>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome to the news hour. we have your top stories from around the world. un syrian envoy says a peace talks are the only way forward. but getting the opposition on board remains the sticking point. heavily armed and ready to fight, an exclusive report from mali. thousands of arrests, a

crackdown on violent crimes. and the world's biggest car maker makes a giant gamble on the future and it's electric. the unarab league envoy to syria says that proposed peace talks is the only way to end the crisis in syria. lakhdar brahimi is urging opposition groups to unite and attend, but no firm date has yet been set. imran khan has the latest. >> reporter: this is the man desperately trying to bring peace to syria. a planned peace conference in geneva is looking difficult as all sides fight for position. the syrian government has agreed to send a delegation. brahimi is now trying to get the

opposition to the table. the opposition has made it clear that its members don't want to be part of any peace talks that allow president bashar al-assad to remain in power. that position hasn't gone down well with the russians. >> translator: unfortunately the syrian government was not able to communicate with the opposition. >> reporter: some areas remain under siege and there is reports of malnutrition there. they said talks were not even a factor in their thinking and they will continue their fight. new battlegrounds are opening up, the syrian state tv says the government soldiers now control an important town. the fact that rebel groups are divided, makes it difficult for

them to form a united front. perhaps that's a factor bashar al-assad is banking on when it comes to him staying in power. imran khan, al jazeera. >> and we're joined now from the lebanese capital beirut. the opposition still wants their conditions met? >> well, it really depends on which opposition we're talking about. he just had a press conference here in beirut and he said talks with the opposition inside syria were positive, so now really he is putting the onus on the opposition based in istanbul. it has preconditions and the main one is that the geneva 2 conference needs to be a continuation of the geneva 1, and the geneva 1 conference has called for a transitional

government to be formed without bashar al-assad. here in lebanon, bra -- bra heemy said the fate was up to the talks in geneva, but there were two spots on the table for syrians, and that clearly means he wants a united opposition. >> thank you very much, hoda. staying with syria there are reports that israeli jets have attacked a syrian base. stephanie decker has more from jerusalem. >> israel is not confirming or denying these reports. this is not unusual. we have had reports throughout the year of aledged israeli air

strikes within syria. one happened in january believed to be a syrian convoy carrying weapons to hezbollah. and just recently in october, reports of a strike on the syrian/lebanese border. again, no reaction from the israelis. what we do know is israeli takes the threat of hezbollah very seriously. and that if any weapons gets transferred to hostile groups, that it would take action. news out of mali now, a desperately poor country in south africa. right now in the capitol politicians are discussing how to stabilize the north, but that may be a vain hope.

fighters tell us they will resume attacks on the army if it continues ethnic cleansing. 10s of thousands of people fled to the neighboring country after last year's fighting. it's a source of deep anger among the rebels. stories of torture and killing by the mallian army. these men tell al jazeera how they spent days in chains while being beaten and abused. they held them in the desert while they held their sheep ak a coupling them of being rebels. across the border in northern mally, members of the national movement and their allies are in a permanent state of readiness.

[ shouting ] >> translator: mali kills and jails our shep arsd and forces us to pay ransom just like al-qaeda does to europeans. >> reporter: a peace agreement with the malian government stipulated that the rebels gather in certain areas and store their weapons in return for guarantees that the army would not attack them. but the rebels say they violated that agreement last month. >> translator: we respected the peace agreement fully, but the moll -- malian army attacked us. >> reporter: the alleged violations seem to have motivated the rebels in their

fight for an independent state. they seem to believe the idea of an independent state in the north is now a remote possibility in the future, but if you ask people on the ground and these rebels behind me, they tell you they can't accept anything less than total independence. deep in the bush, the rebels are entrenched and embracing for the next fight. for them the truce with mali is too shaky to rely on. they lead difficult lives, having to friend for themselves in the absence of any services or any protection from the central government. and we have more in our special series on ma i will's challenge. on saturday we'll be meeting the

arab movement that wants to win a part of mali. the crisis began in march when a coalition of rebels ousted the president. in the past eight months the humanitarian situation has become so bad the un says half of the country's population are in need of assistance, and that's 2.3 million people. the country has become so unstable that armed groups are inciting attacks between muslims and christians and committing mutilation, rape and torture. let's go to james bays who is live for us at the united nations. james we know the un are already sending in troops to protect their own personnel there. but could this informal meeting open up the deployment of more

troops. >> i don't think that's what will happen out of this meeting. the purpose for this meeting is so they can listen to a number of different witnesses. they can listen to groups like human rights groups which recently said the situation in the central african republic is now out of control. there has been turmoil in the country for almost a year now, starting in december as the rebels made their way towards the capitol. the capitol finally fell in march, since then things got even worse, the alliance, yes, they do control the capitol and much of the country, but they started fighting among themselves. there is a lot of fighting going on, it's breaking down on tribal and religious grounds. people are very deeply concerned. >> that being the case, we know the un is sending in troops to

protect their own personnel, do you think there's a possibility the au might send in their own troops? what is the african union doing? >> we have a number of different forces already operating on the ground in the central african union. our understanding, and it's difficult to get a proper headcount on it, but we think about half of the troops have been deployed at the moment. the french have a small force there. and the un as you say, there's this un guard force of 250 initial going up to 500. the french are there to protect french interest, the african union don't seem to be doing much, so there's a big problem, and i think you are right, down the line, one of the possibilities is that the un make take control of all of this, and set up a un blue

helmet force. one pointer to that is the new man that ban ki-moon has put in charge. he used to be ban ki-moon's main military advisor. he put a military man in charge i think shows the direction things are going in. >> thank you, james. [ inaudible ] is observing three days of warning for 92 people who died crossing the sahara. 85 of the dead were women and children. the government says it is launching a crackdown on the group ferrying people across the desert. >> reporter: it was weeks before they were able to find this site in the desert. they found 92 bodies most in an advanced state of decomposition.

>> translator: it's really a huge human tragedy and one of the biggest. we found these people who died of thirst. the vehicle broke down and all of these people went looking for water and nourishment. there were families, women, and children. >> reporter: the victims are believed to all be >> stephanie: migrants from niger. others made it on foot to nigeria and are waiting to be sent back home. from here people travel into north africa in search of work, and many end up begging or in low-paying jobs, but the initial trek is often dangerous. the justice minister said . . .

the foreign minister has even gone so far as proposing a ban on women and children traveling out of niger. but this is one of the least developed countries in the world. opportunities are scarce and people are often desperate. many people will still make the dangerous journey and die trying. a form prime minister is in self improsed exile after being convicted of corrupt shun and could a new amnesty bill make way for his return home. and not male, nor female. we report on a new law to help babies born without a pure gender. and the chicago bulls have their first win over new zealand, joe will have all of the details and information.

a state of alert has been declared in egypt ahead of the trial of deposed president mohammed morsi. 20,000 extra security forces are being deployed in cairo. meanwhile hundreds of people are continuing to protest against the july coup which removed morsi. there are rallies taking place around cairo and giza. a funeral has taken place for one of four palestinian fighters killed in gaza. the israeli military says the tunnels were being used to carry out attacks on its territory. its its a -- on monday rockets wr fired into israel from the territory. electricity has been cut off

from the gaza strip due to a shortage of diesel, forcing the only electricity plant to shutdown. in september the energy authority warned of an impending shortage of fuel. the deputy head of the gaza energy society, and he says a shortage of fuel is a big problem. >> reporter: we were depending on fuel coming from egypt, and without part of the taxes from palestinian authority and [ inaudible ] they promise us it is without taxes, but now they told us that they will stay with the full taxes, which we cannot afford the amount of money for that. therefore we decide to shut down the plant today. so our program of distributing

the power to the people have been impaired too much, and now only the power will reach six hour to the consumers and it will be off for the next 12 hour, which will affect all of the services sector and the life on gaza. a controversial bill in thailand grants amnesty to politicians is a step closer to becoming law. it could allow the return of a former prime minister. scott has the update from bangkok. >> reporter: it has evolved into the most divisive issue in thailand. in an early morning session, tieland's lower house approved a controversial amnesty bill. it grants blanket amnesty to those who committed crimes related to politics over the last nine years, including some

people who are now on trial or in jail. it includes the former prime minister who is in exile after being convicted on corrupt shio charges. >> the rush to pass this bill regardless of impunity, letting murders walk free, show they don't care about the plight and suffering of their own suppor r supporters. >> reporter: the movement begap with an eighty group, but now has expanded. >> they came from different parts of political efforts, but they want the bill to be fair to all, especially those charged under political wrongdoings.

>> reporter: the government views the bill as a step towards reconciliation in this deeply politically divided country. the challenge for the government so containing the protesters here. they have several ways of doing that. one is to change the boundaries of security zones. but the movement against the bill seems determined. it's members saying they will stay on the streets until the bill is overturned. a man has been given two life sentences in south africa for the rape, and mutilation of a teenager. china has named the group it thinks is responsible for monday's suicide attack in beiji

beijing. five people were killed when a car crashed into a crowd and burst into flames. it says the east turkish [ inaudible ] organized the attack. an anti nuclear politician in japan has written to the emperor outlining his concerns for the fukushima nuclear planted. many are outraged. they say he has breached the constitution. the fukushima plant has been leaking radioactive water after being crippled by the 2011 earthquake and sue gnawny. each years thousands of children are born with genitalia which makes it difficult to determine if they are a boy or a

girl. but the really problem is what happens in the operating room. >> reporter: born neither boy or girl daniela says she spent her life in fear, pain and shame. now she is trying to make sure the same doesn't happen to anyone else. >> i was born with so-called ambiguous genitalia. the doctors couldn't tell if i was a boy or a girl. at 2.5 months they castrated me. when i was 7 years old they cut my genital to make me look more like a girl. the doctors always lie to me and my parents. >> reporter: it's estimated that 1 in a thousand babies are born every year with the genitalia. all of the new law does is allow

parents to select blank instead of male or female. they admit that parents could still feel pressure to operate. >> translator: we need to raise awareness in hospitals and medical staff. we need to make sure that parents are pushed to make decisions that they could be blamed for later. >> reporter: even as the law takes effect there are questions about what it will mean to live with no legal gender in germany. australians allows people to identify themselves as intersex. but with this new war, germany is widening the debate. the iraqi prime minister is set to meet with us president barack obama on friday. he wants military aid from the u.s. to help stop sectarian

attacks in iraq. we have joined by the founder of the iraq foundation for development and democracy. thank you for making it on the show. in april in a particular interview, you said maliki became part of the problem rather than part of the solution. what do you mean by that? >> actually maliki visit the united states -- this is his fourth visit. and he tried this year to meet obama, but for one reason or another they said that they cannot meet him at that time. and now they arranged the meeting today. in addition to that this is the first time that he is not going to see him today alone, but is scheduled to see the kurdish

leader sometime during next month. also he would be seeing the head of the parliament which [ inaudible ] and representing a big sunni block. so in a way the message is being conveyed conveyed to malaki that the american support is not cart blanche. the other thing that he is asking for is more weapons and more assistance from the americans in the name of fighting terrorism. but from the american experience, fighting terrorism in iraq was not successful only when moderate arab sunnis stood against al-qaeda and thus were able to stop al-qaeda from having influence in the area. the americans see this change of

attitude and create what is called awakening of [ inaudible ]. unfortunately maliki during the last year -- >> can i just ask you, though -- can i just interrupt and ask you. we have just said that 7,500 people have been killed this year. more and more seem to be killed every single month. is the problem malaki or with the political system that is in iraq? >> well, i think malaki should show the major blame. because when he came to power he was in good term with the kurd, the sunni, with even the shiite. now he is very critical relation with the kurds even with the muslim sunnis as well as other

parties. so this means that there is something wrong in his policy, which has actually tried to concentrate power in his hand to the exclusion of others. and this is something regretted and opposed by the kurd, sunni, and the shiite. so now the question, is he capable to change his position? and here is the big question what the american will ask him. of course the american don't want to push him into the iranian lap, but the american will be very much advised not to give him carte blanche and to support him the way they supported him in choosing him and also in preventing the parliament from withdrawing its confidence from its government. the thing what expect the obama administration to ask him to adhere to the democratic principle and to have fair,

free, and punctual election, not to defer them. because the iraqis see the elections are mostly arabian. >> right. thank you very much for joining us on the show. well now it's time to check in on the weather, and richard argentina is on alert for possible flooding? >> that's right. it's certainly one to watch in the coming days. this area of cloud down towards the south which is developing, and really what we have at the moment is this area of high-pressure from the east and west. so it's going to be stationary over the next few days, and you see the rainfall we normally get for this time of year. i think we're going to get this in the space of two days or so,

and it will stretch from brainest aries up to paraguay. and maybe even on as far as peru. the whole system moves to the nose -- northeast in a day or so. in north america they have certainly had flooding programs. these shots come from austin, texas where we had more than 350 millimeters of rain. that system is moving away, drier conditions across much of texas and indeed much of the eastern seaboard. >> richard thank you. still to come, tens of thousands of mexicans are kidnapped each year. we have the details of a new task force to tackle the issue. and jo will be here to tell you how [ inaudible ] kept the pressure on league leaders,

barcelona and spain. details coming up in sport.

♪ welcome back. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. a reminder of our stop stories. lakhdar brahimi says the opposition musted a tend any peace talks. and he has confirmed that bashar al-assad will be there. rebelling in the north of mali has told al jazeera that

they will continue attacks in the region if the military ginns what they call ethnic cleansing. bosnian officials have uncovered what they believe is the coup try's largest mass grave. the remains of 360 people have been recovered in the northwestern village. the chief investigator says more than 700 bodies may have been buried there. the discovery of the grave underscores the problem of locating and identifying people who go missing in conflicts. a conference at the hague is for the first time tackling this issue, but it goes further than just the balkans. in columbia, about 64,000 people

are missing from the decade's long fight between the government and the rebel groups. there are no firm numbers but hue ran mites group estimate it's between 250,000 to a million people missing in iraq. and 20,000 people are missing from north's camps. >> reporter: it is estimated since world war ii millions of people have gone missing around the world. you can talk about natural disasters, international wars, internal conflicts as well as the effects of criminal gangs and human trafficking. and it's not just an historic problem. joining me from the damascus center for human rights. syria is a case in point. how difficult is it for you to

tackle the problem of missing humans right now? >> it's actually one of the high priority of any transition government in the future. huge number is missing. the first wave in the '80s, 17,000 has been missing during the conflict, during the security forces and [ inaudible ]. during that time [ inaudible ] we have an estimate of 30,000 went missing, and the more difficult as you mentioned that the conflict still ongoing that -- the point here how to put programs in action to start looking for the issue before actually ended up, because in sometimes you have to take lessens from other conflicts to start thinking at least to be able to tackle the crisis in that number. >> the international commission for missing persons isn't

operating in syria because of the circumstances on the ground. but as you say plans are already afoot to try to tackle the problem of missing persons when the conflict eases. where are the priority areas for you? >> what we think actually is [ inaudible ] getting some [ inaudible ] from the villages of the missing persons especially in the camps areas, and when you start working with the families of the missing persons, collect [ inaudible ] then you are building the data, which the most important thing in the future in getting them information about the missing building central data. >> reporter: just how important is it to tackle the problem of missing persons? i have heard over and over again that without resolving the issue of the missing persons then it's very difficult for countries to

put their past behind them and move forward politically. >> right, i said in my speech that tackling the issue will be the first bridge to reach the reconciliation. the reconciliation, actually is a process, and it has to start in the policy regarding the missings, but it doesn't matter -- don't discriminate who is fighting with which side when you start with this policy this will be the first toward the end work of the reconciliation. >> reporter: thank you very much indeed for joining us. it's extraordinary perhaps to realize there isn't one standing body that tackles the problem of missing persons. generally when there are natural disasters and conflicts processes are put in place on an ad hoc basis. the purpose here is to try to establish a standing body so

that that problem can be resolved. back to you. >> the mexican government as form a task group to tackle the problem of abducted people. adam reports from mexico city. >> reporter: another meeting filled with hope. the mexican government assigned her this lawyer to track down her son. she hasn't seen her son for six years with plans to migrate to the u.s. the last time she heard from oscar was three years ago. he called her from a ranch where he was working in central mexico. >> translator: i have to find oscar my son that's why i took the position to leave my country and come live in mexico. >> reporter: we first met ana in 2012 when she as dozens of other

mothers took a convoy across mexico. when the other mothers went home, ana stayed on to keep searching for oscar. mexico's national human rights commission estimates that 22,000 migrants are kidnapped every year. many are extoerded by gangs and corrupt police. an untold number are killed or never heard from again. there have been so many murders across mexico that the government was forced to open a special victim's support bureau to deal with the problem. for the most part federal resources like these go unused. so the work falls to family members, usually mothers with little money and little education. for annie it meant moves from a

tiny village to one of the world's biggest cities. >> translator: i'm not leaving mexico until i fine out what happened to my son. >> reporter: alone in a foreign land she carries on in the hope she'll have an answer soon. for the first time the u.s. secretary of state has publicly admitted the national security agency may have overstepped the mark. >> in some cases i acknowledge to you, as does the president some of these actions have reached too far, and we're going to make sure that that is not going to happen in the future. >> simon we heard a very contrite john kerry, but are these just words or will they be followed up by action? >> well, it's not clear, because

although it was very interesting in dimension and john kerry becomes the most senior administration official to admit that perhaps they went too far, and the surveillance was perhaps inappropriate. i don't think it went as far to a lay out any kind of apology. as we heard the majority of this answer was this intervention that he gave, in a sense was a justification for this huge surveillance program, although he took issue with some of the reports in the press, for example reports that 70 million people were being listened to. no, he said that was complete exaggeration. but in the post 9/11 world, governments and other governments other than the united states, simply had to do this in a world he said where people were prepared to blow

themselves up, we have to intervene to gather as much information with the use of these techniques as possible. he also told the audience that such techniques have prevented planes from going down and buildings being blown up. and he was rather nonspecific in trying to explain exactly how the u.s. had gone too far. there aren't noticeably any reference to angela merkel's cell phone and what areas that the u.s. may have to clarify the situation. so this wasn't an apology, most of the answer was about why we need to do this, and then a rather bland and vague admission, i think, that in certain key areas unmentioned that the u.s. has gone too far. >> so it was a non-denial,

denial. thank you very much for joining us. fourteen people have died in nicaragua and thousands more are sick after the outbreak of the dengue fever. the malaysian police say their three-month operation to crack down on violent crime is a huge success. this is in response to a series of high-profile crimes in the capitol. stephanie reports that the attacks have marred the reputation of a city once considered one of asia's safest. >> reporter: dickson moved here four months ago to become a makeup artist, and now he is dead. his family didn't want to be

identified for fear of retaliation. >> translator: my parents feel very sad. they can't sleep. among the siblings we feel very sad. it happened so fast it's hard for us to accept. >> reporter: this case is far from unique in malaysia. take a look at the internet and it is filled with numerous videos of random and violent crimes. here is man walks in, turns to leave and then in a flash the computer is gone and so is he. in this video three men attack a cashier with knives an an iron bar before he fights them off. this prompted the police to cut down on organized crime, people trafficking and drugs. >> before this a lot of people not just fight but what is the

police doing to overcome these violent crimes? >> reporter: about 2,000 police are taking part in the operation across the country. since mid-august more than 24,000 arrests have been made. more than 2,000 bullets have been confiscated along with knives, guns, and swords. and public confidence has risen from 30 to 70%. but many people are still fearful of crime in the country. >> if you look at how people decided to have their own security guards in their own housing. they pay to have gated communities. that shows they are worried about crime. >> reporter: but she says the police can't do everything. the public also has a role to play. while arrests and reductions in crime are always welcome,

there's one thing that won't change, dixon is dead and nothing can bring him back. [ inaudible ] is in action at the paris masters. jo will you bring the latest, but how a record equalling round got dustin time back in to the swing of things. details coming up after the break. >> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

♪ >> welcome back. a us border agent has uncovered what they are calling a super

tunnel, linking mexico to the united states. it is thought to be one of the most softist indicated drug smuggling tunnels ever built. >> reporter: the recently completed tunnel was wired for power and included its own rail track. authorities said the tunnel was discovered before it could be used to ship any contraband. >> this complex underground passage way zig zags for a third of a mile. >> reporter: discoveries of cross border tunnels like this one have become increasingly common. and they are getting more advanced. one of them was even equipped with a lift on the mexican side.

unground roots are an efficient way of transporting large amounts of marijuana. this tun sell similar to two other tunnels intercepted two years ago, allegedly built which a cartel. a u.s. prosecutor put the syndicate on notice. >> if you continue to build and attempt to use these tunnels, we are determined to make this a big waste of your dirty money. >> reporter: officials say the cartels investment of millions of dollars in the tunnels was a measure of their desperation. it's time for sport now. and here is jo. >> thank you. >> we start with the latest from the pairs masters. the second seed is taking on [ inaudible ]. and djokovic has taken the first

set 6-1. the top seed beat [ inaudible ] but the pole put up a fight winning both sets marginally. federer is due on court shortly. he'll take on the man who beat him. federer beat philip on thursday in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. and ferrer will also be on the court. [ inaudible ] the third title of 2013. justin johnson has taken five straight leads at the halfway stage at the champions tournament. the american made ten birdies on his way to a 9 under par on friday. he finished up at 12 under par.

rory maccelroy struggled on the second nine. >> it was a lot of fun out there today. you know, i really hit it well, drove it well, and had 1 bad drive on 18, but got away with it, and that's really by far the worst shot i hit all day, and still ended up making birdie. on to football now, and roma has broken the record to a best-ever start. they recorded their 10th consecutive win. roma is now 5 points clear of napoli and you venn us the at the top of the table. this game was won by two

penalties. the first came on 38 minutes. his strike partner and top scorer this season scoring the penalty. kosta returned the favor in the 78th minute. this time he stepped up the call. still time for a bit of silliness between the players. but held on to win 2-1. a bad night for fourth place villa real. a comedy of errors helped open the scoring after just five minutes. but it took until injury time to finish them off. footballers in france they say will go on strike over a supertax on the rich.

but the president isn't backing down. he said the superattacks will go ahead next year. tim friend has the story from paris. >> reporter: the millionaires and adoring fans, but now france's top players will be banging up their boots. without a compromise being found, this will be the scene on the last weekend of november, a normally busy match day stadium empty. instead the clubs plan to run open days for fans. clubs like these have deep pocketed foreign buyers, but other teams say they are already struggling and the tax will make it even harder to compete, not only against french clubs but also for players against spanish, english, german, and italian rivals. after a meeting with the

president, the clubs came away with no concessions and the strike goes ahead. >> translator: the president listened to us at length, but we are not convinced we have been heard. we are leaving the meeting without any guarantees, without having any particular progress, so our action will go on. >> reporter: the president made the tax an election pledge that will take effect next year and will be levied on employers who must say it for two years. it will effect 114 players. for instance, ibrahimovic is paid a reported $20.5 million a year. some fans, but not all support the players and the clubs. >> translator: it is pretty steep, and i think the smaller clubs are going to be really effected by this. it is not fair. >> i am against the taxes because for me, 75% is

too -- too -- too much, and the maximum that should be at the table is 50%. >> reporter: a spokesmen for the clubs went further. we're talking about the death of french football he said. on saturday south african side orlando pilots will post egypt in the first leg of the african champions league final. they are going for their eighth title. the teams know each other well having played each other in the group stages. the egyptians got a draw on their first visit. the second visit is scheduled for the 9th of november in cairo. >> translator: football is all about pressure. we try as much as we can to eliminate these pressures. we have played many final games whether away or at home so we

know how to handle this. the chicago bulls bounced back for a win against the new york knicks. and also 2011 mvp derrick rose suffered a neck injury, but he didn't seem to let it bother him. there is more sports on our website, check out aljazeera.com/sport. there is also details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. and that's all of sport for now. >> jo, thank you very much. now the giants of the u.s. motor industry are rolling out more electric cars than ever before. they are feeling the push from a small california based upstart which is capitalizing on the

demand for cleaner, greener, transport. >> reporter: the world's largest auto maker is betting the future is electric. the latest hybrid to roll off of general motors assembly line is the new cadillac elr. the innovation is sparked in part by silicone valley. >> they are all competing against tesla because they are the benchmark at the moment. the next challenge for tesla is to move into that lower range of price. >> reporter: that's where gm is trying to out tesla, tesla. as tiny tesla drives the

high-end market, the all electric goes for around $71,000. gm is steering for the middle of the line. >> the market is a lot broader than we had originally anticipated so we're trying to come up with some different product offerings to try to cover that broader spectrum. this is general motor's first big bet on the electric automobile industry. this came out in 2010 and has a backup gas-powered engine. they are also taking the all electric spark in korea, and when it makes that kind of a gamble, they are no longer a niche business. but gm is hedging its bets with an alternative line of hybrids.

this car can make it 60 kilometers on electricity before the gasoline kicks in. gm will offer fast-charging in the spark later this year. it's still one step behind tesla. but analysts say for a full line manufacturer like gm, that's just fine. >> they have to look at what kinds of things can they do right now? and do they need to do right now? is it okay for them to say it's okay for tesla to take the lead. >> reporter: in other words gm is willing to concede the race for speed as long as it wins the popularity contest. and that's the news hour for you, but do stay with us here on al jazeera, another full bulletin of news straight ahead. also you can keep up with all of

the news on our website, aljazeera.com. ♪

this is al jazeera america, coming to you live from new york city. i'm del walters with a look at today's top stories. a slow start for the affordable care act. white house war room showing only 248 people enrolled in the program after the first two days. the use it or loose it roll for flexible health spending accounts is being eased. a change lets you carry over up to $500 in the next year without penalty. and the president of iraq saying thursday that there is change that is needed. this is the first time that the prime minister has gone to washington since u.s. troops