welcome to al jazeera america. here are the stories we are following for you. with more than 1,000 south sudanese dead, the u.n. votes today to increase peace keeping troops there. consider the birthplace of jesus and a pill gram inch, the church of the nativity gets an important makeover to protect it for another 500 years. the two astronauts cent sure out on a space walk.

150 u.s. marines are standing by to be deployed. they are available to help protect and evacuate american citizens. the growing violence has claimed hundreds of lives. an estimated 40,000 refugees are frying to escape the deadly fighting. the security council is meeting shortly. they discovered a maz grave in unity state which has most of the country's oil, south sudan's army says it is investigating. some criminal targets of some people, some people have died but they are still in command. they have taken the control of the town, and the challenged is investigating the death of the targeted or killed base -- so they would be happy for those who have the information to help ugh in the investigation.

that is a crime, south sudan belong to all of us, we are a national army, we are not allow tribal to be exercised mixed with politics. thigh need all the help they can get. thousands are hiding in bases across the country, try to get the two sides to sit down and talk and agree to peace talk res, for example, the e.u. delegation is flying into the capitol later, this afternoon. there are conditions. for example, the former vice president has said that he wants these to take place, because he thinks there will be a more neutral venue.

this is the morning headlines. the president says he is not sure about the beam in this government, he is not sure about who he can trust. he basically said some people are sitting here in government with us, in this house,er and deeply involved. so it remains to be seen whether they whether delay these. then perhaps the violence we see now could end. >> a powerful blast tore through headquarters killing at least 14 people and injuries 130. it lapped in the nile delta city. al jazeera reports. >> this was the biggest car bomb that egypt has seen since january 2011. a massive blast that tore through the headquarters. it went off shortly after midnight, around the time that senior police officers were inside, among them, the city's

security chief. it seems likely that they were the targets so whoever set it may have had inside meeting of the knowledge. the interior minister expected the scene earlier, he called it a terrorist attack, aimed at disrupting the vote on the constitution. >> there is these incidents are an attempt to create a diversion to terrorize people, but i quantity to reassure the people that there was a plan in place, and cooperation with the armed forces to protect all the election centers at the highest level. >> casualties overwhelm the hospital. medical officials appear for blood donors to help treat the victims. doctors spoke of horrific injuries, packed around the makeshift bomb. outside demonstrators

filled the streets. the protestors blame the muslim brotherhood. >> everyone knows that it is a terrorist group, and security forces have to work harder, today they attacked here, and god knows where tomorrow. >> but both the muslim brotherhood and egypt's anti-coupe alliance have condemned the attack. in a statement from the london office, it considers this act as direct attack on the unity of the people, and demand an inquiry so the perpetrators ma by brought to justice. wardless of who was behind the bombing, it will raise the heat in a country already divided over a new constitution, and it's political direction. al jazeera, cairo. >> one young girl killed in air strikes on the strip, carried out by israel. this happened an israeli civilian was shot dead on the boarder. no one has claimed responsibility for killing the man that was

the first to die on the gaza frontier. edward snowden has told the washington post that he already won. six months after leaking the documents to the media, he says his mission is accomplished. on christmas eve we take a look at the church where jesus is believed to have been borns. it has been 600 years since the last major restoration. where the renovations are underway, quite a scene behind you, nick. >> absolutely. those renovations are underway, the celebrations are underway, you can see the church and nativity in the background, and the tree behind me, and so many people will be here in a few hours for midnight mass, in this land where jesus walks there will be so many prayers for peace, but often that peace feeled far away. >> when clair walks out of her home, this is her

view. the israeli barrier that separates the west bank is 30 feet tall, and clair's house is surrounded on three sides. israel says the wall keeps it safe, here the occupation dominates life, even palestinian christians celebrate their holiest day. in manger square this morning clair marks the arrival of the localage bishop. and on this christmas eve, particularly proud because just a few feet away, in one of christianity's most sick red shrines. >> this is the renovation. >> yes. this is -- >> he has overseen the first facelift in 600 years. >> this is all water damage. >> parts of this church are 1500 years old. the building has been neglected. >> we were all worried about the situation, when

it stopped raining water comes down throughout the walls. and 24 -- allover. >> repairs will begin on the roofs wooden beams. they were last restored in 1498. >> it needs to be protected for another 500 years and this is our termination, to protect this church. for the coming generations. >> he is christian, his family has lived here for as long as anyone can remember, he jokes that one of his ancestors witnessed jesus' birth. >> we are not coming from abroad, we are not coming from anywhere else. we are here. >> thousands line-up to see the grat toe, the spot where jesus is believed to have been born. in order to have the best

tourism, the best economy, the best atmosphere for developing and also protecting our history and our. >> heritage. >> is to end the occupation. >> gi then, they hole the holy land is peace. >> our history, our future. >> the christmas wish shared by clair, or in her home. >> she comes here for midnight mass, and christmas, and prays for peace. rachelle. >> it is so important what he said, the church

is supposed to be finish and the renovation in four to five years and the arch bishop is hoping for peace in that time. that's what he said, right? >> they want to come here and celebrate midnight mass, and they want to go home without that wall. sadly israel says that wall is keeping it safe, and says the wall needs to stay. right now the middle east is still very much at peace, but obviously here, a lot of people praying for that tonight. >> a great story there. >> pope transition pay add visit on monday to wish him a merry christmas. the former pope exchange greetings in an embrace before praying together.

the two men have only met once in public. there is one special pope, this was a world win. it went from being a little known arch bishop to tying magazines of the year. when he appeared after his election, only a few recognized him, and butter who pronounced his name, everyone, however, recognized his chosen name as pope. francis. >> from day one, he proved to be just as ample as his name sake.

he became known as the people's pope, he dodged the security to be with his flock, and was especially interested in the well being of the displaced the disabled and children. on his first trip, he receive a hero's welcome. 3 million people came to see him, turning into a catholic woodstock. francis became officially a worldwide icon. an accessible one, he spoke freely to reporters answering tough questions on the role of women in the church. >> if christmas is a day for remembering then many around the world we look back at a dramatic and eventful year, where the church marred by scandal was rejune nateed. >> roam. >> next a concern for parents, controversy over the vitamin k shot, and a

christmas eve space walk as repairs are being made to the international space station. >> beneath the fluorescentsun in a former meat packing plant is the latest trim in farming. they call it "vertical farming." these fields grow on floors on at industrial park and farmer john adel and his staff agrees user. >> my shipping proceed did you say 1500, 2,000 miles to get are.

>> the plant of the indoor -- as the indoor formers call it doesn't grow corn or soybeans but mustard, high end micro greens on the plates of white-napkin restaurants. these fish supply the vert liser that number issues the

today astronauts are at is station trying to finish some crucial repairs. they are hoping to finish up everything today. mr. petty, if you are ahead of schedule that's clearly a sign of a successful mission. tell us what all you have gotten accomplished? well, both of these space walks the one earlier in the week, on saturday, and this one today were aimed at replacing a pump that is part of the cooling system, the big cooling system. >> okay, so can you tell us more about what all a has gone -- what all you have gotten done 134. >> yeah. basically -- first let me say that this pump module

is about the size of a refrigerator and weighed almost 800 pounds on earth. it -- the faulty one was removed during the saturday space walk, and temporarily stowed on the outside of the space station, and the space walk today took a replac replacement bump, put it in position, hooked up ammonia lines and power lines and we gave it a quick test, and everything seems to be working. >> why were these repairs so critical? >> well, the international space station has two what we call cooling loops. they are identical, one is on one side. that houses is solar rays. they also provide cooling in a secondary way. they cool watt tear is used to cool the interior of the station where the

crews lived to pressurized areas. we need to have one that will work for sure, and another back up. the one that failed, we need two of these. if we only have one and one fails that would not be a good thing. >> not at all, so i say it is a big sense of accomplishment. ahead of schedule. and so close to the holiday. so maybe some people will get to spent some time wiirth the families perhaps, right? >> i think for a crew it would be a much better christmas than it would have been.

the dow is up more than 60 points the fifth record day in a row, the s&p 500 also hitting an all time high. the markets closed early today, and of course they are closed tomorrow. test la is holding on to it's five star safety rating. has reaffirmed the rating for this model s sedan. however, the electric car maker flag ship vehicle is still being reviewed over battery retted fires. for decades it's been standard medical practice to give vitamin k to newborns. but now a growing number of parents are declining that. as a first time mother,

amber had a lot of questions about her newborn. including whether or not her daughter needed a vitamin k shot. >> our douala told us that our option was the vitamin k shot, and why some people were choosing not to get it. to get the benefits outweighed the risks. >> doctors have been giving vitamin k shots to newborns since the 1960's. it was once a common threat, but now the rbc says the disorder only appeared in about six infants per million. but earlier this year, multiple cases emerged in tennessee. between february and september of this year, four babies here. a fourth bleeding.

>> he says the parents in each case declined the shot. the natural childbirth to outdated information that remained online. mainly a disproven study from england linking the injections to leukemia. >> so that scare add lot as it should. unfortunately the first study that showed there was a link, continues to exist on the internet. they tend to reject the shot. >> need tend to be parents that are well educated but again, people need to understand what the risks are associated when you decline that shot, something as similar as that. >> the risk for

developing the bleeding disorder is nearly 80 times greater that did not receive a vitamin k injection. even sew, a preliminary report focusing on national found that 28% of parents were declining the shot. while the four infants at vanderbilt all survived the three that suffered bleeding in the brain, may face develop mental challenges. jonathan martin, al jazeera, nashville. >> coming up, the history of u.n. ambassadors and the newest signing up katie perry. >> the unique spirit of christmas celebrated in typhoon torn philippines.

headlines.e today's one hung marines -- they are available to help protect and also evacuate

american citizens. six months after more than 1 million to the media, mission accomplished. at an interview with the washington post, snowden said all he wanted was for the public to have a say in how they are governed. it's the second christmas eve space walk in history. katie perry is using her celebrity status. she offs more than just a famous face. it's constantly been looking for ways to highlight their plight. 60 years ago it tried what was then a novel approach. it was in 1954, that danny can then one of the

most famous actors and singers became the first ever goodwill ambassador for the children's offense unicef. his path was followed by many others over the years. stars from hollywood. odd ray hepburn to angelina jolie. my name is roger moore, and i'm a goodwill ambassador l door for unicef. >> other the years they have not only been packed with top politicians many celebrities have come to visit u.n. head guarders here in new york. in this building you never know who you will butch into. so why kid she take the job? >> i have a lot of attention, and a lot of spotlight. and it would be so easy

and so lazy for me to put that spotlight on something that is kind of material, or funny, or not really meaningful. but what i do want to do is take this extra attention, and put it on something that is that illumination, that needs that light. >> some may question her insight on the issues facing children around the world, but not her impact. and it's hear the the idea of celebrity ambassadors is getting a new boost. katie merry has 60 million likes on her facebook page. >> when she tweets because she will get something like five to 6,000 engangments. whether it's retweets or favorites or people tweeter back, and i think unicef has come out to say that they want to engang a younger audience, and katie perry is the perfect person to do that, because her

following tends to skew younger than the traditional following. >> so in this new age of communication, the celebrities social media reach gives the u.n. a big boost. just compare katie perry's followers on twit we old media, 60 million people is almost five times more than the prince circulation of the best selling news paper in the world. al jazeera, at the united nations. >> the actual definition is one inch or more on the ground. so that's what you need to call it a white christmas. now the national weather service does put out a map, anywhere that is a lighter blue color, has at least an inch of snow on the ground. is really is not going anywhere any time soon with that cold air in place.

good for travel, but not much in the way of snowfall forecast. a few light snow showers and the great lakes seeing that lake effect is starting to pick up with this bitter cold air that is coming down from the ned h north dakota, to chicago, you can see that cold air pushing east. so much colder weather after router high temperatures doesn't take long to see that cold air return, and we are seeing that here in the next 48 hours. so the snow on the ground will not go anywhere any trial soon, kit get more snow in chicago tomorrow two a high of 26, and 20 there's that cold air, low temperature 14, thursday morning 20 in the afternoon, almost up to 30 on friday, then the midwest will see temperatures climbing back above the freezing mark saturday, briefly before dropping on sunday. the real feel temperatures is what it feels like when you have that wind plus the cold air, it is on your skin, bundle up before you head outside, because the real feel temperature, ten

below there in minneapolis. know talking about lake effect snow, you can see that starting to pick up as that cold air comes across the warmer water, the great lakes counted see a good amount of snow, in the next 24 hours mainly in western new york, northwestern pennsylvania, even through central pennsylvania. you can see some accumulations here, not only today but early tomorrow. so that can add to the snow that is on the ground. as far as the temperatures go, well, they are dropping and they will be even colder over the next four hours. here across the northeast, and then went one on thursday, barely up to thursday and friday. so just a brief cold snap here. >> dave, thank you. the holiday season bring as small sign of hope to the people in the philippines. drapednt lantern draped with the flag sitters in the middle of all the rubble. limited holiday celebrations include a baptism of newborns and children while dancing in makeshift refugee camps.

tomorrow there will be a christmas day maz, thank you for watching al jazeera america. >> i'm mei-ling mcnamara in canada here to discover how the great bear rainforest is being protected. >> i'm amanda burrell. i'm in london to find out how to make old houses green. >> and i'm yaara bou melhem in indonesia's south sulawesi looking at how the efforts of local people are restoring this mangrove forest.