the battle for northern iraq, kurdish forces fight for hold off isil. 80-kilometers from their regional capital. hello, i am mean teen dennis with the world news from al jazerra. also coming up the family of one of al jazerra's three journalists jailed in egypt calls on the president to deport him. days after hundreds of refugees were fountained abandoned at sea, italys coast guard scrambles to get control of another my grand ship. many types of cancer are down to

bad luck rather than other risk factors, according to a new u.s. study. ♪ ♪ kurdish peshmerga troops have been engaged in-house to house battles with isil. the peshmerga just recaptured a strategically important village around 80-kilometers south wests city of erbil. three peshmerga fighters have been killed so far. as they hunt isil fighters who may be hold up in homes. sultan abdullah is on the banks of the tie agrees river and the road to mo sus the largest iraqi city controlled by mosul mohamed adow has the latest seven the fighting we have witnessed in the village is a

clear example of what the peshmerga have to go through house to house fighting. they had captured the village 48 hours earlier and some ice ill fighters snuck in to the village again and gave them a fight. one peshmerga commander who is commanding the on the front lines about 60-kilometers from here told us that they are only fighting with ak47 rivals the newest of witch is 25-year-old old. and some of the other weapons he's using he says are from the iraq-iran war 25 years ago. what they are also saying is that they only got 4,000 german made rifles from the coalition and some ammunition but they say that is not enough if they have to continue fighting isil. in the past few months peshmerga have identified themselves a the

most formidably force against isil. while they say the coalition air strikes help they say they do not have enough to continue their fight against isil. elsewhere. 50 isil fight, were killed. eight in western fallujah, and 40 in ramadi. the iraqi government says more than 15,000 people died in 2014, making it the deadliest of the past seven years. meanwhile, in syria activists say more people were killed there last year than at any time since the conflict began four years ago. syrian observatory for human rights says 76,000 died in 2014, more than 17,000 of them were civilians. 3,000 were children. and almost 2,000 were women. rebel groups lost more than 15,000 fighters. italian rescue rescuers are trying

to take control of a merchant ship drifting with hundreds of migrants aboard. one of the passengers called for help saying there is no crew and no one to steer the ship. the ship has lost power and drifting off the coast. choppy seas are making it difficult for rescuers to get on board. this comes days after italy rescued another uncrude ship carrying more than 700 my grants, the ship's steering was set on a collision force the italian shore most the passengers are said to be syrian and kurds. the family the peter guester is calling on egypt's president to release him and two other al jazerra journalists by presidential degree, guest, mo ham fahmy and boo there are mohamed some spent more than a year in a cairo prison okay thursday egypt's highest criminal court ored a retrial that could begin within a month. but no telling how long that could take. >> i think it's a positive stem.

the decision by the court of cassation acknowledge that his the first trial was flawed and it's a step towards seeking news for peter. oh, of course, there is always an initial air of disappointment because there was a lot of rumor running around at the time that they may have been released, but really when you loved one is locked up in prison and there is any kind of opportunity that they may be released. it's a shock but we think it's a positive step because again it does acknowledge that the process was flawed the first trial was flawed. and now peter becomes an used person he's still innocent, so it allows.

and we'll be seeking a petition to have peter brought back. the u.s. state department has issued a statement saying: fighting in eastern yemen has killed eight yemeni soldier asks two tribes mench the fighting started when the tribes tried to stop a large military convoy. tribal leaders accused the military of helping houthis theythat want to take control of the region. and the death toll after a suicide bomber attack in sanaa has gone up to 26 people. at least 48 people were wounded when the bombers blew himself up at a cultural center.

the body of passengers from asia a. one of the passengers was happened over to her grieving relatives. more bodies have been recovers as they fight to retrieve the remains of the more than 160 people. 16 bodies have been recovered so far, for the families of those still missing it's a long and painful wait. as step haves en now reports. >> reporter: more than 24 hours after the bodies were found floating in the ocean improved weather conditions have allowed helicopter to his flyover the area where search teams suspect the plane may be. meanwhile, relatives are becoming frustrating. so jeff and joseph and his wife are waiting for three days about news of their 23-year-old son.

>> yeah, my son is going there with five of his friends i think to celebrate the new year's over there. and then my other son is also living in singapore so they were going to meet over there. but now they are stuck in the ocean. >> reporter: he and his wife have come from their hometown in the east of indonesia to put up the pressure. >> of course i am feeling frustrated because it's been five days already yeah. >> reporter: taking too long? >> taking too long, that's right. we are hoping that they can do it much faster than they are. >> 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 of seeing the plane in the water they have not found it. also the black water.

a ship with a beacon is there. >> as usual we tried keep the nice level low that's why it's very difficult. you will have to proceed very, very slowly. otherwise if you -- like if you use the very fast ship, the noise, of course, will interfere with the signal and everything. that's a handicap. >> reporter: two victims found on wednesday were finally taken to the mainland on borneo island. after a boat ride facing. [ inaudible ] they have been brought for identification. outbecause of the wash new year's celebrations were canceled. but people got together some lighting candles. among them many were hoping to celebrate the new year in singapore. step vaessen, al jazerra,. one of the big stories ahead in 2015 is likely to be turkey's

new president saying that a new constitution is to be his priority after par lamb are you elections in the summer, as bernard smith reports now if erdogan's party wins the majority, then turkey could be heading for an executive presidency. >> reporter: a natural party territory. liberal, mediterranean turkish city is controlled by the opposition. but the party which draws mainly religiously conservative voters is making in roads. in march then prime minister erdogan drew thousands of supporters to a rally there. an influx of job-hunting conservative turks is changing the december graph i of the duh nothing raffi of the area, his party is also a well oiled political machine controlling out of the 26 parliament the seats here.

>> three plus three plus three three from the main body, three from the women's branch and three from the youth branch. visiting every district, street by street, house by house, they know who will vote for who. >> reporter: president erdogan says he want all parties to come together to form a new contusion, but if his party wins the majority, he could go ahead ahead without the opposition. the framework for the current constitution was drafted following a 1980 military coup. so there is general consensus here that the country needs a new contusion. for two years a cross-party panel has tried but failed to reconcile such divisive issues in modern turkey as the definition of citizenship and the protection of religious freedoms. difference says over proposals for an executive presidency were also among sticking points.

>> constitutional debate, if his party doesn't have a congresses tying the mandate it will be very heated because everybody will say we need a new constitution, but, of course, the consensus for the presidential system will be quite low. and the party will go for it. >> reporter: the act party will have its work cut out trying to win over new vote, he the economy which has flourished is slowing. and there there is a new prime minister, he isn't as tried and tested with the electorate. there could be fireworks between now and the summer when the elections are scheduled. bernard smith, al jazerra turkey. a new study says many cancers could be the result of bad luck, rather than poor lifestyle choices. u.s. researchers from johns hop kins university found two-thirds of the cancer types they studys

were frequently the result of random and naturally occurring cell knew moustakas takes, pan pancreatic, bone and brain cancer could largely be explained this way according to the study that's been published in the journal science, the incidents of other cancers including lung and skin cancers were still found to be tied to lifestyle factors including smoking and exposure to the sun. now there is much more to come. including where buying a packet of cigarettes in south korea has become an expensive drag. and communist revolution promised equality for all so many why do some still feel left out.

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hello again, let's have a look at the top stories here at al jazerra. in northern iraq, kurdish peshmerga troops have been engaged in-house to house battles with isil fight he they have recaptured a strategically important village on the road to mosul. that's the largest iraqi city controlled by isil. rescuers are trying to board a ship which has been abandon the by its captain and crew with hundreds of migrants on board. the ship has also lost power off the coast of southern italy. the family of peter greste is calling on egypt's president to release him and two others by presidential decree. the highest appeals court ordered a recipients re trial

for the three that could begin within a month. the. the israeli prime minister benjamin net netanyahu says the international criminal court shouldn't allow palestine to become a mechanic. >> the application was signed by the palestinian president mahmoud abbas on we understand, they want to pursue war crimes charges against israel. they also want to challenge israeli settlement building, netanyahu held an emergency meeting with his senior minister to his discuss the move. >> translator: expect the i.c.c. to reject the hip cat cal hypocritical appeal of the a palestinian authority first of all because it's not a state it's an entity a alliance with amass which commits crimes. we will protect the israeli defense force. approximately starting her second term as president of brazil by promising to pull the economy out of its four-year

slump. at her swearing in ceremony in the capital she also pledge today cut government spending and to curb inflation. and she said, she needed the public support more than ever. v.i.p.s at the air money including the u.s. and chinese vice president, she was narrowly reelected in a run off after campaign to go cut poverty and unemployment. now 2014 was a pretty tough year for afghanistan particularly its economy. the world bank says political inning stability was largely to blame. nato-led forces are leaving and foreign aid is slowly driving up and as jennifer glass reports from kabul afghans want the government to respond quickly. >> reporter: the factory in kabul can pros dune 150,000 juice packs a day. the owner is proud his product is homegrown. >> we are the only company in afghanistan that use afghan fruit pull be.

>> reporter: really? >> two more companies but they are importing their raw materials. >> reporter: we first met him two years ago right after a suicide truck bombing next door destroyed millions of dollars of that juice pulp. then he wasn't sure if he would rebuild. but he has and he's expanding. >> it's a business, it's not a smart move at all. it's not worth to invest with such a high-risk but as afghan being inning habitant of this country, i think it's a smart move. if i don't do it, who ill. >> reporter: he employs about 350 people now to buy and produce the skwraourbgs he buys of crops of 20,000 farmers. and next year plans to hire 200 more workers and buy from 30,000 farmers to make nearly three times as much juice. he says he and other afghans had hoped the economy would improve with the end of the political deadlock but he is the government has made no changes

since then and the economy remains at a standstill. this wholesaler knows it all so well as he pounds the pavement trying to sell energy drinks. >> shop keepers don't buy anything from us. many shop keepers have closed their shops or gone out of business because of the uncertain situation, we don't want to invest anything. >> reporter: investment is out of the question. his store used to be three times as big. now he's just struggling to survive. >> translator: 11 people depend on this shop to live. and we are operating at a loss. we are living off savings and instead of expanding our business, we are going backwards. >> reporter: he says he hopes the new government will do something to help turn the economy around. but he's not sure what they can do. and whether it will be in time to save his business. jennifer glasse, al jazerra kabul. now you know with every new year comes new resolutions of self-improvement. well, two countries in

particular have kicked off 2015 by introducing new laws aimed at improving people's health. in in a moment we'll be reporting from south korea on higher cigarette prices, but first, influencer looi reports from the chinese capital on new measures there to cut influence. >> reporter: it's rare that you get to see a clear blue sky in beijing, more often than not the city is enveloped in smog the main causes of pollution are vehicle and factory he minutes as well as colborneing. most people here start their day by checking the air quality index a measurements of certain pollute tappeds inpollutant in the air. starting this year, real time air quality. the public may choose to read them skip tim i can skeptically most rely on the u.s. embassy. with the chinese data showing

lower levels of pollution think the chinese say it's more accurate because it's take friend several location as cross the city. the latest attempt is trying to show it's serious and transparent about influence. the new laws will allow. courts to impose stiffer penalties and to bring charges. and an indication that they are serious about getting tougher on polluters is a recent court decision that fined several companies a total of $26 million for polluting the environment. well smokers in south korea are having to get used to the near doubling of the price of cigarettes the government says the tax rise is aimed at cutting the highest rate of smoking in the world. >> reporter: outside any office

building in seoul at just about any time of day you'll see them. sizable groups, mainly men on one of many daily cigarette breaks, south korea has the highest male smoking right rate of any developed nation at about power fukudome four purchase%, a quarter of all adults male and female smoke but they are having to get used to an 80% action tries from would .50 to 4.50 a pack. >> it would have been better if the price had been increased gradually like 5 to 10% but without any warning the government announced a couple of months ago that the price would be nearly doubling. it led to panic buying, in the run up to the new year shops were lil' he hadding customers to one pack per person, they carry warnings but they are text base and the language is relatively mild something anti-smoking campaigners say if the government wanted to do more than simply raise extra tax revenue what they would be doing

is putting picture on his boxes like this. such a move is under consider, a campaigners prices will not cut the sky high smoking rates. >> if people can seat impact of smoke on the ground health. causing various diseases such as oral cancer or lung cancer i think it should reduce smoking by 20 to 30%. >> reporter: but the government is bringing in other measures, smokeing in restaurants and cafes is now illegal. special smoking areas a few days ago an every day feature now stand empty. and there has been a surge in the numbers visiting quick smoking clinics or looking for alternatives like e cigarettes. even if some doctors are yet to be convinced. >> the effect is a bit limited compared to regular cigarettes, i have start today get withdrawal symptoms, the e-cigarette is better than quitting entire but there are still some withdrawal symptoms.

>> reporter: if the government has eights way 20 more will be feeling the same thing it's target is a 20% reduction over the next five years. harry fawcett al jazerra seoul. demonstrations have been going on for almost two weeks now, some of them have turned violent. natasha ghoneim explains. >> reporter: protesters turn aid stretch of road in mandalay in to a show of defines against defiance against a mine and the government. >> we will use the people power to fight against the government. >> reporter: the march was an act of solidarity for villagers more than 160-kilometer as way. farmers here in this province of myanmar have been fighting the expansion of a copper mine. they face aid wall of police and bullets. almost two weeks ago police killed a woman in her 50s as she and other protesters tried to stop workers from building a

fence around the mine. >> translator: instead of protecting the country's citizens the government has always resorted to violence in handing any public disputes. >> reporter: the mine is a joint venture between a chinese company and a conglomerate owned by the me an mar military. villagers say the mine is snatching their farm land and destroying the environment. >> translator: we want to demand the government and the authorities maintain the rule of the law in this country. >> reporter: the chinese company says it's expanding the work area of the mine to comply with permit requirements. it promises to pour 2% of the mine's profit in community development. but given the longstanding anger and the violence, it's hard to imagine the mine's presence will ever be welcome in this farming community. natasha ghoneim, al jazerra. one of the driving forces behind the cuban revolution was the desire to wipeout

discrimination. but more than 50 years later the black population on the island still bears the brunt of economic hardship. exacerbateexacerbated by historical and deep-rooted prejudice, daniel explained from havana. >> reporter: cube is is proud of its african heritage, about 1 million african slaves were brought to the island mostly to work on sugar cane plain takes from the 16th century until the op lungs of slavery in 1866. about 60% of cubans have some african ancestry. >> in tower religion and cultures we are the same. whites are even practicing our african religion. 79. >> reporter: the official line in the contusion is that all cubans, men and well, black and white are equal. and there is no doubt that many after row-cubans have thrived in

politics, media and arts. however, manual labor is still done by black cubans, there are a few in enterprises the government has has enticed to the island. campaigner says centuries of discrimination have left her people with low self-esteem. she says, though, she's optimistic about their future. it's a social process that needs time and space. i feel there is not just a black person's fight. i i feel it's society's fight. the fight for a group that's been denied its rights to be full citizens. >> reporter: more than 50 years after the triumph of the revolution a revolution that promised equality for all. the wealthier neighborhoods here are predevelopment are dominantly white. while neighbors such as this one are predominantly after row-cuban, fundamental change can be a long-time coming.

it was only when this after row cuban housing project was renovated that lifelong resident barbara felt that she and her neighbors began to be accepted by the rest of cuban society. >> it was because we are black. the problem was because we are black. they saw us as uncultured but not now. >> reporter: the problem is also exacerbate the by the aftermath of the very revolution that sought to liberate cuba's black population. it was predominantly wealthier white cubans who fled to the united states and now sends money to family members who stayed behind. >> translator: one of the mistakes in the beginning of the revolution is to say that we are all equal. if we had recognized the situation we could have done something about it. we are equal, but some are more equal than others. >> reporter: the cuban revolution promised an end to racism and discrimination, a promise that some here feel has only been partially full if i

had. daniel, al jazerra havana. don't forget that you can always go to the al jazerra website to find out more details about any of the story that his you have seen on the program. and indeed there is a lot of background too. to aljazerra.com. it's inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. all the big team sports in