>> dozens of people are feared to have died after their boat capsized off the island of lampedusa. a rescue is now underway for more than 220 others who are believed to have survived. the italian coast guard says helicopters are currently taking the injured to a sicilian island . the maltese have been assisting with the refuge -- rescue. last week, a ship carrying some 500 people capsized off lampedusa, killing more than 300. it prompted calls for the european union to increase patrols to the southern mediterranean in order to prevent such tragedies.

lampedusa, which is closer to africa than the italian mainland, is the destination of choice for smugglers taking migrants to europe. >> dozens are feared dead. bodies -- corpses were spotted in the water. at least one news agency ansa, is saying that at least 50 people have been killed. that includes children. the coast guard received a satellite phone call from the boat. that helped them decide where the coordinates of the boat were. it was an aircraft that spotted the boat in trouble. then it was maltese ships and italian navy ships that arrived on site and managed to rescue some of the people that were on board that boat. some 200 people may have been

rescued. many have been taken to italy others to malta. these numbers could change as the rescue operation continues. this tragic incident coming just eight days after the other boat the boat carrying somali and eritrean migrants capsized, and we saw more than 300 people killed in that incident. the boat landings have not stopped. on friday, more than 500 migrants arrived on italian shores on different boats. they continue to make this very dangerous journey, a sign of their desperation. the prime minister spoke earlier this evening. he said this latest dramatic event is a sign of the emergency of the situation. he plans to discuss this issue in the next eu summit that is scheduled for later this month. the ee you commission president said earlier this week in

lampedusa that they plan to -- the eu commission president said earlier this week in lampedusa that they plan to increase patrols. despite that, tragedies like this continue. >> seemsa gupta reporting from rome. a number of leaders say the international criminal court has been unfairly targeting african nations. the two-day summit comes as kenyon president uhuru kenyatta is due to face trial at the hague next month -- as kenyan president uhuru kenyatta is due to face trial at the hague next month. >> some accused of being biased against africans. since the icc's creation in 2002 , the court has indicted more than 30 people, all of them africans. one president says the continent is being targeted.

>> there are a lot of western leaders who deserve to be called before the international criminal court and have not been pursued. curiously, it is only african heads of state who are pursued. today, all african leaders are infuriated by this singular pursuit of african heads of state." >> this comes a day after uhuru kenyatta called for his crimes against humanity trial to be thrown out. he is accused of organizing attacks on political opponents. some african leaders have refused to cooperate with the icc. the sudanese president, omar al bashir, has ignored an arrest warrant for crimes in bill for -- in darfur. former ivory coast president laurent bagwell -- bagbo has been summoned to the hague.

-- laurent gbagbo has been summoned to the hague. >> the international criminal court has ruled that the former libyan intelligence chief is to be tried in libya. the former military agency boss was indicted by the court in 2011 for war crimes allegedly committed during the uprising against colonel gaddafi. more violence in libya on friday when car bombs exploded outside the swedish consulate and a mosque in benghazi. no group has yet come forward to claim responsibility for the explosions that follow the brief induction of prime minister alleys i dan -- ali's i dan -- of prime minister ali zeidan.

this year's nobel peace prize has been awarded to a previously little-known organization that is carrying out inspections for chemical weapons in syria. the organization for the pro position -- for the prohibition of chemical weapons has been in existence 15 years but it has attracted headlines in recent weeks for its latest task, being carried out in a country being torn apart i a raging civil war. -- apart by a raging civil war. >> despite the dangers, the opcw is searching for chemical weapons in syria, a country mired in civil war. it began after a sarin gas attack that killed 1400 people. it has helped avert a u.s. military strike. it was announced on friday the organization won the nobel peace prize. >> we are a small organization. away from the glare of international publicity w it

has carried out an honorable and noble task to act as the guardian of the global ban on chemical weapons that took you fact -- took effect in 1997. >> more than 90% of the world's countries are signed up to the coalition of chemical weapons coming including the u.s., russia, libya, and iraq -- to the coalition of chemical weapons, including the u.s., russia, libya, and iraq. friday's award comes just before syria joins as the 190th member state on monday. >> the syrian regime signing the chemical weapons convention and allowing the opcw to conduct the verification and distraction -- destruction task is incredibly important. it is very significant. they are one of the last to sign up and agree to it. >> only six countries are outside of the u.n. chemical weapons convention.

the opcw hopes the prize and the additional attention on serial will encourage the regime and others to join the nearly universal accord. >> the associate press is reporting that the un security council has authorized a joint mission by the opcw and the u.n. to destroy syria's chemical weapons. it is seen as a necessary final step to the unprecedented mission. staying in syria, human rights watch has accused rebels of killing at least 190 civilians in august. it rains more than 200 hostages were also taken during the offensive in the let hockey a -- the latakia province. we have this report. >> syrian rebels systematically executed civilians and took hostages, so says humans right -- human rights watch.

some 20 groups took part in the predawn strike. in some cases, entire families were gunned down as they fled. >> you conceivable of holes where my son was killed. here is the blood. look here. you conceivable it marks here and here. >> human rights watch says the scale and organization of attacks suggests organization, making them crimes against humanity. >> opposition fighters who came in routinely killed all of the adult males that they saw. they also killed anyone they saw that was -- including women and children. >> five rabble -- rebel groups publicized their involvement with videos and statements. less clear is the role of fighters from the free syrian army. >> individuals or countries that

are supporting these groups are now on notice about the types of violations they are committing and could be complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity if they continue to support them. >> the rebels are battling to overthrow bashar al-assad. rebels and government forces have both been of abuses throughout the conflict. >> for more on this story, let's talk to someone from the human rights watch office in new york. this report, for the very first time, documents opposition forces systematically targeting civilians. just how difficult was it to gather evidence? >> in this case, it was not that difficult to the syrian government, for self-interested reasons, allowed us official access in the country. usually in the past when we have

worked in syria, we have had to work remotely because the government would not grant us access or sometimes access the country through a neighboring country. in this case, we were allowed to go on the ground, to have interviews with some of the victims. they allowed us to do our work totally. researchers on the ground had access to many resources and were able to talk to doctors and go to hospitals and compile a very precise picture of the evaluation. >> this report highlights the lack of effectiveness by the west to isolate foreign fighters and other extremist within the rebel movement. >> it is true that, when you look at the situation, it is very hard to have a very accurate picture of who is doing what. something like 30 groups were

involved in this operation including the more mainstream free syrian army, if you will. the group that we documented as having committed the actual violations, directly responsible for killing entire families or taking hostages, were the hardliners, the islamists, the jihadists. we do not put everyone in the same bag. the syrian coalition condemned these crimes very vigorously. we are hopeful that it does not mean that all syrian opposition should be blamed for this. >> thank you.

not see war criminal erich priebke -- nazi war criminal erich priebke has died. because of his age and poor health he was allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in the italian capital. france's constitutional council has rejected a challenge to a law banning fracking, a technology used to extract shale gas and oil from the ground. there is much opposition to it due to the potential risk to the environment. >> france's highest constitutional body chose the safest option. many french are strongly opposed to hydraulic fracturing. two years ago, they demonstrated repeatedly, pushing parliament to ban the procedure on july 13, 2011. since then, fracking is illegal. companies can no longer explore for shale gas since fracking is

the only method used. those who have invested in the field had their permits canceled. to find the gas, engineers inject high-pressure sand, water, and chemicals into the rocks, creating fractures. the gas and other fluids can migrate to the well. the for jeter -- the procedure is relatively cheap, but it is seen as dangerous to the environment. chemicals can contaminate groundwater. the french right and left both say they would rather keep energy sources in the ground then take unnecessary and -- than take unnecessary and unpopular risks. >> dozens of immigrants are feared dead after their boat capsized off the italian island of lampedusa. the officials are still fearing -- ferrying survivors to shore. it comes just eight days after another boat sank. the u.n. organization overseeing the destruction of syria's

chemical weapons arsenal wins the nobel peace prize. human rights watch says syrian rebels systematically targeted civilians in an attack in august. we are going to be taking a look at business. for that, i am joined by by co -- by my colleague. the united states -- will they or won't they strike a deal in washington? >> they posted their second straight day of gains on friday. it follows the biggest rally in more than nine months on wall street just on thursday. the focus still very much on washington and that debate regarding the u.s. deficit and the u.s. budget. the european indices also gained friday as events are unfolding in washington, d.c. there are signs of progress in

this budget standoff between republicans and democrats. house speaker john boehner has spoken to u.s. president barack obama over the phone in the past couple hours. they were discussing a republican offered to extend the u.n. that -- the u.s. debt ceiling and in the shutdown -- and the shutdown -- and end the shutdown. there is still no deal, but both sides say there is progress. there is less than a week to go before the united states hits that debt ceiling. it may mean the u.s. government runs out of cash, which could lead to a default. that prospect took center stage when g-20 finance ministers met friday in washington, d.c. they called on politicians to take urgent action to avoid a default. there are fears it could send ripple effects throughout the entire global economy.

>> we are moving back to france and the hopes of energy companies to extract shale oil and gas here in france have taken a hit as a result of that decision by the french constitutional council. >> the french constitutional council, the country's highest court, has upheld a ban against so-called fracking. the french government banned fracking, which is a controversial x -- technique to extract energy back in 2011 -- which is a controversial technique, to extract energy back in 2011. >> these are scenes you won't see in france anytime soon. the french constitutional court has upheld a law banning fracking, the controversial practice of extracting shale gas and oil from the ground. the environment minister says the decision is entirely justified. >> the constitutional council recognizes the environmental risks posed by highcroft -- by hydraulic fracturing to these

are precisely the risks that the law and the legislation protect against -- posed by hydraulic fracturing. these are precisely the risk that the law and the legislation protect against. >> the international agency -- energy agency predicts that between 2017 and 2020, the united eggs will overtake saudi arabia, becoming -- the united states will overtake saudi arabia, becoming the world's largest oil producer. in france, the average annual energy bill is 2300 euros. in the u.s., it is just 1495 euros and it is decreasing. anti-fracking groups say the practice is hard on the environment. the chemicals left behind can affect agriculture. environmental groups also say some sites can be hazardous for worker health.

>> here are a few other stories we are keeping our eye on. the board of alitalia has approved a plan to rescue the troubled airline. it is to rip -- the plan is to raise 500 million euros. the italian postal service will contribute up to 75 million euros. they own 25% of alitalia. the american-backed jpmorgan chase swung a 318 million dollar loss in the third quarter compared to a profit of $5.7 billion profit. the bottom line was weighted down as the bank sent off -- to cover legal fees. jpmorgan has been bogged down by legal woes in the past couple of years and are currently in talks to settle allegations that it may sold securities -- mis-sold securities during the financial crisis.

a big game is fueling debates about the initial share price. the price valued royal mail at 3.9 billion euros. friday, it was around 5.3 billion euros. the government is denying that the british public was shortchanged. i bet there are happy investors out there. >> i am sure there are. have a good week. stay with us. we have media watch. you have been looking at online reaction to the decision to award the nobel peace prize to somebody -- rather, an organization. the opcw, the chemical weapons watchdog. >> that's right. a lot of people commenting on

that decision online. because of the fact that it was such an opaque, little-known organization in terms of its international profile, this has firmly put a spotlight on opcw for the work they have been doing over the last many years gathering signatures of 190 countries for the chemical weapons convention. very much behind the scenes work and dangerous work, for example going into serious to dismantle chemical weapons. many are commenting that the opcw is a worthy winner. a news website one of their founding journalists and editors said this is a very worthy nobel peace prize winner. the media postulates was malala the 16-year-old pakistani girl who has stood up to the taliban and and was shot -- taliban and

was shot in the head by the taliban and has become a figurehead for women's education in pakistan and standing up to the taliban. his point is that she was the media's choice and that the opcw is perhaps a more worthy candidate. just to illustrate how much she is the darling of the media around the world, she appeared earlier this week on "the daily show." she responded to a question about how she would react to the taliban and coming to her home. it shows the bravery of the girl. let's take a listen to this. >> but then i said if you hit the talib with your shoe, then there will be no difference between you and the talib. you must not treat others with that much cruelty and that much harshly. you must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through education. then i said, i will tell them how important education is and that i want education for your

children as well. i will tell him that is what i want to tell you, now do what you want. >> [applause] >> a remarkable bravery for a 16-year-old girl. everybody was rooting for her. she was the favorite. >> despite the young pakistani woman being the favorite, there are some who are happy she did not win for a variety of reasons. >> chief among them have been the pakistani taliban, would you believe it. >> how surprising. >> "it's very good news" malala did not win the nobel peace prize, they have been quoted as saying. malala tweeted. she set up a phone to draw attention to the plight of girls. "congratulations to the opcw. somebody else was happy she did not win who said, rather tongue- in-cheek, i really hope malala never gets the nobel peace prize. sheen does not -- she does not

deserve such a discredited award. this is the point a lot of people are making online, the nobel prize has made some controversial choices in the past couple years and perhaps it is lost some of its credibility. this person saying tongue-in- cheek, just as well she did not get it. the nobel peace prize committee responds to those criticisms saying it wasn't because of serious that the nobel peace prize went to see opcw. it was because of the long- standing, behind the scenes work of opcw over the years. >> some have been looking at controversial nobel peace prize as in the past. >> this is just one of several. we mentioned -- i'm not sure if we did. barack obama 2009. >> that is a very controversial choice. >> he is the head of the armed forces in the u.s. many would say that is a basic incompatibility with the peace

prize. the european union, as an organization winning the prize last year. others thought that was not a very personable choice -- pers onal choice. this article pointing out that yasser arafat and yitzhak rabin won it in 1994. there choi -- their sentence, "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist." >> tell us how the nobel committee informed the opcw that it had won. >> very much appropriate to this segment. it was via twitter. they were trying to contact the opcw all morning. perhaps there was no one manning or womanning the phones. >> personning. >> "please contact us." that is hopefully the reason they did not respond.

apparently they had the same problem the previous day with alice monroe for the literature prize. -- alice munro for the literature prize.

10/11/13 10/11/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. the nobel committee has decided the nobel peace prize of 2013 is to be awarded to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, opcw, for its extensive work for illumina