> welcome to the newshour coming to you from doha. >> china gives its one-child policy the chop - the biggest change in three decades. >> renewed clashes between protesters and security forces in egypt. one student is shot in the head. >> broker in peace. east african leader sets a deadline for an end to

hostilities in south sudan. >> here with your sport. nathan lyons rips through the english batting line-up to give the aussies the advantage in the fourth test. >> china has made its biggest change in social policy. forcing abortions and infant side was been eased. it was introduced in 1979. since then couples in urban areas have been allowed one child, about a third of the 1.3 billion citizens. >> it's official, from now on millions of chinese families can grow. and that is music to the ears of this couple. then are both in their mid 30s, and already have one son. but chan feels it's his duty to

have another child. >> translation: i think it's our obligation as parents to make sure he has a sibling. an only child is too lonely. i'm an only child myself. i had a younger sister. an only child will never feel what i feel. it's great to have a younger sister. >> for a generation the one-child policy is thought to have stopped many births. it was a population the government felt it couldn't support. with the country richer now than in 1979, the likelihood of a baby boom was remote. this couple is grateful the system is changing. if the roles hadn't been loosened we wouldn't have been allowed to apply for the birth permit. we would have had to pay a large fine and that it would affect

our second child going to kindergarten or school. we are relieved the policy had changed. that is something the government is keen to encourage. one academic says without the relaxation of the rules, the economy would suffer. in the long run, a labour shortage and rapidly ageing population will undermine economic growth. it's not good that the birth rate stays low. it should match the level of social and economic development and changes in population. one thing is certain, the children playing in this kindergarten will enjoy freedoms older generations were denied. >> there has been other changes in china. the legislature has voted to close punishment centres.

all those in the labour camps will be set free. the system allowed the police to send anyone to prison for up to four years without trial. we have a professor of political science at the university of chicago and says it can improve china's human rights record. >> this is is a significant change. it signals a major reorientation in the situation in china. essentially all the people who are under the rules of the education through labour whereby people could be sentenced to labour without a formal trial, their sentences essentially have been reduced to time served. in other words those people who are under the current education through labour system can go free at this moment. >> there have been more clashes

between student protesters and the security forces in egypt. we can see live pictures coming from the outside of the azhar university. students are reportedly refusing to sit exams, some reports of setting fire to exam papers. security has entered the campus. we can go to peter greste in cairo for us. can you give us the latest? we understand as you can see that the protestor clashes are ongoing. we understand that the muslim brotherhood students - the students entered the university and some of the exam halls, they tried to tear up the exam papers and enforce a boycott of the exams in protest at the government. we understand that the authorities moved in, fired tear gas and it was the heat from the tear gas cannsters which set fire to the exam papers. what we have there is an ongoing

clash that really represents the broader divisions that we saw yesterday where supporters of the muslim brotherhood and supporters of the anti-coup alliance took to the street in open defines of the government's ban on protests and in particular challenging the government to arrest them and enforce the 5-year prison sentence which the government has been threatening to impose on anybody who is convicted of taking part in the demonstrations >> peter, human rights watch criticised the government's enhanced crackdown of the muslim brotherhood since they named them a terrorist organization. any sense from the west as to what's happening inside egypt? i don't think peter greste can hear us. i think we have lost him there. anyway, many thanks to peter for

bringing us the latest there. >> syrian activists say five people have died from starvation in southern damascus. people living in the camps suffer from basic needs of food and medicine. most living in the camp are palestinians. aid groups have been calling for the opening of humanitarian corridors in the area. iraqi security forces arrested a sunni member of parliament. he was arrested on terrorism charges. there was the death of five people. he was a central figure in the protest movement against nouri al-maliki. >> lebanese politician and staunch critic of the syrian

government mohamad chatah was the target of the attack and will be buried on sunday. >> a major oil pipeline has been blown up in yemen. tribunals men attacked it. it was operated by several foreign companies. >> one person has been killed and several wounded in the shooting in the thai capital of bangkok. it happened at a camp set up of anti-government protesters. >> thai police gather evidence at the scene. these are the only visible science of the fatal gun attack. for days hundreds of anti-government protesters champ camped here. early on saturday morning one or more armed men opened fire. >> i was sleeping and heard gunshots. i was surprised. >> the people in this protest

camp are opponents of the prime minister yingluck shinawatra. they want to delay or stop the snap elections called for early february. police are yet to establish a motive for the shooting, it follows violence scenes when a protestor and police officer were killed. on friday the head of the army said he did not want the military to be drawn into the situation, but didn't rule out an intervention. the thai army has a history of moving against unpopular governments to depose them. registrations for elections next month will occur. >> straight to our correspondent in bangkok. what is your reading of the military's position. they said they didn't want to get drawn in. they've been drawn in in the past. >> they have been drawn in this the past. the last time there was a

military coup was in 2006 when the military removed the brother of the current prime minister, thaksin shinawatra. they want to rid the country of the influence of the shinawatra family. they say the family is corrupt. accuse them of cronyism and nepoities m -- nepotism. a lot of analysts say they probably learnt their lessons from the last coup in 2006. that brought on a time of instability. there were street protests in 2008, 2010 and this. clearly they do not wish to be drawn in. if you read the comment by the army chief, he was really careful. he said - he posed this question: will the military intervene? and his answer was

why do you want us to take sides, we don't want to take sides, we want to remain neutral. whether it remains neutral depends how the situation develops. you are watching the al jazeera newshour. i head hundreds of people in northern ireland are driven out of their homes by intimidation and violence. overcrowded, congested and shrouded in smog. iranians look to remove their capital from tehran. in the n.b.a. lebron james gathers, but the heat suffers a loss. that's only half the bad news for the miami starman. all the details in sport. >> east african leaders are urging rival factions to end the violence. leaders from kenya, sudan and

ethiopia were among those trying to broker the peace. they set a 4-day deadline. it is not clear what action would follow. our correspondent is in juba. >> the east african leaders meeting in nairobi on friday called on both factions to talk, and talk fast. they have given them until 31 december to do so. the president has committed himself and his government to unconditional talks. they have to be negotiations before the rebels can agree to any truth with the government. for example. he says that he can't be committed to the government's professed commitment - cannot be confident with the government's commitment to peace talks until there are mechanisms for and monitoring any cease fire. he's saying that he has to see the mechanisms put in place

before he comes and talks to the government. now, there's only four days to go. there's not much time to put the mechanisms in place before he can start negotiations with the government. it means these four day deadline given by the east african leaders at the moment is untenable. >> the government is presenting a case for high treason against a former president. the former president faces charges in the highest court for allegedly failing in his duties. >> zimbabwe's ambassador to australia asked for asylum. she fears for safety if she returns home. she's aligned with the country's main opposition, the movement for democratic change and called the government illegitimate. the diplomatic status expires

next week. >> the arctic 30 have left russia after charges from dropped. they arrived at st. pancreas station and we were there to meet them. >> welcome back. >> there was relief for the activists as they arrived in london. they described being held in cold rat-infested cells for weeks. phil ball was the last of the british campaigners to be released. >> what you went through, was it worth it? >> it wasn't a fun experience, but it was worth it. the campaign we went up there to do is to highlight the real crime, which is drilling in the arctic. that needs to stop. if this has done anything, it's made people aware of what is going on. >> in september greenpeace campaigners tried to board the russian platform. they were accused of high school

gannism. the parliament approved an amnesty law. all charges were dropped. greenpeace says 4 billion barrels of oil are flowing into the arctic every year. coming from severed pipelines in northern russia. russia is defiant, saying arctic exploration is crucial to its future development. >> president vladimir putin says what happened to these activists should serve as a tough warning. green piece said it won't stop it continuing its fight against drilling in the arctic. >> greenpeace has not ruled out future protests in the arctic. that would bring the groups head to head with russian authorities once again. hundreds of people have been driven from their homes as a result of sectarian violence.

according to figures released from the northern island executive the number of victims is at a 5-year high. the true figures is higher than suggested. >> in 2008 and 2009 there were 288 individuals and families inform the public housing authority they were homeless because they were forced out of their houses, rising to 303 in the period 2011 to 2012, and increased by a third again to 411. raymond is a campaigner against paramill taryism. he joins us live. thank you for joining us. the chief constable said he doesn't believe the paramilitary is getting involved. if he said they were, that would show they had broken a ceasefire. why are you convinced this intimidation is caused by the

paramilitaries. >> a lot of the victims here and in northern island - i know who is causing the intimidation and the shooting. it's the paramilitaries. the chief constable, the figures in northern island and london were trying to cover up for them. >> just give us an idea of what kind of intimidation you are talking about. what are the things happening to these victims? >> there's murders that are taking place, par militaries. shootings, people shot in the leg. beatings, houses attacked. families attacked. recently a case in belfast and the government formed an office, convicted terrorists. a girl was attacked in it. it ended up in court. the senior loyalist was convicted.

spent 48 hours. the paramilitary tried to burn the lady's house down. we met with the dpp and they refused to say it was paramilitary so government ministers covered up. >> the ceasefire was signed in 1994. was there ever really a ceasefire? >> there's never been a ceasefire here in this country. >> uvf hadn't raised a ceasefire. within the community uvf murdered 29 protest ants. who turned their guns and community recently. they turned the guns on a girl in belfast, shot her. but according to the chief constable there was a ceasefire. how is murder not a breach of

ceasefire? >> do you think it's individual politicians, police officers, senior police officers, or is it institutionalized? >> well, the government is behind it. i have documents sitting in front of me that shows estate agents and they are secret police documents which i have obtained showing a "97 terrorist committing bombs in the irish republic. the bombers are named. these are police documents. there's no cease fire or no greater cease fire based on the documents, which i have statements carrying them out. it contradicts everything we are told by the government and the police. it's time people throughout the world was told the truth of what was happening in northern island. >> telling the truth exposes it, but how can you move forward with this. how can you stamp out this

paramill taryism if the government is turning a blind eye. >> the police have to bia loud to do their -- to be allowed to do their job. when they tell me at meetings that it's terrorist police, that says it all. it tells you exactly, so the police have to be allowed to do their job and we'll have to have the truth from a chief constable. not a cover up. >> thank you for joining us from belfast. >> now let's get the weather with everton who can tell us whether the olympics will have snow. >> conditions are looking good. this time last year it was mild. there was little in the way of snow around socchi. preparations are going well, and the basic snow there is practically finished. this was a -- the scenery.

we have had this month alone 2 metres of fresh snow. looking good, as i said there. we are not expecting to see snow over the next couple of days. that's probably it. we have snow around the turkish mountains. looking south heavy rain coming back into the eastern side. syria, lebanon, jordan. it will make its way east, running into iraq, and it's tied up with an intense area of low pressure across the eastern side of the mediterranean. it will run across southern parts of turkey pushing to the eastern side. it's a mobile situation. it has a fair amount of snow over the alps, fine weather into sunday. as we make our way towards the

new year it turns wet again. >> in the united states extended benefits for the unemployed are set to end this saturday. it means a grim january for 1.3 million americans cut off from cash assistance. payments are unlikely to resume. congress let the emergency program expire as part of a hard-fought budget deal. >> the vensan government vensan government rubbished a report into murder rates. it estimates 25,000 killings took place this year alone. the justice minister dismissed the findings as politically notevated. >> motorcycle taxes are blamed for crime. despite providing cheap transport they have become a security problem in the capital.

we have this report. >> riding between traffic lanes. blowing red lights, even ambushing drivers. motorcycses -- motorcycles inv carr abbingos. >> i saw a guy in front of me. i thought they were coming for me. they knocked on my windows with guns, one on each side. i gave them everything i had, as everyone else did. >> nine out of every 10 violent crimes in the city involve two wheels. motorcycles are like those men. this driver is one of them. he works as a taxi driver, but says he mugs people when in

need. >> translation: there's times that you have to. it's like, "damn, i have no money and there is little work." or, "it rained all week and i couldn't work." you need the money, you are encouraged to steel. i called a friend. we look for victims. >> the two-wheeled invasion began a decade ago. they are a problem, but a life line in the constant gridlock. >> transportation infrastructure has been neglected for decades. things have become so bad. what is a 30 minute commute on a motorcycle takes more than six hours in a car. >> the city wouldn't be viable without them, but wish the government could crackdown on the lawlessness.

>> we live in a situation of anarchy. a total lack of social solidarity. rules have not been enforced for years. even if they try, people defy them. >> the government is meeting with associations of bikers, many which support the socialist ruling party. getting them to agree to basic rules might be as difficult as navigating caracas traffic. >> argentina's national weather center declared what it called a red alert in the capital buenos aires. there has been scorching heat leading to power cuts. >> official temperature highs in buenos aires have been above 30 degrees since the beginning of december. humidity and other factors make

it feel like it's in the mid 40s, and it's likely to stay like that until the new year. >> we have been doing this for 141 years. never in buenos aires have we had high minimum temperatures. high temperature, high humidity, and very low atmospheric pressure, affecting human health. that's why we are alerting the population. okay. take care. >> the heatwave has been putting a strain on energy supplies, causing power cuts, sometimes for a few hours, occasionally for several days. these residents have been blocking a road in buenos aires after living without power for 10 days. >> translation: no one listened to us. we followed the correct

procedures. we called the energy company, but only a computer deals with us. they say the engineers are out working. it's a lie. we have no alternative but to do this. >> the government and energy companies said they are dealing with the problem, and all power will be restored shortly. emergency measures are being implemented, and issues about how to deal with the extreme heat. with the constant high temperatures, we always suffer here, young and old alike. with no electricity, for five, 10, 20 days, the situation is unbearable. suf kating. with no end in sight we have to look for respite where we can. with some going any lengths to keep their call. all around they are fuming about the heat, humidity, power cuts. >> plenty to come on al jazeera,

including let there be light. how moscow is banishing the winter blues by brightening the winter hues. world number two tennis star novak jock vich will attempt to end his year with another win.

>> you're watching the al jazeera newshour. a reminder of the top stories. >> china officially eased its one-child families and shut its

labour camps. >> there has been clashes against protesters and supporters in egypt. students at cairo university will not attend exams in for of student protesters killed on friday. >> rival factions in south sudan have been askeded to end the violence. rebels to former vice president riek machar have been fighting with government troops. >> a fire on board on express train in india killed 23 people, including two children. the train was travelling from bangalore and was full of sleeping passengers. tv reports say people leapt from the burning carriages to save themselves. a faulty airconditioning system is being blamed. >> severe pollution, overpopulation and traffic in tehran has it considering moving its city. poor air quality prompted the government to shut down primary

schools. many of the 14 million residents are wearing masks to protect themselves against polluted air. >> translation: my eyes are achy when i get up. i know it's because of air pollution. pollution is so severe that it feels bad when breathing. we are short of breath when walking. >> translation: there are more and more people buying maths. >> i have asthma. the air is better than downtown. it's hard when you go to downtown area where people are crowded. >> let's go live to it our correspondent in tehran. how bad is the pollution - it looks like a lovely day there? >> the pollution is - depend where you compare it to. by iranian standards the last couple of days have not been pleasant. the government was forced to close down primary schooling on wednesday. since that time the pollution is

worse. it's not as bad as it can get, but it's hazy today, very stiff in the air as well. pollution from vehicles causes most of these problems here in tehran. factories as well, the industrial sector. tehran sits in a valley. this is a reason the pollution doesn't go away. it sits in a valley, and the only way to rid the city of pollution is strong wind. we haven't had that in a week. it's a situation that we are facing with mps. we propose a draft bill to parliament. they passed a bill to consider the idea of moving the capital somewhere else, but it's a complicated process. of course, it's not something that will happen tomorrow. >> most people's reaction to pollution will be why don't you clean up the pollution rather than take the crazy step.

if they are going to move it, any clues to where it might go. >> well, that's a good point that you make there. most people's reactions are that. do something about the pollution and stop people moving to tehran in large numbers. a lot of regional areas, that's why they want to decentralize the city, move things out. they haven't come up with an alternative. this is a country of many capitals. 30 over its history, and one of the main ones in the past. it's very new by iranian standards. rain was the capital, a dynasty, there's tourism, there's a lot of government buildings. it's polluted. so perhaps that's not quite going to work out given that the pollution is one of the reasons they wanted to decentralize

things and move things elsewhere. no proposals as to where it fight be, just a consideration of just move the capital. >> that was our correspondent speaking to us from tehran, the current tap tall of iran. >> ser viccal cancer kills more women than any other type of cancer. the government wants to vac sinuate 9 and 10-year-old girls at the poorest schools, hoping it will protect them from the virus that kills all kinds of cancers. >> a second of discomfort for a life-time of cancer. these girls are working for dance for a cure, ahead of the south african government, vaccinating girls. >> i hope grateful i was able to get vaccinated. i don't believe if i was where i was, that i would have gotten

vaccinated. from february, hundreds of thousands of girls will be rolling up their sleeves as part of the government's plans to vaccinate nine or 10-year-old girls. almost all cases are caused by the human pam pill oma violence. vaccinations is better effective if delivered before girls are sexually active. angela started the organization on behalf of her best friend who died of civical cancer -- servical cancer. >> we are all sitting on tenta hooks waiting to see what the plan is. i'm the biggest advocate for it. i hope they come together with a plan, and i hope they can reduce the price of the vaccine. it's onerous. >> it cost her $160 to vac sinuate each girl.

>> the government is negotiating a deal. it's worth it. the biggest challenge in preventing people dying from h.i.v. or cancer is education. >> translation: it will be great if awareness was championed as much as hiv and aides. i wish all the big companies will get involved in raising awareness. >> over 3,000 south africans die of cervical cancer every year. it sunday have to be that way. knowing that will make a few teary moments worthwhile. >> for more on this we are joined by dr carol cooper, a physician and medical journalist, joining us live from london. the statistics are terrible. one in 39 women diagnosed with cervical cancer in south africa.

80% are black women. why is it so bad? >> it's so bad because that particular kind of community does not have access to regular screening. black south africans have been left behind. they have not rolled over. they tend to have sex at an early age. they become parents at an early age and it increases the risk of h.p.v. and there's an interaction between h.p.v. and hiv. and, you see, if you have a community this doesn't have screenings and doesn't use safe sex, you have all the problems laying in wait. i'm delighted that there'll be a program to inoculate against h.p.v. is that the answer. a nationwide vaccination program. will that make a difference. is the screening imperative as well to be brought in for older

girls. i think the screening will have a limited use, because it is a relatively expensive way of doing things. it picks up the changes that can lead to cancer but does not prevent cancer. using vaccination is the way forward. the problem is spending all this time and effort on it, it's not going to have any impact on the rates of ser viccal cancer for 20 years or so. it's a leap of faith. pilot studies looked at how acceptable the study is. it's acceptedable for young girls at primary school age. they complete the course. i know that the vaccine works in that aide group. we are focussing on south africa today. we are looking at a lot of developing countries when it comes to servical cancer. >> we are looking at cunt race that do not have a health

service that reaches the population. it's something that is not discussed in public, where safe sex is not used at all. the reason that south africa realises is there's a sharp distinction. there's a sharp distinction between some of the population and those left behind. >> many thanks for joining us from london, carol cooper. >> a chinese ice of breaking vessel has become stuck itself. the snow dragon had to abort the mission after encountering ice. gerald tan has this report. >> stranded in the southern ocean, the passengers had been trapped in dense ice off

antarctica since christmas eve. >> over my right shoulder is the chinese icebreaker "snow dragon", it turned up an hour ago and is making steady process. it should be alongside in the next 2-3 hours. there's a lot of relief among them and a lot of happy faces. but it would be short lived. the chinese rescue vessel had to cut through more than 20km of sea ice. halfway through it was unable to advance and finally turned back. it's one of three ice breakers dispatched to free the academic stricken russian ship which is carrying 74 people. they are retracing the route that australian explorer douglas mauson took 100 years ago. studying the environmental changes of area. their best hope lies with the powerful australian resupply shape "aurora australis" spected

to arrive sunday. the ship has weeks of food and supplies, but is just frozen in place. >> moscow's streets have been lit up as part of an attempt by the kremlin to shine light into people's lives. after scrapping daylight saving hours many in russia complained they lived their lives in the total darkness. peter sharp investigates. >> waky, waky, it's nearly 10 o'clock in the morning, and it could well be midnight. since the kremlin scrapped daylight saving time the people here have to face 18 hours of darkness a day through the winter. sometimes going without seeing a trace of blue sky or sunlight more months. >> for the people of moscow the walk to work can be a depressing and dangerous experience.

carried out in almost total darkness, crossing treacherous icy streets, and it has to be repeated again eight hours later on the way home. again in total darkness. >> it really influences people. they can get depression. statistics say 10% of people suffer from this disease. every person can feel lack of energy. 10% have to get medical treatment such as anti-depressants. >> for the first time the city authorities declared let there be light. lo and behold there was light. they don't celebrate christmas in december. new year is the big deal. it didn't stop city officials splashing out there 10 million to turn moscow into a winter wonderland. >> we are not talking about london's regent street or new

york's time square. they lit up 7,000 trees and plastered lights across moscow. decorations that will remain in place through the winter olympics. >> we will not be tired after a long walk. >> i hate these dark days. we wake up at 11 in the morning and have to turn the lights on in our apartment. what about the children. they spend mornings and evenings in darkness. if you live outside moscow - tough luck. no lights in the suburbs. four months of bumping into things. >> iconic crystal ball in new york's times square is getting a makeover before new year's eve. every one of the more than 2,600 crystal panels has been replaced. the kaleidoscopic pattern will refract light in 16 million patterns as the ball drops down at the stroke of midnight.

it's been of tradition for more than 100 years. >> still ahead - an election, a football world cup taking place in brazil. will it be people power that steals the spotlight. >> in the nhl the boston druins go on a rampage. we have the details.

>> welcome back. as the new year approaches, al jazeera is looking at the big events that could shape 2014. the eyes of the world will be on brazil during the football world

cup, which the home nation will hope to win. it's also an election year. it could be people power that steals the show. >> snapshots of discontent. in june millions of brazilions took to the streets. it was an opportunity for photographers to produce dramatic images of people, police and protests. some of those photographers have formed a group of photo protesters, sao paulo to pull their images displayed in public. >> why not keep all the photos alive? it wasn't so much about covering the story, but the historical meaning of the protest and seeing what we can do to keep the memory alive. >> in 2014 in brazil, there's a lot more opportunities for camera clicks, there's a presidential race. before that, in june, the world

cup is played in 12 host cities over the span of a month. it could be another platform to express popular nationwide discontent as happened during the federation's cup in 2015. >> brazil has had multiple host cities to bring tourism to the countries. it spread dissatisfaction all over the nation. will street protests break out in the same size or scale as in june. that's a question everyone is asking. a lot of people in the streets of brazil have an opinion about that. nobody can say for sure what will happen. not the government, not f.i.f.a. or the protest movement leaders themselves. >> like these two young women, leaders of the bus fare hike group. brazil will have a lot of questions to answer next year.

>> translation: tourists will come to rio to drink coconut water and watch girls in bike eenies on the beach. what does it bring from south africa, who benefitted from it. the groups will mobilise again to protest. >> photographers will have plenty to shoot. some of the iconic images may be provided by people power as brazilians take to the streets again. >> now let's get the sport with robin. >> thank you so much. there has been a big shock in the n.b.a. reigning champions miami heat lost to sacramento heat and lebron james picked up a groin strain and may miss the next match. he'll wonder how his team lost,

he was in sparkling form, scoring 53 on the night. back into third, ending the quarter 74-73 ahead. miami had a hit again. two up with 90 seconds less. tied the game, sending it to overtime. 27 points of the night as the kings ran out 108 to 103 winners. >> orleans beat the denver nuggets with evans calling the shot. the pelicans ended the first period 34-25 ahead. evans with 19 points, 10 assists and set up anthony davis, scoring 105 to 89. >> the boston druins thrashed their opponents. helped by a solid performance in

gold. 53 saves. smith also starred. the canadian a tough scorer. >> brad mershaw - at length in the division. boston's divisional drivers came back from two down. they scored three times in the second period. phil castle got them into the lead. it looked like it was the hard work done, but with 25 seconds left they were level to buffalo. all three shots helping to secure a 4-3 shoot-out win. >> hurricanes in a close contest with the penn gins with 2 minutes on the clock. the spurs james neil breaking kata linea hearts.

the penn gins top of the eastern conference metropolitan division. >> the oldest invitational ice hockey community is on the grow. ac demos were the finalists, beating the czech opponents. christmas day to january 1st, and team canada being played on saturday. >> what is a day of cricket in durban and melbourne. starting with the world's top two teams on the second and final test. proteas lost three wickets at the hand of india's bowlers. smith and haas am anler the

casualties. kallis retires from test cricket after the match. south africa 181-3 in reply to india's total. >> at the mcg a catastrophic batting collapse by india. the visitors will hate the sight of this man. nathan lyans picked up five wickets, including his 100th in test cricket. englands last five fell for six. mitchell johnson claimed three wickets. england all out for 179 much to the delight of australian fans. englands bowlers have it all do on day four. the aussie are 201 runs away from a win, taking them 4-0 up in the series. the home side with 10 wickets in hand to reach the target.

>> brad mcewen of channel 10 in australia looks at what has been a drama-filled ashes series so far sfoo. it's been a dramatic day apt the mcg at the third day of the fourth ashes test between australia and england. australia has regained the ashes after winning convincingly in brisbane on the back of mitchell john on brilliance, australia 2-0 up, securing the series on the bouncy waca deck in perth. we headed to the mcg, australia won the series. it was a fight back of sorts from england. drama today. england collapsing. mitchell johnson ter iffic. nathan lion wonderful. his first five-fer spell. mitchell johnson involved in a clash against kevin pitter sen, put off by a bag.

johnson was tired of him delaying play time after time. they had words in the middle adding to a testy relation between the teams. australia primed to win the fourth ashes test, go 4-0 up, heading to sydney hoping to make it an ashes clean sweep. we'll wait and see. >> from cricket to football. there's six matches to look forward to. action against west brom. reigning champions manchester united dwelling in seventh. picking up much-needed points. the welsh club's first claim since the sacking of mckay. arsenal playing on sunday. city could go top if they beat crystal palace. >> maybe everyone thinks that we are going to win because we are playing an easy game. all the teams are in the

relegate position. it is tough. tough to play against them. we must try to recover. what happened - i don't think it would be anything. >> world number two novak djokovic is attempting to add one more trophy to his collection. he'll contest the final of the abu derby championship. he defeated tongan to reach the final, and he'll face spaniard david ferer. >> i exceeded my own expectations in considering my game, my performance. it was great. the serve, everything. in these conditions you need to serve well. i enjoyed it. i talked with my team, my coach about things i need to do on the court. everybody was happy.

>> world number one raphael nadal, who won 10 tournaments, including a record eight. played down the last. claiming he's more focused, rather than winning titles. >> i'm happy with the way i played. i didn't play bad. i had opportunities. i had a few chances. he played well. i had a point in the second, the ball was out. >> andy murray clenched a victory since returning from back surgery. finishing and returning to competitive action. the fitness level will be put to the test at the australian open next month. >> in a couple of weeks i need to play five sets. you know, there's only way to get used to that is spending time on the court playing matches. it's probably going be hard and

my body will be stiff. i have trained properly. i did all the right rehab and got a few weeks of good practice. >> australia on the verge of a 4-0 series lead in the ashes test series against england. it leads the coverage. aljazeera.com/sport for more details of how you can interact with the team using twitter and facebook. that's your sport. back later. >> can we ignore the ashes news from now. it's too depressing. >> a camera glitch triggered a marathon russian space walk. russian cosmonauts installed two cameras and spent 8 hours and 7 minutes outside, the longest space walk in russian space history. stay with us on al jazeera, a full bulletin of news is ahead.

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>> cut off - long-term unemployment benefits come to a screeching halt for more than a million americans struggling to make ends meet. >> conflicting conclusions - a judge rules the n.s.a. phone-tapping program is legal, after another judge says it wasn't. >> who did it and why? the ascertain is on for the culprit behind the beirut bombing that killed six, including a government official with ties to the u.s. >> let there be light. how russia is managing the winter blues by brightening the nation's colours. [ ♪ music ]