private. public. on al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera. jordan this is the news hour live from coming up in the next 60 minutes tens of thousands of people flee northern syria as government jets continue to bomb the rebel held in that province. turkey seems to miss is held to secure a cease fire in libya days after the military support to the un recognized government in tripoli. festivities in flames in the port city of. recall the horrific wildfire that reduced their homes to lashes on christmas eve plus. it

is a city of refugees stretching as far as the eye can see what does the future hold for these or are they any closer to going home i'm stephanie decker in southeastern bangladesh will be looking at those questions coming up. tens of thousands of syrians are fleeing it lived provinces russian backed government forces close in on the last rebel held province they were new ground an air offensive has seen more than 40 villages recaptured by the syrian government but many syrians are on the move north towards the turkish border but turkey's president has warned his country cannot cope with another influx of refugees for now syrian government forces are focused on capturing the town of mud out on the money which sits on these to teach em 5 highway mohammad the dough has more now.

from montauk you're on turkey's border with syria. there's no letup in the mosque exit out of civilians from serious loss to the rebel held strong. tens of thousands of rushing to its the turkish border scrambling to escape the aerial onslaught from russian and city and forces on. the asterix shelling and but obama talks on it lip appears designed to do just thought push people out on them now cornered with nowhere else to go. you know all of salt. my god take revenge on all those who caused this what have we done to deserve this what have we done i plead to god for mercy be god to punish them for displacing us because in all of those humiliating us for god's sake we have being burned alive. long queues of cars on trucks loaded with people's belongings i had that most of the techies border crossing of bubble how awful calms for the displaced off food

forcing the new displaced to set up camp in the open here they bomb shops and tweaks to stay warm in the biting winter weather techie's aid workers say they're doing all they can to help to bake yvonne by the charity i a judge it's tough walk around the clock to bake bread for the ever increasing number of displaced citizens to share some of the winter conditions our diet we are providing down with me was bread accommodation and heating materials but the families have so many needs. syrian government forces advancing towards the strategic city. as they push deeper into the northwest and the problems but out to no man is on the m 5 highway assad's forces at the time and took up chaitin over 3 open that route linking the couplet of damascus with the city of aleppo syria's largest just like that arrest of it live problem is now. that unknown man had been

a refuge for city in families who fled other areas damascus had it captured during the 8 and a half year civil war it's now almost bizarre the normalcy we have gotten i fled from a sorry 2 years ago after the destruction of our homes since then i have been forced to flee with my family 3 more times and here we are again the new fighting comes despite an agreement in august by the leaders of turkey russia and iran to commit to this collision efforts in the area the techies president of egypt tabor do on how to put that to say them kyra come all tunnel a new group should you fall on its own a spokesman for the turkish president now say is their boss russia for us ceasefire to avoid the must suck off civilians in towns and villages with tekken by syrian government forces but russia's deploy involved in the operation in italy keen to help its ally recover the last bit of territory under the control of rebels it's

not clear if the turkish player will be heard mohamed on the wall just zita untuck it was not a hashimi is the director of the center for middle east studies at the university of denver he says russia is the most dominant player in the syrian conflict. turkey rightly argues that they have roughly 4000000 syrian refugees that they've hosted already they can't take it anymore and the turkish government's position seems to be this needs to be a global collective problem in other words europe and the west needs to step up and provide some humanitarian relief but in the meantime while these back and forth accusations are taking place you know we're witnessing literally a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the early months of winter and it's and it's another moral outrage that that we're being subjected to russia really is in the driver's seat because russia for the last roughly 3 to 4 years is heavily

invested militarily in this part of syria while turkey is not so russia basically is calling the shots while all that turkey can do is call for more cease fires more diplomacy while russia sets the terms of what's happening in syria by virtue of its military offensive they effectively are you know in charge of this is unfolding crisis. meanwhile turkey's president reza typo and has made an unannounced trip to tunisia to discuss ways of bringing stability to neighboring libya uncorrupt has offered military support to the internationally recognized government in its fight against the warlord only for have to know what a blow our head has more now from tripoli. turkey's president through a ship tell you how to do when landed in tunis to discuss trouble is brewing in next door in libya and encourage it to need his new president to help secure a ceasefire dylan says the internationally recognized government in tripoli has yet

to request that turkish troops intervene in the conflict. because. we are not guests without an invitation and if it comes we shall look into it we are in constant communication with them however we should raise an issue the forces president libya more than $5000.00 troops from sudan what are they doing there we should ask why are these forces present in libya a request was made to turkey and that's why turkey answered the call based on the agreement related to our economic zone we have signed agreements to rely on and our moves are based on legality and lawful forms however the other foreign troops have no legality to be present on libyan soil in addition have to are is not a legitimate representative of the libyan people. forces loyal to the world lord khalifa haftar are bringing the fighting closer to the capital as turkey sends its a troops and with russia backing to have to his forces the next few weeks could prove crucial for libya they are now the 2 key dynamics that will determine whether

in mediation takes place because have to believe that international apathy towards what he's doing in libya backing from france paralyze the e.u. the u.a.e. giving him the weapons you know egypt giving him not just ticks he believes that the world is telling him we're willing to accept a military victory provided you can clean up tripoli quickly and this is why how it is attacking tripoli but if he finds that this war with this battle which is already taking 8 months is becoming protracted and now turkey sending troops and now there's all this fuss in the mediterranean it may well be that the international unity comes in and says look after you had 8 months to really trouble say look i turned a blind eye to it i called you an ally in terrorism you couldn't take tripoli we're very sorry about this but it's not time now to go to mediation it's about how long the d.n.a. can ask beyond turkey and russia all the conflict has a growing number of international backers playing a rule both in fighting and efforts towards mediation his recent military cooperation with libya as you and that the government has been criticized by some

regional and international coalition but president of the vans has turkey deals with libya's legitimate government while the other countries back in her 3rd are dealing with illegitimate institutions that are there were his elders here are putting. security forces in between a fast around a dozen soldiers have been killed in the ambush the attack took place in seung province part of the volatile region and comes just a day after the country suffered one of its deadliest ever attacks but 2 days of national mourning was declared after a raid in the same region killed 35 civilians warning some viewers may find the following images an interesting report disturbing. officials in brooklyn a fossil say these are the bodies of some of the men who attacked positions and civilians in the north the military says it killed at least 80 of the attackers.

it's one of the worst attacks by armed groups since 2014. this attack on a restaurant in work a degree 2017 killed dozens of people. the government of booking a fossil has declared 2 days of national mourning for victims of tuesday's attack well since. we have to think about solidarity and national cohesion people women for the most part were getting water and got murdered in cold blood by the terrorists while they were retreating we must show compassion with a population that is why all flags will fly at half mast for 2 days and all christmas celebrations are cancelled. all of there are thousands of international forces in west africa sail region the violence has increased in the past form and there are fears of more attacks the same guy can't leave the major role in the glow of terror he clearly in military bases joint base is facilities for example i've cos it's not going to be hosting terror training camps so they are playing

a part in the global war on terror and as a result i receive in the backlash for contribution in november the army launched a new offensive against local and foreign armed groups operating in the country. many believe the recent attack in northern brooklyn a fossil was a response to this new offensive bricking a fossil has seen many attacks in the past 5 years they've killed more than 700 people with half a 1000000 forced from their homes the crisis in northern mali has worsened working as security problems with fighters accumulated with al-qaeda and i still regularly cross the border to launch attacks. fossil is due to hold its presidential elections in 20 could and president ones to restore peace before the vote but is not clear if his army is up to the task of public increase al jazeera a project. or david autor was

a counterterrorism expert at global risk international he says but enough fast as government can't win the fight against armed groups with military force alone. unfortunately yes we are more likely to see a lot of instability not just in booking of hussle but in the entire look takuma region which encompasses mali and the jet but also i think we would also have the same kind of trend in the live chat region where you have to poke around islamic state of west african province faction so i think you know the collapse of the physical islamic state you know has led to a massive flow through porous borders of experienced jihad based who have now you know were found a safe haven and a much more fit hard ground for them to recruit and run what i call a sword to islamic state within the region and they've taken advantage you know as you know where we've seen. the porosity of the borders and the instability within

the region you remember in 2012 the french launched operation back in which was you know to actually drive the as what he had the east from from a bamako but that has trickled down to booking a facile which also has a governance issue and porosity you know within the region so i think this is a great consent especially with the fact that you don't just have the g 5 so hell you also have the motor national joint task force you know within new and chad are members of that force of including nigeria and benny and then you have the french you know coming up with this operation tuku but which is going to be run by the european union in 2020 this is going to be a disaster for the region to be honest i think one of the growing confidence and capabilities is the fact that most of the african states in the sahara region for example had a lot of foreign fighters who travel to iraq and syria the states within that region did not take note of all these foreign fighters now they've come back

through libya and the exploiting the poor fighting within the region you know they're taking advantage of the lack of coordination. between countries you know irrespective of the fact that they have the g 5 so hell so i think you know that's one of the issues there and the local population is not buying into the government's idea of it's count up the narrative so that it's also affecting the fight instead of course you know tactically what the jihad these groups have been doing is to is to make sure that they keep the most military on the offensive most of the attacks have been against had military targets you know the french lost about 14 of the french men in mali just recently so i think the crux within the military is significant factor but mind you you can't win the war just by using the military tactics alone within the region. lots more to come on the news hour including critics fear more discrimination against muslims in india as the government plans for a population register. thousands of iranians are hospitalized by skyrocketing

levels of pollution while u.s. sanctions could be to blame. for the financial planning of an english teams and part. of a football club. iraq's largest parliamentary bloc has nominated assad to be the country's next prime minister but despite governing the oil rich province about 2017 the shia candidate has been rejected by iraqi protesters who are calling for an independent candidate his nomination comes off the prime minister. resigned last month under pressure from government protests more than 450 people have been killed in demonstrations which of group to rock since october with protesters calling for a complete overhaul of the political system well some of the fault in is in baghdad

she explains why it's taken so long to nominate a candidate well he has now officially been nominated by the back. which was declared the largest bloc in parliament we've seen many names floated throughout the past 3 weeks but this was the 1st time that representatives of the nation actually met with president to officially hand over the nomination now much of the delay that we've seen throughout the past weeks has been because it was not exactly clear who is the largest bloc in parliament president had requests for clarification to the iraqi speaker of parliament who don't confirm that it is indeed now in terms of the options going forward for the president he cannot challenge the speaker of the parliament which. he can do is actually reject they can be. has put forward on the ground fred this may not be a candid this is acceptable to the street and this may not be acceptable to the

other political parties because let's remember that the prime minister has to be a consensus candidate is accepted by all of the parties and as of now we're still waiting to hear their reaction especially from iran which is the bloc that is led by shiite cleric. or solid legal advisor to the national council for iraqi opposition he says the nomination will further escalate unrest in iraq. i think the offering of this. bus for the governor is in fact not only a disgrace but it's also a challenge to the protesters on the streets of iraq because they have made their demands quite clear that they do not want anybody who was involved individual political process sister 1003 to date now we have this gentleman who has been accused by the people of us or of themselves of not developing this city of also corruption and of very much leniency towards neighboring iran i think we are

heading in any of that towards an escalation of these protests i've said this before we may see an escalation from the level of protest around to a level of revolution whereby. whereby protesters from all over iraq would gather in baghdad in order to force a change in government all of the uprooting of the entire government i certainly hope that all of this will stay peaceful because if it doesn't then we are going to have a catastrophe on our hands however i think what what's what's happening at the moment is a said a continuous challenging to the will of the protesters i don't think that the government will succeed in any of that by submitting to the will of the political parties within parliament and that's exactly what's happening on the news a government is allowing or the there is an allowance of a nomination by political parties which is rejected outright by the professors from the start so any nomination that comes from these the difficult parties is rejected

so i don't see why they are nominating i think they should start listening to the streets they should start this in to the demonstrators by nominating somebody who is completely independent somebody who is possibly an academic or of military background was not been involved in any corruption was not been involved in a major office within government to tell the story in order for the for these protests to start at least getting down. protests have been taking place in the indian capital new delhi against plans for a national population register the government's approved more than $500000000.00 in funding for the project but critics fear it could be used to further discriminate against muslims for the 1st time indians will be asked to share information about the birthplace of their parents and also have to give details of their identity documents for confirmation of the national register follows weeks of demonstrations over a new citizenship law which critics say discriminates it provides a pathway to citizenship for religious minorities but excludes muslims and as

a prominent was at one protest in the capital. in the capital in new delhi where people are continuing to protest the protests have been hit on by the government approving of this national population register the government says that is just part of the president's national population just over form the basis of the national register of. the country protesting against. that. now from a. continent. and here at this rally. now that there are protests against the citizenship act and the national register of citizens the government is using a back door in the form of the national population re just we know the economy is ravaged they destroyed the economy with the monetized the hiding that of it and the

lying about it to the people. but that he made. no protest at all over the country asking why the government is spending $500000000.00 on a population just when the economy is at the worst state in 6 years to this day. on the register 10 states. they want implemented citizenship to carry out the national register office for the government in getting some pushback from the around the country and one prevents the protests now that's approved funding for the national population by distance the protests and continued until the supreme court hears petitions again to citizenship no next month. will count on mondays i supreme court noir in the indian state of go ashore explains what impact the register will have on citizens the idea behind nationalists to citizens

who sort of identify. on the well or. demonstrate. in the us it is not the problem with this is that. in a country that is very very short of documentation and also somewhat short of interest this is disastrous because what happens is that you get what you get the electorate you get much later that tribal was left out was second 'd problem is that. course there is a lot discrimination against muslims in those men so there's something of a track all of those. at. the us citizens and i think to christian indeed any other religion but if you're muslim then you can't. be recognised and as

a member because that's the only reason left out. we will also seen in an arson process. so far that has been used. against muslims as well in that process although a lot and also considering what they are going to be all sorts of. and what do you think the diameter. now of 2019 coming to a close to al-jazeera is looking ahead to the story is sure to make headlines in 2020 in the 1st of our series we examine the plight of hundreds of thousands of rangar refugees living in camps in bangladesh despite recent efforts to bring charges of genocide against me in march for 27 military crackdown best tell no guarantee the rangar can return home to save us stephanie decker reports now from cox's bazaar in southeastern bangladesh. the forest is slowly growing back.

even starting to outgrow the huts it now shares these hills with this tree used to be the only reminder of the thick canopy cut down to make way for the hundreds of thousands of ringer who fled what you see here was a forest preserve 3 years ago it's taken a multinational effort by different agencies together with the bangladeshi government to host almost 900000 people on this challenging terrain but what happens now this is the 3rd year of the rowing go crisis the 1st year was all about saving lives and the 2nd year was about stabilizing the situation in the camp that you see and i would say about the 3rd year really has to be about preserving people's hold and their dignity for the year for the future and when we look at the hills of myanmar just over there that's where people want to go that's what they tell us they want to repatriate the multiple attempts to start a voluntary repatriation program this failed no one here trusts the me and my government will ensure their safety it hasn't allowed any observers to visit the

red areas and bangladesh has made it clear it can't host them forever. for the refugees there is a lot of time to think. it is the father of 3 of the children. that i was attacking living here now for almost 2 and a half years somehow we are managing and for that we're really grateful to all those who are helping us but we are deeply concerned about our children's future and their education although we are getting by but if we end up staying here longer than it is very likely our freedom of movement will be more restricted. there are already restrictions here during the contour of the camps nor access the main roads after dark and recently the military has started to build a fence around the camps perimeter the local bangladeshi population is also becoming frustrated with the refugees the situation is not sustainable in the long term but there seems to be little international pressure on me and more to change it it's almost 2 and

a half years on and still no one has been held to account for what happened to the rangar these camps are the thoughts of some of the world's capital cities but were everyone has a story of tragedy and trauma it seems the world the simply accepted that this is just the way it is this vast landscape of refugees hidden away in far south eastern bangladesh is simply a new reality it's a reality no one here wants to accept with their lives on hold everyone wants to go home. mean mars mountains can be seen from all across these camps but as things stand for now it may as well be a world away stephanie decker 0 in the running a refugee camps of southeastern bangladesh. now 2025 years of conflict in yemen the wars killed thousands and displaced more than 3000000 people and part 2 of our series on next year's biggest stories on jazeera examines the prospects for peace in the new year that's coming up on friday december 22nd. time for short

break here al-jazeera when we come back why the discovery of oil and gas reserves is stoking fears of a renewed conflict between israel and hezbollah. on the crest of a holiday of christmas has recognized in muslim majority so for the 1st time in 80 years and in sports it's a close shave for the skiing world cup santa will have the details in sport more in that state's. hello again welcome back to international weather forecast was quite chilly here across the central areas of china we are going to see the temperatures dropping for many locations where you are in the teens we are now expecting you to come down to about 7 degrees with the rain in your forecast by the time we do go towards thursday it only gets a little bit chilly or as we go towards friday with attempted there of about 5

degrees even hong kong you're coming down to about 21 by the time we get towards friday well for the philippines finally the typhoon will be moving away by the time we get towards thursday afternoon and into friday we have seen some very heavy rain across much of the area over the holiday week and we're going to be seeing some more rain probably on thursday friday will be a better day as a system makes its way to the south china sea we will be watching it as it makes its way towards the west for any potential interaction with vietnam as we go towards the end of the weekend as well down towards jakarta though it is going to be quite a rainy day for you with the temps are there of $31.00 degrees well across india there's plenty of clouds across much of the interior that is a few rain showers also incorporated in there. down towards the south for sri lanka it had much better weather fuel we are seeing some sun in the forecast for the time to there of about 30 degrees and by the time we do get towards friday it is going to remain dry at 29 and shinai at 29 as well. the weather sponsored by catherine. i thought this conviction that everyone has

a deep reservoir of tonic in the military and if you can give them the opportunity wonderful things start to happen sometimes the simplest sedition author missed and packed for. the main things that sets out 0 apart from other news organizations is that a lot of our reporting is about real people not about ideas or politicians or what they may want to do but how policy and how events affect real people is something it's ok something. a little complicated operations happen if this is not an act of creation and i'm going to move the office of the work you're doing here is amazing fanfare so many fossils and it feels like this is just. what was your relationship with normal for ok. this job isn't just about what's on a script or a piece of paper it's about what's happening right now. welcome

back a program about top stories here this hour thousands of people in syria continue to flee the country last rebel held stronghold of it as a government offensive intensifies more than 130000 people have left the area this month alone maybe many heading to the turkish border and took his president has made an unannounced trip. to push for stability in libya ankara's offered military support to the internationally recognized government in its fight against the war relief after all. and security forces in the around a dozen soldiers have been killed in an ambush in the northern soon province comes

just a day after $35.00 civilians were killed in the same province in one of the country's deadliest ever attacks. now the leaders of eritrea and ethiopia are meeting to revive stalled peace talks eritrean president of work arrived in the ethiopian capital addis ababa on wednesday where he held talks with prime minister abbey amid the 2 countries signed an historic peace agreement last year ending a 2 decade military standoff but uncertainty remains over economic cooperation and border crossings ugandan official says 7 eritrean football players have disappeared at the end of a regional tournament they went missing after their final game in uganda as capital kampala the players are the latest to defect from eritrea which has been described by human rights groups as one of the most tightly controlled regimes in the world well over the past decade dozens of eritrean players have disappeared or refused to return home in 201510 players refused to return after a tournament to qualify for the world cup in botswana and last october 5 players

disappeared in uganda in the middle of a regional meet are now eritrea as government is forcing footballers to pay a bond and surrender their property ownership documents before leaving the country but it's not just footballers every year tens of thousands of eritreans fleet may need to escape and forced military service and rights abuses well i will alow is a lecturer at kill university in england he explained why it keeps happening and what the prospects are for change. i think maybe because it had to ease one of the most impressive concerts in the world where there are you know why it's strange and because well nations rights. forces military conscription that is indefinite by nature and economy that is not going for society that is crazy creative and industrious by nature and people are leaving the country to avoid the harsh realities and also of the economic the provisions they face. but i think people who

have been observing the countries where hoping that a peace deal between. would hopefully you know on the brink of space. and give it a chance to have an active save the politics of the country never took the economy but unfortunately you know even after a peace deal has been reached and the chance of a major undertaking 20 asian with neighboring ethiopia with adverted their interest is continuing its practices. indefinite its national has remained in place where that is just the case to do so and i think this stage i think it's very difficult to see any hope why are the people in place for egypt to move forward. a wildfire has destroyed an estimated $150.00 homes in chile and injured a dozen firefighters the blaze started in

a forest. west of the capital of santiago and quickly spread into residential areas many were forced to flee their homes during christmas celebrations reports. a neighborhood wiped out by a wildfire that tore down from the hills a valid part of esau on christmas eve. i live over there and my house was burnt my cousins and uncles were all relatives in this street this is my mother's house that house was built by my father i was born here. the port town is renowned for its colorful wooden houses its lift is charcoal hundreds of residents spent christmas day sifting through the debris i sense that escaped the place. we were preparing dinner with the family with everything that had already happened in valparaiso with protests we were very sad because we could not work and now we have finally lost what we need to live and stay here. i managed to get the pets and the

t.v. out but i couldn't take more because the police took me away there was nothing more that could be done. the fire began on tuesday fanned by strong winds and a hot dry start to summer firefighters began a ground an aerial if it limit the destruction to move swiftly into the dance neighborhood that i don't know at least 60 homes have already been damaged and this number is likely to increase because many are in bad shape so it's difficult to come to these minutes. that number soon. residents of what they could before they were evacuated some using buckets of water to douse the fire annoyed i feel powerless because all the houses bring another fire is coming here and there's my mom's house down this government official surveyed where the blaze began speculating it had been started deliberately. as if any but the i'm going to feel there is evidence being investigated by the prosecution post investigators are

carrying out all the due diligence to find possible responsibility and if prevented him and the highest penalty. for now though it's residents who are paying the penalty harmless they're sleeping in school buildings clearing out what's left to start again charlotte dallas al-jazeera. residence in southern lebanon on thier another war between israel and hezbollah could happen in the last conflict in 2006 more than a 1000 lebanese civilians died and as tony berty reports now from the kora the discovery of oil and gas reserves in the waters disputed by lebanon and israel has raised the stakes. this should be productive farming land but south lebanon has been a war zone for 40 years and areas lie idle for the last 20 years it's been a battleground between israel and hezbollah are enemies separated only by a thin blue line of un peacekeepers. the armed group has amassed a huge stockpile of rockets and missiles that can reach as far as television but as

well as its military capability israel is concerned about has was growing power in the current lebanese political crisis. i don't think has a lousy financial. tranter a conflict with the israelis so i think they're not really in a position to enter a conflict at this stage but on the israeli side maybe israel will see an opportunity and launching a war and at this moment that's a constant fear in september there were heavy artillery and rocket exchanges between the 2 sides after an israeli drone attack it lasted only a day but underlined how fragile the peace is along the so-called blue line. the blue line stretches 120 kilometers about 20 kilometers of it is concrete war but most of it is open and easily cross a ball now in 2006 this was a battleground in the war between hezbollah and israel but the u.n. then was powerless to stop it wrong since then israel and lebanon have disagreed

exactly where the land and maritime border runs in some stretches this includes the zone called block 9 in a color rich oil and gas reserves have been discovered which are worth tens of millions of dollars and desperately important to lebanon's depleted economy on israel. claim that it has some part of it and we claim that it is fall under the lebanon according to these it's a part of the economy so in this case if israel objected and me and conducted an operation military operation against. the. the companies which are drilling. in this block i think that there will be a war. whatever the reason for a war the outcome is the same for the people of south lebanon they pay the human

price the village of kfar killer is right on the blueline it is under hezbollah control and the suffered many civilian casualties in the exchanges with israel especially in the last war 13. years ago. akhmed faqih is 84 years old and he remembers even as a boy hiding in olive groves to avoid israeli shells the prospect of war is a fact of life he says. either you live with the situation or you leave because some people are scared but the fears are not only from this border it's a general loree when you see the world on fire around you like syria and iraq conventional wisdom suggests that the won't be an immediate war but wisdom is something that has been in short supply in this volatile and unpredictable region for now most can only watch wait and hope tony berkeley al-jazeera nakoula southern lebanon millions around the world are celebrating christmas but in hong kong the

festive period has been marked by more violence between anti-government protesters and police demonstrators occupied a shopping mall and rally the streets around the busy shopping district and counting. gars a small christian community has held a mass in gaza city to mark christmas day this year very few gazans were granted permission to visit holy cities such as bethlehem and jerusalem the gaza strip has around a 1000 questions israel tightly controlled any movement out of the area francis has defended migrants and called for peace in his christmas message addressing the crowds gathered in st peter's square he highlighted conflicts around the world and condemned the persecution of christian minorities and went on to call for an immediate end to the war in syria. may christ bring his lights to the many children suffering from war and conflicts in the middle east and in various countries of the world may bring comfort to the beloved syrian people still

see no end to the hostilities that have lacerated their country over the last decade. the consciences of men and women of good will inspire governments and the international community to find solutions to guarantee the security and the care existence. in the region. that is suffering. for the 1st time since 2011 christmas has been officially recognized in muslim majority. it's transitional government wants to be forcibly of all religions. the sounds of the choir singing on christmas day this year has a different feel. as sudanese from a christian minority he says the muslim majority countries declaring the day an official holiday is a welcome change from the way things have been for the past 80 years.

in the past we felt like we were part of the people of this country we christians were treated as the lowest caste lower than all other religions but this year the government gave us recognition by making christmas an official holiday nationwide. so that's previous government stopped recognizing christmas after predominantly christian south sudan gained independence in 2011 christians make up about 5 percent of the 41000000 population and many have reported persecution in the past in september a transitional government was sworn in after months of political turmoil it has since appointed the 1st christian from the coptic minority to a position of power it's also called on minorities of other religions including jews who. have left the country to come back home many christians now say they feel part of the society for the 1st time signs of christmas can be seen beyond the pyramids of churches here and how to tomb and some markets like this one here so dance transitional government has pledged to be inclusive when it came to power in

august and this month the united states removed hard to him from its list of countries where religious freedoms are a threat a list it's been on for 20 years now minister the news here and abroad want to see just how far the government would go to keep its promises the government has also granted school holidays on sundays for christians some have criticized the recent wave of changes but the government insists it's determined to create religious equality. but that. we have to stand in equal distance from all religions to be able to create a more religiously tolerant country it's about being so the knees not the religion that you follow. christian leaders here say the changes will help bring unity in the way of living and to get a good thing. dividing people among themselves was done by political parties by political entities and the government unfortunately i hope they change it up and.

actually is a change. continue to change our way of doing things a lot of mentality and our way of dealing with one another. these worshipers now feel better able to worship how they want but this freedom is new they'll be hoping it lasts people morgan al-jazeera how to. talk on a short break here not just when we come back i'm alan fischer in mexico city with the paintings gathered over hundreds of years from people giving thanks for what they see as an act of divine intervention. and we hear from the liverpool camp as they refocus on their premier league title challenge after a worldcon can transform that standards. this is a boon for point people right now and technology there is so much going to help people it's from thanks for calling i read this is there and what are you looking

for today we get that wind with their day to day tasks and give them more independence and this was our goal to get that sure is a tomato exploration process was amazing and we have that technology available to us techno. and that's because technological and peace and not fluids and glue poverty to live side by side. in its 1st episode life lapse challenges canyon up developers to help small scale farmers cultivate a new future but can mobile phones really be the seed of change it's a starting point because it's already bold people to go live outside silicon savannah on al-jazeera.

welcome back now thousands of people have been hospitalized across a wrong because of severe pollution in the capital schools and universities have been ordered shut for a week and people with their spiritual problems want to stay indoors as the government's rejected suggestions that low quality fuel is to blame as a bag reports in the capital tehran. toxic smog hangs over the schools and kindergartens have been closed for a week children and people with respiratory problems have been told to stay indoors the sits at a high altitude and is surrounded by a mountain range which can trap polluted air the government says it's investing millions of dollars to reduce pollution but many here believe it's the quality of fuel in vehicles that's causing the problem the government insists it's not like

this is cooked in. the environment department earlier said that gasoline share in an air pollution is minimal the fuels type is not the issue the pollution created for example by nonstandard motorcycles as i'm told the pollution by a motorcycle is equivalent to 7 vehicles and we have many nonstandard motorcycles but on the streets of the city many are not convinced by getting bans in these bets the government should be kind to us and improve the quality of our fuel then we can breathe more easily you don't feel like you're breathing in oxygen at all nor lajon on your looks even if it's not fuel then what is it maybe there are natural factis such as inversion but the major reason is the lead in our kathleen. pollution is the daily story of children in tehran every night they are waiting to hear that schools are closed tomorrow this pollution is very serious look at people who are wearing a mask and calm breathe will talk pollution is also taking its toll on the health

service with more people being treated in hospital for breathing problems stressed that suffer for the life more than 60 percent of cars on the streets are older ones 20 years or more they should be replaced with new models these old cars are even worse than the new low quality types produced by domestic auto makers if we can replace these worn out old cars with hybrid or electronic cars we can get rid of this pollution or if we were not under sanctions we could easily import high quality spare parts and get rid of the situation that many in france say they have no choice but to live under this great cloud this time of year you should be able to see the snow capped mountains. but the behind back there of smog iranians are not only concerned about the health implications of the pollution but also that is robbing them of the idyllic skyline aside baig al-jazeera the iran. thomas port now his santa thank you very much reigning n.b.a. champions the toronto raptors came up sold to as they staged their 1st ever christmas day game in franchise history the league usually saves

a must see encounters for the 25th of december and this year it was no different to toronto playing host to the east a 2nd place team at the boston celtics janan brown was the standout performance he scored 30 points as the celtics took the game 118202. liverpool returned to english premier league duty on thursday after coming back from qatar as club world cup champions manager yogen club but takes his team to 2nd place leicester city liverpool go into the game at temple and to clear of leicester but they have experience of losing leeds before as they bid for 1st league title since 1990 we are not in the situation where we are in because we will be told things all before they are over we are not in the sense that there is rain because we didn't take each game we played so far 100 percent serious boys were always when

i was in focus and that's what we will be the premier league is now a world away for a club that twice won the f.a. cup and were the pride of the town near manchester area f.c. a were kicked out of the english league this season their tail a warning for other teams that could pay the price of financial mismanagement all desires lee wellings reports in part $2.00 of death of a football club. this should have been much diane berry the pictures be maintained in hope but there will be no match. after 134 years of existence bury f.c. is closed today. big clubs including manchester united feared giggling and the white shirts of barry at the turn of the 20th century the team won the famous f.a. cup twice while the big clubs got bigger very couldn't

keep up. was chairman tried but i was stretched themselves a familiar tale in modern football the controversial joining the liquidation process steve dial has stayed away from the town the people of barry are angry with him and at the english football league for expelling them but mainly they are heartbroken or almost grieving. and going through something to remember it all the good times and getting upset. so that's something i like about barry and especially grassroots football. we're not going to win every week zoe hitchens staged an exhibition of barry memorabilia every manchester i knew that there was no shortage of precious memories in the town bizarrely to collect. the given 40 years of support. for his look at race. back in february of 0.

well there is very big strong community. so everything is a mess in the unlucky in the old football. last really without wall were as big as man city money united. we've been a big club. too much money now in the snow sports anymore is just a business in the. area one of many english clubs who've had severe financial problems 10 kilometers away much to wanderers. survive these one of english football's glorious old clubs i nearly went out of business just a few months of guard barry were kicked out of the football league and were punished with points deducted but they were rescued when a buyer intervened just in time there's just something about. the sights the

smells. as being part of life. it's something hard just be taken away from. mark. and barry in crisis the 1st chairman. bad decisions left him with a lot of debt 2nd chairman steve dale i don't think he's sole was invested in the place and i don't think he was there for the right reasons is meant to have control over both of those people being able to run a football club for me they lost control of the both of those men footballers got to be protected and clubs like barry have got to be protected in the future because once they got in they gone peterborough were meant to be barry's opposition in league one on this particular saturday nothing special but it would have meant something. joy a halt in capsule lights bury football club you so much for coming. was a player here i'm too busy and manager she had raised awareness of the plight by

handcuffing ourselves to the club it means everything it's the grace of football community we're all. with a morning i've a town. definitely it's a day. and generations it will affect. you have to be a football really to understand that if they're thinking about is they know the death that we feel. over in bolton by school light so when then my. heart you know if you're at the yard where. you know i was a party and i really don't care what just but when i see a large ravens oh it's how i see him eventually they have to get. barry fans just want them marched back lee wellings al jazeera in the town of barry. now

and how not to be hit by a scare traveling at high speed car a says hits of it was hurtling towards the finish line at the and today this week landing counted in official casually strolling across the pills luckily there was no collision. we'll have more later on. sally thank you very much indeed now it's a mexican tradition depictions of divine intervention for hundreds of years artists have captured the moment they felt their prayers were being answered today the sometimes surreal works are popular as pieces of art from mexico city as alan fischer reports. they are from the devote the pious and the grateful a thank you mark in recovering good fortune or success in mexico they're called exotic paintings delivered to the church a devotion or gift after prayers were answered. with

those who wanted their story to be known ordered these little paintings they were made by artists that worked near the church and people told them their story and they would interpret it painted erode a few lines about it at the bottom of a painting. as you know. the idea of giving gifts in fact has been around for thousands of years and even as the surveys see the mexico is becoming less religious there are still those commissioning paintings to mark what they see as divine intervention. one of the artists most in demand is afraid of wheelchairs from a small studio in a working class syria in the west of mexico city he's been painting for more than 30 years he started after losing his job as a builder. i started doing what i thought i could do drawing in small pieces of paper cardboard in solet in sardine cans anywhere and at some point i want to sell them on the street and that was it it's difficult to start as an artist. people

give thanks for many things recovery from illness a man being released from prison after a cow he was accused of stealing turned up a prostitute who wanted more customers praying for someone to turn after the 911 attacks in new york. because it will as an ex voto painter i hear many stories but my favorites are love stories given thanks for having found the love of their life because this. partner came back when she thought it was over those are nice because the feelings are nice there are always 2nd chances or a lot of photos work is always in demand he said exhibitions in canada germany and even at the world famous lived in paris. but his greatest joy creating for those who live nearby for those who want a permanent reminder of the day when the prayers were answered alan fischer al-jazeera mexico city. oh it is of course not web site there it is on the screen the address al jazeera dot com that's al-jazeera that's it for me and jordan for this news i don't go away there because my colleague is up next with much more of

the day's news stay with us and thanks for watching. legally prescribe for the pain relief of the sick but taken in life threatening doses by millions in search of a fix. huge illegal shipments of the opioid tramadol are flooding the west that some. people in power goes to nigeria to investigate the devastating addiction epidemic that is even fueling the boko haram insurgency. west africa's opioid crisis on. day one of a new era in television news we badly need at this moment leadership and felt this encampment that we're in today it didn't exist 3 weeks ago now there's at least 20000 or hinder refugees who live here on al-jazeera i got to commend you all more

i'm hearing is good journalism business turns to the public has resigned after all the lies the attempts of cover ups jamal khashoggi his loved ones want some form of closure people are suffering and dying entire school systems collapsing feeling the beginning of a mass extinction we saw the syrian army like voice that high in the city just keep recording. it's a good 2 missiles a 100 meters away from the front line but it's not. happening. egypt's strongman is ruling with an eye on the silence from his allies is deafening . tradeoff for security. leaders turning a blind eye when even the citizens have fallen victim to his repression executions

torture censorship is not acceptable and you won't hear such strong words from let's say berlin or paris or london in cairo on al-jazeera. as a 2nd a day off to the west attack. and this is al jazeera live from cairo also coming up tens of thousands of people flee northern syria as government jets continues to bomb the rebel held province. and sweep through the philippines causing havoc with strong winds and heavy rains. it is

a city of refugees stretching as far as the eye can see what does the future hold for these are are they any closer to going hope i'm stephanie dock.