hello, welcome to the news hour. the top stories coming up. syrian government backed up the reb rebel positions as the fighting is intensifying. the body of prime minister sharon is lying in state before a bureau yal on monday. plus, in haiti, four years of

the earthquake here hundreds of thousands of people are living in tent cities and no excess to clean drinking water and still on going reports of rape. >> syrians are pushing forward to rebel positions, activists are saying that the opposition fighters could be losing a strategic position of the country and that means that rebel controlled areas could be cutoff and the fighting is continuing. the opposition fights are simmering for months now and the internal fighting the focussed. in the past week in-fighting is

intensified leaving 500 people and dozens of fighters are being kidnapped and we are getting reports that the al qaeda linked fighters have control of a key town. we have the latest from monitoring the situation in syria from neighboring lebanon. it seems that the government forces are taking advantage of the in-fighting. >> the rebels are bogged down in their own war and the regime is trying to move forward and make advances, it is a strategic territory and industrial area and the main point of entrance into the rebel controlled east of the city. it is divided, the rebels controls the east and the government controls the west and if they take control they are able to block the supplies lines

coming from turkey and we are understanding that the regime is trying to push into the southeast of the capital. it is strategic because it lies on the main highway. that highway links the airports to the western part of the city under the government part of control and when they managed to block that road they couldn't resupply the forces in the west of the city. the internal fight something continuing. the islamic state is holding on to strategic territory in the east of the country and controlling the border crossing between turkey and syria. >> and you know, the rebels as you mentioned joined forces last week a few days ago, what about the other al qaeda linked rebels operating in syria, and whose side are they on and who is winning the battle among the

rebels? >> like you mentioned, their role in the conflict, what is their role? they have been trying to mediate between the islamic state with the rebel forces and so far the efforts have failed. like you mentioned this is the al qaeda branch in syria and an announced by the al qaeda leader. it is still on the ground, but they have not been able to ail nate themselves from the people yet. they are accepted by the people, unlike the isil and not carrying out the beheading or torturing publicly. the leader told the sister channel just a few weeks ago we don't want to rule syria alone, but at the same time said we want to push for the laws. we are seeing unprecedented unify against the groups

fighting al qaeda, but they have little in common. some of the groups want to western style backed democracy and other groups want an islamic and fractured opposition and now a common enemy against al qaeda but the power struggle is just beginning. >> thank you for joining us. what about the political front, the latest meeting of the end froms of syria and the opposition is taking place, and jackie, what are they trying to achieve at this meeting? >> well, the key objectingive of the meeting is try to persuade the umbrella group, the syrian national coalition to participate in talks at the end of the month and aim the broing together the opposition and the regime and hammering out a political deal that would lead to an end to the finding in

syria. as described, the fragmentation of the armed opposition, we have the same thing. the syrian national council is not participating in the talks at the end of the month. the umbrella group as a whole is meeting in paris. it is a difficult state for the partners to persuade the opposition to take part in a face to face meeting with the representatives of the regime. >> and jackie, you wonder how they can persuade and convince to take place in geneva, too. >> well, as one american

diplomat put it this is the opportunity for the syrian opposition not afford to miss. that is the view of the international partners but for the opposition themselves they are under a lot of pressure from different sides and the french prime minister acknowledged they are between a rock and a hard place, they are getting to support and on the side the support from the armed groups and the grouped we just heard about, the bottom line is that the armed groups on the ground really do oppose any kind of talking to representatives of the regime and the representative of the syrian national so ligs here in paris said as long as the syrian army continues to bombard anything any where it is hard for any opposition to actually sit down

and talk to them. >> thank you very much, jackie, reporting live from paris. >> israel is paying last respects to one of the most controversial figures in its history, these are live pictures with the body of former prime minister sharon is lying in state. there is a special comemory ration on monday before thebu theburying in southern israel. >> now appealing for calm, they are continuing clashes between the members of the christian minority and the lus mim minority. the heads of the new transitional government is doing their best to restore peace.

>> i proms to work with all of the forces of the nation without distinction in order to achieve that goal. i ask all africans to stay calm in order to carry all the transition in a peaceful and safe condition. >> we have joined life from the african capital and this is going to be difficult, isn't it? >> okay, we are having technical difficulti difficulties. we hope restore the connection and get back to him. >> staying with after ri africa the u.n. is pushing for the

peace talks to go forward. the rebels are failing to sign a cease fire. foreign countries shouldn't interfere. >> that would be unfortunate if the international community doesn't want to cooperate with sudan. it is unfortunate if the international community wants to cooperate with the rebels. we are a sovr rin country. if something of that kind happens, then the perpetrators will be taken to court. >> two car bombs in iraq killed 13 people and injured 30 others.

the first in a bus depot in central baghdad and killing nine people. the second went off in a parked car in the city's neighborhood and that killed at least four people. >> fighting between rival tribes in the libyan city left 15 people dead and the death of a chief. meanwhile, the deputy industry ministry shot dead on saturday. this is a string of high profile killings. >> the man that overthrough egypts elected president may run for the top job, but only if the people want him to. >> defense min strir leading member of the intermitt m job and perhaps the next president

of egypt, he's been a driving force in the military for a number of years and he greeted mohammad in the summer of 2012 and deposed him the following summer. >> no question he's the most powerful individual in egypt right now and i think most egyptians realize there is a prime minister he's the most popular and most powerful. it would strengthen the relations between the forces of others. >> several of the gulf state gave large amounts to egypt in part to help the government deal with with an ailing government. the curfew and the state of

emergency ended. elements of the media are running flattering articles about him and he has a chemolike cult following. this was a profest by the supporters of the anticoo alliance and they believe that there is a skoo against the democratic government and they blame him for the killings of hundreds of people last august. >> i recognize the constitution. don't call it it a constitution, it is a mob in control of the country. >> on the international stage, they have tried to woo old allies. this was a visit by the russian and foreign ministers in

november, but it is the referendum on the constitution to decide where he's going to run for president. >> and al jazeera is demanding the release of the five journalists held in egypt immediately. they are accused of threating the lives and joining a terrorist group. al jazeera is saying that the allegations are false and demanding the release. they have been detained for five months now. >> dozens of demonstrators are gathering in sydney, australia about the detaining of the journalists. >> this is not good.

this is not right. this shows you what is happening in egypt. >> still much ahead, include a cold snap in northern india and a plight of the homeless. and time to kill, a permit to hunt. a black rhino is auctioned. >> hundreds of thousands of haitians are lying in tent

cities. many of the basic needs are not being met. and many are giving of hope of every leaving the camps. >> she's lived here for knee and a half years and that is not her home, that was destroyed in the earthquake of 2010. she moved into a tent city with a daughter and grand daughter. >> the conditions weren't good at all. it was a very difficult life. mosquitos all over and the heat was killing us. it was very bad. >> so when she was offered a $500 voucher to move into an apartment a year ago, she took the money, it was a huge relief. the yellow building is where they process the money transfers and open five days a week and people line up for hours and wait for what they have been told is a way out of the tent cities they are living in. >> the money is coming from the

government and aide groups. once receiving the vouchers you have three days to destroy the tent and move in. >> we pay the rent and now no money to eat. it is not making sense. it is better to stay where we were. >> it is an organization of 40 groups and claiming 2 billion dlal rs should have been spent to helping them and going to nongovernment organizations instead. >> spent a lot on cars and big salaries because the foreigners are working far from the country. it is about equipment, salaries and maintenance. >> there are still serious problems at the camp. limited access to toilets and drinking water and violence is increasing. they claim that the haiti

government evicted hundreds of thousands of people. after the rental subsidy moved out she moved to a second tent city, and few jobs and no public transportation. >> it is very isolated but i don't have a choice. i don't want to live in a place like this. we hear about the authorities but don't know anything about the government. no one comes to visit or talk to us. >> it is not the life she wanted for herself or the family, but the only future she can imagine. >> in thailand the antigovernment protesters protesting. from monday they hope to physical stop the traffic from moving through the key intersections in bangkok their

intexes are to shutdown the city. now there are fears that the arm could be stepping in to reset the calm. >> we have more now from bangkok. >> they are calling it bangkok shutdown and thousands of antigovernment protestor like the ones around me are planning to pa laize the capital city in ored to throw out the government. this stage itself is going to be shutdown. it is the base for a protests for two months and other stages are set up around the city at the major arteries and it is a big threat to business and traffic is expected to be terrible. the plan is shutting the city down for 15, 20 days and the government is putting in place

14,000 troops and police to prevent further problems. this is supposed to secure the situation, and it is unclear how farther going to go to get the cities back to normal and at what point that is going to happen. the in fact is there could be violence on the streets. six people were injured on saturday when the protestor clashed outside of bangkok and in bangkok seven people shot but unidentified gunmen on motor bikes and mostly demonstrators. the situation really has the potential to spiral out of control. there are efforts to resolve it from the government with executive order that the protestor are making.

there is also elections scheduled for february 2nd, the people here are not willing to wait and want un-elected council in place. >> the director of the service is saying more damage after anticipated after a cyclone. the chartty workers are saying 70% of the homes and businesses are flattened in the smaller islands to the north. the wind gusts up to 287 kilometers per hour. the new zealand air force sent out plans to get a look at the damage. there is aids for thousands that need the help. >> now to more of the weather. >> thank you. that system is now moving with the eye waters moving away to the southeast away.

it is a nasty system and still winds in excess of 200 kilometers per hour. meanwhile, we have a very active weather system across northern parts of australia and we are seeing the flooding in the coming days and in excess of 300 millimeters of rain. it is very wet and heavy downpours. but the greatest concern for this region is up to the philippines and the cloud looking threatening here. it is not a tropical cyclone but a lot of rain being produced in the past 24 hours, and in the coming days again seeing the rainfall totals between 300 as much as 350 millimeters and moving from monday to tuesday the whole region is impacted by the downpours and the situation

there and the flooding that they are going to experience and very wet there for the next two or three days. >> thank you. now the black rhino's is endaninged species. there is a hunting club that won an auction to kill one in after ra ka. >> space inside of the dallas convention center at a premium, hundreds of thousands hupters are here to attend the convention. jewelry, rivals and furs all available for purr schas and this time the big thing is a permit to hunt a black rhino. that brought the protestor to dallas. >> that is completely wrong to

do. >> they say that the auction is inhumane. >> we need every single one of these animals. >> the club is saying that the proceeds from the sale is going to save the species. >> they are thinking that the wild life is taking care of itself. it is a managed wild life. that is a small country and they don't have a lot of access money and they need the money to manage the biled life and help to protect and increase the population of the rhino. >> he convinced to allow the permit because of the money he's bringing back to the country. >> this is the first time that the permit is auctioned off in the united states. >> the group is saying just give the money directly to them. other critics say that the

auction is telling the world that an american will pay anything to kill their species. >> now they are known for busy, but in crotia is bees are coming out early. it could mean bad news all around. >> first thing every morning beekeeper checks the temperature. there should be snow on the ground. >> ten degrees in january. that's too warm. >> his bees think it is spring and they are leaving the hives. >> they shouldn't be outside. it is too cold. i tried to warm them up. i care for every one of the bees. >> the bees are going out in search of food and laying eggs as if spring as sprung.

in suddenly turning cold now they are in real trouble. >> if winter comes back again, which it will, the weaker bees won't be able to warm up the colony and they'll die, which means will never lay their eggs at all. >> the situation has the officials worried. >> right now we don't know what is going on. we know some beekeepers have lost a lot, the big and small, something is happening and we need to keep a close watch on it. >> it is a european problem and in the past few years a third of the bee population has been lost, almost 7 billion bees, and in crotia there a nine thousand beekeepers. any loss in the bee population has serious consequences to humans, they play a crucial whole in the plant life and if

the bee goes the food supply is under a serious threat. >> it is like we are moving a brick from the bottom of a wall, the wall might stand but not as stable as before. >> the instability of the local pollen is having affects and when the real spring arrives they'll know just how serious the problem is. >> still ahead on the news hour, turning tradition into a successful business, milking a morning ritual. plus the afghan president accusing the united states of pushing him out of office. and how is it never been a better time to be a patient as new england runs into a championship game and details of the nfl details coming up with joe in sports. do stay with us, we'll be right

back after the break.

welcome back to the al jazeera news hour. syrian government decided to push forward to the rebel positions. that could mean rebels are cut off from the northern province and the infighting is continuing between the opposition groups. >> the head of the central african remember is calling for calm. ten months of violence.

>> and these are live pictures from israel where sharon's body arrived. he died at the age of 85 and lying in state before being buried on monday. >> now, thousands of people have taken to the streets in spain in the northern city of i willbow and marching in the support of the bask separate group and the demonstration went ahead despite a court ban for the show of support for the prisoners. >> we want to pave the new times on the basis of human rights and respect and we want dialogue and agreements to be the basic of all of the political parties and all of the parties and institutionsen for them to get the steps that the society demands and have a scenario of

peace and coexistence. >> returning to one of the main stories, the memorial from the former israeli minister sharon and his body is lying in state now. joining us is a hamas leader based in gaza and thank you, sir, for being on al jazeera. how is the legacy influenced where we are today with the middle east process? >> well, actually, sharon will be remembered through four regimes. the first is the one that demolished hundreds of palestine houses in gaza and then the legacy of the butcher, the one who is responsible for the --

and also the one enemy of peace as he killed the chances of peal with palestines and maybe hundreds of people being killed and others injured and destroyed all hopes of these with israel again. >> some of the ewologies are casting him as a peacemaker and great force for peacemaker and softened the stance for the paem with the palestinians, a move that eventually lead to hamas taking control of gaza, do you agree with that? >> no. sharon is the enemy of peace and

sarcastic to call him a man of peace. i know mr. bush said that. but it is sarcastic to call this war criminal as a man of peace. he's responsible also for all of the things that the division that happened between west bank and gaza and responsible because of these withdrawals arrangement with the palestinian authority. >> talk about the disengagement from gaza harmed the palestine's interests? >> because this is going without arrangement for the palestine authority and because of that we have bloody cashes between the hamas and what we have seen today and we are divided, the palestinians are weakened and trying to do everything in the west bank because gaza is no

more in backing the palestinian authority and also related here under the siege and sanctions and it is weakening all of palestine and this kind of withdrawal without any kind of arrangement with the palestinian authorities. >> thank you for speaking to us. as you are hearing there is little sorrow from the palestinians about the death of former prime minister sharon. thank you very much for speaking with us, sir. >> now the afghan president has long accused the united states of trying to push him out of office. now he's got a major voice backing him the claim. the allegations in robert gates could strengthen the ties

between the two countries. >> it is often dismissed as pair noah, afghan president accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the media of the plans in washington and in london to bring a change into the structure of governoring in afghanistan and weaken the government in afghanistan and going today light in afghanistan and put resources through to them through afghanistan. >> now the exserts from the new book, say that is true. gates writes about the envoy at the time, the attempts at what he calls a push. saying others extended the support to the challengers. the presidential palace's spokesperson is reacting with an i told you so. >> what is revealed in the book,

further proves the right shsness of the claims that there were efforts to disregard and manipulate the afghan people. >> also accused of foul play at the time. interference by the obama administration could further discredit the election and leaving the afghan people unsure who to trust. >> they don't believe anybody any more. they have been misled to many times by so many and at times they don't have the self-confidence to act in their own self-interests.

>> revelations of a possible u.s. interference in the last presidential elections here come just a few months before the afghans go to the poll to vote for the next leader. they have warned repeatedly about foreign intervention. >> south africa's ruling party is launching a campaign. thousands of people attended a rally in support of the african national conference and they addressed the crowd and promising to end the financial crisis in the country and he also promised more social stability. let's take a listen. >> the importance of core values and traditions of the african

national congress. the fact that the anc has always been the organization best placed to unite the cross section of south africans. >> the cattle herders traveled hundreds of years and despite that the dairy industry is dominated by powdered milk. we are in northern synagogue. >> collecting god, an early morning ritual and a tradition turning into a successful business. >> we are always on the move to survive we used to sell the cattle, you we sell the milk.

>> it is a co-op and producing the dairy products. packaged and branded the products are sold in shops across the country. it is expensive but no less attractive and the sales are on the rise and most continue to rely on imported powdered milk to meet the dairy needs. >> a lot of consumers are poor and making sense to buy cheap powdered milk but the catch is to tackle the poverty we have to invest locally. >> this region receives little state funding or investment. >> we are only 400 kilometer from the capitol and no schools, no hospitals, no government faciliti facilities. these herders are ignored by the politicians and saying their potential to contribute to the

economy is largely overlooked. >> three million cows for 14 million people offers a huge potential for a lot of people. they are skeptical. >> they are overconcerned about the constraints. so this model can be replicated in other places of the region. >> they made $3 million in profit and most being invested. they are not doing it for the money or for the sake of development, they just want to main train the traditional way of life. >> northern india is having one of the coldest winters in years and the near freezing conditions are harsh for the thousands of people living on the streets and

the government is promising to find shelters. >> body is the only heat she can give to her baby. she earns $3 a day and that is not enough to get her family off the streets and out of the cold. this patch of pavement is hardly ideal but the best option she has. >> we liveed in a homeless shelter for three years and my husband died there. the shelter wasn't very nice. the fights between children and other things created problems and that's why we left. >> if more others, any roof is better than none. in this men's shelter, the flar mats are providing comfort. the government estimates that in new delhi alone 4,000 people

need access to facilities like this. >> in the winter homelessness should be treated like a disaster. if you tackled the homeless situation how would we succeed in the country. >> it is not just the shelters that the homeless need. people who call the streets of old deli home come here for free medical check ups and they treat the common colds to drug addictions at this makeshift clinic and winter puts the homelessness in the spotlight and the people that run the program are saying that short term seasonal promises are not the answer. >> summer season is equally bad for them, we need to have the proper long term planning, but [indiscernible]. >> these people's lives are made worse by the fact that most have

always called the streets home. >> in the coming years, millions of people are expected to migrate from villages to india's big cities in search of work making homelessness an even bigger challenge. few arrive with solid plans let alone guarantees of a safe and warm place to stay and cold winter nights are an unfortunate reminder despite the help available just too many people in need. >> so much more ahead including... >> in columbus, ohio a new museum that has the world's largest collection of comics and cartoons. >> now, some are braving are african desert. we have that coming up. please do stay with us.

we begin with the nfl playoffs and the patriots reached the american football conference title game. the pats win 43-22 against the colts in the playoffs. new england is now facing the winner of the sunday game between the broncos and the chargers. seattle wins the conference playoff. running for 144 yards and two

touchdowns and kicking three field goals. seattle wins 23-15. it puts them into the championship game for the second time in team's history. seattle is hosting san francisco or carolina. >> to the round bowl now. it was a trip to the spanish capital. 19 goals for him for the season. straight away he got a warm welcome. he picked himself up to almost grab a winner. going wide. locked on points at the top of the table.

thrashing down. opening the scoring as the home side races to 3-nil lead in the first half hour and despite getting the goal before the break. another three in the second half and completing the win. >> well, the wind helped to maintain the win. a little later third place madrid is narrowing the lead to three points if they win at mid table. the men 2-nil winners at home and opening the scoring with a stunning goal from the edge of the box and great efforts. >> we controlled them well. i think the second goal was more

likely to happen than the first goal for them. so when we scored the second goal, the game is over. >> they move up to 4th after the win. liverpool in 5th and much needed win in the late kickoff and winning and sill 7th in the league. >> i have a long way better to become yet and i would like to think to improve an awful lot and tough start some where and today is more like it. we scored two goals. i felt we had more control of the game. >> top tennis players are bracing themselves for a scorcher in melbourne, the

temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees. leaving the sweet taste in the mouths of journalists. >> well, yes, i mean the experience of playing many times in the australian summer over the years helps for the preparations, but i don't change anything in particular on my approach. everything is more or less is same and i am expecting to play in a big heat. you have to expect that because you can't predict melbourne's weather. it is changing a lot. >> staying in the melbourne's heat, dominating over england. england won the chase and making

269-7 in the 50 overs. they have been chasing down that target with impressive speed. finch made a century, australia 247-4 requiring just 23 more to win. >> and in the last two minutes, beating pakistan in the second test in dubai and nine wickets in hand. taking a lead in the series. one of the biggest stars in baseball may never play again. 162 game suspension for alex rodriquez and at 38 years old he may have played his last game.

he's still missing the entire 2014 season. rodriquez is one of 13 players to be suspended over the bio genesis scandal. a-rod is saying he's going to fight the ruling in federal court. well a statement from rodriquez that is number of games suspended is no surprise because the deck was stacked against me from day one and this decision is one man's and not put in front of a jury and... al jazeera john henry smith in new york believes that this been could end his career. >> it seems so, considering that number one he's going to be 39

and his body has been breaking down, played 44 games last year due to the injuries and also consider that he's likely to be something of a paria among the mlb teams like barry bonds was. no one picked him up, including the giants and that remains so today. given all of that, he seems to be over. the only thing that could save him that the yankees owe him three years and 60 milli$60 mil the contract. the mlb is trying to assess the muscles and will on this and 162 game ban accomplishes that. they have to be happy with the ruling and so indicated in the statement and the new york yankees are saving $25 million in salary and $6 million if reached the 661 home runs this

year. >> the race no longer runs through west africa because of the security risks and takes place in south america. >> this is the sixth edition of the africa race and here at the finish line the atmosphere is electric after racing through parts of europe and most of the north african desert. this year's winner won all six events and not only is he this year's winner he's one of the organizers. >> this is a real rally race. we are pushing the limits to the max. in other races, well here is just the desert.

it is just open space. >> it starts in france and ends in senegal. the rally is taking place in south america. the difference of this race is the green element. some of the vehicles participating in the competition have solar panels to add or boost energy to the vehicles. now this is a growing trend in the motoring sports industry. later on this year will be the first e-formula world championships. this year's event attracted only 400 participants but organizers hope that next year there will be even more people bringing new alternative ways to race through the african desert. >> there is plenty more on the website, find out why the international rug by board suspended something to figi.

>> now the world's biggest collection of cartoons is going on show at a new museum in the united states. it is a serious art form rather. >> perched atop the urban landscape in ohio, is a new kind of temple for cartoons. >> this is from 1798 and it is a cartoon called the congressional and features an actual fight taking place in congress. >> ohio state university's cartoon library and museum treats cartoons and comics the way that the u.s. library treats thom mos jefferson, seriously. >> they can give the collections to ohio state and preserved and exhibited and accessible to the researchers. >> here is a fantastic franklin

roosevelt and then richard nixon. >> people come from around the coraled to study it. >> this was really the material that everybody has in their hands and these are i think important visual artifacts of an era that need to be taken serious. >> 45,000 books of cartoons and 67,000 journals, the world's largest collection of cartoons and comiccomics. the first modern use of the term cartoon. >> we have everything. >> the hand drawn strips of

charles m. schultz. >> it is timeless. the way it was drawn. the captioning. it is timeless. >> an in original drawings of dick tracy and 300,000 original collections of art. so now, a standard original might be worth tens of thousands of dollars and an early one from 1951 is priceless. the collection illustrates historical stooer types. >> there is a different way of protraying minorities. >> all drawn together in a new home on their own. >> that is it for this hour. do stay with us, we have plenty more world news coming up. back in a moment.

check

>> thousands of israelis pay their final respects to the former prime minister ariel sharon. >> plus a chemical leak - chemical investigators descend on west virginia as new details emerge on the toxic spill. >> the u.n. calls for calm in the central african republic. >> trophy hunting, putting animals on display is wrong to do >> outcry and anger in texas over the right to kill endangered black rhinos. [ ♪ music ]