>> coming up at 6:00 p.m. eastern on al jazeera america. this is al jazeera. a warm welcome to the news hour from doha. up in the next 60 minutes, egypt's highest criminal court orders a retrial for three al jazeera journalists jailed in cairo for over a year. at least 36 people killed in a stampede at a new year's celebration in shanghai. a new beginning. north korea's leader kim jong-un says he's open to talks with south korea. from fiber optic fashion to eyes in the sky, we check out the hottest esttest tech toys for

2015. we begin this news hour in egypt where the first day of the new year has offered the prospect of a resolution for three al jazeera journalists who spent all of last year in a cairo prison. egypt's court has ordered a retrial for the journalists but they will remain in custody. the retrial could get underway in a month, but no telling how long it could take. the journalists weren't present whether the decision was made but the lawyers will seek bail for the three falsely accused and convicted of spreading propaganda in support of the muslim brotherhood. >> reporter: they never saw a minute of freedom in 2014 and with the start of a new year they remain imprisoned. despite an appeals court in cairo granting a retrial they're

still behind bars. the judge in thursday's session said it was not in his power to grant bail. >> translator: we welcomed to the court's decision to accept the appeal of our journalists, but at the same time we demand that they are immediately released. they are unjustly imprisoned. everything is politicized, their arrest and the verdict against them were also politicized. >> reporter: the arrests were initially assumed to be a short-term thing. a mix-up over accreditations. as time passed it became more and more clear that the egyptian authorities under the new government of sisi had other intentions. peter, a veteran correspondent who knew little about egypt was clearly as mazed as he was shocked by the idea he was linked in some way to what the government in cairo described as terrorists. of course, exactly the same is

said for his team. by mid-january much of the international media was demanding the release of the three as well. the #freeajstaff went viral and in the u.s. the u.k. and elsewhere respected journalists came out to see that the treatment of al jazeera's employees was a threat to the entire journalistic community trying to report from egypt. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three men that could vaguely have been said to incriminate them. a video of shepherding of his work in kenya and videos from a different channel was found on laptops. >> translator: today the session presented video evidence and we found that the videos have no criminal indictment whatsoever towards the detainees. >> reporter: adjournment after adjournment followed eventually

in june they were convicted and jailed to the fury of the world. for the men's families it was the lowest point of a desperate year. >> the darkest was the day of the sentence. it remains in my memory as an awful, awful nightmare. >> translator: it was a farce. no witnesses appeared in the trial. i wonder how they were indicted and then sentenced in the first place. there isn't a single piece of evidence against them. >> reporter: world leaders including president obama denounced the court ruling. >> the issue of the al jazeera journalists in egypt we've been clear publicly and privately they could be released. >> reporter: for all that the government stood behind the courts argues it was not a political decision and it was up to the appeals process to determine what happens next. now that a retrial has been ordered, there is hope that this horrible ordeal will be over soon. until then though, al jazeera

and journalists everywhere maintain the public campaign because journalism is not a crime. al jazeera, doha. >> in response to the court's decision al jazeera issued the following statement. the egyptian authorities have a simple chos. free these men quickly or continue to string this out. all the while continuing this injustice and harming the image of their own country in the eyes of the world. they should should choose the former. earlier i spoke to peter's brother. while he's disappointed bail was not granted, the retrial is a step in the right direction. >> i'm sure he's encouraged by the fact he's been granted a retrial, and it's an opportunity for egypt to correct the massive injustice. it's been a tough 12 months with difficult conditions.

he's having to look after himself physically and mentally to make sure he gets through this ordeal. so he's determined that the whole court, the whole prison experience isn't going to break him mentally. so he is you know working on looking out for himself in that regard. it hasn't been easy. it's a difficult, difficult place to be. prison conditions are tough, and it's not the easiest place to endure. he's okay but he wants to come home like we all do. it will be a week or ten days before we get a written explanation of the court's decision, so we have to review all that and make some decisions for now. obviously, it's a disappointment. when someone you love it locked up in prison and there is some small glimmer of hope that they

might be out and that doesn't come about, of course, you're disappointed. realistically and logically we were warned by our legal advisers that even though the application was made it's highly unlikely pail would have granted. >> his wife delivered their third son in jail. she had this to say. >> translator: i was nervously waiting for the court's decision from the morning. thank god they accepted the appeal. this is a small but positive step tarredowards my husband being freed. even though the trial will be restarted, i was expecting something else. everyone knows journalists, the public even sisi himself know that my husband and his colleagues are innocent. this past year has been the worst of me and my children's lives, especially my children.

every day they look for their father at home. they don't just ask where is dad. they wake up in the middle of night crying and start looking for him. where is dad they ask, why hasn't he come home? all of our relative's fathers come home from work at night. how come ours don't? they know he's with peter, why is he sleeping with peter and not us at home. i wish today i could bring happiness and a spliel to our children's faces and they could see their father at home with them. unfortunately that didn't happen. god willing, though i pray the day will come that my children will rejoice with the freedom of their father. the u.k.'s for office hopes a retrial is conducted swiftly and ard cog to due process. the u.k. had serious concerns about the arrests from the outset and the foreign minister and prime minister have raised them with the egyptian government. upholding human rights contained

within the egyptian constitution is essential to build a stable prosperous and democratic egypt. an associate professor of public policy at harvard university and the author of "counting islam." he joins me from newton just outside boston in massachusetts. thank you for speaking to us. how significant is this decision by egypt's highest court ordering a retrial? >> well i think it's a fairly significant decision certainly in the lives of these three reporters have been in jail for an unconscionabley long period of time. i don't think this represents a fundamental shift in the policy of the egyptian state towards journalism and towards criticism. what people have to keep in mind is that this court or the court of casaasation is an unusual court

and highly independent. they ruled the conviction of these people were procedural incorrect, so it ordered a new trial. i don't think that this signals a broader shift in the egyptian political environment, which as we know has been pretty discouraging. >> what are the implications of that, then for the time scale of a retrial? is it likely to be conducted swiftly? >> you know i don't know the answer to that question miriam. i've heard the trial could commence as soon as they are able to do so. i've heard time frames of a month. then the point is that the trial itself would probably take a pretty long time. your reporters would conceivably remain in custody during the entirety of this new trial. who knows. then, of course, we don't know what the outcome of the trial would be. it seems like the evidence against these reporters is

problematic to say the least. so it could be that the trial would -- the new trial would find these reporters innocent of the charges, or it could be that some compromise is found and they're found guilty with time served and they're allowed to leave. in addition to that there's a prospect of a presidential pardon or the prospect that the president could determine that the foreign citizens among your reporters could be tried in their home countries. those are two other options that are on the table as well. >> yes. that's one option. you were just saying that the courts of cassation egypt's highest court is known for having an element of independence. throughout this process what has this case and the cases of many our journalists, what does it say about the dynamics about the political establishment and the judiciary in egypt and the way it's changed in the last few

years? >> so this is very interesting. i think the judiciary is composed of multiple actors. for example, if your viewers think back to all the drama that happened during the brief democratic opening in egypt from 2011 to 2013 the supreme constitutional court was really prominent. what it did was it dissolved the parliament and made all the rulings that seemed to stand against muslim brotherhood government. that was appointed largely by the president of the country. the court of cassation is different and appoints its own members. it's highly independent. judges appointing other judges. they are more likely to challenge the government and more likely to take decisions that they know will be politically unpopular because they're not appointed by -- they

don't serve at the pleasure of the president. so i think if you're looking for a slight bright spot it is that there remains in the egyptian judiciary this institution, at least the court of cassation which is highly independent and can serve as the nucleus as a kind of rule of law in the country. that's something that's really long-term, and you know i think that if we just focus on the particulars of this case the bright spot is simply that it looks like the reporters are at least a little bit closer to an eventual resolution of this case. the problem, of course, is that there are hundreds if not thousands of other egyptians who are currently in prison on what are political charges, and this development really doesn't say anything about them or their fates. >> thank you. appreciate your analysis. thank you for joining us from boston. now, the campaign to free

our journalists has plenty of traction online through the #freeajstaff. many post images of themselves with their mouths covered. over the last year there has been half a million tweets with the hashtag by close to 170,000 twitter users. the campaign has reached 120 million accounts and not including facebook instagram and other social media. remember, you can join us in this campaign through the the #freeajstaff and we have a special page on our website, aljazeera.com, where we have uploaded reports by the three arrested journalists so check it out at aljazeera.com. plenty more still to come this news hour including the search for the victims of the airasia trash in the jav va see. stopping the spread of ebola. why liberia's ban on burial

victims has backfired. in sports we look at how kenya is cracking down on illegal drug use among its athletes. we have our news now. it's a tragic start to 2015 in china. at least 36 people were killed and dozens more injured in a stampede during new year's celebrations in shanghai. florence liu reports. >> reporter: a knife night of revelry turned kaychaotic. this is the scene. the injured lie on the ground run down in a stampede in the waterfront district in shanghai. it started just before midnight. police are still investigating the cause. >> translator: we were downstairs wanting to move up and those who were upstairs wanted to move down. so we were pushing down by the people coming from above.

all those tries trying to move up fell down on the stairs. >> reporter: witnesses reported seeing coupons thrown into the crowd and looked like dollar bills. the pictures of the coupons appeared on social media. they have restored old buildings and narrow streets. a new year's eve laser display was planned here. the one in 2013 attracted 300,000 people. a week ago the local government canceled the show. the official reason? to improve traffic flow. it's hard to cancel tradition. it's a gathering place for major events so people went thru anywhere apparently in the thousands. it's not clear what kind of crowd control measures were in place, but it seems whatever it was, it wasn't enough. florence liu, al jazeera, beijing. north korea's leader is proposing high-level talks with the south. kim jong-un made the offer during his traditional new

year's speech. harry fossett has the reaction from seoul. >> reporter: the second year running kim jong-un used his new year's speech to raise the stakes with a possible summit with the south korean government. >> translator: if the atmosphere and environment is there, there is no reason not to hold the highest level summit. we'll make every effort to advance dialogue and cooperation. >> reporter: he also said such talks couldn't take place while south korea carried out military drills with the u.s. a twice yearly event, and re-affirmed his country's nuclear weapon policy. >> translator: we proved clearly how we support the values of leaders that strengthen our national defense based mainly on the nuclear deterrents and save the finances, the life of the country is strong. >> reporter: kim's offer following a brief on monday by the south unification ministry suggesting initial talks this month, and the south korean

president's new year's message in which she promised to lead pyongyang towards trust and change and eventual reunification. park has said she would be willing to meet kim jong-un but only if it offered the process of of real process. no fauk for talk's sake. it would carry extra symbolism for the meeting. it's the anniversary of the second world war. if 2015 does see a summit it would be the thirty after the earlier meetings in 2007 and 2000 between kim yong il and two different south korean presidents, but getting to that stage would you fraught with difficulty. south korea wants to see the north take steps towards nuclear disarmament and pyongyang has committed itself to continue making nuclear weapon as a key national policy. harry fossett, al jazeera,

seoul. emergency crews working to recover bodies have found two more victims in the java sea. there were 162 people on board the flight that went down on sunday, but only eight bodies have been recovered so far. as we report for relatives it's a painful wait. >> reporter: more than 24 hours after bodies were found floating in the ocean, rescuers have failed to spot more victims of the airasia crash. improved weather conditions have finally allowed helicopters to fly over the area where search teams suspect the plane may be. meanwhile, relatives are starting to become frustrated. joseph sumara and his wife waited for two days for news about their 23-year-old son. >> yeah my son is there with his friend. they were going there to celebrate the new year over there. then my other son is also in singapore, so they're going to meet over there.

now he's stuck in the ocean, yeah. >> reporter: he and his wife came from their hometown in the east of indonesia to put up the pressure. >> of course i feel frustrated already. it's been five days already and taking too long. we're hoping they can do it much faster today. >> reporter: it's a painful wait for the relatives here at the police headquarters while the airline company tries to support them as much as possible. they now are growing impatient. they want to see news about their loved ones as soon as possible. despite earlier reports saying a shadow of the plane was seen underwater rescuers have not managed to locate it and no signal from the black box has been detected. a ship with an underwater locator beacon is in the area. >> it's useful. it's useful. we tried to get a nice level, and so that's why it's very difficult. you will have to proceed very

very slowly. otherwise, if you use the very fast ship it interferes with the signal and everything. that's the difficult handicap. >> reporter: two victims found on wednesday were finally taken to the mainland on borneo island. they have brought here for identification. out of respect for the air disaster new year's celebrations there were canceled. this does not stop thousands of people to gather. some lighting candles to pray for the victims, among them many hoping to celebrate the new year in singapore. while the true scale of flood disaster in malaysia is revealed as water receding more than 100,000 people are in temporary shelters. we have more from the biggest hospital in the region hit

hardest by the floods. >> reporter: this is the main hospital in kota bharu, one of the worst flood affected areas in malaysia. they had prior warning that the floods were coming their way and they were able to take measures to mitigate the damage. they evacuated this low-lying building which is the orthopedic and pediatrics and dental wing and moved patie multi-story building that waept wasn't affected by the floods. this room in the pediatric center is where new mothers would come to breast feed their babies. now, the cleaning crew hasn't managed to come here yet, so you can see the absolute damage that the floods have caused in this room. this doctor is the director of this hospital. doctor doctor, you were here for the 2004 floods. how does this flood compare? >> translator: this flood is more serious, and the water is

worse and cost more damages. that's why we are planning to come back right now. >> reporter: you tell me sir, that your main priority to get the hospital up and running again. how long do you think it will take? >> well we thought to operate by yesterday, but we couldn't do it because of the limited water supply that comes to our hospital. >> reporter: so the main priority, of course, is to make sure that services are up and running again for patients. now this may take a few days but as you see, the hospital staff are working long hours to ensure that the hospital is back up on its feet. three bomb attacks in northeastern nigeria killed 11 people at least. in bombay state a suicide bomber tried to attack a church service and was killed. also a female bomber was killed as she tried to enter military barracks with an explosive belt.

victims of the ebola virus in liberia are buried after the government reversed an unpopular order that all bodies be cremated. the number of people infected has now surpassed 20,000. victim toria has the report. >> reporter: in the capital there's been another suspected ebola death. a group much health workers arrived to collect the body of the victim. in liberia burying the dead is considered a sacred tradition, and much to the reach of this victim's family the body will be buried and not cremated. >> it's making it easier for us to get in the community and collect bodies because the cremation was creating a kind of tension between us and the communities. cremation is against our tradition and culture. >> reporter: the world health organization says the number of people infected by ebola in liberia, sierra leone and guinea

has now passed 20,000. the virus has killed more than 7,800 people since it broke out a year ago. the liberian government banned the burial of ebola victims to stop the spread of the virus, but the policy backfired. many families hid the bodies of their relatives and performed secret burials to avoid cream mags. >> if they go somewhere whether we come to pick up bodies they know we will cremate it they will hide their loved one and exposed themselves to the body and get sick later because they want the rituals practiced. with that the possibility of getting a disease is very possible. >> reporter: liberia opened a national cemetery for victims of ebola outbreak. burial rituals are still banned. officials say the site in monrovia will have dignified burials instead of cremations.

still to come for you this hour. benjamin netanyahu is re-elected the leader of his party but will he continue to lead israel after march elections? cuban revolution promised equality for all, but many in the black population in the country feel left behind. they have a tough start to 2015. we have have all the details for you in sports.

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android mobile device. download it now >> sunday night. >> 140 world leaders will take the podium. >> get the full story. >> there is real disunity in the security council. >> about issues that impact your world. >> infectious diseases are a major threat to health. >> "the week ahead". sunday 8:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. welcome back. you're watching the al jazeera news hour. egypt's highest criminal court has ordered a retrial for three al jazeera journalists who have been jailed in egypt for more than a year. a date has not been set, and it is unclear how long the retrial will take. mourners have laid flowers at the site where 36 people were killed in a stampede in shanghai. chinese police say they're still investigating what caused the crowd to panic. north korea's leader is proposed high level talks with

the south. kim jong-un made the offer during his new year's speech but also said such talks couldn't take place while south korea carried out military drills in the u.s. more on the top story from egypt where a court ordered a retrial for three al jazeera staff. the three jurm journalists were arrested in cairo on december 29, 25013. after a trial they were sentenced in june. peter and hamed to seven years in jail and the other ten years. the trial was condemned around the world. in october they announced a judicial review with a hearing on january 1st. earlier this week vigils were held to mark one year since their arrest. their lawyers are now seeking the journalists' release on bail, but look at the ear legal options. many hoping egyptian presidentcy

presidency -- president sisi will use his powers but sisi has maintained he will not interfere with the judicial process. egypt's government could also make use of the new law which would have the australian deported but the two others who hold egyptian citizenship are unlikely to get any relief. israel's high court rejected the petition to ban the demolition of homes on those that attacked israelis. it includes homes who killed five israelis in a synagogue in september. they also froze the order to demolish another home. now, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu won the support of his party which will lead the right wing party in general elections this march.

we look at the part and its nearly 40-year legacy. >> reporter: this was the moment benjamin netanyahu knew he would be prime minister for a second time, although it wasn't until months later that he would form his coalition government. there was little doubt he would lead israel but whether snap elections were called for ma 17th less than two years later, his political future looks now less certain. >> there are no clear achievements in terms of economic reforms, structural reforms and government reforms and achievements in foreign policy on the palestinian front. >> the likud party was created in 1973. it was an ament of several politicians. before the creation of israel he was the leader of an armed pro-zion group was elected as prime minister in 1977 marking the first time the left leaning

labor party lost power. in the beginning of likud rule for nearly four decades. >> it's still a strong political brand, but this political institution is stagnant and needs to go -- undergo major changes. >> reporter: ariel sharon did just that. it was his time as minister of defense that is most controversial. he was accused of helping orchestrate the massacre of nearly 3,500 people mostly palestinians living in the refugee camps during the 1982 lebanon war. the allegations would follow him forest of his career but he was still elected as prime minister in 2001. four years later he shocked many by ordering israel's disengagement from the gaza strip, although the move to expel nearly 10,000 israeli

settlers from the 21 illegal settlements was popular among the wider electorate it sparked bitter divisions within the party. >> the main characteristics of that decision weren't the policy merit, whether it was the right or wrong, but the impressive side of it was that he managed to follow it through in many ways against all odds. >> reporter: still, under benjamin netanyahu's leadership gaza remains under a crippling economic blockade and endured three separate wars. the likud party has a complex legacy, but one thing is increasely certain as the party drifts further to the right, a fightings settlement with the palestinians is becoming that much harder to reach. >> they have ordered a retrial for the three journalists who

have been jailed in egypt for more than a year now. a date hasn't been set for the retrial, and it's unclear how long it's likely to take. let's get some analysis on this with a former director of international law at the egyptian foreign ministry. he joins me live on skype from cairo. thank you for speaking to us. drawing your experience on and spers tees in egypt, what are are your expectations for a retrial? well apologies for that. we appear to be having technical problems. we will try to establish a connection with abraham obviously to get his opinion on the court of cassation ordering a retrial. assad has visited the combalthsed district on the outskirts of damascus. he wanted to personally thank

the soldiers who are fighting from his twitter account. saudi arabia's king abdullah has been admitted to hospital for medical tests. the 90-year-old is in riyadh. his health issues raise concerns about the future leadership of the oil-producing country. his half-brother is next in line to the throne. fighting is ongoing in western libya near the airbase. lieb ya fighters are trying to secure the road between the base and the city. bad weather has prevented pro-renegade general forces from conducting air strikes, which allowed dawn of libya to advance. on new year's day lithuanian lithuanians said good-bye to 2014 and their currency. politicians hope that joining the euro zone will boost the economy. it's been 24 years since they gained independent from the soviet union. we have the report.

>> reporter: fireworks greeted a new year and a new currency for lithuania. the 19th european union member to join the euro club. it's the last of the three former soviet balancetic republics to do so. for its politicians, it was a moment to savor. >> translator: the euro will be our guarantee for both economic and political stability and allow us to develop quicker in the economy to create new workplaces, improve incomes. i strongly believe we will strengthen the euro family. >> reporter: the symbolism of withdrawing the first tenure row note will not be lost on the aggressive neighbor rash ya. it's a sign that lithuania like latvia is commenting its european identity and looking west, firmly rejecting old ties with russia. russia's muscle flexing over ukraine's closer ties to europe led to frequent russian incursions into baltic air

space, most recently on christmas day over astonia, an incident russia denies. for the 3 million people there is sorrow for the loss of currency and fears of economic uncertainty. >> translator: since the borders are gone the world became global. i think it's the best time to have the euro. if we close ourselves off, that might be pooittic but it's better to go global with the euro. >> translator: what we lithuanians are a bit afraid that we will wake up with higher prices. >> reporter: as others have discovered to their cost in recent years, having the euro doesn't guarantee economic or political good times. simon mcgregor-wood, al jazeera. well elsewhere in the region the ukrainian president poroshenko said it was the most difficult year since 19 4r5 whether world war ii ended. he praised ukrainians for

standing up to defend the mother land. in the east they rang in the new year on the battlefield. they've been fighting there since april. in brazil it's a new year and the start of a second term for the president, but she faces lingering problems with last year. economic growth has slowed to a virtual halt. we have more. >> reporter: a new year a new term for brazil's leftist president ruseff. 2015 could be just as challenging. under russ fe the second largest economy is floundering just baring climbing out after technical recession as the year ended. a huge fiscal deficit, rising inflation, poor infrastructure and crippling taxes are to blame. ordinary brazilians say the people of south america's largest and most populous nation

want results this time round. >> translator: everything needs to be combrooued not just public health care. transportation education. we want a better country for everyone. that's what i expect. >> reporter: they suggest even a few finance minister is not enough to boost confidence. >> translator: everyone is waiting to see what will be the reaction of the social movements once the government starts to make much-needed fiscal cuts this year. we don't know if the government can make sufficient economic changes to spark growth to offset cuts. the biggest challenge is to make the adjustments and maintain support through social programs. >> reporter: a support further strained by a 1 1$1.5 billion corruption scandal that grows by the day threatening to splatter

even the president. she was the chairman of the petro petrobras when most of the money was skimmed off on inflated contracts and drktistributed to construction companies, executives and politicians. more than 50 of them have been indicted for money laundering and racketeering, and the investigation is just beginning. the president has so far escaped personal responsibility, but she knows that the nagging scandal along with brazil's economic woes will give her little time to show that this time round she has what it takes to fulfill her giant nation's potential. one of the driving forces behind the cuban revolution was the desire to wipe out discrimination especially against afro-cubans. more than 50 years later the black population is bearing brunt of economic hardship exacerbated by history and

prejudices. we have the story from havana. >> reporter: he's proud of his african heritage about 1 million african slaves were brought to the island mostly to work on sugar cane plantations until the abolition of slavey in 1866. about 60% of cubans have at least some african ancestry. >> translator: in our religion, in our culture we're all equal, blacks whites, we're all the same. whites are even practicing our african religion. >> reporter: the official line written into the constitution is that all cubans men and women, black and white, are equal. there's no doubt that many afro-cubans are thrived in politics politics, the media and the arts. however, manual labor is still mostly done by black cubans while there are a few afro-cuban

managers in the tourism industry or finance enterprises the government has enticed to the island. he says centuries of discrimination have left her people with low self-eseem. she says she's optimistic about the future. >> translator: it's a social process that needs time and space. i feel this is not just a black person's fight. i feel it's society's fight. the fight for a group that is united to be citizens. >> reporter: more than 50 years after the triumph of the revolution, a revolution that promised equality four all, the wealthier neighbored here are still predominantly white while numbers like this with predominantly afro huf cuban. fundamental change seem to bes a long time coming. it was only when that afro huf cuban housing project was renovated that she felt that she and her neighbors were accepted by the rest of cuban society.

>> translator: it was because we're black. the problem was because we're black. they saw us an unculture but not now. >> reporter: it's exacerbated by the aftermath of the very revolution that sought to liberate the black population. it was predominantly wealthy or white cubans that fled to the united states and now send money to family members that stayed behind. >> translator: one of the mistakes at the beginning of the revolution was to say that we're all equal. if we'd recognized the situation, we could have done something about it. we are equal, but some are more equal than others. >> reporter: the cubing ban revolution promised an end to racism and discrimination, a promise some feel is partially fulfilled. al jazeera havana. still ahead on the al jazeera news hour we'll be here with a look at sports including a look ahead to events

taking place in 2015.

welcome back. now, every year new innovations in technology are introduced into our lives. so as the new year begins what gad jets can we look forward in to 2015? we're checking out what could be this year's must haves. >> flexing its muscles for the first time. this fabric has fiberoptic sensors woven into it to monitor the wearer's health and motion.

they say this technology is almost invisible making it easier to integrate into normal clothing. this opening up the possibility of it being used in many more areas including fashion garments. >> fashion changes radically and quickly, but once they achieve the level of being integrated into fabrics replaced so the fabric can be updated seasonally, the technology can exist within the fabric that's when it will come into its own. >> also taking off in 2015 the use of drones. small, unmanned remote-controlled aircraft. as prices have dropped, they've become increasingly popular not just for government agencies and filmmakers, but also with hobbyists. >> very very few drones are licensed, which leads to the prospect of 12-year-old boys using these things on the top of flats, which as we have seen with dreenones being very close to

customer aircraft, there's a lot of concern. >> from the smart wheelchair that monitoring the user's health and the mechanical health of the chair itself to what are called smart cities with data of millions of sensors analyzed sp responded to in real time helping to manage the traffic and use the utilities like water. 2015 is expected to see hundreds of millions of devices and sensors connect over the internet. it's also expected to see a boom in what's being called revenue streaming. this is when people use the internet to connect directly with others to offer them a service of some sort. this could be a ride somewhere in the car. >> see all the places we call home. >> or letting someones use their home or flat. >> their software matches demand to supply. it allows people that have a home they don't use or they can go away for the weekend and allow someone else to use that and money tiesize it in a way they

feel it's safe. >> biometric reads will be used for banks and a huge increase in the encryption of personal dat to boost online security in our increasingly connected world. we're here from the sports. >> happy new year. >> thank you. well, we start with the latest from the english premier league where manchester united was held by a 1-1 draw. the third draw in four games. they're nine points behind chelsea. they gave the home side an early lead, but they managed to equalize with a few minutes to the break. the final is how it finished. some games in the premier league on new year's day, arsenal could climb into the four but they trail at the moment. liverpool is down in eighth but could bag a third straight win if we thin. they're currently two up.

leader chelsea has a late kickoff. january 1 rings in new changes for athletes found guilty for doping. for first offenders the world anti-doping agency doubled it from two years to four with athletes banned for life if they test positive again. it's more than 26 years since the very first major doping scandal. ben johnson was stripped of gold three days of winning the 100 meter at seoul olympics after testing positive. he was given a two-year ban at the time but was suspended for life after failing a second test. another track and field star to fall from grace was marion jones. she was stripped of five medals from the sydney olympics and banned for two years and jailed for six months for lying to federal agents about her drug use. major league baseball has a long history of steroid scandals.

to years barry bonds was subject to allegations and investigations for doping but never served any bans. who can forget lance armstrong stripped of seven tour de france titles and banned by the u.s. anti-doping agency from elite level sports for the rest of his life. kenya has suffered in recent months after a number of runners tested positive including a champion on top of the new rules. there's now a bill being proposed in kenyan parliament which would make doping a criminal offense. we have the report from kenya on the edge of the rift valley where many athletes go to train at high altitude. >> reporter: they all want to compete on some of the world's best tracks one day and bring home gold medals. kenya is world famous for marathon runners. these young athletes knowing a worrying trend is hurting the country's image, doping.

they admit there's enormous pressure to take stimulants and excel. so far the 20-year-old says he hasn't been tempted to cheat. >> that is something that i shouldn't do. so i know it's not good. >> reporter: the coach knows he may not be able to protect his athletes. over the years high profile kenyans have been caught using banned performance drugs. this man in parliament is trying to change that. >> i want to criminalize doping so we can bring fear to the people that use it if you get caught you go to jail or be penalized. secondly that will help us the second part to help us to follow the athletes who have been caught with the doping to see where they got the stuff. >> reporter: there are no effective anti-doping controls

in kenya. it doesn't help some drugs are easy to buy at the local pharmacy pharmacy. >> with our clinical conditions is the medicine used for treating the patients with kidney conditions or dialysis patients? with athletes, this medicine by the very nature of increasing their production of red-blood cells, and it forces them to run and run without getting tired. that's why it becomes a very attractive medicine for athletes. >> reporter: criminalizing drug use in sports could be a deter deterrent deterrent, but until it's introduced some coaches try to convince athletes natural talent is the only real way to win. they fear if something is not done, it could destroy kenya's so far impressive sporting reputation. cricket now is south africa take on the west indies on

friday. they lead the three-match series 1-0. then on saturday new zealand faces sri lanka in the second test looking to close out the two two-match series. they won the first test and come off the most successful year in test cricket. they took wins against india and the west indies. 2015 is a big year of sports. one of the biggest events is the rub r rugby world cup. the sign has been turned on you in newcastle, england. there was a fireworks display to start the countdown to the world cup. english got the six week long show piece under way. the final will take place on tottenham on october 31st. >> what an unbelievable event. that on an iconic bridge like the thames bridge brings it home, to be honest. the thousands and thousands of people here shows how big it's going to be.

there are many big events to look forward to starting in january with two big continental football tournament. the asian cup heads to ace trail ya for the first time. with just two months' notice guinea takes on the hosting rights of africa cup of nations. in february they best descend on australia and new zealand. in may he's a man who has faced plenty of criticism but he's rning for a fifth team as fifa president. the question remains as to whether he will have any serious opponents. two big football events in june. the best of south america converges on chile for the copa america. the fifa women's world cup will be held across canada. in that month the first ever multi-sport european games will be held following in the path of the asian games.

in september the all africa games will be held marking the 50th anniversary of the birthplace in the republic of congo. as i mentioned earlier there's the rugby world cup in the u.k. that begins in september. new zealand is bidding to become the first ever repeat champions. of course, there's more on our website. check out aljazeera.com/sports. there's details there on how to get in touch with the team using twitter and facebook. plus we have blogs and video clips from our course dentses around the worl. the address is aljazeera.com/sports. of course, that's all your sports from here. well now there's been traditional celebrations worldwide to welcome in the new year as you expect. more than a million australians partied along sydney harbor. this is the scene over there. an estimated 1 billion television viewers also tuning in to watch the spectacular start to 2015. that's impressive.

hong kong harbor also packed for a massive display of fireworks there. these are some of the images coming to us from hong kong. look at that. in dubai revellers say a record-breaking l.e.d. display light up the tallest tower in the world. no less than 70,000 l.e.d. were used to make it one giant beacon. and then in london this was the scene there. thousands thousands gathering along the banks of river thames. tons of pyrotechnics were launched from the famous london eye ferris wheel. nearly 2 million people see in the new year in rio at colb pa cabana beach. rio hosts one of the biggest parties in the world. fireworks were laurjed using 11 barges moores off the beach. new york city proving its reputation as the city that never sleeps.

>> previously on "in god we trust". >> my name is eleanor, and for the last 25 years i was bernie madoff's secretary. >> the main team on the 17th floor were fully aware of what was going on. >> what nobody imagined was that bernie was stealing every nickel, that he wasn't trading anything. >> i said "60 million"? he said, "no... umm, 60 with a 'b'". >> sir, why did you do it? >> they lived this incredible life...