>> this is al jazeera i'm richelle carey in new york and these are the stories we're following. breaking story, right now, happening in kenya, a crowded shopping mall under fire. nearly two dozen dead. the kenyan government says it may be an attack by the are somalian insurgent group al sloob. talshabaab. talk about who they are. -- al shabaab, talk about who they are.

gunmen stormed a nairobi shopping mall, according to the kenyan red cross. saw about five men run into this upscale shopping center and heard grenade blast. might be an attack by terrorists, that's a quote, no group has claimed responsibility but the group al shabaab threatened to undertake an attack in nairobi. caroline malone has more. >> people trying to run away from armed men inside the westgate mall in nairobi. they moved in via a restaurant on the ground floor. but by then there were already casualties. the shopping complex was packed at about midday local time when people heard a large explosion. then they saw merch with ak --

men with ak 47 machine guns open fire. some of the shoppers were able to escape and about 20 people were rescued by police. but dozens of people are thought to still be trapped inside. >> hold up on the second floor. -- holed up on the second floor by the cinema. they have been isolated by the police and the police are actually combing room by room, floor by floor, as the issue, the situation develops. >> there is a security process to get into the shopping mall. but as seen here there's a restaurant on the ground floor that's protected from the road only by a balcony and from the street just outside, sporadic gun fire can still be heard. caroline malone al jazeera. >> earlier i spoke with johnson director of viewpoint africa about the attack. >> the signs on the wall showing it might be the al shabaab, the

al shabaab has already expressed an interest in the past, even threatened many buildings in the past so yes they vowed in 2011 when the kenya force he went to fight the al shabaab movement in somalia that they would attack. these are some of the more ugly threats that have clearly come to pass today. >> can you talk about the history between those two countries? >> well, the somalia as we know has not had a functioning government for many, many years. of course more recently they've had such a government but during that void period, we had many war lords and the al shabaab movement came out of that. and of course they have already been branded by the united states as a terrorist group and for all intents and purposes, kenya is fighting this terrorism next door to them. the kenyan government took the fight to them. they have not gone, not been flushed out completely and they

are continuously posing a threat to the civilized society. >> you said al shabaab made this specific threat before. talk about what the security measures are in yah -- kenya. >> i was in kenya only last year. i can tell you that if you lived in a hotel for example you will have a security force there with armed personnel. and there will be bomb detectors to make sure that people and their goods are free from terrorism. and of course, this is most definitely a lapse in that security. there is no doubt about that. it is also a failure of the intelligence to galvanize that intelligence that's crucially required, when it fails like this, the security forces have to step up. and this is what we are seeing here, the security forces taking pr on the are terrorist forces.

>> what other incidents come to mind? >> the mumbai attacks, that is this daring that the terrorists took hostages and of course the use of grenades not to mention ak 47s. very, very similar. the style of it the aggression of it, what's much more difficult this time ask that kenya was not expecting this they have really been taken by surprise. this is taking place in a highly influential area of the country where the middle class citizens live and many were enjoying themselves in the mall this afternoon and many have lost their lives, many are still there scared and the future is very, very bleak right now for many of them. >> you're so right mr. johnson when you talk about how scared these people must be going through this. let's go ahead and listen to a witness right now. >> i was just looking for

parking and we heard heavy like a bombardment with grenades and all that. wife tells me let's just please get out looks like a terrorist attack. as we turned around, as soon as i exited onto the land i saw the whole traffic jam outside there, can't move. so we got out of the car we hid on the left side of the car. it's a big car four wheel drive. one of them i don't know saw us or i don't know what, threw a grenade under the car and just hiding on the left side of the car, yeah. the engine oil, oil everywhere, hurt on the left leg, i got hurt here and bad hit as well. so god is great we are okay. >> mr. johnson they're describing a terrifying scene both inside and outside of the mall as well. what does that tell you?

>> well, it shows that it is in a position of panic. a lot of people feel traumatized, many people wouldn't feel safe at all. and what the expression that has been expressed by that gentleman there is one of panic, one of chaos and also it shows that the security forces are not on top of it. but i think they have got to show leadership now. they've got to show that they can protect the citizens. they got to show that at least in this particular instance that they can come on top of this situation. what's worrying for me is these militants, these terrorists are clearly on a suicide mission there's no doubt about that. they don't intend to live there, they want to take as many people with them as possible in terms of loss of life. as the hours go by more than likely the death toll would increase which is very, very sad. >> it is indeed. is there a significance this happening on world peace day and just a few days before the u.n.

general assembly meets? >> absolutely. world peace day is what it's about today. meant to be a peaceful day, a reflection on wars around the world, or issues around governance and people to live in peace. but what we're witnessing today is nothing but peaceful. and of course it is significant because the general assembly ask meeting in a few days -- is meeting in a few days time and many of the world leaders is going to be meeting. the al shabaab movement wants to send a message it's still around, still a threat and willing to pose that threat at a moment's notice which it clearly has now. >> we'll continue to follow the story. pakistan has released its highest ranking taliban leader from jail.

abdul, the most powerful tie 15 of the year, tie 15 usagi, typhoon expected to be down graded to a category 1 hurrica hurricane. al jazeera's craig gleason has the latest. >> u.s.s. bonhomme richard pulled out, 24 hours before the predicted arrival of supertournament usagi. 600 miles wide and wind speeds gusting to 180 miles per hour. it formed in the pacific earlier this week, and tracked west northwest through the luzon strait. 100 families were moved from islands as torrential rains caused flooding.

electricity cut and village houses damaged. in taiwan waves as big as buildings smashed the coastline. flights and ferries were cancelled, forcing people to leave their homes. southern china coast is preparing for worst, 23,000 fishes boats returned to port. but the storm has hong kong a miernlmajor asian center in its. 100 people died and a storm surge caused major damage to the city. today major airlines warned against traveling on sunday and will hold flights in and out of hong kong. thousands are celebrating the mid autumn festival and the storm could cause trouble force those returning, the typhoon flag signals the need to begin

preparations and it's told the city to brace itself for what could be the worst storm to hit here in 34 years. craig gleason, al jazeera hong kong. >> jelelah, the winds are still incredibly strong. they're still 110 miles per hour. >> yes rax, we expect the storm to continue to weaken as it makes its way towards hong kong but wind is a major factor. take a look at the graphic behind me. we do want to make a note about wind speeds. 19 to 20 miles per hour that's a light breeze, that will bring down -- sway trees that is. whenever a stronger storm passes through 53 to 60 miles per hour typically that request uproot trees. we're talking about a typhoon, equal to a category 1 hurricane. the land will be looking to be devastated by this system.

typhoon wanda which according to the united states we would have compared this to being somewhat of a category 2 storm. that killed 434 people along the country side, and it was a major problem there. 72,000 people were uprooted from their homes. so it's a lot to note, this is a major storm and it's going to continue to barrel towards hong kong. we expect it to make landfall sunday night into early monday morning. we'll bring you the latest later on in the show. are are back to you richelle. >> thank you, jelelah. villagers and soldiers have been using axes to chip away at the mud that has inundated their land, hurricanes are inundated their country. killing 21 and injuring 20

in a nairobi shofn shopping mal. lawmakers have nearly a week to are avert a government shut down.

on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you.

>> welcome back. with a possible government shut down nine days away there's no sign of compromise in washington. on friday, washington passed a bill, that would defunding the affordable care act. president obama says that's a nonstarter. randall pinkston, the sides have a lot to say not necessarily to each other. >> not at all. not in agreement. both republicans and democrats

both say they do not want a government shut down at the end of the month when the budget runs out and they don't want to default on the debt ceiling but president obama and draghts are saying the action he -- democrats are saying the action he of the gop are not helpful. >> the united states of america is not a deadbeat nation. we are a compassionate nation. we are the world's bedrock investment and doing anything that threatened that is the height of irresponsibility. that's why i will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the united states. i will not allow anyone to harm this country's reputation or threaten to inflict economic pain on millions of american people just to make a ideological point. >> and the president says the solution is a clean bill, something that will keep the money flowing at the end of the month and something that will raise the debt ceiling without attaching what republicans say is an absolute necessity, the defunding of obamacare.

they had nevada governor brian sandoval for response. >> like washington nevada has a politically dwrieded government owners divided government but that theant topped stopped our efforts. good leaders for all governments must make and enforce the law. but executives must engage those that engage them, listen to all ideas, persuade when possible and respectfully and firmly disagree when necessary. >> well the time for reaching an greamed is running out. wees -- agreement is running out. we have less than two weeks, about nine days to be exact about it before the nation will hit the possibility of a shut down unless both sides can find some time for compromise. richelle. >> randall, the person who will respond to the president is very carefully chosen. why did that response come from outside of congress?

>> they didn't tell me but we can only suspect that what they're doing is using an example of a republican leader who has compromised with dwrats -- democrats, hoping that the president of the united states would take their advice. the president has indeed said that the matter of affordable care act was settled not only by the election which reelected him but also by the u.s. supreme court. so what the previouslyneed to do is move forward. trats are not ds democrats are not opposed to portions of the affordable care act, but not interested in scratching it which is what republicans say need to be done. >> is there any move to get something done? >> certainly the republicans have decided not to go into recess this coming week. the house majority leader eric

cantor cancelled recess and kept the house in session for committee work over the weekend and the full house will be returning on wednesday. by then we expect that the senate will take up that continuing resolution passed yesterday and the senate is expected because it has a democratic majority, the senate is expected to strip away the poison pill on obamacare and send forward a bill for full funding. >> thank you randall. $4 billion a year, stephanie contaminate spoke to hundreds of thousands affected. >> each week just outside downtown los angeles people line up to get food from a local church outreach program. crystal harris is among them. she is also on food stamps. >> my food stamps go by fast.

expeacial when you're somewhere where you don't have a big refrigerator or a stove to cook on you go eat fast food a lot. >> at 26 she has one child and another on the way. she's upset by knew that politicians are trying to reduce or cut her benefit. >> i would tell them think about it as if you're in our shoes you know, would you do the same? like would you still do that? >> a potential loss in benefits will affect the nearly 1 million people in los angeles who rely on 1.7 billion in food stamp benefits. it will also affect local churches and food banks who regularly feed the hungry. >> democrats and republicans should see the lines and see the need, that may change things. >> but volunteers like tammy feel the duty to help the lest fortunate and no matter what happens in washington they'll continue to be there to lend a hand. >> that was stephanie stanton.

president obama promises iti will veto the measure if it moves forward. syria has given the u.n. a preliminary inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal. >> syria appears to have complied with the first step on the road to meeting its obligations under the chemical weapons convention. the opcw says syria has provided the expected documentation and its secretariat is now now revig it. chemical weapons manufacturing facilities and any other related materials. presumably what happens now is that the technical secretariat is looking for a full and truthful scwhroatruthful disclot syria says it has and what the opcw may know what from

intelligence forces it should have had or has had. it's a long road ahead though for this process inspectors have got to go back into the country. they have got to do a verification on the ground. there has got to be a system worked out for moving and destroying these chemical weapons and the timetable which seize them all being destroyed by mid 2014 is by everyone answer admission going to be a tough one with the civil war raging in syria. >> anita mcnaught. >> recently declassified document says the air force dropped two hydrogen bombs over north carolina in january of this year. it happened when the b-52 carry them broke apart in mid air. the blast would have been two and a half times more than

hiroshima. the pin remained intact and prevented them from being debt maded. scientists says overall trend of the icecap is headed in the wrong direction. that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko on inside story, we bring >> armed gunmen stormed an

upscale mall in nairobi kenya killing at least 20 people and injuring 20. these are the latest video of people trying to get away, the kenyan government suspects this is a terrorist attack. the worst typhoon of the year has already torn through taiwan and the philippines and is about to hit hong kong, supposed to create pretty major damage. >> we continue to bring you the latest on severe typhoon usagi which is marching towards hong kong. expected to make landfall 9:00 a.m. sunday morning and continue to spread heavy rain across much of the area. as we track into the next several days. i want to take you back to 1962 with this map here behind me.

this storm typhoon wanda crossed the luzon strait between taiwan and the philippines in 1962 before marching into hong kong, killing 472 people and leaving thousands homeless. we are continuing to monitor usagi which is taking a similar track as wanda did, passing through the luzon strait, making its way towards hong kong where it will bring quite a bit of rainfall, winds knocking out power lines and certainly leave a lot of people in the dark the next several days and pose a significant risk to human life. we want people to be on alert. an area of low pressure, pushing across texas bringing in much needed rain. although we are looking at flooded downpours throughout the course of the day. that rain continues to spread

along i-10 headed towards new orleans, and northern portion of the front, mostly cloudy, overcast skies, spreading across pennsylvania and new york state. in washington, d.c. and perhaps we could even see some of that rain spreading on into boston. i think by monday, folks make their way back to work it's going to feel a bit cooler but we will have mostly sunny skies on tuesday, a bit with our high coming in, richelle back to you. >> thank you jelelah. al jazeera's jerald tan investigates the arctic icecap. >> for all the talk about 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 of

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. scienlts measure the -- scienlts measure the sea ice, when the-k three.41 million square kilometers. this year's extent is disoordedly higher. ice stopped melting at 5.1 million square kilometers and has begun its seasonal growth but the overall trend is still down. compare these levels to the 30 year afs as indicated by the -- average as indicated by the orange line. this animation shows the daily shrinking of arctic ice. the extent of ice actually dropped to the sixth lowest

level on record. but it's it will being described as a welcome recovery. on the other end of the world sea ice in the antarctic has maintained an upward trend. its winter maximum extent matched the record high in 2012. climate 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 target could be just decades away. jerald tan, al jazeera. >> scientists say much of the ice remains thin and is nothing compared to the arctic pack ice of the past. because that ice can melt quickly they say long term recovery is unlikely. that will do it for us at this

time, thanks for watching al jazeera. inside story is next.