this is al jazerra. ♪ ♪ >> welcome to news hour, i am lauren taylor from al jazerra news center in doha and london. these are the top stories. gunmen lay siege for a shopping center in nairobi and at least 30 people are killed. al shabab rebels in neighboring somalia say they are behind the attack and are calling on the kenyan arm toy leave. syria meets a saturday dead lie to declassify its chemical

weapons. four years after the end of a civil war. >> i am gillian mcdonald from london, final pitches during the final count down, germany's rival leaders fight for every vote ahead of sunday's election. >> we begin in nairobi where a brazen attack on an upscale shopping sent never the cal top is still ongoing after more than seven hours, al shabab fighters have told al jazerra they are behind the siege on the west gate shopping center. gunmen carrying explosives stormed the mall early saturday afternoon and at least 30 people have been killed. caroline malone has more. >> reporter: people trying to runaway from a group inside nigh robe i police are 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 about midday local time which people heard a large explosion. then they say people with ak47 machine guns open fire. some of the shoppers were ale to escape and 20 people were rescued by the police. >> people were on the second floor at the cinema isolated by the police and the police are combing room by room, floor by floor. as they issue them. >> reporter: they told al jazerra the armed group were speaking swahili. >> one of the groups that is al that lob, it's possible that there could be others. we don't know. but as a nation, as a country,

ourselves, i think the only group that we know with specific problems in terms of our security forces have been in somalia trying to fight them in that country. as well. >> reporter: even though many people have escaped the malls, there are thought to be dozens of others trapped inside. caroline malone, al jazerra. >> katherine is in the kenyan capital and joins us live online. bring us up-to-date from what you know from the scene there. >> reporter: a lot of people at the west gate mall [inaudible] some relatives waiting to know what is going on. some of the their loved ones are still inside the mall. the area has been totally yard ended off. we are not sure what's going on inside the mall. but we are being told that the tackers have been isolated in a room and are surrounded by

police the hostage situation is not clear, we are told that they are in a supermarket and that that supermarket and people are still inside the supermarket. we don't know how many hostages the gunmen actually have, but they are using, we are told in of the hostages as human shields. >> and katherine, so far we have had news from the presidency of one arrest. is it clear how many tackers there are in total. >> reporter: what we know is there are 18 gunmen this mall has multiple entrie entries ande told they were getting in from different routes, it's not clear how many there are. the figure we have now is 18. and we are told that one has been arrested. there was that was another one

had is escaped. but the police said that's not true, all the gunmen are isolated and have been surrounded and none of them have been able to escape. we are told the one who was arrested actually had a hostage with him. and, again, that is still unclear and we haven't confirmed that. >> and you mentioned still some family members there who are waiting for news from people inside. it must have been terrifying for those who were caught up in it. but also terrifying for people who are waiting for find out if their loved ones are in there. >> reporter: it's very terrifying, most of the people have already been evacuated but there are still some people inside. and their relatives, because we are getting so little information, the police are saying keep calm, we are containing the situation. but you can imagine the people who are outside just waiting to see their family come out. i can tell you that my sister was in there and she was evacuated finally and i can just

imagine how the people here are feeling as women. but the police are calming them and saying that, you know, everything is going to be all right. and the fact that these hostages -- these gunmen are using some of the pimas hostages hostages is even more worrying and scary for the relatives out here waiting. >> okay being thanks very much indeed fro for bringing us the latest outside the mall where it out going on. al shabab rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack. you got the early indications from your sources that they were behind this. tell us a bit more about what they have said. >> well, lauren, i just spoke to [inaudible] i spoke to an official of the al shabab fighters and what he told me is that they actually carried out the attack and he said this is in retaliation for what he called kenya's aggression against somalia. this is referring to the 2011

attack by the kenyan force on his so mole i can't. this was the first time kenyan forces had gone across their border to fight in another country. now, what happened is admittedly afterwards, they -- al shabab fighters took onto their twitter page and wrote for long we have waged war against kenya in our land. now it's time to shift the battle ground and take the care to them in their land. they also wrote the attack at the mall is just a tiny fraction of what muslim somalis experienced in the hands of kenyon innovators as they called them. >> there had been warnings in the past from al shabab that they might attack in kenya. how seriously were those taken? >> in many quarters they were taken seriously and for the first time in the histories of nairobi.

measures were introduced going in to public places like the malls, like west gate and all the other malls in the city, government offices, public place says, metal detectors were put on the gates and doors of these places, but, again, it shows that there were not enough, because west gate as it was was a high target and this started lobbing grenades in to restaurants full of people. and found their way is. >> is the scale of this is surprising? from what katherine is saying, it could be as many as 18 gunmen in there, that's quite a significant number, isn't it. >> indeed. but also the plan looks well choreographed in that they used alternatives. they must have started the -- studied the mall and how things are and also the security system. and it's also very likely that al shabab used kenyans who were part and parcel of their rank to

carry out this activity because motorcycle most the eyewitnesses, most of the people who came out of the mall were saying that the gunmen were speaspeaking swa league heal sw. >> what about the response. the police were there a half an hour later is that slow? >> 30 minutes i would say is a normal thing for the kenyan police and in some cases that's very fast. because there are huge traffic jams in nairobi and the police do not have the necessary equipment to react. and also they only recently installed public phones where people can call through in terms of distress. >> and explain to us, for those of you may only be joining us finding out this terrible thing is going on. what kind of area is that and what sort of security would you expect in that area? >> it's a well-healed area.

it's one of the richest districts of nairobi, it's where most of the embassies are. it's where the united nations has got many offices. and this mall is very popular with wealthy kenyans, diplomats, ex-patriots, which nigh robe document full of. >> what do you expect the response to be from the kenyan government to this? we have heard a few details from them, but not many today, what do you think they'll do in response to the claim by al shabab. >> well, first of all, kenyan has got thousands of troops still in somalia and particularly in and around the city which was a huge source of revenue for the al shabab militias. what kenya is going to do is first of all, have an operation within the city to make sure that if there are any remnants of this or people planning further air tacks stopped aura rested. but, again, the place is full of many somalis. there are those from out of the country who are refugees or

doing business, investors and then the kenyan somalis, people like myself who are part and parcel of the country and who for a very long time are seen as people who do not belong to mainstream kenya. what it's going to do is very tricky. but whatever it does it must insure, for example, that the people, those who are innocent are not targeted as has happened in the past. >> thanks so much for your expertise on that. well, let's speak now to washington, d.c. i gather you got an update on some american potential casualties. >> well, the state department has issued a statement in and they are being nonspecific. in the statement they say we have reports of american citizens injured in this attack. and the u.s. embassy is actively reaching out to provide assistance due to privacy considerations we have no further comment on american citizens at this time. the state department goes on to say that it has afterrerred offd

assistance to local a visuals and of course is condemning these attacks. >> when you say assistance, do you have any kind of clues as to whether the operation within mall has any foreign involvement potentially u.s. help at all? >> there is nothing in the statement that reflects that at all. they have simply said they have made an offer of local assistance, they are characterizing this, they note, that kenyan authorities are categorizing this as a terrorist attack but they are referring us to kenyan authority for his any further der tails on that. >> okay, thanks very much for the time being. the situation on the ground is moving fast. what we know so far the somali group al shabab said they carried out the attack. one gunman has been arrest rested says the guest and the ghost says they are in control of the situatio

situation. at least 30 people were killed after gunmen stormed the mall. 60 people have been injured. soldiers are still inside the west gate center one of the city's most exclusive shopping balls and they are trying to flush out the gunmen. we know that they might be contained now. an you be unknown number of people are still being head hostage inside the building. flooding in tie wine and the philippines, hong kong prepares for the most powerful storm to hit the planet this year. nearly a million people affects as namibia faces its worst drought in 30 years. and formula one world champion sebastian continues his dominance in singapore. he aims for a hat trick of race wins there. details later in sport. ♪ ♪ >> international investors have begun deliberating over syria's

chemical weapons arsenal after receiving a detailed report from duh ma i cuss, theydamascus. >> reporter: in the outskirts of the capital damascus, more government shelling. as part of its recent push to recapture rebel positions. meanwhile, here at the organization for the prohibition of women wall weapons at the hague. sear gentleman's chemical weapons program may not longer be a state secret. the agency is reviewing a list detailing president bashar al-assad's stockpile. this is a crucial step in a deal brokered by the u.s. and russia to scrap syria's chemical program. western intelligence agency estimate they have 1,000 tons of chemical agents. he was in charge of a chemical weapons unit before joining the

opposition. he says the world may never know the whole truth about assad's chemical arsenal. >> as a chemical weapons expert i can say we have more than 2,500-tons of chemical agents. the two-thirds of that amount has been placed in secret locations in areas controlled by hezbollah in lebanon, or transferred for iraq and iran. the regime is hiding toxins in remote villages under heavy protection. >> reporter: syria's full declaration of chemical weapon is his just the beginning. international monitors wilin spect all of the declared sides. the entire arsenal must be eliminated by mid next year. the u.s. and russia are yet to agree on procedures to insure syria won't hide any of its weapons. but many say this is deflecting attention from the core issue of the syrian crisis. >> this whole issue of chemical weapons is a diversion from

what's happening in syria. what's happening is syria is not about chemical weapons. the objective is not to get rid of the chemical weapon says only. the objective is to resolve the crisis in syria in such a way as there will be a transition with assad stepping down. >> reporter: these are the videos that sparked an international outcry. victims of last month's chemical attack. gasping for air. the faces of dead children and their families. moments after the attack. the syrian government and its allies, russia and iran, blame the rebels for the attack. the u.s., britain and france accuse president assad of gassing his own people. but as effort to his get rid of assad's chemical weapons continue, so do the fighting on the ground and the deaths of many syrians by conventional

weapons. >> three exploreses have struck the baghdad neighborhood of is dar city in iraq killing at least 65 people. one of the blasts was called by a car bam as a funeral. his body was found in a well. peter sharp has more from jerusalem. >> reporter: the israeli soldier went missing early on friday more than as he is a member of the security forces israel's security services was immediately involved in the search for the soldier and their inquiries led them to a village in the west bank. now, according to reports in israeli media, the security services are saying that the soldier was lured to the village

by 42-year-old man, he's a man that the security services said that the soldier knew. he was a former co-worker of his at an israeli restaurant and he was lured to the village by the palestinian, there they said he was killed and his body placed in the village well. now, inquiries by the security services led them to the village, they picked i'm man who led them to the body. now, the motive for this apparently the brother was arrested and jailed in 2003, he was said to be a member of the armed wing and was jailed for attacks. and the apparently amman believed that he could use as a bargaining tool the corporation of the soldier in return for the release of his brother. arrests are continuing. six to eight people have been arrested, some of them members of the family. >> counting has begun in the first ever provincial election

in slow lan sri lanka's north. >> reporter: cautiously optimistic voters made their way to polling stations in the north. which has been at the sends of a decades-long conflict. they are hopeful this will mark the start i've new air of political participation. >> we don't have electricity, there are no education facilities, our children study by lamp light. we are looking forward to receiving some benefits from this process. >> other parts of the country already have pr provincial governments fox, us this is the first time. my doubter and i are voting for the first time for our local government. >> reporter: people have been eager to vote. international and domestic observers fanned out across the area to monitor activities at polling stations. they say the smooth rung of this election is not just about the local people, but also the faith of the international community

in their democratic inning in institutions. >> you cannot judge based on on the come today. you have to look at the preelection environment and what actually has happened. >> reporter: historically, this is an important political milestone. four years ago, the military defeated the tam you would tigers in this area. they had been fighting for an independent tam you would state. tens of thousands of people were killed in a car that lasted 25 years. both sides have been accused of atrocities particularly in the final months of con flick. the government said it's committed to bettering the lives of people afternooned. >> they are spending more than the southern part to the northern part to rebuild. by doing that, they are winning the hearts of the people. >> reporter: once in office the successful candidates in this local election face significant challenges. from ry driving th striving revo

dealing with the aftermath of the wore. above all they have to leave weary constituents down a path of long term stability. >> three nato soldiers have been killed in eastern afghanistan i gunman dressed in military uniform attack the soldiers. the troops returned fire and killed the tacker. one other soldier was reportedly injured. the most powerful storm this year is causing widespread flooding in taiwan and the philippines and typhoon usagi's next stop is hong kong, craig leeson reports. >> reporter: the might of the u.s. name i's fleet pulled out of hong kong's port a day ahead of schedule and 24 hours before tie spoon usagi's arrival. it's said to be the most powerful storm on the planet this year. 1,000-kilometers wide and with wind speeds gust to go 300-kilometers per hour. it formed in the pacific earlier in the the week and has tracked

northeast through the lou san strait that separates the philippines and taiwan. in the philippines 100 family were evacuated. in taiwan, waves as big as buildings began smashing the coastline, flights and ferry services canceled and flooding and land slides have led to the evacuation of thousands of people. china's southern coast is being prepared for the worst. for you thousand people have already evacuated ahead of the storm. and 23,000 fishing boats returned to port. usagi is moving setly towards hong kong but even if it doesn't score a direct hit on this city, it will still cause lots of problems for people who live in this financial center. this long weekend is the mid awed up festival and thousands of people are away traveling, meeting their families in china, taiwan and the rest of the region that will cause incredible transport delays for those trying to return sunday

and monday to the city. >> al jazerra's meteorologist has more. >> let's have a closer look at the storm. you sag document cover a huge area. this is the distance of around 1,500-kilometers and from east to west it's around 800-kilometers. gradually tracking it's a way towards the west but moving very, very slowly only at around 20-kilometers per hour, meaning it will take over 40 hours for this system to make its way across. so for the south eastern parts of china we will have a very prolonged time of very heavy downpours giving us flooding and potentially landslides as well. winds are easing as it works its way towards us because it's interacting with land. >> voters in iraq's kurdish region have been casting ballots in local parliamenting elections. it's increasingly prosperous in marked contrast with the rest of the country. voterser eager to insulate

themselves from the violence in most of iraq. the african government has welcomed pakistan's release of a founding member of the taliban. he has been in prison since 2010, it's hoped his release will kick start of afghan peace process. >> this released is base on the off began government's demands, he ask his for release he's an afghan citizen and a taliban elder. although he was fighting against the government we asked for his freedom. >> jane ferguson has more now on the circumstances surrounding his release. >> reporter: for over a year, he has been talked about by the swack staner and afghan vasts. they believe he could be used for peace negotiations. in august, afghan president hamid karzai visited pakistan to discuss the peace process and peteed requests for hirepeated d over.

a former taliban diplomat, says he will eventually become a part of international peace efforts. >> we are thinking that he will transfer to the third country, and in that case he will easily play a positive role between the government of afghanistan and between pack san. >> he is a former taliban official who knows him, he believes that he will not be of much use unless the taliban's leader is on board. >> if you think about the rule of, you think about that, the relationship between them, without this, it's useless. >> reporter: it's not known yesterday whether after three years in a pakistani jail he retains enough influence to bring other taliban 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 also is the biggest questionquestionof all. jane ferguson, al jazerra kabul, afghanistan. >> you are watching the al jazerra news hour. still ahead, kenya, at least 30 people have been killed in an ongoing attack in a luxury shopping mall plus. >> reporter: i am in kansas and there is a new movement to stop america's small towns from becoming ghost towns. more on that coming up. >> oracle team usa closed the gap a emirates team new zealand in the america's cup. robin has that story later in sports. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> it's 9:30 p.m. in en kenya. you are watching al jazerra's extended coverage of the ongoing standoff in nairobi. amsha bob says it carried out the attack. one gunmen has been arrested.

the government says it's now in control of the situation around the building. that's according to a statement by the intern security minister. at least 30 people have been killed. the red cross says 60 people have been injured. soldiers are inside the west gate center, one of the city's most exclusive shopping malls, they are trying to flush out the gunmen. an unknown number of people are still being held hostage inside the building. well, valentina joins us live from london, she's a security and counter terrorism analyst thanks very much indeed for your time. now, we have had this claim from al shabab that they were behind at tack. how surprising is this? and how surprising is the scale of this for them? >> well, it's certainly a very bold and sophisticated attack. and many, many people will think that after various strategic setbacks for al shabab being in somalia, actually in the last

year, they wouldn't be able to pull off an attack like this. but actually, in terms of the intent and capability of the group, i mean, they remain pretty much keen on and very determined to carry out attacks and they continue to attack in mogadishu in the somali capital. the up intention to attack it kenya was clear two years ago that there was a similar plot which kenyan authorities and international security officials actually disrupted to an attack to bomb restaurants in locations popular with foreign tourists in the city. so it's not that surprising that actually they decided to go on with this plot this time around. >> given that warning that you mentioned and the fact that the authorities were aware of it, have the officials in kenya done enough, do you think, to make cities safe?

clearly any city can be vulnerable to tacks if people are determined enough, but has enough been done? >> well, the problem is that very often, even in this case, we have seen that it's very difficult to secure targets like, you know, a shopping mall, restaurants, cinema, so-called soft targets, it's very difficult, there are only so much that you can do to secure these places, it's not like government buildings and targets that can be somehow secure to better extent. softer targets -- soft targets are vulnerable by definition and they remain more vulnerable and so, i mean, it's very difficult for authorities to actually completely secure targets like this one. but, of course, in terms of the actual capability of the group, kenyan officials know that the shabab has got network and

possibly sleeping cells in the country ready to attack when appropriate for them. >> and when you mention networks like that and sleeping cells in kenya, what about further afield regionally, are they a threat elsewhere? >> well, shabab has recruited from, you know, from neighboring countries in the past few years, so kenya has been one of the main hubs for recruitment for the group. but also, you know, uganda has been the same has been targeted in the same way. but, yeah, there have been kind of significant number of kenyan nationals who have joined the group in recent years, both for, you know, in order to fight with the group in somalia itself, but possibly as we have seen in this case to care out attacks somewhere else, so kin i can't s

vulnerable to the group and cells which are linked to the group, and it shouldn't, you know, shouldn't be discounted the possibility that these individuals are link today al shabab. may have been acting not necessarily on the direct directions of the group in somalia to this, you know, in this specific instance. so it may have been that plot of this kind were in the pipeline and cells were given somehow the liberty or the a town m a autono decide when the best moment to strike in the country was. >> okay, thank you very much indeed for taking the time to talk to us, appreciate it. more now on the other top story the achieve u.n. weapons

inspector joins me now from new york. thank you very much for being with us. what do you make the efforts so far by the syrian government to reveal what they have apparently? >> it seems to be good. they were given a week in which to make an initial declaration of the holdings of chemical weapons and they have submitted such a declaration to the organization for prevention of chemical wins in the hague and that organization is studying it. it's too early to see how complete it is. how credible it is. but at least they have taken that first step. and that's very important. imagine where we would have been if they remained silent and not complied with an agreement that's only a week old and that's the first requirement and they they have done it. >> you say how credible it is is also a big question. how do they come up with the list and who can say whether it's right or not? >> well, i mean, one has to assume that they know what their holdings of chemical weapons

are, although as an aside, can i say from my experience in iraq, that may not be absolutely the case. these things can slip a little bit out of control. but let's assume they know what they have. they also know that both the russians and the americans have a clear idea of what they have. and those two have reached agreement on what that is, it's about a thousand tons of very serious chemical agents. now, experts looking at their declaration will not only see what they are saying they have, but they will see statements which raise questions and they'll go back to them soon with questions saying, well, here you said this and there you said that. we need a bit more information to be able to understand fully and begin to make an assessment of the accuracy of your declaration and that process will now start. >> just jumping ahead to the point where supposedly these

things will be verified and neutralized on the ground. how difficult will that be in an ongoings civil war logistically? >> owe beinoh, i think extremely difficult. we have never been in a situation like this where the verification process and then the destruction process would be conducted in those circumstances. it's said that there are some 45 sites in syria where chemical weapons have been made or stored. although they have been moving them around a bit apparently. but just think of that, that's 45 places to which inspectors will need to go. 45 places in which they will need protection. 45 places that clearly the government in damascus wouldn't be all that happy to signal to their opponents in the civil war, you know, it's a very complex situation. >> and presumably, one of the things that people are claiming, opposition forces are saying one of the problems with this is that it actually legit mices the

current government you up until miss 2014 when this is all supposed to finish. that something that you worry about, as someone who has been from a situation in dealing with the practicalities of situations similar to this? >> i have red that argument, it's not intellectually without merit. there is a government in damascus everybody if one objects to it and would prefer to see a different government, but it is the government at this moment and someone has to speak for the syrian state. one of the things that they were instruct today do in the framework of the agreement between the united states and russia was to join the chemical weapons convention, there has to be an authority that can make that decision and take that action. and they have done that. they have ascended to the convention, the treaty banning all chemical weapons. and i suppose you can see that

kind of legitimizes them think i wouldn't make too much about that point. they are the current authority. clearly they have had a civil war going over two and a half years, the question of who will be in authority in the future is not yet settled. >> and thank you very much indeed for talking to us we can appreciate your time. >> thank you. german chance her angela merkel has told supporters she's in a tight race that was during an appearance before a final election campaign really think let's go to julie mcdonald in your european juice center, jewel. >> i lauren, thank you. the chancellor addressed members of her party in berlin before polls opened on sunday. she told them she will fight to the last minute while person lil' popular a opinion polls show merkel's party have strug told keep the majority in par all right. peer stein, but said he want to leave the government because he

understands germany. the challenges facing angela merkel as she asks for four more years. she is the most popular elect owed visual in germany. her christian democratic party is is doing twice as well in the polls as her nearest rivals. a big part that have success is because of how she dealt with the euro zone crisis and kept down the bail out bill for german voters. not certain happy with w* her record think people that want a more united integrated europe. her go slow approach during the cries i made it worse she said. and showed none of the vision of the former chance lower who reunified german and helped launch the euro. >> you only have to look at how it went through the monetary union, we don't see merkel having the same incision tense, she doesn't naturally fight for her conve convictions but that't

we need in europe right now. >> reporter: another disappointment for some, energy policy. merkel surprised germans and europe by announcing she would shut germany's nuclear plants by 2022 and push for renewable energy. that sharp turn in policy actually led to a jump in coal consumption and production to meet the shortfall caused by closing down nuclear plants. >> we want to exit nuclear power and we want to do something for the environment. but the expansion of renewable energy i is failing because america is not keeping the security of energy supply in mind. we are a highly industrialized country and we cannot meet our needs with the few thousand windmills. >> reporter: then there is disappointment in some quarters over what merkel has been doing or rather not doing for women. in the past year, the chancellor postponed a plan to have more female representation in corporate boardrooms. germany has one of the lowest

participation rates of women in the workforce in the european union and the chancellor's promises of more day-care don't convince everybody. >> childcare places are missing everybody for older children. it's hard returning to work. especially so if you have more than one child. >> reporter: americaing has addressed some of the problems and made promises to fix them in her election manifesto. the polls suggest she's likely to be returned to office and to get another opportunity to win over the voters who feel disappointed. al jazerra berlin. >> well, if she falls short of a parliamental it's likely she will form a grand coalition, such an outcome could lift lead to a shift in austerity measures that they were insist odd in return for bail our greece. >> reporter: greek-s in berlin on the eve of the german election demonstrating against the rise of the far right at

home. a symptom they say of austerity imposed by germany. >> at the beginning of the euro crisis, germany has become the power in europe and a lot of politics which have been implemented in europe austerity politics and such things, such measures have they come from german. >> reporter: greece is likely to need a third bail out. countries like spain and portugal need growth. there is pressure for more our fine integration and a banking union on all of these issues it is germany that has the biggest say. this country is often described as europe's indispensable power, this parliament is crucial to the big decision in europe and some of the biggest challenges that europe faces now have effectively been put on hold pending on the out come. german election.

in the four years since the euro crisis erupted as countries like greece faced economic ruin, germany has offered on dare at this and financial aid demanding austerity in return to convince a skeptical german bubbling. not much is likely to clang according to a mesh of angela merkel's party who believes the c.d.u. will stay on in government and she as chancellor. >> she's not only the chancellor of germany, she's also also a very committed european. and i think also the german public knows that it's necessary now to do -- spend to safeguard the euro because it's really important also for our economy and for that also for our people. but, of course, that i think the trust and the understanding of the people who will not be endless. >> reporter: it is possible that mrs. merkel coulding joined in government by the opposition's social democrats on whose call for policies aimed at boosting growth in southern europe might lessen the pain, but parliament

and public opinion will continue to demand tough conditions in return for germany's help. jonah hall al jazerra berlin. >> golden dawn has been the focus of the latest protests in greece, a man with reported ties to the group faced court. the 45-year-old is accused of fatality stabbing anti-fascist talk low on tuesdaon tuesday ni. he was charged with murder, he had become a popular left wing voice in greece. activists have held a protest outside the moscow offers of russian gas company. after members of a green peace crew were did h detained by rusn authorities, the coast card is towing their ship back to port with the activists on board after storming the vessel on thursday. russia says they could face piracy and other charges for trying to climb to to an offshore drilling platform.

they have dismissed those allegationses. >> our activists and our ships have been protesting against dangerous oil drilling in the arctic. and about dangerous activity which can be -- which can cause environment catastrophe around the globe and haven't done anything illegal. >> a syrian woman has reportedly died as she and as many as 700 migrants attempted to reach italy by boat in the past two days, 90 asylum seeker 3038 women and 28 children a lived saturday o friday the italian coast guard intercepted another boat carrying hundreds of pimas it drifted off the coast of sicily. many thousands of migrants tried to reach the shores of southern italy every summer from the middle east and north africa. hungarian scientists researching the empires longest ruling sultan believe that they are close to a significant find. it's thought that the heart of

the magnificent is buried among the remains at an on the mon town in hungary south. he died while battling troops. his internal organs were buried and his body returned to istanbul. the project is helping to highlight the turks historical presence in hungary. you are up to date with the latest news from europe, let's take you now back to doha. >> thanks very much, indeed. robin has an update from the sports desk in a moment. including the latest from the spanish league where barcelona are hoping to extend their unbeat be run to 17 games. ♪ the ♪ ♪ [[voiceover]] no doubt about it,

hello again, back to kenya and the ongoing stands off at the capital's west gate shopping center. al shabab fighters based there have told al jazerra that they were behind the tack. 19 fighters are believed to have stormed the shopping certainty, one has reported by been arrested and the government says it's now in control of the situation. at least 30 have been killed and second injured, an unknown number of still being held hostage inside the building, we'll bring you more on the story as it comes to us. namibia is the driest country in the subsaharan africa and is facing the worst drought in three decades, the u.n. says about a 30 of population doesn't have enough food. al jazerra's tanya paige has the story. >> reporter: she is 18 months old. but she only weighs

six-kilograms, they should be at least nine and a half kgs. rache the first brought her to the hospital in march. when she was admitted and put on weight. but the draught means there is no food at home. so she's back. >> the skin of my baby has losts of rashes and she's feverish, we have no crops because there is not enough money to buy food of i feel very bad forker 4679 is . >> reporter: this is the words drought in 2 20 years, the government is delivering food eight but struggling too. >> it is the wish of the government to cover everybody, to assist everybody, however, i think it might not be possible to cover everybody at the same time. >> reporter: uncief says nearly a million people are affected. it's launched an appeal for

$7.4 million. this hospital is on the frontline, four babies in the malmalnutrition ward have alreay died this year. during some months admissions double. >> with he do the best that we can. we refer those that we can to the local counselor so that they can a few pro sinc provisions, t much did you but it helps. there is not a lot we can do. >> reporter: most of the women are from angola. >> there is no food. my family tries to sends me money, this year the land is not vertal. >> reporter: across the road pregnant women are staying in tents so they are near the hospital when it's time to give birth. the draught is likely to get worse before it gets better everybody if the rains come this year the first harvest doesn't begin until march so the babies about to be born in to world willed find it a harsh and unforgiving place. the government has supplied the

hospital with food aid to give to mothers like rachel, but she has four other hungry children at home, so it will not go far. the nurses expect they will see her again. tanya paige, al jazerra, northern namibia. >> time for sports, here is robin. >> thank you so much. we'll start with football out of spain. joint leaders barcelona are attempting to extend their unbeaten league run to 17 games, bars are barca tied with madrid at the top of the table. it's coming up to halftime of this game, barcelona leading 1-0 courtesy of a pedro rodriguez goal. other action in la lega as well. real sociedad and malaga ground out a nil-nil draw. stalemate between athlete go and real. atletico continuing their stop.

to every england now where there is a new team at the top of the when he pr* mpremier league. chelsea is is number one. he scored his first goal in 184 games, joe a marino's side replaces liverpool. they went down 1-0. suarez will be available for the next game having served his 10-match ban for biting an opponent. >> i think that's a big positive from today the fact that he's back, the ban is finished and he's available now for next week. but i can't under estimate how well the players have done. it's worth mentioning that. since the turn of the year, this is our first defeat since march really. so we have had two poor performances against them and it's cost us. and in that period, the players have been rugged. today is one of them days we are

off. and sometimes in games players can make the difference. >> a few others results to tell you about. away wins for hull and aston villa. and everton are now the only unbeaten team in the league after a stunning come from behind win against west ham 3-2 the score there. sunderland suffered their 40 loss of the season, they have one in nine games, they are firmly rooted at the bottom of the premier league standings. at the stadium of light didn't end there. the manager paulo stood on the pitch alone, gesturing towards the sunderland fans to keep their spirits alive. his side have picked up just one point from five games in the season. making him the bookies favorite to be the next english premier league manager to lose his job. italy are three games in serie a to tell you about. 2-1. the match with livorno kicked

off a short while ago and it is till goalless there. formally one world choppin chamn sebastian continued domination storming for the grand prix. he leads the championship standings by 53 points. clocked the fastest lap of 1:42:81. the german is aiming for a hat trick of wins in singapore and joined by compatriot neko for mercedes. >> i was watching the times very closely with obviously thin nekd mark in particular. and, yeah, mark started with a purple sector one, very close in tech tour two and neko purple secretary two then roma had a purple sector two, fortunately my last sector was strong enough to, yeah, just stay ahead. i was very close with neko. so, that's a great feeling then obviously. because it could go wrong. but, yeah, very happy obviously

with the result. >> nba start tony parker inspired france to a surprise semifinal victory over defending champaign at the european basketball championships that's currently taking place in slovenian the san antonio point guard racked up 32 points as he helped his team make up a 14-point halftime deficit. the french forcing the march in to overtime winning eventually. france will play lithuania in the final. it's team new zealand attempting to win the americas cup have been frustrated again. the challengers were minutes away from winning the race on friday but it was called off for exciting 40 minute time limit because the light winds. the drama came later. new zealand were penalized for a violation that saw the two boats almost colliding. oracle took advantage to win by 1:24. but they still trail 8-3. new york yankees alex rodriguez

has broken baseball's grand slam home run record on the same day that the 41-year-old yankees pitcher andy pettitte announced his retirement. a-rod passed lou derrick's record of home runs. rodriguez sharks his homer in the seventh inning to them his team to a 5-1 win over the san francisco giants. the tampa bay rays won a mayor tonight 18-inning battle against the baltimore orioles. 5-4 the sixth 50 fewe 66:54 gam. the pirates also went to extra innings but just one. as joey votto's home run gave the reds a 6-5 win in the en 10th. >> thanks very much indeed. more news straight ahead.

welcome to al jazerra i am thomas dayton here are the top stories we are following. the u.s. state department says it has report that american citizens are among the injured in an tack on a shopping mall in kenya. so knowledge manumaleuna i militant group al shabab tells al jazerra it carried out the attack. gun them carried out attack with a assault rivals and grenades. one gunman was arrested by died in custody from bullen points. he has been released from prison, one of four men who founded the taliban movement in afghanistan in 1994. he was arrested by cia and ki