first world series since 1908. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next, live from doha. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour, i'm jane dunton in doha. unrest continues in israel. a palestinian man is shot dead by security forces. more help for the syrian government. reports that iranian troops have been sent to help fight rebels. the taliban says it is withdrawing from kunduz, but warns it can take it back whenever it wants. and not so festive, more

signs that china's economy is slowing down. ♪ we begin in jerusalem where a palestinian has been shot dead by security forces. police say he tried to stab soldiers at one of the old city gates, it's the only fatality so far after the government introduced tough new security measures on tuesday night. [ gunfire ] >> there have been some protests. tear gas has been fired at stone-throwing youths in the occupied west bank. the violence started after a funeral for a palestinian shot dead by israeli forces on tuesday. we're looking at live shots

coming to us now from bethlehem. it has calmed down from what we were seeing earlier in the day. you can still see a few shots of tear gas being fired, but it certainly has calmed down a lot from the violence that we have seefrn the last couple of days. hoda abdel hamid spoke to a student at the university. she says students are behind the uprising there. >> student councils and all universities on the west bank, they are the ones who are organizing this uprising, and these clashes all over west bank, and also in gaza. here we -- we tell the whole world and our political leaders that we are one unit. together we will do anything to protect our mosques, to protect our students, to protect [ inaudible ] and palestine.

we don't care about the leaders outside of the university. we are the ones organizing these clashes and this uprising. we don't care if the leaders outside -- they want us to calm down. we are taking the responsibility for all of what is happening. >> let's bring in andrew simi r similar -- simmons live in west jerusalem. what happened. >> well it was a damascus gate, it had been really quiet up to this point, and then police say that a young youth, thought to be in his early teens was sitting here any gate, and they asked to inspect him. the police say that he then pulled a knife and immediately an officer opened fire, shooting him dead.

in that is the police account of events. it's quite brief at the moment. of course there's no independent verification of this, and we don't know the exact circumstances in full detail yet. but there obviously has been another round of tension because of this, but up until that point, people really had just been trying to work out the impact of these new security measures, and how it is going to effect their lives, whether it will lessen any of the fear. >> i was going to ask you about the feeling from all camps, considering that the violence in bethlehem continues, many israelis are feeling insecure, and yet we have these new security measures, how is that all going to work out? >> reporter: well, in terms of the security measures, the chief one that has impact with people is the appearance, which hasn't happened yet, of troops on the

ground in cities and towns, wherever there is any tension points, and also there is supposed to be something like -- anything between 300 and 600 troops deployed. that isn't a huge number when you take in to account shifts and everything else, but it is a measure that psychologically may assist some people. however, whether or not it will change the dynamics of the situation is another point. also 300 additional security guards will be on public transport, and the army has been instructed to deploy all units into sensitive areas. there is also a move on to seal off areas in occupied east jerusalem, villages in particular, where there are suspected incitement cases or tension situations. really the police have been given a full [ inaudible ] to

seal off these areas, at a moment's nths. not only that, there are also other measures, such as already taking place as the demolition of what the government describes as terrorists homes, a very controversial issue with human rights issues, in terms of really damaging not only the terrorists, but also their relatives and families, and really causing anxiety there, but also they -- the government wants to actually stop -- or take all of the possessions away of these people they term terrorists, and also insist that they won't actually be able to rebuild on these sites. and this is just some of the measures being taken. there is another one which is really controversial, which has been announced by the public security minister. he says the bodies of fenners, again, described as terrorists by the government, won't be

returned to relatives, which is causing massive distress, jane. >> all right. let's leave it there. andrew simmons live in west jerusalem. the russian foreign minister says the u.s. has refused to send a military delegation to russia to discuss syria, and condemned western interference. >> translator: attempts to put a break on this process to prevent a more stable international environment are leading only to chaos, anarchy and rejection by many other countries. russia will continue to conduct a international policy, and try to make sure that security is observed throughout the world and in russia as well. >> there are reports that iranian troops are arriving in syria to help a government offensive. the syrian army has already been backed by hezbollah fighters and the russian air campaign.

zana hoda is following the story for us. rrn iran provided much needed support to the syrian government over the years. and they don't hide the fact that they play an advisory role in syria; that they have military advisors on the ground. but the official iranian line has been no, we do not have ground forces in syria, but we have been hearing reports from pro-iranian sources, as well as pro-iranian media, saying that thousands of iranian troops have arrived in syria to take part in ground operations alongside the syrian government as well as their lebanese ally, the shia armed group, hezbollah. now these reports coincide with the visit of a top-ranking iranian official who is in damascus holding talks with syrian officials. he is talking about a positive outcome as a result of the ongoing coordination.

but on the ground, yes, the -- the assault lead by the government as well as russian air strikes have really pushed rebels back from -- from a number of front lines, placing the rebels on the defensive. they are no longer on the offensive, but these reports about the presence of iranian troops, undoubtedly significant, because as of late and ever since russia joined the military effort in syria, more information has been coming out, saying that iranian troops are on the ground, and they are helping the syrian government, and many believe this is a message from iran that we're still here, we are still a player, and we still have a say in syria, and we do not want to be left out of any political talks to find a settlement, because there is no doubt russia's intervention really has put russia in the spotlight of efforts to try to find a political solution. charles glass has written a book on the conflict in syria,

and isil's growing influence. he says people living in government-held areas will welcome the support. >> iran has supported the regime in damascus from the beginning of the uprising in march 2011. iran has needed syria from the time of the islamic revolution. it was its own serious ally in the arab world, and it was the conduit between iran and hezbollah in lebanon. they simply stepped up their support recently for bashar al-assad because the syrian army was losing territory. it lost idlib province, aleppo was mostly surrounded by jihadist force. so russia and iran together have come in more heavily than say a year ago, in order to shore up the regime forces who they don't want to see losing more ground. it seems in fact that iran and russia are now competing for

influence in syria. iran having had the upper hand for the last few years, and -- which caused some resentment particularly among sunnis in syria, and now the russians have come in and they are offsetting that a little bit, and many sunnis who have not thus far opposed the regime of assad, will be reassured by the fact that a secular, non-shia power has come in to defend the regime. because most people in the regime-held areas, and probably anywhere between 60 and 80% of the population still live in the regime-held areas, they are obviously afraid of the islamic state and al-nusra and similar organizations, they don't want to see the regime collapse and their homes taken over by the jihadists. a new mission to retake ramadi from isil fighters is immine

imminent, the prime minister has said. thousands of fighters have agreed to take part in the battle. but sectarian infighting has delayed the offenses. >> reporter: in a carefully choreographed message to isil, the sunni tribal fighters chant we're not afraid. they belong to tribes from the predominantly sunni anbar province in western iraq, who are opposed to the armed group, and have just completed a training program with the iraqi military. their graduation ceremony was attended by sunni tribal leaders and commanders, a deliberate show of unity as the government is preparing for what it calls a major offensive to retake ramadi. >> these are your sons and we want them to be integrated within the military establishment, and recognized officially. >> reporter: the recruits have been trained to be part of what

has been called the national guard, a proposed arm force for each of iraq's provinces, made up solely of local fighters. it is meant to address concerns in predominantly sunni areas that shia militias are trying to gain control. a bill seeking approval for the controversial plan has stalled in parliament with iraq's deep sectarian divisions, largely to blame for the political dead lock. as a result, prime minister hasn't been able to launch a new offensive despite promising to do so for weeks. >> translator: there is no trust between the government forces, including the so-called popular mobilization forces, and the sunni tribal fighters, and that's why there is a delay in the up coming offensive. >> reporter: this isn't the first time iraqi forces have tried to liberate ramadi from

isil. it launched an offensive in july, but it was halted after sunni tribes complained shia militias were becoming too involved in the fighting. the prime minister's strategy in the province has been described by some political analysts as a complete mess. still, it would appear he's determined to retake the capitol ramadi from the armed group, but until he breaks the political dead lock, and addresses sectarian concerns, he'll have hard time doing so. iran's guardian council made up of senior clerics and lawyers have given their approval to the nuclear deal reached with world powers. the council ensures proposed laws don't contradict iran's constitution or religious laws. the long-awaited agreement signed in july, and now economic sanctions will be lifted if the

nuclear program is limited. much more to come here on the al jazeera news hour. >> i'm jonah hull in sweden. the end of a long journey from the war in syria. >> reporter: people in guinea await the results of the presidential election, which opposition candidates say was rigged. and in sport, the chicago cubs haven't won the world series since 1908, but they have made history in this year's playoffs. all of the details with sunna later in the program. ♪ there's more evidence that chinese economy is slowing down. new data shows that consumer inflation, decelerated in september, putting more pressure on beijing to stimulate the economy. local businesses are struggling to deal with the downturn as adrian brown reports. >> reporter: it's the world's

christmas showroom, a vast one-stop impore um for traders from around the world. 60% of all christmas decorations are made here. today an cater of china's economy. >> translator: this year is very bad. much worse compared with last year. my business has dropped by almost half. >> reporter: the factory makes artificial christmas trees. this shipment is destine for chile. until now, europe had been his most important market, but economic growth there remains sluggish, its currency, the euro is much weaker against the chinese currency. all of that hurts exporters. >> translator: the problem is orders decrease a lot. and also the volume of orders have dropped as well. >> reporter: and there are other problems. labor costs are rising, on average 30% higher than they

were five years ago. >> translator: the profit is less and less, and the workers pay is getting higher and higher. also the overseas market is not doing so well, and the price of our products do not rise, so that's why i closed my factory. >> reporter: in other words, factories in the world's workshop are struggling to remain competitive. all at a time when the economy has already slowed to its lowest level in 25 years. this is very much the face of made in china, but it's the face the chinese government wants to slowly phase out. it wants to end this sort of low-end manufacturing, focusing instead of high-tech industries. it could mean a painful transition for this city. this events 200 of its manufacturers. >> translator: the government has called for us to use more advanced technology, but certain things still have to be made by

hand, the traditional way. >> reporter: the writing is on the wall in other ways here. this cluster of crudely maded a verts are for shops and apartments for sale or rent, prices almost always negotiable. >> translator: i don't know, there are so many empty apartments, too many. >> reporter: it is not all bad news. in and it threeist china, christmas is becoming popular. this city needed to become even more so. the chief economist and managing partner at chief intelligence says china has long-term programs in place. >> it has about $250 billion directly dedicated to it, but a cumulative trillion and a half dollars. it is expected to have a 6 to $10 trillion impact on the economy globally.

i think the internationalization of the yen, it will happen within two to three years. it's already moving forward. so when you look at places like south korea, over 60% of its trade with china is paid in chinese yen, so south korea is heavily utilizing the chinese yen already. so there are a number of things happening for that long-term activity. in the short-term, our for casts indicate that early in the fourth quarter, china's really going to hit a bottom. things are going to stabilize from here on out, at least until march. sweden has received the highest number of asylum applications in its history, 86,000 people have registered so far this year. in that figure surpasses previous record set in 1992. jonah hull revisited a family

seeking refuge. >> reporter: we catch up with this woman and her father keep in the swedish countryside in cram cramped accomodations. it's a long way from the first encounter with the family. and it isn't the sweden, she imagined. >> i'm worried about the future, here. i didn't think that life would be like that. >> reporter: she shows me what appears to be bullying threats from on immigration official. >> what is problem to go to house? it is not possible. >> no. >> every day new rules, new rules. >> so you hate them? but if you hate them go somewhere else. >> he argue with this guy from damascus. he told him give me the [ inaudible ] and i can do everything for -- i will throw you out of sweden.

>> reporter: he said give me your identity card and i'll throw you out. >> yeah. >> reporter: i put all of this to the immigration minister in stockholm. >> it's really a challenge for the authorities to be able to set up proper housing for people, and to have proper control of what is happening with them. so this -- this is -- we're not dealing with this so good as we should do right now. >> reporter: you have got to travel a long way into the middle of nowhere to find these camps for want of a better word, people waiting months and months for their applications to be processed, living in conditions that they didn't expect to find here in sweden. well, one day life for them in sweden will be much better, but even this country with its long history of welcoming refugees is finding it hard to cope.

do you think that the compassion of sweden and of swedish people has limits? >> no. i think the opposite. because when i could see, we started to collecting here for clothes and saw and it was streaming to us, so much. >> reporter: so people care? >> people care. they do. >> reporter: as we talk about the past, about syria, her father breaks down. >> he spent his life inside syria. he don't want to -- to go out. >> reporter: a reminder that this is not the life they chose. jonah hull, al jazeera, sweden. brazil's ruling party won an

injunction to delay a vote on whether to impeach the president. she was facing charges of manipulating government accounts. guinea has been criticized for the way it held its presidential election. observers say procedures were poorly organized. they have still been given a clean bill of health, but as rob reports that won't satisfy the opposition parties who want the ballot held again. >> reporter: the streets are quiet for now. the biggest crowds are place guarding and patrolling. the results aren't even in, but already all opposition leaders are saying it has been rigged. anger is growing. the evidence of street battles between supporters and police over the weekend is scattered across the capitol. >> translator: we have engaged to battle until the end, until the actual results are out. and repeat the election and how

it is supposed to be. we want justice. >> reporter: european union observers say the elections were carried out properly and peacefully. early election results say that the president has a big lead. but the opposition doesn't accept that. >> translator: i don't want the committee, the military, or civil servants to decide who is going to be president. this is what is happening right now. people's choice has not been counted. >> reporter: it's only the second time they have voted in a democratic presidential election. the first one put conde in to power, but he has faced rising criticism since, accused of attempting to rig legislative elections in 2013. tensions were running high up to sunday's vote. at least two were killed and many more injured in fighting between supporters of the opposition and the ruling party.

any european union wants both sides to take their complaints to the courts. >> translator: we would like people not to act on grievances, but they think they have, challenges must be legitimate, and not taken to the street, but before the judges. >> reporter: but on the streets frustration at guinea's politicians is spreading even to the police. >> translator: those guys who are pushing us to the streets, do they have any kids out here? don't they have apartments in france, senegal, ivory coast? we don't. if i'm kicked out of here, i'll have to go back to the village. i don't have a choice. >> reporter: they went to the polls in peace, now they must decide how to react to the result, no matter what it turns out to be. rob matherson, al jazeera. a church has been burned down. at least one person has been killed in indonesia. it is believed hundreds of muslim men attacked a church,

setting it on fire. the clashes followed demonstrations last week by an islamic youth group demanding destruction of a number of churches they believe were built illegally. >> reporter: another religious attack in indonesia. a muslim youth group in the islamic province had demanded the closure of ten churches who are operating without proper building permits. when the local authorities didn't meet the deadline, the local youth group took the law into their hands and burned down one church. one person died. the government responded quickly and spent reinforcements to the area. at this stage it's not clear what will happen to the other nine churches that are still operating without building permits. the christian minority in the area is now living in fear. indonesia has often been at the center of religious violence.

this latest attack is now seen as an important task to the government who have committed themselves to defend religious tolerance in this mrurallist nation. running out of raw materials in nigerian import ban supposed to encourage local production has done anything but that. and the country has been attorney apart by war, but syria's football team are most definitely united as they take another step towards qualifying for the 2018 world cup. that's later in sports. ♪

>> oil in the arctic.

>> we're the eyes and the ears here in the arctic, we wanna be prepared. >> as the ice recedes and potential danger builds, can science keep a step ahead of disaster? >> we can't go back if we have a significant accident. the oil will make its way into the ice. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >> can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> awesome! >> techknow - where technology meets humanity. hello, again, these are the top stories on al jazeera. [ gunfire ] a palestinian has been shot dead in jerusalem, police say he tried to stab soldiers at one of the old city gates.

and there has been a tense standoff between palestinians and israeli security forces in bethlehem in the occupied west bank. russia foreign minister says the u.s. has refused to send a military delegation to russia to discuss coordination on syria and he has condemned western interference in the country foreign policy. reports that iranian troops are arriving in syria to help a government defense in aleppo. the syrian army has already been backs by hezbollah and a russian air campaign. taliban fighters say they have withdrawn from the city of kunduz to protect civilians. afghan troops rushed to recapture the city two weeks ago. jennifer glasse is in kabul. >> reporter: the taliban says it left kunduz city not just to

avoid civilian casualties but also to preserve the strength of its fighters for what it says will be future operations. they were only in the city about two weeks, but their presence will have long-lasting implications, because they targeted government officials, women activists and journalists, causing many of them to flee. this woman says she became a journalist to show other women there are opportunities in afghanistan. she loved her job as a reporter in kunduz, until the taliban came and forced her to leave. she fled to kabul leaving most of her family behind. after she left her father was killed in the fighting. >> translator: i couldn't go to his funeral. the road was unsafe, and also i'm too recognizable. my mother was grieving. i was the only breadwinner for the family. because of all of this, i could not go and see my father for the last time. >> reporter: she has been threatened even before the taliban entered the city.

their fighters raided the station and stole all of the equipment, records, and video files, a few photos are all that remains of what was the only independent station in kunduz. and now her fiance is worried. >> translator: i feel we are in danger, and i don't let her go out alone. >> reporter: the taliban have pulled out of kunduz, but she says there are taliban fighters in neighboring districts. >> translator: i thought they would behave well towards ordinary people, but i was wrong. the taliban will never treat them properly. once again the dark ages that the people of afghanistan experienced in the past could happen again. >> reporter: the director of the tv station says he wasn't want to return to kunduz and rebuild. but it won't be easy. the taliban stole about $100,000

worth of equipment, much of it came from international donors. >> translator: the international community gave lots of aid in the past, but the situation has changed, and i think the assistance won't be like it used to be. >> reporter: the taliban have threatened employees of the two most popular television stations because of their reporting in kunduz, and tool ban offenses continue arrange the country. an offensive on tuesday killed 21 afghan policemen and the taliban still control the main road between kabul and kandahar, the country's two largest cities, stranding hundreds of passengers along the road, and stopping transit between the cities, and although their attack on monday night on gasny city, the taliban continue to fire rockets on gasny city.

>> the director of south asian programs joins us now from washington, d.c. what do you make of the taliban withdrawing? what is the message there? >> well, i think they have made [ inaudible ] out of necessity quite frankly. they had been pushed back by the security forces and i don't think they would have gained much by staying in kunduz right now. but quite frankly they have given the message. and the message they have given the day they took over, which is that the taliban may actually fight their way back into kabul and kandahar and rule afghanistan, the conventional wisdom for a long time is that is never going to happen again. and the signal they have sent, is that they haven't given up that hope yet. >> and are they capable of doing this? >> i don't think so quite frankly. this is a bit artificial,

because the afghanistan security forces are not en masse in north. everybody expected them to try to take over in the south, that is their strong hold. so i don't think they can do this in the south of the country. at the end of the day, think about the avenue gau -- average afghan, they don't want to go back to the way things were. >> and confusion not helped by how ineffective the local security forces are. how is the u.s. viewing the situation at the moment, and what are they advising? >> i think the advice everybody has to give is the afghanistan security forces have to step up. and the international community has to keep backing them with resources, with training, and with support wherever it's needed like in kunduz, without

this, i do not see the afghanistan security forces being able toing handle the situation sustainably, if the taliban continue the kind of attacks they have in kunduz. >> thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. hundreds of thousands of pharmacies across india have shut-in protests over the on line sale of medicines. our correspondent reports from new delhi. >> reporter: these protesters say they are the only ones that legally can and should be allowed to trade medicines in india. up to 850,000 chemists are on strike nationwide. they are concerned about the growth of india's online pharmaceutical business, and what they say is the government's unwillingness to stop its expansion. >> in present law online

pharmacy is not allowed in india, because if anybody wants to go to retail pharmacy, they have to do it in we supervision of pharmacist, physically must be there [ inaudible ] must be there. >> reporter: some critics say the strike is yet another sign of traditional indian businesses resisting change. shoppers jostling to buy medicines is a familiar seen. few questions are ever asked and often no prescription is needed to buy some of the most specialized medicines, including antibiotics. as access to healthcare has grown, so too has demand for medication, and while that is a good thing for millions of people, those who can't afford to are looking for alternative and easier ways of getting what they need. online pharmacies hope to capitalize on the growth of

india's tech-savvy middle class. they have yet to have a noticeable impact on the market, but they see big potential. their confidence is boosted like customers like this, who relies on a regular supply of medicines because she is diabetes. she also uses an app called daily meddy, customers up load prescriptions and it takes care of the rest. >> translator: sometimes i can't get everything i need at one pharmacy, so i have to go to others, that's a big problem. with this app i can get everything i need in one place. >> reporter: deli meddy started in july and already has 800 clients. it connects customers to chemists, and doesn't trade or transport medicines. >> we want to make it organized and give a [ inaudible ], and so

that they can compete with their big [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: the government is yet to regulate the online sale of medicine, but these chemists want to make sure their concerns are heard well before any policy prekrip shuns are made. imports of rice, see meant and toothpicks are being banned by nigeria's government. they are among 41 products that the government say can be produced in nigeria. >> reporter: this is the last supply of concentrated tomato paste being processed at this factory. it was imported from california. but now the government has put an unofficial ban on its import, along with 40 other products. the government says these items can be produced in nigeria. and it believes the decision will force producers to set up

factories here and create jobs, but the 400 workers here are about to lose their jobs, because there aren't factories that produce concentrated tomato paste. the decision to stop the importation of these items was announced by the central bank known as the cbn. >> the cbn did this overnight. 40,000 livelihoods, direct and indirect [ inaudible ]. if the time is not given now for at least one to two years for integration, all of this 40,000 manpower will become jobless. >> reporter: even though tomatoes are grown in large quantities here, poor power supply and lack of facilities means there is no way of processing them. and it's the same problem with most of the other products that

have been banned. it means exporters are no longer send their products to nigeria, as there's no guarantee they will be paid. >> reporter: the government says this is the shock therapy needed to get the manufacturing industry working. >> if there are items that can be produced comparative at the advantageous position in this country, we open up these factories. let them import the missionaries and produce them in this country, and provide implement for the [ inaudible ] that are out there on the streets. >> reporter: there's another problem too. the falling oil prices has lead to a shortage of u.s. dollars that the government can spending on the foreign exchange market. but the government says the measures will stay in place for the time being. so this factory is looking at

how it might start producing tomato paste to stay in business. whether or not there should be a no-fly zone in syria has been hotly debated in las vegas. they hosted the first democratic debate for presidential hopefuls. >> reporter: the backdrop, the sheer opulence of the wynn hotel in las vegas. here in this city, the play ground for the rich and famous, the democratic hopefuls for president pledged they would tax the people who party here in order to help those who work here. hillary clinton is trying to put a growing scandal behieng her. she used a private email server during her time as secretary of state, reinforcing the idea that she is untrustworthy. she called the investigation political. and got some support. >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your

damn emails. >> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: the sharpist disagreement came on the issue of a no-fly zone in syria. >> what i believe and i advocated the no-fly zone be put on the table is because i'm trying to figure out what leverage we have to get russia to the table. diplomacy is not about getting to the perfect solution, it's about how you balance the risk. >> a no-fly zone in syria, i think a very dangerous situation, could lead to real problems. >> you have to enforce no-fly zones, and i believe especially with the russian air force in the air, it could lead to an escalation that we could deeply regret. >> reporter: few differences emerged in the debate. they argued this will be an election about the growing divide between the rich and the poor in a city that personifies that very thing. the book of prize for

fiction has been won by a jamaica author for the first time. he won for a brief history of seven killings. his novel was inspired by the attempted assassination of bob marley in the 1970s. i'm jessica bald win in london, at the opening of a new show by the artist m.c. escher. one of the front runners in the fifa presidential race has had his say on the crisis engulfing the world football governing body. plus -- ♪

♪ let diabet's get to sports . >> thank you. the south african football special has been suspended involving a match-fixing allegation. he has been banned for six years. meanwhile the man who wants to be fifa's new president, prince ali or jordan has warned against delaying the february 26th vote. a swiss criminal investigation has resulted in the suspension of sepp blatter and two of his main rivals for the job. it has lead some to call for the election to be postponed, but ali believes that would damage

fifa's credibility, and create more instability. the chicago cubs have debten the st. louis cardinals to reach the national championship league series, they haven't won the championship since 1909. but the cardinals started better, giving then a 2-0 lead with home runs in the 1st inning. however, the chicago fans found their voice soon after. a 3-run homer gave chicago the lead. the cardinals came back again to level the game, but a home runs had the fans celebrating the 6-4 win. [ inaudible ] strikeout [ inaudible ] the cubs are clenching a post-season series at wrigley field for the very first time. our reporter john hendren was

with them. >> reporter: this is what celebration looks like in a town that has been waiting a long time to celebrate. the cubs are one step away from the world series, a place they haven't been since 1945. they haven't come this close since 2008. if the they win the division, then they go to the series. they have not won since 1908. back here, they believe the curse has been broken. [ cheers ] >> and they will end up going to the world series. >> the chicago cubs are going to the world series! [ cheers ] >> reporter: you heard it here. [ inaudible ]. >> this is really nice and rewarding for them, for mr. ricketts, for theo, and for this entire city who has stuck behind us this entire time.

times wsh -- weren't easy the last few years, but everyone new the cubs were coming. and hopefully we can keep this going. >> the cubs have received a message of congratulations from a fan of their bitterest rivals, the chicago white sox. u.s. president barack obama took to twitter to offer his personal congratulations. he said he will be supporting the cubs if they reach the world series. the cubs will play the winner of the series between the dodgers and matters that has gone to a deciding fifth game. the decider will be played in los angeles on thursday. we have a new number 1 team in world football, belgium have assumed fifa's top ranking. they ended israel's hopes of making it to the european championships next year with a 3-1 victory. belgium confirming their place

as group b winners, and move above argentina and germany in the world rankings. the netherlands dream of reaching the yoeuro 2016 finalss now over. earlier we spoke to our reporter from london and asked him when did it all go wrong for the dutch team? >> reporter: what is remarkable is the expansion of the finals to 24 teams to 16 made it look inevitable that the established nations like the netherlands could qualify. in fact three teams finished above them in their group. what it really did for them, was the emergence of iceland. iceland was superb in both of

their games. but i think their team peaked at the world cup, and now big players haven't performed. robin has completely lost his form, a player that has been injured, the super stars of the dutch game just haven't performed. managerially, the experienced hand was meant to take them through for the finals. it didn't work for him. he left in july. and in comes danny, and it hasn't worked for him neither. he said he hopes to carry on. well, the dutch football association might have other ideas. syrias dream of one day appearing at a football world cup is still on track. they beat afghanistan.

our correspondent reports. >> reporter: from the outside this was just another world cup qualifier, but to syria and afghanistan who have been banned from posting matches for security reasons, this complain is proof of their adversity in times of war. both sides have played at mutual venues and native fans have been few and far between. but what the crowd lacked in number, they made up for in enthusiasm. the support in the stands didn't hold afghanistan back. amar'e opened the scoring. this made it 3. and it looked dangerously recommend innocence sent of the 6-0 thrashing in june. but they pulled back at either side of the break. whatever hopes they may have had of a come back were ended by

amar'e, who completed his hat track, and it ended 5-2 to syria, the result putting them back top of their world cup qualifying group. >> we did very silly mistake on defense second half. but we come back again, and scored two goals. that's very important to have three points and to lead the group again. >> reporter: syria is still many victories away from qualifying for their first-ever world cup finals in russia in 2018, but what both sides have proved here is despite the conflicts in their home countries, they can still pursue that dream. cricket, innings of 245 have put pakistan firmly on top after two days of the first test against england in abu dhabi. malik is playing his first test

for five years his career best score. along with this century allowed pakistan to their first innings on 523 for 8. international olympic committee officials have met in tokyo ahead of the games scheduled to be held there in 2020. key figures including the ifoc chairman, and tokyo's president were attending. tokyo 2020 has had its share of embarrassments. organizers have had to scrap a plan for the new olympic stadium due to high costs and drop his official logo over accusations of mrajerrism. >> reporter: one of the best known graphic artists who's images are everywhere, but the is not well-known in museums.

that is about to change. >> reporter: the tower of baseball shown from a bird's eye view by m.c. escher. the artist said he wanted to show the building from above since that's where the action took place. the top of the tower where god gave different languages to people and scattered them across the earth. a staircase switches back on itself, and is stepped on upper and under sides. it was the inspiration for the video game echo chrome. the name m.c. escher may not be familiar to all, but his images are everywhere. despite popular appeal, his work has largely been ignored by museums. >> escher is so famous with ordinary people, that it can't be good. it's a cliche way of thinking. >> reporter: he worked on his

own in his studio. islamic tiles, at the 11th century palace in spain were a huge inspiration. he took the images and moved on to patterns of identical shapes that seamlessly interlock and can be repeated endlessly. more interested in solving difficult puzzles in his art, he couldn't be bothered with fame and fortune. >> visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to make their own selfies just as escher did more than 80 years ago. since then his popularity has only risen. >> reporter: fans have more than a hundred prints to examine. what has been more difficult is escher's work finding its

rightful place on museum walls. >> i'm going to hand you over to david foster for the next bulletin. >> i've been asked to

keep my voice down cause we are so close to the isil position >> who is in charge, and are they going to be held to accout? >> but know we're following the research team into the fire >> they're learning how to practice democracy... >> ...just seen tear gas being thrown... >> ...glad sombody care about us man... >> several human workers were kidnapped... >> this is what's left of the hospital >> is a crime that's under reported... >> what do you think... >> we're making history right now... >> al jazeera america

violence in the occupied west bank, israeli soldiers fire tear gas at palestinian protesters as a security clamp down begins. ♪ it's good to have your company. you are watching al jazeera live from london with me david foster. also coming up in this program, the russian jets pounding positions in syria, as reports emerge of iranian troops on the ground bolstering assad's forces. taking to the streets of south africa,