♪ kurdish fighters in iraq say they have taken control of the strategic town of sinjar in a major blow to i.s.i.l. ♪ hello and from the headquarters in doha i'm jane and switch in power of opposition party wins parliamentary majority in historic elections and u.n. looks at boosting forces in burundi and concerns are growing that the violence there could spiral out of control. and an aging mobster accused of planning a major airport heist

and also the free man. ♪ first iraq where kurdish forces say they are in full control of the northern town of sinjar around 7 1/2 thousand kurdish fighters involved in the operation and have been backed by a u.s. led air campaign and it's a symbolic victory for the kurds and the u.s., sinjar was captured by i.s.i.l. last year where the group killed and enslaved thousands of meanty yazitis and huge strategic and it's a major supply route between mosul and the capitol in raqqa in syria and we are in northern iraq along one of the main supply roots for the sinjar

fences. >> reporter: without facing stiff opposition the kurdish peshmerga forces have gone in the town of sinjar and declare that hold the town and came through the north and the north was controlled by them north of the mountain and took back the operation in december where they opened up the corridor and allowing them in the mountain to flee and have mounted some attacks on the town of sinjar but the push seemingly quite easy for the fighters and something strange is happening what we have not seen before and they are on blackout and no information coming out from them on this operation and they are quite active and i have spoken to a pro-i.s.i.l. journalist and said i.s.i.l. fighters left on november 11 but there is a discrepancy because of what we were told by the peshmerga is they were monitoring radio transmissions where i.s.i.l. chandlers were telling fighters they needed to stay or would be

executed and seemingly that has not happened and got in the town without facing resistance and said they control it and it's very crucial and very strategic the town of sinjar because of where it lies and let me just show you what is happening and a sign there says mosul and the local name for sinjar and this is important because that is where the kurdish president is and he is monitoring events quite closely and this is one of the key supply lines and when they took over and i.s.i.l. took over in august they are as far as i'm standing for the moment before they were beaten back by kurdish peshmerga forces and they are in the town and control it. >> the u.s. says it has launched air strikes in syria targeting the british i.s.i.l. fighter known as jihad john and cannot confirm if he was killed in the

strike in raqqa in the north and his accent made him recognizable in videos showing the murder of at least six civilian hostages and in the last hour uk prime minister david cameron praised the operation. >> he was a murder and shown in the sickening videos of the be heading of british aid workers and posed a threat to innocent civilians not only in syria but around the world and in the united king kingdom too and the lead executioner and he killed many, many muslims too and he was intent on murdering many more people so this was an act of self-defense, it was the right thing to do. >> european police say they have broken up a group of recruiting

fighters to join i.s.i.l. and 13 arrested in coordinated raids in three countries, italian police say the group was plotting attacks on nor norwegion and he is in prison in norway and could not be extradited to italy to face new charges. to myanmar and exactly five years to the day since suu kyi was released from house arrest, her opposition party has won the majority of seats in historic elections and suu kyi is due to meet some of the country's most important figures including the president to discuss the transition of power. national league for democracy party has secured more than 329 seats gaining control of both houses of parliament but quarter of the seats are allocated to the military and means it will remain hugely influential and myanmar's constitution bars suu kyi from becoming president

because she married a british citizen and her children have british passports and wayne has more. >> reporter: the magic number for democracy party was 329 seats combined in both the upper and lower houses of parliament, that is the total it needed to win to be able to form the next government, to enjoy a so called super majority, form the next government on its own and encounter any combine total that may be won by the ruling union solidarity party and the army and the army is guaranteed a quarter of all seats in parliament well as far as parliament goes that doesn't matter now, the uscp has performed so badly in the election of seats compared with the nld, the nld will be able to govern on its own and will be able to dictate who the next president will be and we will find that out next year, we do not know who the nld candidate for the president will be and know it can't be the leader suu kyi, she

is prevented from being the president of myanmar because of a clause in the constitution and don't know who it will be next year and it will come down to apparel menry vote but the coup of nld will have a huge majority in both houses and will be able to dictate who that president will be. we also know we have guarantees from the president and the head of the armed fores and have a huge statement saying this will be a peaceful transition of power to the nld and that they will acknowledge the wishes of the people of myanmar. the u.n. security council is drawing up plans to send peacekeepers to burundi if the violence there spirals out of control and it adapted a draft resolution on thursday condemning killings, torture and human rights violations and 240 have been killed in burundi since april and that is where pierre nkurunziza and i began

asking what he thinks of the u.n. measures. >> talks about continuously planning and we hope and pray to the extent of warranting with the peacekeepers here and also the threat of sanctions as it was the draft has been dropped. and we are not talking about additional measures which is not exactly the same but only know we are very satisfied about the resolution as has been adopted because we find it to be balanced and it's clear of some of our concerns which as you know have been -- that we even in the presence of dialog we need to have a dialog that is more that is broader and more inclusive and also for burundi

both inside and outside the country. >> excuse me for jumping in and before the point of dialog it's trying to quell the violence that is happening on the streets, very inflammatory language coming from some of your ministers and can you talk us through what is going on there? >> some of the words that have been qualified to be inflammatory have been clarified later and there were statements from the senate and also from the government which clarified the statements made earlier by burundi vis-a-vis disarmament process in burundi. we have called on the african unit monitors to see for themselves what is going on in those neighborhoods where the police is connecting disarmament process. >> the deputy president of south africa has been summoned by lawyers to answer questions over the 2012 killing of 34 minors by security forces in the americana region and director of the

platinum mine where the shootings happened and accused of pressuring the minister of police to take action against the protesting miners. mafia boss accused of planning one of the biggest robberies in u.s. history is a free man, prosecutors alleged he played a crucial role in a 1978 arport heist that helped inspire a hollywood film and we have this story. >> reporter: crime in martin's mob master piece good fellas. >> and jimmy put together of what turned out to be the biggest heist in history. >> reporter: but on wednesday nearly 40 years after the robbery took place the only person to ever stand trial for it, aging mobster vincent was acquitted. >> there was a hold up of historic proportions. >> reporter: off screen the 1978 heist gripped the u.s. >> authorities are not saying

much more than they believe this to be the largest robbery in american history. >> reporter: armed robbers broke into a cargo building at new york kennedy airport and investigators found an empty black van but not the robbers or the haul. >> 5 million in undocumented cash, a million in gems and jewelry which today would be worth over $20 million. >> reporter: journalist rob sent his career covering the mob. >> the various mafia families had big pieces of action at jfk at the airport, everybody was involved and gambino family included and when the master mind of a job planned it he had to give cuts to everybody. >> reporter: that alleged master mind was jimmy burke, aka jump my the gent. ♪ played in the movie by robert

dinero. >> never rat on your friends and keep your mouth shut. >> reporter: died in 1996 serving time for unrelated charges and this is vincent leaving his wake in one of the many pictures snapped over the years by agents and the code of silence has begun to crack leading to his day in court. >> most of the people involved in the case either were killed, bumped off or died of natural death and he is one of the natural survivors so longevity in the long run did him in. >> indicted last year for that job and other charges going back decades including 1969 murder of a suspected informant, during a three-week trial in brooklyn federal court he had the plan for the airport hold up and got a hefty cut, testifying against the 80-year-old several alleged mobsters including his own first cousin but in the end the jury decided there wasn't enough evidence as the verdict was

read, he pumped his fist and kissed his attorney on the lips. >> i got two years and i'm dying to get home. >> reporter: al jazeera. still to come in the program enrollments open for refugees in germany. we find out about the initiative designed to help asylum seekers integrate and chop stick champions young and old prove their dexterity with the asia utensils. ♪ the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

♪ hello and the top stories on al

jazeera, kurdish forces in iraq say they pushed i.s.i.l. fighters out of sinjar and taken full control of the town and it's important on a highway which links two of the group's major strongholds and suu kyi national league for democracy has won the historic poll and the country poll says opposition nld gained majority in both houses of parliament with more than 80% of votes counted. the u.n. may send peacekeepers to burundi if the violence there escalates, international leaders are calling for an urgent meeting between the government and the opposition. the u.s. holocaust memorial museum released a report accusing i.s.i.l. of committing genocide. it says the group's targeting of the people in northern iraq involved ms. killings and kid name and rape of thousands of women and girls and tom ackerman

reports from washington d.c. >> reporter: 17 months after iraqi forces lost the province the people have been the starkest example of the devastation committed by i.s.i.l. and hundreds of thousands displaced and thousands killed and enslaved and i.s.i.l. persecuted the turkmen christians and other non-muslims a report by the u.s. holocaust mumble museum said they have been targeted uniquely for extermination. >> you don't need to destroy the entire group, it's the intent that is the critical factor and in this particular case that intent exists. >> reporter: i.s.i.l.'s attacks on the people follow a long history of oppression at the hands of both sunni and shia extremist. >> believe there was abundance of early warning signs for this potential violence in iraq going back decades that has put minorities at particularly acute risk. >> facing prolonged displacement from their homes they will need

humanitarian aid and physical protection. one activist says when i.s.i.l. is defeed its victims must not take justice in their own hands with reprisals. >> with family members not to think that they will go there to have some advantage over the kind of the military to take leverage. >> reporter: bringing i.s.i.l. to justice will require hard evidence of atrocities and are worried about gaps in the documentation but this report is an important step in the effort to bear witness. tom ackerman, al jazeera, at the u.s. holocaust memorial museum in washington. french president says there will be a talk with turkey to talk about the increase of refugees from the middle east about 600,000 people have reached europe from turkey so far this year. >> translator: it was decided that there will be a european

council organized with turkey's involvement so we can agree a plan of action and commitments can be made from both sides, european and turkish, it means resources can be made available so that syrian refugees can stay in turkey and have basic means to survive. the leaders of slovenia and croatia are talking about the border and slovenia has razor wire to control the influx of refugees and croatia says the barrier is in disputed territory and germany's decision to admit thousands of asylum seekers has travesty at home and angela merkel says the country must rise to the challenge of integrating new arrivals and barnabie phillips reports from berlin on a new scheme to offer education to refugees. >> reporter: he is a young man hungry to learn, from pakistan he walked across nine countries to get to germany, now he wants to be an engineer, a big

ambition for a penniless refugee who speaks no german and thang and thanks to a new online university for refugees not an impossible dream. >> if i become a good engineer so i can really contribute to the whole community, i can design a new future for them so it is my motto and that is why i see this to help themselves. >> reporter: called kirun university and this is the promotional video with a thousand refugee students alrea already. >> i'm 25 years old from somalia and my profession back home was a social worker and currently a refugee in germany. >> reporter: these people made it happen, the team behind kirun

and they can offer courses for free and marcus one of the founders told me why he felt compelled to offer refugees this opportunity. >> i could really make a structural change and maybe enable thousands of people to study again to have something they can look forward to. >> reporter: the university outside berlin and refugee students who spend their first two years with kirun studying online and learning german will be allowed to come here in their third year provided they pass the right exams and eventually they will qualify for a full degree. if refugees are to do well and integrate in german society they need access to institutions like these, the universities that give people the skills and confidence to succeed in a sophisticated economy, so one challenge for the authorities is to open up these institutions in an affordable way but one that maintains high academic

standards. today's students are tomorrow's architects and computer scientists and engineers, germany needs more people with all these skills, educating refugees could bring enormous rewards, barnabie phillips, al jazeera, germany. two nephews of nicholas are being held on drug charges and they were arrested in haiti and flown to the u.s. where they appeared in court in new york, allen fisher has more. >> this is the four-page indictment that the men face in it accused of trying to import five kilograms or more of cocaine in the united states and the key words are more because some reports suggest there were as much as 800 kilograms and what we were told was a sting operation and the men were invites to a hotel in porto prince in haiti and met by

authorities and hand them over to drug enforcement agencies from the united states and the men were put on a private plane and flown to new york on tuesday night and during the flight they confirmed they were nephews of nicholas miduro and they could face life in prison and a question was asked at the white house briefing and the spokesman said he can confirm two men had been arrested and gave no more details and nicholas has no official comment from caracas but a tweet that says no attacks or ambushs will effect the people of liberator, we have only one destiny, victory and you remember last year the head of intelligence services was arrested in aruba and wasn't deports to the united states but went back to venezuela and there nicholas miduro said it was a plateau under mine destabilize

and eventually try to over throw his government and these arrests will not be welcome by caracus with no official comment. >> 110 companies in china penalties for not reducing pollution and the environment watchdog says the firms failed to reduce pollution after emergency response order was put in place, china is one of the world's biggest e mitters of greenhouse gasses, last august the biggest mine spill in mexico left people with chemical burns and illnesses and contaminated drinking water and lost crops and john holman looks at what has been done to help the communities affected. >> reporter: mexican farmers who work the fertile lands here shows the soil and it turned yellow after the biggest toxic mine spill in mexico's history. >> no one buys from us and we cannot sow and they do not come

here because they say it's contaminated. >> reporter: government test show the soil is not dangerous and the studies we had backed it up but it's all about consumer confidence and the only one whose will eat this produce now are the cattle. the farmland surrounding the river has always been extremely fertile before 40 million liters of toxic waste flowed through these waters from a mine owned by the group in mexico and now the government and the company say things are back to normal but people here believe they are still affected. the boys are suffering from rash, stomach pains and diarrhea and many families in the area they drink from wells next to the river. >> translator: the government said they helped already but that is a lie. the people they send say it's contaminated and we are frightened for the children and the illnesses they have and we have to spend money on getting them to a doctor, money we

sometimes do not have. >> reporter: the government and groups of mexico promised more than 30 paths to treat the water after the spill. we asked a government official dealing with the disaster where they were. >> translator: i know about the treatment plans and don't know how many and if they have been working. >> reporter: the answer is zero are worrying despite $100 million made available to deal with the crisis. they also promised to specialize center with full time skin experts and labs to treat ongoing cases. >> translator: the special health center will begin construction in september and will be operational next july. >> reporter: that interview took place this august but more than a year after the spill building still has not begun and there is only a temporary clinic to treat cases like she and her boys. on her visit no tests were run, no specialist was on hand but a doctor still told them their illnesses were not connected to

the river. that is typical of the government and group of meks cow's attitude to the disaster says ben from a university. >> translator: it's bias and secondly incomplete and i don't think the government has a complete analysis, it's what happens in latin america let time pass and people will forget. >> reporter: one of the worst environmental disasters is now passed and broken promises make it difficult for people here to believe them, john holman with the river in mexico. >> south korea crowned the first chop stick child prodigy and awarded the top prize at the 2015 chop stick festival, the first of its kind and harry faucet has more from the city.

>> reporter: all big sporting events require opening ceremonies but to the athletes it can add to the nerves especially four to six-year-olds preparing to do combat broadcasting live to the nation, the weapons of choice well this is the first ever international festival devoted to chop sticks and some thrive and some wilt under the pressure and some enjoy the lime light just a little too much. but one girl stands out, ice cool, a class above, six-year-old is crowned south korea's chop stick prodigy. >> translator: i practiced with my mom a lot so i was able to move lots of beans. i practiced a lot. >> reporter: it's all part of an annual cultural festival linking south korea and they

made the most of a shared culture going back 2000 years. >> translator: with the culture we can hopefully open a new future to harmony, coexisting over coming conflicts and confrontations. >> reporter: but chop sticks divide and unite and korean has a metal on flat sided, japanese short edged and sharper with fish and in china are longer and better to reach the plates. medium metal chop stick you find here is the perfect goldi locks compromise and some say it's slippery and you can eat a lot of korean food with a spoon. back in the whole is the final team event and after practicing with extra small beans victory is sweet. >> translator: i'm so happy my body could fly away. each of us put in the work.

we practiced hard. >> reporter: with prize money of nearly $1,000 they can afford to eat well and skillfully at their dinner, south korea. congratulations to those winners, the news update is 24 hours a day on al jazeera.com. democrats and republicans agree that the immigration system is broken.