but they've been struggling to contain them and we've just heard a short while ago that protesters there. the private houses the police commando in that city you know surrounded in the trying to burn the resident the mayor and in just about one hundred kilometers from there on uganda's border in the town of has been the protesters a sacrifice of the office of the ruling party and it sounds like police not having an easy time they're trying to contain these protesters also being processed in the city of goma gomez not excluded from voting in the presidential poll on sunday but the opposition candidate martin flu is very popular there as well as in bhutan b. and benny which have been extruded people they're just angry at what they see as attack on their chosen candidates as an attempt by the electoral commission to try and block out significant number of his supporters from voting what is all this

actually mean for the election because it is going to go ahead isn't it on sunday. for the electoral commission has been saying but what it means is that it's already very tainted specially in the eyes of opposition supporters a recent opinion poll published by independent organizations just a few hours ago gave martin plainly forty for about forty four percent of the boat vote so that gives him a clear lead but he's areas where his stronghold for being blocked from voting so congolese people already very skeptical about the electoral commission most of them don't trust the electoral commission according to earlier opinion polls and now that these areas have been blocked is definitely going to be a lot of skepticism indeed it's going to be very hard for very many congolese to consider this election credible coverage that alexion of course here on out there are not going to just i think you. still ahead so on the program the indonesian

province of west papa is hit by an earthquake one week after a tsunami killed over four hundred people. on the central american migrants released from u.s. custody but now relying on charity in texas to survive. the weather's fine in trying to southeastern parts of china said not looking too bad in hong kong a little on the coast side having said that we have got thickening cloud which will bring some outbreaks of rain and indeed snow in across the region chung do temperatures at around three celsius on sas day fair bit of snow there which will make its way a little further east which as we go on into sunday heading towards we'll have to be here of around a one degree celsius temperatures in hong kong meanwhile we're just not jump to

a rad sixteen degrees but it's cold enough in hanoi where the cloud on the right says in the top temperature struggling to get into double figures cold enough to across northern india of course with the fog and smoke problems here new delhi certainly fading some very cold weather sliding through as has been the case for the past couple of weeks actually temperatures falling close to freezing by night and even in the day todd just about getting up to around nine hundred seventy is about where it should be truth be known but certainly very unpleasant weather coming through for the south is fine and dry for the most part twenty eight celsius there in chennai maybe a touch with as we go on into sunday fought and tried to for colombo at around thirty one degrees celsius and the same temperatures quite as high as that across many parts of the arabian peninsula which are in doha a fine twenty five. in the first episode of science in the golden age i'll be exploring the contributions

made by scholars during the medieval islamic period in the field of. professor jim . brings the brilliance of a past to launch. point credible with the real all we've done is block out the mud from a room and then allow it to come through the small old. one of science and not go into marriage. welcome back and your mind at the top stories here all al-jazeera u.s. forces on the ground in syria say they have no evidence that the syrian army has entered the northern city of beach just carney held by the kurdish y p g syrian

state television earlier to claim that all of the units had gone into the city off because off for protection in case turkey a tux. police have used tear gas to disperse protesters in sudan demonstrations against spiralling living costs and corruption have taken place in the capital khartoum as well as in a bar and what madani according to the government nineteen people have been killed so far. out a general strike is taking place in opposition strongholds that are being excluded from sunday's elections in the democratic republic of congo workers the group south sydney will face a city of benny police have used tear gas on protesters in goma. in nigeria boko haram fighters have attacked two military bases in their fight for control around lake chad intense fighting in the fishing town of barga forced nigerian army soldiers to retreat large quantities of weapons were stolen because

iran has recently increased attacks on military outposts of major says more now from accountable. the fighters are surrounded by get around for a number of hours some are talking about more than twenty four hours and battle is ongoing in that area the army can only confirm that yes there's been some fighting but it has not lost control of this town of by god which is a fishing community but some residents who have fled the town are saying that quote unquote is why deep inside the town one particular. resident was saying that they even lead morning prayers this morning in baghdad town but the military is not giving so much details only confirming that one person was killed and that they have on a search and rescue in such an area in indication that probably some of their soldiers have been dispersed bible quote so right now it's still. not clear what exactly is happening in baghdad and we were told by

a military source that operations in that area is ongoing but by the way bugger town is a scene of one of the worst book quite a massacre in nigeria for five days in general really two thousand and fifteen but won't quite as all that on that same military base multi-national joint task force which is operated by soldiers from cameroon nigerian is here and been a republic child as well who are fighting boko haram and to go about arms and ammunition from that area and massacred more than one thousand civilians a magnitude five point eight earthquake has hit the east an indonesian province of west papa when we come tsunami killed more than four hundred people further west in the country police all for trolling an exclusion zone around an accidental canine because the sea is that of another major eruption of on a crocodile fish could cause a second tsunami but at least five highway flooded coastal communities only on into java on saturday leaving hundred staff and thousands injured when the flight has

more now from pentagon temperaments. with the increase in the alert level a ministerial visit to the tsunami affected area coming to one of the observation post set up to see exactly what cracker tao is up to some fifty kilometers off shore they have been talking to geologists and volcanologists here who have used an opportunity a break in the weather early friday to get a visual fix on a crack at how what they have been seeing is a shift of further rock and lava down the sides of the volcano disappearing into the sea and clouds of steam this is of concern because of course it was a shift of the side of the volcano that caused the sun army last saturday the volcanologists have also been reporting plumes of gas and two hundred to six hundred meters in the air but there have been even bigger plumes in the previous

few days. and i said yeah before depicted in there was only around the world but since yesterday ash has been falling on the land with good options up to twenty five hundred meters high. when the tsunami happened many people simply sought refuge in their local mosque especially those that are uphill and away from the coast and the number are still providing a shelter this friday nearly a week on from the tsunami all of the mosques along this part of the coastline of java are busier than usual and i want to pray for the people who passed away and for those still living i want to pray for everyone at this and i'm glad i'm praying we don't have another tsunami so everyone can go back to making a living because we all make a living from the coastal area most people here believe in the science and heed the warnings of the experts but when it comes to the possibility of a future more devastating tsunami people of faith also believe that their destiny

lies in the hands of a greater entity. in india rescue is a striking to say fifteen miners have been trapped underground in an illegal coal mine for more than two weeks. these rescue workers know the chance of finding the trapped miners alive is slim but they continue their search the teenage miners went into the illegal coal mine in the northeast and instead of magali on december thirteenth but got trapped soon after when the mines tunnel was flooded by a nearby river they've been without food or drinking water ever since and the more that it is not going. to be to put football at an efficient define what pump but not fast enough prime minister narendra modi's government is being criticized for not sending in the right equipment on time he was at a nearby state on christmas day and didn't mention the incident or the trapped miners divers at the scene say they aren't equipped to go down more than thirty

meters and the miners are some ninety meters underground that's the bottom of it there will be no to start off if i'm still here doing all that and yet when down the pavement is that the water level but that is going down and down. digging in abandoned mines has been banned for more than four years now but many break the law risking their lives by going down into so-called rat holes miners can earn up to twelve dollars a day which is a higher pay rate than most jobs in india a similar incident six years ago killed more than two dozen miners their bodies were never recovered and it is fear dissimilar fate awaits those trapped inside this call the area paul should urge on al-jazeera a migrant rescue ship has docked in spain off to being turned away by other countries including multi libya the charity vessel rescues only three hundred migrants and refugees off the coast of libya a week ago is the first time since august display of rescue ship to talk.

the u.s. president has threatened to close the border with mexico if he doesn't get the funding but approval for his proposed border war donald trump tweeted we will be forced to close the southern border entirely if the obstructionist democrats do not give us the money to finish the wall and also change the ridiculous immigration rules that our country is saddled with in the u.s. homeland security secretary will visit the border between the u.s. and mexico on friday after two children died in custody by this month an autopsy has shown that eight year old philippe gomez alonzo who died on monday had been suffering from flu personal since department has come into heavy criticism following the death of philippe and seven year old jake in canada hundreds of people seeking asylum in the u.s. have complained they've been forced to sleep in accommodation without hating all others had to spend christmas day in a car park in texas april and is on the report from el paso on the us mexico border

. but it will cost and yet it came to the u.s. from guatemala like so many others seeking a better life for his son philippe there now just trying to get warm at a shelter after a couple nights at a border patrol detention center at the end of the only little. they put us in a cell it was very cold like an ice box it made his cough we went to another cell it was the same while we were there they didn't give us much food there wasn't much attention they said it was our fault we brought kids with us but it was out of necessity to find a better life in the united states. when finally released it got worse earlier this week immigration and customs enforcement officials unexpectedly released hundreds of migrants from detention facilities but instead of taking them to shelters they were dropped off in downtown el paso without any notice and nowhere for them to go

most like and well were from central american countries they were families young and old who would cross the border at bennett detention cells for anywhere from three to eight days it was left to volunteers from local nonprofits to rush to the scene to try to help the desperate migrants and asylum seekers many of them were hungry they were thirsty some of them were sick they were sick children were dropped off and they were confused and so what they did it was done on purpose it was done willfully advocates worry that immigration and custom officials are dumping migrants and asylum seekers out on the streets in order to relieve overcrowding in detention facilities particularly after two guatemalan children eight year old boy and a seven year old girl died this month while in border patrol custody veronica escobar recently elected to the u.s. house of representatives says it's a crisis started by what she calls

a cruel immigration policy by president donald trump one she hopes to change to children that we know of have died in american custody that should never happen again we need to know why it happened how it happened we need to know the conditions that other individuals are having to live through we need to know the foundation of this policy who called for it and we need to change it back at the community center where mad well is at falling to tears or trying their best to help knowing more by going small needed hoping noble or are left on the streets to fend for themselves give rosendo al-jazeera el paso texas. now boy in the live there who was born without his left town does transforming the lives of others like him sixteen year old leon out of his car a used three d. printing to lessen the impact of his disability has been to me.

leonardo is something of a hero in these parts not quite spider-man but he's helping youngsters with similar problems to his own to feel closer to their superheroes. like him the seven year old girl was born missing a hand it was all he wanted to christmas his parents through leonardo found him one but not just any hand he gets a spider-man prosthetic. no longer a mistake the algo is now the envy of his friends. you know there was a victim of amniotic band syndrome which affects babies still in the womb and supportive parents he's tried to never see it as a disability whereas on of gambling of man people who have lost a hand often hard to cover it up they don't want to share it what i do is take off the prosthetic and say look i'm not ashamed i'm proud of who i am it's sad not to have a hand but it's sad and not reasserted you must accept. he developed an interest

in robotics at a young age two years ago aged just fourteen he made his own replacement hand using a three d. printer. he says made more than sixty fingers hands and arms charging less than one hundred dollars to cover materials such as this biodegradable plastic artificial limbs in bolivia one of the poorest countries in the region can cost between two to three thousand dollars. what i always say is what the three d. printer takes twenty four hours to finish can change the life of a person forever. we're. still only sixteen his reputation growing in bolivia and beyond the plans to study by a medicine to one day used by onyx to control his left hand directly from his brain . says he's going to use his new hand to play games he couldn't play before i was no one else will have one of these he'll be able to do so many things with it

i am extremely grateful so to a many across bolivia beneficiaries of leonardo's dream he simply wanted a hand so he made one using his initiative on what was available. there are disease santa cruz bolivia. only most of us are lucky to see a blue skies during the day when the sun is shining but what about a blue sky at night well that's what new yorkers witnessed on thursday nights following an explosion at a power plant which sparks an electrical fire the explosion in the bar of queens also caused a massive power outage but it had nothing to do with an alien invasion as some residents hype suggest it on social media. a reminder of the top stories here on al-jazeera u.s. forces on the ground in syria say they have no evidence that the syrian army has entered the northern city of man beach the kurdish armed group the y. p.g.

which currently holds the city says it fears an attack by turkey following the planned u.s. withdrawal from the country attack is president says the situation remains unclear . we know that syria is making psychological effects a psychological eg demand we know there is a situation where there aren't flake has been hoisted but there is nothing confirmed serious yet i spoke with my friends with the intelligence sutra about an hour ago and there is nothing certain and the spy meant police have used tear gas to disperse protesters in sudan demonstrations against spiralling living costs and corruption taking place in the capital khartoum as well as in an hour and what madani million opposition leaders and activists have been detained according to the government nineteen people have been killed so far. a general strike is taking place in opposition strongholds that are being excluded from sunday's elections in the democratic republic of congo workers of walks out in the northeastern city of

beni police of use tear gas on protesters in goma in nigeria boko haram fighters attacked two military bases in their fight for control around lake chad intense fighting in the fishing town of bag a force nigeria army soldiers to retreats large quantities of weapons were stolen a magnitude five point eight earthquake has hit the eastern indonesian province of west papuan on we call it a tsunami killed more than four hundred people further west in the island country police are patrolling an exclusion zone around an active volcano as authorities fear another major eruption of the nick krakatau could cause a second tsunami a five metre high wave flooded coastal communities on the island of java on saturday in hundreds dead and thousands of others injured. a migrant rescue ship is docked in spain after being turned away by other e.u. countries including motor and italy the open arms charity vessel rescued more than

three hundred migrants and refugees off the coast of libya oh week. and those latest headlines here on al-jazeera science in a golden age is coming next stay with us but i. the nature of light has intrigued scientists throughout the ages today it's used in all sorts of the cations from lasers and communication to particle accelerators we're living in a science and technology boom period but the roots of our understanding of optics and lloyds can be traced back to a period between the ninth and fourteenth centuries that's when a revolution in science took place in the islamic world

a golden age of science. a british professor of theoretical physics but born in baghdad i'll be looking at the states of the off topic patients of optics and tracing back their roots to those pioneers in the islamic world who revolutionized a new understanding of lodz during the golden age. this is sesame in jordan it's a synchrotron

a giant particle accelerator that's going to produce high energy light for groundbreaking experiments now sesame stands for synchrotron light experimental science and applications in the middle east the like it is produced will allow us to study the structure of matter with incredible detail to learn more about for example how cancer grows in living cells or to analyze cracks in concrete to see why bridges fail for pollution in the soil this facility is a pioneering collaboration that's bringing together scientists from around the middle east in neighboring countries to carry out fundamental research that transcends political and cultural differences in a way that hasn't been seen in this part of the world since the golden age a thousand years ago. the ruling of the medieval islamic world brought together around the globe to further scientific knowledge. among their achievements they

revolutionized the way we think about vision and paving the way from modern understanding of life. isn't yet fully operational but today i've been given exclusive access to this enormous experimental apparatus to see how. by using very fast moving electrons. this is the mystery this is the which increases in energy. right and where the electrons produced in the schools ok. so this is where it. hold begins this is the latest film which produces electrons an excellent it's been uphill specific intelligence so that they can be injected into the blister effect they

look for are produced from this source which is elect from god and they are isolated by the other source which we call the megatron is the same device in the microwaves at home but with larger power and windows because of its integrated we can't exactly been through the cluster life into that was the simple truth and it's in the booster ring that they are accelerating to round in a circle faster and faster yet to get more in of just so their speed will be almost the speed of light and then they are injected into the storage of it where we accumulate that elixir mean there are the top with just the same for them and that's when you can use the light exactly for the exits to do the experiment yes so there are several stages to sesame first the electrons are produced in the microphone which accelerates them around. when they're fast enough they get injected into the. with their accent or a city even faster and finally as they approach the speed of light itself there fades into the storage room as the electrons are around using powerful magnets they

lose energy in the form of light this is the synchrotron light we should be used for all sorts of experiments. even without the synchrotron lights some experiments are already underway at sesame. is a scientist who's using infrared light which is invisible to the human eye to see the effects of drugs on skin she's using a special infrared microscope which allows her to determine the chemical composition of samples of skin. i can see here on your computer screen here what the microscope yet of course can see this is the surface of our sample that we are so the it is a skin cell if you click and you want you want you can get the infrared the stick around for this boy when you add a drug or treat or sambit in

a new way these peaks will be different so you can study what is the effect of your drug on this by studying the changes on your infrared spectrum will route research currently uses its own infrared light source but once the synchrotron is up and running she'll be able to do her research one of the experimental stations that will be built around the storage ring and she'll use the synchrotron lights when we have the beam line which is from the synchrotron we will have a lot which is very bright so our sample can be started with a very high resolution and so our result will be bitters. the experiments that will be carried out here at sesame will all rely on a precise mathematical understanding of light and it was the scholars of the medieval islamic world as they sought to mathematicians science who first laid the foundations of our understanding of light.

isaac newton studied here in cambridge in the seventeenth century and is regarded by many as the father of optics but there's another father of optics who goes back much earlier and who is often overlooked his name was no haitham born in the tenth century he's probably my favorite scholar of the golden age because like me he's a physicist. born in basra it know haitham excelled at optics math astronomy and much more as a young man the prodigious of no haitham travel to cairo. the story goes that he was invited to egypt after he promised the ruling kailash there he could stop the nile from flooding by building a dam. however he soon realized that this task was technically impossible and so he feigned madness to escape the caleb's anger and was instead thrown into an

assignment there he still to have written much of his important work key tarbell my novel the book of optics which was hugely influential the centuries. method had died is an iraqi engineer at cambridge university together we're going to recreate one of the mill haitham as most famous experiments the camera obscura pharmaceutical you think very very nice what's the view like. we have this fall ok i think that clock how be perfect. all we need to do is block out the windows and get the screen in place here. the camera obscura is essentially a giant pinhole camera the size of a room so that we can stand inside it although the idea of the camera obscura was known about previously it no hey thumbs accounts is the earliest to mathematically

explain how it works he used it as proof that light travels in a straight line ok i just know i need to make a hole so if you get the screen. i'll turn the lights out we'll see if we think we've got our. well that's going credible it looks like a painting doesn't it doesn't always doesn't look real and you know all we've done is block out the light from the room and then allow it to come through this small hole that is the clocktower you can see such detail just from across the across to even see the. yeah they're not in focus because you could make them in focus if you made the hole smaller right but of course they're less like can get is so we wouldn't be so bright whereas now you see all these do you

know the vivid colors and it's so simple that we're going to hate them would have set up an experiment like this in a darkened room such a simple thing to create without any lenses or all modern equipment you know a thousand years ago for him to have explained how this image is created through through the hole i must make you proud as an as an iraqi who comes from just down the road from them was born that is exactly what i was. from an area very close to one of them was born so it makes me proud. i don't hate them as explanation of the camera obscura helped us understand how vision works the i is itself a camera obscura the same principles apply to modern photography after all that's where the word camera comes from. i'm going to stumble to the museum of the history of science and technology.

saying that kool-aid has been studying it no papers work including his explanation for why the camera obscura makes an image that's up side down. he's well regarded as as the first scientist to correctly explain the camera obscura talk me through how this works if you press the button there. this is the primary light source and this is the object lighted by to slight the light has to go into the box it through a dispy hope you see here and if you look at from here. you will see that the this. is it is upside down. yes because that the lights from the top passes in the hole. and they cross over cross over because light takes the shortest way and it travels in straight lines and this was

something that he was able to show and prove the fact that light travels in straight lines was unknown before him but he for the first time proved it mathematically. it will hate them skitz album a novel is often cited alongside isaac newton's principia mathematica as one of the greatest textbooks in physics ever written latin translations of it influence such men as division chief galileo descartes among others such as his fame today he is commemorated on the back of an iraqi ten thousand d.n.r. banknote he's probably most famous for being the man who explained how vision works . until then the excepted view had been that of the ancient greeks mainly.