[ gunfire ] the battle for ramadi, the iraqi army says it is close to recapturing the strategically important city from isil. ♪ hello there, i'm felicity barr, and this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. as palestinians prepare for christmas day in bethlehem, there is no sign of any let up in the violence gripping the occupied west bank. storms and tornados sweep through parts of the u.s., causing several deaths, and travel chaos.

plus -- join me in search of hong kong's disappearing pink dolphins. ♪ hello the iraqi army says it has liberated large parts of the city of ramadi from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. the military backed by tribal fighters is edging forward street by street towards the city center. but it says its advance is being slowed down by explosion i devices left behind by isil fighters. >> reporter: as the days wear on iraqi forces trying to retake ramadi has made a sobering admission, it will take time. the military is trying to overpower isil fighters who have been in control of the city since may. backed by air strikes, ground troops are enling forward, street by street.

>> translator: morale is high, and god willing we will keep advancing to retake the whole of ramadi city. we are now in this district, and god willing, we will liberate the remaining part of ramadi. >> reporter: they have planted explosive booby traps, capable of damaging 25-ton vehicles, military sources say. it has slowed down the trooping but hasn't stopped them. >> translator: following the liberation of the area, teams from the 16th division started work to remove and diffuse the bombs. >> reporter: the iraqi government is confidence that its security forces are in the final stages of this operation. >> translator: there is a well knit plan followed by the counter terrorism forces that has surprised everyone. the plan is to encircle the area and launch an attack from the

center. isil doesn't know which direction it is being attacked by iraqi forces. >> reporter: ramadi is littered with rubble and shrapnel, this is an urban battlefield, and up to 10,000 civilians are thought to be trapped inside of the city. the hope is that victory will come swiftly and with no more loss of life, but most seem unlikely. the director of the iraqi institute for democracy development, he says the forces still face resistance elsewhere. >> one of the factors which apparently they learned the lesson that in tikrit once it was liberated, with the shia mobilization force took over, and actually indirectly ruined tikrit. now they are trying to avoid any government by the shia mobilization force. however, among the sunni tribesmen, there are still inner

squabble and fighting, they are against the previous governor, against the council, so who will control it in ramadi. this hasn't been decided yet. addition to that, there is a big problem, because most of the isil who in fighting them are also part of the same tribes in anbar, so how they reconcile between these two within the party, how they will deal with them. in addition to all of this, what is the general vision political approach to the whole problem? if this will end in anbar, how about mosul? how about the rest? but no doubt it's a tactical victory for the government if they succeed in regaining ramadi. but it should not be considered as a change -- a change -- a changing the game in iraq. it only a milestone. ♪

u.s. and afghan security forces have conducted air strikes in the district of the southern province of helmanhelm. it has been the scene of intense fighting in the last week. the taliban say they have captured the center of the district on two separate occasions, but afghan authorities deny this. british soldiers have also been spent back to the area to advise, a year after they withdrew from the region. our correspondent has been speaking to security officials and sent this update. >> translator: they are telling us that afghan special forces have been deployed to the district, and they are fighting there. and afghan security official claims they have control of the district headquarters. the police headquarters is about

2,000 square meters, that's where fighting is still going on. afghan officials also claim that taliban have big casualty last night, and the fighting is still going on, and they have sent some reinforcement by road, but we believe these reinforcements haven't reaches the area. because there are lots of areas in control of taliban on the way. but in this province, helmand, the very strategic province of afghanistan, it's hard to say anyplace in this province or any district fully under control of taliban. even here in the capitol of the province, in district 4 of the capitol, the fighting is going on, and taliban are present strongly there. a palestinian has died and five others were injured after israeli forces fired shots in the camp just north of

jerusalem. it's the latest death in a wave of violence that began in october. earlier israeli forces shot dead a palestinian. they say he stabbed two security guards before they opened fire. in a separate incident, a palestinian was killed by israeli forces after he tried to stab them with a screwdriver in hebron, and israeli soldiers killed a palestinian they said tried to ram them in a car at a military check point outside of jerusalem. 135 palestinians, and 20 israelis have died in violent incidents since the beginning of october. hundreds have attended the funeral of an israeli man killed in occupied east jerusalem on wednesday. the attackers themselves were shot dead. thousands of pilgrims have

made their way to the city of bethlehem has christians get ready to celebrate christmas. security has been tight as the violence continues across the occupied west bank. there have been some festivities where you are right now, but elsewhere in bethlehem, the celebrations have been toned down. >> reporter: indeed, as you can see, the christmas tree is lit, you might not be able to see it, but a christmas concert will soon be underway, and hundreds of people have come out here from all denominations, and christian pilgrims are here to celebrate christmas, and in a few hours from now, we'll be in the church behind me, in the churches of nativity, the pate reark of -- patriarch of

jerusalem will give his midnight mass. here we are on christmas eve, a day in which christians all over the world celebrate hope and peace, there is very little of it that we have been seeing here in the occupied west bank. >> we know fewer visitors are in bethlehem this year, that is not good news for people like hotel owners who rely on the tourist business. >> reporter: indeed, we have been speaking to restaurant operators, hotel owners, and indeed local politicians who say over the past ten years ago, since israel built its separation wall which divides neighborhoods in many different ways, that they are, in their words, being choked by the wall and the check points that have been put in place, saying that christian pilgrims now tend to

just stay in jerusalem and do not travel to bethlehem, so although this square which is normally packed by people all over the world, you just don't see that anymore. but still, in saying all of that, there does seem to be a real sense from christians, indeed, palestinian christians, that despite the tensions they have been facing, and indeed despite the fact they have been living under israeli occupation now for nearly a cent twri, that they will determined to celebrate the birth of christ and indeed pray for peace. >> all right. thank you. at least seven people have died in a storm that has swept across parts of the southern united states, tornados have destroyed homes and caused flight delays in several states. rescue teams are continuing to search for missing residents.

as our correspondent reports. >> reporter: it's a bleak midwinter in mississippi. >> oh! >> reporter: this towering funnel cloud is one of several tornados that have hit the state since the start of the week. the youngest person to die was a 7-year-old boy. he was in a car, which like this truck, was picked up and thrown by the wind. >> we are looking still at that risk of tornado activity, especially aprosz parts of tennessee and mississippi, but keep in mind there are 72 million people that will still see the chance of some severe weather overnight. >> reporter: this is what some of them will be waking up to. every so often nature likes to remind us that it wields the real power. 2015 has been one of those years. it's an el nino here, the phenomenon in which the warmest ocean waters move from one part

of the pacific, around the philippines. >> and they bank up against the americas. and the offshore temperatures are about 2 or 3 degrees warmer than they should be. and that air meets up with the warmth of the gulf of mexico, that is very warm at the moment. if this happened in the spring or autumn, you would expect tornados, fine. but in winter, that is a rare event. still to come on the program. >> i'm adam raney in haiti, we'll tell you why a presidential runoff has been put on hold indefinitely. and more than 50 years after they went on tour, the beatles back catalog is now being streamed for free. ♪

♪ hello again. and reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. the iraqi army says it has liberated large parts of the city of ramadi from isil fighters. in afghanistan the taliban is fighting for control of helmand province. and at least seven people have been killed in severe storms sweeping across the central and southern parts of the u.s. a huge fire has killed at least 31 people in saudi arabia, the blaze broke out in the intensive care unit and maternity department of a hospital. more than 100 people were injured. 21 civil defense teams were

needed to battle the fire on the first floor of the hospital. an investigation is now underway. an emergency doctor at a nearby hospital gave us this update. >> the source of the fire was from an electrical source. and most of the day, the patience in the intensive care unit. and also there are a new numbers from [ inaudible ] one patient who just died from the fire. the others were moveded to nearby hospitals. all of the hospitals -- they announced the code yellow disaster code, and they started evacuating the patients [ inaudible ] and tried to evacuate intensive care unit too. syria's foreign minister has

indicated his country is ready to activity participate in u.n.-backed peace talks. he is in beijing for talks with his chinese counterpart. both countries foreign ministers have agreed on the key principles required for the talks between the syrian government and opposition. those talks were approved at the u.n. security council last friday and will begin in geneva at the end of january. >> syria ready to participate in the syrian-syrian dialogue in geneva, without any foreign interference, and our delegation will be ready as soon as we receive a list of the opposition delegations. >> translator: we should stick to a peaceful resolution on the syrian issue. the people of syria decide the

future and fate of syria, the u.n. plays a key role. we agree that these principles should be upheld throughout the whole peace process of syria. 19 people including six children have drowned when they boat they were traveling in capsized off of thu turkish coast. the coast guard said it had managed to save 21 people from the waters. more than 20 other refugees died early this week trying to travel between turkey and greece. more than a million refugees and migrants have made their way to europe this year. and the italian navy has rescued more than a hundred refugees off of the coast of libya. the navy says it has picked up a further 214 people in recent days. since the refugee crisis began, many europeans have tried to help new arrivals rebuild their lives. but one group of refugees is

doing it for themselves. they are all musicians they have been recording a cd to help others in their situation. lawrence lee sent this report from brussels. ♪ >> reporter: a few days ago they hadn't even met, yet now these men from syria and iraq are singing and playing traditional songs from their homelands in far-away belgium. ♪ >> reporter: we met this man on the border with macedonia, where he told us he had to leave his instrument behind. some kind europeans raised the money for him to get a new one, and now he uses his music to help forget the journey he has had to make. >> when i touch the instrument, there's a lot of things just go away, just forget, a lot of things. even when you play and remember things, but in the end when you

finish, you don't care about anything. it's like music means everything for me. ♪ >> reporter: assad was a tv star in pakistan, but when he tried to set up a music store in his home, the taliban came and told him it was forbidden, and they wouldn't tell him twice. >> a lot of musicians has been threatened and injured, and they try to kill them also, and you can see all of those -- most of them, they leave the country, most of them they could not, but they stopped singing, they stopped playing music. ♪ >> reporter: on guitar is basil. he carried his guitar with him

all the way from damascus, singing for the refugees. ♪ >> no, we play music what we need feelings. what happened with us or how we leave in damascus. that's all. >> reporter: the people who are helping to organize this are close to their target of $13,000 to print the cds, music classes for children, and concerts are also being planned. in a europe increasingly and openly hostile to all refugees, it is perhaps a reminder of how war affects all of us, even the most talented. >> not bad. >> reporter: lawrence lee, al jazeera, brussels. human rights watch has ak cued the nigerian army of killing more than 300 unarmed civilians including children in

an unprovoked attack. witnesses say the army fired on a mosque at least an hour before an incident of a roadblock. others were killed later when the shia leader was arrested. the report concludes the killings were at best an overreaction to a roadblock protest, and at worst a planned attack by the government. nigeriaia's capitol is a city under construction hundreds of new homes are built each month, but all too often they are prized beyond the reach of the average person. >> reporter: it's 5:00 in the morning when douglas james says good-bye to his family before heading off to work. by the time he comes back at night, his children will be asleep. >> when they wake up and see me

like a stranger, i feel bad, but i pray to god that one day we'll overcome all of the situation. so really it's not helpful for you to continue being without your children all the time. >> reporter: the [ inaudible ] is one of the hundreds of thousands who work in the city but have to live far away from their work, simply because they can't afford to live close by. every month hundreds of new homes are built here, but most are empty. >> the question you need to ask yourself is how many people can afford to buy a house of 100 million in nigeria, it's less than 2% of the population. and every developer playing in the market [ inaudible ] 2% of the population. >> reporter: which means many people here won't be able to afford these new homes. a house in this estate cost about $500,000 to buy.

renting one is as much as $25,000 a year. for many nigerian cities it's not about a shortage of housing, it's about affordability. that's why people like douglas are pushed to the slums in the outskirts of the city. nigeria real estate market is largely unregulated, many of those who are supposed to oversee it are also investors in the city. that means people like douglas will continue to be forced out. haiti's president has defended his country's election process. the presidential runoff vote that had been scheduled for sunday was canceled after allegations of fraud. adam raney has more. >> reporter: not good enough,

that's the response from a leading haitian opposition party to the formation of a commission to investigate claim of fraud in the october presidential election. >> translator: the members of the collision were handpicked by the president and his prime minister. so this commission has nothing to do with what we recommended, therefore we don't recognize it. >> reporter: the critique followed the prime minister's announcement of the five-member commission on tuesday. >> translator: the government guarantees the commission's complete independence in carrying out its duties to make all of the necessary truce to restore the political process nch >> reporter: there has been growing anger and protests over the first-round results, opposition groups say some people voted multiple times while intimidation kept many from casting ballots, that and a race with dozens of candidates vying for the presidency. these are just some of the a faces of the presidential

candidates. the december 27th runoff has been postponed indefinitely, but people say no matter when that vote takes place, they have little faith in the democratic process. >> translator: i have totally cost confidence in the system. because they stole our votes. >> translator: during the election, the people are just pons. even if you vote, the results never show who really won. >> reporter: suspicion also fuels apathy, only 26% of registered voters cast ballots in the first round, although the government has not set a new date there is growing international concern. the second round should be held soon. the u.n. security council called on all candidates, political parties, and political actors to publicly commit to the electoral process. those in charge of the election,

meanwhile, are trying to win back the confidence of voters. >> translator: the electoral council is doing everything it can to gain the trust of the people. >> reporter: that might not be enough to convince haitians that the runoff whenever it is held, will reflect the true opinion of the people. hong kong is worried that the rare pink dolphins are close to extinction. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: the first thing they tell you on the dolphin watch tour is not to have high expectations. but it's turned out to be a good day for these visitors. >> it was really lucky to see two pink dolphins. it was so fantastic. so beautiful. >> i was so surprised when i saw them like jumping from the water.

>> reporter: it's a surprise for everyone on the boat even the tour guide. >> nowadays dolphins appear to be quite afraid of boat traffic, but this morning they got quite close. >> reporter: pink dolphin numbers have dropped more than 60% in the last decade. conservationists say it's due to major building projects in hong kong waters. they point out the bridge connecting hong kong with macau, which cuts through areas with the highest density of dolphins in the delta, and they fear plans to expand hong kong's airport would drive away what is left of the dolphin population. this is where they travel through to feeding spots and cleaner waters, but this is also the proposed site for the airport's third runway. construction would involve dumping thousands of sons of sand to reclaim sea area.

the dolphin conservation society says they have consulted the government on the airport plans, but their proposals have been ignored. they are considering legal action, despite the promise to build a marine sanctuary after the runway is finished in 2023. >> can they survive for seven years, and then come back later and enjoy the sanctuary? i think that's a huge question mark and it's unlikely they will be able to hang on that long. >> reporter: on the sidelines as hong kong transforms to one of asia's biggest commercial hubs, but they have paid the price with less and less space to call home. finally, they are one of the biggest bands ever, and now more than 50 years after they went on this tour, the beatles back catalog is being made available

to online services. more than 200 beatles songs are now available for free. the band members wish their fans a happy christmas as the announcement was made. more details on many of our stories can be found on our website, aljazeera.com. about innovations that can change lives. we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. let's check out our nerds. dr shini somara is an engineer. tonight cars learning to communicate with each other. can cars equipped with electronic smarts reduce accidents and increase safety.