this is al jazerra. i am rochelle caray in new york and these are the stories we are following. breaking story right now out of kenya, a crowded shopping mall under fire, nearly two dozen people debts. the kenyan government says it may be an attack by terrorists. ♪ ♪ >> heavily armed gunmen have attacked an upscale mall in kenya. over 20 people have been killed. dozens of others have been injured accord to this kenyan red cross. no one has claimed responsibility.

the attack does bear the hallmarks of a group that have attacked in the past. they vow to retaliate for the roles from another tacks, live pictures outside of the mall right now where night has fallen on the zone. caroline malone has more. >> reporter: people trying to runaway from armed men inside the west gate mall in nairobi. police are also inside the mall trying to secure the area. they moved in via a restaurant on the ground floor. but by then, there were already casualties. the shopping complex was packed at midday local time when people heard a large explosion. then they saw men with ak47 machine guns open fire. some of the shoppers were able to escape. and about 20 people were rescued by the police. but dozens of people are still thought to be trapped inside.

>> they are hold up on the second floor at the si cinema. they have been isolate bide the police and the police are combing room by room. floor by floor. but as they issue [inaudible]. >> reporter: there is a security process to get in to the shopping mall. but as seen here, there is a restaurant on the ground floor that's protected from the road only by a balcony and from the street just outside. sporadic gunfire can still be heard. caroline malone, al jazerra. >> we are also now hearing from witnesses who were at the mall, let's listen to how one man described the scene. >> i was just looking for parking. and we heard this heavy like a bomb, somebody is throwing grenades the wife tells me please just let's get out it looks like a terrorist attack. i turned around, came back, empty and -- enter and exit is

the same point. i couldn't move. so we got out of the car and hid on the left side of the car. and it's a big car, it's a four-wheel-drive. i think one of them, i don't know, saw us or what, he threw a grenade under the car and that really threw it off me and we were just hiding on the left side of the car, yeah. and the engine, all everything, oil everywhere. and i got hurt here. and it's bad here as well. god is great, we are okay. >> we will continue to monitor the story out of kenya in coming up in about 10 minutes we'll look at who could be responsible for the attack. pakistan has released the highest ranking afghan taliban commander it had in prison in an attempt to encourage peace talks, jane ferguson is in kabul with the story. >> reporter: for over a year he has been talked about by the pakistani and afghan governments.

the afghans believe the taliban's former second in command could be used for peace negotiations. in august the afghan president visited pakistan to discuss the peace process and repeated requests for his hand over to kabul. a member of afghanistan's high peace council and former tell ban diplomat said he will eventually become a part of the internation the peace efforts. >> we are think that go he will transfer to the other third country. in that case he will easily play a positive role and be the go between between afghanistan and taliban. >> reporter: this is a former tal badge official who knows him and believes he will not be on use until the taliban leader is aboard. >> you think about the rule whatever you think about that,

the relationship between the two without that it's useless, like others. >> reporter: it's not known yet whether after three years in a pakistani jail, he remains ta*eupbs enough influence two bring other members to negotiations, or if he wants to. but while he remains the most senior taliban commander to have been released in the current peace process, whether or not he can help that process realize its aims is the biggest question of all. jane ferguson, al jazerra, kabul, afghanistan. >> more than 50 people are dead in baghdad after a funeral was bombed. the death toll continues to rise from three explosions that went off earlier today at a shi'ite funeral. according to local police, a car bomb went off then a soup side bomber drove in and detonated then a third explosion after emergency workers were on the scene. >> colorado is still dealing with massive fall out from all of the flooding. more than 22-gallons of oils

have spilled in wells county about 70 miles northeast of denver, residents in brighton are being told to boil their water after parts of the city tested positive for e. coli. >> reporter: the nightmare gets worse, seven people have died, 80 are still unaccounted for. beyond the human toll. flooded oil fields, toppled are barrels and storage tanks leaking 22,000 gallons of oils, thousands of gallons are flowing in to a major river that runs to the midwest and southwest. spills near evans, and platville. aerial surveys will continue to document the disaster. to make it worse, cleanup crews can't even reach the spillage until the water recedes. and some colorado residents have been asked by health official to his boil their water after test for his e. coli came back positive. more than 200 highways and at

least 50 bridges have been damaged or destroyed. the state is working quickly to repair some of its mountain highways before the winter season. roads that are necessary to get in and out of isolated towns. colorado's governor john hic hickenlooper has approved $26 million of state funds to help with the cleanup and recovery efforts. >> mexican officials tell al jazerra more than 100 people died in a land slide triggered by the country's twin hurricanes, villagers and soldiers have been using axes to chip away at tons of mud that swept three mexico. the hurricanes have caused widespread damage across the country. most powerful typhoon of the year is heading towards hong kong. by the time it makes landfall monday morning, the typhoon is expected to be down grounded to the equivalent of category one, here is the late effort from hong kong. >> reporter: the biggest ship in the u.s. navy's fleet pulled out

of hong kong's poured a day ahead of schedule. it was an on him plus sign. 24 hours ahead of the predict ahead rifle of super tie soon usagi. this storm is said to be the most powerful on the planet this year, 600 miles wide, and with wind speeds gusting to 185 miles per hour. it formed in the pacific earlier in the the week. and has tracked west northwest through the straight that separates the fil philippines ad taiwan, in the philippines 100 families were moved from islands as torrential rain caused flooding in four regions, crops were destroyed, electricity cut and village houses damaged. in taiwan waves as big as buildings sparked the coast side. flight and ferries were cancel and flooding mudslides have forced thousands to leave their homes, 4,000 people have already led ahead of the storm in china. 23,000 fishing boats returned to

port. but the storm has hong kong a major asian financial center in its sights. 1979 was the last time a storm of this strength scored a direct hit. 100 people tied and the storm surge caused major damage to the city. today airlines warned against travel on the ground sunday. and said they will hold all flights in and out of hong kong. thousands of hong kong people are away this holiday long weekend to celebrate the mid autumn festival. and this storm could cause massive transport delays for those trying to return. for those who remain, the weather observatory has raised the typhoon flag to signal the need to begin preparations and it has told the city to brace itself for what could be the worst storm to hit here in 34 years. craig leeson, al jazerra, hong kong. >> here is more inside about the typhoon. the winds are still very strong. >> yes, this storm is considered a category three hurricane as we track in to the next 24 to 48

hours it will down ground to a category one hurricane. let me talk about the winds for a moment. whatever we sit on the front porch and you feel a light breeze typically that's about 19 to 24 miles an hour. whenever you have a stronger storm and trees can be uprooted typical the storms speeds are 255 to 63 miles per hour. still nowhere near what we are looking at with usagi, a violent storm can provide widespread damage, but we are talking about a typhoon, a very strong area of low fresh their will barrel in to hong kong, countryside is looking to be devastated as wind speeds are expected to be right around 100 miles per hour. now, there was a storm that took a similar track -- take it back to the ma the for a moment. this was wanda, it did a very similar thing that we are looking at with usagi, it tracked across the straight, impacted both taiwan and the philippines then made its way in to hong kong and certainly did -- it was a deadly storm, it killed 434 people back in 1962.

it is a catastrophic storm, we continue to watch it barrel through the straight. headed straight towards hong kong where it's expected to bring devastation, a lot of rain in addition to that gusty winds as we just discussed. we'll keep monitoring it as we track in to the next 24 hours. it's expected to make landfall late sunday night, early morning on monday. back to you. >> thank you. we are continuing to following the break i story out of nairobi kenya. gunmen open fire in a mall killing at least 20 and injuring 50. we'll have the latest. house republicans pass a bill to fund the government that they know will be dead a arrival in the senate now lawmakers have barely a week to reach ideal before government shutdown. ♪ ♪

>> welcome back. with the government shutdown looming just nine days way, no sign of compromise in washington. on friday the house passed the in herb you are to fund the government while defunding at fordable care act. today president obama says that's a nonstarter. randle pinkston is live in washington with more. so randle, is there any way to really tell who has the upper hand? >> reporter: well, rochelle if you are looking at who can keep an issue on the front burner even after many thought it had been resolved, certainly you would have to say the republican controlled hous house of representatives is doing that with respect to the affordable care act obama care, we are a year after the election when mitt romney said he would repeal obama care priority number one and the voters decided to reelect president obama think that go issue was solved. not so much as far as the republicans are concerned. and if you really look at the

possibility of the government shutdown at the end of the month if the republicans don't extra highs, that could happecompromi. >> we are not a dead beat nation, we are a companionate nation, we are the world's bedrock investment and doing anything to threaten 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 our own people just to make an ideological point. >> reporter: now, that's president obama talking about the second opportunity that republicans see to take a bite out of obama care. which comes up in the middle of next month when the nation hits the debt ceiling. the president is saying that he will not negotiate, will not talk too republicans about some kind of budget deal in exchange for raising the debt limit. what the republicans wants to do is say, okay, mr. president, we'll allow the government to

continue to pay its bills if you agree to hold off on implementing obama care for a year. the president is saying no deal to that. the republicans today chose for their response to the president the governor of nevada, brian sandoval. >> like washington, nevada has a politically divided government. but that hasn't stopped our efforts to grow nevada's economy. good executives, like all good leaders, must expect opposition when making decisions or when making or enforcing the law. but executives must engage those that disagree with them. they must listen to all ideas, persuade when possible, and respectfully and firmly disagree when necessary. >> reporter: and when it comes to the business of government after respectfully disagreeing, perhaps there could be some compromise to reach a solution that will allow the government to continue. right now, we are not seeing too much of that richelle. >> so randall, what is the best

case scenario? >> the best case scenario for the government to avoid a shutdown is for the senate to send to the house of representatives a clean bill, by continuing a resolution that doesn't include obama care in it and then for the house to pass that and send it to president obama. if that happens, everything is fine. but we don't know if that's going to happen. >> no, we sure don't. we gotta keep our eye on his it, randall thank you. now back to the breaking story we are following armed gunmen stormed an upscale mall in kenya killing at least 20 people injuring more than 50. this is the very latest images coming in to al jazerra. you can see people running for safety. no one has claimed responsibility as of yesterday but the kenyon government suspects it's a terrorist attack. here now to discuss the latest is al jazerra's mohamed, he has spent years covering africa and joins us live from doha. good to talk to you, thank you for walk us through this. now, the group has threatened in

the past to carry out attacks like that. having said that, do you think this could be their work? >> reporter: well, i have spoken to one of their officials about a couple of hours ago and he said that they will issue a statement once the drama was over in kenya. and he said, however, at this point in time, that they are not confirming or denying that they are behind these attacks. al that bob, however, has an ax to grind with kenya in 2011, october the kenyan government for the first time sent its force as cross its borders with somalia to take out al that lo b and went further in that and took the biggest source of revenue for the group. since then they have been very

unhappy with kenya saying they have involved themselves with the internal politics and they have always been threatening to attack. they have also carried out attacks in kenya, carried out attacks in nairobi that they have claimed responsibility fox, but most of their attacks have been limited to the northeastern province, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic somalis of kenyan nationality. and they have been cutting out attacks like in this part. they have never carried an attack of this magnitude. >> so what would be the significance of an attack like there? >> reporter: well, it's, first of all, no revenge purposes, showing -- if it is al tha shabb and they actually claim responsibility for it, then it will show that they are gaining revenge for the attack kenya carried against them. and also we know that al shabob as a group is not only limited to the borders of somalia, they have ambition to his carry out

and raise jihad or holy war across the globe. i have had instances in the past where i have spent time with them, spoken to their leadership and they have told me that what they want to do is establish an islamic [inaudible] across the globe and for them they do not borders, they say these borders are noni ca nonexistent for thet would be taking the holy war to the next front which is kenya. >> but, of course, there are other groups that could be responsible. could you tell us who else could it be? >> reporter: well, there are other groups some of them local, like, for example, the republican council, a group that -- was started by disgruntled youth in the coastal region of kenya, they are mainly unhappy with the way the kenyan government has handled the issue of land and it's a ownership and in the past they have carried out attacks against police stations, security personnel and

places where people have frequented in terms of reveling at night in the cities. it could be this group, but can they carry out an attack of this magnitude? that is where the question is. and many people would say, for example, that the republican council cannot carry out something of this magnitude, like walk in to a very important installation like one of the biggest shopping malls in nairobi, brazenly and in broad daylight carry out attacks where they shoot people dead point blank. so these, to me people looks like the work of groups like al shabob and people like that. >> and of course you are reported that al shabob said they would be making a statement in the next couple of hours, mohamed our colleague at al jazerra. thank you so much for joining us. syria has given the u.n. a preliminary inventory of it's

he's chemical weapons arsenal. anita says it's a step to fulfilling its end of the geneva agreement. >> reporter: syria appears to have complied with the first step on the road to meeting its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, the opcw says syria has provided the expected documentation and that the secretariat is now reviewing it. that is to say syria is meant to have by now supplied a comprehensive list of all of its chemical weapons, its chemical weapons manufacturing facility and any other related terms. presumably what happens now that the technical secretary al is looking for a full and truthful disclosure and comparing what syria says it has with what the opcw may understand from other information sources, likely intelligence, that it does have or is supposed to have had and is not put some other aspects of its chemical weapons program somewhere else.

it's a long road ahead. inspectors have to go back in the country do, a verification on the ground. there has to be a system for worked out for moving and di destroying these weapons and a timetable that sees them all destroyed by mid 2014 is by everyone's admission going to be a tough one with a civil war rageing in syria. >> on thin ice, summer melting in the arctic takes a surprising turn but scientists say the overall trend is still ned hiked in the wrong direction. the cold hard facts ahead.

>> topping the news breaks news out of kenya armed gunmen stormed a mauling killing 20 people and injuring 50. these are the very latest images coming in to al jazerra of people trying to run to safety. while no one has claimed responsibility as of yet, the kenyan government suspects this is a terrorist attack. torrential downpours, power outages. the worst typhoon of the year has already gone through the philippines and taiwan, and it's about to hit hong kong, it's getting weaker but expected to still cause major damage. ♪

♪ >> we have a fairly potent cold front track ago cross the nation's midsection, right now providing quite a bit of rainfall across portions of texas, we'll continue to see this rain spread along the i-10 corridor north of new orleans back towards jacksonville as we head in to tonight and really in to tomorrow. heavy rainfall expected to push across portions of tennessee, back in to kentucky as well. as we head in to the next 24 hours. we saw 10-inches of rain in stockton, texas yesterday and that's because an area of low pressure really did provide a great deal of tropical moisture out of the south the rain will continue to spread along the i-110 corridor to louisiana, bak in to alabama and mississippi. and certainly across florida as well. further to the north, well, in the northeast across new england we are looking at mostly cloudy overcast skies with the cold front on the way i think through tonight in to tomorrow, we'll see the rain spread along the i-95 corridor, across upstate new york, certainly across

central pennsylvania as well. as we head in to the north cesc trench planes w plains we have t and freeze warning in effect. that's because of the north is north west winds and temps dropped in to the 30s tonight a chilly nice across morgueses of minnesota, and wisconsin and, michigan around the great lakes, the folks out there keep that in mind. we will continue to monitor usagi as it tracks in to hong kong. we expects it to make landfall late sunday night in to early monday morning. richelle, back to you. >> jelelah, thank you. summer ice in the arctic sea has been disappearing rapidly over the past few decades this year the extent was 50% more than in 2012. al jazerra investigates. >> reporter: 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 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. scientists measure the seasonal variation as a tell tale sign of climate change. last year a dramatic melt sounded the alarm when the extent of sea ice tumble today a record three, 3.41 million square kilometers, this year's extent is decidedly higher, ice stopped melting at 5.1 5.1 milln 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 northern summer. the white areas slowly diminish as temperatures rise. 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 ant arctic 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 are still not out of the danger zone. and the time of ice-free summers in the arctic could be just decades away. gerald, al jazerra. >> scientists say much of the ice is thin and is nothing compared to the thick arctic pack ice of the past because the thin ice with melt quickly they a long-term recover document just unlikely, that does did for this edition of al jazerra, i am richelle carey, thanks for

watching. "earth rise" is next.