new yorkers are very receptive. because it is such an international city they are very interested in that global perspective that al-jazeera provides hardly isn't forced by their football fans who don't think about opening really had that lead explaining when real madrid a club worth five hundred million euros or expresses a position on something the world anti-doping agency has to take notice to people to. al-jazeera continues its investigation into the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs in the final episode of sports doping the endless chase at this time. starved bombarded and critically ill at least eighteen syrian patients are evacuated from a besieged damascus suburb as part of

a government deal. or again i'm certain this is al jazeera live from london also coming up ukraine's government and pro russia rebels completes a major prisoner exchange swap in the war zone east hundreds of new shelters are set up in the philippines for the thousands of civilians displaced by fighting and flooding. and we visit the christmas else a parade in colombia is taking place in the world salsa capital. we begin in syria where aid workers have run the show evacuate at least eighteen critically ill patients from a suburb of the syrian capital damascus isn't guta has been under a tight government seat since twenty thirteen and subjected to hundreds of

airstrikes on artillery attacks but before wednesday's transfers could be completed seven people several people died waiting for help including a six month old baby zena how there are reports from neighboring lebanon and the warning some of the images in this story may be disturbing. it's a start but it's not enough only a handful of east critically ill are being allowed to leave to hospitals in damascus which is less than an hour's drive away twenty nine patients the majority of them women and children a six month old baby was on that list but when the aid workers reached house they found out she died weeks ago the syrian government is allowing them to be treated outside the besieged opposition stronghold after the armed group. agreed to release some government prisoners it's not clear if new deals will be reached it has been four years since i was besieged by the syrian army the siege has tightened in recent months there are according to the united nations almost five hundred urgent

medical cases. man has brain cancer she says her condition is only deteriorating the u.n. says more than a dozen people have already died while waiting to be evacuated for treatment. there is no treatment available from here i have nothing no medicine no money i'm just waiting for god's mercy it's not just the lack of medical supplies there is a lack of food the united nations says the area is experiencing the worst case of child malnutrition since the start of the conflict. medical equipment and vaccines have affected children also they are malnourished this has that to a number of diseases unfortunately that children are facing dire conditions. there have been three reported deaths because of malnutrition in the past two months. samar and we're all not even two months old when they died the u.n.

says more than one thousand five hundred children are at risk among them two hundred thirty two who are acutely malnourished more than half of the four hundred thousand people trapped in east are believed to be children the area is not just under siege it remains a war zone despite the russian guarantee d.s. go. that was supposed to have silenced the guns and allowed aid in. its september aid reach the area for the first time in parts but it was only enough for forty thousand people there is suffering in this region of the fear is that the worst is yet to come the government is using the siege and starvation tactic as a military strategy and as the situation worsens the likelihood of a surrender becomes more real so what they're. while there is the spokesperson for the international committee for the red cross in syria she says there are many more people inside is in desperate need of evacuation for the current operation the number should be twenty nine people the operation is still

ongoing and that maybe it might take a couple of more days can get out together with the syrian arab red crescent it's very hard for us to know right now when it will end however that we do all we can in order to speed up the process. totally aware that there are much more cases. who need also to medical care and in life they even medical treatment and you will get in that i mean you. reach a solution and reach an agreement in order to allow more cases to come out and get the necessary treatment where the last time we managed to get inside east and before the current evacuation was under twelve of them and then third which is more or less a month and a half and i have to tell you that when we look at that there i was myself there

and the situation was really dying and it wasn't the first time for me to go to east but. remember i could be at least at the situation has deteriorated. france's president emanuel mccraw has saudi arabia's king solomon to lift the blockade on yemen the blockade which has been in force since october is limiting supplies of fuel food and medicine man across says he's concerned about the humanitarian crisis in the country where millions of people are on the brink of famine parts of yemen are also in the grip of a cholera outbreak. and a political prisoner in yemen has spoken to al jazeera about his brutal experiences behind bars human rights groups say thousands of yemenis have been arbitrarily detained and tortured during the two and a half year war that's going i'm reports yousif knew the opposition newspaper

he edited made him a target of the armed rebel who thiis it was time to take precautions but it was too late last year he says he was kidnapped outside his home in santa. i was repeatedly tortured and interrogated due to my job as a journalist before my detention i openly declared that i was suspending my work because of the harsh conditions facing journalists opposed to the hutus in sanaa and so began more than a year held in several prisons in yemen's capital. to have the yeah i was threatened with physical abuse and rape so was my family i was put in solitary confinement for twenty six days my health deteriorated. human rights groups say thousands of people including children have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by both sides in the war yemeni forces and who the fighters are accused of beating

using electric shocks and forcing prisoners to strip others taken captive have simply disappeared this human rights attorney says families have reported the deaths of almost one hundred twenty prisoners in one of the events in seventy year and if there are secret prisons human rights groups have documented four hundred seventeen alone in sana from residential houses to schools and even places of worship the kidnappers have abducted individuals from all walks of life and juniors doctors and even journalists they are subjected to brutal torture but journalists are given a harder time ashlan was eventually transferred to a military prison camp where he says he was housed along with prisoners of war last month he was released as part of a prisoner swap. but if i thought about like it i wished it didn't happen that way simply because i was not to convict a person i was kidnapped outside my house. is lucky to be alive

days before he was released the camp was bombed dozens of his former cell mates die natasha in eight zero. russian opposition leader alexei navalny says hello and eyes a nation wide rally in january to support his call for a boycott of presence their actions now only has been barred from running in the march election over an embezzlement conviction that he says is politically motivated meanwhile russian president vladimir putin has officially filed his documents to run for reelection if he wins putin's rule will be extended until twenty twenty four making him the longest serving russian leader since joseph stalin. moves in what is our choice by shook up our news out of the way we will start a big camp here and on one hand to persuade everyone to participate in the boycott and not to take part in the election and on the other hand to come in time many people really come to the polling stations not to let putin fabricate the number

and of course we need an all russian mass street action ukrainian president petro poroshenko has created ukrainian soldiers who were released by pro russian separatists they were freed a sponsor of a prisoner swap between the government and rebels in ukraine's world twenty six the exchange happened near the city of hall a leaf which is mainly controlled by the pro russian separatists is reported to be the largest swap since a pro russian uprising in eastern ukraine in twenty fourteen where we chalons has more from moscow. well both sides are now confirms that this prisoner swap has concluded with people being handed in both directions across the front lines in eastern ukraine the numbers that actually did scruffs the lines a bit different from the earlier advertised figures of three hundred six people going from kiev territory back to the east and seventy four people going from the

eastern regions back into kiev territory the reasons why the numbers are different is because some people were transferred earlier and some people on both sides it seems didn't actually get want to go back to where they come from this is an events that has been quite a long time in the making the final impetus though came as a recent meeting in moscow there was attended by the heads of the two separatist regions in eastern ukraine by the head of the russian orthodox church patrick carroll and by representatives from kiev but the the real political will it seems as come from both kiev and also from moscow with vladimir putin saying that he was going to use his influence with the with the separatist regions to make it happen it's a breakthrough undeniably a step in the right direction and the sides now are talking about keeping this going they're doing more prisoner swaps but while people are still dying while

moscow is still supplying the rebel regions with a weapons and hardware etc and while there doesn't seem to be a final drive for peace this is just a step in that direction we haven't got to the destination that we want to get to yet which is a final political solution. the philippine government is setting up hundreds of new shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by fighting and flooding in morale we city the army every took the area from fighters linked to i sell in october after a five month seach only for tropical storm tembin to sweep through the city from a private ports from. for people displaced by the more are we fighting life in a muddy camp with open drains was already miserable then came the floods some tents were washed away and all of them were strong a lot of the families possessions are still a wet pile and they go to sleep in the. middle of their neighbor for and i'm point

and her family lost their home and business in the fighting now her daily battle is with the water and mud to keep it out. you have to constantly think about where to put your things in meadow you had money and good property and i could go to school in the city bears the scars of the months of conflict between government troops and fighters linked to eisele for now which is quiet but there's still a threat of renewed hostilities and martial law in mindanao has been extended for another year but on the edge of the city signs of hope. new permanent homes are being built for displaced people president. hu's from mindanao has promised to find a lasting solution to the conflict for him this project is an important step on the road to peace we. were all young.

men it's an ongoing dialogue from ended out the conflict holds up development the lack of money and jobs then fuels the underlying discontent and none of this is helped by being battered by storms from her tent home for an ample one can see the new houses being built on the opposite hillside but doesn't know if she will get close to moving into one martha i hope one day we can make a new start and living in one of the new houses would help for now the new houses are far outnumbered by the thousands of tents. the bright al-jazeera city southern philippines. says a come on the program barbarians away the outcome of the presidential election runoff the polling suggests a record low turnout and ten years after she was assassinated at a campaign rally we visit benazir bhutto's ancestral home to see how her legacy is firing.

hello in the latest change in temperature big storms formed in southern queens and i think this is they now offshore but more are building just up the well inland from the coast as massive cloud that runs up through melbourne and adelaide it sort of links up with the obvious swirl which is going to be the first cycle of the season and that was originally just almost a tropical depression off the coast and darwin on battlestar and they gave hundred fifty two hundred millimeters of rain so the potential is there and that's where it looks like it'll be on thursday might even come inland after that and link that cloud further south through south australia down towards vic to victoria which is just keeping temperatures in the middle twenty's at the moment is obviously hot in alice springs at forty degrees but the warmth is staying there for the time being that quite often we get a link of weather from australia to new zealand now as more of

a break to the east i think there will be a cloud brought up on to the east coast at least the north and that circulation offshore we maintaining seventeen to twenty degrees at least we are doing thursday on friday if you're lucky should warp a little bit so summer's quite pleasant to the moment whereas fairly obviously winter has tucked into stay in japan the vast amounts of snow have already fallen northern home shoot. water come. underground fire has been burning for over a century beneath india's largest coal field. now open cost mining has brought the flames to the sufis would devastating consequences for the local population. as communities are destroyed and thousand suffer from toxic fumes what lies behind this human and environmental disaster. people empower the burning city at this time

on al-jazeera. welcome back reminder of the top stories here in algiers there are eight workers have evacuated eighteen critically ill patients from the siege suburbs of syria's capital damascus france's president has called on saudi arabia to completely lift its blockade on yemen so aid can be delivered to millions of people on the brink of starvation and ukraine's president petro poroshenko has created ukrainian soldiers who were released by production separatists as part of a prisoner swap deal. i vary in president hopeful george waya says he's on track

for victory in the presidential election runoff but no results have been released so far the former football star is up against current vice president joseph block i . reports from the capital monrovia. liberia and sweet for the outcome of tuesday's runoff election many place what they call a peaceful vote vote counting is underway and the process of telling results trickling in from more than five thousand polling stations across liberia. there were. very small number to report where the incident occur and i should mention they have been dealt with on this but in most of these cases if not for the contest pits fifty one year old former football star. against seventy three year old joseph walker who's been the country's wise president for

the last twelve years but polling coincided with christmas and many chose to stay home observers say the tunnel was much lower than the fos round held in october. their literal commission says it will announce the results in four days it's what happens after and whether the losing side will accept defeat that has most liberians concerned. liberia is one we're not willing to destroy the woman and that will mean for us to go back to war for anybody to be president of this country and we will not do it we are going to have peace the children of this country need peace and they also want peace and we're going to call for whom ever we decide is president of liberia international observers to a calling for calm so everything was without. so the issues now when you know. if you when you celebrate are you celebrating where should be because you need to be president of everybody if you lose you also

served for the first time in more than seventy years this was not founded by freed american slaves we'll see one democratically elected government power to another whoever wins will inherit tonic or me but by fall in prices of liberia's main exports of rabat and i don't go on a forced depreciating currency in the past twelve years ellen johnson sirleaf has guided this country through the process of recovery from civil war on the horrors of a bull outbreak but you too has been criticized for not doing much to talk all poverty and corruption in hog government behind it all jazeera monrovia liberia. a palestinian teenager whose arrest earlier this month made headlines around the world has been released on bail by an israeli military court this image or found a alj an idea being blindfolded and detained by soldiers saying

a symbolizing the israeli army's use of excessive force the sixteen year old was right a challenge for throwing stones at the soldiers he will now be transferred to ramallah hospital for treatment. a car bomb has gone off near a military base in southern afghanistan fifteen people were wounded in the attack which happened in the city of lashkar gah a spokesman for the provincial governor says the suicide bomber targeted a military convoy and all but one of those wounded were soldiers the taliban has claimed responsibility. it's been ten years since pakistan's former prime minister benazir bhutto was assassinated as a campaign rally she was the first woman to lead a muslim country and a part of pakistan's most famous political dynasty come a high the has visited lacan the ancestral home of the protests see how her legacy is firing the. just order a group with a fifty eight year i will have the love of what they call the withstand the wave of

excitement was when the this is all happening at the compound of a washing mobility photo. first female prime minister who was affected eighty eight years ago but not beloved now leaving the focus on the first part. of the people of israel her grave has become a shrine and draws people from near or far to pay their respects who took on and you have i think the future did a state won't have any enduring and this day is a gift from god to reunite us every year through our later been as the abuser paid the price but her mission and vision will continue she is always with us in our hearts and minds and will be remembered for his services for the a priest class of the country for the pakistan people's party they say feed as proof of its privileges popularity bilawal bhutto has just entered politics and is also the

party's new. baby believe the party were to spare dr better against killing but actually it's a stronger. contrary most. people. are the people who are country who are long. introduced time want to remake it because chairman banal would do the research. country doing. near. zero the people of central bridge have always supported the family and many here today don't like it you change any time soon in fact a short board on the anniversary of bases if that is the best. there is for join the forty and that for tip the balance in their favor. the ultimate price for pakistan and for democracy according to our party of court already

a real gauge for progress on people's party will come and the next general election in view in the middle of. it will be the day that the facts will come out on the ground and redrill prove whether this party if. that's supported one had come all either al-jazeera cardiff or the box larkana. south korea says a deal with japan to settle the decades long comfort women disappears fails to meet the victims needs dozens of protesters gathered outside the foreign ministry in seoul to denounce the twenty fifteen agreement japan has agreed to set up a nearly nine million dollars fund to help korean women who were forced to work in japanese military brussels' during world war two but survivors say they want direct compensation. presently a baby is affected by the virus well need a lifetime of care according to a new reports and now going into total is but many of their families say there has

been little government help al-jazeera is john home and reports from resi fay. two years after the zeke epidemic brazil in the world has moved on but not germs and elisei still here. she's one of almost three thousand babies who were born with microcephaly an underdeveloped head and brain caused by the majority like police say were in the north east of the country you know we're now does era first visited receive thing in two thousand and six thing and i just said the government was yet to help for them let's was changed to match ali's. i know the government has cut assistance for a few families i know some of them in my case i've never received anything it's been more than two years and we haven't got a thing. he leases medicine is so expensive the family's income can't cover it they

have to rely on donations from friends niger nurses have around the clock but her conditions getting worse i've seen the mill caught up in the morning i don't have too much hope from the bottom of my heart is hard for a mother to say that but i can imagine allison ten years time in fifteen years time i don't dream about it that is why i like to make things happen today. as it is. elise a and others eco effected children receive receive free rehabilitation from a foundation partly funded by the government but it's overwhelmed one hundred fifty is stuck on the waiting list all the time getting deeper amazed in the semi blindness and muscle stiffness that typifies the condition wife camilla ventura says they need more funds we try not to let people forget about seeka and because you know we still have all these children and we still have a burden and it's and it's involves the government but also

a public health. issue that has to be address and never forgotten the government says that it hasn't forgotten as well as engaging in a massive campaign to eradicate them with skates so which currency seek a virus it since we're investing about fifty million dollars in rehabilitation centers like this one and next year it's promised eight million dollars more. at a christmas party for children with rare diseases we met not to again with of the mothers who say they haven't seen enough money they feel they're struggling alone enjoying small moments in the midst of a lifelong battle for them and their children. john home and i would desire to receive a resume. don says in columbus third largest city have celebrated christmas with their annual salsa parade it's anonymous with a spirit of kali and they said his residents have come together to dance through

the night as under m.p.'s reports on the rhythm in the wells salsa capital. it might have been born in new york to be a cuban where but latin america's most famous rhythm is truly at home in colombia third city the self-titled world capital where the dance is celebrated with a huge parade on christmas day. this time under a heavy rain that's about a continuous flow that sounds so for the counting noses everything look at us totally drenched we love we are showing it once more today. we live and it's all idiosyncrasy fifteen hundred then cers parades through the. demonstrating cali's unique acrobatic style feat move the only extreme pace to the frantic beat as dancers skip and turn. kelly both over one hundred south schools attracting an

increasing number of foreign aficionado's still going to look at what makes kelly special is its people's unique passion for dance salsa dance almost everywhere in the world but only here people with such little means do so much to get here dancers train all year to be chosen for the parade and dream of one day reaching the world's also championship sixteen year old method says that for many poor becoming a dancer is a way to make a living and change stereotypes i know that. this is where we become more than kids from the ghettos we get associated with drug trafficking and prostitution but that's not who we are we dance for ourselves and for our image we work long hours stay out from the streets take care of our wellbeing all our free time all our effort is for dance. this is sort of almost part of the cali fare for steve it is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary it's the one time of the year when all calais

new is deeply divided between rich and poor come together to celebrate and then through the night. that started well will be a great way out for your efforts are well beyond. just the energetic that were left out for. trying to keep the. world south second capital might sound like a bold claim but seeing a news dance you can't help but think it's true i listen. now to a towering achievement in israel that spain a whole year and a half a million bricks in the making a group of lego infuse eos have built a world record thirty six me to hightower it was launched by teachers an eight year old oh messiah who died of cancer in twenty fourteen and used to build lego towers jury is a less. quick

reminder of the top stories and as iraq aid workers have evacuated at least eighteen critically ill patients from a besieged suburb of syria's capital damascus united nations has been calling on the syrian government to allow some five hundred critically ill people to leave eastern ghouta for months the area has been under a tight government siege since twenty thirteen subjected to hundreds of airstrikes and artillery attacks before wednesday's transfers could be completed several people died waiting for help including a six month old baby and he said there is the spike spokesperson for the international committee for the red cross in syria she says there are many people inside eastern ghouta in desperate need of evacuation but declared an operation the number should be twenty nine people don't ration is still ongoing and maybe it might take a couple more days and we actually need to get it with you know. it's

very hard for us to know right now when and how we're going to do all we can in order to speed up the losses france's president has urged saudi arabia to lift the blockade on yemen the blockade which has been in force since october is limiting supplies of fuel food and medicine says he's concerned about the humanitarian crisis in the amman where millions of people are on the brink of famine parts of yemen are also in the grip of a cholera outbreak. the ukrainian president petro poroshenko has greeted ukrainian soldiers who were released by pro russian separatists they were freed us part of a prisoner swap between the government and rebels in ukraine's war torn east they exchanged happened near the city of horlivka which is mainly controlled by the pro russian separatists. the philippine government is setting up hundreds of new

shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by fighting and flooding in their always city the army we took the area from fighters linked to iceland not after five months each only for tropical storm have been to sweep through the city . those are the headlines to stay with us on al-jazeera people and power is next. as another year draws to an end we'll take you around the world to find out what's expected in twenty eight he. joins us for a series of special reports as we assess the potential global impact of what's to come. but underground far has been burning for over a century the need to use lodges.