>> battle for rad maddie. ramadi. jazeera live from london,g al also coming up, palestinians prepare for christmas day with continues violence in the west bank. storms and under toes sweep through parts of the united states, causing several deaths and travel chaos.

don't stop the music, the refugee musicians who have banded together in brussells after crossing europe. >> the iraqi army says it has lick rated large parts of the city from the so called levant. the military backed by tribal fighters is edging forward street by street, towards the city center. but it says it's advance is being slowed down by explosive devices. gerald has more. >> as the days wear on, iraqi forces trying to retake ramadi have made a sobers admission. it will take time. the military is trying to overpower isil fighters who have been in control of the city sense may, backed by air strikes ground troops are edging forward, street by street, to it's center.

>> god willing, with he keep advancing, toretake the whole of the city. god willing we will liberate the remaining part of ramadi. >> iraqi intelligence says they are just a few hundred fighters left, within the city parameters. they are proving a difficult foe. they have planted explosive bobby traps capable of damaging 25-ton vehicles. slow down advancing troops but it hasn't stopped them. >> following the liberation of the area, teams from the 16th division started work to remove the bombs on the roads and in houses. all the bombs have been diffused. >> the iraqi government is confidence that the security forces are in the final stages othey have operation. >> there was well made plan that has surprised everyone, the plan is to encircumstance testimony areas and launch the attack from the center, isil has lost the balance of

power, and they don't know which direction is being attacked. >> ramadi's lit up with rubble and shrapnel, this has sent battlefields and up to 10,000 civilians are thought to be trapped inside the city. the thought is that victory will come swiftly, and with no further loss of life, but both seem unlikely. gerald tan, al jazeera. >> the director for the center of political military analysis at the hudson i city taught, says if the iraqi army manages to retake the city, it still needs to have a plan in place to restore stability. >> the key question we all have, because they haven't been -- the iraqi government has not been that successful, is after they concur the area are they able to bring in good police to basically make sure they don't infiltrate the city, economic

development, not persecution of sunnies who had nothing to do with it. that's the key question, because if they just concur a city and then move on, then the i.s. seizing another city, or at some point return, this has been a problem, that the government hasn't been able to consolidate area areas that the u.s., british, or iraqi pill tear is able to recover. >> reports are emerging that injured fighters will be allowed to leave rebel head areas. they will allegedly be given safe passage from the refugee camp, and will possibly then be taken to the isil strong hold of racca. for more on this, gabriel joins us live from the united nations, gabe, what are you hearing about possible u.n. brokers deal allowing these fighters to leave? is. >> well, i first want to tell you the facts of what we know

here from the u.n. headquarters and then give a little bit of what the significance it can mean first, it was reported be i the syrian observatory for human rights a london based n.g.o. that has a network of observers in syria, particularly many and around the refugee camp outside of damascus. they are the ones that first came out with this information, saying that there could be this deal in the works, i can tell you that the u.n., a spokesperson for the u.n., has confirmed that the u.n. is part of some deal that could see isil fighters and their families be able to flee the refugee camp. let me read you exactly what the spokesperson said, he said the u.n. is an observer to the agreement concerning but not part of it. which we understand should come into effect, in the coming few days. so the u.n. saying they are

observer to this potential deal, but not necessarily part of it. what this entails we don't know all of it yet, in terms of details. but we can tell you, that the refugee camp is very very difficult place, the conditions are horrid, ban ki-moon the secretary general, said recently, that he said it is the deepest circle of held. right now, in the refugee camp, the u.n. estimates there are about 18,000 refugees and innocent civilians trapped up side that catch, they are particularly trapped there and cannot receive any sort of aid because the yeah hook camp is controlled by various factions. one fact being isil, there's also the al quaida linked group, as well as proand antigovernment militants inside the camp as well. all fighting for territory,

or controlling some territory. because of that, the u.n. has not been able to get any sort of aid, into these nearly 18,000 refugees that are there, so this deal again, that is not gone through yet, but is apparently being talked about, could open a safe passage way potentially for isil fighters and their family members as well as potentially other fighters in the refugee camp to exit zoo get some sort of safe passage out. if that happened what it would do is make the camp safer so international observers and the u.n. can get in there and deliver aid. it would be a proof bright spot in what has been a very very dark situation for many months and years now, i will caution, this deal is not gone through yet, and we have seen deals such as this in the past fall through we are told if this does go through it could happen in the next

24 to 48 hours. >> all right, thank you very much. gabriel with the latest there on reports of u.n. involvement possibly on movement of fighters and their families out of the refugee camp near damascus. a palestinian has died just north of jerusalem, hospital officials say a man was hit many h the head by a bullet, it is the latest death in a wave of violence that began in october. earlier, security forces shot dead a palestinian in the occupied west bank, they say he stabbed two security guards before they opened fire. in a separate incident, a palestinian was killed by forces after he tried to stab them with a screwdriver. and israeli soldiered kill add palestinian they say

rammed him in a car outside jerusalem. 135 palestinians and 20 israelis have died in violent incidents since the beginning of october. >> well, hundreds have attended the funeral of an israeli man in occupied east jerusalem. israeli forces say he was stabbed to death by two palestinians, the attackers were shot dead. meanwhile, thousands of pill grams are in bethlehem to celebrate christmas. a latin patriarch has arrived in the city. but festivities have been overshadowed by on the day violence. palestinian scouts playing christmas songs old and new. leading the annual parade was the latin patriarch, the procession from the his headquarters in occupied east jerusalem to bethlehem has

him pass through the wall which encircled the city, the israeli government began construction on the wall more than ten years ago, they say it is meant to stop violence, but palestinians say it is nothing more than a land grabs that has strangled the tourism. still thousands came to major square to celebrate the birth of jesus christ. >> ands a very important festivity, because it is the birth of christ, the birth of hope. the birth of resilience, the berth of love and so this is what people are celebrates. >> palestinian leaders scaled back christmas after months of violence that has left around 20 israelis and more than 130 palestinians dead. bethlehem has seen sows of the most intense protests and many residents say that after nearly 50 years of israeli occupation, all they want is peace.

>> today bethlehem lives in a state of sadness, settlements separation wall and daily killings. bethlehem has turned from a city that carry as message of peace from 2000 years ago into a city of the tortured. although festive fighters have been toned down, many do seem to want to celebrate christmas in the spirit of the holiday, still in the background of the celebrations is more violence, and more loss of life. israeli forces killed at least four palestinians on christmas eve, despite the heavy crack down by israel's military, the anger that has fueled the months of violence only seems to be growing even on a day that celebrates hope and peace. al jazeera, bethlehem, in the occupied west bank. >> processions have been taking place across the world

to celebrate the berth of prophet mohammad. >> muslims in the libyan city marked the anniversary by chanting himselfs and playing traditional music planned celebrations were canceled piñata the government due to fears of attacks. now the u.s. and afghan forces have conducted air strikes in the district of held mind it has been the scene of intent fighting for the last week, as they battle for control the taliban say they have captured the center, but afghan authorities deny this, british soldiers have also been sent back to the area to advise a year after they withdrew from the region. he has been speaking to security officials there and sent us this update. >> they are telling us that

our gone vagues forces have been deployed and they are fighting and afghan security officials claim that they have control of thele district. we are talking about a very small area and the district headquarter and police headquarter is about 2,000 square meters, that is where the fighting is still going on. after officials also claimed that the taliban has big casualty last night, and the fighting is still again on, and they have sent some reinforcement by roads but they believe they haven't reached here, because on the road there are a lot of areas under control of the taliban, and a lot of mines there, but in this province, in the province of afghanistan, it is hard to say any place in this province, or any district, fully under control of the taliban even here in district four the fighting is

going on on taliban who can afford the sky high prices. plus. joan me in search of hong kong's disappearing pink dolphins. when you're on hold, your business is on hold. that's why comcast business doesn't leave you there. when you call, a small business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds.

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the province with the keyf battle now taking mace in the district. four palestinians have been killed across the occupied west bank. israeli forces say most of the incidents they were retaliated after being attacked be i the men. now in other stories with refollowing 19 people including six children have been drowned when the boat they were traveling in capsized off the coast. they had managed to save 21 people near the town, across from the greek island. more than 20 others died this week traveling between turkey and greece. and the italian navy has rescued more than 100 from a rubber boat off the coast. it is not clear where they are started the journey, 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 is doing it for themselves, musicians and they have been video records a c.d. to help other others otn their same situation. a few days ago they hadn't even met. now they are singing and playing traditional songs from their homelands in far away belgium. where he told us he mad to leave his loot behind when he fled in iraq. some kind europeans raised the money for him to get a new one. he uses his music to help forget the journey he has had

to make. >> when i touch the instrument, this' a lot of things just go away. even when you play and remember things at the end when you finish, you just forget everything. you don't care about anything, because it is like music means everything for me. >> asaad was a t.v. star in his native pakistan, but when he tried to set up a music school in his home, the taliban came and told him it was forbidden. and he wouldn't tell him twice. a lot of musician has been injured, and they try to kill them also, and you can see all those most of them that leave the country, most of them they could not, but they stop singing. they stop playing music.

on get far, a respected composeser, he made the journey through europe late this summer, he carried his guitar with him all the way sipping for the others. others singing for the others. now we play music, what happened with us, and how we live that's all. >> the people helping organize this are close to their target of $13,000, to print the c.d.es, music classes for refugee children, and concerts are also being planned. >> openly hostile to all refugees it is perhaps as reminder, of how war effects all of us, even the most talented. >> lawrence lee, al jazeera, brussells.

>> a tornado -- rescue teamed continue to search for missing residents, al jazeera reports. >> it is a bleak mid winter, in mississippi. >> oh. j this touring funnel cloud is is one of several tornadoes that have hit the state, since the start of the week, the youngest person to die was a seven-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, eses specially across parts of tennessee, but keep in mind, there's 72 million people that will still see the chance of some sort of severe weather overnight. >> this is what some of them will be waking up to. >> every so often nature likes to remind us that it wheels the real power. 2015, has been one of those years. it's an el nino year, the tom nonin which the warnest waters move from one part of the pacific around the philippines. >> they bank up against the americas, north america offshore temperatures about two or three degrees above what they should be, and then that cold air sweeps across the plain states where it meets up with the gulf of mexico, it is very warm water at the moment, were this to happen in the spring, you would expect tornadoes but in desks it is a rare event.

regardless of the holiday season. al jazeera. flooding has forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in parts another latin america. heavy rains have expected up to 100,000 people and a further 4,000 in your guy, and now demanding an explanation as to why he was prevented from traveling to new york, al jazeera was stopped at the airport gate last week, trying to board a flight to jfk the bittish prime minister is expected to exam the case stopped from

heading to disneyland. he says he ises unsure why he was preventing from traveling. >> i haven't done nothing wrong. i do everything public. i actually live with a death threat, for my work against extremism, and when i spoke out against the murder of louis rigby in london. so i have no idea where americans have revoked my visa, i wish i knew, one thing i do want to know is a simple reason why, if they tell me why, at least i know. many who try to go to america, today have racial profiling done on them. many have been barred from going, and i believe i was the victim of the same. the desire to ban the muslims looked like is already come to fruition, and even though he has received a single vote from a single american. >> nigeria's capitol is a

city under construction. all too often the price beyond the reach of the average person, and rents are among the highest in africa, reports. it is 5:00 o'clock in the morning when douglas says goodbye to his family, before heading off to work. by the time he comes back at night, his children will be asleep. >> i feel bad. but i pray to god that one day, we will overcome this situation. so really, it is not helpful for you to being with -- to continue being without your children all the time. >> this is one of the hundreds of thousands who work in the city, that have to leave far away from their work. simply because, they can't afford. >> hundreds of new homes are built here, but most of them are empty. the question is how many

people can afford to buy a house. >> it is less than 2% of the population, and unfortunately,er developer. >> this means many people here would be able to afford these new homes. >> housing this estate costed about $500,000 to buy, renting one is as much as $25,000 a year. developers put the blame on expensive land and infrastructure. and pass the burden to tenants. >> so for many cities it is not about a shortage of housing, it is about affordability. that is why people like douglas are pushed to the absolutelies on the outskirts of the city, areas with poor roots and security. >> nigeria's state market is largely unregulated. many of those that are supposed to othersee,s are also investors in the industry. low earners like douglas will

continue to be priced out, relegated to the absolutelies that encircle the city. al jazeera, nigeria. >> russian president vladimir putin says his country will cooperate with india on building new missiles as well as fighter jets and transport aircraft. during a visit to moscow, indian prime minister also announced major construction deals. >> we are making progress on our plans. for 12 nuclear reactors, at two sites. the agreement food will increase manufacturing content, in this directors. it supports the mission of making india for the support. >> now, hong kong conservationist are worried about the territories rare pink dolphins being close to extinction. it is thought there are only 61 still left alive, as major

building developments damage their natural environment. vivian reports. >> the first thing they tell you on the dolphin watch tour is not to have high expectations. but it ises turned out to be a good day for these visitors. [i was really lucky to see two pink dolphins. it was so fantastic, so very cool. >> i was so surprised when i saw that, jumping from the water. >> it is a surprise for everyone on the boat, even the tour guide, now days dolphins keep their, this morning they -- they get quite close here. it is very weird the numbers have dropped more than 60% in the last decade, conservation say it is mostly due to major projects in hong kong waters. they point out the 50-kilometer bridge connecting hong kong which cuts through areas with the highest density of dolphins

in the pearl river delta and they fear plans would drive away what is left of the population this area is known as dolphin corridor. but this is also the proposed site for the airport third runway, construction would involve dumping thousands of tons of sand to reclaim 6.5 square kilometers of 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 government's promise to build a marine sanctuary, after the runway is inthished. >> can they survive for the seven years of construction period and come back later and enjoy the marine scening chew ware? it is a huge question mark, and i think it is very unlikely, that they will be able to hang on for that long. >> the dolphins have been swimming in these waters for

centuries, on the sidelines as hong kong transforms from a fishing village to one of the biggest commercial hubs. but they have payed the price for the city's growth with less and less space to call home. >> i'm russell beard in northern kenya where local hero martin wheeler is taking elephant conservation to new heights. >> i'm jasmeen qureshshi in monterey bay california where researchers have discovered that sea te