this is al jazeera. ♪ ♪ hello, i am marian, this is the news hour live from london. coming up in the next 60 minutes, a plan to sends thousands of african troops to keep the piece in burundi is rejected out right by the government. rwanda celebrates as the election collision says 98% vote to lift presidential term limits. no sign of a ceasefire in yemen where fierce fighting has killed 75 rebel rebels and pro

government forces. and why the force is clearly with anti-austerity. voters prepare to cast their ballot in spain's general election. i have all the sports news including moving on from mourinho, newly appointed manager watches on as chelsea beat sunderland in the english premier league. ♪ ♪ we begin this news hour in burundi where the president says he won't accept plans by the african union to deploy peacekeepers. the e.u. wants to send 5,000 troops to stop escalate ising violence but the government says it views any troop deployment as an a tack. burundi appears abbott verge of civil war, violence has been escalated since the president announced that he wanted a third term in office. at least 400 people have been killed in protests and hundreds of thousands have fled the

country. mohamed adow has the latest now from the capital. >> reporter: scenes like these have prompted the african union to act. the killing of 87 people, most saville kwrepz last week in the capital raised fears that burundi is sliding in to a a civil war. she says her nephew was killed by peace. >> all we want is peace. we are against the killing of civilians. they should leave us out of this. >> reporter: burundi government leaders have 72 hours to respond to the african union over its plan to sends peacekeepers. m. ps are expected to to debate it on monday. >> we believe in our security fors and we don't need other force to his come to help them because so far they have proved that they are able to secure the

country. so this is why i find it ridiculous to send 5,000 troops in to burundi when the army and the police are able to secure the country. >> reporter: it's the feeling of the african union that the violence in burundi must be stopped at all costs, the decision by the its security council to deploy troops to burundi sends the message that it won't allow another genocide to happen on african soil. the government insists there is no threat of genera genocide ant it's merely fighting an insurgency. the african union can deploy its troops with or without government consent. its constitution allows them to intervene in a member state in civilians are threatened? >> they cannot come in by force. burundi is a sovereign country. and the population of burundi, as a population that has suffered for many years, is not

going allow that. >> reporter: thousands of peacekeepers are serving in african peacekeeping missions in somalia and the african republic. their continued stay there is in doubt as this now looms -- as a showdown now looms between their government and the african union. mohamed adow, al jazeera. >> let's speak now to cara jones from the city of houston, as a professor of political science she specializes in international relations and has been keeping an eye on this situation. not just a difficult side inside the country, we now see a war of words between the burundi government and the african union. how do you see it playing out should the african union choose to intervene militarily? >> good evening, thank you for having me. the african union itself recognizes that they cannot actually intervene without burundi's permission. in order to do so, they would

either have to violate international law or seek the permission of the united nations security council. the united nations security council did issue a press release this morning saying they are following the development with interest. but there is no yet indication as to which way they would vote in push came to shoe. so the next 72 hours will be crucial. burundi eater has to accept the intervention by the african union or the african your will have to take more divisive steps. >> and if they do that and troops are sent to burundi, is a clash with government troops then inevitable? >> that would be considered a violation of international law and certainly a very new step for the african union to take. it remains to be seen what would happen. thein' security council has, in fact, been following the burundi situation with interest. they have had a recent unanimous resolution in favor of human

rights monitors and further interest in the conflict. they would be the deciding factor here. uganda has recently restarted negotiations between the opposition and the burundi government and hopes that there is a resolution to the con flint or at least political steps towards a resolution over the weekend. >> has there been a shift in burundi since the initial protests broke out in april? what is driving the violence now? >> the violence has gotten much worse as time has passed. i think is the president was elect ed in an election that was neither mop toured nor facilitated nor accepted by the international community. right now the burundi an economy is suffering greatly. the world bank suggests the economy will shrink by 2% over the year. no independent media is

operating within burundi itself. you have the question of whether the violence is ethnically driven or not. numbers in the media suggest over 400 people are dead. independent research and other forms of checking suggest the number might be much higher, probably close to the thousand mark at this particular point in time. >> so a political crisis is already becoming an economic one. the numbers that you suggest, the u.n. says 400, independent sources are saying actually the death toll could be closer to a thousand. does that suggest that a political crisis is now also become abecoming an ethnic one? >> that suggests there are many dynamics going on which obviously need further investigation before this becomes an all-out civil war or something even worse. in this part of the world, the african union and others are right to question the nature of the violence. and what should happen should the worst happen. i think that the genocide label is probably misplace ed in this

particular regard. but the chances of a civil war, the chances of spill over to eastern congo and perhaps rwanda are certainly weighing heavily on everyone's mind. and i think that the intervention is certainly a timely one before this conflict spirals out of control. >> thank you very much for your analysis, kara jones from the mary baldwin college. now, rwanda's electoral commission says based on votes counted soy far, 98% of rwandans who voted in friday's referendum are in favor of their president running for further terms in office. it paves the way for the president to run for a third term in 2017. he would also be eligible to serve two further five-year terms, meaning he could stay in power until 2034. our reporter malcolm webb sent this update from the capital. >> reporter: the electoral commission said 98.3% of voters voted yes to change the

constitution, to change its presidential term limits. they also said in what must be an unusual coincidence of polling statistics, that the voter turn out was also 98.3%. critics of which there are few here, there were very few people here in rwandan who criticize official government lines, those from other countries opposition and activists say the polling rates are not credible. they are always in the high 90s and they say there isn't a free and fair environment to conduct conducive polls because people are streeting in a climbed of fear. a short while ago in a president conference they said it was a free and true election of the will. because they want to keep the president in power after 2017. the u.n. special envoy to syria says he will send out talks to january on the u.n.-backed peace plan for the country. on friday the united nations security council unanimously backed a plan for talks between the syrian government and the

opposition with a ceasefire due to start in january. the questions remain over who will be taking part in those talks. and over the future of syria's president bashar al-assad. a special representative to the united nations for the syrian opposition coalition, i spoke to him earlier. >> the face of -- the fate of assad will be one of the most controversialish news the negotiation. but in the geneva committee and for us our position is very good, talking about the creation of a transitional government body, giving each side the right to veto the aside and to us assad is not an acceptable figure. on two grounds, one he's committed crimes against humanity and he has not been useful in ending the conflict. >> for the millions of syrians displaced by the civil war the u.n. resolution brings hope they can return home. bernard smith has been talking to refugees on living on the

turkish side syria to find out what they think about the peace plan. >> reporter: more than 30,000 syrians live in and around the ancient city here just across the border in turkey. they are escaping the civil war but staying close enough that if peace comes they can quickly get home. he is from aleppo. he thinks there will be no problem formation transitional government that represents all syrians. >> translator: syrians are one people. there are no problems between us. we lived together for hundreds of years. when the revolution came everyone joined it. the reason people rose up was the assad family. >> reporter: he says if the price for peace is letting president bashar al-assad stay in power for now, then so be it. >> translator: let him stay if it means peace. but just need to go back to our country, our schools our homes. we are so tired of living in exile. we have had enough.

>> reporter: but mohamed thinks assad should go. >> translator: if assad is allowed to stay in the country, so what will be left? every family in syria has been split up because of him. and now we are expected to let him and his ugly regime stay? >> reporter: all of them want the fighting to end. >> translator: the roof of our home has fall then on us? can it get any worse? we are so scared for our children. >> reporter: isil control the territory on the other side of the border from here. and i don't know nonhere is thinking of going home until they have been cleared out. bernard smith. al jazeera. >> joining us now from washington, d.c. is former u.s. state department official and middle east expert david mack, thank you very much for speaking to us. and just listening to that report there looking at the plight of syrians on the turkish side of the border, of course, this is really nothing new.

given the desperation of their situation. how realistic tick i is it thaty will get some respite from this plan put in place bite the u.n.? >> well, it's always the easiest thing to be negative about negotiations in the middle east. so many times they start off well and then don't end nearly as well. however this time there has been considerable amount groundwork done date back to the geneva conference three years ago when basic elements for a political evolution in syria were agreed upon.

the u.n. security vote pass. we have had months of intense involvement of russian foreign minister lavrov and secon second carey. they pulled together others from the regional actors, people who seldom sit together and talk like the saudis and the iranians and the turks. they were all there with the permanent member of the security council. and all agreed to proceed under the asepsis of the united nations. the u.n. secretary general's special representative stefan did he may stew a, is an extremely good person. a very distinguished syrian-american professor, very capable -- >> it's interesting that you -- >> i think that they have done a lot of good preparations for this conference sorry to

interrupt. you mentioned him and we spoke to him earlier on, as you say it's very significant that you have all of the key players at the table. the fate of assad was brushed to the side. he was saying that the opposition is willing to accept is al jazeera sad's role during the negotiate people but not in a transitional government of the how much of a problem will that be. >> there are a couple of serious problems one is assad's future role. however you have seen the russians and for a certain extent the iranians back away from being supporters of him on a personal basis. that he would be there more or lessons definitely. and you have seen from the american side an agreement that

he shouldn't be there tend of the of the political evolution, we understand that he will not necessarily leave immediately. that's one question which is his future. the various parties have seem to come closer on what that's likely to be. the other big problem, of course, is who is going to be present as representatives of the syrian opposition? that's something that still has been left undefined. in the u.n. security council resolution. there are differences of opinion. however, russia and the united states are definitely agreed that you shouldn't have representatives if a terrorist organization like al-nusra. >> the problem is that you have. [speaking at the same time] >> when you look at the regional and international players involved in the talks, the problem is that everyone has a

different definition of what constitutes or which groups suit constitute tear of terrorists . >> that's quite right. and the russians tend to tar all opponents of bashar al-assad with the reputation of being terrorists and that's nothing anything that would be acceptable to the international community. and even the russians have begun to say -- have begun contacts with the syrian off since members whom they view as acceptable interlock tours. what you hope to have at the end is a negotiation between the more responsible elements in the syrian opposition with a more responsible elements in the syrian government. i think it's unfair for people to think that the syrian government is just a matter of bashar al-assad. it's much broader than that. has much broader base of support. and there will be plenty of people that can keep the syrian

central syrian government institutions from collapsing suddenly if bashar al-assad were to leave the scene. >> right, but in materials of the negotiations coming up in january, bashar al-assad's regime tends to use the same established figures. given the problems that still exist on the side of the opposition, how fractious they have been, is time going to be an issue here, preparation to his sort of resolve those outstanding problems in terms of who is going to be represent the opposition at the table before these talks begin? >> well, i think time is a problem. and i was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the security council resolution was fairly specific about the need to get these talks under way and then to have elections 18 months

later. and as secretary kerry has pointed out, even though there is no specificity about the departure of bashar al-assad, in effect a time frame has been set up where one can envies i think him be present in the beginning. i don't think necessarily present in the talks themselves, i kind of doubt that. but being present in the government and then by the end of the process having turned it over to other people in the syrian government. and i think that that's the sort of thing that broadly can be acceptable to the syrian opposition. and to the saudis, to the turks, and other key arab players. >> thank you very much david mack in washington, d.c. well, there is more to come on the al jazeera news hour. the u.s. says an american air strike that killed at least nine

iraqi soldiers may have been a mistake by both sides. a proposed law that could see social media users in nigeria jailed or hit with a massive fine. and in sport, what's next for pep guyed joel a as the bayern munich coach is society make decision about his future. details later on. in spied of a ceasefire and peace talks that began on tuesday 75 have been killed in yemen. security tourses a 40 rebels and 35 government troops were killed in the north. in the east government forces have seized the capital of another province. here is more. >> reporter: the ceasefire lasted all but a few days. if it even began at all. here an army of sorts made up of yemeni soldiers and tribal

leaders, are claiming a rare victory. >> we are taking control of the military base which we are surrounding which was you were the control of the houthis and their allies. thank god we have taken it over and ahead are advancing towards sanaa 67 they have been fight to go restore to power the internationally recognized president hadi. making it this far to the city is a milestone. the houthis have controlled this region for months. and it's a main route to yemen's capital sanaa. >> translator: we will progress until we can reach sanaa. we will lit rail all yemeni cities from the those that want to hit our land, our relidge and unour dignity. >> reporter: the fighting is happening while representatives from the warring sides are meant to be talking peace in switzerland. the united nations is leading the meeting which journalists have been kept way from.

>> translator: we have submitted a letter of protest to the united nations against the violations that am today a military attack and we are keen to put an end to the war and not only post point it. >> reporter: what has been achieved so far is an agreement to let aid in for a samardzija t is one step in progress in a war that has killed more than 5,000 yemenis. a rack has opened an investigation in to u.s.-led coalition ire strike on fallujah that killed at least nine iraqi soldiers. they were targeting isil fighters in the center of the city on friday. iraqi ground forces were advancing on isil targets when an air strike thought to have been carried out by a u.s. plane hit. when both sides were in close combat. >> translator: our air forces were not able to fly due to the bad weather the coalitions air force were covering our troops

as they advanced. there was an air strike which killed them. investigations are ongoing by the iraqi and the american sides. the united nations says physical and sexual abuse against women and children in south africa are often regarded as normal. a special report on violence against women is urging the government to help those fight to go end it. tania page reports now where some parts are so dangerous the police refuse to go in. >> reporter: raped by a traditional healer who said she needed to be collisioned of an evil spur and it's that that was the way do it. she is only 13. the green door center is one of the few places rain victims can go for counseling. >> translator: he helped me by giving me clothes and soaps and by introduce me t to the to the other victims with he share our experiences which stops me from getting depressed.

>> reporter: this is one of the places the u.n.'s special report on violence against women went to on a recent fact finding mission. finding that physical and sexual abuse is often accepted as a fact of life. she 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, the different services, is recognition of governmental responsibilities to provide such services. and if they are not there then there is human rights violatio violations. >> reporter: she keeps the green door open despite a lack of help from the government that helped shed it up. pride after the donors bring food and healthcare products for him to distribute. >> there is no support that is given to you. >> reporter: most of the

residents live in poverty. there is so much crime. there are parts of the township so dangerous the police refuse to patrol. that adds to a sense of lawlessness and impunity for the perpetrators of rain and other violence. minister of women in the presidency says it isn't as simple as throwing money at a problem which the government is working on. >> as government we have competing challenges. in my own view the issues of violence against women cannot just be addressed on the basis of reaction, it's also developing programs which will make sure that women can empower themselves. >> reporter: they want to start offering sewing class to his help women learn skills so they can use to support themselves. it's likely he will have to rely on private donors not the government to make it happen. tania page, al jazeera, south africa. moving to nigeria where hundreds of people have been protesting against a proposed new law they say will limit the use of social media. people could be fined thousands of dollars or even imprisoned

for spreading what the government calls false information on twitter, what's app, facebook and in text messages. we have more from the capital abuja. >> reporter: hundreds of people demonstrate outside the nigerian parliament in a pwaoupblg a they say they want to stop the so-called antisocial media bill becoming law. if it does, my year vinnies could face two years in prison and a 10,000-dollar fine for making what the government considers false statements about government officials and public institutions on social media. sit sense have to produce a court affidavit along with their pacific saying they are telling the truth. she is against the proposed law. she has been critical government's response of kidnapping of more than 200 girls by boko haram last year who still have not been rescued. >> it's not a bill that is in the the interest of the people. it's a bill in the interest of a few of the senators, social

media is a tool that sill sens have used for their voices to be heard. this senator is behind the law. saying millions of dollars are being wasted by the government investigating false accusations on associates media. >> we want to curtail that situation. if you believe of what you are saying you have the freedom of information bill which entitles you to look for whatever facts you want from any government office. and if you have those facts, we have nothing, any wisdom allowing you to continue to write false lies. there are tons of lies in social media about us. >> reporter: most social media useers like these young people in abuja who run a social media club called fix nigeria think it's designed to stop them. their start the campaign #no to

social media bill. >> the law in itself has the potentially to violate so many human rights that the nigerian constitution protects. that nigeria has signed up to at the regional and international levels. >> reporter: those against the proposed new law also say it would be impossible for the government to enforce it. before the frivolous petitions and prohibition bill as it's called can become law, it will have to be approved by members of the house of representatives. and then sent to the president. if he doesn't approve it senators say it can still become law. but given the controversy it's generated, many civil society groups say it's unlikely to pass in its current form. still ahead for you this news hour, u.s. relations with the muslim population has been dominating the republican race. we'll look at how democrat contenders are reacting. why an arabic calligraphy assignment led to the closure of

schools in the u.s. state of virginia. and in sport, olympic champion crashes during a world cup downhill race in italy.

♪ ♪ welcome back. let's take you through the top stories. a spokesman for burundi's president has told al jazeera he does not want african union troops deployed to the country. the a.u. says the nation is on the brink of civil war and they plan to sends 5,000 peacekeepers with or without burundi's consents. during the past three days 75 rebels and troops have been killed in fighting floor yemen's border with saudi arabia, despite plans for peace takes due to start on tuesday. i united nations special envoy to syria says i will send out invitations for talks in january after the u.n. security council backed the peace talks. coming together in h*pl for a third debate. many voters will be looking at

what distinguishes them on the issues of security and religions especially after the controversial comments from donald trump about banning all muslims from entering the u.s., kimberly halkett reports. >> the food gets made 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 surprise in this warehouse until it is time to ship. >> we are not going to hateful rhetoric be our mantra. we want to make difference. we have seen a spike in people wanting to connect with us. >> reporter: she's talking about the comments from donald trump who has suggested banning muslims from the united states as necessary for its security. >> a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out

what the hell is going on. [cheering and applause] >> 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 in 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 will give an opportunity for the democratic candidates to show that they are not donald trump. and present a much more nuanced picture. >> reporter: voters of all faiths of watching, especially in right light of reports from muslim advocacy groups showing incidents the did he truck and vandalsism targeting u.s. mosques this past year have risen. >> the democrats have not spoken

out and made clear that all americans are our fellow americans and that we have to honor that and we have actively make sure that they feel safe and we build bridges and get to know each other. >> reporter: and she's leading by example. collecting more than a million dollars in goods for victims in syria. determined to demonstrate a spirit of unity and generosity. she expect from the next u.s. president. >> kimberly halkett joins us live from manchester new hampshire where the democratic debate will be taking place. security is obviously big issue debate but what else are we watching. >> reporter: a controversy has erupted in the last 24 hours. you can look at this headline. it's the headline from the new hampshire newspaper discussing the in fighting take i go place. what happened, very simply, is that there was a data breach that allowed the bernie and sanders campaign to access

confidential voting of the clinton campaign. they disabled the sanders campaign from accessing this information and a federal lawsuit was filed which is still pending. i should point out the sanders campaign has gotten their access back to this data but say there are still allegations that have simmering for for months and now have come to the surface over the issue the of objectivity and whether or not it's favoring hillary clinton to be the democratic nominee. so there is this broad swing issue and controversy regarding fairness and democracy and the electoral u.s. process and whether or not grassroots candidates really have a chance. that's the support, the backbone of support for bernie sand, he's seen as this anti-establishment candidate, grassroots support in opposition to hillary clinton. he's pointed out many times she has a long trail of wall street donors who fund her campaign that's the one big issue that you'll like see on the stage. the other one is the question about the debate itself. the fact that it's being held

five days before christmas. there is this accusation that the democratic party is really evening floored this to be off the radar, to be drama free. but i can tell you it's anything but drama free in the hours leading up to this debate. >> all right, so we are going to get allegations possibly flying back and forth about stolen data. how critical is the debate for the candidates at this stage in the race? >> reporter: it's absolutely critical for martin o'malley who is in single digits in terms of polling. bernie sanders actually leading in this state ahead of hillary clinton but nationwide about 30 points back behind hillary clinton, so this is really bernie's night. that is why expect him to come out strong not on just some of the key issues regarding income equality but also hitting heavily on foreign policy. this is one area where hillary clinton is seen as strong as the former secretary of state. expect bernie sanders to try to make gains in this area as well. >> should be an interesting one to watch bernie sanders in this, thanks very much, kimberly

halkett live for us there in manchester, new hampshire. now, to spain which, heading to polls on sunday. in a contest likely to bring an end to the traditional two-party system. the people's party and the social assists have alternated power since 1982. but the opinion poll suggests their support now stands at just over 27% and 20% respectively. that's not much more than the new citizens party which has an average of 19 points and just two-point behind is another newcomer a far left. close ally of greece's party. david chater reports on what's at stake from madrid. >> reporter: the force they think is with them. the latest recruit for the anti-austerity party is smashing all records at the box office. and they hope to do the same at the ballot box.

yes, we can is the message of its young left wing leader. pablo iglesias. a university lecture you are whoser whoseparty is less than d but aiming to break the back of spain's established political establishment: . the center right people's party will have the highest number of seats in the spanish parliament still. he boasts spain now has the fastest economic growth in the european union. his message to voters, close your eyes and dream of what sort of country you want. his nightmare, though, the is the new reformer citizens party which has been stealing some of his core sport in the electorate. led by a charismatic 36 year old from catalonia, who used his opposition to the independence movement there to launch a career in national politics. our time has come is his message, a time of hope.

struggling against the new tide in spanish politics is the once dominant socialist party. and its leader pedro sanchez, his party political broadcast imagines a future where they look back with pride on their victory in sunday's election. the message, build a future for the majority. a new generation of political leaders will be joining the congress of deputies to challenge the old two-party system. but what real impact will the young lines have on the political system here. >> these new party have his in past so they are in a better position to try and solve one of the main issues in the spanish policy which is political corruption. we have never seen so many young people in politics and that is -- that is also could be a healthy change. >> reporter: the political landscape is being remolded here. the prime minister shared a christmas dinner with these

people's party activists. if the polls go badly, though, for him, it could prove to be his last supper. david chater, al jazeera, madrid. thousands of people have taken to the streets of poland accusing the country's conservative government of undermining democracy. the law and justice party which only took power last month has been heavily criticized after attempting to make numerous changes to the constitutional courts which help to run the country. 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building in warsaw insist that go they will defend democracy at any cost. firefighters are battling numerous bush fires rage in this australian state of victoria. temperatures crept up 40 degrees celsius and strong winds made it difficult for firefighters to tackle more than 300 blazes. the highway, the main road between melbourne and sydney has been closed. >> reporter: cooler temperatures are expected on sunday, but

authorities have warned the situation continues to be extremely dangerous. now, rivers are a crucial component of life on earth but the environmental and human rights group international rivers warns that they are in crisis. it says 2/3 of the world's rivers have been damaged by the estimated 50,000 large damns built over the past century. many of the great refers such as the river in asia or the colorado river which runs through the u.s. and mexico, no longer reach the ocean. it means that once productive wetlands have been turned in to ecological dead zones. over the past 40 years freshwater ecosystems have lost 50% of their populations. and more than a third of the remaining freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction. over the next three days we'll look at how people's health and livelihoods are being afternooned by the decline of major rivers, we first go to kirkuk in iraq which is seeing a direct impact on its economy as imran kahn reports.

>> reporter: this field should be full of crops. but as far as the eye can see, nothing. the rivers that feed these field are dried up. nothing can grow here. he is a landowner and environmentalist. he blames dam building in neighboring turkey for causing the crisis and says iraq is powerless to stop the turks after more than a decade of war following the fall of sadam hussein and now the rise of isil. >> these dams in turkey and the lack of response from the government affected our crop. i'll give you an example. when we had water, 30 acres of land would produce a ton of barley a year. now that same 30 acres produces a kilo. >> reporter: farmers here have had to resort to digging large wells to find water for their field. but it isn't enough. and they 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, they need to dig deep in to the ground between 30 and 150 meters

to get the kind of water, clean water, they need to be able to irrigate these lands. that's not only having an impact environmentally, but also economically. during the harvest season thousands of people worked here. now just a handful are i are em. across the region unemployment has risen dramatically. >> all the farmers are desperate. >> reporter: i had to lay off 30 farmers that can't provide for their families. now on our markets are flooded with foreign properties. >> reporter: to keep up with demands iraq is importing wheat and rice from the very country that build the dams that caused the rivers to dry up in the first place. the collapse of the farming industry is concern to go many here but given the other challenges that iraq faces fixing this problem doesn't seem to be a priority. imran kahn, al jazeera, kirkuk. and in part two of our rivers of life series wayne hay

reports from the mekong river in cambodia where plan to his build a dam have angered many local people and environmental experts. that's on sunday here on al jazeera. a few days after schools in los angeles were closed by a bomb hoax, classes in individual individual were canceled because of calligraphy. a teacher's attempt to introduce high school pupils to arabic writing caused anger among some parents and there were claims that staff were at risk. paul reports. >> reporter: the halls of rivershead head high school remember empty. more than 4,000 students were told to start their christmas breaks early. school heads say they were threatened via social media because of an arabic including raffi assignment. as part of the established curriculum, students were asked to copy the muslim statement of

faith frozing the acceptance of mohamed as god's prophet. some parents said it was trying to convert kids it islam. others say it's symptoms of wider anti-muslim sentiment being fueled by political campaigns. >> when we are being fed fear day in and out we act out of that fear and we act irrationally. >> reporter: reaction has varied. don't worry, dear, it won't turn you muslim. neither would drawing a cross make me christian, amy said these school principles are sick. they are tossing kids to say this in class. we don't want this garbage. and those virginia school students are all muslim now as far as islam is concerned. during the last debate by republicans, hoping to replace president barack obama, candidates referred to islamic

terrorism, isil and terrorism hundreds of times. health experts say americans are 40,000 times more likely to die of heart disease and obesity and cancer than from terrorism. >> the reality on the ground is right now in america we have 30% of republican primary voters saying that they want to bomb agri back it's a fictitious country where aladdin and jasmine fell in love and rode on a magic carpet. we are dealing with a situation where people are so fearful think that they are responding in this way. >> reporter: that fear is what is attributed to the closure of the second largest public school district in the u.s. on the day of the republican agree bait. 640,000 students in los angeles returned to class on wednesday after investigators said the bomb and gun threat received via e-mail was a hoax.

as paul mentioned in his report, a poll found that nearly a third of republicans supported bombing an imaginary city from the move a ladin and, there has been a big reaction to this on social media. on twitter reportter a reportera photograph of herself in this fictitious city. donald trump has the caption, bomb 'em. still ahead for you in sport. street basketball in cuba is not only growing in popularity, it's getting support from an unlikely source.

♪ ♪ welcome back. let's bring all the latest sports news now. thank you very much. chelsea have formally announced that gu. s will take charge of the club until of the end of the season prereplacing jose mourinho who was sacked this week. the dutchman was in the stands for "a's match at stamford bridge as supporters sang mourinho's name. going in to the match sitting 16th 16 points above the relegation zone fans were cheering as branislav eye safe c put the blues ahead. with all-star netting chelsea's third goal from the penalty spot in the second half, the home side responding well to prematch chat with a much needed 3-1 win.

>> just that they had a responsibility to the football club and its supporters all around the world. >> in a club statement before the match, he said i am excited to return to stamford bridge, chelsea one of the biggest clubs in the world but is not where it should be at the moment. however, i am sure that we can all turn the season around i am looking forward to working with the players and staff at this great club. as for mourinho himself, he attended an english championship game between middlesrbrough and bright an. earlier his management put out a statement saying that the portuguese won't be taking say sabbatical and is already looking ahead. in other results top of the table lester city increased their lead to five points after 3-2 win over everton. scoring twice from a penalty spot. spurs move in to top four with

the 2-0 win at southampton. and manchester united were beaten 2-1 after home by norwich for the first time since 1989. increasing the pressure on manager luis van gaal. >> yes, of course i am worried about it because i know that -- believe that it's very important. and when you lose the games you play, then the belief in the manager shall increase. or decrease. decrease. so that's happening how. >> in the bundesliga bayern munich has wrapped up 20 fine with a win. but speculation still mounts over the future of their coach pep guardiola. the spaniard's three-year

contract expires at the end. season and he was expected to clear his future after this match. guarguardiola led bayern to baco back german league titles but has never managed in the english premier league. the 44-year-old has been linked with moves to manchester city, man chief are united and chelsea. guardiola's former club bars loan or getting ready to take on argentina side river plate in sunday's fifa world cup final in japan. they are uncertainly when messi and neymar will play. messi was ruled out on the morning of the semifinal clash against with abdominal pain. neymar was carrying a groin strain prior to the arrival in japan. they are bidding for their third club world cup title. american skier lindsey vonn's attempt to seal a record

equaling win ended when she crashed out of a world cup downhill race in france, vonn finished failed to finish. she was looking to tie ann marie moser's record of 36 downhill victories. laura of switzerland won, vonn hold the overall championship lead but now only two points behind is another. olympic champion mattias meijer of austria was airlifted after crashing in italy. it's the first time a safety bag inflated during a world cup race. no details about his injuries have been released. people in cuba have been embracing the eads in relations with the united states. particularly through shared passions in basketball.

but in havana the sport has its own unique style. daniel explains. >> reporter: it began with a group of friends on a street corner it's growing for to a well organized lead. with the influence of the cuban state. >> translator: our level is very, very good. which is why the authorities have been going our existence. we are now as good as them. that caused us some problems, but our idea is to one day join with the organized basketball. with them incorporating some of our ideas. >> reporter: the street league has received support from full-court peace, one of the growing number of u.s. organizations rekindling ties with cuba. this one promoting solidarity on the basketball court. >> it's almost -- >> translator: we are americans, they are cube an cubans but on t we can be friends. >> reporter: the league helps keep youngsters out of trouble. and for many cubans basketball is how they express themselves.

>> translator: when i play basketball, i am in tune with myself and how my body works and i am far from the testimony takes of vice and society. it forces me to develop my mind, since basketball is the most creative of sports, we are always creating. >> reporter: they use that creatively to establish courts whenever there is adequate spa space. and to adapt the rules to a tougher more a he is. >> i have 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 that can be imposed by the state. the state is beginning to notice the street scene. it's a game with young players from the national basketball school. >> translator: this league is very well organized. this is street basketball. while ours is state run and organized. my kids study basketball and play with more technique. >> reporter: but they are all learning from one another with the passion and power of cuba's street basketball scene

difficult to contain. al jazeera, huh van, a cuba. and that's all your sport from me, i'll hand you back to maryam. thank you. a human rights prize awarded in germany. he has living in the refugees camp when videos of him emerged playing the piano in the rubble damascus. the videos went viral last year. in september he made the perilous journal friday turk toyota greek island of lesbos, he then continued these journey onto germany. he was given the human rights prize at a ceremony on friday. more on everything we are covering right here, the ahead is there, aljazeera.com. there you will find the latest comment, analysis, and video on demand. that's it for this news hour but i will be back in a few moments time with a full bulletin for you. see you then.

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a plan to send thousands of african troops to keep the peace is rejected outright by the government in burundi. ♪ >> hemo. you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up: are a warwanda celebrates. 98% voted to lift presidential term limits. >> fierce fighting has killed 75 rebels and pro-government forces. ♪