the rescue efforts are still continuing. >> thank you, kamal hyder. >>> many hope the votes in myanmar well help transform the country from a military dictator ship to a fully democratic society. scott heidler has more from yangon. >> reporter: with the election posts down, myanmar is just hours from heading to a historic vote, the election that the whole world is watching. many have seen extensive campaigning. many here haven't seen in a quarter of a century. with all political parties running. especially the national league for democracy, the party of the nobel laureate, aung san suu kyi. boycotted the election a year before the transition to the somewhat civilian government. more than 91 parties participating in these elections. her father unu was the last democratically elected prime minister. he was removed by military coup in 1962. >> now within five years, within five months we wanted to have changes, lots of changes we wanted to see. but as for my father, as he was a seasoned politician, so he might not have this kind of frustration. >> reporter: she feels the nation needs to c

kamal hyder is tracking the story. he joins us on the phone now.hat do we know about the rescue operation and the number of dead and injured? >> the rescue operation is underway. we're already way to the area. the latest reports that we're get something that the ask yo rescue effort is being led by the pakistani military. it was a four-story building, and building was continuing on the fourth story and the factory was continuing on the lower floors. even though it was warned that it was too dangerous, they were told to continue. >> thank you very much. kamal hyder brings us all the latest on that building championships. sadly, many more people feared to be trapped under the rubble. now egypt's president el-sisi is on his way to britain to have talks with british prime minister david cameron. but the british opposition party said that it should not be happening. let me ask you about the latest reports that prime minister david cameron and the egyptian president has spoken about the situation at sinai. >> cameron did have a phone call with sisi prior

kamal hyder reports. >> cracking down on the counterfeiters, officials raid a dentist, the man qualified to being a qualified dentist makes a quick escape, in the back door, leaving his efficient still sitting in the chair. >> we are here and found some of those medicines that are an thetic, can only be university on animals but they cannot be used on human beings. >> is not just doctor causing a problem. behind the scenes. there is a industry making fake medicine and it is now a luke ra tifs trade. the be provincan held has closed over 1,000 laboratories alone. >> they have been not the original medicines even and whether they are fake medicines, we are not just seizing them, we are arresting people. >> while these people may have come to the rite place and are confident they are buying the original drugs at a registered pharmacy, they are available to consumers. >> recently my sister was ill and the doctors prescribed her medicine but that didn't work so i brought her back to the hospital. >> accordina business worth oved million, even though most of those are coming from, fake drugs a

kamal hyder has more. >> hundreds of relatives are waiting for news of their loved ones that are under the rub. it's the recovering of this 19-year-old, 50 hours after the collapse of the building that is giving a ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may be alive. the search and rescue operation is slow. they do not want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is separating the relatives from the rescue workers, who are busy across the road. you can see piles of rubble, lifting up large pieces of the debris, and the idea is to try to see if they can reach more survivors who may be alive under the rubble. >>> sierra leone has been declared officially free of ebola. [ ♪♪ ] >>> that's how people were celebrating in the capital freetown. the world health organisation says there has been no new cases of ebola in the last 42 days. cases of the virus are being reported in neighbouring guinea >>> a new hydroelectric dam under construction in uganda will submerge some of the world's most famous rapids for white wat

kamal hyder is at the scene. >> they have sent in hundreds of rescue teams to try to save lives here at this collapse now as you can see the big challenge if you try to break holes through the co the the concrete slabs to the lower floors where people are expected to be. this is a complicated operation because it is a tedious operation and a difficult operation in which the they try to save lives. the important thing is that despite the fact that people are now working at a faster pace because it is daylight, it appears that it will not be clear how many people were killed in this building. >> taiwan president will meet with his chinese counterpart. analysts have suggested that china is trying to influence the outcome of that vote. >> in the future we want to reduce the possibility and not stray away from the path. actively we want to expand and deepen cooperations. which want to establish the first step of meeting between the leaders. >> research manager of china policy said that many taiwanese people are surprised that the meet something actually going ahead. >> this is a big p.r.

kamal hyder has this update. >> the rescue and relief effort is now gathering momentum.nd it is because of that that more bodies have been retrieved. some of the bodies are buried under the rubble, they're exposed, but now the job is to remove the rubble around them. the owner of the factories reported that his dead body was found under the recentl rubble. time is of the essence. there are still signs of life and reports that somebody made a call from under the rubble. the important thing will be to try and reach them. the important thing also is the fact that it is a very slow process. because entire concrete and steel have to be first cut and then lifted by cranes. it will take several days before this building is cleared. but it will be a miracle if they're able to save those people who may still be alive under the rubble. >> india's prime minister narendra modi is due to hold a rally on saturday amid tight security in protests. >> some neighborhoods still look like this after a year of being hit by floods. but it's actually an improvement. this is how it looked a yea

. >>> mohammed spent 50 hours trapped under the factory collapse in lahor, pakistan, kamal hyder has more often the rescue mission. >> hundreds of relatives are still waiting for news of their loved ones who are still under the rubble. but it is the recovery of 19-year-old shahid, 50 hours after the collapse of the building, that is now giving a new ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may still be alive. the search and rescue operation is very slow, because they don't want to move anything that might compromise anybody that maybe still alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is now separating the relatives from the rescue workers who are busy just across the road. you can see piles of rubble, cranes are lifting up large pieces of the debris. and the idea basically is, to try and see if they can reach more survivors who may still be alive under the rubble. >> the operator of a mine in brazil says a small earthquake may have caused two dams to burst. at least two people were killed and 10 are still missing. >> it's hard to believe there used to be 200 homes in th

. >> kamal hyder is in lahor with the latest. >> this particular boy was rescued 50 hours after the building collapsed. interestingly, his family had already been given a body of a mutilated laborer, and they wurieburied him thinking they hd buried their son. they were shocked but relieved to know their son was alive. that has given hope to the rescue teams that there possibly are more survivors although so far there is a steady flow of dead being recovered from the factory. however people are not giving up hope. it is a delicate job but one thing that is coming out of this tragedy is the fact that the labor department which was supposed to enforce that no child laborers were involved in this factory were not doing their job. also the fact that this building owner had authorization for only two stories. so the building control authority was also found negligent. and so far we can see the rescue effort still continuing. >> plenty more still ahead on al jazeera, including as the world watches the people of myanmar get ready to go to the polls in the first meaningful election in a generation. p

kamal hyder is there. >> reporter: a major rescue effort is under way. the government is sending in earthmoving equipment, trains, and sent in hundreds of rescue teams to try to save lives here at this collapsed building. the 4-storey building did not stand a chance, and despite warning construction continued while the workers were busy producing shopping bags. as you can see there are gaping holes being drilled through the concrete laps to reach the lower floors, where most of the people are effectively trapped. >> relatives are waiting outside the factory for news of their loved ones. this is going to be a cumbersome operation, because it is a previous operation, a critical operation and attempts will be to try to save lives. >> the fear is as time passes hope will be fading for many of those wounded badly in the collapse. the challenge, of course, will be how to remove the rubble and find those people buried under it. the important thing is that despite the fact that people are now working at a faster pace because it is daylight, it appears that this

kamal hyder has the latest. >> hundreds of relatives are waiting for news of their loved ones that are under the rub. it's the recovering of this 19-year-old, 50 hours after the collapse of the building that is giving a ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may be alive. the search and rescue operation is slow. they do not want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is separating the relatives from the rescue workers, who are busy across the road. you can see piles of rubble, lifting up large pieces of the debris, and the idea is to try to see if they can reach more survivors who may be alive under the rubble. >>> still ahead - we found out what first-time voters wand as myanmar prepares for an historic election. >> and a contention problem to brink canadian oil to the u.s. becomes just a pipe dreamt. e dreamt. i just had a horrible nightmare. my company's entire network went down, and i was home in bed, unaware. but that would never happen. comcast business monitors my company's network 24 hours a day and

kamal hyder in lahor has the latest. >> waiting for news of hundreds of relatives are still waiting for news of their loved ones who are still under the rubble. but it is the recovery of 19-year-old shahid, 50 hours after the collapse of the building, that is now giving a new ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may still be alive. the search and rescue operation is very slow because they don't want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be still alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is now separating the relatives from the rescue workers who are busy just across the road. you can see piles of rubble, contemporaneous are liftincranes of debris and the idea is basically to try to reach most survivors wh who may still be ae under the rubble. >> fightser from islamic state of iraq and the levant have released syrian christians who have been held for months, in the northeast of the country. the syrian human rights network say negotiations are continuing for release of another 124 people who remain in captivity. activists in syrian say, the aftermath

more now from al jazeera's kamal hyder who is there. >> reporter: a major rescue effort is underway.t has sent in earth-moving equipment, trains, they have also sent in hundreds of rescue teams to try and save lives here at this collapsed factory building. the four-story building did not stand a chance and despite warnings construction was still continuing while the factory workers were busy producing shopping bags. now, as you can see, the big challenge is to try and cut gabeing holes through the concrete slaps to try to reach the lower floors where most of the people are said to be trapped. their relatives are waiting outside the factory for news of their loved ones. but this is going to be a cumbersome operation because it is a tedious operation, a very critical operation in which the attempt will be to try and save lives. however, the fear is that as time passes, hope will be fading for many of those who were wounded badly in the collapse. the big challenge, of course, will be thousand remove all of that rubble and find those people buried under it. the important thing is that de

kamal hyder joins us on the phone now. how is that rescue operation going, kamal? >> the rescue operation is still under way, even though it is almost 20 past 2:00 a.m. here. heavy machinery has been brought in. they're undertaking the rescue effort, and it will take several hours before we get a tally of what the death toll is. a lot of injured have already been moved from the hospital it's going to take several hours to be able to remove the concrete and still so a difficult task already complicated by the fact that the power outages and the fact that they are on the far part of the city in the industrial zone. >> tell us about what you know about the lead up to this terrible collapse. >> well, there was construction going on, and the construction workers that warned the owner of the factory that it was dangerous to finance with the construction. however, they were told to continue with their work that's what led to the collapse of this building, and it was a substandard building. apparently we're told that there were women inside the rubble, and it would include

we have kamal hyder with more. >> for the first time in the history of islamabad the people are comingout to participate in the local government elections. the last time such elections were held was back in 1979, and that was only in the rural areas. back then the population of islamabad was under half a million. but today it has grown to almost 2 million. the people will be electing their mayors and deputy mayors who will then sit on islamabad metropolitan cooperation. that means these people will have a greater say as to what happens in their neighborhoods and their localities. >> the people who are contesting these elections are people from our own communities. who know better about hour problems and can fight for our rights. >> these elections are important because we elect people from within our own community. the people who are elected for national and provincialal assembles don't know about our problems. >> importantly the political parties are also participating. but the people of islamabad are experiencing a new trend that they, too, will have a greater say in what happens wit

kamal hyder is in lahore, and sent this report. >> reporter: the rescue and relief effort is gathering momentum. it is because of that that more bodies have been retrieved. some of the bodies are buried under the rubble. they are exposed. the job is to remove the job around them. the owner has been recovered. his dead body buried under the rubble. as the rescue operation goes on, time is of the essence. there's signses of life and reports that someone made a call from under the rubble. the important thing is to reach them, and also is the fact that it's a slow process. because entire concrete and steel slabs have to be poured and lifted. so it is going to take several days before the building is cleared. >> it will be a miracle if they are able to save those people that may be alive under the rubble. >> more to come after a break. >> a triumphant return home. peter greste is back in kenya after spending nearly two years in an egyptian gaol. >> symbolic or stantive. the latest on the meeting of taiwan and china's leaders. and in sport - can cricket grab america's attention. we'll hear f

kamal hyder there with the latest on that. >> hundreds of relatives are waiting for news of their loved ones that are under the rub. it's the recovering of this 19-year-old, 50 hours after the collapse of the building that is giving a ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may be alive. the search and rescue operation is slow. they do not want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is separating the relatives from the rescue workers, who are busy across the road. you can see piles of rubble, lifting up large pieces of the debris, and the idea is to try to see if they can reach more survivors who may be alive under the rubble. >> flash flooding in egypt killed 18 people. heavy rains struck the province, bad drainage left roads under water. the sheriff held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. >> this is something that is happening in the region, which is unusual. >> that's right. >> imagine this region to be dry. at the moment it's anything but. i have more video to show you. firstly from thursday.

kamal highser ha hyder has the 7 crack down on the counterfeiters.uthorities raid a dentist. plant pretending to be a qualified dentist makes a quick escape through the backdoor. leaving his patient with a sore tooth at this time sitting in the chair. >> we are here and we have found some of those medicines which are anesthetic medicines and meant only for animals but these are being used for human beings. >> reporter: it's not just fake dentists and doctors causing major problems. pakistan has a well established and regulated pharmaceutical industry. but behind the scenes, there is a parallel industry making fake medicine and it is now a lucrative trade. the provincial government here as already closed a thousand laboratory tories in one month alone. >> we have recently seized a really huge cas cachet of medics that were being sent to afghanistan. they were not the original medicines even and they are fake medicines, we are not only seizing them, we are arresting people. >> reporter: while these people may have come to the right place, and are confi