>> hello, you're watching the news hour live from doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes, a surprise visit, the first indian prime minister to set foot in pakistan for a decade. [ gunfire ] >> the siege of taiz, houthi rebels block industries interest entering yemen's third large have the city as the fighting rages on. >> a day of mercy in which god, our father revealed a great tenderness to the entire world.

>> pope francis urging reconciliation during his annual christmas address. >> this is not a ride for the feint hearty with you but there's still some life left in these cable cars. the indian prime minister has arrived in pakistan's city of lahore on what is a surprise visit. his counterpart met him at the airport before the two leaders held talks. it is the first visit by an indian prime minister in pakistan in more than 10 years. we have two correspondents covering this story, in islamabad and new delhi. this i spees boils down to building trust. how did they manage to get this far? >> first of all, you have to

understand the background. for years, the two sides have been accusing each other particularly after that deadly attack in 2008 in mumbai brought the two countries to the verge of conflict, to sheen there was accusations hurled by india and pakistan against each other of massive violations, ceasefire violations along the line of control. when modi came into power, relations thawed, but early in november this year, what happened was that the two prime ministers met on the sidelines of the 21st climate conference in paris. they shook hand and talked to each other. that was seen as an ice breaker, because the two sides were not talking to each other. after that, it was agreed that the national security advisors would meted. they met in bangkok, after that,

the indian foreign minister came to pakistan to attend a conference in afghanistan. they were positive signals, but today's move surprised everybody, primarily because the indian prime decided to use twitter. he tweeted that he may meet the pakistani prime minister after he lands in lahore. after he did land, the pakistani prime minister said to him, we're going to a farmhouse on a helicopter, right now, the indian prime minister at the farmhouse of cherif, attending a wedding and also cherif's birthday today. >> is it your sense they have an end to get to? surely they are both set in their ways when it comes to their attitude on that disputed region that there can't be any progress anytime soon. >> absolutely. there's going to be hard talking on a lot of issues. one thing is quite clear, that

recently, the indian leadership was present in turkmenistan when they were talking about the pipeline. modi referred to the fact that pakistan could act as a conduit to central asia. there is a thinking within india itself and within pakistan that these two nuclear armed states cannot afford a confrontation and the only way to move forward is to talk. one has to understand that behind the scenes, washington has also been trying to tell the indians that they should talk. london is involved and obviously this particular trip is coming at a time when the indian prime minister is returning from moscow visiting kabul, as well. in the next few days, the pakistani military chief will alsoen in kabul, so it shows intense negotiations and an effort to try to bring these two nuclear powered arm states back to the table. >> thanks for that.

let's turn to my colleague in new delhi. first, perception is everything, when it come comes to the relationship between these two countries. from your vantage point, what's shifting, what's changing here? >> well, this first of all is what i was saying. this caught everyone by surprise. it was announced on twitter. it was supposed to be a stop over and turned into a helicopter ride to a farmhouse where cherif's grandfather is getting married. everyone was taken aback. no one had any inclination this would happen. some see this as a grand gesture or modi making a political master stroke. they say these kind of things could be the tipping point needed to breakthrough in relations. others saying these kind of grand gestures have happened before, such as when prime minister modi after winning the election invited cherif to new delhi to attend his swearing in ceremony. they say like that, that grand

gesture as well as the others have fizzled out in the past and they accuse the prime minister of just show boating with his surprised visit. >> if the decision is not prepros truss, then it is utterly ridiculous. >> the choreography is quite smart here, takes them out of the glare of the international news channels, there's no publicity and they can make progress if only by using back channels. >> well, that's true. just today, modi was in the afghan capital kabul. the inauguration of the new parliament building, which india donated the money for and there he made several references against pakistan, so it's almost

they had a dual nature. the one thing is, modi is the only one who can try to push relations forward, because he can do this without upsetting the hardliners here. many times an indian leader that tried to make effort, they are accused of being traitors, anti national, being too pro muslim, even. modi being a member of the right wing nationalist party can step away from that and try to take things forward. >> we can almost script out what the congress party will say about this, but to what degree does the congress stand on these kind of discussions reflect popular opinion? >> well, just as we were talking about having kind of a dual perception now, we just heard from one congress spokesperson there. they are criticizing the prime

minister being so cavalier, not making the thing public, not in forming parliament. like you say, it seems that the government has decided they have to take a tough stance in public while also trying to make some headway in the back rooms on the back channels, as well. so many in the opposition, the congress has expected as other opposition members have criticized the prime minister on this, but they, too in the past when empowered tried to make these kind of jess officers. the last prime minister from the congress party invited then pakistaned prime minister to india for a world cup cricket match which was a grand gesture many said would lead to a breakthrough. >> thanks very much. earlier modi held talks in the afghan capital with ashraf ghani. he handed over four helicopters

and dedicated a believe. reinforcements were sent into helmand province as the army tried to pushing taliban out of the area. twenty were killed overnight. the u.s. is helping afghan troops with airstrikes. we are in helmand province close to the fighting. >> we are hearing from afghan security officials here in helmand telling us reinforcement by road just reached the district. less than 24 hours ago, afghan security officials deploymented afghan officials force. we are hearing from residents that heavy fighting is still going on at a small bazaar. afghan officials also telling us they have control of the police

at the building and district. we are talking about the fighting is in a very small area. it's about two to 3,000 square meters, so we are hearing that face-to-face fighting heavy is still going on there and we are getting complaints now. we are getting phone calls from the residents, civilians who could not afford to leave the area during fighting and they are complaining that heavy use of artillery and bombardment is, they are the one suffering and there were a number of civilian casualty, at least 20 is confirmed by afghan official. a gas plant explosion in nigeria trapped many and burnt them to death. it's thought a truck carrying

butane gas exploded. the arab league asked turkey to withdraw soldiers from iraq immediately. turkey sent hundreds of troops earlier this month. ankara said the soldiers are protecting other turkish military personnel who had been training soldiers to fight isil. the military said it is making gains in ramadi. it began an offensive there on tuesday. mosul is rack's second largest city seized in may of last year. we have more from baghdad. >> fighting in ramadi is still going on for almost a week. iraqi security forces who succeeded in crossing to the southeast of ramadi a few days ago are still trying to reach the center of ramadi, but

according to sources from the city of ramadi, it says that fighting is very tough and iraqi forces is facing a huge resistance from isil. a spokesman of the provincial council of anbar said that battle in ramadi may take time, longer than the time it said before. everybody knows that iraqi, some iraqi commanders said few days ago that the battle in ramadi would take 74 hours. nowadays, at this moment, some iraqi military commander said the battle may take a longer time and this because of the resistance, the huge resistance that made by the fighters of isil. a high figure commander military commander said iraqi helicopters, they are doing every day more than 15 raids on ramadi, and he said these raised

are targeting the sides and the fighters of isil and ramadi. everybody enough is talking about what is the distance between the current president of iraqi forces from the center of ramadi is not a matter of one kilometer, but this does not mean the mission is about to be finished. some military commander said the progress are doing and it is a matter of tens of meters and this means that fighting in ramadi may take a longer time. everybody now or most military analysts expecting that the scenario of tikrit may repeat in ramadi. a few months ago, iraqi fighters tried to front on tikrit. everybody expected that bat toll take a very long time but suddenly, the fighters of isil withdraw from the city and open

the way for the iraqi security forces to conquer the whole city of tikrit. at this moment, some believe this scenario might be repeated in ramadi and this according to analysts because of the two powers of isil and iraqi security forces. fighting in yemen's city of taiz have killed at least 13 rebels according to the internationally recognized government and four civilians reported to have been killed during the shelling of residential areas. a houthi seen on the city has prevented supplies from getting in. >> there are no safe havens left in taiz. this mosque now bears the scars of combat. the houthis and fighters loyal to former president al saleh are locked in a bitter struggle with government forces for control of the city. fierce battles are taking place on several fronts. at the eastern and western city

gates, pro-government forces are trying to fend off houthi fighters from entering. there are reports the houthis may be about to receive reinforcements from nearby towns. now a blockade means nothing can get in. the strangle hold is meant to force the houthis out but it's also affecting this formally bustling hospital. doctors have run out of essential supplies and can't treat anymore patients. >> a similar scene plays out hundreds of kilometers to the south in my hospital in the port city of aden. most departments here can no longer function but the ward for kidney patients was spared from the bombs, something this man is thankful for. >> when the war started, it was impossible to go to the hospital. it would be considered a miracle if you managed to get in. >> with aid that now back under government control, the race is on to rebuild this hospital and resume much needed services. >> a lot of people come to the

hospital. we have all types of military and civilian cases. some injured military fighters from taiz also receive treatment here. we work with what we have. >> it's been more than a year since the houthis took over yemen's capital, sanna and nearly nine months since a saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign. the chaos is straining basic medical services to the point of collapse. al jazeera. much more still to come here on this news hour, including a long walk to a new life. the challenges facing refugees on their next step north from greece. >> i'm tanya page reporting from central african republic where as christmas, not everyone is happy about the pending election. to sports news, one of the most powerful football men faces a court in uruguay on corruption charges. details coming up.

isil fighters are expected to be given safe passage out of the refugee camp in the syrian capital damascus in a deal negotiated with president bashar al assad's government. the u.n. is backing the move aimed at making it possible to deliver aid to thousands trapped by the fighting. the isil fighters and some members of the syrian rebel groups are expected to be transferred north wards. the yarmouk camp has been blockaded by government forces since 2012. 18,000 people are trapped in the camp, most are palestinian refugees. activists say buses have already started arriving to transport rebels and their families out of the area. many isil fighters are expected to head for raqqa, six hours away. >> qatar's foreign minister has been meeting his russian counterpart in moscow over syria. still no agreements over the

future of the president bashar al assad. sergey lavrov held a news conference with his counterpart. it comes a day after china and syria agreed to framework for the forthcoming peace talks in geneva. >> we discussed in detail what is necessary to be done to implement the agreements on the syrian settlement that was reached within the framework of syria and the u.n. security council. >> we agree with the russian party that the worsening of this crisis is in the interest of neither party. we are aware that the delays in the solution of this crisis is helpful to the parties and first of all to the syrian people. >> a syrian academic and writer and sort analyst at the doha institute here in qatar joins us. who gets what out of that conversation that took place this morning? >> well, i think once again, it

shows that the two sides actually are still having big differences, because we know that the russians, as sergey lavrov has emphasized many times during the press conference with his counterpart that there are differences on the future of syrian president bashar al assad. there are also differences on who is defines who as the terrorist in syria, because the russians want to include all the armed groups that are fighting over bashar al assad. put them all in one basket and call them terrorists, and they should not be allowed actually to be part of the syria opposition delegation. it is supposed to be formed in the coming days, and be part of the peace talks in geneva. i think these are the two main issues, i think, but also, the

foreign minister was also keen on emphasizing that we should have geneva as the difference for this peace talk, i.e., there should be a government condition, government body formed from both the opposition and the regime with full executive authority to actually take over the responsibility from syrian president bashar al assad, because he emphasized during the first conference that president bashar al assad shouldn't be part of this process. >> ok. there is a bit of a disconnect, though, here, surely and it is this, the russians are trying to adopt the moral high ground which is their right but there is a disconnect between that moral high ground and what amnesty international is saying is happening in reality on the ground. how do the categories work with that? do they ignore what some are

saying as the consequence are what's going on in the air and on the ground and push forward. >> they are not ignoring, but recognize that russia has become the key player in the syrian crisis they hold the key and this is why the qatari foreign minister made the trip to moscow, despite the fact there are definite differences between the two countries on how to sox the crisis, as we said on the future of bashar al assad in syria. >> if the russian holds the keys and it's not the united states, the u.s. led coalition, the keys to the door must have exit written on it. that would be not the russian line, but the line of everyone else involved in this. >> absolutely. everybody believes that if we are going to have a solution, a

real solution to this crisis, bashar al assad must leave. the differences are now on whether bashar al assad should leave at an early stage or maybe at a later stage of this process, but i think everybody should agree that bashar al assad has absolutely no future and no place in the future of syria. >> qatar, it is believed, it is reported wants to use some delicate soft power within that equation. what does qatar want to see happening that might be at variance on the face of it with what the russians want to see happening? >> i think now, this is why i think this visit was important, because it comes ahead of the peace talks which is supposed to be resumed in geneva next month as the united nations has actually made it clear. i think the qataris now are trying to soften the russian position on the issues that are a matter of differences here,

i.e., i mean both have been mentioned with the press conference, i.e. that future of bashar al assad and also who's -- i think qatar is trying to make the russian position more pragmatic and in the relation to reality in syria. >> but there's a big distance between pragmatism and reality, because the reality is bashar al assad has got to walk through that exit door, even just four days ago now, he said i will engage with the political process. that is significant because that is what he did say. what he didn't say is what he didn't say before, but the people on the list of politicians that i will deal with does not include some of the people that everyone else says should be on that list. >> absolutely. that is exactly also bashar al assad's position.

they wanted to pick who is going to be participating in this peace talks. they are objecting to so many armed groups on the ground to be part of this whole process, and i think even the russians, even the iranians believe that at some stage, if we are going to have a real solution to this crisis, they must actually deal with the question of bashar al assad. that is something that i believe will come to deal wilt at some point in the future. >> we will see, thank you very much. >> thank you. people are celebrating christmas around the world, but the festivities in bethlehem believed to be the birth place of jesus have been subdued. there have been almost daily attacks between israelis and palestinians since october. we have this report. >> palestinian scouts marching through the streets of bethlehem, playing christmas songs old and new. leading the annual christmas parade was the latin patriarch of jerusalem, the procession from his headquarters in

occupied east jerusalem to bethlehem has him pass through the concrete separation wall which encircles the city. israel began construction of the wall more than 10 years ago, saying it's meant to stop violence. the palestinian say it is a land grab that has strangled bethlehem's tourism. thousands of palestinians of all faith came to manger square to celebrate the birth of jesus christ along with pilgrims from around the world. >> it is an important festivity, because it is the birth of christ, the birth of hope, the birth of resilience, the birth of love, and so this is what people are celebrating. >> palestinian leaders scaled back christmas celebration across the occupied west bank after months of violence that has left around 20 israelis and more than 130 palestinians dead. bethlehem has seen some of the most in tense protests and any

residents say that after nearly 50 years of israeli occupation, all they want is peace. >> today bethlehem lives in a state of sadness. may not have been killed, are under stage. it has a separation wall and daily killings. it has carried a message of peace 2000 years ago, it has turned into a city of the tortured. >> many here want to be able to celebrate christmas in the spirit of the holiday. still, in the background of celebrations is more violence and more loss of life. >> in separate incidents across the occupied west bank, israeli forces killed at least four palestinians on christmas eve. despite the heavy crack down by israeli's military, the anger that has fueled the months of violence only seems to be growing. even on the day which celebrates hope and peace. al jazeera, bethlehem in the occupied west bank. the head of the roman

catholic church delivered his annual christmas message, pope francis urged reconciliation. he appealed to palestinians and israelis to find a peaceful settlement. he asked his congregation to pray for the people of syria and the hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. rescue teams are searching for people after tornadoes battled the southern u.s. several homes have been destroyed. in several states, flights have been delayed or canceled. parts of the eastern u.s. are experiencing their warmest weather in years. in new york, temperatures soared to 21 celsius, beating the previous record, a chilly 13 degrees set in 1988. steph's here with the weather. raining in doha, tee shirts in europe and america is split. what's going on? >> the end of the world. no, it's just a little crazy. it could well have something to do with the el niño conditions

we have at the moment. more to the here and now. let's see if the conditions in the u.s. are going to change and become slightly more normal. they are coming down, but not completely. you can see the area of crowd here across the southeastern parts. that's still the border between the very cold air towards the west and very mild air in the east. now, it is calming down, though, these are the storm reports that we had on wednesday. the blues, well those are the wind damage that we saw, the greens is the large hailstones that we saw in the reds, those are the damaging tornadoes, so lots of them on wednesday, but if we go into thursday, you can see there aren't so many of them, just a handful in the south. definitely improving, not calming down altogether, because this system is staying put. it's going to stay very warm towards the southeast but cold up towards the west and the central parts of the u.s., so in the middle, where those two air masses meet, there we have the explosive weather and still the risk of seeing some more damaging winds as we head

through the next few days, so friday, there could even be more tornadoes. while all that is happening out towards the east and it's looking pretty miserable, we've got snow. these pictures are from omaha where we had over 16 center meters of snow just in one day. that is a lot of snow, a new record for them. >> steph, thank you very much, talk to you later. still to come here on the news hour, housing the homeless, what's being done to stop people from having to comp out in the nation's capital. you can still send a tell gram in china. we have all the top sports stories in about 15 minutes minutes

>> welcome to the news hour. it is the first visit by the indian prime minister into pakistan. it comes after a long period of a cold atmosphere between the two nations. the two leaders will be holding talks. pope francis used his christmas sermon to call for reconciliation by communities ravaged with war and violence. the head of the catholic church asked the congregation to pray for syria and the hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. >> isil fighters could be given

safe passage out of the yarmouk refugee camp in damascus. the deal is aimed at making it easier to deliver aid to the civilians trapped in that area. horn winter weather hasn't deterred refugees continuing to try to get into europe. they arrive by sea every day, hoping to keep on the move despite the cold and wet. so far this year, 800,000 people, mostly from syria, iraq and afghanistan have entered the european union via greece. several balkan countries, including macedonia built border fences to block the passage of refugees, turning greece into a pinch point. many are heading north and want to settle in germany. we are joined live now from the border between greece and macedonia. how many people are located that in that immediate area? >> there are now at least three

buses i can see waiting. every bus carries about 50 to 60 people. they are trickling in toward the border crossing just behind me into macedonia. about 20 minutes from here, there are 20 buses or even more than 20 buses waiting and it's full, loaded of people, about the estimate is 1,000 to 1,500 waiting for the macedonian border police to tell the greek police to allow them in to continue their journey into macedonia. >> tired, but determined to carry on, heading into the unknown to start a new life, the border here has been tightened with new restrictions, all only iraqis and syrians are allowed in. reaching northern europe is not easy. many have endured isil.

this family fled sinjar, a town that recently was under isil control in iraq. >> sinjar was cleared but everyone there wants to establish their own authority. we decided we'd live together in peace or die trying. >> the journey remains long and heart. their next goal is to cross macedonia, serbia and beyond. >> crossing the border to macedonia is constant, so far, over 2,000 people have crossed and wednesday, over 3500 people went through. the u.n. refugee agency said some are subject to ill treatment and pushed back by the macedonia border police. >> volunteer and aid groups are doing what they can to help. >> we have a camp with medical services. we have shelter which is covered and heated. >> a group of chefs and

volunteers are preparing hot meals. >> we give people food. they need it at the time. it is nothing for us. this gas station became a waiting point. >> we are giving people free magazines. that will help their life. >> handing leaflets and copies of the bible, dozens of people have their stories to tell. muhammed is a pharmacist from syria. he says the treatment he's got here is rough. >> we slept on the bus. no toilets, no food. i want to live in dignity and have a better life for my children. >> for many here, the risk is worth it. there is hope for a better and a

safer future despite the trip underway. >> the gate should be opening and closing o on a regular basi, but today is christmas day. how efficient is that over the coming few days? >> the process is ongoing. i'm going to step out of the shot to allow the cameraman to move in. you can see the latest wave of refugees. all of these refugees registered when they arrive into greece mainland. they've got special paper. that paper allows them to pass multiple checkpoints and then if they don't have the necessary papers, the macedonians will not let them in, because macedonia has put some restrictions and it allows only iraqis, afghans and syrians and if you don't have, if you are from that nationality and you don't have the papers, you will be sent back to greece on buses waiting and they will

go to these greek capitals to make a new registration. thousand was people are now compiling in athens, because they lack the necessary papers. >> omar, thanks very much. >> voting in the central african republic has been delayed now for a fifth time. the election for the assembly had been scheduled for sunday but postponed to december 30. tanya page reports on what keeps causing the delays. >> they simply aren't ready. there is still a mountain of election material at the airport here waiting to be taken by helicopter out to the provinces. once it gets there, that isn't the end stop. there is about 4,000 polling stations around the country. it's got to be loaded into four by four vehicles because the roads are so bad here and in many instance taken an even smaller packages on motorcycles out to all those polling stations. the second reason we're told is that at those polling stations,

the staff hasn't been trained and they're not factory sure how to deal with the election on the day. after the election's finished, once ballot boxes have been sealed they haven't finalized the logistics of getting the ballot boxes book to headquarters, so really fundamental issues, and that's just added weight to the concerns we've seen all year that these elections have been rushed. nobody thinks they're going to be perfect, but they are going ahead, we understand many people saying they are essential and necessary to get this country back on track and out of the transition period to an elected government. >> boxes of ballot papers did he say signed for the provinces, but time has run out to get these materials to the polling stations, so for the fifth time, the vote has been delayed. tons of material are still sitting here. >> it's a big job. >> very big job. and we cannot sleep until we

have it done. >> each flight that leaves brings the country devastated by violence a step closer to a chance of a fresh start. supporters of the most prominent muslim candidate circle a market where christmas trees and tinsel are for sale. muslim armed groups and christian vigilantes have been fighting since the mostly muslim selica group was driven from power in 2014. they'd overthrown the president a few months earlier. these checkpoints are meant to keep the muslim community safe. those who dare to leave risk their lives. some feel the elections have been rushed and risk excluding people. >> this election has been badly prepared. there hasn't been enough time. the international community that pushed us towards these elections. we have said they should happen, but they must be good elections, so we don't have people contesting the result afterwards. >> one of the leading candidates

has won the backing of ousted president's party. he says the exiled former leader should be allowed to come back and that now was as good a time as any for the election. >> central africa republic will never be ready. >> it's a fraught time for central africans who have witnessed more coups than elections. it's the best that can be hoped for right now. >> the situation here remains volatile and unpredictable in that there have been on going clashes in the last couple of years between the mostly muslim selica group and mostly christian vigilantes.

there has been fighting until september when a muslim man was killed here that sparked a resurgence in tit for tat violence between largely those two groups and about 100 people were killed in those preceding weeks. about the time pope francis was here, there was increased security largely put down as to a new command leading the u.n. peacekeeping force. they have been more responsive to trouble outside the bases, as well as that seen a return on to the streets of the central african army and people have responded positively to them. that's meant a slightly calmer situation coming into this vote. on the humanitarian side, there are still 460,000 refugees in neighboring countries and 470,000 people living in i.d.p. camps internally displaced. that tells you how unsafe hundreds of thousands of people still feel. we are not going to see think

about real change in those numbers until quite a way after the elections to see how armed group's respond to the election result. a group of americans taken host only in iran during the revolution in 1979 have been awarded more than $4 million in tom ken pennization. they had been seeking restitution for more than 30 years. victims were held for more than 400 days after a group of iranian students formed the u.s. embassy in tehran. washington broke ties with tehran. 37 of the original hostages are still alive. >> cities in the u.s. are launching an initiative to help people sleeping rough move off the streets for good. the resolution is to offer permanent housing backed up by that advice on how to get a job. >> a campsite for the homeless in the heart of america's capital. shortly before washington authorities tore it down, call it unsafe and a health hazard,

as well as against the law. some who lived out in the open didn't want to leave. >> well, it allows you shelter, temporary shelter. it allows you safety. >> washington is one of a few u.s. cities where local laws require housing for all the homeless who are in need. for her, this is now home after years of living in emergency shelters and short term housing. >> the cabinets were already here. i fixed the kitchen and stuff up. >> she and her 8-year-old daughter share the apartment, the rent subsidized by the city and charities. she is required to pay at least one third. >> it's a place i can call my own. it's something that i'm paying for, so it's giving me, you know, the opportunity to be responsible. >> within the next five years,

washington's local government has vowed to make homelessness in its words, rare, brief and non-recurring. it's most serious challenge is a shortage of affordable housing. providing housing early on is the most cost effective strategy for the city and local care agencies. >> if they wind up in hospitals, in mental health facilities, substance abuse, treatment centers, jail, prison, all those costs tend to go down once people are housed. >> community of hope is one of the city's non-profit groups that back up their housing programs with health care, legal services, and help to prevent homelessness in the first place. >> sometimes, just having resources, and people there to help you, and pull you along the way, and you knowing that someone there's going to help you, it really does push people to wanting to do better. >> her hope is to move on in a couple of years and to own a home of her own. al jazeera, washington.

security has been stepped up in beijing after the u.s. and other governments warned of possible threats against their people there. beijing issuing a yellow alert in shopping and entertainment areas and police presence stepped up. the tell gram revolutionized the way the world communicated. it announced the start of world war i. it's long been obsolete in many countries, but not yet in china. >> she is about to do something very few of her generation will ever do, send a tell gram to her parents. one of china's last remaining telegraph counters is in this tell gram office in shanghai. the city was one of the first linked to the telegraph system and will likely be among the last to hold on to it. >> it's nostalgic for my parents. they're from a time when people

used to write letters, so this will be like a souvenir for them to keep. >> the tell gram begins its journey first by fax, sent to another office where it will then be transmitted. this is low tech in a high tech world. >> the tell grams are then sent over a network that uses machinery that is about as sophisticated as it will ever become. >> a museum to the telegraph charts the progress of the service from its even more primitive beginnings, including the code books that gave the thousands of chinese characters individual numbers so they could be transmitted. a service that peaked at 44 million tell grams per year in 1988 has been in steep decline ever since. >> traditionally, people would still use tell grams for congratulations or condolences, but even those uses are now dropping off.

>> hardly surprising in a country that now has hundred was millions of users signed up to one of the many messaging apps available on their smart phones. she and her parents, included. the mental to say the tell gram is on its way has gone a couple of moments. the tell gram itself will take a week. >> with such a relatively wait, it will take more than nostalgia to save the tell gram. >> still to come in the sports news, the two biggest teams in the nba face each other as lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers take on the reigning chance, the golden state warriors. details, coming up.

so far averaging 31 points and james 26. this would go the third time the cavs have played at golden state's oracle arena since losing last season's finals to the warriors. that game is one of five in the nba on friday. >> former fifa vice president has been jailed by a judge in his native uruguay pending trial

in the fifa corruption scandal. the former head of south america's former football federation seen here is one of seven top fifa officials arrested in zurich in may. the united states want to extradite him on charges of accepting bribes worth millions of dollars from sports marketing firms. having been extra dated from switzerland to uruguay thursday, the 83-year-old was taken straight to court where he was charged with fraud and money laundering. he was taken into custody to await trial. >> the defense asked that their client be put under house arrest. the judge understands that this particular time is not right for that to occur and for this reason, he will be deprived of his liberty in a place assigned to him by the minister of the interior. severe long term weather forecast has the teams on edge as they prepare for the race

getting underway saturday. teams have been carrying out final preparations ahead of the 628 nautical mile race. while the forecast of strong winds has brought back memories of 1998 when six sailors were killed during the race, teams are prepared for what's ahead and that the rough conditions will make all the boats more evenly matched. >> sri lanka faces being banned for four years after a b. sample tested positive for a banned substance. the 25-year-old was sent home earlier this month when the results came through in october. they say he inadvertently used the substance applying cream to an in sect bite. >> in melbourne, what is traditionally one of the biggest days in the aussie sporting calendar, this year, organizers are expecting possibly the lowest possible day attendance

in 16 years. >> on boxing day, most years, there are crowds between step and 100,000 people filling the seats at the melbourne cricket ground. organizers fear they will be reluctant to reach 50,000. the team are determined to show they are still worthy of playing in one of cricket's fixtures. >> it's a very special occasion. everybody knows what we're up against. i'm walking on the field for the first time we got here in melbourne and it was a really nice feeling. >> australia are looking to wrap up the best of three series. did he spite the recent retirement of mitchell johnson, they still believe they have the strike power to make you the tough for the sportsman. >> each team that something different. >> this will be the west indies first test since 2000. many expect a repeat of the result when they lost by 352 runs inside four days on the way

to a series whitewash. al jazeera. also saturday, the world number one test team africa host england in the match of their s. it is the first since 2004. james anderson is out injured. as for the home side, they were beaten 3-0 by india in their last series, their first overseas loss in nine years. >> i think both teams have had some challenges in the previous series, but being at home is always great for us. then you've got a great record being at home. i would think that we, you know, we're in a good space, but starting the first day of the first game would be extremely important for us to set the tone for the rest of the series.

>> 31-year-old field goal in overtime, so the oakland raiders beat the san diego chargers 28-20 in the nfl. the field goal giving the raiders a win i understand what could be their final game before the proposed move to los angeles is also the last game for charles woodson in an 18 year career. he won the superbowl once with the green bay packers and played in the pro bowl nine times. the director of the new movie concussion says changes are on the horizon for the nfl as parents are dissuaded from letting their children pay football. director peter landsman said there seem to be changes at the grassroots level with numbers for pop warners football noticeably dropping. >> the big number is that pop

warner football, which is little league football where small children join is down as high as 35%. what thats is those kids, those elite athletes at six, seven, eight, nine years old are playing baseball, wrestling, running, playing lacrosse. extrapolate that through the pipeline up wards, those kids will not show up in the nfl. that number's just bog to get bigger. that tells me there is a seismic change coming for the sport. >> back to sport, have more later. we'll see you later. >> a mining town in northern georgia boasts one of the oldest aerial tram ways anywhere in the world. the cable cars are still used to ferry commuters and minors in and out of the city center. robin put his faith in an aging technology and as you're about to see, he did live to tell the tale. >> this is the daily commute in what are little more than

reputing boxes suspended from steel ropes. it's not for the feint hearted. >> i'd be delighted to go with you, but i'm afraid. >> for those who live above the city, it's the office choice. >> you just need two minutes to come by cable car, but the bus takes and hour at least. >> operating cable cars for the past 17 years. >> it's the fastest and most comfortable transport. >> the cable car system was installed in the 1950s to ferry workers from the mines. it no longer reassembles a socialist you open to i can't, but 11 rides still operate and rides are still free for

everyone. >> the cable car system is the public traps port for the city, and this one was built in 1952. it's been running since then, 24/7. >> he keeps them rolling with a lot of oil and unshakable faith in a system that was built to last. >> i think the machinery will outlive me, because it is metal and it will work longer. i'm human and who knows, i might die tomorrow. >> it will continue to depend on soviet engineering, engineering that has outlasted the soviet union. always good to hear from you, do check out the website, aljazeera.com. tweet me, i'll tweet you back. i've got half an hour of al jazeera world news for you in about three minutes. we'll see you then.

a surprise visit, modi becomes the first indian prime minister to set foot in pakistan for a decade. the world news coming to you from doha. russian airstrikes hit a hospital in the syrian province of aleppo. i'm at a displaced persons camp on the dominican border r