america.me to al jazeera here are the stories we are following for you. over the river and through the woods got a little bit dicey today for holiday travelers. the first major work by the pope. a thought of calling for a more compassionate church helping the poor. >> families are very reluctant to talk about their teens with sex. >> how some minority communities are dealing with children having children. >> just in time for the

holiday as major winter storm, dumping freezing rain across much of the country. the storm bringing traffic to a grinding halt. and there have been flight cancellations and delayed at airports all across the country. al jazeera is in pittsburgh, and dianne, millions hits the roads today being met by delays. >> that's right, we have been out here since five this morning and the snow has not let up at all. it is really quite a mess. use a little bit extra time. >> . >> pittsburgh's thanksgiving snowstorm with plows, shovel, and a sense of humor. >> it is fun. >> it is fun. >> yes, it is fun. it is christmas weather. >> the storm that pummeled the mid section barrels east today, coating highways with a mix of sleet, and slushy snow. in washington icy roads snarled morning traffic.

>> the road crews on 12 hour shifts to keep highways clear. >> the week of thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest travel periods of the year. the aaa estimated 38 million americans will hit the highway this week. the national weather service thinks the brunt will be over by wednesday night, or early thursday morning and that can help some dinner guests reach their destinations on time. >> i have a lot of people coming in from columbus, and al tuna pa, so they will be driving but they aren't driving until thursday. the pennsylvania department of transportation and he said you know despite the slushy weather we have. on the highways here in pennsylvania, dale? >> dianne joining us live from pittsburgh, thank you very much. al jazeera robert gray is

at the country's busiest airport hatsville jackson in atlanta, robert how is the storm effecting people down south? >> so far so good here. minimal delays and we only saw one cancellation on the board, a steady stream of people coming in and out of the airport, you can hear the planes taking off and landing but the problem is this radar here. you can see up and down the eastern seaboard, even into the south, splotches of green and blue. 100% precipitation. passengers are. >> i think people expect a better weather for the thanksgiving. that might be a little disappointing. >> i hope it is just bad prediction. >> now, here at the

busiest airport in the world, in atlanta, they are expecting a uptick of about 3.3% in travelers moving in and out of this airport over the next week. but today looked to be okay here, temperatures are in the mid 30's and the rain keeps falling. and people to stop coming in here, some of the airline, united, delta, u.s. airways and jet blue have offered travel vouchers so if people want to change their flights they can for free. though most of those airports that allow that are up near you. travel is okay here today. it looks to be easy going. >>ing us live from atlanta, and robert had that little tiny radar we go now to the man who has a bigger version, here is david warn. >> yeah, we are looking at this radar, of course

it is a lot of rain. that will be mostly a rainstorm, but depending on where you are, it could be a little slick. this is where the storm is now, continuing to intensify, pulling in gulf moisture, and now you can see this pulling in the atlantic moisture. a lot of this will be heavy rain. seeing pockets of heavy rain, beginning the warm air coming up over it, and there's that rain snow line, as it intensifies and moves north. no mt. places above pittsburgh, temperatures still just about freezing and it is still great during the day when the snow is coming down. if you are dealing with that snow, it may start to accumulate that and snow will move up the coast, bringing warmer temperatures and then it is a wind storm. i will talk about that when the national forecast comes back. >> at least ten haitian migrants were killed when their ship capsized in

the bahamas. coast guard saying roughly 100 were clinging to the hull of a vessel when they arrived. helicopters repping rescue from the water. the coast guard also dropping food, supplies and life rafts. there are doubts now about the future of that security agreement between the u.s. and afghanistan. they have approved the deal but he says he is not ready to sign it. the u.s. is now trying to get him to sign that deal as soon as possible. mike is in washington and mike how is the white house reacting to the fact that he has changed the coast. >> . >> the u.s. and the afghan government has more at stake. not having the u.s. forces as residual forces after they leave at tend of 2014 as president obama has promised.

susanne rice says the president national security advisor here, traveled to afghanistan, she sat with other top u.s. commanders they did not agree. karzai has said even though that council of elders that you reported the jirga, approved the deal on the table, karzai says it has to wait, until the new elections for president are held in the spring, and also making fresh demands he wants afghan 17 of them that are being held, he wants them releases and a more concrete promise, that u.s. forces will not engage in raids nighttime raids of afghan households. and it's been a sore point within afghanistan for some time. gave an interview to afghan t.v. where he said exactly what is at take. what i said to the

president is we would have no choice. to have to begin to plan. for the prospect that we will not be able to keep our troops here, because they will not be invited because they will not have been signed. and then the nature of our partnership, and the investments we have made will be more difficult to sustain. >> the deadline is the end of this year, just a month and a half away. it wants the soft forces to fight groups and others within afghanistan a numbers are undetermined can be 10,000, it could be slightly more, it could be slightly less. >> mike joining us live from the white house, thank you very much. >> now, if that security packet is not signed charities funded by international donors can find themselves in jeopardy, and that would mean an about face for a lot of children who have recently just gone back to school.

>> he spent all day picking rubbish off the street to sell for a few dollars. now they go to school, courtesy of a local charity. which helps children who work on the street catch up on their studies and get wac into the state educational system. it collecting old paper, and the head of the school came to me, and asked if i wanted to go to school, and i said yes. but in afghanistan, charities funded by donors are increasingly anxious. a dispute between the americans and afghan threatened to jeopardize foreign donations if he doesn't sign a security packet with the u.s. soon. on monday, heated discussions between karzai and obama's national security advisor went nowhere. those running social projects here say donor fatigue is already beginning to set in.

also used to run this shelter for street children. it shut its doors in march as money ended. the small shelter used to house children, while the organization searched for their families and a proper school. supposed to -- next year to the schools so those -- because of the notices from them, so most of them come to us. >> for several years this facility gave street kids somewhere safe to sleep until they could have more long term arrangements. now it is completely empty, the charity that runs it says it is ran out of funding for this project. just struggling to survive. >> . >> they believe that the americans want to stay

here come held or high water, so they think they are in a very strong bargaining position. and that may be completely out of kilt with reality. but that does seem to be the view. >> even so, the children continue to enjoy themselves, unaware of the political crisis, and how it can end what little they have. jane ferguson, kabul afghanistan. >> france is responding to calls for a larger force to help curb the violence in the central african republic. the defense minister says 1,000 french troops will join union you remember toes already on the ground. the move coming a day after the u.n. warned of mass atrocities and a possible civil war. they have been in turmoil since rebels ousted the president back in march. antigovernment protestors in thailand continue to occupy state buildings there as they took to the streets of bangkok,

openly defying calls to stay put. they say they will continue to do so until the government steps down. more from bangkok. >> a new day begins with hundreds of protestors still inside government compounds. the anyone industry transportedded into a marketplace. by late morning with an arrow pointing the way, they set their sites on closing down more ministries. furthers their promise that they would spark the collapse of prime minister's government. they say it no longer represents them. >> look at the people around us. a lot of people have been silenced for so long. and i think these actions mean a lot to us. it is time for us to show that we are not happy. her party controls the house of representatives

so mrs. no chance she will be voted out. >> the accusations are strong, and unjust for me, the leader of this government for two years. she says police and security forces will not use force, so the demonstrators have continues in sell bra story mood without much violence. >> he is a massive following. what they have been able to do over the last three days here is something that hasn't been seen in years. but what p had next? is ask the government to resign, but they haven't made it clear what they would do if that happens. >> that may be because even if she is unseated the opposition still does not have enough votes to win, despite the victorious mood of their

supporters. >> france is making a big announcement calling capitalism tyranny. he writes act changing for the catholic church, saying power should move away from the vat king. the 84 page document says they need to focus more on the poor. and writes that christian should embrace muslims with affection and respect. coming up on al jazeera america, a new report says that the fewer teens are becoming pregnant, but the rate for blacks and hispanic teens still remains high. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> here are the headlines at this hour.

>> only on al jazeera america.

control mandate the birth justices will consider if religious beliefs and religious base corporations should have to cover contraception even if they morally oppose it. it is the first moral challenge since the high court upheld the act in june of 2012. the centers for does control reporting that fewer teenagers are becoming mothers but teen pregnancy among blacks and hispanics still remains high. to find out why. >> by the time 17-year-old knew she was going to be a mother, she was already six months pregnant.

everything happens for a reason. >> that was two years ago, she is now raising her son and getting her ged. her mother was 18 when she had her first child. she says her mom never had that sex talk with her. >> maybe that was good for me, to help me focus on stuff that is more important in my life. >> according to a center for does control, between 2007, and 2010, the teen pregnancy rate dropped 18%, it is in keeping with a continuous decline. 45% over the last 20 years. but the teen birthrate among hispanics and blacks is still double that of whites. a 118-year-old community group that serves east harlem. the organization runs a

teen pregnancy prevention program. and offs classes to parents. he says the teen birthrates are higher among. >> they are very lucky to speak with your teens. about sex and vice versa, many of the parents. >> perkins says once sidon is old enough, he hopes he feels comfortable talking to her. >> i want him to come to me, or his father, or support him, and know the effect that it is an even better place. >> michelle says community groups need to work together more, and insure their message gets to teens. but she says education begins at home. >> natasha al jazeera, new york.

>> barns and noble is having a rough time, the nation's largest brick and mortar book seller says quarterly sales fell 8%. and demand for the nook reader dropped one third. they expect christmas sales to be down as welt, it does look like it will be a happy retail season for tiffany. after a strong third quarter, they now say earnings soared 50%, and sales jumped 7%, they say it is all due to strong demand coming out of china. on wall street, the dow up right now 24 points. any positive finish will mean a 34 record close. as we talk about, wall

street is on a tear, if things keep going the way they are, today would be number 43. one reason the markets are so high, is something known as quantititive easing. al jazeera patricia explores the relationship between the fed, and the markets. earning a quarter point interest for the bank. >> it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but for financial institutions in this environment, where interest rates are so low, 25 basis points actually represents potentially a pretty good return. >> the question of whether to lower the interest paid on excess reserve to get the banks to start lending more was raised at the confirmation hearing for

federal reserve chairman. >> it is something we can consider going forward yes, ma'aming was noncommittal, but minutes confirmed the board of governors also felt it was worth considering at some stage. whether they are not lending enough, or demand is not enough, is open for debate. the fall out could rain down on businesses and consumers. >> what the banks may do is cut the interest that they offer on certain short term bank deposits. checking deposits for instance. and since those rates are already he to begin with, they may start charging people to deposit their money, at the banks. >> banks already pay a federal insurance premium on deposits. and while talk of charging customers to deposit money may prove an empty threat, like quantitative easing paying interest on excess reserves may prove to be another policy created in the wake of the financial

crisis that could prove very difficult for the fed to undo. pa tricia, al jazeera, new york. >> up next on al jazeera america, something you don't hear about every day, a pond completely disappearing.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are today's headlines. holiday travel off to a rocky start. heavy rain and snow moving toward the east, causing major highways across the country to come grinding to a halt. thousands of flights have been cancels or delayed. the street will consider another case involving the signature healthcare reform law. afghan president amido karzai making new demandses.

a long term security packet between the u.s. and afghanistan, the demands are now prompting threats from the u.s. to withdraw all of its forces after 2014. first of all, it is vertical, second it is 140 feet highway. al jazeera takes us to sidney for a look. you called call it aburban jungle. vines persons and flowers this is the world's newest example of the latest in architecture. structures clad with vertical gardens. it runs up 14 floors the outside of the building is the latest project to trench architectural patrick blank. >> it is a very special project. it is the highest in the

world, and quite challenging. >> due to fully open at the end of the year, the design is part of a growing trend the green on the outside of the buildings. partly it is for aesthetics to see greenery in the middle of the city. you will see mosses and bugs so it is developing its own ecosystem. >> it is also a symbol of the less green credentials. power generation using low emission gas to make electricity, water recycling that will turn waste water and even sewage. that same nutrient rich water is also trickled through the gardens. >> it is a label. they are the braining, the identity, they are the visual display of what this project is trying to achieve. >> which is a unique development with a broad

and innovative sustainability anda. living art in other words, acts as a billboard. the developers wanted to make it iconic, to 30s would approve a building of this size, and people would pay a premium to live in it. it is zillion far from finished around 1250 of the 4,000 have been sold at an average price of three-quarter of a million dollars. there are similar projects like this. greening venires one building at a time. andrew thomas, al jazeera, sidney. average lot of warm air is moving up with all this page. some of the lower nations in the inland areas with reseeing a mix from rain

to freezing rain. pushing up north and pivot as the storm intensifies quite a bit of snow, but that looks like northwestern pennsylvania and well into upstate new york. now here is the computer forecast, this will take us hour by hour, show the storm developing and bringing in all this rain up. here is that patchy freezing rain by 12:00, this snow will really start to accumulate, not happening now because it is the middle of the day, but as the sun goes down, we will see this rain accumulate. so it is all rain here, but very heavy. throughout the night tonight, that snow continues but it is released rain still coming down, and along, i 95 from new york down through philadelphia, and even up through new england, things start to change by wednesday afternoon. the storm just off the coast here intensifying starting to bring in the cold air, but it is dry. and briefly a snow that should accumulate much, but the wind will start to pick up. overnight wednesday, to

thursday, there's that radar and the clouds. bringing all of it to the knot. five to nine inches of snow here. and new york, but there's all that rain and will all be rain except for areas can are inland there in western north carolina and western virginia. some ice situations here. now on wednesday at noon, the storm is just off the coast, and the rain will really start to gust. that includes thursday mourning the first day of honka starting off with a gold wind. >> thank you very much. here is something you don't see that often. in bosnia, a sink hole swallowed a bond. the large hole you see here is where the bond used to be. disappears about two weeks ago. villagers have theories about what happened. some say the pond vanishes because the owner died recently, but one geologist says it is just mother nature, i'm

dale walters earth rise is next, check us out 24 hour as day at aljazeera.com.