a u.s. air strike hits the taliban target outside kunduz others afghanistan sends in special force to his take back the city. ♪ ♪ from al jazeera's head caught third doha, i am sammy zeidan, automatics coming up, barack obama and vladimir putin meet to discuss the war in syria, but deep differences remain. typhoon dajuan makes landfall in china after causing chaos in taiwan and life are mars kibe real possibility. scientists reveal evidence of

flowing water on the red planet. u.s. military planes have hit taliban fighters on the outskirts of kunduz, it was to eliminate a threat to coalition troops and afghan forces, taliban fighters seized the city after an early morning rate on monday. afghan special forces are advancing to the city. local hospitals have received 16 dead bodies and treated 172 172 wounded people. joining me live from the afghan capital s how the fight going by the special forces? are they making progress and taking kunduz back? >> reporter: the afghan government says this they are making progress, but on the

ground as we spoke to residents and people, they haven't seen much progress so far. the calf began government assured -- afghan government assured the people that by the end of the day they will clear kunduz province. as we are speaking now, a number of troops, reinforce think troops that were on the way from kabul to kunduz province they were ambushed in between kabul and kunduz. we heard that they sustained some injuries, but we could not confirm what were the number of casualties there. so it seems that getting reinforcement to kuh kunduz cits getting more difficult. there were afghan reinforcements sent by air last night. afghan special forces and afghan commanders arrived at kunduz airport. afghan government say that they have launched operation to take

the city back. we also heard reports that the u.s. forces have conducted air strike early tuesday morning in kunduz province. reports also suggest that the taliban still are in the city and driving in the city with the police trucks and humvees. there were a few clashes with afghan forces on the outskirts of the city. we also hear that the frontline between the taliban and afghan forces is just eight-kilometers outside of the kunduz city. and now why taliban attacked in this city in a big number, why kunduz fall in to the hands of the taliban, speaking to former member of parliament, telling us that it is all because of the ill treatment of the

irresponsible armed groups in kunduz province, that has created this and that's why people supporting taliban. and also corruption is another cause of taliban gaining more support. politician and kunduz also blaming the afghan government for lack of coordination a mung wrong the afghan security forces. we also understand that at the time of the attack, there were 2,000 afghan police, 1,000 afghan local police. around 3,000 afghan national army. and in total up to 7,000 forces were present in kunduz province, but the question is why the city has fallen in to the hands of taliban. >> all right, thanks for that. leaders of the u.s. and russia have tell face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly in new york over how they are to resolve the conflict in syria. barack obama and vladimir putin

can't see eye to eye on the future role of bazar al-assad. our diplomatic editor james bays reports. >> reporter: russia's president normally avoids this annual gathering of world leaders at the u.n. but he came here on a whistle stop trip planning not even to spends a night in new york. the centerpiece of his speech the idea of a grand coalition against isil. >> translator: we propose discussing whether it's possible to agree on a resolution aimed at coordinating the action says of all of the forces that confront isil and other terrorist organizations. once again, this coordination should be based on the principles of the u.n. charter. >> reporter: that reference to the u.n. charter is important. syria's seat at the u.n. is still occupied by assad apodaca bass door. it would be a coalition cluing the assad government and on its terms.

the u.s. would not accept that. even some of its western partners are floating an idea that perhaps assad can stay on for a bit and in a phase transition to a new government. >> really. requires a managed transition away from assad and to a new leader and an inclusive government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so the syrian people can begin to rebuild. >> reporter: that idea seemed to be immediately dismissed by france and by the first gulf country to speak here qatar. >> is there a tyranny in the world that could acknowledge an alternative is it possible for an a tyranny to allow an alternative to grow you remembered it's shadow? >> i can see diplomatic efforts

being made to incorporate assad in the process, but you can't work together, you can't put together victims and people killing them. assad is the origin of the problem he cannot be part of the solution. >> reporter: in damascus there may be some concern about the speech made by their staunchest ally iran said it wanted the recent nuclear talks to be a model for peace in syria. president rouhani then added this. >> translator: as we saturdaye e establishment of democracy in iraq and afghanistan we are prepared to bring about democracy in syria as well as yemen. >> reporter: this is the formal lunch with the secretary general of the united nations sitting between the russian and the u.s. leader. president putin and prem later held a further meeting to discuss the situation in syria and in ukraine after 4 1/2 years of war in sear yakker it's hard

to be optimistic but this is the first serious diplomatic push for ai 18 months since the chane of peace talks in geneva. everyone knows a fresh effort to end the conflict will face immense hurdles. james bays, al jazeera, at the united nations. the u.n. secretary general is condemning airstrikes which have reportedly killed up to 135 people at a we hading in generally. local government officials say the strikes happen ed in a village near the red seaport on monday. saudi arabia which is leading the military coalition campaign against houthi fighters in yemen denies any involvement. central african republic's interim president catherine has letter the u.n. general assembly early returning home to deal with the worst violence this year. up to 40 people have been killed. over 100 injured in the capital over the last three days. armed christian and muslim groups attacked each other.

hundreds of prisoners also escaped from the main jail of the unrest has led to frosts calling for the redeployment of armed forces. ain'-backed interim government is yet to rearm the military. it was sidelined after muslim rebels seized power in 2013. european union ministers are due to discuss the refugees cries this is a few hours. jean claude juncker the commission president and french prime minister will meet in paris. thousands of refugees have been queuing up at the croatian-serbian border as they journey north towards the e.u. countries. more than 100 buses carrying refugees have arrived at the serbian border town. croatian government said over 70,000 people have entered the country in the last few days. >> there is more and more people who are old, in this vulnerable group that are older than 60 years are coming and so a lot of

pregnant women who gave birth on their ex-so does. and a lot of small children under five years. mostly they are healthy, but they are suffering from injuries that was due to -- due to this -- this road that they took. and also they can't prevent things poor hygiene related diseases. scientists at nasa say they have found strong evidence of liquid water on mars, it means that life could exist on the red planet. john hendon reports. >> reporter: nasa scientists say the red planet is not the desolate dry place they long thought it was. >> today we are revolutionizing our understanding of this planet. our rovers are finding that there is a lot more humidity in the air than we ever imagined.

as we inning gist the soils, they are moist, they are hydrated full of water. mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past. today we are going to announce that under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on mars. >> reporter: researchers say a few billion years ago mars was covered with rivers lakes and possibly an ocean where they believed only a small of amount of frozen water remain, now nasa says a camera captured streaks of flowing briny water on the surface of the red planet, a basic building block of life. and they say there is a water cycle that changes over the course of the year. much like the water cycle on earth. >> these are dark streaks that form in late spring, grow through the summer, and then disappear by fall. >> reporter: that raises the possibility of life. possibly microbial life and makes it easier for explorers to sustain themselves while exploring the planet as nasa hopes to do by 2030.

>> today's' announcement of a really fascinating result about current water on mars is one of the reasons why i feel it's even more imperative that we send astro biologists and planetary scientist to his mars to explore the question of is there currents life on mars. >> reporter: the possibility of life on mars has been envisioned in science fiction but largely dismissed. >> it's weird being there is nothing here. it's mars. >> reporter: the finding also raises the possibility that despite wildly varying temperatures that range from 56 to 21 celsius, it migh might be possible to grow food in greenhouse on his the surfaces. nasa says their latest discovery leaves many answers unresolve they still don't know the continue continues tent besides salt what else is in it. a major u.n. boost to peacekeeping unstrain from conflicts worldwide.

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>> what do you want american's to understand? >> there's so much injustice. >> workers are being injured constantly. ♪ ♪ welcome back. let's recap our headlines here on al jazeera now. u.s. military planes have hit taliban targets close to the northern afghan city of kunduz, taliban fighters seized the city after an early morning raid on monday. afghan forces are advancing towards the city in a bid to retake it. the u.n. secretary general

has condemned hair strikes which reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding in yemen. the saudi coalition fighting houthi rebels denies any involvement. syria has been high on the agenda on the first day of the united nations general assembly. u.s. president obama and russian president vladimir putin met to discuss the conflict but they remain divided on the issue of bazar hal assad app's future role in syria. let's get more on our top story the situation in afghan. on the line from afghanistan south of the city of kunduz, first of all, tell us what you are hearing about who is in control of kunduz and how much success the government reinforcements are having in trying to win the city back.

>> they were ambushinged on the road towards kunduz city. they were suffering some casualty and it would -- seems like very hard for these reinforcements to get to kunduz city quick because the taliban set up ambushes along the road so they have to fight until they get to kunduz city. the situation is very tense and we are hearing from kunduz city also that there were some attacks by afghan security forces to the taliban and that they were trying to get the control, to retake the control of a couple of government buildings that the taliban took yesterday. >> so what does that mean? are we looking at a situation where the taliban is in control

of the city as a whole. if so how significant would that be? >> reporter: the capital province will have a make on or gain for taliban if you see the jail break was the biggest achievement. over 600 got released the majority were ex-taliban fighters and some other criminals were among them, they got released too and also the taliban by gaining the control of the couple of cities in afghanistan kunduz city they are giving the message to afghans that now taliban are capable after 13 years to take control of the capital of a province again. >> all right, thanks so much. there. u.s. president barack obama has chaired a u.n. peacekeeping summit secure pledges for

another 40,000 troops and police officers, the u.s. contributes few peacekeepers but pays for a quarter of the u.n.'s budgets and that's crucial funding for missions that are needed more than ever. gabriel elizondo reports. >> reporter: from south sudan to haiti, the strain on united nations peacekeeping troops has never been greater. the u.s. says they need much more support and that at a special sum i had on monday president obama took the first step. >> as the largest financial contributor to the u.n. peace keeping operations, the united states intends to continues to do its part. today i am issuing new presidential guidance. the first in more than 20 years to expand our support for u.n. peace operations. >> reporter: but that's mostly in the form of money and military logistical support. and not a big increase in american troops on the ground. for that, the u.s. is looking to its european allies and the rest of the world to boost the

peacekeepers' ranks. >> reporter: at thein' china was one of the biggest country to answer that call. >> translator: china has decided to take the lead in setting up a permanent peacekeeping police squad and build a peacekeeping stands-by force of 8,000 troops. >> reporter: countries are also giving billions of dollars for new equipment and better training something urgently needed as peacekeeping makes all the headlines for all the wrong readings. casting an ugly shadow over the summit a range of sexual abuse allegations most recently in the central african republic. involving rape against children, leaders at the summit were clear it has to stop. >> we have to insist on zero tolerance for abuse, 089. >> reporter: the hope is fresh reforms and funds will ash-har in a any era in u.n.

peacekeeping. >> i think the conference sends a signal that it's no longer business as usual in u.n. peacekeeping. and some countries in africa and asia have frankly got lays any their approach to peacekeeping and they have to raise their game. and that includes improving their attitude over sexual abuse and corruption. >> reporter: reform and better equipped and funded forces at this summit an acknowledgment it's necessary to meet the demand in a world with people tasked with keeping the peace are needed now more than ever. gabriel elizondo, a al jazeera,t the united nations this india and pakistan say saudi arabia has given foreign dip los angeles mats 11100 photos of identification following the -- 1,100 photos. for identification of the dead at the hajj. saudi arabia says the handling was incompetents.

critics believe the number may be much higher. >> translator: i am speaking on behalf of a great nation who is mourning the loss of thousands of muslim pilgrims and hundreds of its own citizens who have come together in the grand and global spiritual gathering of the hajj, but unfortunately fell victims to the incompetence and mismanagement of those in charge due to their unaccountability even the missing cannot be identified and the expeditious return of the bodies of the disease today their mourning families has been prevented. typhoon dujuan has hit the southern eastern coast the china it made landfall on tuesday morning with speeds of up to 119-kilometers per hour. ports are closed and flights have been canceled. until ti taiwan the storm left o

people dead and more than 300 injured. thousands of homes have no electricity or water. in the capital taipei we have a report. >> reporter: we are in taipei's biggest train station just a day after the typhoon struck taiwan operations here have gone back to normal. although businesses are still closed as well as schools and offices, most of the roads have been cleared of debris, more than 7,000 people were evacuated in preparation for the typhoon. the mayor said they are prepared as they can be but it's very difficult to assess the damage of this one. however, if you look at the situation now and how quick the government has responded, it has seemed to be the test case for how other asian countries should also respond in disasters like this one, more than 300,000 are still without power. but most of those 7,000 have been evacuated are now able to return to their homes. by the end of today, the typhoon has already left taiwan's area

of responsibility and it's just a matter of time before every operation here is back to normal as well. the president of juan of america's largest family planning organizations will testify before a congressional committee in a few hours. planned parenthood uses more than $500 million in tax-payer funds this year and is threatened with defunding it follows videos with staff talk about selling aborted baby parts. kimberly halkett reports from washington. >> reporter: they came to capitol hill with a message for members of congress. don't did h defund planned pare. for many working class americans it's their only access to affordable healthcare. courtney was in graduate school suffering from endo meet are you owes us and turned to planned parenthood to preserve her fertility when she can are she could no longer afford her

medicine. >> i worked really hard to get in to graduate school and i couldn't study for this one reason, planned parents hood made it so i could get the education. >> reporter: natasha turned to planned pander hood seven years ago after finding a lump in her breast. >> planned parenthood was my first contact getting my breast cancer screening and it was a process that saved my life. >> reporter: no everyone in congress sees planned parenthood as a benevolent organization. they also provide abortions and violating the beliefs of others. after a series of videos openly discussing the sale of aborted fetal ticker you for profit. >> reporter: in many in congress were innocenced and for a time threatened to shutdown the government if federal dollars continued to support the clinics.

the head of planned parenthood has also been called to testify. they are pushing to end the funding. >> with such a lack of dignity for the human person whether that was even a baby whose human life was taken from abortion they were seen as a commodity they were harvesting little lives for a cost. >> reporter: many in congress say the hearing is nothing more than an an attack on women's reproductive. >> what is really under attack is the right of women to control their own bodies. their own reproduction, their own reproduction and their own reproductive self. >> reporter: courtney agrees that's why they came to tell conga boringses of just a small part of what planned parenthood does and because of her medical condition her chance at motherhood would never have happened without its support. kimberly halkett. al jazeera, washington.

sepp blatter says he has done nothing wrong and has no plan to his resign. despite being investigated by swiss prosecutors and police. they have questioned the president of world football's governing body fifa on suspension of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation. u.s. prosecutors are also investigating rampant corruption and bribery and top-ranking fifa executives were arrested earlier this year. blatter is also being questioned about a $2 million so-called disloyal payment to the president of european football's governing body you i've a michelle platina says the money was for work done as advisor and he's not being accused of doing anything wrong. shell has abandoned its search for oil in the arctic it says it did not find enough oil and gas to continues. the plans to drill in the arctic has provoked off since from environmental assists.

>> reporter: it wasn't just environmental assists who were opposed to shell's optic drilling plans, share holders argued that the huge cost of optic drilling made little sense at a time of low oil prices. the u.s. department of interior concluded there was a 75% chance of a major oil spill if drill began with devastating consequences for wildlife and the ecosystem. that didn't stop the obama administration granting shell a permit to drill even though the company had been forced to abandon dwelling operations in 2012 because i've series of accidents and mismanagement. shell executives are a reported to have been taken aback at the level of protest this is stumper. kayak activists swarmed around shell vessels leaving port bound for the arctic drawing international attention. environmental assists are now declaring a victory. >> a really strong foundation has been built nationally regionally in both alaska and the pacific northwest to stop this particular project but there are other company that his

might be interested in other areas other than just specifically this sea where shell was, so we are really hopeful this foundation will move forward to make more permanent protections for the arctic. >> reporter: deutche a bank says the final cost of shells failed optic plans could be around $9 billion. but for investmenters concerned about low oil prices and the outcome of international talks to climate change it makes sense to take the loss. >> oil stays where it is, i don't think you will find viable arctic oil drilling options ever, quite frankly. >> reporter: it's estimated that the arctic holds 20% of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources, scientists have warned that the oil needs to remain untouched if climate change is to be limited. earlier norway postponed its drilling plans. in 2012 russia pulled out of the project in the arctic's baron sea.

environmental assists are hoping with this latest failure big oil will finally leave the arctic alone. al jazeera,. and, of course, you can keep up-to-date with all of those stories if you head over to aljazeera.com. >> this is "techknow." a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> this is a show about science, by scientists. let's check out our team of hard core nerds. marita davison is a biologist specializing in evolution. tonight, fracking. >> i looked out my front door