the death toll from a powerful earthquake in pakistan's remote southwest rises to more than 200. ♪ ♪ >> this is al jazerra live from doha. 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 green peace activists are questioned in russia for trying to board an arctic oil platform.

♪ ♪ >> the death toll for a powerful earthquake in southern pakistan has risen to at least 271. pakistan's army is sending troops and helicopter to his the remote region to help with the rescue effort. the magnitude 7.7 quiet destroyed hundreds of homes. doctors, food and a thousand tents are being sent to the region. 500 people have been injured and even more are in need of humanitarian aid. the quake was so strong it created a small island off the coast. it was visible from the port city. for more on the earthquake in pakistan, let's speak to our correspondent who is in karachi for us. ckamal what is the latest

situation there. >> reporter: within the last few minutes the death toll has been confirmed that it is now over 270 and rising. apparently when the earthquake happened yesterday it was already evening, so because of the remoteness of the region and the fact that communications were badly hampered, the assessment teams are still trying to find out the true stale of the destruction. we are told that the worst hit where 90% of the mud dwellings have collapsed. many people are trapped in the rubble. rescue teams are frantically trying to reach these remote locations. we are told as many as six districts out of a total of to seven have been badly affected. >> and as you mentioned there, this is of course a very remote

region. there are undeveloped roads. how tough is it going to be for the rescue teams here? >> reporter: it's going to be a huge task. because communications are off and because of the earthquake those communications are being disrupted, telecommunications have been disrupted, electricity lines are no longer functional. apparently it's going to be very, very difficult. because this is one of the poorest regions, it is very remote. [inaudible] it's going to be a very difficult task. and for that reason the military is going to be relying on the helicopters to reach those far flung areas and to be able to assess the damage and to see what kind of help they can get to these people. >> thank you for that update. joining us from karachi on this

devastating earthquake in whack stan. to other news now. kenyan troops are preparing to recover bodies from the shopping mall following the four-day siege by gunmen, at least 72 people were killed, including five fighters and six soldiers. it's feared the death toll will rise signed the west gate shopping complex with three floors have collapsed. some familiar families are still waiting for news of their loved ones. >> reporter: he and his wife are lucky to be alive. they were parking their car in the basement of the west gate mall when the nightmare began. he was shot in the hands. his wife fractured her leg and has shrapnel lodged in various parts of her body after they threw a grenade at their car. >> i could feel the heat behind him. and i felt the whole thing come onto me. i told my hussey said i am hurt badly.

i toll him that much. he said just get out of here. >> reporter: at this contact center where records of the dead, injured and missing are being kept, relatives anxiously wait for any information. he has been searching for his cousin bobby joy who worked at a shop in the mall. they lost contact with him on sunday. >> we are heard nothing. >> reporter: security forces have rescued more than 1,000 people from the mall. bodies are believed to be buried in the rubble after some floors of the building collapsed. what has become clear, though, is the unity kenyans have shown at this public park in the city center, thousands wait today denote blood. 4,000 people have been coming updately since saturday.

most of these people have been here since early morning and they are going to stay here until they get chains to give their blood. it's worth contributing in these trying times. >> i lost a friend, yes, i did. she was in the cafe and she died. so i just felt that i should, because i'll save another life. >> reporter: so they did their bit here and at the contact certainty relatives continue to hope that sometime soon their loved ones will show up. hophopefully alive. >> russian president vlad here putin says green peace activists who tried to climb onto an arctic offshore drilling platform are not pirates. earlier they were taken to the headquarters of russia's investigative committee for questioning. they have now been moved to a detention facility. 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

outside a port in northern russia. the immediate fate of the 30 strong crew of activists now depends on russian prosecutors. the initial protest last wednesday was launched with determined speed. intended to catch the security staff and the russian authorities by surprise. using a fast boat, launches from the green peace sheet arctic sun sunrise, they were able to sends two activists up the side of the ale platform on ropes, they are quickly intercept bide armed coast guard officers. and it quickly became evident that the russians were not tending to be lenient. >> i suspect you in terrorism, in terrorism. >> in terrorism? >> i suspect you. >> reporter: hours after that radio exchange, armed russian men came from helicopter on his to the arctic sunrise and took control of the ship and it's 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 ceasseize a drilling platform by storm and said it raised legitimate doubts about their 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 watts loaded with electronics, whose purpose was not clear. but green peace has insisted its protest was peace exampl peacefo time was the intention to seize property at thi in the way thaty is defined. >> i have no sense for why this criminal case is being launched they are being unarticlely held by the authorities.

they have no means of communication with us, their relatives or lawyers, they are under armed guard which means they ever been held unlawfully for five days. >> reporter: campaign ores ship are from 18 countries including australia, brazil, canada, denmark, france, new zealand, russia and the u.k. and the u.s. if prosecuted, each could be facing up to 15 years in prison. paul brennan, al jazerra moscow. >> iran's president says he's ready for talks aimed at ending the standoff over his country's nuclear program. hassan rouhani was making his first address at the united jace a december. nations assembly in new york. economy decemberred the imposition of western sakes, james bays reports in the united nations. >> reporter: the focus was on one man as world leaders met. the arrival of hassan rouhani iran's president for less than two months on the world stage,

brings the promise of a any start to his country's relations with the west. >> mr. president. >> reporter: but can he bring concrete change? he didn't immediate president obama who spoke several hours beforehand. but both men spoke yeah ka*u cay after more than three decades of mistrust about the possibility of a new relationship. >> we are encouraged that president rouhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course and given his stated thoughts of reaching an agreement. >> reporter: he said progress would only be made if there is ideal removing the threat of an iranian knock lahr bomb but offered a con connection that they can have a nuke already energy program and acknowledged mistakes from the part. >> the united states and iran have been isolated from one another since the revolution of 1979. this mistrust has deep roots.

iranians have long complained of the history of u.s. interference in their a pairs and overthrowing their government during the cold war. >> reporter: president rouhani picked up directly on president obama's words when later he took to the podium. >> i listened carefully to the statement made bio bomb a today at the general assembly. hoping they will refrain from following the short cited interest of war mongering pressure groups. we can arrive at a framework to manage our differences. let me say loud and clear that peace is within reach. >> reporter: it was not all conciliatory talk. there were familiar criticisms of u.s. military engagement in the middle east, of drone strikes, and of israel's treatment of palestinians. >> what has been and continues to be practiced against the innocent people of palestine is nothing less than structural

violence. >> reporter: u.s. at thi at thie mats listened to those words in past years they have walked out when an iranian leader addressed the gathering. for now they are staying, giving diplomacy a chance. james bays al jazerra, at the united nations. >> israel's prime men ter benjamin netanyahu has reacted saying it was a cynical speech full of hypocrisy to buy time in order to advance iran's capability to obtain nuclear weapons. lots more come on this program. including we'll be live in south africa where a commission is looking in to shootings at a platinum mine is expected to criticize the police. and we look at the innovative inventions of the next generation of european scientists.

hi, my name is jonathan betz, and i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. i started in a small television station in rural arkansas. it's a part of the country that often gets overlooked. but there are a lot of fascinating people there, a lot of fascinating stories there. i like that al jazeera will pay attention to those kinds of places. what drew me to journalism is i like the idea that we are documenting history. al jazeera documents it like none other. and to be a journalist, and to be part of a team like that? that's an incredible blessing.

♪ ♪ good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazerra. the death toll from a powerful earthquake in pakistan has risen to at least 271. pakistan's army is ending helicopters and soldiers to help with the rescue effort. can kenya fears more victims wie found, 72 were killed including five gunmen during a four-day siege, kenyan troops are combing the debris for bodies. iran's president says his country poses no threat to world peace. addressing the united nations general assembly hassan rouhani

says iran is red know ready for negotiations over his nuclear program. his comments are being closely watched by iran and international community. but as kristen reports, his visit hasn't been welcomed by everyone in new york. >> reporter: after nearly four decades of silence between the governments of the u.s. and iran, demonstrators are saying enough. it's time to talk. >> you don't solve problems by going in separate rooms and slamming doors. the american people, the iranian people want their leaders to talk, they know their lives handing in the balance and they want them to be saved. >> reporter: newly elected iranian president hassan rouhani came to the united states eager to find a way to end crippling economic sanctions impose bide the west to try to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons. but mistrust runs deep. we are at a demonstration across from the u.n., organized by a group known as the people of

iran. they ever organized demonstrations like this for the past several years calling for the end of iran's religious leadership. this year they are getting a lot of support from high profile speakers from new york city mayor, former mayor rudy giuliani to u.s. am baston john bolton. speakers here and in the u.s. senate, are urging president obama not to undo sanctions until iran dismantles its nuclear program. >> america wants to succeed in negotiating with iran, we can't do it by beg to go negotiate. we can't do it by is up los angeles indicating, we should make demands of iran. >> reporter: it was after the islamic revolution in iran in 1979, when 52 americans were held hostage for more than a year, that the u.s. cut off diplomatic relations. and israel, america's closest ali in thali sees iran as a thro

their very existence. he thinks obama and rouhani have a limited window of opportunity. >> i think on both sides there is a domestic policy problem. that hayes time fuse attached to it. iran needs something positive right away and the united states has to do it in order to silence all the hard line ores both sides. >> reporter: president obama left the u.n. without meeting president rouhani but there is still the prospect of high-level discussions later this week second of state john kerry is sketch told to ascend a meeting with diplomatic counterparts including from tehran. it would be the highest level meeting between the two countries since the revolution and many feel perhaps their best chance for a breakthrough. >> syria is also high on the

agenda at the u.n. a a decemberly. speaking about the regional implications of the conflict. >> destructive actions and horrible massacres and the policy of scorched earth continues at the hands of the syrian regime and against the syrian people. thus crossing all red lines at this time indicated by ethics and mandate lied law particularly after the regime's use of chemical weapons against its own people. >> this conflict was dissolved into a real trap. [inaudible] the continuation of the refugees crisis will cause wider social, political, and economic risks for the host nations as we have learned literally on many occasions. >> the head of peru's counter

drug agency has defended their actions the country has overtaken columbia as the world's leading producer of coca leaf. she said they have succeeded in cutting the national out put plant for the first time in seven years, and says things are improving. >> despite the problem being horrific, as you can all see, we are optimistic because this is the first in more than five years that we are starting to see a net reduction. >> two british women have pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle 11-kilograms of cocaine from peru. they are from ireland and scotland and space a minimum of six years in jail. judge dismissed reports that the women could serve out their sentences in the u.k. and the net is widening to catch those involved in a plot to smuggle cocaine from venezuela ttwo britains and three italians

are the late of the charged with smuggling 1.3-tons of the drug on the flight to paris. on monday three officers from the national guard in venezuela were arrested for alleged involvement in the plot. israeli forces have clashed with palestinian protesters insight the mosque compound in jerusalem. is really soldiers used grenades and tear gas, seven palestinians have reporte reportedly been in, they began a sit in in protest at israeli incursion. now researchers in switzerland are using the power of the sun to generate electricity and provide fresh water to remote areas of planet earth. jonah hull reports now 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 whoas, horse country outside zurich. but here at a research

laboratory i ran by ibm. scientists believe they have found 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 tiny cells design today for the space industry and capable of converting almost half the sunlight they absorb in to energy. electricity. 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 worked out how to cool their system using water. a water, river water, even wastewater all freely available. having removed the heat from the cells the warm water evaporates leaving salt and other impurities behind the availabler ivapor iscondensed back in to wo pure that you can drink. it's pure water. not good for drinking? >> a small amount is okay. >> 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 this system allows to make them run parallel. that's a great thing. because as we make the energy cheaper, we can deploy it in

masses and help saving the planet and this doesn't cost us economically a lot. >> reporter: it's the culmination of eight years of work for bruno at the same labs that gave the world nano technology and four nobel science laureates and soon perhaps another one who hopes to give the world abundant supplies of energy and clean water. jonah hull, al jazerra, zurich. >> the south african commission of inquiry into shootings at a platinum mine is resuming hearings. it's expected to accuse police of lying to the panelling and fabricating documents about the death of dozens of striking miners last year. lawyers for the commission have gained access to thousands of new documents from the police. let's go to our correspondent who is there for us. the commission are calling police liars and forgers here. any idea what the police are expected to come back with?

>> reporter: well, this is why the hearing today could be interesting, because are waiting to see how the police are going to respond to these allegations of falsifying documents, of lying about what happened. the lawyers and some of the miners are here in the building behind me and we spoke to some of the miners and one miner who was shot from the waist down now can't have children anymore and he says he really believes the police are lying and he wants to know who they are trying to protect. another miner who was shot who is now -- can't walk properly says he dint know who gave the order to pull the trigger on that day. he wants someone held accountable. he wants senior politicians held accountable. a lot people very angry, wanting answers from this commission. >> there has been so many issues with this commission haven't there, just one of them is money to pay legal representation for the miners at the commission, where are we with that? >> reporter: well, they still have a problem with that. right now some other miners are at the high court about a half an hour away from here hoping to

convince the judge to force the that it's to make the money available to provide lawyers for them. they can't afford to have legal representation for the miners but can only afford to pay lawyers to represent the police. so you being understand why some people are upset about it. the concern is that this will cause more delays to the commission that's meant to end or wrap up in october. officials fear it won't happen and will keep on drag on the ground and on. >> thank you very much. joining us. now, a young scientist from across the european union have been or odd. students from 37 countries battled it out in the czech republic for the title of top scientist. from prague, simon looks at the innovations. >> reporter: to the three winning projects a prize of $10,000 each and the title of young scientist of the year. this year's winners were from ireland, finland and the u.k. biologists, engineers and social scientists. judges had to choose from 85

projects as diverse as the countries represented. from sweden there was this system discarding plastic bottles into water proof roofs ideal for developing countries. how did you come up with this idea? >> we had an assignment in school to find a new use for the old plastic bottles and this was our solution. >> reporter: from finland an ingenious way for kids to learn music their out piano. >> you roll it on the piano and this little censor in the middle tells you when to press the keys so basically all the basic information, the issues that take three years to learn are possible to play right away immediately with different stencils. >> reporter: and from austria, a surgical treatmen instrument toe better action toes to bowel tomb. it's been both serious and fun. >> it's okay to be geeky. and, you know, when you are with

young people who have the same interest in science, you -- it's really fun. >> reporter: some say europe needs its young scientists more than ever before. young europeans have been hard hit by the economic crisis, there has been high unemployment some people have even spoken of a lost generation, turning all of these wonderful ideas in to world application that his promote jobs and growth will need huge investment. e.u. officials insist investment will happen. >> this is a perfect example of how european youth can really drag europe not just for themselves, but bring all of europe back to a much more positive perspective on the future. >> reporter: there is no doubting the talent on display. or the commitment to a life in science and innovation. ideal for the knowledge, economy of the future. the challenge facing europes politicians is providing the

investment and incentives which will keep these young scientists and their ideas in europe. and encourage those who are to follow in their food steps. simon mcgregor wood, al jazerra, prague. >> now, a trial has resumed off the coast of japan damaged fukushima nuclear plants. the first will be tested before being put out to market. fishing was stopped in august after radioactive water was found to be leaking from storage tanks in to the sea. divers are searching the wreck of the costa concordia for two bodies that still haven't been recovered. 32 people were killed when the cruise ship hit rocks in january last year and capsized. the chippewas turned up right a week ago in a feat of engineering lasting 19 hours. one of the greatest ever come backs in sport could be completed in a few hours time. after trailing emirates team new

zealand 8-1 in sailing america's cup oracle team usa have leveled the series at eight all. the first team to nine wins. the americans resurgence was underlined by two more wins in san francisco's bay on tuesday.