korea has reported one new death and eight new cases of mers the middle east respiratory syndrome and that brings the total number of case to his 162. four are at a hospital at the center of the outbreak. and that's raising questions over the government's ability to contain the disease that killed

20 people in less than a month. you are with al jazerra. and still to come on the program, how the internet is being used as a weapon with tangible effect on the ground in syria. plus rushing in to retirement as the clock ticked for greece to reach a deal over its debt. workers are cashing in on pensions while they can.

the headlines on al jazerra. in syria at least 27 people

killed in a so-called elephant rocket attack by the government in the city of douma. president bashar al-assad's regime has already been condemned for using barrel bombs and chlorine gas on civilians. law makesers in hong kong are debating a controversial electoral plan. if it passes the city will be able to vote for its own leaders but candidates have to be approved by beijing first. the united nation on his calling on all side in yemen's conflict to observe a two-week trues. houthi rebels and the government in exile are a tending the but negotiating through mediators. returning to the conflict in syria and the role of the internet. the government and opposition forces have been engaging in a cyber war. it's having tangible consequence on his ground as julianna reports. >> reporter: it was a television controller's nightmare. a cyber attack of epic proportions. 12 channels taken off air.

so how did a french tv station end up being brought down by hackers? the answer may lie on the war-torn streets of syria. as syria's uprising started so did another conflict. a cyber war. activist was one of its first casual iscasualties. >> in my arrestee spent three days where i was tortured but on the second day i was taken in for interrogation. but the questions were first of all they wanted might facebook account. >> reporter: digital media and the internet had become a weapon. and as the revolution unfolded the assad regime was confronted not only by the syrians . >> greetings to our friends around the world. we are anonymous the global resistence to tyranny. >> reporter: anonymous hackers did he faced syrian government websites. inside syria the demonstrations had spread. and the levels of violence

increased. and suddenly the painfully slow syrian internet improved. the security agencies had turned the tables on the activists. president assad found a secret weapon his own hacking collective. >> the syrian electric army nation honor loyalty. >> reporter: we made contact with a syrian hacker, the electric army tried to recruit and he told us the hackers' base was extremely well equipped. >> reporter: cyber security analysts discovered that pro regime hackers had accessed 31,000 skype conversationses many relating to a 2013 battle during which opposition forces lost access to crucial supply

routes. we may never know exactly who struck the tv, stations but it's clear thousands of attacks on commercial and government targets take place every day around the world. but serious war say likely blueprint for the way future conflicts will be played out with cyber warfare taking place a long way from the battlefield. julianna few us, al rufus al jazerra. you can watch the full report on cyber warfare in syria a 2230 gmt right here on al jazerra. al jazerra has been given exclusive access to bank notes allegedly handed over by australian official to his i indonesia ab people smugglers the australian government is refuse to go confirm or deny whether payment were made and that is straining relations with its asian neighbor, andrew thomas reports. the money shot. on the indonesian island, al jazerra was given the first exclusive access to the bank

notes at the center of a major diplomatic dispute. this cash indonesian police say was given at sea by australian officials to people smugglers to insure they returned their human cargo to indonesia. and this is the captain of the asylum-seek are boats. >> translator: i told the australian man we needed money to return to our wives and children. he said okay, we'll help you. as captain i got $6,000, the five crew got 5,000 each. >> reporter: the captain, now being held by indonesian police, claims his boat was escorted by two australian vessels over a two-week period. eventually passengers and crew were transferred to two different fishing boats that it the australians provided and once paid, sen in the direction of indonesia. >> translator: according to our law this is bribery. this is illegal. we will let the international community decide what the

punishment should be. >> reporter: in australia on tuesday, the prime minister was still dodging questions. >> the only thing that really count is have we stopped the boats? and the answer is a resounding yes. >> reporter: the prime minister insisted, too, that officials always acted legally despite legal experts saying paying smugglers to take people anywhere would be against international and even australian domestic law. there were questions too for australia's main opposition party. did people spuing smugglers ever get paid by australia while they remember in government? not at sea its leader said but he stonewalled when it came to appointments ever made to smugglers on land. >> you know it doesn't matter what political party the politician is from, when it comes to security matters we simply don't comment. >> reporter: australia paying smugglers could have been happening for years australian opinions are mixed. >> if they have got nothing to hide on it the government, they

should be answering the question. >> the government stop the boats coming in australia. it's a good state for the government. >> doing this way i think is a bit, it's a little bit crooked. >> reporter: crook? >> yeah, to pay the smugglers because they are crooks themselves. >> reporter: most australians say they are pleased that most the a sly legal zuckers have stopped coming to this country but most also feel uncomforts al with the secrecy by which it's been achieved. there are legal questions and the question of exactly how long this has been going on. andrew thomas, al jazerra in western sidney. a decision by an egyptian court to uphold the death sentence for did he deposed president mohamed morsi has been met with widespread condemnation. the u.s., egypt's military ally says it's politically motivated. >> the us has repeatedly raised concerns about the detention and sentencing of a variety of

political figures in egypt. and we are concerned that the proceedings have been conducted in a way that is not only contrary to universal values but also damaging to the stability that all egyptians reserve. pakistan security forces hailing the success of the cracks down of organized crime in the city of karachi they are now considering expanding the operation, kamal hyder has the details. >> reporter: the southern port city of karachi is the economic hub of the country. if karachi comes a standstill, the effects can be felt across the country. however, for the last few decades, karachi has been reeling under violence with target kills that have cost thousands of lives, there are case of his extortion kidnappings as well. last september the military launched a major operation to try and clean up the streets of karachi. the result of that is that there is a 50% decrease in violence

and acts of kidnapping and also extortion. we were able to talk to the provinces' information minister to tell us how that operation is going. >> not only karachi but improved much, muff bet that were before. lots of target killing is reduced and kidnapping for random is reduced. almost we eliminate all the kidnapping of ransom. >> reporter: the country's military chief says that would he wants to take this operation to a logical conclusion. because the stability of karachi will mean the stability of the rest of pakistan. and if the operation to clean up the city is successful, then it can be replicated in other cities as well. karachi is vital for pakistan because this is the artery that surprise the whole country with much needed logistic, fuel surprise and also the county's

finances. a united nations panel is recommending a swing overall of u.n. peacekeeping missions the panel was conducting the first major review of peacekeeping operations in over a decade. it says peacekeeping forces face chronic challenges, a lack of leadership. taking too long to deploy and not enough resources were all cited as problems, it also calls on the u.n. to address sexual exploitation and abuse by the peacepeace keepers. nato has condemned russia. vladimir putin said new ballistic missiles will be put in to service this year, following reports that the u.s. is planning to bulk up its military deployment in eastern europe. >> translator: our nuclear forces will be supplied with more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic rockets that will be able to overcome defense systems even the most technically advanced ones. the greek frame minister

alexis tsipras has accused creditors of trying to humiliate his government in return the president of the european commission says the greek government is mit leading voters shares on the greek market fell for the third day in a row. tsipras says he's still pushing for a deal that will keep greece in the euro zone. >> translator: the time has come for our up to talk seriously not just about greece's future, but also the future of the euro zone. will it insist on leading a country and a people in to humiliation and poverty? or do they want to pave the way for democracy and solidarity within its territory. well, greece is set to default on the $1.8 billion it owes the i.m.f. by the end of june unless it receives new funds by then. athens needs to reach an agreement with its creditors but the biggest stick point is pensions. >> reporter: she retired at 57 under different circumstances

she says, she would still be working. >> translator: i didn't want to retire. i like my work and i was perfectly capable of doing it. and i needed the money because we can't really make end meet on the pension, not with loans to pay off and married children to support. >> reporter: renewed insecurity over pension terms has sparked a new rush to retire an estimated 400,000 people have applied here at the social insurance foundation and other funds. >> translator: every time there is a discussion about reforming social security people rush to apply a pension the rope is insecurity. in case worse terms come along later retirement or less money people are even prepared to takes a reduced pension another reason is the threat of lay offs. >> reporter: the sticking point is that greece's corrected tours want the government to cut pension costs by $2 billion per year. that's because pensions are now the government's biggest expense. 30% of the budget this year. creditors believe the government should start by doing away with

early retirement immediately. thethe government wants to phase it out over several years and against the cuts in principle and saying they will trigger a new recession it has just become more difficult. greece's highest administrator court has ordered the government to reverse pension cuts made in the last three years saying they are unconstitutional. and that will add between 1.3 and $1.7 billion to the government costs. the real problem with greek pensions is lack of, work only 40% of greeks are considered an active population and only 30% actually working. the government has been promising a gold rush of investment to boost employment what they have achieved is an old rush of people seeking refuge from the labor market fearing matters will only become worse. some good news chaps no chocoholics scientists in scotland have covered a link between people who eat up to 100 grams a chocolate every day

and a lower risk of strokes and heart disease but as charlie angela reports the sweet treats still have some downsides. >> reporter: no decade, so delicious and not so bad for us as we thought. it seems eating chocolate every day link today a lower risk of heart disease and strokes. lacking at the eating habits of 21,000 people over 12 years researchers at the university of aberdeen discovered that those who ate more chocolate also weighed less, exercised more, and were less obese and less likely to have type two diabetes also factors that put them at less risk of audio vascular disease. they are not saying that eating chocolate makes you healthier but there may be no need to give it up to protect your heart. >> eating chocolate seemed to be safe in terms of cardiovascular events, we found a little bit of reduction in the risks of cardiovascular events in this study. but that's. [ inaudible ] therefore we can't say this is because of chocolate

conconsumption. >> reporter: the study focused on british people a nation of chocoholics the forth largest consumer in the world. these chocolatiers understand the power of what they are selling. >> plenty of studies suggest there is a big endorphin pay off when you have chocolate and with a higher percentages of chocolate you tends to get a big are pay off. >> reporter: this is some of the highest quality chocolate that you can buy in the recent study the subjects weren't just eating dark chocolate like this they were eating the mass produced bars like this. and they still had an 11% lesser risk of cardiovascular disease and a 25% reduced risk of stroke. die tensions are warning people not to take up a chocolate habit as a rift found findings. >> it needs moderation, it's high in fat calories and sugar if you are watching your weight eating a lot of chock lands won't be good for you. >> reporter: before you reach for another bar bear in mind

more research needs to be done, charlie angela, al jazerra london. just a reminder that you can always keep up-to-date with all of the news by going to our website at aljazerra.com. one of our top stories hong kong begin ache debate on electoral reform. that's all at aljazerra.com. >> this week on talk to al jazeera james patterson one of the worlds best selling authors. >> first book thomas berryman number was rejected by 31 publishers and i still keep a list of all the editors who rejected it. >> patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. the prolific and popular author responds to critics who say he