we have to accept these people the european commission president proposes a mandatory quota system for 160,000 refugees. hello, i'm martine dennis in doha. also to come on the programme... ..rebels in syria capture a north-western airbase from the bashar al-assad government after a 2-year battle rwanda's supreme court says it will hear a case that will effect the president's political

future. and residents in beirut throw goshage bags into the prime minister's office against corruption and political corruption the european commission president jean claude jeonger announced plans to tackle the biggest refugee challenge since world war ii. under the proposal 160,000 asylum seekers will be distributed among eu member countries with binding quotas. the the numbers of refugees to be resettled depends on that nation's wealth, population, and the number of asylum applicants that it processed. countries refusing to take in refugees could face penalties, germany that hosts a large number of refugees backed the idea.

it welcomed syrian refugees waving e.u. rules and saying it expects to deal with more than 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone. sweden is in favour, taking the highest number of refugees in relation to its population. the czech republic, poland, romania opposed the idea of mandatory quotas, so did hungary, which is building a fence. europe does not need a new plan to deal with the crisis. jacky rowland joins us from strasburg where the european parliament has been meeting, hearing a plan coming from jean claude jeonger. the response has been quick from certain areas, certain people against what is proposed and others welcoming it. >> yes. and germany and transin particular have been arguing that there needs to be set

figures now, figures agreed through debate and negotiation, but nevertheless clear quotas for how the people arriving in the e.u., could be moved on from greece and italy and hungary to be shared out through the e.u. countries, the lion share, 60% of the people in the e.u. would be hosted by germany, france and spain. as you mentioned, some countries in eastern europe quite resistant to the idea. nevertheless, the e.u. commission president jean claude jonker has been categorical about the task facing the e.u. >> it's 160,000, that's the number. europeans have to take in charge and have to take in their house. and i really hope in this time everyone will be on board.

no rhetorics. action is what is needed for the time being. >> what is striking is the way that the divide has emarriaged in europe. there's a separation between the eastern european countries and the western european countries. >>y, some of that is economically driven. certainly greece is struggling. a country struggling to deal with tens of thousands of refugees arriving. and the countries in eastern europe who are later arrivals to the e.u., whose economies are not as strong. nevertheless, jean claude jeonger is reminding everyone that not long ago refugees came from the east block countries. looking for asylum in western

europe. maybe people need their memories refreshed. 24 hours ago i was in belgium, a european country receiving a lot of asylum. processing 150 requests. the big effort towards dealing with and helping with the refugee crisis is coming from ordinary belgium people. >> reporter: among the trees a village of tents sprung up. the first refugees arrived two weeks ago and the people of brussels rushed to help. vanessa has been here since day one. she and the other volunteers set up a range of services for the refugees. >> here is the kitchen. they offer the refugees hot meals drought the day. food is donated by local people and charities.

there are about 1,000 people in the camp. as it's grown, there has been complaints for some quarters. >> really, we don't listen to the complaint. we don't. we are sure what we are doing is good. we keep on doing the good work without listening to people. >> more volunteers are arriving all the time. different people offer different skills. this spontaneous action by hundreds of ordinary people have caught the belgium authorities offguard. belatedly they opened an overnight shelter across the road, but few refugees chose to sleep there. >> across the road people are lining up to register for asylum. they are not using the official night shelter, because you have to get out at eight every morning, and you can't leave your stuff there. >> it's the decision of the government to organise a night

shelter. there is a night shelter, but that's it. >> in man is from iraq, travelling across europe and arriving four days ago, it has an appointment to register for asylum on thursday. >> i sleep here, it's not too cold. we have food and drink here. everything is here. the plight of the refugees harnessed the goodwill of people from many communities. they want to act as an example of people elsewhere in europe, where refugees are less welcomed to syria, and an air base in the north-western province of idlib has fallen. after a 2-year battle with forces loyal to president bashar al-assad, al qaeda's syria's affiliate, captured most of the province. the government pulled out.

some soldiers remain. a former u.s. department of defense analyst says that the loss of this air base is a major blow to the bashar al-assad regime. >> the rebel strategy seems to be to encircle the bashar al-assad forces and force them to withdraw. once the provincial capital of idlib was lost, and the area in north-west syrias was liberated by rebel forces, you saw a push, a renewed push by the rebel forces to enter the gateway of the coastal heart lands where a significant portion of the bashar al-assad regimes lie. so this is certainly a military and a politically embarrassing laws. the army that tweeted the forces in this air base has not just

al-nusra. that being said. this is the same groups, the same rebel groups fighting i.s.i.l., known as d.a.e.s.h., specifically in the aleppo countryside. the other day we saw a series of international coalition air strikes in an area where the rebel forces are fighting i.s.i.l. that is absolutely had an impact. when we talk to rebels, they are squeezed between i.s.i.s. on one hand and the bashar al-assad regime on another another. it's relieving the pressure on the rebel forces allowing them to concentrate resources and personal in the fight against the regime turkey's nationalists attacked the headquarters of the pro-kurdish people's party. the crowd was protesting against attacks on the security forces by rebels. demonstrators accused the party of being the political wing of the armed bkk group. daily fighting between

kuveredish separatists and -- kurdish separatists and security forces raised concerns over elections. >> rwanda's supreme court says it will hear a case on whether the president should be allowed to run for a third term. parliament voted to change the constitution, extending a 2-term limit to three. there's some opposition to the move. we have this report. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine rwanda without the president. he seems to have brought stability and development in a country that was in turmoil following a genocide two decades ago. he's winding up what is meant to be his last time in office. the election is 2017. the debate to have him stay on is dominating politics. >> we respect the constitution. if it's changed to allow him to run again, we'll agree with that. >> it's for us to decide, and we

are happy to change it. >> translation: i don't see why the constitution needs to be changed. >> reporter: parliament is not in session now, it has started a process that could see a section of the constitution that limits a presidential mandate to two terms amended. members of parliament say 3.8 million signed a petition asking for the change. >> parliament is at the start of a long process. there'll be a commission set up to look into parts of the constitution that deal with presidential limits, and eventually there must be a referendum where rwandans decide for themselves. critics, most outside rwanda seek his hand in all this, saying he's trying to hang on to power, using parliament. the president has not publicly declared his intentions but this mp insists it's the people that want him. >> elsewhere we get the pressure

to remove. for him it's pressure to stay. he'll have to measure the pressure of the international community with what the people want. >> reporter: some don't agree. the opposition democratic party asked the supreme court to block the process that has been started by parliament. the petition and the constitution allows a referendum to change the duration over a presidential term, not the number of terms. >> if it was settled by the people part of the process, a process that is clear evidence that it was settled by people from the government. people within the cabinet, even from the parliament and the senate. they have been behind the move. the move to court is not openly or widely supported here. chances of a victory are slim. despite the numbers, they will not give up. >> andrew wallace is a

centralist east africa specialist. and says the proposal to change the constitution is driven by public opinion. >> the vast majority of rwandans, there's nothing wrong. and democracy is taking its course. the people do want him on the whole to stay on. he achieved a lot at the millennium development goals, pretty much being adhered to, being a successful country in terms of cutting corruption and business. and really moving the country forward and there is security, which is the one thing all africans look for the government to provide. so in some terms, certainly a very popular decision if it's decided to go ahead. in terms of international actors, especially in the west, they are more unsettled by this. their idea is that if there's

fixed terms, there's fixed terms. nothing can change those. america is putting on pressure and the e.u., that the rpf party should adhere to the terms, having travelled to the country many times in the last few years, just a few weeks ago, in fact, talking to people. he is a popular individual and is popular for a reason, is what he's achieved. the country is growing at 9%. from their point of view it is why change a successful formula. they'd look at the outside world and say what do they know about rwanda more to come here at al jazeera, including uncertainty in guatemala as the election leads to no clear winner and the president remains in gaol. grand slam on track, a star-studded night at the us open, as the williams sisters

battle each other.

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>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. from their point of view it is star-studded night at the us hello, let's look at the top stories at al jazeera, the european president announced a mandatory plan to resettle 120,000 refugees on top of an existing scheme for 40,000 refugees. >> the syrian government air base in north-western province of idlib fell to rebels. the al nusra front said it captured the military air force after a 2-year battle.

loyal to president bashar al-assad. rwanda's supreme court said it will hear a case challenging plans for the president to run for a third term. protesters in lebanon demonstrate outside parliament. m.p.s are meeting to address the issue leading to a protest movement called you stink. it's been campaigning over uncollected rubbish. there's a growing movement against corruption. >> like many, this boy is not enrolled in schools or college. he blames the government. accusing officials of trying to get rich, rather than serve the people. he is one of several activists who started a hunger strike last wednesday. they vn camped outside the minister are

of environment. they are part of a protest movement demanding the resignation of the minister. initially over the rubbish crisis and now over a wide er corruption crisis. six days into the hunger strike, he fainted and was taken to hospital. there the police paid him a visit. >> i lost consciousness. they brought the ambulance. when i got to the hospital, they put me on a drip. the police came and questioned me, asking why i am on strike, telling me i should end it, because it's a waste of time. >> this was the first hunger striker. he has one basic demand. >> i want the minister to resign, because i want to start the principle of accountability. i don't have a plan b. when my voice becomes lower physically, maybe it will become louder. aside from the rubbish crisis, lebanon has been caught in a political paralysis. the country has been without a president for over a year. that and the failure of the government to supply basic

services like electricity or clearing people's waste, it's pushed so many people to take to the streets. >> wednesday the speaker of parliament will chair a meeting. analysts say the political chistory shows it's unlikely things will change. >> they have no solution, and the primary reason is because there's no accountability in the system. as i said, every time they get together, they collude against the citizens, we need a third force that can break this and hold them accountable at the prime minister's office, what has become a daily event. people bringing the rubbish bag and dumping them on the doorstep. >> as we explained it, it's not just the rubbish crisis. here outside the electricity company, protesters gathered as well. power cuts can last up to 12 hours a day in some parts of lebanon. more and more have had enough of

the political system, and the failure to provide them. back at the hunger strikers camps. yousef tries to keep their comrades entertained. he wraps, hoping to send a clear message at least 18 died in a sand storm sweeping across parts of the middle east. syria, lebanon and jordan engulfed in a dust cloud causing breathing problems for hundreds of people. refugees from syria living in basic conditions were badly affected and in syria itself the storm meant jets and helicopters carried out fewer strikes. people from as far away as cypress advised to stay indoors. the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei said his country will

not hold talks with the u.s. beyond the nuclear issue. president obama appears to have got the support he needs. to stop the iran nuclear deal. republicans hoped to decrail the congress. president obama has the support of enough democratic senators to head off the opposition without using a presidential veto. >> government shot dead a television news employees in the pakistani city of karachi. attackers opened fire on the newsstand. it's the latest of attacks on members of the media. two others were include, and are treat for their injuries in hospital. police in india are investigating claims that two nepali maids were raped by a saudi diplomat. the women say they were repeatedly sexually abused and starved over several months. the saudi embassy says the

charges are false. it's unclear whether the officials have diplomatic immunity. the women were rescued by police after a tip off guatemala's former president will remain in gaol until his trial in three months time. president molino resigned after months of protests. the nation is grip the by the race to replace him. daniel schweimler reports from guatemala city. >> reporter: this judge gave an intimation during his address that he thought there was ample evidence for the former president molina to go to trial. charging him with criminal association, taking bribes and customs' fraud. and ordered him to be held in cpreventative custody. the former president resigned last week after an arrest

warrant named him in a massive scandal. in which businesses gave bribes to avoid taxes on the imports. they were elected in 2011, promising to tackle corruption. there's not one shred of evidence. nothing solid that should allow the case to move forward. >> reporter: corruption in guatemala is not new. what changed is a successful campaign to end impunity. just a week ago president molina was the president. today he is under tight security. a sign to reform the country, but nobody is above the law. >> reporter: his down fall was swift. coming after months of protests which grew as details of the case he was involved in came to light. >> we are fed up with corruption in the government. that was something that unified us. we didn't - other subjects or other issues tend to divide us.

corruption was something that we didn't want. the former president languishes in custody, the race to replace him is mired in confusion. after elections, t.v. comedian was victorious, and will fight the second round in october. it's not clear who will place them. right wing businessman, separated by a few hundred votes. what is clear is guatemala was fast-moving, with many excited and nervous about what the future may bring . >> now to mexico where a former leader of a drug cartel died in a maximum security prison. his name pass delemantes and he allegedly order add 2008 attack

on a u.s. consulate. he died of a heart attack. his build earnt him the name name "the big marvel." passengers on board a british airways jet fire had a lucky escape after the engine caught fire in las vegas. it was leaving for london when smoke enveloped the aircraft forsing the pilot to aboard take off. all passengers and crew evacuated the craft using slides. the plane suffered a technical difficulty says british airways a few people could imagine being in the same job for 63 years. that's what britain's queen elizabeth the ii has done. she becomes the country's longest serving monarch. >> my whole life, whether it's been long or short, shall be devoted to your service. >> reporter: it was a promise made more than 63 years ago bay

25-year-old princess soon to be queen. who would eventually be recognised the world over and has been a constant presence in british life against a backdrop of constant change. in a sense, the queen is the social glue of britain. she is the pin that holds the whole class system together. and, of course, she is important not just as a symbol but has constitutional importance. at the time of the coronation, the empire began to crumble. there has been royal weddings, divorce and standle. despite everything, there's interest ahead in the british

family. >> we might here evidence about some of the other royalty. but never about to play anything. >> i don't think she's useful in the 21st century. >> reporter: on any given day you are likely to get this, people peering through the gates. polls suggest that they want to keep the monarchy. there are those that are indifferent or those that want the queen to be the country's last. >> we are campaigning for an end to the monarchy. >> among them, the group republic, campaigning in the northern city. convincing the public to give up 1,000 year institution. it's far from easy. >> the fact that she's been head of state. without a democratic process.

it means nothing, well and the pledge made by the queen is likely to be kept. the old institution of monarchy is abandoned and steered into a new era of popularity finally from me, sports news. serena williams stayed on course to winning a calendar grand slam. the american is through to the semifinals of the u.s. open after beating older sister venus. a crowd of celebrities came out to watch, including u.s. presidential candidate donald trump. >> yes i think i'll look back on it fondly. it means a lot to me obviously. we are very, very tough competitors on the court. but, you know, once the match is over, the second it's done, you know, we are sisters. we are roommates and all that

and don't forget there's a lot more sports news as well as the rest of the day's news on the al jazeera website. there's a lot of opinion, a lot of analysis and beautiful photographs as well. aljazeera.com.