One of chinas prominent human rights lawyers avoids down time. His days as a champion of free speech may be over. Political uncertainty. Protests are growing in haiti. After the president until run up election is definitely postponed. What is fuelling the countrys political unrest. Beautiful and brave. Miss iraq. Grounded in baghdad for the first time. Why she and other contestants defied Death Threats to be in the pageant good evening, everyone, im adam may in for antonio mora. This is al jazeera Americas International news hour. Tonight we begin with a battle for ramadi. The Iraqi Military launched on offensive aimed at recapturing the capital of anbar province, helped by the air strikes, the iraqi forces advanced inside the city center. A defeat would representatives a substantial loss for i. S. I. L. According to one estimate, the group lost 14 per cent of hits territory since the start of the year. I. S. I. L. Is far from finished, releasing footage showing its fighters controlling the city of cert. The president called islamic police, hinting theyll expand into north africa. Senator is at the pentagon with more. Iraqs Jamie Mcintyre is at the pentagon with more. Iraqs offensive is in the final phase. The overwhelming superiority forces is that i. S. I. L. s days of leading ramadi are numbered. Reporter employed by iraqi engineers, the Security Forces defrauded the river. Closing in on the center. Where they face house to house combat against fighters. Back in may, i. S. I. L. Took ramadi with shockingees, rounding a force shocking ease. Taking the area with 1,000 attackers. The Coalition Bombing and attacks whittled the attack down to 350 or fewer. The assaults numbers over 12,000, backed by u. S. Air power that has been pounding i. S. I. L. Positions killing hundreds of fighters. The ends coming. That said, its going to be a tough fight. For months forces executing a plan drafted by the u. S. Have been slowly surrounding ramadi. For cam anders, the pace has been slow. The Prime Minister refused to accept helps in the form of apache attack helicopters that could provide air cover. Its hard to inflict support on someone. We tried to provide support. And like i said. The kind of support we provide has to be consistent of the way iraqi Security Forces fight. Iraq took an important piece of advice, keeping shia solicitors out of force. Iraqi Security Forces patrolled the city after the fighting ends. Conditions are properly set. We are doing everything to expedite the completion. I remain optimistic. If i. S. I. L. Can be pushed out of the city, an hours drive. It will not be a huge psychological victory, but a model for future operations. And an event against the i. S. I. L. Stronghold of mosul in northern rick. Part of the crossfire, civilians. There are reports that i. S. I. L. Has some residents leaving and using them as human shields. We have the latest on the traps. This is a challenge for the iraqi Security Forces. How theyll deal with the civilians. Some said before, around 4,000 couldnt get out of the city. And the fighting is going on inside the ramadi. It seems like theres no plan, and theres no obvious plan by the iraqi Security Forces how to protect the civilians. Now everyone is talking about how to control the city, the town of the city. Everyone is warning about a catastrophe may happen because of thousands of families and people still inside ramadi. Joining us from washington is retired army brig add ear, good to have you with us. Im wondering how competent you are that iraqi forces will take back ramadi, and how important a test is this for the Iraqi Government . Im government unless theres a surprise in the middle of ramadi that the service brought into the fight are the best troops and i expect theyll finish the take over in the next couple of days. Are you saying this is a sophisticated provision that the army is taking over right now. It would be as if we were putting our joint commander in the battle. They are the best trained and equipped. That is important strategically and obvious for moral, can you explain why . Well, sure. This is one of the iconic towns. Theyll lose a lot of troops to win these back in 2006 to 2007 time period. The towns resonate with the iraqis themselves and the u. S. Earlier the iraqi forces did have some successes on the battlefield. They took back control of tikrit and the oil fields, and earlier this month we heard president obama say that i. S. I. L. Lost 40 of the land that they have been able to get there in iraq. I do agree with the president s assessment that i. S. I. L. Has been contained in iraq. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think i. S. I. L. Is anything but contained. Iraqi Security Forces had battlefield successors. Plus, we are starting to see i. S. I. L. Emerge in other parts of the world. The takedown of the soviet airliner, the take down of some spects in libya, and certainly what we saw in paris would tell me that i. S. I. L. Is anything but contained. Im wondering how much support does the u. S. Provide there to the iraqi army on the ground. Beyond the supplies handed over in the past few years. Well, a couple of things. As we saw in ramadi, the bridge that was put across the river which provided an axis, a total surprise to i. S. I. L. Was an american bridge, the iraqis were trained how to use it. We have been trained for some time, we provided plies and providing a very, very robust air campaign during this entire time. Effectively the u. S. Forces doing everything but fighting at the front line alongside the iraqi compatriots. Is i. S. I. L. On the run, are they moving to new areas or are they defeated on the ground they are militarily in. At least in iraq. I think taking a look at the number of fighters, the number of people that are joining i. S. I. L. And growing every month. They are losing a couple of towns here in iraq. It may be a great victory with the iraqi forces. Until we get to the root of the well see people astrackted and coming in on the battlefield. Lets assume iraqi forces are successful and retake control of the city. Do you think the nest step should be there for next step should be there for the iraqi forces as they try to weed i. S. I. L. Out. A couple of things, they cant take the center and leave. We talked about the hold and build strategy that is necessary for taking and maintaining the town. That has to be done in ramadi. Militarily they need moving uch north to take the strategic town of mosul. You cant say that you are victorious inside iraq until they take back mows you will and other areas. Many areas in question. Retired brigadier general, good to have you. Thank you so much. Sure. Bosnian Police Arrested 11 people suspected of having ties to i. S. I. L. They are suspected of terrorism. Financing terrorism and recruiting fighters. 50,000 were targeted in raise, according to the chief prosecutor. Police believe that more than 150 bosnians left to fight for i. S. I. L. In the middle east. Government Officials Say they have foiled an attack planned against police and soldiers. One suspect, they say, admitted they were hoping to seize weapons and recruit other attackers. The pair were in touch with the third frenchman who they believe is in syria. The u. S. Military identified six american troops killed in a suicide bombing in afghanistan yesterday. One was among the first open reply Gay Service Members to get married. The family of air force major posted condolences on facebook another one was Sergeant Joseph lamb of the new york air guard. He was a new York City Police disability. The n. Y. P. D. Veteran was killed during a second tour of duty, survived by a wife, second and daughter the u. K. Deployed troops to afghanistan in what its calling an advisory role. The British Ministry of defense is sending personnel into the province, as it escalates between the taliban and Afghan Forces. We have the latest from kaboom. Now its the fourth day of the clashes between the Afghan Forces and taliban. This morning we spoke to some prove yin shall government h initials. They told us last night that the forces arrived in sankin and conducted operation, they say that the Afghan Forces that they were under the taliban siege were freed and supplied with water and ammunition and the operation is still continuing. The afghan official claims that they have recaptured four outposts. But the town is under control of the taliban. The afghan government, forces are pushing in to clear the area. Its not clear when this operation will end. U. S. Army Sergeant Bowe bergdahl faced military court. He was released in a prisoner swap in 2014. The 29yearold is facing life in prison. The next Pretrial Hearing on november 12th. A turkish newsagency reports that 11 were killed after their boat sank near the coast. The National Coast guard is searching or survivors. Officials dont know how many may have been on board the boat. The number of refugees and migrants hit more than 1 million, and the International Organization for migration says the really number could be higher. Al jazeeras Roxanna Saberi brings us that story. Reporter most mying rants entering europe risk their lives. Most are fleeing war, fleeing for their lives, terrorist. Its a shocking reality. Now they are fleeing in record numbers. This is 34 times as many migrants coming north as we had in the year 2014. The deaths far surpassed the deaths last year. Half the refugees crossing into europe, syrians fleeing more. 20 are afghans, and 7 iraqis. They are coming from across africa. Not all are fleeing violence, some Climate Change. They are Climate Change migrants. Most land in greece. Many arrive in italy, bulgaria and spain. To put it in perspective, the migration is higher. The u. N. Says more than 2 million Syrian Refugees are there. More than one million are fled to lebanon. More than 600,000 are in jordan. Many leading in limbo without the right to work. Some are heading to europe where governments are struggling to agree on a result for the crisis. They welcomed the largest number of refugees in europe. A number of countries erected fences to deter them. The European Union is pitting money into beefing up border security. We may see lower numbers and higher deaths. We have seen nearly 4,000 dying. This year alone, while trying to get to europe. They are entitled to protection. Nobel manslaughter yet Mikhail Youzhny welcomed a syrian activist to her home. She has been called the malala of syria. They teamed up last july, to open a school in lebanon for refugee children. The u. N. Estimates more than 2 million kids have been forced out of school in syria. That is a concern in nigeria, where more than one million children have been kept from attending schools. As a result of attacks by boko haram. The violence forced more than 2,000 schools to close in nigeria, cameroon, some have been looted, others set on fire. U. N. Official fear that children are at risk of being abused. Abducted or recruited. Teachers are having to stay away from the schools, saying 600 instructors have been killed over the last six years. The United Nations is facing blame for casualty yits in yemen casualties in yemen. Who is accused and why the war in yemen could endanger what is happening in the area and systematically killing dozens of people in a day calls for an investigation. S big developments in the war. Progovernment forces making gains in lebanon. They are hitting targets and helping Ground Troops take ban sanaa. Richard martin has the latest. Reporter progovernment forces are on the offensive. They are taking over the town of sanaa. They took control of sanaa 15 months ago. Progovernment forces are fighting to allow the internationally recognised president to return to the capital. Fighting is ongoing in that direction. On the right of the junction, and the Popular Resistance fighters are there on the hill. There are progovernment gains further north. There has been heavy fighting near the west. 50km from the saudi border. The houthis are on the retreat leaving weapons and others as they go. In the central province, progovernment fighters took control of a training camp. Both took control of this area. We are following military plans. God willing well continue in the right direction. Almost 6,000 people have tied in the conflict. Half are civilians. Peace talks in switzerland ended without an agreement to bring the civil war to an end. The two sides agreeing to meet again next month. And the commissioner for human rights said the Saudiled Coalition has been targetting civilian areas with the strikes. Heavily Populated Areas have been hit. Ponts and schools destroyed. Peace talks between the warring sides have been adjourned to january 14th. Its in everyones interests to ended conflict. The ramifications of a failed state will create safe havens for radical and professional groups such as i. S. I. S. This, in turn, could expand the conflict beyond the borders. Shattering regional stability. The commissioner is asking the Security Council to scale back the use of force in yemen. Amnesty international is calling for an independent investigation into killings in burundi, concerned about a wave of violence under investment of Security Forces, where 87 people were killed. We have more from the capital of bujumbura. The government refuted allegations in the Amnesty International report, saying that it was not Security Forces who carried out the killings on 11 december, but it was the most violent date. The Deputy President ial spokesperson said that it was the rebels who had carried out the attack on civilians in, for example, the suburb. Where 21 were found dead on the streets. Some of them shot execution style. He said it was them taking the Security Forces. Amnesty international have been referring to the event that the government is detailing. It says that Security Forces racting to an attack went to some suburbs. During people out of their homes Amnesty International calls the killings as a horrific illustration of the growing human rights crisis in burruedy and calls for international reaction. More concerns raised on that. Juve miles between the hours of 16 and 18 to be tried as adults for crimes including rape and murder. Lawmakers have been under pressure to change the law after a juvenile rapist was set free. They can be sentenced to a fax mum of three years, and must be signed by indias president. Hard to believe, a survivor has been pulled from the rub else. Thousands search for the missing. How the government is taking action for those responsible where the waste site happened. And a chinese activist gets a reprevious. Why the sentencing was so surprising. You welcome back to Al Jazeera America im adam may in for antonio mora. Coming up in this half hour of International News, well tell you about the miss iraq crowned in more than 40 years. First a look at the stories making headlines across the u. S. In our american minute. The u. S. House Judiciary Committee released the visa application of one of the San Bernardino shooters. Tashfeen malik and syed farook made contact on a website. Emailed and decided to meet in person. They killed 14 people at their Christmas Holiday party. Some accuse immigration offences of not veldting tashfeen maliks application. All vetting tashfeen maliks application. The state Department Said all measurements were taken. Reporter kim davis spend six days in gaol for refusing to issue licences to samesex couples, saying it was a violation of religious beliefs. And the government said it made the action to protect beliefs. A judge ruled thats three leaders of the black lives matter did not protest. They can remove protesters if they show up. Organizers trying to show attention to the killing of Al Jazeera America clark chinese authorities raided the offices of a country that managed a dump site at a lacked slide. It happened at an Industrial City on sunday. One man was rescued overnight. This happened more than 60 hours after the landslide hit. Officials say the land victim is it in position. What can you tell us about the survivor, unbelieve payable that after 60 hours theyd find anyone alive. Miracle is an overused word. Thats the word that they are using. Some 67 ours after the mudslide, a 29yearold man. A maying ranked worker was pulled alive from the mud Migrant Workers was pulled alive from the mud and rubble. Lets not forget they were more, as they were pulled out of the rubbleful. He told survivors, he believed a friend of his was alive. We think he was or is a young female. Searchers, using their bare hands dug into the mud. The fact that they found one person alive raised the moral of rescue workers. China handles it approximately. They are coordinated at times like this. You have firefighters, police and the Peoples Liberation army backed up by the red cross and thousands of volunteers. This operation is going to go on for days, hours. The president said no effort should be spared if theres a chance that someone is still alive. There could possibly be air pockets in some of that debris. Its hard for people to wrap their heads around these giant dumps in urban areas, next to homes and offices. What did officials find. What are we learning about this . Youre right. I cant think of countries where this could happen. The mound is more than 100 metres wide and cited in a disused quarry on ground above the complex. The question asked again and again is how is it possible for the mound of earth which contains cement and construction waste to be allowed to stay there. Place raided the offices and took away a duty manager and a theme is emerging. We have lapsed safety regulations and the best friend of that is corruption. The lined slight not the only story dominating the news. Give us a bit of an update as to what happened in the trial. What happened is the sort of thing they would have talked about. He was in trouble for posting a number of tweets. He is a wellknown human rights lawyer, powerful advocate for human rights, facing a long gaol sentence, but a court decided to do something unexpected. Chinas judiciary rarely deliveries a surprisered ict. So to this. An apology for the commends landing him in court. Effectively hes a free man. It was his posts on social media na got him into trouble, poking fun at the leaders, criticising policies in tibet and schenk significanting. As there was when his trial opened, journalists and diplomats were mann handled. Chinas state controlled media didnt report. The emphasis on the sentence, rather than the reprieve. Among the supporters who inskewed the artist. There were mixed feelings. They welcomed his release, but argues it was an injustice. We have cause to not recognise this. Even though hes given suspended sentence, from the league at perspective hes been punished. The fact that hes guilty, gip a suspended sentence is slightly positive given the context. It is important to indicate she should never have been detained. Committed no crime. The evidence was flimsy. The guilty verdict conservativings him. His strict conditions mean he could be returned to gaol. Lets dig deeper into this. The coming comapps of china, guardon joins us from toronto. First off, im yourous why the government curious why the government went after him this time, when he has been outspoken in the past. Under the current president. Oppression has intensified. They want to prevent the lawyers bar representing defendants. This is policy for several years, and they were going to get him at some point. They would find an excuse to detain him. Under the president. Over the last couple of years, that it has gotten more oppressive. He was saying there was room to improvement. It seems on one hand he sees a need. But on the other hand hes acting in app different way. Certainly. He believes in a strong date. He doesnt believe in the right of dissident to speak. There has been a crackdown that is worse under huin too. There has been a progression mere, and the intention is to intimidate the dissidents. It is not working. Every time they put someone away, someone else steps up. This is one of the most inspiring stories. The Chinese People will not be intimidated by the government. How are the Chinese People reacting to this news . We dont really know quite yet. We know from some of the dissidents themselves that they are outraged by the unjustize. Chinese people dont think so. They dont measure themselves against objective standard of canada. The United States and denmark. They see themselves as compared to what it was like 2025 years ago. They are not intimidated right now. This is an interesting dynamic. The party is having problems making sure they can put this in the box. They are not succeeding. There are people stepping up, and this is inspiring. So they could have given him more gaol time. They could have been stricter besides just disbarring him. Why not take a hard line stance. Are you saying there has been a bigger change over the last couple of decades, that there is a movement albeit snow. Theres two reasons that they didnt get the 8 years in gaol which many expected. Win is that the United States, canada and other countries, 10 or 11, were standing outside the trial, showing there was support in the International Community. I think Chinese People would have been outraged if given more gaol time. The dregs was important. They were not going to rub peoples noses in this. That was the right thing. They do not want to trigger a reaction president xi jinping travelled the world, visiting here, the u. S. , u. K. And theres a balance between the discussions that happened between our business interests and will they talk about hoouxan rights, are they talking about human rights or is it too delegate an issue. I think theyll mention it. This is a common theme along the countries. When the president s and other leaders see the need to talk about this, theyll feel they have free rain to put people in gaol. Pool, unfortunately, got the attention from the countries, so many do not have a measure of protection. They continued to battle the communist party. The Chinese People will not give up. Thank you so much again for shedding light on what is happening in china. Thanks a lot. Well, Greeces Parliament has become the latest european body to recognise the state of palestine. This vote took place at both president ial and palestinian president mahmoud abbas. However the ses lugs is n nonmining. The government doesnt have to officially recognise it. Yirtd, britain passed several institutions. Since october at least 10 homes accused of attacking israelis have been demolished. We have this report these are the ruins of what was a home. It was demolished by the israeli military. It was badly damaged, making last parts of it, it was accused of shooting dead a couple in october. And has been imprisoned ever since. They dont know why she and her son have been punished for a crime they didnt commit. Its unfair. My husband is in prison, probably worried sick about us. There has been a wave of violence across israel. 120 palestinians, and a dozens israelis have been killed. Israel cracked down hard on the violence, making arrests. Outraged by the demolitions, palestinians in the occupied west bank raised money to help affected families rebuild. Thousands worth of Construction Supplies have been donated, and offers of labour have poured in. Many sh motivate to many have been motivated to offer to help. They were angry the Palestinian Authority couldnt do more. The idea fuelled because of a lack of response. Officials from involved later. That encouraged us. Israels policy of demolishing homes is illegal. Nothing short of collective punishment. It is not new. From 1967 to 2005 hun creds of homes were demolished. Ending in 2005 after leaders said it didnt prevent violence and was questionable. Binyamin netanyahu bought back punishments after the killing of israeli settlers. Dozens of houses have been destroyed and 10 reduced to rubble. That has not led to a slowdown in the violence. If the policy is intended to have a deterrent effect. It doesnt appear to be working still ahead clearing cambodia of land mines. In the off the radar, segment, the long and dangerous process that could have been decades behind schedule. And portauprince react to the delay in the run off. Russian forces struck markets and medical facilities in syria, killing hundreds of innocent people. With so much attention on miss universe, it had a big impact. Theres a new miss iraq. The 20yearold was crowned the winner. She not only overcame the competition, but the reason for the delay was strident opposition from conservatives there. Death threats were posted to the miss iraq facebook page. Safety concerns forced organizers to post the event. They great to remove the swimsuit. In the off the radar. Cambodian Officials Say the country will not meet a deadline to clear the country of landmines. The agreement was signed in 1997, aimed at clearing cambodia of land mines. Well have more from the province in western cambodia. Centimetre by certainty meter. It has to be a thorough process. The consequences of missing one can be fatal. This was a controlled detonation of two antitank mines found near the west near the border of thailand. Many living, particularly farming in areas that are in constant danger. This farmer survived with a broken leg when his machine ran over an antitang mine. Its an old path. We never drove on a mine. That day we did. It exploded. Its estimated 6 million landmines were planted in cambodia in decades of civil and regional war in the 1960s. As a result of fighting millions of devices were left behind. In the past 25 years, more than 2. 6 million have been recovered. Theres a long way to go. Too far to meet the United Nations target of total eradication. We strongly believe we cannot make it by year 2019. At this stage we consider the request. Extension request by another 10 years. That is to clear the antipersonnel mines, not the antitank mines or other explosives. The cambodians say one of the big problems is money, they dont have enough to Fund Operations like this properly. As its clear they wont meet targets. That funding could be more scarce. Most money comes from japan and the United States. The cambodians commit as the process drags on. Theyll take money elsewhere. Theres 3,000km to clear. Without a cut, it will take 30 years offer the countryside can be declared safe now to our global view segment. A look at news outlets across the world, how they are reacting to event. The telegraph writes about lessons from afghanistan. The first is its hopeless to rely on forces that are not considered their own. The financial power of the opium trade. As columbia discovered the country could be brought to its news. The Guardian Muslim family prevented from travelling to the u. S. For reasons not disclosed. It seems to happen to a growing number of muslims fuelling resentment. Britain must do everything possible. Prejudice has no place. In the south china news. Post calls for cash. Citing who economists call the dead weight loss of christmas. Recipients see their gift as 1030 lower than what they would buy than if they had the cash themselves. The writer adds giving red packets saves givers the hassles of shopping and letting the recipient buy what they want. The u. N. Says its concerned over Political Uncertainty developing in haiti. The president election run offset for december 22nd was postponed. David ariosto has more from portauprince. In the capital city of the western hemispheres poorest country, this is another day. Tear gas mixed with protests as Security Forces struggle to maintain order. This is part of the problem. You have security, police force, a tank of water talent blowing back protesters, coming on the heels of developing semblance in this country. It happened in october. Amid voter fraud in the first round of president ial elections, they have become a weakly occurrence. The team headed to one such matter in portauprince. Its about free power. They express dissatisfaction over the run off results. You can see them coming, denied, saying the president s hand picked candidate is someone that doesnt roept the country. Elections were postponed amid counting pressure usual. The president ordered the creation of the commission to assess the process, allaying concerns by involving outside experts. The move is not enough to plaguate the hatian street. I think theres a lot of pent up anger and aggression with the electoral system in haiti. 70 of voters stayed home and didnt vote. Theres a lot of anger, and pertension. International observers led by the organization largely certified the first round results. A growing course of voices including the former secretary of state says the process is far from fair, adding that the International Community is to blame. The haitian economic elite is not only subservient to foreign interests, it is blind. They think that because they are living in the penthouse, neglecting the foundation of the building that it wont crumble. Reporter haitis political unrest coincides with a 6year anniversary that rocked the capital and left 200,000 dead. Despite the pledge of international aid. More than 60,000 people were displaced, living in tents. That is something that added to frustrations, and more disinfranchise local politician in jeremy has been convicted. The tattoo seen shows the concentration champ along with the words to each his own. Zach was charged with violating laws advertising naziism and was given a 6 month suspended sentence. Thats it for the International News hour. Stay with us. Coming up. Donald trumps attacks on Hillary Clinton getting personal. The language is abusive and sexist. Ill be back with more news in about 2 minutes. Stay with us. Good evening, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Id adam may. This is Al Jazeera America. The battle for ramadi, iraqi troops try to take back that key city from i. S. I. L. With help in the form of american air power. A milestone, the dangerous journey to europe claims even more lives as advocates say that american a million people