welcome to the news hour. the top stories on al jazeera. a gesture for peace. pakistan release one of the founders of the taliban. the first poll in northern sri lanka since the end of the civil war. taiwan and the philippines battered by the strongest storm on the planet so far this year. why families separated for decade business the korean war

won't be reunited next week. i'm doing more livestock now than i've done in a long time. >> and cowboys, cattle and criminal, how an illegal trade from the frontier days is making a come back in texas. it's the seen as a gesture to help bring peace to pakistan. this than was the se conditioned second-in-command when he was arrested in 2010. what more do we know about this release? thraoetlet's go back live to our correspondent in islamabad. >> reporter: well, the pakistani foreign office made an announcement on friday that on

dull's brother would be freed on saturday. normally the timings of the release are a closely guarded secret because of the security reasons. he is now a free man. he will be going to meet his family. there are un.com confirmed reports that the city will be in karachi. he has not appeared on any television network, not given any interviews and not likely to be stphaoep seen in public for e being. >> why is his release so significant. afghan's the president has been trying to reunite the country. he held an assembly in june of 2010 but the taliban refuseed the to take part. pit's been difficult ever since. the president of that was

assassinated. in another effort to kick start peace negotiation, pakistan released 34 taliban prisoners so far this year. the big date is the end of 2014. that's when the troops are scheduled to meet afghanistan and when karzi is hoping to put it on a footing. there's a release behind broader ones. the afghan government believes he's a pope pew hra a popular o. the anticipation that he kwoub a con due went and perhaps open

communication links with omar. they have refused to come to ana negotiating table. they had some secret talks with the afghan president. president that was later on and that led the afghans to believe it would be a line of communication. they are spending a lot of votes on this. you're right. this is a tricky question was because he had been a prisoner and the taliban are saying that he will come back as an ordinary -- he will not have any influence as such for the immediate and so this his role is questionable. there are some anxiety as far as the americans are concerned, as far as the afghans are concerned that without proper conditions these people can go back to the battle field. however, he will be allowed to communicate with anyone he wants

the to and will also. given a choice to go to a third country if he wants to initiate that. the afghan taliban, one of their senior spokesman and in a rare interview with a local network recently said that there will be in talks with the karzi government. it will be see if the release will provide an ina sis for those talks. >> thank you. voteers in northernvyry lan ka are gnorthern srilanka are g. theythey. tkpwapbthey began the.

liv live to our corresponde. we know the government in sri lanka don't have that much power. >> reporter: by way of excitement, we should give you a look -- just under half an hour until polls close here. we've been speaking to the head of the common worth observeer team here and where we met him this, it may be as high as 60% where we were at that time. wear waiting to get to teaching where the county sees how enthusiastic people were and about turning out and having their say. like you mentioned, much of the decision-making is centralized.

first step that people are saying here that perhaps a more political participation an a wider dialog with government, local and central. >> a national alliance is expected to win control of the council. if they do, what impact is that likely to have on the region, economically, socially? >> reporter: anyone that is successful, keeping in mind there's 38 seats up for offer. anyone who is elected, the candidates, it's about long term stability here. it's about the economics of these regions keeping in mind when you have a promising upon it and have promission opportunities there's greater initiative to feel good about their areas to take their life forward. that is a key po*rt pent of this. it's ban key campaign issue as well. i should mention by way of

development. the colleagues that have covered this area for many years. locals, it's a very different place. there have been developments since 2009. they did other developments so they are moved forward. it's about people who are elected today and in the coming days to take that forward and stabilize it an in cement these moves forwards. >> thank you very much. that's live for news northern sri lanka. the most powerful storm this year is causing wide spread flooding and evacuations in the philippines and taiwan. >> reporter: the might of the u.s. navy fleet, the uss pulledd out a day ahead of schedule and 24 hours before the typhoon's arrival. it's said to be the most powerful storm on the planet this year.

it formed in the pacific early in the week ands that tracked northeast through the straight that separate the philippines and taiwan. in the philippine, 100 families were evacuated from islands as torrential rain caused flooding in four regions. in taiwan, waves as big as big as buildings began the coastline. it led to the evacuation of thousands of people. 4,000 people have already evacuated ahead of the storm and the 23,000 fishing boats return to port. it's moving steadly towards the hong kong it will still cause lots of problems for people who oh live in this financial center. this long weekend is -- and thousands of people are away traveling, meeting their families in china, taiwan and the rest of the region. than will cause incredible

transport delays for those trying to return sunday and monday to the city. al jazeera, hong kong. and our senior meteorologist now joined us here in the studio. we're talking about the most powerful storm this year. what does that mean? what's. potential for serious damage. >> it's category four at the moment. the winds are sustained at 220 kilometers per hour. if you look at the national weather service in the u.s., they say that a hurricane this size could u will sustain severe damage and most trees will be snapped. that's what this can do. i understand that this is a slow-moving storm. where is it heading now and when will it hit? >> it's already hitting places even though the eye of the storm isn't anywhere near them. north to south it's covering

1500 kilometers. east to west it's covering 800 kilometers it's slowly tracking at 18 miles pe 18-kilor hour it's causing a bit of friction. by the time it gets to ho hong kong, it's expecting it to be a category 2. people will be able the to manage that. >> thank you. she will tell us about another storm. this time on the other side in mexico. thank you very much for the moment. at least 7 people have opinion killed in a nigerian capitol involving security force. they say its' a rage against fighters. it followed an attack in the northeast. dominique king has more. two suspects paraded before the cameras in apudja. nigerian police accused them of being part of the haram group.

>> we're buried on the ground. and, so, a joint security had to proceed to recall the arm. so when they got here, they came under attack and of course they had to respond back. >> reporter: but when news agency says it has spoke on the 17 men who say they survived the shooting and have no connection to haram. though, many stayed in the building at the time. while they have got taken armed attacks this year, elsewhere the story is different. this is the northeastern state. the burned out cars are evidence of an attack on tuesday that is reporteded to have killed many people. >> translator: the take killed our people. only our woman and children are

safe. every other person they met they killed. >> reporter: it has led an armed campaign for the past four years. but, it's attacks have increased recently despite to the worst effected areas. officials have encouraged local vigilantes groups to fight back. dozens of volunteers have been killed in resent weeks. dominique cane, al jazeera. we will have much more ahead including nearly a million people are in the brink of nambia's worst brought in 30 years. plus, the german chancellor supporters brave the cold in berlin to make a final push. and the can team usa close the gap in the americas. details coming up.

she the so-called chancell chancellor. while she enjoys high approval ratings, she still has her critics. we have her report card in her last four years in office. >> reporter: approval ratings at 70% and her christian democratic papardemocratparty twice as wele polls. a big part of that success is because how the chancellor dealt with the euro zone crisis and kept down the bail out bail for german voters. not everyone is happy with her record in office. for example, people who want a more united, integrated europe. this young federalists said the

approach during the crisis made it worst and showed none of the vision of former chancellor who reunifyed germany and helped launch the t*e uro. >> translator: we don't look at the same system. she isn't someone who fights hard for her convictions. that's what we need in europe right now. >> reporter: another disappointment for some, energy policy. locals surprised germans and europe by announcing she would shut the nuclear plants by 2022 and push for renewable energy. that sharp turn in policy led to a jump. this cole production to neat short fall to t by the closing down the nuclear plant. >> translator: we want to do something for ten vinement. the. she's not keeping the energy supply in mind.

we are a highly centralized country and we cannot meet our needs with a few thousand windmills. >> there's some disappointment on what she is doing, or not doing for woman. the chancellor postponed the plan to have more female preseptemberation in corporate board rooms. germanys that lowest for the teuparticipation rate. >> child care places are missing for older children. it's hard for them to work. especially if you have more than one child. >> reporter: she has addressed some of these problems and promises to fix them. and a poll suggests she's likely to return to office and get another opportunity to win over the voters. >> and nick joins us now from angel merkels campaign in berlin. tell us thousan us how the ralle

going. >> reporter: the room is emptying out but angel merkel is behind me telling them that germany was once a sick man in europe but now the strong neighbor. she said that germany was committed to solidarity with the rest of europe but that solidarity had a price and that reforms that need to be undertaken in the country's that were getting bail outs. he said it wasn't really a situation where germany should be arrogant because germany had gone through painful reforms to get where it is now. she also said somewhat counter factually but is important. they will make two choice on their ballot. one is for their mt and the second one is for a party lift. she said that second box you will take is actually going to be for me. consider it the vote for angle merkel. the reason why she's doing that

is pause she's afraid that a lot of voters will use that second box to take a party other than this hers to change the coalition in the future. what she is afraid of is that her partners and free democrats won't get the 5% of votes they need to form another coalition with her in government. >> we know where the party stands. what about the smaller parties. how important a role are they going to be playing in determining the outcome of this the election? >> reporter: well, small parties are going to be playing the biggest role. they are liberal miss the classical sense need to break the 5% barrier.

she might be forced to deal with the the social democratic party which is the main opposition party. another small party to really keep your eye on as german stkpwroerts to the polls on sunday is a new party. only five months old. the alternative for germany and the alternatives for proposing is leading the euro and going back to the deutsch mark. they think the single currency has been a fiasco and think italy an spain should leave the euro as well. polls are suggesting they are right that the limit, then they will steal stpraets angl steal l merkel's party. >> thank you, nick. police head quarters have

come under fire. there have been anti-government protests in resent months. police set up roadblocks who set up an attack. no casualties have been reported. >> people in kurdistan are going to oh the poll. the province is jointly ruled led by the iraqi president. together they dominate the parliament. the largest opposition party is campaigning on an anti-corruption platform and hoping far strong showing. the oil-rig state has been

locked in land this year which have led to calls for kurdish independent. china's foreign minister is calling far restart in north korea's nuclear program. he says he's eager and speaking to the u.s. about how to reach what he called a reasonable special to make it happen. >> translator: a change in the part of north korea is that it's ready to commit to the denucle denuclearsation because they say this is a legacy of their past leaders. >> five rebels and a 71-year-old woman have been killed in philippines. some rebels are still holding 20 host t hostages. the woman was killed when a shell hit her house in the town. >> a family separated ^py decades by the korean war won't

be reunited next week as expected. reunions have been happen theed since the year 2000. north korea says forces in the south are using the reunions to increase confrontation. millions were by the korean war in the 1950s. they are in the south korean capitol seoul with the details. >> reporter: >> it's not the first time north korea pulled oh it of agreement this is way. it's impossible to say for certain why they've done it. i think we can point to a wider contacts about what's happening in the last few days, though. one thing being that north korea on wednesda said it was ready. it wanted south korea and u.s. to drop their calls. that it was ready to give up its nuclear weapons.

also, in is a distressing time on po*t sides of the border and preparing to meet their relives for the first time since the cease-fire in the cory january war in. in 1953 separating families is the greatest pain of the nation. >> some breaking news, reports from the news agency that there's been a shooting at a shopping mall at a kenyan mall in nairobi. there's reports of grenades being thrown on n the shopping mall. this shooting might be robbery-related. we have no further details at the moment. we will bring them to you life here on al jazeera. sop a shooting in the kenyan capitol t nairobi inside a shopping mall. more when we have it. >> people in mexico are cleaning up after being shiite by

devastating storms. officials say more than 100 people have been killed in landslides. the government said that 65 people are missing. thousands of people are finally able to escape from a disaster zone. this critical highway has been closed for near lay week due to a collapse tunnel and it's just opened. this is a huge relief for people who have been trapped in flood-ravaged alcapulco where supplies are running out. >> translator: we spent three days under a bridge. we couldn't get out.

the good thing now is that were going back home to see our relatives who are very worried about us. >> reporter: more than 40,000 tourists have until now relied on tpo*t and civilian aircraft to fly them out. many have waited in lines for days where heat and frustration have the caused tensions to rise. with around 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles expected to travel out on the highway on friday, they expect this relieve pressure. as these people slowly start to make their way home, more than 35,000 others have no homes to return to. and if these people who hope that the government having opened up this road will now be able to refocus the relief efforts on them. >> and seth is pack with us to tell us about the wealth near mexico now. >> thanks. fortunately, there are not anymore storms in the have vicy

of mexico at the moment. you see plenty of clouds that we have at the moment. weather doesn't have tkpwaoe tke geographical flooding. we are hearing more flooding and landslides from ho hon hondurus. hopefully further south there should be a bit of a break. >> not out of the woods there just yet. if we had to across towards europe things are brighter here. it's not doing too much. the western parts of europe. that will stick around for the next few days.

we will see the temperatures sneak higher. paris up at 25. thank you very much. nambia is in the break of its worth drought. nearly a million people are effected. >> reporter: the drought means there's no food at home so she's back. >> the skin oh of my baby has lots of rashes. we have no crops because it's too dry and not enough money to buy food. i feel very bad for her. this the nambia's first

drought in 30 years. the government declareed a state of emergency and delive terg food aid but it's struggling to. >> it is the wish of the government to cover everybody and however, i think fit might not be possible to cover everybody at the same time. it launched an appeal. a hospital is on the the front line. during some months, admissions have doubled. there's not much we can do. >> most of these woman are from angola but say they get more help here. >> there is no food. my family tries to send me

money. this year the land is not tper t tperfertile. >> even if the rains come this year the first harvest doesn't begin until march so the babies about to be born in to this world may find it a harsh and unforgiving place. the government su tphraoeud hospital with food aid. she has four other hungry children at home and it doesn't go far. the nurse expect they will see her tkpepb. aagain. an update on that breaking news the story. tkpupb shot inside a shopping mall until the kenyan capitol nairobi. at least two people have been injured. let's speak to a witness who's at the scene right now. the i understand is inside the

mall. can you hear me? >> caller: i can hear you but not very clearly. >> tell us what's happening right now inside the mall and which mall is this in nairobi? >> caller: it's west gate mall and what happened is we were in the mall and all of a sudden we heard a loud bang and that have, it all broke lose. we ran in to a shop and looking outside the gun shooters were outside the floor because the cops were outside with ak-47s and it gets quiet and a shoot out come cans up and the cops are going up and down and that's all we can see.

>> it is clear what led to the shooting in the first place. there are reports that this might have been a robbery. is there any indication from where you are? >> caller: my friends were outside. . it's still unclear what's happening inside the west gate shopping mall until nairobi there. is there a heavy police presence inside the mall? >> .

>> caller: the only ones i have seen the ones can working outside my floor. so more must be a big group. >> are the gunshots still continuing or have things calmed down? >> caller: it's quiet but it keep cans quiet and all of a sud season it will shoot out. >> caller: it's more than half an hour now. are there people who cannot get out? >> caller: there are people on the floor. and the others i don't know. at the mall it's a saturday so there's a number of people in the mall and kids. >> reporter: thank you so much for the time being.

there have been shooting reports of a grenade attack as well. not clear at what led to a shooting in side that mall. the eyewitness said that there is a police on the scene right now and theuation is on going. we'll continue to follow.

>> it's been here for some time. as you know once you have take an prisoner, new leadership take over. one of the new leadership take over it becomes difficult for them to re-enter. at the same time there are doubts the as well.

i hit the's a good move from pakistan's attitude in the peace process. you know pakistan has been very supportive and these are some of the signs which others are looking for. and as you are aware they are already northern turkey prisoners. >> right. pakistan released taliban prisoners so far this year. have they had any positive effects on the peace process itself. some of these businesses have gone back to the battlefield.

that's why they are -- pause they were one of the most important and some supposed to be a relative of omar and second-in-command. the but ultimately he has. let us see what role he does play. i think personally he may have have to go to a third country. from there he will decide what role he can play and what roll the new leadership can give to him. but i think from a pakistani point of view, it has ban good move pause there are always misgivings between afghanistan and pakistan and at the time when a new leadership has come ands that him to sort of improve its relations with the -- people of afghanistan have goodness. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for speaking to us

and doing it -- the defense analyst joining us there live from the pakistani cam of islama ma'aislamabad. the soldiers back by regimes armed with guns and knives. activists said that two woman and a child are young the dead. it's not clear whether all the men killed were civilians. syria handed over the watch dog -- the chemical weapons are calling it a declaration. all right there's call for

action. >> both sides agree is the need for diplomacy. stopping foreign intervention should be the first step. >> translator: what does matter now is the intervention e. what will tkp will geneva do. >> reporter: french president hopes they can hope broker a deal. in syria, we're trying to find a political solution. >> diplomacy moves slowly. syria has handed over an incomplete list of its chemical weapon's site. >> i don't want to get ahead of it but we sa document now that we didn't have yesterday. >> reporter: the disclosure was required between u.s. secretary

of state john kerry and russian foreign minister. the first stage of eliminating syria's stockpile. >> reporter: the members of the security council have opinion meeting almost daily at the united nations to hand out the agreement to dismantle the chemical weapons. but they need to agree to the plan an principal first before they can put it to a vote. they agreed to a plan on sunday. al jazeera, the united nations. joining us live from london is nadine-shaadi. how far the you think afghan regime can be trusted. do you think he's stalling for time?

this whole issue is a diversion of what's happening in syria. the objective is not to get rid of the chemical weapons. the objective is to resolve the crisis in syria in such a way as there will be a transition with him stepping down from power in syria. that's the original objective if you like of the geneva meeting which is based on a plan, on an arab plan and if you want to go back, this whole arab league initiative started when there's a failure in september 2011. so, we have gone from circle and diverseed it from the subject. we're now being diverted in to

talking about chemical weapon's initiative. >> . there a need for clear message and the united states has been considering this far long time. put it's not last year secretary clinton said that maybe going to the icc is not a good because because it's an engagement with assad later. so the message that president assad got was that the united states still wants tone gauge with him.

and that that's the message he's getting from secretary kerry and president obama that if an when they will hit him they will bomb syria, they wouldn't pom it in such way to change the balance on the ground or change the regime or to effect the regime. this reminds everyone of us of what happened in iraq in -t 1991 when all the action towards iraq was calibrated to maintain s*pl t saddam hussein in power. there was diversion to get rid of the chemical weapon's of the time. he killed in one month probably as much as p president bashar killed in a year. he was allowed to stay in power.

the insurgeoncy helped west from the west and did not materialize. instead, you had saddam hussein going from town to town, house to house getting rid of the insurgents. the worst case s scenario is wht happened in 1991 and 1993. >> thank you. >> u thank you. protestors are gathering at a number of universities across egypt. students are rallying in geza. on friday, the anti-coup appliance called for rallies across egypt. there's a heavy security presence in front of the school

and university. deep economic problems has led the united states on the verge of another financial crisis. as they explain, there's a sense of deja vu on capitol hill. >> the joint resolution is passed. >> reporter: with that it begins again. two political parties fighting over what to spend and how much to borrow to pay for it. both sides predicting if it continues, it could lead to another u.s. recession. >> i can not believe we're here again. >> this place is a mess. >> reporter: it's 6th time that the congress and president have taken the country to the brink of not funding the government or defaulting on its debt. this time republicans say they will only agree to keep most of the federal government running if president obama health insurance law goes away. the president says no and he won't negotiate. >> one republican senator called

shutting down the government over they fordable care act and it's a dumbest idea idea i ever heard. i agree with him. >> reporter: republicans know it won't pass the democratically-controlled senate but still claiming victory. >> we have victory today for the american people. we also had a victory for common sense. what does it mean for the american people? some government functionless stop, others will slow down. >> a few weeks will agree to bureau more money. republicans say they won't without serious concessions. it brings in the possibility that the u.s. will default on its debt. >> were eager to talk to the president. >> the past they agreed at the last minute each time an a cost oh of a downgrading credit

rating and many say it slowed the economic recovery it has been impact put not enough to keep history from repeating itself. again and again and now one more time. >> al jazeera, washington. all the latest sports next including york yankees star alex, rodriguez making headlines but this time for the right reasons. .

>> welcome back.

an old crime is coming back to the u.s. state of texas. cattle rustling or cattle theft is on the rise, leaving ranches vulnerable. >> rancher bob alfords got more than 40 cows. >> this brown could you she's actually got two brands. >> alford has not ever had any stolen but plenty has. >> we've seen almost double in the mast. >> alford should know. he's also the sheriff. alford has an ally in george daifers whdavis who owns the cae

auction. >> they might not even have a license plate on their trailer. >> high cattle prices are a big reason why theft is on the rise. davis says cattle prices are about 25% from two years ago. >> a good cow is worth $1.50 a pound. >> 16 so far this year, stealing cattle is not that hard. all thieves need is a property where no one lives, a $10 bag of feed and a trailer to get the cows out of here. >> i've done more cattle theft investigation than i've everybody done before. >> he's not just a cattle rancher, he's a victim.

>> you work all year long to, you know, to accumulate something and then they take it from you. you know, somebody drives in your place and steals half your calf corroborate that's pretty bad. >> here comes another one, that's got only my brand, that's a major deterrent. >> but he's amazed so many ranchers don't brand their cattle. >> if we get them branded it's a lot easier to spot them. >> as long as cattle prices are high, the rustling is going to continue. mark schneider, al jazeera, kliburn texas. >> time for sports, here is raul. >> thank you. banning players for life over the alleged match fixing.

carlos mendez also announced that three received suspension and further discretion. 22 players were given one month bans while suspected gains and a 5-nil defeat to mexico. the suspended players have 15 days to appeal. helping stem stadium violence, scenes like these have become all too familiar in argentina. the fan staff and even police will now need to register for a special i.d. card to enter a first division stadium. this system will be trield in thitrialed inthis week's match.

>> we want to avoid the hooligans. we want there to be a better revenue for the clubs. we want the people to come back from the games. we want order not fear. >> picked up their first league win of the season. they were maroon ed at the bottom of the table with no points after four games. but milliano vintero helped. thank from a goal, 88 minute, penalty spots and in al bakkar, missing them up to the heavy height of 17th. saturday the league leaders barcelona continued their 100% start. the champions won't have their coach on their side, he has been in argentina attending his

father's funeral. >> we don't want to change anything. we want to continue the the matter that made this team so big and made them win so many titles. >> now one of the favorites to win this year's champion chelsea, loss comes with chelsea having made their worse start in the premier league for a decade. they'll have a chant to bounce back against fulham on thursday. >> i don't like the way chelsea was playing in the last couple of years. the club doesn't like, we want to change. we have the players with the profile to change. we want to play a different style. the past is history. even my past. >> with his best impression there. going into the third round of

golf's tour championship. the swede carted a round of 66. stenson tiger woods is one of those five. he had a mixed day, shooting 71, 14 shots behind stenson. emirates team, minutes away from winning the decided race 13 when it was called off on saturday exceeding the 14 minute time limit because of light winds. the real round, penalized for a violation that saw the two boats almost colliding. oracle took advantage to go on and win by one minute 24 seconds but they still trail eight points to three. >> new york yankees star alex rodriguez has broken the record

of most home runs. a-rod passed lou gehrig's record of most grand slam home runs. gown in florida the tampa bay rays won a marathon six hour 54 minutes game. a single much toft relief of his team. it keeps tampa half a game ahead in the american league wild card race. that's your sports. later. >> thank you very much. now summer ice in the arctic sea has been rapidly receding. however, the ice was 50% more than in 2012. >> for all the talk of global

warming and melting ice caps it seems, for once, a glimmer of good news. sea ice in the arctic has most likely hit its lowest point in the year and that level is considerably higher than it was in 2012. sea ice is frozen ocean water that melts in the summer and then refreezes every winter. scientists measure the seasonal variation as a sign of global climate change. last year the, the ice tumbled to a record low. this year's extent is the highest, 5.1 million square kilometers and has begun seasonal growth. but the overall trend is still down. compare these levels to the 30-year average as indicated by the orange line.

this animation shows the daily shrinking of arctic ice over the summer. the extent of ice actually dropped to the sixth lowest level on record. but it's still being described as a welcome recovery. on the other end of the world, sea ice in the antarctic has maind an upward trend. -- maintained an upward trend. matched the seasonal high in 2012. climb scientists point to cooler air around the globe that's given rise to increased ice cover in both poles this year. yet the overall message remains one of caution. we're still not out of the danger zone and the time of ice-free summers in the arctic could be just decades away. jerald tan, al jazeera.

the latest on that shooting in the kenyan capital of nairobi. stay with us. where

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>> good morning, this is al jazeera. i'm richelle carey. this is some of the stories we're following. a huge typhoon is barreling through south asia. it's already brought massive flooding and now it's headed towards the world's largest cities. house republicans know the bill they passed will be dead alive in the senate. syria is coming clean on some of its chemical weapons program, declaration of its arsenal. good news about the