>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm nick clark in doha and coming up, in the next 60 minutes iraqi forces take the city of ramadi from i.s.i.l. the greek parliament votes to recognize palestine as a state in the president of mokmood. afghan government forces advance in their bid to push the taliban out of the southern district of sangin.

[chanting] and the pressure and his parliament takes up a bill for punishment for juveniles accused of serious crimes. ♪ iraqi military advance to the center of the city of ramp da to flush out i.s.i.l. fighters and they say there have been some casualties in fighting in the south of the city and army reportedly surrounded the city from all sides and they seized the capitol of anbar providence and north ramadi 14 security fores and tribal fighters have been killed in an i.s.i.l. attack and joining me on the phone from baghdad is a member of parliament from anbar providence and tell us what you know about this latest offensive. >> thank you very much and you

know as you know at midnight that offensive to go to ramadi starts by iraqi forces and the group and huge progress towards ramadi and the iraqi forces, they are doing very good progress. there is a test from i.s.i.l. in some area and other bases but the special iraqi forces, they are doing very good progress even slowly but it's very good progress and we hope in the next few days they will retake on ramadi. big support from the coalition airforces and it's very

supportive. there is big support from the tribal fighters also, from the local fighters who are supporting their army, the iraqi army and there is a very good coordination with the coalition airforces. >> the time scale of this you think the way it's going at the moment that the city will be successfully retaken by what by the weekend? >> we hope so. we hope so because the attack was a very good coordinated by the iraqi forces and they attack i.s.i.l. from areas they did not expect it and from the area they don't expect it from the iraqi special force will come from this area so i think by the weekend it's evident that yes they will retake it. >> okay, and just to recap for

us just how crucial ramadi is because as you mentioned yourself it was taken earlier in the summer, in may i believe, how important is it to have this retaken now? >> yeah, ramadi is very important you know because for the ramadis who are in anbar providence and is occupied by i.s.i.l. so they take ramadi, after that they can go to the other areas and the highway, you know, the highway between jordan and syria, retake ramadi, after that the iraqi forces retake the highway between iraqi and jordan and they are both on the highway and back again. also they will decrease their support coming from syria to i.s.i.l. and iraq. >> well thanks very much for

that update, the latest situation ongoing there in ramadi. well, we have a former iraqi member of parliament and saying recapturing ramadi will deal a major blow to i.s.i.l. >> it has been for sometime now allowance for the civilian people to come out after the casualty of the civilian as their own vicious actions with themselves behind the civilian women and children and also they have some to be able to reduce casualties from the army and ramadi can be taken and it's very important because it is the providence of ramadi and very important for the coalition which it is representing the bombing against da'esh not only in iraq but the reason.

and it will be no longer in iraq because ramadi is not only with baghdad but with jordan and with mosul and the providence of ramadi taking this is the backbone of da'esh in the region. >> now the greek parliament voted in favor of recognizing palestine as a sovereign and independent state and the resolution is a symbolic gesture and it's nonbinding and the president was present for the vote in athens, greece is now the 137th country to recognize palestinian statehood. well, we have a senior official and says although the vote is symbolic it's an important reminder to the world about how the palestinians are suffering. >> when you're talking about 140 countries who have done so the

wave of the recognitions that came from europe and latin america between the year 2010 and 2012 and 2014 had waned and stopped and now it is revived again. this cumulative process brings in international support and legal consequences and brings in eventually more support vis-a-vis what interests us at the time which is punishment and isolation and real sanctions against israel to stop its action in palestine. we have to continue patiently with the confrontation with israel and struggle against israeli occupation in the father and local popular struggle against the israelis and the international arena. i mean we really have to emulate the south africans in that sense of really gradually bringing

more recognition and bringing more sanctions against israel and bringing more pressure from the international community. as i said before the priority today goes to the syrian issue and we don't want to be sent back to the waiting bin for a long time. that is why we have to keep continuous action, international action in order to keep the alive our cause and to keep alive our call for international pressure on israelis. >> well palestinians in the occupied west bank have been raising money to help rebuild homes destroyed by israeli forces. since october at least ten houses have been torn down of den decades of destroying homes accused of attacking israelis and we have this report. >> reporter: these are the ruins of what was his home. it was demolished by the israeli military earlier this month. the rest of the multi story building which he stared with

his extended family was also badly damaged making larts parj -- large parts of it inhabitable and he has been in prison ever since and his wife says she doesn't know why she and her young son have been punished for a crime they didn't commit. >> translator: it's unfair, what can we do, my husband is in prison and probably worried sick about us. >> reporter: since october a wave of violence in israel and occupied palestinian territories and 120 and a dozen israelis have been killed and cracked down hard on the violence with arrests in the areas an ordering demolitions of the homes of palestinians expected in the attacks and outraged palestin n palestinians in the occupied west bank raised money to help rebuild and more than $250,000 has been raised in a week, thousands of dollars worth of

construction supplies donated and offers of labor have also poured in and say they were motivated to offer to help because they were angry the palestinian authority wasn't doing more. >> translator: the idea was fueled mostly because of a lack of official response but a few days later officials got involved and that really encouraged us. >> reporter: policy of demolishing palestinian homes is considered illegal under international law and described as human rights group of nothing short of collective punishment and also not new, from 1967-2005 hundreds of homes in the occupied territories were demolished as a punitive measure and ended in 2005 after senior military leaders said it did not prevent violence and was legally questionable. >> been man netanyahu brought back housing demolitions as a policy two years ago after the killing of israeli settlers and since then dozens of palestinian houses destroyed and in the last

two months alone ten have been reduced to rubble and still that has not led to any meaningful slow down in the violence so if the policy is intended to have a deterrent effect it doesn't appear to be working. al jazeera, in the occupied west bank. let's speak now live in athens, a story we have seen is one of the on going stories we see all the time in the region and now we have a vote in the greek parliament that is symbolic but yet very significant. >> yes, nick, absolutely and when you hear the words of president abad hailing this moment as a historic one, historical one it gives you an idea how the palestinians really feel about it. but as president abbas also said he feels proud to be at the greek parliament and also said the relations between greece and the palestinians is historical

and very, very close. now, of course with the palestinians it's also very important to keep the momentum going nick because the british, french have called on governments to recognize palestine as an independent state. now, it is not expected because it's nonbinding resolution so therefore the government is not expected to follow suit and recognize palestine as an independent state. >> what about the relations now between greece and israel, what kind of impact will this vote have on that? >> if the greek government approves or abides by the resolution then it will be a problem between greece and israel but because it is a vote in parliament and nonbinding and symbolic i think it will not have any impact at all.

remember they have strong relations with israel with security, economic and military front and have joined projects to drill for gas for example in the mediterranean so it's very important that the relationship between them is very, very strong and i think the ties with them will not be affected by such resolution. >> leave it there for the time being and thanks very much live for us in greece. let's have more now on our top story on the offensive by iraqi forces against i.s.i.l. to recapture ramadi, and we go to the political analyst and director of the house of iraqi expertise foundation and is live from baghdad by skype and welcome to the program and good to have you here to talk about this what is your situation of the latest situation we are hearing about iraqi forces attempting to retake ramadi? >> well, last night actually they made the main attack, iraqi forces made the main attack in the center of ramadi and

actually it's beginning to be a street fight from house to house and actually there are casualties between the civilians, the iraqi army asking the civilians to get out from the city, da'esh making them a human shield and so on and it's the same old story. now what has happened is that the iraqi forces actually attacked from two let's say two fronts the eastern and the northern front inside ramadi which means that in the next two or three hours they will enter the center of ramadi and at that point they will be actually a real attack from the iraqi forces, a major attack, another major attack by the iraqi forces to make da'esh getting out of the city. now, they are now asking so many questions, the people now asking

so many questions about what is going to happen after that but before that actually the coalition and international coalition airforce making a huge attacks on the barriers on the defenses of da'esh but the problem they say is that the casualties, the civilian casualties. >> that right and that is the question i was going to ask, what about the civilians and leaflets were dropped warning them to leave the city if they could. how would it be possible to secure them? >> well actually there is some safe streets and safe passes happened by the iraqi forces, trying to evacuate the families, the women and children and maybe the old men first of all because they are let's say they are all in between, between the iraqi forces and da'esh. these safe zones declared by iraqi forces, the problem is that da'esh preventing older

civilians from getting out of the city because they are considering them as i said as a human shield. this is the main problem now. the next step i think let's say with the few hours there will be so many decorations for the civilians is that there will be safe zones inside ramadi, not outside ramadi which is a positive thing, first and secondly there are so many crews medical and humanitarian crews trying to reach to these areas and to try to help the civilians there. >> all right we appreciate your knowledge about this. thank you very much indeed and giving us the very latest on the situation and the context in iraq. still the come on this news hour a prominent human rights lawyer in china gets a suspended sentence. living in fear daily struggles in the rebel held yemeni capitol and we have sport coming up, too and organizers of 2020 games in

tokyo reveal the new stadium five months after the original plan was scrapped. ♪ so government forces continue to fight the taliban in afghanistan's southern providence and army advancing on the district which fell to the taliban on monday. [gunfire] afghan forces have captured a few out posts but the main city is still under taliban control and it's the latest attempt by the group to hold territory since they have taken since nato combat operations nearly a year ago. look at the taliban controls this in afghanistan and taken four in helmin and produces opium and this has been used for operations by international forces in the past and in september the taliban seized the

provincial capitol of kunduz and held it for two weeks and we will go to al jazeera's political analyst and commentator on afghanistan so this counter offensive is to be expected but there have been casualties along the way. >> yes, that is expected because the taliban have proven to be an important force and the timing of this attack just before winter set in is important. the taliban are hoping that they will use the cover of the winter to hold on to this area and also from the reports in the area that they are not allowing some of the civilians to leave shows that the taliban are planning to stay there and fight it all the way. >> right and meanwhile it seems the integrity of the operation is in attack and have an attack on u.s. forces. >> also the taliban have shown they have very strong intelligence and the fact they can operate throughout the

country and choose their targets and attack and execute those attacks shows that they have somewhat a very dangerous reach throughout the country. >> so going forward over the short to medium term it's hard to predict but how do you see things panning out because you can say the afghan government has its tactics wrong. >> well, it is believed that the government does not have a war strategy and if that is true then i think that the government might just opt for holding to what it has and wait and leave this through winter and come back in the spring to get the taliban out of these populated areas. >> and how important is it in terms of strategy for the government to hold the providence and take control there? >> helman is strategic and important between kandahar providence and strategically it's important and also there is

a symbolic significant here with the british troops and singrin is in the hands of the taliban a lot of questions will be asked what did the british troops fight for. >> appreciate your expertise in this, thanks very much indeed. >> thank you. a leading human rights lawyer in china guilty of disturbing public order and inciting hatred and given a three-year suspended prison term and arrested after criticizing china's government online and we report now from beijing. >> reporter: china's ju dish artery -- judiciary rarely has a verdict and unexpected and he apologizing for the comments that landed him in court. he is now effectively a free man and had been facing up to eight years in jail after being found guilty of provoking trouble and

hatred charges he denied and his posts on social media got him in trouble and poked fun at china's leaders and criticized policies in the troubled regions of tibet and his trial opened a week ago and journalists and diplomates were man handled outside of the courthouse and may be arrested just for being there and did not report the opening of the trial but the teaming works with the first to report the verdict with the emphasis on the sentence rather than the reprieve. among supporters who include the avongard artist there were mixed feelings and welcomed release and it was an injustice to hold him in prison for 20 months. >> translator: we do not recognize this and has been given suspended sentence from the legal perspective he is

legally punished and in the future cannot be a lawyer. >> reporter: the fact he is found guilty and given a suspended sentence is kind of a slightly positive given the context but it's important to indicate he never should have been detained. he committed to crime. the evidence they had against him was very flimsy. >> reporter: the guilty verdict disqualifies him from practicing law and the strict conditions of his release mean he could be returned to jail if he provokes the authorities again. adrian brown, al jazeera, beijing. joining us from beijing is director of china national association of international studies which is affiliated with the chinese foreign ministry and would you say this sentence contradicts everything he is trying to do in advantaging the rule of law in china? >> not really. i will say that the fact that the verdicts or verdict is

handed down and the fact that he decided not to an appeal the verdict and expressed himself in public that he is fine with this verdict means a lot. i think while this case itself is controversial, in china, among lawyers in particular i think the government has gone through the process and mr. cho has gone through the process and both sides agree this should be the final result and whether other people would welcome this result or become very critical of this result that is another matter. i think as far as the chinese jurisdiction is concerned the law has run its course and he will soon be out of prison and be a free man. >> a free man but he is still guilty, he is a free man but he is still guilty and disqualified from practicing his trade, from practicing law. >> first of all i'm a licensed

lawyer. i know in all jurisdictions in the world and to be a lawyer in the practice of the law you need to satisfy certain standing issues and i think if you are convicted as a criminal for one reason or another you lose the qualification. i think this is a fact that he has to be faced with. whether in the future he can get the situation straightened out or get a pardon for example or another reprieve is another example that mr. poo and his lawyers need to think about. on the other hand i think the fact that he expressed many views through the internet and the government now is saying that some of the views he expressed even though he did not express them in the streets or in the public et cetera but mostly through his rechat groups for example were tantamount to inciting fate and resulted in

instability for example and some of the crimes he had been convicted of are related to a racial hate and this is very viable and a serious offense. >> did it result in instability? >> we know. >> what xi jinping said in london in october with regard to protection of human rights he said looking around the world we know there is always room for improvement, many would say there is plenty of room for improvement on this decision. >> oh, definitely. i think china is moving towards rule of law. i personally don't think we have a perfect record in terms of rule of law, what we have is a rule of politics and law however the over all trend is clear and moving the right direction and may take months or years or decades for us to achieve a very high level of rural law and i think what the rule of law we want to achieve in china is what

we call rule of law with chinese cashing -- characteristics with the needs in the political system against the chinese historical background and all of this will make the chinese rule of law a little bit different from what many people think in the western countries will be accustom to and they maintain the stability as a top priority and do not have a lot of flexibility if they consider whatever that is expressed or done threatens the under laying social and political stability in the country. for other country's perspective this may be a little bit too much but this is a fact in china, we need to live with that. >> we have to leave it there in beijing, thank you very much. india's upper house of parliament has been debating amendment to the juvenile justice law and follows the public out cry over the release of youngest convict of the rape

and murder of a medical student in 2012 and will allow juveniles to be tried as adults for serious crimes, the victim's parents are present at the discussion in parliament and let's speak live now to new deli and what more can you tell us about this? >> well, divided upper house in the moment in india parliament a number of arguments for and against the amendments including as we have mentioned that some young offenders between the age of 16-18 may be tried as adults depending on the nature of their crime. on the one hand there are people suggesting the law needs to be tougher and stronger to deter young people from committing such crimes those particularly of a violent nature support as attack in 2012 and on the other hand there are those who suggest one case cannot determine changes to the law, that there needs to be more in-depth scrutiny of amendments and until that happens the upper house

should not be acting with too much of a populus wave in mind. we should also say that there has been interesting commentary in the parliament this afternoon with some suggesting that this is not just about an amendment, it's about implementation and that is where a lot of these laws follow in india. it's also about an all encompassing approach and looking at issues of education and poverty and how to better the lives of many of the young offenders that are involved in these cases. >> how much attention is this important case drawing around the country? >> huge amounts, nick, particularly after the weekend when the youngest convict of the 2012 gang rape was released and served maximum three-years release and what needs to happen to deter more young people from committing these crimes and that again comes back to this all encompassing approach but then again under lying all of this is why is sexual violence so

prevalent in india and that is a question that many activists say laws cannot help us deal with. it's a social and cultural problem and that is where focus really needs to lie. >> all right, in new deli, thanks very much indeed. well, there has been a verdict in another rape case in india where one accused was a juvenile at the time of the crime, seven others sentenced to death in the northern state and the juvenile is facing a separate trial and a mentally challenged woman from the poor was raped and murdered in february and the woman was in india for treatment and the victim's sister wants to see the convict hanged. the international organization for migration says a million migrants and refugees crossed into europe this year and vast majority more than 800,000 people crossed to greece from turkey by sea and 4,000 others died trying to cross the

mediterranean in the worst refugee crisis since the second world war. let's move on to the weather and rob is here with the story of much warmer than normal weather. >> yes, i suppose so i mean by night it is still frosty and with refugees it's frosty but compared what it should be it's majorly warmer for example this is the picture now we got out of spain. this is bush fires. how often do you expect to get bush fires in the northeast in the country? it has been too warm and too dry. this is normally a summer phenomenon obviously and the reason for this and spain is not alone because of where the cloud is and the cloud is coming from the atlantic where it should be with the frontal system down here, through the mediterranean and should be a stormy time and it isn't. a whole lot is too far north by a long way and effecting all of europe and of course today it's 4:48 precisely and it was the winter solstice with the sun as

far south as it will be and london it's 16 and moscow 6. so what? here is what you might expect it to be. seven in london. minus three in moscow. the departure from the average is huge. think about nine degrees and this is true of most places in europe. it's not going to change any time. in the consequence in moscow where it should be minus three by and below by night should be everything covered in snow, not rain and should be an ice slide and not plus ten or anything like it and it's plus six there and as i say things won't change any time soon, nick. >> a really warm christmas in northern europe and still ahead how gold and diamond sales are fueling the conflict in the central african republic plus. >> i'm wayne hey reporting from cambodia where decades after the end of civil war land mind experience operations are years behind schedule. >> and new zealand's captain

will retire from cricket and make history in the process and we will have details in about 20 minutes. ♪

♪ welcome back, top stories on al jazeera, iraqi military advanced to the center of ramadi in a major offensive to flush out i.s.i.l. fighters and surrounded the city from all sides in an operation that started at midnight, i.s.i.l. seized the capitol of anbar providence earlier this year. greece recognizing palestine as

an independent state and it's a symbolic gesture because it's nonbinding. it is the fourth day of fighting between afghan forces and the taliban in southern helman providence and army advancing to the district which fell to the talibon on monday. supporters loyal to yemen's government fought their way in the providence of the capitol and the closest to sanaa since the houthi rebels seized it and peace talks ended without agreement but will resume next month and richard martin has this report. >> reporter: pro-government forces are on the offensive, they have taken control of the mountains overlooking sanaa close to the town of a houthi stronghold. houthi rebels took control of sanaa 15 months ago and pro-government forces fighting to allow the internationally recognized president abd rabbuh mansur hadi to return to the capitol. >> translator: fighting is now ongoing in that direction, on

the right of the junction and the popular resistance fighters are there on the hills by the junction. >> reporter: there are pro-government gains north in the providence with heavy fighting west 50 kilometers from the saudi border. the houthis are on the retreat there leaving weapons and other equipment as they go. in the central providence pro-government fighters have taken control of a houthi training camp and both sides want to control this area because it has most of yemen's oil and gas reserves. >> translator: we are following well thought military plans and god willing our advances continue to the right direction to beloved sanaa. >> reporter: world health organization says almost 6,000 people have died in this conflict, the u.n. says almost half of those are civilians. peace talks in switzerland last week ended without agreement to bring the civil war to an end, the two sides agreed to meet again next month.

richard martin, al jazeera. well, international aid organizations estimate four in five yemeni need critical life sustaining supplies and that is 21 million people with cities under siege and food and medical supplies restricted civilians are suffering more than ever and we have the story of one sanaa family. >> reporter: he and his family used to feel safe here. their home in the district of sanaa was their castle. for the past year their lives have turnd upside down. >> translator: here most of the families and people in towns and villages are worried about safety of their children. >> reporter: he sent some of his children away to safety. his family lives in constant fear. >> translator: there is fear inside and outside the house. inside we fear the house may collapse and outside we fear the bombing because of the ongoing war. >> reporter: at the market near

the house vendors have set up rows of fruit under colorful umbrellas and the city has been under the control of houthi rebels since february. the seat of government has moved to the southern port city of aiden. >> translator: the country and people have been damaged and used to be able to sleep at night but now my seven children live in fear and the situation is getting worse. >> reporter: he used to make ends meet working two shifts a day as a guard, now he works only a few hours a day bringing home $93 a month. >> translator: my salary is insufficient especially after the closer of factories and companies and because of lack of resources and all revenue, the middle class people live in a dire situation. >> reporter: like many of his neighbors his only hope is that peace negotiators can succeed, that life returns to normal so that his family can be together again in their own safe corner of the world. paul with al jazeera.

let's speak now to a political analyst who joins me live via skype from sanaa and it's great to have you on the program and tell us more about this situation, four out of five yemeni needing critical life sustaining supplies and 21 million people and extraordinary amount and must be incredibly challenging. >> very challenging and no matter what and just came from the hospital right now where they had officially have no drugs, no painkillers and very little anesthesia. i had to remove an molar with manual tools and very little anesthesia. it's torture. in terms of food there is very little food, there is very little water. and not sure if it's food and almost 100% of drugs and no electricity because there is no gas. and it's a very nasty situation.

that is exactly why 85% of the population needs aid. >> yemen were already struggling with widespread poverty before the start of the war and have a briefing by the u.n. security council set to fall later today on tuesday and the u.n. security council really need to pull out all the stops to make something happen by the sounds of it. >> well, to be honest we are very skeptical and not hopeful and the u.n. announced six move -- months ago they need to deliver aid to yemen and it's not funded and only 50% funded despite six months and we are not putting our hopes in the u.n. or whatever the u.n. says it's going to do and so far they failed us and failed us really i mean not in the international community and not putting our hopes there and they are

currently on the ground and people are struggling to find food, to find drugs and the international community has basically failed us >> but even if aid can get in the country won't it be incredibly difficult to distribute it to those in need given the state of things in yemen? >> well, the coalition basically destroyed all the roads and destroyed all the bridges and even though they promised to deliver aid they have not done so so the new end even if they have real intention to deliver aid they can't and they have the funds for it and there are multiple challenges to do it. there are all political rhetoric while they are doing this political show people are dying on the ground. >> all right we will leave it there with that troubling account of what the situation and the humanitarian situation is like in yemen right now, thanks very much indeed for your

thoughts, thank you. >> thank you. cambodia says it won't be able to meet u.n. deadline to clear land mines from decades of conflict signed agreement in 1997 and has been granted one extension which runs out the end of 2019 but as wayne hey reports there are still years if not decades of work ahead. >> reporter: a secentimeter by centimeter cleared by land mines and has to be a slow, thorough process and the consequences of missing one can be fatal. this was a controlled debt nation of two antitank mines found in the west near the border with thailand. many people living particularly farming in areas that have land mines are in constant danger. this farmer survived with a broken leg when his rice harvesting machine ran over an empty tank mine recently, his friend did not. >> translator: it's an old path

we used many times but never driven on a mine. unfortunately on that day we did and it exploded. >> reporter: it's estimated up to 6 million land mines were planted in cambodia in decades of civil and regional wars that started in the 1960s, as a result of the fighting millions of other unexploded devices were also left behind. in the past 25 years more than 2.6 million have been recovered but there is a long way to go, too far to meet the u.n. target of totaler ratification. >> we strongly believe we cannot make it by year 2019. this stage we consider to request and place an extension request by the amount of ten years. announcer: that is only to clear antipersonnel mines, not antitank mines or other explosives. the cambodia say one of the big problems is money and don't have

enough to fund operations like this properly and as it becomes clear they won't meet targets the funding will be more scarce. and most comes from japan and the united states but cambodians say as the process drags on some donors will start taking their money elsewhere and have 3,000 square kilometers left to clear but even without a funding cut it will take another 30 years before the countryside can be declared safe. wayne in cambodia. two survivors have been pulled from the sea in eastern indonesia three days after the ferry they were on sank in stormy waters and three have died and there is little hope of finding the 74 missing and carrying 12 crew member bes and 110 passengers. beijing has a red alert and it

is in thick and dense fog since saturday and pollution partibles reached 20 times the level safe by the world health organization and tuesday is supposed to be the last day of the current alert. new deli is very a car-free day on a busy two kilometer stretch of the indian capitol and introduced the concept three months ago to encourage people to use public transport. in bakino-fosa arrest warrant for blaze over his alleged role in the murder of the ex president in 1987. and he was killed during a coup that brought him to power. and earlier this year an autopsy on a body believed to be his showed it was riddled with bullets and several reports since suggested he was executed. he took power in a coup in 1983 and pursued the facility of marxisn and he was called africa

and it was one of the high profile killings in history and he is now accused of being involved in the murder is believed to be living in the ivory coast and toppled last year after mass protests of attempt to change the constitution to extend his 27-year rule. human rights groups say gold and diamond sales have been used to finance conflict in the central african republic and attempt to keep conflict diamonds off the market and the gold is proving much more difficult to trace and we went to visit a gold mine and we have more. >> reporter: everyday at 7:00 a.m. these men come to dig for gold in one of the world's poorest countries. and he started working at the human mine a year and a half ago after his father was killed in the civil war. >> translator: the income here is good.

some of us collect money so we can go back to school, others want to save enough to be able to return to our villages and have a comfortable life. >> reporter: the war which started three years ago between muslim and christian malitias cost thousands of lives and the fighting has now stop but divisions run deep between communities u be in the mine muslims and christians work side by side. >> translator: i work here with my three brothers, for three months now, it is our only chance to feed our family. >> reporter: mine creates a small amount of jobs is part of a bigger problem and human rights groups say rebels from all sides are using mines to buy weapons and fund their operations. >> now in the west of the country where you have a diamond industry that has kept on paying antibal i ka fighters for protection or for the simple operation of their mines and also in the east where you have several groups mainly muslim

rebels who have used mines such as to fund operations in the country. >> reporter: and the mine is 15 clim grams -- kilograms making 350 a month and exported half a million carats of diamonds in 2013, the same year it was placed under the kimberly process and for bids the sale of blood diamonds from conflict zones. works at the mines never stops and makes it possible to trace blood die monts it's impossible to trace precious metals such as gold. >> it's difficult to find and trace back where gold comes from especially when it has been melled. >> reporter: deny running the mines or exploiting minors and refuses to be filmed and towelling in tough conditions they are just trying to put food

on the table for their families. al jazeera in the mines. supreme court issued arrest warrant for former president ricardo-martinelli for 150 wire taps on politicians and business men and he claims he has done nothing wrong. still ahead on our rivers of life series washing away washington's waste, how an ambitious engineering project is cleaning up one of the u.s. capitol rivers. and in sport shroder in atlanta against portland in the nba but he is not smiling about it. >> the tooth flies out of his mouth! ♪

♪ now that more than 32 trillion liters of raw materials and toxic materials flow in the waterways each year, in the capitol washington the river has long been a toxic channel of human wastes and chemicals and in the fourth series of rivers of life showing how the local governments are trying to stem the flow. >> reporter: the river runs through some poor areas in washington d.c. and the man who tests it for toxic chemicals have a warning for those who take to the waters. >> don't fall in. >> reporter: this slow moving 14 kilometer shall waterway is a particularly bad candidate for toxic dumping but city

authorities allowed toxins from roads and plants and military installations since the 19th century. >> hydro carbons and toxic metals and chlorine and die -- dyoxine. >> reporter: widespread and raw sewage, washington 19th century sub that rain pipe system connects sewage and rainwater and reaches capacity on particularly rainy days and some seems to the surface and the rest is dumped straight into dc rivers and 49 billions of waste flows in the water each year and the city is building tunnels 50 meters below the city. >> on the other side of the air lock is actually the cutter wheel itself. >> reporter: it is hoping 98%

of the sewage will be diverted from the river and homes above. property taxes are already rising in neighborhoods as the risk of flooding from the sewer system abates and hopes grow for cleaner river and environmentists saying it took two lawsuits to stop the flow of sewage. >> there is a confluance with regard to water quality and a real shame if communities who have been deprived of a clean river all of these years were pushed out and not able to enjoy the benefits and there are already signs of that happening. >> reporter: it took so long to begin work on these tun -- tunnels that climate change were not part of the planning and using old models and 200 miles of untreated sewage will flow when the tunnels are complete sometime after 2025 and toxic

storm runoff will be after that. >> not in our lifetime and say they cannot do better finishing by 2154. >> reporter: measures deal with the flow of mru -- polutants and as they said try not to fall in. we will go to sport and he is in front of the building site and tokyo advanced a new design and approved by the prime minister on tuesday and comes five months after the original design was strapped while back in september 2013 there was no hint of problems to come and remember these pictures tokyo winning the bid to host and not istanbul with the 32nd olympics but july 2515 this original plan, this plan was scrapped

because at $2 billion it was frankly too expensive and more bad news to follow in september of this year when this new logo for the games was found to be plagiarized from a theatre in belgium and forced to utilize from the bid campaign instead but now with the new design for the stadium on tuesday organizers are hoping that the preparations can continue without the controversies that have dogged so far. >> translator: we will continue our efforts to make sure the new national stadium is equipped with the world east highest level of barrier free and functionality and becomes a venue that gives a moving experience. >> reporter: to the nfl drew brees has become the fourth quarterback in history for 60,000 passing yards and he reached this on monday against the detroit lions with a 27-yard touchdown pass and more than a thousand yard behind the man in

third place dan marino and third behind peyton manning and brett favre and nfl suspended receiver junior following his conduct in the loss to the carolina panthers on tonight temperatures and clashed with josh norman with a dangerous helmet to helmet hit and guilty of mullable violations of safety related violation rules. nba atlanta hawks beat the portland trailblazers 107-96 on monday and a painful night for a player despite top scoring with 18 points and joining one of the three pointers of the season, danny shroder may not be smiling much today and suffering a nasty collision in the fourth quarter and saw him lose a tooth and not wanting to lose it he simply put it in his sock and continued play.

moved to within two points of leaders at the top of the english premier league and beat motor city thanks to the half goal from walcot and pulled one back for city inside the last ten minutes and it is city's third defeat in their last five league games. >> of course it's a significant game because when you look at man city and the pitch and to win we know we will be there in the end to fight for the championship and for us to beat this kind of team in a big game and strengthens our belief and it's needed. >> most important to try to win today and i think that we didn't deserve to lose the game and at the end we have more possession and more attempts and more targets. >> reporter: relegation at the top of the season and sitting in

first place and captain will retire in february, the second test of the two-match series against australia will be the last when he walks out for the match to be the first man to play 100 consecutive matches and that makes him new zealand's second highest test scorer. >> incredibly lucky for the zone for a long, long time and spent most of my adult life as a black cap and turning the world and getting an opportunity to play with a group of guys in the country and not many people get that opportunity enough and feeling incredibly proud to do it as long as i have. >> i'm sure he will look a lot smaller with my collar sticking out there, apologize for that. >> okay, stay here on al jazeera, that is it for the news hour, we have another full bulletin of news coming up, in a

few minutes. ♪ >> this is it. >> oscar winner alex gibney's "edge of eighteen" marathon. >> if i said that i'm perfectly fine, i would be lying. >> i feel so utterly alone. >> in this envelope is my life. >> if you don't go to college, you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series, "edge of eighteen" marathon.

♪ iraqi forces launch a big offensive to retake the city of ramadi from i.s.i.l. ♪ hello i'm nick clark and this is al jazeera live from doha and also coming up, on the program the greek parliament votes to recognize palestine as a state in the presence of abbas. afghan government forces advance in the bid to push taliban out of the southern district of sangin. [chanting] under pressure, india's ia