>> hello, welcome to the news hour. top stories here on al jazeera, more than 50 people are killed by a syrian government strike on a marketplace near damascus. >> in vienna, diplomat meet to try to bring an end to the conflict. more than 20 refugees drown at two more boats sink off the coast of greece. >> released after a decade in

guantanamo bay. a syrian government missile attack on a busy marketplace has killed more than 50 people. witnesses say 100 others were wounded in a rebel held area in douma, east of damascus. that toll is expected to rise as people pull out of damaged buildings. diplomats from important regional stakeholders, although not the combatants on the ground are meeting in vienna. we are joined live from vienna. there have been a round of high-level meetings, now of course waiting to hear what went on behind those closed doors. >> that's absolutely right. the plenary session, as far as we know is still on going.

we've been waiting as has the rest of the press corps here, which you can probably see behind me in front of the hotel imperial, waiting for the foreign minister to brief the press on how those talks have been going, but he has not yet stepped out of the hotel. we'll let you know what we hear. we anticipate he should be out any minute, but his arrival has been advertised to us as imminent. all that being said, though, this is a tough day of negotiations. it is significant that the iranians are here for the first time, participating in these talking about. it is also a very big deal that the iranians are in the same room with their regional average rival saudi arabia trying to find a compromise for a way out of the civil war. we heard from u.k. foreign secretary, talking about what they expected to happen. let's listen to more of what he had to say in his briefing to the press.

>> we're gathered here this morning to see if there is any scope for bridging the gap that we know exists between the russian-iranian position on the one hand and position adopted by most of the countries on the other. this is an exploratory discussion to see if there's a way forward, a way of establishing a process which can end the suffering and the killing in syria. >> to hear it from the diplomats who have spoken to members of the press here, the language is very tempered, is very measured. it's a very, very guarded optimism as far as what these talks may be able to achieve. frankly, it seems the diplomat bar is set low. because it is difficult getting everybody together, finding common ground. that all being said, one of the more interesting things that emerged in the run up to these talks, it seems that there is

definitely a softening in tone rewarding the possible future in syria of president bashar al assad. western countries like france and the u.s. seem to be indicating that perhaps they would be able to tolerate bashar al assad taking part in any type of political transition process in syria. that was a red line in the past, the u.s. within france, many other countries said there is no way they would allow president bashar al assad to do so. on the other side of the argument, you have the russians and iranians that would like to see bashar al assad be a part of any part of political transition. even with these talks taking place, renewed diplomatic pros, it's made no difference to what's going on in syria. there's ho risk reports and footage out of douma today, 40 people killed by activists and missile strikes there in that town and a humanitarian crise that continues to unfold unabated. even though talks, trying to come up with a solution, it is a

sharp juxtaposition what's going on here and very different reality to what's going on in the country. >> thank you. if we see the french foreign minister emerging, we will cut back to where you are outside the hotel imperial there in vienna. in the meantime, we cross to a retired major general in the saudi arabian army, now the chairman of the middle east center for strategic and legal studies joining us live from amman or dan. great to have you with us. first of all, what do the saudi's think of iran being at the negotiating table today? >> before that, saws rain doesn't like iran to involve in that negotiation, but now saudi arabia convinced that we have to give chance for iran. maybe iran change their mind and iran, every time said they want to solve the problem by

politically, not by war, and also, they said they don't interfere and make destabilization in the area and we will give iran chance for that to see if they be promised or not. for that reason, welcome iran for this meeting. >> it does seem that the u.s. and its allies shifting slightly to ires position, instead the softer tone towards president asses future that he may be part of any political transition. >> the problem, not bashar al assad, bashar al assad is one man, but we have to be on the side of people of syria and russia, other countries, like

egypt before, they worry about that terrorists will be expand if bashar al assad come out of the power in syria, but now the problem not bashar al assad, but the system. we have to maintain the system, that the system can stand against terrorists to expand like daish or other. for that reason, they will discuss about that how can manage that problem to solve in this meeting. >> how do you then see saudi helping the syrian people? >> saudi arabia, the main goal for saudi arabia, to stop the war in syria, and the unity and maintain the unity of syria. just that, and they don't like

any other power or country or like that interfere inside of syria. >> ok, we will leave it there for now. thank you for taking the time to join us from amman there in jordan. >> thank you. agrees's prime minister said he feels ashamed by europe's response to the refugee crise. alexis tsipras spoke after two more boats carrying refugees from turkey to greece sank. at least 22 people, including 11 children drowned in the aegean sea. more than 100 were rescued from the water. >> i want to say that as a european leader, i feel shame, both for the senate of europe to deal effectively with this crise but also for the quality of the debate. >> today, the waves of the aegean aren't just washing up

dead refugees and dead children on our shores, they're wiping out european civilization itself. >> a correspondent live for us in les lesbos. tell us about the greek response. >> in the past three days that we have been here, there have been a surge of arrivals on this island and across the aegean. it is estimated that the number of arrivals have averaged 7,000 to 8,000 a day. right here behind me, you can see the results of that surge, people lining up to enter a greek ferry chartered for the purpose of taking them to athens where they are expected to continue their journey north into the balkans. these people have been processed, registered,

fingerprinted, according to the new european standards and now sent on wards in order to pursue their asylum applications. authorities have been overwhelmed on land and at sea, because as you've said, they are facing increasing fatalities. one answer is there's more pressure from smugglers to get them across before winter. another answer is that they simply see this as their last chance to get into europe, now the open doors policy towards refugees lasts, and there is a political directive towards that. the number of fatalities is attributed partly to that increase in sheer numbers crossing, partly to the fact that they're using -- particularly the wood that ones, which are simply collapsing under the weight of people being

placed on them. at the moment, we are seeing the political fallout of all of this embarrassment over the loss of life in the eastern aegean. one response from the greek prime minister, that's the greek way of saying this is a european problem, europe needs to be plowing more money, we cannot build endless camps, endless capacity for people here in greece. we cannot turn greece into a concentration camp and this is the situation we have seen in lesbos in the amps here. >> these people are heading for athens and a perilous trek on foot across the balkans, but now are relieved that they've crossed dangerous waters from turkey in these rubber dingies. most need international protection from the war in syria, all the perils they face at home. sometime waiting for travel documents is this man, who paid the price as working as an

interpreter for coalition forces by being hunted down by the reemerge incident taliban. >> they shoot bullets in front of my home and post a letter on my door. when move dad got the letter, my dad said i told you not to go with these guys. my family life is at risk. he said take the money, go wherever you want to go, don't come back in my home. >> he has waited for an american visa. he can wait no more and asks for protection in you're. the process for him and thousands more who arrive daily is bureaucratic and slow. this camp, built for 1500 is overrun by more than twice that many. they now spill over barbed wire fences into the rounding olive groves. there's no running water, nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down. only children manage to escape briefly from these daily realities. >> this is greece's first e. you

are hot spot where new arrivals are screened. there's room for 10,000 people in camps like these across the country, but greece has now been forced that raise that to 50,000, most of it in temporary shelters, the remained are in private housing. >> the reason is that eastern european countries are overwhelm thatted by the convoys of thousands, prompting some to shut their borders. in steady of the 6,000 hospitality positions ins one camp that they were asking of us and which in reality would be more like a concentration camp, we succeeded to get approval for 20,000 places of temporary residence of subs died rent. >> the greater trying to flee winter, the greater the risk of

movement. >> that report from lesbos. the situation is not improving for ref jeers as they head further into europe. there have been more chaotic scenes. austrian police say 7,000 people gathered after slovenia brought large groups of refugees by train. thousands of asylum seekers have been trying to climb the barriers. austrian police are trying to transport people from the area. >> the last british prisoner in guantanamo bay has been released. he was held since 2002. we have this report. >> he had been held more than 5,000 days, never charged, never convicted. the last british resident to be detained at the u.s. base has now been released. >> they announced they were going to release him and i can

confirm that he's on his way back to the u.k. now and he'll arrive in britain later today. >> his supporters have always maintained he is an innocent man and that his family had been robbed of a father and a husband. the campaign for his release has been a long one. >> 14 years of torture. i mean torture's bad enough, but when someone's never been charged and therefore assumed innocent, it's just intolerable. >> he was detained in afghanistan in 2001 working for a charity. still in custody in 2009, the obama administration also cleared him for release. he went on hunger strike several times, one of the many prisoners to protest in this way. campaigners say he was held in appalling conditions, sometimes

in cool tear confinement and also allege he was beaten. it's expected he'll be reunited with his family, including one child born during the initial stage of his incarceration. emma hayward, al jazeera in london. >> do stay with us here on al jazeera. still to come, questions over whether china's only child generation can afford to expand their families now that their allowed a second baby. a proposal to build the world's biggest marine reserve hits another hurdle. green and gold fever catching on in sydney ahead of the rugby world finals. previews, coming up. >> israel agreed to release bodies of palestinians who died in recent violence killed in

hebron in the occupied west bank. israeli forces on friday shot another two civilians at a checkpoint. israeli police say they opened fire after the men tried to stab a policeman. the conditions of the palestinians isn't known. it's the latest violence incident since the beginning of october. let's get more from stephanie decker, joining us from east jerusalem where friday prayers have been taking operation. let's talk about the latest bouts of violence. what more do we know? >> i'm actually in west jerusalem, but in the last two hours, the first i want that's taken place in jerusalem in the last two weeks, it's been relatively quiet here. these i wants have all been happening in the occupied west bank, the israeli place say that a 23-year-old from occupied east jerusalem behind the separation

wall so technically in the west bank, an area that has a no municipality access, very difficult conditions there, they say that he stabbed a student. that student is in moderate condition, and he was shot. what is interesting, we spoke to one of my colleagues, a journalist who witnessed the latter part of the scene. he saw a young man lying on the ground and he was shot seven or eight times with live ammunition. he is in critical condition, we're being told, but again, it highlights the unpredictability, the nature of these kind of incident the. it's been relatively quiet because the israeli forces have clamped down on east jerusalem. there are neighborhoods where alleged attackers have come from that are completely surrounded. people have to really walk in and out one by one, lifting up shirts to show that they're not wearing any kind of weapons. it's an incredibly steps situation still on the ground, and as i said, this is the first

incident in jerusalem in the last two weeks. >> mean while, we hear about some bodies being returned to their families, some palestinians who have been killed. why do you think that might be the case? why are they returning them. >> there's been a lot of pressure. especially here in jerusalem, the bodies are not returned. we are hearing that a number which bodies will be returned to their families. that hasn't happened, but is expected. we heard from sources in hebron. particularly in hebron, a lot of the incidents we've seen happening over the last few weeks have happened there. there's also a different narrative. the israeli army, the israeli will tell you one side of the story, there was an attempted stabbing, there's been various i wants to this. then you hear from palestinian sources, witnesses saying that actually this person was not carrying a knife, certainly particularly in hebron, a lot of

instances have happened around the mosque, the cave of the patriarchs area. they need to get through two or three check points to get to that point. palestinians will tell you it's impossible to get to that stage with a knife. this is a question causing anger on the street, on the palestinian street, because they will tell you that a lot of these incident it is, the ways the israelis are reporting of attempted stabbings are not true and they are shooting to kill. we had a recent amnesty international report calling on israel, so all of this adding to the atmosphere of tension. again, the unpredictable nature of this, it's one-on-one, making it extremely difficult to control or predict where it's going to happen next. >> absolutely. reporting from west jerusalem, thanks very much. fighting in yemen in taiz has killed more than 50 people in the past two days. houthi rebels have been accused of using snipers in areas under

their control. meanwhile, senior houthi leadership says efforts to find a political solution have failed. a warning that some viewers may find the images in the report disturbing. >> she is one of the latest casualties in yemen's war of attrition. she's seven years old and doesn't understand why grownups are killing each other in her home of taiz. >> i was playing on the street. i was shot in the leg with a bullet. >> it's a tough job for mothers to explain to children what are snipers and why they shoot at anything that moves. >> my sister and her son were both shot by snipers. she was hit in her stomach and the child in the leg. my daughter was shot as she was playing outside. >> people in taiz say hundreds died in weeks of intense

fighting by forces loyal to ali abdullah saleh and pro-government fighters. they say they have gained ground, but the houthis have deployed snipers on hills overlooking areas they control. >> they have tanks, artillery and heavy weapons, while we are just armed with our conviction that we will prevail. we will continue to hold ground and defend our own city. >> no signs of a let up in the fighting. diplomatic attempts also seem to be fall apart. a houthi leader says efforts to reach a peaceful solution have failed. a peace plan was brokered earlier in the month. back in taiz, snipers kill again. her husband said his wife was shot dead. in yemen, the families are

paying the highest price. >> people in china welcomed the end of the one-child policy, families now allowed to have two children. the government is calling it a proactive response to an aging population. not everyone is convinced. we report from beijing. >> with be a increasing burden of aging population, bonn donning the one-child policy is a cause for celebration for many, but it will be a long time before the change works through to produce a bigger working population to support the elderly. far from certain that all couples will take the opportunity of having a second child. >> i don't know if it will make enough of a difference, because the intention of women having children is very low. china has 20% of the world's population, but we account for

only 10% of the world's newborn children. >> on the streets, a mixed reaction from a generation that has grown up knowing only one policy. >> the one-child policy was good when we had too many people, but now we have money. there's no need for such a strict limit. >> i have no time for more children, so i'm not planning on having another. >> it's a good thing. we have serious aging problem and need new blood. >> at one of beijing's parks, a typical scene, babies as likely to be looked after by their grandparents while their parents are at work supporting them both. many couples from one child families face a double burden, looking after four aging parents while at the same time bringing up two children. this will be the generation bearing the strain of china's demographic imbalance.

al jazeera, beijing. we have a report on optimism in antarctica. >> it is the least touched continent on earth, millions of square kilometers of sea, ice and life. polar bears live only in the arctic, but penguins, birds and fish that live nowhere else and ecosystems valuable in themselves. the southern ocean are also a central laboratories for measuring the effects of climate change. >> given these impacts affecting the ocean, it's important that we extinguish what's happened through climate change and through fishing, whether tourism or fishing. there are control areas, protected areas, you can have those areas protected so you have a good control. >> for the past five years, at

annual meetings in hobart, delegations from countries plus the european union are gathering to establish protected areas. r.b.i. and china veto proposals. they want to fish freely and said they weren't fully persuaded of the science behind the proposals. >> every year these m.p.'s are not established, it's open for fishing and other activities that could degrade the eco system. it's really important that these are put in place as soon as possible to protect them. >> disappointing, then, but delegates in hobart this week again failed to reach consensus. >> there is frustration here. most delegates are leaving more optimistic than they had been in previous years. they may not have quite reached agreement, but they say substantial progress has been made. >> importantly, for the first time, china says it now supports one of the two proposed

protected areas. russia, though, remains opposed. >> they have indicate that they are not quite ready to proceed with this protected area yet, but they have indicated that they are willing to talk with us and we'll take them up on that offer and hopefully, we'll be able to convince them. >> so there's growing hope it's coming, but for now, antarctica still lacks the protection it needs. al jazeera, hobart. >> let's bring you all the weather with rob. there's something of a word record happening in south africa. unusual thing, temperature, it could be through climate change or that it's been a very very warm couple of days. the wind blowing down to the coast, on tuesday, a a record breaker, 48.4.

the wind gives higher temperatures, but there's a higher base. it's cooled down to 31 then 29. these are pictures from nairobi. rainy season starts the first of november, so it's a couple of days early. the rainfallen just to open up the season, which of course will last for two or three months from now. it's all to do with the sun going south, this year at a development time for tropical cyclones. here's a major one just off the coast. a little while off, but it's a category five storm, a pretty rare beast. the winds currently 260 kilometers per hour. it's heading towards the coast of yemen or oman. it won't be as strong when it hits, but it will be pretty strong.

we'll carry on following that one. laura. >> we certainly will. rob, thank you very much indeed. still ahead, as pakistan recovers from the massive earthquake earlier this week, business owners are facing an insurance problem. zimbabwe trying to boost solar energy use, some people are left in the dark. in sport, we meet the u.s. teenager raising the bar at the world jimmistic championship. coming up.

a syrian government missile attack in a market killed 50 and wounded 100 more. >> national players in the conflict are meeting in vienna to discuss a solution, but the syrian government and opposition groups are not there. boats carrying refugees to greece have sunk. 22 people including 11 children drowned in the aegean sea. greece's prime minister said he feels ashamed by europe's response to the refugee crisis. the last british prisoner in guantanamo bay is released. he had been detained without charge at the u.s. prison since 2002. the worlds diplomats talk peace while bombs continue to drop. russia be launched over 1,000 airstrikes. we look back at the events of the last 30 days and what's at stake from moscow. >> russia didn't start the war in syria, but may be trying to

finish it. for one month, russian jets have been bombing areas across the country. >> we will support the sir yap army only in its legitimate fight specifically against terrorist groups. >> 30 days and more than 1,000 airstrikes later, military analysts are trying to determine who putin defined as terrorists. on one hand, the kremlin said it's going after isil, while some airstrikes have hit isil areas, many haven't. the united states, which is also bombing isil in syria, isn't convinced. >> assad has really chosen himself to fight isil. >> last week, assad made his first foreign visit in the four years he has been at war with his own people. the trip was a surprise, but the destination wasn't. moscow is a long time ally. not long before putin announced

the military campaign, assad admitted he was running out of soldiers. >> the terrorism that is spreading today would without your decisions and actions spread to more territories and states, not just in our region. >> russia's problem began at a machine has also been hard at work. slick internet videos appear to glorify its role in the conflict but filmed from the vantage point of the russians. here are ones that aren't. russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but with hospitals being hit, tactics are also scrutinized. >> what they're doing is if they have a target that they think they need to hit, they are not worried about the collateral damage, and hitting the hospitals and killing innocent civilians is something they've been doing really since they became involved.

>> has any of this made a significant difference or shift in the fighting? we still don't know for sure. the casualty numbers may hold some clues, though. an estimated 595 people have been killed so far in the russian raids. most of the dead are not civilians or isil fighters from groups fighting the syrian government. al jazeera. >> we're joined now by al jazeera senior political analyst here on the set in doha. we haven't been hearing much about what's happening behind closed doors, some small leaks coming out, perhaps a softer tone being adopted. room for compromise for assad to stay on in some political transition? >> which is an amazing thing, let me put that out. that's an amazing thing after a dozen years, hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of refugees people city thinking that assad should stay on for whatever time.

of course some of those present like the iranians and russian are saying he should say until 2021, which again is just astounding. be that as it may, this has been going on for a while, and really it's because the united states has not since geneva one put its weight interns of the syrian crisis, does not really put enough effort while the russians have stepped in in a big way, before them the iranians and now it seems like the united states knows all too well that it's too late in this game, that the others have already taken the de facto situation on the ground and it has to act. how will it act? by taking into consideration the kind of demands the russians and iranians are making on it. >> the u.s. has been left behind the curve here. >> it left itself behind, and this is important. yet what we see today is if you look at the photo of this meeting, you see that john kerry is right in the middle, and then

to his left is lavrov, the russian foreign minister and to his right, the u.n. envoy, which means this is an american party, this is an american invitation and everyone there has been invited by the united states. why? it's because the united states want to retake the initiative. why? because russia has stolen the initiative from the united states on the ground. the united states might be able to move in place in europe in a city like vienna, but we all know that on the ground, the russians are taking the aggressive posture along with the iranians, which takes us back to the city of vienna. the americans have reached a deal months ago and for the first time we see iran invited to the table by the united states also part of the resolving the diplomatic puzzle. why? because iran is supportive of the syrian regime and iran does have forces on the ground, and iran has a position that's close to russia. >> how much leverage over assad does ran or russia actually

have? and whatever it decided in vienna, can it translate into action in syria. >> ok, so the analysts disagreed on this point and i have my own perspective as an analyst on this point. in the overall, people are taken putin's invitation to bashar al assad for the first time to moscow, greeting him there just as everyone is saying he should step down, even be tried at the hague for being a car criminal. moscow receives assad as a legitimate leader of syria. now, is that a sign of russian support for syria or as others argue, and i argue that now russia owns assad. russia is not iran. russia is not saudi arabia. russia is a global power, and russia steps into a place like syria, it's not going to be taken lightly by bashar al assad. i think to a large degree, assad is not going to be able to decide for his regime anymore.

i think russia will wait in a major way on the syrian regime. >> as a side issue here, i'm interested to see how the dynamic might be changed in the united nations security council. it has been paralyzed by vetoes with russia. now seeing everyone sitting around the tail discussing issues in a sensible way, will we see action from the u.n. >> i'm always guided by an old proverb, when elephants fight, the garbage gets crushed. when elephants play, the grass gets crushed. if there's a complicity between washington and moscow, i think we have a lot to worry about and if there's a difference of opinion, we have even more to worry about. if the u.n. security council is going to move in any direction, you would think that for one day today would tell the syrian regime, stop using your air force and barrel bombs and stop

killing the syrian people so that on the same day of a diplomat initiative, we don't see tens have people and hundreds of casualties in douma in syria today, but clearly the intention is not to work more closely. it's rather to use syria in a larger power game between the united states and russia, and that is unfortunate. >> only you could bring somewhat he'llly into a talk about syria. >> early they are week, pakistan's government promised compensation to survivors of the earthquake.

businesses will not receive any help. many had no insurance. we have this report from islamabad. >> people in this clock shop are not quite sure what's happening, around then they realize, it's an earthquake. they rub out into the bazaar and the clocks on the wall continue to shake. the tremor lasted over a minute. no one was hurt here in one of the busiest bazaars just south of the islamabad. it could have been much worse on monday. no matter where you look, many of these shops are not insured. >> he has been a clock distributor in pakistan for nearly 40 years. he dependency on his shop to support his family and is helped by his sons. he told me many shop owners are not commercially insured. >> the money we would spend on premiums could easily be invested in the business. we get nothing in return for a claim, because companies would never pay out for the value of the business, or rebuilding the

shop. >> generally, a standard insurance policy here includes protection from fire and theft, but natural disasters is an option to be added at the discretion of the customer. there are over 50 insurance companies in pakistan that offer quake protection. legally, businesses aren't obliged to insure themselves. >> if the government forced businesses to insure themselves and the public saw insurance companies pay out after a disaster, this would encourage everyone to see the benefits are proper inclusive insurance. >> the majority of people affected by the earthquake have no insurance, and earlier this week, the prime minister announced compensation packages for families of the dead and injured and those that lost homes, but nothing for businesses. this commercial property was also badly damaged in the earthquake which happened over 250 kilometers away. the facade is crumbling and there's a fear that a building may collapse if there's another

strong aftershock. it's cordoned off and guarded by the police and the structure is not insured. >> back in islamabad, the construction continues. these properties are valid at approximately half a million dollars, yet he and none of his neighbors have home insurance. as a religious man, he feels his family has been protected in the past and will be in the future. al jazeera, islamabad. >> cancer is a killer worldwide especially in latin america where the number of cases are almost twice the total in more developed nations. a new report said changes are being made and there are signs of improvement. a proportion of people said to be covered by some kind of health insurance has ricin from 46% to 60%. latin america countries are starting to employ more cancer specialists to cope with a shortage. national cancer plans have been introduced into ecuador, el

salvador, peru and puerto rico. >> columbia has expanded its social insurance program to cover all types of cancer, as we report. >> rodriguez has stomach cancer and doing chemo for 15 months. she has subs died health insurance that covers her treatments but leaves her waiting for weeks before her medicine is authorized. >> because of the delay, she developed an infection in her lungs. i don't understand why this happens. if this medicine is part of the national health plan for terminal ill insists. the cancer doesn't wait. >> cancer mortality rates are double for european countries or the united states, however, the ability to treat and diagnose cancer here has improved in

recent years. today 96% of colombians of some form of health insurance, one of the highest rates in the hemisphere and although it covers all kinds of cancer, the challenge is to ensure quality care for all. >> dr. gap boa works at the cancer institute providing cancer health care for low income patients. >> the way the system is regulated now, it doesn't ensure comprehensive care. the law requires medical attention but doesn't require the quality of the attention and that quality is not mentioned. >> that's particularly true for those who live in remote regions, whose disease's are rarely detected on time. >> where we come from, there are no specialists and none of the doctors detected my daughter's breast cancer. we traveled all the way here and now they are telling us the tumor is too advanced to

operate. >> they are taking steps to cure patients schooner. >> today almost 60 days passed between the first suspicion that something is wrong and the care. the challenge is reduce to time and have our system operate as a network. who does the diagnosis has to be better connected with care units, critical to improve survival. >> with the aging of the population, the number of cases in the country are expected to rides, so more needs to be done and soon to increase the odds of survival for those who get sick in a part of the world where cancer has too often been a death sentence. al jazeera, bogota. >> still ahead, all the sport, including a penalty missed. we have details coming up.

government leaders in zimbabwe are looking to the sun to overcome electricity shortages. solar powered heaters will be in houses with new technology lighting. >> continuous electricity shortages haven't stopped him from work. this solar panel keeps them in business. zimbabwe currently produces 1,000 megawatts of electricity a day, less than half what's need. to try and plug the gap,

government leaders are telling residents they have to buy a solar powered heater because electric ones are being phased out. >> the cash is not available. >> a 100-liter water heater costs about $400 after installation. the average life span of some heaters is about three years, before some maintenance is needed. >> we are likely to be serving 300 or more megawatts of electricity consumption. if we go solar, we are going to be saving 60% of what we pay for energy. >> poor families are told they'll be able to buy imported heaters at a government subsidized price, which will be announced soon. >> we are working with both india and china, but also with the countries outside those regions. we are working also with european countries, in

particular germany, because they're going to take knowledge in the solar sector, but we are working with all countries and would welcome any investments into the energy sector. >> this current energy crise is partly caused by low water levels in the hydroelectric dams and aging power stations. >> regular power cuts means people don't always work, so being replaced by solar, all the major highways will have them. >> it's estimated 80 million of zimbabwe's 13 million people don't have access to electricity. >> let's get to sport now. >> 24 hours to go before australia take on a new zealand

in the final of the rugby world cup. while green and gold fever is well and truly catching in sydney, the opera house lighting itself in the colors of the wallabies. the team have named their lineup for the final act, the australians calling in their only change. australia returning to the ground where they won their first world cup in 1999. refusing to call new zealand the all blacks in a bid to make them less intimidating. >> i never call australia the wallabies, either. i think australia is australia and new zealand is new zealand and france is france and it's a battle between nations. there's no secret squirrel, you know what i mean? can i say all blacks now for

you? hang on, oh! poulter geist! >> we are going to call them the all blacks, bidding to become the first team to successfully defend. carter will retire from international rugby after the final. he's expected to be joined by his captain. the 34-year-old insists he hasn't made any decision on his future just yet. >> i just really want to play this weekend and this tournament and this weekend the best i can. you still do the same things that you do if you're going to play for years on, not think this is the last time. that hasn't entered my mind this week at all. i'm going to have to have a good

flick on things after this, but i want to do this right. >> kuwait angered the organization again, the olympic qualification stats of next week's asian shooting championships has been revoked after kuwait denied a visa to an israeli official. it puts pressure on one of the most senior members. >> the major league soccer season in the united states is reaching its climax with the start of the playoffs. the round began with a dramatic match between the portland timbers seen here in green and sporting kansas city. portland, the home team took the lead in the second half only for that cans to equalize with three minutes left to send the game into extra time. well then, kansas took the lead with a brilliant solo effort as you're about to see. only for the timbers to level in

the 118th minute. on to penalties, but no stop to the drama. it was left to the goalkeepers to settle matters. portland scoring the penalty and then saving effort, portland through to the western conference semifinals where they'll play the vancouver white caps. >> things rather more straightforward in the eastern conference as the montreal impact beat toronto 3-0. wearing the blue of chelsea, now doing the same for montreal. they'll face the columbus crew on sunday. >> saturday, the biggest game infringe ken club football will take place hosting the democratic republic of congo. it's the first time they have reached the final in their 78 year history, the second be

successive year that a team from algeria has reached this stage. >> the appearance in the final comes when football seems to be flash issue at club and national level. for the first time, alger can we be football made an impact at the world stage was in 1982 in spain where they pete finalist west germany. they improved on that that at the 2014 world cup in brazil, reaching the knockout stages and taking germany to extra time. as a result, they went up to 19th in the fifa rankings, making them africa's top side. they enjoyed recent success becoming the first algerian side to play in fifa's world cup. hoping to become the second

algerian club to win the world cup. >> wore focused on this match. for the moment, all goes well. rubble stories out of turkey, launchen an investigation after a group of referees were held hostage after a controversial decision in a word and a half. the club president ordered they be locked in the stadium after failing to award the home side a late penalty. they were released several hours later. it took a call from turkey's president erdogan to release the officials. >> the memphis grizzlieies bound back against the indiana pacers with a team high 20 points and paul green adding 12 more as

they prevailed. the pacers 0-2 for the first time since 2009. >> the world series head to new york on friday for game three between the mets and royals. both teams canceled their formal workouts on thursday after arriving in new york in the early hours of the morning after game two. the royals 2-0 up in the best of seven series. the mets know this game is crucial if they're to win their first world series since 1986. >> obviously we didn't plan to be down 0-2, but coming back home is a big thick for us, having the mets faithful behind us and the greatest fans in baseball, part of the reason our team has had so much success is handling the resiliency and overcome be to win ballgames.

>> a gymnast dominated the women's individual all round --

>> more than 50 people are killed on a syrian market strike in damascus. and diplomats of around 20 countries are meeting to try to bring an end to the conflict. hello there, these are your top stories on al jazeera. greece's prime minister says he feels ashamed of the e.u.'s response to