we go first to kirkuk in iraq. a direct impact on its economy. imran reports.the field should be full of crops. as far as the eye can see, nothing. the rivers that fill these fields have dried up. nothing can grow here. >> this landowner and environmental accident blames dam building until neighboring turkey for causing this crisis and siziraq is powerless to stop the turks after more than a decade of war following the fall of saddam hussein and know the rise of isil. >> these dams in turkey and the lack of response from the government affected our crop. i will give you an example. when we had water, 30 acres of lapped would produce a ton of barley a year. now, that same 30 acres produces a kilo. >>> farmers have had to resort to digging large wells for their fields but it isn't enough and they only have enough to irrigate 1/3 of this land. farmers are building wells like this. this is costly and time connell assuming. they need to dig between 30 to 50 meettories get the kind of water they need to irrigate these lands. that's having an environmental and economi

december 9 also, the coalition killed isil's deputy emir in kirkuk.their ability to train, command, and maintain fighters in the province. december 10, the syrian-based been with as she does bangladeshi was killed. he was an external operations planner who is educated as a computer systems engineer in the united kingdom and he supported isil's hacking efforts, their anti-surveillance technology, and the weapons development. now that he is said, isil has lost a key link between the networks. december 10, mohamed sayid feris was in isil commander and executioner, killed near his base of operations. december 26 him a abdul hakeem, another isil external operations facilitator was killed in mosu l, a veteran fighter and forgery specialist and had links to the paris attack network. he was part of isil's external operations group who enabled attacks against western targets. his death removes an important facilitator with many connections in europe. on december 27, another external operations facilitator was killed near mosul. and last but not least, this is

imran kahn, al jazeera, kirkuk. >>> and in part two of our rivers of life series wayne hay reports fromriver in cambodia where plan to his build a dam have angered many local people and environmental experts. that's on sunday here on al jazeera. >>> a few days after schools in los angeles were closed by a bomb hoax, classes in individual individual were canceled because of calligraphy. a teacher's attempt to introduce high school pupils to arabic writing caused anger among some parents and there were claims that staff were at risk. paul reports. >> reporter: the halls of rivershead head high school remember empty. more than 4,000 students were told to start their christmas breaks early. school heads say they were threatened via social media because of an arabic including raffi assignment. as part of the established curriculum, students were asked to copy the muslim statement of faith frozing the acceptance of mohamed as god's prophet. some parents said it was trying to convert kids it islam. others say it's symptoms of wider anti-muslim sentiment being fueled by political campaigns. >>

kirkuk. >> in part two of our rivers of life series, we have reports from the mekong river in cambodia where plans to build dams anger many people and environmental experts. that's on sunday on al jazeera. >> engine trouble has been blamed for a ship running to trouble off the coast of indonesia. it was traveling in southeast sulawesi. it was carrying more than 100 people and reported to have sunk according to local media. all passengers are alive. rescue teams are working to reach them but strong waves have been making it difficult. >>> people in the chinese capital have experienced another alarming day of pollution levels. beijing declared it's second red alert this month because of the smog. it settled over the city of some 23 million people overnight, and is forecast to last until tuesday. many cars have been forced off the roads and factory productions have been restricted to try to ease the magazine. >>> a poll has found a third of republicans and 19% of democrats support bombing an imaginary city from aladin. and a dockerred photo of presidential hopeful donald trump has the cap

iraq produced its first miz iraq the the winner a 20-year-old, hailing from kirkuk in northern iraq, promising to push forward educational initiatives in a country racked by violence. the competition was held back in 1972, when iraq was stable and prosperous as well >>> always good to hear from you, go to the website. aljazeera.com. click on the icon, drop us an email. headlines are a moment away. >>> hello, i'm

the kurdish media is questions police in kirkuk who say u.s.commanders were involved in the operation in northern iraq, though the u.s. denied it. several isil fighters have reportedly been killed and others captured. it comes two months after a joint operation freed 70 isil captives. >> hundreds gathered to hear pope francis celebrate mass. the pope underlined the importance of family and made a plea for mercy. it made his message of forgiveness. let us not lose confidence in the family. it is beautiful when we can always open our hearts to one another and hide nothing. where there is love, there is also understanding and forgiveness. to all of you, dear families, i entrust with every day pilgrim only, the most important mission which the world and the church node now more than ever. >> plenty more on our website, aljazeera.com. you can catch up by watching you guess live as you're watching now. rooted in catholicism, but they're in mexico and an extension of people >> >> translation: at this time of the year people are looking for the traditi

we had a successful operation to rescue hostages in kirkuk about a month ago, that netted us quite a of intelligence, which we were then able to use to our advantage. >> steve warren, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. it's good be here. >>> it is a hid environmental disaster. tens of thousands of people in california are in jeopardy after a major gas leak. ♪ >> al jazeera america brings you independent reporting without spin. >> not everybody is asking the questions you're asking me today. >> we give you more perspectives >> the separatists took control a few days ago. >> and a global view. >> now everybody in this country can hear them. >> getting the story first-hand. >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> you're watching al jazeera america. >>> all of this week, we are looking back at some of the most important stories of 2015, one is the historic deal to curb iran's nuclear program. ali velshi traveled to tehran. i asked him what the agreement means for that country. >> when you travel to iran it's a v

thousands of barrels of crude oil a day can pass through up to the city of kirkuk. >> translator: tankersing isil oil sneak in among those legitimate trucks carrying oil. isil is now forced to send their oil to mosul. >> reporter: crude oil is mayor source of money for the armed group. in the past it has used businessmen to sell its oil nationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> translator: about a year ago we learned that huge amounts of oil were being smuggled in. later we found that influential figures were involved. but the investigation ended and the government didn't release the outcomes to the public. >> reporter: isil also used a ro road. but the troops have made that harder, which means not only is it harder for isil to get oil revenue, but it's more difficult for the armed group to transport weapons and fighters too. >>> up to 26 qatari nations have been kidnapped while on a hunting mission in iraq. they were in a desert area. the ministry says the group had an official permit from the iraqi government, and it is working to secure its release. >>

the winner from kirkuk in the north of the country, her promise to push forward education initiatives after years of violence having destroyed the country. >>> there's more on everything wore covering on our website, the address is aljazeera.com. there you'll find the latest comment and video on demand. i'll be back with a full bulletin of news in a few moments time. do stay with al jazeera. see you in a moment. >> i want to hear from doug as well and talk and the president said this is a recruiting tool >>> a warring party -- warring parties in yemen agree to new talks in january in schwitzer rand and without agreement. hell 0. you are watching from london. also coming up: protests in india after the youngest convict in a deadly gang rape three years ago is released from jail. spain's most open election for decades. the prime primary tries to fight off the challenge of two new parties. a massive landsslide in china.

thousands of barrels of cued oil a day can pass through up to the city of kirkuk. >> translator: all were clear in the past, tankers carrying isil oil were used. they also used side roads. we cut all of the roads off by digging a ditch around the whole area. >> reporter: crude oil is a major source of money for the armed group. in the past, it's used mediators and businessmen in iraq's kurdish region to sell its oil nationally. >> translator: about a year ago we learned that huge amounts of ilz oil were being smuggled overseas. 15 people were arrested. . later we found out that influential figures were involved. >> reporter: isil also used a road stretching from raqqa to mosul to transport the oil. but the international coalition and iraqi troops fighting isil for control of the area have made that harder, which means not only is it harder for iltz to get oil revenue, but it's more difficult for the armed group to transport weapons and fighters too. >>> 26 qatary nationals have been kidnapped in iraq. the ministry says the group had an official hunting permit from the iraqi governmen

the winner is from kirkuk. she promises to try to help rebuild the country after years of war and violence. >> much more about the stories we're following on aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. >> coming up tonight, we'll have the latest... >> does the government give you refugee status? >> they've marched to the border. >> thousands have taken to the streets here in protest. >> this is where gangs bury their members. >> they're tracking climate change. >>> >>> spain's election on a knife edge. no single party can win. the question now is who will be prime minister. hello. i'm julie mcdonald on al jazeera live from honourable done. also-- london. protests in india after the offender in relation to a rape is due to be released.

thousands of barrels can mover through the city of kirkuk. >> they also use side roads. we cut all the roads off by digging a ditch around the whole area. i.s.i.l. is now forced to send their oil to mosul. >> reporter: crude oil is a major source ever money for the armed group. in the past it's used mediators to sell its oil internationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> about a year ago we learned that huge quantities of crude oil were being smuggled overseas from i.s.i.l. held areas through the province. 15 people were arrested, one of them committed suicide or play have been killed in prison. the government didn't seize outcomes to the public. >> syrian town of raqqa, to mosul, to trptd th transport th. means not only sit harder for i.s.i.l. to get oil revenue but it's more difficult to for the armed group to transparent weapons and fighters too. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> about 100 gunmen have kidnapped qatarese officials. according to the regional governor. there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the last kidnapping.

thousands of barrels of crud oil a day can pass through up through the city of kirkuk. >> all road roads, they use edes roads. isil is forced to send their oil to mosul. >> crude oil is a major source of money for the armed group. in the past it has used businessmen to sell its oil internationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> 15 people were arrested. one of them committed suicide. we later found out that influential figures were involved. >> isil used a road stretching from its stronghold in the syrian town of raqqa to mosul to transport the oil. the inter artificial coalition fighting isil for control of the area has made that harder which means not only is it harder for isil to get oil revenue but it is harder for them to get weapons and fighters, too. >> up the ministry said that the group had an official permit from the iraqi government and they're working for their release. so far there has been no claim of responsibility. >>> syrian activists say that an attack that happened in southern aleppo. elsewhere in the east of the province, an airstrike

iraqi is more concerned about kirkuk man mosul. they're funneling international monies to shia militias that iran backs to go up against the sunnies. that's something that we need to get them to do the right thing. >> thank you. thank you very much, indeed. >> the british defens defense minister said that they hit an oil field in the east of the country. well, the former high ranking u.s. diplomat who has written extensively on the american foreign policy in the middle east, he contests the coalitions claim that it can rally moderate fighters inside syria to take on isil. >> the problem with helping moderate fighters inside syria is to identify them. they have identified one group, the ypg the kurdish, who control the north border with turkey. these are the people who defended this city of kobane a year ago and almost all the airstrikes are conducting a large north of them with close air support for the ypg. >> at least 70 people have been killed in assad regime and russian airstrikes in syria. there are numerous groups involved in

isil had already lost across kirkuk province. we saw during the daring raid supported by our forces which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil in which master sergeant so far, isil has lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq and it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi. these are urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. we're going to continue to back them up with the support they need to clear isil from iraq. arabs, christians, turkman are having success. after robbing isil at kobani, they pushed isil back from across the entire border region with turkey and working with turkey to seal the west. isil's lost thousands of square lose more. the special forces i ordered to syria begun supporting local forces they pushed south, cut off supply lines and tightened the squeeze on rocket meanwhie, more people are seeing isil for the thugs, thieves and killers they are. we've seen instances of isil fighters defecting, isil

the winner was if a kirkuk.ledged to help push if forth educational inibtives. >>> still ahead this news hour in sport? >> i am dan yell schweimler where the work has been done on cuba's next generation of sporting stars. >> welcome back. time for sport with sana. >> thank you very much. barcelona have won their figure out trophy of 215. they beat argentina's liver plate in yodohama. barcelona are fee if a club world cup champions for a third time. 2015 has been a defendant fantastic year with the club adding another title after winning la liga, kona delray and the european super cup. >>. >> it is special. we beat an argentine i can't team. the winners become the best team in the world. it is not easy. it is an incredible win for us. >> argentinian messi who missed the senior final earlier in the week due to abdominal pain was cleared to play and opened in the 36th minute. it was the team's uruguayn ford. less than five minutes after the break. and he grabbed a second goal around 20 minutes later in a man of the

you are askedish forces media is quoting police in kirkuk who say u.s.ommandos were involved in the operation. the u.s. has denied it. several isil fighters have been killed and others captured. it comes two months after u.s. and kurdtie command owes conducted a joint operation freeing 70 isil captives. for more on the battle against isil in iraqi, i am joined by middle east analyst gulf news. thank you for being with us. how do you characterize the progress? >> this is tremendous progress obviously because for the first time, the iraqi government has eliminated a imagine challenge so close to baghdad. the fact ramadi is coming understand control of the government is actually good news for baghdad because it can protect itself but it's not enough. it has to move forward. did has to push to mossel and lim great mossel. this is a major victory for the government and a serious defeat for isil. >> the tasks has been complicated by isil leaving booby traps and uncontrol center exploded ordinance or improve vised devices and suicide bombers. how difficult will

thousands of barrels of crude oil can pass through into the city of kirkuk. >> translator: they also side roads. we cut all of the roads off by digging a ditch around the whole area, isil is now forced to send their oil to mosul. >> reporter: crude oil is a major source of money for the armed group. in the past it has used businessmen to sell its oil internationally. the provincial government formed a committee to investigate. >> translator: about a year anding, we learned that huge quantities of crude oil were being sold overseas. 15 people were arrested. one committed suicide or may sl been killed in prison. later we found out that influential figures were involved. but the investigation ended and they didn't release the outcome to the public. >> reporter: the international coalition and iraqi trooping fighting isil have made the flow harder. and it is more difficult for the armed group to transport weapons and fighters too. >>> let's get a view from the managing director of a consu consulting firm. is isil trying to take control of these oil assets in libya, do you think? >> i thi

isil had already lost across kirkuk province and at tikrit. they lost a strategic highway. an oil refinery. we saw the daring raid supported by our special forces which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil in which master sergeant joshua wheeler made the ultimate sacrifice. so far isil has lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq, and it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi. they're working to encircle fallujah and cut off supply routes into mosul. these are urban area where is isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a tough fight ahead and we're going to continue to back them up with the support they need to ultimately clear isil from iraq. isil also continues to lose territory in syria. we continue to step up our air support and supplies to low forces. syrian kurds, arabs, christians, turkmen, and they are having success. after routing isil at kobani and abad, they've pushed isil back from almost across the entire border region with turkey, and we're working with turkey to seal the rest. isil has l

isil had already lost across kirkuk province and in tikrit, more recently they lost at sinjar, losingategic highway. isil lost with its oil refinery. we saw during the raid supported by our special forces which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil which master sergeant joshua wheeler made the ultimate sacrifice, so far isil has lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq. it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi, working to encircle fallujah and cut off supply routes into mosul, urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. and we are going to continue to back them up with the support that they need to ultimately clear isil from iraq. isil also continues to lose territory in syria. we continue to step up our air support and supplies to local forces. syrian kurds, arabs, christians, turkmen and they are having success. after routing isil at chobani, they have pushed isil back from almost across the entire border rooj on wi region with turkey. we are work tog seal the rest. isil

isil had already lost across kirkuk province and more recently, isil lost at sinjar, losing a strategic highway. isil lost at baji with its oil refinery. we saw during a raid supported by our special forces which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil and which joshua wheeler made the ultimate sacrifice. so far isil has lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq. and it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi. they're working to circle fallujah and cut off supply routes into mosul. these are urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. and we're going to continue to back them up with the support that they need to ultimately clear isil from iraq. isil also continues to lose territory in syria. we continue to step up our air support and supplies to local forces. syrian kurds, arabs, christians, turkmen, and they are having success. after routing isil at kobani, they pushed isil back from almost across the entire border region with turkey and we're working with turkey to seal the rest

isil had already lost across kirkuk province and at tikrit.ly, isil lost at sinjar, losing a strategic highway. isil lost at baiji, with its oil refinery. we saw the daring raid supported by our special forces, which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil, and in which master sergeant joshua wheeler made the ultimate sacrifice. so far, isil has lost about 40 percent of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq. and it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi. they're working to encircle fallujah and cut off isil supply routes into mosul. again, these are urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead, and we're going to continue to back them up with the support that they need to ultimately clear isil from iraq. isil also continues to lose territory in syria. we continue to step up our air support and supplies to local forces -- syrian kurds, arabs, christians, turkmen -- and they're having success. after routing isil at kobani and tal abyad, they've pushed is