check check >> the u.s. and afghanistan reach a tentative deal to keep u.s. troops past next year as av gab elders gather to talk about the agreement. no deal as world powers try to come to terms on a solution on iran's nuclear program. >> henry trey raydull takes a leave of absence to seek treatment after pleading guilty to the buying of cocaine. >>

hello, welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. a decision on the future of u.s. troops in afghanistan now in the hands of a council of tribal leaders. more than a decade after america entered the region thousands of delegates are gathering on thursday, known as the loya jirga. they'll accept or reject a security pact. u.s. forces that remain after next year will receive immunity from afghan courts - that was a key point. also - american forces will not target afghanistan civilians, including in their home. afghanistan will fund the forces. secretary of state john kerry clarified a key part of the deal. >> it is entirely train, equip

and desist. there's no combat role for the american forces. the bilateral agreement is an effort to clarify for afghan and united states military force, exactly what the rules are with respect to the ongoing relationship. >> for many afghans the proposed security pact is having all the troops out. jane ferguson reports from kandahar. >> his family was murdered by an american soldier. this man lost his wife, brother, cousin and niece in kandahar province. killed by u.s. army staff sergeant robert bales. he now wants you will u.s. soldiers out of his country. >> translation: they will not get military bases. they killed our people.

they came at 2 in the morning. the children were sleeping. my own family. . >> the majority of american forces are due to leave next year. first washington wants certain conditions met. under the proposed security agreement the u.s. government wants its soldier to remain immune from afghan law. the u.s. puts its own soldiers on trial in military courts. here in kandahar, which has seen some of the worst of the fighting - people say this is unacceptable. >> they should be put on trial in afghanistan because they will be living in afghanistan. if they commit a crime in afghanistan, then afghanistan should try them. no one can see what happens in their courts. there should be open trials in afghanistan. >> it's a point of contention that could cripple afghanistan financially. that's because until now, the

u.s. government has been paying the salaries of the afghan security forces. if the agreement is not signed the flow of money could stop. it's an annual bill of more than $3.5 billion. >> where do we get the money. a national revenue of afghanistan, the most hopeful, optimistic figures is around $3 billion in 2015. that couldn't take care of our ordinary budget, let alone a development budget and the security budget. so this is not a matter of choice, it's a matter of afghanistan economy. >> hamid karzai pushed for guarantees that the u.s. would push to fight against foreign aggression. specifically that's a demand for the u.s. to confront pakistani support for armed groups operating in afghanistan. >> afghanistan in the past few

decades experiences proxy wars. we have been talking to the u.s., hoping to have a kind of definition for foreign aggression, which could include proxy war and traditional aggression we have seen. >> the heated debate shows it's not a matter of a few u.s. military bases. if the afghan government signs, they want the conditions to be specific. over a year of negotiations between washington and kabul brought the two sides closer. there has been no final agreement. now the afghan president is turning those issues over to a consultative debate in the capital to see if the country's community leaders can give it their support. >> and afghanistan's president hamid karzai is addressing the council, the loya jirga now. this is, in fact, a live look as

he briefing them on the security pact with the u.s. hamid karzai told the group that barack obama sent him a letter assuring him the security pact is in afghanistan's interests and said u.s. troops will enter afghan homes only in exceptional circumstances. >> in pakistan a suspected u.s. drone hits a religious school in the north-west of the country. six were killed. the u.s. says the school is controlled by the haqqani group, linked to the taliban. secretary of state john kerry says counter talks offer the best chance in a decade on iran's nuclear program. six world powers will continue talks on tuesday. >> back in geneva, less than two weeks after the last talks stalled. the e.u. official in charge of foreign affairs, catherine ashton - an interim deal on

iran's program seemed close. pressures, constraints on both sides have been growing since they were last here. in tehran, in a tell voiced address the man in charge supports the talks. there are red lines he will not allow negotiators to cross. >> translation: i insist that the rights of the nation be preserved, including the nuclear rights. >> last time around the u.s. secretary of state john kerry and his counterparts from germany, france, the u.k., china and russia were negotiating until late into the night. this time the talks are handled at a lower level than senior officials. all are aware of strong opposition from deals from israel, gulf countries and inside u.s. congris. they must overcome differences in their own ranks. >> we know why a deal failed.

france was unhappy that it couldn't keep its stockpile enriched to 20%. and a water plant under construction. they want all work halteded once active that reacto will be hard to shut down. a military strike would release harmful radiation. those who followed the diplomacy believe the next few days could be make or break. >> you could make a case that the opportunitiry will get smaller in the deal is not made at that particular set of talks. in the american side we have seen pressure. that is going to get more intense. >> talks will continue over the coming hours.

a senior official said they were making progress, but added this is a hard road to walk. >> this is the third round of talks with iran over its nuclear program. 50 people are dead after a series of bombings in iraq. most explosions tarted baghdad's neighbour hood. the timing indicated they were coordinated and were the worst wave of violence in five years. more than 5500 have been killed there since april. >> sexual assault is a growing problem for the u.s. military. numbers are alarming. a study says nearly 30,000 cases of unwanted sexual assault among u.s. service personnel. congress is looking at changing the way the cases are handled. libby casey has more from capitol hill. >> well, while many senators are concerned about the problem of sexual assaults in the military, there are two camps on how much to deal with it.

some support kirsten gillibrand say it should be taken out of the military chain of command. it should be left in the hands of the military to enforce their own codes of conduct. senator mccain on the floor today. >> i say it as passionately as i can to my colleagues, if we do not trust commanding officers who take our young men and women and battle a precious asset. if we don't trust them, we better re-evaluate our structure of the military. >> one of the 52 senators who supports the kirsten gillibrand amendment and wants sexual assault cases taken out is senator claire mccaskill, a senator of alaska. >> there are many commanders we know that. our code of military justice may

be uniform. i think we are seeing strong evidence that it's implementation is anything but uniform. >> despite senator mccows ski's support it did not get anywhere on wednesday. the pentagon has pushed back mass pushed back and are supporting effort by claire mccaski mccaskill. one thing that senator claire mccaskill is proposing - making sure the commanders can no longer throw out court-martial convictions. if someone is convicted of raping a fellow officers, the commander can throw out the conviction. look for that to change. we'll watch to see how the authorisation bill moves. treading water, not coming to many agreements.

>> al jazeera's libby casey reporting from washington. the republican congressman that pleaded guilty to drug charges. henry trey raydull brought cocaine from an undercover officer. he was sentenced to one year's probation. he'll donate his salary to charity whilst undergoing counselling. >> the philippines government looks for ways to help the 4 million people left homeless by typhoon haiyan. how volunteers are reaching out to the youngest survivors. the troubled health care website eroding support for barack obama and his party. how tea party candidates are looking to use that to their advantage.

funerals were held wednesday in lebanon for victims of a

suicide attack. the exclusions tuesday at the iranian embassy killed 24. as our correspondent reports the attack raises fears that the syrian war is spreading to lebanon. >> a woman alone with her grief and dozens of civilians grieved by a bombing bringing the war closer to the war in syria. her husband rushed to see if he could help as the first bomb detonated. he was a short distance from the second suicide bomber in a car when it blew up. nothing remains of his body. his wife's search retrieves a wrist watch and what she thinks is part of his clothing. the devastation and the human loss is beg. by no means as large as attacks afflicting the lebanese people. this attackias -- attack was

different. it could have been worse. if the second suicide bomber drove through this gait, a blast in a confined space could have been more devastating. the man in charge of the hospital, taking us through his intensive care unit, is aware of the threat. this man came out of a coma. he warns that many other lebanese wives are in danger. >> we don't have faith in the future of this country. i'm furious, and i don't see anybody doing - anybody doing something serious to save the country. >> it was a day of funerals. this is the biggest. that was for one of the first to die. in life this man was in charge

of security at the main gate. in death his security is made secure by the armed wing of hezbollah. they remain defiant to the increasing threat of syria's opposition, including al qaeda-linked groups. iran, a state that supports bashar al-assad, and his ally is resolute. at another funeral the anger and the grief is clear to see. lebanon has seen decades of conflict. and it's times of peace have been tenuous. once again a foreign war threatens its lifeblood. >> an abdullah azzam brigades claimed responsibility. it's a sign that groups are on the rise in lebanon. >> in the philippines, there are problems about what to do with

4 million people left homeless. of the 13 million affected by the storm, 5 million are children. >> volunteers are trying to bring normalcy back to the children's lives in luanne. >> these are the children of lieu warn and they are playing a game, a race where they are supposed to hold on to each other and help each other go back and forth. this is one of the first time they've had organised play in days. they've been out of school for a week. this is a team of child psychologists and social workers coming from manila to restore a sense of normalcy. they've been in recovery mode like everyone else. some kids are having trouble talking about what they've been through. this little boy struggling.

he can't put into words or doesn't want to talk about what he's been through or seen here. the goal here is to help the children get back to some sense of normalcy after so much devastation and disruption in their lives. we are looking at the next weather system, coming out of canada. you can see the snow across montana, north dakota. we are looking at temperatures that are lower than what we have seen previously. behind that we are looking at single digits. when you factor in the windshield some places get below zero. we'll keep you informed on that throughout the rest of the week. looking towards the north-west we are looking at dry conditions across washington, because they are announcing the cooler air coming in off the pacific as

well as canada. the frontal boundary is causing problems. for washington and seattle we are looking dry. that will last for five days. here is the forecast as we go through the rest of the weekend the partly cloudy across the board. overnight lows getting cooler. things will warm up. looks like there'll be a great weekend there. there's showers pushing through parts of california. some have been heavy, and lighter showers down here to la. we expect to see the same thing over the next 24 hours. nevada and flash flooding could be a potential. now, los angeles, unfortunately the rain will continue, thursday, friday, easing on saturday. we think you'll resurrect some of your weekend on sunday. high temperatures of 74. showers were a problem across the north of texas and oklahoma.

down to the south not too bad. light over the next 24 hours. high temperatures not looking too bad at 74, san antonio 80. houston - that's where the rain will be. low temperatures friday to saturday. dropping to 55. >> a problem-plagued federal healthcare website is hurting the approval ratings of barack obama and his party. we go to rome georgia where tea party candidates are using the troubled healthcare.gov to get votes. >> in rome georgia political chatter about what is happening as familiar as the sudden charm of main street. >> 90% of people up there don't have a clue what's going on in the united states. >> rome is home to conservative republican tom graves, one of the architects who wish to

repeal obamacare. he can find plenty of supporters in rome who blame the president for the problems. >> there'll be people who will oppose him on partisan grounds and the obamacare. it helps to generate the tea party. >> here there's a lack of confidence in washington. specifically with the president of the united states. that is not really surprising. back in 2012, his opponent, mitt romney won this region by more than 73% of the popular vote. the problem-plagued roll out of the affordable care act and a bickering that let to a shutdown of the government is adding to dissatisfaction, contributing to sinking ratings for barack obama. >> it has hurt him. >> charl lean has been an

independent pharmacist in rome. she thinks barack obama's policies are anti-small business and with the affordable care act act it will get worse. >> our customers were have to pay more. >> in the local barber shop the hope was gone. >> when he was elected he had an opportunity, as a black man, being the first black president of the united states that he could actually make some changes. is it >> retired factory worker roy hudson supports the president. for him the anti-barack obama trend is about something else. >> there was hate when he went into office, and because he's an african-american. >> some see that as a problem

for the south working through racial issues. >> some people are in the tea party because of racial objection. we know tea party sympathisers are likely to express views harbouring racial resentment. >> for the g.o.p. growing anger could be a resource to bolster the party leading to the 2026 presidential bid. >> for its part the white house says the affordable care act is spurring growth by slowing the rise in medical costs. >> money troubles for younger americans. why millennials have a hard time dealing with death. 50 years after the assassination of john f. kennedy - how artists are trying to change perception of the city.

>> many young adults are having trouble paying their bills,

according to a credit reporting firm. 19 to 29-year-olds have the worst average credit rating of any group. they are slow to pay back loans, even though they carry less debt. they carry fewer credit cards but max out the ones they have. >> on friday americans will look back to a day that changed u.s. history. 50 years ago on that day john f. kennedy was assassinated. his memory was evoked. president ken day established the award. the highest honour went to 16 people. among them country music artist loretta lynn. banks are, oprah winfrey as well. bill and hillary clinton joined barack obama and first lady michel michelle obama. they laid a wreath.

>> dallas was known as a city of hate after kennedy's assassination. a group of artists want to make it the city of love. >> store front windows along downtown main street are covered by 18 by 18 drawings, collage and phrases. president kennedy's motorcade came down the street minutes before he was assassinated. that moment defined dallas. the dallas love project aims to redefine it. i'm pleased the focus is on love and not death. i think it's important that people are going to move on. while it remains a sadness in the hearts of people that live in dallas. >> there are 10,000 art pieces in 65 venues, turning dallas into a giant art gallery. >> if it's spreading through dsw, everybody within texas and

the country and the world can see dallas is not the same as it used to be, nor does the person that killed j.f.k. convey the whole of the area. >> the message got out through social media - urging people to get together in libraries, houses or work on their own to create the dallas love project. >> we are trying to give love a voice, so it can be as loud and out there and in the public and in your face as all this noisy messaging that we get about the hateful things going on. >> i know art can transform people's lives. when i saw thousands participating i got out coloured pens and paper and made a piece myself. >> they'll go from public purchase to places where people can't get out to see them, so more people can feel the love.

>> you're watching aljazeera.com, have a great night.