>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha with the top stories on al jazeera. joining the fight for kobani, iraqi kurdish fighters are ready to take on isil in syria. egyptians living on the border with gaza are being forced to leave their homes to make way for a new buffer zone. and the death of zambia's president means they have a white leader until elections can be held.

and russia offers the u.s. help after a commercial supply rocket explodes on the way to the international space station. ♪ kurdish forces battling to hold off isil in kobani are getting reinforcements. a convoy has now made its way through turkey and is on its way to the syrian town. 150 peshmerga are expected to join the fight just over the border from turkey, and another smaller group of syrian opposition fighters have arrived as well. bernard smith reports. >> reporter: for turks it's an unprecedented sight, armed kurdish fighter being escorted through turkey.

the turkish government is allowing around 150 fighters to transit its territory after pressure from the u.s. to do more to stop kobani falling to isil. turkey has been in conflict with kurdish separatists for more than 30 years. it says the syrian kurds are no different. but turkey doesn't see iraqi kurds as a threat, so it's letting them through. [ applause ] >> reporter: as the convoy made its way, the u.s.-lead coalition launched more air strikes. there the peshmerga might end ter syria. the peshmerga are bringing with heavy weapons. it's this hardware the kurds in kobani say they desperately need. for more than a month they have held their ground with small

arms and grenades. >> bernard you were talking about the heavy weaponry that is going to go into kobani, and it's really -- that is what the kurdish peshmerga have been saying all along that they really need. >> yes, it is. because when you think about it, both sides in this fight, the syrian kurds and isil boast thousands of arms fighters, so the actual numbers being added as reinforcements to the kurds, just about 200 in total doesn't seem very much, but what might make the difference are these heavy weapons. the mortars, the artillery, that is what they say will help them push isil forces out of kobani. at the moment there really still is something of a territorial stalemate. isil control about 40% of the city to the east and the south, and the syrian kurds have the rest of it.

the air strikes have help them holding ground. without them they would have been lost, but they hope this heavy weaponry might help them make the difference. >> all right. bernard thank you. al jazeera has spoken to general john allen the u.s. envoy for the coalition. and he told us about what is needed now to push the group back. >> it's not going to a short period of time. it's going to take the cooperation of many of the members of the coalition over a period. we're going to combine our efforts in a number of ways to accomplish ultimately the objective of degrading isil and ultimately defeating it. neglect of the operational rights of the military forces frankly sectarian policies, which replaced key leaders within the iraqi security

forces, and i think what we are seeing now, what we're hearing now is the iraqi security forces of the future will be iraqi security forces of all of the people. we want the free syrian elements to be able to defend themselves, and to be able to defend the innocent citizens associated with the moderate syrian opposition, and that's the intent. we're building a free syrian army that can be supportive of the moderate syrian opposition, and as we talk about the politicaler outcome in syria, which is what we seek, a political outcome that does not include bashar al-assad, that the moderate syrian opposition becomes not a prominent, not only a prominent voice, but the pre-eminent voice in the political outcome, and that comes from political cohesion that we hope to see within the moderate syrian opposition. there are a variety of things that will undertaken, and we're

moving on that now. and that is -- that is to create three training centers, where elements of the free syrian army, moderate syrian opposition elements will be brought to those training centers, and they will be trained, and equipped, and returned into syria, where they'll conduct operations against darche but will also defend themselves against other elements in syria, to include the regime. turkey has made important contributions already to the coalition. we're seeing unfolding today the positive outcome of conversation between the peshmerga, the defenders of kobani, and turkey, to provide for the reinforcement of kobani, and beyond that, i'll simply say that we're in a conversation with turkey about the role that it can play within the coalition, and ultimately dealing with darche, and that -- the details of that

conversation, we'll hold close between the two of us, until we have come to an agreement on what that relationship will be within the coalition and what role turkey will play over the long term. >> let's talk to a retired turkish army general joining us from london. thanks for being with us on the al jazeera news hour. you heard what general john allen told al jazeera about the plans to degrade and defeat isil. do you get the sense that the strategy -- there's more clarity now when it comes to the u.s. strategy on taking isil on? because up until now it has kind of been muddies. >> i think the strategy has explained where the american general makes -- makes sense, but of course explaining, describing a strategy is something, implementing is completely something else. i mean, it's -- i don't intend

any insult, but it's just a list of wishful thinking, i'm afraid. regarding the recent deployment, militarily, it's insignificant, and as far as i can see, there is no artillery at all. it's just a company-sized, you know, military organization, that will be reinforced by anti-aircraft artillery for ground targets, and that's it. they will not change the situation on the ground drastically, but it will be a boost for morale, and in military terminology, morale is sometimes more important than the weapons themselves. >> and when general allen says they want to train up the free syrian army, what they call the moderate syrian opposition so they ultimately take on the bashar al-assad regime, they want to train them as well to take on isil, does this sound to you that this is going to take a

really long time, and this is going to be a really long war? >> it has already taken a very long time so far. he kept using the word, or visiting the same concept as cohesion. it's about political cohesion. the men in uniform are not very different from other men in suits or without uniform. they need a common cause, and so far, i cannot see any common cause as to the -- the -- the political and state after this conflict, you know, at some stage will end. the key is the political cohesion. without political cohesion, i -- at moment i cannot see any way out militarily any time soon. >> and by arming the peshmerga forces, the iraqi kurdish forces

sending them into kobani, from what we have been seeing, this bodes not very well for turkey, does it not? >> i think this is a politically extremely significant. it's -- it's a major step forward towards a kind of political reconciliation between two groups, that is the kurdish groups in northern syria, and the kurdish entity in northern iraq, but there is a third element, so-called free syrian army, which complicates the situation, and now in kobani we have three groups, kurdish -- you know, iraqi kurds, and the syrian kurd, and the so-called free syrian army. i mean it's yet -- yet to be seen how well they will cooperate, there is a risk involved here. >> and finally, just briefly let

me ask you this, you mentioned the different groups that are fighting in syria with their agendas. let's not forget there is also the al-qaeda affiliated groups with more fighters going into the country, what does this do to syria and where does it leave syria sfl >> i don't think anybody can say. it is a very complicated situation. i would not like to be in the boots of this american general who is trying to coordinate this effort. >> all right. thank you very much for joining us from london. >> you are welcome. coming up on the al jazeera news hour, calls for a nation-wide strike in bangladesh as the leader of the opposition party is sentenced to death for war crimes. plus tackling ebola, the u.s. sends its top diplomat to

west africa. ♪ hundreds of egyptians living in the north are being forced to leave their homes by wednesday night, and that's in just a few hour's time. egypt says it is designed to stop weapons and attackers from getting into northern sinai. >> reporter: they have been leaving with whatever they can carry, abandoning homes and livelihoods with what they say is no hope of returning. they are some of the hundreds of people who live within 300 meters of the border crossing along egypt's board we are the gau -- gaza strip. the egyptian government says it is to protect the border and keep attackers and weapons out.

the buffer zone will eventually expand to 500 meters, and include water-filled trenches to stop people from digging tunnels. more than 680 homes are to be destroyed to create it. >> translator: around 600 houses have been evacuated so far, but still some families are refusing to leave. they say it is better to die in their homes. the army has threatened to destroy the houses even if the families haven't left. >> reporter: the decision to force people out of the area, following an escalation in north sinai over the last three years. that violence spiked on friday when an attack on an army killed 31 soldiers, the worst against egypt's military personnel in years. egypt declared a state of emergency there. hamas, which controls the gaza strip has been accused of supporting fighters angered by the removal of mohammed morsi in

a military coup last year. it's something that hamas denies, and it's official are angry at egypt for also imposing stricter border crossing rules. no one has said that behind friday's attack on the post, but an al-qaeda offshoot in the region has claimed similar attacks in the last year as retribution for morsi's removal and as a crackdown on his supporters. egyptian officials are still discussing compensation with the hundreds of people now forced to give up their homes, but staying is not an option, anyone still there when the deadline expires has been threatened with arrest. well al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of three jernallists who have been detained in egypt. al jazeera rejects all charges

against them. zambia's vice president has been named the country's interim president. he will become the first white african head of state for two decades. the president passed away on tuesday in a hospital in london where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. >> reporter: the phrase, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again, best described the late sam zambian president. he run three times and finally won. he was known as the king cobra because of his sharp tongue. initially made foreign investors nervous. he accused the chinese of mistreating the workers.

but when he took over the government he toned down the stance and promised sam beeians he would grow the economy. on the ground there are signs of development, but many in the country are still poor. >> the quality of the life of the people improved i don't think very much. has the infrastructure or development in the country improved significantly? i don't think. but there are some infrastructures that have been put in place. the economy has grown, but not grown to a very high level. you don't hear people talking on zambia as being the place to invest, the place with the highest gdp growth. >> reporter: on the political front, the critics said his tolerance for political opposition was questionable. protests often weren't allowed to take place, and they also cracked down on homosexuality.

he had shown signs of aging when he was elected in 2011. even then there were concerns about his health. he fulfilled his dream of becoming zambia's fifth president. he had his supporters but also his enemies. he managed to keep zambia welltively stable. >> in september 19th, he went to the parliament to speak and said he was not dying. everybody knew he was almost a dead man walking. so the problem is can you elect people who have lost their capacity physically to run countries. look at the people that are running the countries elsewhere. they are 40, 50 years old.

these are 70, 80 years old. they want to be in power at all costs. you need people who have the capacity to usher in africa in this new age and time. and i hope this time we'll elect somebody who is younger. you have people like [ inaudible ] and top sam beeian experts who understand the issues of the day, and they should be looking at those people to give a chance for zambia, because this country is some of the most important natural resources in the world. copper, and iron, et cetera, you name it. zambia is a rich country, unfortunately it's weak in terms of human resources. we hope the democratic process that was ushered in 1991 will yield now to a mature process that will lead to selection of a

person who can transform the country when everybody is looking at zambia as a country that can be a wealthy country. the most senior figure received the death sentence on charging dating back to the war of independence in 1971. his supporters have now called for a three-day nationwide shutdown in protest. >> reporter: as head of bangladesh's main religious party, he is one of the highest profile men to be tried on war crimes. he is the tenth person convicted by the war crimes tribunal which has been criticized for lack of fair legal process. but many believe the trials are long overdue. >> the trials are necessary for

justice. i mean heinous crimes. it's a crime that is genocide, and everything >> reporter: this is bangladesh's national monument for those kills in 1971. the war was marked by atrocitied by civilians. it is estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 died. the government puts the number at 3 million. supporters of the trials say they are a long overdue way of bringing justice to those who committed atrocities during the independence struggles. critics say the trials are flawed, and politically motivated. guilty environments against other heards in 2013 sparked violent protests. the defense lawyer says his client didn't get a fair trial. >> in every country, the war crimes trial or crimes against

humanity trial takes place to close one chapter and begin a new chapter. this is an exception in bangladesh. this trial has divided the nation. this trial has talked to the nation. ever time a defendant -- death sentence is given to defendant, then [ inaudible ] on the streets and many people have been killed be -- by the security forces. >> reporter: several more opposition party officials are still on trial, probing decade's old national wounds that have never healed. india's government has given the supreme court a list of citizens believed to have illegal bank accounts in oversea's tax havens. in india such money is referred to as blackmonny. more than 600 names are supposedly on the list. the ruling party has promised to bring back all of the black

money in the election earlier this year. >> reporter: officials have tried to tackle the issue of black money, which is untaxed cash parked in foreign bank accounts. it's a huge challenge, one that many governments have failed to tackle adequately. the government came to office earlier this year, promising to deal with it in fact within its first 100 days in office. that deadline has passed, and after being pressed it has submitted a list of over 600 accounts which it says may have illegal cash stashed away. it's all well and good to have a list of hundreds of aledged -- accounts with illegal money packed in them, but there's investigations to follow and prosecutions to follow, which is a really big challenge for the indian government and

indian judicial system given the vested interest that may tumble out of the names and the accounts that are now with the supreme court. for indians across the country, this is a hugely positive move when it comes to tackling corruption, but there's scepticism how much the talk, policies and these moves will actually translate into changes in the long term. in sri lanka, people died after a mud slide buried homes at a tea plantation. nearly 300 others are missing. and rescue workers are trying to dig people out. let's get an update on the weather there in sri lanka, and bring in everton. everton? >> well, it's with the changing of the monsoon, we have gone from the summer rains which are the southwestly monsoon, and now

we're looking at the northeastly monsoon. for india that is a dry monsoon. but with the northeastly monsoon, we have this long sea track, all the way from the gan jis into southern india. and we're seeing plenty of showers coming into the country. it's not expected to be heavy as it has been. we have seen incredible rainfall coming in. any winds going from the northeast to the southwest. and across the higher ground we'll be seeing 141 millimeters of rain in only 24 hours. massive downpours, hence the mud slides and further showers to come. another area is across the northwest of india. you can see this massive cloud. it is expected to make landfall late on friday gmt, it will weaken somewhat, sustained winds

gusting up to 110 kilometers per hour. it was a very powerful storm not too long ago. the third strongest storm to develop in the arabian sea on record, so quite an impressive feature. it will also drag in some drier air as we go on through the next couple of days. we're going to see pretty wet weather and windy weather as we make our way across pakistan. but for the time being it does stay very, very settled across the region. we will see heavy downpours, and that wet weather will come in late on friday. we are still expecting further showers across the far south of india and across west sri lanka, also in friday more downpours to come across the area. russia's space agency as offered help to the u.s. in

resupplying the international space station after a u.s. rocket exploded on launch. rory challands reports from mass cow. >> two, one. >> reporter: 2.6 metric tons of food and equipment for the crew of the international space station destroyed in an explosion just seconds after liftoff the u.s. space agency, nasa and his commercial rocket contractor must now figure out what happened. >> it began to go wrong around 10 to 12 seconds, i believe. i do know safety initiated the flight termination system around 20 seconds, maybe a little bit before. so most of this happened in the first 20 seconds of flight, and it was fairly quick. >> reporter: another view was filmed on a mobile phone as

spectators gathered to watch. the vast fireball lights the sky. [ explosion ] >> reporter: followed by the shock wave boom. it's the first accident since nasa hired orbital and another contractor in 2010 to conduct supply runs to the space station. nasa hasn't carried out its own mission since it mothballed the program in 2011. but a lock of their own rocket no how mean much of the technology is of soviet design, bought from ukraine and russia. that may surprise some people considering the geopolitical tensions between the united states and russia, and the international space station and his sorts of contracts are pretty much f the only areas of scientific cooperation these two countries have left to engage

in. so will russia assume the main burden of manning the space station. russia says it is willing to help more if nasa wants to ask, and a rocket launched without hitch on wednesday, but six russia rockets have failed in recent years. it's re -- reliability record is far from perfect. >> the station's in great shape. the crew is in good shape. we have plenty of work for them to do on orbit, and plenty of supplies to keep them going for quite sometime. >> reporter: in recent years the u.s. has been trying to downsize to a new era of commercial space enterprise, recent events suggest in our crash-strapped era, it's an ambition with sometimes explosive consequences. rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. still ahead on the al

jazeera news hour, safety concerns as somali refugees prepare to return home. plus -- yemen ease students protest against houthi rebels. and why russian cosmonauts are getting a kick out of their latest expedition. ♪

the top stories on the al jazeera news hour, a convoy

carrying kurdish fighters from iraq has made it way through the town of kobani, 1 550 fighters e expected to join. the zambia president has died. the vice president has been named the country's interim president. hundreds of egyptians have until late wednesday to leave their homes in north sinai. houses are being destroyed eye long egypt's border to create a buffer zone. shia houthi rebels in yemen have taken over a town in the central province of ibb after days of fighting with tribesmen. and university students have staged anti-houthi protests.

students at the university are angry. they are protesting against the presence of members known as the houthis. the group's fighters control the gates of the campus. dozens gather outside of the office of the university's president, and they are loud. >> translator: this is a place for education, and not for armed militias. they should leave. >> reporter: this is one of the protest organizers. he says students will escalate their protests if their demands are not met. >> translator: we want to pressure the university to end the militia presence and create a civilian protection force run by the university. if not we will mobilize more students from all colleges. >> reporter: although the protest is confined to the campus, organizers hope it will grow. students at the university started the 2011 protests which forced the president at the time

to leave office in 2012. the number of protesters is quite small, but the message is quite clear, the houthis are not welcome here. this protest also indicate that anti-houthi sentiment is increasing. on tuesday young activists staged this protest in the city center, carrying banners calling on houthi fighters to leave all of the provinces, including the capitol. the shia rebels swept through the capitol, sana'a. they run check points and control important state institutions now. they also sent forces south to take more provinces away from their traditional strong hold in the north. it ordered its followers to end their sitting in the capitol after weeks of protests against rising fuel prices. the leaders say the armed p

popular committees are fighting aol chi da. but they are also in talks to form a new unity government. the political landscape for yemen has changed with the houthis arising as a new and powerful force. the u.n. is calling attention to some 340,000 refugees in kenya who have escaped conflict and famine from neighboring somali. as malcolm webb reports, people living in the settlement are divided on whether to return to their homeland. >> reporter: when tens of thousands of people died of hunger in somali in 2011, this woman says her young children would have died too, if they hadn't left, so she has lived her ever since in neighboring kenya. but the famine is over and she

wants to go over. >> translator: i want to go back to somalia so i can do business. here there is restriction of movement so i can't make enough money. i can't afford clothes and shoes for my kids. >> reporter: but it's mostly because of decades of conflict in somalia that thousands of people have come here. the first refugees came in 1991 and the camp has grown ever since. now there are over 300,000 people living here. it has become a permanent town, and here in the market people buy and sell almost anything. there are sandals made in india, people are not only rebuilt their businesses, they have rebuilt their whole lives. in 1992, this man fled somalia, he learned to make shirts here as a teenager. now he employed five people. and like many he feels it is not safe enough to go home. >> translator: in my opinion

somalia is still very bad. if you decide to go back, you might be killed, you might not. but you can't live like that. >> reporter: the u.n. offers food and basic services. 3,000 people have signed up to go home, but they have been waiting for months. >> one problem is the closure of the border. and we have been discussing with this we somalian government at many levels. >> reporter: the kenyan government closed the border because of attacks and kidnappings, but it is still porous. so for thousands living here in the camp, going home still seems a long way off. now the situation appears to be stabilizing in some parts of west africa hit by the ebola outbreak, but the president of liberia, one of the worst

affected countries, says the international community must come together to beat it. the u.s. president has echoed that sentiment. he sent his u.s. ambassador to the region in a show of support. >> reporter: liberia is seeing progress in the fight against ebola. that's the message from the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. who is in the country. >> we are beginning to see results. we are seeing safe burials occur at a much higher percentage than occurred in the early months of this crisis. now with the deployment of one mobile lab it is possible to get results in less than five hours. >> reporter: samantha visited the first ebola facility outside of the capitol funded by the u.s. but there is a fear that some countries are prioritizing protecting their own borders.

australia has stopped issuing vias for the three countries most affected. >> we ask the international community to continue to see this as a global threat. exclusion, restriction is not the appropriate response to this. >> reporter: the u.s. president called for a change in attitude at home, where there has been an outbreak of his theriot in response to ebola. and long quarantines have been imposed. >> if we don't have robust international response in west africa, then we are actually endangering ourselves here back home. in order to do that, we have got to make sure that those workers who are willing and able and dedicated to go over there in a really tough job, that they are applauded, thanked and supported. >> reporter: a boost to his message is second u.s. nurse has been cured of the virus.

amber vinson was inflected in dallas, texas, but health workers in west africa are the most at risk, 244 people have died. the world bank says there's a need for 5,000 more health workers and support staff in the region. in switzerland has announced it will trial two new vaccines. if they are shown to be safe and effective, they could be mass produced in the first few months of next year. someone who just recently returned from sierra leone is katie mark she is a journalist and filmmaker. and you were reporting on ebola in sierra leone. just give us an idea of what you saw over the past couple of weeks. >> well, when i was there, there was not really the international response that has started to happen now. so we basically had -- i was in

sla -- we basically had mss, and red cross who were really the only people working on the ground. there was so much more help that was needed. and it was really bad. >> so now has that situation somewhat improved and changed? there are many calls right around the world, more international help needs to be given to these three countries in west africa hardest hit by ebola. >> yeah, i think -- i think that the response has started, but i think there is still so much more to be done. like the 1 billion promised by the 35 countries in europe. america and u.k. is still saying that is not nearly enough. the world bank has said we're going to need 5,000 more staff to even come close to being able to help. the w.h.o. have said that -- have written a report where there could be up to 10,000 new cases by december. so i think there's still a lot

to do. they have done a good job of sending support and staff, i think they were the first responders, and they promised more than any other country. england and america are sending more people now to help with training and the testing aspect of it. but i think there is still a lot that is left to be done. >> what exactly needs to be done? >> well, staff need to be trained. i mean in these countries -- there is a crumbling healthcare system. so when the ebola epidemic started, the situation completely destroyed any infrastructure. so we need more trained staff to go to these countries. they need things like helping the burial teams, which is one of the main ways that the disease is transmitted is through burials. so people in charge of burying were not trained and that's where a lot of the disease started to spread, and i think

just more money needs to be given towards supporting the people currently on the ground, which is what they're doing, but it is not enough. >> okay. katie thank you very much for joining us from london. well when the iron curtain fell many albanians began to immigrate in search for a better life. but the economic crisis has now reversed that flow, and albanians are returning to their homeland. john reports. >> reporter: running a grocery store in southern albania has come as a culture shock to this man and his family. he has invested a quarter of a million dollars here. his lifetime savings managing a restaurant in greece. but after 23 years away he feels out of place. >> translator: psychologically we're not okay. we got used to a different way of thinking.

the people i worked with loved me. they had given me the keys to the business, and i did right by them. if they told me to go back we would leave in the night. >> reporter: his daughters were both born in greece and have never known albania. >> translator: i thought it would be like greece. i said let's go. i liked the idea, but i regretted it. >> reporter: they are among some 200,000 albanians who have come back from greece and italy during the crisis. their children don't speak albanian, so many enroll in greek schools like this one. they bring back skills and entrepreneurship, creating 70,000 new jobs just in the last six months. and albanian has reversed a tradition of immigration. last year it offered permits to italians looking for work. >> reporter: they would send

back up to a billion dollars a year helping to bolster this economy. and those remittances have now fallen in half. the government now in power ran on a promise of bringing albania into the european union. last year it bussed in 70,000 albanian voters from greece who it believes gave it ten seats in parliament. >> it has made [ inaudible ] become a lot more sophisticated and try to talk about the goods its delivers rather than the propaganda it can generate. in that sense, the major turnout, and also the landslide victory of this government in the previous elections, was partly an attribute of this new corporate of voters. >> reporter: the crisis may have nearly cost greece its e.u. membership, but it has been a

fertilizer of albanian progress. still ahead, how the world's largest museum is putting details of millions of artifacts online. and why africa's football champions may not get the chance to defend their title. ♪

♪ protesters in hong kong have been marking the birth of what is calling called the umbrella revolution which started a month ago.

the demonstrators are now under pressure to shift tactics. sarah clark reports. >> reporter: one month on, they return to the site where it all began. [ applause ] >> reporter: most were armed with what has become the symbol of this protest. >> translator: we can't give up. we can't give up, after we have gone so far. >> reporter: students and pro-democracy groups marked the birth of the umbrella revolution, and the beginning of the civil disobesence movement. they used torches to reflect on what has now become a larger social movement and changed the city for good. >> it's very important, you know. when they are grown up, they will never for get once we are fighting for freedom, democracy. >> reporter: but the government of hong kong has offered no concrete promises, and student leaders are yet to agree on the next step.

it's with that in mind that public support for the protests is starting to fray. >> translator: these protests have gone far too long. it is enough. they should wrap it up. wrap it up. >> reporter: this professor is the head of politics at the university of hong kong. she has been watching developments closely and says time is running out for both sides. >> for student activists and definitely, you know, they are under the pressure of time to try to be able to achieve something before they lose public support all together. >> reporter: while some students remain resolute. others are losing stamina. most acknowledge that this will be a long-term battle for democratic change. many are surprised that what looks like a camping site in this busy business district is

still here. but one thing they agree on is to stay put. andy is here with an update on all of the day's sports stories. >> baseball's world series heading to a deciding game 7. the royals beat the giants 10-0 in game sets. meaning the season will come down to a single game to be played in kansas city later on wednesday. >> reporter: before game 6 there was a moment to remember the st. louis cardinal's player that died in a car accident on sunday. back in kansas city, the royals needed to win to keep their world series dreams alive. they did it in quite some time. an rbi double. and then an rbi single, put them 2-0 up. that forced the san francisco giants to pull starting pitcher jake peavy from the game in just

the 2nd inning. the replacement didn't do much better. the faced the american league championship series mvp. he hit a two-run single to put the royals 4-0 up. next chopped the ball into left field to add another two runs for the home team. butler then added an rbi double making it 7 runs in just the 2nd inning for the royals. the highest amount scored in a post season inning in franchise history. san francisco missed the chance to get back into the game at the top of the 3rd. kansas had added another two runs by the time san francisco scored the only home run in the

7th. >> when this thing started i really hoped we could play 7. and we're here now. so we feel good about our chances. >> it's exciting. it is. i mean we're going into seventh game. good for baseball, you have two teams going at it. it wasn't pretty, but we do get a game 7. >> reporter: the game 7 decider takes place in kansas city on wednesday. tony parker scored 23 points as the san antonio spurs opened their nba title defense with a 101-100 point victory over the dallas mavericks. and in new orleans anthony davis reported 26 points, 17 rebounds, and 9 blocks as the pelicans opened their regular season with a victory over the orlando magic. african football champions, nigeria face a race against time to avoid a seven-month playing

time. fifa are unhappy with government interference in the running of football within nigeria. nigeria won the african tight until 2013, but could now be banned from qualifying from next year's event. they recently voted in a new board only for a court ruling to then void the election results. fifa has given nigeria until friday to reverse that decision. and russian cosmonauts have ensured the country did hit their particular fifa deadline, namely releasing the logo for the world cup. it will be staged in 11 russian cities at a coast of more than $15 billion. >> we have just faced an exceptional world cup in brazil. russia, 2018 will be better. will be better because football, football will improve during the

four years, and i'm sure it will be a wonderful feature of the football of the different continents. sri lanka's cricketers are on their way of india. they stepped in to replace the west indies who quit their trip early due to a pay dispute. here are the players at tending a ceremony before their departure. they hadn't been scheduled to play any competitive games until late november against england. >> translator: we have had only five days of practice because the tour was set up at last minute. we have just been taking care of our physical fitness, because we didn't expect a tour. however, we'll make the best of these games. indian great may have retired from the game, but the

awards haven't stopped coming. he has just been inducted into the hall of fame in sydney. he says playing in australia was the toughest challenge out there his career. >> playing in australia was number one side in the world, and it was a challenge that i looked forward to. and then performing to their satisfaction, because i knew if you performed well against the leading side in the world, then everyone takes notice of your performance. plenty more of course on your website, you can check that out, aljazeera.com/sport. our top story, the san antonio spurs winning started to the new nba regular season. plenty more for me later on. >> all right. we'll see you later on. the world's largest collection of art, historical documents as well as natural

specimens have never been fully cataloged, but now thousands of volunteers are lending a helping hand to the smithsonian institute in washington. >> reporter: the shelves contain just a small fraction of the 137 million artifacts gathered by the many museums and research centers of the smithsonians. like the largest collection of bat specimens. or the 1849 diary of scientist joseph henry. the institution's staff has a big enough mission just scanning and digitizing its backlog of artifacts, plus more than keep arriving, but transcribing the details of each item so they can be fully accessible to researchers that's a task requiring many more hands. more than 3500 people to have signed up since the

transcription center opened to the public in june. the volunteers aren't necessarily very knowledgeable in their fields of interest. >> it might be someone who liked science when they were in high school, and said i would like to transcribe this scientist diary. >> my favorite would be the field books. >> volunteers like these sisters of wellington new zealand, who spend a few hours each week transcribing. >> i do a little bit of the handwriting, and then i'm also [ inaudible ]. >> i'm also in contact with all -- through twitter with a lot of other volunteers to the smithsonian, so we do a lot of talking about what we discover. >> reporter: if you thought computers had made human transcribers obsolete, well, not

yet. scribbles like this still deny automatic transcription. but here is the same document as transcribed by a volunteer. the smithsonian isn't the only institution that has turned to crowd sourcing for transcription, so has the new york public library who has invited help for its historical election of restaurant menus, offering another taste of the possibilities, the power of crowds offers to illuminate the world's cultural records. thanks for watching the news hour right here on al jazeera. for our viewers over in the united states, it's back to our regular programming, coming up on al-al jazeera america. for our international viewers, i'm back in just a couple of

minutes, and will have enough more news coming your way. stay with us. ♪

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