>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, and welcome to the al jazeera news hour. i'm martine dennis in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. [ gunfire ] the battle for ramadi, iraqi forces say they have launched a big offensive to recapture the city from isil. [ applause ] the greek parliament votes to recognize palestine as a state in the presence of mahmoud

abbas. [ explosion ] >> reporter: afghan government forces advance in their bid to push the taliban out of the southern district. >> i think that isil [ inaudible ]. india's parliament approves a bill allowing juveniles to be tried as adults for serious crimes. ♪ but first, the iraqi military says it has begun an offensive to recapture the city of ramadi from isil. their aim to advance to the city center. it says it has surrounded isil from all sides and a closing in on the armed group. isil ceased the capital of anbar province earlier this year.

zana hoda reports. >> reporter: it is being described as the final assault to recapture ramadi from isil. the iraqi military says its troops are moving in on the center of the city. the provincial capitol of the mainly sunni anbar province has been under isil's control for months. for months those forces have been trying to reach the center of the complex isil is fighting back using suicide bombers. iraqi intelligence believes there could be up to 300 forces in the city. there are also civilians trapped inside and there are reports of casualties. the iraqi military dropped leaflets a few days ago calling on people to leave but isil is reported by stopping them so they can use them as human shields. isil stormed ramadi in may.

ramadi's fall was annen enbare raszment for the government. the iraqi army withdrew quickly. months later they are back on the front lines, and a spokesman said the fight is being lead by special forces and paramilitary forces are taking part. >> there is big support from the coalition air forces, there is big support from the tribal fighters as well. they attacked isil from area they didn't expect it, so i think by the weekend it's everything going as they [ inaudible ] retake it. >> reporter: ramadi is a strategic city. it is on the doorstep of the capitol baghdad, and connects to

jordan. taking ramadi was isil's biggest victory this year. this battle is a test for the us u.s. strategy for relying on iraqi forces on the ground. victory here is the not just about defeats isil it will be determine if the shia-lead government in baghdad is able to win over the community. >> our correspondent has the latest now from baghdad. >> this is the key. this is the big challenge for the iraqi security forces. how they are going to deal with the civilians. around 4,000 families are still in ramadi, they couldn't get out of the city, and the fighting now is going on inside ramadi, so it seems like there is no clear plan or no obvious plan how to protect those civilians. now everybody is talking about the land. talking about how to conquer the downtown of the city, but no one

said about the plan how to get a safe route for those civilians, thousands of familiar list to let them get out of the city. this is a big challenge for the security forces, but unfortunately it seems there is no clear plan for the iraqi security forces to keep -- how to get them out of the city. everybody is warning about a catastrophe may happen in ramadi, because of thousands of families and thousands of people still inside ramadi. >> ramadi is the capitol of anbar, iraq's largest province. the capture of the city was takt for isil because it established supply lies, allowing it to bring in fighters through raqqa to ramadi. it's about is 110 kilometers

away from baghdad. we're joined live from london, nicklas, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. how important is ramadi, then or the battle for ramadi for the credibility of the baghdad government? >> i -- it's absolutely critical. they have been saying for months that ramadi is next in line for recapture. there have been repeated promises ever since isil took ramadi in may that they would regain control and time after time, that has been delayed. they are only being held back by a few hundred isil fighters and they have committed thousands if not tens of thousands of their own forces, government forces to retake ramadi and so far they haven't had success. >> so as you point out, nicklas, on the face of it, this should be a straight-forward battle

which should have shown victory to the iraqi forces, given that they are dealing with only 300 isil fighters. >> absolutely. you have got the regular army, you have the shia militias who in many instances are more powerful than the iraqi army. you have police, thousands of sunni tribal fighters that have gone through training in nearby bases, which -- where the americans are present, and you have the fire power of -- of the american air force, and they have been waging this battle for months. the landscape is said to look pretty lunar, after heavy bombardment, and yet they are being held at bay. >> let's talk about the people in ramadi, prior to isil we understand there was around 250,000 there. isil are known for blending in

with the civilian population. what of them? >> a lot will have -- have succeeded in getting out of ramadi. there has been a campaign. they have had months to prepare. at the same time, it -- it is likely that isil authorities there are preventing people from leaving, so they are something of -- of captured targets, and they -- they are likely to -- to be caught in the cross fire undoubtedly. >> thank you very much indeed for talking to us live from london. now government forces are continuing to fight the taliban in afghanistan's southern he hellmand province. afghan forces have regained some

outpost, but the main city remains under taliban control. nato ended combat operations nearly a near ago. the taliban currently controls 29 of the 329 areas. is fighting in another five districts which has been used by international forces, notably the british in the past. omar hamed is the head of asia analysis. we joins us live from london. do you think the afghan forces have it in them? do they have the capability of retake the area. >> the problem is almost that the retaking of the area is secondary, because every time that the taliban have taken over a major city, the ripple effect

that causes in terms of the loss in confidence of the iran government, and the iran security forces has almost doubled or tripled the problems that the government faces in restoring order. so while i'm sure they will retake the area, the reputational damage is what is irreparable. >> it seems the taliban has been encroaching on the area for sometime. we have the governor appealing on facebook, asking for help, say it is on the point of falling. >> yes, the taliban have always considered hellmand has one of their strong holds. going back even to the time when british forces were deployed in the area, there were still parts

of the province that were still under taliban control. so it has always been a problematic province for the government to control for a number of years. >> so what is the taliban's strategic objective then? is it to embarrass the government, shame the government, or do they actually want to take the area, hold it, and keep territory? >> the main objective in my point of view at the moment is to embarrass the government and to keep highlighting the vulnerabilities of the security forces, and to make it very clear to the iran people and indeed to the international community that the iran government is not capable of maintaining security on its own, and that is probably going to lead to more demands for peace talks in some form of negotiation, or some form of power sharing between the taliban and the current iran government, but the objective

remains that to keep highlighting those vulnerabilities across the country. >> and how much could this be a show of force if you like being carried out by the taliban in order to rally sources, given there has been so much talk of riffs and divisions. >> absolutely. the taliban have had serious problems internally in their leadership ever since the death of their leader was announced in the summer, and his successor has not quite been able to completely take control of the organization, so every time that there is such a major offensive, it strengthens its bonafiedness in terms of being a commander, especially with rumors that he himself had been shot and wounded or in some reports that he had been killed. all of these attacks whether it's this area or the killing of nato trooping the day before,

remain the fact that the taliban remain a significant force. >> thank you very much indeed. now let's go to athens where the greek parliament has voted to recognize palestine as a independent state. the resolution is symbolic. it's non-binding. greece is now the 137th country to recognize palestinian statehood. omar has more from the greek capitol. when you hear the words of the president hailing at this moment as an historic 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 he said the relations between greece and the palestinians is historical and very, very close. it is also very important to

keep the momentum going, because over the last year, other parliaments have called on their government to recognize palestine as an independent state. now it is not expected, because it's a non-binding resolution, so the government of alexis sipries is not likely to follow suit. although the vote is imbollic it is an important reminder to the world of palestinian suffering. >> when you are talking about 140 countries who have done so, the wave of recognitions that came from europe, and latin america, between the -- the year 2010 and 2012 and 2014 had waned and stopped, and now it is revived again. this cumulative process brings in nation support and legal consequences and brings in

eventually more support, vis-a-vis what really 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 conducting our confrontation with israel, our struggle against israeli occupation in the intifada, in the local popular struggle against israelis and in the international arena. i mean we really have to imlate the south africans in that sense of really gradually bringing more recognition, 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 be waiting we have been for a long time. that's why we have to keep

continuous international action in order to keep alive our cause, and to keep alive our call for international pressure on the israelis. still to come on this al jazeera news hour. living in fear, the daily struggle in the rebel-held yemeni capitol. plus the number of refugees comes into europe has hit the 1 million mark this year. and in sport the organizationer of 2020 olympic games in tokyo, reveal their new stadium, five months after the original was strapped. ♪ now inn deval patri-- india parliament has voted to allow 16 to 18 year olds to be tried as adults for serious crimes.

our correspondent has more now from new delhi. >> reporter: now while this latest juvenile justice bill has been passed, there is still a long way to go before what is in its contents is implemented on the ground. this bill now needs to go to the president of india who will then sign off on it, and it will be returned to the government of india that can fashion laws to be put into place and used by the justice system. while the release of the you youngest suspect in the 2010 gang rape case brought this into the light, this will not be applied retrospectively. there have been numerous debates on either side of this particular issue. on the one hand, those in support of this law have said

that it is now better than never, and india needs stronger deterrence to make sure young offenders do not commit crimes of such nature. those who have been more skeptical have said we need more time and quickly developed laws are not necessarily good laws. the debate will continue despite the approval of the upper house. >> 11 refugees bound for greece including three children have died drowning in the sea. this comes just days after 18 people drowned while heading for another greek island. and more than 800,000 refugees and migrants have entered greece from turkey by sea. now a record 1 million of them

have crossed into europe this year. nearly 4,000 have died trying to cross the mediterranean in europe's worst refugee crisis since the second world war. leonard doll is the spokesman for the international organization for migration. >> they are climate change migrants, people who can no longer grow crops and can't survive. but the overwhelming majority is indeed fleeing syria. and indeed the vast majority of those coming through are -- are probably refugees, they are all seeking asylum. what is important to remember is that many don't fall into that category and also need protection. they can be unaccompanied majors, pregnant women, or

people who started out as economic migrants but along the way became perhaps abused by the militias. and need protection. what we have seen is the europeans have put a lot of money into bolstering their border. they are giving over 3 billion euro to the turkish government, and that is already seeing results in terms of crackdowns on smuggling. so the price of going across the aegean is going rapidly up. we have already seen nearly 4,000 people dying and drowning this year alone while trying to get to europe. these are people who are entitled to protection. now to yemen where forces loyal to the yemeni government has fought their way into a prosurrounding the capitol. this is as close as they have come to sana'a, since last year.

peace talks will presume next month. richard martin reports. >> reporter: pro-government forces are on the offensive. they are taken control of the mountains overlooking sana'a, close to a houthi strong hold. houthi rebels took control 15 months ago. pro-government forces are fighting to allow the international recognized president, hadi, to return to the capitol. >> translator: fighting is now on going in that direction, on the right of the junction. the popular resistance fighters are there on the hills. >> reporter: there are pro-government gains too, further north. there has been heavy fighting 50 kilometers from the saudi border. the houthis are on the retreat there, leaving weapons and other equipment as they go. pro-government fighters have taken control of the houthi training camp. both sides want to control this area, because it has most of

yemen's oil and gas reserves. >> we are following well-fought military plans, god willing our advance is continuing in the right direction. >> reporter: the world health organization says almost 6,000 people have died in this conflict, almost half are civilians. peace talks ended without an agreement to bring the civil war to an end. the two sides, though, have agreed to meet again next month. in a short while we're expecting the u.n. to be briefed on the dire humanitarian situation in yemen. emergencies chief steven o'brien is due to address the security council and let them know how bad things are, but international aid organizations are warning that 4 in 5 yemenis are now in need of critical life-sustaining supplies. this is the story of one particular family living in the

capitol sana'a. >> reporter: behind this gate this man's family used to feel safe. their home in the district of sana'a was their castle. for the past year their lives have turned upside down. >> translator: here most of the families and peoples in towns and villages are worried about the safety of their children. >> reporter: he had send 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. this city has been under the control of houthi rebels since february. the seat of government has moved to the southern port city of aden. >> translator: the country and people have been damaged. we used to be able to sleep at

night. but now my seven children live in fear. any situation is getting worse. >> reporter: he used to make ends meet by working two shifts a day as a guard. now he working together a few hours a day, bringing home $93 a month. >> translator: my salary is insufficient. and because of the 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 his family can be together again in their own safe corner of the world. still to come on the program, how gold and diamond sales are fuelling the conflict in the central african republic. plus washing away washington's waste, how an ambitious project is cleaning up one of the u.s.'s capitol's rivers.

and in sport, dennis stars against portland, but he won't be smiling about it. >> oh, the tooth flies out of his mouth. ♪

>> comedy great richard lewis. >> i really am in love with the craft. >> turning an angst ridden and neurotic outlook... >> i have to unravel myself on stage as fearlessly as possible. >> into an award winning career...from hell. >> it's thrilling when it's working. >> i lived that character. >> go one-on-one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change.

hello again. these are the top stories here at al jazeera, the iraqi military says it has begun a offensive to recapture the center of ramadi. the army says it is closing in on the armed group. isil ceased the capitol earlier this year. the greek parliament has voted to recognize palestine as an independent state. the resolution is a symbolic gesture, as it's non-binding. india's upper house has approved changes in the juvenile justice act which will allow juveniles to be charged as adults for charges such as rape. this following the release of a

juvenile convicted in the 2010 gang rape. this man was arrested after criticizing the ruling communist party online. adrian brown reports now from beijing. >> reporter: china's judiciary rarely delivers a surprise verdict. but this was unexpected. and so was this. this man apologizing for the comments that landed him in court. he had been facing up to 8 years in jail. it was his posts on social media that got him into trouble. they poked fun at china's communist leaders and criticized government policies in the troubled regions of tibet and

shinjang. journalists and diplomats were man handled outside the courthouse. supporters risked arrest by just being there. the mediaing didn't report the opening of the trial, but its tv networks were the first to report the verdict, with the emphasis on the sentence rather than the reprooef. >> what we have is a rule of politics and law, however, we are moving in the right direction. it may still take months, years or even decades. >> reporter: among the supporters, there were mixed feelings, they welcomed his release, but argue it was an injustice to hold him in detention for 20 months. >> translator: from the legal perspective he has been

criminally punished. >> the fact that he has been found guilty, but given a suspended sentence is slightly, important given the context, he committed no crime. the evidence they had against him was very flimsy. the strict conditions of his release mean he could be returned to jail if convicted again. rescuers have dug out a body. 3,000 rescuers are on the job, but the search for survivors is a race against time. a giant mud slide smashed into

buildings. [ technical difficulties ] >> after verification on december 22nd, '76 people in total are missing. among the 76, 73 peoples identities have been a verified. >> reporter: as the scale of this tragedy becomes clear, so too does the apparent eagerness to limit reporting. but it hasn't stopped media in mainland china, asking tough questions, like why this site was still operating months after reportedly being told to close down. this tragedy has raised wider concerns about safety standards around oversights around the country. and whether given the amounts of

money involved, safety standards have been bypassed or simply not enforced. what worries engineers in particular is this tragedy took place in a city considered one of china's most modern and progressive. >> i'm afraid in many other areas, there are probably worse cases, so we are probably waiting to see these disasters to happen, unfortunately, unless the central government is able to increase accountability of the city officials. or around china. >> the officials who are linked to this site will certainly be held to account by a central government looking for swift retribution, but it has taken a tragedy for that to happen. and beijing has broken up to another day of heavy pollution, as the second day of heavy smog

continues. pollution particles have reached 20 times the level considered safe by the world health organization, tuesday is expected to be the last day of the current alert. the world's most polluted city, new delhi is having a car-free day. the local government introduced the concept three months ago to encourage people to use public transport. two survivors have been pulled from the sea in eastern indonesia, three days after the ferry sank in stormy waters. rescue officials say there is little hope of finding the 74 people still missing. the boat was carrying 110 passengers and 12 crew. now there has been a run on the banks after the country's currency lost more than 30% of its value. it blaming falling oil prices.

major retailers saying they have to respond to the move by raising prices immediately. security forces in burundi have carried out dozens of extra judicial killings. amnesty international claims the police and military were responsible for the deaths. at least 87 people were killed after three military bases were attacked by gunmen. mohamed reports from the burundi capitol. >> reporter: the government of burundi has reacted to the amnesty international report detailing the events of 11th december, when almost 100 people were killed. the government thinks [ inaudible ] application and [ inaudible ] people who were killed on that day by the security forces were enemy combatants, what they are calling enemies of the state, people taking part in an attack on three military bases in the capitol. amnesty international report

details the events of that day, which is the most violent day since violence began in burundi this year. it says that security forces on a security operation took people out of their homes and shot them point-blank on the streets and it also details how people including fruit sellers and young children as young as 15 were killed by policemen on the security operation and how the government later on came and took away most of the bodies, and took them away to an unknown destination. the amnesty international report says that the killing are a horrific illustration of the growing human rights crisis in burundi, and calls for urgent international help. gold and diamonds are being used to finance conflict in the central african republic. the process is put in place to keep so-called blood diamonds

off of the market. our correspondent reports from central african republic. >> reporter: every day at 7:00 am, these men come to dig for gold in one of the world's poorest countries. this man started working at the 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 moneys so we can go back to school, others just want to save enough to be able to return to their villages and have a comfortable life. >> reporter: the war which started three years ago cost thousands of lives. the fighting has now stopped, but divisions run deep between communities. however, in this mine. muslims and christians work side by side. >> reporter: i work here with my three brothers for three months now. it is our only chance to feed our family.

>> reporter: this mine which creates a small amount of jobs part of a bigger problem. human rights groups say rebels from all sides are using funds to buy weapons and fun their operations. >> you have a diamond industry which has kept on paying fighters for protection or for the simple operation of their mines and also in the east, where you have several exseleka groups, who have used the mines to fund their operations in the country. >> reporter: this mine sells 15 kilograms of gold monthly, making a profit of $350,000 a month. the same year it was placed under the kimberly process, which forbids the sale of what is known as blood diamonds from

conflict zones. work at the mines never stopped, though international treaties make it possible to trace blood diamonds, it's impossible to trace precious metals such as gold. militia leaders deny running the mines and exploiting the minors, and refuse to be filmed. they claim they are just trying to put food on the table for their families. burr key that fa sa's government has issued an international arrest warrant for blaise cam pore ray. the warrant was issued after an auchs showed the body was

riddled with bullets. tens of thousands of people live in overcrowded areas left over from the apartheid era. the governmentsying it is working to provide better housing. our correspondent has more now. >> reporter: a bed for less than $3 a month. for cisco, who is unemployed and has a wife and child to support, this is the only option. they share this tiny room with two other families. >> translator: we wish for a bigger space to live with family in a better way. living here in a situation like this with your children, they are not even able to do their schoolwork. >> reporter: about 22,000 people live at these hostiles, enduring cramped, poorly maintained housing. after months of violence, police patrol the area 24 hours a day,

their resources stretched. over the past 18 months more than 50 people have been killed. people here say hit squads are responsible for the deaths. some believe the killings are politically motivated. this former political leader says he fears for his life. he fled after he was shot last year. >> translator: [ inaudible ], you know? that is where i saw a [ inaudible ] some of them they were shouting at me, run, run, run. those men want to kill you. >> reporter: the hostiles were both under apartheid, they were designed to keep black workers segregated from white people. two decades after apartheid was abolished any hostiles linger. >> reporter: the hostels in a sense represented the worst

forms of apartheid, violence against black people in the most degrading sense. so the anc has for a long time, even prior to 1994, had the policy of wanting to get rid of the hostels. but the hostels become politicized. >> reporter: the government says it wants to convert all hostels into decent housing by 2016. south africa heads to local elections next year, and there are fears that tensions could escalate. as crude prices reach an 11-year low, american motorists are enjoying the cheapest petrol in seven years. it has drastically slowed down drilling activity in the u.s., yet production is still flooding the market. tom akerman has more.

>> reporter: less than two years ago, the oil fields of north dakota were proving a bonanza for business seekers and job seekers a like. but the boom is now turning into a bust. >> it is not the best time for people to come now because construction is pretty slow. >> reporter: the number of active oil rigs has declined by more than 60% in the past year. the oil glut is also taking a toll on companies that found themselves unable to cover their heavy capital costs with cash flow. dozens have filed for bankruptcy protection this year. and the casualty count could become worse. american companies are barely slowing down their production.

>> the average production this year will still be above 9 million barrels per day, so the drop-off is not viewed as precipitous. presumably the expectations are that over time we will see a slow reversal of that drop off. >> reporter: for more than 30 years the u.s. has banned all oil exports. but last week legislation was signed that will allow american oil to be sold on international markets. as one senator contends -- >> by lifting the ban, the u.s. can offer our friends the ability to enhance their energy security, and avoid people like vladimir putin the opportunity to use oil and gas and energy as a weapon. >> reporter: even while the u.s. is the world's top fuel producer

it still depends on imports, mostly from canada and saudi arabia to satisfy its needs. the glut is expected to reap big savings for american motorists and make life even more difficult for its drillers. still in the u.s. more than 32 trillion liters of raw sewage and toxic materials flow to the rivers. in the fourth part of our rivers of life series, our correspondent reports on how the government is trying to stem the flow. >> reporter: the anacostia river runs through some of the poorest areas of washington, d.c. >> don't fall in. >> reporter: this slow-moving shallow, waterway is a particularly bad candidate for toxic dumps, but city

authorities have allowed rain water to sleep in a mixture of toxins since the 19th century. >> toxical metals, chlorine and dioxide. >> reporter: the warnings against eating fish here are clear. but it's not just chemical runoff, it's also raw sewage. the pipe system collects both sewage and rain water. it reaches capacity on particularly rainy days. some seeps to the surface, the rest is dumped directly into the rivers. so the city is building several more tunnels. 50 meters below the city. >> on the other side of these air locks. when the tunnel is completed it

is hoped that 90% of the outflow will be diverted. property prices are already rises in the neighborhoods as the risk of flooding from the sewer system abates and hopes grow of a cleaner river. >> i think that there is certainly a confluence of gentrificatirk on. >> reporter: new higher-rainfall models weren't part of the planning. even using the old models, nearly 200 meters of sewage will

still reach the anacostia. >> it won't be in our lifetime, the district is telling us they can't do any better than finishing by 2154. >> reporter: these measures only deal with the flow and not any cleanup. as deb said, try not to fall in. still to come on the al jazeera news hour. a crackdown on american big game hunters with a plan to protect lions. and in sport the national hockey league tennis federation names its two players of the year. those details coming up in sport.

this is an issue that is a particularly important policy issue in africa. so this is something we're aware of. the u.s. government says lions in central and west africa will come under the protection of the endanger's species act. it will make it harder for trophy hunters to import lion parts. >> cecil has certainly had enormous impact in terms of the focus that the american public is putting on trophy hunting, and certainly is relevant overall, but unfortunately cecil's situation is not unique. and there are hundreds of lions being killed by american trophy hunters every year. >> reporter: the u.s. joins

france in taking tougher action after the death of cecil. more than 40 airlines have also stopped flying any trophy hunting. it is hoped the new measures will reduce the number of lions being killed in the name of sport. okay. it's time for the sports news now. >> uefa president michelle platini has spoken out against his ban. he claimed the committee has been sleeping for four years. there he is, because he decided to run for the fifa presidency. the pair were both suspended over a $2 million payment given by blatter to platini four years ago. platini has received some support, from the french sports minister. >> translator: he is a

determined man who wants to defend his honor, and who wants to defend the reputation of world sport and particular football. he'll fight to the end. but the end will be after february 26th. the organizers of the 2020 summer olympics in tokyo has announced a new plan for their olympic stadium. the plan comes five months after the original design was scrapped back in september 2013. no hint of the problems to come when tokyo won the bid to host the 22nd olympiad. then in july 2015, the problems really started, this design was scrapped, because basically the $2 billion cost was far too expensive. then the new logo for the games was found to be pledge rised.

now with the $1.2 billion design for the new stadium revealed on tuesday, organizers are hoping preparations can now continue. we will continue our effort to make sure this new national stadium is equipped with the world's highest level of barrier free functionality, and japanese concept, hoping to give a moving experience. >> translator: we aren't looking to create a remarking or outstanding building, but we aim for a structure that indy crates with the surrounding area, and the forest. serena williams and novak djokovic have been named the world catch i don't knows for 2015. williams wins the award for the fourth year in a row.

djokovic also picked up three grand slam titles. drew brees has become only the fourth quarterback in nfl history to reach 60,000 passing yards. he reached the landmark on monday, moving ahead of tom brady. he is still more than 1,000 yards behind dan marino. staying with the nfl, they have suspended new york giant's receiver following his conduct during the loss to the carolina panthers on sunday. in a statement the league said he was guilty of multiple violations of safety-related playing rules. in the number the hawks beat the

trailblazers on monday in what was a pretty painful night for one of their players despite top scoring with 18 points, and draining one of the three-pointers of the season. the german suffering a nasty collision in the fourth quarter which saw him lose a tooth. not wanting to lose it completely, of course, he put it in his sock and just continued on playing. new zealand cricket captain has announced he'll be retiring from the international arena in february. the second test of the two-match series will be his last, but before exiting the international stage he is set to set some history. he scored over 6,000 runs in the longer format, making him new zealand's second-highest test scorer. >> i have been incredibly lucky

to play this game for a long, long time. getting the opportunity to play with a group and guys and represent your countries, and not many people get that opportunity. premier league arsenal seem to be enjoying the festive season. they are two points off of top spot in england, following their win on monday. and they even seem to have found some rhythm off of the field. ♪ >> some of their players reported a song to celebrate the holidays. their star player sanchez won't be back on the pitch due to injury -- the number of refugees arriving in europe passes 1 million in just a year. and tougher rape laws for juvenile offenders in india.

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[ gunfire ] they are calling it the final assault, iraqi forces storm the center of ramadi, trying to recapture the city from isil. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, under massive public pressure, india's tough rape laws for juvenile offenders. the number of migrants arriving in europe passes one million in just a