we're entering. as a 2nd massacre a day after the west attack and recently has killed more than 100 people. hello again i'm the star and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up syria's war reaches a critical moment as government forces intensify their assault in the last rebel held problem. 16 people killed in the philippines after typhoon pan phone calls the havoc with strong winds and heavy rains plus. 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 home i'm stephanie decker in southeastern baghdad basher will be looking at those questions coming up. now but is mourning the dead from 2 attacks in just the past 48 hours at least 10 soldiers were killed when they were ambushed on wednesday night in song province that's near mollies border and on choose day a coordinated attack on an army base and a nearby town killed more than 100 people including the gunman who launched the assault has more details and a warning that some viewers may find pictures in his report to stopping. officials and say these are the bodies of some of the men who attacked the positions of civilians in the malls. 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 what 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 the populations that is why all flags will fly at half mast for 2 days and all christmas celebrations are cancelled. although 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 clearly in military bases bases facilities for example i've cos it's

not going to be hosting terror training camps so they are playing in the global war on terror out and absolutes are receiving 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 more than brooklyn a fossil was a response to this new offensive bricking a fossil has seen many attacks in the past 5 years that killed more than 700 people with have a 1000000 forced from their homes the crisis in northern mali has worsened bricklin as security problems with floods is affiliated with al qaida and i still regularly cross the border to launch attacks. kill a fossil is due to hold its presidential elections in 20 quid and president michael boring ones to restore peace before the vote but it's not clear if his army is up to the task of a decrease al-jazeera object. or david us has

a counter terrorism expert at global risk international and he says experienced foreign fighters and became a faster have both stand local on to grapes. of the african states in the sahara region for example had a lot of foreign fighters who traveled 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 they are 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 its kind of narrative so that it's also a fix in the fight in the tactically what the jihad these groups are been doing is to is to make sure that they keep the most military on the offensive most of the attacks have been against hard military targets you know the french lost about 14

of the french servicemen in mali just recently so i think the cracks within the military a significant factor but mind you you can't win the war just by using the military tactics alone within the region. now tens of thousands of syrians fleeing into as russian backed government forces close in on that last rebel held province the renewed ground an air offensive has now seen more than 40 villages recaptured by the syrian government many syrians are on the river north towards the turkish border for now syrian government forces are focused on capturing the town of marjah and that sits on the strategic m 5 highway monitor has more from an attack on turkey's border with syria. there's no letup in the most exodus 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 brushing and syrian forces on. the airstrikes shelling and but obama talks on it lip appears designed

to do just that push people out on them now cornered with nowhere else to go. you know i will not stop tomorrow may god take revenge on all those who caused this what if we done to deserve this what have we done i plead to god for mercy god to punish them for displacing us with cous and all of those humiliating us for god's sake with being buried alive. long queues of cars and trucks loaded with people's belongings i had to move to the turkish border crossing our official comes for the displaced fool 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 techies aid workers say they're doing all they can to help. how to bake it even by the charity i object it's tough walk around the clock to bake bread for the ever increasing number of

displaced citizens the shutdown of the rental conditions our diet we are providing down with top mules bread accommodation and heating materials but the families have so many means. syrian government forces advancing towards the strategic city. as they push deeper into the northwest and the problems but out to no money is on the m 5 highway assad's forces are determined to cut in order to reopen that route linking the couplet of damascus with the city of aleppo syria's largest just like the rest of it live problems but i didn't know a man had been out of food 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 visited and i know mostly when i've come in 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 don't cut or come or tumble a new group should you fall on its own a spokesman for the tuckers president now say is their boss russia for us ceasefire to avoid the must suck off 'd civilians in toms and villages with tekken by syrian government forces but washes deploy involved in the operation in libya keen to help its cover the last bit of territory under the control of rebels it's not clear if the technician plea will be heard mohamed on the wall just zita on talk. well not to his family as the director for the center for middle east studies at the university of denver and he says russia is calling the shots 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 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 now 16 people have been confirmed dead after a typhoon tore through the central philippines typhoon pacifying made landfall in the eastern province of some on should stay with gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour more than $4000.00 people were evacuated well earlier i spoke to richard gordon who is the chairman of the philippine red cross and he told me that the christmas storm shows the typhoon season in the philippines is becoming longa. about 25000 people on that link the question to be i am sure extern did think of a crime sentiment. going to the violence a lot of houses have been damage to the coast of africa in particular you have on the coast of various moving about maybe 2000 plus over and then flooding in the ivan the finite but given the indictment of people healing. and also in the border 'd so you have a lot of the was affected by not will power. saudi air so does not the power of the

now and i want to in effect and there are about maybe have a funny evacuation centers with many of them will have the bans on all but not going to extend 4 the pressure because this comes after another type one that the best guess about a couple of weeks it was going to be that dug in more but there have been said to me out there how young had not been the you know this area where teach them is supposed to be on its closing. but the bunch of really has to change it's like the in the member at the time where the big bang belongs even in january now it's on the back of the whole year after the event months in a year to get the precise will. get bored and people are always prepared and were doing that their degree and given the time and certainly we have i represent hard times mine many of these weapons are sent into blank lines in the towns so. we have

our hands full on a beano is in the new line he says travis and likely to remain stuck for several days. we're outside the main port the off manila where traditionally over the holiday season thousands of passengers wait to board their respective passenger ferries going back to their provinces in different islands in the philippines now christmas is a very important occasion for this predominantly catholic country and as you can see families are waiting here they've got their packages here but they've had to spend their christmas eve here because this is here this type of phone or locally no one else ursula made landfall in the central region of the philippines on christmas eve and that has grounded all types of travel in the country and so here they are this is where they spent their christmas eve they've only had food

that's been given to them by the philippine coast guard and you have children here who have basically nowhere to sleep and they have nowhere to bathe and they're saying this is has been a very difficult christmas for them i don't look at me at night i'm very sad and i've been crying for days i told my child that i can't do anything they did not let us board the ferry because there's a typhoon and we understand that. my new wife wants us to be too good to be here and there's nothing that we can do now the situation here isn't unique across the country in different ports thousands more are stranded and it is likely that they will remain stranded until the typhoon leaves the philippines the passengers here tell us that they have not been assured that they can leave immediately assoon as the typhoon leaves the philippines they've also been told

that it is likely that it will be one more week before they can actually get on their fareast go back to their provinces so it is likely that they. we'll be spending new year's here as well. well still ahead on out as there are thousands of iranians are hospitalized by skyrocketing levels of apparition why u.s. sanctions considering cuts. i'm alan fischer in mexico city with the paintings gathered over hundreds of years from people giving time to what they see as an act of divine intervention. to welcome back to international weather forecast with the big story here across the middle east is the big storm coming into the eastern mediterranean very very

heavy rain and flooding to turkey syria as well as down towards lebanon as well so unfortunately the news is not very good over the next few days heavy rain will continue here on thursday winds will still be a major problem also as we go towards friday finally as we go towards friday the rain starts to end here along the coast but we will be seeing some very heavy snow in the higher elevations down towards quite city though it is going to be a nice day with a temperature of $23.00 also nice across much of the gulf here temperature doha though with plenty of sun in the forecast is going to be $24.00 but watch what happens down across much of the arabian sea we do have a developing system possibly that's going to bring some clouds for parts of amman but over here towards somalia we could be seeing some rain developing by the time we end the weekend and then across the parts of southern africa things are not looking too bad most of the clouds are pushing away but down here towards the cells for cape town we do expect to see a frontal boundary pushing in here on thursday that's going to bring some rain for cape town with a temperature of about $1000.00 degrees and that rain by the time we get to friday

is going to be affecting parts of durban as well as johannesburg where the temps there of 29 degrees for you. a city defined by military occupation bismillah been an arab state he with the capital of jerusalem everyone is welcome but the structure of the mint is because only project does what we diffuse it was one of the sound of a settlement with this and the story of jerusalem through the eyes of its own people segregation occupation discrimination injustice this is apartheid in the 21st century jerusalem our rock and a hard place on al-jazeera. hello

again i missed as a reminder of our top stories this hour back in a fast i was mourning the dead from 2 attacks in just the past 48 hours at least 10 soldiers were ambushed and killed on wednesday night in some province near mollies border that followed cheers days coordinated attack on an army base and a nearby town which killed more than 100 people. thousands of syrians continue to flee the last rebel held stronghold of as a government offensive there intensifies they have taken control of dozens of towns in the last week. and 16 people have been confirmed dead after a typhoon tore through the central philippines typhoon patted her and made landfall in the eastern province of samarra on tuesday with gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour. wildfire has destroyed an estimated $150.00 homes in chile and injured

a dozen firefighters the fire started in a forest near valparaiso west of the capital santiago and then quickly spread into residential areas a red alas is in place in the port city shell about us reports. a neighborhood wiped out by a wildfire that tore down from the hills of. christmas eve. i live over there and my house was burnt my cousins and uncles were relatives in the 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 isom said a skate 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. 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 1st coming here and there's my mom's house down this government official survey where the blaze began speculating it had been started deliberately. there is evidence being investigated by the prosecution and police

investigators are carrying out all the due diligence to find possible responsibility and if prevented him and the highest penalty. for its residents who are paying the penalty homeless sleeping in school buildings clearing out woods leafed to start again. iraq's largest parliamentary bloc has nominated assad l.a. donny to be the next prime minister danny has been governor of the oil rich province of 2017 the shia candidates appointment has been rejected by iraqi protesters who are calling for an independent candidate so manifold tain is in baghdad and she explains why it's taken so long to nominate a candidate. well he has now officially been nominated by the iranian backed corelation which was the cleared 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 coalition 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 barham salih requests for clarification to the iraqi speaker of parliament who don't confirm that it is indeed benign now in terms of the options going forward for the president he cannot challenge the speaker of the parliament on which is supposed to be nominating but what he can do is actually reject the can . put forward on the grounds that this may not be a candidate that 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. now thousands of people have been hospitalized across iran because of severe air pollution in the capital schools and universities have been

ordered shut for one week and people with respiratory problems want to stay inside the government has rejected suggestions that quality fuel is to blame as a bike reports from tehran. schools and kindergartens have been closed for a week children and people with respiratory problems have been told to stay. just surrounded by a mountain range which can truck. 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. 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 i guess. 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 old dominion look if it's not fuel the most is it maybe there are natural factis but the major reason is the lead in all 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 they are wearing a mask and compre they will talk pollution is also taking its toll on the health service is more people being treated in hospital for breathing problems strasse than south for the life more than 60 percent of cars in 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 if we were not under sanctions we could easily import quality spare

parts and get rid of the situation 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 of smog iranians are not only concerned about the health implications of the pollution but also that is robbing them of the idyllic skyline beg al-jazeera the iran. now with 29000 coming to a close al jazeera is looking ahead to the stories shorter make headlines in 2020 in the 1st of our series we examine the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees living in camps in bangladesh despite recent efforts to bring charges of genocide against myanmar 427000 military crackdown there's still no guarantee the ring get can return home stephanie decker reports 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 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 trust 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 young children the whole lot i mean he was what i was attacking living here now for almost 2 and a half years somehow we're managing and for that you're really grateful to all those who were 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 conti 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 of the families of some of the world's capital cities but we're everyone has a story of tragedy and trauma it seems the world is simply accepted that this is just the way it is this fall slansky of refugees hidden away in for southeastern 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 in the running a refugee camps of southeastern bangladesh for 2020 or so marks 5 years of conflict in yemen a war that has killed thousands and displaced more than 3000000 people and part 2 of our series on next year's biggest stories al-jazeera examines the prospects for peace there that's coming up on friday december 27th. right now the last solar

eclipse of the decade is taking place you're watching a live view now from thailand it's currently visible across southern and southeast asia after a pass through parts of the middle east the phenomenon occurs when the moon's orbit passes over the sun and casts a shadow on the earth schools are shut in many parts of oman as a precautionary measure to ensure that students avoid directly watching the some experts say exposure to the sun without ultraviolet i guess can harm eyesight. well it's a mexican tradition and depictions of divine intervention for hundreds of years artists have captured the moment they felt their prayers were answered and today the sometimes surreal works are popular as pieces of art from mexico city out of there as alan fischer reports. they are from the devote the pious and the grateful a thank you mark in recovery good fortune or success in mexico they are 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. the idea of giving gifts and things 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 alfredo veal chits from a small studio in a working class area 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 solace 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 the people give thanks for many things recovery from illness a man being released from prison after 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. for the full as an x. photo painter i hear many stories but my favorites are love stories given thanks for having found the love of their life because his partner came back when she thought it was over. nice because the films are nice they're 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 for those who live nearby for those who want a permanent reminder of the day when the prayers were answered alan fischer mexico city.

hello again this is al jazeera and these are the headlines but in a faster is mourning the dead from 2 attacks in just the past 48 hours at least 10 soldiers were ambushed and killed on wednesday night in sindh province that's name ali's border and that followed tuesday's coordinated attack on an army base and a nearby town which killed more than $100.00 people including the gunman who launched the assault violence has surged since the government launched an offensive in november as a better dressed explains from a bridge or many believe the recent attack in more than brigade a fossil was a response to this new offensive brooke you know fossil has seen many attacks in the past 5 years that killed more than 700 people with have a 1000000 forced from their homes the crisis in northern mali has worsened security problems with fighters are clear to them and i still regularly cross the border to launch attacks thousands of syrians continue to flee the last rebel held stronghold of. government forces have taken control of dozens of towns in the last week and

are now pushing towards manzoni man which lies on a key highway 16 people are confirmed dead after a typhoon tore through the central philippines typhoon pan phone made landfall in the eastern province of samarra on tuesday with gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour and since weakened and crossed into the south china sea but thousands of people remain stranded after flights were grounded and ferry service is halted. the lost soul a clips of the decade is currently taking place you're watching a live view right now from thailand it's currently visible across southern and southeast asia after it passed through parts of the middle east the phenomenon because when the marines orbit passes over the sun and cost a shadow on the earth well those are the headlines the news continues here on out as they're off to witness. what kind of care does that provide and is anyone willing to pick up the cost we'll bring you the stories and developments

that are rapidly changing the world we live in so is it possible for trump to actually obliterate the. counting the cost on al-jazeera. getting a more.