>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here's are the stories we're covering for you. >> russia changing its amnesty laws. and drought conditions hitting some california farmers hard. it could be mean higher prices for you at the supermarket. ♪ >> bipartisan budget deal passing the senate today after sailing through the house last week. it passed a key hurriel o hurdln

tuesday and avoided on the non-c spending. that will be restored. we're going to see $23 billion reduction in the deficit over 20 years. if you add those up the money has to come from somewhere. people who fly will see an increase in ticketing fees. >> it appears we are having problems with libby casey's live shot coming out of the nation's capitol. we'll try to re-establish that live shot for you and talk to libby on the back end. a stunner coming in from the federal reserve. ben bernanke and the other policymakers announcing that the economy has no now improved enoh

to ease back on the long running stimulus program. economists feared that the fed would not act before a stronger economy. this will be ben bernanke's last conference of the year before leaving for the holidays wall street not liking what it's hearing from the fed. the dow turning lower as soon as the news broke. now down two points and sinking lower. we'll have more on al jazeera america, and tonight ali velshi will take a look at what it means for you and your family on what it means on "real money with ali velshi." a group looking into the actions of the nsa. the national security agency has been under fire ever since for

surveillance practices following leaks by nsa leaker edward snowden. who will be leading the official u.s. delegation. the white house is

but also going, billie jean king. no mistaking the fact that she is an openly gay former athlete. i don't think tennis was an olympic sport at the time she was champion. tweeted say no

mistaking the message from her. she's honored the represent the usa in sochi and i hope it's a water shed by the united states although denying-- >> the president has been very clear that he finds it offensive, the anti-lgbt legislation in russia. we take clear and strong stance on that issue including civil society in russia, the harassment caused granted in

russia. this is another clear message from the white house. >> mike viqueira, vow very much. we want to return to capitol hill. libby casey telling us the devil details of the bipartisan deal, and you were about to reveal the one detail that the devils are very concerned about out there. >> reporter: that's right. one element of this bill getting push back. under 62, still working age will

see a cut in their benefits. they'll get a cost of living adjustment that goes up every year, that will drop by a percentage point. they won't get as much money over time. this will kick in, in two years, this is for working age retirees when they do hit the age of 62 it will bounce back up and it will be like they never experienced that reduction in terms of their makeup pay. that's why congressman ryan didn't think it was of grave concern. this impacts 20% of military retirees but a lot of push back from republicans saying they're not going to vote for this bill. it was said that this also effects disabled members of the military that have retired. she said that will get fixed. >> i want to make sure today

that they know that a provision in this deal that mistakenly included disabled retirees will be effected. this will be effect. it will be addressed. >> folks who are for the passage of these overall bill is let's get it passed. let's ensure we can allow for spending numbers so budgeters can go forward and start hashing out the details of spending bills so we don't face any shut down come january 15th. and in the meantime there are two years before this particular element kicks in so they feel they have time to hammer that out and get it fixed. >> libby casey on capitol hill. good to have you back. thank you very much. >> in russia parliament passing an amnesty bill that could free a rock group and others. from moscow. >> reporter: it was this pumping

prayer by pussy riot in moscow's main cathedral in 2012 judged obscene by the courts that left members of the group serving prison sentences up to two years. now the amnesty bill will see the last two pussy rioters released. 6,000 people who see charge against them will be dropped. those charged with hooliganism will be freed and that will include the greenpeace activists. this is you ho it all began for the environmental protesters. late september in the freezing waters off the north coast of russia state border guards ambushed the greenpeace activists as they tried to scale an offshore drilling platform to protest drilling in the arctic.

they were vessel was boarded and the activists and two journalists who arrested, charged with piracy and then later reduces to hooliganism. the arctic sunrise were empowe impounded and prisoners were transfer to an old soviet union penitentiary in st. petersburg. the news they had been waiting for over the last three months. they passed a long-awaited amnesty bill that would include the activists. >> we were illegally arrested. this is a way for russia to start operating more human rights. then i think like everybody i would be overjoyed but i'm not prepared to say that i see that coming. >> reporter: all have been confined to a st. petersburg hotel. for many prison was a horrifying

experience. >> the psychological effect of being 23 hours inside the cell, and not knowing what was going on outside. >> reporter: it's believed the amnesty decree will become law on thursday and the activists are hoping to leave russia and be home in time for christmas. peter sharp, al jazeera, moscow. >> opposition forces and the ukrainian government are at odds. on tuesday russia greed to buy billions of dollars in ukrainian bonds and cut gas prices. the deal guarantees stability but opposition activists say it could worsen the country's economic troubles. >> everyone should respect sovereignty of every country, including ukraine, and everyone

should allow the peoples to make the free choice of how they want to develop their country, how they want to develop their sta state. >> the trade between moscow and the rue crane i ukraine is not p trade request e.u. indian diplomat is charged with visa fraud for sneaking her into the u.s. and paying her far below minimum wage. she was arrested and strip-searched and held in a cell with drug addicts. heading of the opposition said there was no coup. it was only a misunderstanding here are reports.

>> reporter: fleeing for their lives these people are looking for a safe place to hide from the fighting. the message from their leaders are to go home. when you came here you were looking for peace. now there is no fighting. everyone should go back to their house. listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. >> the crowd is far from being reassured. >> someone could be in his house and others could come in and ask him to speak a different language. if he couldn't speak they could take him out of his house, and they could kill him. >> reporter: the situation on the ground is dire. thousands have taken refugee inside u.n. compounds, thousands are outside. three women have given birth and officials say they're running out of food, sanitation is becoming an issue, and the crisis goes on much longer they may be unable to cope.

>> thousands by thousands civilians have taken huge bases which is quite trying in terms of medical, food, and medical support, food, water, and problems. >> reporter: soldiers of the south sudanese armies are fighting long the border. the government said that machar's forces have been defeated. >> there is no one ther there ie city in south sudan. >> reporter: an unknown number of civilians, women and children are among the dead. while world leaders are asking for world's newest nation to show restraint, circumstances on the ground remain influx.

and the south sudanese people remain caught in the middle. al jazeera, nairobi. >> at least 150 people have been killed which ai by airstrikes ie syrian city of aleppo. it is syria's largest city and has been a major front in that country's civil war. more than 100,000 people there dying since the conflict began in 2011. we now know that most of syria's chemical weapons will be destroyed at sea on board u.s. ships. this according to an international watchdog group watching the destruction of the weapons. but this could be delayed. >> the target was to remove syria's most toxic chemicals out of the country by december 31st, but it seems that there is going to be at least a month delay.

the reason is the volatile security situation on the ground in addition to the weather. what is going on here is an attempt to rid syria of chemical weapons in the middle of a raging civil war, and it's a very difficult situation on the ground. the security situation is is the major highways security is changing hands, and the weather. the snowstorm has hit the region that added more hurdles to the original implemented plan. officials say they're going to be able to remove these toxic chemicals very soon and they're confident that it is feasible and it will be imprinted. >> what could be the last major lawsuit stemming from the 9/11 attacks has been settled about. the american airlines when 658

people died when it hit the center. the federal judge has yet to sign off on that deal. coming up on al jazeera america. buying fresh food could be a big problem because of a drought that is hitting the west coast.

>> great britain's most notorious criminal has died, ronnie biggs pulled off a train robbery in 1963 and escaped with $7 million. he spend decades on the run. he died, he was 84. the federal jury finding that kurt mix was guilty of

obstructing justice. he was accused of deleting text messages trying to hamper the investigators. he's scheduled to be sentenced in march. california suffering through its dryest period on record. hard hit from the drought are farmers. >> they're really ugly but they taste fabulous. >> nigel has been selling his vegetables for 20 years. he and the other farmers here are scrambling to keep the shelves stocked. the national weather service said this could be the dryest calendar year in california since 1849. northern california gets about 20 inches of rain a year. so far just six inches have fallen. and there's not much time for more. walker's 105-acre farm is

thirsty for rain. >> it's really dry. you see here the first of the spispinach crop is coming up. if i don't irrigate it i won't have a crop to sell in march. >> reporter: what is usually a rainy season he has to irrigate. it's costing him hundreds of dollars a day in gas, electricity and payroll. >> but it's always--its money. and it's time. you know, we have one guy moving sprinklers every day all day. >> reporter: he says he's lost $25,000 in the last few months, and there is no way to projects what the next few months will bring. the state department of water resources drought manager said she's holding drought preparedness workshops across the state. in case the winter and spring bring a repeat of the severe rain shortage of the last few years.

>> we have lots of tools. we have to work to apply them when things turn dry. >> reporter: not only has it been unusually dry, it's been unusually cold here and cold weather has hurt the citrus farmers. >> one of our best fruits all year are killer, they're the best, and we think we've lost 75% to 80% of them. >> reporter: the farmers make the point that during the nation much of the nation's produce comes from california. the dry cold weather is affecting the whole country. the national weather service said california is significantly dryer than any other of the states right now. a rare december wildfire raging around the big sur area is evidence of the unusual dry spell. nigel walker said after decades in farmer he has learned to diversify. he's managing because he has crops that will survive this dry spell, but he checks the forecast every day hoping for rain. >> and so to get these to

germinate we have to apply irrigation water. >> reporter: walker said there is no substitute for a help rain. that naturally helps his crops grow and keeps his customers coming back for fruits and vegetables. lisa bernard, al jazeera, dixon, southern california. >> this is more than just a california problem. the state's fifth largest supplier of food and produce. recapping our breaking news story at this hour. the dow jumping after the fed announcement. they're reacting positively. and tonight ali velshi will take a look at what the fed move means for you and your family. he is going to sort this all out. that will be on real money with

ali velshi at 7:00 eastern time. and demand for homes is higher, despite higher mortgage rates the demand for construction is up in the month of november. that's the largest monthly jump in more than two decades. builders breaking grouped on more than $1 million homes. that's the most since early 2008. up next on al jazeera america. stonehenge has been around for thousands of years. now there is a museum opening up near the site, and not everyone is happy about it.

night with the combatants in their training base.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines at this hour. federal reserves said settle pull back on its stimulus program and keep interest rates at zero for a a time. dow started dropping at first.

the budget passed the house last week and we expect a vote soon. 658 can't employees dying in 2011 attacks. >> meteorologist: i'm meteorologist dave warren. the big sur fire so rare to have a fire so late in the season, but we've been so dry. it's approaching route one and we're getting some relief from the weather here some light rain passing shower. not a soaking rain but a little bit of rain certainly helps. it's coming over an area which is seen about a quarter of what you should see of rain in the 12-month area. this entire area seeing half of what you would see in a 12-month period. the red area is at a quarter.

dry weather continuing there. the drought situation not being helped by that little bit of rain. snow in the great lakes, the cold arctic air coming behind the storm. this will continue in western new york. the temperatures are certainly cold with that fresh coating of snow on the ground, now the storms gone. here is the lake-effect snow. the storms coming in and we won't get a repeat of what we've had here over the last few days. what we will see changed is not the future weather outlook. there are no storms coming in, just lake affect snow. when you look at temperatures. these are the warm air, the highs friday, saturday, and sunday look at how that warmest goes right up the east coast with temperatures go up to the 50s and 60s easily. with the storms here over the midwest and we could see the threat of severe weather both saturday and sunday across the southeast. what does that warmth mean for

temperatures in new york? it goes from 44 to 59 up to 55 and 65. there are some numbers predicted but it's not going to make $600 million. >> we were watching the door to see who would come in. obviously you didn't win. >> meteorologist: no, still here. >> oh there were two lucky winners of the lottery. the winning numbers we'll show them on the screen just in case you still think you won. one of those tickets being sold at jenny's gifts in san jose, california. the other one being sold in atlanta, georgia. the two winners have yet to come forward. by the way, just in case you're curious, the odds of winning one in 259 million or lightening striking you.

thanks for watching each and every one of you. i'll del walters, "techknow" is next.