afghanistan's army loses ground to the taliban in kunduz where a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. hello there. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, syria's president applauds russia's air strikes in the war hoff torn country saying the intervention is violation to middle east civility. deaths along the french riviera as two months of rain falls in two hour. the herbal remedies harder

to pick in south africa. thank you for joining us. in the northern afghan city of kunduz, it has reported fallen back into taliban control. government forced backed by u.s. war planes have been fighting against the taliban there since monday. paul has the report. >> reporter: police in kunduz have distributed bread and rice to residents. many have lived without food, water or electricity for days. >> translator: planes are bombing us from above. towns are shelling from the ground. we don't know what to do. >> reporter: afghan soldiers and the taliban have been fighting for control of the city for more than a week. afghan troops drive past bodies left on the ground as they patrol the city with damaged and boarded-up storefronts dotting their way. the capture of kunduz by the taliban was the biggest success

since the armed group was removed from four in 2001. those who were able to escape are concerned about neighbors and relatives left behind. >> translator: there's no doctor, no medicine, and no treatment in kunduz. people are getting killed in the city, but there's nobody to help and take away the dead bodies. >> reporter: the hospital operated by the aid organization doctors without borders was hit by an apparent u.s. air strike on saturday. >> we still have no explanation why this attack happened. a very precise attack on our hospital. it was very well-known and very well-marked and clearly without any taliban presence in that hospital. >> reporter: doctors without borders denied an afghan ministry statement that taliban fighters fired from inside the hospital. several of the aid agency's staff and patients were killed.

some of the patients are said to be burned to death in their beds and many more were injured. the pentagon opened an investigation. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights said the air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime. the hospital had at least 200 patients. doctors without borders has pulled out of kunduz and the patients were contain to kunduz province's main hospital that has run out of medical supplies. its one doctor and three nurses are trying to help 500 patients. the government promised to send a team of doctors and supplies from kabul. al jazeera is in kunduz province. he sent us this update. >> reporter: we just got confirmation again from afghan security sources and afghan residents of kunduz, they are telling us that the area afghan government cleared this morning, most of kunduz city, is back in the taliban's hands.

now the residents are telling us still heavy fighting is going on. we keep receiving phone calls from those residents they're stuck in their homes. they say there's no water, no food, no electricity. life is miserable, and they cannot survive for long like this. they're telling us that they're also tired of -- they're also complaining about use of artillery from both sides and heavy bombardment. they say there are dead bodies and injured people that they are stuck in their homes and they cannot even move them to the hospital because they believe any movement in town could be a target from one side. now, we have a bit of good news from the hop of kunduz city just in the last hour as we got confirmation from the health department of kunduz province that a group of seven doctors with medicine arrived in kunduz

city from kabul. that's good news for the people of kunduz. russia stepped up the aerial bombardment in syria with a new wave of attacks on sunday. russian forces have been preparing in syria's west. it's targeting isil in central and northern syria it says. it says it hit training camps, command posts and munition de s depos. the syrian observatory for human rights says it hit other rebel-held areas not held by isil. the activists have uploaded videos purporting to show russian air strikes hitting western positions in the west aleppo countryside. they claim clustered munitions were used in the strikes. there's no reports of casualties so far. syria's embattled president

appeared on iranian tv. he said that together they will defeat isil. >> translator: it must be a success, otherwise the entire region will be ruined. not one or two states, the entire region. we're certain it will be a success. the coalition countries have come together in terms of intelligence, security and military forces. therefore, they will achieve tangible results on the ground, especially that the coalition gained international support even by countries with no direct role in the crisis or in the region. we're in beirut and we have more on assad's speech. >> it's the first time we hear from the syrian president since russia's aerial campaign began. a very confident president, and at the end of the day the russian intervention gave him much-needed military as well as political support. the syrian president saying

that, you know, the new coalition, the russian/iraqi/iranian coalition will appeal to other countries to join this coalition. a very confident syrian president and it's ally, russia, carrying out more air strikes. what we understand from the russian defense ministry is that they hit a number of isil targets. this raises a question. that's not an isil stronghold and the opposition is questioning the motives of the russian operation. this town is a stronghold for rebels. yes, it is strategic, but we understand from the activists that there were heavy air strikes and they believe the russian war planes were responsible in the northern countryside of homs. what we see on the ground is the air strikes are concentrating on an area, an arc around the province of latakia, the regime

stronghold. as of late the rebels were advancing towards the stroj hold. now we see these russian air strikes, which will undoubtedly protect the strategic areas controlled by the syrian government. so questions are asked about russia's motive and the president calling on other nations for the co-mrigs saying it did nothing on the ground and the opposition saying they're not interested in joining the latest u.n. peace initiative. we're back at square one. there's no doubt that the russian intervention complicated an already difficult and complex situation in syria. the son of 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. as we report, he's not the first son of a jordanian mp to joined

the armed group. >> reporter: little can ease his pain whose 23-year-old son was killed in iraq. he died in a suicide attack against the iraqi army while fighting alongside isil. even those paying condolences appeared shocked and confused. he left ukraine where he was studying medicine to join isil in june. efforts by his father and jor n jordanijorda jordanijorda jordanian officials failed. he insist says isil exploited his son. >> translator: 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 would hear from him. he asked for forgiveness because he signed up for a suicide mission. >> reporter: in their sporadic contact he said his son called him an apostate serves

government. he said he's against his son's ideology and will continue to fight it. jordan increased strikes against isiel after they burned a live a jordanian pilot they killed last december. >> translator: there is a feeling among the new generation in the arab world men are defending a just cause. whether in syria or iraq, they fight for causes as a religious duty. >> reporter: officials have not commented on the mp's son but the government's stand on fighting isil remains as is. >> translator: jordan is a major member in the international coalition fighting terrorism and also cooperate in sharing security and intelligence information. >> reporter: around 3,000 jordanians left the country to join isil and al nusra front and more than 350 have been killed. analysts say jordan's fight against foreign groups abroad should also be complemented by a

fight against extremism at home. they say efforts shouldn't only focus on cracking down on those that promote what the government describes as terrorist ideology, but also on social and intellectual change. al jazeera, amman. israeli security forces are put severe restrictions on palestinians and trained the old city of jerusalem. this follows two separate attacks on israelis by palestinians. al jazeera's mike hanna reports from the occupied eastern jerusalem. >> reporter: the old city was in a virtual stay of lockdown for palestinians. they blocked all the access gates. the unprecedented security measures follow two separate night attacks overnight. two israelis were killed in the first and one likely injured in second. in each incident the palestinian attackers, both 19, were shot dead. tourists continue to be allowed

into the old city. slowly filing through the police lines. while palestinian after palestinian is turned away. israeli citizens are as usually allowed unfettered access. the only palestinians allowed to enter are those who own businesses in the old city or are residents there. for those wishing to worship at at al aqsa compound, men over 50 can enter and have to come through this gate. prime minister benjamin netanyahu who has been in the united states during the past week of crisis is coming under intense domestic pressure to take even stronger measures against the palestinians. ooen members of his own government say not enough is done to fight against palestinian terror. some related to the overnight

attacks and others in the wake of the killing of two settlers on thursday. throughout the day it became increasingly clear that far from being confined to jerusalem, the conflict was spreading throughout all occupied territory. mike hanna, al jazeera, in occupied east jerusalem. still more to come on al jazeera includes it's election time in kyrgyzstan, but 20% of people aren't able to vote. plus -- >> these are some of the most intense rapids anywhere in the world, and for a few weeks each year, people flock here to risk it all for the ride of their lives. i'm on the golle river. that story is coming up. >> award winning journalist soledad o'brien takes us inside the violent world of kids

behind bars. will a new experimental program be their last chance? >> i have to do my 100 percent best so i don't end up in a place like this again.

>> 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. inch . time for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the taliban is reported to have retain most of the northern afghan city of kunduz despite u.s.-backed afghan forces earlier saying thaf made more gains. russia says it's carried out aerial bombardments against isil in syria for a fifth day. monitoring groups say the strikes have targeted other syrian rebel groups. israeli security forces put severe restrictions on palestinians entering the old city following two separate attacks by israelis on palestinians. at least 16 people died in flooding along the french rivie riviera. in some areas about two months' worth of rain fell in hours.

rob matherson reports. >> reporter: cars litter the streets, and the cleanup begins but some are still shocked by the memories of the deluge that swept through their little town. >> translator: the water was up to here. somebody came to get me. i couldn't walk because of the water pressure. it was horrible. i can't talk about this anymore. >>. >> reporter: the city of nice estimated to receive 10% of the average yearly rainfall with the force trapped in tunnels and underground car parks. some managed to escape. >> translator: we arrived at this cross roads. a lot of water was coming down the two-lane road, and the car was taken away and left there, so we were forced to get out of the car through the woind did he because the water was higher than the car windows. >> reporter: the french president visited the towns where rescuers are expected to find more bodies as the waters

recede. rob matherson, al jazeera. objects have been found in the sea near where a cargo ship went missing in the alabama. a life jacket thought to be from the boat which lost contact during hurricane joaquin on thursday has been found by the u.s. coast guard. 33 people are thought to be on board the boat, which lost power several days ago near crooked island. a shipping container has been found, but the u.s. coast guard cannot say where it belonged -- whether it belongs to the missing ship. at least 95 people are dead and hundreds more are missing after a massive landslide covered much of a foun in guatemala. res could you scuers are lookin survivors but hopes are fading. david mercer has the report. >> reporter: it's guatemala's worst natural disaster in years. part of this mountainside collapsed late thursday burying 125 homes under 1 million cubic

meters of earth. rescue workers and volunteers race against time shoveling through mountains of dirt in the search for survivors. today all they found were lifeless bodies, a hard reality for many here. >> translator: six of my family members are missing. my parents and four siblings. i haven't been able to rest, and i won't be able to until i see them again. and being to see them alive is a lot. they're buried under 15 meters of dirt. >> reporter: the landslide hit around 9:30 at night when many people were at home. it followed days of near constant rain. those who could ran out of homes had they heard the hillside crashing down, but many didn't escape. >> translator: my neighbor's house was here along this edge. when it was hit, everything was pushed back 2 meters. they're digging here but haven't found any survivors. >> reporter: heavy machinery was

brought in by the army, and more than 1,600 rescuers have joined the search motivated by signs of survivors. every 20 or 30 minutes you hear a whistle blow and everybody stops working. that means somebody thinks they have heard a voice coming from underneath all the tons of mud and rock. what was layered up 45 meters on top of the houses, many people here say they're running out of the hope. rescue workers have no plans to stop the search, but the moment the rain falls again, they could suspend the operation. >> translator: we can see that the hill opposite the slide also runs the risk of a landslide and on the side it already collapsed there's a fracture that could bring down more earth. >> some say this was a disaster foretold. in 2008, authorities warned local politicians that this ravine was a risk zone and that no one should be living here. davide mercer, al jazeera,

guatemala. well, portugal's center redco ligs declared victory after sunday's general election. exit polls show the current prime minister has taken a clear lead. his government introduced deep spending cuts and huge tax hikes in a wave of austerity measures during a three-year recession. while speaking of elections, polls closed in kyrgyzstan's parliament elections. it's a test for the young democracy that remains vulnerable to political instability after ousting two presidents during uprisings in 2005 and 2010. al jazeera's robin forest forester-walker reports from the capital. >> reporter: kyrgyzstan's voting made it harder to commit electoral fraud but with one major drawback. voters that failed to register in time, 20% of the electorate,

was unable to cast a vote. still the country's president believes kyrgyzstan has set a new standard. >> translator: i think it is great because many couldn't country and some not far from us don't know what freedom and free and fair election mean. >> reporter: he still has significant control over parliament. preliminary results suggest his party is ahead but will need coalition partners to form the next government. five years ago thousands of people protested on these same streets to overthrow a corrupt regime. the result of that was an experiment in parliament democracy. five years on you and they suggest that experiment maying working. there's work to be done. it's racked by corruption and the chronically weak economy. it could set a democratic

example to the rest of the region. the world bank is to raise the so-called poverty line by 65 cents to $1.90. people are said to be living in poverty if they earn less than that per day. we have been to new delhi to see how people there cope. >> reporter: crammed together, stacked haphazardly on top of each other, this is what many of india's urban poor call him. this family struggles every day to eat. she says corruption and bureaucracy means her family doesn't get the ration cards or other benefits they're entitled to. >> translator: 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 be 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 poor is common in many parts of the country, in both rural and urban

areas. even if the poor here met the world bank's new poverty line measure of $1.90 a day, many here say it won't be enough for them to live on. even earning less than $2 a day is sufficient. her husband iqbal is well aware of his family's plight but there's not much to do about it. >> i don't have any work. object krusly, we're poor. we manage to survive. 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 it manual labor. >> reporter: these are common complaints, but it's made worse according to those that work with the poor with some basic services privatized driving up costs even further. >> you have the poor having to access high-cost public services, being it in education, be it in hospitals or be it in water. therefore, that model is the reason why even if people get two $2 a day, they're still

poor because you can't access basic services and get decent jobs. >> reporter: experts say the rapid economic growth is another reason why artificial poverty lines don't reflect realities on the ground where people are just trying to survive. herbal medicine in south africa is under threat because of strik regulations in national parks. now a bush doctor came up with an urban solution to help protect part of the country's rural heritage. from capetown, here's tanya page. >> reporter: he comes to the national park in capetown to be inspired. he's a bush doctor, the healing powers of these plants have beens used for centuries. unlike his ancestors, he's supposed to have a permit to pick herbs. >> at the first instance it's not gone.

we've been picking herbs through the generations. our people, indigit yus people with the western cape with our permits. >> reporter: the restrictions mean herb sellers like dorothy williams struggle to get enough stock but demand is high. >> there's a lot of youth comes onto the scene. so they know where the knowledge is and where they get the right stuff. >> reporter: her grandmother is one such convert. she said the pain-relieving oil is better than the cream subscribed by the doctor. >> we started to use the oil recommended to us, and then we started to see she wasn't restless at night from problems from the pain. >> reporter: the challenge is how to keep ancient traditions alive in a modern world full of rules and regulations. the u.n. recognizes this national park as one of the richingest areas of plants in the world and it should be

protected. finding a balance between nature and tradition is difficult. they have a compromise with a hosh garden right in the heart of the township where the people need it most. it has all the herbs bush doctors need. >> it's good for chest complaints, colds, flu. our people used to use it for high blood pressure. >> reporter: by moving the herbs closer to the houses in a city that is sprawled at the foot of the mountains, he's keeping an increasingly urban people in touch with their healing roots. tonya page, al jazeera, capetown, south africa. it's considered one of the most daunting and dangerous rivers in the world for whitewat whitewater rafting. the gauley in the u.s. state of wfz draws people from all over the world to try their luck on the rapids. in from there that we have the report. >> reporter: with paddles in hand, they are geared to face one of the world's wildest rivers. it's the gauley and it's

particularly ferocious because for six weeks every fall the floodgates of a nearby dam are opened wide sending a huge amount of water gushing down the river. >> it makes the rapids really optimal for whitewater rafting. >> heather and lee came all the way from the u.k. >> it's a challenge for us. >> that's the reason we're doing it, the challenge and thrill. >> go forward. >> reporter: a few minutes in, and the force of the gauley rapids are evident. the guide shouts out commands. >> forward. >> reporter: every paddle stroke is critical. they make it out, but there's more to come. rapids are ranked on the difficulty. 1 being the easiest and 5 the most difficult. here on the gauley, there are 14 class 4 rapids and six class 5s, including this one called pillow rock. there's a shear drop-off. they say it's the ten most

exhilarairating seconds of whitewater rafting anywhere in america. it doesn't always go as planned. in the last ten years 14 people have died on the gauley, but some of those were without a guide. there have been no fatalities the past two seasons. adventures on the gorge, the biggest of the seven rafting operations here, will guide at least 10,000 people down the gauley this season alone. they say the guides are the key to safety. >> with every company on this river, these guys are highly trained. they know this river backwards and forwards. they are very adept in reading water, so when situations change, they can adapt to it. >> reporter: for thrill seekers it's easy to see why so many choose the gauley nestled deep in a mountain gorge in west virginia. the river is more than 41 kilometers long and nearly 100 rapids in all. after a couple of hours on the river, they take a break and it's all smiles. >> it was really good, yes.

>> waved splashing your face and hanging on. >> on a river where the only guarantee is everyone will get wet. al jazeera, on the gauley river in west virginia. much more on that and everything that we've been covering on the website, aljazeera.com. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, how innocent americans tonight could end up labeled terrorists, turning their lives and livelihoods yum side down. upside down. the united states announced sanctions against five groups of people across the globe, connected to i.s.i.l, at a counterterrorism summit in new york, president obama said, part of america's commitment to use all means