sri lanka ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour i'm nick clark in doha and these are the top stories. ♪ a low-key celebration of armed forces day in iraq as the military struggles to survive and fend off i.s.i.l., lower house of parliament votes to allow terror suspects to be tried in special military courts. immigration and identity in the spotlight in germany as protesters organize mass

rallies. and driving development at the daka rally, one car lays down the challenge to make the race cleaner and greener. ♪ so then we begin in iraq where the army marked the 94th anniversary but instead of the usual big military parade the celebrations are reduced to a wreath laying ceremony and battling i.s.i.l. that seized large parts of the country and we are in irbil in northern iraq and given the problems iraqi military has had it's no surprise this event has been marked in such a low-key way. >> indeed, nick these are very tough times for iraq army and

have had months of turbulence and many with the iraqi army and absent from the ceremony today were the pump and color which this day was celebrated the 94th birthday of the army but it's a low-key event which the prime minister and a few other government officials lay a wreath of the unknown soldier. now, the iraqi army has had a checkered history and at one point been one of the strongest army in the middle east however, six months ago when i.s.i.l. came charging across the county many of them had positions and remain behind them and face a lot of problems. in the orchards outside the city 100

100 kilometers they are at work and hunt for improvised explosive devices left by i.s.i.l. captured by iraqi forces and left behind by the u.s. forces is what is making a difference. but the work is challenging in many ways. >> translator: as you know our advance is slow because of many land mines and ied left by i.s.i.l. fighters and we are making some gains and gradually retaking territory from them but we are limited as local policeman for dismantling ieds. >> reporter: this is the capitol of the province and this is mainly under i.s.i.l. control and i.s.i.l. fighters are trying to take control of it too and police and army are trying to avoid that. their efforts to protect the city got a boost recently when a sunni tribal leader joined the

fight against i.s.i.l. and support police in patrolling the neighborhoods and districts. sunni malitias fighting along government forces are the exception and not the norm in many parts of iraq. the government in baghdad is willing to arm sunni malitias in the providence willing to join the fight against i.s.i.l. >> translator: the government has not helped us so far. we have called for help many times before and asked for assistance from many ministers and the government but our call is falling on deaf ears and we stopped asking for help. >> reporter: sunni tribal leaders need weapons and air support in fighting i.s.i.l. but their faith in getting help from baghdad has almost vanished and now seeking help directly from the united states. authorities in baghdad have agreed to sunni leader's visit to washington. there are growing concerns here in iraq that the country could

decent if it does not rebuild military to replace the numerous groups operating here and to do that the iraqi government would need all the help it can get. mohamed with al jazeera, erbill. >> let's look at the history of the iraqi army and set up in 1921 when iraq was governed by the british and the senior ranks were dominated by sunni arab and a majority shia population when it gained independence in 1932 the army was divided with those who wanted to continue british presence and those who did not and it was over thrown and assassinated in a coup in 1958 and then under saddam hussein it grew in size and strength and one million by 1990. when the u.s. led invasion removed removed hussein there was a vam

with a country with sectarian tension and today army faces difficult challenges like fighting insurgencys, i.s.i.l. and internal corruption and live from baghdad on skype is iraqi member of parliament and great to see you there, thanks for joining us on this important issue, do you think the iraqi military will ever have the capability of running itself without outside help? >> absolutely. there is no doubt in my mind iraqi security forces are much more suited for this fight and for an intervention will make things worse, but the foreign help is completely different. what we need we need it from the american allies and the international allies and the speed of the process of the weapon to help us in reshaping

and rebuilding and reforming the iraqi security forces. in june there was a disaster last year june there was a catastrophe and it was in the province when i.s.i.s. has stormed the province. >> that catastrophe came and after years and years of major investment billions of dollars were invested in the military but the army the military crumbled at the advance of i.s.i.l. didn't it? why shouldn't it be any different in the future? >> i personally have predicted this and the prime minister maliki in january 2012 this is three days after the departure of the americans at the end of 2011 and we have written to the prime minister then and told him that the iraqi security forces suffer from five things and one is financial corruption and

second is nepitism and third is lack of conviction and third is lack of discipline and fifth is the political and party and sectarian influence within the iraqi security forces. >> let me just say given everything you have outlined there, what do you say about the iraqis security forces ability to take on i.s.i.l. in the short and medium term? >> well this new government has done a lot of things and when we were faced with the catastrophe of june last year we started to rebuild the iraqi forces on a completely different basis, on a national basis, on a new conviction and new training and focusing on quality rather than quantity and also the popular

mobilization unit forces which is you call them the malitia which are incorporated in a new force, the national guard force, where we are forming it it's under formation now this has already given a great motive to iraq security forces to defeat al-qaeda and i.s.i.s. iraqi security forces is already starting or started to roll back i.s.i.s. and contain within their territory. but furthermore they have a lot of new territories like enbar as well and they are tactical victories, what we need we need an immediate strategic victory

like regaining or recouping this for example or securing the borders or boundaries of them for example. and we are waiting for this big, if you like massive onslaught on the attack. >> thanks very much indeed. at least seven iraqi soldiered killed in a suicide bomb attack in embar around 13 people were injured. and moving to syria where kurdish fighters making gains against i.s.i.l. in kobane after fierce fighting on sunday and leaves kurdish forces in control of 80% of the town and i.s.i.l.

began the assault on them in september and came close to overrunning the town. a group of syrian rebels has reportedly captured territory in aleppo. [gunfire] theyed that been battling government forces the london-based observatory for human rights say 20 syrians were killed in the fighting. and syria's opposition ruled out talks with assad government for now, newly elected president of national coalition seas they have not agreed russia's request to resume negotiations. >> translator: there is no initiative, all we have is an invitation by russia for negotiations between opposition and regime. this is unthinkable. neither the coalition or any of the sites accepts the principal with regime and principal accepts it as negotiation and add to that the syrian people

and the interior forces wants to decide on duration to be taken by coalition and although there was a distance between coalition and the street but this distance has not affected the revolution. >> reporter: advice to yemen president arrived in the northern province to meet the leader of houthi movement and expected to discuss why it was rejected of the plan to divide yemen in six federal regions and the minority calling for rights and southern yemen calls for independence are louder and protests in the cities and police used tear gas to try and disburse the crowd. egypt to policemen shot and killed south of the capitol of cairo and happened as they stood guard at a christian church and cops marking christmas eve on tuesday by the julian calendar. al jazeera demands release of

journalist in prison in egypt for more than a year and wrongly accused of broadcasting false news and helping the out lawed muslim brotherhood and an appeals court in cairo ordered a retrial that can begin in a month and lives and have filed request to be deported from egypt. thousands of people in germany have held anti-islam rallies calling for rejection of muslim immigrants and has condemnation from angela merkel and counter protests across the country and we have more now. >> reporter: denouncing a movement they say is neo nazi and thousands gathered to show their disgust at the new anti-islam movement that has been staging rallies every monday. >> especially here we are proud

to be a type of city where a lot of immigration and so on and it's a must. >> translator: muslims live their religion here nobody comments on it and happens alongside everything else and parallel, what they proclaim is too harsh. >> reporter: here police kept the counter demonstrators away from self proclaimed patriots and most of them were unwilling to speak to the media. >> why are you here? >> because democracy and freedom of opinion are important to me. >> so which opinion is the reason? >> that is it. >> reporter: in the eastern city of dresdon where it started 18,000 people marched in support according to police and a slight inl crease from previous weeks but it was counter protests which far out numbered the

anti-islam demonstration and counter demos took place in munster and ham burg and say it exaggerated the threat and angela merkel criticized the organizers saying they are motivated by prejudice and hatred and public should not be manipulated to supporting them but it's clear in many parts of germany there is a minority of the public that is willing to turn out in support of them and say they have genuine grievances surrounding immigration and islam. the likes of the cathedral were switched off but with more people than ever taking part on demonstrations on either side it seems debate about immigration and identity will remain in the spotlight, al jazeera. much more still to come in the news hour including this under arrest u.s. detained and charges two men in connection with a failed too attempt in

gambia. plus sony boss condemned cyber attack delays the release of a comedy about north korea leader and could this jordan prince be next in line to the throne of world football? robert will tell us more in sport. ♪ pakistan passed a bill to set up special military courts to try terror suspects and comes in the wake of a taliban attack last month which killed 148 people, most of them children. critics say it could allow the military to overrule judiciary and go to upper house if passed there and the president will sign it and we will speak live in peshawar and tell us what happened there and what happens

next. >> yes, the bill has passed with two thirds majority and that is what the government wanted and now it will go to the senate and it is a simple majority to pass. after that it will be signed by the president so it seems to be a smooth process considering the campaigning going on by the government during the last few weeks since attack on the school in peshawar and we have noticed a convergence of public opinions and political parties move of them to demand better action and government has responded to that. now it's trying to show that it has the means and it has the ideas and what it takes to go to a new phase in the history of the country and set up those courts those military courts to try suspects from the armed groups. but on the other hand remember some of the parties have not attended parliament in pakistan and have been boycotting parliament for sometime and also

a dozen members representing two religious parties have not attended and have reservations because there is a clause in the law talking about pakistan and measures will be taken against them to make sure they don't help promote the violence in the country. so the majority as i said seems to be on board with this new law but there are reservations and fears but justice itself might be a victim if it is taken by the military instead of the civilians in this country. >> does that general view in parliament does that reflect how people think around the country? >> well you know it's very important to note here that pakistan has always been divided over this issue of fighting pakistan and taliban. there are many people in some regions in the country who have not been supporting the government against the fight of

taliban in pakistan saying this is a tough-handed measure against civilians and because of the drone attacks, because of the behavior of the military in those areas but now we have noticed that there is more popular support for the government and more action for military but let's also mention again that there are reservations and human rights lawyers and human rights organizations and some parties are still against this move to military court. >> reporter: all right, we will leave it there and thanks very much indeed and reporting from peshawar. the united states and sin gal arrested people in a plateau over throw the president and game -- gambia tried to stop them in the capitol and rob reynolds has more from washington d.c. announcing the arrest of failed coup attempt in gambia

eric holder said the u.s. strongly condemns such conspiracies and gambia president blamed attempted coup on terrorist groups and said they had support from the governments of u.s. britain and germany but african democracy activists say a u.s. role in the coup attempt is unlikely. >> from what i can tell i give it zero chance that the u.s. will be behind this because for one thing they did try i think they tried seriously and other ways they can use. it's easy for me to tell which governments the united states which african governments the u.s. does not like and therefore and never on my list has there been and zambia has never been on the list. >> reporter: a complaint in federal court in minnesota described a half baked coup attempt that fell apart, a dozen men from the u.s. and uk tried

to storm the presidential residence on december 30 while he was outside the country the document says. they fired into the air hoping troops guarding the building would run away instead the troops fired back killing at least four persons and the alleged attackers fled and condemned the united states saying it harbors opponents of regime and previously cutoff all cooperation with the u.s. military command in africa. the wife of the city of mexico arrested and has been charged with organized crime and money laundering. police believe she and her husband are behind the disappearance of 43 students in september and family of the students say the government is not doing enough to find out what happened to them. and mexico president is meeting u.s. president, barack obama later on tuesday the visit comes at a difficult time for pineta

after the disappearance of the students and we report now from mexico city. >> it's early saturday morning and he opened up his shop for three decades making tortillas and business is located in one of mexico city wealthy area he earns $300 a month and people buying fewer than ever life is getting harder. >> translator: the minimum wage is about $4.50 per day and it's not enough with rent transportation, food school fees and supplies shoes and everything we need. minimum wage is not enough. >> reporter: with sluggish growth he and others say the

country needs an economic boost. it's a message mexican president will bring to washington when he meets with u.s. president barack obama. economic cooperation could take a back seat to a more pressing issue. the meeting with obama comes at a crucial point in the political career and two years in presidency polls show popularity dropped to 40% and the lowest approval for a president in nearly two decades. when leaders met in early 2014 u.s. praised energy reforms and capture of drug bosses but expectations that he would usher in a period of stability and prosperity didn't last. in late september 43 students disappeared in southwest mexico. the case became a symbol of systemic corruption and violence and called on the president to step down. yet despite assistance from the

f.b.i. the students are still missing. analysts say security is likely to take top spot during the president's meeting. >> translator: obama is going to say to him you are going to have to make changes to your cabinet to improve human rights to improve justice and the rule of law. i'm going to give you that opportunity. if you are not able to do it we are going to start looking for someone who can. >> reporter: with mexican congressional elections coming up, in july he was keen to restore his political credibility. what is less clear is what effect the president's visit to washington will have on this man and millions of mexicans like him, david mercer al jazeera, mexico city. sony has used a speech at consumer electronic show to condemn the cyber attack that led to it delaying release of the film the interview and it's about a plot to kill the north

korea kim jong-un and before release sony pictures was hacked and leading to halt release and u.s. blamed north korea for the attack. let's speak now from las vegas at the consumer electronic show and it's very interesting in this context of the hacking that took place, what does it mean for consumer electronics going forward from what you can gauge there? >> well, what it means is a lot of concern about hack proofing some of the gadgets and devices and keeping our personal information personal. we've seen a lot of facial recognition software and devices that have added security to get into them and i think you know a lot of the technology has been being developed for years and years and the back drop of what happened for the last few weeks which the sony chief used is keynote to address it said he would be remiss if he didn't

address hacking issues and the turmoil that has permeated the industry for the last few weeks and seeing more discussion about this and new technology as well nick. >> absolutely and that new technology always interesting to see what has been developed over the past year and what have you been looking at? >> you know it's interesting, we see all kinds of things and as always the wearables is a big deal and this is a monitor as is this. doesn't look like a sports watch but these are beautifully crafted, a partnership with sowartski crystal and this is from polar and has anything you want in a sports watch but without the strap for the heart rate monitor and it's all in the wrist and that is new from polar and also seeing a lot of fitness-related stuff. here is a zepp sensor this

little sensor you put on your golf glove and it will analyze your swing and look at it 3d after you swing your club or tennis racket or baseball or softball bat and works for all three and that is cool technology and in analysis it will give you numbers and you can click on numbers and get tips how to improve and get better. >> when fashion needs i think i may be taking up with golf glove, i need it and thanks indeed. u.s. exploration company is one step closer to testing the world east first rocket and delivering cargo and supplies to international space station and made of two parts, the first and second stage and the rocket will separate as it does after take off allowing the second stage to continue into orbit but this time around scientists will try

to fly the first stage back to earth. normally it falls into the ocean, destroying millions of dollars worth of parts. so that is where we are starting the weather with rob. >> yes, because it's unpleasant there and we will go straight to the satellite picture and if i run it you see circulation here and suggesting low pressure over turkey and the result of that there has been a certain amount of snow on the high ground and 14 centimeters and doesn't seem a lot and rain is the more nasty aspect of this and i'll show you why in a second. 51 millimeters not far from the coast in syria. well in the valley full of refugees this is the picture of 51 millimeters of rain and it's cold and muddy and it's very unpleasant so what are the prospects? not great i'm afraid. throughout wednesday that low just keeps generating more cold and more rain. the temperature is down to about

7 in aleppo and 5 in jerusalem. wednesday into thursday the snow stretches down as far south as the golan heights and jordan will have more snow and it goes east but the cold draft behind it drops temperatures and 3 in jerusalem and not likely to effect gulf states and we will not see an immediate change and katar 27 but 17 here and by the time we get to thursday and push it through to friday i suspect we will see 19 in golf states as well almost to abadabi. >> thank you indeed and still to come on al jazeera we go to northern sri lanka in the spotlight ahead of the presidential election plus. >> i'm tom ackerman in the u.s. state of pennsylvania the birth place of the oil industry a century and a half ago and thousands of wells are still

operating but collapsing price of oil worldwide is driving operators close to economic edge. >> reporter: time running out in the game find out how one of dallas star player had a fairy tale ending for the night. ♪

♪ hello and you are watching al jazeera and reminder of the top stories and iraq army has the 94th anniversary but instead of the usual big military parade celebrations reduced to a

wreath-laying ceremony and faces battling i.s.i.l. fighters in large part of the country, 18,000 people taken part of anti anti-islam anti-islam rally and organized by a group and had counter demeanor -- demonstrations across the country and courts to try terror suspects on wake of a school attack in peshawar that killed 148 people. it has been 100 days since afghan president took office and still needs to form a government and taliban repeatedly mocked him over delay and jennifer glasse has more from kabul. >> reporter: outside most of afghanistan ministry they are forced to stand in long lines, the people seems endless with not many results and helps

afghans from nearby government offices. >> translator: there is some work going on in government offices but not like it used to be. it's so slow because ministers have not been appointed, so other government officials can't do their jobs. >> reporter: when papers are signed it's by acting ministers and often no one will enforce them and he cannot solve a family dispute and blames the president. >> translator: i voted for ghani as president to uncover corruption but he himself covers corruption and i made a big mistake voting for such a traitor. >> reporter: ruling in a government with abdullah-abdullah and alliance for the delay in government. >> all of our problems in the last 100 days but now it's time for us to act upon those problems. >> reporter: since inauguration this afghan t.v. station is

following the government progress with a program called 100 days with each show focusing on a different subject. >> i think afghan people expected more and afghan people understood that it was a change and they wish the change for better but there have been certain short comings which have underminded the whole government initiative for the past 100 days. >> reporter: government made some progress. sign agree security deal with the u.s. and nato and reopening the investigation in the country's largest bank scandal and they are not just watching this on television and also following it on the internet. here afghans work on the 100 days website and afghan public can report and comment on whether the government is keeping its campaign promises. >> we thought that the people should have the tools to make

the government accountable and to force the democracy. >> reporter: their 100 day report card shows administration achieved four of 110 promises and made progress on 23. on day 99 some afghans couldn't wait any longer and named their own cabinet and say if there is not a new government this week they plan to take to the streets, jennifer glasse al jazeera, kabul. let's go to sri lanka and the race is heating up between the candidates and minority has strong views of election and who they should vote for and we have this report. >> reporter: the rail ways a vital artery connecting the south and the city of jafna in the north. rebuilding it after the war with the tigers has been a key achievement for the president. but will this and other development win enough time in votes for the president who is

seeking an unprecedented third term in office? >> translator: people like him, he is someone who does good for the country, that is what we want. >> but there are many here who do not agree. >> translator: we can't go to our own land which has been taken over. there are lots of problems like this. there are still people who are displaced during the war. they must get some relief. >> reporter: the reason for wanting a change is people's income and the high cost of things. and they can reduce debt the people will vote for. >> reporter: campaigning for elections here in jafna is low key in comparison to other parts of the country and the national alliance which swept the northern counsel is backing the candidate. >> do everything possible to prevent this from happening again and that can mean only one thing, that they have to do and

they understand that and that is to ward for the opposition candidate. >> reporter: not just politicians in the campaign they are also pledging support. >> this has not been brought in sri lanka. [gunfire] defeat of tigers under the president's watch ended nearly three decades of conflict but questions on how the last stages were fought and treatment of combatant and civilians have not gone away. even so the government strong man in the north has victory. >> i'm with the community and is going to win and in his victory our part should be theirs. >> reporter: minority vote played an important part in sri lanka's choice of leader in resent elections and sometimes because of who they voted for,

others because they boycotted the polls and this year's election is a tough fight and analysts say the vote will be crucial, i'm with al jazeera, jafna northern sri lanka. four killed in bangladesh in violence with a disputed election and it's in a live television address and the prime minister accused opposition of trying to create anarchy and we report now from daka. >> reporter: cutoff from the rest of the country and bus and ferry services shut down a move to prevent protest against the president. >> translator: i'm requesting the leader to stop anarchy killing people with grenades and vandalizing shops and torturing vehicles, you and your party are not in parliament today, who can you blame? you must blame yourself, stop

anarchy and look to peace and instead let people know your plans for the country to prosper and then you may have a chance next time. >> reporter: monday was anniversary of the reelection. but the opposition called it democracy killing day and called for demonstrations. police barricaded the leader inside her party headquarters in the capitol. >> election must be held to reinstitute the voting rights of the people. this is not only our demand but also a concern of the whole world. the existing government was not elected by the vote of the people. >> reporter: at one point she tried to leave and police stopped her and she called for supporters to start blocking roads but police might have had a point about her safety a crowd of pro-government supporters tried to get through the gates and inside the building and they were turned back. away from the capitol the violence was more intense. shootings and street battles

with police left several opposition members dead in the north. the political conflict between the opposition and government has them against each other, one wants elections, the other says she has a mandate to govern in the middle the people of bangladesh, some taking sides, others just trying to survive. i'm with al jazeera, daka. five working unions in the state owned coal company and angry government plans to have private companies to mine and sell coal and the figures and coal and counts for 80% of the annual out put and 462 million tons last year and it could have losses of 1.5 million tons a day or $31 million and they employ 346,000 workers across the country and over 200,000 of those are expected to

participate in the strike and al jazeera jamal has more from new deli. it started with a government order to allow them to mine and sell coal and not allowed in india in decades and specifically it's what the workers are striking over. unions worry this will take away from some of their workers' rights and jobs as well there is quite a bit of nationalism involved and union members saying the government is selling the company to corporate interesting and the government is trying to make the sector more dynamic and profitable. the government has tried to organize meetings twice with the union but boycotted both saying they reneged on the promise to discuss before negotiating it and they are meeting tonight to decide if they will meet with minister responsible tomorrow. in the larger picture the concern is the country's electricity supply and 60% of which comes from coal and there is supposed to be more than enough supply of coal to see it

through a five-day strike but the stockpile is not evenly distributed in the country and some may run out of coal before others. price of oil has fallen sharply in months and having a dramatic effect on global economy and good news for consumers but bad for producers and hard hit are companies like russia and venezuela and nigeria. in june last year the price of crude was hitting $115 a barrel just six months later it had fallen behalf to around $57 a barrel but why? new drilling techniques like fracking allowed access to large volume of national gas and driven down the price of oil and thousands of so called stripper wells in the united states nearing the end of their useful lives struggling to remain economically viable. tom ackerman reports from bradford in the united states

state of pennsylvania. >> reporter: outside the mcdonald's restaurant in bradford pennsylvania stands a relic of the oil industry dawn in an area where the world east first industrial well was drilled in 1859 this one is still pumping and so are hundreds more scattered around the town. these so-called stripper wells can draw up to a couple of barrels a day from the huge pool of crude that lies beneath the surface. >> it will do this and doing it since 1882 and probably go 100 years if we are allowed to do it. we don't get regulated out of business. >> reporter: looking at them individually these wells don't seem very impressive but more than 400,000 of them operating in the u.s. and account for 11% of u.s. total oil production. in 2012 by comparison the marginal wells matched all of

opec cutter's out put and latest innovations in drilling and fracturing could extend working life of wells but as the price of crude has fallen by almost half in the past year many operators are shutting down they say the profit is no longer there and complain that burdensome government rules threaten their long-term survival. >> at least at $100 oil, there was some possibility of compliance, you know with the regulations. but, you know losing almost 50% of the price of your product over a three-month period is stifling. >> reporter: the steep price decline forced big companies with expensive fracking cost to curtail expansion plans and permanent applications for drilling in the u.s. dropped by almost 40% in just the month of november and bill kline who spent 70 years in the oil drilling business says he

doesn't know how much longer his town can stay active in the industry that first put it on the map. >> it's not ever going to be like it was but we are keeping a refinery running and keeping bradford and the refinery doesn't have enough oil to run, god bless bradford because it won't have anything left. >> reporter: if it doesn't recover soon no amount of oil left to pump here will be enough, tom ackerman bradford pennsylvania. big companies are losing market value as the price of oil tumbles and you can see from the london stock exchange what is happening in the uk capitol? >> nick i can't unfortunately show you figures and this is not working but i can tell you the 4100 in london opened the day on tuesday down for a third consecutive day following falls in the u.s. on monday and in asia overnight and trading 73

points or 1 1/2% down and the big picture back drop to that is the falling oil prices and crude below $53 on monday for the first time in 5 1/2 years in london. in europe negative sentiment is more specifically focused on two things, belief among investors on one hand that the eu bank is about to begin the policy of easing to combat the threat of deflation and renewed talk about a possible greek exit from the euro zone and the common currency lows against the dollar not seen since 2006. >> in grease you mentioned concern and could we be seeing a return to the euro zone crisis do you think? >> these numbers don't in themselves indicate a crisis a trend and not crisis but the potential is there.

in greece at the end of the month they will face a snap general election and upheaval with opposition party and platform of cancelling austerity measures and including germany and also cancelling a portion over the debt that is uncertainty that would see markets tumbling off a cliff and germany offering with angela merkel reportedly saying over the weekend saying the euro zone can withstand a greek exit because of protective measures put in place but it's the markets that will decide, the signs are they are not so sure and greek markets are down and greek borrowing costs up and italian markets are down and that is where the problem lies the concern that greeks or greece problems could go to other economies in the euro

zone. >> thanks very much for reporting. still to come the race for the president heats up with jordan prince in the running plus. >> daka rally in argentina and i'm andrew and i'm reporting on an all electric car that makes no noise. ♪

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... i'm andrew and i'm reporting on >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america ♪ and to sport and here is robin. >> thank you and new challenges to face for a stance for another term for fifa and the prince of

jordan will be running for president of the world governing body and prince was already one of fifa vice presidents and made the announcement on tuesday and on social media he said the focus should go away from administration and back to sport. the world game deserves a world-class governing body a service organization and model of ethics transparency and good governance and headlines about football, the beautiful sport and not about fifa and what do we know about the prince of jordan apart from the fact he is a top official in fifa and held fifa vice president since january 2011 when his campaign focused on uniting with asia countries in futbul and is part of the federations and championed the lifting of fifa ban in women's futbul and

believes the prince does have the right credentials and experience to be a worthy challenger and could turn out to be a very interesting presidential race. >> prince ali making impressive turns and in his mid 20s when he was head in jordan but 2011 when he was made fifa vice president and he started to really make his mark. he got through the wearing of the futbul quickly in fifa terms and influence and respect for him and of course now he wants to go one better and be the president. and he undoubtedly will have support and people throughout ea and there is a total falling out there so prince ali can be a majority of support and in asia where it gets particularly

complicated because the president of that confederation had urged members to vote for him and how complicated it could get. undoubtedly the prince ali is talking the right language for people who watch futbul and wants change and wants an end and a new member and wasn't there when all allegations of corruption were taking place in 2011 but it's what happened internally with the fight and he may rethink his own candidacy at some stage and possible if he might lose and anything is possible with fifa. >> let's go to motor sport and takes underway and the man to beat is the mini driver and he put the disappointment behind him for speeding and no such problems on monday 625 kilometer stage which he won to take the

overall lead and he was 7 minutes, 42 seconds ahead of south africa man. the event seen 0 emission or electric rally car competing and the car cost more than $1 million to develop and as andrew simmons reports it has been turning a few heads as well. >> reporter: rally fans have no idea that one of the two cars they are watching is battery powered. they get a clue from what they hear not what they see. more than three decades of tradition the daka rally has never seen anything like it the first all electric entry, preparing before the start a nervous service team and a driver who says it's a crazy but brave venture, there is 9,000 kilometers of desert and mountain terrain ahead, not a city test run like this.

it's hardly what you expect of a rally car, a whir sound and no engine and no smell of racing oil but 0 emissions. it's been designed and built by a spanish civil engineering company powered by four batteries that have to be replaced every 350 kilometers. >> we feel that we are a little bit crazy you know because during the most difficult race in the world like this it is are crazy but people who make things new in the world and history can be crazy until they try it. >> reporter: the codriver's biggest challenge is not just navigation but power levels and getting some battery recharge from deceleration and driving down hill and similar to a system used in formula one racing. >> for me it's a dream because i

like technology. >> reporter: on average each car burns 2200 liters of fuel. this one consumes nothing. it may have a long way to go with more development but it's already laid down a new challenge, this rally to go cleaner and greener, andrew simmons, al jazeera. we will have more in the coming news hours and we will go to future stars of the u.s. ski team killed at a training base in the alps. and they died in the mountains above the ski resort and in a group of six skiers the other four escaped unhurt and both were part of the usa's development team and news of deaths left the u.s. ski team in shock and the athletes will wear mourning bans in croatia on

tuesday. >> this is sad for the community as a whole and they were great young ski racers and not only ski racers but outstanding men on a passion of becoming world athletes. advantage australia after first day's play in the test against india and won the toss in sidney and chipped in with a well-crafted 95 and unbeaten half centuries and captain steve smith as well and they closed the day at 348 for 2. the last few minutes south africa cricket in the west indys and traced a target of 115 for victory and led with an 8 wick et etwin and that is a victory in

that game. the dallas maverick has six wins in nba, the latest victims this time the brooklyn nets and scoring a three pointer in over time. leading his team to a 96-88 win. and that will move him in 7th place in mba all time scoring list is the points and all of the days big sports stories on our website al jazeera/sports and talks about fifa president and leading this on al jazeera.com/sport and details there as well with the team using twitter and facebook and we will leaf. >> we will see you later look forward to that and that is it for the news hour and a we will be backup and for me and the

team that is it for now. ♪ [[vo]] an america tonight in-depth series. >>my first column was, “hey, where are the weed-smoking moms at?” [[vo]] one year legal. >>i'd try chem 4, alien dog, and girl scout cookies. [[vo]] and it's become big business. >>the state of colorado is profiting immensely off of this. [[vo]] now, we cut through the smoke and find out what's really going on. >>we can show marijuana is leaving colorado. [[vo]] the highs and lows of a year on pot.

if you are looking to buy a home for car in the new year, i'll tell you what you should know about interest rates, and how they could cost you more or save you a few buck. plus why one of the world's rich richest terrorist groups might not be as much as it claims. i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." ♪