sclz in north korea kim jong un has his uncle executed. why he said his uncle betrayed him and the country. >> a teenager gets probation after killing four people whilst driving drunk. it's the controversial defense, that he was too rich, that has some outraged. >> using the power of the music to battle dementia. [ ♪ music ]

>> hello, this is al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, in new york. a stunning development out of north korea. the country's official news agency says the uncle of leader kim jong un has been executed, this days after he was abruptly removed from his military post for allegedly trying to overthrow the government. he was once the nation's second-most powerful figure. >> the public humiliation of a powerful man. these images were taken last week when jon sung tek, uncle of north korean kim jong un was removed from a meeting. he is now dead, named a trader and executed. >> the north media reports a list of allegations. the statement reads that the accused is a traitor for the

nations for all ages. acts in a bid to overthrow the party, the state and the socialist system. he's called despicable scum, worse than a dog. it adds: >> this is the latest move in what appears to be a significant reshuffle of people around kim, all aimed at solidifying power in the hands of the young leader. >> this is a figure who, himself, controls significant material resources and personnel within the security apparatus. he had one of the two main security bureaus, and he demonstrated that someone at that high level of power is not immune from his discretion. >> once considered indispensable and a mentor to help the

transition of power from father to son, the departure is dramat dramatic, a sign that kim jong un needs no guiding hand. >> the white house released a statement about the execution that read: >> a new report claims an american who disappeared in iran may have been working for the c.i.a. retired fbi agent robert lefer sen has been missing since 2006. the u.s. government claimed he was on a private business trip as a private sfit zen. an association press article shows that he was a member of c.i.a. the operation was a violation of c.i.a.s rules. leveson's whereabouts is

unknown. >> u.n. inspectors in syria confirmed chemical weapon attacks against civilians. the agent sarin was used in damascus in august. the group estimates 1,000 people died. chemicals from used in up to seven additional incidents. the report does not say whether the government or opposition forces were responsible for the attacks. >> john kerry is back in the middle east, discussing a west bank security plan with israeli and palestine leaders. he's hoping to have a deal in place by may, addressing security issues, borders of a security state, the state of jerusalem and the state of refugees. if such a deal is not fleshed out by the deadline they'll work to have a framework in place. israeli and palestine leaders great to negotiate for a minimum of nine months. john kerry is scheduled to meet benyamin netanyahu on friday.

>> democrats and republicans appear to break months of gridlock over the federal budget. the house passed a deal that will keep the government running for two years. now it's headed to the senate. the white house called the white house vote an ornt moment of bipartisan cooperation. >> in contrast to the fall when congress couldn't agree to a budget, the government was shut down. today an overwhelming majority voted for this deal. 32 democrats cast descenting votes. the republican author working with patty murray on the democrats side of the aisle. ryan spoke before the bill passed and defended his conservative perspeptive, and the art of compromise. >> we have been at each other's throats for a long time.

we tried to defeat this president. i wish we would have. elections have consequence, mr speaker. i fundamentally believe - this is my personal opinion, it's a slightly partisan thing to say, to do what we think needs to be done, we'll have to win elections. in the meantime let's make the divided government work. i think our constituents are expecting more from us. >> paul ryan has been under attacks from conservative groups, those that function in washington and paid for by wealthy donors, groups like clubs for growth. they criticised ryan for the compromises and john boehner leapt to his defense and fired off shots at the conservative groups, accusing them of not listening to what the house members are saying and really misleading their own constituents. misleading people who belong to

these groups. he recalled back to the government shutdown of october and there was a bloodbath from members of congress who took a hit in the polls and he blamed some of the conservative groups. they lost some credibility. most of you know, my members know, that was not the strategy i had in mind. if you recall, the day before the government reopened, one of the people, one of the groups stood up and said, "no, we never thought it would work." are you kidding me? with 169 republicans voting for the bill, chairman ryan scores a victory, as does speaker john boehner. it goes over to the senate. they'll vote on it next week. it is likely to pass there. the white house called it a good step forward. >> libby casey reporting from

capitol hill. >> well, after the big snow storm we had earlier in the week things have been quiet for most people around the united states, except for lake-affected snow around lake ontario and lake erie. that will remain for 24 hours, it's diminishing in the amount we'll receive. up to the north-west we are getting moisture off the pacific. you can see the rain across western washington into oregon. we are looking at snow moving in there. further down towards the south-east. it's high pressure dominating. we had clouds, but no precipitation, especially in northern parts of nevada. this is what seattle looks like. rain on friday, saturday and sunday not looking too bad. sunday with sunshine poking through. by the time we getto monday,

more sun. we have a few showers, a little turning indicating low pressure there. we don't expect to see too much in accumulations but we'll see a few clouds pushing through san francisco. los angeles it will be nice as we get towards the weekend. sunday, 27 degrees, and monday 80 degrees. as we make our way to texas, this is where the system gains intensity. rain coming out of new mexico. that is what is going to begin the weather system, a lot of rain in the south. and the snow up towards the north. >> with the first anniversary of the shooting at sandy hook elementary school a day away, anemotional gathering at washington d.c. >> my role now in life is to

make sure all schools and everywhere is safe. i will not be slept. >> hundreds gathered at the national cathedral to remember the 20 children and six adults killed at the school. newtown will not have a public ceremony in the town marking the anniversary of the tragedy. >> final preparations are under way for nelson mandela's funeral. for a third-straight day mourners file through the building in pretoria to say goodbye to the south african president who is lying in state. you can see the live pictures. saturday his body will be returned. funeral services will take place on sunday. an uproar over phoney sign language. south african officials admit they made a mistake and a man at the center of the storm says he suffers mental illness.

morgan radford reports from the town where he asks for forgiveness. >> he stood a foot away from the president as they paid theirers. he was meant to be signing for the death. soon social media buzzed for reports that the man was an imposter. now thamsanqa jantjie decided to tell his side of the story. the problem is here. the problem, i don't know the problem, how it will come. sometimes i will react violent. sometimes i will feel like i would like to - i would like to tell everybody. that if i've offended anyone, please, forgive me. >> for some, that forgiveness may not some easily.

>> we must respect disabled people. >> you feel like having the interpreter mislead the country was disrespectful. >> misleading the country. >> many say the sign language interpreter not only disrespected madeba's legs assy, but the reputation of the country. >> how could you mislead a country like that? >> do you feel embarrassed? >> it's embarrassing to the country, madeba and the rest of the officials. >> anofficial says not so fast. >> i want to deal with the issue of embarrassment as a country. i don't think so. >> trying is not the same as achieving. even so, if nelson mandela was here, he would not want the man punished. >> you think the world needs to go easier. >> exactly. >> what happened? >> everything is forgiven.

there's no fighting. we are forgiven. >> which is why they say nothing, not seven the translation fiasco will distract them from what they came here for. >> a rich defense - the unusual legal strategy credited with keeping a young drunk driver who killed four people out of prison. plus a rush order for the holidays. a grind to get gifts delivered to your door in time for the big day. >> a miffed monarch. a nutty problem that has the queen angry with police at the palace.

>> a court case out of texas has people talking about a new defense strategy called affluenza. it suggests rich kids may have a

built-in excuse for bad behaviour. >> ethan couch is free, a decision some say was based on income, not evidence. >> money always seems to keep ethan out of trouble. >> the 16-year-old was behind the wheel and drunk on stolen beer when he crashed a pick-up truck into four people on the side of a texan road, killing them all. he admits to being under the influence. prosecutors wanted him to spend 20 years and prison. his defense turned to a controversial defense called affluenza, meaning rich kids make poor decisions clouded by material things unguided by parents, making them susceptible to poor behaviour. the victims' families condemned it. the court may have been is it persuaded. in the end he was spared prison

times. his attorneys say it was the rite sentence. >> we applaud judge boyd from having the courtrooming to issue a sentence that will allow ethan couch to develop into a proper citizens. >> eric boils, whose wife and daughter were killed in the crash says justice was denied. for probation, four lives, and the two serious injuries. i don't get it. >> the federal insurance plan for some of the nation's sickest patients will be extended. pre-existing condition plan was supposed to stop but will last until the end of the january, giving patients time to find a new plan. under the act insurers will not

be able to turn away patients. trouble with the healthcare.gov prevented many americans from signing up. more than 5 million americans are diagnosed with dementia. caring for the victims can be hard. randall pinkston met up with a care group known as the unforgettable. >> three times a year for three years running the unforgettable chorus perform to the delight of those that watch. this is no ordinary choir. the sippingers raised their voices, brought together by an illness, dementia. aneata was diagnosed in 2009. >> joe fabiano took on early retirement to take on a new responsibility, caring for his wife. >> she's used to being independent. now she has to be dependent. it's a change and acceptance.

the idea for the choir came from dr mary mittelman. centre the center of excellence of brain aging. dr mary mittelman studied how to improve the wellbeing of family care givers. we started to think about how it would be better if the person with dementia was somehow included in the interventions. and i thought about it perhaps being a powerful intervention. the care eases some of the burden of care givers. builds self-esteem and brings the two together. >> i think what the chorus does is brings out the best in everyone. >> dr mary mittelman says it's not a drop-off activity, it requires commitment. it has a positive impact not only on people suffering with dementia and alzheimer's, but also the care givers. we sipping, have fun, tell

jokes. >> look after each other. >> it's a good thing that happened. >> have a seat. >> linbania jacobson is her husband's caregiver. everything is acceptable. there's nothing you have to worry about, inappropriate behaviour because erch understands. mary mittelman says families struggling with dementia should ask for help. if it's a secret. if no one talks about it. then you become isolated, and you probably don't get social support from your family or friends. >> support is exactly what the members of the unfor getables receive, every time they raise their voices. >> a rare review - federal investigators order a first of its kind safety investigation of metro north and the derailment.

>> and a look at delivers - a look at what goes into getting packages from the factory to your front door.

welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. these are the top stories: north korea says it has executed kim jong un's uncle. a special military tribunal found jon sung tek guilty of treason. he was once considered the second-most powerful man in pyongyang. the wh white house says if it's true it's an example of the power of the regime. >> it's been statement that 1,000 died in syria from chemical weapon attacks. the report does not say if government forces or the rebels were responsible. >> the house voted a budget deal. if it passes in the senate the

government will be running for another two years. >> federal inspectors will spend 60 days investigating new york's metro north train system. they'll focus on operations and the safety culture. the re view the first of its kind comes after the deadly train derailment. a cause for concern is the train operator may have fallen asleep moments after impact. >> it's too soon to know what caused the train wreck in new york. if it turns out that william rockefeller did nod off. fall sleep at the controls, the accident will be another in a long list. >> fatigue is a fast ied i don't say accident. >> a national transportation safety board found the driver had hardly slept in a previous

accident. in 2009 a tired trucker who had been on the road for 10 hours, kid 10 in oklahoma. in 2004 an investigator ace an exhausted cruise freight train slammed into another, three died. >> in missouri, pilots who had been on duty for 14 hours, crashed into the runway. >> former managing director peter goelz calls it a challenging problem. it may not be taken seriously by either the operators are management. there tends to be a macho philosophy of we'll power through. if i'm feeling tired i'll power through it. >> this is what can happen if you doze off. watch the trucker.

in some cases those are the controls of a truck, plane and car may not realise how tired they are. >> just like we talk about how people are very bad judge of whether they have had too much to drink to get behind the wheel. we may be a bad judge of whether we are too sleepy to drive. >> drowsy driving causes 100,000 crashes, killing 1500, injuring 40,000. >> it's hard to police individual drivers, there's no breath allieser test for fatigue. there are new rules for pilots, truck drivers, bus operators requiring shorter work days and longer rest periods. safety experts say they are overdue. >> the train engineer reportedly had a full-night's sleep. he was two weeks into a ship.

his body may not have adjusted. technology may help eye and face tracking to warn they are falling asleep to sophisticated systems that can stop or slow a train if the engineer fails to. sleepresearchers say what needs to change is attitudes. the first wish i make is for everyone to think about their sleep seriously. >> it can be a matter of life and death. >> lisa stark reporting from white house. >> santa and his helpers at the north pole could face stiff competition from kentucky, where the largest automated packaging center in the world is located. as the holiday season is getting under way, an army of workers is getting under way. >> millions of packages. hundreds of airplanes. thousands of workers and a facility the size of 90 football fields. and a shorter shipping season

this year. these folks are taking the containers out of the building. there's tonnes of packages, customers all over the world counting on us. >> this is the ups world port in louisville kentucky where 200 cargo jets land, fly around the world each day until christmas. a fully automated facility where 155 miles of conveyor belts move along packaging. it's the crown jewel in the ups system. it's a large parcel hub facility in the world. >> on a peak day, december 24th, they expect to process 4 milion packages. the company expected volume to

be up. >> i'm plying around the world. i'll go on a trip where i'll hit every weather system in the world. >> here at world port there are five full-time metre olss watching the weather, making sure that the 132 million packages in the air and on the ground will be delivered the week before christmas. >> that product is made in china or overseas in europe or asia and cams back and gets delivered around the world. we can make it happen. we are a part of so many people's lives. >> according to many of the employees, every day until christmas will feel like the super bowl for them. long hours, precision pace and adrenaline. >> finally - the queen of england has a nutty problem, her majesty was on a personnel mission to find out who is stealing bowls from the palace.

the story ememoried during the news of the world hacking trial in london. you're watching al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> how deeply does the you income gap affect your every day life? >> our digital producer is bringing you ive feed >> how deeply does the you income gap affect your every day life? >> our digital producer is bringing you live feed >> it is the size of the gap, the numbers are stunning.