from the hospital of kunduz

city just in the last hour, we got confirmation from the health department of kunduz province that a group of seven doctors with medicine arrived in kunduz city with kabul. that's good news for the people of kunduz. >> why is the afghan army struggling to retake it? is it a surprise that the taliban is so strong in the area? >> well, afghan intelligence says that they knew about this attack and also we talked with many afghan officers here in the past seven days. they're complaining from lack of cooperation between the security forces. they're also saying that taliban are hiding in the residential area. the reason that they're going

slow into the area is because they try to avoid civilian casualties. >> okay. thank you very much indeed for that live from cukunz se province in afghanistan. russia has set up its aerial bombardment in syria with a new wave of attacks on sunday, the fifth day in the row. russia says it's targeting isil in northern syria and have hit training camps, command posts, and munitions depots. however, their motives are being investigated. evidence has been compiled that the strikes are targeting syrian rebel groups more than isil.

next the areas held by the opposition including the al nusra front plus kurdish fighters. isil controls large parts of territory in the northeast and central corridor. russia has launched dozens of air strikes and ten of the 12 air strikes hit opposition tar gets and only two -- targets and only two hit isil targets. >> mean while, bashar al assad is applauding moscow's actions saying his country is in a coalition with russia, iran, and iraq and together they'll defeat isil. >> it must be a success. otherwise, the entire region will be ruined. we're certain it will be a success. coalition countries have come

together in terms of intelligence, security, and military forces. the coalition is confident that it will succeed and is appealing to other countries to join them. a very confident syrian president and its ally russia carrying out yet more air strikes. but what we understand from the russian defense ministry is that they hit a number of isil targets raising a question, the

area they hit is not an isil strong hold. the opposition has really started to question the motives of the russian operation. it's a strong hold for rebels. yes, it's strategic but we understand that there were heavy air strikes and they believe the russian war planes were responsible in hams. what we're seeing really on the ground is the air strikes are concentrating on an area, an arc around the regime strong hold. as of late, the rebels were advancing towards that strong hold and now we're seeing these russian air strikes which will undoubtedly protect the areas controlled by the syrian government. the president is calling on other nations to join the coalition and has criticized the u.s. coalition saying it's done

nothing on the ground and the opposition saying they're not interested in joining the u.n. peace initiative. there's no doubt this has complicated an already difficult and complex situation in syria israeli security forces have put severe restrictions on palestinians entering the old city in jerusalem. >>reporter: the old city was in a virtual state of lockdown for palestinians who wished to enter. the unprecedented security measures follow two separate night attacks overnight. two israelis were killed in the first and one likely injured in the second. in each incident, both 19-year-old attackers were shot dead. tourists are still allowed into

the city while palestinians are being turned away. israeli citizens are allowed access but the only pal state prisonens allowed to enter -- palestinians allowed to enter are those that reasonably prudent person residents there or those that have businesses there. the prime minister, benning anyone netanyahu who has been in the united states is coming under intense domestic pressure to take even stronger measures. even members of his own government say not enough is being done to combat what they call palestinian terror. the israeli army conducted many operations in the west bank. throughout the day, it became

increasingly clear that far from being confined to jerusalem, the conflict is spreading to all occupied territory 85 people dead and hundreds more still missing in a huge land slide in guatemala city. tons of earth, rock, and trees loosened by rains engulfed homes in the city on thursday night. at least 16 people have died in flooding along the french riviera. >> cars litter the streets of the french tourist town. the cleanup begins but some are still shocked by the memories of the deluge that struck their little town. >> the water was up to here.

it was horrible. i can't talk about this anymore. >>reporter: the city of nice is estimated to have received 10% of its average yearly rainfall in two days alone. the force of the water was deadly. many people drowned in their own cars trapped in dumbs and under -- tunnels and underground car parks. >> we arrived at the cross road and water was coming down and the car was take an way. we were forced to get out through the window. >>reporter: the president of france has visited the towns where rescuers are expected to find more bodies as the waters finally begin to recede coming up, thousands of miners go on strike in south africa threatening supplies. these are some of the most intense rapids anywhere in the world and people flock here to

risk it all for the ride of their life for a few weeks each year. that story coming up.

>> al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrap-up of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective. weeknights, on al jazeera america. top stories here on al jazeera. the taliban is reported to have retaken most of the northern afghan city of kunduz despite u.s.-backed afghan forces earlier saying they'd made more games. 16 people have died in storms and floodings that have struck the french riviera.

a jordanian member of parliament has been killed while fighting for isil in iraq. he was involved in a triple car bombing against an iraqi army post. he's not the first jordanian mp to join the armed group. >>reporter: little did ease the pain of the man whose son was killed in iraq. he died in a suicide attack against the iraqi army in an bar province. even those paying their condolences. his father insists isil exploited his son. >> my son was tricked and used

and is a victim of isil. the last time we talked, he said it was the last time we'd hear from him. he asked for our forgiveness because he had signed up for a suicide mission. >>reporter: in their contact -- jordan increased its strikes against isil after the group burned alive a jordanian f-16 pilot it had captured in northern syria last december. >> there is a feeling among the new generation of young men in the arab world that they're defending a just cause. they see fighting for them as a religious duty. >> officials have not yet commented on the mp's son but the government's stand on fighting isil remains as it is. >> jordan is a pay jar member in

the international coalition that is fighting terrorism and will also cooperate in sharing security and intelligence information. >>reporter: around 3,000 jordanians have left the country to join armed groups and more than 350 of them have been killed. in niger, at least ten people have been killed by suicide bombers. children are among the dead. about 30,000 coal miners in south africa are on strike.

south africa relies heavily on coal for producing electricity. the state's power company says it only has enough coal to last for a month. at least eight people killed in shootings between police and protesters in the capital of brundi. pro russia party to power. it attests for the young democracy which remains vulnerable to political instability after ousting two presidents during up risings in

2005 and 2010. they're still firmly associated with the former president. moscow has a military air base and has developed large economic projects there. voting has made it much harder to commit -- electoral fraud. >> i think you know it is great because many countries, some of them not far from us, don't know what freedom and free and fair

elections mean. >>reporter: freer and fair may be but there's still significant control over parliament. a coalition to share power with him is the likely outcome. there's work to be done. they're covered up in corruption and a chronically weak economy. >> five years ago, thousands of people protested on these same streets to overthrow a corrupt regime. the result was an experiment in parliamentary democracy. five years on and these transparent elections suggest that experiment may be working. >>reporter: it's an imperfect system. but kirklin cliniced still set -- it could still set a

democratic example for the region the world bank is to raise the so-called poverty line by $0.65 to $1.90. people are said to live in poverty if they earn less than that in a day. >>reporter: cramped together, stacked on top of each other, this is what many of india's urban poor call home. her family struggles every day just to eat. she says corruption and bureaucracy means her family doesn't get the ration cards or benefits they're entitled to >> these are my kids and they live like this. today there's bread but maybe tomorrow there's not. if we don't have work, where will the money come from? >>reporter: with little outside help, this daily struggle has become a way of life for most people here. this situation for the spoor common in many parts of the country in both rural and urban areas. even if the poor here met the

new poverty line measure, many here say it won't be enough for them to live on. even earning less than $2 a day is tough. her husband is well aware of his famili family's plight but he has there's not much he can do. >> i don't have work. obviously we're poor. somehow i manage to get work to feed my children. i'm not trained or educated to get a proper job. all i can do is manual labor. >>reporter: these are common complaints but it's made worse by basic services being privatize driving up costs even further. >> if poor are having to access private services. therefore, that is the reason why even if people get $2 a day, they are still poor because you can't access basic services.

you can't get decent jobs. >>reporter: experts say india's rapid economic growth is another reason why artificial poverty lines don't reflect reality on the ground. people are just trying to survive it's considered one of the most dangerous rivers in many the world for white water rafting. it's in the u.s. state of west virginia and it draws people from all over the world to try their luck on its rapids. oak ux .

>>reporter: the guide shouts out commands because every paddle stroke is critical. they make it out but there's more to come. >> rapids are ranked based on their difficult. one being the easiest. 5 being the most difficult. here on this river, there are 14 class 4 rapids and six class 5s including this one called pillow rock. there's a sheer drop off they say is the ten most exhilarating seconds of white water rafting anywhere in america. >>reporter: it doesn't always go as planned. in the last ten years, 14 people have died here but some of those were without a guide. but there have been no fatalities in the past two

seasons. adventures on the gorge will drive at least 10,000 people this season alone. they say the guides are the key to safety. >> these guys are highly trained, know this river backwards and forwards. they're very good at reading the water so they can change in a second. after a couple of hours on the river, they take a break and it's all smiles. >> really good. yeah. >> waves washing your fish. hanging on. >>reporter: on a river where the only guarantee is that everyone will get wet. herbal medicine has a long tradition among south africa's

tribes but this custom is under threat. now a bush doctor has come up to an urban solution. >>reporter: he comes to the national park in cape town to be inspired. he's a bush doctor. the healing powers of these plants have been used for centuries but unlike his an zesters, he's supposed to have a permit to pick herbs. >> it's not good. we've been picking herbs through the generations. our people. >>reporter: the restrictions mean herb sellers struggle to get enough stock yet demand is

high. she's one such convert who says the bush doctor's pain relieving oil is better than the cream prescribed by the doctor. >> we started using the oil that he recommended to us and we started to see that she wasn't restless at night or complaining about the pain. >>reporter: the challenge is how to keep ancient traditions alive. this national park is one of the richest areas for plants in the world. it should be protected the u.n. says. but finding a balance is

difficult. by moving the herbs closer to houses, he's keeping an increasing -- ♪ ♪ >> hello. you are at the "listening post" these are some of the media stories we are getting crosses this week: the tragedy in mecca. 1 story differing narratives depending upon what channel you are watching in which country.