>> no sign of peace in south sudan. the government says thousands of rebels are about to attack a state capital. the rebels deny the claim. >> you are watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up: palestine refugees are reported to be starving to death in syria. >> protests in thailand enter their seventh week as political parties scramble to reach a compromise. >> and the voice of leo tolstoy,

the russian novelist gets a digital upgrade a centuriar he dies. >> the south sudanese government says thousands of youths loyal to former vice president riek machar is on their way to attack bor. we have more. >> with forces loyal to former vice president riek machar marching on the strategic town of bor, which is the capital of the jonglei state. they had been taken by the rebels. the government forces took control of it after fighting in that time. riek machar is using tribal militia. they are from the subtribe of

former vice president riek machar's nuer tribe. his side is not marching or denying the government claims. the men are numbering up to 25,000, and tribal militia, people that have come to the government defense forces. we know from the government that the militias are 13 miles out of bor town. with them fighting for bor town and conflict within the unity state, it would complicate efforts to try and bring the two sides together in talks. east african leaders meeting in nairobi give the two sides up to 31st december come together and hold face to face talks. so far the government committed's to talks with their opponent, but former vice president riek machar said that

he is not going to talk about a ceasefire until there is proper mechanisms for monitoring the cease fire that has been put in place. >> thousands are fleeing the violence in the central african republic. 3,000 people boarded flights to chad over the past five days. there has been a surge in fighting despite the presence of u.n. and african troops. >> in syria 20 people have reportedly been killed in a government air strike. the syrian observatory for human rights says bombs were dropped on a market, near a hospital, in the city of aleppo. al jazeera can't verify the pictures, but two children are said to be among the victims. >> meanwhile the united nations says it's unlikely to meet the

dead line to remove ken jobs by the end of the month, blaming the dangerous community situation. president bashar al-assad sent a message to pope francis saying he'll defend all against hardline islamists. the message said the conflict can't be solved with foreign intervention. >> the united nations warned of a disastrous humanitarian situation. five people have died of hunger in the camp. stefanie dekker has this report, and i warn you it contains disturbing images. >> besieged, bombarded and starved to death. this is what happens to the human body when it doesn't get enough food. these images have been filmed by an activist inside the refugee

camp. al jazeera spoke to him. we used his voice and not his face. the humanitarian situation is disastrous. there's a threat of famine, people are getting sick. basics like rice and shuingar are hardly available. >> in the last few months the camp has been surrounded and cut off by troops. it's prompted the united nations relief sessionyy -- agency. >> there are reports of malnutrition, hunger and the reports are disturbing. they must lead to a lifting of the siege as the commissioner general and other world leaders asked. yar muk is or was home to the largest refugee camp.

it lies south of damascus, and was set up in 1957 and set up as an urban quarter with schools and health centres. >> overall conditions were far better than the camps in syria. that is no longer the case. people are calling for an end to the siege. they are desperate for help. the fear here that if aid doesn't come into the camp soon, that those left will continue to bury their dead.

>> the funeral of lebanon's former february minister will be held in beirut. mohamad chatah was killed by a car bomb. he was an advisor to the saad al-hariris, a prominent political family. >> there's tension on the israeli border. the israeli rocket responded with artillery cells. >> there has been more violence on the streets. two students died after being shot in cairo. the students were protesting at the azhar university. muslim brotherhood is also angry as being labelled a terrorist organization. >> anti-coup protesters have been on the streets.

this shows demonstrators firing rockets. al jazeera can't verify the pictures. >> in iraq tanks and troops have been moved into ramadi after riots spajed by the arrests of a government critic. his detention is raising sectarian tensions. imran khan reports. >> outside the home of a sunni political leader in ramadi, and a critic of nouri al-maliki. he was taken into custody, not before his brother and several security members were killed. >> translation: during the fire exchange one soldier was killed and five injured. every action has a reaction. ali was injured, together with two guards. they were taken to hospital.

after one hour or two we were told that ali has died. >> he was the leader of a sit-in process in ramadi against the marginalisation of sunnis. the prime minister threatened to break up the city by friday if demonstrators don't disperse. >> this made protesters angrier. they marched on the streets. >> ali is influential. it's an armed tried. they are threatening the government, giving them a 12 hour truce. every army camp inside anwar. all the signs are there for a

standoff between the army and supporters. iraq has seen some of the worst violence and sectarian tension since 2008. sunnis feel they have not only doing targetting. >> the party of myanmar's opposition leader aung san suy kyi says it will take part in the 2015 elections. the constitution currently bans the nobel peace prize winner running. they boycotted the 2010 elections saying they were un-democratic. >> anti-government protests in thailand are entering their seventh week, aimed at removing what protesters referred to as budget. >> to the people in thailand it's a familiar sight. in 2005, the country has seen

various round of street protests. this one in 2005/2008. protesters say the deposed leader calls the shots. just like in 2006 the main opposition party - some analysts believe the decision is tactical. >> the last 20 years they have never won an outright victory. therefore they felt, one, it's impossible for them to have a big chance to win. it may be in the back of their minds, whether they admit it or not. >> the boycott could prompt a crisis. under thai law they have to win 20% of votes. in 2006 several seats were

declared vacant because of this, prompting the constitutional court to annul the results. before an election could be held, the military staged a coup. the opposition leader has denied accusations that his decision could lay the foundation for military decisions. >> the fact of the matter is they have nothing to gain from a coup. they are not going to be part of the government or power structure. what we are trying to do is somehow regain the trust that all political parties have lost. given the failed politics of the last decade. >> after the coup, parties that supported thaksin won elections, only to be disqualified by the court, prompting a round of street protests in 120, which ended only after the military moved in. >> politics in thailand is not

straightforward. history shows no matter which side wins they open long after. >> coming up on the program - game on in brazil. why are new computers so expensive along with everyone else. we are on the ski slopes of iran's resort. stay with us.

>> welcome back. the top store yis on al

jazeera - the south sudan says thousands of youth are on their way to attack the city of bor. the capital is currently controlled by the army. >> palestine refugees are reported to be starving in syria. five people have died of hunger in a refugee camp in damascus. >> the army has been moved into iraq. tensions are high. >> in bangladesh the main opposition periody is struggling to gather numbers for an anti-government protest. >> the police are out in force. authorities blocked many roads. we have this report. >> rifles loaded. armed forces are on the streets. they are ready for action. the country has a history of coups. this time the military has been called on to keep the peace

ahead of an election that could get nasty. >> their main task is to provide law and order, so that voters can go out to vote without any intimidation fear of being attacked or hurt. >> the opposition nationalist party are boycotting the election due to be held on january 5th. the mp leader asked for people to defy the polls and occupy the city of dhaka. bnp executives have been targeted for detention. >> there were cases against thousands of bnp leaders and workers. most of them cannot stay at their home. i was admitted in the hospital from a place i was trying to escape arrest. i was not at my home.

>> opposition protesters demanded that the elections be held under the auspices of a caretaker government, saying the elections would not be fair and fee. the u.s. and e.u. will not be sending observers. the opposition called the vote a farce. the people here are lining up for voter ids. there's not much of a point in me joining them. there is not going be a vote in my constituency. the capped date is running unopposed. >> he's not the only one. half the members will go to win elections. >> many will be robbed of a voice in this election. >> it's terrible. i'm a citizen. they'll be elected before a single vote is cast.

>> 2013 has been a rough year for bangladesh. if a stalemate over the election is not solved, 2013 could be worse. >> more than a million jobless americans will stop receiving state benefits after a government program expires. a third of them have been out of a job for six months. some of them are doing what they can to make ends meet. >> the u.s. economy is adding jobs, but is well short of a total before the bottom fell out of the labour market. the hardest hit are long-term unemployed. an estimated 4.9 million will exhaust benefits during 2013, unless conbres acts to renew the program. they are being cut off now. >> i will not be able to pay for

utilities. i have to pay the mortgage on 1 january. i'll have less than $200 in the bank. >> president obama appealed for the benefits to be restored. >> unemployment insurance is a life line that can make the difference between temporary haedship. >> people think we need two years of unemployment insurance, they should come forward and say we want to raise the taxes of employees and business owners. >> others say it discourages unemployed for obtaining work. it doesn't impress dare sexton. >> seem the impression is that people on unemployment are sitting around enjoying the

money. nothing could be further from the truth. >> almost three americans are competing for each job opening. >> brazilians fed up with a high cost of living took to the streets. many struggle with low wages and high taxes. >> for five days they packed a convention centre. 150,000 turning up for a video show. it's an annual game show. this year they wait in line for four hours to get a chance to try this new soon-to-be-released sony playstation 4. in brazil it will cost $1,900 making it more expensive than anywhere in the world. 65% of the price is due to

brazilian taxes. >> if i have the opportunity to buy it. it will be abroad. >> it will be sold to the brazilian elite. for it to become popular the price has to be reduced. otherwise no chance people can buy it. >> it's not just video games that are expensive, from eating out, groceries, cars, expect to pay more. there are a lot of reasons, but some is because brazil has some of the highest taxes in the world. >> translation: the tax rate in brazil is 36% of gdp. today we have a big government bureaucracy and people's taxes support the bureaucracy. the government consumes a lot of wealth. >> in downtown sao paulo, this

metre counts how much taxes brazilians are paying. >> so far brazilians are paying $1.2 trillion, about $550 billion. just in the next two minutes or so. that metre will go up by $1.3 million. the line is out the door. representative of a slowing economy. people interaesingly in debt paying for the spending in the boom years. rising inflation and a slow down changing the economic dynamics in this country. >> they are anxiously awaiting fancy new games, but here you'll have to save a lot more money. >> in mexico the bodies of five headless corpses have been dump in the streets. notes were found at the scene

signed by drug cartel members. the government deployed thousands of troops. with ancient ruins and untouched land escapes. with the revolution and u.s. sanctions they remain unseen by tourists. things could be changing. iran could be opening up to visitors. we have this report from the ski slopes. >> it's one of the world's highest and pristine ski fields. it is 3,600 metres up, and a major attraction. locals already know it and foreigners are catching on too. i think it's nice. the weather is so much better than in germany. it's fun and the snow is good. >> the location is great because of the mountain and the positively spoken because the mountains are high and snow quality is great.

>> iran's president is aiming to attract 10 million foreign visitors each year. with rain's good ties to china many are likely to be from there. >> chinese people are very past. most of the chinese are the ones to go abroad to have a visit to some other countries such as iran. >> in order to handle more people, the country needs investment, including on the ski fields. >> the equipment is old. over the past 37 to 38 years it remained the same. three facilities have been added. ski fields have so much potential. the whole mountain could be used and i hope investors invest more and make it bigger and bigger.

so it can introduce it to the world, secure its future. >> it's not hard to see why it's known as one of the best places for skiing and snow boarding. more than 2,000 people come here every week. iranians and foreigners as well. >> iran's national team youse them for training. iranians have the best sites to themselves. with more and more tourists arriving. they are learning to share them for the benefit of everyone. >> he was the russian novelist whose works inspired mahatma gandhi. leo tolstoy's works are being

digitised. >> this is the voice of the 19th century writer leo tolstoy. widely considered. he is reading a fairy tale about a wolf and a child. this footage shows him in his final years. >> we caught up with his great, great granddaughter now the tolstoy museum. he was in the middle of a photoshoot. he's been the driving force, to put a new generation in touch with his heritage online. >> translation: i wanted people to return to reading tolstoy. this is part of our heritage. not all of it has been on the

internet. it should be able to everyone. only 2,000 copies of his works were published, impossible to buy. >> it's this russian company charged with the task of getting work online. also his diaries, letters and less well-known works. the cost of providing a vast amount of material threatens to fault the projects in its tracks. thousands around the world volunteered to help. tolstoy's estate only attracts a small stream of visitors. it's hoped the project will reignite center and boost numbers. inside the house everything has been preserved. it's as though the rider has

stepped outside. perhaps tolstoy's famous quote comes from the opening lines of anna karenana. "hope families are all alike. every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. >> at the end of his life tolstoy said "i don't need any money for my work. i want to give it to the people." his will is being granted, in a way he could never have foreseen. >> the english football association is investigating whether a goal celebration by nicholas anelka was anti-semitic.

he said it was to his friend. the french government is trying to ban the comedian's show. >> you can keep up to date with the day's developments on our websi website. go to aljazeera.com. why the american consumer holds the key to keeping this economic rebound rocking and rolling. if you have an idea but don't know how to sell it, there is a new company that wants to help. it'sperd with a huge american manufacturer. plus how shamalon got schooled. the education gap in america. i am david shuster in for ali velshi and then, here is "real money."