>> an american and south africa hostage is killed in yemen after failed rescue operations. >> you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead outgoing defense secretary chuck hagel makes an unexpected stop in kabul to announce extra troops. zimbabwe names grace mugabe as head of the women's league. philippines prepare for a

typhoon. why scientists say they have solved a medical mystery. >> an american and south africa being held hostage by al-qaeda in yemen has been killed during an attempt to rescue them. president obama said i authorized the mission because luke somers' life was in danger. >> it was the second time u.s. and yemeni forces tried to rescue luke somers. along with pierre kork work who was held aside him. this time they never made it out alive. >> they wanted to rescue him, but the al-qaeda was wag bearing down, and as one of my

sources told me, they tried to kill him. they tried to escape with him, but the operation was very strong, and they were surround surrounded, so they killed him. >> that operation took place in the southeast of yemen. u.s. president barack obama released a statement that strongly condemned the killings and explains the timing of the operation. it reads that luke would be killed within 72 hours. other information also indicated that luke's life was in danger. luke's somers was kidnap in september of last year. he had been working as a freelance photographer. these are some of the pictures he filed for al jazeera. on wednesday a video was posted online with luke appealing for help and saying his life was in

danger. his family released a statement pleading for his life possible spared. while luke somers' life was in imminent danger. >> the message was that the wait was almost over. three days ago we were told that pierre would be home for christmas. it was unfortunate that he was killed during an attack on al-qaeda property in an attempt to release other hostages. >> but now both men won't be coming home. stephanie dekker, al jazeera. >> au.s. defense secretary made

the announcement on an unexpected stop in the afghan capitol kabul. tell us more about what chuck hagel announced today. >> well, as you say, it's unexpected visit by the outgoing defense secretary, an extra 1,000 troops to add to the thousand 800 that are going to be remaining here into 2015. a 11 attacks here, and a large attack handed over to afghan forces last month measures how much of a challenge that the afghan national army has in

dealing with the taliban. the taliban specifically saying results of foreign invaders staying in this country. it also comes in fascinating times of politics. a new government that only two days ago told international donors that they were going to stick to their plans of reform and rooting out corruption. of course, now security is key realizing those aims. a fascinating time here in afghanistan, both politically and militarily. >> thank you. live for news kabul. pakistan's military says the scal al-qaeda commander would be put on trial. u.s. prosecutors say he

recruited and changed men in 2008 for attacks in new york and london. both of which were foiled. he was considered the chief of al-qaeda's global operations. a position once held by mastermind halid she ca. >> morsi has spoke about the conditions of which he was detained. he told a cairo court he was held in a compound before being transferred by force to a navy camp in alexandria. staying with egypt. seven men have been sentenced to death by a court for allegedly killing 25 police officers in an attack near the border with israel. the attack took place in august of last year after security

services cleared two protest camps in cairo. one of the men sentenced to death, the ruling follows an endorsement by egypt's highest sunni religious authorities the grand mufti. al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three journalists held in egypt prison for 343 days. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were charged on false charges of helping the muslim brotherhood. they're appealing against their convictions. peter and mohammed were sentenced to seven years prison. bader received an extra three years for possession of a spent bullet he picked up at a prote protest. >> grace mugabe's appointment has been confirmed, and robert

mugabe has been named general of the party. grace's rise in the party began when she and robert began an affair in the 1980's. grace mugabe built a dairy business, owned several farms and founded an orphanage. on a birthday in july she entered politics with no experience. she held several rallies with several attacks on zimbabwe's vice president. >> reporter: grace mugabe is now head of the women's ligue 1 very powerfuleague, a very powerful

position in zimbabwe. her husband, robert mugabe, has been named president and first secretary general. this means that the mugabes are firmly in control as a husband and wife team. those who support the mugabes are very happy and ecstatic. but those who don't are worried saying this is policy that is blamed for the demise of the economy. if all goes well. >> in the philippines wedge are up to 250 kilometers an hour are

expected. let's go live to the philippines. scott, i understand that the storm has made landfall. tell us about the situation right now. >> absolutely. it made landfall about 45 minutes ago. it's only 200 kilometers from where we are here. we were on the drive down from manila. the closer we got, the steadier the wind became as well as some sprinkling. it really wasn't that violent. but over the last couple of minutes the wind has kicked up begin. it just hit and made landfall four or five minutes ago. now further north people are preparing. we didn't see mass evacuations. there weren't mass evacuations. but people are preparing. there are some gentlemen banging in boards over the glass windows in the build where we are here.

and down the street businesses have begun to tape their windows. it's a very slow-moving storm, it's a wide storm its it's difficult to see what kind of path it's going to take and what type of destruction it will have. but people here are preparing for the storm to come soon. >> as you say, we don't know where it's going to hit, and it's expected to make landfall several times. everyone remembers typhoon haiyan, which left a trail of devastation. have the authorities i in in the philippines learned from that experience? are they better prepared this time around? >> it seems as though they are. they've been talking about this storm for a while. it was classified because of the winds as a super typhoon. it was downgraded, and then classified as a super typhoon. that has been downgraded because

the winds are not to that level. over half a million people in the same areas that was affected 13 months ago by typhoon haiyan. so yes, they've done a more thorough job, but as you said it's a different storm, a different beast, if you will. it's not as strong, but it's moving slowly and a lo and it will dump a lot of rain. there are areas that are really prone to flooding, that will be focused on in the next coupling hours and coming days because the storm is move something slowly. >> the typhoon in the philippines now has made landfall. find out why they are forced

to bring in drinking water from abroad.

>> welcome back. a recap of our top stories on al jazeera. u.s. president barack obama has condemned the killing of two hostages held in yemen. they died during an attempt to rescue them. an extra 1,000 troops will stay in afghanistan to lead a temporary shortfall in nato forces.

and zimbabwe's first lady grace mugabe has been named leader of the women's league. activists in syria say fighters have stormed a key air base. the government base has been at the center of heavy fighting in recent days. after reports of an isil fighter blew himself up at the gate of the base. with the on set of winter people are fleeing the violence or the advance of isil. al jazeera is at a base from where vital aid is delivered to communities. >> this is the only lifeline for thousands yazidi families who

are stuck up on the mountains. these helicopters are taking three or four flights a day to take food up the money everything from rice, blankets, clothes and tents and then bringing some of them back here to relative safety in northern iraq. these are some of the families who just got off some of these helicopters. they're taking supplies up there, but they're taking incoming fire. there arthey're really calling out for larger transport aircraft. something that land on the mountainous terrain but bring main more than manage to come off every day. they're saying time is off the essence. this could not happen. they would no longer be getting aid, and they never would be able to get anybody off those

mountains. >> the syrian based al-qaeda group ignored requests to release the prisoners. >> the killing overnight is the symbol of deterioration of dozens of soldiers and police officers. this is a look back and how the situation came about. seven dozen lebanese soldiers werecaltured by al nusra front fighters in august. close to the syrian border this was the first major incursion into lebano lebanese territory. five days of heavy fighting followed before a fragile truce

took place. the area was never entirely cleared of rebel fighters. but september negotiations to release the soldiers had come to nothing, and their desperate families began a sit-in to protest outside government buildings and push for more action. on tuesday the lebanese government announced it had arrested two women. one ever those women was the wife of a senior al nusra commander. he released this video on friday morning demanding the release of his wife and children and rejected effort it's by the qatari government to negotiate the release of the soldiers. later on friday night a picture of a young lebanese police officer being shot was posted on al nusra's twitter page. the family of another young police officer being held captive had told the local media

that they recentry received a phone call from isil saying that he would be the next to die. the lebanese government is holding emergency meetings today to try to discuss how to go on with these negotiations and how to save negotiations for the release for the rest of the young police officers and soldiers. >> china will investigate one of its most senior officials for corruption. the former head of domestic security has been expelled from the communist party. his down fall comes from an unprecedented campaign to weed out corruption. we have more from beijing. >> china's leadership would have thought hard about the timing of this announcement. they chose midnight on friday. he was once one of china's most powerful and feared politicians. as the former head of the vast domestic security apparatus he had files on anyone that mattered. now he's the most high ranking

communist official to be prosecuted in 40 years. >> while he clearly is the new leader, he came in power in november 2012, and he needs to get rid of his opponents. and congres cong was the most powerful of his opponents. side lining him and putting him in jail shows that ping is chin giis powerful. accused of widespread abuse of power, including accepting bribes, leaking state secrets, and if that wasn't enough, committing adultery with a number of women. shou's ruin comes with ping

coming to power two years ago. immediately he began an anti-corruption campaign which has snared thousands of leaders including generals in the liberation party. and they don't get much hire than zhou. ordinary people are still coming to terms with it all. >> ping is wonderful. we can now expect a better life. >> this is a milestone in china's anti-corruption campaign. showing the highest level official being taken down in three decades. it is remarkable. >> experts are divided on the real motive of the president's campaign. some say it's a guise to get rid

of his rivals, but now his very survival is at stake. >> there has been protests across the united states. two grand juries decided not to indict two white police officers who killed two black men. protesters are putting a spotlight on alleged police misconduct and a change to the system. flying water to the maldese in mali. we have this update. >> if on every street corner there are hundreds of people lining up to get either three liters of drinking water, or here to try to get water for

cooking and cleaning. now most people we have spoken to they say they're getting enough water. earlier there were problems. there are fights breaking out as people try to buy whatever is left in the shops. but help has arrived. there have been ten airplanes that have arrived with water. another one is coming from the united states and china is also providing water. >> we're living in a ten-story building, and we're not getting water, even for cleaning ourselves. we have to collect water from distribution points. >> even the lines that we've seen waiting for water have been very ordinarily and it seems quite organized. clearly some people feel they're not getting enough to meet their basic needs. this situation could continue for a more days yet until the government can get th the

desalination plants up and going again. >> the romanian company has become one of uniform's fastes fastest-growing car manufacturers. it grew 35% in the first six months of the year, but the company's success is causing friction with labor unions. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: the production line almost can't keep up with demand. the economic crisis which gripped europe in recent years has created a significant niche for low-cost, no-frills vehicles. last year generating a turnover of $5.5 billion. it's a world away from when this

company was state owned. >> i worked under the communist system and now i work under rands, the difference i. >> in 2008 after a 15-deal strike a deal was reached to race benefits and now the union wants a new deal. >> multi nationals in general are losing interest in good labor relations, and we're in conflict with management to make sure that they respect the previous deal. they seem to have forgotten the strike of 2008. some years have passed, so perhaps we need a more radical conflict now to remind the management to maintain good relationship with the workforce.

>> with that comes globalized production. raisewages will rise, but the union has to be careful. >> we'll be wise and otherwise we would have to reconsider the volumes between romanian and the other countries that are capable of making the same cars. >> the town sits right next to the bacia plant, and half the people here directly depend on it for their livelihoods. nearly everyone you meet has a connection to the manufacturing. >> most of the people in the city work at the plant, my relatives, my friends, young people, old people. i worked there for 40 years. now my wife and my kids are working there. >> the dilemma for the workers here, negotiate a fair reward without driving away the success

story that fair labor has created. paul brennan, al jazeera. >> now scientists in the united states are investing while hispanic women are less likely to get cancer, and they're putting their genes under the microscope to find a cure for the disease. >> delving into the mine newt world of the human genome the scientists have involved a scientific mystery. it's long been known that hispanic women do not get breast cancer as high as other women. they have a dna that is resistant to the disease. >> this variant is one in 3 billion variants in the genome. >> it is a genetic heir loom

among the native people of the americas. it took seven years of pain taking work. >> i'm very committed to doing research latinas, breast cancer, of course, as a woman for me this is a great step forward after so many years. >> researching the genetic roots of cancer could lead to better therapies to fight or prevent the disease. for example, the breast cancer finding will guide doctors in advising latino women on how often they should obtain mammograms. >> i think we should get better tools for prediction of who is at risk for sure, and i think we'll get much better understanding biologically of what makes cancer happen, and how we can potentially use that against the cancer. >> scientists say rapidly improving technology will speed new findings about the very nature of cancer and how to

defeat it. rob reynolds, al jazeera, san francisco. >> and a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all the news all the time on our website www.aljazeera.com. our top story in the death of an american and south africa hostage in yemen. >> the house of representatives has set up a roadblock to the president's immigration policies passing a law requiring him to cease and desist, and 17 states are suing him. symbolism or substance. it's inside story.