>> this is al jazeera. >> welcome to the news hour. i'm richelle carey in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. syria says the death of a powerful rebel leader will undermine talks in geneva. and inundated with floodwaters. more than 100,000 people in south america are displace. >> there is only us, we have no

friends here and no family. >> a life destroyed, a family torn apart. the story of a plight of an elderly couple forced from their home in syria. syria's opposition says the death of a powerful rebel leader may undermine long awaited talks, seraaran aloush. his group which is based in eastern guda, is the largest rebel faction around the capital. meanwhile, 2,000 fighters from i.s.i.l. have been given safe passage as part of a deal with analysis. we will be getting analysis from

a former general, in a moment. ha ahelbara. >> particularly the man who controls the key to the capital damascus. he had more than 20,000 well trained fighters ready to march into the capital, damascus. basically someone given the final order if the government collapses to prevent a descent into chaos as happened in libya. his main direction was go to

damascus, wait to secure it and await for a new government. apparently the syrian government got intelligence of his whereabouts, his movement and three targeted the building where he was moving with some of his top military commanders. islam says he has a new military commander, someone owho has been a teacher in the past and close contacts, and one who is leading one of the elite units. they are confident this is the one who can put together the organization and move forward. but there is a general sentiment among many opposition leaders that the death will have a huge impact on the future of the armed groups in syria. it could further undermine and could lead to some split in the future. because jo ha johan a-loush was

thought to bring together the factions. >> thank you, hashem ahelbarra. >> general who do you think is responsible for this air strike? >> first, you have to ask the questions: who is the beneficiary from this killing? the regime, the regime doesn't have the pinpointing advance technology. it seems that though russians aren't declaring that they have really done it because according to alush, considered opposition and going to fight them in the future. this is context. who is the beneficiary, the

regime, hezbollah as well as the russians. >> what kind of message does his death send to other groups fighting in syria? >> i mean, he's different from the other groups. he's like accepting, you know, the mitigation as political as well as military. he agreed to talk, his killing after the riyadh conference, or after a major hit, the terrorist organization, it is a major hit for this political process. it's like a hit for saudi arabia, in particular, after the riyadh conference. the shaping the military situation, in order to really weaken their opponents in any

table of negotiation in the future. so this is major blow for the regional powers, especially saudi arabia. >> so you're saying it is a political blow for upcoming negotiations in the next month. what kind of military blow is it for onsite coalition? >> as well it is a military blow you know, the place is very important for regime, the center of gravity for regime, the military has decided to really preserve the regime. the killing of aloush is really cares maccharismatic. really, the military targets, so he was really making some progress, especially in the

judge prison ever abdalla you know? who is going to replace aloush is good but going to take a long period of time in order to have this resettling, restructuring and doing the same thing in the future. we have to can ask this question, is the killing of zaran aloush, we have to wait to see what the russian regime is preparing. >> understand, what you are saying, this is a sign of other things to comp general, that up for your time. appreciate it. thousands of displaced sun sunnies during fighting between government backed shia militias and i.s.i.l. osama ben javad reports.

>> used to be a soldier. he says he was fighting i.s.i.l. and then captured on his way back home by shia militias. his crime he said was being sunni. he showed us burn marks on his body when he was tortured for ten days in a youth center used as a prison. hamid said his uncle. >> they used to set it to light and put it on my body. they told me to confess and to tell the truth. so i told him i am an iraqi soldier. if i.s.i.l. see me they will kill me. >> forced out of their homes. those we spoke to say there was no i.s.i.l. fighters there and they were punished by shia militias, under the suspicion they might be harboring them.

it is not first time iraq's government backed shia militias have been accused of violence and abuse, exacerbating sectarian hostilities. everyone here has a horror story. the sectarian divide is everywhere in this town. people here are afraid to go back to their homes. they want an international body like the united nations to guarantee their safety. arif is one of those seeking compensation for their condition. >> we were surprised to see shia militia forces. whether they came they started to kill indiscriminately. took their house he belongings cattle, and everything, we traveled day and night without food or anything else. >> shia militia is an important

part of the rake government forces. they denied the allegations against them. >> for us this is serious and has no effect on us. as we continue to make progress we'll get more accusations, we don't care about it, w. >> coming to terms as these tents as their new homes. >> lest cross live to osama ben javad, live in erbil. osama what can you tell us about the government's plans to take the attack to mosul? >> we heard yesterday that the prime minister wants to take fight to mosul after they've captured ramadi. you've got to remember that these cities are 400 kilometers

apart. this is a sunni heart land. both mosul and ramadi are sunni heart land. there is deep distrust of the government army. in ramadi you have seen this the popular government forces are not on the front lines, the tribal fighters from the sunni tribes are taking part in the offensive so that the hearts and minds of the people in these areas can be won over. there have been abuses in the past of and rights groups are concerned this story will be repeated when these forces take over ramadi and other parts. but mosul remains a very strong base for i.s.i.l. and it is the iraqi forces are trying to push both from the south after that he they take ramadi and from the east with the help of the peshmerga forces.

>> osama ben javad, reporting for us, thank you. 21 of the soldiers have been killed in the last 48 hours in helmand province. al jazeera's kaish hasimi joins us. can you tell whaws goin us whatn there and in particular how frustrated the people are affected by this? >> richelle, now we are view the control of this area, now we

talked with the government official here with residents of the area, and also with some soldiers who are fighting for afghan government in the battlefield. the soldiers are complaining, they're complaining of lack of leadership, of afghan leadership, that there is not enough air support by americans to them, there is some but not enough. this war cannot be won without air support. and also they are complaining about logical supplies. remember, tangen is almost 70 kilometers from main army base, any supply need to go on by road, afghan government does not have big here for. getting to sangen and this 70 kilometer, it is all taliban stronghold. it is difficult to get afghan

supplies into the area. really frustrated they say enough is enough. they're complaining about use of artillery by both sides. most of the people, thousands of families already left sangen but some remain there. there are some who can't afford to leave sangen, they are poor people and don't have money to get out of there and even if they were able to get out, there is not a proper camp for them. they are complaining there is no u.n. aid or no one to house them to get out thereof. >> so how is the tabl with circumstances that you've just described there, how is the taliban in some ways actually been appealing to the frustrated people who who live there? >> reporter: well, taliban are claiming that they are trying to avoid civilian casualty. as well as afghan government

saying the same think. but locals stuck in the area say no taliban, no afghan government care about civilian. they are using artillery and there is no u.n. or no one to house them to get out of the area. they are effective simply because they don't have enough money to get out of the area and they don't have a place to come to a safe camp to live here. locals in a way are supporting taliban for many reason. first of all, the income of these local residents of sangen or other resident of helmand, if afghans get control of this area they will not allow locals to grow the poppy. some locals are afraid if they don't support taliban, the

government won't provide support for them. now sangen province, a few kilometer from here, six, seven kilometer out of the capital, far from the government office, last night there was the fighting. so people don't trust afghan government. they have lost their faith in afghan government and they don't know what to do. the only way for them to do is to support taliban or be sim sympathizer for taliban. >> thank you, no good choices. tmpleghts the palestinian authority says, have 137 palestinians and 20 israelis dead. top diplomats are due to hold talks in islamabad next

month. on friday narendra modi, with nawaz sharif. first meeting in more than a decade. still to come on al jazeera. >> on a heash hearnt haitian-don border. border. >> and still to come. a golden state warriers defeat. -f. happened during friday prayers in rashai aattack.

i.s.i.l. claims responsibility for some of them. the government denies i.s.i.l. has a presence in the country and police blamed earlier attacks on home grown groups. protesters have ransacked a muslim prayer hall on the french island of cors ca. corcorsica.manuel valls describe incident as a desecration. bush fires in the australian state of victoria have destroyed 100 homes. firefighfirefighters teamed tofp

the fires.gerd ta fires.gerald . gerald tan reports. >> bush fires swept along the coast. there today is assessment day. whether it's assessing damage to property, the accessibility to roads, power, water, environmental issues, the other assessment is underlying conditions. super. >> reporter: overnight rains helped to get the 2200 hectare blaze under control but area is still not in the clear. >> this fire doesn't go away. this fire is a fire that will remain for potential in january and february of this year. the forecast for a long dry hot summer is there. >> reporter: firefighters battle into the night on friday.

water-fighting aircraft were brought in but flames continue to engulf trees and homes. many residents and tourists spent their holidays in evacuation centers. >> it's like getting close to home, you know? got to home and looking out my back door it's just here. apocalyptic. >> australia is no strange to bush fires. they strike every year during summer in the southern hemisphere and each time, the losses are no less painful. gerald tan, al jazeera. >> the u.s. state of alabama has declared an emergency after tornadoes and storms swept through that region. several houses have been damaged and power has also been knocked out in parts of the city of birmingham. it has been a week of extreme weather in the south, 15 people have been killed across

tennessee, arkansas and mississippi. leaving 150,000 homeless. while paraguay has been severely hit, uruguay and are other areas have bet hit. >> in the city of northeast argentina. forcinforcingforcing the uruguao overflow. >> i website to check it out and found as much as 20 or 30 centimeters. >> reporter: the nearby dam was reaching capacity. >> helping the 6,000 evacuees

and particularly in concordia which is more affected by the flooding. >> reporter: and the state of emergency in neighboring paraguay has nearly engulfed communities. they try to support each other as best they could. >> translator: we have already run from the water four times. now we don't know where we'll go. the water reach the place we're going to, we're now safe but water keeps coming. >> in the capital of asuncion, the effects of the water reaching far and wide. >> the situation is very bad. the children are all weak. we have had die reand in the medical centers, we've had no medicine. >> the exceptionally high rainfall in the region is due to an el nino weather pattern but few here expected it to be this

bad. gabriel elizondo, al jazeera. >> we'll start with the weather. everton. >> over 100 houses this problems let's start here. the weather's actually trying to do its best. in melbourne we saw 34 millimeters of rain, enough to delay the start of the boxing day test. we're not seeing enough here. that wet weather will continue to the southeastern corner. probably of more benefit will be the fact that the temperatures a good deal lower than they have been recently. 212 millimeters of rain here in the space of 24 hours. and these heavy downpours will continue across northern parts of australia over the next couple of days.

let's look at melbourne, 21° by monday. at least on the cool side, showers easing away, by the time we do goat new year' get to new, that is not okay. okay for the here and now. wet weather continuing against paraguay as we saw in that report there. certain and eastern parts of paraguay, so more heavy downpours coming in here the next few days. flooding rains on the other side of the atlantic. more wet weather coming into northwestern parts of england. we have cloud and rain rolling in here. and are there will continue to be are rain for most are northern gland. >> facing a cholera outbreak in

northeastern haiti. a clamp down on illegal migran migrants. adam rainey has found conditions have worsened. >> reporter: close quarters for this camp in the haiti, near the dominican republic border. no help to resettle from the government of either country. hung arary and penniless they wait for help while children keep their spirits up somehow. many now are weakened after being struck with cholera. >> i was vomiting and had diarrhea. they gave me medicine when i got out i walk even slowly. >> manuel is more fluent in spanish than haitian creole.

meager packet of rice the local priest sometimes gives him and his family to eat. we first filmed in july after the dominican republic. long stabbed are dominicans of haitian descent. there have been dozens of cases of cholera the local priest says at least nine people have died from that illness alone here in this camp. people say they sleep in the dirt, they breathe in dust that makes them sick and weak. they have little to eat, guide that therdespitethat, there aree keep showing up. her husband and sons are back in the dominican republic. >> i hope the government helps me move to a better place.

that's what i'm asking god for. >> the camp is known as park calo or gift park. there are no signs of that on christmas. a water supply sent by the haitian government just arrived a day ago. >> we have been here six months. why has it taken six months to get water? >> we thought this was temporary. now we have to do something. >> the government structures that have been promised so far have not been built. >> back in the camp, cleaner water should arrive soon but what people are really looking is a way out of here. adam rainey. are al jazeera, haiti.about. from the greek island of

lesbos, refugee crisis. plus, three decades of shinzo abe leadership, what does it look like now? >> surprise league leaders lester city, we look ahead to all of saturday's games with rahul in about 20 minutes.

>> here are jury top stories right now. syria's opposition says the death of a powerful rebel leader

may undermine long awaited talks. armed group is the largest rebel faction around the capital damascus. >> emergency services in australia are warning that administer bush fires may break out in this southeast. several blazes there have destroyed more than 100 homes. fire groups battle for hours to control the flaims along the greaflames around thearea. in helmand province 21 have been killed. strategic area with heavy fighting in sangen. the operation against kurdish separatists. six kurdish fighters and one

turkish soldier were killed. 11 hour operation against the kurdish workers party, pkk. let's get more from an independent security analyst. how have you seen this conflict evolving or changing? >> thank you ma'am for having. i just returned from the city center, clash is stilling going on. for almost three weeks we saw drastic escalation in violence in 18 city centers and the townts towntownsin turkey. three or four civilians and one, two security personnel. around 20,000 civilians got stuck into neighborhoods of those aubur urban settlements. ankara with with a siege

strategy, encircling those neighborhoods. not allowing people to go in and out has been trying to break the will of those pkk fighters. the type of pkk militants got involved, first this is an urban warfare not a rural one ankara got used to and will adapt to. those neighborhoods are mostly the ghettos of those city centers which mostly poor people live in and pkk, copying i.s.i.s. techniques in this stress, has been trying to. >> can i stop you for just a moment? you think tactics are changing as well? >> that's right. that's right. because this is an urban warfare. the space of conflicts has changed.

and also, the type of pkk militants. right now pkk has been skillful mobilizing and using children under age of 18 on the leading fronts of those clashes. for ankara, these children they are literal, they are terrorists. but the mere fact that these children are terrorists, does not change the fact that they are children as well. so shortly, pkk seems to exploit what is the base of the clashes and the children's energy is symmetric means to dictate its political will to ankara. and here we see ankara's dilemma at the moment to kill those terrorists or to wind the hearts and minds of those civilians affected by clashes. >> so let me ask you this. a show of force clearly has not proven to be a solution for either side so far. so that was solution. >> yes. the solution is, i think ankara

is to answer that dilemma. right now currently around 15 15 million affected by ongoing curfews and 200,000 people i mean they were forced to leave their homes. so whether population centric, that's what ankara has to face, a i don't see a clear road map on how ankara will translate this military victory into a political one. the absence in ankara makes the fight harder to manage in military terms and at the moment the government seems to be happier with the military, telling military victories of the story which i think is a big minus. so the solution works when it

works, not groups given priority. and there was an urgent need for a ceasefire and ankara and kurdish fighters should look for venues to initiate peace process. if not the -- i mean all this happened we see the council of those clashes will be very grim both for ankara and pkk. >> and that's what we've been saying are the great convinces. thank you so much. >> thank you ma'am, appreciate it. >> as the end of 2015 approaches, the war in syria which forced over 1 million people to seek refuge in neighboring turkey. an elderly couple spoke to bernard smith. >> just 50 kilometers across the

border to turkey, open christian worship is impossible. seeking refuge with its small community a fellow syrian christians. getting treatment is harder in a country where they don't speak the language. >> translator: when we cake to turkey we stayed in the monday industrmonastery for over three. it was troo crowded so they put us in thi this house with blanka fridge and everything else. >> with little work in turkey two of their sons are is gone to europe. >> reporter: they were working here for just 15 liaras a day.

so we sold our home and used the money to send the boys to europe. >> translator: every day just 15 lira how can you live on that? >> we are in refugee camps somewhere, we're not sure where. >> the priest now comes to fat fatima ema yousef. >> now all i can do the is go to the bathroom. we have no friend enses and no family. >> a proud couple, the yousefs now face a life of charity. >> we want to go back to the life as it was but it's hard.

>> translator: believe me, there is no place in the whole world, better than syria. rich or poor, everyone had work. now there is no life. >> he praise that next year he wilpreaz thatprays that he will. bernard smith, al jazeera, turkey. most of the money is being reimbursed by the eu but the real cost bhai come in the form of lost tourism. from the island of lesbos, john siropolous reports. >> used to be at the bottom of the hospitality industry. she parked her van and waited for occasional business. the refugee crisis has now put her in the top. >> in summer we made up to 2,000 euros a day.

now about 500, before we made about 50 euros a day. >> here refugees can warm them by their stove. eat, recharge their cell phones. others have the opportunity. set up a tent city in the surrounding olive groves. those with money have moved in small hotels dotting the coast which would normally be closed in december. they eat with police and in town they buy credit for cell phones. here they can buy boat and bus tickets for their journey out of greece. the refugee windfall is evident all over town but city fathers worry there may prove a partial and temporary replacement of the tourism industry that migration seems to have chased away. an industry greece islanders spent decades building up.

charter companies cut down flights and cruise ships took lesbos off their itinerary. most hoteliers expect a drop in business. >> they are put off by what they see on the news. then we'll take a loss. >> reporter: and there are official costs. the eu defrays the government's cost. not always true for local government. >> translator: this month, i won't pay all the salaries. the burden is enormous. the taxes paid by 90,000 people are covering the cost of 440,000 migrants arriving. >> reporter: there is no doubt lesbos is seeing the losses of becoming a global migrant capital. it's the loss of life that touches them and that's the main reason they want refugee flow to

end. john siropolous, al jazeera, lesbos. dozens are feared dead after an explosion in nigeria. victims were collecting cooking gas from a truck when it exploded. >> reporter: this truck exploded starting a huge fire ball for hours. >> some people came to buy gas but a lot of people that were affected were people that were outside. many people escaped. >> i saw the bombs. i told the people around there that we should run, that this system is very dangerous. when we were running, i started falling down. that's why all these wounds on me. >> the ferocity of the blast damaged nearby buildings as well. according to sources, the explosion was triggered when the truck started discharging

cooking gas before waiting for it to cool down. happened in nigeria's predominantly christian south. many of the victims would have been collecting gas to prepare meals for christmas celebrations. a mother and child are among the dead. nigeria is africa's biggest oil exporter. yet poor regulation and infrastructure are blamed. >> when japan's prime minister slinshinzo abe swept to power. from tokyo, rachel muyo reports. >> these people gave their

opinions about the prime minister's performance. >> i didn't like him from the start. >> i see economics working but there are issues too. >> i think he should listen to the people more. >> reporter: a few months ago, many people had much stronger messages for the government over legislation that allowed japanese troops to assist allies in combat for the first time since world war ii. despite the opposition, the laws were passed by the parliament in september. while the anger still simmers in many quarters, abe's personal approval rating has inched back. >> while he talks a lot he hasn't's followed through on reforms. moving forward one of the big challenges are actually to implement a lot of the policies he has been talking about. especially structural reform as part of the abenomics program.

>> shinzo abe became prime minister in 2012. share market corporate profits and economic growth are up. but there are still major problems with the economy, such as a huge debt, dwindling birth rate and falling productivity. >> japanese government has to show continuously to the nation, to the business community, and that there are committed, there are single mindedly dedicated to bring about change. and that's what shinzo abe must do. >> japan will vote in upper house elections in july next year and the ruling coalition is hoping to win a two-thirds majority across both houses of parliament. this would fast-forward abe's plans to revise the constitution. the prime minister is also benefiting from weak and disorganized opposition party. the people we spoke to in

shibuya found it very difficult to name an alternative leader. >> translator: i can't think of anyone. >> this might mean that shinzo abe is safe in the top job for now. rachel mealy, al jazeera, tokyo. >> still to come on the al jazeera news hour, rahul will have the dramatic results in the yacht race. keep it here. >> one of the oldest cable car

systems in the world, still uses the original cars. to ferry commuters in and out of the city center. robin frawrk forrester-walker te ride. >> steel boxes suspended from steel ropes. it's not for the faint-hearted. >> i'd be delighted to go with you but i'm afraid. >> for those who live above the city it's the obvious choice. >> translator: you just need two minutes to come here by cable car. but the bus takes an hour at least. >> marina's been operating cabling cars for thcablecars fo.

ma.chiatora no longer resemblesa socialist utopia. the cable car system is the public transport for this city and this one was built in 1952. and it's been rolling since then 24-7. unshakeable faith in a system that was built to last. >> translator: i think the machinery will outlive me, because it is metal, who knows i might die tomorrow. >> until then it will continue to depend on soviet engineering.

engineering that has outlasted the soviet union. are robin are forrester-walke fl jazeera. six months ago that the warriors were crowned nba champions for first time won so this friday follow a similar pattern. golden state led by 10 at one staple in the fourth quarter but a late cavaliers rally cut that just to three points. going into the final minute, despite the best efforts of king james, lebron james, the warriors took it 89-83, and they are 28 for 1 in the season. the best start in nba history folks. i did my best but i'm going to turn it over to the pro, no, for

sports. rahul. >> thank you very much for that. merry christmas as well. the miami heat won, chris bosch and duane wade helped them get by new orleans. now n benefita 10 and 2 all time christmas record. double-doubling with 30 points and ten rebounties. pelicans really pushed the heat though pnl andy davis missing a game. miami won 94-88. in the other games on friday, the chicago bulls beat the oklahoma city, 95-85. clippers beat the lakers no surprise there 94-84. now basketball is one of the many sports that are involved in

the daily fantasy games. big business, huge sums of money involved have prompted some to say the industry should be totally closed down. john hendren. >> 2015, the year fantasy sports grew up. fans like rick anthony have for years played fantasy sports. pick players and following their results on fantasy teams. >> it is good for us to win, but make some money along the way rooting for other teams and other players makes it all that much more exciting. >> the winner of rick's league takes home hundreds of thousands at the end of the year. but -- >> fan dual's cash payouts and no commitment. >> daily fantasy sports or dfs leagues offer the chance to win

cash prizes of anywhere from a couple of bucks to over $1 million all for an entry fee as little as a dollar a week. >> i've won to date so far profit almost $5,000. >> companies like draft kings and fan dual ran around 8,000 ads per week. in part by mega partnerships with big media and with the sports leagues themselves. >> paying out $1 million every day this basketbal baseball sea. >> record of $40 million worth of entry fees. but all those ads drew more than entry needs. politician he started asking if dfs is illegal gambling. politician he coming to the same conclusion around the country. >> how is it different from sports betting?

i don't know, because it's called fantasy? >> by law fantasy is defined as a game of chance while dfs is a game of skill. very fairness of the games into question. nevada moved to restrict the sites and class action lawsuits were filed against fan duel and draft kings. the most damning confusion is that employees at draft kings used their inside information to place bets with their competitors. the new york attorney general told fan duel and draft kings to stop accepting those fees. saying daily fantasy constitutes illegal gambling under law. then in december, in the meantime significant damage to the industry has been done. according to legalsport.com,

bring fees have plunged, and corporate sponsors like espn and ncaa have begun to distance themselves. john henry smith, al jazeera. what a difference a year can make, the english premier league i'm talking about are now top at christmas for first time in their history. they traveled to a struggling liverpool on saturday. after picking up only one point from the last nine on also leaving them ninth in the league. they face three games in eight days beginning with the stern test from lester. >> it's a difficult game. it's the lead off the table, it's lead off to premier league, it's really, it's not easy but it's possible and i don't need more never. so and now let's try to do and i hope we don't have to discuss that often about things when it happens after the game.

>> saturday is english football's busiest. chelsea plays wafford. it won't be easy to turn chelsea's season around. >> it's not easy to fix. sometimes after a championship, you might relax a bit as a team. and then but then you get a wakeup call somewhere, somewhere in september. but the situation is that they were down to last week, to one point after which was frightening for everyone inside the club. but it's not easy to say i'm here and tomorrow the problem is solved. >> russian world champion weight lifter alex lochev has been suspended after a drug test. the banned substance in his

sample. he insists he's not guilty. days after the iaaf announced they were sending a task force to russia following the country's drug scandal ban. >> translator: we will support him in any way possible in the the athlete is accused until the edition is made. until today he had a very serious injury, torn ligament and of course he was given certain medications. >> comanches leading the sydney race, fourth boats had to retire after separate collisions. chasing a record ninth win got underway to a great start in sydney harbor. expected to be a battle between the the two as both cruis crewsd

themselves for stormy weather. australia, after ending day 1 in 3 four five up for 3. australia were put into bat and smashed the west inn dees. inde. three months in prison and was banned for three months from playing contradict, credit involving teammates mohammed afif and salman bez. that's it for sports. >> keep it here, another full bulletin of news straight ahead,

don't go anywhere. >> scientists are studying el nino from space and the oceans. >> when the pacific speaks... everybody better listen. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >> can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> let's do it. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity.

>> syria's opposition says the death of a powerful rebel leader may undermine ongoing talks with the government. welcome to al jazeera, i'm richelle carey in zha. also ahead, more than 100 homes are destroyed by bush fires in australia. inyour honor dated with floodwaters, more than 100,000 people in australia are displaced. >> we have no friends and no family. >> a family torn apart. a report on