. >> jazz justice announcer: this is al jazeera. hello, i'm julie mcdonald. this is the newshour. the battle for sultan abdullah. peshmerga forces take on i.s.i.l. for control of the strategic village. turmoil in yemen as houthi rebels reject a unification plan israel's government tries to justify cutting off critical tax revenues to the palestinians. >> not wanted dead or alive,

the cemetery in france with no room for a roma baby and a close encounter with pluto after a decade. an n.a.s.a. spacecraft on mission to complete its fact-finding mission. hello, a warm welcome to the newshour. in northern iraq kurdish peshmerga forces are tackling i.s.i.l. around the village of sultan abdullah it's close to mosul and an important strat eej yik defensive position. there has been heavy fighting here for days. peshmerga are gaining ground but there are pockets of resistance from i.s.i.l. the village is a source of water from the surrounding area. we joined peshmerga as they battled for control. >> this is a frontline for the

kurdish peshmerga fighters. a few hundred meters away is the village of sultan abdullah. a few days ago it was the scope of heavy fighting between islamic state of iraq and levant and kurdish peshmerga forces. peshmerga controls the village, but it's within the range of i.s.i.l. fire. we were advised against going into the village. >> with the mortars, every day there's a mortar between us and them. we near the front line. >> reporter: unexploded bombs littered the area around the peshmerga camp. they say i.s.i.l. killed some of their men. a few kilometres behind the sultan app -- abdullah town there are bullet riddled buildings, a reminder of what is happening.

life is returning to normal. more people feel courageous enough to return to their homes. they are facing many problems. this man and his family remained behind when the rest of the villages fled. he says they need urgent help. >> reporter: we have no food no fuel, no cooking gas, no electricity, and more essentially we have no clean water. we appeal to the authorities to bring water and food. it's cold children are suffering. >> he is relieved that i.s.i.l. is no longer in cell of their village. >> translation: we are punished for the smallest actions much if someone smokes cigarettes they say, "you are not a muslim", and if you have family that fight, you are punished.

>> reporter: they accused some of the sunni arab residents of supporting i.s.i.l. >> my cousin is one of 16 people taken away by the peshmerga, we don't know where they are. they accuse them of being i.s.i.l. members, but they are not. >> at the front line the fighters take advantage of a lull in fighting to prepare the workers. others clean their guns. they say they are outgunned by i.s.i.l. unless they change the line will not hold. a number of other battles between iraq's army and i.s.i.l. are raging elsewhere. 11 iraqi soldiers and fighters have been killed north of the capital baghdad, and in the town of alfall usuala police and three others have been fill in shelling. the crisis in yemen is

deepening with a series that the country can be held together. al qaeda are claiming responsibility for a bombing that killed several people at the presidential guest house in doma city. that's 100km south of the capital. the victims included four fighters from the shia houthi moved, controlling large areas of the country. a yemeni army colonel was shot dead in a separate incident. he is the second senior army officer to be killed in less than a week. on the political front the houthi leader rejected agreements to divide the country into six federally organised regions the houthis have taken over large parts of yemen and control much of the army's prospects. they are threatening to move the men no the oil-rich province. we follow events in sanaa.

>> it's the first time the houthi leader came out and announced the renged of his group to the idea of dividing yemen into six regions. they say it is a western scheme backed by regional powers to have a weak and divided yemen. the houthis great to dividing yemen last year in something called the national conference and it was attended by all the key political players in the country, including the houthis. what changed, i think, is the fact that the houthis feel emboldened after shaking over most parts of the country, including the capital in september, and have the will of the power to impose their political will. moving on, an n.g.o. in the country, a research center based in the country painted a picture in yemen, and said about 7,000 civilians or people died in the violence and says the country's military is weak.

the army and military are divided, and the houthi rebels are in control of 70% of the army's capabilities. >> a suicide car bomb killed four people in the somali capital mogadishu. the attack targeted a convoy carrying members of the intelligence forces on the road to the international airport. the blast killed mostly pedestrians. the group claimed responsibility for the blast. >> palestinian leaders accuse israel of trying to starve their people by withholding 127 million in tax revenue. israel collects taxes and transfers them to the palestinian authority to pay its public sector workers. israel's government is suspending the next payment in retaliation for the palestinian bid to join the international criminal court. stephanie dekker reports from

ramallah. >> reporter: these men are at risk of losing salaries. israel says it won't transfer over a million in response to the palestinians joining the criminal court. in sunday's meeting, the israeli prime minister had this to say. >> translation: the palestinian authority chose to launch confrontation with the state of israel and we are not sitting i'dly by. we will not allow the draggingle soldiers -- during soldiers to the hague. the ones that should face reaction is the palestinian authority entering an agreement with hamas. >> reporter: he is referring to an agreement between fatah and hamas - which is considered a terror organization. he says the palestinians have more to fear than joining the i cc. >> it's dismissed by the palestinian leadership. it will be an amazing historical

case where the victim is the murderer. for violence to claim that we are the ones that are the criminals, and that we should - i don't think anybody will ever take this seriously, and everybody nose that all these acts of aggression are done by the israelis against our people. >> mohammed resigned as the palestinian netter saying after the failure of multiple peace talks and a rejection at the u.n., where they tried to set a time frame, taking the legal option at the i.c.c. is the next step. >> for the political back and forth many say they have lost confidence that a lasting solution will be found. for them there seems to be no end to the israel occupation. they believe going to the international criminal court is the only way to put pressure on israel. >> this is a step we should have taken before. we are weak and have no other option.

president abbas tried to do this to protect the people and the country. israel is trying to pressure us to not join the i.c.c. joining the i cc was a move made by the palestinians for impact. it's been a concern for israel. it's not clear where it leaves political solutions on the ground well the oslo accord makes it easy for israel to withhold palestinian tax revenue. crippling the struggling economy. victoria gatenby explains. >> reporter: this is not the first time israel froze monthly tax transfers to the palestinian authority. in may 2011 israel withheld 100 million over a palestinian unity deal bringing together hamas with its rival fatah. in december 2012 israel withheld $120 million in response to the vote at the u.n. general assembly to recognise the state of palestine and imposed a

similar punishment in april 2014 after the president mahmoud abbas plied to join a series of treaties and onventions. israel should transfer $100 million is month to the palestinians amounting to two hirds of the palestinian authority's budget. without the money the pa cannot pay $159,000 -- 159,000 public sector salaries. because the pa economy is government dependent, these employees, and the money they spend form the economic backbone of the occupied territory. >> matthew is the president of the foundation for the middle east peace foundation. and joins me from the capital. thank you for joining us on the program. can the u.s. do anything to influence the current stalemate, matthew? >> i think there are things the

united states can do. as your correspondent noted, in the past this is a traditional way that israel shows its displeasure with the palestinian authority, when it does things in the international arena that israel doesn't like. israel eventually changes its mind and releases the tax revenue because israel has a major interest in preventing the collapse of the partlestinian authority, so israel doesn't have to do the policing. those fund will be released eventually. the best thing the u.s. can do would be to provide a way or create a set of negotiations or a process that actually shows benefits for the palestinians. i think we should understand that palestinian president

mahmoud abbas has taken this path because the other avenues through which he was seeking to advance palestinian goals, namely the peace process and the peace negotiations with israel are all but dead. the current israeli government is clearly uninterested in the creation of a palestinian state. so that path has been blocked. so we need to under this is an expression of frustration by mahmoud abbas going the international route. >> are you suggesting if i'm understanding you correctly, that the lack of effective action and influence from the u.s. partly drove the palestinians to take this path towards the i.c.c. . >> yes, absolutely. i think there's blame for all parties, but i think the united states shoulders a good deal of the blame given that the united states would serve as an effective broker mediator

between the palestinians and israelis. i don't think there's a question that the u.s. failed to do that. it's a situation of close power disparity. the palestinians suffer under an occupies and the israelis hold all the card in terms of facts on the ground. unilateral acts such as the creation of settlement so they are attempting to address the power imbalance, but the u.s. could do some work here to help that by bringing - by supporting terms of reference for new negotiations to make sure if we get back to negotiations they are meaningful not the meaningless round that we recently saw. >> matthew, it seems to me that binyamin netanyahu in this election year and mahmoud abbas, are reacting day to day. there is not a longer term strategy. what will it take to get both parties back to the negotiating table. >> well i think we have to understand what the goal is.

for the palestinians it is the creation of a state. they accepted a state in 1993. they accepted the existence of israel and relinquished their claim to 78% of palestine. the understanding was that the israeli government will support that. prime minister binyamin netanyahu accepted the 2-state solution back in a speech in 2009. but clearly other members of his government do not support a palestinian state. looking at the comments that binyamin netanyahu made i don't think there's any question that binyamin netanyahu doesn't support a state, at least how most people in the world understand the definition of the state. i think there's a real question as to whether it would be worthwhile palestinians entering into a negotiation with the government. what the u.s. and partners could do would be to make clear the wost to the israelis if they do

not come to the table in good faith. israel currently feels no urgency to do that. as they don't experience a cost for the continuing occupation or resolution of the conflict. >> thank you for joining us with your thought more from the middle east later in the newshour. >> i'm reporting from the occupied west bank where street signs are not necessarily helping palestinians find their way around. also ace head - looking to the future. can russia return to the forefront of science or are its glory days over. >> in sport, real madrid miss out on a world record as their winning streak comes to an end. . >> syria's president bashar al-assad made a second public appearance in a week.

he was seen attending prayers in damascus, to celebrate the birthday of prophet mohammed. accompanied by the prime minister he prayed and shook hands with the muslim scholars. bashar al-assad has rarely been seen in public since the war broke out in 2011 anti-government protesters and supporters of detained opposition leader fought with riot police in bahrain. he faces four charges including inciting law breaking and others to break the law. the charges are said to be politically motivated. sala was rested after leading a protest rally against the elections al jazeera demands the immediate release of our three journalists imprisoned in egypt for more than a year. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed were wrongly convicted of broadcasting false news and helping the muslim brotherhood which they and al jazeera deny.

an appeals court in cairo ordered a retrial. lawyers for peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy filed requests for them to be deported from egypt. >> the french human rights ombudsman launched an investigation into reports that a mayor refused to allow a roma baby to be buried in a cemetery. local taxpayers should have priority it was said because of a shortage of burial flats in the town. >> reporter: monday a baby girl will be buried in this parish suburb. she died of s i.d. s at the age of 2.5 months. the family wanted to lay her to rest in a nearby town where she was born and lived with parents and two siblings that go school in the town. the local mayor refused prime ministers because he said there were few spots available and

told a paris newspaper that priority in the cemetery is given to those that pay local taxes - the implication being that the dead baby's family do not, because they are roma. campaigners for the roma community in francaise the decision is racism. >> translation: it's clear they don't want any roma dead or alive. >> translation: the family is suffering just as much pain as any french family this lose a baby it's the same thing. how can they do this it is disgusting unjust inhuman. >> the mayor is a during this troted the family. if he never met them he would have offered them a burial place. >> translation: you just have to put yourself in the place of the mother the parents, to understand they have lost a piece of their world. not being allowed to have a child rest in peace is no human.

when i heard, i'm not trying to judge. my reaction was immediate - we will accept her in our village. >> the mayor later apologised saying the remarks were misinterpreted and offered condolences to the family who have not been named. the case raised the treatment of france's 20,000 roma who long suffered discrimination poverty and unequal access to public services. >> in donetsk three have been injured as they were caught up in fighting between rebels and ukranian forces. rebel fighters engaged with the army despite a ceasefire. it's unclear who fired first. locals say rebels broke the truce, they put the blame on government soldiers. in luhansk, a rebel commander was killed when he was being arrested on murder charges. >> a ship grouped grounded off

the south coast - they say they ran it offground when it began to list angela merkel said a german departure from the eurozone is inevitable. it's reported that greece abandoning the euro would be manageable. the german government wants greece to say, but has no contingency plans. >> translation: no one wants greece to leave the eurozone because it costs a lot and would nullify four years of policy. we home for the parliamentary elections to turn out in a way keeping greece on a pro-european course. >> we are joined by dr steven barber a political economist, thank you for being with us. seems like angela merkel got out a big stick and stirring. why? >> i treat this with caution.

it's not as if she stood up and announced a change of policy. these are comments attributed to a newspaper much it is a shot across the bows of greece and not just to greek politicians, but to voters who are going to the polls to elect a new government, and the party leading the policy an anti-austerity and anti-bail out deal. >> does the suggestion stand up to scrutiny. she says the eurozone is more robust than it was. could greece exit? >> i remember a couple of years ago coming on al jazeera, and we discussed the possibility of the eurozone disintegrating. the fear was if a country like greece left you'd have a domino

effect where one country after another would exit the single currency. i suspect there's a degree of political manoeuvring behind this comment, policy makers in berlin are countanancing that perhaps the lose of the eurozone's weakest economy, most troublesome economy could be swallowed. >> what is the situation in the eurozone. i feel like i'm hearing different figures, people are saying things are getting better yet we see terrible unemployment figures in places like spain. what is the real picture. >> the eurozone is in a healthier, but not happy position. if we went back to the height of that crisis we talked about the possible disintegration of a currency. now we are talking about an economy struggling to gain growth. we talk about the eurozone as a whole. you have leading economies that are healthier than those in need

of bailout, the likes of greece portugal and the rest. >> if greece was to exit germany would shoulder a large part of the aftermath of that being one of the eurozone's leading economies. how would that look even if we think it's unlikely to happen. >> this idea of unlikely we talk about a country leaving the eurozone it's easier said than done. if you think about the possibility of how you unwind a country, very difficult. the great fear now is that if a country is allowed vote itself out of austerity, if greece can do it what about spain. there's the growth of parts in spain which are anti-austerity, and what about the economies like ireland, portugal which suffered a great deal of hardship in order to get back on the path to first call responsibility. what position does it leave them in? >> i think the unravelling of

that is what concerns berlin at the moment. >> we'll wait and see what happens. thank you for joining us dr barber space exploration saw triumph and tragedy last year. our understanding of universe expanded with the first landing of a spacecraft on a comment. space tourism received a set back when virgin galactic crashed, killing the pilot. we look at some of the space missions planned for the year ahead. >> reporter: after app 9-year -- a 9-year journey through space, n.a.s.a.'s new arrival craft will make an approach to pluto, coming within 10,000km of its surface, giving us an unparalleled planet we know little about. >> pluto, whether or not we call it a planet will be visited by a spacecraft. that will be mind boggling.

the furthest body will be visited by a spacecraft we launched a decade ago. that's mind boggling. downis set to arrive lying between the orbit of mars and jupiter, it's hoped both will shed light on the origin of the solar system. the problem is 17,000 trackable objects, larger than a coffee cup are in orbit around the earth. there are threats to satellites and the european space agency is set to test capture technology faced on the fishing net. >> the net opens up. being in space, you don't have programme or drag. when you reach the body of the debris it impacts on the debris and the masses continue the courses or the wrap-around and they entangle debris in the way impossible to disentangle.

>> once caught they plan to drag it down to earth where it will burn up. the european space agency placed a lander on the surface of a comet. the mother craft is orbiting the comet's nucleus and will spendest of the year sampling and analysing it. >> you'll see water and gas flow away at higher rates. for many scientists that's a big deal. >> in january, n.a.s.a. plans to launch a satellite designed to monitor the stream of charged particles from the sun, so-called solar wind. it can cause damage to power and communication systems, and is putting up one to explore how the manage nettic -- magnetic fields affect the planet. india, china and russia are planning launches. these are set to enhance communications and give us a better understand of our planets

place in the solar system. >> ahead on the newshour. why myanmar is celebrating the anniversary of independence from britain. >> how pollution is spoiling senegal's beach and windies has a big day with the bat - farah with all the details.

welcome back - a reminder of the top stories. after backing i.s.i.l. fighters kurdish peshmerga forces have taken control of a strategic village in northern iraq. sutan abdullah was an important defensive position for i.s.i.l. yemen slipped further into chaos, with the rejection of plans to divide the country into six states. it comes as a bomb kills five people at the presidential guest

house. israel is threatening action against the palestinians in a bid for them to join the international criminal court. it has frozen tax credits collected on behalf of the palestinian authority you hear world leaders talking about the roadmap of piece in the future. on the ground in the occupied west bank roadmaps and signs present a problem. the palestinian authority is not allowed to put up arabic road signs across the region which is under israeli control, and the original arabic names are no longer used. we have this report from the west bank. >> reporter: if you rely on street signs in the occupied west bank, it feels like palestinian towns and villages don't exist, because the israeli government does not allow the palestinian authority to put up its own road signs. so many use the hebrew names for the areas instead of the original ones in arabic.

we stop several drivers on a highway and ask them where they thought they were. >> normally it is yitsar. >> reporter: that is an illegal settlement nestled between three villages. >> translation: there's no signs that this sign leads to a palestinian area. >> translation: there's no signs, there's a village, i can't remember the name. >> reporter: travelling across the west bank is a change for other palestinians of the settlers have the use of main roads, palestinians have to use segregated road network. across the west bank and areas under the israeli control. not only is the names absent from street signs, but in some areas even the arabic spelling of hebrew names have been erased. attempts by palestinians to put up road signs have failed. >> the only major obstacle is

the israeli occupation. it doesn't allow us to put street signs on major streets and bypass roads under full israeli control. they fear the signs will confuse settlers. >> for many the issue is about more than finding your way around. >> the most imminent danger is the occupation. erasing the memory of a place collected to the original owners of the land. by using names that serve of the interests of the colonisers and the ultimate success of the colonial project. >> palestinians said the goal of building settlements is to break up the territorial integrity of future palestinian states and this is an example of how israel can sever connections between palestinian areas and connections to the past. >> thousands of police officers have attended the funeral of a

new york city policeman. wenjian liu and his partner were shot dead whilst on duty last month. the man accused of his death said he was seeking vengens for his death. it has deepened a risk between the major and the police union. some officers seen here turned their backs on mayor bill de blasio when he speak at sunday's funeral a change in the weather is giving australian firefighters a chance to bring bushfires understand chrome. it is not expected to last. high temperatures and strong winds have been occurring. nicole johnson as the story. >> reporter: south australia is fighting the fires with everything they've got. from the air, from the ground trying to douse the flames. it's risky.

22 firefighters have been injured so far. the weather has turned cooler it's trooped 10 degrees. it may not last. >> we are sending more hot weather, which will create conditions for the fire to escape. we would like to contain it been the general perimeter. >> reporter: a dozen homes have been destroyed in the adelaide hills. this man's place is one. >> all my documents and paperwork - lost my pets dogs cars collectibles - all gone yep. >> i want to go home have a look stay there and defend it. >> people are returning to their homes to see if they are still standing. over 11,000 hectares of bushland has been destroyed. farming property. fires are a regular feature of the australian summer. six years ago more than 170 people were killed in one of the

worst bushfires history. this one is brought slowly under control. it's unlikely to be the last one this season rough seas prevented divers reaching a large object presumed to be the fuselage of the crashed airasia. 20 ships and helicopters are involved in the recovery proigs for the flight that went down with 152 people on board. three more corpses were flown back. the total number recovered is 34. officials say it's possible many of the bodies of passenger and crew of airasia 8501 may be within the wreckage in surabaya a wake has been held for a woman travelling with six members of her family. her nephew was flying home to pay a long overdue visit for the

family. >> we hope for the survival of one of them. i hope one comes back alive. if not, we hope that all of them - all their bodies will be here. we don't want missing bodies they died so tragically at least i want them to have a proper burial. >> it's 67 years since the british colony gained independence. myanmar as it's named has been celebrating its anniversary with a military parade in gang gong. it's the first time it's been celebrating since the coup in 1962. erica wood has the story. >> just before daybreak the ceremony marking myanmar's independence from british rule is watched by the prime minister government officials and members of the public.

it's the first time the day has been celebrated in this way since the military took power in a coup 52 years ago. the chief minister read out a statement from the president, calling for public cooperation, so the company can transmission smoothly to democracy. >> away from the military parade a crowd gathered protesters calling for freedom and the release of political prisoners. they stood chained besides the monument marking the place that myanmar rulers severed ties with the british in 1948. >> translation: though we got independence from the british, we are not liberated from the dictatorship. we are deprived of basic human rights. authorities can arbitrarily detain us if we speak out. opposition leader aung san suy kyi staged a protest of her own, declining the invitation to join

the government's military parade. >> there are many areas in the country that need to improve. we can't be complacent with the circumstances in our country. we need to restore values and mind-sets we cherished, but now lost. >> aside from the military parade, there's no celebrations for independence day. people have been marking a day in their own way. >> i had to get my trends together to clear up the trash. we want to have fun. we don't know about politics. >> the visions of independence are yet to be fulfilled. all the leaders in this country are selfish and corrupt. if it can be changed, our country will improve. >> the government promised it's a condition that will be changed. a tradition of military dictatorship which left a decades-long legacy of human

rights abuses distrem nation of ethnic minorities and gaoling of the opposition. and the bay of hann was once one of the most popular beauty spots in senegal, famous for sandy beaches and clear water. it has suffered badly from its proximity to dhaka. it's one of the most polluted beaches. we went to take a look to see what locals are doing about the problem. >> reporter: this beach was famous for its beauty. it was called the copa coban ra of the area it's where the community came to sun bathe, swim and enjoy the air. look at it now. some in the their hour hood are trying to clean the shore line. they can't stop this. what started as a slow trickle of domestic sewage turned into a

stream of chemical waste poured into the ocean. chemical factories and slaughter houses use the bay as a dumping site. the stench is unbearable. this woman started to clean the beach when she realised the children were becoming sick. >> they suffer diarrhoea and respiratory problems. we have to take them to the doctors. >> reporter: i took a sample of the water. results are surrounding. the level of organic matter in the water is 10 times above international standards, containing high levels of mercury and cadmium. they are dem calls that damage the murder system. this is not just polluted it's poisonous. >> billions continue to be released daily, killing wildlife. this level of pollution is illegal, yet none of the factory owners have been fined or

prosecuted. >> they employ thousands and an an important contributor to the economy. we need a long-term solution. >> france and the e.u. fund the construction of a sakm floating water filter increasing the quality of the water and will take years to build. too late. too many people have become comfortable living with pollution. not enough character to preserve what remains at the vatican pope francis picked 15 now cardinals from 14 different countries to join the high ranks of the catholic church including from cape verdicton, myanmar and tonga. pope francis says it ties the church of rome to the chumps of the world. -- churches of the world. all 15 cardinals will be eligible to vote for the pope's successor. >> the russians were the first

to put a man into space, efforts are being made to restore former glories. as rory challands reports, in the first of our 2-part series on russian science, the country faces an uphim struggle -- uphill struggle. >> reporter: the opening roof let's in an early morning chill into the observatory. boris is used to this. he's young, a star but the astronomer is well aware of challenges faced by russian scientists challenges going beyond wrapping up the war. >> there's a gap between us and developed countries. this requires a lot of sources and the budget for science is there. i think the main policies that science is not important. >> this observatory was built in the 1950s a golden period for soviet science, lasting until the 1970s.

the collapse of the junion dealt a crippling -- soviet union dealt a crippling blow to research. all the money lavished op scientists dismrrd. -- disappeared. it drove many of the scientists to leave for the west. how are the ones that stayed and their proteges doing now. a spanish firm put russia's academy of sciences in the top 100 science institutions. last year it ranked the country 15th. the problems say some are not just about money, they are cultural and structural. >> really i would think careless that there is some programs but it is unclear what they want in the end. money invested.

it disappears. they are not approaching a goal. >> vladimir putin shook up research funding saying institutes should compete and be handed cash. a policy sea change for the scientists to cope with when they just want to reach for the stars still ahead on the programme - home ward bound - why new yorkers are getting a last glimpse of a giant tortoise lonesome george and the dakar race - the most gruelling race gets under way.

from an inflatable cobble stop to an embroiledered banner. the exhibition exploring the more. >> reporter: they are the faces of those lost in conflict. street art created from substance ills recreated on the wall of an ordinarily -- sten sills receipted on the wall of a museum. it documents political violence to a truck with a desk mask from a man executed with the u.s. this exhibition examines how every day objects are used by social movements to further their cause. one of the most recent the umbrella used by anti-government

protesters in hong kong. >> we take the starting poison the late 70s where you have social struggles against the rise of liberalism of globalisation and technologies offering activists new ways to disobey. >> reporter: here symbols of rebellion shows that in a world where social media is a driver of change ordinary objects can take on new meaning, and anecdotal evidence suggests the how to guides on offer at the museum have been used by protesters in recent months. >> visitors are invited to leave messages, here a reference to michael brown, the unarmed black man shot dead in ferguson, missouri. here, save our nhs. britain's national health service. >> the blurred lines between art and politics are celebrated. so too, is the idea that

protest is an essential part of civil society let's get all the day's sports news with farah. >> thank you so much. the 36 stage of the dakar rally has begun in argentina. the 9,000km race will span chile and bolivia. 400 vehicles left from the start line in buenos aires. wayne simmonds was there. >> reporter: this is the first stage of the dakar rally, and the going is fast dusty, dry and quite furious. disas rougs for a roma whose mini broke down the defending champion from 2014 he spoke and said there seemed to be a problem with the electrics, this is what he said. >> we were returning.

i don't know. it did not work. >> did it look like the end. >> i don't know. nan nan. >> the 2011 champion his team-mate, was doing the best and peugeot, new contenders are a well-renowned team presenting the biggest threat to mini. with stefan peter han sell one of the drivers. the atmosphere is ecstatic. arge yans love the rally. more and more are attending it. it's tougher than ever with special stages for endurance, where drivers will get involved in d.i.y. it would team two weeks, more than 9,000km. very tough indeed. well real madrid were beaten, and ended their 22 game winning streak. two matches short of matching a

world record. >> there was a score in the 24th mnd. extending the players tally to 26 goals. tony balagia netted before the defender sealed the winner in the 56th minute. real have a game in hand. barcelona could go top, beating real sociedad. the score is 1-0 to sociedad. 45,000 atletico madrid fans packed the stayedium to see the return of fernando torres. he's back and been loaned until the end of the season by ac milan. in his first score he scored 91 goals in 244 appearances. >> translation: i needed to leave, so the club and he could grow up. realising that was the toughest moment of my career now, lang

god time proved us rite of the the club has grown up. they have improved in every way possible. on my side i won the titles i wanted to get. i have always missed something - winning them here. >> a 20-year-old player from russian club has been shot dead near his home. he was hit by machine-gun fire while driving on seat. no arrests have been made. the motives are unclear. the chief executive said we grieve together. i hope police find the killers and they suffer punishment. >> arsenal begin between of a cup final. chelsea are through to round for after beating watford. crystal palace won their name and alan parred u. beating dover. parreddu.

beating dover. parred is century from av de villiers gives south africa a slight edge in the third test against the windies. de villiers hit 143 for the 21st time of his career. hosts were bowled out for 421. south africa removed the two openers - devon smith and craig braithwaite. they will return 88-2, four runs behind. >> sangakkara smashed a double 100 to help india to a lead in the test against new zealand. it allowed the tourists to recover. helping sri lanka reach 356, giving them a first-innings lead after the kiwis scored 221. new zealand starts the second innings, and are on 22 for no

loss trailing by 113. >> the czech republic beat canada on the opening day of the hopman cup. the best form of 2014 was carried into the yearly lucia, with a straight set win over eugenie boushard giving her country a lead. the canadians levelled tied but papacel won in mixed doubles decider. that's the sport for now. thank you. now, new york's natural history museum is saying goodbye to a special exhibit. a gained tortoise preserved by taxy taxidermy taxidermy. lonesome george decide and is returning home. he may be dead but not

forgotten. >> reporter: he's known as lonesome george the last pinto tortoise on earth. he was discovered on the galapagos island in 1971 at a time scientists believed the subspecies was ex-tint. >> the tortoises hadn't been heavily exploited and collected hundreds of years ago. we may have the pinta tortoise here. it's a message about being good students. >> reporter: brought to new york in 2012, it took a taxi determinist a rear to -- taxy determinist a year to preserve his shell. a life-like monument to an animal first discovered by charles darwin. he'll soon be home in ecuador, gone but not forgotten. he's a symbol of what the world

has lost from extinction. dozens of species go ex-distinct every day. >> this is lonesome george during the final years in the galapagos. attempts to find him a mate and produce offspring failed. although he may be gone his legacy lies on. >> we read the story and talked about what extinction means. i think she understand right, that they all died. >> yes. >> to have the opportunity to see it it's wonderful. >> that's lot of talk about things going extinct. >> teaching a new generation about frajility of life on earth. >> you can find more on the website. the address for that is aljazeera.com. that is it from me julie macdonald. i'll be back in an hour with more of the day's news see you

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>> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america presents lockerbie part three: what really happened? after a 6-year struggle to pull out of the resecs america sets the -- recession, america sets the tone - who wins and who losses in 2016 vladimir putin's russia kicks off the new year engaged in a new cold war with the west. we look at russia's shaky economy, and falling oil prices are a part of the sto ag north korea for the cyber attack on sony. whether it make