Transcripts For ALJAZAM Your World This Morning 20151231

Welcome to your world this morning. 2015 is ending with more worries in missouri where rivers keep rising. Major flooding across the reason is responsible for at least 21 deaths, 14 of them in missouri. It has caused widespread evacuations. Water has topped at least 9 levies in the worst flooding this country has seen in more than 20 years. How series has the situation got and where you are this morning . Serious reporter Mother Nature wins again. Look here west of st louis, it is a close to a record of 20 feet above flood stage. Interstate 44 west of the city is also shut down. We have just driven over this road a couple of nights ago. It is now topped. Take a look at this. This is interstate 5 from over night. The Missouri Department of transportation has been putting down sand bags which they hoped would prevent flooding, but it failed. The water has now over topped the interstate there. The top news here is that even when this river reaches its crest, it will take about 24 hours for it to start receding. More rescues west of st louis. Missouris governor calls the flooding the worst the state has seen. It is to exceed the great crest of 1993 which caused significant and widespread devastation. Reporter plenty of home and Business Owners who had always just missed being affected by flooding in the past realized this time their luck had run out. For others, the race recover what they can is still on. Were working to get everything out and didnt get it all but got what we could. Reporter the river has never been this high before. It just keeps on creeping up on this Convenience Store in fenton. This is insane. Ive never seen it this bad reporter neither has the state department of transportation. A stretch of interstate 44 thats been closed. 141 is a very important highway. It has around 50,000 vehicles around the day. Reporter the water isnt outright destructive. It is worry some. In this neighborhood of about 100 homes noone can get in or out by car, including this womans parents. Are they able to get out . They wont try. That car over there is stuck and my car is low to the ground. I walk. Reporter the rising water means many people are using whatever they have to get around. These guys were relying on an inflatable raft. We feel sorry for those who have lost their house. Reporter they were set to take a ride before the e m t said the flooding overwhelmed the sewerage plant means the water content is as dangerous as its height. Of the 14 people have who have died from the flooding, all but one died when their cars were swept away by flooding on the roads. That is why the closure of the roads is so important here. All this water is heading into the Mississippi River. That is supposed to hit crest around 24 feet, about 13 feet above flood stage. Then it starts heading towards memphis. Sfoo given theyre about to crest, do we see a broader evacuation do you see . Reporter because the river has risen, theyve evacuated another town just east of here as we head towards st louis. People arent taking chances. The National Guard has been called in. Obama offered help. Today is the key to open up these inter states. Around 200 roads around the state closed. 50 just in this area and it is a huge tropic headache and getting goods and services out of here thank you for that. This sflooding it going flooding is going to be a problem for quite a long time. These waters arent going to recreed before 2016 . No. Waters take a while to recede. Were looking at a disaster in slow motion. We are looking at 2016 before we finally see any break in this area. This is all part of a broader system that we began before christmas that was responsible for blizzards, tornadoes as well as Severe Weather. Were looking at the tail end of it with the flooding. The rains have gone. We are looking at dryer conditions, but the water is still there across the area. Standing as well as draining into these river baseins. Most of the rain fell across the area of missouri. We saw eight to 12 inches of rain falling. So that river first being affected by the water going into it and then coming down here across mississippi. It is going to take a long time for the volume of water to make its way to the south. It has to drain down into the gulf of mexico. I want to show you the graphs on the rivers of the flood stages that were going to be seeing. This is at st lewis. What you see here is this is how the river has risen. We we do expect to see peak tomorrow. As you see to come down from major to moderate flood stage is not going to happen until january 3. Then going down to the cape, we are not going to be seeing peak until january 3. Then it will take while for that come down, then corruthers bill, were not looking at peak until after january 4. That is mississippi. That is not come down into parliaments of mississippi as well. They are indefinitely until probably the second or third week of january thank you for that. This morning Chicagos Police force is beginning to under go new training for police training. Our correspondent is live in chicago. The mayor laid out his proposals on wednesday. What is the response to those proposals . Reporter some legal experts say that the changes the mayor is suggesting could help save lives but critics say these changes dont go far enough. One proposal is to arm Police Officers with tasers or electric stunguns to reduce the likelihood that someone could end up dead. Three days after a vigil for the latest Deadly Police shootings in chicago. Why did you have to shoot and ask questions later . Reporter the mayor promised change. Police officers have a dangerous job. They put their lives on the line so we can be safe. Like all of us theyre human and they make mistakes. Our job is to reduce the chance of mistakes. Reporter he says officers will get more training to avoid using deadly force we will improve communication between officers and individuals to make those encounters less confrontational and more conversational. Reporter eau man ewe el says by june the Police Department will double its number of tasers from 700 to 1400. It comes after weeks of protests. A video shows an officer shooting a teenager. Another officer shot dead two people at this apartment building. Jones was killed accidentally. In recent weeks he has fired his superintendent. Activists say the change wont do enough to change the mistrust between people of color and police. Putting tasers this is not adequate it is not yet clear in the mayors proposals will quell the voices calling for his resignation. These changes may not be his last the mayor has been in office for more than four years. This is his second term. Are people asking why it took so long to make some of these changes . Reporter actually. He was asked about it yesterday. He said he has taken a number of steps to reform the Police Department, but he also acknowledged that he could have done more. At the same time he said the problems have been what he called four or five years in the making. Change, he says, will take time live in chicago for us. Thank you. This morning a friend of the San Bernardino shooters is facing additional charges. He has been formally indicted on charges he supported terrorism and made false statements to authorities. He apparently bought the arms used. In houston a man has been arrested. Garry more told him he worshipped at the mosque. There is no evidence of a hate crime. This morning the man once called americas dv dad is free on bail awaiting his next hearing on Sexual Assault charges. Bill cosby was arraigned wednesday accused of soughting a woman in 2004. His lawyers insists he is innocent. Reporter how do you respond to the charges . Bill arising at a small judgess office. There have been dozens of allegations of abuse against the entertainer for years. Now is the first criminal charge aggravated assault filed. These stand from a Sexual Assault that took place on an evening in 2004 at mr cosbys home. He is charged with aggravated indecent assault. This is an felony in the first degree. Charges today are failed as a result of new information that came to light in july of 2015. Statute of limitations in this type of case is 12 years. Reporter that statute runs out this week as the case against cosby turned up in a civil suit filed in 2005. It stems from an alleged 2004 situation. Apparently he applied her with wine and drugged her. She said she passed out and he assaulted her. In a civil suit it was said they had consensual sex. That was settled in 2006. Wednesday a statement was issued saying she has never seen anything like it nor her clients. Some of them have been very upset that there has never been a criminal prosecution and were not sure if there ever would be. So im very happy that this case has now received new and close scrutiny. Reporter the criminal charges come after a year of upheaval for bill cosby. He was one of the first black actors to have a leading role in a network tv drama. I spy. He is one of the giants of television and comedy and became one of emergencys favored tv is favorite dads. There have long been rumors about his behaviour towards women. He now faces up to 10 years in prison in convicted. After arraignment he was driven to a Police Station for fingerprinting and the posting of a Million Dollars bond. He is due to appear in court in about two weeks victoria valentino has accused him of sexually assaulting her. She talks to al jazeera about seeing him under arrest it was very emotional seeing him being in a vulnerable position. It just stirred up so many conflicting emotions. Its hard to process even thousand. It made me feel like i wanted to cry seeing his mug shot and then at the same time i was seeing him looking frail and stumbling and thinking to myself, hes an actor. He is doing this very well. He is a good actor. He fooled all of us. I just want him to be exposed so no other women can ever experience what we experienced she says if asked she will testify. There were developments overnight in the case of socalled affluenza teen. His mother is in the u. S. She arrived a few hours ago, but her son remains in mexico as he challenges his extradition on a parole eye legislation. It could be days or weeks before he is sent back. It seems to me that if they wanted to, they could pay as much money as they want to, to drag this thing out. Were hopeful that thats not the case. Were hopeful that the court will make a quick decision and return the couches to america another hearing in mention co is expected in the coming down. Crouch made International Media last year after killing four people. The prosecutor said his upbringing prevented him from knowing right from wrong. The governor says the island will be able to pay half a billion dollars to creditors, but it cannot make a 37 Million Dollar Interest Payment owed on monday. That is parliament of the islands more than 72 billion dollars in debt. Our correspondent is live. Good morning. Why cant they make this payment and what does it mean if it does not . Reporter good morning. Happy new years eve. The deal is they will face a possible lawsuits in the coming weeks, perhaps months, based upon the fact that they will not make this Interest Payment of about 37 Million Dollars. Theyve stayed well on the payment that is according to paperwork tomorrow, but they will pay it on monday. It is up in the air at this point because this is the second time that poro rico is defaulting. We will see what happens in the coming months ahead weve been reporting that the governor wants help from the u. S. Congress. What are they asking for . Reporter yes. We had a rare oneonone interview with the governor yesterday. They would like paul ryan, the speaker of the house, to get congress together and get Restructuring Plan or a reorganizing plan. They realise that they can not get a chapter 9. They would love to get that, burr they cant. No state can file for chapter 9 also understand that same jurisdiction they cannot do that. Lets listen to a bit of what the governor told us yesterday. I think that he can lead the house to produce a comprehensive bill that allowed to reach agreement, that we present what they ask, a fiveyear fiscal control plan. So they now have our part. We need theirs. If they move, i think that that will help the senate to or that will compel the senate to move too. Reporter as we know, the governor has been quite vocal in the past months about the island situation, saying theyre broke, theyre out of cash, this is an island out the sea, they need a rescue. A lot of people have taken that the wrong way. Specifically, it has gone on ditch ears. He said yesterday that he is fine with people criticizing the way that he has handled this, it is in the mathematics, and this is not politics, but the governor is first to say it is congresss fault, or part of their fault, that the country is in this situation besides asking for some sort of bail out, what have the authorities done to deal with the default . Reporter the country that is been on a landslide for the past 10 years. They have been in a deep recession. Over that time they have cut services, anything from delaying tax refunds, health care, Public Transportation services, they let go of 30,000 public workers, theyve closed over 100 schools on the island. Just this past july they increased the sales tax by over 50 . They have made strides and done things to try and curb the dealt, but when you owe 72 billion dollars all of that is a drop in the bucket i imagine it doesnt feel like a drop in the bucket for those people who have had their services cut. Live for us there. Thank you so much there is a report this morning that the Obama Administration is preparing to impose the first economic sanctions on iran since julys nuclear deal. They will reportedly target more than a Dozen Companies and individuals in hong kong and eye rang and e. U. U. S. Or foreign nationals will be barred from conducting business with the companies. The countriess leaders would view the sanctions of a violation of the nuclear accord. Taking no chances, the steps Police Departments around the world are taking right now to keep new york celebrations safe. In critical condition, doctors in yemen protest with a lack of medical supplies in one embattled city. Bring your family and friends together to discover the best shows and movies with xfinitys winter watchlist. Later on, well conspire as we dream by the fire a beautiful sight, were happy tonight watching in a winter watchlist land, watching in a winter watchlist land xfinitys winter watchlist. Watch now with xfinity on demand your home for the best entertainment this holiday season. When youre on hold, your business is on hold. Thats why comcast business doesnt leave you there. When you call, a Small Business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. No annoying hold music. Just a real person, real fast. Whenever you need them. So your business can get back to business. Sounds like my rides ready. Dont get stuck on hold. Reach an expert fast. Comcast business. Built for business. Syrian Government Forces say they are pushing back rebel groups in the southern part of the country. Russian air strikes are helping troops to take an area of the troops are in the towns main square. Also this morning new numbers putting in the past years refugee crisis in stark contest. We know that more than one Million People have made their way to europe this year. According to the organization for migration only 190 have been formally relocated. The European Union has pledged to relocate 160,000 people over the next two years. Doctors say the fighting in yemen is leading to problems delivering health care. Doctors at one hospital have been protesting saying it is increasingly hard for them to save lives. In some cases patients are forced to bring their own oxygen bottles. The u. N. Says more than 21 million, luffly 80 of the population is in need of humanitarian aid. The iraqi army is strengthening its forces. The spokesman for Operation Inherent revolve says the force has transformed. I asked him about the challenges that remain. The iraqi army of 2014 which broke and ran when i. S. I. L. Attacks through mosul is a completely different army. That was an army that we had build in the mid200s that was obtained and equipped to fight Counter Insurgency operations. Clearing roadside bombs, manning check points. Things of that nature. This is a conventional fight which involves attacks and inviting, et cetera. It took us a year to rebuild the army. They have been retrained, theyve got modern equipment. Now were beginning to see the fruits after that labor. We have so far trained about 16,000 iraqi army soldiers. Were going to continue to train more. We will need more for mosul. Fallujah is under tack now by the iraqi army. It is in the early stages of that operation. It is what we call the isolation phase. The army has been circling fallujam and will begin to squeeze it. It is a small town. In fact, it will probably be easier be ramadi. Mosul is a different story. The second largest city in the country the pt thanked the soldiers for their effort. Doping controversy. New questions about Human Growth Hormone in a controversial clinic. A rough ride, what caused air canada passengers to get hurt on a flight from shanghai to toronto. Elderly americans addicted to painkillers prescribed by doctors. Have you ever thought about going off of your painkiller dosage . No. I dont know if id have the courage to stop it. But is it leading to abuse more than its helping. He would prescribe what he felt was appropriate. The result, she died. Faultlines checks into rehab to investigate whos responsible for the hidden epidemic. I was just doin what the doctors told me to do. Youre looking live at the beautifully lit harbor in sydney, australia. In a half hour, they will ring in the 2016 new york. It is 7 29 eastern. Missouri officials shut down another major highway. This time interstate 55, as floodwaters continue to rise. Major flooding across the region is now responsible for at least 21 detectives, 14 of them in missouri. The army corps of engineers said water has already topped at least nine levees. Big companies by is out on bail this morning and his lawyers promising to fight Sexual Assault charges. He is accused of assaulting a Temple University employee at his home near philadelphia in 2004. The next hearing is expect in mid january. Puerto rico is preparing to default on part of its debt. The governor said the island will be able to pay half a billion dollars to creditors but cannot make a 37 Interest Payment owed monday. The governor wants congress to allow the debt to be restructured. More questions about whether an indiana clinic may have been illegally prescribing Human Growth Hormone. The Guyer Institute was featured earlier this week. The Guyer Institute in indianapolis offers a range of genuine anti aging treatments. We confirmed charlie sly worked in their pharmacy in 2011. That was also the season Peyton Manning missed through injury. I did part of my training at the Guyer Institute, which is like this Anti Aging Institute in indiana. He and his wife would come in after hours. He dispenses out of his office. Physicians can do, but not many of them do it. We would be sending Ashley Manning drugs, a growth hormone, everywhere, florida. Not under peytons name, always under her name. We were sending it everywhere. Peyton manning denied he used the hgh hormone. When asked for his reaction, charlie sly said his statements were false and incorrect. He claimed that he did not work at guyer in 2011. The reporter Deborah Davies has more now on the Guyer Institute. About a decade ago, sports columnist was feeling exhausted. As he explained, he went to see dr. Detail guyer. He runs an anti aging clinic. You know, i went because i was dealing with this overwhelming fatigue, was, you know, sleeping 14, 15 hours a day, couldnt get out of bed in the morning. Dr. Guyer told him what he needed was Human Growth Hormone. He felt that it would raise my energy level and help me return back to the land of the living. Dr. Leonard dale guyer was named in a criminal endictment against a colorado forms illegally importing h. G. H. From a china. He wasnt a defendant or charged with wrongdoing but was one of the doctors who allegedly purchased the drug for patients. Early they are wreak, al jazeera said Investigative Unit revealed that charlie sly, who had done part of his pharmacy training at the Guyer Institute said Human Growth Hormone had been shipped to Peyton Mannings wife, ashley. Following this report, bob kravitz wet about his own experience. As a sports writer, he knew it was banned for professional athletes. As a patient, he had no idea its also illegal for a doctor to prescribe it just for fatigue. I knew what it was, but, you know, its one of those things where if you are in a desperate situation, and you have a doctor you trust, and i trusted dr. Guyer at the time, if he tells you that its potentially medically efficacious, youll do it. One of americas top experts in h. G. H. Previously told al jazeera that the drug can only be prescribed legally for three very serious medical conditions. Its one of the only drugs i know of that is in that way off label prescription illegal not just not a good idea, its illegal. Bob kravitz said the h. G. H. Had zero impact on his fatigue, only on his pocket. The clinic did not respond to our request for comment. You can watch the documentary, the dark side saturday at 9 00 eastern, 6 00 pacific only here on al jazeera. Security fears this morning are impacting news plans around the world. In new york, paris, bangkok and nairobi, they are all on high alert. In brussels, the traditional fireworks display is called off following the arrest of with it suspects suspected of a offenders plot. There is tighter security here in new york city. About 6,000 Police Officers are being deployed around times square, where about a Million People will gather to watch the ball drop. Darrin porcher is a retired lt. In the new york Police Department and department of criminal justice at Pace University joining us this morning to talk about the security situation, not just in new york city, which is frankly always on high alert but around the world. When is the last time we saw this around the world, fireworks canceled in paris, belgium, moscows red square is closed. Have we seen a global threat like this on new years eve ever . This is the first time ive seen cancellation of new years eve celebration, but when we go back to 9 11 here in the United States, the fortifications have since been ramped up. Theres been a Seismic Shift in anti terror alerts in connection with Law Enforcement agencies. We take into consideration new york city. Traditionally, what theyll do is lets say times square, they usually remove the trash cans and they will shutter the manhole covers, but this year, theres been a far greater fortification. We have 6,000 Police Officers, uniformed Police Officers working in the times square area. You have officers that are now carrying cameras, and magna tom at hers. We have 60 in the times square area. Tosh the stuff you dont see. Intelligence has to be a big part of this. I wonder whether the nypd have adjusted to social media and potential threats they might see there, as well. Social media has become more and more prevalent in our day to day society. When we look at terrorist groups, isis for example, they are very Technology Advanced in connection with social media. Its essential that Law Enforcement maintain presence on social media in connection with how we monitor social media. We take into consideration the Edward Snowden case with the n. S. A. , the quote unquote n. S. A. Believes spy. On other countries. Yes. Unfortunately thats a reality in our society. Therefore, it is paramount that we do have this presence in social media. Times square, the way you describe it almost doesnt sound like a soft target. It sounds like a fortified military installation. Im thinking about the San Bernardino attacks last month, a low profile city, low profile target by really lone wolves, not coordinated attack like paris. Is that something that is more difficult to prevent, that random lone wolf . A lone wolf attack is far more difficult to prevent than something as a coordinated attack. We go back to 2010, the attempted car bombing times square, thats an example. Once again, it goes back to if you see something say something. Wasnt it a vendor nearby that notice a suspicious vehicle. Exactly. Who parks a car in times square. You know it is virtually impossible and a Street Vendor was able to understand that this was an aberration. Therefore he alerted police. Going back to in connection that you mentioned with lone wolf attacks. We live in a city with 8. 5 Million People and 35,000 Police Officers. 35,000 sworn Police Officers are a great asset, however 8. 5 Million People are a far greater resource in connection with intelligence gathering. If you see something, say something. That goes nationwide, not just here in new york city. About 6,000 of those nypd will be out tonight. 6,000 uniformed members. Planned parenthood has won a temporary stay to keep getting federal money in utah. A federal Appeals Court on wednesday put an emergency hold on that states move to defund the group. This as the Court Considers the larger issues. Republican governor gary herbert wants to end utahs contract with planned parenthood for Sex Education and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Nearly two dozen people are recovering this morning after a very bumpy flight forced an emergency landing. As al jazeeras John Henry Smith tells us, those aboard describe it as the flight from hell. Could have been pitch worse. Relieved passengers after harrowing moments aboard air canada. Like we were in midair and i just fell back down. Just like you were in the roller coaster, the plane was just go down like very swiftly, like go down, and lots of screaming. The bowing 777 of the traveling from shanghai to toronto with 332 passengers and 19 crew members onboard when it hit that turbulence. The pilot was forced to land in calgary with fire and emergency crews waiting to help the injured. 25 were identified at potential patients. In the end, we transported 21, 18 were duties, three children. Authorities say all the injuries were nonlife threatening. Most were in the back and neck area. Those onboard say there was one common factor that led to passengers getting hurt. Whoever didnt put the seatbelt on was falling off. Girl sitting next to me and she was sleeping, and she just fly. Here in the u. S. , the f. A. A. Said turbulence related injuries are not uncommon but deaths are. Only three people died of those injuries since 1988. Two of those three passengers were not wearing seatbelts. You should listen to that safety talk. John henry smith, thank you very much. All this week, your world this morning is looking back at important stories of 2000 fib. For the Supreme Court, it was a year of landmark decisions with even more pending in 2016. I spoke about them with al jazeeras lisa stark, starting with samesex marriage. This was a ruling that was almost unimaginable a few years ago. It was a 54 decision by the court. They decided that the fourteenth amendment applies to same sex couples, making samesex marriage the law of the land throughout the country. Before the court ruling, 37 states and the District Of Columbia were allowed same sex marriages. As i said, this applies to all 50 states. There were some pockets of resistance as you know, but for now, the court has spoken on this issue. The other noteworthy case of the year, the courts second ruling on the Affordable Care act. What did the justice decide on obamacare . Well, this was another very big ruling. You know, it focused on just four words in this entire huge statute, essentially the question was based on the language of the law, are low and moderate income residents of states entitled to subsidies to help them pay for health n if they live in states that rely on the federal exchange to buy health insurance, not the state exchange. Most states in fact relied on the federal exchange. If the court had found in favor of the challengers to the law, millions of americans would have lost their tax subsidies to help pay for health insurance. It was a 63 ruling. It upheld the subsidies nationwide and this really was a huge win stephanie for the Obama Administration. It would have spelled the death for the Affordable Care act. The decision about lethal injections used in executions. We had a couple of botched executions this year, and so there was a challenge to the law, was the current drug cocktail that was being used, was it in fact a violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This was a very contentious case. It was a 54 ruling, the court finding in favor essentially of the prison, saying they could use this cocktail in favor of the states, i should say. They could use this lethal cocktail, Justice Stein briar raised the whole issue of whether the Death Penalty should be constitutional at all. Justice anton scalia called briarers dissent gobbledygook. We are not likely to see a big debate on the Death Penalty at this point. The justices had a big 2015. This is going to be another very significant year, taking on restriction on abortion in texas, taking on a careless involving Public Employee unions, likely to take on a case in immigration and whether the president can use executive authority to allow some undocumented immigrants to stay in the u. S. And finally a really big case on affirmative action and the university of texass use of affirmative action in admissions, is that legal. Affirmative action activists say little not. This could ept affirmative programs for admissions in university. They have a lot of big ticket items, if you will on their agenda this year, as well. Thank you. The new year will bring changes for one cell phone giant. At t is getting rid of two year contracts. New and existing customers will only be able to get new phones by paying for phones up front or over installments. Competitors have been switching to similar programs. There is an update in the way internet silents are affected. It could affect millions of Internet Users in the developing world. January 1 is a deadline, cut off for early decisions at colleges, cut off for peace corps application and of course for your new years resolutions. Now there is another deadline, affecting tens or hundreds of millions of people. January 1 is the cut off point for an older form of web security. Anyone with a smart phone older than five years is all of a sudden out of luck when it comes to visiting sites like facebook and google and twitter. To understand why, youve got to understand the basics of current web encryption. Sites try very hard these days to make sure that they prevent a certified version of themselves to you so that no one else can pretend to be google or facebook or twitter and trick you into putting your password into a fake site to be stolen. In websites, theres a green check mark or Something Like it that pops up saying yes, we know this is the real google site, go ahead with that that certification is called fha1. That encryption can be cracked, meaning you wont be able to trust your browser anymore. The consortium that controls browser encryption announced all browsers are going to incorporate sha2. Heres the problem. According to web Security Firm cloud flair in research with facebook, four to 5 of the Internet Users in the developing world, their browsers on older phones wont be able to use it and they will be locked out. The numbers are not exactly clear. If you consider the estimate that there is 3. 5 billion people on the internet today, 2 billion of them in the developing world, we are talking 37 to 100 Million People locked out of the biggest site it is on the web. Thats more people than the entire population of canada or australia or iraq. Now facebook, which measures success by whole continents has proposed an alternative plan which allows older browsers to deal with the new certification. In that way, this is really in part a crisis for Internet Users, they are being cut off from these sites, but the real crisis is for these companies, which are desperate to keep millions of people from fall out of their orbit in 2016. Jake ward with that report. Facebook and cloud fare have been calling for the news deadline to be extended. A proposal has been sent to the son soar chum urging them to consider. The south is dealing with flooding of its own. Lets bring in meteorologist search corriveau. Florida, alabama, georgia as well. You can see all the rain that we have seen over the last several days and that has been really staying there and going to continue to stay there, and we are going to be seeing those watches and warnings, so with the flooding out in ms. Missed, that is separate from here, because we have dry conditions out there. That is all standing water, but here across the southeast, we are dealing with a front, and those flash flood warnings, excuse me, wafers, as well as flood warnings are in effect. We are not going to be seeing an amazing amount of rain, but are going to be seeing three inches to six inches of rain down here across parts of florida. Highway 10 is going to be a problem traveling east or west there. Today is the last day of december, the last day of the year. December has been a very warm month. Its going to break records, actually, but today, those temperatures are coming down for most of the country. If you are out, these are the high ts, new york is 45 degrees. Tonight, drop that down to 42 degrees or 40 degrees. Washington, you are going to be 45 or 46 degrees for any celebrations outside. All right, kevin corriveau, thank you. 2015 is rapidly winding down. We take a look at the art of time through the eye is of one craftsman. Many of us will be keeping a close eye on the time as clocks wind down on 2015. One independent watch maker preserving the art of time works in a tiny workshop outside tokyo, filled with vintage tools and machinery he bought from on line auctions. [ ticking ] im an independent watch maker. Independent watch makers make watches all by themselves. Usually Company People are assigned to design parts and build it but independent watch makers do all of that by themselves. When i first began to create time pieces, i wanted to make something no one has ever seen before. Now i want to express the culture of my own country through my watches. The clocks used to divide the day into 24 hours. The clock was created when people divided the day into days and night. The days are longer in summer and shorter in winter. That seasonal change is automatically adjusted by the changing speeds of the hands or changing the space of the index. Craftsman from 150 years ago had no computers, no precision instruments. Everything was done by their own hands. There was a time where i was overwhelmed by the complexity and almost gave up. I didnt have any money or machinery, but it made me think i should be better off than them. The clock helped me decide my path. From observing every day life events, be a idea would crystallize and gives new shape to my time pieces. I have incorporated designs inspired by japanese traditions, such as the rock garden, and a Samurai Sword making technique. I made this watch just by my own hands and it took me one year. I would like the owner of my time pieces to feel that kind of time. There are days when i get completely immersed and forget time. I could work on a part all day and if something goes wrong, i have to start again. The fact that you can do everything by yourself is a bliss, not a hardship. You can transform the idea in your head into an actual shape, and that is hard to do in an age where efficiency and cost cutting have jut most value. If you need a practical watch, the world is never short of far more accurate and economical watches, but these time pieces are going to accompany you on a lifes journey. They would stop if you do not wind them up for two days and they are imperfect. Humans need to look at them to make them work and i think that is the charm of these watches. The president is ringing in the new year in hawaii with the first family, but you can see him in the newest episode of the web series comedians in cars getting coffee. If i slid open your underwear drawer, one brand for a number of brand. You got to go with one brand. One color. Yeah, of course. We were curious about that. After getting details of the penaltys morning routine, Jerry Seinfeld took the commanderinchief for a spin in a stingray split window coupe. He tried to leave the white house grounds with the leader of the free world to go get coffee, but security quickly told him he was a comedian with the president going nowhere, so around and around they went. Still to come, ringing in 2016 around the world. Choices. Maybe i should become a nun. Do nuns smoke . And your backs against the wall. I have a problem. I dont speak english. Hard earned pride. Hard earned respect. Hard earned future. A real look at the American Dream hard earned only on Al Jazeera America in just about 15 hours, new york city will host what could be the biggest new Years Eve Party in the world. As many as 1 million revelers will usher in 2006 in times square. The iconic ball will drop for the eye cobbic countdown to the new year. Crowds will start showing up soon and so will police, to keep everyone safe. It is already 2016 in new zealand. Fireworks went out of in auckland, laser lights were also part of that annual display. Thats it for us here in new york. A live look at sydney which is just about to usher in the new year. About a Million People also expected there. Well have more news from doha right after this. Welcome to the news hour from doha. Syrian rebels fight back after major government offensive south of damascus. Critical conditions, doctors in yemen protest against a lack of medical supplies in the embattled city of taiz. A vote for peace. Some delays and little violence as polls close in Central African republic. Lost in calais, the children who activists say are the forgotten victims of europes refugee crisis. The clock ticks over to 2016. Its just become new year in australia. Japan is next. Rebel factions in syria are fighting back to regain control of areas lost in a government offensive. The army backed by russian fighter jets launched a Major Campaign to recapture the city on an important route connecting the north and south to the capital damascus. We have this report. These rebel fighters are on the counter offensive. They are launching an attack to repel Government Troops in an opposition stronghold in southern syria. They say that many kurds that were part of the government offensive were either destroyed or forced to retreat. The army backed by russian fighter jets say the fight is almost over, and that the city will soon be under its control. Russian rival is like a gamechanger. It added more military assets, more air power, more intelligence. Since we know earlier when president assad in his speech said we are, i dont have enough personnel in order to fight, so accordingly, the russians are here trying to limit the spillover, spillback of the regime. It is the birth place of syrias uprising. While the capital of the province is still surround government control, the rebels of captured most of the towns. It is crucial for both sides. If captured by Government Forces, the rebels will have to pull out. Its fall is also going to be bad news for rebel factions based on the outskirts of damascus. It is also a vital supply route of weapons and recruits for groups based in the east. There are many armed groups operating, alnusra front and others. The opposition rebels have been weakened by divisions and internal fighting. A defeat could undermine peace talks for the rebels in geneva. Al jazeera, southern turkey. Hospitals in taiz in yemen are on the verge of shutting down. They say they are starved of vital medical supplies as fighting continues between forces loyal to the exiled government and houthi rebels. We have this report. At the closing of the year, no letup in the fighting in yemen. Houthi rebels fire shells at a hospital, killing a child. Hospitals are on the front line in the battle between the rebels and supporters of the internationally recognized government of adou Rabbo Mansour hadi. Medical staff are struggling to cope. At a hospital in taiz, they plead for more oxygen supplies. Without them, they say medical care will suffocate. We are protesting because we are no longer able to save our patients. They arrive injured, but we cannot help them. There is no oxygen, no surgery equipment. People with family and friends being treated in the hospital are having to bring in their own oxygen bottles. I had to get it from outside the hospital, because none of available here. The United Nations said more than 21 million yemenis need medical 80, roughly 20 of the population. Houthi fighters arent allowing supplies through. Some of that aid is now being provided by saudi arabia which has led a Coalition Fighting the houthi rebels. Both sides have been criticized for the number of civilians killed and injured in bombing campaigns. Saudi arabia said its humanitarian convoys are being targeted. The patients at the hospital are unlikely to care where the aid comes from, just as long as it comes. Al jazeera. Humanitarian advisor for Doctors Without Borders recently returned from taiz and joins us via skype from amsterdam. Good to have you with us. What did you find in taiz . In taiz, indeed, there are parts of the city which have been unable to receive medical supplies for a long time. The hospital was mentioned in the piece you just broadcasted. Its inside a besieged area where all rods leading to it are blocked either by land mines that have been laid in recent weeks or by checkpoints by the Houthi Ali Abdullah Saleh alliance and we havent been able to reach the hospitals inside the besieged area since august, notwithstanding high level discussions and negotiations in sanna. What sort of negotiations are you having with those who are preventing medical supplies from entering the hospitals or people leaving . How do they justify it . Well, we are trying to convince them that they should let a couple of trucks of drugs and medical supplies. People are caught in the front line. They have not chosen where they are living and find themselves in a besieged area and are paying a very high price for the fighting going on around them. The main problem is that the military dynamics in taiz of quite complicated in that local fighting interest has now developed over the last few months and therefore even when sometimes we have positive signs at national level, at sanna level, we are not able to reach the besieged hospitals, because local fighting forces and local commanders refuse sometimes even to acknowledge some of the orders they might receive from higher above. The other points, which is important to make is that if besieged areas in taiz of currently under blockade, the whole country is suffering from a de facto embargo since the United Security Council Resolution was passed in april and to that effect, the houthi authorities in sanna feel themselves besieged as a whole. No commercial vessels are reaching the port and allowing much needed food and fuel into the country, which also affects hospitals under houthial sal side of the fighting. It is everybody suffering from the Current Conditions and it is only with a reduction of the fighting an with specific efforts by both belligerent forces that the humanitarian conditions for the population will improve in the coming weeks. With the situation as it is now, how long do you think people have . How long can they go on like this for . Its very difficult to assert, but we feel like the situation is only getting worse, and over the last couple of months, there has been a sustained degradation of the situation in country. The coping mechanisms have almost exhausted themselves. People are not finding any other solutions, sometimes they are leaving the areas they live in order to survive, and not even get assistance because the levels of assistance within the country are also low both because of the embargo, de facto embargo led by the Saudi Coalition as well as the bureaucratic restrictions or difficulties we meet with local and National Authorities that reach areas on the other side. Again, it is civilians that are paying the high price for the current fighting in yemen and that is unacceptable and a seriously appalling situation happening in taiz. They are being held hostage to this war. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Thank you. The battle to retake ramadi from isil has destroyed 80 of the city. The local government is telling residents its not safe to return immediately. The army claimed control of central ramadi on sunday, but isil is still fighting in other districts. Many remain trapped but thousands escaped and are living in camps nearby. At that time, everything was in disorder. The crew punishment was above all else. The extremist groups just enjoyed slaughter and bloodshed. My 12yearold cousin was killed by them. They said the child took pictures of them. They killed him and put him in a garbage bag and we were not allowed to bury his body. The prime promises to turn his attention to mosul. Hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been displaced from the countrys second largest city. Many of them belong to minority communities and have escaped to erbil. We have this report. The holidays havent been the same tort last two years since he lost his aunt in a car bomb in mosul. Its hard he said to learn to write to another hand. Thats why he goes to a class with younger students. His family had to leave their home after isil arrived and told christians to pay a tax or leave. They left. When isil came there, they left again. Like many around them, its the cheerful times at the end of the year that are the hardest. My family and i cant celebrate. My son lost his arm, my brother is missing. Isil took him as a prisoner. Its very hard to feel happy when your loved ones are missing. At this camp for displaced christians, many families are from mosul. Although they have been welcomed in in northern iraq, they still miss their homes. They are uneasy living so close to the front lines of isil known locally here at daish. This priest was forced to leave his home in mosul. We like to give our people hope and we all believe that god is always with us. Isil is very close to where we are. Its a threat not only for the christians, but all peaceful in kurdistan. Every year the congregation gross with more displaced christians joining in and many who lost everything still hold on to the one thing they can, hope. We want to go back to our lives and go back home to peace and safety. As the politicians search for a collusion so the conflict, in areas like this, just out of the reach of isil fighters, christians have fled and the local people who have sheltered them can only wish that the coming year will be better than the last one. Al jazeera, erbil. More to come on al jazeera. The el nino affect Floods Force Hundreds of thousands of people from their homes across the americas. Profiting from peace, trade picking up at a part of nigeria once reeling from boko haram attacks. In sport, his 500th match as barcelona breaks the record for the most goals scored in a calendar year. Of all the stories al jazeera reported in 2015, few resonated quite like this one. More than a Million People, men, women, and children trekked across desserts, risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea hoping for a new life in europe. The refugee and migrant crisis started quietly years ago and is far from over but in 2015 is when the world took notice. We have the latest on the crisis in a moment, but first a look back at some of the moments of the coverage al jazeera calls desperate journeys. People die. In syria. Fighter jets launch airstrikes on the divided city of aleppo. In yemen, devastation has become the norm. No other choice. Its a war. We want to go to europe. May be of the migrants are not happy they are returning to libya. Here comes another boat. No matter what triggered the Mass Movement of people, the war in syria or germanys implied promise to take all them in, all the false promises of the people smuggler, no matter what started it, perpetuated it, there is no easy way of stopping it. They have given up everything to make this journey and say there will be no going back. Your family got across and you were stuck here . We are walking to germany. It is a very, very long way. These people are in a standoff. Theres a somber realizessation of the people and the places theyve left behind. We have a take care of them. They are having a honeymoon. They cant stop smiling since they got here. We dont want to go to europe. Just stop the war. Just that. Some of the moments of al jazeeras coverage of the refugee crisis is a crisis that is getting worse all the time. The german chancellor Angela Merkel has thanked the public for helping the 1 million refugees that have entered her country this year. In her speech she said the new arrivals will present an opportunity for germanys future. Im convinced that tackled the right way, todays task of dealing with the in flux and integration of so many people will be a chance, an opportunity for tomorrow. We do have a great Civic Engagement and comprehensive concept of policy measures, both nationally in europe and internationally, we are working to improve the protection of europes external borders, replace illegal with legal migration to combat the cause of flight and sustainably and permanently reduce the number of refugees. Hundreds of children are believed to be stranded at a refugee camp in calais in northern france that british Rights Groups citizens u. K. Say little is being done to help the group. They believe e. U. Rules are being broken. Lawrence lee went to calais to meet some of the stranded youngsters. The sprawling camp in calais has grown and grown that year and in the chaos of life are any number of children who have ended up raising themselves in this brutal place. Through an interpreter, this 16yearold described how he had fled syria with his mother, but separated in turkey, she got to the u. K. As a refugee and he hasnt seen her in 15 months. What can i tell you . I cant find the words. Its a disaster. Saeed lost is elder brothers before they even reached turkey. They are in britain. Hes 16, as well and he made the entire refugee journey alone. Its not a good place. Theres nothing for me here. Its horrible. What they have in common, what it seems hundreds of others here do, too is what should be an exit route out of all this. The socalled government regulation is supposed to mean that a refugee can claim asylum in the first european country that they enter. Theres another part of the dublin regulation thats crucial for children living here in the camp in calais, because it says that if those children have a Family Member already living inside the e. U. , then they can claim asylum in that country. The u. K. Government argued that the dublin regulation meant people would have to stay in the first e. U. Country they went to. A court overruled them. That should mean children have to be matched with their parents. Its fallen to this one voluntary to do it. She has found over 200 children fit the profile. Her fear is that the u. K. Dragging its heels puts children in great danger. The consequence is that children are being forced into the hands of traffickers and forced to jump on trains and jump in lauries which is extremely dangerous and many are dying. Lost child who said are here and the best efforts of volunteers cant compensate. Children here have a family an hour away by train and the law says they are entitled to be with them but this is calais and normal rules do not apply. Lawrence lee, al jazeera in calais. The countries bordering syria have taken the most refugees from the were there. In lebanon many are living in camps or crammed into small apartments. As the new year approaches, some tell us what they hope for in 2016. I wish peace for our country and for us to return to our country. If there isnt going to be peace in syria, we wish to emigrate anywhere else abroad for these children to get an education, look out for their future, practice reading and writing, to play and get fed properly, because they suffer malnutrition. Smiles have been absent from their faces for a long time now. May god have mercy on us to return to our country. I dont wish for more of that. We wish to return to our country, because no country will welcome us like our own. We the Syrian Refugees hopefully will return to our homes next year. Desperate journeys was one of thousands of stories al jazeera covered this year. We devoted a page to the most reviewed reports of 2015. Theres plenty more on line to get you talking and clicking. Just head to aljazeera. Com. Thats aljazeera. Com. Votes are being counted in Central African republic, a landmark parliamentary vote passed without major violence. Many hope it will mark an end to the conflict that that killed tens of thousands of people. International monitors havent yet reported irregularities. Tone i cant page reports. Security is tight. It is a muslim enclave. These people have felt under siege, so the officers presence is reassuring. They say if they dare to leave the area, they could be killed. We want a president so we can live in peace, so we can walk and go wherever we want, so we can leave this neighborhood. Were stuck here like prisoners. If we get a good president , we can go anywhere, well feel good. Well sleep well and we wont hear gunshots anymore. Central africans are voting to start over. Many have lived in fear since members of the mostly muslim selica group committed attacks against civilians in 2013. As they withdrew, mostly christian militia took revenge on the selica and muslim civilians. Neighbors turned on neighbors. He is christian. He left when the violence was at its worst and although things are better now, he still lives in a camp. With the muslims, weve been together since we were young. Weve been overcome by whats happened. Thats why ive decided to come back and vote in my neighborhood so that muslims and christians can be together. Last week a leader dropped his call for an autonomous state. Security has been improving. During the referendum, this is where there was a gun battle between hardliners from within the community and u. N. Peacekeepers. The fighters were trying to intimidate people from voting, but now were told some of those who were shooting then are now voting. But there were problems. This man was told he cant vote because hes not on the list. Voting is civic duty. I have to do it and i cannot, so i am not happy. One vote can mean a lot. There were delays at many polling stayses and in two parts of the capital, the parliamentary election was canceled because there was no voting material. What these people want is a new governance, new start, a new way of handling this country. What im hearing is equity, rule of law, democracy, they want to be they want their leaders to be accountable. There is a huge task to unit a community and build a country. Expectations are high and there is hope that mistrust and violence is behind them. We can talk to tonia page live for us in the capital, a successful vote has taken place and now the await for the results. The real challenges come when the new leadership is in place. Yes, absolutely. Its impossible to overstate how difficult the task will be for whoever force the new government, whoever the new president is. We did speak to the new muslim candidate. Although it was thought the voter card issues would be minor and have a less significant effect on the overall outcome, he was very concerned about the counting pros. Im going to bring in my guest, the u. N. Special representative whos going to make sure this count happens correctly in a corrupt government where there have been major issues. I think the National Authority for the election with the support of the United Nation and by the provision of the law, all the weak insists, candidate who can be there, but also their representative. It will be a very open pros. Put in place is a protected one but very simple, so it will be transparent. One of the issues behind the rebellion was the gross underdevelopment of many regions. The new government has a huge huge task ahead of them. Absolutely. Because the crisis is not a religious crisis, it is a poverty crisis. It is a crisis of mismanagement of resources, the governments crisis. Whoever is elected will have a huge task ahead and need the support of the entire international community. What im telling to the country, election is just a step. The issues are there and the election will not stop them. The election will just give the opportunity of a legitimate leadership to take over from the government and too stop the agenda of to start the agenda of peace. The sex abuse allegations particularly against french peacekeepers on children in one of the camps here, allegations in an independent panel review that the u. N. Mishandled that investigation. I think, im not directly in charge of this, but i know that our position in the United Nations is that we condemn firmly this type of behavior. We dont accept this. We are here to keep peace, to maintain peace and any misbehavior will be strongly sanctioned by the United Nation. The way to handle im not really equipped to tell you but i know the u. N. Is taking very strong steps to make hard decision and i think things are moving in the right direction and we put in place many instrument to monitor closely this dimension of the problem. Can you elaborate on what those instruments are . Theres a committee, theres a policies that has been put in place. It is something that we used before, but we reinforce it. We put a committee in place in the region. This was in place anyway under a former special rep and this committee is meeting anytime there is a suspicion, anytime we heard an allegation, and we handled that very seriously because it is something that United Nations will not tolerate. We will not tall rate that, the leader of the mission here, we will never tolerate this and this is how its going to be. We engage and other communities here with the United Nation agencies, not only the peacekeepers, but also other partners we are working with to tell them that this crisis is a crisis where we need to put the human being at the center of the solution but not to make them a victim again. Thank you very much for your time with us today. Thank you. Thank you for that. Lets get the weather now with richard. Record breaking storms really turned the weather in the Northern Hemisphere jump side down. Its bizarre at the moment. The north pole at this time of the year, of course its completely dark 24 hours a day. Temperatures at the moment are above freezing, maybe even lightly above. The reason for it is a start off in the United States where we have had dreadful flooding. Remember the tornadoes which hit during the course of the weekend . Well, it was on this same weather system which brought the flooding along the Mississippi River. Thats going to continue on for another two or three weeks before the floodwaters peak across the whole of the river. That warm air swept the atlantic and formed in part of what became storm frank. It was a rapid cycle genesis. It resulted in quite Severe Weather conditions. The frontal system left was associated with it. Across the u. K. , we had very strong winds as you often get with these storms, but we also had vast amounts of rain. Because you had tropical air, so warm, so moist. We still have air, pretty cool air, low temperatures across turkey, romania, far lower than we have in the arctic. Lets move northward. That warm air was swept right into the top of the world. Current it is six degrees. Should be about minus four degrees. The really warm air is sitting on top of the north pole. We think the temperatures at the moment, we think because we dont have a widespread observation because you are dealing with ice rather than a land mass, but temperatures should be 35 below zero. Its not going to melt the ice. Thats melting, of very warm sea surface temperatures, but it is quite remarkable. This is the only time this has happened since 1948. If we get temperatures above freezing in january, that is only the third time that has happened. There is extreme weapon across the globe. Much more to come, china defends its decision not to review press credentials for a french journalist. The year of the drone, we look back at the tech of 2015, both the in voluntary have ors and disruptors. San Antonio Spurs to victory in their last game of 2015. More details coming up with joe in sport. Hello again, the top stories on al jazeera, syrian Government Forces launched a major offensive in the south of the country with the help of russian air power. The army has entered the key rebel control town, the main supply route connecting the capital with the city. Hospitals in taiz on the verge of shutting down in yemen as fighterring continues between the forces loyal to the government and houthi fighters. One hospital reversed to take anymore patients. Votes to be counted in Central African republic. It passed without violence. Turnout was 40 . No major irregularities have been reported. In the United States, the Mississippi River has ricin to Dangerous Levels after four days of heavy rain. We are in the city of fenton in the city of missouri. What is the situation there andy . How are people getting around . Well, jane, Mother Nature wins again, unfortunately. You can see here the mer meek river just west of st. Louis reg crest stage. The major interstate heading out of st. Louis, i44 closed. Just in the last couple of hours, they have now shut down interstate 55, heading south out of st. Louis. Authorities told us they really hope that throwing down industrial sized sandbags on i55 might keep the Meramec River from overflowing that interstate, but it has failed. You see how important this is, because this now joins some dozens and dozens of other roads around st. Louis also closed. Authorities dont want top take chances, because of the 14 People Killed in missouri, all but one have died when their cars have gone through roads that had water on them, so thats the goal here is to keep people safe, but its always causing a lot of problems where it comes to people getting around. The toughest news of all is when these rivers crest today, it could take 24 hours for them to start receding, so these roads wont be opening up anytime soon. The amount of water, its going to take a long time for people to get in and get out. Whats being done to make their situation easier, the few who remain . Well, thousands of people have been chased out of their homes at this point. We have a few more towns with evacuations, so the governor has called in the gal guard to help with that process and hopefully get these people safe and away from their homes obviously and eventually get them back in. President obama talked to the governor of missouri yesterday and offered his help, any federal assistance that he could. In the meantime, everybody is waiting to see where all this water goes. It is heading toward st. Louis because the Meramec River here goes into the Mississippi River. St. Louis obviously much more equipped to handle high water. They will crest today. Then, jane, all this water starts heading down the Mississippi River and it will reach memphis about january 5 and then on to new orleans as well, so the flooding dangers going down the Mississippi River havent ended there, although we hope it calls down here. The best of all is there is no rain in the forecast here, so whatever is here now will stay and then eventually recede. That is good news. Thank you. The south american nation of brazil, argentina, park guy and uruguay are experiencing their worst flooding in half century. More than 100,000 people have been displaced after heavy rains linked to the el nino weather pattern. We have the latest from argentinas capital buenos aires. People fleeing the flood caused by the el nino phenomenon. Scenes like these are repeating themselves across argentina. Parts of brazil, urge guy and park guy have been flooded for days, thousands of houses destroyed by the were. Over 160,000 people have been forced to flee. Park guy has been the hardesthit with almost 100,000 people forced out of their homes near the capital. This is how we pass the time and the street is also dangerous because of traffic. Bolivia has been affect. The residents in the peru amazon say they are afraid. Its been raining too much. Theres too much water. Its rained here so much, its scary. Only god nose what hes doing. What shall we do . This is nature, but its raining too, too much. El nino is driven by a warm surface water in the eastern pacific ocean. It generates climate fluctuations. Nasa says el nino is still building, and it could even rival the record weather effects of 1997. With conditions set to worsen, aid organizations warn that this el nino could leave millions of people exposed to disease and hunger. Al jazeera, buenos aires. China has defended its decision not to renew press credentials for a french journalist effectively expelling her from the country. She says its in response to a story she wrote about crackdowns against the muslim community. She believes the Chinese Government didnt receipt the article before refusing to renew her permit. The Chinese Foreign minister said she should apologize for her report. First of all, china has kept in contact with all foreign correspondents in beijing and china on a daily basis. There is some information both sides agreed not to make public now. I think the journalist recognizes her mistake. She has should apologized instead of being asked to do so. She said beijing is using the visa process to silence journalists. By expelling the journalists, the chinese authorities are doing what they normally do, which is to silence, isolate and just basically get rid of, you know, voices that it views as critical or voicing any opinion. I think that its important to keep focus on the attack on her is on the terrorism point and is on her reporting, and that she was not the first foreign journalist who commented on chinas appropriation of the terrorism label and not the first to ever commented on what really many viewed as an opportunistic sympathy for the paris attacks, and the use by china of con plating a very serious global terrorism threat with a domestic as in china violence that is occurring within the context of militarized repression in 16jan anti bet. The use of the two is really muddying the waters, that the best way to really Counter Terrorism is to really be in compliance with the j Counter Terrorism strategy which says and stub lathes that the most important way to Counter Terrorism is to respect human rights. Here, china could demonstrate could battle terrorism by respecting independent rights and have respect for an independent media. A political and Economic Affairs commentator joins us. Good to have you with us. What do you think the government message is here . Is it a message to silence journalists if they speak up . Has it got to do just with the weakest . Whats going on . Well, lets make a few distinctions before we get into exactly what the message of china is. This was not a news piece she wrote. It was an editorial piece. She put down a lot of words that were fairly inflammatory, she said merciless repression, that these types of attacks could be expected to continue as long as the weaker were being ruthlessly put down and things along this path. She made a distinction between what she said was the situation there and in china, where you have People Killed in their sleep, whether they are in paris or the middle east, this should be of great concern to everyone involved. It should not be a point where you make distinctions whether or not they are terrorists. People who kill people are by definition terrorists. They are trying to achieve political aims by putting people in fear for their life and livelihood. Flagrant attempts called counterproductive. I understand that point of view, but we have to see that this is a clash of civilizations. In the west, you can say inflammatory things and this will be taken in stride. We have systems where this is part of the every day. In the United States, you have donald trump and others debating the issues whether they should ban muslims almost entirely from the u. S. When you come to china in a single party system, when you start criticizing it and say that it is repressing one of its minorities, they take this very seriously as a direct criticism of the government. For the chinese, theyve felt for a long time that the International Press has been less than fair with china. I think most people who come to china will tell you that their impression of it differs from what they receive on the International Press, so this idea of a dual standard and not being fair has rankled them. China is in a hurry at this point in time, their main goal is economic. They wish to push forward and get through this middle income trap area that they sense is the real point of their future, but to do that, they must move quickly and there will be a significant amount of pain in the meantime. Theyre also trying to clean up their government. Because of all of these things, they are not being very open to any kind of dissent internally or externally. Good to get your thoughts, thank you. Other news from around the world. The capital belgium canceled fireworks for new years eve because of security threats. The countrys been on high alert since the paris attacks in november. Several attackers had links there. Venezuelas Supreme Court barred four newly elected lawmakers from taking office, putting the oppositions congressional majority at risk. The move was a response to a legal challenge filed by supporters of the ruling socialist party. In december, elections, the option took control of congress for the first time in more than a decade. Israeli prosecutors say the primary suspect in a west bank arson attack will be charged with murder. The july attack killed three members of a Palestinian Family in douma, including an 18monthold baby. Nigeria government is ready to negotiate with boko haram for the release of nearly 200 school girls missing for more than a year and a half. Any talks will depend on identifying credible leadership within the armed group. The girls were taken from their dormitories in the northeastern town last year. Boko haram are only able to carry out attacks now that are soft targets, not necessarily carrying out organized military attack, which is very different from what we were seeing before this current military expedition, so things have improved. We have moved from where we were. We need to focus more on intelligence gathering. It does appear that boko haram will be able to carry out kind of a massive invasion in opened territory as they did in the past. In the past, they successfully occupied parts of nigeria but at the minute they have been significantly weakened to the point that i do not foresee them in any way being able to carry out any kind of invasion and occupy any part of nigeria. At the minute, i believe they are very weak and cant do that. The Nigerian Government said its close to defeating the armed group. We have a report on how improved security in the region is slowly boosting trade. Washing in on the relative peace, traders load trucks with essential supplies to liberated areas of northeast nigeria. It is now a busy hub. There are serious improvements over the last four months, because we are now getting the peace gradually and people are now coming to the market to buy goods. Some of the goods he sells end up in the hands of retailers in the market. Attacks only market decreased. The last one was four months ago. Now Business Confidence is gradually returning and the rate going up. Le customers from across the border are slowly coming back. There is a long way to go to repair the impact of the violence. It used to be a Major Trading post. It has impacted negatively such that it eroded the economy base of our community by as much as 90 . It could be sometime before the region finds its seat again as infrastructure and confidence has been badly shaken. Traders trying to look to the future where they can regain access to com ruin, chad, and niger. They say insecurity along nigerias borders has cut incomes by as much as 80 . There is cautious excitement about the reduction of violence, but everyone here knows it would only take a spark to shut you out confidence. Still ahead on the al jazeera news hour, its been a terrible year for footballs governing body. We look back at fifa 2015. The arrival of the newer is being celebrated across the world. Our Technology Editor looks at some of the technologies which made headlines in 2015. Sails of unmanned remote controlled aircraft grew 20 in 2015. The markets now worth over 1. 4 billion a year. While theyre a headache for air traffic controllers, sales have been driven by images on social media. We are seeing more and more video. We hear statistics coming out of facebook, about videos being shared and numbers of video views growing and growing. It looks like the trend is there. Whats known as the sharing economy has also been in the headlines. Technology which lets individual rent their room for flat to others or drive their own cars as atari have been popular, though controversial. Its been blamed for encouraging part time low paid work cut you are that. Others say it brings more wage earning opportunities to more people. Smart balancing electronic scooters or hoverboards have been a popular gift this year. Theyve been in the headlines for catching fire. Though this year launched a board that does hover, were hoping this becomes the hesh of 2000 sip. This tesla sedan can change lanes and park itself. When there are enough of these on the road, you can imagine that things like pile ups on motor ways, when theyre shrouded in fog and things like that will be much more unlikely. Once i get car to car communication set up, you will move to driverless car and that will completely change our relationship with the car. Space x landed a reusable rocket after launching a cluster of satellites into space. The company says by being able to recycle rockets, it can reduce the cost of space travel. Theres been controversy over the way more and more appliances like this t. V. Can record and see whats being spoken in front of them to other on line companies. The technology has raised privacy concerns. With more than 3. 2 billion people connected to the internet, another 65,000 coming on line each day, its clear in the years ahead, technology and connectivity will play an increasing role in their lives. Al jazeera. Lets get the sports news. Thank you very much. Barcelona ends 2015 where theyve spent most of the year, at the top of the spanish tail. Theyve won five trophies in 12 months. Rebounding in a goal. Twentysecond half strikes mean barca has scored the most goals in a calendar year with 118. There was missed penalty in real madrids win. He scored a second spot kick. Rinaldo ending up with two goals. Liverpool beat sunderland to seal a second straight win in the english premier league. Scoring the only goal of the game, liverpool end 2015 level on points with six placed manchester united, sunderland state second to bottom. In the nba, the Golden State Warriors were without seth curry on wednesday and felt his absence as they picked up just their second loss of the season, going down 11491 to dallas. Meanwhile, the san Antonio Spurs routed phoenix for their 19t 19th straight home win to start the season. Al bridge had 21 points and 12 rebounds as they won. It extends the franchise record home winning street to 28 straight games, dating back to last season. Despite not having a world cup or olympics, 2015 was a busy year of sport. January saw australia crowned asian cup champions in football for the first time on home soil. The new England Patriots won the novel superbowl despite the allegations of bowl tampering in a previous game. In equatorial guinea, africa became champions. Flied weather, jr. Beat Manny Pacquiao before retiring undefeated. The same month, u. S. And swiss investigators opened an investigation into corruption at fifa. Seth blatter was reelected president only to announce days later that hed step down. In june, american pharaoh became the first horse in 36 years to win the triple crown. Barcelona wins the champions leak. The Golden State Warriors became nba champions for the first time in 40 years. In gulf, jordan speith added the u. S. Open to the masters title he won just two months before. The United States then won the womens world cup in canada. By winning at wimbledon, my favorite tennis blare Serena Williams held all fore grand slam tennis titles. November saw russia banned from world athletics for doping. Seth blatter was banned by the Fifa Ethics Committee for eight years for a disloyal payment to michelle plat teeny. Fifas reputation was already very, very topic, very badly damaged, obviously for years before that. At the same time, it was still startling as seven high ranking fifa officials actually got arrested. We remember them being walked and you have the hotel. Thats the Timeless Image of fifas dirty laundry being washed in public. The drama and the scale of the arrests and the scale of the american investigation into football, its not just fifa, into football, corruption, has been actually staggering this year and it has been a real watershed and a real landmark. That is all the sport for now, more later. Thanks for that. Another full bulletin of news will be coming up in the next couple of minutes or so. Japans going to be celebrating new year next. Happy new year to you. Thanks very much for watching. Syrian rebels fight back after a major event south of damascus. Hello, this is al jazeera live from doha. Also coming up, critical condition, doctors in yemen protest against the lack of medical supplies in the embattled city of taiz. Lost in calais, the children activists say are the forgotten victims of europes refugee crisis