>> from al jazeeras headquarters in doha, this is the news hour. coming up in the next 60 minutes, the future of europe at the top of the agenda. francois hollande and angela merkel are due to make an historic address. >> russia carries out a series of new airstrikes in syria, and starts firing missiles from the caspian sea. >> more clashes in the occupied west bank, as tension continues to simmer. >> marine life flourishing in

the waters of hong kong, scientists are baffled. we'll tell you why. it's described as an historic visit for historically difficult times. german chancellor angela merkel and the french president francois hollande are in strasburg to address the parliament. the first speech to the assembly since 1989 comes as the eu faces its toughest challenges. let's take you live now. why this joint address to the parliament? >> well, as you said there, the first joint address in 26 years, the last time the french and german leaders came here to address the european parliament, it was only a matter of weeks after the collapse of the berlin wall. then the dialogue, rhetoric was all about expansion and unity,

now president hollande and angela merkel face the issues that threaten the entire unity of the union itself. one of the most overriding issues is the refugee crisis that threatens to divide those pan european nations like france and germany in allowing more refugees, and asylum seekers to live and stay hear in the european union and other countries in central and southern europe, like hungary, romania, the czech republic worried about numbers of the refugees arriving in territories fearing for the identities of their nation and the european

union as a whole. the war in syria, the conflict in ukraine, mass unemployment amongst the youth in southern europe, the lingering after effects of the euro zone crise and so on and so forth, but of course it is the refugee crazy that places the biggest challenge and strain on european unity. >> we'll be back with you when that speech gets underway. main thanks, live from strasburg. >> russian airstrikes destroyed weapons dep pes. moscow stepped up air campaign across the country and launched strikes from the caspian sea. more on that in a moment, but first, zeina hodor reports. >> a new phase in russia's military intervention in syria, moscow targeted the opposition from the air. now, that air power is being used to support a syrian army counter offensive on the ground.

areas in southern it lib and northern hama are under fire for control of an important corner in western syria, strategically situated along the main highway between the cities of damascus and aleppo. it seems the government had informed the residents of the planned assault. >> the families have fled from their homes and now this town is empty of civilians and only rebels remain. >> people started fleeing on tuesday, tens of thousands live in the town. it is not clear how many of them already left, but the rebel factions in this region are promising to fight back. >> we will defend our land. we will not loup the murderous assad army or russian occupiers to enter. we promise that we will burn them. >> this latest offensive coincided with the report released by the aid agency which said this year alone, an

additional 2 million people have been displaced. the group is calling on the international community to act. >> the international community is failing across it is boards when it comes to the syria crise. the key areas, the aid response, the willingness of rich countries to resettle refugees from the region and the international efforts to stop the violence. >> russia's military campaign has complicate an already complex water and officials have made clear that they consider the majority of opposition groups terrorists. >> for the past week, russian airstrikes have been weakening the defenses of the opposition in front line areas surrounding the government stronghold in the west. they stopped the rebel advances in this region, and now they're helping the army recapture territory. >> the immediate objective of russia's intervention of the conflict is becoming clear, to change the balance of power on the ground.

zeina hodor, al jazeera, beirut. >> let's get more on those missiles fired from the kass subpoena sea into syria by russia. peter, russia, it seems has opened a new front in its military campaign in syria. >> that's right, in a four year war, conflict, a new front opened by russia unexpectedly this morning. a couple of hours ago, the minster announced that 26 cruise missiles were targeted against 11 isil positions. this is the caliber cruise missile, code named nato, code name is sizzler. the russians would have had to a ply for permission. iraq, iran and syria for flying rights for the missiles, which traveled 1200-kilometer long trajectory. you may ask yourself why is russia sending a salvo of cruise

missiles into syria when it has pilots with eyes on the targets that they're prioritizing every day from the air base, well, perhaps it's a measure of a reminder from russia of russia's reach in this conflict. >> you mentioned the country that is russia would have had to talk to, to ask permission for these missiles to overfly, what about the united states, would russia have talked to the u.s. about firing these missiles? >> highly unlikely. we heard from ash carter, the as hsecretary of defense a few hous ago. if putin hoped he could entice the u.s. into joining his pro assad coalition in the battle against isil, he'll be very disappointed, because ash carter has finally ruled that out. he says that the u.s. is not prepared to cooperate militarily with russia, and he described

putin's strategy as tragically flawed. >> many thanks, peter shop live in moscow. >> isil fighters also control parts of iraq, and iraqi defense delegation is currently in moscow to discuss military and intelligence cooperation with russia. the u.s. commander leading the u.s. led coalition against isil is meeting iraqi government leaders in baghdad. let's go live now to the iraqi capital. iraq finds itself in a delicate situation trying to balance relations with the u.s. and russia. >> indeed. it's a very tough situation that iraq finds itself in. we only have to consider the fact that will the u.s. general is here in rack meeting with

senior iraq finishes. we also have an iraqi delegation in moscow meeting with russian officials. while that was a scheduled visit, it does lend to what we have been hearing by some figures within iraq's parliament who have said not only would they like to see russia carry out airstrikes against isil here in iraq, but went on to say that he would also like to see russia play an even larger role than the americans do here in iraq. now, i should make it clear that that's not the government's publicly stated position, that i guess the position of one parliamentarren in iraq. >> he welcomed the role russia was playing in syria, he stopped short of calling for russia to carry out airstrikes here against isil. >> while the diplomacy is going

on in the background, the u.s. launched further strikes against targets in rimadi today. >> indeed. it really underscores how tense the situation is, not least from a diplomatic point of view, as you put it, but again, the pressure that the iraqi government finds itself under, and one player, that player that i failed to mention in all of this i also iran. iran, of course, is supporting from what we understand, supports russia's actions in sir yes. we also understand that they would certainly support that kind of action here in iraq. the relationship between the iraqi government, and the iranians is very well documented, and very, very close. again, as we've been saying, although airstrikes are currently taking place, and although we are seeing violence, there's a huge diplomatic side to all of this which is bringing detentions to the fore between allies, allies that iraq and the u.s., and of course the geo politics of the u.s. and its

distant relationship with both russia and iran, so iraq finds itself in the middle of a very complicated situation, a situation which, of course, is occurring on their borders with syria, but also they need to really consider the security situation within their own borders here in iraq, so a very difficult situation. >> many thanks. tensions remain high between israelis and palestinians with two stopping attacks reported in the last few hours and clashes against the occupied west bank. live now to west jerusalem, al jazeera's mike hanna is there. it's hard to see that the restrictions that are currently placed upon palestinians would be lifted, given the level of this tension. is anyone talking to anyone about how to diffuse all of this? >> well, there have apparently been an overnight meeting between a security heads from the israelis and the palestinians.

now, this news comes from the israeli military, who say that a meeting was held overnight. the exact level of the contact not made clear, the military says that the aim of the meeting was to discuss ways in which the situation could be eased in the west bank way in which the crisis could be toned down, as the military people put it. certainly, there has been that particular point of contact. also from the political leaders, there have been calls for a greater degree of calm. we heard from mahmoud abbas that he does not seek confrontation with israel. we've heard from benjamin netanyahu instructing his government ministers to tone down their rhetoric as he put it, so there is here and there attempts being made to try and calm down the situation in and around jerusalem and in the occupied territories as a whole, but as you see, these incidents continue. the attacks that you saw in the old city, alleged attacks, bolt

in the old city and then in the southern israeli town, so clearly tension remains high and clearly the potential remains for a single action to make the situation escalate again even further than it is. >> i presume these restrictions for the time being are firmly in place. >> no, the restrictions, the extreme restrictions that were imposed on access to the old city which locked down the entire old city to virtually every palestinian, those restrictions were lived at the end of the jewish holiday, which ended on monday evening, so those restrictions are no longer there. also, the rights to prayer within the old city is the al aqsa mosque compound have also been relaxed so those who wish to tray can enter the compound. it does appear that the lifting of these restrictions is still in place despite the i want that

actually happened in the old city in the course of the morning. no news that the restrictions going to be imposed because of the two. on:s in the course of the day. >> mike, many thanks. live from west jerusalem. >> there have been clashes across the occupied west bank. this was of the scene in ramallah a short while ago. students from the university taught with israeli security forces. one man is reported to have been killed, several others injured. there were clashes in bethlehem, jericho, nablas and hebron. >> still to come on the program: >> trades unions across south africa hold rallies calling for a boost in the country's minimum wage. >> we'll tell you why botswana's diamond industry is losing its luster. >> seth blatter is a hypocrite and a liar. >> the race for the fifa

presidency is getting personal, as one of the candidates says that he's going to sue outgoing boss, seth blatter. >> a doctor's aid group is calling for an independence investigation into the bombing of one of its hospital ins having a. 22 patients and staff were killed in kunduz. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan has apologized for the mistake on the frontier doctors without borders hospital. the doctors aid group is call for the inquiry to be done by the fact finding commission. it was set up to monitor war crimes. it's never been used and needs a state to request an investigation. >> it is unacceptable that states hide behind gentlemen's agreements and create a free for

all in an environment of in finety. it is unacceptable that the bombing of a hospital can be dismissed as collateral damage or brushed aside as a mistake. today, we are fighting back for the respect of geneva convention. as doctors, we are fighting back for the sake of patients. we need you, as an member of the public to stand with us to insist that even wars have rules. >> let's take a moment to remind you just how events unfolded on saturday. the first u.s. statement said that an air strike against fighters may have caused what it called collateral damage to a nearby hospital. it says that u.s. forces called in air support. the u.s. much to admits that it did fire on the hospital, and that it was a mistake after a request from afghan forces.

it is rejected that there were fighters in the compound, sake the unit was consistently bombed for over an hour and surrounding buildings left unaffected. all sides have known the coordinates of the hospital for the past four years. despite frantic calls to kabul and washington during the bombing, the attack continued for another 30 minutes. tribute was paid to those who died. >> in kunduz, our patient burned in their bed, and doctors, nurses, and other staff were killed as they worked. today, we pay tribute to those who died on this abhorrent attack. we pay tribute to those who are watching their colleagues die and with their hospital still on fire, carried on treating wounded. >> houthi rebels in yemen confirmed their commitment to a u.n. peace plan.

they've written to the u.s. secretary general saying they are willing to commit to a ceasefire and to withdraw from captured territory, including sanna. the rebels made a verbal agreement to the plan last month. the yemeni government insist the houthis must withdraw first before any dialogue can take place. >> the saudi-led coalition fighting in yemen is accused of gross humanitarian violations. amnesty international said they should be investigated as war crimes. the group looked at 13 airstrikes in the houthi stronghold of sanna between may and july this year. at least 100 civilians died, half of them children. amnesty said there was a clear disproportionate and jib discriminate attacks amounting to collective punishment. it's concerned about a lock of accountability. the group urged all states to stop selling weapons to saudi arabia. >> a researcher on yemen for

amnesty international said the killings appear to be deliberate. >> what we are seeing here is not unintended deaths. we are seeing targeted strikes against civilian homes and public buildings. they have a certain pattern which are consecutive strikes, so you cannot say that civilians are unintended casualties or collateral damage from our findings. that is why we are saying that these violations, these airstrikes are in violation of international humanitarian law, and should be investigated as war crimes at this stage. we have found that there are u.s. made and designed cluster bomb and bombs being used by the saudi-led coalition. these cluster bombs can have devastating, long-term effects, because they can turn into land mines, and children or adults as well can step on them when they get covered with soil. asive said, we have found that the saudi-led coalition use

these bombs on assad in particular, the houthi stronghold. we have found in the two attacks we have looked into that they dropped them over villages that were full of civilians and civilian houses and farms, and that is actually internationally banned, the use of them is internationally banned. our call for an investigation into the use of these internationally banned cluster bombs. this report focuses on the saudi-led coalition crimes in the north stronghold of houthi stronghold. we have covered houthi crimes in other reports primarily in the south of yemen when they launched indiscriminate and proportioned attacks in civilian areas. >> amnesty asked saudi arabia to respond. they've had no response. we've asked an interview and will continue to try to do so. at least 18 people have been killed and eight injured in

bombings in nigeria in the northeast. the national emergency management agency says that two bombs went off in a housing estate, outside a shop and a mosque, the third happened in a settlement on the city's outskirts. >> workers have been on the march in south africa to demand a minimum wage that allows them to look at their families properly. many complain they can't make ends meet even though they have a full time job. we have this report. >> these protestors say a national minimum wage of between 330 and $440 a month would mean dignity for all workers. miners and workers from the clothing industry are here. >> enough is enough. we demand an immediate implementation of the national minimum wages as a springboard to ensure that every worker can sleep with something in his or her stomach.

>> a recent study by the university of cape town revealed they are five and a half million working poor in south africa, workers employed full time, yet still can't afford to cover all their families' needs. people like tina works more than 35 hours a week as a cleaner, but pay is $88 a month. she lives in a shack and manages to put $37 a month into a community saving scheme. her second biggest cost is food for her and her daughter, $30. electricity, gas and rent soak up the remaining $21. she never has spare cash. >> >> instead of a national minimum

wage, the employers association says government leaders should be making it easier for businesses to grow, and create more jobs. >> the biggest driver of inequality and poverty is not low wages, it's unemployment. >> one in four south africans are unemployed, so many people are grateful just to have a job. these protestors say the lowest paid workers are being exploited and enforcing a national minimum wage would lift millions out of poverty. >> if the government can't create more jobs or the conditions for businesses to do so, south africa is expected to continue to suffer high unemployment and from what these workers say is modern day slave wages. >> let's return to a story we told you about a few moments ago, the president of the aid group doctors without borders requesting an independent investigation into the bombing of its hospital in kunduz in afghanistan, when 22 patients and staff were killed on saturday. john quigley is professor

emeritus at a higher state university and joins us from columbus, ohio. what do you make of this incident on saturday? do you think it's possible international law has been broken. >> it is very possible that international law was broken, and that this incident would constitute a war crime. one factor is that the aircraft being used drops extremely powerful bombs, which means that extreme caution is required in targeting. further, this location was advised many times to the u.s. military by doctors without borders in the previous days, and then when the bombing began, there were desperate calls made, saying we're being bombed, you're bombing a hospital, please stop and apparently, the bombing went on for some considerable period of time. >> so, who should investigate

this incident? obviously the u.s. military will want to find out exactly what happened and why, but should there be an external body looking into it? >> well, there is provision in the international system for an external body. afghanistan is party to the statute of the international criminal court and any one of the states, over 100 that are party to that statute could refer the matter to the prosecutor in the hague who would then open a preliminary investigation of the matter. >> what does it tell us about the relationship between the u.s. and afghanistan? at first, we were told that u.s. forces were on the ground with afghan forces, then told that the strike was made at the request of afghan forces. >> it's the fact that the story has changed does raise further

suspicions, as to whether all the information is being given, and that is a big part of the problem now, is that the pentagon is not disclosing very much information, apart from the fact that well now, they are saying it was requested by afghan military, but they are not saying anymore than that, they are not saying in detail what kind of military objective might have been close by, such that this could be counted as an innocent error. so far, we don't know anything of that sort that would possibly justify this attack. >> is it likely that anyone will be brought to justice for this attack, or will it be written offer as a horrible mistake? >> well, the practicality is that you haven't had any significant investigation of the united states by any international body that could

lead to a criminal prosecution, but any one of the states that is part evident international criminal court could refer it and if that happened, the prosecutors protocol is to open an compassion of the matter. >> good to talk to you, many thanks indeed, professor john quigley there. let's take a look at weather, meteorologist is here. there is flooding in the u.s. >> all the terrible rain which has been falling across the carolinas, but if you look at the satellite picture, it actually doesn't look too bad. the more interesting weather temporarily at least is occurring in the desert southwest, and weaver seen some rear heavy rain here over the last 24 hours. it really doesn't show much in terms which pitch, clouds and a trough of low pressure but on

the ground has been quite bad. this is from tucson, arizona where we had more than seven center meters of hail. it mounts and causes its own problems. it's not just in tucson. we've had similar conditions in west phoenix, torrential rains and flooding. this is one of the dry months or it should be in theory and obviously a very different picture. there is still shower activity across new mexico, perhaps bushing into the accident the next day or so. the rain falling across the carolinas was well away. although the rain is foreign, the problem is not over, not by a long shot. we've got record highs and probably still rising in some places. it looks as though it's going to stay dry across the southeast, but you'll notice we still hang on to showers in parts of the desert southwest. >> many thanks.

>> inmates take over a prison in beforbrazil and threaten to thoh hostages from rooftops. >> per rough says its feeling confident. we'll tell you why. >> in sport, it took three years to return to the major league baseball playoffs, but we'll tell you how new york yankees comeback was cut short.

>> hello, again, this is the news hour from al jazeera from

doha. russia launched rockets from war ships in the caspian sea, saying 11 targets were destroyed. it is saying it is targeting isil. >> two stabbing attacks reported in the last hours, clashes in the west bank, jericho and nablas. >> doctors without borders asking for an international investigation into the bombing of its hospital in afghanistan. >> in strasburg, france president hollande is addressing the european parliament. he will be speaking with german chancellor angela merkel. she will follow president hollande.

they say russia and iran need to find a political solution in syria and that euro zone integration must go further or it will go backwards and be the end of the e.u. >> introducing a market to give guidance to industry and steer them. we must follow through. please continue to support the efforts being made by your countries an by europe in its entirety for us to find a way to an agreement. this is an ambition which extends to the funding side, as well. where would be money come from? we must get together the $100 billion required for the energy transition in the countries that are most vulnerable and the developing countries. are we there yet? no, we are not. we have two months between now

and then and we need that agreement, because we know the knowledge the disaster and responses we will incur for future generations, we will need a new conference to sort that out. we must be able to take positions on the day, and it's up to the government first and foremost to do their bit in those to be mindful of the responsibilities. i hope i can come back approximate the european parliament with at least the pride that we had at the conference in paris, but also that we were there on the day when the countries of the world, building on local original authorities along the world, also represented with all of the associations and the organizations, business, the trade unions, all of them together, we will be there. >> let's leave president

hollande there and get nationals from al jazeera live from strasburg. two nations in the center of the european project, the driving force of the european project, making this address, joint address to the e.u. parliament. what did president hollande have to say? >> i think president hollande is absolutely aware of the significance, the historical significance of this joint address by himself and angela merkel, who we're yet to hear from. he drew several comparisons between the last time that a french and german leader addressed the parliament, that was 26 years ago, when chancellor cole and the president spoke. now it is very, very different, about overcoming obstacles and

about restoring faith in the european project. holland talked at length about a long list of challenges that face the european union at this current time. he mentioned unemployment among the youth in europe's southern state. he talked about the lingering after effects of the euro zone crise and of the greek debt crisis, too. of course, perhaps most overriding of challenges the european union faces at this time is that of the refugee crisis. perhaps the most important word hole stressed repeatedly was that of solidarity, between european states in the face of this huge challenge, and solidarity also with those countries and people outside the european union, who are in need. perhaps the biggest risk facing the european union at the moment is that of divisions over exactly how the refugee crisis should be handled. there are some states that believe that europe should close

its doors, other nations like france and germany believe as part of a more prerogative as it were, that europe needs to be able to look after those people in need. one quote stood out. he said with each crisis, fear appears, but we must not be dominated by fears. we should not retreat no our national shells. >> many thanks indeed. we will continue to listen to president hollande and chance america when she speaks. we'll be back in strasburg in around 25 minutes here on al jazeera. >> prisoners of the state prison in southern brazil overpowered guards. ten people have been taken hostage. caroline malone reports. >> they're supposed to be serving time for crime, but prisoners are in control of this unit at the jail. they are armed with knives and sticks, now threatening to throw

their fellow inmates off the roof if their demands are not met. their complaints have been heard before, conditions are inhumane and prisons overcrowded. around 40% haven't yet seen a judge and so have not been convicted of any crime. >> these prisons are filled with people waiting for trial who are held together with convicted prisoners. that's a violation of international law. >> the riot started tuesday morning on a section that houses sexual offenders. prisoners smashed windows and set parts of the building on fire. other inmates were injured trying to run from the mob, fearing, they, too, would be taken hostage. >> police an inmate's family members are gathering outside, while the riots and many other

major prison issues carry on inside. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> australia's highest court is to consider whether the country has the legal right to detain asylum seekers offshore. for five years, the background of its policies has been for lock term detention. the high court will examine if this is in breach of the country says constitution. >> police in the australia arrested four in connection with the killing of a civilian police worker. arrests were made when 200 officers raided homes in western sydney. on friday, curtis chang was shot dead. it is believed the murder was politically motivated and therefore terrorism. >> the economic outlook is grim for many countries in south america, but government leaders in peru say they're bucking the trend, and they say joining the world's biggest free trade deal

will boost their economy even further. we have this report. >> it's the first recession in latin america in the caribbean in six years. after years of growth declined, the international man tear fund says this region and other emerging economies are at their lowest point. >> commodity priced falls are having their most in tense effect. these countries of course are more than half of word g.d.p. and the lion's share of world g.d.p. growth. 2015 is projected to be the fifth straight year in which emerging and low income growth declines. >> the mood was different, recovering from last year's slowdown, the economy's expected to grow six times the average in latin america. the i.m.s. says that it has the lowest inflation in the region. in the last 15 years, poverty has reduced by 15% and the gap

between rich and poor has shrunk. the economy minister said the i.m.f. is too mismissistic. officials here celebrate the inclusion in the t.p.p. >> many officials here say the new trade deal will help expand exports beyond commodities. >> we celebrate with two our countries in the region which have agreed to an ambitious commercial treaty open to diverse markets. >> already has free trade agreements with seven countries and a new one will not turn into an engine to reactivate commerce. >> the president said the it truey will be good for diversifying production. we already have many free trade agreements and if they were a panacea we would not be in a crise. i'm not against the trade pacts, but they were not the panacea.

>> some believe the policies are not strong enough to prevent economic conditions to worsen. the improvements in the livelihoods of thousands of those from peru may be lost. al jazeera, lima, peru. >> just ahead here on the news hour, we eat soccer, and sleep soccer. >> coming to terms with their team says exclusion from world cup qualifying.

>> the countries joining their federation next year and fifa soon after. there's a security situation in the country. they've been forced to play in

sudan. one game is being played in the national stadium in the capital. >> their first game was way back in july, 2011 when they played a kenyan site in the capital. scored the first goal, they lost 3-1. south sudan becoming fifa's 209th member in may, 2012, but their first international game was a 2-2 draw in july of the same year. it took until september of this year to get their first win against equatorial guinea.

>> zimbabwe are the only african country not competing after they were disqualified by fifa for paying to pay a debt to a former coach. it angered millions of fans across the country and the government decided to intervene. >> football fans in zimbabwe can't believe this is happening. fifa said their national team, the warriors cannot take part in the world cup qualifying stages because the football association owe as former coach more than $60,000 in unpaid salaries. it also faces financial difficulties. to fans, football or soccer as it's called here, is in trouble. >> we love soccer. we eat soccer, bedrink soccer, and we sleep

soccer. >> no team has ever made it to the finals. it is a matter of pride. missing funds that left the football association in a crise. >> the president of the football association has been fired. there's now a new sports minister. most football supporters know it could take a long time to fix what's gone wrong. >> government officials are appealing the suspension, but fifa has strict rules against political interference in national football association. >> the government does not want to interference the running of football, but government would like at a policy level to advice those that are in charge of running football to do things

right. we need to modernize fifa so we work alongside each other as far as these issues are concerned. >> fans miss the good old days. >> in the old days, players would get paid in time, but it doesn't happen anymore. there's always scandals. >> these disappointed supporters feel scandal and corruption have tarnished the game and embarrassed the country. al jazeera. >> the new york yankees are out of major league baseball's postseason, losing 3-0 to the houston astros in the american league wildcard playoff at yankee stadium on tuesday. reaching the american league league division series, they'll face the kansas city royals. >> never would have imagined that i would have pitched that well or we would have played that well in yankee stadium on

that big of a stage, but that's what we've been doing all year. nobody really gave us anything at the start of the year, and i don't think anybody gave us a shot at the end of the year. >> it's really disappointing. it's hard, you know, seasons end abruptly and it's very difficult. this was a club that fought all year long, and there's a lot of character in that room and this hurts, and we just didn't get it done. >> wednesday's national league wildcard game sees the pittsburgh pirates take on the chicago cubs. the cubs still trying to win their first world series since 1908. the first year manager joe maddon,s cubs have gone from winning 73 season games to finishing with the third best report in baseball, 97-sitting five. >> america's rugby team closing in on an automatic qualification spot at the world cup, trailing canada 15-0 in the second half of the game on tuesday.

they pulled off their biggest r. combat win. they brought home a victory. >> it just gives us the opportunity to win two games and qualify automatically for japan. it gives romania an opportunity to be able to develop and progress for four years. that's something that's never been able to happen in romania and i think that is a big plus. >> uruguay scored their first try of this tournament, going over the line against fiji, but it wasn't enough, as the opponents ran in just seven tries for a 47-15 win. >> the last three quarter final

berths will begin to be filled, with just one change of the team since their victory over scotland. needs just three more tries to equal the world cup record of 64. georgia playing as they also look to secure automatic spots at the 2019 world cup. >> that is all your sport for now. >> many thanks. hasn't got his contact lenses in if you wonder what the look was for there. hong kong is one of the world's busiest harbors with ships of all shapes and sizes creating all sorts of pollution. coral reefs are thriving. cara clark reports. >> cranes and construction sites circle hong kong's harbor front. land is slowly devouring these waters as the city expands its

footprint. scientists are keeping a close watch on what's happening on land, but a closer watch on what's going on beneath the water and what might be happening to the coral. >> we have pollution that derives from development, particularly from sewage, effluent from industry, we have sedimentation that results from reclamation activities. synergistically affect coral in a negative way. they are examining how it is faring in these conditions.

>> just a few nautical miles from major construction sition and 7 million people, the divers found coral not just alive, but thriving. >> it's remarkable. we can dive in places where you think no coral could survive, polluted harbors, marinas, areas close to waste water discharges, and you still can find a coral or coral relatives. >> so far, the team recorded more than 80 different species of hard coral, that's more than what's been identified in the entire caribbean sea. >> pretty clear day in hong kong. in this site, we saw diversity of coral, and variety of fishes today. it was a pretty good day today. >> this region is feeling impact of climate change and development, but the stronger types of coral species here are holding on, despite the unrelenting conditions. scientists are trying to

establish how they survive. on each dive, they collect fragments of coral to monitor and cultivate. >> we can actively grow them, fragment them, create baby corals. eventually our goal is to put them back into the sites where they came from. >> the fact these corals are thriving is leaving scientists baffled. >> so we could make a hypothesis that the corals here had been selected for only the strongest. it could be that the corals we have in hong kong today are super corals that may hold secrets for coral survival globally in the future. >> it's an underwater mystery offering a glimmer of hope for habitat under threat. al jazeera, hong kong. >> german chancellor angela merkel addressing the european parliament is strasburg right now. we'll be back there for analysis when we return here on al jazeera with another full bulletin of news. see you in just a moment.

russia carries out a series of new air strikes in syria, and starts firing missiles from the caspian sea. ♪ hello this is al jazeera, live from doha. i'm adrian finighan. francois hollande and angela merkel call for european solidarity. diamonds it seems are not frfr, one of the world's biggest producers discovers the gems aren't so prec