>> al jazeera finds a link between banned substances and big names in america's favorite sports. you're watch i go al jazeera live from doha. also in the next 30 minutes, what's been called the final push to retake ramadi, we'll show you what the iraqi forces are up against. >> i cannot believe this amount of did this was done in probably 30 seconds. >> residents in texas pick up the pieces after a deadly tornado, but the severe weather is not over yet. >> the conflict in yemen finds

people desperately keeping supply lines open for basic necessities in taiz. al jazeera's investigative unit has infiltrated the alleged world of sports doping. working with an undercover british athlete our investigation finds a possible connection between medical professionals and professional athletes involving a host of american sporting stars. we have this report. >> there are urine tests, no blood tests. i've taken that stuff off and on for two years. >> this hidden camera footage shows an american baseball player taylor teagarden talking about drugs banned in sport, in particular a steroid northern as delta two. >> i was scared to be honest with you, i took it for like two weeks. i had a test four weeks after my

last administration, i was also taking peptides to. >> the conversation took place in a pharmacist's apartment. it was recorded by leon collins working undercover. at one stage, he is offered a syringe of delta two. >> when we got back to his flat, he pulls out this from this the fridge. he goes there you go, you can have it now, if you want. >> sly goes on to name eight other athletes, major names in american football and baseball who he claims are using a range of banned drugs. it's all partly of an undercover investigation by al jazeera into what athletes call the dark side, the alleged us of performance enhancing drugs. ed medical professionals who

responded to our request for comment denied any wrongs bag. we also infiltrated a doping network in canada. we filmed a pharmacist and doctor blue supplied our undercover athlete banned drugs and offered to destroy medical records to cover it up. >> some doing eight to 10 injections a day in some cases. >> wow. >> ok, now we're going to get into the bad [bleep]. if you want to really go up, i can just document everything not in this chart but on my own chart and if anybody ever comes sniffing for it, there's the -- >> charlie now said his names caught on hidden camera were false and incorrect. our investigation raises serious questions about whether

pharmacists and doctors are taking doping to a new level. deborah davis, al jazeera, washington. >> we'll stay with that story with an independent sports analyst focusing on the nfl in the states. he said there are conditions in modern sport that force athletes into doping. >> there's two separate issues. one is the culture of football, where you have to get bigger, because bigger is always better. this goes down and there have been cases record where literally coaches at the high school level say son, you're a good football player but you need to be 20 pounds heavier. they don't specifically tell them to do steroids or drugs to get 20 pounds heavier, but the implication is there. this is a long standing problem in american football, but more generally, we've seen studies in other sports where drug tufting has been instituted more quickly

and remember most of them are international sports, where international bodies have been involved, but the surveys overwhelmingly say when you offer athletes the choice between getting that performancently 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 say they would take the drugs in order to get that benefit. i think that's the real ethos we're dealing with, the drive to succeed at any and all costs. that has to be addressed at the lowest levels of sport. >> you can watch the full documentary on the doping allegations on sunday. it first goes to air at 20 hours g.m.t. reaction to the film is already coming in. one nfl star mentioned is the

denver broncos quarterback peyton manning. he's issued a statement to american media: iraqi kurdish forces have entered a base. the u.s. denied commandos were involved. several isil fighters have reportedly been killed, others captured. it comes two months after u.s. and kurdish commanders conducted a an operation freeing several isil captives. >> the battle for ramadi is intensifying, the iraqi army saying it's days before they retake the entire city. we are joined now from erbil, so six days in, what's left to do? >> plenty by the sounds i have the, peter.

the iraqi security forces are telling us that the fight has intensified on at least two fronts. in the southwest and north. in the southwest, they have made gains, cleared streets and they're now close to from what we are hearing about from iraqi security forces, about a few hundred meters away from very important buildings, including the anbar police headquarters to try and take it from isil control. this is crucial if they want to take the heart of the city ramadi that they've battled for for months. isil took it in may. security forces have been trying to take it. they've, fighting tooth and nail. the buildings are bobby trapped, there are land mines and just a few isil fighters that they are finding very, very hard to subdue. >> they are really resources

this very, very well and combining that level of resources with taking it step-by-step by step. >> absolutely, peter, because this is a very urban area. majority of the people have left the city, but there are also hundreds of people that are still trapped and being used by isil as human shields, so iraqi security forces, the tactics they are using is they are trying to push from at least two separate fronts to corner them into one area where they can actually launch an offensive toward the center of the city. by cob sol days of not just iraqi air force, but also coalition airstrikes, they are calling in they are seeing pictures from the front lines where coalition airstrikes are being coordinated by troops on the ground on the front line where they get pinned down by a large number of isil fighters, but isil is also an

unconventional enemy, not only suicide bombers outside, they are using suicide bombers hidden in houses. they tell us there are multiple suicide bombers hidden in buildings, waiting for the sources to enter the building and then they try to clear the building and they blow themselves up. that gives you an idea of the things they are facing. >> some people say the prize here for the iraqi military would be a boost in their confidence, because basically, the iraqi military collapsed in june, july 2014 when isil took over so many big, significant areas of the country. >> absolutely, peter, and in this offensive, we are seeing that the iraqi army is taking the are driving seattle in the offensive, not the popular mobilization forces or the shia militias who have been able to

defeat isil in many other parts. this is an operation which is being spearheaded by the iraqi army and being supported by sunni tribes man, sunni militias taking part in this offensive. it will definitely be a morale boost and significant victory when they take the city of ramadi. they can proceed north wards towards mouse sell, the strong hold isil took in 2013 and the iraqi army more or less fled the area. this his quite important from the iraqi army's perspective to take rimadi and push towards mosul and try and root out isil from these major urban centers of iraqi territory. >> thank you. staying in iraq, the trial of 36 men connected to one of the worst atrocities connected to isil fighters began today. they are said to have killed 100 iraqi soldiers near tikrit last

year. in july, 24 men were sentenced for partial responsibility for the massacre. the trial will reconvene december 31. >> the israeli army said two palestinians have been shot and killed in the occupied west bank after trying to stab israeli soldiers. the incident took place at a checkpoint. two israeli soldiers were injured. earlier sunday, israeli police arrested a palestinian who stabbed a soldier near the central bus station in jerusalem. more than 160,000 people have been forced to leave homes because of some which the worst flooding south america in decades. a state of emergency has been declared in paraguay. el niño is blamed for the flooding p.m. in london, david cameron called an urgent meeting with the emergency services. hundred was people left homes after heavy rain that began early they are week.

thousands more are without power. december is on course to be the uk's wettest month ever. at least eight people have died in the u.s. after tornadoes hit parts of northern texas. weather experts say there is more bad weather till as to come. they predict severe storms, blizzards and icy conditions throughout the week. >> when a tornado touched down in the city, lives were lost and homes, too. for those who survived, this is their new reality. >> i looked out my window and saw the funnel around my house and i just dove into the hallway. >> multiple tornadoes cut a path have destruction across texas, but this area bore the brunt. residents are now trying to recover what they can from their wrecked homes. >> all the neighbors, everybody, we went in and found our safe

area and hungered down for a little bit and 15 seconds later, it was over with, it was gone, next thing you know, i got a sky light in my kitchen. >> many here have been hit hard by this power play storm and the road to recover will be long. >> 30 seconds. i cannot believe this amount of damage was done in probably 30 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime, it did. you know, i'm sorry. >> over the last week, tornadoes and storms have swept across six states with mississippi worst affected. meteorologists are predicting severe blizzards and ice across central and east herb states in the coming days. southern california is also experiencing a weather related emergency, albeit of a different kind. this area is accustomed to wildfires, but the fourth year of drought mean they start and spread more easily. >> right now, we have about 60% containment of the what we estimate to be 1238 acres for

the incident. currently, there are over 400 firefighters on the line. >> the national weather service says the current storm system will continue to be a threat for days to come, but in texas residents fails the task of rebuilding their homes and getting disrupted lives back on track. al jazeera. lots more other top stories still to come here, including we look back at 2015 through the eyes of five families who lived through some of the biggest news events of the year. the latest report is from earthquake ravaged nepal. >> putting faith in the people strugglers. al jazeera gains rare access to the groups transporting central americans, they hope, to the united states.

>> you're watching al jazeera. our top stories, al jazeera's investigative unit has infiltrated the and would world of sports doping, our team found a link between medics providing banned substances and big name athletes. the allegations involve football and baseball stars, america's most popular sports. the iraqi army said it's a matter of days before it takes the entire city center in ramadi from isil fighters. a government offensive began there on tuesday. at least eight have died in the united states after tornadoes hit northern texas. experts are predicting storms and icy conditions through the week. lets go back to our investigation into the world of alleged sports doping.

a team found that link between a medic providing banned substances and big name athletes in the states. some rules are drug testing now do need to be changed. >> athletes are being more and more careful about being directly linked to doping substances themselves. they often get packages sent to people that they don't actually know to have completely clear relationship with those people and they send a third party to come and fetch it. athletes are getting quite sophisticated in their ways of getting access to drugs. i don't like to think of it as a losing battle, because i think progress can always be made and we will be moving forward in the fight against doping. i think there is definitely a need to rearrange a number of

the measures that are currently taken when it comes to fighting against doping. one is to move more strongly into investigating and invest more heavily into anti doping investigations. was, education is one of the first keys to the problem. >> the war in yemen is affecting people living in remote areas more than most. the saudi-led air campaign means food and water are in sport supply, so they are adopting to new circumstances by taking to old ways. >> the city of taiz has been virtually under a state of siege for months, desperate for food, water and medicine, yemenis are tracking through old mountain passes with their animals just as their ancestors did. >> i walk for four hours, it's an exhausting journey. >> the u.n. said people need

help in the town. camels and donkeys make it possible to survive, at a time when being caught between houthi began men and sawed airstrikes makes life a daily struggle. >> we will never surrender to the houthis, the houthis have to leave taiz. >> since and you had led airstrikes again, 5,007 hub yemenese have been killed. the u.n. estimates 21 million people need shelter, water and food. things are getting worse. in taiz, medicine is in such short supply the city's hospital closed its doors. for the people of taiz, these animals are a lifeline. one of syria's most powerful rebel groups says it's captured three members of the security forces in the east and killed 24 hours. on saturday, the new leader vowed the avenging of the

killing of its predecessor. the death has contributed to the delay of a deal that had been seen as a breakthrough. the government had been planning to allow fighters into yarmouk to leave. that would mean that aid relief could then be delivered. we are near the turkey-syria border with more. >> the deal between the government on one hand and isil on the other hand about the safe passage out of damascus and paving the way for the fighters and their families to pull out from those areas and go to areas under be the control of isil or the opposition is still on hold for different reasons. isil and the nusra front are looking for more guarantees that the routes going to be safe and looking for more logistics to be able to take their families in one go out of the capital of damascus. the isil and nusra front will have to cross areas under the

control of rebel groups. they are going by their military came to avenge the death of their leader. this whole debate about the deal between the government and isil comes against the backdrop of the renewed international push to put an end to the crisis in syria. the syrian opposition said they are going to geneva to talk with the government about a way out. however, they say there are two conditions that have to be met, first a ceasefire with the government should be committed to stop using barrel bombs and missiles against civilians. number two, a political way out from on opposition perspective is the following, a transitional authority with full executive power, assad has to go. assad has been saying in the past that he's been backed by the rapes and the russians, that it is only the syrians who have

the right to say whether assad should stay or go. >> it is one of the most dangerous journeys in the world, the route central american migrants take to get to the u.s. brutal drug cartels and authorities are all over the frame and best way through it is by hiring a people smuggler. here's what the route looks like. migrants have to travel through honduras, considered to be one of the most violent towns in the region and get to guatemala. from here, the route continues through mat mother rose. from there, they are taken into cantone. migrants are willing to undertake everything to get into the united states. >> looking for those trying to escape, this is a people smuggler in honduras.

he's given us rare access to the clandestine business of getting people from here to the united states. >> a call from his latest client. >> he's a migrant like any other. we're picking him up and taking him to the safe house where he'll stay with the others who are traveling. >> luis is already packing his few clothes before a final prayer with his family. he said he can't stay in a country where jobs are scarce and violence ever present. >> i work as a bus conductor, but they always assaulted us. the extortionist really tough right now. they kill you for nothing. >> this is his last conversation before the people smuggler takes his phone and his wallet. luis is now in his power, just like his other clients he's keeping in what he calls his warehouse until he's ready to

take them north. i asked him why. >> having someone in the warehouse gives me security someone will pay. a migrant that to be there for up to four months. the family has to pay half the money. >> he said it's common to keep clients at virtual prisoners while they extract their fiction thousand dollars to $7,000 fee. in the safety of the hotel he admits more. he works for mexico's most powerful gulf cartel. he said the people smugglers were employed by one or another of mexicos powerful criminal groups. his recruitment was a painful process. >> i went as a migrant like any other youngster with the american dream and it turned into a nightmare. i was kidnapped, forrured, i saw them kill my cousin and 14 more people. it was maze life or work with the cartel, so i started. >> he said he's doing this for his countryman and doesn't hesitate to hand over those who

fall behind in their payments to the cartel. >> with pain in my heart, i hand them over. they kill you, they always get their money. they ask families for $5,000 or $6,000 ransom but then they take your life. that's what you risk. >> this time it is luis's turn to put his hands into the hands of the people smugglers. which al jazeera, honduras. turning to china, beijing passing its first anti terror law to come into effect thursday. the controversial legislation faced criticism from the u.s. over its impact on, and human rights. foreign tech companies may now have his to share sensitive information where the government. chinese officials say the law is necessary to fight terrorism especially in the northwest profit singles. let's look at significant stories through this year. one year, five families, this

from nepal. april 25, an earthquake struck, it was huge, measuring 7.8 and significantly was close to the earth's surface, just 15 kilometers underground. 9,000 people were killed and more than half a million homes crumbled. the damage spread across roughy one quarter of the country. aftershocks hit nepal every 15-20 minutes. three weeks later, a magnitude 7.3 quake killed another 102 people. in june, we met a woman and her son two months after the devastating quake. she lost her husband and younger son in the disaster. their home turned to rubble. our correspondents return to visit the family and see how they're managing. >> finally starting to clear the stones which used to form her home, when they. a's quake shook her house, her

2-year-old son and husband were buried in the rubble. this is what she had to say when we visited her in june. >> my older son keeps saying that he misses his younger brother. he looks at his picture and starts crying. >> life a, a daily struggle for her since the quake. >> he is still young. i have to earn and i don't have skills. i worry about how to build a house. it's not possible to live like this. the ceiling leaks as if the house is sweating. it gets very cold. i have to build a house somehow. >> she has received $150 from the government to build a temporary shelter. temperatures at night drop to freezing point and nepali's shiver in their shelters. rebuilding around the country has not started yet, because

political parties can't agree on who will control reconstruction. >> back in june when we visited her, her son was petrified of leaving her side even for a short while. by now, she said he is much more confident, loves playing with his friends and enjoys going to school. >> this is what the school looked like in june. now temporary classrooms are open. >> we found samir playing in the school yard. after seeing him in our previous report an al jazeera viewer contributed $1,000 to his education. samir said he still misses his brother, every day. >> the walls of the family's little thin how else are full of photos of loved ones who died. >> i watch t.v. and listen to music on the phone. i go outside with my friends. i try to keep my mind occupied, but at times when i see other women with their husbands, it

hits me that i don't have mine anymore. an aunt says she looks at these photos every day and weeps, despite the challenges, she knows she needs to be brave for her son. al jazeera. more on our website, aljazeera.com. >> three locations, three different stories about the environment. one message. >> this year is blowing our minds. >> storms generated by a powerful weather system. >> these urchins are in trouble right now, why is that? >> our oceans getting warmer and more toxic. land frozen for years now melting. what is happening around the