the government hopes that yellen will give up its weapons for good just like the revolutionary armed forces of colombia or fark did over the last few months. the fark is an army trying to practice politics the yellin is a political organization trying to wage war in other words the have a small number of armed fighters but its social base is much larger than that of the far. in two thousand and sixteen colombia's president juan manuel those who won the nobel peace prize for his role in ending the country's fifty year civil war with fork rebels getting that yell and to do the same has been more challenging the group has agreed to a ceasefire until january ninth at that point both sides will consider whether they want to extend the contract and perhaps make it permanent. place of the young al-jazeera authorities in the indian city of mumbai are being blamed for the deaths

of twenty three people in a stampede at a train station resident say they repeatedly warned about the dangers of a narrow bridge where the incident happened a sudden downpour caused commuters to run for cover causing the stampede last year accidents on mumbai's railways killed three thousand people tens of millions of people across india marking the hindu festival of in the southern city of mysore the local palace was lit up the ten day event marks the triumph of the hindu god over the demon king vanna symbolizing the victory of good over evil it features elegant processions traditional dances and the burning of mythological effigies. mr aliens are suffering from soaring elec tricity prices and power blackouts so the government wants to exploit vast coal reserves and extend the life of an aging coal fired power station but its operator wants to invest in new cleaner and greener

technologies. has more on the energy done then. the owner of the own disco find house station in australia says it's showing its age millions of dollars are being spent to keep the forty five year old little plant running before we times in five years but the government is pressuring operator a.g.l. to continue producing power for another five years beyond then saying it's key to securing electricity supplies a.g.l. is considering the request but says it would be better off investing in new cleaner technologies such as wind and solar so it's a natural progression of whatever anything comes to the end of it's technical art you'd run the roller over whether you extend it or whether you. do something new in this but certainly the economics to lead you towards your goals being provided for energy and. you know very flexible efficient technologies providing that capacity the hunter valley north of sydney in new south wales is at the center of the energy

debate here because it's a major coal mining and power provider the little power station is in muscle broke and the town's mayor says it's time to look to the future. if it is becomes a choice between extending little for an additional five years knowing that the jobs will come to an end at that point or closing it and repurpose ing it for fifty years of new generation power then that is clearly the preferable option. not only is the israeli government pushing to expand a prolonged the life of coal fired power stations like this one in the hunter valley it's also backing a new coal mine which if built will be one of the largest in the world. despite community opposition these trading governments approved the multi-billion dollar indian owned a car market coal mine but there are serious concerns about its financial viability the architect of the united nations paris climate agreement which agreed to cut

greenhouse gas emissions says. developing calm winds now makes no sense so you know if that project had been proposed in the year nine hundred fifty it would probably have been a good project to propose that project in two thousand and seventeen frankly it's like science fiction time warp except that science fiction usually looks forward to this one is a science fiction that is looking back astray is expected to remain the world's largest exporter of coal for at least the next twenty years despite that abundance some power station operators see a future in renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions. al-jazeera muscle brooke in the hunter valley themes and pirates standing all are costing the nigerian government at least a billion dollars in lost revenue every month security forces say they're getting tough on those responsible but that's likely to be a tough task as and interest reports from the niger delta. the hunt for pirates and

all of these in the creeks of nigeria's delta it's hard and dangerous work. as we approach a base we were being watched all the way but the military hardware is enough deterrent. that the oil field was set on fire a strategy to stop us from getting close to these suspects however aren't lucky today and the reason we get on board. is three months after their bases destroyed by the army it's being rebuilt while all these are find and the talk of pipes lead to a nearby oil well for white crude is diverted this is what remains of an illegal refinery after a raid by the nigerian army hundreds like these have been destroyed in the past few months thieves refine oil here after breaking in and siphoning from all pipelines

and wells across the region. another refinery is trying to get back into business a few kilometers from here this company has been destroyed before. trying to revive eight which means that we still have to come back here to put it out of use completely again the biggest threat to nigeria's all supply any kind of me to the us all think. it's a well connected orders of the buy just send ships or transport the crude in large quantities every ship was seized filled with petroleum products for years the pirates have made these waterways unsafe and blood the nigerian economy. now the army has new equipment and personnel it's a shore force which commanders hope will deter criminals. and in. the. trades.

the government's new offensive isn't welcome with everyone not just the pirates. same. region that. government leaders say the crackdown is necessary to stop criminal activities protect lives in nigeria's largest natural asset. in the niger delta. i don't lovers in the philippines have had their pets blessed in manila three dozen dogs and a python were blessed by a priest and sprinkled with holy water the event was held to promote world animal day next wednesday it's also the catholic feast of st francis of assisi the patron saint of animals still ahead on al-jazeera in sports a disappointing day for one of formula one's top drivers.

when every. time for the sport his father. thanks very much we start with football in manchester city have defeated reigning anguish premier league champions chelsea they were no one no winners away from home at stamford bridge city are top of the league with six wins from seven games kevin brown ya got the goal for pep guardiola as team a result leaves chelsea in fourth at six points off the top us i'm happy for the victory because we're here for the results not especially the we play because in

where we played the stamford bridge my first time like a manager was able to win one game here against us championship there's no nessie to say how good they are. manchester united have also continued their undefeated start to the season they thrashed crystal palace for neil their second behind city on goal difference level on nineteen points we are playing well i don't say well for ninety minutes because sometimes we have periods where. we lose a bit of consistency in what i call quality without intensity. but that's difficult to do that that's difficult to do that for ninety minutes that's difficult to do that after. the chimp is a game. so i'm i'm happy that this started really strong seven games in the e.p.l. on saturday the season surprise package so far watford bagging another point drawing with west brom away for now fifth in the table and

a big win for tottenham they thrashed huddersfield four nil multiple football fans have been injured during a match in the top flight in france after a fan barrier collapsed the incident happened in the sixteenth minute of away match to local rivals on it followed the visitors taking the lead the way section as you will see completely giving way the match was abandoned by the referee several fans were taken to hospital. as a really has become the eighth pakistan batsman to pass five thousand runs in test cricket pakistan's highest ranked batsman is seventy four not out against sri lanka on what was a slow third day of the first tast by the end of play pakistan reached two hundred sixty six for four in trail sri lanka's first innings total of four hundred and nineteen by a hundred and fifty three runs by passing by thousand runs only joins a list of his country's greats including. an eunice khan. a

disastrous qualifying session for sebastian vettel could prove a turning point in his quest for the formula one world championship the goal is to do ok to leave. that for a driver will start last on the grid at the three he failed to set a time after being rocked by engine problems vettel is twenty points behind championship leader lewis hamilton who start on all and his mercedes red bull driver max for stopping will be third on the grid. we have no idea how is going to go today you know and so to whatever happens to. very quickly practice the summer we turn around the engine is such a great job yesterday the car filled great. and so is. surprised to be out there with these guys but i'm really grateful for the international basketball federation officially lists its longstanding ban on head coverings on sunday basketball players will now be able to wear religious headgear on the court as long as they don't protrude or cause injury to the user or other players this change was

approved earlier this year after a sustained online campaign a new role not only helps muslim women players but also members of the sikh and orthodox jewish communities well a campaign to get the ban overturned was spearheaded by simran saying he's the senior religion fellow for the sikh coalition saying says the old rules resulted in young members of the community missing out on the chance to play basketball there were young men of this faith who were participating in international basketball on the national team for india who were actually us to sit out or to remove their turbans and so this has a direct impact on those who participate in international competition but it also has a direct impact on our children right who see these messages being sent that they don't have a right to play as much as anybody else and this discourages them from participating in sports and so this rule change we hope will actually help the next generation

inspired to actually participate as freely and to feel like they belong in this global society as much as anyone else maria sharapova is back in action she won her opening round match of the china open the russian former world number one had to dig deep to pull off a win against on the study shows service still when she beat her latvian opponent after a three hour match sealing me seven six five seven seven six when she was playing for the first time since her defeat in new york were. knocked her out of the u.s. open. simona halep also survived a strong challenge from american allyson risk in her first round match the romanian beating her in three. and that's all your sport for now more later. gary's going to be here in a couple of minutes with more of the day's news i knew can get a lot more detail as well of course on the web site al jazeera dot com matheson by foot.

a new year and new can many new developments for this chinese religious fledgling democracy the village committee has retrieved people's land but approval is fleeting frustration grips the villages and as the saga began over a year before result is in the air close to call. for over six months to spend over five years. china's democracy experiment at this time on al-jazeera was one of our biggest strengths is that we talk to normal everyday people we get them to tell their stories and doing that really reveals the truth people are still gathered outside these gates waiting for any information most of them don't know whether their loved ones are alive or dead or miami really is a place we're the world's me we can get to washington d.c.

in two hours we can get it on jurors in the rest of central america about the same time but more importantly is where those two cultures north and south america meet have to teach a great it's a very important place for all to do it's a big. for the congolese the journey to work and all of our means unimaginable hardship i prefer to live no because then the i got the call can truth chancing a life and live on a dangerous journey through the jungle i fell onto the rails and nearly died. our children go to school and live because of the trade risking it all the democratic republic of congo at this time on al-jazeera. the nature of news as it breaks many of the people here came to this camp with injuries and illnesses already with detailed coverage of the border between china and north korea stretches for more than fourteen hundred kilometers unlike the demilitarized zone

the atmosphere here is very relaxed from around the world the water that comes in the trucks relist water from the shallow holes it is full of sediment and of course the high risk of disease. catalogs prepare to vote on secession but the spanish government prepares to stop that. and we shall carry this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up yes president lashes out of puerto rican mayor after she begs for more help to recover from the devastation of hurricane rita. thousands take to the streets in the u.s. demanding racial equality. and the u.s.

reveals it is trying to talk to north korea over its nuclear program but so far it's not picking up. with. tens of thousands of catalogues are expected to defy the spanish government and attempt to vote in the band independence referendum on sunday madrid insists it will stop the secession vote in catalonia which it's declared illegal there are fears of unrest and street violence as neither side shows any sign of backing down there reuters news agency is reporting that volunteers of polling stations could be fined up to three hundred fifty thousand dollars places already been deployed ahead of the ballot closing more than half of the school set to act as polling centers officers say they will remove voters and the vote is polarizing spain thousands approach unity demonstrators gathered at monterey to express their opposition to the region's attempt to break away tony berkeley reports from outside city hall in

the capital. on saturday we see you know hardening about issues we've seen a hardening of language but we've seen no softening of emotions this whole campaign is now being shrouded in acrimony and hostility it's become a war of words the accusations are flying between both sides so it's going to be very difficult whatever happens on sunday's vote to see what will happen in the long term to heal the wounds that's been created and i should say further wounds because wounds have been existing for a long time people in madrid i think a realizing how serious the situation has become many didn't actually believe it would get to this stage and on saturday we saw a big demonstration five thousand people turned out we were told by the organizers to show their support for cats only being part of spain they also are very angry about the position of the castle and government they want the castle and government to be held accountable and sent to jail and therefore they are very supportive of

the measures that the spanish government is taking of course the catacombs all say that the spanish government is being or thought tarion islamist government is saying that the castle and government is being undemocratic so whatever side you're on you will take whatever you can from what they're saying but the question is what will happen after the referendum how will we get over the animosity and hostility created in this campaign many countries will be watching to see what happens in the referendum because there are repercussions not only for spain but for them to countries like belgium france and italy so this holds very important issues for countries in europe not just spain but the spanish government is doing everything possible to stop that vote from going ahead it may be scare tactics it may be designed to make the people who are basically in the middle not go out and vote but we can only wait and see. and these are live pictures that you see now of a school that is one of those polling places where you can see people already

showing up there are volunteers they're getting this all set to go again against the the will of the government in spain they say that people that are part of this volunteer effort will actually be fine potentially up to three hundred fifty thousand dollars so quite a day ahead and barcelona the mayor puerto rico's capital san juan has accused the u.s. government of killing people through inefficiency. in crews says help for the u.s. territory hit by hurricane maria is not coming quickly enough white house has appointed a general to oversee relief operations an aid is starting to arrive but the mayor says puerto rico isn't getting the same support as other communities and the u.s. donald trump is hit back via twitter accusing his political rival.