>> this is al jazeera. >> welcome to the news hour, in doha, this has been a explosion at a russian train station, several have been killed. more on that. also to come, south sudan thousands of rebels are said to be on the march. al jazeera gains special access to aleppo as fighting at the syrian city intense nice. a ship is trapped in

antarctic beings average but, another ship is on its way. fancy in iran this is one cool place to chill. >> i think it's really nice, so much better than in germany. >> welcome to al jazeera. a blast has killed at least ten peel in a train station in the south of russia. around six others have been injured in a explosion in the city of volgograd. let's go life to peter sharpe. he is in london. what do we know about the injured and dead? >> ten injured six dead. metal detectors used by metal detectors, probably the most busy weekend of the year, people

traveling to be with their families in the upcoming new year's holiday. volgograd known as stalingrad, is only six meerdz from sochi. -- meters from sochi. the russian authorities say they deployed 37,000 security forces in the area. this is just the sort of authentic that would be worrying them. >> peter let's remind ourselves, there was also another explosion about two months ago in roughly the same place by a russian female suicide bombers. >> that's right, the suicide bottomerbottom -- bombers are nd wednesday owes.

the security measures are pretty much in force at the rail station. >> peter, thank you. we understand there's been an explosion at an egyptian intelligence building in the nile del delta. we'll bring you the story as soon as we have it. the south sudanee sudanese , loyal to former president riek machar, killed more than a thousand people. and hundreds of thousands have sought sanctuary in united nations camps. let's get the latest from our correspondent mohamed ado, live from juba.

we understand that the government troops are moving towards malakal in the north. what is the army hoping to do there? >> well, the government says it's in full control of mallakal. but where we are expecting fighting to take place is bor, the capital of the jan janglei state. bor was recovered from the rebels last week after holding its for several days and now it seems as if those allied with former vice president riek machar want to regain bor, a place where his community was found in big numbers. now figure of 25,000 is coming from the government and they say that it's got influence

intelligence from within the group. the white army as you say is known as the white army because of the white ash they put on their faces to protect themselves against insects. however, a spokesman from former vice president riek machar says these are not white army but they are men who has turned their back to president salva kiir. what we know for sure is that there is an impending fight over the town of. >> is there a wider fear that riek machar can be getting aid from his former army to help incite the situation further? >> that's what they're saying.

this is from the clan of riek machar's nuer clan. however, on the other side, riek machar says no, that is not the case. now, this whole issue of more fighting not only in and around bor but also in the town of bentir in unity state, says the two sides in the conflict in south sudan to sit down and talk by the 31st of december. now while the government of salva kiir, the negotiations he says these negotiations have to be followed by the putting on the ground proper monitoring

mechanisms. before that is done he says he will not do that. >> mohamed ado in juba, thank you mohamed. thousands are continuing to flee the violence in central african republic. over the past five days there has been a surge in fighting in recent weeks despite the presence of u.n. and african union groups. reportingly starving to death. add least 5 people have starved to death, mahmoud abbas has ordered food for that camp. largest palestine refugee community in own school and health centers.

and conditions have worsened due to a government siege.

>> the british based syrian group, said most died when barrels filled with explosives were dropped on a syrian market. reporting from aleppo.

>> the tension on the israeli border with lebanon, two rockets were fired into a town.

israeli troops inspected the site in the north. israelis said there was no report of damage. confiscated the remains of rockets as well. there have been many incidents of cross-border rocket atax since 2006. rula joins us. what can you tell us? >> i can tell you that the united nations interim force is doing its best to contain the force so it does not escalate. who was behind these rockets that were fired in the direction of israel? now as you said in retaliation, israel fired back in retaliation into lebanese territory, no casualties. but very strong words from

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> the crowds are gathering there behind you. tell us what's happening today there. >> yes. going -- we are right there. he is going to be buried under that white tent, my cameraman is going to zoom in. and this is where his burial site will be next to the former prime minister, who was also killed in a similar car bomb in 2005. now we've heard many accusations from fellow supporters, the former prime minister who hamad was a clois aid to, he says the same killers who killed his father are behind the killing of mohamed chata. prayers are fishe finished righ.

former prime ministers and leaders, such as form errs prime ministers, representing the hariri family. now many of the people here are holding hezbollah responsible however the investigators are still trying to determine who was behind this attack, they are still looking for clues into different possibilities. hezbollah has condemned this assassination and said only those who are trying to insight sectarian violence. >> there has been some concern, is there fear of a wider retaliation because of this killing? >> you know, there is fear among many lebanese that this assassination is to signal more dark days to come for lebanon. previous car bombs targeted shia

targets. in so the security situation has been deteriorating. and many here believe this is just the aftermath and the fallout of the crisis taking place in syria next door. they understand that unless there is a political solution to what's happening in syria the situation in lebanon will only get worse. >> rula bey in the lebanese capitol. massive protest but the police are also out in force so will they get numbers. plus: we know what leo tolstoy wrote but now we hear his voice. a digital upgrade almost a

century from his death. and sports details to come. now, able chen ancient ruind cultural landscape have been largely unseen by tourists, now things are changing under hasan rimi. from the ski slopes. >> dizin is 3600 meters up and one of the country's major attractions. locals already know it and now foreigners are catching on too. >> i think it's really nice. plus it's so much better than in germany. there's always sun and the snow is really good. >> the location is really great because of the mountain and we are astonished little bit

positively spoken because the mountains are really high and snow quality is really great. >> iran's president is aimed at attracting a total of 10 million visitors a year, up from the 4 million yearly now. >> now you know china has developed very fast and the people's leading interest is go high. and most of chinese want to go abroad to have a visit of some other countries such as iran. >> but in order to handle more people, the country needs investment. including on the ski fields. >> translator: the equipment is old. the past 27 to 28 years it's remained the same and just three new facilities have been added. but the ski field has so much potential. the whole mountain can be used. and i hope the company invests

more and make it bigger an and bigger so we can introduce it to the world secure its future and make money. >> it's no wonder why this is known throughout the entire world. more than 2,000 people come here every week, that's iranians and foreigners as well. it's not just iranians and tourists, the are olympic team also use this as training. the government knows tourism is still a largely uncapped sector. that's why the current government is reorganizing the tourist industry, to take advantage of iran's diversity and this year's increase in the number of visitors. >> translator: i think there are two reasons. first it's related to the election of iranian president

hassan rouhani. but the most important reason is there's a reason to come visit iran. for example, for this christmas more than 200 european groups had planned to spend time in iran. this is a change if you want to compare it to the past. >> now with more and more tourists arriving from abroad, they are learning to share them for benefit of everyone. soraya lini, dizir, iran. the party of the nobel peace prize winner, banned her from running for president. saying it was undemocratic. antigovernment protests in taiwan want the president to

resign. s. >> this protest similar to one in 2005 and 2008, is targeted at the shinawatra family. just like in 2006, the main opposition party will boycott elections scheduled for february. some analysts believe the decision is tactical. >> outright victory, being government is not because they win the election. therefore, they probably felt, one, it's impossible for them to have a big chance to win in this coming election. that may be in the back of their mind, whether they admit or not. >> but the boycott could prompt a crisis, just like it did seven

years ago. under thai law, candidates have to win at least 20% of eligible votes. in 2006 several seats were declared vacant because of this. prompting the constitutional court to annul the results. before another election could be held, the military staged a coup and removed then-president thaksin. >> we're not going to be part of government or power structure if there is coup. what we are trying to do is somehow regain that trust that all political parties have lost, given the failed politics of the last decade. >> after the coup, parties that support thaksin easily won elections only to be disqualified by the courts. that prompted another round of

street protests in 2010 which ended only after the military moved in. politics in thailand is never a straightforward fare. and no matter which side wins, the rifts in thailand's political structure fails in the end. broken into the supreme court in pursuit of opposition lawyers, the main opposition party has defied a police began on antigovernment protests. the police force dakka to block roads into the capitol. they are ready for action. the country has a history of coups but 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, create a peaceful and a congenial environment so that voters can go out to vote

without any intimidation, fear of being attacked, or hurt. >> the opposition bangladesh nationalist part are blocking elections to be held on january 5th, the antiopposition leader, call for noncooperation has been kept virtually under house arrest, other executives have also been targeted for detention. >> there are cases against thousands of vnp, leaders and workers, most of them cannot stay at their home. in fact i was admitted in the hospital from a place where i was trying to escape arrest. i was not at my home. >> opposition protestors have been demanding that the elections be held under the auspices of a neutral care taker government. they say polls will not be fair

and free. the international community agrees the u.s. and the eu will not be sending observers to this election. the opposition has called the upcoming vote a farce. the people here are lining up for their voter i.d.s. there is no no point in me joining them. the candidate is running unopposed, he is not the only one. over half the members of parliament are going to win election that are uncontested. many voters will be robbed of a voice in this election. >> it is terrible! i'm a citizen of this country but i don't have a say. the ruling party will basically be reelected. before a single vote is cast! >> a court hearing on whether the polls are legal is going to be held on january 2nd, just three days before the elections are said to take place.

mahar satar al jazeera taka. >> let's talk to al jazeera's tandri, the crowds haven't turned out as expected. what's been happening there on the streets? >> absolutely, i'm just about three blocks right behind me is the rally point. there is not a single you know number of people out there. the police have cordoned off the entire area. rather there's been clashes going on. the ruling party acted a storm inside the supreme court premises, they have been in clash with the pro-opposition lawyers who have taken shelter inside the court premise and that clash is still ongoing. the latest we have the opposition leader tried come out and join the rally point she was prevented by the police. she got out her suv and told

journalists to come inside the compound, they were prevented but some managed to come inside. she said this march for democracy is a continuous process until she is able to join the rally, three blocks from here, this march for democracy will continue and continue tomorrow, day after, until she is allowed to join the rally. so earlier there was a clash in the mali -- sorry go ahead. >> go ahead tandria. >> earlier there was a clash about half a might from where i am where one 25-year-old student was killed in protest with police and those clashed with media people also in front of the national press club where at least 15 journalists were injured when the pro-ruling party chased them from in front of the national press club. thank you.

>> an australian ice breaker ship is trying to free a ship trapped in antarctica. led by an australian climate change expert. let's look at the global weather with steph. >> we do have a very large storm with us. it's very clear where that storm is just off to the north of western australia but gradually creeping its way close to the coast now. tropical cyclone christine. equivalent of a category 1 hurricane. as it is, it's working its way towards the coast. and i think thus so, it is strengthening slightly. it will still be the same equivalent strength when it makes landfall but just a little

bit stronger. approximately 150 kilometers per hour. clearly damaging ones there. on top of that we'll also have some heavy rain. the storm is moving south wards very, very slowly, that will give us days of heavy prolonged rain. a lot of flooding there as we head through monday and into tuesday. now elsewhere it's largely fine and dry until you head down towards tasmania, a little more in the way of clouds and showers even though we are trying to pull away as we head through the next few days. new zealand though, that hasn't also given us a gray day, but a lot of rain as well. over 70 millimeters of rain in some places giving us quite a problem there. looks like we're going to see more unsettled weather too as we head through next couple of days. the main system will be pulling away but behind it it's

certainly not going to be staying dry. the winds are quite risk, bringing in yet more windy weather, at least look at the temperatures not too chilly darren. much needed air from syria from northern iraq but how long will the humanitarian corridor be open? in sports, this salute has landed footballer nicholas anelka in trouble. more, stay with us.

>> welcome back, you're watching al jazeera. a quick reminder of our top stories. a female has, north caucasus region. south sudanes everybodyese , an explosion has targeted a military intelligence office in egypt's knight delta region. at least four people have been injured on the blast. let's get more on the explosion in russia, peter sharpe, what are the laterrest details you're getting there? >> we understand now that 15 people died in the blast and dozens were injured. it took place inside the train

station of volgograd ride near metal detectors. the woman we believe it was a female suicide bomber who detonated the devices before she had to go through them. it was the busiest travel day of the year, the new year's holidays is fastly approaching and lot of people on the road, it couldn't have come really at a worst time. believed to be carried out by a black widow, one of the black widows, seeking to avenge the death of their families in the cawk sus. >> peter, how does the government respond to the attacks given that the sochi olympics are less than two months away? >> they have deployed 30,000 extra security forces into sochi

and tightening up in security on volgograd, 30 kilometers from sochi. it is a of grairt great concern to the russian government and security is always going to be a problem bearing the location near the caucasus. >> peter sharpe in london, thank you. top stories, egypt an explosion as we were saying has targeted a military intelligence office, at least four people have been injured in that blast. peter gresta, what more have you been hearing there? >> well, gone up from four to five now. we don't know what caused the blast other than it seemed to be fairly powerful. the military intelligence suggests the building has been

fairly well damaged. we can't say definitively what caused the explosion or what it was that set it off. >> peter, there have been a number of attacks against government buildings in the last few weeks. >> that's right. we've seen explosions not just on government buildings of course. there was that massive bomb down in mansurra which killed about 6 people, and others that have gone off in cairo and have been defused by the authorities. most of those have been small scale things, home made bombs that have gone off in and near buses and so on, also those ongoing clashes between students, and government, the authorities i think are aware of thee type of things may continue. i've just been hearing one

analyst saying they're expecting more blasts particularly through the holiday period through the new year's celebrations but they may tail off. i think what we're seeing is a struggle for the political momentum, the government insisting it's facing a terrorist organization, and between the muslim brotherhood supporters and the anticoup alliance supporters who are insisting that the government is illegitimate it is an authoritarian regime and needs to be overthrown. peter, thank you. the united nations has been flying aid into iran, this report from the kurdistan region of northern iraq. the pallets are loaded,

final preparations begin. these vital aid flights into syria, to 4 million internally displaced people, people effectively refugees within their own country. the u.n. refugee agency say this has been a monumental effort. but getting permission to provide aid flights has been a massive effort. the regional government is doing its best to facilitate the flights. >> back in the headquarters offices in geneva, basically there is loss for syrian

officials. it has been an iraqi us and syrian agreement, for only facilitated that flight. there are limitations from krg to commission the airport. >> back on the apron the old russian cargo plane dating back to the 1970s and it's mostly ukrainian crew are ready to go. the syrian authorities won't let us get onto this flight. that gives you an idea of how politically charged the whole thing is, it has been an initial experiment, whether to try and keep what they are calling the humanitarian corridor open for more of these flights into syria. but these flights have been even allowed to take place is a success for the u.n. refugee agency but continuing them and getting aid is political will,

political will that needs to come from damascus. imran khan. al jazeera. >> government has deployed thousands of troops to crack down on cartels there. brazilians, fed up with high cost of living, struggle against cost of living and high taxes. for five days they packed the convention center, more than 150,000 turning up for the largest video game in latin america. this year video game fanatics waited in line for up to four hours for a chance to try this sony play station 4. but in brazil the gaming device will cost about $1900, making it

more expensive than anywhere else in the world and five times more than the suggested retail price in the u.s. 60% of the price, sony says, is due to brazilian taxes. >> if i will have the opportunity to buy it, it will be abroad. >> it's going to be sold initially to the brazilian elite. for it to become popular the price has to be reduced. otherwise no chance that people can buy it. >> reporter: but it's not just are video games that are expensive here. everything, eating out, buying groceries to buying cars, expect to pay more in brazil. there are a lot of reasons for it but it's because brazil has some of the highest taxes in the world. >> the tax rate in brazil is 36% of gdp. and this is the equivalent to the taxes paid in developing countries that have better services. today we have a big government

bureaucracy and the people's taxes end up supporting this bureaucracy. the government ends up consuming a lot of the wealth. >> reporter: in downtown sao paulo, this meter counts down every second of every day. so far brazilians have paid about 1.2 trillion pais. as you're watching that story, that meter will go up by about $1.3 million. at this credit counseling center the line is out the door, representative of a slowing economy and people increasingly in debt for spending for boom years, rising inflation and a slow down in consumer spending are changing the economic dynamics in this country. back at the game show they're anxiously awaiting to buy the fanciest games when they hit the

stores but they will have to save a lot more money to buy them this happen gabriel azir, sao paulo. third of them have been out of a job for six months and as tom ackerman explains, some of them are doing whatever they can to make ends meet. >> the u.s. economy is still adding jobs but still well of the total before the bottom fell out of the labor market in 2007. the hardest hit are the long term unemployed. an estimated 4.9 million of them will exhaust their unemployment benefits during 2014, unless the government acts to the continue the program. >> i'm not going to be able to pay for utilities, in fact after the check i get from unemployment i have to pay the mortgage payment on the 1st of

january i will have less than $200 in the bank. >> president barack obama campaigned for the matter to be continued but republicans in congress opposed providing the $25 billion to continue the emergency program. >> people think we need u unemployment insurance, they should come forward. >> others actually discourage the unemployed from stepping up their job search. that argument doesn't impress dale sexton. who lost his job six months ago. >> it seems like people who are on unemployment are you just sitting around enjoying the money and nothing could be more fulfar from the truth.

>> tom ackerman, al jazeera, washington. journalist who exposed the lifestyle of the elite. jennifer glasse, it has been more than a month since the antigovernment protests have taken place. what is going on here now? >> that's right darren, as you see down here, tens of thousands of people have gathered in this square as the organizers have hoped. the numbers are smaller than we've seen than the beginning of these rallies in november about. this is the beginning of the holiday season here and it will be a real test of how much support this demonstration still has. now also today they've called on people to gather and there are a few dozen cars off to the side here. they're going to head to the president's palatial residence. there is potential more conflict as demonstrators move out of the

square. >> jennifer, it's reported that five suspects have now been arrested after the beating of the antigovernment protestor. >> i spoke to the journalist's husband yesterday and he's very skeptical. at first the government just wanted to charge these people with hooliganism. that means the authorities are trying to cover up who's behind it. it is several days since that attack. much of it was caught on video, they have the registration number of the suv of the large vehicle that chased her for miles down the road. it was the latest in a series of attacks on government opponents and government opposition leaders here tell me that it's a new tactic by those who don't want these rallies to go on, that they attack those who support it rather than going out

for a big police clashes that have a very, very unpopular result here. >> jennifer, thank you. still to come here on al jazeera, more criticism and the czechs rush up spain, details more in sports. .

>> welcome back you're watching al jazeera. we have a few developing

stories. a female suicide bomber has attacked a train station in southern russia. in volgograd in the volatile north caucasus region. nile delta region, at least five people have been injured in a blast there. and the south sudanese government says 25,000 fighters are marching to the jonglei state. mohamed ado looks at the human cost of the fighting. >> these are the displaced following clashes between rival military factions in southern sudan. almost in the capital of juba they're still not confident enough to return to their homes. the fighting exploits the ethnic division in south sudan as

neighbor turn against neighbor. this man says he watched as his brother was shot. >> my brother was killed not by soldiers but bit civilians. he died because he belonged to a certain ethnic group. his body was still in the open when i last remember. >> with thousands living here, there is shortage of even the most basic of services such as clean water. but help is beginning to arrive. here, officials of the world food program distribute food and household items to the displaced. >> it's been a very dhalging task for the wsp, the world food program in terms of distributing food. we are doing so in challenging circumstances but doing our utmost. >> with more and more displaced, the u.n. peace keeping mission in south sudan is overwhelmed. there are now plans to increase troop numbers here from 7,000 to

12,500 with reenforcements coming from other u.n. peace keeping missions from democratic republic of congo. they are from the u.n. mission in the democratic republic of congo. trained in crowd control they will are spread across the country and this is u.n. camps overflowing with the displaced. >> we believe that the troops and u.n. advisors is critical. we have something on the order of an estimated 63,000 civilians housed at a dozen locations at the peace keeping mission around the country. >> reporter: u.n. officials say they with it not be able to -- will not bl able to protect everyone.

mohamed ado, al jazeera, juba, south sudan. >> time for sports, jo is here. >> darren, thank you. comprehensive win over england in the fourth test in melbourne. dominant eight wicket win led down badly by their captain al stair cook who dropped two captures in the first hour. take it on the chin if the selects thought there was a better man for job. 5-nil route at the 2006-2007 series in this week's final sydney test. >> that's what's kind of what we need in sydney now. we need an outstanding hundred and an outstanding fiver. struggling like we are at the moment. >> i think it's a very special win for a number of reasons.

obviously the faculty that a lot of people thought we would come here complacent and not have the same willpower to continue to fight way we have played in the first three matches. but the first time in the series we found ourselves behind in the game. in the last couple i would have turned that around and win convincingly today. so i think the boys have a lot of credit. >> south africa, day 4, the second test in durbin, just the fourth south african to score 100 in his test. lead of 61 runs but the match has been delayed because of rain. on to football, ah nell c anelke investigated. 3-3 draw with west ham on

saturday. disgusting antisemitic, it's been condemned by jewish groups who have called it a nazi salute in reverse. the striker treate tweeted thats was just a salute. beyonce and jayz with theirs hands on their shoulders, anelka could be suspended if the authorities think it is not respectful. in the 66th minute, sealed victory for the home side, manuel peligrini's group. >> i think we are fortunate to

win the game today, just want to stay in their own goals, so i was before the game that it would be a very difficult game. it's impossible to play 44 hours after the game that we played against liverpool and our team was not fresh, so it would be a very difficult game. >> tony, manuel pelligrini intimated that they wanted to stay their own goal. >> i thought our guys were brilliant today and i don't talk about other teams. >> rivals manchester united, danny wellbeck scored the only goal of the match to give their fourth consecutive victory.

otherwise, drawing 2-2 with carcardiff, helham city. >> often the flood gairts are open, that doesn't happen very often at this level. but we'll take it. i can't remember ever really having an afternoon like it. when it comes along and it happens obviously you grasp it. >> made a perfect start, world number 6, needed just 57 minutes to beat annabel gallegas. straight sets 6-2, 6-2. which gave the czechs an unassailable lead. that was before combined to win the mixed doubles 6-3, 6-4.

a three pointer, with just seconds to go, over in chicago dallas guard ellis scored 22 points as the mavericks had a big lead and held onto victory. we have a particularly good year in review section where you can look back at some of the best and worst sporting moments from 2013. and that is all for sports now theron. >> jo, thank you. now take a look at this from the u.s. midwest. a bright red object flying across the sky from iowa. the american meteor society says witnesses reported an object as bright as the sun. showing effects you normally get from meteors.

the russian leo tolstoy entire body of work has been digitized. tolstoy estate outside moscow. >> this is the voice of the 19th century russian writer leo tolstoy, widely considered one of the best novelists, author of war and peace and anna karenena. is this film shows him in his final years at his estate. we caught up with his great great granddaughter, she was in the middle of a photo shoot. digitizing the entire works of tolstoy, giving the current generation literally in touch.

>> i wanted people to return to reading tolstoy with all the ways that modern technology now offers. this is part of our heritage. not all of it has been on the internet yet but it should be available to everyone. only 2,000 copies of his complete works were ever published, impossible to buy. ♪ >> it's this russian company that was charged with the task of getting tolstoy's works on line. not just the 90 volume standard collection but also his diaries letters and lesser known works. a lawsuit threatened to halt the project in its tracks but thousands have volunteered to help. his country taste only attracts a small stream of visitors these days. it is hoped that this will reignite interest and boost their numbers.

inside the house everything has been remarkably preserved. it is as though the distinguished writer has just stepped outside. as he's expected back at any minute. [ bell ringing ] >> perhaps tolstoy's most famous quote comes from the opening lines of anna karenena. happy 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 forseen. david chater, al jazeera. that's it, for now.

check check

>> breaking news in russia where dozens of people have been killed and injured in what has been called a suicide attack on a train station. >> and a new report says al qaeda may not be responsible for the september 11th attack on the american consulate in benghazi. >> an ultimatum from south sudan - what the government threatens to do if the ceasefire is rejected. >> finally changing its tune - the boy scouts of america welcomes openly gay mems be -- members.