♪ more than a month after 43 mexican students went missing, police make a high-profile arrest. ♪ hello this is al jazeera live from doha, i'm adrian finighan. americans head to the polls. riots in zambia force the reinstatement of a presidential front runner hours after he was sacked. and working irregular hours

could cause long-term damage to mental health. ♪ the mayor of the southern mexican city of iguala and his wife have been arrested. they are accused of ordering the police attack that ended in the disappearance of 43 students. the case has caused outrage in mexico with protests across the country. more now from adam rainy in mexico city. >> reporter: police took the mayor and his wife into custody early on tuesday morning in mexico city. we don't know if they were accompanied by anyone else or if they were armed. they are being questioned and they have up to 48 hours before they have to announce charges. he is accused of giving the

order to local police that lead to the attack on the students and their subsequent disappearance. we don't really know just exactly what his orders were, if he ordered it to be an attack with gunfire or if he just asked for them to be detained. his wife was hosting a political event of her own on that night. and according to the attorney general and other sources, he didn't want that event interrupted by these protesters. so the governor says he is hopeful there will be new leads coming out of this investigation, and the parents hope this will lead to finding these students alive. ♪ voting is underway in the

u.s. midterm elections. at stake who controls congress. the republicans have a majority in the house of representatives and they have high hopes of taking the senate too. let's go live to washington, d.c. >> reporter: adrian, that's right. the polls now open. what is at stake? well, it's not a vote this time for the president of the united states, but instead the makeup of the congress. the house of representatives currently controlled by republicans, 435 seats that are being voted on, roughly one third of the upper chamber, currently that is a body that is controlled by democrats. the republicans looking like they are in a very strong position to try to gain seats there. what does that mean? that means it could be very difficult for the democrat president, barack obama, to work with the republican-controlled congress during the final two years of his term. 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 the u.s. fleet. u.s. ambassadorial posts sit vacant around the world. the reason? republicans in the senate are intentionally blocking hearings for more than 60 foreign service nominees, along with president obama's suggestions for other cabinet secretaries and even the surgeon general. the log jam could get even worse if the republicans gain control of the senate. together with what is likely to be a renewed majority in the

house, they could have the power to shut down the president's attempts to exercise foreign and domestic policy in his last two years in office. the concept of dialogue and negotiation swept away with iran if the new republican senate takes the floor. >> the president 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 places 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: foreign policy seldom becomes part of the u.s. election debate. but in this autumn of discontent

that marks the beginning of the end of the obama era, foreign policy has been made a central domestic issue. >> reporter: and it is not just foreign policy issues that are on the minds of voters as they cast their ballots but also issues like immigration reform, and raising the minimum wage. these are issues that many americans feel the congress has not been responsible and leading and responsive to the people and needs. so there's a lot of voter dissatisfaction, and it may be low voter turnout as a result. as a result, both democrats and republicans have been spending an enormous amount of money on this campaign. $3.67 billion. part of that includes campaign adds, but it is going to be a challenge as many voters feel

this has become a close race of the ideology of politics and not the needs of the people. 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 of iraq in the north. isil is now battling kurdish fighters in a town about 15 kilometers from the center of erbil. the governor of mosul says he is coordinating with the iraqi defense minister to set up a force to liberate his town from isil. charles stratford has been speaking to him. >> after the change of maliki the government in bagdad work hard for us. they facilitate everything to the needs of our province, and now we get also more steps with the coalition forces, with the u.s. specially, and other

countries, so i think it's the time to start work. we work to repel a lot of things in the previous period, but now we are starting to work in the -- in the exact plan to liberate mosul. we need some counties of the coalition to contain these forces, and also need that they give them some weapons. we asked bagdad, bagdad accept to finance this camp, but they have no enough weapons, they have not also -- they cannot attend them in the way we need. it's a miserable situation now in mosul, no electricity, no water, no healthcare inside the city, so it's very bad situation. there has been fierce fighting in yemen with several loud explosions heard.

at least 29 houthi rebels have died in attacks by tribesmen al-qaeda linked fighters. there have also been three u.s. drone strokes which have reportedly killed at least 12 al-qaeda fighters >> hundreds of people protested against edgar luga's dismissal. police fired tear gas into crowds overnight. lunga is expected to become the new leader of the country. >> we violence has not recurred today. and the statement has been issued, signed by the acting president, and also the secretary general, appealing to

their membership to stop the violence and continue to mourn the death of the president and have all other issues addressed after the burial next week. boko haram has carried out a series of attacks in nigeria. a suicide bomber killed at least 29 shia muslims. in the central state gunmen blew up a prison. and more than 140 inmates escaped. and a boko haram takeover of mubi has forced more than 10,000 people to flee. people are living in fear now. >> reporter: they come seeking safety. residents of the town of mubi arrive in the province shall

capitol less than a week after the town was overrun by boko haram fighters, some on foot, some by car. hundreds have made the 150 kilometer journey, but hundreds are missing, lost in the invasion. >> because of the fighting, they are fighting all over the mountain, all place, so we are just going to [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: survivors say boko haram robbed the banks, burned down the main market, and murdered teachers at the local university. five military commanders are facing charges for abandoning mubi to militants on wednesday. does owns of soldiers fled their battalions. some say they were outnumbered and outgunned by boko haram. no fewer than 10,000 people from

villages like mubi are now living in refugee camps. many people say there isn't enough food and shelter is poor. aid agencies say they are doing the best they can. >> i want to say that the -- the camp is now fully occupied. we don't have place that will keep the missing. we don't have room. >> reporter: attacks in the northeast have been on the rise in recent weeks, despite hopes for a ceasefire. the nigerian military has been able to claim at least one town, but it is feared boko haram is gaining ground. and it is the people of nigeria who are losing the most. plenty more news still to come here on al jazeera, including zero tolerance. israel says palestinians who throw stones could face 20 years in jail.

i'm in india, as the world economic forum takes place in india, i'm taking a look at the government's attempt to revehicle the economic sector.

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> 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. ♪ hello again from doha, the top stories right now at al jazeera. a fugitive mayor and his wife have been arrested in mexico over the disappearance of 43 students. the pair had been on the run since the students went missing in september. voters across the u.s. are casting ballots in the midterm elections. republicans are looking to

increase their majority in the house and take control of the senate. sam -- sambyia's acting president has ininrestated the secretary general. israel's government has imposed a new law that could mean people could go to jail for throwing stones. nadine barber reports. >> 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 jerusalem in july. he was jailed for three months but has no regrets. >> translator: on the contrary, i am at ease with what i did. i did nothing wrong.

i was expressioning by rejection of the violence and crimes committed by the israeli occupation against our people and children. the least one can do is throw stones. >> reporter: the israeli police have arrested more than a thousand palestinians since july, and charged 300 in connection with protests. there has been anger about visits about israeli activists trying to pray at the come pounds known to juice as temple mount. and the minority has attacked jerusalem's right rail system as well as public buses. now the israeli government wants to bring up to 10 years in jail for throwing objects at vehicles or up to 20 years for throwing objects at people. >> after several weeks of constant disturbances, and we're talking about by people who are part of the communities, that it is time to crack down and present those incidents from

taking place. >> reporter: the police are also relying on measures like these checks at the end transto palestinian districts, but the underlying causes haven't gone away, and 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 confrontations. >> in the absence of an arab agenda or strategy, facing the israeli atrocities it is left for the youth of jerusalem. at night they challenge the israelis with their national pride. >> reporter: the increased security measures are clearly having an effect, but tensions are never far from the surface here and these restrictions could end up creating more recentment. meanwhile israeli has passed

a law that will limit the release of palestinian prisoners. the new law will not be retroactive. >> this new law effectively removes the use of palestinian prisoners as a bargaining chip, if you will, for any future negotiations between the israelis and palestinians. to give you a sense of how important a role palestinian prisoners have played in past talks, we only have to look at the most recent talks which fell apart in april of this year, the reason the palestinians and israelis were brought to the bargaining table, if you will, by u.s. secretary of state john kerry was because a prisoner agreement was reached between the two sides, however, they fell apart when the fourth and final batch of those prisoners were not released by the israelis. so that gives you an idea of how much of a role palestinian prisoners can play in negotiations and why

palestinians have condemned the new law. >> the israelis have broken all venues for any future compromises. the palestinian prisoners are the most sensitive issue for the palestinian families. thousands of palestinians have been imprisoned. what israel is doing is actually blocking any future compromise with the palestinians, because if you reach a final status agreement after tomorrow whenever it is going to be possible there is no way that palestinian leadership will ever accept such a deal without release of all prisoners. so israel is saying there will be no future compromise. >> so again, a very strong condemnation from the palestinian leadership. i should say there are two caveats to this law. it isn't backdated which means that any prisoners currently in

jail do not fall under this law, which means their release could be part of any future negotiations or efforts to bring negotiations ahead, however, anybody arrested effectively from now onwards would not be allowed to be included as part of any negotiations between the palestinian leadership and the israelis. there's one final loophole, it gives the israeli president the fights to effectively pardon a palestinian prisoner on his own volition. so that is another way to perhaps include prisoners as negotiations, whatever the case the far right will be welcoming this law, but as which ear hearing the palestinians are con semiing it. many shia muslims have been commemorating the death of the

grandson of the profit mohammed. people turns out in large numbers in lebanon as well. more now from al jazeera's steph decker in beirut. >> reporter: this has been marked by the tightest security ever. thousands turned up here to commemorate the death of the grandson of the profit mohammed, what is significant here is the extreme security measures taken. you have security check points every couple of meters. you have men on roof tops. the spillover of the war in syria, hezbollah is fighting in syria on behalf of bashar al-assad, and that has caused problems here. it is an incredibly session -- sectarian society already.

we heard from the head of hezbollah, and he said their fight is against extremists, it is a fight against extremists, saying they will stay in syria just to protect the borders here. >> the leader of separatists rebels in eastern ukraine has officially been sworn in after an election that was criticized by the west. the government in kiev has refused to recognize the result. and has threatened to pull out of the deal offering greater autonomy to the regions. >> reporter: the leader was sworn in as head of the break away group of donetsk. a ceremony that could threaten the very survival of the minsk concord signed in september. the ukrainian president chose his words carefully.

aimed as much to the separatists fighters in the east as the planners in the kremlin, widely believed to have orchestrated the break away. the president threatening to end the special status to donetsk and luhansk. >> translator: we demonstrated to the whole world that we are sincere in our desire for political settlement. the militant refused this opportunity, holding fake elections that have undermined the law. we are ready to provide brood powers to any legally elected government not to the ban be it who crowned himself. >> reporter: the results said the russian president should be respected, but stopped short of recognizing the breakaway regions. 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 poles closed, the fighting started again, with heavy bombardments reported outside of donetsk. the security chiefs are now meeting in kiev to plan their response to the core nation in the east. events that the tottering minsk peace accord may not survive. business leaders and politicians are meeting this new delhi for the world economic forum. the indian government is using the summit to promote a new scheme that it hoping will revive the struggling manufacturing sector. >> reporter: economies work best when the feel and fit are right. for more than 30 years, this man and his family have operated a garment production and export business. over the years profits have improved, but he says the process of doing business hasn't. >> translator: it's easier to do business elsewhere. bigger indian garments producer

are moving out of india and setting up in countries like bangladesh. i'm a small player, so it's harder for me to move by business. >> reporter: he earns around $4 million dollars a year, making clothing for some of the world's biggest labels, but a large part of the earnings are spent on production costs. workers earn an average of $200 a month. the same worker in bangladesh earns less than a quarter of this. businesses like this one struggle with everything from inadequate facilities to complex regulations. the government wants to improve conditions in 25 sectors. it says a better business environment will stimulate growth and create millions of jobs. the prime minister has announced the make in india campaign to help local businesses and young people like this 22 year old.

while the name of the campaign has itself become a talking point, what it promises to do could set him up for life. >> translator: i'm learning how to weld, and this skill guarantees me a job. once i finish this course, i want to be able to support my family with a reliable wage. >> reporter: make in india is the government's pitch to the world. states like this, which have for years welcomed foreign firms to set up manufacturing facilities in special economic zones have been successful, but it may be sometime yet before this global call to action translates into an industrial boom in india. >> vision which has been documented which talks about 25% share of manufacturing by 2022, we do believe that that's definitely achievable. >> reporter: the family are busy taking orders for next summer and hoping that in the years to come their internationaling client list expands as india's

manufacturing sector sets its sights on a new look. scientists have confirmed something that shift workers have long suspected, working irregular hours as well as overnight may cause long term damage to your memory and other mental faculties. a study published links shift work with a decline in brain function. shift work can disrupt the body's internal clock in a similar way to jet lag. it has been linked to an increased risk of health problems. researchers found that a decade of variable shifts aged the brain by an additional 6.5 years. one of the coauthors of the study says that taking medication to try to deal with an irregular work pattern doesn't work, but there are other ways to improve

performance. >> the only thing that really seems to work is sleep and bright light. if you keep people in bright light at night, they maintain their performance 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 to the problem of shift work seems to be the better design of shift systems. and basically that involves asking people to only ever work two successive night shifts, no more, before going on to rest days. part of the study that we have done, it turns out that 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's a recovery from the deficit, but

it takes at least five years for that to occur. >> get the latest on the u.s. midterm elections and the rest of al jazeera's brand of real news coverage, at aljazeera.com, and don't forget the app. ♪ hi, i am lisa 9/11er and you are in the stream. delay controversial decisions until after the election. muse, dark money gone digital. how the shell company is shelling out record amounts on causes and all the while being one of the most secretive industries on where the money goes. hater, is it time to redefine civic participation, while some say it is not all about the vote when it comes to changing micks.