>> this is al jazeera america live from london. more than a half million flee the typhoon in the philippines. and thousands march in athens on the sixth anniversary of the police killing a teenager.

>> hello, two al-qaeda hostages have died in a failed rescue attempt in yemen. an american and a south african were killed during a rescue operation. president obama is condemning their killing as barbaric. >> it was the second attempt to rescue the american. they were shot by their captors during the raid in the southeast of yemen. >> one of my sources tell me that they tried to kill him. they tried to escape with him, but the operation was very

strong, they were surrounded, so they killed him. >> the hostages were wounded but alive when evacuated on an osprey like this one. one died en route and one died on board the operating table. >> luke somers was murdered. he was taken hostage. his life was clearly in danger. >> u.s. officials reportedly believe somers was going to be killed by his cop fors within hours. al-qaeda released a video stating he would be executed. his family sent this video plea. >> luke is a good person, and he's only trying to do good things for the yemeni population. >> somers was a photo journalist. he had been held hostage for the past 15 months. the group that was close to securing qorky's release had

this to say. >> of course i'm not blaming them. the americans had their own hostages. >> reporter: the u.s. has a review of how they deal with hostages. he has ruled out the u.s. does not pay ransom. >> i think this needs to continue, and they need to know that they're going to be in this business of murder there are going to be consequences. >> consequences and risk that the u.s. officials believe are worth taking. >> joining me live by skype from kuwait is a dutch journalist who was kidnapped along with her husband in yemen last year. they were released after six months. so you didn't ever find out exactly who was holding you, but what are your thoughts after what happened to these hostages? >> well, i was shocked, i'm still shocked, i'm very sad.

my thoughts are very much with their families, and at the same time i realize that we were lucky. this could have happened to us, and it didn't happen to us. but it's shocking that even in yemen this can now be the outcome of kidnappings. >> you say even in yemen because your experience was--were you quite well looked after? what was your experience after six months. >> we were well-kept after. it wasn't a nice experience, but it was bearable. it used to be like that in yemen until basically i would say one or two years ago. i mean, kidnappings are never, let's say, a nice thing, but in yemen you would survive them. it would be a tribal affair. there was no al-qaeda involved until two years ago. this makes it very scary and

very different, i would say. >> what is the hardest thing about being held captive? >> for us the hardest thing was probably not knowing what would happen to you and when anything would happen to you. being in limbo all the time makes it very, very hard. i imagine for both luke and pierre, our kidnapping took six months, and we were all together and very well taken care of. imagine 15 months and longer than that, held by al-qaeda. i don't know how they were treated, it must have been horrible to them. i've been thinking of them a lot over the last year. >> and tell me, did you actually want to be rescued or were you afraid of a raid to rescue you? >> you discuss all kinds of things because you have lots of time to do. so we were always discussing in

god's name let's not have any rescue attempts. we were not discussing the americans, by the way. we were always discussing let the yemeni forces not rescue us because that would not end up well knowing the history of those attempts. >> you mentioned that you think its more dangerous now given the involvement of al-qaeda in yemen. where do you see this? what do you think the impact will be on yemen that the hostages were kidnapped, journalists and aid worker who were kidnapped. >> it's hard to say. even today i guess the amount of werner westerners, we should not forget that yemenis are also the victims of kidnappings and killings, much more than westerners.

right now the only western ers on the ground are a handful of journalists and aid workers, and i know their lives are confined to work and home, and it will only get worse. working in yemen is harder these days, which is a pity because yemen needs them. >> you can see photographs that we have on our website at www.aljazeera.com. plenty there for to you look at any time on the website. now pakistan's military says its forces have killed one of al-qaeda's senior commanders. he was killed in a raid in the southern tribal area. prosecutors recruited and trained men in 2008 for attacks on london and the new york subway, both operations were

foiled. the united states will keep an extra 1,000 troops in afghanistan next year. u.s. secretary chuck hagel made the announcement in kabul. it brings the number of soldiers there to nearly 11,000. it's hagel's last visit to afghanistan as defense secretary. he announced his resignation last month. >> syrian government forces have been aused of using chlorine glass. the observatory for human rights say that the syrian groups use the gas to fight off isil in the air base. the air base has been the center of heavy fighting in recent days. the group said 68 isil fighters have been killed in a battle in

eastern syria. in the southwest rebels are under siege in deraa. >> reporter: this is the aftermath of an airstrike in deraa. inside the victim of the bombing. the men hurry to get him out, but he's already dead. this is where the fighting against bashar al-assad began. now in the fourth year the fight something relentless fighting is relentless. here the rebels are trying to drive assad's forces from the base using a combination of round fire and improvised artillery shells. >> the revolutionaries are among the shia area. it is considered to be the last stronghold of the regime. it is important because it

overlooks the security square. >> that is the newer part of the city. it contains government buildings and security bases. most now have been turned into barracks. the government has seized the city for years, preventing food and other supplies getting to rebel areas. before the war nearly 100,000 people lived in deraa. not any more. now it is an urban battleground. >> a camero cam cameraman was caught. here is the series of the cameraman. >> the last time i spoke to him

was on facebook messages. i said, if you go, i'll stop talking to you. >> when people are watching tv or are half watching tv, it doesn't occur to them how those images got there, but you know, i know that it's people like him. >> there has been an angry protest in. thwe have more from beirut. >> reporter: his death signals the lowest points since this hostage crisis began in august. one of several dozen members of the leib niece security forces being held by al nusra front and isil. they wereed during th the raid.

for months desperate relatives of the hostages have been protesting. when the news broke of the latest killing, she shut dow --they shut down the road. this man is afraid his brother is next. >> i have been on the streets and receiving threats that my brother is going to be killed. who should i hold responsible? who is to blame? there is only god. we have reached the end. >> in the past they removed the families but they let the families protest. they say they're regularly contacted by the groups holding their loved ones, saying that they will be killed if the government does not give in to their demands. >> among those demands are the release of families members.

the government announced it had detained two women and children related to fighters with al nusra and isil. it was hoped that they could be used as a bargaining chip to free the captured soldiers. one of them is the wife of a senior al nusra commander. he released this video calling for her release and that of his two children. the family of the killed hostage is threatening anyone to the syrian groups further heightening tensions of an allard uneasy time. >> al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists who have now been detained in egypt for 343 days. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were jailed over false allegations that they helped the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they're appealing against their convictions and jail senses.

mohammed and peter were sentenced to seven years. bader was sentenced for an extra three because of a spent bullet he had in his possession that he had picked up from a protest. the typhoon lashes at the philippine nation. it made land fall just a few hours from tacloban city, which was devastated from typhoon haiyan last year. >> makeshift homes like these are all that stand between people of tacloban and a powerful typhoon. the city was powerfully hit only last year, and now the typhoon with sustained wounds of 175 kilometers an hour is headed their way. hundreds of thousands of people have left the most vulnerable areas. many of them are crammed into

temporary shelters. >> they thought the waves would get better. that's why i think it might be last lik like last year. >> others are trying to get valuables together before they leave the area. >> we have to pack our valuables and put them upstairs before we leave. >> it has been called a super storm but it has the potential to create high waves like haiyan last year, and people in the low-lying coastal areas like these are again the most vulnerable. if this cyclone moves on its current path at its current speed will take three days to

clear the philippines. it won't reach manila until monday. that's where there could be serious flooding even here in the capitol. andrew thomas, al jazeera, manila. >> michael: zimbabwe's ruling party keeps robert mugabe as leader and puts his wife grace on path to succeed him. and an island nation is running dry.

>> a dirty deal. struck at the heart of government. >> egypt mismanaged its gas industry. >> taking the country to the brink of economic ruin. >> it's obvious that egypt was being ripped off. it's basically saying to the israelis, "look if you want to screw us, here's a tool you can use to screw us". >> al jazeera exposes those who made a fortune betraying an entire nation. >> you don't feel that you owe an explanation to the egyptian people? >> no... no... >> al jazeera investigates. egypt's lost power. december 17th. 10:00 eastern. on aljazeera america.

>> we'll remind you of the top stories here on al jazeera. two hostages were killed in a failed rescue attempt. they were killed by fighters. protests in lebanon after an al-qaeda-linked syrian group says it killed a lebanese policeman it held captive. and more than a million and a half people find shelter as a typhoon merchandise towards the islanheads towards the island nation. >> zimbabwe's president mugabe wife grace mugabe has been placed as the president of the women as league which puts her

on the path to follow her husband to power. it's thought that the justice minister will be selected to replace mujuru as vice president. we have more about the decision of grace mugabe's appointment as women's league. >> that is a very powerful position here in zimbabwe. most members are women, and they're influential in decision-making processes and political-making processes. and ultimately the policies of the party will become the policies of the country. her husband was named first secretary general. it means that the mugabes are firmly in control as a husband-wife team. those who support the mugabes

are very happy and ecstatic, but those who do not blame them for the demise of the economy. if all goes well, he will be next leader should mugabe stepped down. >> the u.n. u.s. and e.u. have all warned that somalia's political division will hamper the progress is has made in fighting the armed group al-shabab. in sierr sierra leone two doctors have died from the virus. it has already killed 1 hup health workers across the country. dominick kane reports. >> every week hundreds of new

cases of ebola are reported across sierra leone. health workers are at particular risk. more than 100 are known to have died from the virus across the country since the outbreak began. this week it killed two more doctors. before the outbreak began the country only had around $120 for a population of six million. now an influx of foreign medics has helped to address that shortage. medics like margie lee from scotland. >> we have to look after us before we look after anyone else. it's important to drink and put on and take off equipment properly. it's important to look after you. >> sierra leone's finance minister said that more than 100

cases are reported every day, but that figure could get much worse. >> this is in preparation of the fact that there may be an upsurge. >> reporter: in an effort to prevent that the nigerian government has sent at least 175 volume tires to sierra leone. the first group of an eventually 600, who hope to strengthen the country's health facilities. the world bank has promised $160 million to help the economy recover as part of a two-year plan. but medics say their priority right now is treating patients. dominick kane, al jazeera. >> police fire fear gas at protesters who are protesting in the greek capitol. thousands of people took to 9 streets of athens to mark six years since police shot a teenager during a protest.

let's go live to a athens, john, why is it worse this year than previous years. >> reporter: it's the police's bad luck that a friend of the boy who was shot six years ago is in critical condition of a hunger strike. he insist that he be allowed out on leave to attend university courses on university campus rather than in his cell. this is a major point of contention between the justice ministry and the boy's family. it is reported that his condition is critical, he could be slipping away in the next few days. that is if you like the the

single event. it is due to the under lying factors. we met with a lady who is looking for her 16-year-old daughter who she said ran off with her friends. we asked why did she run off? she said everyone is angry at the educational system. there are no jobs. youth unemployment is over 60% here. they're angry that their future has been taken away from them. this is an opportunity for greek youth to express a deeper frustration. >> what about any political under tones to this? >> well, the march this morning, which was a peaceful one, and separate from this evening's events, was almost exclusively run by left wing groups, and some of the extreme far left sprinter groups.

therefore, i think this anniversary has become the political ownership of the left, and that means opposition, whether they're in parliament or not, and those parties which are by definition opposed to greece's austerity policies. one issue that rankled young people is the fact that university spending has been cut in the last few years, it is now being cut a further 25% this year. that means a lot of resources have to be gone without. it means that the teaching hours may come down, it means a lot of layoffs in the university sector earlier this year. all of this combined with the prospects of no job once people graduate make these young people by virtue of their youth and political persuasion particularly resentful. >> thank you for give us the context of the events in athens.

thank you. ukraine's president said that a preliminary deal has been reached to hold cease-fire talks next week. president poroshenko would congratulate service men on armed forces day. >> the preliminary agreement has been reached so far that the meeting in minsk will be held. they'll confirm a plan and schedule of realization and implementation of a minsk agreement. that means that it should start december 9th. >> ending the fighting in ukraine's east was also on the endfor french president holland. he is on his way to russia for crisis talks with vladimir putin. he hopes to stop a new east-we shall division rising in europe. the state of crisis has been declared i because of lack of

drinking water. it comes after of a desalination plant on thursday. governments have been accepting water to the country. it could be another two days before the desalination plant is brought online. we have this update from the capitol male. >> on every street corner there are hundreds of people lining up to get three liters of drinking water, which the government has provided for them, or her here to get water for cooking and drinking. people are saying they're getting enough water. earlier there were problems, fights breaking out as people tried to buy what was left in the shops. but help has been coming to male. there have been four airplanes from india with water.

and another ship from india to help bring the desalination plant on board. >> 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 though the lines we've seen waiting for water have been very orderly and it seems quite organized clearly some people feel that they're not getting enough to meet their basic needs. this situation could continue for a few more days yet until the government is able to get the desalination plant up and running. in the meantime, sunday and monday have been declared public holidays. schools and offices across male will be closed because of the water crisis. >> finally the christmas season has kicked off in palestine. [music] a giant christmas tree was lit

in the historical town of bethlehem. crowds of thousands begin their seasonal celebrations. all these stories can be viewed any time on our website at www.aljazeera.com and you can watch us by clicking on the "watch now" icon. [music] the in the remote jungles of myanmar lives the creature known for sen tire i as the life blood of the country's timber business business. >> since we use the elephant you don't need a rope. not like a hard, heavy duty machine. ♪ ♪