ure? >> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow", where technology meets humanity. next monday, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour i'm in doha and good to have you with us and this is coming up over the next 60 minutes, celebrating its victory over isil and a powerful malitia is ready to attack the group in the iraqi stronghold. u.n. top court set to rule on genocide cases followed by crotia and serbia against each other. troops from cameroon and chad

are stepping up offenses against boko haram. the child refugee who has become a music prodigy in the u.s. ♪ hello, iraqi government and powerful shia malitia declaring victory over isil in the province, the fight has been led by the group held a victory rally on monday and now says it is ready to move north into isil strongholds. and we were at the rally and joins me now from baghdad to tell us more and jane it appears this was not the iraqi government celebrating, what was the significance of this celebration? >> reporter: well that is part of the interesting thing. this obviously is supposed to be iraqi show and had to rely on unexpected partners.

this one, a key one is one of the man shia malitia and like to be called part of the mobilezation forces and a quarter of iraqis who answered a call by a leading religious figure and this one in particular the batter core is headed by hadi a former transport minister and now basically almost a shadow interior minister. he holds considerable power and the malitia itself has led the fighting in the province which was a stronghold of isil now this celebration was interesting indication as well of the increasing power of his organization. it was held at the former headquarters of an anti-iranian group and told the audience they were ready to go to mosul and in a conversation with us he told us, in fact, their fighters had already started, he told the rally that this was just the

beginning. >> translator: by the will of god we will liberate kurkook and mosul and liberate embar and by the will of god we will defeat these vicious gangs in the land of iraq and the will of those gangs will be broken on the will of the iraqi people. >> reporter: so jane what are prospects of offensive any time soon in mosul or enbar where isil has a very large presence? >> well the iraqi government certainly would like that to happen sooner rather than later but the coalition of the u.s. is putting the brakes on it seems for any coalition presence including crucial air strikes and has to be a lot more preparation but this rally and comments were quite alternating and he said there would be no foreign troops tolerated in iraq. when i asked him later if that included iran troops he said it

doesn't matter if they are iran or american advisors and this has led to an interesting coalition and includes unofficially iran as well as the united states and increasingly important and increasingly visible role as we see from the celebrations by the shia malitia. >> 30 people from the ethnic community have been discovered in a grave in iraq with bodies of men, women and children in the providence and believed to have been killed by forces belonging to the islamic state of iraq and lavante and kurdish peshmerga lieutenant said some of the victims had been shot and others attacked with knives. and we have more from irbil. >> reporter: another masked grave found in the sinjar area

in the northwest of iraq along the syrian border peshmerga fighters they were clearing the area from explosives bomb -- boobie trapped and at least 25 bodies have been found believed to be from the community of men, women and children and some of the officials some of the bodies had gunshot wounds other people were slaughtered. now, we have to remember that isil the islamic state of iraq and lavonte took over the sinjar area last august and they were accused of killing hundreds of yaziti men, women and children and the fate of them are still unknown but in december with the help of u.s. led coalition strikes pushed in the sinjar mountains to clear the able but unable to take sinjar city where isil is held up and putting up a

fierce battle because it's such an important area for isil a main supply line between iraq and syria crosses the line and another masked grave and conflict continues and there is a 1,000 kilometer front line here and the community did pay a heavy price over recent months. an explosion in the egyptian capitol near a busy scare in the center of cairo and security increased at the airport and there is a concern about safety in the country since the over throw of mohamed morsi in 2013. israel prime minister called on the u.n. to scrap inquery into alleged war crimes during the conflict in gaza in 2014 and benjamin netanyahu made the call following the resignation of the head of that inquiry on monday academic has been accused of bias because of consulting work he did for the palestine

liberation organization in 2012. >> i did a legal opinion about the international criminal court when palestine liberation organization was advising people on the issue of ratifying the rome statute of the international criminal court and they asked me for a legal opinion and i delivered it it was a small consultant and i do this all the time for governments and of course what happens in the past is put aside when one is sworn this as a commissioner, i took an oath to be an independent impartial member of inquiry and nothing has suggested anything to the contrary. this was something in the past and it's out there and they say i'm in some way beholden to the palestinian liberation organization but that is not the case and i'm an independent commissioner and the commission has conducted the work as they

have seen it work including israelis with great integrity and great impartiality. >> we are in west jurisdiction -- jerusalem and any reaction to this decision? >> well as israel is no doubt very pleased for several months now they have been campaigning to have him step down or be sacked as it stands as we have been reporting, he has stepped down from this post. in fact, at one point israel's ambassador to the u.n. described his appointment and head of the inquiry as hiring count dracula to run a blood bank and have been very strong in their words and suggest he is not the right man for the job and it appears this pressure has worked with him now stepping down. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has released a

statement in which he said that mr. shabis was quote biased against israel and that the inquiry, the research that has now been going on for several months should be skrabed. now the background of all of this is israel's parallel inquiry into the allegation of war crimes we understand they want to publish their results from any u.n. inquiry, however at this stage we don't know if the u.n. will be scrapping the inquiry as israel has been demanding. >> what are the chances, what are the chances then this is going to be scrapped given as you say the report is very much in its final stages and due to be published in march? >> that's right. and i think quite frankly it's pretty unlikely that the u.n. will scrap this. we have to keep in mind that he chose to step down he was not removed, therefore and we also have to understand that he is not the only member there are three other members of this

inquiry panel and so i do believe at least from what we have been hearing that the u.n. is very likely to push ahead with this and release the findings of this inquiry in march as scheduled. but what we don't know is whether or not israel will try to preempt that inquiry result by publishing their own. the israeli government not saying when they are going to release their results however we do understand that before any u.n. inquiry results are put out they want to put out their own. >> nts reporting from west jerusalem and thank you for that. the international court of justice is set to rule on accusations of genocide by serbia and croatia against each other and these are live pictures from the hague and relate to the conflict after crotia broke away from

ugloslavia. >> reporter: the break away from the town is relentless and they were well equipped and by november 1991 their tanks rolled in. the town fell to the serbs and as bodies mounted in the street croats surrendered and forces had a much wider campaign in mind one of ethnic cleansing and mounted hundreds of prisoners taken to a farm outside of town and executed and croatia says all of it adds up to genocide. >> translator: an entire town was destroyed, everything from cultural and natural sites to people, everything was destroyed. and if that is not genocide. >> reporter: croatia wanted yugloslavia and serbia the legal

successor the hearing finally began but serbia said croatia had a case to answer to 2010 they launched a counter lawsuit accusing them to cleanse serbs during operation storm. that's when croatia forces took back territory under serb control and it's not known exactly how many were killed but 200,000 serbs were forced to flee their homes. >> they say we are not criminals and i cannot say we are crazy but they regard us as crazy and we run away give me a break. >> reporter: the international court of justice rulings are legally binding and if either side is found guilty they could be forced to pay damages but both legal teams and experts are expecting the two cases to be dismissed. 20,000 people were killed during the croatia war of independence both sides agree no court with

wipe the stain of those four brutal years, kim with al jazeera. let's talk more about this now with jeffrey nice he was the chief prosecutor in the trial of former serbia president and joins me now from london and thank you for being with us. now this court has taken on some very important cases over the years and how significant is this one and the verdict that we are expecting of it? >> it's extremely significant in two separate ways first of all it's another opportunity for the court to deal with the crime of genocide, the definition of that crime and it's been dealing with that so far in the judgment that is incomplete at the moment. it's been hard to distill what is new and it is interesting to see they are deciding that rape committed with certain specific intentions may amount to genocide so definition of the law for this court, which is a court which deals with the state allegations against state but also for the tribunals that deal

with the responsibility of individuals very important. as between crotia and serbia and marker for cases that may be brought by other states against other states alleging genocide also important and we reached the position that countries in conflict sometimes turn to courts not just to bring resolution or to bring judgments or to bring recompence but also to write the history, they wanted to say it committed genocide against it and they said the same thing against genocide if other side wins that finding will prove part of the narrative of their history and could be significant, could even be dangerous. >> and what sort of power does the icg have in a case like this? what are the chances that its verdict will be adhered here to and respected?

>> the verdicts are almost always respected even when they include the payment of money, not absolutely always but almost cause and there is no reason to believe the two states that wish to exceed to europe one is in europe and one wishes to exceed europe would seen as bad boys in the international community but it's unlikely everybody thinks so far that this judgment will result in a favorable funding for all other party that would involve the passage of money or any other kind of recompense and it's a judgment of facts that each side will turn to the advantage in the liking of its own history. >> good to get your thoughts on this jeffrey nice joining us from london thank you very much. >> thank you. >> lots more to come on the al jazeera news hour. >> it's right for me to be free than it's right for all of them to be free. >> in his first interview since being free from an egyptian jail

journalist peter greste calls for immediate release of his colleagues. on the fighting in eastern ukraine where pro-russian separatists are blaming the government for a break down in peace talks. and in sport the new england patriots superbowl victory parade has been delayed and matt will be here with the details. ♪ that is still to come and first nigeria is getting more help from neighboring chad and cameroon to fight boko haram and mohamed has more from the chad capital. >> reporter: chad forces are stepping up their offensive against boko haram inside nigeria using helicopters and jet bombers and targeting towns and villages inside nigeria under the control of boko haram. the last few days their target

has been the town not far away from the border nigeria shares with cameroon and targeting positions of boko haram and from the ground and other town inside cameroon and chad forces also cutting out strikes against positions of the boko haram fighters. there has been no independent verification of a death toll however the chad forces are claiming to have killed 100 boko haram fighters in the bomb ings they have been cutting out on the positions held by boko haram. the offensive by the chad forces is coming at a time when boko haram has been growing in strength and has been holding towns and villages from where they have been cutting out cross border raids in cameroon. peter greste spoken of being released after 400 days in egyptian jail and greste says

with freedom comes incredible angst leaving two colleagues behind, since the first interview since release they say to free the two that remain bars and he spoke to stephanie decker about the moment he learned he was being released. >> i can't tell you how relieved i am at being free. i really didn't expect we were settling in for a period of moves behind prison and for the retrial and so to be out now today, with just a few minutes notice really is just extraordinary. but i also feel incredible angst about my colleague, leaving them behind and i know that there is mohamed fahmy and mohamed and several other people that were convicted alongside us and four others that had nothing to do with our case that are serving prison sentences. and so a midst all of this

relief i still feel a sense of concern, a real sense of worry because if it's appropriate and right for me to be free then it's right for all of them to be free and for those who are convicted to be free of those convictions. >> yesterday, the process for you personally how the day evolved and also how it felt for you, for example, what is the last thing you said to your colleagues? how did the day play out for you and what was expected and the emotion you went through. >> i wasn't expecting it at all and i work-up thinking much about the campaign ahead of us really feeling as though we were going to have to spend an extended stretch in prison and i went for a run and the prison ward warden called me over and he said time to pack your stuff and i said what do you mean you are going, to another prison? no the embassy is coming will be here in an hour get your

stuff and go and i can't tell you that real mix of emotions that was boiling inside. i had a sense of relief and excitement and also real stress of having to say good-bye to my colleagues and friends and people who really has become family in the prison. you don't spend 400 days in a box with someone without getting to know them very intimately indeed. and over that period i've gotten to know, in fact, accept both fahmy and the others as family they are my brothers couldn't be any other way. fahmy is an extraordinary professional very dedicated journalist and very passionate very strong willed character. and he is amazing family man if i have met and if anyone suffered out of this is he because he has a wife and three children, one of whom was born while he was this prison. it was incredibly tough for him

as someone so devoted to his family to have to be where he is knowing that he is innocent knowing that this is a huge mistake. and only being able to see them on very occasional family visits and also knowing now that he is going to have to spend an indeterminate period behind bars. i think he was excited about the fact i am out but also concerned because we need to keep the focus on him and we don't quite know what is going to happen from here on in. and in prison a daily basis the key is to say -- stay fit physically mentally and spiritually so i made a very conscious effort to deal with all three of those things to try and keep fit running in a small space and exercise program and mentally fit with study and

spiritually fit too with meditation and i think through all of that it was a way of enforcing a kind of discipline on myself. and dealing with each day as it came. and hopefully come out of it too damaged. >> and finally i wanted to ask you what are you looking for? >> i'm not. i'm watching a few sun sets. i have not seen that at all for a very long time watching the stars, feeling the sand under my toes the little things. this has been like a rebirth and you realize that it is those little beautiful moments of life that are really precious and spending time with my family of course and that's what is important, not the big issues. >> reporter: like peter greste al jazeera is calling for the immediate release of its two staff members still in prison in a statement the network said the campaign to free our

journalists in egypt will not end until all three are released greste was released after 400 days but two remain behind bars all three have to be exonerated and the convictions against our other journalists tried and also have to be lifted. al jazeera jailed canada journalist fahmy renounced his egyptian citizenship and under rules of presidential decree foreign nationals convicted of crimes in egypt can be deported and canada foreign minister said release is imminent and release efforts are going well but did not elaborate when it is expected to happen there is no official word from the egyptian government. officials in the southeast region kashmir ordered area evacuated after a landslide

blocked a river and are worried it could cause flooding and recovering to floods that led to billions of dollars in damage in september and as we report it is struggling to attract tourists back. >> reporter: a noingel empire said if this is heaven on earth this is it and many would agree but people in the tourism industry this season has been difficult, last year people flocked to these hills to enjoy the snow but this year there is less snow and even fewer people. warmer weather hasn't helped but hotel managers here mostly blame september heavy flooding for keeping tourist away even though flood waters never touched this area. >> especially this month we had a booking of 50-60 and now we have 10-15% booking. >> reporter: it's the same story throughout the region where tourism is a big sector

and it was hit hard by the floods and many facilities have been repaired but doesn't help and have empty rooms to show and half to two thirds occupied and with hardly any bookings many worry they will not survive until next season. >> translator: this lake resort would normally be full of visitors but with years of violence in the region led to a sharp drop and domestic tourism and now even that has dried up. >> reporter: those in the tourism industry say most of what was damaged in the flood has been fixed but while the flooding was heavily covered by the media the fact that kashmir is up and running has not been. >> this place outside and we are under the impression that kashmir is devastated because of floods. >> reporter: government officials say they are working on ways to increase tourism.

>> tv ads and reassurance plans and the business contracts from those states will go back to the rally. >> reporter: tourism operation hopes it is at an end and people come back to the region and people come back to this region indian kashmir. flooding in india to flooding in europe and we have the weather. >> sad story isn't it albania the last hit and bulgaria hit in the last two or three days and the pictures i bring is albania and is not pleasant and sheep drown and didn't all survive, a couple of deaths reported in the human population as well and

it's from the coast to bulgaria to the black sea and this is a couple days ago and it has been an ongoing situation. and the weather in europe at the moment is circulating around itself, the center of the low is scandanavia and behind you is the satellite picture moved quickly on a forecast shows that we still have a lot of rain from western turkey and the black sea and that i think is not important, it left the balkins dry a few days and what is developing in the west is likely stormy. western med mediterranean and this is snow and hits the warm mediterranean and snow and pretty strong winds and north of

africa is not the place to be the next couple days. >> thanks very much rob. still to come on the program, lebanese fishermen find themselves entangled in syria's war plus. >> i'm daniel in buenos aires where investigations of a prosecutor making controversial accusations against a president. >> in sport the mets leave it late in the nba and we will be here with the details. ♪

♪

hello again the top stories on al jazeera, the iraqi government and leading shia malitia declaring victory of isil in the iraqi providence and the fight led by one of iraq's malitia, the group says it's now ready to move into isil other strongholds including mosul. israel's prime minister called on the u.n. to scrap its inquiry into alleged war crimes during the conflict in gaza in 2014 benjamin netanyahu made comments following resignation of the head of the inquiry on monday william was accused of israel of bias because of the work he did for plo in 2012. nigerian army says it's retaken five towns held by the armed group boko haram and a joint offensive with local vigilantes from troops from chad and

cameroon. and five civilians have been killed by artillery fire in the city of donetsk and they are blaming the government in kiev for failed peace talks over the weekend and as roslyn says obama says sending heavy weapons to help ukraine army is not the answer to end the crisis. >> contrary to published reports on monday that the obama administration is now considering giving leadel aid to the ukraine army they are suggesting that basically the administration is looking at all options but nothing has been either placed on the table or taken off the table. and he went on to say that the u.s. is still very interested in trying to achieve a political and diplomatic resolution to the crisis in eastern ukraine where resent days separatist fighters and what are believed to be russian soldiers carried out more attacks on citizens in that

part of the country, the ukraine government is certainly looking forward to the up coming visit of secretary of state john kerry and hoping they might be able to persuade him and other members of the administration that the time is now for the u.s. and for eu nations to provide lethal assistance, it's complicated because nato does not include ukraine as a member and there is of course some concern about further offending the sensibilities as it were of moscow when they believe that there is a way out of the crisis without having to increase the amount of warfare on the ground. the war in syria has had a devastating effect on the fishing industry in neighboring lebanon, fishermen used to cross in syrian waters where the catch was better but nicole johnston reports on the liberty nice/syrian border that stopped when the conflict began. >> reporter: it's a cold morning on this sea in northern

lebanon. these fisher men have more serious things to worry about, the size of their catch is down by 70%. they have always relied on syrian borders for catching big fish. they say the coast there is less polluted and unlike lebanon the sea has not been over fish. >> translator: when we used to go in syria there were may more fish and can make a living and since the crisis they stopped us and sometimes we get greedy and go in 200 meters and shoot at us not to kill us but make us go back. >> reporter: they used to catch $500 and now they are lucky for $100. this is as far north as fishermen can go and 300 meters from the syrian border but before the war fishermen were able to sale north in syria around 20 nautical miles and to the port city. back on shore the lebanese

village is a few miles away from syria and the border is this river. people in the village say armed groups from lebanon fire to syria from here and the syrian army fires back hitting houses and the mosque. syria has called some fishermen placing explosives in the sea to try to blowup their naval ships. >> translator: for years they used to help us and were decent and now with the war they don't allow anyone to cross in their waters and worry that people will smuggling weapons or terrorists. >> reporter: two years ago this fisherman's nephew was out at sea when he was shot by the syrian army and killed. >> translator: once i see us getting close they fire towards us. it happened yesterday. i went under the bridge into the river and asked the officer why they did this and said it was routine and started laughing. >> reporter: it's no joke at

the local fish market where there is not a lot to offer, without fish from syria business has slowed down. instead of selling one ton of fish a day they sell about 100 kilos. at sea mohamed wants the old days back when syrian and lebanese fishermen used to work together. now it's lonely and not very profitable. nicole johnston al jazeera, at the lebanese/syrian border. uk based oil giant bp will cut billions in spending to cope with falling fuel prices and loss in earnings and slashed hundreds of jobs rounds the world and trying to reduce its spending by $22 billion this year. cuba media published new photographs of leader fidel castro and were taken on january 23 and show castro who is now 88 out in public for the first time since last year.

the man he is pictured with is the president of university students federation and castro stepped down from power in 2008. his resent seclusion raised speculation of his health including rumors he had died. the parents of 43 mexican students who went missing four months ago have arrived in jen geneva and dissatisfied of the government and bringing the case to the united nations and we report from geneva. >> reporter: united in silence for the missing students a mexican government delegation and human rights workers and some of the parents of the students. like this person who clings to the belief his son is still alive alive. >> translator: yes, really we do. we believe our children are still alive and that's why we carry on fighting. the government has not said to

us here are your children. here are their remains. and that's why we continue to believe they are alive. >> reporter: in mexico it's driven by anger and disgust and police and government corruption this case has revealed and the degree of colusion with criminal gangs and to push and shame the mexican government to improve the human rights record but the relatives of the missing have come all this way with very specific questions about the whereabouts of their loved ones and to that extent they are likely to be disappointed. human rights experts asked about the speed of legal reforms in mexico whether they are making a difference. the mexican government says there has been great progress in resent years and that what happened in egualla was an

abboration. >> it's an isolated event and it's tremendously traumatic and a huge tragedy that you cannot measure but it's not a trend. it's not part of the culture anymore and that's the main change. >> reporter: but that is no consolation to the parents who have come all this way. as time passes it seems less likely that they will ever see their children again, geneva. >> reporter: venezuela president criticized new u.s. visa restrictions on official u.s. regulations bar disclosing identities of those effected but say the restrictions are for venezuela officials involved in suppressing protests last year which people were killed and say it could also effect their immediate family members and described the restrictions as legalized punishment of venezuela. it's been two weeks since the

death of the argentina prosecutor and it's a mystery and polarized people from an election months away. >> reporter: if he was murder ed it's being investigated and if someone killed him who did, the government and elements of intelligence crisis one that is on security men or the what came from days earlier and we spoke to us the day before his death. >> it's very difficult to say he was murdered because i don't have evidence but i heard a very live person thinking about the next day, the day before. >> reporter: they have accused the president of argentina of

conspiring to cover up iran's involvement in the 1994 bomb attack on the jewish community center in buenos aires that killed 85 people. a few days after his accusations were made public and the day before he was due to present his findings to congress he was found dead in his bath. a pistol shot to the head. that much is known. but much more remains musky, clouded by contradictory information in a country increasingly polarized with those who believe the government version of events on one side and those who don't on the other. the argentina congress on tuesday begins debating a government-sponsored bill to radically reform intelligence service making it more transparent and more accountable. >> i think we are so confused as the first day because if you think of this situation the political environment, the

political climax nobody thinks of the suicide. >> reporter: presidential elections are due in october and she will not be running but must be relieved this week to be visiting china, a long way from the crisis unfolding at home and consolidating ties from the president to buenos aires last july. the media continues to dig and speculate. cabinet chief showing what he thought of these stories in this anti-government newspaper. what we do know is a powerful bomb killed 85 people in buenos aires in 1994. and that 21 years later the prosecutor investigating that unsolved crime was found dead in his bath. and who detonated the bomb and the truth behind the death of him may never be proved in a court of law. too many powerful forces may

have too much to hide. i'm with al jazeera, buenos aires. here are some stories we are expecting to develop later on tuesday, president barack obama's policy to open up a relationship with cuba is causing problems with congress. cuba's leader castro said he will not consider normalizing ties until obama very considers the embargo and guantanamo base and it will not support a move and will have a hearing later on tuesday. the uk house of commons is set to vote on whether to approve a medical procedure to allow a baby to be born with genetic material from three people and it's to stop mothers passing on a faulty gene that can cause a range of debilitating diseases and in some cases death, the proposal has to be approved by the house of lords before it becomes law. the five paintings by the artist monet are auctioned and will

fetch $105 million and the most coveted is this piece painted in 1908 when monet visited venice and said it was too beautiful to be painted and expected for $45 million. what paved the way for modern democracy in the u.n. is celebrated and this year is 800th anniversary of magna-carta signed and we report. >> under 4,000 words long each one written on a single sheep skin medieval latin and delicate and incomprehensible to most of us but clauses that are revolutionary and continue to shape our notion of democracy and justice. 800 years later these originals lie together at the british library for the first time. >> it was very radical to use a

written document to limit the power of the king. and magna-carta has become a charity that people looked back to as a defense against arbitrary rulers and at the heart of the fame today. >> reporter: it was agreement between the england king john and rebillion and forced him into it and angered of high taxes and unsuccessful wars and they wanted to limit his power. it was here near windsor castle where king john was forced to put his royal seal of approval on the magna-carta, a document for the first time sought to put an english king under the rule of law and it's that as specific of it which continues to inspire us today, putting limits on the rulers protecting the rights of the ruled. clause 39 and 40 say no one should be imprisoned without a

trial. another clause said the king couldn't raise taxes without agreed and clause 60 said if the king broke the deal a group of 25 barons would meet and pass judgment upon him. magna-carta inspired generations and founding fathers used it as basis for the u.s. constitution and nelson mandela quoted it at his trial and it will be displayed for a few days and 1200 members of the public will see it and thousands applied and it has a holy allure for some with a squabble between a king and subjects and established basic principles we still hold dear and i'm in southern england. still ahead on the news hour when we come back casino operators think they will have a great year even though revenues in 2014 were less than expected we will tell you why.

and in sport find out who is gone where and for how much as futbol transfer window shuts in europe. ♪

hello again and casino operators in china are excited about the year ahead in the world's largest gambling hub despite falling revenue and crack down on corruption by the government and sarah reports. >> reporter: all the bells and whistles expected for a casino announcement as one of the largest operators here unveiled

plans to open two new complexes. . >> translator: these two new important projects will be officially launched this year and at that time the galaxy expanding our resort to over $1.1 million square meters. >> reporter: that is double the size of its existing casino complex and comes with a $7 billion price tag but it is an investment made at a time when revenue from game ming fell for the first time in a decade and china intensifies anticorruption campaign. >> selling head wins and looking at trends in the market we are going through consolidation but we will end up stronger. >> reporter: they were up 7.5% to 31 million arrivals but gaming revenue still fell and analysts say they believe the crack down on illegal flow of

funds to the mainland discouraged high rollers that account for two thirds of the city's casino receipts. >> we have been seeing obviously a significant effect on the city specifically because very rich chinese who makeup the high rollers and bring in are the most honest business men in the world are not coming because they don't want to be scrutinized. >> john bruce is ann analyst and a suspected ring of prostitution ring in the city shows china is serious. >> people know there are not untouchables. >> reporter: the only place in china where people can legally bet in casinos and as a result it's the main draw to the territory but as a central government steps up scrutiny on illegal activity the city is moving to diversify interests which some believe will be crucial to avoiding an even

tougher year ahead, sarah clark, al jazeera. let's go to sport now. >> thank you very much. and checkbooks are back in pockets at futbol clubs and relatively quiet month of business and the biggest deal saw ivory coast striker moving to manchester for $40 million, for less than that chelsea has signed columbia striker on the final day. and chelsea world cup winner and assigned for germany in a $30 million deal. european sports correspondent lee weldings has more. >> reporter: as you would expect most of the activity in this winter european transfer window throughout and on the final day was taking place in england's and the primary league

still spending the most money overall and most transfers in and out and the club at the center of it, no surprise really it was chelsea once again and we knew it was going to be a case of confirmation of two big deals really one in one out. andre, the world cup winner with germany, had a great world cup but couldn't break in the chelsea team and in the end he decided he wasn't going to be part of the long-term plans but has brought in the other direction, one person from florintina and both around $30 million mark and even each other out and in a situation where he will be happy going to manchester city but of course during that window manchester city signed him from swanzie and calling the striker africa cup of nations, when he comes back $14 million plus he has been a big signing of the entire window

and what kind of impact can he make? >> japan terminated the contract due to his involvement in an on going match fixing investigation and japanese futbol fear any court case would harm their world cup qualifying campaign and denies wrongdoing after being named in a spanish anticorruption investigation and mexican departure is a week after the asian cup and defeated to the united emirites. africa cup of nations in the semi final phase but one team coach is unhappy that the direction his team has been forced to take. and the quarter final changes at late notice and monday saw them confronting reports, their last four games against host guinea on thursday may be shifted as well. >> we were informed like any other big tournament that the

winner will continue to play and then the winner needed to travel to now you tell me two days before to change the venue. so i don't know to laugh or to cry. but just tell them please to let me know at least two hours before the game okay? >> reporter: as preparations continue later this month they crashed them 119 runs in one and williamson powered new zealand to 369 runs and 50 over and partnership of 111 from mohamed and pakistan were all out for 250 with 7 overs to spare and knew zeeland won the series 2-0. superbowl victory parade postponed from tuesday to wednesday due to snow and cold weather, patriots have returned home to boston after beating last year's champions at the

seattle seahawks 28-24 on the final in arizona and it's their fourth superbowl title. 19 game winning streak has come to an end after beat 115-110 at new orleans and elsewhere brooklyn nets were nine points behind the clippers with 95 seconds left but they battled back with one second remaining and they netted the winning jumper to give brooklyn 102-100 home victory. u.s. president barack obama welcomed the kings and la to the white house and they took the cup and the title and obama called the sporting success an embarrassment while he wished them both the best he couldn't help being a little bit biased toward his own home team. >> so congratulations to both of these teams, to the city of los

angeles and its fans and best of luck when you are not playing chicago. >> reporter: that is all the sport for me. >> thanks very much. a great little story winners of an international competition for young people performed at new york's carnegie hall on monday and among them was a remarkable syrian refugee and able to travel to new york from turkey to perform and kristen has his story. >> reporter: carnegie hall and most spend years practicing before getting a chance to play at this concert venue and for this person it has been 18 months since his first piano lesson to now be one of about 50 children chosen from thousands to perform here, still it wasn't easy for a young man whose family fled syria war. >> there are a lot of kids like me my age, maybe dying because of cold or because of bombs, i

don't know. and i am not very happy for that. i'm sad for that. i hope this will end soon. >> reporter: he knows he is lucky, not just to have so much talent first playing the acordian and lucky because of his talent turkey president gave him and his family what so many syrian refugees want citizenship and with it the ability to work and travel. in this case to new york where judges spotted his talent. >> musicians, they play and perform their pieces and don't lecture. announcer: perhaps no one appreciates his accomplishments than other syrians. >> his love for music carries through the difficulties and brought him here and hopefully an opportunity for other young kids in syria under those horrific circumstances to aspire to and just find hope. >> reporter: he knows he needs

more than just luck. >> coming here and perform in this whole, it's a very big honor to me. i am happy and i'm so proud. ♪ he says he has a lot of hard work ahead to achieve his goal for being a professional musician. but already he has come so far. [applause] kristen with al jazeera, new york. well that just about does it for this news hour and to viewers joining us in united states on al jazeera america thank you for your company and the world news is next. ♪

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the u.n.'s top court rules neither serbia or croatia committed genocide during the balkins war. ♪ hello and welcome to al jazeera and live from doha i'm on the program and celebrating victory of i.s.i.l. a powerful shia malitia says it's now ready to attack the iraqi strongholds. troops from chad and cameroon are stepping up their offensive against boko haram. ♪