♪ syria's nationwide cease-fire is under threat. clashes break out near damascus and there are reports of government airstrikes. russia moves to expel 35 u.s. diplomats in a tit-for-tat move after washington lashes out at moscow for alleged electoral hacking. of turkey clears a draft constitutional amendments that would expand the president's

powers. they were able to give him unchecked rule. the headlines. thank you for joining us in the newsroom. i am molly hall. first draft -- despite as come nationwide truce that went into effect hours ago at midnight. in the past hour we are hearing of reports from the syrian observatory for human rights that says government warplanes have carried out several airstrikes in, province. the cease-fire was brokered by russia and turkey and marks the first time in decades a major middle east initiative does not include the united states. a regional correspondent, beth mckernan, is monitoring the situation for us. beth: we have getting new

reports of clashes between government forces and rebels in a valley near damascus. monitors reported that the government is -- has gunships to conduct a series of raids and officials say one person has been injured. we do not have any more word on casualties as of yet. it is a strategically important area. the syrian government launched an offensive to retake it because it contains a lot of the water supply. it is the latest incident in a series of clashes which mark a shaky start to the cease-fire. monitoring -- monitoring bodies say there have been multiple clashes. rebel officials also mentioned that forces that are allied to the syrian government have an unconfirmed

report. it goes to show how complicated the cease-fire is and how many moving parts are involved. it is too early to say how this is going to work. it is 13 hours in. some clashes are normal, but we need to hope they die down if the cease-fire will last long enough for peace talks to start. molly: that was our regional correspondent beth mccurn and joining us. i am joined by our international fears editor. we are hearing reports of a flareup outside of damascus and elsewhere in the country. we have seen previous cease-fire attempts fall through. >> over the last five years of this war in syria it has been impossible to make a truce stick. one remembers the truce brokered by russia and the united states the beginning of september, the fighting continued now as the

u.s. loses influence in syria, the upper diplomatic players, turkey, russia are taking the lead. even their cease-fire is riddled with bullets and these clashes we heard from our correspondent that --ascus, they show has not finished carving out a reump stated that he wants to control in any final peace deal. this is what was predicted to happen after aleppo fell earlier this month, they were expected to press on in order to consolidate what is called the useful syria and the rebels in those areas are not finished either. molly: let's say phase -- these are flare ups and the majority of the cease-fire remains, there are many obstacles before peace talks can be held. absolutely.

it is clear that russia and turkey have made a bargain and the result of that is the exclusion of syrian kurds from those peace talks planned in and theext month capital. i spoke to a european representative of the pyd, a syrian kurdish group and he was very concerned about this turkish-russian deal. he said the pyd has not been invited to us donna -- invited to astana. acceptsto me "if russia this exclusion than it would show that russia does not want a political solution for syria." he is very worried about this deal between the countries and the turkish pressure being pushed -- brought to bear to ask kurdish.o exclude the

he also said he hoped to the u.s. would see the reality on the ground after january 20 when donald takes office. in other words, that he will see the syrian kurds as a major asset in fighting isis. trump talked a lot about crushing isis during the election campaign. the big question when he gets into the white house is will he want to upset this bargain between russia and turkey. molly: thank you very much for that, armen georgian with that analysis. next, the tension between moscow and washington over u.s. electoral hacking continues to mount. the russian foreign minister recommended the expulsion of 35 russian diplomats. it is a tit-for-tat move. u.s. claims russia interfered in the u.s.

presidential election, something russia denies. the outgoing obama administration accuses russia of sun.ins under the they also try to blame us for the failure of their foreign-policy initiative. they have put forward accusations that russia interfered with the u.s. election at a state level to sway the vote against the democratic candidate. molly: the foreign minister sergey lavrov. thomas joins us from the russian capital. what are we seeing on the latest moves from the kremlin? notas: he has so far responded. the most important message from the foreign minister, he said the sanctions on russia by the

u.s., including the expulsion of and theussian diplomats ban on the use of two separate buildings with the u.s. had used for intelligence activity. he said that cannot go without a response. the response is pretty clear. the initial response is pretty clear. from this point, 31 diplomats are to be expelled from moscow and another 4 from st. petersburg. recreationgs, one a compound and the other a warehouse in moscow will not be allowed to be used by american diplomats. reciprocity is very important. basically what you do to us, we can do to you. recognition from the kremlin that trump is very different from obama.

the president-elect taking power on the 20th of january and these are very different people with very different goals. molly: what do we see in terms of reaction outside government circles? thomas: if we away from the politicians a little bit and keep within the idea of government. the official mouthpiece, sort of, for the government is the reallynd said -- mirrored what the kremlin said that donald trump is a very different -- suggests the goal of president obama is to make life difficult for donald trump. looking at what could donald trump do if you wanted to roll back these sanctions if he came into power and the suggestion

that they came to is it would be very easy to get russian diplomat to use those buildings that have beens. u.s. -- used, the u.s. claims for intelligent purposes. replacing the expelled diplomats could take much longer. from thisg words publication and strong words from the spokesperson from the ministry of foreign a pet -- foreign affairs who said earlier that she considers the outgoing obama administration as a group of foreign-policy losers who are both angry and ignorant. molly: thank you for that. thomas low reporting from moscow. a parliamentary commission has cleared a set of draft constitutional amendments that would greatly expand the powers of the presidency. critics fear the proposed

reforms would allow president erdogan to rule unchecked. we spoke with jasper mortimer for more on the amendment process. jasper: the next step is that it will go to a vote in a full assembly of parliament, expected to take place in about four weeks. the government needs to thirds of parliament to pass -- needs thisf parliament to pass change as a constitutional amendment. only 230 votes to submit it to the people in a referendum. the biggest opposition parties party, chp and the adp they will vote against the constitutional change. the smallest opposition party, voteltra-right mhp, will for it. putting all of this together, it is expected the government will not get enough votes to pass it as a constitutional amendment,

but it will get enough votes to put it to the people in a referendum. when the referendum takes place, pundits are predicting sometime in april, but the timing is very much the presidents decision. molly: if this does and up becoming a referendum, how likely is it that the turks will approve more powers for president everyone -- president erdogan? jasper: that is the big question and polling institutes are saying it could go either way. one instituted that i respect, the metropole institute based here in ankara said in april that the "no" vote would win because the director said "turks. do not want another sultan" there are large swings in

voter's behavior. what we can be sure of is that voters will make up their minds not on the actual minutia of the constitutional change, but on what they think of president erdogan. he will be the issue. onondly, the state referendum day will influence their assessment. molly: next, we crossed to india where there has been a deadly mine collapsed. at least nine workers were killed and scores more are feared trapped after the ground caved in at a coal mine. the collapse buried at least 23 miners and dozens of the apples. emergency teams works as a night and continue to work to rescue those still trapped. long, snaking lines have been seen outside banks across the country as the deadline for indians to deposit old ruby

notes. they scrapped the old currency in a crackdown on corruption. the move made 86% of india's currency void. customers were given until today old ruby bills -- rupee bills for new ones. germany has reinforced security measures for upcoming new year's eve celebrations. hamburg, frankfurt, and munich are stepping up the response after the berlin attack. attacker plaut a truck into a central berlin christmas market, killing 12 people. julia kim has more. julia: every year people swarmed to the berlin gate to ring in the new year. this year the landmark will feature these concrete barriers to protect visitors from

attacks. some members of the police force will carry automatic weapons. video surveillance will be used for the first time to track suspects in real time. after outrage at cologne police assaults,g to prevent more than 1500 officers will be deployed, concrete blocks, water cannons, and a helicopter will be on standby to ensure safety. we will not let ourselves be frightened and we will not change our way of life because of aggressive terrorists or criminals. julia: hamburg is also following force a beefed-up police -- nightclubs get particularly rowdy on new year's eve. >> we have agreed with the police to reduce noise outside the club's soap police can hear

walkie-talkies and cries for help. julia: despite the high terror alerts, steps taken after the christmas market attack show most of germans are against the enactment of a state of emergency. molly: that brings us to the end of this addition. please stay tuned. you are watching "france 24." ♪ >> hello. what do you have to eat today?

center forwards. how old? .4 years ok, he must have played in at least one championship. landry is from cameroon. he has been here in asia for the last 10 years and he recruits african football players for asian teams. >> bangkok is a hub as long as you have many, your life here is ok. if you do not have money, it is hell. money is the key to stay here so you can get everything you want. >> landry knows what he is talking about. he is a former football player himself and now works for recruiting african talent for the southeast asian football clubs. the quest for a better life brings thousands of african footballers to asia.

burma is the new eldorado for african football. william is 22 years old. he is not only landry's latest recruit, he is also his latest -- younger brother. we find him trading in a prestigious club. william arrived from cameroon recently and quickly adapted to this new country and has already found his place in the asian team. what are you saying to them? >> i tease them a little. >> what did you say to him? >> i told him i love his sister. >> the poverty and the tropical climate may look familiar, it -- burma is an unknown land. i did notars, really? notice. >> five stars indeed, not bad for a start year.

in burma, a country that is only recently open to the outside world, foreign players are valued for their perceived strengths in both mind and body. >> be aggressive and what to play with their life. >> we are in the heart of the capital of cameroon. this is where landry, william, and many others were born. in cameroon, football is much more than just a sport. of the entire nation revealed -- reveres its players. roger mia, samuel et al., the indomitable lions. bertrand is the passer -- he is

a former football player, and also the brother of william and landry, the two who escaped the slums for faraway asia. >> when there is someone in front, he sets the example for all of us. he will give hope to those behind. it is really crucial, especially in a slum community like the one we are in. it gives the slum dignity. it sends a strong measure -- message to though behind. >> every day i pray for god to protect him and to watch over my son who is out there. >> the african continent has an impressive stock of talented football players. many of them looked toward the asian circuit for the passion of the game. >> i worked in football, but god and not -- has not allowed me to go on with my career. landry did not succeed either.

now we have william playing and it means since we have already been through it we can advise him and thank god william is an obedient child and he listens to advice. >> the story of cameroon's slums is not always one of success. for everyone that makes it there are many more falling on bad luck with consequences being felt by entire families. that is what happened to william 's childhood friend. a fellow football player who took a chance and came to asia. bertrand is paying a visit to offer help. we cannot cope anymore. we are in debt and the situation is really terrible. we all worked hard for his expenses so he could travel. it is not a good situation here. today, we are begging for help in helping that well-meaning people will do something for him to get him out of this trouble.

sleep, to tell you the truth. we have no news. we have news by phone, but it is not the same thing because we cannot see our dear child. we are really depressed. he is stuck in thailand, the football of a fraudulent football agent. >> tell yourself i went to war and i have to win this war and you have a trophy to bring home. >> he may be more than 10,000 kilometers away in thailand, but slum solidarity goes deep. find him and help wherever he can. >> when an african man comes here, he must struggle harder than others to earn his place. he cannot come here thinking it will be easy. there are lots of young people left here with nothing, they have no football team or nothing

. it is a big issue that some of them arrive in asia thinking everything will be great. it is twice as hard for us compared to anyone else. >> we travel over 400 kilometers to bangkok to the near cambodian border to find him. he survives as working as a farm hand. he no longer has a valid the set and -- valid visa and has to hide. >> here we are often manipulated and abused because we are black. my life is not easy. i was tortured a lot. i do not even have a place to sleep. we sleep where we can, anywhere. it is really hard and most blacks i met when i came here, they say they play football, but it is the same. they go down and down and further down. >> many of the african footballers ultimately fail in asia.

as for eymar, he is lucky. he will be able to return home. we are at the airport in rangoon. ♪ >> welcome to burma, my dear brother. >> it makes me so happy to see you. football well, you will be the darling of everyone. you will be loved because asians love beautiful football. >> landry does have a point. asia loves for bill. if new democratic burma is the most popular footballing

location for african players, it is because the country is hungry for freedom and the consumption that goes with it. the rapid liberalization of the economy has made it easier to whitewash dirty money and it is thought a lot of the money is being invested in football. we football together. >> in burma, african players already have a lot of fans. leader isr guerrilla now an owner of gold mines. yes, they are very hospitable, it is true. it is different than other countries because they have no problem accepting foreigners. >> freedom fighter is a very strong brother. they take the power.

we are a football team and together we fight the government again. warlord turned entrepreneur clearly has a plan to build his own football team. >> i have a goal. when you have time, we will go together to see football and then he literally showed me the way. can --ve many people who >> hold on, man. ♪ >> we are a few hours away from the burma national championship final, a very important day. he willam's team wins,

be renewed next season. the time has come to call home hidden -- home in cameroon. >> he is very much loved here. they like him a lot.

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announcer: 2007, and little samba kuli bali is on his way to make medical history. he's one of the first children to take part in a trial for a new vaccine against deadly meningitis. marie: many countrtries in sub saharan africa have called for these vaccines because of this dreadful and devastating disease which is called epidemic meningitis which was