[ ♪ ] as angela merkel and francis hollande prepare for an historic joint address for the supereen parliament, an operation -- european parliament, an operation begins to target people smugglers in the mediterranean you're watching al jazeera, also coming up, doctors without borders demand a u.n. backed investigation into the u.s. bombing of its hospital in afghanistan killing 22 people. amnesty international accuses the saudi-led coalition of committing war crimes in yemen, pluses trade unions across

africa hold rallies calling for a boost to the minimum wage a military operation to catch human traffickers begins in the mediterranean. european naval ships will patrol the waters to find smugglers who charge refugees to take them across the sea. the united nations high commissioner for refugees says 550,000 entered people by sea. most landed in greece. more than 400,000 people. over 130,000 arrived in italy. many never make it. the u.n.h.c.r. says so far more than 3,000 people drowned or are missing. neave barker is live from strasbourg where the german chancellor and french president are due to make an address.

what is the plan, neve, to tackle the people smugglers. the refugee crisis is, no doubt, one of the issues that needs to be addressed. >> that's top of the list. when it comes to the refugee crisis, there are strong differences of opinion amongst the 28 member states at the european union. there's a consensus at least on the decision to send the task force to the mediterranean to target the people smugglers. as you mentioned in the last year, as many as 3,000 people died making the crossing, and the decision is that it's necessary to be robust and send in the armed forces. when angela merkel and francis hollande speak a little later this afternoon, they'll have 15-20 minutes, the refugee - as

well as the refugee crisis, there's the war in syria, and the conflict in ukraine, mass unemployment in europe's southern countries, the lingering effect of grease as bailout plan and the need for reform, without doubt, it is the refugee crisis that created fault lines and divisions against those that feel there's a moral imperative to look after the countries in need, and other nations that are skeptical and feel that europe now should begin closing its doors. >> reporter: when the european leaders face the parliament, they pass a country under strain. the last time the leaders of the

france and germany gave a joint address was in 1989, two weeks after the fall of the the berlin wall. now it faces deep divisions. nearly half a million refugees arrived in germany. the crisis is opened up fault lines between countries willing to accommodate refugees, and those that want to keep them out. hungary has been fortified. refugees threaten a christian identity. hungary, the czech republic, have objected to plans to share refugee numbers across the continent. and in greece, hit hard, the authorities found themselves overwhelmed. >> the syrian conflict, the

rampant unemployment in southern european democracies, not to mention the prospect that major players is contemplating leaving. obviously at the moment there is one specific crisis that is bearing down on the e.u., which is the current refugee crisis, which is posing arguably the challenge. to the e.u. for a generation. >> when angela merkel and francis hollande address the assembly, they want to put aside difference, including the possibility of a larger budget to spur on growth, and changes to reduce the differences for the economies. as germany and france push, the limits continue to be tested well, talks about refugee crisis continue in luxembourg, the e.u. interior ministers gather there, we gather from a document that was leaked, a european council document, that

they may prepare plans to return, possibly hundreds of failed of asylum seekers, including economic migrants to the countries of origin, listed to the likes of mali and eritrea and niger. i have seen and it is made public. what we can take away interest that is europe is under a tremendous amount of strain in coming up with a workable solution in dealing with the arrival of as many as half a million people here to the european union. there are twin impulses between those countries that say there is a moral obligation to go something or nations that feel it is time to push the door closed. >> some of those issues they are talking about are echoed elsewhere. these are pictures from manchester where the british prime minister david cameron is

speaking. he's addressing a meeting of the conservative party, and he's been talking about the e.u. as too big, too bossy, and too interfering. speaking to his core supporters of euro skeptics, not happy about britain's role, and the prime minister promised a referendum, could be next year on the membership of the e.u. doctors without borders is demanding a u.n. backed investigation into the bombing of its hospital. the president said if we let this go, we are basically giving a blank check to countries at war. they cannot rely on inquiries by u.s. and afghan forces. 22 doctors and patients were killed by u.s. air strikes on saturday who ordered the attack, and why is still unclear. >> what happened is tha

a plane arrived, and in several ways, it came four or five times over the hospital and every time extremely precisely, a hit of with a series of impacts. this led to the horrible results of what we see. >> on monday, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general john campbell, said the attack was not to protect u.s. troops. >> on october 3rd afghan forces advised they were taking strikes. from enemy positions and called for reinforcements. an air strike was called, several civilians were struck, different from initial reports which indicated that u.s. forces were threatened and the air strike was called on their behalf condemnation of the attack has been growing. >> we condemn the attack against the hospital in kunduz. as we know, it was the last remaining hospital serving a need that was dire in the area.

the attacks, you know, is against medical facilities, that could amount to the war crime. >> on tuesday, general campbell told the u.s. senate committee that the kunduz hospital attack was a mistake. >> the decision to provide aerial fire was a u.s. decision, made within the u.s. chain of command. a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility institute afghan forces and the taliban battle for control of kunduz. u.s. fighter planes have been helping government troops. we have one of the fewer international journalists inside the city. >> the city is quiet. but the two sides are not far from each others.

taliban and afghan government forces are a few hundreds meters from each other. civilians were suffering almost 10 days with no food, water, stuck in their homes, no electricity. some are leaving the area, we spoke to some residents. they are saying they don't have faith on afghan security forces any more. that the area will be cleared soon from taliban. they believe the fighting will continue for some time. we talked with afghan security forces and asked why they are going so slow. if there's a lack of capability. the afghan security officials are telling us here, one, that they have lack of the leadership, lack of coordination among the 7,000 that we believe here, and then the second reason that taliban are hiding in a residential area, if afghan

security forces are giving it a hard push. it might cause civilian casualties. that's why they are going so slow. >> russia carried out more air strikes in syria as part of a campaign it says is targetting i.s.i.l. the institute for the study of war, a u.s. based think tank says the air campaign is hitting opposition groups in areas far from i.s.i.l. this is the territory controlled by major groups. fighting the government, including i.s.i.l. the government is anticipating 15 locations where it's confident russia carried out multiple strikes. a large number around the city of homs and central hamas, and in the north-western province. only three were in i.s.i.l.-held territory. >> zeina khodr has more from

beirut. >> the russian military entered a new phase. the air power is used to launch an offensive on the ground. we saw russian air strikes target the opposition in the countryside of homs and hama and idlib. targetting opposition positions on the front line that's surrounding government control territory in the west. the aim of the air strikes from to stop the advance, the rebels were advancing towards laticca, to weaken the defensive. now it's a major offensive on the ground. the government trying to push north. >> now the opposition is telling us they will fight back. they said the latest defensive is to displace the tens of thousands. we have seen video of families packing the belongings and heading north.

the area in the rest of the country is strategic, located on a main highway between two cities. damascus and aleppo. it is under the control of the rebels. and the government will open the fi way. if it wants to push towards the north to capture territory. what is clear is that the russian aerial campaign is to help the government change the balance of power. russia says this is a war against terrorists, officials make clear that they are not just targetting i.s.i.l., for them the majority of the opposition are considered to be terrorists. >> still to come on the show - diamonds are not forever. one of the biggest producers discovers that gems are not so precious any more. scientists are baffled by an unexpected discovery in the waters off hong kong. person

welcome back. let's recap the headlines - a military provision to catch human traffickers begin in the mediterranean. the refugee crisis is likely to be addressed by german chancellor and the french president in an historic address to the european parliament. doctors without borders is requesting a u.n. of backed investigation into one of the hospitals in afghanistan. 12 staff and 10 patients were killed by u.s. air strikes on saturday russia has carried out more

air strikes as part of an air campaign, that it says is targetting i.s.i.l. the strike is focused on hama, and idlib. there are reports of civilian deaths in jerusalem, an israeli police spokesperson says a palestinian woman stabbed a jewish man in the old city. according to police, the man pulled out a gun, and shot the woman. she's being taken to hospital. >> the 18-year-old was identified as being from the south-eastern outskirts of east jerusalem. the incident followed a lifting of all the intense restrictions that have been placed on access to the old city by the israeli government after the jewish holiday. restrictions on access to the al-aqsa mosque compound have been listed with muslims free to

enter the city. attempts are under way. calming the situation down in the occupied west bank. there was a meeting, we are told by the israeli military, the level of the security participants are not confirmed at this stage. the israeli military says the discussion was aimed at finding ways in which to cool the situation in the occupied west bank the saudi-led coalition fighting houthi rebels are accused of gross humanitarian violations. they should be investigated and looked at as war crimes. at least 100 civilians died, half children. amnesty says there was a clear pattern of disproportionate and

indiscriminate attacks on targets. it's concerned about a lack of accountability. urging states to stop selling weapons to saudi arabia. >> earlier i spoke to a researcher on amnesty international, and i asked her if the killings were deliberate. >> what we are seeing here is not unintended deaths, we are seeing targeted strikes against civilians, homes and public buildings. they have a certain pattern which are consecutive strikes, so you cannot say the civilians are unintended casualties or collateral damage. that is why we say that the air strikes are in violation of international humanitarian law and should be investigated as war crimes. the report talks about the use of cluster bombs. can you determine who are using

cluster bombs. >> they design cluster bombs used by the saudi-led coalition. the cluster munition bombs could have devastating long-term effects, because they can turn into landmines and children or adults as well can step on them when they get covered are soil. as i a said, we said the saudi-led coalition used the bombs on the houthi strongholds. >> cluster bombs were banned in heavy civilian populated areas. is that what you were saying, they were not dropped in open fields, but civilian areas. >> we found in the two attacks, that we dropped them over villages that were full of civilians and houses and farms, and drop over the area the size of a field or football field.

therefore they can spread quickly and it's difficult for them to be found once hidden under a soil. that is internationally banned. we are calling for an investigation into the use of internationally banned cluster bombs. >> how do you respond to reports that they deal with houthi violations. >> this specific report focuses on the saudi-led coalition, crimes in the north in the stronghold. >> we have covered houthi crimes in other reports, primarily in the south of yemen. where they launched indiscriminate attacks. >> amnesty international arrived saudi arabia to comment on findings, but they had no response. we requested an interview, and will continue to try at least 18 people have been killed and eight injured in three separate suicide bombings

in nigeria. they happened in the north-east. the national emergency management agency said two went outside. the third in a settlement on the city's outskirts. >> workers marched in cities to demand the rise in the national minimum wage many can't afford to live. a report found 5.5 million can't afford to keep his family out of poverty. tania page has been to a rally. >> the workers are demanding a national minimum age between 230, to 240. they take it as a bare minimum.

someone should earn support with the average family, and they have all their basic needs. there's about 5.5 million working for it in their country. there are people ending up 35 plus, and can't afford to cover all the family's basic needs. i put the proposed minimum wage to the national employers nation which represents 23,000 small and medium sized businesses. they say it will kill small business. they want the government to intervene to create millions of jobs and intervene particularly in the mining sector, where tens of thousands of jobs have been impacted by a rising wage bill and falling commodity prices. people in a difficult position. they need jobs. they need to pay them a decent fair wage the diamond industry is losing its spark the. it has thousands of rich mine, but thousands of workers have

lost their job. >> botswana's bread and butter. diamonds contribute to more than 70% of their income. sales are down, and so are prices. >> clearly it's a challenging period for everyone in the pipeline, us as well, manufacturers and the retailers. and that imbalance will pull through, and we are working hard to ensure that consumers desire diamonds. >> sales reached $80 billion for the first time last year. this year the economic uncertainty in many countries and the slowdown in growth in china is damaging the industry. the leading diamond company says demand is strong, despite a more than 20% drop in sales. in the first half of this year. >> we are investing heavily in the long term. we have about about $3 billion in future projects. >> for jobs lost in botswana and other countries, which cut and polish diamonds. a third of employees in

botswana's cut and polish industry have lost their jobs. two companies have shut down with others cutting down production. this year's christmas period, they hope, will help it recover. >> reporter: traditionally botswana mined and supplied raw diamonds. now it is trying to upskill the workers. >> it is really the lifeblood of the economy of botswana. >> it is the lifeblood of the economy of botswana. a lot of life size. the offspin of it, we are talking about people in the government, employees, people in hospitality, education. >> the trade union says diamond need to be marketed differently to appeal to younger buyers. executives are urging government leaders to make concessions. >> they wanted to buy diamonds, ship them out of the country, they called it flexibility, and wanted to have services removed from the diamond.

they have all sorts of things. there are those which we have. >> reporter: botswana cut the economic forecast by half. many say current conditions are a wake up call for botswana, to ensure that it diverse fizz it looks like it's losing its smashing now -- sparkle now /* volkswagen will recall cars affected by the emissions scandal from january. vw's new chief executive says they will be fixed by the end of next year. up to 11 million diesel cars are said to contain software. to cheat emissions tests. the firm will review investment and cars and technology. hong kong is one of the world's busiest harbours, ships of all

shapes and sizes scurry around creating pol ugs -- pollution, scientists made a discovery, coral reefs are thriving. >> cranes and construction sites circle the hong kong harbour front. and the city expands the footprint. scientists are keeping a close watch on what is happening on land, and a closer watch on what is going on beneath the water, and what might be happening to the coral. >> we have pollution that derives from development. particularly from sewerage. industrial effluent with heavy metal contamination, and sedimentation resulting from reclamation activities. so all of these things synergies affect coral in a negative way. >> david baker is leading the team. they are diving, logging coral

species, and how they are faring in the face of tough conditions. no one was suspecting this . >> i'm surprised because we have the numbers of water quality and emissions, there should not be coral in hong kong. a few miles from the ports. high-rise housing estates, major construction sites and 7 million people, divers have found coral not just alive, but thriving. >> it's remarkable. we can dive in places where you think no coral could survive. polluted harbours, areas close to waste water, and you still can find coral relatives. >> reporter: the team have recorded 80 different species of hard coral. that's more than what has been identified in the entire caribbean sea. >> it's clear in hong kong. at this site we saw a diversity of coral, and schools of fishes.

it's a nice day today. >> like any other marine environment around the world. this region is feeling the impact of climate change and development. the stronger types types of coral species are holding on. despite unrelenting conditions. scientists are trying to establish how they survive. on each dive the scientists collect fragments of coral. to monitor and cultivate. >> we can actively grow them, fragment them, create baby corals. eventually the goal is to put them back in the site. the fact that the coral is thriving is leaving scientists baffled. >> we could make a hypothesis that the corals have been selected, that only the strongest survive.

that only the stronger survive. so it could be the corals in hong kong are super corals that may hold a secret for global survival in the future. if you want to keep up to date with all the stories we've been telling you about, head over to the website at aljazeera.com.