this is al jazeera you're watching the news hour live from our headquarters in doha. these are the top stories. doping on the field. al jazeera finds a link between banned substance tis and big names-- substances and big names in america's favorite sports. kurdish forces raid in a joint operation with the u.s. >> i cannot believe that this amount was done in probably 30

seconds >> reporter: residents in texas picks up the pieces of what a deadly tornado left behind. scientists invent new tools that will allow doctors to preachily vital surgery on babies in the womb - perform vital surgery on babies in the womb al jazeera's investigative unit has infiltrated the world the sports doping. working with an undercover british athlete our investigation finds possible connections between medical professionals and professional athletes. the allegations involve a host of american sporting stars. debra davies has this report. >> i have taken that stuff on and off for two years >> reporter: this hidden footage shows tailor teegarden using a

banned substance delta 2. i was scared. i took it for two weeks. i had a test four weeks after my last administration of - nothing happened. i was also taking peptides too. >> reporter: the conversation took place in texas in the participate of a pharmacist charlie sly. it was recorded by a british athlete lim colins working undercover with al jazeera investigative unit. at one stage charlie sly offers liam dealt a2. high goes you can have it now if you want >> reporter: sly goes on to name eight athletes major names in football and baseball whom he claims use a range of banned drugs. it is all part of an undercover investigation by al jazeera into

what athletes call the dark side. the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. the athletes and medical professionals who responded to our request for comment denied any wrongdoing. we also infiltrated a doping network in canada. we filmed a pharmacist and doctor who supplied our undercover athlete with an array of banned drugs and offered to intra medical records to-- destroy medical records to cover it up. >> we do ten injections in one day. if you want to go black ops so to speak i can document everything not in this chart but in my own chart. if anybody comes sniffing for it there's the decoy. >> reporter: day lair tea garden and another two didn't respond to our request.

charlie sly says his statement is captured on hidden camera on athletes were false and incorrect. our investigation raises serious questions about whether pharmacists and doctors are taking doping to a new level. debr davis we're joined now by michael carlson who is in london. he is an independent sports analysts focusing on the american football, the national football league, the n.f.l. thank you for joining us. i know this is a difficult question to answer, but how persuasive are performance-enhancing drugs, specifically human growth hormone, how pervasive is it thought to be in the n.f.l. >> that's very hard to answer that question specifically. of course, the current reports i can't really answer one way or the other at all, but over the past, say, 30 or 40 years, the use of performance-enhancing

drugs has been widespread in american football and not just in the n.f.l. but down to the college and even the high school level because it is a sport where getting bigger and faster and stronger is absolutely essential and it is a sport with an ethos of trying to play while you're injured, trying to play through pain. therefore, a lot of the performance-enhancing drugs that people take are designed to help you heel or used to help you heal faster or mask the pain that you're feeling when you play when you talk about performance-enhance drugs, peds, people think steroids, but it seems that generally human growth hormones seem to have been the next frontier, particularly when it comes to the n.f.l.; am i right? >> the reinhuman growth hormone is now-- reason hue monday

growth hormone is around the world interested, it leaves the system quicker. there are really good tests for hormone growth hormone as there are for steroids. if you remember the controversy around ben johnson, he caught steroids into an injured muscle and it hadn't cleared his system in the usual time they would expect. right now the testing for human growth hormone, the test that is used in the n.f.l. has a short window of efficiency and the best test has a not much longer window of efficiency let's talk about the test. how proactive has the n.f.l. been in testing for the substance and how has the association been? >> it has been a long process between the league and its players' association because there are issues of privacy, medical privacy, things like that.

there is a history of sort of results of things being leaked, not just in the n.f.l. but in poor sports, but the n.f.l. institute instituted hgh testing last october, in october 2014. nobody has tested positive for that so far, but as i say, it has got a very limited window of efficiency. if you're off the drug within a day or two of when you're tested, you will tend to pass that. having said that, the long-term effects of hgh are somewhat more threatening than they were for steroids back in the era when people started using steroids and thinking they would be able to get away with it and the effects are much more well-known. it was one highly publicised case of one who bought hgm and sold it on to somebody else not in the league because he had read up on it and he decided to taking the drug for benefit of maybe getting one

more year in his career wasn't really worth it the n.f.l. has had a big of bad press in the last year, particularly when it comes to domestic violence and they have enacted some policies that remains to be seen how effective they are, but they still seem to be as popular as ever. if it were found to be that some of the biggest stars in the n.f.l. were, in fact, using hgh, do you think the fans would care? >> to be honest, i don't think they would care all that much. although it would be a shock in the case of huge big names if that were to be proven true, which, again, the risk factor tends to make you think that it wouldn't be, but the league is such a major media phenomenon in america that it is now subject to the widest possible scrutiny and the scrutiny is of the

non-football variety, the big stories are not football stories, they're off the field stories. the one you didn't mention is the con concussion issue, which has become very major and right at the forefront of virtuely everything that the league is doing and lots of the criticism it receives. performance-enhancing drugs fits right into that because the effect of performance-enhancing drugs is obvious. if you get bigger and faster, the impact, the ratio of your mass and your velocity increases. injuries are likely to increase. that is one thing that the players and league association are extremely concerned about that, but going back in time there is aden see for steroids, in particular, but-- a tendency for steroids, or hgh, to affect the heart and joints and the brain.

where are we have seep the increase in the number of reported cases of early onset dementia from people who played american football and again at the high school and college levels as well as in the n.f.l. p, where we have seep that the effect of that are likely to have been exacerbated by drug use. performance-enhancing use as well as steroid use. they can't tell us what the specific effects are, but we will find that the effects, i think, are linked significantly and, therefore, the move to control performance enhancing drugs is going to gather speed and increase. remember drug testing itself is not designed so much to catch people as to stop people from using the drugs. it is kind of like speed cameras on a highway. the idea is to step people to slow down. the instituting of drug testing, its primary effect is to stop people from using it, or that's

the intention that's absolutely what it seems like. when you bring up con concussions, you talk about the possibility of taking performance enhancing drugs or something like hgh which has the slim possibility of extending your career, there seems there to be - that seems to be a culture issue. there's something in the culture of the n.f.l. that leads to those two things. can you talk about that? >> yeah. i think there's two separate issues here. one is the culture of football where you have to get bigger because bigger is always better. so that it just goes down and there have been cases reported where coaches at the high school level say, "son, you're a good football player and you need to be 20 pounds heave-- heaveer". they-- heavier. they don't tell them to take

drugs though. they understand. we've seen studies in other sports where drug testing has been instituted more quickly and remember most of them are international sports where international bodies have been involved, but the surveys overwhelmingly say that when you offer athletes the choice between getting that performance edge or, in some cases, keeping up with everybody else who they believe is already using those drugs, and the possible long-term side effects, bad effects, in the future, they overwhelmingly choose to take the drugs or to sky they would take the drugs in order to get that benefit. i think that's the real ethos we're dealing with here, that athletic drive to succeed at any or all costs. that is something that has to be addressed at the lowest levels of sport and--

it is reaching them. >> lowest levels of support. it leads people to do this all right. great conversation, measuring carlson from london. we appreciate it >> thank you a reminder. you can watch the full documentary from al jazeera's investigative unit on the doping allegations on sundays. it will go on air for the first time at 20 gmt. reaction to the film has already coming in and one n.f.l. star mentions - he reads this way: the knew leader of one of the

groups-- new leader issam al-buwidani has called on all opposition to put up a united front. other rebel groups have criticised him for using brutal tactics. talks are due next monday to try and end the war in syria. the opposition has agreed to attend on the condition that air strikes on civilians end and that the syrian president is removed. live for us in the turkey/syria border. i appreciate you joining us. why is this move to raqqa on hold now. i know it's complicated and it started, but it's on hold now. why? >> reporter: deals between the government and the syrian opposition has always been very delicate in the past, particularly when it comes to safe passages and allowing the

opposition out from the areas they control. we've seen similar deals in the past collapse particularly in the outskirts of homs, also damascus and also aleppo. basically, the government is trying now to convince i.s.i.l. to pull out from the area that it controls in the refugee camp by granting them safe passages to the area that they control. raqqa is an i.s.i.l. stronghold, but you have different groups operating in the areas like the al-nusra front. it is an al-qaeda affiliate. it has been trying to distance itself from i.s.i.l., but the problem it faces now is that if it goes ahead with the deal with the syrian government, it is just going to be further seen by the mainstream syrian opposition as a group that is betraying the revolution. this is exactly why now they are asking for more time to evaluate the whole thing. there's also another issue, which is basically i.s.i.l. and the al-nusra front waiting for

guarantees from the government that the moment they start pulling out with the families, the passages are going to be safe and the roads out of damascus are going to be completely safe for them to start the evacuation lit's look ahead-- let's look ahead to the talks that are scheduled for january 15. obviously, there is a lot of stake if the talks go ahead. there's a lot at stage if they do not happen. can you set the stage for us? >> reporter: the opposition has been facing problems about how to move forward until they met in riyadh where they decided to agree on a vote. basically, there 80% of the main opposition factions decided to go to geneva and there are two main conditions. first of all, the russian government, the russians and the syrian government should stop air strikes against civilians in

aleppo and basically across the country. there should be no use of heavy weapons, no barrel bombs and no fighting across the country. the second main prerequisite is basically they say that the international community it is going to be negotiations not talks. negotiations about a way out based on a transitional authority that has full exactitude power. by this they mean that bashar al-assad plays no role in syria. they're happen to have him there for a few months, but no more than six months. if that is not met they will go back to the fight thank you for that. plenty more ground to cover on al jazeera coming up in just a bit in this hour. after more than a year, relatives of 43 missing students

in mexico still do not know what happened to their loved ones and they are demanding answers. >> children were sick and they vomit more than four billion leaders of untreated sewerage water flows into south africa's rivers every day. manchester united manager says he may soon leave the club. iraqi kurdish forces have raided an i.s.i.l. base. kurdish media say the u.s. commandos were involved in this operation, although the u.s. has denies this. several i.s.i.l. fighters have reportedly been killed. others captured. this comes two months after u.s. and kurdish commandos conducted a joint operation freeing 70

i.s.i.l. captives. joining us live from erbil. tell us more about in kurdish offensive. >> reporter: we've heard from security sources here that this was a raid that was carried out to gather more information about a specific i.s.i.l. cell and to dismantle it. kurdish officials have been down playing the scale of the operation. they say two i.s.i.l. commanders were among those who were killed and more than a dozen were captured as well. the u.s. officials, however, are denying that this operation took place entirely. so there is conflicting reports about the specifics of this operation, but this is an indication of more cooperation that we are seeing between the kurds special forces and the american forces regarding specific i.s.i.l. targets that they're targeting, especially in the area around riad between

kakuk and hawejah. this operation took place on friday night and details are still emerging, but officials are reluctant to come on the record and say anything about it, leading some to believe that this might be an operation that did not go completely as planned as i.s.i.l. is saying that it killed two people, possibly american soldiers let's talk about a big trial that is happening in baghdad. 36 men accused in a mass killing of army recruits by i.s.i.l. this trial has started in baghdad. tell us more about that. >> reporter: this is the second batch of the accused who have been accused by the iraqi forces in the city. this is a place that they took back from i.s.i.l. earlier this year. last year there was a massacre as the iraqi government describes it, more than 1600 young recruits, mostly shia muslims were killed by i.s.i.l. there. the first trial that took place was in july where 25 people were

sentenced to death. this is the second trial that has 36 people accused of taking part in that mass killing of more than 1600 people. the trial that took place in july was criticised by rights groups about its impartiality and the way it was carried out and the lack of evidence as the rights groups say, also by family saying they are-- families saying they are waiting for justice. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. are said to have killed 1500 last year. this was one of the men killed. for his family the upcoming trial isn't enough to heal the pain. >> translation: the government keeps saying it will capture those who killed our sons, but i still have not received the remains of my dead son and the perpetrators have not been brought to justice. we want justice to be served quickly. >> reporter: in july 24 men were sentenced to what the iraqi government said was their partial responsibility for the

massacre of the soldiers. human rights say the trial was flawed and it was lacking. >> translation: those who are aaccused of this massacre have proceed feast to the judiciary that they have carried out the mass killings. this the case is looked at carefully and it is now in process. >> reporter: the families of the dead are angry at iraqi government leerpdz and have mounted protests demanding justice. >> translation: not ten have wrote something. let the speaker and mps go to hell. >> reporter: others are hoping that they will not only get justice but also the iraqi government will try and find out where the soldiers are buried in and around the area. the bodies of only 400 of the 1500 soldiers said to have been killed by i.s.i.l. have been found so far. nearly 600 suspects are wanted in connection with the massacre. so far only 24 have been sentenced.

imran khan israeli police say they have arrested the palestinian who stabbed a soldier near the central bus station in jerusalem. that soldier was lightly injured. this was the late incident in three months of violence. early on sunday palestinian protesters fought with israeli force $in the occupied west bank-- forces. it happened in the town a few hours after the funeral of the palestinian woman. israeli police say the woman was shot dead for trying to ram her car into a security check point. our correspondent from west jerusalem. give us the latest in the back and forth in the violence in the west bank. >> reporter: well, as you rightly point out, israeli police have told al jazeera that a 30-year-old palestinian man allegedly attacked an israeli soldier at the central bus station here in west jerusalem.

we have been told that the security guards that were on the scene apprehended the palestinian man who has since been taken into custody. this is the latest incident in a series of latest incidents since early october of this year in which around 20 israelis have been killed and nearly 140 palestinians have lost their lives. according to the israeli government, the reason behind the violence, they say, is because of what necessity described as palestinian incitement. -- they described. they things like social media had been fuelling misinformation which is leading to particularly young people to go out to the streets to commit acts of violence. if you speak to palestinian leaders and, indeed, speak to palestinians on the street, they say that's nonsense, that the violence that we've been seeing is a direct reflection of now nearly 50 years of occupation and, perhaps, more specifically,

more than 20 years since the signing of the oslow accord agreements which was supposed to lead to a palestinian state. that, of course, hasn't happened and instead since then what we've seen is a massive growth of israeli settlement. we've also seen mass arrests of palestinians and generally a lack of hope on the palestinian street and that palestinian leaders say is what has been fuelling the violence that we've been seeing a palestinian man was killed by egyptian forces near the border of homas is angry about this. tell us what they're saying. >> reporter: indeed, simmering tensions between homas and egypt has come to a bit of a boil over this incident. ham as has accused egypt of killing this man in "cold blood". the background to this, from what we understand from our sources in gaza, is that a man

was - who was apparently unwell, mentally unwell, was stripped naked and tried to cross a metal sort of barrier. i think we're seeing some pictures of the incident now, in which he was shot by egyptian forces. that, of course, resulted in a very angry response from the hamas leadership who, again, as we've been saying, described this shooting of this mentally unwell man as annex cushion. it really underscores the tensions between the egypt and the ruling of the gaza strip. not only are they blockaded by israel, by land air and sea they're blockaded by egypt which has been anal lie for a very long time. it would appear, at least from what we understand, that the egyptian authorities hamas of accusing supporting the group

with the violence over the last years live for us in west jerusalem. thank you. more than 160,000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of some of the worst flooding in south america in decades. a state of emergency has been declared in paraguay. a strong el nino pattern is behind the flooding experts say. at least 78 people have died in the u.s. after tornadoes passed through texas. more bad weather on the way. storms are predicted, bliss arids and icy conditions lasting throughout the weeks. >> reporter: when a tornado touched down in the city, lives were lost and homes too. for knows who survived, this is their new reality. >> i looked ought-- for knows who survived. >> i looked out the window and

saw. >> reporter: multiple tornadoes tore a path of destruction over the u.s. residents are trying to recover what they can from their wrecked home. >> all the neighbors, everybody, we all went in and took our safe area and munker-- hunkered down. next thing there is a sky light in my kitchen >> reporter: many have been hit hard by this powerful storm and the road to recovery will be long. >> 30 seconds. it was just - i cannot believe this amount of damage was done in probably 30 seconds. it felt like a lifetime. it did. i'm score. >> reporter: over the last week tornadoes and storms have swept over six states. metrologysist are suggesting more across eastern states in the coming days. southern california ask also

experiencing-- is also experiencing a weather-related emergency albeit of a different kind. this area is accustomed to wild fires, but the fourth year of drought means they start and spread more easily >> right now we have about 60% containment of what we estimate to be 1238 acres for the incident. currently there are over 400 fire fight drawers on the line-- firefighters on the line. >> reporter: the current storm system will currently be a threat for days to come. in texas residents need to rebuild homes and getting disrupted lives back on track now with more on your weather, over to richard. there is more severe weather expected across the u.s. >> reporter: yes. that report would have just about covered everything. snow is a good story which is actually falling in the right places in the ski resorts and the great basin and the colorado

plateau. there has been plenty of snow around this resort, about 50% more snow than the same time last year. that's indicative of the cold air which has been pushing its way down across the western parts of the u.s. and warmer pushing up from the south. that's the analysis here. this particular chart shows the warm and cool air. the cool air behind me and you get the clash as they come together. as we look at the rainfall, it is just a taste of what is to come. we've got heavy snow across wests, down texas, some severe storms centred on dallas during the course of the day. further towards the north mix you're of rain and snow in some areas, some freezing rain. that's probably the most type of

weather you can get. nasty across the north-east. snow moving towards the north. u.s. is the place to watch in the coming days plenty more still ahead on al jazeera. a culture of complacency. japan is accused of tolerating child exploitation. plus creating community in the world's youngest nation, to you traditional crafts are bringing people together in south sudan. in sport, king james false again as they get their biggest defeat of the season. of the season.

you are watching al jazeera.

the top stories this hour. al jazeera's investigative unit has infiltrated the world of sports doping. we have a link between professionals providing drugs and big athletes. the new leader of one of syria's powerful groups called jaysh al-islam. u.n. talks with due next month to try and end the war. opposition has agreed to an agreement if the syrian president is removed. iraqi kurdish forces have raided an i.s.i.l. base near the northern town. kurdish media supporting

commandos were involved in that operation but the u.s. has denied that. rescue workers have managed to reach 17 people trammed in a collapsed mine in eastern china. they were sent food and communication equipment. 29 people were in the mine when it collapsed on friday. 11 miners have been rescued. one person died. the cause of that collapse is still being investigated. police in the u.s. city of chicago say they accidentally shot and killed a black woman. she was 55 years old. she was one of two killed on saturday after police responded to a domestic call. there have been protests in that city over the last few days where anti police sentiment is running high. chicago police were already under an investigation following the release of a police video that shows a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times in 2014. the relatives of 43 missing mexican students and hundreds of

their supporters have taken to the streets of the capital. they're trying to keep the pressure on the government to tell them what happened to their loved ones. a report from mexico city. >> reporter: the anger towards the mexican government you can co-ed on the street of-- echoed on the streets. among the chance, these are the people who are destroying our country-- chants. the agony of the family of 43 missing students has been described as a permanent torture. the men are believed to be dead, but the truth of exactly what happened to them has yet to emerge more than a year later. independent investigators say they were kidnapped after trying to hijack buses for transport. a common move for students in mexico. the investigation also found the mexican government lied and withheld information from the family. >> translation: i have seen repression and the social demands have been growing

because people are disappearing. the government give us back the students alive. >> reporter: the mexican government ask refusing to launch a new investigation. the hope is that independent experts will expose the truth. those experts say they still need some assistance from the government. fortunately the protests and legal action have helped discredit the government's version of events. they have been protesting in mexico city each month. 20,000 people missing across the country, their activism is being viewed by some as representing the conscience of all americans saudi arabia says it has intercepted a long range missile fired from yemen. the kingdom says it was launched from yemen's capital which is controlled by houthi rebels. a ceasefire ask in force-- is in force, but both sides of

violated it. more talks between the warring factions are due next month. in myanmar at least three people were kill and three wounded when an explosion hit a truck in lacka district in northern shaun state t a second device was found near the scene of the blast. the car has been the scene of heavy fighting throughout the year between the military and rebels. extra police have been deployed to the french island of corsica. demonstrations there are temporarily banned after protesters ransacked a muslim prayer hall. >> reporter: a christmas day crowd but no spirit of goodwill. instead, violence and december craigs-- desecr remarks tin in the capital. they chanted "arabs get out". they even attempted to burn copies of karan.

some installations were broken. they broke through the barriers. two doors and the entrance. the window piece of furniture with shoes, the air conditioning, the paintings, closet. the latest violence appears to be in retaliation. when firefighters responded to a call. authorities say it is not clear what prompted that incident. the french government condemned the latest attack and sent police reinforcements to other religious centers. this man has followed the killings in paris which has resulted in heightened measures across the country. about 120,000 french also and soldiers were mobilized over the holiday period. france's muslims are also facing backlash in the wake of the attacks. in corsica far right anti immigrant parties did well in

the recent local elections. in this climate of suspicion, a feeling of fellow ship may prove difficult for some communities to find japan must do more to stop child abuse and especially the exploitation of young girls. this message from a u.n. expert comes as japan records a 20% increase in the number of cases from last year. ownership of child pornography only became a crime last year. the child pornographic content is still part of some comic books. >> reporter: it is the weekend, but she is still wearing her school uniform. it is part of the job drumming up business for a jk café where adult men pay to sit and chat with teenage girls. >> translation: some of the men are my grandpa's age and i do sometimes get short of things to talk about. >> reporter: she says it beats her old restaurant job insisting

her customers treat her well >> translation: they say i'm cute but i say there are many other cute girls here >> reporter: it is something that her boss makes sure of in selecting his staff of 15 to 18-year-old girls >> translation: basically they need nobody pretty eau. this is an absolute requirement. they should look slim and stylish. also they need to be smart >> reporter: in october the u.n. special group on child ex-employings day infuriated the japan's government by saying many girls had taken part in examine sated dating. -- compensated dating. campaigners argue the lack of fish figures is a sign of complacency. >> this concept of compensated dating has been discussed for 20 years. in japan we don't really have the data for that? that's very, very shocking. >> reporter: for groups like

lighthouse the problem goes beyond dimly hit café. it is how this culture has become accepted. campaigners tell us these images can be used by child abusers to convince their young victims that their criminal behaviour is, in fact, perfectly normal. we're given a tip about one location where more than conversation is on offer. employing teenage yessers in taalt entertainment is-- adult entertainment is illegal. >> i can massage the girl? >> yes. >> reporter: for $40 and up we could go for a walk somewhere. next-door i am told only chatting is on offer, but the menu lists everything from being slapped and kicked to having your head cradled on a teenage girl's lap. he says things doesn't happen in

his café. >> translation: sometimes i explain there is something like this has happened in the past, so please don't sit next to the customers. >> reporter: this is a world full of fine gradations and legality. one way or another, it is about young girls being sold to older men and it is happening in plain sight a third of waste water treatment plants are in a critical condition. more than four billion liters of water contaminated with untreated sewerage flows into the rivers every day. one of knows is the aparz, a source of drinking water for million around it. >> reporter: this is the first time in days that she has had running water at her home. now it has returned, she says the water quality is poor. >> when it comes back it is only for one day.

it comes back during the night. then there were children got sick, they vomit. they have cramps in the stomach. something like that. >> reporter: an independent study shown that water supplies to some homes in this area are contaminated and should not be consumed. drinking water here comes from a nearby reservoir fed by the river. four years ago the department of water declared the river a disaster area after it was polluted by raw sewerage from the treatment plant. the plant is meant to process waste water, but according to city authorities it is overloaded and six yeahs later it continues to policy ute. -- years later. it is pumped into this open field. as the sun beats down, the sludge drys up but the small remains. a significant reminder to residents of what they say is an environmental disaster on their

doorstep. - the smell remains. >> reporter: this man says his crop has been damaged over the last five harvests. >> translation: if i have another harvest with same problems, i will be left totally bankrupt. >> reporter: some work has been done but not enough >>. it is over loaded, so our treatment does not produce water, does not always, rather, produce water that meets the specifications of the licence. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> it means we don't always comply. >> reporter: the city planned a hundred million dollar upgrade for the plant over 10 years, but does admit it should have acted quicker to prevent the pollution. >> had we done it earlier, yes, the situation might have been better than what it is now.

>> reporter: local organizations want the city authorities to face criminal charges for polluting the river and until the river is kept clean, families here will have to do what they can to protect their health south sudan is still saying regular skirmishes despite the peace deal signed in august. -- seeing regular. people have been leaving for decades due to violence and lack of opportunity. there are some, though, who are returning home. one former refugee is using an arts project to create community. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: inside the house she shows off some south sud sudanese crafts. >> this is traditionally a necklace with kind of like a bone decorated with fire. that kind of patterns there.

>> reporter: after 20 years as a refugee abroad, she came back to help rebuild the country of her birth. >> being south sudanese i had an interest of living back here. i knew there was a lot of us required to help, and being able to contribute in one way or the other was definitely something that influenced my studies, influenced what i wanted to do >> reporter: part of that contribution is an effort to preserve the culture of south sudan. at this craft market run by the patch organization, a trader demonstrates some traditional craft. >> you put it inside here and light it. you use it like this for smoking. >> reporter: at this women's cooperative, people from all tribes come together to make beaded july re. two years ago a civil war started when the president accused his deputy of attempting a coup. fighting consumed an ethnic dimension, pitting tribal groups

against each other. it is hoped that people will feel better connected to one another through the cultural practices they have in common which clues these handsy-- includes these handy crafts. a lot of people grew up outside their communities. many were refugees from war in neighbouring countries. these traditional skills have been leveled as a result. what-- lost as a result. it's trying to bring the older generation with the younger one in this project and that casts like these can be revived still ahead on al jazeera, the washington red skins pit that's place with their first division title in three years. e years.

scientists are developing

procedures that could be used to perform surgery on unborn babies, correcting defects at an early stage of pregnancy. a report from jessica baldwin. >> reporter: a healthy ultrasound, relief for annex pactant-- an expectant mother. birth directs can be seen as early as 12 weeks. when scans highlight a problem, there are few problems. open the mother up and perform surgery on the foetus. highly dangerous and can leave the mother unable to have more children. or in certain cases perform keyhole surgery. scientists in london are designing tools to increase the options and allow complicated but vital surgery on unborn babies. >> this technology is going to help us to be cleverer, to be able to do it less invasively

earlier in pregnancy and problemly have a better long-term outcome for the babies we treat. >> reporter: surgery to prepare holes in the heart or others are often too risky to contemplate. surgeons usually will only operate when there's a real threat that the baby or babies will die. already some in wound surgery takes place. for instance, this procedure to balance the blood and nutrients between two twins. doctors say there's much more they could do, though, if they had the right tools. those tools are being designed here at the university london. it's a 7 year 17 million dollar budget. more proceed toe types and researches are had but one day a tiny flexible proceed probe will go through the mother's skin into the uterus. carry a camera, scalpel or laser and be assisted by a robotic arm

which will compensate for a slight tremor in the surgeon's hands. the challenge is even greater because of the tiny space and poor visibility. one wrong move can damage the unborn baby. >> you've got a lot of challenging things happening around and you need to be able not only to take care of the foetus but also of the mum. so it does make the environment more challenging and the tools we have to use have to be as small as possible. >> reporter: robotics to compensate for shaking hands, micro tools for small veins and bones altogether coming together time for sport now. >> reporter: thank you very much. under pressure lewis says that he may quick man chess tear united-- manchester united.

the manager said this on after a loss on saturday. they have gone five league games without a win. a win was sealed for stoke. the result means they will drop down to six in the table. the next game against chelsea on monday >> i have said already in former press conferences that it is not always like that, that the club has to fire or sack me. sometimes i do it by myself. but i am the one who wants to speak first with the board of manchester united and my members of staff and players, and not with you. >> reporter: arse nam missed a chance to go-- arsenal missed a top to go to the top.

the biggest defeat in over a year and a half. shane long scored twice >> south hemp tonne made the game very physical. we had many challenges and that explains why we lost the game, but that's one aspect. so we're down to them. the second aspect is that on the first three goals we already had a decision of the referee with the the first goal off side, the second goal was a foul and the third was a goal kick. >> reporter: wattford, leicester's nine match unbeaten was ended by liverpool. the only goal of the game in the one nil home win. >> we made this one goal and after all the settlings of leicester, especially the throw ins. it was difficult and close and

not easy to defend, but we did it. with patience and it's good. so we deserved the three points. >> reporter: despite the defeat, leicester is top of the table. they're two points ahead of arsenal. manchester second from the bedroom. sun der land have 35 points. tottenham has the fourth lead. hurricane scored twice in the three nil victory against norwich. >> from all the team effort was tan fast particular today-- fantastic today. we are four on the table. we need to work more. it is always to bring us more confidence in our work. >> reporter: in the n.f.l. the red skins have claimed the title.

curt cousins through four touch downs in the 38 to 24 victory. it is the third win in a row. it is the first time the red skins have taken the division in three years. the cleveland cavaliers have suffered the biggest defeat of the season. lebron james was beaten. most valuable player james matched his season's worst of just 12 points. a worldly star of the night scoring a game high 26 points to help blazers in the five game losing streak. elsewhere jj scored to lead 118 to 11 over the chicago bulls. also on saturday hawks beat the nicks 117 to the 8 for the sixth straight win. fill delicatessen fee a -

philadelphia over the suns. cross by beat in one return. he had recovered from a lower body injury to give the pen begins a-- penguins a one nil lead. two minutes to go, it was pulled back. patrick netted a power play goal with 34 seconds left to give the penguins the victory. australia had dominated day 2 of the second test against the west indies in melbourne. four australian players achieved centurys in the first ngs. 551 for 3. west indies on 91 for 6. they're already one nil down in the three-match series. a boycott involving two pakistans players over in the

training camp has come to an end. they refused to join their team mates to protest the election who served a five drear ban for spot fixing. the pair threatened with disciplinary action agreed on saturday to join the camp. hopes of winning a 11 this year has ended. heavy winds meant that the vessel along with more than ten others had to retire after the first night of racing. australia was out. recovered from a main sail. leading the two-day event. that's it for me thank you very much. plenty more to come on al jazeera including a full bulletin straight ahead. so do keep it here. in the meantime you can visit our website as well. that is al jazeera.com. keep it here.

you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead, iraqi kurdish forces raid an i.s.i.l. base in the north injure months after-- just months after a joint operation with the u.s. i cannot believe that this amount of damage was done. it's probably 30 seconds. people in texas pick up the pieces that a deadlyor