>> let's do it. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity. uyer this is al jazeera hello there. welcome to the al jazeera news hour. our top stories. syrian rebels fight back after a major government offensive south of damascus. al jazeera meets some of the thousands of members of minority communities who have fled from i.s.i.l.-controlled areas in iraq. a vote for peace. some delays, but no violence as

polls close in central african republic. lost children, the forgotten victims of refugee cri says. >> reporter: we begin in syria where rebel forces are fighting back against government forces in the south of the country. these pictures are said to show the aftermath of an attack on an army tank. it is the first government offensive in southern syria since russian air strikes began three months ago. al jazeera cannot independently verify these pictures. our correspondent joins us live from southern turkey. we've been saying that these hours right now are crucial in this battle. what is the situation there at the moment? >> reporter: the fighting

continues in different parts and the russian fighter jets have started a new wave of air strikes targeting rebels' positions across the city. the rebels say that they have managed over the last few hours to regroup in the areas and rebelling government forces killing dozens of troops and destroying vehicles and tanks and that the fight will continue and that they are getting reinforcements from different parts of the country to maintain a presence. on the other hand the government says that all the statements by the opposition are propaganda and that the controlling party is going to be just a matter of time and that the troops are making significant gains particularly in the eastern part of the city thanks very much. just stay there with us for a moment. let's look at the russian involvement in this fight. russian forces have carried out

more than five thousand air strikes since september, targeting various rebel groups. government forces have been losing grounds in the west. alnecessary road accident front-- al-nusra front and other factions show a direct threat. that is when russia's campaign began to push rebels back in the provinces of aleppo, latakia and another. forces made significant gains in the capital of damascus. the strikes have killed more than 2300 people. it is said that more than a third of those killed were children. these allegations are said as absurd. the russians are involved in this current fight. to what extent is their presence been a game changer for bashar

al-assad? >> reporter: it is making an impact because since the start of the conflict in syria, the main asset of the government has is basically the air security. it has russian aid fighter jets and also helicopters dropping barrel bombs across the country, but it lacks precision-guided weapons. so the army hasn't been able to solve targets precisely, rebel formations across the country. just to give you an idea about that, a few months ago they managed to shift their tactics from militia, holding territory, launching massive attacks and taking control of areas like a province like, for example, idlib. we're seeing a reverse of those gains made by the rebels because of the presence of russians. the russians have advanced not only and, therefore, they have

been able to over the last couple of months from mounting coordinated attacks. i've been talking to rebel commanders in syria. they basically say that we are losing our fighters, we're losing weapons across the country, but, therefore, we will maintain our presence because this is the dilemma on the other hand for the government. the russians have been impounding rebels' positions. the moment they take government forces to take the territory, they're trapped by the rebels who have advanced weapons. we have seen that the rebels have been provided with a significant amount of weapons, particularly anti tank weapons and, therefore, the syrian army is not really able to take advantage of the russian position to take control of those areas because of the weapons that have been delivered to the rebels certainly not an easy battle for either side. thank you for that.

hospitals in the yemeni city of thies are on the verge of shutting down. they're saying they've starved the medical supplies as warring continues. >> reporter: at the closing of the year, no let up in the fighting in yemen. houthi rebels fire shells at a hospital killing a child. hospitals are on the front line in the battle between the rebels and supporters of the internationally recognised government. medical staff are struggling to cope. at the hospital here they plead for more oxygen supplies. without them they say medical care will suffocate. >> translation: we are protesting today because we are no longer able to save our patients. they arrive injured but we cannot help them. there is no oxygen or surgical equipment. >> reporter: friends and family of those in the hospital have to bring in their own oxygen

bottles. >> translation: i had to get it outside the hospital because none are available here. >> reporter: the u.n. says more than 21 million need aid. that's roughly 80% of the population. houthi fighters are not allowing the supplies through. some of that ade is being provided by saudi arabia which has led a coalition fighting the houthi rebels. both sides have been criticized for the number of civilians killed and injured in bombing complains. saudi arabia says its humanitarian von invoices are-- convoys are being targeted. >> either by military people or non-military people are attacking the humanitarian aid. we are calling all those people that you are violating international law. >> reporter: the patients at the hospital are unlikely to care where the aid comes from, just as long as it comes

iraq's government says the battle to retake ramadi from i.s.i.l. has destroyed 80% of the city. the government claimed control of central parts on sundays, but i.s.i.l. remains entrenched in certain districts. now the prime minister is promising to turn his attention to mosul which was taken by i.s.i.l. last year. hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been displaced from the country's second largest city. many of them belong to minority communities and have escaped to erbil. >> reporter: this man's holidays hasn't been the same since he last his arm in a car bomb explosion in mosul two years ago. it is hard, he says, to learn to write with the other hand. that's why he goes to a class for younger students. his family first had to leave their home after i.s.i.l. arrived in mosul and told christians there to pay pay new tax or leave. they left moving to another town, 20 kilometres away. when i.s.i.l. came to that town too, they left again.

like many of the people around them, it's the times at the end of the year that are the hardest. >> translation: my family and i can't celebrate. my son lost his arm, my brother is missing. it is very hard to feel happy when your loved ones are missing >> reporter: at this camp for displaced christians, they still miss their homes and they are living close to the battle lines of i.s.i.l. >> reporter: this man is a priest he too was forced to leave his home in mosul. >> translation: we like to give our people hope and we all believe that god is always with us. i.s.i.l. is very close to where we are. it is a threat not only for the christians but all peace loving muslims in kurdistan. >> reporter: every year the congregation at this church grows with more displaced christians joining in and many

who lost everything still hold on to the one thing they can. hope. >> i and everybody hope to return to our homes. >> translation: we want to go back to our lives and go back home to peace and safety. >> reporter: as the politicians search for a solution to the conflict, in areas like this just out of the reach of i.s.i.l. fighters, christians have fled and the local people who have sheltered them can only wish that the coming year will be better than the last one votes are being counted in car a landmark presidential p and parliamentary vote passed without violence. many hope it will end a conflict that has ended tens of thousands of people. turn out was high. our correspondent is live for us in the capital bangui.

a successful votes by all accounts on wednesday. >> reporter: yes, absolutely. we have just heard in the past few moments there was a small incident of some shots fired at a place called powa in the country's north, but we're told it wasn't serious. on the whole a peaceful election and that in itself is a great success for a country that has been marred by so much violence over the last three years or so. still some challenges. nobody thought this would be perfect. there are are logistical challenges, training of election staff. on the whole everyone pleased with how the election went. the police are here to make sure voters feel safe. security is tight. pk5 in bangui is a muslim enclave. these people have felt under siege so the officers' presence is reassuring. they say if they dare to leave the area, they could be killed.

>> translation: we want a president so we can live in peace. so we can walk and go wherever we want, so we can leave this neighborhood. we're stuck here like prisoners. if we get a good president, we can go anywhere. we feel good, we will sleep well and not hear gun shots any more. >> reporter: many have lived in fear since the mostly muslim seleca group committed offences against civilians as they fought their way to the capital to overthrow the president president francios bozize. militia took revenge on them. neighbors turned on neighbours. this man is christian. he left pk5 when the violence was at its worst. he still lives in a camp even though things are better. >> translation: we have been with muslims together. we have been overcome. that's why i've stated to come back to vote in my neighborhood so that muslims and christians

can be together >> reporter: last week annex seleca leader dropped his call for an autonomous state. during the referendum less than a month ago this was where there was a gun battle from hard liners from within the community and u.n. peacekeepers. we're told some of those who were shooting then are now voting. there were problems. this man has been told he can't vote because he is not on the list. >> translation: voting is your duty. i have to do it and i cannot. so i'm not happy. one voice can mean a lot. >> reporter: there were also delays at many polling stations and in two parts of the capital the parliamentary election was cancelled because there was no voting material. >> what this people want is a new start, a new way of handling this country, a new governance. what i'm hearing is equity, you rule of law, democracy.

they want their leaders to be accountable. >> reporter: whoever wins has a huge task to mend divided communities and build a united country. expectations are high and there is hope that the mistrust and violence is behind them as you say there, tania, huge challenges facing the new leadership. is there much optimism that they canned stand up to the task? >> reporter: there is a great deal of optimism, but it is important to remember that all of the top five candidates served under former president francios bozize who was ousted in 2013 say they are all part of this quite small elite political circle that has been around for quite some time and that was one of the issues raised in the build-up to this election, that in a country with low rates of literacy, not a high level of political education, that they would vote for the face, the name that they recognised. so it seems entirely possible that there will be a recycling

of some old political faces and how in touch they are with people out in the provinces is another question. there was an effort put in by some of the candidates to get out to the regions, to meet with people, to try and spread their message and, on the whole, of course, all of those candidates saying all the right things, making all the right noises, talking about them being the ones who would be able to unite the country, to equally divide the country's resources to bring together the krishan ten majority with [indistinct] christian majority with the muslims and other minorities in this country, but, of course, it's going to be in the next months if not years to see if they have any success in that. what is going to be incredibly important for whoever wins is developing this country economically, particularly outside bangui. what some people will say here is that this is really the republic of bangui. investment, money, political power has all been centred in the capital for an extremely

long time and that was the source, the fuel, behind the seleca rebellion in the first place. there are people in the north and north-east, they don't have roads, kids don't go to school, they don't have jobs. they are under vested in. any government needs to address that. there will be nor accountability in this system, because a referendum was voted a month ago. they would limited the president to two terms. some hope here but, of course, it will be in the next coming years that really any crucial changes will have to happen to ensure this new found peace and security lasts tania page reporting there from car. thanks very much. do stay with us. here on this news hour, still to come, we look at the gender imbalance that could have major consequences for india's future. plus hundreds of thousands forced from their homes in latin america as el nino causes

widespread flooding. in sport, a 500th match as barcelona breaks the record for the most goals scored in the calendar year hundreds of children are believed to be stranded at a refugee camp in calais in northern french. the british rights systems u.k. says little is being done. e.u. rules are said to be broken. >> reporter: the sprawling camp here has grown and grown this year and in the chaos of life here are any number of children who have ended up raising themselves in this brutal place. through an interpreter, 16-year-old, he described how he had fled syria with his mother p but separated in turkey she got to the u.k. as a refugee and he hasn't seen her in 15 months.

>> translation: what can i tell you? i can't find the words. it is a disaster. >> reporter: sayed also from syria lost his elder brothers even before they reached turkey. now they too are in britain. he is 16 as well and he made the entire refugee journey alone. >> translation: it is not a good place. there is nothing for me here. it is horrible. >> reporter: what these boys have in kwon, and what others do too, is what should be an exit route out of all this. -- common. scree the dublin regulation is supposed to mean that the refugee can claim asylum in the first european country that they enter. another one is crucial for children living here in the camp in calais because it says that if those children have a family member already living inside the e.u., then they can claim asylum

in that country. the u.k. government had argued that the dublin regulation meant children would have to stay in the first e.u. country they went to, but a court has overruled them. that should mean the u.k. authorities having to match children with their parents. in the one time it has fallen to this one volunteer to do it. so far she has found over 200 children that fit the profile. her fear is that the u.k. dragging its heels put the children in danger >> the consequence is that children are being forced into the hands of traffickers and forced to jump on trains and jump in lorrys, which is extreme dangerous and some of them are dying. >> reporter: every month that passs is another one lost to childhoods here and the best efforts of volunteers can't compensate. children here have families just an hour away by train and the law says that they are entitled to be with them, but this is calais, and normal rules do not apply. lawrence lee

there are fears that cultural traditions in india contribute to the country's declining sex ratio. figures show there are only 918 girls for every one thousand boys in the country. that is down from 927 girls in 201 and-- - did 011 and . it is fuelled by families to have boys. the secretary of the all india progressive women's association. that is a right group. thanks for being with us. first of all, why is this trend not only continuing but getting worse? >> i think that it is time for us to wake up and realise that the policy measures being applied to supposedly improve the situation of the sex issue are not working. those policies are themselves flawed because they are themselves infected by the

patriarchal kinking and by a resistance to really identify the source of the problem. the source of the problem lies in the fact we can't just talk about it as though it's a cultural problem. we can't just have big programs saying save daughters and, you know, please have daughters and so on, and not recognise the fact that governments are not cracking down on the medical fraternity or industry that encourages sex selection, that allows sex selection. they're turning a blind eye to that. the third thing is realise is that families as well as the state and market, all of them are relying on the control of girls and the control of boys, the control of women within families. the entire economy is depending on that. that is why they're so reluctant to challenge it. if you were to strengthen women's position in society as

well as in families, that would make april difference. that would also upset a whole lot of other apple cart which are relying on this surveillance and control of women why is having girls a bad thing? >> for more than one reason. one is that the reference to the fact that they don't want daughters. people don't want daughters is linked with the fact that they would not like to have to pay dowry. the other thing is that inheritance laws that have changed in the last 10 years or so mean that now you would have to - your daughter would be technically entitled to inherit property. resistance to wanting to do that is one of the reasons why you don't want to have daughters because you don't want to have to give property to your daughters. you don't want to have to share property there. on the other hand, the daughters are also seen as a risk because a risk in terms of so many things, including the violence that she may be subjected to, but that's only one part of it. she is seen as a risk because

her very assertiveness, the fact that she may rebel against you, marry out of caste, demand inher tense, be independent, that is a risk. she is viewed with property, and that is what we're not challenging. our government campaigns are challenging, they're reinforcing it. don't you want mother, don't you want sister, don't you want wife? if you want all of those, why don't you want daughters? the idea that a daughter is someone who will perform those rules. in a subservient way, without upsetting any apple carts, without asserting herself as an individual. this is something that is infected. afrom the fact-- apart from the fact that you have the campaigns, that the government is not acting against sex

selection as an industry against commercial all of which are working together we will have to leave it there. it's very interesting what you're saying, but the audio is not very good. apologies for the problems there. staying in india and on friday, new delhi will be restricting the number of cars on the roads in a bid to cut air pollution. it will limit all vehicles on alternate days. environmentalists say the cities need a permanent ban on diesel cars. at least 24 people have died after four days of heavy rains in the u.s. states of missouri and illinois. hundreds of people have been moved from their homes. waters rose rapidly in the mississippi river. the national guard has been

called in to help. further south the latin american nations are experiencing their worst flooding in half a century. more than a hundred thousand people have been displaced with weather patterns linked to the el nino. >> reporter: people fleeing the floods caused by the el nino phenomenon. it seems like these are repeating themselves all around south america. areas of argentina, paraguay and brazil have been flooded for days. thousands of houses destroyed by the water. over 160,000 people have been forced to flee. paraguay has been the hardest hit with almost 100,000 people forced out of their homes near the capital. >> translation: this is how we pass the time. the street is dangerous because of traffic. >> reporter: they have now been affected. they're afraid.

>> translation: it has been raining too much. there's too much water. it has rained here so much it's scary. only god knows what he is doing. what shall we do? this is nature, but it's raining too, too much. >> reporter: el nino is driven by a warm surface water in the eastern pacific ocean. it generates climate fluctuations. n.a.s.a. says el nino is still building and it could even rival the record weather effects of 1997. with conditions set to worsen, aid organizations warn that this el nino could leave millions of people exposed to disease and hunger crossing over to richard for all the weather. it is warmer in the arctic, isn't it, than many other places in the europe. >> reporter: yes. all are el nino climate change linked. the north pole is warmer than

many by quite some way. the story begins across the u.k. this is what was named by the u.s. office as storm frank. frank, all this warm air is pushing through coming up from the south produced rains. we had vast amounts of rain. still coming down of course in many areas, still more to come. that story is not going to go away any time soon. what happened to all that warm air? the answer is it went on up in the arctic. that's a big cloud which i will knock off. there you can see the north pole. we've had warm air around the arctic. take fairbanks and alaska. minus 7. it should be minus 28. another here, it should be minus 10. that warm air has fed up to the north pole itself.

we think, although we lack observations, that the temperature has risen above freezing. that's only the third time it has happened in december since 1948. if it continues into january, that will be the first time it has ever been recorded. as it stands, that change in weather patterns have storms here, they've had more snow in the space of one day than they have in the previous month and a half. really strange weather going on at the moment. you can read more on that at al jazeera.com/weather. back to you nora richard, thank you very much. still to come here on al jazeera, we look at the big year ahead for u.s. politics as democrats and republicans try to win the race to the white house. san antonio in their last game of 2015 is coming in short with joe. -- sport with joe.

you're watching the news hour. a quick reminder of the top stories. rebels are fighting back after syrian government forces launched a major offensive in the south of the country. they have entered the key rebel controlled town. hospitals in the yemeni city on the verge of shutting down as fighting there continues. doctors and nurses protested after one hospital refused to take on any more patients. votes are being counted in car after the presidential and

parliamentary election passed without major violence. it marked what is hoped to be the end of a two-year conflict that killed tens of thousand of people's. a new set of u.n. global comes will come into effect on 1 january. one is to end extreme poverty by 2030. half the world's population, more than three billion people, live in poverty. more than 1.3 billion of those live in extreme poverty. in the second part of our series on the u.n.'s goals, david m ercer visited a town in guatemala where people are struggling to make ends meet. >> reporter: inside this tin shack in the guatemalan high lands this woman prepares food for her family. five children to support and a job which produces little, it is a struggle. she says she is doing the best she can >> translation: i never went to school and my husband only finished third grade. i can't read or write, so it's

difficult to help my family. i tell all my children they have to study hard to get ahead so they don't end up poor like us. >> reporter: she like many others depends on unregulated informal work. seven days a week she makes corn tortias to sell but increased competition means she has to sell less while her costs continues to rise. >> translation: it is not much, but it is enough to sustain my children. it is important to administer the money well and find ways to make it last >> reporter: in january a new set of u.n. development goals of come into effect. one key objective is to cut global poverty in half by 2030 and eradicate extreme poverty completely. the new set of universal goals has been called a blueprint for the future, giving governments and ngos to assess the progress. funding them and putting them into practice is less clear-cut.

while the world bank says poverty will fall below 10% at the end of the year, in guatemala the poor are getting poorer. raising the standard of living of nearly half the population will prove difficult. >> translation: the problem here is no just that there's lots of poverties. it's that there is massive inequality. there's an ocean between those who have resources and those who don't. if we don't look at an inter connected way and ow system is structure thenway can't reduced poverty >> reporter: when 2030 rolls around, what kind of life with her children have? much will depend on how committed the global community and guatemala are towards the goal and cut back poverty towards its roots this time next year u.s. president obama will be getting ready to move out of the white house. over the next 11 months both

democrats and the republicans will be doing their best and worst to make sure that their candidate is the country's next leader. >> reporter: it has been the year of the outsider, voices from the edge that are becoming mainstream. donald trump, ben carson, bernie sanders, the first two the republican candidates who have never held office, the third a long-term politician on the extreme edge of the democratic party. all are benefiting from an anger that has been building. >> americans are frustrated. i think in some ways they're more disillusioned and fearful than they are angry. i think really what they keep hoping for is that all of these kind of outsiders that they keep elect into office will, in fact, bring some change. >> reporter: it seems little that can dent the popularity. donald trump was criticized for

this >> i am calling for a total and complete shut down of muslims enter the united until the country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on >> reporter: then the poll numbers still went up. it is a run for the presidency which is changing the approach of others in the republican race of 2016 >> they've picked up on the kinds of things donald trump is doing. they're not going as far as he is, but they're definitely being sensitive to the fact that those messages have really penetrated with the republican party. it is a very real sentiment that is out there. that they don't want to offend. >> reporter: hillary clinton seems locked on the democratic democrat nation, but she has been here before and failed >> she sees herself as at heir apparent and is really in some ways embracing the idea of a third term. i would also argue rather than running on her achievements, she

is spending more time focusing on the republican faults. >> reporter: 22016 will be a lot like 2015 in that the only thing that counts politically in the u.s. is the race for the white house. only now it becomes meaner and nastier and more expensive. at the end of what has already seemed like an incredibly long campaign, the two main parties will have their candidates and one of them will be america's next president >> i don't think that you're going to see the candidates after the nominating contest try to come to the middle. i think you're going to see them very much focused on exciting their base. i think there are fewer and fewer votes in the political middle for them to get >> reporter: the new american president will face many challenges, both domestic and international, but the biggest might be bringing a divided country together after the election, no matter what wins international criminal tribunal for rwanda officially

closes on thursday. it was set up to prosecute those suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide. nearly a million people were killed. some of the court's indictees are still on the run. >> reporter: these men say they killed dozens of their neighbours. they all spent years in prison for it. it was during rwanda's 1994 genocide and they all say the mayor here at the time organized the killings in this area. >> translation: i killed because he had already filled our hearts with hate. if you refused to kill, he ordered others to kill you. >> reporter: after more than 20 years on the run, the mayor was arrested earlier this month in neighbouring democratic republic of congo. the criminal tribunal for rwanda had indicted him in 1996. in 94 thousands of those fleeing

from the violence had gathered around this church for safety. according to the indictment, the mayor ordered obviously edges to kill them all. there say memorial next to it. here are the clothes of? of the some of the people, skulls and human remains and here some of the weapons that were used to kill them. the indictment says that the mayor oversaw the killing of thousands of his country men and also rape and sexual violence against women. he was indicted. he sentenced 60 sigh genocide. rights groups criticise it for only trying one side of the conflict. the front which became today's rwanda army defeated the militia that were involved in the genocide. u.n. investigators say it also massacred others. >> they are in no way equivalent

to the genocide and should not be compared to it, but nevertheless those were war crimes and crimes against humanity that fell squarely within the rehit of the ictr. >> reporter: rwanda denies its army committed atrocities and says it brings its soldiers to justice at home. >> i do not believe that this idea of both sides really should count in the question of rwanda and the ictr. the ictr was prooirmly established to deal with people who committed genocide and i believe they had enough job to do. >> reporter: the rwanda government also criticized it for being slow and expensive and people it has indicted are still on the run. if they're caught, they will have to be tried elsewhere. the mayor may have to be tried here at the supreme court, but only if the congo extradites m him. rights groups say rwandan trials are only sometimes far. the killing of hundreds of

thousands in rwanda led to a regional conflict in one many died. the ictr was unprecedented and it did bring justice to some of the victims of one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. malcolm webb, rwanda the nigerian government says its initial deadline of 31 december to over come boko haram has largely been met despite continued attacks blamed on boko haram the government says it is close to defeating the armed group. the army has been seizing territory from the fighters. a report on how improved security in the region is slowly bringing life back to normal. >> reporter: cashing in on the relative peace, supplies to liberated areas to north-east nigeria. this is a busy mub. >> there are serious-- hub. >> there are serious

improvement. people are buying goods. >> reporter: some of the goods he sells end up in the hands of retailers of the market. boko haram's attack at this market has decreased. the last one was four months ago. customers are slowing coming back. there is a long way to go to repair the impact of the violence. >> it used to be the major place for the freight. it has impacted negatively, such that it has eroded the economy base of our community by as much as 90%. >> reporter: it could be the case before the region finds its seat again, as infrastructure and business confidence have been badly shaken. >> locally, the madness is

coming to an end gradually. we might experience hiccups here and there like we experienced two days ago, but, believe me, we have the war is over. >> reporter: traders are trying to look to the future when they can regain access to cameroon, chad and negaire. they say insecurity along the borders have cut incomes by as much as 80%. there is cautious excitement about the reduction of violence, but everyone here knows it would only take a spark to shoot that confidence france's interior minister says there is no place in corsica for violence nor racism. the island has seen protests after recent violence. a muslim prayer room was vandalized on friday, a day after two firefighters were attacked. >> reporter: in a prolonged

state of emergency and with community relations badly damaged, france is still feeling the after effects of the attacks in paris. the french island of corsica in the mediterranean has its own identity and harbours notion of separatism. it is the latest scene of racist violence since the attacks. >> translation: calm has to return. this is a beautiful little island, but if things continue like this, people will be frightened to come here. >> reporter: on christmas eve in this housing estate, home to a large north african immigrant population, a fire was lit and firemen were attacked. they are seen as symbols of the state and ambush situations like this are common. hundreds of firemen were attacked in similar circumstances but it has never happened here in corsica. in response an angry crowd ransacked a local muslim prayer room and demonstrators chanted

racist slogans. >> translation: we heard racist slogans such as "arabs out'. that's not like corsica, "go home", but this is our home >> reporter: the french government has been quick to respond. the interior minister here touring the scene and talking to residents. >> translation: i want to express my utmost condemnation of those who have committed racist and xenophobic acts that have no place on this island. >> reporter: napolean was born on this island, but it's not french nationalism that has taken here. instead, corsican separatists have gained control of the islands legislature. >> translation: we are as everyone knows enengaged in a struggle for the autonomy of corsica and recognition of the rights of the corsican people, but this struggle is inseparable

from a vision of openness, gen onsity. >> reporter: whether it is part of a wide reaction to the paris attacks, it is a further sign of how far france has to go to reunite its divided communities. jonah hull. cars ca stay with us. still ahead there has been a turbulent year for football's governing body. joe will be looking ahead at what to expect from f.i.f.a. in 2016. 2016.

all the sport now. >> reporter: thank you. barcelona end 2015 where they spent most of the year and that's at the top of the spanish table. they have won trophies in the past 12 months. he missed a penalty but it rebounded in a goal. m essy netted in his 500th game. lewis suares two second strikes. they have scored the most goals in the calendar year with 180. there was a missed penalty in the three one win. he redeemed himself by scoring a second kick. rinaldo ending up with a goal. liverpool beat sunderland one nil to seal a second straight win in the last match of the

year in the english premier league. like the win over leicester, the only goal of the came was scored. level on points with six place with man chess tear united. sunderland stayed second to bottom. >> the goal is always a positive thing, but i'm sure chris can play better. at this moment we need his goals more than anything else. he made it again. so we are really satisfied. >> reporter: in the nba, the warriors were without steph and they felt his absence as they picked up their second loss of the scene, going down 114 to 91 for dallas. the spurs had a 19th straight win to start the season. 21 points and 12 rebounds for one as they won 112 pa 79.

at present extends their franchise record home winning streak to 28 straight games taking back to last season. 2015 was a busy year of sport. january saw australia crowned asian cup champions in football for the first time on home soil. the new england pay tree on thes wons n.f.l. wall. that's despite allegations of ball tampering. ivor coast became champion. the richest fights in boxing history was seen. the same month u.s. and swiss prosecutors opened an investigation into corruption at f.i.f.a. blatter was reelected president only to announce days later that he had stepped down. then in june american pharaoh became the first horse in 36 years to win the triple crown. barcelona won the league. the golden state warriors, they

became nba champions for the first time in 40 years. this man won a masters. the u.s. won the women's world cup in canada and by winning at . new zealand was the first team to success the rugby world cup in england. november saw russia banned from world athletics for a widespread doping. finally, in december blatter was banned by the f.i.f.a. ethics committee from football for eight years for a payment to platini who was also suspended. an investigative football writer for the guardian newspaper and joins me from skype in england. 2015 was the year that f.i.f.a. really came to a crunch because those top officials, they were held to account. is it really much of a surprise? was the writing on the wall for

them? >> i think that, obviously, the writing was on the wall to some extent and f.i.f.a.'s reputation was already very, very - it was toxic, very badly damaged, obviously, for years before that. but at the same time it was still startling and a shock in many ways. in june, early june, people gathered in zurich for this re-election of seth blatter which was certain that he would be re-elected. they thought it was going to be a boring week in zurich. it was on the wednesday, i think, that suddenly that blatter and high-ranking people were arrested and we remember the images of them being walked out of the hotel with sheets in front of them. that's t- i think the drama and

the scale of the arrest and the scale of the american investigation into football, it's not just f.i.f.a., into football corruption has been actually staggering this year. it has been a real water sthed and a really landmark that was 2015. the election for the next president taking place in 2016, how do you see that playing out? >> well, of course, there are quite a lot of people interested in f.i.f.a. or campaigning about f.i.f.a. who just don't think it should be going ahead because where you have an organization in such crisis with so much scandal, and with people being arrested, charged, indictd, there's a criminal investigation in switzerland, obviously a massive one in america, there's an investigation into the circumstances of the award of 2018 and 2022 world cups. there's so much going on. obviously, the president now

banned, blatter banned for eight years i'm sorry to interrupt you. we have to leave it there. thank you for joining us. that is all sports now. more later thanks very much. as this news hour, together with 2015 draws to a close, we take a look back at the most memorable global news stories we have covered here which defined the year. [ ♪ ] >> translation: people die. >> reporter: in syria. [ ♪ ] >> reporter: fighter jets launched on the divided city of aleppo. in yemen, devastation has become the norm. >> no other choice. it's a war.

[ ♪ ] >> do you want to go to europe? >> the migrants here are not happy. they are returning to libya. >> reporter: here comes another boat. no matter what triggered this mass movement of people, the war in syria or germany's implied promise to take all of them in, all of the false promises of the people smugglers, no matter what started it or perpetuated it, there is no way of stopping it. >> reporter: they have given up everything to give up this journey and they say they will not be coming back. >> reporter: it is a very, very long way. these people have been here for more than two hours in a stand-off.

>> reporter: there asome behr realisation-- an somber realisation of the people and places that they have left behin behind. >> we have to take care of them. >> they are, i think, honey moon. >> reporter: they're telling me that they have so much fun and they danced and smiled when they got here. >> reporter: a president and a people united in their loss. >> reporter: the president declared a state of emergency. >> reporter: thai authorities released pictures. >> reporter: the university in northern either kenya. >> reporter: they've been hit by an explosion. >> reporter: there has been a

bomb. >> reporter: it's a very sensitive case. >> reporter: they're getting tear gas. >> this is not nice. >> i don't know how much i've lost. >> reporter: do you think you're going to get the deal in the en end? >> reporter: there has just been a big eruption. >> reporter: within seconds of the earthquake, completely anigh hill eighting this-- annihilating this village. >> we have no choice but to rebuild. >> amazing grace.

>> reporter: we begin with breaking news out of egypt. >> reporter: you know you're the winner. how does it feel? >> the russian federation is suspende suspended. >> australia. >> suspended eight years. for what? >> reporter: they've agreed to tackle world climate change. >> you don't want to go to

europe. just stop the war. >> we're following stories of people who have died in the desert. >> the borderland marathon. >> no one's prepared for this journey. >> experience al jazeera america's critically acclaimed, original series from the beginning. >> experiencing it has changed me completely. >> follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking. >> i'm the enemy. >> i'm really pissed off. >> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> it's insane.

syrian rebels fight back after a major government offensive south of damascus. hello. this it al jazeera live from doha. also coming up, al jazeera meets some of the thousands of members of minority communities who fled from i.s.i.l.-controlled areas in iraq. a vote for peace counting gets underway in car.