candidates, volters in the central african republic choose a new president-- voters. hello. this is al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also on the program, reinforcements come to ramadi to maintain the iraqi forces' hold on the city. an indonesian court throws out a case linking a company linked to fires that polluted larges parts of south-east asia. keeping the home fires burning despite the health hazards for

villages in india. voters central african republic are at the polls in long delayed presidential and legislated election. the country has been in turmoil since president francios bozize was over thrown. he is the subject of u.n. sanctions for supporting armed groups and is barred from running. miche djotodia was also barred from running. the interim president is also not allowed to stand. that could all change is anciet georges dologuele wins. he is a former prime minister. if he is elected, president francios bozize could return to car. the other leading candidates are martin ziguele another former prime minister who is accused of having ties to the seleca

fighters and abdoul karim meckassoua, a prominent muslim candidate. more from the car. >> reporter: these men have traded war for words. they fought for the seleca which toppled president francios bozize in 2013. >> translation: i'm happy president francios bozize is gone. now we need a president that is will help our country find its place. i put down my gun to work and for others it can be done. >> reporter: this is breea, the hard of the seleca rebellion. when the mostly muslim group was driven from power, christians took revenge and most left their homes. the country has been devastated. wednesday's election to replace an tim government has-- interim government has been delayed five times. preparations are going down to the wire. >> translation: it seems there

was a technical problem with the printing of the ballot papers. candidates challenge their exclusion and won. so they had to be reprinted. >> reporter: this election material has just arrived a day before the vote. some of it needs to get to polling stations 175 kilometres away. it is a huge, huge challenge. it is one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest countries in africa. former president president francios bozize neglected this region with the seleca tapped into feelings of discontent. investment and employment is badly needed here. >> this country has never really known good governance. so the process has to start now of constructing that, of putting in place an accountable government. it's accountability that, i think, is really at the heart of getting that right. >> reporter: the local pastor hopes the election is fair and

peaceful >> translation: i tell people in xhumpb to leave the past in the past - church. we need to have ways to demand things calmly, not with guns and weapons. >> reporter: they have been handing in their weapons for parts of work in the program. as this country tries to move forward, it has to start somewhere. tania page. al jazeera car the u.s. coalition says air strikes have killed ten senior i.s.i.l. leaders in iraq eau and syria this month. among them is charaffe al_mouadan who is the u.s. says had ties to the master minds to the paris attacks. sweeping and clearing operations are underway in ramadi on the northern front. we're getting reports of fighting in i.s.i.l.-held fallujah. this report frommer bill.

-- from erbil. >> reporter: 500 sunni tribal fighters have come to the front line in northern ramadi to help consolidate and carry out the clean and sweep operation into the iraqi security forces. these are the two areas in the northern ramadi which are key in order to the forces to cross the euphrates river into the central parts of ramadi which are still being held by i.s.i.l. iraqi forces are confident that they can not just take on ramadi after they've captured the major government buildings, but also other areas like fallujah and other areas from i.s.i.l. the fighting still continues and the iraqi forces say that it will take them doorways to clear and sweep the whole area of land mines, explosive-rigged houses and iuds that were left behind by i.s.i.l. the world news, a court in indonesia has thrown out a case against one of the companies accused of contributing to the

annual shroud of smoke that blankets the region. a company linked to a palm oil plantation was accused of illegally burning thousands of acres of forest to make way for its crop. it has affected malaysia, singapore and thailand. lawrence lee has more. >> reporter: this is a huge blow for the department of forestry. it accused a company of deliberately starting fires over 20,000 hectares of land in 2014 to clear it for plantation use. the ministry was seeking nearly 570 million dollars in damages. the court says it did not present enough evidence to find in favor of the ministry. ministry officials we spoke to say they are extremely disappointed by the verdict. they believe it was a simple and

shut case and they say they were able to prove that the fires that were burning happened on lands that belonged to the company. this company also happens to be one of the companies that had its licence suspended in recent months because of in year's forest fires. some say that the forest fires are due to small farmers that uses flash and burn methods to clear the lands for agricultural use. this is allowed but only limited to two hectares of land. it is said that big plantation companies that are to blame, companies that have adopted this method because it is the cheapest method to clear land and they're responsible for the large scale fires. authorities say it is the lack enforcement in indone see shah that allows this to continue eight sir vooirs from a collapsed mine in china have been found. they were trapped with nine other workers to five days. food and water and other emergency supplies to the men

were sent to the men underground. china has promised to supply nepal with 1.5 million dollars of fuel as it struggles with acute shortages. protesters have been blocking roads at the border. they say the constitution discriminates against them. new delhi has supported saying it is not safe to cross the border. days of uncertainty for tens of thousands of people in shelters have escaped flooding across south america. with all their belongings lost, they're poorly equipped to handle more rain. countries experiencing the worst floods in 50 years. our correspondent has been to concordia where barriers that

were meant to hold back the waters is breached. >> reporter: this woman is hoping to go back soon. she has been living in this tent for days since her house was destroyed by the floods. the recent rain ask complicating her situation-- is complicating her situation even more. >> translation: i have nothing left. my children have no shoes, no closetss. i'm-- clothes. i'm not sure how long we will live like this. we are told it will take weeks for the water to go down. >> reporter: she is just one of thousands of who have been forced out of their homes because of flooding. it is happening in concordia. the rear is not far away from here and that's why authorities built this wall over a decade ago to prevent the flooding of this area. the problem is that this time the rain and the amount of water coming from paraguay and brazil were so intense that it flooded

other parts of the city. authorities here are monitoring the flows around the city and tried top prevent the situation from getting-- to prevent the situation from getting worse. they're saying they are getting organized in case the water continues to go up. >> translation: the current situation can continue until march so we need to be ready. that doesn't mean that everything will be under water until then. we hope not, but the weather is changing. we are seeing a lot of rain everywhere. >> reporter: the city is trying to cope with thousands of evacuees, scattered in shelters around the city. many here have lost it all. they're facing heat, humidity, bugs and disease. the local government is trying to distribute food, water and mattresses, but it is not an easy task as there are thousands of people in need. >> translation: this is not something that happens all the time. all parameters have been broken.

we're receiving help from around the country. we have to learn from this so we can be ready next time. >> reporter: for now people like these people say they're trying to get by for the next day but they know it could be months before they make it back home coming up after the break on al jazeera, top aid to north korean is said to have died. also ahead looking ahead to 2016, brazil struggles in preparing for the rio olympic games. games.

>> the sports story everyone's talking about. >> don't miss the world exclusive undercover investigation. only on al jazeera america.

welcome back. a recap of our top stories on al jazeera. voters in car is at the polls in long delayed presidential elections. iraqi forces in sunni tribal fighters are tightening their grip on ramadi after recapturing it from i.s.i.l. sweeping and clearing operations are underway on the northern front. a court in indonesia that is thrown out a case against a company contributing to the haze that policy ute a large part of south-east asia. a company was suspected of illegally burning forests to make room for its crop. top aids south korean was a

secretary of the workers party and head of the department that handles ties with south korea died. he was 73 years old. joining us from seoul is professor of international relations. thank you very much for being with us. with everything north korea ain the past, there has been questionable events surrounding the death of other officials. is there any suspicions in this case? >> well, initially we had some analysts talking about the suspicions because as you just appointed out, there have been-- appointed out-- pointed out, there has been suspicions. this time it is different. he came out showing his condolences and we see many signs that there is some kind of surprise on their side. it looks like unlike other cases

where we really had some serious speculations, this one, i don't think they deserve it as much as the speculation, but it looks like and sounds like a traffic accident this death, as others, has raised questions about what is really happening inside north korea. south korean says he has executed many since coming into power. do you think what we're seeing here is a government transitioning into a much younger group of leaders that they want change. basically he wants change and is that a source of concern in south korea. ? >> well, possibly so, but this case that we are talking about doesn't seem to be like a forced case of tradition here. rather, it looks like an accident. in that case what the north korea face right now is a force to face these changes here. it looks like, depending on who will come out as his successor, yes, definitely we will see some

transition, but this is not something designing at this point. the deceased top aid was very a close person to the top leader. he was showing at all different sites at his visit. that's what we're looking at he was also an experienced negotiator who paid an important role in talks with south korea. how do you think his death is going to impact relations between north and south korea? >> we do have a lot of concern here because we wouldn't call him a dofsh, but he was a voice of reason. with him gone now we have a lot of concern because if we get into other situations of high tensions, who will come out to keep the balance and speak out for the rationality and reason. we don't see any face to replace him thank you so much for

speaking to us. a man has been identified as the alleged mastermind of the murder of russian opposition leader. the kremlin crith teak was beguned down in months cue in-- particular teak was beguned down in moscow. a lawyer for the family has accused investigators of a cover up. hundreds of thousands of refugees have arrived in greece this year. many of them fleeing with regard in syria. tourist numbers have declined as a result, but some greek businesses say they're getting an unexpected boost from the new arrivals. from the southern city, our correspondent reports. >> reporter: it is greece's second largest city with a population of more than a million people. the city's coastline is a major tourist attraction, but it's also an hour's drive to the border with macedonia which is

the main crossing point for refugees to the rest of europe. over a million refugees have passed through greece in 2015. many of them went through the city and that has brought much needed cash to the local economy. , >> translation: some of the refugees came here with money to spend and get by. as far as the economy is concerned, all restaurants, cafés and boutiques, all shops and booths. >> reporter: cheap hotel rooms have been in demand. the hotel association says more than 25,500 syrian refugees have booked a room for a night or two in the first half of 2015. that number is expected to rise because there are other refugees from different nationalitys stay. the city may say the greece is not after the refugees' money

>> mainly syrians had economic ability. they stayed in hotels for one to four days. this was just a passing point. there are some people who make mon money. i understand that the same way we make money, the turks make money when they're passing throu through. >> reporter: at the station here refugees are stranded. they can wait days before police allows them to continue their journey. that means they spend more money to eat and drink, boosting trade for local shop owners. it is very big. it has become an industry. they ask for many products and

items. >> reporter: the demand for transport has picked up through the normally quiet winter months. they have tickets of 25 euros per person. it driver tells me he transport $about 200 people a week. the crisis in 2015 is costing greece hundreds of millions of dollars, it says, but the refugees are helping their businesses flourish scientists in government are looking for ways to reduce emissions. researchers in canada say they may have found a natural process that ask soaking up carbon from the air-- that is soaking up carbon from the air. >> reporter: necessity call this the dead sea of canada, little m anatu lake. it is so salty that only microscopic creatures can live

in it. farmers have long known not to plant crops on the shore. there is a spa like the real dead sea and it has been here for decades. >> in the 20s and 30s people came from all over to visit the lake. they came and healed themselves in the water. it was very much a health place. >> reporter: salt water lakes are well-known in this part of the world. they're seen as a nuisance, but research has shown a lake like this may be performing a very valuable service. researchers at the university of regina say that such alkaline lakes, and there are hundreds here, absorb atmospheric carbon. it is stored in mud as a stable element. up to a thirty vast of the

carbon dioxide out put of the farms in the area. it is an entirely natural process. >> we don't have to do anything other than make sure that we don't drain them. i think lakes have really been under appreciated from the carbon budget just because total surface area relative to oceans and forests, they're not huge, but the rates at which they are processing carbon is far, far faster than, say, the open ocean >> reporter: as oceans become more acidic they soak up less carbon. these bodies of water are crucial, then, and not just here, the caspian sea has similar chemistry. environmentalists say this the type of science that should transform our approach to the carbon problem. >> we need to figure out how we achieve this. if we can use the aapplied science to set out what we need to achieve, then we can handover

to the economists and the social scientists to work out the detail. >> reporter: so far not much is being used, but it is exciting about how it can be used. the salt lakes of the northern american prairies could be part of it over a million people die in india each year from indoor air pollution. the reason ask because many people burn toxic materials to have fires in their home. >> reporter: life is simple here in this village, as is the cooking. this woman begins her morning by cooking for her family.

>> translation: i start coughing sometimes because of the smoke. the cough and smoke makes my eyes water too. >> reporter: it is a similar story in hundreds of thousands villages across india where cooking is done in or near the home. most of these old-style stoves leave dirty fuels. smoke gets inside the homes and into the lungs. there are villages all over india where this is the only option. even when there is an alternative available, the preference is still for these. in this village some also have a natural gas stove in the corner of the home, but it's rarely used other than for making tea. >> translation: food doesn't cook quickly on the gas stove. we don't like the taste either. this is better. >> reporter: researchers say that preference for the old ways is hurting their health. the stoves are placed in a courtyard or outside the home, but the smoke easily travels into the nearby home where it is

breathed in by everyone in the family. >> translation: burning cow dung creates different sizes of particles. the smaller ones get deeper inside the lungs and have a worse effect. of all the problems the smoke causes, the smaller the particle the worse the health problem it causes >> reporter: experts say switching to other stoves would have an immediate and noticeable effect. >> translation: the amount of smoke that is created and the amount of time a person sits in front of it cooking affects them. if you used a gas you stove there is very little smoke created. with an induction stove you won't see any. the lesser the stove the lesser the health effects >> reporter: changing habits is hard. wood or charcoal or dung are easily available and cost less than regularly buying a natural gas cylinder. campaigns by the government and ngos have focused on finding cheap alternatives and distributing them. but knows have yet to reach the vast majority of indian

villages-- but knows have yet as the new year approaches, al jazeera is looking ahead to some of the big stories of 2016. one of those is rio's troubled preparations for the summer olympics. adding to the polluted water is brazil's plight. >> reporter: in a city famous for its beaches and carnival having a good time is a way of life. rio has experience hosting an international sporting event. it hosted world cup soccer matches in 2014. add to that the pride of making history. this is the first olympic games to be held in south america. >> translation: it ask going to be wonderful and rio is going to welcome them with open arms. >> reporter: more than hatch of the rio 2016 budget comes from private money.

the city is taking full advantage of using existing venues from previous sporting events like the world cup. the city says construction ask on time-- is on time and on budget. unlike the world cup when some stadiums were finished only days before the games began. >> translation: there are two kinds of olympics. tapes ga theic the benefits out of the city and the city that takes the benefits out of the games. we're taking full advantage of having the olympics in rio. >> reporter: in 2015 the city held 20 test events, including the triatholon but the environmentalists are worried about the area. here at the bay athletes may have to compete while smelling raw sewerage and seeing garbage floating by their beats. the city promisised the committee it would clean up the bay significantly. officials admit their efforts may not come close to satisfying the athletes.

the sailing events may have to be held elsewhere. on the periphery of the park, what remain of a neighborhood bulldozed. this woman initially refused to leave. even though the city offered her a flat and money. now that most of the 344 families who used to live here has taken the buyout she has decided to move but feels a sense of loss. >> translation: it is not that anyone is against the olympics. it's that they destroy people here. the community. everything. >> reporter: another big concern is drug gangs and spill over the violence inside the city. city financials say things were calm during the world cup and they expect the same with rio 2016. if you're thinking about going to the biggest porting event on the planet, 7.5 million tickets are available. more than half cast $30 or less-- cost $30 or less

there's much more on this and other stories on our website. al jazeera.com. the top story on there now, the long awaited elections in car. >> the panama canal, an engineering marvel, crammed with billions of dollars in commercial traffic, this canal is considered a wonder of the engineering world. >> okay, vamos. >> nicaraguans pacific coast line, still untouched by development. but perhaps not for long. it could soon feature another grand canal, one designed to accommodate the largest ships on the planet. but even befe