>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour. i'm jane dutton in doha. a palestinian man convicted of the murder of three israelis is sentenced to life in prison. over 50 people are dead as isil launches a series of attacks in western iraq. the wife a shamed mexican mayor involved in the disappearance of 43 students is charged with organized crime. i'm robin adams the race to

become fifa's president hops up thanks to a jordanian prince. details coming up. ♪ a palestinian man convicted of the kidnapping and murder of three young israelis in the occupied west bank has been sentenced by an israeli court. he has been given three life sentences over the killings in june. stephanie decker joins us live from the west bank. talk us through this stephanie. >> reporter: well, the judges when they read out that verdict, they describe it as one of the worst cases of murder and kidnapping in israel and that it had a great influence on the security situation at large. now, he was accused. he apparently confessed and now convicted of the planning financing, and arranging of these killings.

he is also convicted of receiving an amount of money from hamas to buy weapons, and this is what prompted the incredible tension that happened in june. we had a massive operation by the israeli army that was called operations brother's keeper, where they arrested the leadership of hamas in the west bank, and 300,000 homes villages, over 300 people arrested. hamas prompted rocket fire out of gaza and it prompted the gaza war which killed over 2,000 people. so really an incredible difficult and monumentous time of events. and the israeli forces always said they knew this was going to be a harsh sentence. so three life sentences for him now. >> stephanie decker thank you for that. over 50 people have died in heavy fighting between isil and iraqi security forces.

the armed group launched a series of attacks in the anbar province. isil has proved against the provincial capitol. a suicide car bomber attacked an army check point where seven soldiers were killed. two suicide bombers and gunmen also attacked a mosque where 23 soldiers were killed. the town is two kilometers from the largest iraqi army base where the u.s. have advisors and trarns stationed. imran khan has recently returned from bagdad. i want to talk to you about anbar. for several months now we have seen activity on the ground and in the air, and yet the iraqi army is finding it almost impossible to keep control of it. what is going on there? >> one of the main reasons is there simply isn't a rule of law in anbar province. it's a province with a power vacuum. it shares a border with syria,

so isil use their territories in syria to send in reinforcements where they mount attacks in bagdad for example. it's a place that they can easily operate, and the border is quite porous. but the power vacuum is really the key season. there are sunni tribes who have long complained that the iraqi government isn't giving them the weapons and support they need to fight isil. then you have other sunni groups who have simply given up on the government and thrown their lot in with isil. they don't support isil's long-term aims, but in the short-term they share the same goals. they are angry with the government and provide support and lodge iszices to isil. looking at the bigger cities parts of city are still in

control by the iraqs. and this is a delivering big problem to iraqi forces and isil are taking advantage of this completely. the other thing we have seen is the taking over of a tiny village that is important because it is only two kilometers away from a military base where u.s. advisors are at the moment training iraqi troop. we have seen them do this before they get a smallvillage reinforce, and launch attacks on the military base. there is a question of resources now. you have these u.s. advisors they are under pressure to deliver results very quickly. they now have to think about base security. it's another strain on t their resources. it's another way of isil saying we are able to put pressure on you wherever you are in anbar province. >> and the fall of the mighty

iraqi army. thank you. there are attacks in anbar come as iraq celebrates army day. ♪ >> it was marked by the prime minister laying a wreath at the unknown soldier's monument in bagdad's fortified green zone. it is the army's 94th anniversary. in the last few months the iraqi army has lost lives, territory and prestige in the battle against isil. >> reporter: in the orchards outside of the city of raw maw di a bomb disposal unit is at work. they use the robot to hunt for improvised explosive devices left behind by isil in one of the villages recorrectly recaptured by iraqi forces. such equipment left behind by u.s. forces is making the

difference. but the war is challenging in many ways. >> translator: as you know our advance is slow because of many land mines and ied's put by isil fighters who are making some gains and gradually retaking territory from them. but our capacity is limited in terms of dismentaling ie >> reporter: this area remains largely under isil control. a sunny tribal leader joined the fight against isil recently. here militia men support police in patrolling the neighborhoods and districts. they are the except sun and not the norm if many parts of iraq and the government in bagdad is still unwilling to arm sunni

militias in anbar province who are willing to join the fight against isil. >> reporter: the government has not helped us so far. we have called for help many times before and asked for assistance from many ministers, but our calls seem to be falling on deaf ears so we have stopped asked for help. >> reporter: sunni tribal leaders say they need weapons and air support. but their faith in getting help from bagdad has almost vanished. they are now seeking help directly from the united states. authorities in bagdad have grudgingly agreed to a sunny leader's visit to washington. there are growing concerns here that the country could descend into further chaos if it wasn't renew its military to replace the numerous groups operating here. and to do that the iraqi government would need all of the help it can get. kurdish fighters have seized

the security and government district of the syrian border town of ka baunny from isil fighters. the kurdish fighters now control 80% of the town. the pakistan's general assembly has passed a bill to set up special military courts to try terror suspects. the move comes on the wake of a tall ban attack on a school which killed 148 people. civilian courts in pakistan have a conviction rate of only 3% in terrorism-related cases. it's been 100 days since afghan president took office but he still hasn't formed a government. the taliban has repeatedly mocked him over the delay. jennifer glasse has more. >> reporter: outside of most of afghanistan's ministries

afghans are forced to stand in long lines. this man helps afghans fill out forms for nearby governments. >> translator: it's so slow because ministersn't have been app pointed so other officials kjt do their jobs. >> reporter: when papers are signed it is by acting ministers. this man can't solve a family dispute. he blames the president. >> translator: i voted for afghanny as president. but now he himself covers up corruption. i made a big mistake voting for such a traitor. >> reporter: he is ruling with abdullah abdullah some site the unprecedented situation as the reason for the delay.

>> now it's time for us to act upon the problems. >> reporter: since the inauguration, this tv station has been following the government's progress with a nightly program called 100 days with each show focusing on a different subject. >> i think the afghan people expect more. i think the afghan people underthat it was a change and that they wished the change for better. but there have been certain shortcomings, which have undermined the whole government initiative for the past 100 days. >> reporter: the government has made some progress signing a security deal with the u.s. nato. afghans are also following the progress on the net. here afghans work on the 100 days website where the afghan public can report or 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 foster democracy. >> reporter: their 100-day report card shows the administration has achieved 4 of the 110 promises and made progress on 23. on day 99 some afghans couldn't may any longer. they say if there isn't a new government this week they plan to take to the streets. still to come on the news hour the global slump in oil prices threatens the future of america's small-scale producers. plus the science of spin how speed is now the key to determining the age of the stars. also ahead. the noise of the dacar rally. i'm andrew simmons and i'll be

reporting on an all electrical that makes no noise. ♪ in mexico the wife of a former mayor linked the disappearance of 43 students in september has been charged with organized crime and money laundering. she has been transferred to a high-security prison where she'll be held until the start of her trial. monica is live in mexico city. tell us more about the arrest and what has been happening. >> reporter: well, jane what is really significant about this is three months ago she was arrested and was in a type of special unit being investigated that is under the legal mexican system. so she was not under house arrest or any type of prison or jail, and now she was transferred to [ inaudible ]. he understood that she spent her

first night in a maximum security prison. and the charges are extremely serious. it basically amounts to running part of the operations of two major drug cartels. so essentially they are accusing her of diverting funds, money laundering, and planning logistics while she was the wife of the mayor. now no word on if she's going to be charged at all with the disappearance and presumed massacre of 43 students, and of course that's what a lot of people here were waiting for, but she could still be investigated for that, we understand. security is likely to be on the agenda when mexico's president meets barack obama in washington. he is in the american capitol where the white house is even whiter than usual, very cold conditions lots of snow has been falling, and we hope for his sake it is a lot warmer inside than it is outside.

let's speak to rob reynolds who is monitoring represents. what sort of pressure is barack obama going to put on him to stop like events we have seen happening again in the country, rob? >> reporter: well it's not clear, jane whether president obama is going to actually bring up the issue of the 43 missing and presumed murders students. however, certainly security and the rule of law are listed as among the issues to be discussed during the summit. there have been some human rights organizations such as human rights watch that has urged president obama to pressure him over abuses of power by mexican police and the security agencies but it is very unlikely i think that there is any question of the u.s. altering its pattern of providing aid to the mexican military, and the security

forces and aid in the fight against drug trafficking. now obama needs the president's help on a couple of other issues with regard to cuba and other immigration. he would like his support and for the mexican president to pressure havana to implement some democratic reforms now that the u.s. has decided to open diplomatic relations. and the mexican president can help obama with his executive action to allow more than 4 million undocumented migrants to remain and work in the united states without fear of deportation. and a senior official says that mexican consulates here in the u.s. will play a key role about spreading the word of who is

issel -- eligible and who isn't. thank you for that. de blasio said the act of police turning their backs to him was disrespectful. >> they were disrespectful to the families involved. they were disrespectful to the families who had lost their loved one. and i can't understand why anyone would do such a thing in a context like that. i think it just defies a lot of what we all feel is the right and decent thing to do when you are dealing with a family in pain. i also think they were disrespectful to the people of the city. global stocks have fallen for a second day in part driven by fears over oil prices which fell below $50 a barrel on monday. the lowest since april 2009. while it's good news for

consumers, it's bad news for producers. especially hard hit with the economies of oil producing nations such as russia and venezuela. just six months later the price has fallen by half to around $57 a barrel. but why? new drilling techniques including frac-ing have allowed access to large volumes of natural gas. this in turn has driven down the price of oil. in the u.s. that's threatening the future of thousands of so-called stripper wells that are nearing the end of their usual lives. tom ackerman reports from the state of pennsylvania. >> reporter: outside of the mcdonald's restaurant in bradford pennsylvania stands a century old relic of the oil industry's dawn. the first industrial well was drilled in 1859 and this one is still pumping, and so are

hundreds more scattered around the town. these wells can draw up to a couple of barrels a day from the huge pool of crude that lies beneath the surface. >> it has been doing it since 1882. it will probably go another hundred years if we're allowed to do it you know, we don't get regulated out of business. >> reporter: there are more than 400,000 of these wells operating in the u.s. and they account for 11% of u.s. total oil production. in 2012 by comparison, these marginal wells matched all of opec member state qatar's output. the latest innovations in horizontal drilling and fracturing could extend the life of these wells, but since the price of crude has fallen in half, many of these wells are

shutting down. they say the profits are no longer there. >> at least at $100 oil, you know, 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. it's just stifling -- stifling -- suffocating. >> reporter: it has always forced big companies with expensive frac-ing costs to drop their applications. bill cline 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're keeping a refinery running, and that's keeping brood-- bradford. if that refinery doesn't have

enough oil to run, god bless bradford. as we mentioned global markets are down and big oil companies are losing market value as the price of oil tumbles. jonah hull joins us now from the london stock exchange. how is it playing out there in london? >> reporter: well i can tell you generally the price of oil continues to slide. the international crude marker trading at just about $50 a barrel on tuesday, that's nearly a six-year low and remember just -- just six months ago in june last year it was trading at $115 a barrel. that's the sort of economic backdrop against which markets have reacted in london. opening on tuesday for a third consecutive day in a row down. it has recovered mup of its

losses, but here the losses are sustained by other european factors, the focus on the european central bank and the possibility that it might start pumping money into the market to combat inflation, and the talk of greece exiting the euro zone. so it is at lows against the dollar not seen since 2006. >> with all of those issues that you mentioned, could we be seeing a return to the euro zone crisis. >> reporter: the thinking is not, jane that we're in crisis yet, but the possibility is certainly there. greece stands at the center of that concern, of course with a snap election due at the end of january, one that is likely to be won by the far left party, and it's plan to cut the austerity measures imposed by its international lenders, and to cut large portions of the

country's debt. in that is the sort of worry that would have sent the economy off of a cliff. but in the end it will be the markets that tell at the moment, the signs are that they are not entirely convinced. >> thank you. more germans appear to be taking a standing against anti-islam rallies. four counter rallies were held to the rallies of anti-muslims. >> reporter: denouncing a movement that they say is neo-nazi thousands gathered in call lone that demonstrate

against the anti-muslim movement. >> translator: muslims live their religion here. nobody comments on it. it happens alongside everything else. parallel. what they proclaim is too harsh. >> reporter: here police kept the counter demonstrators well away from patriots. most of them were unwilling to speak to the media. why are you here? >> because democracy and the freedom of opinion are important to me. >> reporter: so which opinion -- >> that is the reason. that is it. >> reporter: in the eastern city of dresden where the movement started, 18,000 people marched in support of pegida according to the police. that's a slight increase on previous weeks, but in berlin it was the counter protests which far outnumbered the anti-islam

demonstration. a recent survey suggested most germans believe the pegida movement has exaggerated the threat from islam. angela merkel has criticized the organizers of pegida. and says the public shouldn't be manipulated into 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 pegida and who say they have genuine grievances. in cologne the lights were switched off. but it seems the debate about immigration and identity will remain in the spotlight. jerusalem's christian orthodox patriarch has arrived in the occupied west bank on

orthodox christmas eve. most orthodox churches celebrate nativity on january 6th and 7th. while celebrations in the holy land are getting started, economist celebrations in greece are winding down. greek orthodox christian followers are marking the day of the epiphany. greece's opposition heard was in attendance, ahead of national elections later this month. epiphany day is the 12th day after christmas, marking the end of the christmas season. much more still ahead on the news hour. demanding their rights indian coal miners walk out on a five-day strike. and the skiing world mourn the death of two u.s. team prospects. details coming up with robin.

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the al jazeera news hour. reminder of the top stories. a palestinian man convicted of the kidnap and murder of three israeli teenagers has sentenced and given three life sentences over the killings in june. in mexico the wife of a former mayor linked to the disappearance of 43 students has been charged with organized crime and money laundering. it comes as a mexico president travels to washington, d.c. more than 50 people have died in heavy fighting between isil and iraqi security forces. the iraqi army is not as powerful as it once was. let's take a look at some of the problems. the u.s. announced in 2012 that it spent $25 million on iraq's security forces but there has

been large-scale desertions since then. 30,000 soldiers fled from an isil advance on mosul in june. martin dempsey asked for $1.6 billion to recruit and train 45,000 more iraqi solders. let's bring in a retired brigadier general from the iraqi army. it must make you weak knowing how powerful the iraqi army was, and in the celebrations today all that happened was a wreath was laid. what does that say about the status of the army at the moment? >> well good evening to you and the audiences. let me first recall and remember and thank and pay tribute to iraqi soldiers who

pay ultimate sacrifices in this glorious day of the iraqi army's accomplishment. i think to answer this question it's -- it's very important to know that iraqi army 2011, when americans troops left iraq has been not ready, incapable to assume the responsibility all over iraq. with the grows challenges of the insurgency in different areas of iraq, that put iraqi army in the position that had to fight in different areas and lose a lots of capabilities -- >> but, sir can i just jump in here quickly. other than fighting in many areas, they were not capable of fighting the isil in particular -- i mean many army recruits ran away. why was the army not prepared

considering the u.s. spent so much time and money trying to build the army up? >> you know, it's building the capabilities of any armed forces in the world, needs effort time, and resources. it's not a matter of putting money here and there. it's -- it's armed forces to be ready has to be capable, has to be -- have air force, navy army logistic support, intelligence, and counter intelligence. they have the operation capabilities of planning. all of these elements have to be accomplished. all of these conditions has to be existed in any armed forces in order to achieve the -- the readiness required so they would stand by for any internal and foreign threats. unfortunately, iraqi army -- they didn't have that

readiness combat readiness -- >> yeah but sir, isn't it more down to the expensive corruption that we have seen within the army? the fact that the army didn't get the equipment that the u.s. promised; that the u.s. has dragged its heels? the fact that it didn't get support from the government? >> well let me tell you that 2014 was the worst year that passed through iraqi army. at the beginning, iraqi army lost fallujah to isil another the beginning of 2014. iraqi government tried to retake fallujah multiple times but they failed. iraqi army did not pay attention too much for another expected front that made isis would offer

to them. prince mosul was one of the forecasted fronts that isil will be opening. of course the corruption and some other circumstances and conditions has accumulated on this setback that has taken place in june 10th, 2014. >> all right. good to talk to you. thank you for your time. advisors to yemen's president have arrived in the northern province to meet the leader of the houthi movement. they are expected to discuss where their leader rejected a plan that could divide yemen into six regions. tensions are high in the eastern province where tribal leaders have promixed to protect the province from any houthi advance. >> reporter: on guard, and ready to fight. these tribesmen are gathering their force. they anticipate an attack from shia houthi fighters east of the

capitol is rich in oil and gas. it could be yemen's next battle front. the houthi leader recently described the tribes as criminals, and these men want to respond. >> translator: what irony. the criminal accuses the free and honorable. the criminal is whoever storms people's homes and mosques and destroys them. we are protecting our province in the name of the state. we are to live in dignity or die. >> translator: all of the riches of yemen are here and there is electricity and other services. it's the duty of the state to protect the people here and the vital institutions. >> reporter: the latest crisis started last week when tribesmen attacked a large army province passing through. several people were killed. all of the heavy weapons including tanks were confiscated. the tribes said they feared

these large weapons would be handed over to the houthi group to facilitate the takeover of the province. they say they are ready to return the equipment back to the state. now the houthi fighters are mobilizing their force. now they are sending large reinforcementings towards the outskirts. it could be a matter of time before there's another conflict. last week the shia leader of the houthis called on the state to stop handing over the province to al-qaeda. many here say the houthis are using al-qaeda to justify their takeover of most of the country. these tribes say the houthis were trying since june last year to seize the province, that's why tribes here have joined forces, and in tribal

traditions, this means they either live or die together. in the capitol, the government is worried, but it is also weak it's military is divided along political and tribal loyalties. more than 50% of yemen's oil production is in this province, and nearly all of its gas exports originate from there, and if fighting begins and production stops, yemen would lose most of its main income. protesters have gathered outside of a tunisian court which ordered a blogger back to prison after it adjourned his trial for two weeks. he was detained on december 24th when he returns from france where he lives. he was sentenced in absentia in november for allegedly defaming tunisia's army in facebook posts. al jazeera continues to demand the immediate relate of our three journalists who have been in prison in egypt for more

than a year. they wrongly accused of broadcasting false news and helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. allegations which al jazeera denies. an appeals court in cairo has ordered a retrial that could begin within a month. trade unions in india have shut down much of the country's massive coal industry. unions have called a five-day nationwide strike in protest against what they believe are efforts by the government to privatize the sector. >> reporter: it's the biggest industrial action india has seen in almost 40 years. leading trade unions have called a nationwide strike against coal india, the state-owned company that produces 80% of the

country's coal. workers are protesting against the government's plans to allow private companies to mine and sell coal. >> translator: we are protesting against the privatization. we have been on strike for five days. the government wants to wash away the existence of the workers. >> reporter: coal production of up to 1.6 million tons a day could be hit after workers walked out of mines. the strike may also affect power plants which are already struggling with fuel short agency. they reportedly have sent extra stock of coal to the power plants ahead of the strike but parts of the country could be facing severe power cuts. officials are warning that the strike is costing around $160,000 a day. >> translator: the company will bare loss of 10 million rupees a way. the common man will face a shortage of electricity and many

more problems will arise. >> reporter: coal india officials are urging unions to rethink the strike in the national interest, but trade leaders have promised to fight on until they believe worker's benefits are protected against any moves to privatize the coal sector. authorities in indian adz ministered kashmir have evacuated nearly 6,000 people to relief camps nearly a week after heavy battle broke out between india and pakistan. they often trade accusation of who is to blame for firing and shelling in the disputed region. at least a dozen people have been killed in the latest fighting. the u.n. health agency says the ebola outbreak has now killed 8,153 people. once of the worst-effected

countries is liberia where the government has decided to allow safe burials and top cremation. -- stop cremation. >> reporter: these men dig dozens of graves each day. their work has increased since the government ended the policy of cremation. >> reporter: health workers say unsafe burials continue to be a significant source of infection, but people have votered to secretly burying the dead. the increase in number of new

infections slowed down but with 20,000 reported cases, people are still dying. the world health organization latest statistics show more than 8,000 people have died since the outbreak. 1700 were in guinea. in sierra leone over 2,900 are dead. in liberia, which has been one of the worst-infected countries, more than 3,000 have been killed. every other aspect of life in the liberian capitol is severely affected. educators are warning that being out of school will impact children's learning self-esteem and social interaction. >> all of the time you are not in school you will not have the time to makeup for them. leaving the school open [ inaudible ] school will be opening any time soon. >> reporter: more than a million children will miss school and parents are worried too. some have joined efforts to home school their children. charity workers are helping to reach thousands of children and

pashths are happy to get any help they can. and each act of kindness brings back some hope in a country where ebola continues to kill. let me tell you what has been happening in istanbul in turkey. a bomb has gone off in the historic district, that's a very important area for tourists and this bomb has injured a police officer. we know nothing more than that but obviously when we get more details we'll get that over to you, but that bomb in istanbul. we have got the sport for you shortly, including a payday

for the cricketers. ♪

♪ taking a look at the night's sky you can see thousands of stars like these with the naked eye. but have you ever wondered how old they are? or how their age is determined? well, i hadn't but it is fascinating now that we know. scientists have found a new way to calculate how old stars are, based on their rates of spin. small cool stars stay roughly the same size and brighten for

their whole lives. but researchers have observed dark spots like this on the surface. the dimming can now tell us how quickly a star spins. our planet and sun are about 4.6 billion years old. and knowing this age is key to finding out if a planet is capable of supporting life. let's bring in an astronomer from london. does this excite you? >> this is a very interesting new result. we have known for sometime that stars change how fast they spin depending on how old they are, and that younger stars spin faster than older stars. but we have not been able to measure how big the effect was. so this is very interesting result, which will allow us to work out the ages of many more stars than we have known so far.

>> tell us what this means, and what sort of impact it will have on your work and us. >> well stars have planets that go around them and the satellite was designed to look for planets. now the problem is a planet has to be there for a reasonable amount of time for life to evolve on that planet. so if the planet has only been there for a few million years it's no good. there isn't enough time for life to evolve on that planet. so if we can date the stars, we can have a good idea of whether a given star and the planets around it have a possibility of life. we know where best to concentrate our efforts, because we can now work out how old those stars are. >> if you are able to crack this, what do you think is the

next big thing? >> well then the next step here is to actually start measuring detailed properties of solar systems around other stars. we have been able to detect many thousands of planets around other stars, but we don't know much about them other than they are there and how big they are. what we haven't done is measure the composition of the atmospheres, whether they are rocky, icy, or made of gas. and that's going to come from various new space missions that are going up. it's going to come from the new very precise measurements we're doing on ground-based telescopes and clever use of existing data which is what has happened in this study. it is very clever work by this group of astronomers. >> fascinating talking to you

keith smith, an astronomer in london. thank you. >> you're welcome. let's get to sport now with robin. >> good to see you thanks a lot. sepp blatter will have a new challenge as head of fifa. the prince from jordan will be running for president. he made the announcement on tuesday on social media, he wrote it is time to shift the focus back to sport. he went on to say: so what do we know about the prince from jordan apart from the fact that he is already a top special at fifa. he has held that position since

2011. he is also the head of the jordanian and west asia football federations. he successfully championed the lifting of fifa's ban of women in football. something some believe makes him a good candidate. >> we have known it for a while. it's not a huge shock that he is going to stand for this position. whether he can actually win, we don't know but what we do know is that he will have a lot of support estes specially among the european federations, he is very young, he is 39 years old. and he is seen as a reforming candidate. he championed women's football in particular think ban on wearing the head scarf which has revolutionized women's football in the middle east. and he is very much in favor of

minimum standards for instance worker safety for the building of stadiums surrounding future world cup bids. but whether he can build the support -- does he doesn't even really have the backing of the asia federation who say they will back blatter. the man to beat right now in qatar's driver. he was stripped of his opening stage win, powered to victory in the second stage to take the overall lead. he was 7:42 ahead of his nearest rival. this event has seen zero emission all electric rally car competing for the first time. as andrew simmons reports, it has been turning a few heads. >> reporter: rally fans have no

idea that one of the two cars they are watching is battery powered. they get a glue from what they hear not what they see. more than three decades of tradition and the dakar rally has never seen anything like it. preparing before the start a nervous service team and a driver who says it's a crazy but brave venture. there's 9,000 kilometers of desert terrain ahead. it's hardly what you would expect of a rally car, a whirring sound, no roar of an engine no smell of racing oil, but zero emissions. it's been designed and built by a spanish civil engineering company, powered by four replaced every 350 kill meeters. >> we feel that we are a little

bit crazy, jon, because during the most difficult race in the world, like this it's -- it seems crazy. but all of the people who make things in the world in history were a little bit crazy until they tried. >> reporter: the codriver's biggest challenge is rashing power levels. >> for me it's -- it's a dream. because i'm [ inaudible ] of electric technology. >> reporter: on average each car burns 2,200 liters of fuel. this one consumes nothing. it may have a long way to go with more development, but it has already laid down a new challenge to this rally to go cleaner and greener. andrew simmons, al jazeera. tributes have been paid to the two young u.s. team skiers

who died in the avalanche on sunday. a minute of silence was held to remember the 20-year-old and 19-year-old. they were killed in the austrian alpine resort. they were in a group of six skiers, the other four escaped unheard. news of their deaths has left the u.s.ski team in shock. >> it's a very sad day for the u.s. ski team and the community as a whole. they were great young ski racers, and not only great racers but really outstanding young men who were focused on a passion of becoming world cup athletes. out-african poping [ inaudible ] has announced he is retiring from cricket. it comes after the 8-wicket win against the west indians in cape town a little earlier. he had a disappointing test.

dean [ inaudible ] to lead the way in the second inning. he scored an unbeaten 60. and the victory target which also ensured a victory. they were presented with the icc test and a check for $500,000. advantage to australian in the test against india. the home side won the toss and battled first. david warner smashing a century. chris rogers chipped in with a well-crafted 95. the aussies are 348 for 2 at the close of play. canada has taken control of the u.s. team at the cup. no one to bring a cup of coffee

on tuesday. that's what happened the day before. and the lack of caffeine showed. the american put in a sluggish performance against the canadian who is ranked 6th. her teammate also beating john in the men's singles. that's your sport. thank you so much for that robin. remember i told you about an explosion in istanbul in turkey we have these pictures that came to us in the last couple of minutes or so. these are the latest pictures of the scene of the explosion. what we know from local media sources there is that a bomb went off in the historic district. and this is important because it's a very important tourist area. we are hearing that a police officer has been injured. as soon as we get more details, we'll certainly let you know.

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