>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> health -- hello, welcome to the news hour. these are our top stories. devastation in pakistan, an earthquake has killed hunting of people living in mud homes. we'll have the latest from the scene. the kenyan seize is over now, we'll look at the evidence with a security expert. iran's president strikes an optimistic tone at the un. we'll have the reaction. plus dozens of elephants

have been killed in zimbabwe, poisoned with cyanide. ♪ the death tell from an earthquake in pakistan has gone up to 327. rescuers are struggling to help thousands of people who's homes have collapsed. emergency aid has started arriving in many places. here is more. >> reporter: this is what remains of many villages in the district. houses platened and hundreds of inhabitants wounded. it was the epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. >> translator: everybody was destroyed. >> translator: we took out some

bodice and some injuries, but there are no facilities here. >> translator: we don't know how many are dead. half of our families are gone. >> reporter: it was a few hours before the injured or dead could be moved to hospitals. >> reporter: the earthquake has also severely affected the communications system in the area. and the relief workers are also facing difficulties to reach out to the survivors, and it takes at it hours from the capitol to each the district. >> reporter: a state of emergency has been declared in this and surrounding districts. medical camps are being set up. air ambulances and more than a thousand soldiers are taking part in rescue efforts. >> translator: we have started relief work in some of our teams have already reached the affected areas. more health centers have been

established. >> reporter: in april a 7.8 magnitude quake hit the same province. but there seems to be little preparedness to deal with such disasters. pakistan's government has been fighting a bloody separatist surgent there. and it's the people here regularly suffering from natural disasters only to see them compounded by man made ones. kenyan troops are searching for bodies inside a mall in nairobi. at least 72 people were killed. it's feared more victims will be found under the rubble inside westgate mall.

andrew simil andr andrew simmons is there for us now. >> reporter: there are two things going on, really, there are so many questions still unanswered but slowly a picture is emerging of the crisis that the security forces faced when they had to make a decision to assault on monday. that was the day when all of the main violence happened, when the security forces pushed forward, whether they are apparently reportedly used a sniper to take out a key member of the attack team, and then what followed that was a series of explosions, and some sort of action by the military. it isn't entirely clear what they did at this stage, but there are some theories they used heavy weaponry. what transpyred then was the

collapse of the building. and this is the situation that there are now bodies in the rubble. the dilemma is for all of those people who have got lost loved one, losted friends, they are waiting to hear what is happening. we hear than more than 60 civilance have been killed. al-shabab is claiming that 137 hostages were killed. we can't possibly a verify that figure, and we don't know whether it is reliable or not. however, we do hear from our sources that a number of more hostages were killed and they are in that rubble. so what has to happen now is this forensic operation has to continue and the bodies have to be recovered. that could take days. this is how events played out. for the first time in five days

a closer view of the mall. the pock marks one cater of the horror that was to follow. three floors of part of this building collapsed during the fighting. by tuesday this is what the special forces are engaged in. every corner or closed door presents a risk, and there's no hesitation in using grenades. [ explosion ] >> reporter: here on day five you can sense the mood is different. the tension has gone, replaced by a colder realization at the scale of human loss. it is understood the militariry were to allow the recovery of any bodies until an intensive investigation is complete. and unsurprisingly it will take a long time. >> five terrorists were killed

with gunfire. eleven suspects are in custody in connection with the attack. intelligence reports have suggested that a british woman and two or three american citizens may have been involved in the attack. we cannot confirm the details at present. >> reporter: what was a place where the middle classes would spend their money on fashion, food, and entertainment, now stands as a symbol of horror, what you can't see here are three floors inside that collapsed. no one knows how many died. some kenyans like these, searching in vain for missing family or friends can get little comfort from anyone right now. >> andrew the president has announced three days of mourning, but it is clearly going to take people in kenya a lot longer than that to come to

terms with what has happened. >> reporter: it most certainly has. obviously the word is collateral damage in any operation like this, with an unknown number of hosta hostages, unknown initially, and at some point they had an idea of what they were confronted with. that decision was taken on monday. there was a distraction plan with helicopters flying close to the building, making a lot of noise, and there was action taken in the form of a sniper, and what followed on from that was a fierce fire fight, and we are sure that al-shabab from our sources did detonate explosives, and that would suggest that there may have been decision to escalate the sort of gunfire the kenyan forces were engaging in

to try to basically take out the threat, take out the hostages, take out the actual gunmen. now the collateral damage, human collateral damage appears to have taken place from our sources. this is going to play out over a considerable time. the kenyan people are obviously devastated by what has happened. but the country appears to be more united than it has been for time sometime, united in grief, and united in determination to rid this country of this type of terror attack. >> a lot of questions still to be asked as you mentioned there, andrew. thank you very much for updating us from nairobi. now iran's president says he is ready for talks aimed attending the standoff over his country's nuclear program. hassan rouhani was making his first address in new york.

rouhani insisted iran is not developing nuclear weapons, and condemned the imposition of western sanctions. >> translator: iran poses absolutely no threat to the world or the region. in fact in ideal and actual practice my country has been a harbor of just peace and comprehensive security. iran's president also used his speech to criticize israel's treatment of palestinians. >> translator: what has been and continues to be practiced against the innocent people of palestine is nothing less than structural violence. >> benjamin netenyahu said in a statement . . .

we have the israeli economy and trade my opinion -- trade. clearly president rouhani is adopting a different action than his predecessor. >> well, rouhani's words in new york haven't stopped the centrifuges. we need to look at action not words. he is using soft warm and fuzzy rhetoric to cover violent actions. he has installed a thousand new uranium enrichment facilities. he is continuing to generate heavy water reactors, and not

letting the un inspectors in to actually look at the weapon development there, so it's not about nice words. it's only about actions, unfortunately in that test he has failed. >> but both he and the superpeople leader say they are open to compromise, and president obama has instructed john kerry to pursue a deal, so that puts israel on a different page from the us. >> reporter: well, i think what the west has to always look at is the actions of iran and not be mislead by the smile and charm offensive of rouhani. let's look at what rouhani himself said just a few yearsback, he said while we were negotiating with the europeans we were still installing some of the equipment at the site. there was plenty of work to be done to complete that site. and by re alty by creating a

team situation we could finish the situation. in other words he wants to buy time, by talking, smiling, and saying the right words, but at the same time build and complete the nuclear weapons. >> but doesn't netenyahu show how opposed israelis are to negotiation. your finance minister aid israeli shouldn't seem as if it is uninterested in peaceful solutions, but that seems to be exactly your message. >> there is no one more interested in a diplomatic solution than us. we want the nuclear threat to go away. what iran needs to actually do rather than talk, do, is take away the nuclear materials, dismantle the machine that generates those materials, and stop the building of the heavy water reactor. when they actually do that, that means that they are seeking piece. if they just talk about it, like

what happened in north korea, we're going to find ours in a few months or a year or two with an iranian nuclear weapon. >> let's talk about some other talks. the israeli palestinian peace process. you are on record as opposed any kind of palestinian state. president obama says israeli future depends on creating an palestinian state. >> well, first of all you can't occupy a land that is yours. we have been here for well over 3,000 years, and we're going to be here for a thousand years to come -- >> that's not what the un and the international law says. the un has repeatedly said the establishment of settlements are illegal and an obstruction to peace. >> i -- i agree that there are disputed territories and we need to work that out with our

neighbors, and we will work that out with our neighbors, but let's look at what the palestinian foreign minister said today. he said we will never accept the idea of a jewish state no matter what the americans or israelis say. the fundamental problem is the palestinians have not accepted the very existence of israel, so it's not about a certain peace of land. it's about do the jews have a right to exist in this land? and until we work that out the vest mum bow jumbo. so we have been working on w the palestinians on ground. because i'll tell you one thing, the most prosperous land in the middle east is israel. >> it's very kind of you to quote statements like that. your own statements don't seem to be conducive to peaceful

arabs. you said in a cabinet meeting a few weeks ago. i have killed lots of arabs in my life. there is no problem with that. that doesn't seem to show much regard for arab life. >> no, i never said that, and -- show me -- >> it has been widely quoted. >> i never said that. i never would say that. it's true -- yeah, but we also explicitly said that these words were not said -- >> just while we're in the business of quoting things at each other that's why i bring it up. >> israel will defend itself, however, i have never said those words. >> all right. thank you very much for speaking to us. jerusalem is calm after an attack by israeli troops on the palestinian protesters.

they used sound grenades and tear gas inside a mosque. seven palestinians were reportedly injured. they began a sit-in to protest against israeli insurgent inside the compound. still to come deeping divisions. a number of syria fighters say they don't recognize the opposition coalition. plus violence in sudan. and coming up in sports, we'll tell you about a great american comeback. ♪ now as the fighting continues in syria, so does, of course the suffering of its people, food, water, medicine all in short supply and with winter approaching charities are warding off a humanitarian disaster. james bays is live at the un for

some grim warnings. james? >> reporter: grim warnings and that is the focus today i think on syria and the humanitarian situation in syria. it is a crisis that has been going on for two and a half years. ban ki-moon when he spoke here in recent hours said that now some 7 million syrians have been displayed from their homes. he said that was a third of the population in syria. inside syria and outside syria, let's talk to one of the key players, i'm joined by katherine cousin. can i ask you first how bad have things got? >> thank you very much. things are continuing to escalate and simply get worse. we're meeting 3 million people inside syria today. we're increasing that number to 4 million by the end of october. there are actually 5.8 million people in need of assistance. we're feeding another

1.2 million moving to 1.5 million moving outside of syria, because now there are 2 million people who have sought refuge in the countries outside of syria. >> yet in the building behind us, dead lock. they can't make progress trying to stop the fighting. are you frustrated that so little has been done trying to help you? >> i don't have the luxury of being frustrated. because the people we work for depend on us to be forthright and continue to demand that the political community, the political leadership demand that there will humanitarian access. because we can reach all 14 governance, but inside each of those communities there are pockets where we haven't had access to women and children and seniors in need of our assistance for months in some cases. what that means is that as we're

going into winter, we have the possibility you have children who are suffering from chronic malnutrition and hunger. and what we don't want in syria is to escalate a conflict into a famine. >> reporter: how dangerous is it for your staff? >> it's -- extremely dangerous. there are the regime, oppetition, and conflict-held areas. the conflict area where the fighting is going on that's where it's extremely dangerous, and our tracks are being shot at on a regular basis. >> reporter: tell me, you don't have the money yet for this year. this year is coming to an end. where are you going to get more money from? what are you going to be say to these countrircountriries.

>> while donors have been extremely generous, we have been spending the money as fast as it comes in. and the u.s., the uk, the eu, germany, canada, so many of the traditional donors have been right there to ensure that people don't go hungry, but we need the entire global community to support this effort. >> katherine cousin of the executive director of the world food program talking to us here on al jazeera. we have heard this so many times, the situation on the ground in syria is getting worse. but here at the united nations, politically anyway, there remains dead lock on most issues. >> james thanks very much indeed for that. rebels in syria appear to have taken over an important government facility near the border with jordan. they have captured the air force intelligence branch. one of the groups responsible

for the raid is the al qaeda-linked group. there have been fierce clashes among rebels and government forces around syria. these pictures are apparently from the town of nawa. we can't independently verify this video. and these images it shows an air raid on the town of tabacu. un weapons inspectors have returned to damascus to continue their investigations into chemical attacks. last week they confirmed that sarin gas was used in an attack. 13 of syrias rebel groups say they don't recognize the syrian national coalition, and they are calling for an islamic

state in syria. >> reporter: this was a sign of broader tensions to come, the date july 2013, the place, a village close to syria's border with turkey. al qaeda-linked fighters wanted to show us they were in control after pushing what they called corrupt free syrian army rebels out. fast forward, the same in another border town. in a statement they justified the takeover by calling the brigade western spies, accusing them of being traitors. the move was condemned by the main political opposition. it accused foreign fighters of violating the principles of the revolution by turning their guns on fsa rebels. it said the islamic state in

iraq is no longer fighting the regime, but instead strengthening its position in liberated areas. it was a rare confrontation, but the rebel forces on the ground didn't adopt the same stance, instead they denounced the coalition as a foreign-based group that doesn't represent them. these groups include powerful forces, and other brigades linked both to the free syrian army and islamic front. and the al qaeda branch a front the u.s. designated a terrorist organization. >> translator: the national coalition and the proposed transitional government does not represent us nor do we recognize it. these forces call on all mill stair and civilian groups to unite in a clear islamic context that is based on sharia law.

>> reporter: the national influence on the ground was always questionable, but now it doesn't have any sway over the fractured armed opposition. efforts to restructure opposition forces into a national army were never welcomed by those inside syria who feel it is a western project. >> translator: he didn't provide us with anything. his only concern is the chair he sits on. of course he want to unified army. it is being discussed by forces on the ground l.a. be announced from inside syria within two months. >> reporter: it is on the front lines with rebel forces are united. but now the most powerful forces have also found common ground in a rare show of unity, they made clear they will confront outside influences. al jazeera, beirut. egypt security forces have

closed the offices of a newspaper run by the muslim brotherhood. protesters say these demonstrations aren't linked by the ban imposed two days ago on the muslim brotherhood's activities. time for the weather now with everton. we have been hearing about the devastating floods in the philippines, any sign of drier weather over the next few days? >> i'm afraid not. plenty of clouds showing up on the satellite picture, and you can see how organized they are, pushing up into the south china seas, and we are seeing the showers continue to pulse their way across a similar area for day after day now. some of these part have been seeing around 200 millimeters of rain over the last 24 hours. the showers continue through thursday then.

if anything they may even pack up a touch as we go through friday. so more wet weather and the flood will certainly be exacerbated. this area of cloud has been producing some very heavy rain, again, for the last few days. that has washed away roads and bridges. many villages have been cut off by the heavy downpours. and again, there's more rain where that came from. this area of low-pressure continues to roll away. further showers there as we go through thursday then. and a similar picture as we go through friday. more very heavy showers across the area. and we have got the showers continuing for a good part of the western gaps. we'll see showers effecting the eastern gaps, and into bangladesh. the south of that is looking fine, and we have got some sunshine in our forecast.

as one would expect a fair amount of sunshine across northern parts of the arabian peninsula. we'll see highs in beirut up to 23 celsius. still to come we have a bit more on the philippines and the atrocious efforts there. cleanup efforts are underway after flash floods and landslides. plus hopes of a reunion dashed for south and north korean families. we'll be reporting on that. we have also got all of the sports for you. we'll tell you why the yankees playoff hopes are all but over. that's after the break. ♪

♪ welcome back. rescuers are struggling to help victims of a powerful earthquake in pakistan's remote southwest. the death toll has risen to 327. thousands have been left injured and homeless from the magnitude 7.7 quake. kenyan troops are searching for bodies inside a shopping mall in nairobi. at least 72 people were killed during a four-day siege. it is feared more bodies will be found underneath the rubble.

and iran's president says he is ready for talks aimed attening the standoff over his country's nuclear program. he was taking his first address as president to the united nations general assembly in new york. at least 30 people have died and thousands have been displaced after landslides and flash floods hit the northern philippine province. a clearout is underway and shops and schools are reopening. the impact of the devastation will stay with the residents long after the debris is cleared. >> reporter: it's a tragedy that she says she cannot bare. her parents died with all four of her siblings and cousins after they were buried alive after a landslide. she says she is alone now. she has lost everything. >> translator: it is beyond brief, beyond sorrow how i feel

right now. i cannot accept all of this. only god knows where i can go from here. >> reporter: they were among the more than 30 people killed by flash floods and landslides. the rain poured for days over the province. hundreds of people were stranded on roof tops, while many more were cut off from the rest of the providence. thousands of filipinos continue to die from devastations brought about by weather. the mayor said his government did everything it could to secure the lives of many residents. >> we are prepared for the disaster, but the problem is it happened where we least expected it. you cannot predict a tragedy is going to happen, so what we can do is we can prepare.

we can plan, and we will -- especially we will learn from this experience. >> reporter: the central government says a clear disaster preparedness program is in place. it maintains it is also given enough warning about areas considered to be too hazardous for many residents to live in, like this area. but for the many residents here, leaving was never an option. a community dependent on fishing for their livelihood. they said moving out of here means their source of income will be taken away, so many of them say they accept the risks. at least 6,000 people have been displaced. the province is still under a state of calamity, but the clearing is underway. but she says this tragedy may soon be forgotten, but her life will never be the same again.

turkish security forces are searching for 18 members of the outlawed kurdistan worker's party who escaped from prison. the prisoners escaped by digging a tunnel out of the jail. this comes just days before [ inaudible ] unveils a package of reforms designed to peep the peace process with the pkk on track. anita joins us live now. the old ways are always the best. they dug a tunnel to get out of prison. bit embarrassing for the government. what are they saying? >> reporter: what they did say was we can't find any tools or any soil. when you have a look at the tunnel they dug, it pretty much resembles a large habit hole or

badger set. it looks like authorities say they have been doing it for the better part of a year in secret. now they have disappeared without a trace. it is thought they might have happened had outside help. that is what usually happens in his cases. and perhaps they have changed their clothes and been spirited away by relatives. so a lot of internal investigations going on, and a lot of institutional searching going on in every sense of the world i think you can say. this is a mountainous area with plenty of woodland, the ideal place for escaped prisoners to melt away without a trace. >> on a serious note where is the process between the government and the pkk? >> reporter: well, we're waiting for a new announcement to come from the government. perhaps as early as the 30th of

this month. it's eagerly awaited and badly needed, because a couple of weeks ago the kurdish, pkk, armed group announced that it was suspending the withdrawal of its forces from the mountains of southeastern turkey, bordering iraq, because they felt while they had taken some steps towards pulling their forces down and they were meant to be melting away quietly into northern iraq somehow, that they had done, and the government admits perhaps 20% of the known forces up there in another mountainous wooded area have gone, the rest are still there, and they aren't budging until the government has met them halfway. and that includes some reforms in turkey that didn't been made yet, like a reform of theater

-- the terrorism law that has put so many unjustly behind bars, they feel. some way of teaching their language in schools. all of those sorts of moves, and they want to see the government do something concrete. what the government is going to do, and the danger is it is only a partial reform, so the process continues to stutter and falter, and we'll find out sometime in the next few days. >> anita thanks for that story. now we're going to shift our focus to africa. we'll be telling you about ivy poachers who have used cyanide to gilmore than 80 elephants in zimbabwe. and allegations of lies, but first to sudan, and a profest in

a cartoon which has turned deadly. it's all about rising fuel prices, and the cartoon demonstrators set fire. police officers used tear gas to disperse crowds. let's speak to harry martin who is in the area. harry is what the latest on those protests? >> reporter: we have had reports of at least ten different parts of the capitol today. and even though some of those reports seem the actual violence is dying down, i have been told some of the streets are now early quiet, and shops have been closed. and things are still going on. i can still see at least different plumes of dark smoke.

>> so what is causing these fuel rises, and is that the only issue that people are protesting about or is there more at play here? >> reporter: it's very much a trigger. these fuel rises were expected until this week the government heavily subsidized the price of fuel and cooking gas. overnight those prices increased by over 80%. the government argued these are unfair subsidies because they basically benefited the wealthy, but frankly everybody needs cooking gas. ever since independence of south sudan two years ago, this economy has been in a nose dive because it just lacks the money [ inaudible ] income. now this has meant that fuel prices have already been going up, and inflation is running at

around 50% already. the people are fed up with not being able to afford the food they need and now the gas to cook on is going up, and the cost to travel on buses is going up, it is the culmination of many months of anger and struggle. >> harriet thanks for that update. the south african commission inquiry into shootings have gained access to thousands of new documents from the police. james nickels is a hour. he says these are very serious allegations. >> when you look at what has been disclosed, fref for examplu will find the new document show that some of the union leaders were in favor of killing the police immediately before the police killed the demonstrators.

that bit of information has been manipulated to the benefit of the police. we want to stop that sort of evidence coming before the commission and hope we will do so. and the commission has proceeded on the basis that there was a plan of action for the police. there was a plan of action, but it is not the plan put before the commission. in other words we have to stop the fabrication of evidence, and that's what i hope this commission is going to do. i have to say we have already seen earlier on in the commission dead bodies that have been planted with weapons in order that the police can come up and say, oh, we were acting in self-defense. that has got to stop. there needs to be a full inquiry as to how these circumstances have come around. in sim b -- zimbabwe, ivy

poachers have used cyanide to kill evidence. let's go back to the siege on the mall now in kenya. i'm joined by martin reardon, martin good to have you back on the program. we're told forensic examinations are going on, what are they going to be looking for? >> a lot of things. first of all separate the attackers from the hostages that were killed and left in the building. it's very important to identify the number of attackers, and also who they are, know their names, nationalities, so the kenyans and others who may be

assisting in this investigation can start building their case. and the potential to capture other people involved. >> okay. couple of questions people are asking. first of all what is likely to have caused the building collapse. we are told that three floors have collapsed. was that potentially done by the attackers? >> yes, it could have been, but you are talking about a major shopping mall that is built to hold literally hundreds of thousands of tons. so the types of explosives that the attackers would bring, would that cause the floors to collapse? there is some speculation that it could have been the government, but would they have used the explosives to do that.

so at this point it's speculation, but it's just matter of a few days before arson investigators can determine that. >> and how the attackers got those type of ammunitions in the capitol in the first place? >> the information coming out in the last 24 hours on how these cells may have been formed is extraordinary, and the complexity of this. this would involve ingress, egress, and then make the recommendations up the chain of command. it's finding a low-paid employer, a store employee that would assist them. and for money people would do a lot of things.

you would have had the cell that set up the safe house, the transportation necessary, possible for ids, communications, everything they need to get the attack cell in, and possibly to get some of them out, and then the operational cell. that cell would have had enough time to probably train on -- as close to a similar-type structure as they could in somalia. practice these simultaneous entries that they made from three different points. figure out where they were going to go. they made their stand according to open source in the shopping center at the end of the mall. that's where these machine guns were allegedly stored for at least a few days. so there was a plan for this. it was very deliberate and very complex, and far exceeds what was initially thought about the complexity of the project.

>> martin thank you very much. >> you're welcome. coming up we have all of sport. messi is not happy with the media. suna is here in just a moment. ♪ on august 20th, al jazeera america introduced

♪ welcome back. now north and south koreaia should have been celebrating a reunification of sorts. around 200 families have been split since the korean war since

the 1950s. >> reporter: a week about this woman was with our family preparing for the festivities of the thanksgiving holiday, but she was also getting ready for another event, one that had been more than 60 years in the waiting. >> all of this waiting is finally bearing fruit. some people never got a chance to see their familiar list. and in some cases their family members are no longer alive, but i have nephews and i would love to meet them. >> their mother was stranded at the boarder at the end of the korean war. kim had discovered her sister was already dead but had been hoping to find out more about her life. hopes dashed on saturday with this statement on north korean the vision. the reunitement has been

canceled. >> translator: i was eating and i saw the news on tv, all of a sudden i felt powerless and i dropped my spoon. it has been 63 years since i was separated from my sister. i don't exactly know the details, i just feel so sad. >> reporter: in another apartment, a south korean foreign minister was meeting with another family. as sad as it has been for them, it is all a set back in communications between the two. trust remains in short supply. they have also caused new pain to nearly 200 families. now back to kenya, the interior minister has just been speaking about the operation.

andrew simmons is there in nairobi. andrew what has the interior minister been saying? >> reporter: well he is speaking right now. he has been outlining that there is a major forensic operation going on. he hasn't actually got into the whole issue of how many bodies have been recovered if any at all in this operation. he did stress there is foreign involvement in this operation. the u.s., israel, britain, germany, and canada are all involved in it. and he did say something that relates to the storming of the area where the attackers and hostages were. that took place on monday. now he did say this, and this is really important that structural engineers are looking into whether it's the action of exchange of fire or something

else. we will come back to you. now the reason he said to that, was because on a monday there was a major distraction operation going on mounted by the security forces with helicopters flying over the building, and not only that, they pushed forward, and initially small arms were used. it is thought that explosions followed, and those explosions are thought to have been from the attackers. we understand that some devices possibly attached to pillars in the structure below the car park. now whether or not heavier weapons were used than guns is open to question. some sources are suggesting that heavier weaponry was used. what the result was that three stories collapsed. the upper car park collapsed on the supermarket area which is

where a number of hostages are believed to have been. it is unknown the number of hostages that may have been kill there. >> andrew thank you for that update. let's get on with sport now. here is suna. >> thank you very much. oracle team usa are closing in on one of sports greatest ever comebacks. it's now 8-8. they won the last two races in san francisco bay. martin reports. >> reporter: a sailor with a sinking feeling, now facing defeat after being in a commanding position. the moment oracle firmly becomes the favorite to ensure the old mug stays in america. >> it's really clear to -- to see -- we probably could have

taken just about anywhere and we would have been behind in that league. and the first time i think we recognized there was a condition where maybe we're not as strong as we need to be. >> reporter: a seventh loss in a row for a shattered team new zealand. >> this is the most exciting day of all of our lives, and we wouldn't want to be anywhere else. >> there are certainly options we can look at it, but it is going to be hard to find the extra 2 or 3 knots. earlier we spoke to sailing journalist gail patterson, and she thinks team new zealand still have a chance to win. >> in the second race last night, there was a bit of a

mistake made by team new zealand. there has been times over the last week when we have been expecting them to win that final match they needed to win, and they could have done it, so this is very, very tight, and they are a very strong team. but you have to say the momentum is with the other players, because obviously they have won so many in a row, and it's really hard to come back from such a lead. [ inaudible ] has accused the media of writing lies about him. messi was quick to respond to claims that he was unhappy with his coach after being substituted. the argentine was brought off with 10 minutes left in the game. he said later that nobody likes to be replaced, but we must accept it, because it's the best for our team. he has already scored during this 4-1 win.

messi has recently been accused of attempting to humiliate his head coach and bullying his teammates. lewis suarez could return to action against manchester united later on

[ technical difficulties ] >> he has extended his contract for a further year with his deal now running until 2016. the striker helped the club to the french league title last season and is now focused on champions league success. >> i want to win it and the club has big potential to win it, and they are showing everybody by the investment they are doing, that they want to win it, and there is no doubt, and no question about that, it's like all in, and that's the way it is, and i'm very happy to be part of it, and hopefully i will make the history come true. on to baseball the st. louis cardinals are one step closer to

the national league central title after the 2-0 win. the tampa ray bays all but ended the new york yankees wild-card hopes by smashing them 7-0. tampa lead the wild-card standings, are one game ahead of cleveland with five to play. the yankees have to win all five games to have any chance. basketball legend shaquille o'neal has become a part owner of the nba team the sacramento kings. the former l.a. lakers and miami heat star retired two years ago. ironically the four-time nba champion, o'neal once called the franchise, sacramento queens. and that's it for me. >> thanks very much indeed for that. stay with us. i'll be back in just a couple of

minutes.

this is al jazeera. i'm del walters with a look at your top stories. center ted cruz has been talk for nearly 19 hours now. the texas republican is trying to draw attention to his attempt to block the affordable care act. he essays he will continue speaking out against obamacare until he is no longer able to stand. the united nations security council is meeting today to discuss how to remove chemical weapons from syria. the u.s. and iran now have opened the door to diplomacy, presidents obama and rouhani both telling the un general