>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha our top stories, palestinian leaders consider their next step after a motion demanding the end of israel's occupation fails at the u.n. more than 30 people are killed in a suicide back in the yemeni city of ibb. and more than a thousand migrants are res -- rescued by the italian coast guard.

this is the scene right now in japan where 2015 is just beginning. ♪ palestinian leaders say they will not allow the world to forget their cause. after the u.n. security council voted against a draft resolution for an end to israeli occupation. thousands have gathered in ramallah. fattah's leader is meeting with senior officials and he is expected to announce the palestinian authorities next step soon. we'll have reaction from james bayes in london in a moment but let's first head to our correspondent. tell us about the next step and

about the options for the palestinian leadership. >> reporter: that's right, marian. but let me just first describe where i am right now. i'm at the headquarters of the palestinian leadership. in the distance there, you can see the tomb of the former leader yasser arafat. the reason this crowd is gathering is because today marks 50 years from the palestinian liberation movement. these torches have a lot of symbolism, it scenes that the palestinian resistance the flame of the palestinian resistance still burns. this is the beginning of that resistance movement, but casting a shadow over that is this failure at the united nations security council. i think the palestinian

leadership believed that they would get those nine votes crucial to pass that resolution even though they always believed the u.s. would veto it. but they wanted that symbolic win, and that is something they did not get on this day. >> how much pressure is there on the president to actually accelerate efforts in the international arena to go beyond discussion and threats, and sign crucial documents and apply for membership to the international criminal court for example? >> indeed. in fact there's an awful lot of pressure on the palestinian president to do just that. in fact mr. abbas will be coming here in a short while. he'll be -- at first laying the wreath at the grave of yasser arafat and then we'll make a short speech. then we'll meet with members of his government to discuss what

to do next. we understand that he will sign a number of international treaties. they haven't given us an idea of how many or which treaties specifically. but there is a suggestion that he may sign the rome statute. that effectively makes it that much easier indeed moves the palestinians that much closer to joining the international criminal court. but when many palestinians stand together to mark 50 years of their resistance a shadow has been cast over by the fact that they did not get that symbolic win at the united nations. >> thanks very much we'll get back to you, should anything materialize from that. let's speak to james bays live for us in london. james could they vote on this again? >> it has come to an end for

now. they could come up with some new resolution taking bits of the old one. i certainly think there are some other nations that would favor that. france has its own initiative. france already came up with its own version of a resolution, and france supported in the end the palestinian resolution. so it's possible that other countries could take this on. the problem, of course for any movement, any action at the u.n. security council, is time is running out. and that's because we're getting closer and closer to an israeli election. and i don't think anyone believes you could restart a peace process which is the whole idea of a security council resolution. you couldn't really do that at a time when israeli is actively complaining. >> should the palestinian leadership turn to the international criminal court? would that mark a strategic change in their approach.

>> well it would be a very very important historic moment if they did that. they have been talking about this for a very long time. they have been threatening this for a very long time and they have always until now decided not to take this very important step. there are a number of reasons for that. yes, it could accessly lead to a process that could see israeli leaders being investigated for possible war crimes but on the other side of course if palestine joined and if all of what went on in gaza it's quite possible that some hamas leaders might also find themselves being investigated. and the other thing they are concerned about is the fallout by the americans. they are welcome at washington at the moment and they are concerned that if that door were

to close, so would the route to some of the money. they are always short of money to pay the authorities of the palestinian authority. i think they fear that the u.s. would cut off further funding to them. and i think they also fear not just the administration but congress, that if they were to join the international criminal court, then congress would even approve sanctions against the palestinian palestinians. one last thing worth mentioning is even if palestine joined it would be a long process to get any investigation going, and it's worse looking at the rome statute, because there's one clause in there that says if there's an investigation that the security council doesn't think is helpful to international peace and security it can postpone it for 12 months. and the u.s. veto could come into play again. >> all right.

thanks very much. we'll keep an eye on those talks taking place in ramallah. meanwhile in the west bank a palestinian home was set on fire in a village. a family with young children was asleep when two attackers through a fire bomb inside. no one was injured. moving to yemen now where a suicide attack targeting shia houthi fighters left more than 30 people dead. explosions have also been reported near the city of ibb where the attack happened. the suicide bomber worked to the cultural center in the city of ibb, and detonated his expositive belt, leaving dozens of people dead. it was a gathering of shia houthis to celebrate the birth

of profit mohammed. after the attack there was chaos, anger and fear. some survivors were rushed to hospital. this is one of the strongest attacks against the houthi since they took over the capitol in november. they started to control different provinces in yemen in july and in september they swept through the capitol, sana'a. now they control at least nine provinces. many people believe the houthis have support from the deposed pot who was toppled in 2012 after wide protest, but still has influence over the military and tribal connections. but the houthis are facing tough times too. al-qaeda tribesman have clashed with the fighters killing dozens. al-qaeda and some tribes waged a war of attrition to weaken the group, but the group remains undeterred. they signed a peace deal with

the government in september to withdraw and disarm. that never happened. now there are plans to integrate their fighters into government forces. the ministry of interior has started the immigration process of 2,000 houthi fighters into its ranks. but critics warn that this is the beginning of building a state within a state with the houthis in charge. a cargo ship carrying nearly a thousand migrants has been brought into a port by the italian coast guard. the passengers appear to have been abandoned in rough seas by people smugglers. simon mcgregor-wood has more. >> reporter: the italian coast guard took control of the vessel in the early morning hours. on board, they found 970 desperate migrants mostly from

syria and iraq but no sign of the crew. the ship left the turkish port six days ago. and after three days of terrible weather, it was apparently left on its own bound for the italian coast. the migrants locked in the hull. the italian navy brought the ship into the port with the migrants being brought ashore. the migrants are now being processed by italian authorities who are overstretched at the sheer scale of the latest migrant incident. most of these people are from syria and iraq. they all speak of the terrible conditions they have endured on board this cargo ship. some were on board for nine days and the journey cost anywhere between 6 and $9,000 for each person. scared of showing their faces, they painted a grim picture of their voyage. >> like you know, no sleep

here. they give you every -- they maybe like just like that bread, you know. and nothing -- >> no water. >> no water, just -- like -- just wet. wet you took. that's it nothing. >> reporter: he is from aleppo in syria. >> it was a very bad trip because the ship was very old, and very -- very dirty, and very -- very noisy. i can't tell you what -- the roof when -- when the rain drop -- drop in the roof develop -- dropped on the ship. and the -- the floor, water. there is no carpet no nothing. no -- no toilet no -- nothing.

>> reporter: later the migrants will be bussed to holding centers big enough to deal with the numbers involved. italian authorities say they picked up more than 2,000 migrants in their waters in the last ten days alone. all part of desperate people seeking refuge from war and a better chance for life in europe. the last group of survivors from a ferry that caught fire off of the greek coast three days ago have been brought ashore in italy. more than 400 people were on board when the fire broke out. 13 people died. italian prosecutors have ordered a criminal investigation into the fire. more still to come for you this news hour. [ gunfire ]

♪ 13 years, a trillion dollars, and thousands of lives, we examine the legacy of nato's combat mission in afghanistan. aid piles up for malaysia's flood victims, but rising water stops the help from getting through. and this spanish footballer gets a clean bill of health as he prepared to go home to his boyhood club. details coming up. ♪ all right. let's bring you pictures now, images that you perhaps wouldn't associate with north korea, but it is new year very much a global celebration, and this is the scene right now, as they get together to celebrate. fireworks going off, people celebrating. i have seen similar scenes in tokyo, japan, australia, and new

zealand as well. but this is the scene right now in north korea as people gather to celebrate the new year. now tunisia's first freely elected president has been been -- sworn into office. he promises reconciliation security and economic development as our correspondent now reports. [ applause ] >> reporter: he has been part of tunisia's political landscape for more than half a century. this veteran politician served under the toppled president. but he hasn't been tainted by that association. people voted for him because he was a successful interim prime minister right after the revolution. he is also seen as someone who

can offer a steady hand through these difficult times. >> translator: today we turned the page of electoral competition. as head of state, i'm committed to be president of all tunisian men and women. >> reporter: election exposed the divisions between the richer northern coastal regions, and the poorer interior areas, like here. the birthplace of the revolution more than four years ago, it has one of the lowest turnouts of voters in the election. many young tunisians are frustrated by what they call the broken promises of -- the revolution. the next government will need to work quickly to convince them that democratic achievements can bring about real change. >> translator: there is no future for tunisia without consensus. tunisia needs all of its

children and has no future would reconciliation. >> reporter: reconciliation is important. his party doesn't have enough parliamentary seats to form a government, so it will need to come to an agreement with ore political parties. there's talk that a coalition with their rivals is possible. the democracy campaign is the tunisian people are the real winners. there has been a change of president and government without the violence of other arab spring countries. and for the first time in so many years, tunisians are hopeful about their future. let's bring in joseph who has advised a number of organizations on north african affairs. thanks very much for speaking to us. why have we not seen the same level of polarization in tunisia

as we have seen in egypt or the multi-militia chaos that we have seen in libya. why has the tunisian experience been different? >> i think tunisian history was always quite different. peaceful. polarization was never that big. we do not have genocide in our history, but also if we want to compare, the tunisia islamists were always portrayed as more moderate than the others around but also they were always looking for consensus because in tunisia we have the debate of islamists versus secularists, or new regime versus old regime always call for compromise and groups in between trying to make

people get closer. in tunisia we had the labor union. we had civil society playing the role of a bridge between the two polarized sides. so i think this history and realities of the tunisian society made things quite different from the -- >> there are certainly some differences, but perhaps also some same lairties when you think about the president himself, he's 88 years old, a veteran of politics. he served in the government of the former president in the 60s. there are fears that his presidency could prove to be a setback for tunisia. how fragile a moment is this in the country's democratic transition? >> yes he served -- served actually in the ministry of interior, which was for years the main threat for liberty in

this country. he also served the former regime, but on the other hand we also served the revolution and he worked as prime minister right after the fall of [ inaudible ], and he had some oppositions where he disagreed with the autocratic regime. so we have the two problems. the risk is there, we have seen also some behaviors that we thought were forgotten from the police from the judiciary system, you know coming back as if we were still under dictatorship, but on the other hand what we gained over the last four years is a strong civil society, not willing to -- to give us rights. we have also journalists who -- and -- and other media players, who gained a lot of freedoms, a lot of possibilities for the last four years.

so there will be a lot of -- of opposition in case there is the return to dictatorship. and that's why, yes, the risk is there, but there is a lot of hope for the knew year for this country and the region around. >> thank you very much for your analysis. saudi arabia's king has been admitted to hospital for medical tests. the 90-year-old king is at the medical city in read. his half brother is next in line to the thrown. police sources in iraq say 12 soldiers have been killed in an attack by isil fighters. the violence is said to have taken place at an army barracks south of fallujah. at least seven people are thought to have been injured. the family of a teenager

girl in syria is accusing kurdish forces of kidnapping her and forcing her to become a child soldier. human rights groups have condemned soldiers for putting children on the front line. >> reporter: this 15-year-old should be home. instead her family says kurdish forces kidnapped her, and now she is a soldier. protesters walked through the streets of her town in northeastern syria, calling the kurdish forces criminals, and demanding the teenager's freedom. the kurds deny snatching her. last year kurdish forces officially banned the recruitment of people under the age of 18, and demobilized 149 child soldiers but children are still finding their way to the battlefield. >> translator: i was hit by a fighter bomber on my first day. i'm used to it all now. normal fear.

>> reporter: human rights watch says all opposition groups in syria are aggressively recruiting minors in violation of international law, and they need to stop sending children to the front lines. >> translator: i started fighting when i was 13 or 14 and i'm still carrying on. >> reporter: a spokesman with kurdish forces tells al jazeera they faced great resistance when they prohibited children from fighting. loyalty to the kurdish cause and a lack of opportunities have inspired young people to serve. but this teenager is now a veteran. >> translator: i would like to resume my studies and have my normal life. >> reporter: war has deprived syria's young of a carefree childhood. in some parts of indonesian new years festivities have been canceled or toned down to pay

respect to the victims of the airasia crack. the first bodies from the fight have arrived. >> reporter: they were welcomed by a somber military ceremony at the airport. the first two bodies of the victims of the airasia crash of december 28th. bad weather and large waves have been hampering the search efforts. >> translator: the transport of the bodies from the ship to the mainland is very difficult. that's why the ship has come to the harbor. >> reporter: a very tragic moment three days after they departed for singapore, their bodies have returned here. many more have yet to be recovered. the bodies will be brought to the police hospital for identification, but 90 relatives have supplied data and dna

records to help with the identification process. the government has asked people to tone down their new year's eve celebrations out of respect for the families. >> translator: in east java all new years festivities are canceled and we will all prayer instead. we will pray for the spirit of the victims, and for those who are left behind so thigh can accept this terrible loss. >> reporter: relatives of the victims held their own ceremony at the airport, some still hoping for a miracle. prayers also for better weather conditions at the crash site. so the recovery process can be speeded up in the next few days and the victims can be reunited with their grieving families. well a tropical storm in the philippines has left at least 53 people dead in land slides and flash floods. more than 130,000 have fled

their homes taking refuge in community shelters. eight are still missing. thousands of volunteers in malaysia are trying to get supplies to flood victims. part of the area are still under water. at least 21 people have died eight others are missing, and more than 100,000 are seeking shelter. aid agencies have been overwhelmed, but volunteers are struggling to get aid to many communities. >> reporter: this is the overwhelming public response to malaysia's worst floods in decades. people have donated hundreds of tons of food clothing and other essentials to help communities crippled by the disaster. thousands of volunteers are using social media to organize relief drives. >> one of the biggest disasters

for us since the last very big flood was in 2004 so ten years ago, and we didn't have social media like facebook then and now that we have had that the response has been tremendous we have been able to get in touch with other people. we have been able to raise funds privately. >> reporter: mother of two, this woman is donating a hundred dollars worth of medicine instant noodles, and cleaning items. she says she was shocked to see families like her own suffering in the floods. >> translator: i want my children to understand why we are doing this. we are helping children and those in need. we must help them. >> reporter: eight states in malaysia are currently flooded. while at least 14 people have been killed. but many remain stranded in their homes, awaiting aid and rescue. >> initial challenges of course, it is that area cannot

be accessed by road and of course we have to use all the aircraft. >> reporter: despite the hardships, the donations keep pouring in. the military says it is working around the clock to get supplies to northeast malaysia but rising flood waters in some parts means that this aid may not reach the people who need it the most. parts of asia and the pacific have already celebrated the beginning of 2015. ♪ >> this was the scene in japan's capitol at the top of the hour just -- well more than 30 minutes ago. hundreds of people released balloons. meanwhile more than a million gathered near sydney harbor in australia for the spectacular fireworks show that took place there. and just a few hours earlier.

[ cheers ] >> this was the fireworks display at the sky tower in the city of auckland. people in new zealand were the first to welcome in 2015. wherever you are in the world, al jazeera wishes you a happy new year. still to come for you this hour. ♪ >> prayer camps in ghana promise to cure all sorts of ills but some people are not so sure. new year new rules, how a change in the law could make life easier for undocumented migrants in california. and how can you convert a baseball diamond to an ice hockey rinks? well, tell you about that later as well. ♪

>> pain killer addiction on the rise >> i loved the feeling of not being in pain >> deadly consequences >> the person i married was gone >> are we prescribing an epidemic? >> the last thing drug companies wanted anybody to think was that, this was a prescribing problem >> fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... award winning investigative documentary series... opioid wars only on al jazeera america ♪ welcome back. you are watching al jazeera news hour from doha. let's take you through the top stories. palestinian leaders are meeting

to decide their next steps after the u.n. security council rejected a draft resolution for an end to israeli occupation. crowds have gathered in ramallah. president abbas is expected to attend the celebrations. a ship carrying nearly a thousand migrants has arrived in italy after being rescued from the italian coast guard. the ship's crew has disappeared. parts of asia and the pacific have already celebrated the new year. now in other news nato's 13-year combat mission in afghanistan is officially ending at midnight on new years eve. a group of french solders held a ceremony in kabul. the turks will be among 13,000 soldiers who will remain to support afghan forces.

the war has cost tens of thousands of lives, and a trillion dollars has been spent, and yet the fighting continues across the country. jennifer glasse reports. >> reporter: in 2007 this province was filled with taliban fighters. nato had already been in the country six years. the fledgling afghan national army joined british controls. nato troops walked a delicate line. >> it is a double edge sword, you have to go in aggressively but yet reassure the locals. >> reporter: another part of the nato mission was to get rid of opium poppy crops. 13 years, and $7.5 billion later, the poppy crop is now bigger than ever. training the afghan military and police a became a major focus for nato in 2010. and while there are now about

375,000 afghan security forces they are struggling against a resurgent taliban. this has been a costly war on all sides nearly 3500 nato forces have been killed. since 2008 more than 9,600 afghan civilians have died. and for afghan forces this has been the worst year yet, about 13 policemen and soldiers die ever day. one of the biggest killers is ied's. >> we do not have enough equipment to get rid of the ied's or the equipment to give us early warning,. but still we are doing better but suicide attacks. ied's the biggest weapon the enemy uses against us. >> reporter: this week nato marks a formal end to its

mission. but the taliban says the fighting isn't over. >> translator: this war will continue until america and the west completely leaves afghanistan. changing the name or a title is not important for us as long as the foreign forces are in our country, we will continue fighting. >> reporter: and the afghans bear the brunt of that fighting. this doctor said not only do the security forces need more training many of the police are her -- heroin users. >> more than 50% of police are addicted, so how can we see that they will ever create the best security in the future. >> reporter: this year the taliban has taken large parts of the countryside across afghanistan, and al-qaeda is reestablishing its training camps in the east. nato's combat role may be

ending, but it's initial mission is far from accomplished. these are live pictures coming to us now from ramallah in the west bank. there you can see celebrations taking place people gathering to celebrate. the president will be attending this event, and joining the celebrations. it has been a remarkable year for the palestinians, a year that saw a return to conflict in gaza most recently a failed bid for statehood at the u.n. security council, and here we have celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the fattah movement. just describe to us how people are feeling there right now. >> reporter: well as you can see it is a moment of celebration. the president is speaking at

this very moment but in saying that, the feeling here is generally quite muted. as you rightly point out this has been an extraordinarily hard year for palestinians living in occupied territories. not only the devastating war in gaza, but continued unrest in east jerusalem, and of course in the west bank we have seen a number of incidents where israeli security forces have confronted palestinians, resulting in a record number of deaths. all of this has passed a shadow over the celebrations marking the 50th year anniversary of the palestinian liberation movement. but there is also a determination here. we have been speaking to people talking to them about the latest issue, if you will the fact that the palestinians did not secure enough votes at the

united nations security council which effectively would have set a time line for the end of israel's occupation but people are telling us that they will continue to fight, that they will continue to resist and that's why so many have come out here tonight. >> and perhaps the voices growing that much louder in the aftermath of the failed bid at the u.n. security council, because really there was opposition to abbas's efforts in doing this. why did he fail to persuade many people to back his move? >> reporter: i'm afraid i missed the end of your question but what i can say is that you are right, there are factions within the palestinian leadership and indeed these movements which are disappointed at what happened in new york at the united nations. some feel that palestinian president abbas should haven't pushed forward with the resolution until they were

certain they would have gotten the votes, and although nobody was under any illusion that the u.s. wouldn't have used their veto but they wanted that symbolic gesture to say the occupation needs to end. in saying that and what we have been hearing from various people including now from president abbas, is that the resistance is not over. just because they failed to clear a hurdle at the united nations that they will continue to move forward. now what we have been hearing is that the president will be signing a number of international treaties. we're hearing he may even sign the rome statute. that is very significant, because the signs of the rome statute effectively starts the way towards the palestinians joining the international criminal court which would be a huge and significant move by the

palestinians, but, again, as we have been saying although they haven't cleared that hurdle at the united nations that they are going to move forward, they are going to in their words, continue to internationalize the plight of palestinians so one day the occupation will end. >> all right. people gathering to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this fattah movement. we have already seen the president there on stage. he is expected to address the crowd a little bit -- a little bit earlier he was playing flowers at the grave of yasser arafat. this has been a year that has seen a return to conflict and the bid for statehood failed. the leaders have been weighing

their options, decide on the next step with reports that they could be looking at setting a date for applying for membership at the international criminal court. so we'll continue to watch developments there in ramallah and bring you more from there has it comes into us. let's move on with other news for now. at least 22 people have been killed in clashes on the border of the democratic republic of the congo. the army ambushed the fighters after they entered the country. gambia's president has confirmed that his palace came under attack and the coup attempt was foiled. he was out of the country at the time, but has since returned and is promising stern reaction against the perpetrators. >> reporter: this gambia's president. but his smiles don't mean

everything at home is okay. yet another coup attempt against him has been foiled. he has promised action against those who formed the attempt: ♪ >> reporter: and that stern action is what many people fear from the man who took over gambia 20 years ago as a coup. he was a 29-year-old in 1994, and promised to bring stability. he has won four elections and kept his dream alive. in that in his words to rule gambia for a billion years. but that's not the only thing he says he is capable of. al jazeera got rare access to the reclusive a leader in 2007. >> take a deep breath. the pain is still there. >> reporter: he is a self

declared healer. his herbal potions are professed to have a cure for aids infertility among women, even asthma. he holds sessions and people queue for massage. but many hiv patients have died after being advised to stop taking the antiviral drugs. and it's not just health care. the leader has always been accused of stifling freedom of speech. his regime has been harassing, censoring, and threatening the media. the u.k. has warned tourists after the latest failed coup attempt. the united states has condemned more violence. nine people have been killed

in canada's alberta province in what police say was a case of domestic violence. police later discovered the body of the alleged killer outside of a restaurant in a nearby town. and in the u.s. state of idaho a woman has accidently been shot dead by her two-year-old son. the toddler pulled the gun from her purse which went off in a wal-mart store. the u.s. state of california is said to have the nation's highest number of illegal immigrants. driving without proper documentation is one of the leading causes of deportation. >> reporter: living and working in southern california's cities it's difficult to get by without a car, but drivers among the estimated 2 million undocumented

immigrants living in california are often wary of getting a driver's license for fear of showing up on government radar. >> once people find out they need to show they are here legally, once they find out they can't get a driver's license, they will just drive, and not necessarily knowing the rules of the road. >> reporter: now a new state law allows california undocumented residents to get a license after taking the standard driving test. the law includes a guarantee that california law enforcement agencies will not report undocumented drivers to federal immigration authorities in case of a traffic stop. at the center for human rights legal aid in los angeles, rights advocates are preparing to help thousands of people take their driver's license test. >> our people are very excited because they have been waiting for this for more than 20 years

here in colorado. >> reporter: the offices of motor vehicles are bustling more than 400,000 people have made appoints for driving tests. california is the tenth u.s. state to legalize driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, but california has more undocumented immigrants than any other state. other states with large immigrant populations like arizona prohibit undocumented residents from getting licenses. california police agencies say the new law will prevent accidents and save lives. >> we hope that people will get out there and get their driver's license, get educate to the rules of the road and make them safe behind the wheel knowing that, okay now i am driving legally. i have less to worry about, being pulled over by the police. >> reporter: and that likely means all californians will have a safer new year.

staying in the u.s. some drivers got quite a surprise after a wall collapsed at a salt factory in chicago. the avalanche of salt burr rid at least three vehicles at a neighboring dealership. still to come for you this hour we'll have all of the latest sports news including what happened to a coach that took an instruction to beat the opposition a little too literally.

♪

all right. welcome back. let's get all of your sports news now with farah. >> thank you so much. torres's 18-month move is now complete after the spanish striker passed his medical. any 30-year-old is expected to make his second debut on january 7th against real madrid. he signed with melin. football manager fabio capello is still waiting to be paid his wages from the last six months. the russian national team coach has not been paid any of his $11 million a year salary since june. the russian football union has been hit by financial problems and with the slide in the value of the ruble, they missed their

own deadline of paying the italian coach. a college football coach has been dismissed after videos showing him hitting players from the opposing side. he west virginia players when they came close to him on the sidelines during the liberty bowl. richardson who played before a spine injury ended his career has now been fired. you can expect much more professional behavior when jim harbaugh takes over at the university of michigan. he'll return to the college where we was formally the star quarterback. the lead the 49ers to three straight nfc championships, and came very close to a super bowl title, but lost to his older brother who roaches the ravens. >> i have to tell you that i have thought about that dreamed about that since the time i was a young lad, nine, ten years

old, and throughout throughout adult life, dreamed about coaching at michigan, and now it's time to live that. >> in the nba the atlanta hawks beat the cleveland cavaliers who were without their star player lebron james. the four-time most valuable player who was celebrating his birthday is still struggling with a knee injury. atlanta were leading by the end of the first half but the cavs put on a fight in the fourth quarter, and paul millsap helped pull off a comeback. and going on to win 109-101 for atlanta. the winter classic has become one of the most popular event on the nhl calendar. standing room only tickets can cost up to $300. the baseball home of the nationals is being converted. >> what we have here is -- a

mobile refrigeration unit that -- built by the national hockey league especially for an event like this. it has 300 tons of refrigeration which is even larger than what is at verizon center. and we'll push through this system at about 12 to 1500 gallons a minute. in florida they beat the panthers in a shootout. here alexander scored the only goal in the shootout. the canadiens have now won seven of their last eight games. shea webber scored twice to lead the predators to a 3-2 win over the st. louis blues. nashville is now close to clenching the nhl central

league. a road race in brazil brought more than 40,000 runners. now 2014 is reaching its conclusion, bringing an end to a world cup and olympic year. but it was also one filled with controversy, and some sadness in sport. let's start with a highlight in february. for libya's football team they claimed their first-ever african title. beating competition favor's ghana. and russia hosted the winter olympics. the hosts came out on top of the medals table with 13 gold. the story of the year in the nba

was donald sterling who was removed as owner of the clippers after being recorded making racist comments. and the pick for us was germany's 7-1 thrashing of the host nation in the finals. although fifa may want to forget 2014, a large part of their year was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding an investigation into the bidding process over the 2018 and 2022 world cups. michael garcia has since resigned. and philip hughes died of being instruct in the head with a cricket ball. >> we must dig in and get through to tea, and we must play

on. so rest in peace, my little brother, i'll see you out in the middle. >> there's much more sport on our website, check out aljazeera.com/sport. there's also details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. and that's all of your sport for now. it's now back to mare am. >> thanks very much. from the advance of isil to the war in gaza 2014 has been a tumultuous year. we leave you with a look back at some of the biggest stories that have shaped our world. ♪

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>> you pick the hot topics and express your thoughts the stream it's your chance to join the conversation only on al jazeera america as america's growing distance with the military made it easier to go to law. from a forced resignation to white soup remmizy, new headaches, and why young muslims are uniting. welcome to "consider this" those stories and more straight ahead. taliban declares victory a day after u.s. and allied forces ended their combat role. >> because of american military