>> i have all of the sport, on the brink of an historic record, as real madrid prepares to host liverpool. and the melbourne cup is overshadowed by the deaths of two horses. ♪ the major of iguala and his wife have been arrested. in connection with the disappearance of 43 students. the case has caused outrage in mexico, with protests across the country. the police chief is also accused of being complicit in the crime, is still a fugitive. let's go to mexico city's adam

rainy who is there. at the very least i suppose people are hoping this man may be able to shed some light on what has happened to these students. >> yeah, he is giving testimony right now at the attorney general's office for investigations into organized crime. the parents that a team of hours had been speaking to, say what they really hope is they can give leads to somehow find these missing students still alive. we don't know their whereabouts still, or if they are alive. many assume they were actually massacred after being handed over to this drug cartel. the mayor has been pointed to as the prime suspect. he has been given the order that lead to the detention and disappearance of these students. now what he is going to be saying in testimony here is not clear. but we do understand that within a couple of hours the attorney general will be holding a press conference and giving more

details. >> so the allegation against him is not that he ordered the abduction of these students, but ordered the police to intercept them. >> yes, that's exactly right, but it's not clear who then gave the order to perhaps abduct them further, to perhaps shoot them, or whatever -- what their final fate is, but there are reports in the press in mexico, that people who have been arrested in the case, mid-level drug car sell operatives, some are saying they did indeed kill them and bury them in mass graves. this cannot be confirmed at this time. but we have parents and even members of the government saying we believe they are alive. and through leaks in the local press the attorney general's

office have given information that the children are dead. so you can imagine for parents this is an awful desperate time. we heard from the newly appointed governor -- because the former governor resigned because of the crisis, he is saying this is going to lead to new leads in this case. >> adam, many thanks. adam rainy in mexico city. ♪ voting is underway in u.s. midterm elections. at stake who controls the senate. kimberly hallcut joins us live from capitol hill. >> that's right. it is voting day. polls opening all across the united states, voting day over

the next few hours. what is at stake? the control of the congress. the lower how currently controlled by republicans, that is not expected to change too much. what is expected to change is the makeup of the u.s. senate. d currently that is controlled by democrats, and the control should shift to the republicans, giving the republicans direct control of both houses. mike hannah reports. >> reporter: there's no u.s. ambassador in sierra leone to report on the fight against ebola. nor in turkey, which is on the front line of the war the u.s. has declared against isil fighters. and no u.s. representation in bahrain, which hosts one of the most powerful projections of u.s. foreign policy.

posts are v-- vacant around the world. the reason? republicans are intentional blocking hearings. many arms withering in the face of republican repunation. the log jam could get even worse in the republicans gain control of the senate together with what is likely to be a renewed majority in the house, the republicans could have the hower to effectively shutdown the president's attempts to exercise crucial areas of foreign and domestic policy during his last two years in office. the current iran policy, for example, could be crippled. if a new republican senate majority leader allows a vote on sanctions to be taken. >> the president made clear he opposes additional sanctions. why don't we let congress speak?

let congress have a voice. >> reporter: and a republican-lead armed services committee, for example, would demand a far more muscular policy in areas like syria and iraq. >> the president said if syria crossed the red line with the use of chemical weapons, we would have to respond, and obviously we didn't. >> reporter: despite the fact that so many generations of solders have been killed abroad, foreign policy seldom becomes part of the debate. but foreign policy has now been made a central domestic issue. mike hannah, al jazeera, washington. now traditionally non-presidential elections there is a lot of voter apathy, and very low turnout. a lot of the obstacles that democrats and republicans will be trying to challenge as they try to get people to the poles.

but there is a feeling in the united states no matter how a vote is cast, very little will change. >> i think it would be good to have the house still split if that is the case, rather than having republicans kind of rule -- rule the house. >> for us, because north carolina does have a very contentious senor toal race, it is going to be very important for the state. >> off-year elections tend to draw an older crowd. and i think that's pretty well represented this year. there is some level of interest on the lower level because of the race, particularly some of the differences in approaches to gay rights and access to abortion and things like that. >> they say one thing and then they do another thing. just politics. they are about money and what they can promote for themselves, and that's it. >> yeah, i think everyone should be involved. i mean if anyone wants to say anything, people should be

involved snfrms >> i'm looking for somebody who can really bridge the gap between all political parties so we can work for america to be strong, the strong nation that we once were. >> now one of the reasons that many u.s. voters point to in terms of why they won't go vote is the reason they feel they have very little to choose from at the ballot box. and that's in large part because the united states is a two-party system. to explain why, we have our correspondent standing by at a third-party office. why is it so hard for a third-party to gain traction in the u.s.? >> money and vested interest. but third-parties are having an impact in many of the electoral races occurring today in the united states. some six senate seats are in play as a result of the role of

third-parties, not least an election race in georgia. they may not even be decided until january. some 20 house seats are in play as a result of third-parties. that's not to mention govern governortorial elections and state elections. politics in the u.s. is a complex mix. and a lot of gridlock isn't happening at the local and state level. so we have municipal elections in seattle recently a socialist candidate won, and helped facility a minimum wage raise. so they do have an impact. we're hear at the libertarian headquarters, perhaps one of the best known third-parties in the

united states. we have the political director, and clearly you are having an impact, the libertarian party is having an impact in so many races, and yet are you taken seriously as a third-party or are you dismissed as a spoiler? >> we are taken very seriously, which is why they work so hard to knock us off of the ballot. sometimes they win, sometimes we win, but clearly we're threatening the status quo. >> are you trying to build a true viable third-party in the u.s. or is it simply for the major parties to co-op some of your policies? >> it's both. the end goal is to shrink government. government is too big. we want to stop endless war. we want to bring our troops home. we want small government and that's the bottom line. >> can you call this a

multi-party democracy, really? >> we have a multi-party, because we have challenger parties like the libertarians. but the democrats and republicans are basically one party. they are beholden to higher powers and they are voting essentially the same. there is a this great pretense of competition between the two parties. >> what do you think about people like ralph nader, say someone on the left won't agree on your opinions on government, but they will agree on the military industrial complex, or prison, or drugs, there are points where you can all agree left and right, and perhaps there's a way to get change that way? >> we have been working with progressive lobbying groups who want to see an end of spying, and mass surveillance of u.s. citizens and abroad.

we want to get rid of corporate war fair and bring our troops home. and we want to cut government and taxes, which is the majority of americans want to see today. >> thank you so much for joining us. and clearly there is something amiss with the u.s. politics. 60% won't even bother to vote today. and yet 58% in a gallup poll said there was a need for a viable third-party in the united states. as always the question is always will the grassroots efforts work or will the vested interests prevent that from happening. >> 3.67 trillion is how much is estimated to be spent on this election so far, for what will amount to in change when all of the votes are counted, possibly just a handful of seats that

will shift from democrat to republican or republican to democrat. so in a race this tight, it will take a while for these votes to be counted. it is estimated that it could be days or even weeks before the outcome is known. >> kimberly many things. get up to the minute coverage on terms on our website, unique brand of news can be found at aljazeera.com. still to come here on the news hour, thousands of people flee boko haram after a string of attacks across nigeria. plus the african union gives leaders in burkina faso two weeks to hand overrule. and we'll have all of the

details in sport. ♪ in iraq weeks of air strikes lead by the united states have failed to stop isil gaining ground and getting closer to erbil, the capitol of the kurdish region in the north of iraq. isil is now battling kurdish fighters in a town around 60 kilometers away from the center of erbil. joining us is senior fellow at the neo-americans nuture of war project. how concerned should we be about the progress of isil towards erbil? >> not very much. these are still towns that are very far away from erbil. there are significant defenses between these towns and erbil, and as we saw last time, if the islamic state were to make

progress, they would be largely confronted by the u.s. and other air power. so we should be very concerned about their activities in anbar, but erbil is still safe. >> anbar stretches towards the capitol, i suppose if isil is pushing northwards that will take the pressure off of the capitol? >> you would think. they do seem to be able to fight in multiple directions at one time. although they have been pushed back around mosul. there has been a lot of activity around kobani and around bagdad, and in anbar. so we can't take away their ability to fight on multiple fronts at once. >> all right. many thanks indeed. >> thank you. now to nigeria where boko haram have carried out a series of attacks that have killed dozens of people, and forced

thousands more to flee. on monday a suicide bomber killed at least 29 shia muslims preparing to mark a holy day. and in a central state gunmen blew up a prison, and more than 140 inmates there escaped. and a boko haram takeover of mubi has forced more than 10,000 people to flee to camps in the state capitol. al jazeera's correspondent has more for us now on one of those camps helping displaced people. >> reporter: the mood here is that of fear and anxiety. this particular camp was home to more than 3,000 refugees who fled the violence unleashed by boko haram. in three days the number has more than doubled. now they have more than 7,000 people registered here, and there are more waiting to be

registered at the gate, it tells you how desperate the situation is where boko haram has launched its attack. there is little information coming from the area, because telephone activity has been cut off. so there is little information as to what is going on. but the military authorities are saying an air and ground offensive has been launched to try to take baxterers to taken by boko haram in the last week. mobi was a piece for the army trying to take overplaces controlled by boko haram. refugees are trooping in from different parts of the state from mubi from outlining villages who are afraid that the fighting may sort of spread to their own villages. hundreds of people protested

after a general was sacked days after the president died. on the line now political analyst who is in the area. is this move by the acting president going to be enough to get people off of the streets and quell their anger? it certainly has that effect already. the rioting that was experienced last evening has not recurred today. and the statement has been issued signed by the acting president and also the secretary general of the party appealing to their membership to [ inaudible ] mourn the death of the president and have [ inaudible ] addressed after the burial next week.

>> many thanks indeed. . in burkina faso the african union envoy has held a series of meetings aimed at achieving a return to civilian rule. the army took control of the country after protests forced the long-time president to resign. it has been an incredible 24 hours, malcolm, what is the latest? >> reporter: well at the moment the man in charge is the colonel who is an officer from the presidential guard. he was the second army officer to say he was in control, and he said on saturday he is the current leader, but under growing international pressure, and local pressure, he said he will hand over power soon to an interim authority that he says will be constitutional. the protesters who set fire to parliament and set fire to the politicians cars as you can see

there, they won't be very patient. they don't want to see their revolution as they see it being usurped by the military. we spoke to some of the opposition politicians about their expectations about what is going to happen. let's take a look at our story now. >> reporter: people in burkina faso are waiting to find out who will be their next ruler, here these journalists are waiting for opposition politicians to announce their next move. on saturday, an army colonel said he is in charge. but the opposition says it expects a swift handover to swivelian rule. >> we're have happy to [ inaudible ] is agreeing to some discussion. yesterday afternoon he held a meeting in his headquarters, and it was a very normal discussion, and he showed some openness. >> reporter: last weeks tens of

thousands protested against the president's attempt to extend his term in office. is compaore resigned and left the country. protesters broke in here and set it on fire. all that remains now is ash and rubble. this was one of the offices. and here is the remains of a photocopier. compaore's party now are completely out of the picture. it's the political opposition and the army that are trying to work out a way forward. >> reporter: monday morning he met with foreign diplomats, and he has promised a quick handover of power. >> translator: we are in contact with all political actors rebuild executive power, which is actually vacant. the executive will soon be lead by a transitional team.

>> reporter: meanwhile this is what is left of parliament. compaore tried to get politicians to remove presidential term limits. protesters broke in and burned it. the opposition leader showed me where he once sat. like many here he is anxious about military rule. >> translator: this is a democratic fight for a peaceful shift of power. the shift should be to civilians, unfortunately we are facing a different situation with the military in charge. we just need the military to take care of our safety and property. >> reporter: compaore ruled with a mixture of democracy and repression. but political killings and corruption is what is remembered. now the abrupt end to compaore's 27-year period of rule really showed the gap between how his people feel about him, and how his western allies felt about

him. france and the u.s. saw him as a gooda gooda good -- good ally, and we just heard on french media earlier today that president hollande help compaore to flee when he left. there are some people here that say they saw a french helicopter land in his palace, so there are rumors that his exit may have been helped by his long-time ally france. the u.s. says if it deems this to amount to a military coup they will cut off military support and may cut off financial aid to burkina faso too. >> malcolm many thanks. somalia's national university has reopened for the first time in 23 years. hundreds of students have registered for courses.

it's another sign that the country is recovering from decades of civil war. >> translator: i have been told this was a national university with 15,000 students who studied for free. the university was shut down before i was born, so for me to be part of it now, makes me so happy, that i cannot even measure my happiness. i wish to share that happiness with somalis all over the world. we're just a few minutes away from the midway point in this news hour. israel say the palestinians who throw stones could face 20 years in jail. plus -- >> i'm paul rees at the medieval martial arts championships, where the lost art is being brought into the 21st century.

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> its disgraceful... the only crime they really committed is journalism... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people...

>> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live. >> election day stay with al jazeera america for live, in-depth coverage focusing on the issues with expert analysis and updates from across the country. midterm coverage that's serious, straightforward and unbiased. tonight, 7:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. ♪ hello again, you are with the news hour from al jazeera, adrian finighan from doha. a fugitive major and his wife have been arrested in mexico over the disappearance of 43ing

students. zambia's acting president has reinstated the ruling secretary general after violent protests. and voting is underway in the united states midterm elections. republicans are looking to increase their majority in the house and to take control of the senate as well. israel's cabinet has passed a bill that will mean people could go to jail for 20 years for throwing stones. it's the latest step in israel's efforts to clamp down on palestinian demonstrators. >> reporter: this is a palestinian student from east jerusalem and he has just come out of jail. he took part in protests after the killing of an arab youth in july. he was jailed for three months

for throwing a rock at police officers. but he has no regrets. >> translator: on the contrary, i'm at ease with what i did. i did nothing wrong. i was expressing my rejection of the violence committed by the israeli only -- occupation. >> reporter: the israeli police have arrested more than a,000 students and charged 300 in connection with protests. there has been anger about visits by israeli activists trying to pray at the come pounds known to jews as the temple mount. and they have been known to attack the rail system as well as buses. now they want to bring charges up to 10 years for throwing objects at moving vehicles, and up to 20 years for throwing

objects at people. >> after several weeks of constant disturbances by people who are part of the communities and have taken the law into their own hands, it is time to crack down and prevent those incidence from taking place. >> reporter: the police are also cracking down on these check points into palestinian districts. it might not take much to trigger further violence. a growing cause of friction is israeli activists moving into the heart of palestinian neighborhoods, sparking regular confrontati confrontations. >> in the abscess of a strategy, facing and challenging the israeli atrocities, it is left for the youth of jerusalem. in the daytime they work in israel, but in the night, they challenge israelis with national pride. >> reporter: the increases security measures are clearly having an effect, but tensions are never far from the surface

here, and the restrictions could end up causing for resentment. >> this legislation is not the only controversial piece of legislation under consideration right now, is it? >> that's right. just last night a law was passed which effectively removes palestinian prisoners as part of negotiations between the israelis and palestinians. now as you can imagine that's an extremely sensitive issue for the palestinians, the precondition for talks most notably the talks that failed in april, a big part of that the reason why those talks even began was israel's agreement to release some of those prisoners. that fell apart because some of the prisoners were not released, so it gives you a sense of how important of a role prisoners

play when it comes to negotiating peace. we spoke to a senior palestinian official to get their response. here is what he had to say. >> israel has broken all venues for future compromise. the palestinian prisoners are the most sensitive issue. this is an emotional issue not only a legal issue. what israel is doing is blocking any future compromise with the palestinians, because if you reach a final status agreement tomorrow -- after tomorrow whenever it is going to be possible, there is no way that palestinian leadership will ever accept such a deal without total release of all prisoners. so what israel is saying by this law is there will be no future compromise and no future deals on prisoners. >> so a very strong reaction from palestinian leadership. however, i should point out

there are two caveats to this law. this isn't a back-dated law, so any prisoners who are currently in jail do not fall in this. so they can be used in future negotiations, and i should also add that the president of israel also has been given the power to pardon of his own volition people who have been arrested and are serving long prison sentences. so while this is certainly a huge roadblock for future peace talks there are back door issues around it. >> many thanks. there has been fierce fighting in the yemenitown with several loud explosions. at least 29 houthi rebels have been killed. the government in the capitol is weak and has been unable to put

down the houthi rebel i don't know in the north, or al-qaeda in the south. omar the houthis had been showing their political and military power in the last few weeks, how much of a blow is the loss of their fighters? >> well, it's a big blow for them, because since they captured most part of the north, northern provinces, they went on to the capitol last month and even southwards. it was only then when they started confronting some resistance. the province is known to be an al-qaeda strong hold in particular that city was controlled -- the houthis controlled it about two weeks ago. so what the al-qaeda fighters did who are allies with some powerful tribal cheikhs in that

area, started to fight back. let me give you some numbers, adrian, at least 29 houthi fighters were killed in those clashes. at least eight of the al-qaeda and the tribal leaders died, so that's a total of 37. then after the clashes ended, the al-qaeda fighters and the tribesmen withdrew to their northern parts, and then at least three u.s. air drones, u.s. drones struck a number of targets and we understand at least 12 tribesmen as well as al-qaeda suspects were killed. so very tense situation in particular here. >> this loss by the houthis is not going to weaken their political sway there in the capitol? >> i don't think so, because at the moment they are the only

powerful force unless the alliances change. when i say alliances, because people here believe that the houthis cannot achieve all of this alone. that's why there is reference to supporters of the former president and indeed the loyalests for the former president within the military. so unless those alliances change, i think nobody can challenge at this stage the houthis. and i think the houthis know this. they have been saying all along, that the reality has changed. so we have to wait and see, unless alliances change, perhaps the houthis will lose some of their powera adrian. >> many thanks. al jazeera continues to demand the release of their journalists who have been detained in egypt for 311 days.

they are falsely accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they are appealing their prison sentences. catalonia has decided to push ahead with a independence referendum in november. local politicians are describing the vote of independence from spain as symbolic. the leader of separatists rebels in eastern ukraine has officially been sworn in after an election that was heavily criticized by the west. the government in kiev has refused to recognize the result, and is threatening to renege on a deal offering greater autonomy to the region. >> reporter: ukraine's leader was sworn in as the breakaway republic of donetsk following a crushing victory in the weekend polls. a ceremony that will only fuel the anger and outrage of the

government of kiev, and could threaten the very survival of the mink concord signed in september. >> aimed as much to the separatists fighters in the east as the planners in the kremlin widely agreed to have orchestrated the break away. >> translator: we demonstrated to the whole world that we are sincere in our desire for political settlement. the militant defused this, holding fake elections that have undermined the law. we are ready to provide brood powers, only to the legally elected government, not to the bandit who crowned themselves. the results says the russian

president should be respected. 4,000 people have already died in the war which created the biggest diplomatic crisis since the end of the cold war 23 years ago. and hours after the polls closed, the fighting started again. petro poroshenko's security chiefs are now meeting to plan their response to the core nation in the east, events that the peace accord may not survive. there has been more bad news for the european economy. the poor performance of france, italy and even germany has forced the e.u. to lower its growth forecast. >> reporter: if there is an economic crisis in europe, it isn't really being felt in this furniture store. shoppers come and spend as they did before, responsibly, rarely going into debt. the shop owner says that's how he wants the government to

behave. >> translator: germany has had quite successful years recently, but it didn't achieve an balanced budget. this is disappointing. we should have managed to reach a surplus so we can pay off our debt. >> reporter: the government has just presented an balanced budget for next year, good for germany, but bad, perhaps for europe, as many countries want the german government to spend more, especially on the country's crumbling infrastructure. that could spur growth across europe. but experts say that won't happen unless germany starts to feel the same pain that other countries are feeling, such as higher unemployment. >> your area should not pin too high hopes on help from germany. germ fly is still very preoccupied with it's a, with its own growth performance. and i don't expect a positive

stimulus coming from germany over the next year for europe. >> reporter: the report is worse than expected. last year it forecast 1.7% growth in the zone of countries that use the euro as their currency. there is a big drop in the german numbers to 2% to 1.1%. but if that is a big drop, it is probably not enough to change the jobless numbers here or spending more money and helping the rest of europe any time soon. scientists have found that working irregular hours as well as overnight may cause long-term damage to your memory and other mental faculties. a study links shift work with a decline in brain function. shift work can disrupt the body's internal clock in a way similar to jet lag, and has been

linked to an increase list of health problems. researches found that a decade of variable shiftsaged the brain by an additional six and a half years. let's go to one of the coauthors of the study, and a professor of psychology. simon good to have you with us. no great surprise, really, is it that shift work is bad for us? >> no, it's no great surprise. we have known for a long time that safety and performance capabilities at night are worse than during the day. shift workers working at night have to work when their body clock is telling them to sleep, and the other problem they have is they tend not to sleep well between shifts so they get to partial sleep deprivation buildup. but it turns out that those two factors, the body clock and the

sleep deprivation can only account for about -- we're not sure exactly -- but about 30 to 40% of the overall increase in risk that we see associated with shift work. that's the increased risk of injuries and the increased risks of accidents. and this study has shown that as well as the sleep deprivation and body-clock component, there's also a buildup over years in reduced mental capabilities, so that once someone has been a shift worker for ten years or more, as you already pointed out, their performance capabilities are quite a bit lower than they would be if they never worked shifts. >> anyone who works shifts will recognize all of the symptoms that you have, but as you say, people have to do quite

dangerous and serious jobs in the middle of the night when they are tired. is there any way, once the damage has been done of -- of undoing the damage? >> oh, yes, there is, and that's part of the study that we have done. it turns out once you have given up shift work for at least five years, your capabilities have reduced to approximately the same as if you had never worked shifts at all. in other words there is a recovery from the deficit, but it takes at least five years for that to occur. the -- the other question, of course, that you are asking, i think is whether or not we can improve the capabilities of shift workers when they are on shift, and that is a far more difficult question. >> i was going to put that to you. drug therapy, there are pills that you can now take to ease jet lag.

that will help shift workers? >> basically the drugs don't work. the only thing that really seems to work is sleep and bright light. if you people keep in bright light at night, they maintain their capabilities much better than if they are in a normal nighttime dark environment. and if you organize the shift system in such a way that they don't lose out on too much sleep, then they also will have improved performance capabilities. the best solution seems to be the better design of shift work, and basically that involves people to only ever work two successful night shifts before going on to rest days. >> that sounds like heaven to me. simon many things indeed. great to talk to you. just ahead here on the news hour. an israeli league match is abandoned after a fan attacked one of the players.

we'll have all of the details in just a few moments. ♪

♪ hello again. now itly's coliseum was once the arena for battles and entertain lt. now it's one of the most visited landmarks in the world. and a new proposal could see tourists stand where gladiators once fought. >> reporter: once upon a time, this was the scene of epic battles, bloody entertainment, and gladiatorial combat.

today the coliseum is nothing more than a photo opportunity, but not for long. in a tweet posted on sunday night, the culture of minister championed the idea of replacing the coliseum's floor a century after it was taken off. the idea was floated by an italian archeologist who wrote in a magazine that the coliseum should go back to being used as an arena where it can be used as a stage. >> 6 million people come from all over the world to see it every year. what do they want to see? they want to see the place where gladiator fights took place. what do they see now? they see a hole. so let's rebuild the floor, and let's lift the coliseum as it was 2,000 years ago. >> reporter: tourists like the idea and have some of their own.

>> oh, a [ inaudible ] shop of course. that would be fun. >> yeah, if they could have that, that would be really cool. but maybe something else like a music show or something could be nice. >> maybe oprah or something like this would be nice. >> reporter: modern day gladiators say they support the plan, as long as they don't have to go back to fighting lions. >> translator: it's a good idea, because the coliseum would go back to what it used to be. the tweet by the cultural minister may remain wishful thinking. but if the coliseum is turned into a fully functioning amphitheater, this will go back to being the greatest arena in the world. fantastic. time now for sport. >> reporter: thanks adrian, we start with football where the

fourth round gets underway shortly. the biggest game sees real madrid posting liverpool. carey brown has the latest. >> reporter: yes, welcome pitch side as we prepare for what could be an historic night in football history. the spanish press preparing real madrid fans for what they say could have a celebration, the moment christiano goes on to be the top scorer in history. and steven jared is now in the twilight of his career, with the coach saying he may rest jared for this match. as they go on to face chelsea at the weekend. and there are six other matches across europe on tuesday:

in israel, the tel-aviv darby on monday was abandoned at halftime after a fan attacked a player. a home supporter ran on to the pitch in the 33 minute, and confronted the player who just scored a penalty. the fan tried to hit him who then retaliated. after the fan was removed, the player was sent off by the referee. another pitch invasion by more fans forced the abandonment of the match at halftime. gorman horse protectionist has become only the sixth non-australian horse to win the melbourne cup. the race which traditionally

brings australia to a halt, was run in front of a hundred thousand fans. protectionist was ridden by an english jockey. but the big race was overshadowed by the death of two horses after the race. >> getting a horse ready and bringing it all the way down here, long-time plan, and [ inaudible ] the greatest race in the world, and i would just like to thank everybody, and hope you enjoyed your day. >>to the nba the memphis grizzlies won against the new

orleans pelicans. anthony davis throwing down a one-handed dunk off of eric gordon to keep the pelicans within 3 points, but memphis proved too much for them. with the win memphis extend their record to 4-0. to the nhl the st. louis blues edged a win out in a shootout. only a minute after the rangers had taken the lead, with the game still level at the end of the third period in overtime, it headed into a shootout, where the blues got a 4-3 win. you might think medieval sword fighting only belongs in

movies or reenactments, but more and more people are taking it up as a serious sport. around 13,000 fighters are now estimated to practice the sport. but the future still hinges very much on the past. paul reports from sweden. >> reporter: nearly 800 years since it was first used on the battlefield, the medieval long sword is making a comeback. fighters get points for technique and control. the long sword is blunt but can still cut skin and break bones. here at the unofficial world championships in sweden, axle is looking to add on to his long list of wins. >> you have to be an athlete. i spend a lot of time in the gym. but it is also linked to my

heritage. when i fight and manage to perform and fill a link to my culture and to the men and women who fought before me. and that helps me get perspective on life. >> reporter: these championships have grown from about 30 competitors eight years ago to fighters from 23 countries. >> there is a certain amount of fear factor, and there's a certain amount of tactical consideration you bring to the game. they are likely stronger than you, but you try to factor that in, in ways that are demonstrated and written about in our medieval texts and apply your own fight to that moment. >> reporter: so to get involved in long sword fighting you need your helmet, so that you don't lose an eye, the rest of this armor can be optional. you of course need your sword,

but you also need meme who are willing to look back through the centuries to see how they did this for real. >> reporter: in a belgian city this is one of many fighters who transla translates medieval sword play. >> we see ourselves as the heirs of that fantastic tradition. so it is fantastic. and when you read the text you get the feeling you get to know these guys. and we have a huge respect for these masters. >> reporter: back in sweden there is another master. paul rees, al jazeera. that's all of your sport. more later. >> many thanks indeed. today's top stories straight ahead here on al jazeera. but that will do it for the news hour. thanks for watching. i'll see you again. bye for now. ♪

>> america's mid terms will have a full run down of the states that will determine control of the senate and coverage of critical issues that will affect the outcome. and why can't most politicians seem to tell the truth? hello i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this," those stories and much more straight ahead. >> the president was heckled by hispanic activists. >> need to go republicans. >> ie