>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welt come to the news hour, i'm darren jordan. these are the main stories. shakeup in latvia after last week's deadly supermarket crash. iran and turkey call for a ceasefire in syria ahead of peace talks in geneva. there is a new man in charge of the army in pakistan.

with security tight ahead of the olympics, russian police say they have arrested an armed group in moscow. and the italian senate debates political future. ♪ welcome to the program, latvia's prime minister has resigned after accepting responsibility for the collapse of a supermarket. the collapse killed 54 people and injured at least 40 others. the decision to step down means his government is now dissolved. he is the longest-serving prime minister in latvia's history. police have now opened a criminal investigation into the cause of last week's tragedy. >> translator: latvia needs to

have a government that would be supported by the majority of parliament and deal with the current situation of the nation. i announced my resignation and take police call responsibility for the tragedy. >> this seems like a rather dramatic move by the latvian prime minister, why did he decide to do this? >> reporter: the decision to step down surprised everyone in latvia. during the past hour he has tried to explain the situation saying he has been thinking about his political and moral responsibility. he made his final decision today during the hour and a half long meeting with latvia's president. he has no intention to come back

for the post ever. i must add, though, that many are still expecting the resignation of the mayor because of the authorities responsibility for building permits and standards are under the municipal jurisdiction. we'll being told he is going to have some announcement in the next hour. >> what is likely to be the long term political fallout from this tragedy? and what happens now? this >> the president has to appoint a new candidate for the prime minister's job. to become a prime minister, he or she must fulfill all of the [ inaudible ] and get the backing of the parliament. the president will start consultation next week, and is determined to see a new government in place before the end of this year, but what the general public expects is a bit

different. most are sick and tired of political and business culture here in latvia where taking responsibility for anything is the exception, not the norm. and today with the first funerals of the people two died tragically last week, apparently he deciding is must change and why not start with himself. >> dooefs thank you. police in russia say they have arrested members of a banned islamic group during a raid. lauren over to you. >> yes, the group of 15 were arrested in moscow. detectives say they have seized bombs, ammunition, and extremist literature. russian security forces are on high alert ahead of the winter olympics that are set to begin in the new year. joining me now is a rush

security services expert. how much do we know about this group? and have they been previously connected to security threats? >> actually we know very few things about this group. [ inaudible ] russia back in 2010 [ inaudible ] for incites into religious hatred, and members of this group were not accused in russia of ever committi committing any kind of terrorist attacks, and the people arrested today were for possession illegally weapons and bombs. so it is not about terrorist activity. >> security services have a right for concern because in the past they have had attacks including in 2011 when 27 people were killed.

do you think this kind of pre-emptive action might be reasonable? >> i think everybody quite understands that they have to -- to [ inaudible ] terrorist threats and [ inaudible ] by local insurgents based on [ inaudible ] but not by the groups based immediately to this group. this group has [ inaudible ] origins in egypt back in 1970s. and yet of course given the coming olympic games there is reaction that is quite understandable, but the problem is the [ inaudible ] of russia became quite active over the last few months, but mostly about raids on mosques and arrests of people who might be completely next and have nothing to do with terrorism, but maybe

mosque that is not seen as a proper mosque by security services. >> are there other counter terrorism measures including spying on people when they come to visit? is there a broader umbrella? >> yes, this is a developing story. just last week we got a new measure by the russian government, and now only today [ inaudible ] sportsmen and journalists who come to the olympics will be collected by the russian security services for three years, and i don't think it's really connected in trying to prevent a terrorist attack. and the biggest issue with this kind of measure is [ inaudible ] in other regions of rush and [ inaudible ] all over the country. >> okay. thank you very much indeed. >> thank you.

>> now to the uk is a nasty country when it comes to immigration that is the accusation of one commissioner. tim reports. >> reporter: britain's streets are full of other europeans, but the prime minister's proposed clamp down on european union migrants risks the uk being dubbed the nasty country. that's according to the eu employment commissioner. this issue will dominate elections in the summer. and the comments are aimed more at uk voters than a realistic state of the economy. there is public concern about a wave of migration from bulgaria and romania when transitional

controls are lifted in january. >> it still absolutely baffles me why the last labor governmented to have no transition controls at all. they predicted 14,000 polish people would arrive, and the number was over 700,000. >> reporter: mr. cameron's plans is designed to restrict free movement contrary to one of the cardinal principles of the market. recent figures show that 5.6 million people were on benefits in february. 58,000 were from the new eu countries in eastern europe. that's a big rise over the last five years, but it's still about 1% of the total, smaller than the numbers from africa, asia, or the rest of the eu.

european concerns zenphobia are echoed throughout the union. >> they are beginning to hesitate to tell people where they come from. they don't want to broadcast the fact that they are romanian, because immediately the -- the public has these flashes, images that they pick up. >> this is one image of romania that right-wing politicians are keen to highlight. it puts mr. cameron under pressure. germany is set to get a new government. angela mackerel has finally managed to create a new proposal. >> reporter: after weeks of negotiations and a long night of talks a deal was struck to form

a new coalition government for germany, europe's biggest economy. >> translator: we completed a coalition agreement in the early hours of this morning between the cdu and others, with the motto, germany's future, the characteristics and the spirit of this contract mean we will have a grand coalition, which master the big tasks for germany. >> reporter: the christian democrats won the election in september. but the free democrats lost all of their seats. forcing the german chancellor to seek support elsewhere. and this latest agreement still needs to be ratify by the social democrats. the party has been crucial in securing a minimum age for germany, aimed at helping the country's working poor. the coalition members have also

agreed not to raise taxes. some people in germany will also be able to retire earlier. the markets reacted positively to the deal. and commuters in many berlin were cautiously optimistic. >> translator: there are things they promised. whether they keep their promises, that's another matter. >> translator: it's wonderful. i hope this country will now move away. >> reporter: the election win was seen by many as a powerful endorsement of her handling of the economic crisis in the euro zone. this new coalition feels like it has much to do on that front. that's all for me, but in about half an hour's time, east is east, and west is west, and they meet in ukraine. which way should it look for its future? also coming up in the news hour . . . thousands make to the streets in

thailand calling for the prime minister to quit. plus unrest in egypt. and in sport unbeaten in ten games, but why they are prelairing for a tough champions league match. that is all still to come. syria's government has confirmed it will second a delegation to peace talks but the foreign ministry says it will not give in to the west's demands to hand over power. it will be the first time the syrian government has had face-to-face talks with its opponents since the war began. what more can you tell us now about iran according to the

ceasefire talks? >> it's keeping with the iranian line. the situation in syria is really not good for anyone. if it is not stopped soon, it will spread outside of syrias borders, and that does include iran. the conference is scheduled for january seeking for the need to end all hostilities now. the foreign minister of turkey was at that press conference. it was held after a bilateral meeting between syria of course playing big on the agenda there between iran and turkey. the ceasefire was mentioned, and he said all sides need to work together now and turkey didn't want to have to wait another two

months to see any kind of positive sign out of syria, because that just means another two months of chaos, bloodshed killing and trauma for the people of syria. >> how important, though, is any kind of agreement between iran and turkey? i mean, both of them are backing opposite sides in this conflict anyway. >> reporter: well, that's right and perhaps -- perhaps these are just words. what is happening on the ground is a very different issue. both sides seem to agreement on this one very important point. the ceasefire and the end of hostilities. but iran supports the government and keeping the government in place until elections are held in syria. turkey, of course, supporting the rebels. the president of iran mentioned he was meeting today in tehran, he said the need to eradicate

the extremists. of course when iran refers to terrorists, they are referring to the rebels, of course turkey supporting the rebels and their ongoing fight to overthrow the government of syria. now these relations have been very tense for the last couple of years, it's just one major issue that has really come between these two countries. and iran and turkey seeming to fall on different sides. perhaps this is one positive sign at least. >> thank you. egypt's interim prime minister has announced the country is going through a very sensitive stage. he says the new anti-protest laws have been put in place to

protect the society. meanwhile unrest is continuing as more protesters take to the streets in clear defiance. human rights groups say it is a major blow to their freedom. let's get more from hoda abdel hamid. hoda what can you tell us about the ongoing protests and the arrests there? >> the protests have just started a short while ago and judging from what we're hearing from the ground, there is quite a significant turnout. from what we understand at this particular moment you have two groups at the square, the reason probably they are there, is security forces have sealed out that area for the past few days. these two groups are actually contending groups in the sense that one of the groups was support general sisi, and the

other group is there saying -- it's denouncing the protest law, and also in the past few days it had denounced the article that will allow the government -- allow them -- sorry -- the continuation of civilians being tried in military court. the whole day was full of rumors and counter rumors. the groups had vowed they would go down to the street, and then just two hours ago, the authorities announced that they have actually given permission for the protesters to gather in the square from 4:00 in the afternoon to 10:00 pm local time. >> and hoda the interim prime minister backing this new protest law? >> reporter: yes, indeed. well, he did say also that no law is perfect and there was room for amending it. he did condemn the ways used by

protesters in the sense that he said that rioting does not help the situation at the moment, and as you said earlier, he said that the country was going into a very sensitive moment. now this is not boding very well with all of these youth groups and human rights groups indeed as well, because they have actually been becrying this law before it was ratified they already put forward amendments to that law. some of it has been amended. we don't know exactly what more they want to do. no one is specifying exactly what is the crux of the matter, everyone says it opens thor door for more rebregs. we do know that the prime minister did meet with political figures and some of r rep -- representatives of these

youth and revolutionary movements, and we don't know what they have agreed upon at this stage. >> we understand 15 female activists have been arrested? >> no, what happened is they were sentenced today, not 15, but actually 29. 15 were sentenced in in absentia, and 14 had appeared in court today. it's quite surprising the sentencing came to quickly as today was the second appearance only in court. these girls are quite young. some of them are still under age, but basically their age varies between 15 and 30. they are part of a movement, they are schoolgirls and employees who in the morning before going to -- about their day would stand in alexandria and distribute flyers. apparently they were taken -- or they were -- i'm sorry -- they

were -- they were taken the day that they were trying to form a human chain in the alexandria. police at that stage arrested them and now they were charged with thuggery, destroying public property, and i think the crux of the matter is belonging or supporting an outlawed organization, and even though the sentencing did not spell this, it is about the brotherhood these girls have been very vocal about the fact that they did support the muslim brotherhood and were part of the anti-coup alliance. but it is a really harsh sentence. these girls have not done anything that would deserve such a harsh sentencing. some have received 15 years others 11 years and one month. >> hoda thank you. multiple suicide bombings

have taken place in iraq. in one attack a family of five was shot dead. hundreds of demonstrators have set fire and tried to break into the regional governor's office. people there have been on a strike against poverty and lack of development in the area. pakistan's military has a new leader. the prime minister's office says he'll replace the present man on thursday. he is said to be the most powerful post in the country. we'll return to that in a moment. >> luckily we are going along this road map and we are

publishing this first period, which is the purpose of the constitution. we cross some very good steps and achieved some very good steps and we continue. we are very historical moment in our his and we would like to look forward to the future? order to build a nation based on democracy and republicans of people and justice able to progress and develop economically. of course, at this time, this specific time, an important time, there was a [ inaudible ] to continue in some of the legislations, some necessary legislation. and -- and it is not a situation

that we don't know, that we are not having the right to express and the right to gather in demonstrations. and piece of law has been issued to organize the right to -- to demonstrate and i have noticed this piece of law at the beginning of states that the demonstration a right -- part of the human right. and the law came in order to organize this law to offer the citizen the right to gather and demonstrate and the freedom of expression and have responsibility and this is society's right, and you should not block or cause obstacle to the way of living of the other people.

and in the very few times there were some discussions within the government and then we went to have a debate -- civil -- civil -- the dialogue with the -- the assembly for human rights, and there was a piece of law that was issued and it had been discussed within the cabinet. it was amongst the rules like the [ inaudible ] council, like the british law -- the french law, the swiss law, and it does coincide and compare to the international rules, but unfortunately, on the first or second day of implying -- applying this law,

there was demonstration and not of the minister of the interior, it was -- he wanted the demonstrators to observe the law so he can protect them, but -- demonstration -- it wasn't for the sake of it. but we discovered theying wanted to demonstrate against this law, but obviously a state which respects it's a respects its people. its first duty from all of the laws has been issued have to apply to all. it cannot been modified. it can be modified -- it can be criticized, and we can listen to views of other people, but there was nobody above the law.

of course this isssish will cau bigger debate, and the big questions. it was not easy. of course there will be modifications, but -- but there was channels -- the specific channels to -- to go for dialogue, but what took place yesterday, it was very regrettable because we have noticed that people are demonstrating, not to express their view, but to -- to destroy because the law will take its course, but this is subject to discussion within the cabinet's ministers, and -- and it has been discussed from every corner, and we insist from

what -- all of the rules what has been issued, we have to offer -- offer it, the -- the protection. this is a protection and is not allowed at all to breach these rules. there is of course the opportunity to criticize, and there's also not with obstruction or defiance of the. that is why the assembly has issued the president of the -- the [ inaudible ] assembly will be taking a statement, and then if you have any question, we will be answering them, and then -- and i will give the first

word -- word. >> so you are watching earlier pictures of the egyptian interim prime minister talking about the new law restricting demonstrations which has angered many egyptians and human rights groups, and the interim prime minister there giving his justification for bringing in the new law. now pakistan's powerful military has a new leader. the prime minister's office he will take over on thursday. the army chief is said by some to be the most powerful post in the country. one of his tasks will be to

control fighters and attack at the long western border with afghanistan. and then there is the rivalry with nuclear-armed india. perhaps the biggest challenge, though is the threat for militancy from within, mostly in the tribal north. grou groups have continued to attack the forces. it has been described as the most powerful job in pakistan so what more to we know about general sharif and where was he chosen to head the army? >> it's certainly a big job indeed. what we know about the lieutenant general sharif is that he is a very experienced soldier. he's gone through the ranks. he is a career officer. he has held many commander posts

and is widely likes within the ranks of the military. i could also use that to describe the two more senior candidates for this job. but i think he felt this candidate was the one who would perhaps not have the same sort of thirst for power that previous military generals have had. of course prime minister sharif is no doubt keen to prevent a coup from happening again. and i think he thinks he has the right guy. >> as we pointed out, he has some huge challenges on his hand, not the least the taliban

and the growing insurgency in majoring afghanistan. >> absolutely. if you look at the domestic challenges, it's enormous, the internal insurgency has killed thousands of pakistani soldiers. . but if you look at one city, the economic hub of this country, and there are regular deaths every day, and it's effectively lawless in many parts. then you look at other provinces where there is a long-running raise there. those are just the domestic issues. from a geopolitical point of view, there is the long running tension with india, and then there is afghanistan. pakistan is going to play an outside role of whatever the

future of afghanistan is, because the u.s. wants them to. so this military -- which i should again point out, which is largely responsible for defining pakistan's internal security and foreign policy, well, it's a very big job and a job that is now the responsibility of general sharif. >> thank you. thousands of protesters in thailand have gathered forcing officials to leave the building. the agency recently indicted a leading protest leader for her alleged role in the 2010 deadly riots. anti-government demonstrations continue now for a forty day. florence this is the fourth day of these protests. bring us up to date of what has been happening on the streets. >> wednesday was the day when

protest leaders promised that something big would happen. protesters marched to more than 20 provincial administrative centers and entered some buildings, and they continue to occupy in bangkok itself, and continue to occupy the finance ministry. they have also forced the evacuation of workers at the department of investigation. that protest is lead by the top protester that police have an arrest warrant out for, but have made no movement to detain him. the last time street protests were this big in thailand was back in 2010. now those protests sket sketch -- stretched over about three months and only ended when the government ordered the army

to move in, and that resulted in 90 deaths, and it seems the government is keen to avoid a repeat. >> it doesn't seem the protesters have a robust political agenda. so where is this all going? >> well, this initially started as opposition to an amnesty bill that would have allowed the former prime minister who is living in self imposed exile to return home without serving a friday son -- prison sentence. it has now moved into a proagainst the system which they say is corrupt. the prime minister is expected to survive because her party commands a comfortable majority in parliament. she could also call for snap elections, but political analystings predict that her

party -- they predict our party will win elections. they have won elections over the last decade. the government seems to be taking a soft approach or stepping back basically in the hopes that these protests will somewhat fizzle out. the king celebrates his birthday next thursday, and protesters will likely clear the streets out of republican for limb. so she is perhaps hoping that these protests will eventually run out of steam. protest leaders have vowed they will march to even more ministries on thursday. >> florence thank you. lots more still to come here on the news hour, the dangerous journey for soa mollies.

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welcome back, a quick reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. latvia's prime minister has resigned following the collapse of a supermarket last week. he says he is taking police call responsibility of the event. russian authorities have arrested extremists accused of having bombs and guns. in the next half an hour or so, sill sylvia bollest coney w find out his political future. >> yes, senators have been arguing passionately for and against the discussion.

the former prime minister himself had wanted the vote delayed while he appealed against his conviction and has been out there addressing the crowds who turned out to support him. barnaby joins us from outside of the senate in rome. do we have any idea how this vote is going to go? >> it doesn't look good for him. the feeling is the center left block in the senate are going to be joined by the five-star movement which did so well, of course, in the elections earlier this year, and they are going to combine, and they have the numbers. they just need a simple majority to expel him from the senate. that's certainly been the tone of the debate, listening to what senators have been saying throughout the day. they have been consistent with

their stated party positions. minorities speaking passionately in favor of him, but the numbers don't stack up for him. so don't be fooled by the bravado or the images of his hundreds, perhaps thousands of supportering rallies near his home. on the floor of the senate itself things are likely to go against him. >> if he is expelled is that it, then politically for him? >> well, i think we can never say never about him. that's a very important point, and it's a cliche, but a victory has been written many times before. the fact of the matter is if, or when he is expelled he remains a very wealthy man and a man that

has a big voice in italy, he controls a media empire which by in large he controls what it says. but his power has been ebbing away for sometime. including back in august when he was convicted of tax fraud. that's the one that is coming to a head today if you would like. that's the one that could result in his expulsion. the other issue which has really weakened him and probably removed his ability to bring down a government are the divisions within the center right in italian politics. crucially a block have decided to stay loyal to the italian government. that means he can certainly disrupt this government, but can no longer bring it down. >> barnaby thank you very much

indeed. while we have been talking to barnaby, we have been watching him addressing the crowds outside of his home. and describing the day as a bitter day of mourning against democracy. poland is accusing the kremlin of blackmailing ukraine. ukraine had been expected to sign a trade deal this week until any government about turned. tens of thousands have decided protest the decision. russia its largest trading partner has been leaning on kiev to join its trading block. earlier this year, russian blocked all of their imports and threatened to cut off their gas supplies. the eu has been courting six countries with trade benefits.

david has more from kiev. >> reporter: she came to keefe looking for a new life. now three years later, she is married and has a young son. but she still feels like she would like to take her family even further away, as her adopted country once again falls into the embrace of moscow. >> translator: people need freedom and i understand they no longer [ inaudible ] any part of the old soviet block. they want to make the decision about their future themselves, but this country can't stand alone. [ inaudible ] life in russia was hard. i don't want to go back. i want to go to europe instead. >> reporter: that yearning was also evident on the streets of kiev. the protests here are not dying

down. they look at -- in envy at the life of their neighbors. there is a real sense of betrayalal that the ukraine is turning its back on the west. on a huge roll of cloth the demonstrators added their own signatures to mock the decision to refuse to join the pack with the european union. but in this country opinions are still deeply divided. >> translator: we must not forget that we have been together for decades in the sef yet union and before that, centuries. we were one country. >> reporter: ukraine has always been a battleground between the east and west. nobody can yet predict how it will all end.

and you are now up to date with the news in europe. let's take you back to doha. ♪ all right. let's return to one of our top stories here, pakistan has a new army chief. for more mary joins live from islamabad. the head of the army has been described as the most powerful job? pakistan. why is your assessment as to why he was chosen for the job? and do you think he is a safe pair of hands? >> it was listening to the comments of your correspondent from islam bad, and i think he made a very correct assessmentment. he has neither gone for

seniority, but is stuck to the position which he thinks will be political safe and secure for him. this is now they are looking at the selection of general sharif. >> it may be a politically astute decision, but he has some huge challenges on his hands, not the least the taliban and the worsening security situation inside the country. >> i fully agree with you. it's almost an understatement given that not only the two insurgencies running across different parts of pakistan. there is a grave situation in the frontier areas, but also there is an insurgency in [ inaudible ]. and there is an internal security issue, and the american withdraw has already started from afghanistan and has to be completed before december 2014. so he has huge challenges at his

hands and that's why many people were expecting the prime minister to probably select a more senior person. and more in [ inaudible ] of what was happening between pakistani military and central intelligence agency. . so in a way he is a totally fresh start. >> you talk about a fresh start, but the same old problems exist, one of those highly controversial issues is the ongoing issue of u.s. drone strikes. how is he likely to play on that

one? >> they have a very ambiguous position. we have seen them in the last couple of weeks, especially after the reset of the relationship in 2012 and again when [ inaudible ] was attacked, the pakistani military has remained very quiet. and when you talk to the officers, they generally seem not to have a very severe reaction between to the drone strikes. they are inevitable, and perhaps they are helping to eliminate many targets in areas that are unaccessible. so either it would have been rashed or whoever, it doesn't really matter when it comes to drone strikes. >> all right. thank you very much. every year thousands of

immigrants from african risk their lives to take a dangerous sea ride to yemen. mohammed traveled to the area to hear their stories. >> reporter: they just keep going, they flock to the poor town. this 23-year-old and his friends are from ethiopia. >> translator: for the four days i have been here, i have been washing cars to raise the fee the smugglers need from me. i have to make the journey. i won't go back. >> reporter: it is a sea of humanity but not in this town are inhabitants. it has been a smuggling boom

town. over the years those that want to make the short but dangerous boat ride to yemen come here. >> translator: we arrested them and put them in prison, but these are people who need a lot of help feeding them alone is beyond our means. repatriating them to their country is also impossible. >> reporter: we met an ethiopian who is a convicted people smuggler. >> translator: the solution lies in creating opportunities for people back at home. we're just serving the people's demands to be taken across to yemen. >> reporter: if all goes well, the trip lasts less than a day.

hundreds of people have died trying to reach yemen, but their faith has done little to instill fear in others, let alone halt the exodus >> translator: here is for those who something to lose. i have no fear at all. >> reporter: to the casual observer that people are willing to risk death at sea for a job that may never materialize may seem just plain crazy, but the story of every migrant here shows the sadder story of their homeland. every hardship they endure on the perilous journey is better than the hardship they escaped. time for the sport now. here is robin. >> thank you so much. manchester united looks to secure their spot in the knockout league. manchester united are unbeaten, but they are not expecting an

easy contest. they can also qualify for a win at the arena. >> we had a good result at home against them. we will try to secure that again away from home. but much more different the situation now. i'm more mindful the result is important here to keep ourselves in in a strong position in the group. >> spanish side will be counting on a manchester united win to avoid a championships league exodus. the second qualifying spot in the group still very much up grabs. manchester city are already threw. chelsea manager says his team deserved to lose to swiss side on tuesday. blues qualified out of group e,

despite the loss. >> i want to place basil, because i think they -- they won because they were sticking in the last minute, but they won also because they were the best team. >> arsenal only need to avoid a city-goal loss in their final game to progress to the knockout stages. the premier leaders moved three points to the top of group f. jack wellcher scoring both goals. >> we were never really on the fret tonight, and we had good control maybe sometimes we're a bit missing the cutting edge to finish the game off early on. elsewhere in madrid with st.

petersburg, and celtic lost out to glass cow. the united arab imrants and nepal have booked their first trip ever to the victory. they will face scottland on thursday. nepal secured their progression with a tense victory. they join afghanistan and ireland who have also qualified for the tournament in the playoffs. mani pacquiao says he has had to borrow money to fulfill

his promises. the local courts have frozen his bank accounts claiming he owes million dollars in back taxes back to 2009. the warriors ended a 7-game loosing streak as they narrowly defated the new orleans pelicans. 102-101. in the nhl the dallas stars scored 3 goals in 53 seconds. it was the fastest scoring are spree in the league since 1953. there is your sport. >> all right. thank you very much. i'll be back at the top of the hour with another full bulletin

of news stay tuned to al jazeera. thanks for watching. >> and now, a techknow minute... >> something is killing america's bee population. >> what happened to this bee? >> scientists aren't sure what but beekeepers are reporting dramatic declines of 65% this year. >> the losses are astronomical >> that could have a devistating impact on agriculture. but a collection of resarchers are working hard to build a better bee. >> i'm just gonna roll my fingers forward... >> using artificial insemination to make strains of bee populations from across the globe, >> i'm trying to enhance what mother nature does >> the hope is to find a strain that's resistant to whatever is killing america's bees. >> nobody in the world was able to freeze honey bee semen.

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welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. winter weather hampering some travelers trying to make it home for the holidays. there are renewed call for a ceasefire ahead of the syrian peace talks. the u.s. flying into that dispute between japan and klchi plus a thanksgiving tradition at the white house. we'll introduce you to caramel and popcorn. ♪ by plane, train, and automobile, millions of americans traveling f