>> anger in japan as the country restarts its first nuclear plant since the fukushima disaster. hello, you are watching al-jazeera. we are live from doha. also coming up on the program, the state of emergency in the u.s. city of ferguson as protesters mark the anniversary of the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. an accidental toxic spill as a

gold mine in the u.s. turns the colorado river yellow. and we are in bangladesh where the shrimp industry is booming, but it comes at a high price to the environment. protesters in japan have gathered outside a nuclear plant as it restarts for the first time since the fukushima disaster in 2011. the sendai reactor in southern japan is the first to begin operating under new safety rules. it marks japan's return to nuclear energy after the 2011 meltdown at the fukushima power plant. tom o'sullivan joins me live

from tokyo. thank you for joining us here on al jazeera. despite the protests, japan have gone ahead with this. was it the right thing for them to do? >> i think that there are several aspects to this. as you said, reactors have been off-line for almost two years. so japan has the highest, among the countries, it has the highest level of energy dependency in g 7 and oecd. it's the second after lux upburg. japan needs to improve its energy situation. nuclear helps to do that and reduces coal and natural gas imports. >> my problem with this is that we very clearly seen that japan is vulnerable to natural disasters. should they be relying on

nuclear energy? >> right. well, i mean immediately after the accident a new nuclear regulatory authority was establish in japan. so, you know, they have implemented extremely tight security rules around the operation of nuclear power plants. so a lot of us here in tokyo are confident that there is a very high safety level compared with the pre-fukushima days. this new agency has an independent reporting line into the ministry of environment, not into the ministry of economy, trade and industry where the previous agency reported to. >> and yet there have been complaints that some of the safety measures are too vague. what do they mean by that? >> well, i mean, i think some of these criticisms are coming from sources that are not that familiar with the rules and

regulations that the nra have established. i'm not precisely sure what particular regulations they are referring to. but a lot of u.s. experts have come in, dale klein is an adviser to the nuclear and electric power industry. he's reviewed the rules and he's confident that they are as strict as any other international authorities could be. >> we have to leave it there. but thank you very much. more than a hundred people have been arrested in the u.s. city of ferguson after a fourth day of protests. marking a year since an unarmed black teenager, michael brown, was shot dead by a white police officer. we have more. >> reporter: activist gather in the church in st. louis and prepare to get arrested.

>> we march with the chants. >> reporter: church leaders take part, including well known philosopher cornell west. >> we got black president, black attorney general. you got the head of homeland security is black and can deliver justice for poor people and black people. we are moving toward pressure on the federal government. >> reporter: some have come from out of state. this 13-year-old girl is from ferguson. >> the kind of change this brings, they will take us serious instead of thinking we are just a joke or game. just yesterday the one year anniversary they shot somebody else. >> reporter: a couple of hundred people descended on the federal courthouse with a message for the department of justice. about 50 climbed the barricades pushing up against police as the crowd chanted and cheered them

on. less than an hour, they were arrested. this has been a textbook case of civil disobedience. everything has gone according to the plan. they were aggressive and forceful, but peaceful. a stark contrast to the evening demonstrations on sunday which were much more tense and unpredictable. activists blocked traffic. the scene of looting and rioting a year ago, refusing police orders to move to the sidewalk. down the street from the standoff, several shots were fired between groups of young men. when police pursued one of the men, he shot at them. police returned fire leaving tyrone harris in critical condition. >> four officers fired at the suspect. he fell there. >> not only does violence

obscure any message of peaceful protest, it places the community as well as the officers who are seeking to protect it in harm's way. >> reporter: it was a bloody end to a peaceful march. his family had called for peace. isil says it was behind two car bombings that killed 57 people. one was at a busy market north of baghdad. other happened in a residential area in an eastern town. we are in baghdad. >> reporter: dozens killed and dozens more wounded in two deadly suicide car bombing attacks that happened late monday evening. isil claimed responsibility for

those attacks that happened on shia populated areas. one thing to note, isil also took responsibility for a similar attack that happened in late july, close to the same area also in baqouba in which over a hundred civilians were killed. police and medical officials telling us this was a devastating attack that happened. all of this very much underscoring how tense the situation is in iraq. you have a deteriorating security situation, forces stretched thin. trying to fight isil. but also you have mounting pressure on the government to pass much needed what the civilians are calling much needed reforms to try to restore basic services like electricity, clean water, air conditioning. this is a blazingly hot summer, a record heat wave in iraq. many people have been taking to the streets several times the past week.

this last friday tens of thousands in several cities across iraq mobilized, marching, telling the government they must get their act together, they must fight corruption. it is expected on tuesday parliament will meet. they may pass the directions that were given by the prime minister here to fight corruption. but much needs to be seen tomorrow by the iraqi people to make sure that the government is doing as much as they can to deliver on the promises they have vowed to the iraqi people they will fight corruption, start delivering services. so much going on so many fronts. people want the security situation and situation at large for society here to improve. in the united states a state of emergency has been declare in colorado. more than 11 million liters of toxic sludge was released into local streams. that's three times more than the

amount previously thought. workers accidently triggered that spill. dan olson is the executive director of the san juan citizens alliance. he says it's not a surprise. >> as a community we are saddened as for what the implications will be. it would be wrong to say we are surprised. we have been living with pollution from abandon mines for over a century. it's unfortunate that it happened. it raises the spector of the pollution issue that's been playing the community. >> what are some of the negative implications for long-term effects to the river and life surrounding it from this spill now? >> unfortunately, it's hard to know at this point. we are still waiting on critical data from the epa with regards

to what the contaminants are. so we don't know right now, we know that the immediate impacts were less worse than they could have been. so far as it appears that fish populations have survived the initial plume. that does not necessarily an indicator for long term health, i think that's what's causing such angst among the community, we simply don't know. >> these are busy summer days for locals, for tourists use can the river. how are people reacting to this ecological disaster? >> it's also a very large economic disaster as well. as you mentioned, this is prime tourist season, rafting companies or fishing guides, there is a big tourism industry that is adversely affected. we can't forget the municipal

water users for drinking water and agriculture. not only land and counties to the navajo reservation which depend on this for their agricultural and ranching livelihoods. >> i know the silverton area lays claim to 30 abandoned mines. how do you stop something like this from happening again? what does the epa have to do now? >> with regards to the area or even in broader context, there is 22,000 abandoned mines across colorado. so the numbers are quite staggering. in terms of this particular incident and this one area of highly concentrated mining issues, we need to see more action from the epa to bring the sufficient resources, money, technical expertise, to solve these problems. we have been dealing with this

for decades and those efforts have been inadequate. we need more resources and we need more help. stay with us. still to come on al jazeera. >> i'm rob reynolds, some observers are calling the process into question. >> and a look of what's pushing people into europe every month.

>> hello again. a reminder at the top stories on al jazeera. protesters in japan are angry about a return to nuclear energy. the first of 25 reactors have restarted. nuclear plants were shut down after the fukushima disaster. more than a hundred people have been arrested after a fourth day of protests. they were marking a year since the unarmed black teenager, michael brown, was shot by a white policeman. a state of emergency has been declared in colorado after more than 11 millimetres of sludge was released into the colorado river. the war in yemen has overwhelmed aid groups. hospitals are unable to cope

with the high number of patients. doctors without borders says that treatment says it has treated more than 10,000 wounded in yemen since march. >> i have been working for more than ten years now. it's something i have never seen before. the violence, the patients come in severe condition. always, the families, coming from the front line. a mexican activist who helped families search for missing relatives has been killed. the body was found near his home. it's thought he was murdered. he led the search for 43 student whose disappeared last year. >> reporter: they prayed for him. they mourned him the way they mourned others.

the man who helped many find their murdered relatives and spoke up for their rights was himself finally silenced. >> translator: justice. he was a fighter. he was a man who wanted to defend the people. he wanted peace. he was a good man. he didn't even know how to use weapons. he was not a killer. >> he helped to average nice the search for 43 missing students abducted by local authorities in collusion with organized crime. the incident caused an international outcry. but he was part of a group who searched for people reported missing by families, but presumed dead. >> look, this is a bone. here's another one. a bigger one. this is another bone. this is a place of kidnappings, this is normal. coming to the house at 6:00 a.m., open the door and take you in front of your family. >> this was one of 15 over the

weekend. they are smothered by gang and drug violence. speaking to al jazeera last year, he was dismissive of the police who many believe are linked to some of the disappearances. >> translator: officials say why don't people give us information. i know they have lost the trust of the people. instead of willing the trust, they lose it. >> reporter: on the other side of the country, citizens march for an end to the violence. an activist and well known photographer also recently torture and killed. 13 journalists have been murdered. the people are saying it was you, it was you, they are referring to the state governor. that's the sense here, there is a real distrust of the authorities.

people here think to neglect those who challenge them and they try to get rid of them. more than 2,000 people are missing across the whole country. now there is one less person looking for them and looking out for their families. investigators from mexico city are traveling to vera cruz to question the state's governor over the recent murders of five people. a photographer and four women were found dead in mexico city last month. he had fled vera cruz saying he had been followed and feared for his life. international monitors in haiti say the results of sunday's elections should stand despite problems with how the poll was conducted. it was marred by delays, alleged fraud and sporadic violence. as rob reynolds reports.

>> the streets of port-au-prince were peaceful. people gather in the shade of a tree to watch political news shows on haitian television. opinions varied. motorbike taxi driver thought the election was a big success. >> translator: everything went smoothly. i voted, it was the best election ever. >> reporter: eve voted, but then his polling place was trashed. just like more than 50 others around the country. now he's not sure his vote will count after all. >> translator: it was a total catastrophe. one of the worst i have seen. >> reporter: this man who pedals soft drinks didn't bother. >> translator: i didn't go to vote. what's the point when you know

we'll stay in the same situation. >> reporter: the vote was marred by violence and also by incompetence. many people did not vote because they had trouble finding their names on lists of eligible voters posted at the polling places. opposition political parties say the government and the supposedly independent council deliberately created confusion at the polls. >> there are some people who don't want elections. it's a fact. they don't want elections. they want things to stay the same way, have instability. >> reporter: owe visuals have not revealed the number of votes cast. but turnout will be low, 15 to 20%. this is the headquarters of the provisional electoral council. speaking after the polls closed, the head said he was satisfied.

but others tell a different story. >> they said everything was okay. >> reporter: pierre directs the human rights defense network. >> the council and government, with the violence and illegality. many people went to the center to vote, they couldn't find their name, they couldn't vote. >> reporter: democracy may be taking root, but it's still a work in progress. as a haitian proverb has it, little by little the bird builds his nest. six people have died and more than 800 have been forced from their homes after flooding and mudslides in chile. heavy storms battered the coastal areas. more than a hundred thousand

people have no electricity and 9,000 are without drinking water. more than 1,500 people have been rescued from boats trying to cross the mediterranean sea from north africa to europe. hundreds of others were saved over the weekend. they were found just north of the libyan coast and then brought to sicily by a croatian ship. >> we have announced the release of 2.4 billion in our funding to help to deal with the pressures. it's very much approaching this issue with eyes wide open and we continue to work closely with the member states to address this challenge as best we can. this is the second largest number of asylum seekers. >> reporter: there is no letup

in this stream. this heavily disputed border. we found the family at one of 20 crossings on the northern border. they say they had to walk for three days to get here. >> translator: life has become unbearable. i never wanted to leave my country. i'm a simple shepherd who has no interest in politics. >> reporter: 300 refugees arrive every day. they are forced into centers. most of those fleeing are young people who say they want to avoid them. while military service is supposed to last 18 months, many of them are forced to suffer

decades. he is 20 years old. he's been trying to get out since he was 14. >> translator: it has no age limits. as long as you can carry a gun, you belong in the military. even my father who is partially blind is in the army. >> reporter: young children, thousands. this is their section of the refugee camp. >> translator: children are as affected by government policies as the rest of society. they are forced to flee. >> reporter: some of the refugees want to go to europe. >> other refugees who have been returned or deported after having reached as far as even egypt in a bid to cross over

into europe. >> reporter: the number of people living, the government has the u.n. security council to bring human traffickers to justice. many here will disagree. bangladesh is among the top ten ebola porter exporters of f. >> reporter: they have been farming fish for years in the district. however, these days, the water is becoming too salty. and fish are starting to be replaced by new arrivals. the black tiger shrimp, one of the biggest exports. it was an easy decision to start the transition from fish to shrimp farming.

>> translator: the fish will fetch us about $2 per kilo. the shrimp sell for $10 a kilo. it's much more profitable. >> reporter: shrimp export has more than doubled in the past five years to become a billion dollars industry. but these tiny crustaceans leave behind a large carbon footprint. the shrimp must be always kept at below freezing which requires large amounts of energy. the factory we visited has to supply its own electricity using an old inefficient mini power plant. >> shrimp need to be kept within a specific temperature range. it's a narrow range. so it's very costly to maintain these conditions. >> reporter: what's worse is the damage done to local trees. mangrove forests are among the most carbon rich habitats in the

world. they are quickly being chopped down as space is made for shrimp farms. in turn, the farms make the water too salty for the trees to survive. although shrimp farming inside the national park is banned, the mangroves are still under threat. these trees grow all over the region, even at the edges of its biggest cities. some local environmentalists are taking it into their own hands to save their famous plants. >> translator: i plant them because they are important in restoring greenhouse gasses. they help fight climate change. >> reporter: as more people switch over to shrimp farming, more carbon is being released into the air. that's bad news for the environment and for coastal residents, his new business venture may be christianitying to globacontributing toglobal w.

>> plenty more on our website. you can find out the latest as the protest grow on the reopening the sendai plant. www.aljazeera.com. i'm david schuster in for ali velshi tonight. money for nothing. taxpayers foot the bill. how we can close america's wage gap. convincing taxpayers that it pays to host big sporting events in their city becomes larder to do. on