made it out alive it was a grandmother part of the quote of the younger ones had to be carried out by volunteers the familiar exercise for sitting and rescuers. a powerful explosion brought down this building in the town of sediment in northwestern syria but this time it wasn't an attack by the assad government or its allies. of tehran they can but first we thought it was an airstrike but shortly afterwards we realized it was an explosion inside a warehouse and a civil defense teams arrived on the scene and began working to free survivors they were able to risk you seven civilians who were still alive some of whom were badly injured and they also took out about five dead bodies according to residents there were more than fifty people living in these buildings so we believe they are between thirty five to forty were trapped under the rubble. activists say where the weapons depot which exploded it's not clear what caused the blast. it live as the last remaining rebel stronghold in fighters have been preparing for an offensive by the assad government the promise borders turkey and it's

a major trade route from the north regime forces have warned of a final campaign and called on people to leave the area according to state media the syrian army has launched a series of attacks on what it calls terrorist positions in a province. where government media has reported a troop build up from multiple directions two or deadly videos uploaded online appeared to show columns of soldiers shia militia and military hardware heading towards that ever held province last month the shuttle assad said the retaking of it was among the priorities for the syrian military operations was the other areas faced siege and bomb tactics by the syrian forces and the russian and ukrainian allies it was home to two million people including those forced to leave their homes from other rebel held parts. aid workers are warning of another humanitarian disaster and try to break so from the window now the. jordan's interior minister says armed men who are attacking the police in the town of salt last week

were eisel supporters thousands of people attended the funeral for one of the four jordanian officers killed during a raid on the attackers investigators say the suspects had plans for further attacks on saturday a homemade explosive device was set off near a police van in which the one person dead and six others injured a u.s. cargo ship stranded off the coast of china for more than a month has docked in the port of delhi on the peak pegasus carrying seventy thousand tons of soybeans has become a symbol of the trade war between the u.s. and china the vessel arrives in china on the july the sixth just after beijing imposed a twenty five percent tariff and soybeans from the u.s. the levees were a response to u.s. tariffs on chinese goods were thirty four billion dollars. china is denying allegations from the u.n. that it's holding one million muslim we goes in internment camps a un committee said on friday that it has credible reports of people being detained

in secret jails in xinjiang in the northwest china's delegation says the country is clamping down the what it calls terrorists in the semi autonomous region but denies targeting ethnic minorities rights groups say many we have been held without charge . still ahead on al-jazeera a new dawn for pakistani politics as imran khan's government is sworn in. and desperately in need of cancer drugs supplies are running out for patients of gaza's block a. welcome back as we look at weather conditions across asia for northeastern areas you see this cloud coming in across northeastern parts of china and into the far east of

russia and a so some heavy rain certainly likely here across north korea you see heading up towards lot of austin and see this circulation here this is a tropical storm lee p. which is moving towards southern parts of japan so by the time you get through into wednesday heavy rain will just be clipping the far south of the country otherwise tokyo maybe the old shower temperatures there in the low thirty's so still pretty warm temps above average for the time of year but much of the korean state should be looking fine killing young looking at highs of thirty three degrees into more central and southern parts of china and taiwan we've got another low pressure circulation which is giving a lot of heavy rain for hong kong and that flow is also bringing more heavy showers in across the philippines so expect some localized flooding here the general situation across indochina is certainly pretty wet at the moment and that sort of slightly stronger flow will bring a lot more showers in from the bay of bengal into myanmar so expect some flooding in young gone as we head down into southeastern parts of asia generally for more

southern areas is looking draw in fine and it should be a fine day cross much of borneo with highs of thirty six including. when mexico's leaders implemented drastic and controversial energy reforms the country's oil owned by the mexican people for seventy five years was to be sold to private international companies. but to what extent is the country exposed to exploitation by profit driven multinational corporations who target on al-jazeera.

you're watching al-jazeera time to recap the headlines now president of egypt spoken to investors about his country's economic troubles he insists the liras free fall is part of a plot to attack turkey's economy which he insists is not in crisis okies central bank says it's ready to take all necessary measures to ensure financial stability after its collapse funerals are being held for some of the fifty three people killed in a saudi u.a.e. as strike on thursday forty of the victims were children the saudi m r r t coalition said the strikes conform to international law and targeted to three rebels firing missiles. zimbabwe's have been urged to unite as the country marks thirty eight years of independence president elect imus in the dress crowds in his first appearance since his inauguration was delayed the opposition has filed

a legal challenge over the results of july's elections. in indonesia at least four hundred thirty six people have been confirmed dead in last sunday's powerful earthquake on lombok island officials say damage caused by the magnitude six point nine tremor now exceeds three hundred forty two million dollars aid is slowly arriving in remote areas affected by the magnitude six point nine tremor emergency crews have started drilling for fresh water sources closer to the temperature alters tens of thousands of people are expected to stay in makeshift tents for weeks if not months having lost their homes rosemary north is the asia pacific communications manager for the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies she says there are many remote villages still waiting for help to arrive. they're still discovering people who haven't been reached with assistance and at the same time they're delivering very basic emergency assistance

food water medical care shelter of course we're starting to make plans further ahead but the focus right now is on reaching people in real need i heard today from a team that went out in the north to a community that hood was badly off but no one had reached them yet they had to stop the vehicle two kilometers away from the village and they had to proceed on foot they took with them some limited food and rice and the medical team so this is another group of people who hasn't been reached and probably hasn't been accounted for the damage hasn't been assist we think there are other communities like that and i've also been talking to people and one woman told me now that she knew her son was safe her next priority was a toilet because they having to go out into the paddy fields or into the bush other people tell us that they feel very very in secure because of all the aftershocks and fact the first big earthquake on the twenty ninth of july destabilised

buildings that then came down on the fifth of august so we've had big aftershocks since then that have caused more damage people are very wary of going into the buildings even rebuilding at this point so there's a lot of. uncertainty about the future. hundreds of people are still missing one year after a mudslide on the outskirts of sierra leone's capital the worst natural disaster in the nation's history killed more than eleven hundred people have an address reports from freetown. seventeen year old might to cut is returning to where her family who used to be for the first time since last year's disaster. that means of our father mother four sisters two brothers and a brother in law are still trapped under this must have rock. like hundreds of other victims rescue workers one able to retrieve their bodies. i cry anytime i remember them live less file when they were around right now i must

work for someone who pays me now with money but with food to eat and. when i would use it as talk to matter last august in hospital she was looking for an aunt she hoped was still alive she didn't find that after three days of torrential rains part of sugarloaf mountain broke away and crashed onto a once vibrant community burying homes and people most could not be saved due to lack of equipment manpower and bad weather so i was on the two thousand and seventeen tragedy still come here to get close to relatives they didn't get the chance to say proper goodbye to hundreds believed to be buried under the rubble the government plans to build a monument of salt here for the missing and the dead more than five hundred victims of the disaster were buried here the grave stones bear no names some contain just

body parts. i few kilometers from the cemetery i fifty two unit housing estate was built by three local construction companies. the houses were donated to the government for the survivors but it can only accommodate one hundred fifty of them . alveda style to eleven thousand people and this eleven thousand people not everybody in here masted out sting then for we stay here we find things difficult the survivors have now been asked to pay monthly rent on the houses sugarloaf mountain remains very unstable a few weeks ago huge boulders of rock came tumbling down causing panic among villagers the government has demolished more homes that are considered unsafe on the first anniversary of the disaster survivors including mccotter still without

a home are looking to the government for help and hope that they can get a new start in life how many degrees al-jazeera freetown a new era of pakistani politics is beginning with the swearing in of a man can't government the parliament is meeting for the first time since elections last month ministers took their part of the handover of power to the new government but they have a party emerged as the largest party with one hundred sixteen seats. dozens of white supremacists have been outnumbered by counter protesters outside the white house in the u.s. capitol the marches were held to mark one year since violent protests in charlottesville brought long running racial tensions in the u.s. out in the open mike hanna reports. supporters of the extreme right wing gather outside a d.c. metro station jeered at by

a number of onlookers but the rallies principle organizer insists he simply asserting the right to freedom of speech white people are having minority rights to your face feel discrimination or greater social. life you may see different things and. escorted by police the right wingers begin their march to the designated rally area near the white house where counter protesters were gathering it's kind of ridiculous that in two thousand and eighteen i have to make the sign that our friends have to kind of come here i saw a really great sign or that said i'd rather be at brunch but i have to come protests nazis he said among them family groups intent on making their voices heard we wanted to be part of all the positive energy resisting some of the mean nasty spirit to spirit to the. examples of the neo nazis and it's so magnificent look

coming people are out here people come now the woodwork we want to show the people who are here that the nazis the white supremacists that are here now what they're doing and what the east believes they have are on acceptable and they're un-american it's not ph out and get us the real americans we love this country we will not tolerate that kind of behavior but here to some who say they are prepared to use violence rather than ideas to oppose the far right members of the self-styled anti process movement intent on remaining anonymous by d.c. standards this. there's a small demonstration still throughout the day it became clear that the counter protesters composed of disparate groups far outnumber those that label themselves the old right by those here as white supremacists the groups were kept apart by a maze of police barricades but even so the shouts of the counter protesters drowned out attempted speeches by the right. and as rain begin to fall all were

dispersed the vastly outnumbered right wingers ushered into a white police vans to be driven safely back to the metro for their journeys home. and what was billed as a gathering of white nationalists became instead a celebration of the city's diversity and a protest against the president in office at the white house over the road mike hanna. washington. cancer patients in gaza are being turned away from hospitals because doctors have run out of drugs to land air and sea blockade by israel has delayed medical supplies from reaching the besieged strip before but the u.n. says international funding cuts and rifts between palestinian groups are making things worse child strafford reports one is one. who was diagnosed with breast cancer five months ago. has come to this gaza hospital for the seven to eight potentially life saving chemotherapy sessions but the drugs she needs have

run out of the answer variable in any of the hospitals in gaza either. he learns the treatment for this kind of disease cannot be delayed i blame anyone who is in any way responsible for this i have pain in my neck my shoulders i have trouble breathing my sons have to help me move around i need that seventh dose but the doctors say they don't know when it will come. if a cancer patient wants to be treated in israel or the occupied west bank the process is complicated and time consuming ultimately israel has to agree the palestinian health ministry in gaza says around the applications on tonight. this isn't the first time there has been a delay in the supply of vital chemotherapy drugs to gaza but it is the first time that this hospital is had to turn cancer patients away because it cannot treat them now the crisis is not only to do with israel's blockade on gaza it's also related

to funding problems and the political crisis between hamas and the palestinian authority in the west bank the un says only around forty percent of the fifty million dollars needed from international donors for the palestinian health sector in gaza and the occupied west bank think through for twenty eighteen the whole city with sin and difficulty in the health care sector has been impacted in the last in the last twelve years because of the season blue care they imposed and there's the luck of conciliation and political city always in the in the local the support. the film the fatigue these are the the city listeners or this one. in fact is seriously the life of the hundreds of people who are deceiving. the beds empty because there's no point in cancer patients coming to this hospital for treatment or smart and many like her have no choice but anxiously wait for the

medication they so desperately need john strafford al-jazeera gaza. malaysia's prime minister is planning to cancel several multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects with china ahead of his visit to beijing mahathir mohamad says he only welcomes foreign investments that benefit malaysia the ninety three year old wants to scrap twenty billion dollars worth of deals including a rail link into gas pipelines they were signed under the previous prime minister najib razak who's been charged with corruption. and you can get much more of those stories if your head over to our website al-jazeera. and let's take you through some of those stories now president has told investors turkey's economy is solid strong and intact he insists the liras freefall is part

of a plot by the u.s. to attack his country's economy which insists it is not in crisis turkey central bank says it's ready to take all necessary measures to ensure financial stability after its collapse it's fallen more than forty five percent against the u.s. dollar this year. should go chibi because they are used to the recent events have shown us that our economy is under siege it is clear that these attacks will continue for a while longer the attacks on turkey's on our character and dignity that we must be prepared to fight back and defend against those attacks. so bob when so been urged to unite is the country marks thirty eight years of independence president elect emerson and god why address crowds in his first appearance since his inauguration was delayed the opposition had filed a legal challenge over the results of july's elections. funerals are being held for

some of the fifty three people killed in a saudi u.a.e. airstrike on the first day forty of the victims were children twenty nine of them were on the school bus the saudi m a r t coalition said the strikes conform to international law and were aimed at who three rebels firing missiles kenya's top prosecutors had their heads of the public land and state railway agencies arrested as part of a crackdown on corruption it's related to the three billion dollars nairobi mombasa railway that was inaugurated last year the agency heads were among those arrested on saturday for misusing public funds. jordan's interior minister says armed men who attacked the police in the town of salt last week where i saw supporters thousands of people attended the funeral for one of the four jordanian officers killed during a raid on the attackers at least four hundred thirty six people have died in last sunday's powerful earthquake on indonesia's lombok island officials say damage caused by the magnitude six point nine trial and now exceeds three hundred forty

two million dollars a bit slowly arriving and emergency crews have started drilling for fresh water sources it's inside story next stay with us. space the final frontier the united states wants to patrol it washington has announced the creation of a new on space force by twenty twenty but who will be the u.s. competing against and is this the start of a new space race this is inside story. hello

and welcome to the program had of that hamid u.s. vice president mike pence says the time has come to prepare for the next battlefield and that battlefield is space the americans want to create a space force within two years to defend u.s. satellites and spacecraft from attack it will be the first new branch of the military since one thousand nine hundred forty seven pence's balls donald trump once congress to vote yes to the plan and they agree to additional funding of eight billion dollars we will get to our guests shortly but first alan fischer reports from washington d.c. . trump has been pushing for the creation of a new branch of the military for months he talks about it off and that is wrong yes we may even have a space force now his vice president says donald trump's vision will become reality

. previous administrations all but neglected the growing security threats emerging in space president trump stated clearly and forcefully that space is in his words a war fighting domain just like land and air and sea the new force will be used to protect u.s. satellites in space which provide vital services like communication it can also protect spy satellites which direct military operations and there is the growing commercial space market too it's not a new idea in one thousand nine hundred three president ronald reagan called for a space based missile defense system just a year after congress demanded the establishment of a new space force the defense system dubbed star wars by critics never got beyond the research phase the u.s. already has a space command is part of the air force and some see the new branch as an expensive waste in fact defense secretary jim mattis initially resisted it but just

earlier this week signaled he was no on board we're in a point alignment with the president going to burn it down they are after him basically to be work here again for economy going to have to address it to other countries capabilities what they're creating a new branch of the military needs congressional authorization and funding if republicans lose control of the house of representatives in november's midterm elections it might never happen former astronaut mark kelly says he doesn't see the point there is a threat out there but it's being handled by the u.s. air force today doesn't make sense to build a whole nother level of bureaucracy spaceports that if approved would become the sixth branch of the u.s. military it would be led by a four star officer i would pull resources from other military branches. russia has a space force china's space program is run by the military and the white house will include and the billion dollar funding request for their new space force in the next budget alan fischer al-jazeera washington. let's now get the

thoughts of our guests joining us in lubbock texas via skype oliver mcgee an advisor to donald trump and former u.s. deputy assistant secretary for transportation in beijing in our tangan a china political analyst and sidney morris jones a space analyst and author of when men walked on the moon a warm welcome to all of you all over again let me start with you i mean it does sound like something out of a. star wars so why did they actually is a space force and then what is it different from the current space command. well this isn't time for us to move from reagan star wars which was really about ending the cold war two trumps spaceports which is about ensuring global

peace world peace. the space. force is really like you said in your opening segment the six military agency and it's very important for securing space it's about navigation we're talking it says and. communications and this is all about trying to make sure that we don't have. poor harbors in space where we would have a blackout and that would basically cripple the global economy this is really about ensuring security. global capital and global businesses which are korean cresap lee depended upon satellite technologies and space assets and so madison is looking at trying to create a space command similar to what you see in the european command the middle east command the african command of pacific command and then make making sure that space

assets are protected and that we have national security up space because in the twentieth century we're really talking about the air force and we're trying to essentially secure the stratosphere which is about ten to thirty kilometers and now where we're based in the sky but now we're trying to basically go beyond that and then to move into that ten to thirty thousand kilometers that is and now we're trying to move into space where we can basically sure those assets are and place and then that we can make sure that we can control space and this is really more than just star wars is really about you might say. it's starfleet and so we're really trying to make sure that we have the president's vision intact and pencils trying to establish the department of space spores and on the working closely with the space command to ensure that we start advancing to space science or technology which is always a very very good thing for the united states to get into because it is really all

about fast capital fast technology for fast growth well mars jones i mean it sounds a bit like militarization of space which is quite a frightening thought and it also begs the question how do you share space who this sides which country quote troels what. well i think that you can have a stronger military presence in space and still be able to share space with other nations are the united states and most nations on earth are bound by the nine hundred sixty seven outer space treaty signed at the united nations and basically that says that no nation own space no no nation claims exclusive access to space and so even if we see a greater military presence it won't mean that the united states or any other nation totally controls or dominate space it's legally prohibited and it's also

physically impossible like. in the sense that you cannot stop satellites from orbiting the earth you cannot control the physical movements of objects through space in the same way that you can control the nation's air space and that this is been widely recognized and one of the reasons why we have the outer space treaty so i don't think that it's a case of any nation dominating space even if they're protecting their space assets and the well that said i mean the united states united states says it has a lot of concern some of them is china for example destroyed one of its own satellites in orbit in two thousand and seven and is likely capable of getting rid of others too russia is believed to be developing an airborne laser that would be able to destroy space based systems and north korea is believed to have used its g.p.s. jamming capabilities against south korea in twenty ten now in our town and that's where you come into the conversation how was this announcement of

a space force. there been received in beijing. well it's often received very well comes another area of competition besides the economic and political and military on the ground this is now an attempt to take it into space i'm surprised that my fellow guests have not mentioned the fact that there's a prohibits prohibits station of militarizing space and this would be a direct conflict with that so it's very hard to see how these matters will be handled creating a space force is a long way from dealing with the issues that you rightly pointed out which is how do you control this who's going to dominate it is it going to simply be the u.s. because they spend more money on the military and have the means to do this or will it be shared or will it be according to convention or is the u.s.

going to simply ignore all conventions simply as they've done with iran and other issues well maybe on a very meggie could answer some of these questions. well i think this is really about science and technology policy we've been in this business for a long time going back to alan bromley in to jack givens in two neal lane and now the current science advisor this focus to science vice to the president is about advancing science and technology in space and this is where you begin to use really supreme assets development in space technologies you're looking at in full tech biotech wireless tech micro tech nanotech contect even looking at elder tech because we're really looking at not only transportation as business communications but also space as economic communications and so really this is

really about how does the united states be maintaining its supremacy in developing thanks to technology and also science and technology policy going into tying it to national security policy and economic policy this is really consistent to what the united states wants to do and it's important that the president is now named his new science advisor to be able to help coordinate the science of technology development i know ma'am said i'm chillen minute yes vice president mike pence in his speech said very clearly the plan is to create an elite group of war fighters specializing in the domain of space as sort of special operations forces but from above that does not sound like science and technology. well warfighting it's always been about the science that the technology development the country to has the highest amount of science and technology assets is to one that went to war

automatically the the most science and technology that we see pervasive in the president's budget is through the pentagon but also nasa is involved so is the department of transportation because i wrote the national r. and d. strategy plan when i was in the clinton administration that involved looking at science and technology development at nasa f.a.a. the department of defense and so those are these are the big chunks of the budget along with department of energy where science and technology is developed this is he does very good for science and technology development to pick an education community in the united states but also we also are interested in trying to make sure that we also take care of what we need to do in developing. new frontiers of where we have to do national security protections and really when you look at it when you look at the united states is about protecting its assets its military assets but all that is behind a bill load of twaddle i can't believe those who are out going along and and saying

these types of things no i disagree i disagree and i think it's absolutely incredible and jamie say i just that this is about ten dollars.