♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the al jazeera news hour, i'm marteen dennis live from doha and coming up, in the next 60 minutes unanimous agreement the u.n. endorses a peace plan for syria with a ceasefire and talks between government and opposition. sending 5,000 peace keepers to burundi which it says is on the brink of civil war. and homework controversy some schools shut down in virginia

over an arabic writing assignment. >> all the day's sport including moving on and chelsea's players prepare for the first match in the english premier league after the controversial manager's sacking. ♪ but first world powers at the u.n. agreed on a roadmap for peace in syria. the security council unanimously backed a plan for talks between the syrian government and the opposition along with a ceasefire but questions remain over just who will be taking part in these talks as well as over the future of bashar al-assad and his diplomatic editor james base. >> reporter: unanimous vote by the u.n. security council endorsing a clear and ambitious timeline for political transition in syria with face-to-face talks and possibly a ceasefire in just a matter of

weeks. but this resolution was the result of very last-minute negotiations, it's a demonstration of the difficulty of the task ahead that ministers were arriving in new york talks were still underway. diplomates ultimately reporting to the russian foreign minister were fighting with their counterparts over many of the words and details of the resolution. when it was finally passed, it was praised by the current president of the security council the united states. >> after 4 1/2 years of war, this is the first time we have been able to come together at the united nations in the security council to embrace a road forward. during that time one syrian in 20 has been killed or wounded. one in five is a refugee. one in two has been displaced. the average life expectancy in syria has dropped by 20 years. >> reporter: here in the

corridors and offices of the u.n. they now face a tough challenge convening peace talks between the syrian government and the syrian opposition next month in january. and there are still many unresolved issues. who should be in that opposition delegation? and which groups should not be allowed to go to those peace talks or even take part in the future of syria because they are designated as terrorist groups? despite in the man charged with leading the peace efforts says it is now doable. >> you remember the name mission impossible? well, mission impossible is becoming potentially possible thanks to what we saw today. >> reporter: but the hardest issue of all the future of president assad is still in dispute, the russian foreign minister again stressing it was not for the international community to decide his fate. >> translator: assad's fate we talked about that. repeatedly just recently

president putin addressed the nation in his annual press conference and elaborating in this year on principle with any prepared works of intruding on another nation from outside certain vision of what his leadership should look like. >> reporter: at one point as he spoke in russian secretary kerry wasn't getting the translation on his head set. this on the day the two men as well as the rest of the security council finally negotiated the exact language of the resolution but will those carefully agreed words still make sense to both men when they are put to the test in the coming months. james base, al jazeera of the united nations. so as you have been hearing of course the position and the roll that is played by the syrian president bashar al-assad

in any transitional arrangement is the issue that seems to divide so many people on the issue of the syria conflict. let's find out a bit more about the position and we go to a political analyst and journalist thank you for talking to us now the russians have made it quite clear that it's not because they have a personal commitment to bashar al-assad but that they have a commitment to the state of syria and that includes of course the president, they do not want the state to be dismantled, how do the iranians explain their view for wanting bashar al-assad to be part of the transitional process? >> well, that is the right question. i think it's not assad but it's what the people of syria want. they are not in love and doesn't have a love affair with president assad. what iran is concerned about is

what the people of syria want. let's assume for the moment that without assad we have problems in syria but that is not going to last forever. i think we should realize, we should understand and we should look at the fact that president assad is not going to be there forever. that is the most important point. from now on we should realize also that with or without assad people are better off in syria. so what the people decide from now on is what the international community should respect. i think iran is not in love with assad and iran doesn't care if assad is there or not. what iran cares about is that the terrorist groups are not in charge of the country. >> all right. >> so i mean let's face it, syria doesn't need assad.

>> absolutely. the russians point to what they would describe as regime change in libya and in iraq and point to the chaos today, don't they? now look at the security council resolution, clearly everybody is happy about it but we should see it as part of a process, shouldn't we? there are talks that have taken place in riyadh and the vienna process that we know about as well as other elements to the process to bringing syria to a peaceful resolution. >> let's assume for a moment that we don't have assad in place, in power. what is going to happen? i think it is not going to change the situation on the ground. what we need is understanding and some kind of closer or unity between the warring factions within the syrian government and the syrian territory. president assad was there for

some time and he was fine. let's say he was fine for some time but from now on he is just not there. i mean people don't want him. even iran doesn't think that assad should be there forever. >> all right. >> even russia says that we don't think assad should be there forever. what we want is now is what the people want in syria which is the end of conflict, the end of war. >> absolutely. >> if that requires president assad to step aside we should -- that should be the case. president assad has to walk away. >> all right let's talk about the syrian opposition then and talk about the groups that iran considers to be terrorist and should not be part of this dialog that should lead to a transitional arrangement. who does iran not want to see at the table? >> very important question, very

right question. iran doesn't want to see i.s.i.l., i.s.i.s. or da'esh at the negotiating table. iran doesn't want to see al-qaeda at the negotiating table. and that is fine. the rest is fine. iran doesn't care who else is going to be at the negotiating table be it the opposition, be it free syrian army or anyone else that is supported and backed by saudi arabia, qatar and the united states. the only thing, the only red line for iran is da'esh and of course al-qaeda. >> all right, thank you very much indeed for talking to us here at al jazeera, very interesting to hear your views, thank you. >> thank you. well, staying with iran and nine tons of uranium is going to be shipped to russia to comply with the nuclear deal signed five months ago and roughly what it must export to reduce its

stockpile to the agreed level. now iran agreed to curb its nuclear program with six world powers in exchange for sanctions being lifted and give iran access to billions of dollars in assets and oil revenue. 18 refugees including 10 children have drown in the aegean sea trying to get to europe and they were heading to the greek island when turkey -- when the wooden boat sank. 14 refugees reported to safety by the coast guard and the refugees were reports to be from iraq, pakistan as well as syria. greek protesters are urging the european union to open borders to refugees who are trying to escape war and poverty. they marched to the greek parliament in athens on international migrants day and u.n. refugee an agency says this year will break all previous records for global force displacement and around a million refugee and migrants entered europe so far this year.

now the president of burundi has told al jazeera that he doesn't want african union troops sent to keep the peace. the eu says burundi is on the brink of civil war and is proposing to send 5,000 peace keepers without burundi's consent if necessary. now the opposing sides are expecting to meet in uganda for talks in about nine day's time. all right we can speak now to the burundi presidential spokesman and joins us live from the capitol and thank you very much indeed for joining us here at al jazeera why won't burundi accept the peace keepers being offered by the african union? >> because, you know, there are international regulations on sending peace keepers in any given country in the world. we are the government. we believe that these

aggressions have not been followed because the government has not been consulted on this and were surprised that troops are being prepared to be sent to burundi which has elected a government, which has a fully functioning government and which has an army and a police which are fully functioning. >> and it seems as though you are going to be backing the african union into a corner and forcing it into invoking article four of its charter which it has not done before and needs security council backing and then they are then allowed entitled to send in peace keeping troops to your country. >> we don't believe that the u.n. security council is going there to draft a resolution because they passed a resolution recently the u.n. security council and didn't point to anything that would point to a situation where peace keepers would be needed in burundi and

very recently they are the special envoy of the u.n. secretary council and under secretary council who was in burundi who was received an ordinance by the president of burundi and went back to the u.n. and said there was no need for burundi to be considered as a conduit and be sent and said only a small civilian component would be needed here to follow the interpreter burundi bail out which is going to involve burundi people in the country and regime outside the country. another point i want to raise here. >> sorry to interrupt you the dialog is a resent development, isn't it? what do you say then about the state of your country within the last five months or so, 400 people have been killed according to the u.n., 220,000 at least have fled burundi there and living in refugee camps in surrounding countries, clearly

your government doesn't have peace in its mind. >> the government, burundi is suffering what we are calling terrorist attacks here. it is unprecedented the first time that a country gets attacked you heard that three barracks were attacked recently and the country and the army tried to defend the country and it's surprising it is burundi which is being accused of committing atrocities would you let people attack your house and then you don't defend your house? >> who do you suggest was behind, who do you suggest was behind the attacks on the military fights then? because of the 80 or so people who were found dead most of them were civilians and they were young men. >> when barracks get attacked

the army tries to defend itself and don't let people get in the army camp because you are trying not to commit atrocities and they defended the country and did it successfully and they are collateral damage when such an operation is conducted but you cannot blame the army for having defending the country when the army barracks were attacked. >> we have to leave it there but thank you very much, presidential spokesman in burundi and thank you very much for talking to us at al jazeera. now, to somalia where within the last hour or so we have been hearing of a car bomb that killed at least three people in the center of the capitol and at least eight people were wounded and police say the death toll is likely to rise. the blast happened on a busy street close to hotels and supermarkets and most of the casualties were ordinary people going about their business. let's speak now to al jazeera who is in mogadushi and bring us

up to date and what you know about the incident. >> the car blast happened in mogadushi near a shopping center and in somalia have been killed and don't know the nature of the attack but sources tell us that 18 people have been carried out to the hospital because of the explosi explosion. they say it's a peace attack and are saying that this attack was to kill one of their police officers which was wounded in this attack but there is no confirmation from the government side about the casualties of the

attack. >> thank you very much for bringing us right up to date and al jazeera reporting live there from the somali capitol. now the international criminal court the icc has sent two convicted war lords back to the democratic republic of congo to serve out prison sentences and was found guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers in his rebel army in 2002 and 2003. due to spent 14 years behind bars. the other one was convicted of war crimes last year. and he will be locked up for 12 years. now rwanda say voters backed a constitutional change in a referendum and means the president could stay in office until 2034 and malcolm web has more from the capitol. >> reporter: results of the controversial referendum were exactly as expected.

people at this preplanned event in the capitol celebrated as a total from each district was announced by the electoral commission. in all districts said nearly 100% of people voted in favor of changing the constitution and the presidential term limits. and he has been president since 2000 but effectively in power since his rebel group ended the genocide and took control in 1994. the changes mean he can run again in elections in 2017 and could stay in power until 2034. >> you want to be president for life and says it will be a disaster for rwanda. >> i don't want. what is happening is people's choice. ask people why they want it. >> reporter: since the referendum was announced just ten days ago politicians have been urging support for the changes and told people were pressured into attending rallies but the government says they came freely. >> translator: we asked members

of parliament to change the term limits because they were an obstacle to us reelected the president. >> reporter: both the eu and the u.s. spoke out against changing the constitution but voting went ahead any way. since early in the morning people have lined up at the polling station and voted in a quiet an orderly manner. supporters of the president say it's an expression of the people's will because they want to keep him in power but very few have been openly critical about it. some opposition figures are in prison accused of inciting ethnic conflict and others killed or disappeared, the government denies it is responsible. it's easier to find vocal critics in other countries and he was born in rwanda and campaigned against the government in london and receives regular threats for it. >> it's a big shock to the world and to us there is a referendum which has been arranged in one week to see or to allow the president to continue being president for life essentially and we think it's illegitimate.

>> reporter: loved for bringing stability to a country that suffered so much violence and the referendum results reflect that but they say it's not possible to tell how popular he really is. malcolm web, al jazeera, rwanda. >> more to come on the al jazeera news hour including hundreds of people protesting nigeria against a proposed law to clamp down on social media. the iraqi fields where nothing grows, why farmers are blaming turkey. and basketball in cuba is not only growing in popularity and also getting support from a rather unlikely source, that story is coming up, in sport. ♪ now there is anger in india over a court not extending the jail

term for a gang rape convict. the court has asked the government to ensure his rehabilitation instead. the convict was 17 years old at the time of his arrest for the rape and murder of a medical student in the capitol 2012 and he was given the maximum sentence of three years for a juvenile and india tried amending the juvenile justice act after the incident but the bill is yet to pass. >> they should be responsible. the existing law cannot deal with this. the second session, second time parliament had the dialog and what could we have done. >> reporter: india the top leaders of the main opposition party granted bail in a corruption case. the president of the congress party and her son are accused of illegally acquiring real estate worth $300 million and belonged

to a newspaper that was closed in 2008. the national herald was once controlled by the gandhi family and the family is india's popular dynasty producing three prime ministers. now the arrest of a union leader in south korea prevented more protests against the government and he may face rarely used sedation charge for violence at a protest and the president is being criticized for a crack down on union members and critics of the government and wants to liberalize the job market making it easier to sack employees. two thirds of our water courses have been damaged by the building of dams, estimated 50,000 large ones were built in the past century.

now many of the great rivers like the indus and colorado which runs through the u.s. and mexico no longer reach the ocean and that means that once productive wetlands have now been turned into effectively dead zones and they lost 50% of their population. more than a third of the remaining freshwater fish species are now threatened with extinction. another example a river that flows through northern iraq is almost dry leaving large areas of farmland barron and it's a battle that no one is really talking about and farm earliers say a dam project in neighboring turkey is to blame and we report now from kirkook. >> reporter: this field should be full of crops but as far as the eye can see nothing. the rivers that field the fields dried up. nothing can grow here.

he is a landowner on environmentist and blames dam building in turkey for causing the crisis and says they are powerless to stop the turks after a decade of war all the fall of sadom-hussein. >> translator: it effected the crop and when we had water 30 acres could produce barley and now it produces a kilo. >> reporter: farmers had to resort to digging large wells to find water for their field but it is not enough and only have enough water to irrigate a third of this land. what the farmers are now doing is building wells like these. now this is a costly and time consuming business and need to dig deep into the ground between 30-150 meters to get the kind of water, clean water they need to be able to irrigate these lands, that is not only having an impact environmentally but also economically. during the harvest season

thousands of people worked here and now just a handful are employed. across this region unemployment has risen dramatically. >> translator: all the farmers here are desperate, i had to lay off 30 farmers who can't provide for their families, now our markets are flooded with foreign products. >> reporter: to keep up with demand iraq is now importing wheat and rice from the very country that built the dams which are alleged to have caused the rivers to dry up in the first place and turkish products are common in food markets and the collapse of the farming industry is concerning to many here but given the other challenges iraq faces fixing the farming industry and negotiating international water treaties doesn't seem to be a priority. al jazeera, kirkook. lack of water there in northern iraq richard is here on the heat wave, what is it looking like? >> yesterday i was standing here explaining how 2014 had been the warmest year on record globally,

2015 is going to be the warmest on record and beat by 2016 so there is no shortage of examples of extreme weather to be found on the weather map. so although i come back to the story of the heat wave, wednesday, thursday, friday and then saturday temperatures in access of 41 degrees compared with an average maximum of 28 degrees. it is now coming to an end. we are going to see cooler weather sweeping in across the country so just 27 degrees as we head through sunday and by monday we should find significant lower temperatures also impacting upon melbourne but it's consistent with el nino only as part of the heat in the system and in europe we get a mild feed coming from the southwest and certainly across more western areas and comes from a long way south and across the peninsula, france and low countries and the uk have been significant above average. indeed as we look at conditions down across the peninsula the

cafe culture across spain is in full flow as temperatures remain well above average here and we've had people heading off to beaches and enjoying the weather conditions. meanwhile in france temperatures have been lovely across much of france. people enjoying the weather conditions there. and look like it will remind mild in the forecast above average for this time of year. >> richard, we have a lot more to come in this news hour including u.s. democratic candidates meet for a third debate and we look at what is dominating the presidential race. guatemala child bride to stop it with the age. david beckham is in kuwait despite an international ban. ♪

♪ hello again you are with al jazeera and let's have a look at the top stories world powers agreed on a roadmap for peace in syria. the u.n. security council unanimously backed a plan for talks between the syrian government and opposition but there is no mention of president assad disagreements remain over his role in the future. burundi's president says the u.n. recently indicated that there is no need to deploy troops to his country therefore he assists he is against the proposed plan by the eu to send 5,000 peace keepers to the

capitol. rwanda voted overwhelmingly backed a constitutional amendment in a referendum and means that the president could serve three more terms in office and stay in power until 2034. all right let's return to the top story today that is the international push to end the syrian civil war and conflict has been raising for almost five years, more than 250,000 people have been killed, more than a million people have been injured and most of them of course have been civilians. at least 6 1/2 million syrians are displaced within the country and it is recommended four out of every five syrians are now living in poverty. two million children there are out of school because of the conflict and we have a middle east analyst and says this u.n. resolution is the start of a complicated process. >> for the first time after four

years the international community is altogether united behind taking a decision in relation to the syrian conflict and trying to push for political resolution. however, there are two disadvantages of the resolution first there is no agreement about what are the terrorist group that should not be included in the opposition or how to deal even. there is no real strategy how to deal with these organizations and specifically those of the organization. what are the criteria through which they can make a difference between what could be acceptable and what could not be accepta e acceptable. second of all the role of the president assad himself still the russian federation is completely against the removal of assad during the transitional and up until the first six months where they could create a new so called government that could preside over the new

transitional of political transitional. however, nothing is going to be guaranteed because all is going to be set upon the implementation of the deal. everyone is being so much positive about the crisis itself. however, there are initial variables that need to be taken into consideration in order to reach a peaceful resolution for the conflict and these variables are not set yet and are not ready to be dealt with. specifically with the continuous battles that are taking place on the ground and as we have seen in the last month instead of degrading the islamic state and witnessing expansion of the islamic state in the aleppo and idlib province. now to the war in yemen and troops loyal to the yemen president abd rabbuh mansur hadi have gained control of an important city in the northwest of the country. government forces seized the capitol of the province as well as the border town of hadad from houthi rebels and allies and

meanwhile u.n. sponsored talks are expected to resume in geneva amid accusations of ceasefire violations on both sides. >> translator: we are now at a government complex at the city, the regional mill titary comman and 101 traveled 80 kilometers to reach this place and some other forces have gone to areas in the northwest. we will continue to progress until we reach sada and sanaa and liberate all yemen cities from the persians and those who want to attack our land, our religion and our dignity. in the next couple of hours democratic presidential candidates will come together for a third debate in the u.s. state of new hampshire and many voters will look to the democratic candidates to see what distinguishes them on the issues of security and religion. kimberly reports. >> reporter: we send four baskets and distributed to

internally displaced people. >> reporter: for three years she has made it her mission to support victims of conflict in syria, collecting tons of donated clothing and medical supplies in this warehouse until it is time to ship. >> we are not going to let hateful rhetoric be our mantra. we want to make a difference so we have actually seen a spike in people wanting to connect with us. >> reporter: she is talking about comments from donald trump, a republican presidential candidate who has suggested banning muslims from the united states is necessary for its security. >> total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> reporter: democratic presidential candidates have been working to distance themselves from the rhetoric, bernie sanders running behind hillary clinton in the polls even participated in an

interfaith roundtable this week this washington to speak directly with muslim leaders, controversy is expected to be a key issue as candidates take to the stage saturday for the third democratic debate. >> all of the democratic candidates will criticize donald trump for his comments about security and religion and i think that that will give an opportunity for the democratic candidates to show that they are not donald trump and present a much more nuisances picture. >> reporter: reports from muslim advocacy groups showing incidents of vandalism targeting mosques this year have risen. >> democrats have not spoken out and really made clear that all of the americans are fellow americans and we have to honor that and we have to make sure they feel safe and that we also build bridges and get to know each other. >> reporter: she is leading by example. collecting more than a million dollars of goods for victims in

syria, determined to demonstrate a spirit of unity and generosity. she expects from the next u.s. president. kimberly with al jazeera, manchester, new hampshire. arabic writing lesson at one u.s. school sparked parental uproar and threats of violence, administers in augusta county virginia cancelled classes of complaints that thousands of students may be indoctrinated. and we have the story. >> reporter: the halls of river head high school in standen virginia were empty and 10,000 at 23 augusta county public schools were told to start winter breaks early and taking cautionary measures after receiving tens of thousands of hostile e-mails and social media posts over an arabic assignment and calls and e-mails were threatening and abusive and at the center of uproar is the sheet of paper and known to copy

this for their world religion homework and they have the acceptance of mohamed as god's prophet and trying to indock -- indoctronate students to muslim. >> when we have fear we act out of the fear and act irrationally and a symptom of a much bigger problem and we are getting ready to choose our next president. this is a very important policy decision that we are making in a democratic society and when we are literally our judgment is impaired by this fear and rhetoric we are not going to be making a rational decision. >> reporter: candidates refer to islamic terrorism more than a dozen times mentioning i.s.i.l. 90 times and terrorism more than 70 times, centers for disease control in the u.s. has said

americans are 40,000 times more likely to die of heart disease and obesity and cancer than from an act of terror. >> reality on the ground is right now in america we have 30% of republican primary voters saying that they want to bomb agrabah that is a fictitious country where aladdin fell in love and road on a magic carpet and people are so fearful they are responding in this way. >> reporter: the fear has the closing of a school district on the last day of debate, 640,000 students in los angeles returned to class on wednesday after investigators said the bomb and gun threats received via e-mail were a hoax. paul with al jazeera. now the people of spain go to the polls on sunday in what

is said to be one of the tightest races in modern spanish history and many are dissolutioned after six years of high unemployment and economic stagnation and barnabie has been on the streets to talk to voters. >> reporter: this stretches right around the block, maybe some 300 meters or so and has absolutely nothing to do with sunday's election. all these people have come here to buy lottery tickets for christmas and they have come to a particular kiosk in the center of town which apparently has a good track record in selling winning numbers. well, as a foreigner to spain i find all of this confusing to be honest. don't tell me the spanish people do have an enormous amount of faith but what about the people in this cue and their feelings about sunday's crucial elections? let's speak to them to find out what they are hoping for in the vote. >> we are now in the sixth year

of the crisis. i feel the resolution of the parties in europe doesn't work so i think that we need to change to the left. >> translator: i don't think anyone is happy with the state of the country. you will see people living on the streets. and go to a political party that can solve poverty whether it's the right or the left, i don't ca care. ♪ this election will be unlike any we have seen in spain over the past 40 years. all the expectation is that the old two-party system is over, that new parties on the left and on the right will get into parliament and that after the vote we may have to have a coalition or some sort of partnership between different parties. in other words, predictions are hazardous but i will confidently

make one, i do not expect to see a cue of voters in madrid on sunday, that is remotely as long as this one, all these people have come out to try and win the famous christmas lottery el gordo. al jazeera's barnabie phillips there and girls as young as 14 can no longer get married in guatemala, the legal age of consent is raised to 18 but activists are saying there are still plenty of challenges to reduce the risk of domestic violence, pregnancy and poverty and david mercer reports from san pedro. >> reporter: it's not the kind of life jennifer wanted. the 17-year-old had plans to finish high school and find a good job. but that changed after jennifer got stuck overnight in a nearby town. her father accused her of being with her boyfriend and demanded she marry him to save the family's reputation.

a month later jennifer was married, she was just 15 years old. >> translator: it's straining to have to stay and work in the house all the time. if i had not been married i would be studying and hard to be an adult when you are so young. >> reporter: all of jennifer's friends are married and some as young as 15 have babies of their own. across the country the situation is all too common. in guatemala a third of girls are married by 18 and 7% wednesday by 15 years old and pressure by non-environmental groups to protect the rights of girls is finally paying off. in late november the government raised the minimum legal age of marriage for girls to 18 years old. previously girls could be legally wed as young as 14. activists says the big challenge now is defeating attitudes that see girls as male possessions.

>> translator: the approval of this law is an important step. but more important is applying the law and raising awareness at the community level among mayors and community leaders so they understand girls have rights. >> reporter: jennifer hopes the new law will help her seven-year-old sister have the opportunity she never had. the right to go to school and to choose her own future free from the bonds of child marriage. david mercer, al jazeera, guatemala. >> reporter: still to come after the break sexual and physical violence against women and children in south africa happens so often it's become regarded as normal, that is according to the u.n. in miami they feel the heat with a win in the nba and we will have the details. ♪

now to south africa where the u.n. says the physical and sexual abuse of women and children is rampant and doing more to tackle the problem especially in townships and tonya page reports. >> reporter: candy was raped by a traditional healer who said she needed to be cleansed of an evil spirit and it's the way to do it, she is only 13, in the township on the edge of johannesburg this is one of the few places rape victims can go for counseling.

>> translator: he helped me giving me clothes and soaps and introducing me to other victims for support and we share experiences which stops me from getting depressed. >> reporter: one of the places the u.n. special reppatour went to and they found that physical and sexual abuses often is accepted as a fact of life and says the government must do more. does the government need to put its money where its mouth is? >> yes. this is very important. and understanding that adoption of the law, with different services is the coordination of governmental responsibilities to provide such services and if they are not there then there is human rights relations. >> reporter: she keeps the green door open despite lack of support from government which helped set it up and bring

clothes and healthcare products for him to distribute. >> it's hinting but there is no support that is given to you. >> reporter: most of the residents live in poverty, there is so much crime and there are parts of the township so dangerous the police refuse to patrol and adds to a sense of lawlessness and impunity for rape and other violence. minister of women in the presidency says it's not as simple as throwing money at a problem which the government is working on. >> as government we have competing challenges. in my own view it's that issues of violence cannot be based only reaction and it is the program which will make sure that women can employee themselves. >> reporter: offering sign classes to help women learn skills they can use to support themselves. but it's likely he will have to rely on private donors, not the government to make it happen. tonya page, al jazeera, south africa.

in nigeria hundreds of people have been out on the streets protesting against a proposed new law they say would limit the use of social media. citizens could be fined or even imprisoned they say for spreading what the government calls false information on facebook and in text messages and we report from the capitol abuja. >> reporter: hundreds of people demonstrate outside the nigerian parliament in abuja and say they want to stop the so called antisocial media bill becoming law. if it does nigerians could face two years in prison and a $10,000 fine for making what the government considers false statements about government officials and public institutions on social media. and would have to produce a court affidavit along with petitions saying they are telling the truth. and she is against the proposed law. she has been critical of the government's response to the kidnapping of more than 200 girls by boko haram last year

and who still have not been rescued. >> it is not a bill that is in the interest of the people. it is a bill that is in the interest of them and social media is a tool that citizens have been able to be used for their voices to be heard. >> reporter: senator is behind the proposed new law. he says millions of dollars in public money is being wasted by the government investigating false and frivolous accusations by citizens on social media. >> we want to curtail that situation and say okay fine if you believe in what you are doing you are given freedom of information which entitles you to look for whatever facts you want from any government office and if you have those facts we have nothing to allow you to continue to have a falsehood. tons of lies in social media. >> reporter: most social media users like these young people in

abuja in a club called fix nigeria says the new law is to stop citizens for exposing corruptions and miss management and started an online campaign with a hash tag no to social media bill to fight the proposed legislation. >> the law in itself has the potential to violate so many human rights that the nigerian constitution protects. that nigeria has signed up to the regional and international levels. >> reporter: those against the proposed new law also say it would be impossible for the nigerian government to enforce it. before the frivolous petitions and prohibition bill as it's called to become law it will have to be adopted and senators say it can still become law and given what it has generated many civil society groups say it's unlikely to pass in the current form, al jazeera, abuja. >> reporter: all right time to

look at the sport. >> thank you so much. in the last few minutes chelsea has formally announced that hitting will take charge of the club until the end of the season replacing morino who was sacked this week, the news comes just an hour before chelsea's english premier league match who was previously in charge of the club for a short stint in 2009 and most recently manager of the netherlands. massive challenge lies ahead for the dutch man and chelsea are 16th league on the premier league table and a single point above the relegation zone. in a club statement i am excited to return to stanford bridge and chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world and not where it should be at the moment but i'm sure we can all turn this season around and looking forward to working with the players and staff at this great club. as for marino he has been attending a championship

football game and management issued a statement a few hours ago saying during his career he has sometimes chosen to leave a club but only at chelsea has the club decided that he should leave. he will not be taking a sabbatical and he is retired and doesn't need it and very positive and is already looking forward. manager says he will confirm his future after saturday's game with hanover. the contract expires at the end of the season and led back to back german league titles and never managed in the english premier league and linked with manchester city and united and chelsea. blatter is confident he will be cleared of wrongdoing by the fifa ethics committee and scheduled a news conference in zurich after monday's verdict and the president did not attend his hearing on friday claiming his case has been prejudged and

lawyers tried to explain a $2 million payment he received in 2011 that blatter over saw. kuwait hosted some of the biggest names in football and fines of fifa ban for government interference. the new stadium was inaugurated with an all-star match between world and local 11, former royal madrid teammates and david beckam opened the score for the team and some were banned from taking part in the game which was won by kuwait all-stars and they tried to clear the controversy but the former captain did have a few things to say about the sacking of marino. >> yeah, i love him and he is an incredible manager, great person and he is passionate about the game and i hope he comes back to the premier quickly because the english public love him.

the fans love seeing him on the sideline, they love his character. >> reporter: american skier lindsey vonn says she crashed at the race and failed to finish the super combine and looking to match 36 down hill victories and switzerland won by 100th of a second and vonn holds over all championship lead and is only two points behind. the toronto beat the miami heat on friday denying a fourth straight win in nba and scored 30 points in his fifth straight game with 20 or more points. miami attempting to secure their first four-game winning streak since 2014 and 11 point lead in the third quarter and rallied for 108-94 win halting a two-game losing streak.

now people in cuba have been embracing the ease in relations with the united states particularly through shared passions like basketball. however on the streets of havana the sport has its own unique style. daniel reports. >> reporter: it began with a group of friends the street corner. it has grown into a vie vibrant well organized league. >> translator: our level is very, very good and why the authorities have been questioning our existence, we are now as good as them. that caused us some problems but one day to join with organized basketball and incorporating some of our ideas. ♪ the street league has received support from four courts and a growing number of u.s. organizations rekindling ties with cuba. this one promoting solidarity on the basketball court. >>. >> translator: we are americans, they are cubans but

on the court we can be friends. >> reporter: the league helps keep youngsters out of trouble and for many cubans it's how they express themselves. >> translator: when i play basketball i'm in tune with myself and how my body works and far from the temptations of bias and society and forces me to develop my mind since basketball is the most creative of sports, we are always creating. >> reporter: use that creativity to establish court wherever there is adequate space. and the rules are tougher, more aggressive game. this is street basketball, raw basketball played for the players, for the neighborhood with a passion of freedom of expression, free of the constraint that some feel can be imposed by the state. the state is beginning to notice the street scene. this game with young players from the national basketball scores. >> translator: this league is very well organized. this is street basketball and

ours is state run and organized. my kids studied basketball and play with more techniques. >> reporter: they are all learning from one another with the passion and power of cuba's street basketball scene difficult to contain. daniel with al jazeera, havana cuba. all the sport for now and more a bit later. >> thank you very much indeed and i don't know if you have seen star wars the latest one but it is out, it has been a new opening night box office record in north america at least, 57 million tickets have been sold. disney thinks that the force awakens will earn more than $250 million in the u.s. and canada over the weekend alone and that would give it the biggest opening weekend of all time beating the former record which was set by jurasic world earlier this year. lots more to come at al jazeera so don't go away. ♪

♪ burundi's presidential spokesman tells al jazeera the african union won't be allowed to deploy troops there to end the violence. ♪ hello, you are with al jazeera live from doha, also to come, unanimous agreement the u.n. endorses a peace plan for syria that includes a ceasefire and talks between warring sides. rwanda voters back extra terms for the president in a referendum criticized by the u.s. and the european