>> this is al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz. an al jazeera exclusive. south sudan's vice president is clear he wants to be in charge. keeping the movement alive - ukraine protesters struggling to keep up the pressure. first a security breach, and now millions of target customers hit with limits on how much they can spend. topping the news - the evacuation of americans out of south sudan as the violence grows in that troubled country. the united nations is moves 450

of its noncritical staff to uganda for safety. most are americans. this comes after rebels took control of one of south sudan's key oil-producing states. the violence forced for than 20,000 people into refugee camps. in an exclusive interview with al jazeera, the man accused of issuing issuingest rating the violence wants to be the next president. >> as violence escalates thousands are trying to escape the fighting. they are battling to recapture bor. >> there's a lot of people who have now, in the u.n. compound in bor town. the whole town is vacated completely. it's only these rebel soldiers who move about in the town. all the bodies have not been

collected. we don't know how far, what is the number of the death up to now. the town is under the control of rebels. >> the rebels are loyal to riek machar. he is accused by president salva kiir of plotting a coup. he denies this. speaking to al jazeera's david foster on the show, he said he is ready to run the country. >> so the answer is yes, you would like to be the next president? >> no one knows where riek machar is, and government officials seem to be losing

patients. >> since he is continuing, with the atrocities against the people, definitely the government of south sudan will not tolerate that. we will not allow him to continue to kill the people. meanwhile we fold our hands and wait for him to accept peace. i strongly believe that after this there'll be no way, but we'll have to move to protect the lives of the citizens. >> there are diplomatic efforts to get the opposing sides to talk. government officials say losing key towns to the rebels is a temporary setback. they say they won't let forces loyal to riek machar take to the capital. >> the u.s. and nigerian invoice are in the capital. riek machar made it clear he wants the president removed making any chance of a dialogue difficult. >> and president obama is watching the situation in south

sudan. we go to washington d.c. with more on that. >> the united states, in cord nation with the united nations, has airlifted, according to the u.s. state department, a number of u.s. citizens to the u.n. camp in bor. they were airlifted on civilian helicopters to juba. the specifics of the evacuation have not been made available by the state department, this being the fact that on saturday there was an effort to airlift that was abandoned when four u.s. service members were fired upon. they are recovering from their injuries, but the effort is of the utmost concern to the united states, so it is releasing few details. we can tell you that the state department says more than 380 government officials and private citizens have been taken from the region. 300 from partner nations have been evacuated. we do know president obama is

continuing to be updated by government officials on the situation. he is vacationing with his family in hawaii, but is staying abreast of the situation. the white house is issuing a statement on saturday, saying there is great concern about the volatility in the region, saying any effort to seize power through force will result in an end to long-standing support in the community. secretary of state john kerry has appointed a special envoy, donald booth. he said the u.s. position is that sudan and south sudan not slide back into violence. it is the u.s. belief that this is something detry mmental to both sides and the u.s. encourages both sides to resolve their differences. >> ambassador booth was a senior advisor on north-south negotiations when the country

split. >> you were there two years ago as the country split apart. they are talking about trying to solve the crisis. how hopeful are you that negotiations may lead somewhere? . >> it will be difficult. i don't think there's an easy solution to the competing ambitions of nazanine moshiri and president salva kiir. the opportunity to mediate and resolve this was last year and the early part of this year when the problem arose. to have it down through the processes of the political party. that didn't happen. now it's turned into a situation where riek machar is reviving memories of the 1991 split, when he split from the s.p.l.m. and made war on the s.p.l.m. movement. i think it's going to take some

international effort to enable the two to even start to talk between them, and to work out the conditions for ending this conflict. >> so you are expecting a lot more violence, it sounds like. >> i think there is going to be, until there is a process that both have agreed to, and that they see that there's going to be a way to address their respective needs. i think also the - there should be consideration of beefing up the u.n. peacekeeping mission in south sudan to provide more protection for civilians, and be available to monitor and enforce an end to the conflict. >> what do you think can be done to end the conflict diplomatically. >> the africans, the u.s., the norwegians, british and others, need to work together on the two to set up an understanding between them that the conflict

has to stop. there has to be talks and they have to be without preconditions. that's not going to work. and there has to be an understanding between them that carrying on the conflict will hurt both sides very badly. i think right now the initiative has to come from riek machar, but president salva kiir has to be ready to respond immediately, maybe to release some of the detainees that he's arrested and open the door to a political process. >> who is really in charge at this moment - is it the president or the former vice president? >> well, the president, of course is the president and commands the government and the bulk of the army. but riek machar's forces - and this is an army that is largely made up of ethnic militias, so it had split. those forces loyal to riek

machar control a good deal of territory, so president salva kiir's writ does not extend over the country >> sounds like you are saying the former vice president is the one that needs to be negotiated with, because he holds a lot of power and future over the country. >> he does, but president salva kiir has to. the descension within his party and the way he was governing preceded the split. some of the previously who he detained and pushed out of the government could be helpful in mediating and helping to overcome the crisis by being allowed to do their work and revive the role of the party to manage this a little better. >> ambassador princeton lyman thanks for your insight. >> moving to the ukraine, where 100,000 are in the capital protesting for the fifth weekend in a row.

leader are encouraging protesters to push through the holidays into the new year. they are angry the ukraine president backed out of a trade deal in favour of the stronger ties with russia. at the center of the protest is independence square. the site is a significant part of the movement. jennifer glass explanation. >> as the demonstrations enter their second month in kiev, there's the power to draw tens of thousands of people to independence square in the center of the capital. the demonstrations began as a protest when the government failed to sign a deal with europe and then grew when the government tried to crackdown on the protestors now. four weeks later many of the protesters are wondering what is next. >> this man joined the protest on 1st december after seeing police crackdown on demonstrators. he'll stay here until the government agrees on the demands. >> what next. i haven't thought of that.

the next step has to come from the government. our cards are on the table. >> the demonstrations entered the second month. the president called them revolutionary and criticised the leaders for personal ambitious. >> ukrainians come here in tens of thousands. they called on people to demonstrate new year's eve here and demonstrate into 2014. >> this woman is impatient. she's been here since november 24th, and says something has to change. >> we can't stand and wait. we need to act. there must be concrete action. >> a peaceful autocome is impossible. >> opposition leaders disagree. >> some said they are willing to ched blood. >> no chance. this is what president viktor

yanukovych is doing. we prevented violence. we showed to the world we are pro-european. >> a pro-government parliament member predicts there'll be movement to europe toa piece the protesters. >> the government's mistakes make the opposition stronger so we need to correct our mistakes in the next few days to the situation will calm down. >> the people on independence square will not be easily won. after a month they want to see concrete changes before they'll consider leaving. >> here in the states one bank is taking steps to protect victims of target's security breach. with days to go before christmas, some shoppers are getting anunwelcome surprise when they use the debit cards. >> this woman walked into this chase branch and discovered she was a casualty of a target

credit card breach, and could only withdraw $100 from an atm, short of what she needed for the extended family's christmas list. >> i have 12 girls to shop for, 13 brothers, and i have to get swaet shirts and i don't know what i have to do. i am sure it's over $300. >> more than what chase will allow her to charge on her debit card. she's one of 2 million chase customers that used their cards at a target store from november 27th to december 15th. her branch was closed. one-third were opened sunday to help customers print new cards. >> half of its branches can issue debt cards on the spot. for customers that can't make it into the bank, a new card could take two weeks. >> i learnt mine needed to be changed whilst christmas shopping, coming as an inconvenience and a shock.

not lost on chase, who released this statement to its customers: >> on-sunday i was able to get a new card at the bank in less than five minutes. for shoppers like this, who couldn't switch their cards. >> i feel that i can't use my card any more. we'll have to abandon and use cash. that's not very constreent for this time of year. >> convenient not just for shoppers, but stores, including target, which is trying to figure out how 40 million of its credit and debit cards were hacked. >> so this happened to you yesterday? >> i couldn't believe it. this is what i get for waiting till the last minute to do my entire family's christmas shopping. i was in the fourth retail store, checking off everybody on the list >> using your debit card. >> and then ball, we had a

hiccup. i knew the funds were there. i called, i got this prompt from chase saying that there were extended delays, all their service representatives were helping customers with the target breach, and had to wait 45 minutes on hold until they extended my limit. >> what about the shopping. did you make the purchase, use your credit card, what happened? >> they limited your spending to $300, with the card swipes, and $100 for cash. for me they realised that my transactions were not fraudulent so they extended my limit for the day. for customers calling in complaining about that, they were able to extend it for some of them. >> you got more money basically allowed to spend on the card >> exactly >> interesting. how many chase banks have been open on sunday, which is a rare mood for the banks itself to accommodate these people? >> i have never known banks to be open on sunday.

there are four branches in new york that are open on sunday, but they are in lower manhattan. i didn't find a lot of branches especially open. it doesn't mean they weren't, because i was told by a teller that if these branches had enough of a team to assemble, they'd specially open their doors. but two in brooklyn did specially open their doors for customers to be able to change their debit cards. >> interesting. okay. days before christmas. a hiccup. >> not a good time. >> okay. thank you. >> still ahead - time is running out to sign up on the health care exchange. what you need to know to make the change? and... . >> powerful storms going on around the world. the problem in the u.s. is ice on the roadways. northern new england icy conditions. more information on the ice

storm, and more snow on the way coming up next.

>> once vladimir putin's powerful rival mikhail khordorkovsky announced he is steering clear of politics. he spent a decade behind bars and was pardoned by the president. he spoke publicly in germany. >> if the kremlin hoped the world would forget mikhail khordorkovsky after hissers, they were wrong. at a museum dedicated to berlin's cold war, he arrived upped the glare of flash bulbs. at times it was chaotic, but he was kick to thank those that helped with his release, which he admitted came as a surprise. >> translation: i did not have a choice at the time is release the. a chief at the camp woke me at

2 o'clock in the morning. then at the end of my trip i found it would end in berlin. >> he said he would fight to help those left behind. >> there are other political prisoners left in russia, not only those related to the yukos criminal case. you should not see me as a symbol that there's more pit call prisoners. i'm asking you to see me as a symbol of civil society whom no one expects to be release the. >> mikhail khordorkovsky spend a decade in detention. he denied the charges against him. from behind bars mikhail khordorkovsky once russia's richest man, was a thorn in the side of the establishment, a critic of vladimir putin. lauded has a rival. he outlined plans for the future. >> translation: i'm not going to engage in political activity.

i said that to vladimir putin and reiterated it. i'll engage in public work. the struggle for power is not for me. >> mikhail khordorkovsky may have ruled out a role in front ever line politics. it's unlikely he'll sit on the sidelines and stay silent on what is happening in russia. what he does will be followed by the kremlin. >> mikhail khordorkovsky has a visa to stay in germany for a year. he says a return to russia is not eminent. because he may face more charges. >> now, earlier i spoke with professor from the new school and asked why mikhail khordorkovsky did not plast vladimir putin. >> he could not have been released bout vladimir putin's pardon or go to germany without viewedin's approval, so he couldn't come out straight away

and say vladimir putin is my enemy. he is planning to appeal his imprisonment for 10 years. he needs a conversation with the kremlin to do that. >> he mentioned that he wants to help other political prisoners, but doesn't want to get involved in politics. what is he trying to say? >> he's saying that he's going to be involved in politics any way he can, but will not go forward and say, "i am going an aarch enemy vladimir putin. i will do it in a subtle way." >> was it smart for vladimir putin to release him. >> absolutely. vladimir putin is brilliant in the kgb insidious stuff. vladimir putin was a kgb operative and stationed in eastern germany. it is appropriate that he was allowed to go to germany. >> in denver, the community is grieving after the latest school

shooting claims one of their owns. students have been praying for the recovery of 17-year-old senior claire davis. last night when they heard about her death they held a vigil. >> one of the things that we hoped for is for her to make it out okay >> claire davis was in a coma since december 14th when shot at arapahoe high school by karl pierson. >> last-minute shopping. monday is the first key deadline to sign up for health insurance through the government change. al jazeera's correspondent has more on what you need to know. >> if you haven't, you may want to pencil in a couple of hours to sign up for health care. millions of americans are uninsured. monday, december 23rd an a deadline for selecting a plan if

you are looking for coverage starting january 1st. it's important for people in high-risk pools to get in now. people with pre-existing insurance, people who lost plans, and people in states where medicade is scaling back. the deadline it different in states that operate their own exchanges. website difficulties and other changes have led to some confusion, and people without coverage could face a tax penalty if they don't have insurance in place by march 31st. it starts small. $95 in 2014. it rises rapidly. by 2016 people without insurance will face penalties of close to $700. to avoid the penalty you need to have an insurance plan in place by january 15th. that could be a plan through your employer, one purchased on

a state or federal exchange or providing elegibility for a government plan like medicare or medicade. the white house says it's increased staff from calling centres to help people navigate the system. there are more than 12,000 representatives at 17 sites. >> winter's first official weekend starts with on ice storm in the north-east. people in western new york woke up to ice on cars, roads and cars. electricity was out for tens of thousands. new york governor declared a winter ice storm emergency, and that is the beginning of the seer weather, stretching from the golf coast to dan da. >> it's amazing. warm air bringing in flach flooding and heat. >> 70 degrees in new york. a warm day. >> it's amazingly warm. a lot of folks had record temperatures along the east coast. >> after some tornados touched

down and caused damage in the midwest and the south, now we are seeing the wintry weather pick up more in the rocky mountains, definitely across the great lakes, and we'll continue with flash flooding in parts of the south-east. now ice storm is a big concern. you can see the know around the great lakes. ice is accumulating, stretching along parts of the northern new england area, especially upstate new york, ice accumulations come up to half an inch. more in place to the north. through monday morning the areas will continue with ice accumulation. there'll be dangerous travel. radar and cloud with systems. cold air and drying air coming in from behind. as you look at the holiday travel, shaping up nicely. not the greatest travel weather due to snow or also to some ice

in the north-east. now, here are the hazards. wind chill warnings. temperatures cool in places to the north. speaking of cool we have a significant storm developing in the u.k., across britain. we'll show you what it feels like with the wind chill advisory for the north central parts of theiates, and a flood warning. i want to touch base on the storm. it will bring parts of britain 50 to 60 miles per hour. we are aght the storm to dump rain fall. we'll track it throughout the evening and give you details when you get them on that storm. otherwise the storm growing for the united states is dousing the east. virginia getting a lot of rain. it is totalling up. we had birmingham with an inch of rain. no wonder you have kentucky and tennessee with several rivers at

flood stage. we'll watch any other rivers stretching up into the virginias. we'll have more details. with the global active weather going on. >> and still ahead, more on the target security breach fall out. we talk to the security risk that people are faced with and why the u.s. is not up on the latest technology.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories this half hour. united nations evacuated 450 americans and other foreign nationals from south sudan. all noncritical staff members taken to neighbouring uganda to escape ongoing violence in the country. rebel fighters have been trying to overthrow the government, citing ethnic matters. >> russian oil tycoon mikhail khordorkovsky was released days ago and is in germany. he served 10 years in prison for

tax evasion and fraud. chase bangers are trying to protect credit cards, limiting withdrawals to $100 a day, and customers will only be able to spend $300 on deb it cards. outside the u.s. the debit cards will not be able to used. >> i have been talking to a man from a firm specialising in chip card technology and he talked about the use of chip card technology in the u.s. >> the u.s. is moving to chip card technologies. in reality what we have noticed around the world is fraud drops dramatically in your payment card incorporates a chip as opposed to just having the data in a magnetic stripe. >> explain the difference. a lot of people don't understand what is at work. how is the ship more secure than

having a magnetic stripe. >> i try to summarise it by saying the data on a strip is data that is not dynamic. it's static data. for every traction it's the same data used when you swipe the card. when you use a chip card the data is it dynamic. therefore, stealing the data on one transaction doesn't allow you to move on other transactions with the same data. >> so if it's more secure, why have we not seen more credit card companies embrace it faster? >> it has to do with the level of fraud, and the cost of implementing new technology. i believe the united states is moving to chip card technology, and i believe that within the next three to four years all cards will have a chip incorporated in their card.

>> thank you for your time today. >> in the central african republic french soldiers are accused of killing three members of the presidential guards. the french say they were trying to disarm militia fighters. they've been blamed for violence causing thousands to flee. andrew simmons reports from bangui. >> this is the scene after a french army patrol confronted former seleka rebels in a christian district. they shot three men dead. the french came under fire after starting disarmament in an area where there'd been sectarian killing. here they tried to secure the area backed up by a helicopter. they withdrew for a short while and returned. former seleka fighters spread hate messages towards anyone of french nationality. then peacekeepers backed up the french. there's an air of hatred and tension. this is a congolese contingent

from the international peacekeeping force deploying. we have seen a situation where unofficial roadblocks have been set up. we stopped at one, we had to, we were threatened with a hand grenade. these men blocked the airport road and were trying to stop anyone they thought was french, from getting through. >> most here are fighters from the predominantly muslim seleka. the alliance of rebels was supposed to have been disbanded in march. the interim government announced the three dead from from the presidential guard, and all the men here accused the french army of being soft on the christian militia, anti-balaka, but hard on seleka. >> up to now we haven't heard of the french killing one anti-balaka or disarming them. the seleka are back in the

barracks and only travel with the right papers. as the bodies was ready to be driven away the relative of one of the dead gave this message. >> i'm asking all you french to go home. since independence you have done nothing for us. now you are manipulating us. sometimes you are with us, sometimes against us. which side are you on? >> this caused fear for the impoverished people. clashes are followed by reprisals on civilians. and the interim government appears to do nothing to cool down the anti-french sentiment. >> a bloody day in syria. 56 people, including children are reportedly dead following an air strike by the army. the military dropped home-made barrel bombs on the northern city of aleppo, according to an opposition human rights group. they are looking at a video to

show the aftermath of the bombing. >> the government's military campaign in aleppo has gone on for eight days. rebels are fighting back and capture a strategic hospital. we have this exclusive report. >> two huge truckloads of explosives are detonated. the battle begins. within hours the rebel forces declare victory. the target a hospital in aleppo, or what is left of it. the hospital was transformed into a day facto military outpost by president bashar al-assad's forces. strategically located the top floors overlook key roads leading to the country side and another to the central prison, used as a base by the syrian army. >> this is one of a series of attacks which will target the regime everywhere.

we will not rest until we reach bashar al-assad's palace. >> as with most gains by rebel fighters, the capture of the hospital is followed by reprisal. barrels filled with explosives and other bombs are dropped from the skies as forces try to limit the advancement. as both sides prepare to see who will win the next round in this ongoing gone li-- conflict, the fact that a hospital wants to save lives will leave many wondering what victory there could be for either side in the bloody war. >> in thailand more political protests against the prime minister. tens of thousands marked for bangkok calling for resignation. some demonstrators marched to the prime minister's home. the rally coming a day after the

party announced it'd boy pot the elections. unemployment for american benefits runs three times the national average. for disabled vets it's worse. al jazeera's correspondent met with a chicago man on a mission to single handedly change that. and it starts with a beer. >> the makers say it's america's most important beer. why? because the new brew that customers are starting to knock back is what they call 100% patriotic. >> to the holidays, to the veterans. >> veterans advocate wondered why veterans faced high unemployment rates. then a light bulb went off. why beer? >> i couldn't - if i could come up with something better i would have done it. >> jenkins went on a mission as

focussed as anyone he flue in the navy, his plan, launch the veteran beer cop in illinois, onveterans day, using veterans from the breuer to the logo designer and the promoters. being a jack-of-all-trades served this man well, but not in the job markets. >> a lot of companies are afraid to commit to hiring veterans if they don't fit the job description, the roles and responsibilities that the company is looking for. >> mark is one of 44 employees. they figured they'd sell 1,000 cases in the first year. they sold 10,000 in the first month. paul jenkins is more excited about hiring more veterans than he is about selling beer. >> it people today who are despairing because they can't find work, to know we are coming. that drives it. if they can hold on, know that we are coming, it's the military

philosophy - backup is coming, it's on its way. they'll know we are growing as quickly as we can. >> here is a similarity to the military. he started the company, you have 10 years to move up or out. period. that includes the founder. >> i recognise probably one of the most important part of my job will be finding the person to take my place. >> first thing is first. the veteran beer company will expand to seven more midwest states and a dozen more by the end of the year. >> these are the products on the market. >> let me grab one of these. >> so they have hope when they come home, with a possibility of employment. they fight for us when they are out there on the line. it's a feel-good thing you can do. anything to assist them, it would be great. >> paul jenkins says what is appealing is the taste, of course, but what he calls

slaktovision. >> when someone sits on the couch watching the game, what should i reach for - means nothing. i'll drink something that matters. >> for vets like mark, selling the veteran and the blond bomber matters more. >> i'll drink to that. >> many have something to toast. he continues to defy father time. age 37. the denver broncos are out to prove their lose to san diego. quarterback peyton manning got back on track against the texans. we begin tied at 3. peyton manning fires 36 yards to demarius thomp as, 10-3 denver. tom brady tide in the fourth. this is number 15. on the receiving end. bronko, and the record breaker.

julius thomp as, manning four td tosses, he's in the record book, denver wins going away. now, the chiefs on a modest 2-game winning streak hosting casey. andrew lock dumping mcdonald brown does the rest. 33 yards. third quarter brown in action again. this time a 51-yard scamper on his own. up the middle. the chiefs turned it over four times. colts win 23-7. the teams could meet in the first round with the play-offs in two weeks. with the chief's loss, the broncos win the west and the first-round buy. all four division leaders that you see locked up play-off spots. home field advantage throughout the afc up for grabs. the chiefs no longer can win the west, but will be the top wildcard seen with several squads still alive for the final

wildcard slot. more on that later in the evening. two weeks ago the saints ripped the panthers 31-13 to grab sole possession in the south. the teams met in charlotte. the saints not great away from the superdome. 3 and 4 on the road this season. the game expected to be a high-scoring affair. it was not. deanning deanningel o williams 43 yards. drew breeze looking for his manned in the end zone. five yards on the play. drama at the ends. less than 30 seconds left. newton, there. 14 yards for the score. 17-13 the final. the panthers win for the 10th time in 11 games. the panthers clinch the nsc south and a first-round buy. the saints can clinch a play-off later today if arizona loses to

seattle. we move on. cowboys and red skins renewing their rivalry. >> tony romeo finds room, hitting des-bryant. 14 yards on the play. third quarter dallas up. four yards td run. washington up 2014. under a minute and a half left. this is fourth and 10 for dallas. this is the game and the season. tony romeo scrambles. that is demarco murray touchdown. maybe the critics will get off their back. i got this. 24-23 is the final. the cowboys will face the eagles next week in dallas for a winner take all game. and a play-off birth on the line. the loser is out of the playoffs. >> i'm out of breath. >> that's a lot there. >> more in the 8 o'clock hour. >> still ahead - how one

organization in the united states helping afghan carpet weavers grow their business.

>> in egypt three prominent

activists were the first to be put in gaol under the strict new anti-protest laws. the men were arrested in november. after demonstrating against the law, saying it goes against democracy. they've been sentenced to three years in prison. we explain why the verdict is important. it's important for a number of reasons. the first is that for the first time we are seeing activists being imprisoned. up until now most of the attention has been on the muslim brotherhood. the movement has been involved in or was at the forefront of the revolutions that brought down hosni mubarak, and the mouse limb brotherhood -- muslim brotherhood came in on the back of that. they were instrumental in drafting the 2010 constitution.

there's no political opposition. this is the close es thing that the country has. imprisoning the activists will be seen as an attempt to silence political dissent. we've seen criticism, i think it will spread. the government is insisting they should be following the law, they are enforcing the legislation dually passed and the activists were responsible for breaking the laws and they are paying the price. >> i want to mention a news conference of april 6th was held. they said the roadmap is not going in the right direction and we should withdraw from it and fight it. they've described the three activists as political prisoners. >> nairobi police have been looking for survivors after a freight train derailed into a

neighbourhood. seven were hurt. we have this report from nairobi. >> crushed by the derailed train, shacks in a large slum reduced to wreckage. people say it took an hour for rescue teams to arrive. people had already started. >> when i reached there i heard a noise, "can you hep us?", i called people, we went there. we tried to dig down. we took two children, one at the age of five years and the other six. >> hundreds of people gathered around the accident site. police struggled to cordon off the area and push people back. >> the transport minister visited the scene and said the government had been pleading with residents not to set up homes close to the railway track. rescue workers have been telling us the proximity of the homes

complicated rescue efforts. a crane proved challenging, with the railway tracks mangled as a result of the crash. the train was travels at a low speed due to congestion, and it may have caused the wagons to give way under the heavy weight of the cargo it was carrying. this was a colonial line. the trains dangle precariously. if you stand here, you actually think they are going to fall on you. many say they know the proximity to the train line puts the line at risk. reality is they say there's no other place to go. >> afghanistan has long been known for its carpets. rich tradition provide a living. they have no way of exporting to

a reliable market. one chicago organization is trying to change thax. >> the rich cultural history of afghanistan's province was blown up by the taliban, along with towering statues of buddha. >> decades of warfare drove the weavers of afghanistan's carpets to afghanistan, depleting the heart of the nation. leaving shoes, children and jobless afghans. >> now a nonprofit rug maker named arzu has brought a cultural revival, especially for afghan women. >> translation: there has been a lot of changes. people who were unemployed before can work now. the wages that they give are high. >> as you... >> the idea came from an american former investment banker who visited afghanistan and a u.s. state department mission and returned with a

business design. >> it was seeing the conditions of women, many living in rubble with small children. it hooked my heart. the ultimate definition of sustainability is profitability. >> we are not there yet. why? we need to sell more rugs. >> the revival of authentic weaving comes with a western twist. arzu makes african rugs and carpets by designers, a change from complex patterns. >> translation: we are comfortable with the foreign designs. >> most of the women signed for pay with a thumb print. >> in the first year a thumb print. now it's signatures. all the women know how to write, read and learn maths. what we have done, how we transform their lives is inspirational. >> it's a change appreciated by

the men. >> some of the people have nothing, nothing. nothing to move their lives forward. thank god the lives of people have gotten better. moving on with their lives as dramatically as the designs on their looms. >> the director of acclaimed movers like "the sixth sense" and "signs" stepped away to write a book. m. night shyamalan's book, "i got schooled" focuses on a gap between inner schools. he sat and talked to ali velshi. >> you know how people say america is design compared to countries. we are a little behind poland and a little ahead of lip ten design. that's where we land in the list. that's not the truth. the truth is actually bizarrely black and white literally, which

is if you pull out the inner city low-income schools, pull it out of the united states, put them to the side and took every other public school in the united states, we lead the world in public school education by a lot. and what is interesting is we think about finland. that is obviously mainly white kids, right, and they teach kids well. against that we teach the kids better. we beat everyone. our white kids are taught the best public school education on the planet. those are the facts. >> you can watch the entire interview coming up at the top of the hour at "talk to al jazeera". 7 o'clock eastern, 4:00 pm pacific. it's not the grinch that stole christmas but the mould killing christmas trees that threaten to spoil the holiday. the story is next, days before christmas. we look at the empire state building decked out for the holidays.tñ

>> christmas trees are a big part of the season. they are under threat from an aggressive form of mould. we have this story from

washington state. >> the noble fur is one of america's favourite christmas trees. they are fragrant and lush with sturdy branches for hanging ornaments. >> i like this tree. >> they are kenny's bread and butter. for 43 years he grew noble and frasier's trees. the bulk of the business including selling the seeds to farmers. as perfect as they seem. noble and frasier fur are susceptible to a root mould. demand for the trees hits a high, and many farmers are growing them in areas with poorly draining soils where the root rot thrives. >> it can take years for symptoms to be shown. this tree is seven years old. it didn't show symptoms until last year. that can mean a loss of time and

money. >> for instance, this form of root rot is responsible for destroying 6 million worth of crops. >> these are nice stiff branches. >> washington state university pathologist believes the solution may be in the norredman and turkish fur. they are resist and to the root rot and provide an alternative for growers if they have a poorly drained soil to minimise the losses caused by the disease. >> the team of researchers have been studying the root rot for more than a decade. they discovered that norredman and turkish thrive just about anywhere. >> being able to to help them and come up with options is rewarding. >> the root-rot resistant trees do not have much of a fragrance. they can take 9-10 years to grow. >> it's a great place to try exotic species.

>> they are banking on success. they are experimenting with the norredman. the latest crop will be ready to hit the market in time for christmas. >> i like this one. >> what does this mean for prices? >> experts tell us you can pay more for christmas trees. as some farmers balance out years of supply, others recover from years of losses. >> this is an incredible christmas gift, the world's richest lottery totalling $3.4 billion. today it's being given away in spain. tens of thousands take home part of the prize money. top winners get $5,000 u.s. dollars. a lot of money. but we have to share it. the tax man is taking about 20%. that's our show. "talk to al jazeera" is next.

>> you're watching al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the headlines. >> the united nations evacuated about 700 staff members, including 380 americans were south sudan. all noncritical staff members taken to uganda to scope ongoing violence. rebel fighters have been trying to overthrow the government claiming ethnic discrimination. 100,000 are in ukraine's capital protesting for the fifth weekend in a row. few showed up but leader are encouraging people to push through the holidays. they are angry that the president backed out of a trade beel with