>> the ceasefire in yemen. hello, this is al jazeera live in doha. stopping the flow of isil oil, the efforts made to prevent the armed group making millions a month from the trade. a warning of possible new sanctions against iran after u.n. findings on a missile test. >> on the road to , the long process of breathing life back into a ghost town.

>> hundreds of fighters in yemen are due to be released as part of a prisoner swap between government forces and rebels. it follows weeks of negotiations and comes as peace talks are continuing in switzerland. expectations though are low for a deal, as fighters on both sides are reported to be failing to honor a week long ceasefire. there are reports of heavy clashes around the city of taiz. the war has killed nearly 6,000 people since march. more now from al jazeera's zeina hodor in switzerland. >> there has been a positive development, yemen's warring sides agreeing to exchange hundred was prisoners. that swap is being mediated between tribal factions. there have been reports of violations on the ground, but neither side has declared the

ceasefire dead as of enough. negotiations are quite difficult, because the warring sides are quite apart an their positions. what we understand is that the houthis and their allies are demanding a ceasefire. they want a permanent ceasefire before discussing anything else. the yemeni government internationally recognized government is saying, well, they believe that the houthis are just trying to buy time so that they can resupply their forces and prepare for another offensive. they want them to carry out other confidence building measure like release high ranking officials in their custody, like the defense minister. we spoke to the yemeni ambassador to the united nations and really, con kill i can'tatory statements is what we heard from him. >> we will stick to the ceasefire. we think this is the only option for us to go further down the path of peace and achieve peaceful resolution to the conflict in yemen. >> the major sticking point here is that the yemeni government

wants the houthis and their allies to implement a resolution 2216 and houthis do not want to discuss this without discussing other issues involving a power sharing deal. this is not going to be easy, but the delegations are still sitting and talking. the islamic state of iraq and the levant has launched a series of attacks in anbar province. key battleground betwe group and iraq's army. the bombings and attacks happened in the north of the provincial capital ramadi where soldiers are based. 23 fighters were reported killed, 35 others injured. >> u.s. defense secretary is in iraq gathering support for the coalition against isil. the u.s. will send elite forces to iraq to carry out raised against the group.

isil is looking at a take control of oil facilities in libya. the armed group is making as much as $40 million a month from the sale of oil from areas that it controls in syria and iraq. in the kurdish autonomous region of iraq, efforts are being made to stop the flow of oil. >> this is a road in northern iraq used to transport illegal oil for isil. the armed group had been able to sneak its trucks in among other legitimate tankers. thousands of barrels of crude oil a day can pass through to the city of occur kick. >> tankers carrying isil oil used to sneak in carrying official oil. we cut the roads off digging did eighth around the area. isil is now forced to send their oil to mosul. >> crude oil is a major source of money for the armed group.

it has used mediators to sell its oil internationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> a year ago, we learned huge quantities were being smuggled overseas from isil held areas to the province. 15 people were arrested. one of them committed suicide or may have been killed in prison. later we found that influential figures were involved but the investigation ended and the government didn't release the outcomes to the public. >> isil also used a road stretching from its stronghold to mosul to transport the oil. the international coalition and iraqi troops fighting isil for control of the area have made that harder. not only is it harder for isil to get oil revenue, but it's more difficult to transport weapons and fighters, too, al jazeera. much of isil's oil is believed to make its way through the border with turkey.

bernard smith has more from istanbul. >> isil release heavily on oil income produced in regions under its control in iraq and syria. it's believed it makes about a million dollars a day from the production and sale of oil. however, in december, it's believed there's been a 30% reduction in production from those fields under isil's control mainly because of airstrikes by the u.s. led coalition on oil producing facilities and also from airstrikes by the russians on the tankers and transportation used to move the oil around syria and iraq. some of it is still making its way across the border, but the u.s. wreck consist smuggling on a very small scale partly because of market forces. the price of oil is so cheap, that it's no longer profitable to muggle across the borders. the smuggling routes are being cracked down on by the turks. there are pipes buried between

there and turkey on the river border with syria. sometimes oil is put on little boats coming across the border. that's being cracked down on and oil is carried in jerry cans over the border through remote terrain. difficult to completely stop, but the smuggling business is being cracked down on certainly between turkey and syria. >> two aid agencies have gun delivering food to thousands in the syrian city of homs. deliveries made it to the district of the city which until recently was controlled by rebels. aid had been unable to get through in the past, because syrian forces besieged the area for more than two years, but this changed last week when the rebels agreed to a rare truce and were allowed to leave the city. let's hear from a spokesman for the international committee of the red cross joining you also via skype from damascus. thanks for being with us. how much aid have you managed to

get into that area? >> as we speak, the red crescent team from the ground are taking trucks with aid to homs. this includes food supplies and medical supplies and construction materials that will help to improve the conditions of the shelters where the displaced people are staying to improve their water and sanitation situation, as well, since it had been very limited in the past month. >> what is life like for residents in that area of homs? >> well, he mentioned life in the area where you don't have stable supply of water. when the electricity is not available, when your child is

sick, you cannot get the basic medicine to treat him, where everything is difficult, when you are confined to a very, very narrow space with 60,000, 70,000, 80,000 people. this is not only the feature here. there are people in syria who are in areas where the access of humanitarian aid is still very, very difficult. >> are conditions only likely to get worse as winter progresses? >> well, winter is coming, the situation of the people are already deteriorating day by day. we are trying to do what we can together with the red crescent to help people with shelter, their basic, you know, houses in buildings in the skeleton buildings, but that is definitely not enough, and much more needs to be done and greater access needs to be granted for us to help those

people as the winter is going to be harsh. >> do you expect to get that access? do you expect to be able to get more aid into homs? >> well, we are hoping that this 18 truck convoy is only the beginning and that more aid to many more places in need of humanitarian help will be allowed. we welcome any sort of political settlement that allows the humanitarian aid to reach people in need since we are hoping to do much more here. >> good to talk to you, many thanks indeed. iran's presidentry has noti said the decision by the world's nuke wash dog to end an investigation into his countries and would nuclear activity is a political victory, saying that the 12 year investigation is closed into iran's nuclear program. the united nations said iran violated a missile ban when it

test fired a rocket in october. we have a report from new york. first, there was of the october 10 blaysistic missile test by iran followed on tuesday by a u.n. report from a panel of experts sha conclude the the test of the medium range rocket violated a security council resolution. now, the condemnation by the u.s. not only of iran, but also of the security council itself, saying it has a troubling tendency to look away in the face of iran's violations. >> this council cannot allow iran to feel that it can vital our resolutions with impunity. the council members who raise violations of our resolution illusions, who seek action of the council are not the destabilizers. we are not the rule breakers. iran is when it vitals council resolutions. >> the u.s. and the west could

propose blacklisting additional officials or entities, but russia and china might not go along with it. a white house spokesperson said u.s. president barack obama would not stand in the way of sanctions if the u.n. deems such measures useful. iran has said any sanctions could jeopardize the nuclear deal signed in july with world powers with sanctions that could begin as early as next month. there were mixed sentiments coming from the u.n. in vienna, the international atomic energy agency ended their decade long probe on allegations iran worked to obtain nuke arms. >> the agency has no credible indications of activities in iran relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices after 2009. nor has the agency found any

credible indications of the diversion of nuclear material in connection with under possible military dimensions to iran's nuclear program. >> the closing of the investigation is a key step in the fast approaching implementation of the iran nuclear agreement. >> essentially, the iaea signal that had they support the iran nuclear deal and want to move forward rather than continue to probe iran said nuke activity from the past. here at the u.n., the divided security council is now left with deciding what, if any, action they'll now take. al jazeera at the united nations. stay with al jazeera. just ahead on the program, investors wait for news from the u.s. federal reserve on interest rates. the expected hike today will affect almost every financial market globally. >> the wait is over, the much awaited new star wars film is released globally. we'll be right back.

>> the top stories here on al jazeera, hundreds of prisoners are released in yemen as part of a deal between houthi remembers and government forces that comes as peace talks continue in switzerland. local sources in yemen tell us that pro-government fighters are transferring 375 houthi prisoners. the u.s. says isil may be trying to take control of vulnerable oil fields in libya and elsewhere. the kurdish regional government

of northern iraq is working to stop their illegal oil sales. iran's president says a decision by the world's nuke watchdog to end an investigation into his country's alleged nuclear activity is a political victory. the iaea closed its 12 year review. it's been a year since taliban fighters broke into a school in peshawar, killing 120 people, mostly children. there was a ceremony to remember the victims. it led to military courts in pakistan and the reintroduction of the death penalty. most of those killed were kids under the age of 16. al jazeera met one student survivor. here's his story in his own words. >> my name is muhammed, i am

studying in peshawar. i am in ninth grade. on 16th of december, as i was heading towards the school, my mom hugged me and kissed my forehead and we went to the auditorium for a lecture. suddenly a horrible looking men entered the auditorium and started firing. we all were very afraid. i was thinking that i would be no more in this world. i would be no more with my mother, i would never have my mother again. all those memories were going somewhere in the sky and when those beasts were aiming their guns toward me, one on my left and one on my hand, they charged people blindly. i was badly injured, but decided

i would never give up. an army man came and rescued me and they took me to the hospital. i was not conscious for eight days. i was not expected to stand up again, but allah helped me and i am alive. they are trying to stop us from being educate and trying to afraid us so that we could not get education. when the incident happened, my mind settled that i would join pakistan military or air force and i would just fight for them and i will take revenge of my friend, but then my mind changed. i thought that i will get education and through education we can defeat them. before i was like a normal child, and i was not that much strong as i am today. >> now, the u.s. federal reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in 10 years on wednesday.

what's at take for its economy and the world at large? when interest rates rise, loans become more expensive and there are higher borrowing costs. the return on u.s. investments goes up. investors will turn to american banks to keep their money. this contributes to a stronger u.s. currency and here's where we see other winners and losers. for anyone in the world who has borrowed in u.s. dollars and many did because the rate was so low and the size of the loan increases and becomes harder to repay. on the other side of that, a stronger dollar is good news for many factories who sell in u.s. dollars because they earn more from their sales. we'll hear from rob mcbride in hong kong about the effects on the property market there, but first we have a european perspective from london. >> 200 back in 2008, emergency measures were introduced.

the question is, is the emergency now over. the feeling in the united states are things are better under control than they were a few years ago, if the figures are to be believed, the output is higher now than before the recession and unemployment on the decline, too. here in the u.k., the situation is similar. the feeling is that the worst is now over, but the bank of england is more reluctant here to introduce higher interest rates for now at least. the deputy governor said that she wanted to make sure that wages are stabilized and other factors that could negatively impact the economy were under control also. the situation in europe, though, within the euro zone nations is somewhat different. thursday, the european central bank is expected to meet and decide what to do next. they are expected to reduce interest rates even further, but were already below zero and decided to pump more money into europe's struggling economies. the euro zone is still feeling the aftershocks of the global

crisis especially the recession seen in the likes of portugal, spain, and more recently greece. there were those emerging economies in eastern urine that rely heavily on borrowing dollars that could be negatively affected by an increase in u.s. interest rates. the feeling here amongst economists is that some change is necessary to reflect the changing fortunes of the likes of the united states and the u.k., too, there is a real belief that if interest rates don't move at all, that well could also spiral another financial disaster and that's something the world just doesn't want. >> in a city of notoriously high property prices, an interest rate hike is viewed with trepidation. home prices have seen a more than three fold increase over the past 12 years, driven largely by cheap money. now attempts to tackle property speculation combined with the slowing economy here and across the border in mainland china have seen the market cool, an

interest rate rise could see things go into reverse. that could be good news for many here who still desperately want to own their own home. it's a factor that feeds into the general level of social discontent especially amongst the young. you have to balance that with the increased distress that will be felt by all those people who have managed to get on to the property ladder only now to be facing higher mortgage repayments on properties that some predictions say could tumble in value by as much as 10%. >> let's look at news in brief now. two palestinians have been killed by israel forces in the opened west bank. it happened at the refugee camp near ramallah. the israeli army said the victims attempted to ram their vehicles into soldiers. the u.n.'s plan for unit government in libya is challenged, rival parliaments say they are opposed to signing the deal. they met in malta on tuesday to

try to reach an agreement. a north korean court sentenced a canadian pastor to life in prison. the reverend was accused of anti-state activities. he traveled to north korea from toronto in january, and was reported missing in march. >> people are now slowly moving back to a town close to the fukushima nuclear power station. it was one of the first cities to be evacuate after the massive earthquake and tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown of the plant in 2011. al jazeera is there. >> for more than four years, nature has been steadily reclaiming the town. inside the exclusion zona around the power plant, residents were prevented from returning while decon tam work was done. that was lifted and 400 elderly people have returned. >> i came back here as soon as possible, because i want to help

the reconstruction effort. i call residents who are still not sure about coming back and try to help them out. >> the chief monk of a buddhist temple decided to return out of a sense of duty to families and their ancestors, but he that done so on his own, seeing his wife and two children only at weekends. >> the village is quiet and so is my home. it feels busy during the day with all the work, but what we need is the smiles and laughter of children. >> his day job is in the government education department, helping to build a new school with a capacity of 900 students. he isn't sure whether this is the right place to bring up his own children. >> there's a huge amount of energy and money poured into this recovery process, very much a test of japan's ability to reclaim at least one town from the grips of the fukushima in a

disaster. for a real sense of life returning, they need to convince people that it's worth coming back. >> it's a message not helped by the 600,000 bags of decontamination scored on the outskirts of town. the mayor insists that the radiation levels of lower here than in some towns outside the original exclusion zone. the main problem is the passage of time. >> it's been four years and eight months. the people who have evacuated have already built the foundation of their lives outside. they will need to reorganize their lives toward returning and that will take time. >> three years ago, we met a champion local fisherman desperate the disaster should not kill his way of life. now an $11 million project is underway to expand the salomon fishery where for the first time they've harvested the eggs of the returning fish. >> hatching the eggs has been our biggest goal. i'm so happy that this coming

spring, we're bog to be able to release the hatchlings. >> the work at the river is being replicated around the town, the local convenience store serving a constant stream of workers, but this is a big gamble, long term bet on coaxing an abandoned town book to life. al jazeera, japan. >> chain's president xi has called for countries to be allowed to set their own rules for cyberspace without interference. he was speaking at china's second world internet conference. beijing is often accused of on line censorship. rights groups say the government uses state security as pretense to crack down on political dissent. chinese leaders say each country has the right to govern the internet the way it sees fit. >> we should respect each other's right to choose our own internet development path, and internet governance models, internet public policies and the

equal right to participate in cyber governance. we should oppose cyber affairs and not participate, connive or support cyber activity that is jeopardize other's national security. the wait is over for millions of star wars fans. the film, one of the most highly anticipated of all time has been released in more than a dozen count beeries around the world. no spoilers, gerald tan reports. >> star washes, the force awakens. the seventh installment of the saga created by george lucas is finally released to the public. fans are among the first in the world to see the film where more than a half million people have already prebooked tickets. >> it reminds us of our youth and watching the episodes with our children, our teenagers are nice and catching the rest of the movies with them, that's

better. >> we are wondering what it will be like even with harrison ford in it. what's it going to be like to continue the franchise? is it going to turn a really great saga into something bad? >> the film is creating rippleles of excitement as its gradually released in some countries ahead of a u.s. launch on friday. it's not just ticket sales that are generating the big bucks. merchandising tied to the film will likely bring in billions of dollars of revenue for the walt kids knee company which bought the franchise from george looks three years ago. >> i am happy that kids knee bought the movie chan cheese. they brought all the old cast. i watched the trailer so many times and every time, i cry. >> since the original trilogy began in 1977 in a galaxy you're never more than a few you're never more than a few minutes away from a check of away, it has turned into a cultural phenomenon, a force showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

gerald tan, al jazeera. >> fantastic. plenty more news analysis comment and video on our website. take a look at aljazeera.com. >> vegas showdown, national security taking center stage as the candidates faceoff again. al jazeera asked donald trump about the muslim issue. >> many of them have called me and said donald, you have done one of the great services. a baltimore jury back to work trying to work through that deadlock in the if he was freddie gray trial. high anxiety over high interest rates, the fed could boost them today and what that could mean for your finances.