rare se hello. you're watching al jazeera live from london. syria's president applauds russia's air strikes saying the intervention is vital for middle east stability. deaths along the french riviera as two month's worth of rain falls in two hours

plus, herbal remedies are becoming harder to pick in south africa. the northern afghan city of kunduz has reportedly fallen back into taliban control. >>reporter: police in the northern city of kunduz have been distributing bread and rice

to residents for the past week. troops drive past bodies on the ground as they patrol the city. the capture of kunduz by the taliban was its biggest success since the armed group was removed from power in 2001. those able to escape are concerned about neighbors and relatives left behind. >> there is no doctor, no medicine, no treatment in kunduz. people are getting killed in the city but there's nobody to help and take away their dead bodies. >>reporter: a hospital operated by doctors without borders was hit by an apparent u.s. air strike on saturday. >> we still have no idea why this attack happened. it's a very well marked and very well known hospital. clearly without taliban presence

inside that hospital. >>reporter: doctors without borders has denied an afghan interior ministry statement that fighters were fighting from inside its hospital. several staff and patients were killed. some burned to death in their beds. many more injured. the pentagon has opened up an investigation. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights says an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime. the hospital had at least 200 patients. doctors without borders has now pulled out of kunduz and patients have been taken to the main hospital in kunduz which has run out of medical supplies. the government has promised to send them a team of doctors and supplies from kabul.

>>reporter: we have got confirmation from afghan security forces that kunduz city is back in taliban hands. we keep receiving phone calls from those residents that they are stuck in their homes. they're telling us there's no water, no food, no electricity. life is miserable. they cannot survive for long like this. they're telling us they're also tired -- they're also complaining about heavy bombardment from both sides. there are dead bodies and injured people 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 hospital of kunduz city. just in the last hours, 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 here. >> meanwhile, doctors without borders has withdrawn from kunduz after 22 people were killed on an air strike in their hospital. they blame the u.s. for attack. ash carter has promised a transparent investigation. >> my reaction i think was the same that anybody's would be which is this is a tragic loss of life. your hearts can only go out to innocent people caught up in this kind of violence.

and then a determination that as far as the united states is concerned and as far as our forces are concerned, that we be fully transparent about our investigation and also that we hold accountable if there is someone to be accountable anybody responsible for doing something they should not have done. according to moscow, russia has hit isil training posts, command posts, and munitions depots in syria but others say they've hit groups other than isil. syrian activists have up loaded

videos showing these strikes. forces claim cluster munitions were used in the strikes. no reports of casualties so far syria's president has appeared on iranian tv saying his country is in a coalition with russia, iran, and iraq and that together they'll defeat russia. >> it must be a success otherwise the entire region will be ruined. not one or two states. we're certain it will be a success. the coalition countries have come together in terms of intelligence, security, and military forces and will achieve tangible results on the ground especially if the coalition gains support from other countries. >> here's more now from beruit. >>reporter: it's the first time we're hearing from al assad

since the russian campaign began. a very confident president. it's given him much-needed military and political force. the president saying the the coalition will succeed and appealing to other countries to join this coalition. a very confident syrian president. its ally russia carrying out more air strikes but what we understand from the russian defense ministry is that they hit a number of isil targets and this raises a question, the area they hit is not an isil strong hold and the opposition has started to question the russian operation. they hit a strong hold for rebels. it strategic but we understand there were heavy air strikes and the russians were responsible.

on the ground, the air strikes are concentrated 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 strategic areas controlled by the syrian government. so questions are being asked about russia's motives. the president calling on other nations to join the coalition. in fact, even criticizing the u.s.-led coalition saying it's done nothing on the ground. and the opposition saying they're not interested in joining the latest u.n. peace initiative. there is no doubt that the russian intervention has complicated an already difficult and complex situation in syria al jazeera has spoken to one of the top ranked commanders in the free syrian army, a rebel

group fighting the syrian government. the group says russia has been targeting anyone fighting against president bashar al assad and not just isil. >>reporter: what russia's involvement means for the direction of syria's war, nobody knows. but why now? that's something a senior officer in the free syrian army knows for sure >> russian interference in syria is a sign that assad's army is collapsing. in 2014, shiite mri thats entered because hezbollah could not protect the regime. >>reporter: he shed us some of the locations hit and says the islamic state of iraq and the levant has no presence here.

he left aleppo ten days ago and troveed in and out of syria and has been actively engaged in this war since the beginning. >> russia considers anyone fighting the regime as their enemy. they didn't come here to fight isil. they're bombing civilians and other groups receiving foreign support. >>reporter: russia says it has targeted russia. we speak to a spokesman for one of the groups fighting in an area also hit by russia >> the people are scared. the russian bombs are stronger than the bombs of the regime. >>reporter: this war is now into its fifth year with no end in sight.

>> america has no clear plan. it has let down the syrian people. it's a very weak administration. they've left it all in russia's hands. they didn't even support their partners on the ground and even the group they trained, they left them to face their fate against the regime and russia's bombs. there's been no reaction. >>reporter: he says what keeps them fighting is that they have a just cause, for freedom, dignity, and the need to free syria for the next generation. but what will syria look like when they day comes? >> there are reports that one palestinian has been killed in fighting with israeli security forces in occupied east jerusalem. the trouble erupted a day after two palestinian attackers stabbed a number of israelis in jerusalem's old city killing

two. >>reporter: there's been a series of clashes throughout the occupied west bank. reports of violence particularly clashes between palestinians and israeli police and army. in jerusalem itself, there's been pressure through the evening in and around the old city. so certainly showing no signs of easing. as you mentioned, benjamin netanyahu returning to the united states and introducing a series of measures. whether they do anything is snag will become apparent in the next 24 hours. the situation in the old city

has been intensifying and certainly in the past week, culminating in these extraordinary measures. that sparked off a number of israeli raids throughout the west bank and culminated in the increase in tensions throughout the old city portugal has declared victory after sunday's general election. exit polls show the current prime minister has taken a clear lead. this government introduced deep spending cuts and huge tax hikes in a wave of austerity measures during a three-year recession. more to come here on al jazeera including the latest on

the land slide in guatemala as at least 95 are killed and hundreds remain missing. plus, why 30,000 coal liners in south africa are on strike.

>> 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. the taliban is reported to have retaken most of the northern afghan city of kunduz excite u.s. after fan forces earlier saying they made more gains.

>> russia has carried out air strikes for a fifth day in syria but monitoring troops say the strikes have hit more than isis. at least 16 people have died in flooding along the french riviera. in some areas about two months of rain is said to have fallen in just two hours. >>reporter: cars litter the streets in a french tourist town. the cleanup begins but some are still shocked by the memories of the deluge that swept their little sgloun the water was up to here. somebody came to get me. i couldn't get here because of the water pressure. 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 tunnels and underground car parks. some managed to escape. >> we arrived at this cross roads and a lot of water was coming down the two-lane road and the car was take an way. we were forced to get out through the window because the water was higher than the windows. >>reporter: the president of france has visited the towns where rescuers are expected to find more bodies as the waters finally begin to recede. objects have been found in the sea near where a cargo ship went missing in the bahamas. 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. >> people living in south carolina have been urged not to travel as forecasts predict heavy rain could hit the

american eastern sea board. warnings have also been issued for new jersey, north carolina, and virginia. >>reporter: joaquin's rained pounded the coast from south carolina to the northeast. storms ripped down power lines. washed out roads. wrecked homes. >> i heard this loud boom and it was loud. i knew it was a tree. high winds and rain dismantled this home in new jersey and floated it down the bay. thousands heeded government warnings to evacuate. others took their chances and were trapped >> well, all the hard wood flaps popped up and the water is up above the tv and the sofas. it's three feet deep in the house. >>reporter: the storm focused its furry on the carolina coast. only parts of the cargo ship that left florida with 33 on

board have been found. >> the ship became disabled because of mechanical problems and the ship found its way in the path of a storm. >>reporter: the historic downpour left residents banding together to rescue the stranded and left cathy jefferson bracing for more rain. >> my house is totally full of water. the floors are all damaged. the furniture is all wet. everything is gone. >>reporter: coastal flood warnings have been issued for parts of delaware, maryland, new jersey, north carolina, and virginia as the storm moves northward >> at least a hundred dead and hundred missing after a massive land slide covered much of a town in guatemala. the hope of finding anyone alive the phasing now.

david mercer sent us this 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. but today all they found were lifeless bodies. a hard reality for many here. >> six of my family members are missing. my parents and four siblings. i have not been able to rest and won't until i see them again. but asking to see them alive is a lot. they're buried under 15 meters of dirt. >>reporter: the land slide hit around 9:30 at night when many people were at home. those who could rain out of their homes when they heard the hillside crashing down.

but many didn't escape. >> my neighbor's house was here along this edge. when it was -- they're digging here but they have not 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 can hear a whistle blow and everybody stops working meaning that somebody thinks they've heard a voice coming from underneath all the tons of mud and rock. what with this layered up on top of the houses, many people here say they're running out of hope. >> rescue workers have no plans

# negotiations have broken down between the country's biggest labor union and the cole industry on thursday. south africa relies heavily on coal for producing electricity. the state power company says its only has enough coal to last a month. herbal medicine has a long tradition among south africa's

original tribes but regulations in natural parks are threatening the harvesting of the herbs. one bush doctor has come up with an urban solution to the problem of protecting the country's rural heritage. >>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 ancestors, he's supposed to have a permit to pick herbs.

this woman is a convert saying the bush doctor's pain relieving oil is better than the cream prescribed by the doctor. >> we started using the oil he recommended to us and she was less restless at night complaining about the pain. >>reporter: the challenge is keeping ancient traditions alive in a modern world full of rules and regulations. this is one of the richest areas for plants in the world and it should be protected but feigning a balance between nature is difficult. an herb garden in the heart of the township where the people need it most is the compromise. >> it is 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 smalls at the foot of the mountains, he's keeping an increasingly urban people in touch with their healing roots. it's considered one of the most daunting and dangerous rivers in the world for white water rafting. it's in the u.s. state of west virginia and draws people from all over the world to try their luck on its rapids. >>reporter: with paddles in hand, they're geared up to face one of the world's wildest refers. it's particularly ferocious because for six weeks every fall, the flood gates of a nearby dam are opened wide sending a huge amount of water gushing down the river. >> it makes the rapids really optimal for white water river. >>reporter: this couple came all the way from the u.k.

>> it's a challenge and a thrill for us. >> lean forward. >>reporter: a few minutes in and the force of the rapids are evident. the guy 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. 1 is the easiest. 5, the most difficult. here there are 14 class 4 rapids and 6 class 5s including this one called pillow rock. there's a sheer droppoff 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 the last ten years, 14 people have died but some of those were without a guide. there have been no fatalities the past two seasons.

adventures on the gorge will guide at least 10,000 people down the river this season alone. they say the guides are the key to safety. >> with every company on this river, these guys are highly trained, know this river backwards and forward. they're very good at reading water. >>reporter: it's easy to see why so many people come here. the river is over 41 kilometers long, nearly 100 rapids in all. after a couple of hours on the river, they take a break and it's all smiles. >> really good. >> waves washing your face. hanging on. >>reporter: on a river where the only guarantee is that everyone will get wet.

another horrible school shooting. we might not be able to solve the whole debate but there is something we can do. i'm ali velshi. this is third rail. russian intervention in syria's civil war is providing a fresh life line for