>> the death follow tom from a powerful earthquake in pakistan's remote southwest rise to his more than 200. also ahead ready to talk, iran's president opens the door for discussions on his country's nuclear program. after the killings, the questions in kenya security forces begin to recover bodies from the shopping mall siege and pounded by typhoons and torrential rain floodings and

landslides wreak havoc in the philippines. ♪ ♪ >> the death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwest pakistan has risen to more than 200. pakistan's army is sending troops and helicopter to his the remote ring town help with the rescue effort. magnitude 7.8 quake destroyed hundreds of home homes. doctors, food and a thousand tents are being sent to the region. hundreds have been injured and left homeless. the quake was so strong it created a small island off the coast. it was visible from the port. for more now let's speak to the bureau chief for dawn news. our apologies, we don't actually have him on the line right now. but we will endeavor to get him.

let's move to some other news now. and iran's president says he's ready for talks. he was making his first address as president to the united nations general assembly in new york. he insisted iran isn't developing nuclear weapons. economy decemberred the imposition of western sanctions on diplomatic editor james bays reports from the united nations. >> reporter: the focus was on one man as world leaders met. the arrival of rouhani iran's president for less than two months on the world stage, brings the promise of a new start to his country's relations with the west. >> mr. press. >> reporter: but can he bring concrete change? he didn't meet president obama who spoke several hours beforehand. but both men spoke yea cautiousy after more than three decades of mistrust about the possibility of a new relationship. >> we are encouraged that president pro happy received

from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course and given his stated commit to him reach an agreements i am directing john consider toy reach an agreement with the iranian do he said progress would only be made if there was no threat of a nuclear bomb. iran can have a peaceful energy program and he acknowledged u.s. mistakes from the past. >> the united states and iran have been isolated from one another since the islamic revolution of 1979. this mistrust has deep roots. iranians have long complained of a history of u.s. interference in their affairs, and of america's role in overthrowing the iranian government during the cold war. >> reporter: press rouhani picked up directly on obama's words when later he took to the podium. >> i listens carefully to the

statement by bio bomb a today at the general assembly hoping they will refrain from following the short sighted ingress from war groups. we can start with a framework to manage ore differents, let me say loud and clear peace is within reach. >> reporter: there were familiar criticisms of u.s. military engagement in the missile east and i israel. >> what has been and continues to be practiced against the innocent people of palestine is nothing less than structural violence. >> reporter: u.s. di diplomats listens to the words. in past weeks they have walked out. for now they are staying giving diplomacy a chance. james bays, al jazerra of at the united nations. >> israel's prime minister has rei'med to rouhani speech.

he said it was a cynical speech full of hypocrisy. it had no practical suggest to stop iran's military nuclear program and no commitment to fulfill u.n. security council decisions, that exactly is the iranian plan to talk and buy time in order to advance iran's capability to obtain nuclear weapons. let's go back to our top store the earthquake in pakistan now we have the bureau chief for dawn news, very good to have you with us. firstly what is the situation in terms of the anybody of people that have been injured and also killed? >> reporter: at this time the spokesman has confirmed that up to now 200 people have been killed by this earthquake and more than 400 people have been

injured as a result of a powerful earthquake. the powerful earthquake has destroyed thousands of mud-walled homes and now thousands of earthquake survivors are exposed to chilly weather. the injured are being shifted to nearby districts through ambulances and helicopters also have been sent to the affects area. the doctors and paramedics are also treating patients in other districts. >> this is, of course, a very remote and undeveloped region, isn't it? just how tough is the rescue effort going to be here? >> indeed, it is one of the most backward. [inaudible] the road is extremely poor and the

earthquake has also severely effected the communications system. the relief workers, they are having difficulties to reach out to the earthquake survivors and it also takes eight hours from the capital to reach the district. so most of the aid workers are coming from pakistans largest city to rescue the earthquake survives. i have spoken to some earthquake survivors, they are still saying some of the people, they are still below the rubble of the collapsed houses, so the people are still there, they have yet to be reached. there are more injured being shifted to the hospitals. >> and is this rescue effort that's already incredibly difficult, has it been hampered at all because there are reports that different rebel groups operating in this area are taking advantage of the

situation. >> yes, it is one of the most [inaudible] districts. late night unknown armed men opened fire at doctors. fortunately there was no human loss, but police say that the attackers sped away on motor bikes and there was no human loss. indeed the security forces and aid workers, they are also having a lot of difficulties since [inaudible] for the aid workers and other security forces who are involved in the relief activities. >> thank you very much for that. that's the bureau chief for dawn news. thank you. well, to other news now. and the kenyan troops are preparing to recover bodies from a nairobi shopping mall following a four-day siege by

gunmen. at least 72 poo people were killed, include five fighters and six soldiers. but it's feared the death toll will rise inside the west gate shopping mall where three floors had collapsed. our correspondent and drew simons is out the small and joins us live now. andrew, what are you learning about just how this operation was carried out? >> reporter: well, you can really sense from the mood on day five that the operation is all be over. the presidential address on tuesday night did reflect what he described as the defeat of the attackers. he actually went in to some detail about how many had been killed, he said five have been killed. 11 arrested but they were nowhere near the actual place of the attack. and he did not make any

significant reference to the hostages left behind whether they were alive or dead no details were given. there is a key issue here, part of the building collapse odd monday when most of the fighting was done monday. we are now in to wednesday, and there is still no access to the site because the forensics, the forensic teams are in there on a major investigation, of course. and also the mopping up operation has always had to take place. this is how it all panned out. for the first time in five days, a closer view of west gate mall. the park marks of bullets on its facade one indicator of the horror that was to follow. inside an unknown number of bodies are yet to be recovered. three floors that are part of the building collapsed during the fight. by tuesday which is what the special forces were engaged in, a staircase closed off. every corner or door poses a

risk and there is no hesitation in using grenades. earlier more distant, but progressively bigger blasts had soldiers run to go avoid any incoming fire. we counted five explosion explon the space i've few hours and single shots along with short bursts of automatic gunfire. the security forces say they disabled at least two bombs laid by their attackers. the president made an address on the nation, and gave the numbers of the attackers who were killed. >> five terrorists were killed with gunfire. 11 suspects are in custody in connection with the attack. intelligence reports have suggested this a british woman and, two or three american citizens may have been involved

in the attack. we cannot confirm the details at present. >> reporter: but there was no reference to how many people, dead or alive, who were left inside the building. al shabab had claimed hostages are being held and they are alive. that appears highly unlikely. some kenyans, like these, visiting the city moore chew air i searching in vain for missing family or friends can get little comfort from anyone right now. >> we have plenty more to come on in program including we'll speak to the red cross on how the group is planning to respond to the floods in the philippines that have displaced thousands. plus. >> reporter: i am jonah hull at ibms research laboratories outside zurich where scientists have found new ways to harness the power of the sun to save the planet.

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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. ♪ ♪ >> good to have you with us, these are the top stories on al jazerra. the death toll from a powerful earthquake in pakistan has a risen to more than 250. pakistan's army is sending helicopters and soldiers to help with the rescue effort. iran's president says his country poses no threat to world peace. addressing the united nations general assembly, hassan rouhani said iran is ready for negotiations over its nuclear program. and in kenya, it's feared more victims will be found in the west gate shopping mall.

72 people were killed, including five gunmen during the four-day siege. kenyan troops are combing the debris for bodies. let's go book to our top news now and the earthquake in pakistan, we have our correspondent standing by for us, i understand that this earthquake was very widely felt including when you are in karachi. >> reporter: indeed. the reports that we are getting that at least six districts out of 27 districts were hit hard. the worst is where the maximum number of casualties are. we understand that the number of wounded as well as the dead are a lot. the earthquake happened, it was late in the evening and because it was dark, the area is quite

remote, the damage assessment was not easy. but we are getting a clearer picture and it appears that there may be even more casualties in the reports from the remote regions start coming in. >> thank you very much. that's kamal giving us an update from ca afternoon karachi on te in pakistan, let's go more from the u.n. general assembly in new york where syria was high on the agenda. the a mere and the presiden amiy both spoke about the regional implications of the conflicts. >> destructive actions and horrible mass c mass cs the andh said continue against the syrian people. thus crossing all red lines dictated by ethics and mandate bide law, particularly off the regime's use of chemical weapons against its own people.

>> this conflict has evolved into a security problem. cold war [inaudible] the continuation of the refugees crisis will force wider social, political, and economic risks for the host nations as we have learned on many occasions. >> meanwhile, inside syria 13 rebel groups have said they don't recognize the syrian national coalition were the groups khr*g include th includes vinnie army. they issued a joint statement calling for islamic law to be enforced across syria. >> these forces regard any coalitions or government formed outside syria without consultation with forces inside syria as unrepresentative. and we do not recognize such entities. the national coalition and the proposed transitional government

does not represent us nor do we recognize it. these forces call on all military ask civilian groups to unite, in a clearer context that is based on law. >> on the ground rebels are moving in to a neighboring province wherein tense fighting ongoing. in damascus activists say a car bomb has killed seven and wounded five others. flooding and slant slides have killed 30 people in the northern pill fines. thphilippines. monsoon rains caused by sigh football usagi destroyed homes and displaced thousands of people. patrick fuller is a communications manage force international fed vague of the red cross and red crescent and joins us live. now whether fuller very good to

have yous with on al jazerra. firstly, this monsoon was particularly strong, wasn't it? what kind of an impact has it had? when & what is the situation on the ground? >> well, usagi basically passed over over the north the philippines and has dump ahead lot of rains over the past three days, several provinces have suffered very badly. the rains have just eased up but extensive flooding and landslides with the death of over 30 people. i was speaking to a colleague just yesterday and the philippine red cross have been out there in force with their search and rescue teams picking people off roof tops they rescued about 300 people yesterday. i believe there is over 6,000 people who have been taken to evacuation centers. the situation is easing a bit. but there is still a lot of waters around and i think in this particular areas, local people are saying the actual level of the flood waters has

been unprecedented, it's been up to two meters high. >> i understand that your organization has increased its emergency appeal. so what is needed here? we know that the philippines aren't great at raising money themselves. >> yes, well, you gotta put this in to context in that roughly speaking, about 20 tropical storms or typhoons hit the philippines each year and i think this is about the 15th. in the part six weeks we have had three tropical storms about a month ago the international federation of the red cross and red crescent society launch ahead appeal to enable us to repair and preposition supplies for the rest of the monsoon season taking is through to december. that means getting relief materials out to them and evacuation centers and people staying with families and friends, but also taking preventative measures. epidemics are widespread, particularly where you have a

lot of flood waters address, so it's taking preventative health measures to safeguard populations. >> thank you very much, that's patrick fuller from the international federation of red cross and red crescent joining us. now drivers are searching the wreck of the costa concordia for two bodies that still haven't been recovered. 32 people were killed when the cruise slit hit the rocks in january last year and capsized. the chippewas turned up right a week ago in a feat of engineering lasting 19 hours. 50 divers and 20 firefighters are using cameras to search for the bodies. public sector workers in greece have protested over plans to cut thousands of jobs. the greek government has to make major redundancies to secure more bail out funding from foreign lenders and inspectors are in athens to check whether financial targets are being met. now, green peace environmental

activists who tried to storm a russian oil rig could face up to 15 years in prison for piracy. russian investigators say 30 activists from 18 countries face prosecution, after the protests against oil exploration in the arctic. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: almost a week since the green peace chippewas first raided by russian coast guards, the vessel has now been towed to outside the ports in russia. the meet fade of the 30 crew of activists now depends on russian prosecutors. the initial protest last wednesday was launched with determined speed. intending to catch the security staff and the russian authorities by surprise. using a fast boat launched from the green peace ship arctic sunrise. demonstrators were able to sends two activists up the side of the oil platform on ropes. the protesters were quickly intercepted by armed coast guard officers and it quickly became evidence that the russians were not tending to be lenient.

>> i suspect you in terrorism. >> in terrorism? >> i suspect you. >> reporter: hours after that radio exchange, armed russian men came from helicopters on to the arctic sunrise and took control of the ship and its multi-national crew. five days in the custody of the russian coast guard is unlikely to be the end of the matter for the green peace activists. here in moscow prosecutors are already indicating that they may pursue piracy charges against the group. the spokesman went onto describe the protest as an attempt to seize a drilling platform by storm. he said it raised legitimate doubts about thayne intentions. >> investigators have already launched a criminal case against participants of this reckless storming. according to article 227 of the criminal code. piracy. investigators plan to question participants and detain the most active amongst them.

>> reporter: the ship he said was loaded with electronics whose purpose was not clear. but green peace has insisted its protest was peace example at noo time was the intention to seize property in the way piracy is defined. >> i have in sensible explanation for why this case is being launched they are being unactually held. they are no means of communication with us, their relatives or lawyers, they are under armed guard. which effectively means they have been held unhalfl unlawfulr five days. >> reporter: campaigners are from 18 countries australia, brazil, canada, denmark, france, new zealand, russia and the u.k. and u.s. if prosecuted, each could be facing up to 15 years in prison. paul brennan, al jazerra, moscow. >> the red of peru's counter drug agency has defended her country's efforts at curbing cocaine production. she was reacting to a u.n. announcement that the country

has overtaken columbia as the world's leading producer of coca leaf. u.n. report did say, though, that peru has succeeded in cutting the national output of the plant for the first time in seven years. and the css says things are improving. >> despite the problem being horrific as you all can see we are optimistic because this is the first time in more than five years we are starting to see a net reduction. >> and two british women have pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle 11-kilograms of cocaine from peru. they face a minimum of six years in yale. the judge dismissed reports that the women could serve out their sentences in the u.k. the net is widening to catch those involved in a not smuggle cocaine from venezuela. two britains and three italians are the latest charged with smuggling 1.3-tons of the drug on a flight to paris. on monday, three officers from

venezuela's national guard were arrested for alleged involvement in that plot. researchers in switzerland are using the power of the sun to generate electri electricity ano tied fresh water to remote areas of planet earth, a report from zurich on the advances being made in solar technology. >> reporter: it's not the most likely place to look for a solution to the planet's environmental woes, horse country. outside zurich. but here, at a research laboratory i run by the computer giant ibm, scientists believe they have found one. a far more efficient way of using the power of the sun than anything solar power has achieved before. a key part of the system are these fine owe cells designed for the space industry and capable of converting almost half the sunlight they absorb in to energy. electricity at this, that's vastly more than current solar technologies provide. the mirror over there

concentrates the sunlight down onto the cells harnessing the power of up to a thousand suns. this is a prototype, of course, in a year they expect they'll be a working system 40 times larger providing enough power for 10 homes. put 400 of those in a field or a strip of desert and you get a 10-megawatt power station meeting the energy needs of a small town. and there is more. the cells that harness the power of a thousand suns tend to get hot. very hot. here they have works out how to cool their system using water, sea water, river water, even wastewater. all freely available. having removed the heat from the cells, the warm water evaporates, leaving salt and other improve at thises behind. the vapor is condensed back in to water. so pure you can drink it. >> that's pure, pew water. >> pure, pure water. but not good to drink?

>> not very good to drink, but a small amount doesn't hurt you. >> reporter: it doesn't taste too bad actually. >> during my education my understanding was always that ecology and economy go opposite direction. and if you want to make an ecological progress you need to make an economical compromise now the system allows to make them run parallel. that's a great thing. because as we make energy cheaper, we can did he pl deploe masses and save the planet and it doesn't cost us economically a lot. >> reporter: it's the culmination of eight years of work at the same laps that gave the world nano technology and four nobel science lohr yets and as soon as perhaps another one who hopes to give the world abundant supplies of energy and clean clean water. jonah hull al jazerra, zurich.

>> one of the greatest ever come backs in sport could be completed in a few hours time. after trailing team new zealand 8-1 in sailing's america's cup. oracle team usa have leveled the series 8-all. the first team to nine wins.