this is al jazeera. hello there. welcome to the news hour live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes, the u.s. says russia has begun air strikes in syria after lawmakers in moscow approved the military action. afghan forces send reinforcements to retake kunduz, the first major city captured by the taliban since 2001. >> every time i was here, i paid

100. >> thousands in south africa take to the streets to protest against a problem that's cost people there billions of dollars. and heated exchanges in the u.s. congress as one of the country's leading women's health agencies fights to keep its funding. so we start with the unanimous vote in russia's upper house to send military forces to syria. president bashir al assad asked for help and welcomes moscow's decision. the kremlin says the military operation is limited to air strikes. the u.s. says those air strikes have already started. the move is likely to increase tensions between rush wra and the west. the international community chris sized president putin for increasing military presence in syria. moscow insists that no ground troops whim be deployed.

>> translator: we are talking about syria specifically and not about the pursuit of some political ghouls or ambitions, which we are regularly accused of by our western partners. >> peter, parliament's vote rubber stamped russian involvement in syria, involvement which the u.s. says has already started. >> yes. the vote marks the start of involvement in the syrian conflict after a month-long military buildup. from washington a government official there from the state department said that they'd been given one hour's advance notice of russia's intention to attack targets and said there are raids carried out near the town of homs. over the last few days 40 to 60 military aircraft, su-24 and su-34 fighter bombers have been

staging in an airport, russian airbase near latakia. they would have had time to carry out familiarization flights, and also they had drones in the air and all that intelligence was processed by a command and control center in baghdad, which had intelligence specialists from iran, iraq, russia, and, of course, syria. there was a brief few lines from president putin, and he's saying basically that the russian engagement will be, as he put it, temporary, and it will support president assad -- the support will be conducted from the air, not on the ground from a lot of different people in moscow today reiterating this is not a dpround operation involving russian troops. >> russia says this will be temporary. nevertheless, this is bound to increase tension between russia and the west, even more so given

a russian naval exercise took place over the syrian coast. yes, that's right. the russian flagship is leading a small fleet off the coast of syria. it will carry out exercises in the next seven days, live fire exercises in a stretch of the eastern mediterranean between cypr cypress and syria. commercial aircraft have been warned to stair clear of this area. russia is not contravening any treaty in the sea, and the west says it's a growing concern and bringing in more russian assets into a very heavily militarized area that could compromise the real stability of the middle east. >> peter, thank you very much indeed for bringing us up to date on that. peter sharp in moscow there. well, our events analyst and

columnist with the russian newspaper. he says it may not be easy for moscow to differentiate between the syrian opposition and isil. >> in the recent interview just published vladimir putin said he doesn't know about much opposition in syria. they're all terrorists he said. it could be very much also these assad opposition forces, too, especially it would be easy to attack ideologically the al nusra front, since it's affiliated with al qaeda, and of course the opposition is more of a direct threat to the assad regime and its forces than isis. russia could mostly concentrate in the palmyra region where right now isis forces are actually standing against the al

assad people. so that would be most likely where we would concentrate. there would be most likely a kind of limitation, separation of missions, americans more concentrating on iraq and russia more on syria. world leaders meeting at the u.n. say a long-term plan is necessary to combat isil, but disagree over how they can be defeated. the u.s. says the syrian president is part of the problem, while they believe he needs to stay in power to fight isil. we have the report now from new york. >> reporter: a special meeting at the u.n. to boost the coalition against isil. >> what we have today is the emergence of a global movement united by the mission of degrading and ultimately destroying isil. >> reporter: if you listen to the words the president chose, you see the problem. it's not been as much progress on the ground as the u.s. would like. >> this is not an easy task.

we have isil taking root. >> reporter: taking root across large swaits of syria and iraq, including this syrian se of raqqa, mosul in iraq. iraq's prime minister said his fwovt was making progress. in the last year they did retake tikrit but lost ramadi, and all the while according to the turkish prime minister, foreign fighters have been streaming in. >> my government has introduced against foreign terrorist fighters since 2011, we have recorded down 20,000 names from over 100 countries. >> the reason for isis's success is it attracts more people because it creates a state-like entity and the inability of the united states and coalition to dismantle that state is the biggest deficiency of the strategy. >> reporter: lack of progress against isil isn't the only problem. there's not unity among the

international community. russia's foreign minister didn't take part in the meeting. iran was not invited. on wednesday the u.n. security council will discuss very similar issues in a meeting organized by russia, the current president of the council. >> james joins you gos now from new york. not much prospect of agreement there. we've now got apparently russian air strikes taking place in syria. how is this going to complicate things? >> reporter: well, i think it's a very interesting time. that meeting in the u.n. security council starts in one hour's time. the russians have the presidency of the u.n. security council. i suspect the timing of those air strikes in or around the city of homs near homs province is not a coincidence, because this in many ways is one of the big parts of russian presidency of the security council.

sergei lavrov will chair the meeting of the security council. i suspect he's likely to refer to those air strikes in his speech, which we'll see in just over an hour's time. part of a very busy day here at the united nations, because also something also concerning syria, which is the refugee crisis. as you know, the number of people coming into europe has the largest number from syria. that will be looked at today in a special summit that ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general, has put together. i've been speaking to joseph muscatt, the prime minister of malta. it's just over the coast from libya. this is what he had to say about the refugee problem. >> we don't have the luxury let's put it that way of telling people, just wait outside the wall. let us see who you are and let us see whether you're good people, not so good people, and

then we'll decide. from my army, i have only one decision. you either save people or let them die. for me it's a no-brainer. it's obvious we're going to save people. so the illusion you can build a wall and the problem starts is just that, an illusion. >> do you believe even in the best case scenario there was a political solution in libya, that your problems with migration and refugees would be over? >> i, for one, believed that, first of all, we should not let the flow be managed by criminals, by criminal gangs who are breakimaking millions if no billions out of this business. they should be taken out. secondly, we should give a legal route for migrants to come into europe. thirdly, there isn't enough space for everyone. so it shouldn't be yes, please do come.

it should be, there's a system. go through the system. we should do our best to welcome as many people as we possibly can. >> the prime minister of malta speaking to me earlier on there in the rose garden of the united nations. in addition to those events i talked about, the security council meeting in one hour and the summit on migrants. the other big event will be in the rose garden of the united nations, because that's where we have a flag raising ceremony for the first time non-member states of the u.n. can raise their flags and the palestinians will raise their flag for the first time in the rose garden. that will follow a speech from the palestinian president to the general assembly. we're watching that he is closely, because he promised at the end of the speech he'll deliver some sort of bomb shshb. >> thanks, james.

large numbers of people are leaving kunduz after the taliban took control of the city followed by heavy fighting with the army. they piled their belongings onto trucks and rickshaws. there were reports taliban fighters went from house to house to take young men to join the fight. pressure is mounting on the afghan president over the handling of the attack in the capital of kabul, lawmakers on parliament called on ghani to resign. they criticized the goth's response to monday's attack as shameful. >> translator: we don't want to hear lies anymore. the government keeps saying they are sending troops, but it's almost 72 hours that people inside the city have suffered from a lack of food, water and electricity. children and women are dying inside kunduz because of hunger. nato special forces joined a counterattack against the taliban in northern afghanistan.

afghan troops have been firing on taliban positions from the outskirts of kunduz. some areas within the city has been retain from the taliban. the battles are ongoing. overnight on tuesday, u.s. air strikes hit taliban targets near the airport, one of the few remaining places under government control. why is kunduz a strategically important city? it's one of the largest cities in northern afghanistan. it's estimated around 300,000 people live there. it's important as a transport hub. kunduz is linked by highways to kabul in the south and sa riff in the west. the border with tajikistan is very poor and used to transport opiates in central asia. the city is one of the last taliban onclaves to fall during the 2001 u.s.-led i invasion.

al jazeera is traveling with the afghan army in baglund and sent this update. >> reporter: it seems like the taliban are trying to spread the war all along the north of the country. these soldiers are waiting in the past few minutes and are panicking and have received some reports there's a big attack on them. even here they say it's not safe for them. we talked with the people of kunduz and residents. people are leaving the city, going to the north side of the province to a neighbor province. the taliban are announcing in the loudspeakers to the people to continue their lives and also asking them to cooperate with them, to bury their bodies and the other help if they come. also, taliban are going door to door or house to house searching for young boys to join them.

they're forcing people to join them to fight against the government. coming up here on the program, warnings that a new wave of unrest in the central african republic could turn the country into further chaos. why protests at the order of india have brought nepal to a xhek stand still. this in football is quickly a major regret. now, the u.n. human rights chief says the latest wave of fighting in the central african republic could cause a catastrophe. days of gun battling between u.n. peacekeepers and armed groups killed 37 people. look what started the conflict. in 2012 a coalition of mainly muslim-armed groups known as seleka took over towns in the north and central regions of the

car. in 2013 the president was overthrown by seleka rebels. that sparked continued clashes between his supporters and mainly christian armed group known as antibell ka forces and seleka fighters. they've been struggling to curb the violence which forced over 400,000 people from homes. the latest fighting is weeks ahead of presidential elections. we have the report. >> reporter: the u.n. isn't welcome in parts of banki. all day on tuesday they put up roadblocks to keep peacekeepers out of their neighborhoods, and u.n. troops kept taking them down. >> translator: the population is desperate and doesn't believe in these forces anymore. >> reporter: we want the departure of international forces that do absolutely nothing. we want those who have committed crimes to be tracked down by the justice system. >> reporter: a u.n. spokesman

told al jazeera that they could always do more, but they are fully engaged. the spokesman says the u.n. is working with community leaders and government officials to put an end to reasonable communal violence in the capital. over the weekend a muslim taxi driver was killed. that set off days of fighting in the streets leaving near 40 dead and scores injured and tens of thousands leaving the capital. in the chaos some 500 prisoners scaled from the main jail. >> as bad as things are in banki, it pales in comparison to the east. hundreds of people are being killed financed thousands. we're only scratching the surface in documenting that. there's a real bush war in the eastern provinces. we're traveling in the bush and come across villages where civilians are killed and homes burned and the stuff isn't documented. >> reporter: on monday they marched to the presidential palace demanding the interim

president and the army be rearmed and be redeployed. the former president has been accused of trying to take her power away. when rebels took over the government in 2013, he said they assassinated democracy and the country is realing from the consequences. in india five men have been sentenced to death for the mumbai train bomb attacks nine years ago. 189 people were killed in seven explosions during the evening rush hour. search others were sentenced to life in prison. the indian police believe there are more suspects still on the run. we have the report from new delhi. >> reporter: five people have been given the death sentence, seven others sentenced to life for the 2006 blasts where bombs were placed inside pressure cookers and put on xhooter trains that went off during the morning rush hour. there have been several delays

over the last nine years. the prosecution called nearly 200 people to the witness stand which delayed the trial there. then the supreme court even got involved after one of the accused contested him being arrested under anti-terrorism laws, which delayed the trial for almost two years. now, the convicts can appeal to a higher court and even as a last ditch to the president of india, although that could take years. this case isn't closed yet. police believe that 15 accused are still at-large, including who they believe to the mastermind. many victims' families have said publicly until all of those involved are caught and convicted, they won't feel that justice has been done. indian trucks carrying food and fuel have started entering nepal days after a minority group began to block a critical trade route. they live in nepal's southern plains and are ethnically and culturally close to the border.

they and some minorities say they've been ignored in the new constitution. at least 40 people have been killed in violence since august, many in nepal accuse india of being behind the blockade. land-locked nepal is more dependent on india after the recent earthquakes with landslides destroying alternative supply routes in china. they're critical of the new constitution saying it's not broad-based and concerned about violence opposition coming into their territory. we're at the protests in nepal. >> reporter: this is a no-man's-land between nepal and india. on one side is nepal, a city, and the other is india. now, this border point is one of the most important points for nepal as almost all of the imports come to this checkpoint. as you can see, nothing is moving, and it's been element a week as a land-locked country,

nepal is entirely reliant on its imports from india. many of the people over here see the blockade as a welcome pressure for kathmandu. >> translator: they're suffering and our indian neighbors are putting that on our wounds. what's wrong with that? >> reporter: the area has been under an enforced shutdown. the root of the process has been nepal's new constitution. now, people over here say that the constitution does not give them enough fair representation in the national assembly. they're also against the currency mark indication of the federal states. india did not welcome the constitution and hinted on a blockade. cup coupled with delays on the indian side and the protests here, the problem is just getting worse. earlier we talked to who is assumed to be the next prime minister of nepal. >> it's land-locked, and we need

help. how long can it survive? it is not necessary, and there must be some confusion somewh e somewhere. in nepal, there is no confusion. >> reporter: with each passing day and night in kathmandu, things are interrupted further. people hope that kathmandu leadership will finally wake up to their pain and address the demands and aspirations. >> an associate editor of the hindu times newspaper in new delhi and wrote a book on the contemporary history of nepal and joins us live from new delhi. good to have you with us. let's start with the allegations that india is meddling in the internal politics of nepal.

that's nepal's accusation. what do you make of that? >> well, i think it's important to remember a bit of history here. india has been engaged very closely with nepali politics since the 1950s and earlier. every big political change in nepal has happened with a degree of indian involvement. even this peace process that started about ten years ago when the parties came together, and what we see in this constitution is the climax of this peace process. it was facilitated in new delhi. the leaders suggest that india is suddenly intervening in nepali affairs because they've always been an actor. i think that context is important positive remember. india is consistent with the political leadership that when you write your constitution, write it in a manner broadly acceptable to all sections of society and awe regions of the country. the constitution that was ran through by the nepali political

elite did not have the consent. there are many people in the southern plains who were deeply unhappy, and that's why the army was deployed. that is the domestic unrest in nepal. it's the root cause, and that has led to the differential relationship. >> you say india is very critical of the new constitution and says it was rushed through and not broad-based enough. it has folks very anti-indian feelings in nepal, hasn't it? how will that be resolved? >> i think it's important to, again, remember that nepal, in kathmandu there is deep resent want against india right now. that's a sign of the polarized nepal. of course, i think the other way ahead has to be that all political parties in nepal be in kathmandu that arrive with ifs forces or daily. everybody has to find the middle

way. the middle way is finding a constitutional amendment that addresses the concern of the dissenting parties that increases political representation for them that guarantees is in a way that modernized social groups can own. >> these social groups include the modesis who live close to the border with india and feel they're very discriminated against in this constitution. >> i'm sorry. i couldn't get that question. >> i was asking you about the madesis. who are they, and why do they feel discriminated against in this constitution? >> they're a people that leave in nepal's southern plains and they share cultural ties with people across the border in india. nepal's political structure is dominated by the upper class, and the they want a stake in the political structure and they want greater representation and

be considered equal nepali citizens. this quest for the unity and representation has driven the movement. the idea behind the constitution was that different social groups would come tolling and draw up a new social contract for nepal. unfortunately the ruling elite decided to ignore the concerns of them on the streets for the last 45 days. this is 33% of the population, and their voices cannot be ignored and must be accommodated. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us. good to speak with you live from new delhi. at least six people have been killed in a series of explosions in the southern chinese city of leju. there were 15 blasts that struck a hospital, market, and several buildings. the typhoon is now losing strength in china after making landfall there on tuesday. it hit with winds of more than

100 kilometers per hour causing flooding and landslides. more than 320,000 were evacuated from homes. at threes three people were killed when it passed through neighboring taiwan. on that note let's get the weather with richard. so the remnants of this typhoon still causing problems and a massive tidal wave apparently. >> that's right, shirley, september and march when you have the big aspirin tides that's when you get the tidal waves and with the supermoon that enhanced it even more. you can make out the remnants of the circulation from the typhoon across eastern china. producing very big rainfall totals that you can see, even up towards shanghai. another thing around the shanghai region is it helped to pull in winds. these winds result in the piling up the water in the mouth of the river. now, it's a classic shape for a

curve. it narrows and becomes much shallower. there's high tides that were normal and you have low pressure here. this water coming up and has no where else to go but to pile up. that's what we saw here all along the coast. always great to watch the footage, because people get soaked and never realize how impressive these things will be. in canada they have one of these, the sevenest wares in the u.u.k. this is supposed to be one of the biggest with really big heights when the conditions are right. across the region we have heavy rain from the remnant in shanghai. keep an eye on that tropical cyclone development that could take place in the philippines in the coming days. >> thank you very much for that. burkina faso's capital is under lockdown as they hunt for those behind a short-lived coup.

>> i'm in southern argentina where satellites are made. how they will blast orbit, and here they're very excited. trying to stay on top. south korea's national sport tie tae kwon do has a new rival. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

russia says it launched the first air strikes it syria after

parliament approved the use of military force abroad. the kremlin insists there won't be troops fighting on the ground. kunduz is now mostly under taliban control. nato joined a counterattack against the taliban. it's helping the afghan army to try and regain control of kunduz. they're gun battles between the u.n. peacekeepers and the fighters in the central african republic. now, government forces in burkina faso are searching areas in the capital for members of an elite unit behind a short-lived coup. on tuesday they retook the barracks of presidential guard that staged the coup earlier in month. the army accuses them of not laying down arms after a peace deal beregional powers. amnesty international released a report outlined the extent of the illegal diamond

trade in the central african republic. international traitors and rebel groups profit from the sale of conflict diamonds. a ban was put out in 2013 after fighting began, but that meant the trade continued internally. armed groups and criminal gangs and companies feed off the criminal trade and remove vast wealth from economies over the years. many of the mines across the country attacked by rebel groups force them to pay protection money to earn a living working there. let's talk about this with lucy graham who is a legal adviser at amnesty international. good to have you with us, lucy. amnesty is saying companies purchase diamonds from the central african republic and not properly investigating where the diamonds came from. is that right? >> yes. the report is looking at abuses throughout the diamond supply chain from the point of extraction to local trading

centers like do you buy and antwe antwerp. it focuses on buying houses in the capital, and they're buying diamonds from within cars without checking whether those diamonds descended on groups in any way. for example, the anti-balakar involved in the escalates violence in the moment have taxed miners or naended protection payment from traders. we're saying the companies buying these diamonds haven't checked where they've come from and the story behind them. we're calling more widely on companies behind the supply chain to check the story on diamonds. >> as we know, conflict diamonds are governed by international law, and many governments and the global diamond industry has ostensibly signed up for that. how are traders getting around that? >> the international process in place is aimed at external

import of diamonds and doesn't look internally. that trade is inevitable, because so many people, miners, depend on diamonds for the livelihood. what that means is that armed groups by the anti-balaka and seleka can tax the diamonds and companies aren't checking to make sure they're not buying conflict diamonds. they're currently stockpiled and banki, and we're saying that the government should be making companies check whether they have sold conflict diamond. if they can't prove they haven't, they should confiscate those diamonds and sell them for the public good. >> to take that point forward, it has to be said, of course, the companies mentioned in your report are saying this is nonsense. they don't do business with mines controlled by armed groups. nevertheless, you are saying that the government has a duty to confiscate any diamonds not

properly bought? >> i think the problem is that if these companies can't provide reasonable evidence those diamonds are conflict diamonds, then the chances are they will get into international markets and end up with consumers. it seems wrong that those companies themselves should be able to profit from the diamonds. what we're looking for is the government to sell them and profit from them itself and also to make sure they pass the benefits of that onto the people. whether when you look at the miners they struggle to make a living selling diamonds at incredibly low prices. it's important they can benefit fra that. >> thank you for joining us on al jazeera. >> thank you. now, thousands of people have been marching through south african cities accusing the government of failing to act against corruption.

church leaders are part of the protest. they've been widely criticized for using state fund it is to upgrade the house. the government is accused of interfering in government. one of the worst affected is asylum speakers who have to bribe at every step. we have the report from pretoria. >> some of the people most vulnerable to corruption in south africa are most desperate to stay in the country. before 6:00 a.m. the asylum seekers line is long. it's officials and private citizens seeking bribes and stamping those that paid. this young woman has come for days to get her asylum papers to get extended. >> 800. every time last year i play 100. >> can you get anywhere without

that money? >> no, you can't. >> reporter: a report by a group of civil society organizations found this to be the most corrupt office in the country. the government has been trying to clean it up, but on the morning we were there, it was easy to find people who had paid bribes. >> what can i do? if you don't pay, what can you do? >> reporter: corruption is deeply entrenched and rampant in government. in the last 20 years it's estimated government corruption has cost south africans about $70 billion in the 2014 to 2015 year only 40% of the municipalities received an order, and that was an improvement. that same financial year they were $6.5 billion in unauthorized and irregular spending. he does his best to avoid doing business with the governments. he paid officials bribes just to get the paperwork necessary to apply. >> i think it's very wide because it's just a norm. let me make it clear. ts a norm, because there's no

way you can get interest -- something for nothing. >> reporter: it has handled 16,000 cases and runs a hot line for people to report corruption but says whistle plblowers need better protection. >> most of the time you find that once people disclose something or report something, at the end of day they will suffer occupational detriment. they will be victimized, and it's difficult to proouch that. >> corruption and the asylum process means people not genuine refugees can pay their way in. whether genuine or not, these asylum seekers have no choice but to pay. well, leaders gathered in new york for the u.n. general assembly have pledged almost $2 billion for refugees in camps in the middle east. germany has organized an initiative to accept thousands of refugees and asylum seekers

and other countries. they have leading industrial nations as well as other european countries and golf states. germany chancellor angela merkel wants to speed up the repatriation of people that come to germany but fail the process. a third that say they're from syria are not. laurence lee reports from munich. >> reporter: they're still arriving at munich train station in big groups and small, this is the end of a hostile journey for all of them. health workers are there to check their temperature and others are checking to see whether they are who they say are. we filmed a group in a slovenia town moving as fast as they could to the border with austria. among the number was this man in the red. he said he would do an interview with us? >> where are you from? >> sear dwra. >> which city? >> at that mass cuss. >> you just came here from where? from the board of crow way that?

>> i came here -- >> it's a ghost face? >> yes, and go to austria and germany. >> reporter: at the trags station in a separate conversation in french he admitted to me in fact he was a hotel worker from tunisia. he was pretending because he knew he had no chance of asylum, and the germans don't think he's the only one. this air of suspicions prompted the germany government to hire some 45 linguistics experts in 80 different languages. anybody who arrives here has to give a speech sample analyzed to verify if they were who they say they are. the germany government has fake syrians would not have the asylum claim rejected, but it will make life more difficult for them. we've heard similar things are refugees in slovenia as well where they were on hand at the registration center. the arguments in favor of asking these questions, of course, is people not in fear of their

lives shouldn't be getting in the way of people who are. others say the system shouldn't discriminate. to go on this dangerous long and strenuous travel to europe to maybe cross i willegally and in maul boats over the mediterranean and force yourself over barbed wire, you have a real reason to flee. i can't understand why they shouldn't be refugees. >> reporter: the other point is inside a european union, which is in many places openly hostile to any refugees, the idea that some are getting through by pretending and likely to harden that attitude more. syrians, after all, should hardly have to prove they are really running for their lives. laurence lee, al jazeera, in munich. a leading family planning agency in u.s. that provides women abortions and cheap access to health care are fighting to keep the funding. republican politicians

threatened to cut taxpayer money. we have the details. >> the president of planned parenthood cecile richards faced off with lawmakers for hours as she justified why she believes the organization that also provides abortion should continue to receive more than $450 million annually in federal funds. this organization really became the target of conservative lawmakers as of late because of videos that surfaced recently that report to show executives from planned parenthood offering baby parts or fetal tissue for research for sale and eshl slily profiting from that. this has outraged many lawmakers who are on he posed to planned parenthood which providing abortions which in violation of many religious beliefs. as a result richards faced touch questioning as she made the argument that planned parenthood does a lot more than just provide abortions.

they came to capitol hill with a message for members of congress. don't defund planned parenthood. for many working class americans it's want only access to affordable health care. courteney effort of in graduate school suffering from i understand meet yoesz. she turned to planned parenthood to preserve her fertility when she could no longer afford medication. >> i worked hard to get in the graduate program, and now i'm looking at i need to get a job. i can't study for this one reason. so planned parenthood made it so i could get the medication. >> reporter: not everyone in congress sees planned parenthood as a benevolent organization. the health clinics also provide abortions, violating the religious beliefs of some members and the comfort of others. after video surfaced purport islandersly shows planned parenthood executives openly discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. >> on these particular issues

like a eyes our neurons. >> many are threatening to cut the $450 million federal fund for the cling and demand answers from the president of planned parenthood appearing before a congressional committee. >> the outrageous accusations leveled against planned parenthood based on heavily doctored videos are offensive and categorically untrue. >> the taxpayers have a right to know how this money is being spent. >> absolutely. >> if taxpayer dollars are being used to free up services that you provide that are ab rent. >> others in congress say the hearing is nothing more than political theater, and an attack on women's reproductive choices that's been going on since abortion was legalized in the u.s. in 1973. >> what's really under attack is the right of women to control their own bodies, their own

reproduction. rrt courtney agrees. that's why she came to tell congress abortions are just a small part of what planned parenthood does, and because of her medical condition, her chance at motherhood would never have happened without its support. now, this debate is unlikely to end and is part of a wider, ongoing debate over how the federal government spends its money. it's really a partisan debate going on for many years. democrats tend to favor for more funding for domestic and entitlement programs, whereas republicans tend to favor spending on defense. as a result, planned parenthood is the latest target in this debate. i can tell that the american public opinion seems to be on planned parenthood's side. currently 65% of americans believe planned parenthood should receive federal funding as opposed to 29% that believe it should be defunded. i can tell you that president

obama is backing planned parenthood. he says that any legislation that comes out of capitol hill in either chamber and makes it to his desk that attempts to defund planned parenthood he will veto. thousands of children in the philippines are risking their lives in gold mines. according to a new report children as young as ix woix working illegally. the philippine government has addressed that report. we are makes acts to solve this problem. chinese leaders pay tribute to those that died in the struggle for independence.

president xi jinping was at the ceremony in tiananmen's square. it's been 66 years since it was announced, the founding of the people's republic of china. coming up, we have all the sports for you. find out if namibia can end its losing streak at the rugby world cup.

welcome back. engineers in argentina are counting down to a landmark

launch. the communications satellite is designed to provide better phone and tv signals and reduce argentina's dependence on foreign providers. we're going to see where it's made. >> reporter: it's a dream that's become a reality. a reality that's brought investment, education and independence. argentina is launching it's own communication satellite into orbit improving mobile phone reception, television signals and gps for argentina and its neighbors while reducing reliance on traditional providers such as the united states. >> this, of course, is extremely important for the country not to rely on images that comes from abroad but to do our own technology particularly adapted to our needs. of course, with the argentine labor and engineering.

>> reporter: it was launched into orbit 36,000 kilometers from earth last year. asat 2 will enhance that service after being moved by transport planes to the launch site in french guinea. this is a private company financed by $250 million of government funding. while all the excitement and expectation is focused on the launch of rsat-2, work is continuing on satellites like this one launched intou space in 20167 from the andes mountains several hundred kilometers in the sky by french guiana. more than ten kilometers of cable go into the satellites. the hope is they'll operate up to 15 years and launch an operation from a control center near buenos aires. >> translator: it's a source of employment in the country and a

lucrative neck tolling and it's a great way to retain the professional talent in argentina where they can develop and grow. >> reporter: workers that invested years in the project and many from across argentina will watch the rocket take rsat-2 into space forecast live on state television. excited and nervous to boldly go where only a few have gone before. well, let's get to sports now. here's andy. >> swedish side hopes a small pitch will restrict the movements of the their visits around madrid. they have a meter of each side of the playing area in an effort to limit the space. real is without the injured rodriguez for wednesday's game against the swedish champions. >> if they are playing the champion, they deserve to be here.

so we have to respect all the teams and we have to sigh when you go on the page without this mentality, i think you have problems. >> we haven't got that amount of money. so i think it's possible for us to get to that level anyway, and that's the part of football that is two, three, four big, big money clubs in the world. that's one of those. >> they're playing, and they have struggled in it let. only five points from the opening six games, but after beating man city earlier in september, they can move to the top of group d if they win. >> translator: i believe the main goal is to move into the quarterfinals and being consistently in the quarterfinals. there are the years whether the draw is more difficult than others, but the key is to be very good to win the round. look at wednesday's other games. the other game is the man city

playing. both teams lost their fifrs first games. they're away since moscow, and for the first time a champions league group game is played in kazakhstan where they host ga galaatasaray. they didn't make it easy for themselves in the first leg. this game is played in saudi arabia. the defender is having to pick the ball up. and happened and a penalty was awarded. it was missed. and the game finished 1-1. now, namibia is waiting for their first win at the rugby world cup. the latest defeat was against tonga. the winless run at the tournament stretches back to 1999. they did score three times in this game.

they bounced back from the opening against against georgia to show a bonus point win, 35-21 was the final score. >> we had to come out today and put on a performance. we're happy we got the win. another five points. we have to be a lot better. we play argentina next week -- or this week. south korea's national sport tae kwon do has core olympic status guaranteeing it's immediate future at the games. despite 18 million people around the world practicing the sport, at home the martial art is actually on the decline. from seoul, harry fossett explains. >> reporter: in the hills above south korea's capital, a tae kwon do expert prepares himself. he doesn't practice or teach the sports these day, he's a mast erer of another korean marshati a art. >> it's very strong, but it's soft and looks like dancing. so it's very comfortable.

always my instructurors emphasized to me to practice with your natural mind. >> reporter: there is some argument over the history of it, whether it began more as a village game. he says it brings him closer to his country's cultural heritage. proponents say it's still rooted in its history at a time when tae kwon do has moved from martial arts to more of the points-scoring sport. tae kwon do says it's both a martial art to be practiced in studios and a sport now secure in its olympic status. >> more action from the heavyweights. >> the sport has helped to extend tae kwon do's global reach, but the use of points registered pressure pads means a stand offish style. it's a problem the sport's president wants to fix. >> martial arts tae kwon do

cannot be changed. we have to respect and we have to keep the -- all the traditions. but as a sport, especially olympic sports, you have to change. >> tiquae kwon do's spiritual h schools championship is under way. the knocks can be hard, but for these athletes, worth it. >> translator: it brings me closer to my fans and i think it's good for my future as well. i'm working hard. >> these kids are something of an exceptional. the number of corrinian children keeping up the practice is declining. >> junior high and high school they're most focused on study and to go to the -- get into a good university. so i think that's why the junior high and high school of tae kwon do is not as popular as in elementary school. >> reporter: it can't compete with the cousin in terms of

numbers or profile, but the fans praise the simple set of rules. no pads or points or replays. jups just a kick to the head or throw to the floor, and it's all over. harry fossett, al jazeera, seoul. baseball has been paying tribute to hall-of-famer yoking yogi beret who dayed last week. a memorial service was held in new jersey. a gold catcher's mitt a reminder of his playing position. he was an 18-time all-star and 10-time world series champion. plenty more on our website. suarez had a winning goem in the game. aljazeera.com/sports. there will be plenty more sport for me later on. that's it for now. see you later on. thank you very much indeed for that, and that is it for this news hour. i will be back straight after the break with another bulletin of news. do stay with us.

>> russia says it's jets are launching air strikes inside syria, to help president bashar al-assad. ♪ hello there, i'm shiulie ghosh live from our headquarters in doha. afghan forces send reinforcem t reinforcements to retake kunduz. tens of thousands of protesters take part in anti-corruption marches in south africa. digging and driving for gold, the