a family's fight to keep hope alive in the case of a brain-dead teenager and they orders to keep the girl on a breathing machine for another week. anxiety and evacuation after a fiery train crash in north dakota, 20 cars up in flames after the train carrying crude ail derailed. stepping up security, what russian officials are doing to increase safety following two terror attacks that left dozens dead. trying to snuff out the deadliest kind of cancer and new guidelines that can impact current and former smokers. ♪

welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. reprieve for a family of a california girl declared brain dead and a judge granted them an extension to keep the 8th grader on life support for another week and we report on the on going legal battle on the fate of the teenagers. >> she was dead weeks ago when she went into cardiac arrest after her operation and family disagrees and have taken the battle to court. >> i do what is right for me and her and i will fight for her and i don't have fight left in me. >> reporter: a judge has one-week extension of life support. >> our attorneys are simultaneously filing a new complaint in federal request requesting a temporary restraining order and injunction preventing pulling the plug and the judge extend the temporary retraining order and filing an

appeal with the courts. >> reporter: last week a court-appointed neurologist confirmed the hospital's conclusion. >> the medical condition by the statute you mentioned, she meets all of the criteria for brain death. >> reporter: medically brain death is different than a coma, a patient in a coma has neural activity in the brain but with brain death there are no neurological signals. the family said they have seen movement, signs of life from the girl. the hospital maintains its position. >> in similar cases where there are patients who are deceased or brain dead, there is such an effect known as the lazurus effect and common in the deceased for muscles to move and that is not unusual or shocking nor is it a sign of any life in the body. >> reporter: the attorney representing the family says this is not simply about whether

she is dead or alive. it's about basic civil liberties. >> this is about choices. no matter how they try to characterize it, it's about empowerment, choices and the rights of people. >> reporter: the fundamental conflict circles rounds different notions of death and she is dead after three rounds of examinations both in and out of the hospital. the court fight continues. the family now has one last chance to make their case. oakland, california. >> her family says an unidentified hospital in new york had agreed to admit the teen. the family is trying to arrange an air ambulance to transfer her across the country. a fiery freight train collision forced the evacuation of a smart south dakota town. the accident happened outside the town of castleton, 25 miles west of fargo, a freight train derailed and another one with

crude oil ran into it and set off a series of explosions that burned 21 rail cars. >> it was the third explosion that rattled the house and the doors and the windows were all shaking and scott and i came out. the garage door and the flames were so high and it was like it was right happening behind us. >> reporter: the sheriff's office strongly recommended nearby residents evacuate because of thick smoke pouring romney the crash site, containing the fire was challenging because of temperatures of negative 20 degrees. two deadly bombings in russia are raising safety concerns ahead of the sochi olympics in vowel grad and happened 24 hours apart a trolley and a train and leaving 33 people dead and we are in volgograd with the story. >> there wasn't much left of the

trolley car on line 15 when the ambulances arrived. a ruptured tin can surrounded by bodies. but survivors were hanging on. and volgograd hospital was less than ten minutes away. and he was one of badly injured brought here. >> translator: it felt like a huge electric shock and no one with a bomb and i was looking out the window and i can't remember anything after that. >> reporter: for the second time in less than 24 hours the hospital were filled with victims of another bombing and some with terrible burns. the doctor said his team were carrying out ten operations at the same time. but thankfully he said the trolley bomb wasn't as powerful as sunday's blast at the train station. outside they posted casualty lists of those brought in by ambulance and where they were being treated. the relatives of the injured scarcely able to believe this was happening all over again. trauma specialists part of a

disaster emergency team had been flown in from moscow to help family and friends cope with their shock and loss. and at volgograd airport those too badly injured to be treated here were loaded on special flights to moscow and for me it was the difference between life and death and taken to specialists burn units in the capitol two hours away. the city used to be known and the shattered buildings are a reminder of a battle in the second world war the defeat of the german army in 1943 changed the course of the conflict. today the people here have a different fight on their hands with a far more elusive enemy. at the scene of the bombing a sense of fear, frustration and anger among the people of the city, a feeling they have been let down by those who should have protected them and he is a local businessman. >> people afraid. people afraid to use public

transport. i'm frightened. and i'm afraid for my family, for my friends. >> reporter: they are stepping up security not just in volgograd but across southern russia in 5 weeks 30,000 troops will be deployed in the region in the build up to the winter olympics. peter sharp al jazeera vowel grad. >> ahead in our next hour we will take a closer look at growing concerns about safety and concern at the winter olympics in sochi set to kickoff six weeks from now. a critic will go to switzerland with a three-month visa allowing him to see his wife and children, he was pardoned by the russian president vladimir putin and he was rush and he went to jail on fraud and tax evasion and said it was politically motivated. 70 journalists were killed

around the world and to protect them two thirds of those died covering syria, egypt and iraq are the deadliest countries for reporters. 29 died in syria including several citizen journalists documenting the war in their home cities. ten journalists were killed in iraq and six have died reporting on the political crisis in egypt this year. the first time in a decade no journalists were killed in mexico. al jazeera is demanding the release of a group of its journalists arrested in egypt and correspondence peter and mohamed are in custody in cairo. authorities accuse them of broadcasting false news for interviewing members of the muslim brotherhood and are experienced and worked for international media organizations for decades. israel has released another group of palestinian prisoners as part of a u.s. broker deal to resume talks between the two sides and as al jazeera reports

the release led to mixed emotions on both sides. >> and he has been waiting for this moment for 21 years. nobody could stand between her, he had been released from an israeli prison and the first person he hugged was his mother. [cheers and applause] and asked how she felt. >> translator: my heart, she says, is trembling. >> reporter: ten miles away in jerusalem and remembers her life and wearing this dress. >> translator: in 1992 she was walking in a market when he approached her and just stabbed this israeli boy, an angry mob called for revenge and she shielded him and the crowd turned on her. >> i feel energy of men. i feel they grow. they asked me if you go or not

go to the side clearly they take. >> reporter: for 27 minutes she was his shield and fellow israelis spit on her and burned cigarettes on her and she kept protecting him. >> translator: she says i took life both mine and the terrorists. >> reporter: as part of the on going peace talks israel agreed to release 100 palestinian prisoners including an nun. as a welcome home gift they are building him a house and know what bella did and thank her. >> translator: she showed humanity he says, we would have done the same thing if we saw an israeli attacked here. and some labeled her a hero and because of her parliament made it a crime to yell death to arabs and then came the death threats. >> translator: i was, she says, socially ostracized. >> reporter: she was pressured to renounce what she did and she is not the defender and stands

with the majority of israelis and protests his release. [cheers] and the family calms him a hero. >> translator: i'm very proud of him, she says. i'm happy with what he did. >> reporter: and that shocks bella. she says she will only wear the dress again if he renounces violence only if there is peace or she will be buried in it. she says she doesn't know which will happen first. israel plans to release a total of 104 prisoners in four stages, all of the palestinians released monday were serving 19-28 years for the deaths of israeli civilians or soldiers. the u.n. is going to miss today's deadline for removing the most critical chemical weapons material out of syria and the u.n. group removing the weapons are blaming security and poor weather and the president of a sad said they would be out

of the country to be safe live destroyed away from the war zone. china said a new tur risk group was behind an attack on a police station there. men armed with knives and explosives attacked the region and killed 8 of the attackers during the clash. and another attack in the region left 14 people dead. turning now to the ongoing conflict in south sudan. uganda is demanding the rebel leader in south sudan accept a cease fire and it's a call to stop the sectarian violence that killed a thousand people in the last month and al jazeera mohamed was in the town which is back in government hands after four days of fierce fighting. >> resent fighting has turned once bustling town into a ghost town. apart from government soldiers on patrol the town is almost

deserted and this is the man in charge of it for now. he is the commander of the government forces who control it. >> the fighting was a continuation of the quarter in duba and we withdrew from the town when they attacked by three days later when they began looting, we regifted the town from them. >> reporter: bodies still line the street, remind us of the battles that took place here. in a town square dozens of bodies are being buried in a marked grave and hard to tell how many hundreds lost their lives. some of the town residents said rebels set up a base just outside the town. a claim the military commander denies. >> translator: if you head first we have full control of malaki and defend it and pursuing the rebels. >> reporter: the town center was the worst hit. this is the main market or what remains of it and here some of

the worst fighting happened. we were told that the market was looted both during the fighting and after it ended. most of the shops at the market were band and days later some are still smoldering with south sudan's poor infrastructure and support network it will be a while before food and medicine arrive in the town. >> translator: we are hungry. there is no food in town. even those with money have no where to buy food. >> reporter: most of the residents here sought shelter at the u.n. peace keeper's base. it's unlikely they will return to home soon at least as the rebels are nearby. mohamed with al jazeera, south sudan. >> reporter: south sudan leader said today he will enter peace talks but he has not agreed to a cease fire. we have some time to go before the ball drops in new york but they are ringing in the new year

in new zeeland. 5, 3, 2, 1. [cheers] and across the country they are celebrating for a little over 15 minutes now and neighboring australia turned to the count down is less than two hours away. 2013 will be going out on a cold and in some cases a very snowy note in the u.s. and more on the forecast and let's bring in ebomy deon. >> and the cold air is funneling from the northern plains, great lakes and northeast but in addition to that we also have a plume of moisture stretching across the gulf coast. it will continue to lift northward and we could see snowflakes flying in the northeast and watching that closely. the core of the snow along the northern tier where you see the white shading and that is 3-5" of snow and it's really going to pile up just off the lakes.

that is where we could up with several inches of snow and up state new york between tonight and into the day on wednesday, we could end up with maybe of up wards to nearly two feet of snow. our advisories stretch across the dakotas and minnesota and wisconsin and where we are expecting to see not only snow because winds and with the arctic air in place the wind chills will make it feel even colder. as we head to the northeast we will get a bit of the wind chill as well especially the late-night hours and keep that in mind if you are heading out to see the ball drop in new york tonight and temperatures will fall in the 20s but it will feel more like 10-15 degrees so you want to bundle up here. we are watching out for another storm system to move in later this week and looks like the start of the new year could be a bit of a snowy one. >> thank you. a former neighbor of cleveland kidnapper arl castro will spend his life in prison for his own crimes convicted sex offender

confessed monday to the murders of two women nearly 20 years ago and plead guilty to raping his three daughters when they were minors. he was sentenced to 445 years in prison with no chance of payr l payroll. a mother is in custody accused of attacking her family on christmas and connie forced her four children to take prescription drugs, her 13-year-old daughter was found dead in the home of an apparent overdose and the mother accused of stabbing her husband and then stabbing herself in an attempt to cover up with crime and facing a number of murder charges. a catholic priest serving time to a connection to a child sex scandal will soon be a free man. senior william lynn was never accused of abusing children but accused of welfare laws and set to be released later this week

and he was in charge of investigating sexual abuse claims for the philadelphia diocese. they will move forward with charges against an india diplomate and prosecutors say they have no intention of dropping the case against india's deputy general. the new york attorney's office has until january 12 to bring an indictment against the diplomate and he was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of visa fraud and about her domestic help salary and faces 15 years in jail if convicted and india is demanding an apology and her immediate release. stuck in frozen waters off antarctica and how to rescue a ship in ice. how quickly the u.s. population is growing. the warm weather state and an increasing number of people are calling home. >> reporter: the place they called home for 16 seasons is

now in the rearview mirror and the last game for the texas longhorns did not go as scripted and i am jessica and i will have that story later in sports.

♪ good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. just ahead dozens of researchers trapped on a frozen boat in antarctica, we will have the latest on efforts to get them home safely but first let's see the temperatures we will see across the nation and ebony dion is back. >> reporter: and it will be below average as we bring in the new year and cold air mass in the southern plains. we are 39 degrees in houston now and 26 memphis and only 3 in chicago. and we are minus 7 in minneapolis. so not really seeing much of a warm up here at all. our temperatures have been below average over the last couple of days and that is what we are going to see over the next day or so. in the northeast we have teens out there and ten in albany and 22 degrees in new york city and it will turn colder tonight.

some mild air is in place but it's really confined to central and south florida in the upper 50s in orlando which is cool by their standards and 69 in miami. if you are heading out in nashville and atlanta and not bad but watch out for the rain and temperatures will stay warm in miami and stephanie. >> speaking of the cold three separate attempts failed to reach a ship in the ice off of antarctica and they are stuck on the russian vessel for more than a week but as al jazeera jonathan bets reports a new plan to get them out of there has been hatched. >> they arrived by sea but will likely leave as air passengers and may be the only way to rescue dozens of people stuck on the cruise ship in the ice in antarctica and several attempts to reach them by ice breaker failed because of the weather and a chinese helicopter will bring the 74 passengers and crew to safety, on board all they can

do is wait. >> and it sounds a lot worse than it is. everyone else i assure you is safe and sound down below deck and they are having a cup of tea or coffee. >> reporter: it's full of scientists to recreate the south poll and left port last month but blizzards stopped them in their tracks. >> everybody is warm and plenty of fuel on board. we have two weeks worth of fresh food. >> reporter: they keep the world updated on the plight and sending out messages they are doing well and never intended to ring in the new year at the bottom of the earth there is a chance they will be doing that tomorrow. jonathan bets al jazeera. >> reporter: but it was stuck it was on a month-long voyage to study east antarctica and jessica has the royal birthday in the nba, good morning. >> that is what happens when

lebron james is in the game and some people use the birthday to take a day off and not lebron james and couldn't wait to get to work and he turned 29 yesterday and celebrated his game back from a groin injury and didn't look like it was bothering him and not getting older and chipped in 26 points last night in denver and even though miami did not have cole either but that is where the heat held on to the nuggets. the last play and have a chance to tie things up. but they get the in bound and hold them off and denver falls in the final seconds and miami is 97-94 and hand the nuggets the loss. chris paul and clippers taking on the suns and getting it on the break and gets the lay for 2 of 11 but that is about all the clippers highlights and the suns

take over after that. that was a dunk and this time stops and pops for a triple. and then he would just keep going on. he was hot from downtown in this one, no one trick pony even though he was a slam dunk champ and gets 21 points off the bench and the suns steam rolled them 107-88 and mack brown departure from texas not how he planned it or the head football coach and check it out, texas fans thanking mack brown of 16 years as the head coach and oregon was not as gracious and third play from scrimmage and it's a pick 6 and avery patterson through traffic and gets in the end zone and then next minute ducks get the lead and marcus, a shovel pass to jeff and he goes in diving in for the score, 16-7 oregon and they rule and texas

and browns final brown as longhorns coach and here is brown as he prepares to exit stage left. >> it is what it is and do what you have to do and go to work everyday and done what i would have done regardless of the circumstances and i really have not thought much about tomorrow and get up at 6:00 and watch the video and be worried about something else. i told them to stay out of trouble tonight. i didn't need to call. >> reporter: still on the clock. records were broken and streaks were ended at the holiday bowl texas, webb leading the charge too. here is the first touchdown of the day, that was rodney and got the raiders on the board and still going this time, going to shovel past it to grant who goes in for the 18 yard score and webb would go back to grant again. this time a 21-yard touchdown. webb a freshman tied a bowl record of 4 td bases and 5 game

losing streak and old navy taking on tennessee state and the moment for the family reunion of a sailor returning from duty. first quarter reynolds taking three yards for the score and reynolds 31st touchdown of the season and then to the fourth and reynolds again and options out and flips it to brandon sanders and 41 yards for the score and navy wins 24-6. this is the line up and arizona taking on boston college in the v-100 bowl at 12:30 eastern time and the sun bowl at virginia tech at 2:00 and the chick-fil-a bowl and 24 duke faces of against johnny football and texas a&m and that is sports. >> reporter: the u.s. economy has been gaining momentum the nation's population is growing at a snail's pace. new figures released by the

census bureau monday said the population growth will be 2.2 million and that figure covers growth from july 2012-july 2013. according to brook ings institute it's the slowest growth rate in more than 70 years and by new year's day the u.s. population will be over 317 million. and fertility data says u.s. births are on the decline as a result of people waiting to have children and an aging population and california, texas and new york have been for a second and third for ages but new york might not hold on to the spot much longer because florida is quickly closing the gap according to the new data. security at the sochi winter olympics and steps russia is taking to crack down on terrorism. the long road ahead for afghanistan, what the new year could mean for that country.

and important new guidelines for heavy smokers even if you kicked the habit and what doctors can do you can do to catch lung cancer early. ♪

♪ you're looking at a live picture of time square as preparations are finalized for tonight's new year's eve celebration and welcome back to al jazeera and i'm stephanie sy and the top stories, 13-year-old mcmath will get another week of life support at a california hospital and declared brain dead weeks ago after complications for having her tonsils and are trying to get the hospital not to take her off the ventilator. inmates were released from

israeli prison part of a u.s. brokered deal to restart peace negotiations between the two sides and while palestinians were celebrating there was anger in israel among victims' families. in the russia terror attacks, two suicide bombs in the weekend at a bus and train station left 33 people dead and no one claimed responsibility the separatists say this is before the olympics. and this is before they gather in sochi before the olympics and how attacks could impact security at the winter games. >> olympic winter games in 2014 are awarded to the city of sochi. >> reporter: ever since russia russia was awarded the olympics there were worries that attacks could disrupt the games and a blast in the train and bus station in the two days and they

are trying to establish an islamic state and sochi is 400 from the blasts and the olympic site is by the border and troubled region and the chetchen conflict is a decade-long battle with versus chetchen national list and islam forces. the hallmark is two wars with moscow in the 90s and numerous attacks on people and buildings. one of the most notorious hostage taking in 2004 where 400 people died including 200 children and carried out by chetchen separatist and the airport has been bombed and the leader of chetchen fighters called for targets to increase including the sochi games and they are a looming pr disaster for president putin who has a

huge stake of the games of how far russia has come since the fall of the empire. security experts say sochi and other key city also be sealed. >> they already have a huge concentration of security forces in sochi and people are going through inconvenient metal detectors along every step of the way and allow people to come in with passes and preapproved and it will be impossible for anybody who is not on that list to get in. that is about the best they can do. >> reporter: the russians have established a 1500 mile security zone around the game site, 10s of thousands of security personnel will be deployed, thousands of surveillance cameras installed and there will be extensive internet and phone monitoring. but kimberly martin says while the games are likely to be safe ordinary russians outside of the areas are right to be scared. >> it's huge and the midst of an

insurgency and no way for it to be protected and the security forces are corrupt. >> reporter: raising fears it could be bought off to allow bombers through and unlikely in sochi itself but a worry for president putin as he tries to keep the rest of his country safe. john with al jazeera. >> reporter: for more now on how the attacks on russia may effect the 2014 winter olympics in sochi we are joined by senior visiting research fellow at britains kings college and joins us from london and mr. boys thank you for joining us and the last time it was hosted there in 1980 during the cold war. how important are these olympics to post soviet russia and are these attacks impacting the games even before they start? >> well, good morning stephanie. good new year to you.

you are right. these are the first big event to happen within russia since the moscow games of 1980 and certainly the largest event since the break up of the soviet union. there is no doubt this is hopefully going to be used by vladimir putin to showcase how far russia has come since those days. it's no secret he very much wants to reestablish russia as a major world power and one of the reasons you have seen him stand up to president obama so vigorously over the last five years is part of the reason for that. there is no doubt that the report was saying this incident, these explosions are a major problem for vladimir putin and wants the games to go without a hitch and wants to show that russia is a safe, welcoming place for people to come to. whether that was ever the case of course is debatable but certainly the idea of bombs going off in railroad stations and on buses is certainly will

make people think twice about visiting the games and caucasus region in general. >> 400 miles from the capitol moscow and there was a well-publicized warning from a rebel over the summer that the games would be targeted and are they a failure of russian intelligence? >> one of the problems of course is that terrorism and its very definition is to terrorize so if you put the warnings out there that these things are going to happen you immediately put people on offensive and put people very much on the back foot. so whether you can say this is down to a failure of security is somewhat debatable. as margaret tacher said they need to be successful once and security successful all the time. no doubt one of the reasons the city would have been chosen is it may have been seen as a relatively soft target and your report talks about putting a

ring of steel around the sochi games and that is no doubt the case but it perhaps means attention diverted from other locations and it would seem that perhaps the terrorists have found an ideal soft spot with which to really inflict maximum pain on the russian authorities. >> reporter: not the first olympic host country to deal with this, the olympics have long been an opportunity for groups to send political messages in the 1968 mexico city games there were the black power movement, 1972 munik games and taken hostage by the terror group and killed and u.s. boycotted the 1980 moscow games and are not violence but how politics rises to the fore in the games. the olympic committee had to be aware that sochi lies close to russia, was in the best idea for

a sporting event? >> the olympic committee talks about bringing peace to the world through sport. because historically the olympic games have been used as a platform for political statements. you can go back to the 1936 games in berlin for example when hitler tried to make the use of the berlin games as a platform for his nazi regime and the boy court of la by the communist party state in the 1980s and 84. so there is absolutely right. the games have been historically targeted. atlanta again was another example in 96. one wonders where the sochi venue was a particularly smart choice by the olympic committee. historically it tries to take the games to places where it could seem to be benefitting the local region but one really must question putting it in the heart of the caucasus when we had

decades long struggle with rebels and distinct efforts by islam separatist to have the region and whether this was a statement by the ioc. >> people are raising the questions and fellow at kings college and thanks so much for joining us this morning. 40 members of iraq parliament resigned in protest. they were up set police went in and cleared a sunni city and deaths of 14 people and agreed to end the month-long protest against the government. they accused the protest of sheltering fighters linked to al-qaeda and since last year the u.n. says 6,000 iraqi civilians have been killed. 2014 could be a turning point in afghanistan and moving forward and there is also a presidential election that will change the nation's leadership for the first time in a decade and the biggest concern for afghans is the economy and unemployment.

joining us now from kabul is al jazeera's jane ferguson and afghanistan's economy has taken a hit after a dozen years of u.s. military presence. >> absolutely, stephanie. when you talk to people across the country side, not least here in the capitol, they say they are very worried but not just worried about the future, they are feeling the effects, the afghan economy has become very wary of 2014 and aware billions of dollars worth of aid money which this government and the country's economy are extremely reliant upon is hanging in the balance in the year to come as foreign forces withdraw. whether or not that aid will come true people aren't sure of and people are very much so worried about losing their jobs. some already say they have. we have spoken with people here in the capitol who have been telling us about their concerns for the future. uncertainty and poverty on their minds.

everyday in kabul thousands of men leave hungry families at home to stand the street looking for daily work. hoping someone needing labors will drive-by. >> translator: if these people cannot find jobs, they will become thieves or join the taliban and al-qaeda. >> reporter: they say they have to join either side of the fighting to be guaranteed a reliable paycheck. as the country braces for foreign troops to withdraw next year it's heavily aid dependent economy is already shrinking. people like this who are at most of risk of any economic downturn and just trying to find any daily work to support their families here in kabul. some have lost jobs that they previously had with the international community here. others are simply trying to survive what could be one of the toughest years yet. he arrived on a freezing morning hoping to beat the competition.

but end up standing side by side with dozens of others. many have come from rural areas of the city joining this growing crowd, offenders pretty men and he goes home where his wife and children await for him everyday hoping he returns with food. >> translator: i have not been able to pay the rent here for two months. everyday i go there to the square, stand there all day, sometimes i can make $2, sometimes $4. >> reporter: most afghans live by the islamic can calendar and the phrase 2014 has become a frightening event everyone talks about but few understand. >> translator: the place where we stand around for work everyone talks about 2014. but i don't know when this 2014 is. is it in a month? ten days' time? i don't have a clue. the businessmen hide their money. the investors stop investing. the shop keepers are collecting

their money. all because of this. >> reporter: and the international community has promised to continue aiding afghanistan's economy fear they won't is causing it to falter. these men are typical of millions across the country with little control over the events of 2014 but the most to lose. jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul afghanistan. . >> reporter: that is really just a snapshot of the day-to-day concerns of ordinary afghans but on a greater level and bigger scale afghanistan as a country faces the biggest challenges yet in 2014. trying to tackle already major problems like corruption and government competence as well as the economy and of course security concerns. as the country here tries to grapple with an insurgency. >> jane ferguson from kabul afghanistan. business news this morning, 2014

is proving to be a good year for one chief executive. netflix ceo reed hastings has a raise of 50% and get a salary of $3 million and stock options worth another $3 million and the board takes in account the performance when determining the salary and stock has risen 300% and one of the best performing stocks on s&p 500. getting ready to raise champaign glasses of the best year in 15 years gets ready to come to a close and stock futures are little changed at this hour and this is where we stand. dow jones kicks the day with a record high of 16504. index up nearly 26% in 2013 on track for the biggest annual gain since 1996. s&p 5 00's 1841 and up 29% for the year heading for the best year since 1997. the nasdaq is up but buyer

beware. >> people have gotten too optimistic in the short term and the market is begging for some kind of scare and i don't know where it come from, it may be how we obsosh the interest rate and that is a foreseeable challenge. >> reporter: market is higher and germany is closed for the new year's eve holiday. in asia they finished on a positive note and the composite rose .8 but it was one of the worst performing following 7% and the niki is closed for new year's holiday as well. it will be back in focus this morning and s&p case chiller home price index will show the brisk year and growth and come to a halt in october and the rate at which home prices will

increase is how well they are able to control interest rates as it trims back the bond-buying program. there are new federal guidelines regarding lung cancer screenings. a panel of medical experts is recommending ct scans for those at high risk and it could save the lives of thousands suffering from the most deadly kind of cancer in this country. >> leslie king lit up in an fox hole during world war two. >> i think i was nervous and upset and one of the only guys that you see light up is sending you down so i did. >> reporter: after decades of smoking he was diagnosed with lung cancer picked up during a ct scan in 2007 that eventually saved his life. >> showed me the pictures and said you better see your doctor. >> reporter: he is one of the lucky ones. lung cancer claims over 160,000 lives a year, it's the leading cause of all cancer deaths in the u.s. the new government guidelines are hoping to cut the number

down by detecting cancer early for those at high risk and could effect millions and they expert healthy adults between 55-80 who are heavy smokers meaning those who smoked at least one pack a day for 30 years be given a low dose annual ct scan in an effort to detect early signs of cancer and the group recommends screening for smokers who quit in the last 15 years and it was praised by doctors of the mt. sinai center of new york where she is a lung cancer expert and long time proponent of screening and said it could save 30,000 lives a year. >> we are throuilled with the result and make a difference and people will be able to enjoy a very productive life once they get screened and find their lung cancer early. >> reporter: leslie agrees and credits it with saving his life. >> without the lung detection

program the early screening program i would not be here right now. no question about it. >> reporter: the findings could effect roughly 10 million people but not everyone should be screened including those two unhealthy to withstand cancer treatment and people with significant health problems that limit life expectancy and talked about proper ct testing as screening is not harm free. radiation exposure from even low-dose ct scans can actually raise the risk of cancer. under the affordable care act cancer screenings backed by the task force are supposed to be covered. evolution raging and don't agree how human life originating, a second chance to see ground-breaking technology giving blind people their vision back. ♪

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, giving vision back to those who have lost it, just ahead new technology is making that dream a reality for some

blind people. but first let's get a look at where the sthoe and rain may fall across the country today and metrologist ebony dion is back, good morning. >> a little bit of both but looks worse than what it is across the south. there is plenty of moisture but little in the way of rain. as far as snow we will continue to see is the snowflakes in the great lakes and northeast and it's quiet around chicago but cleveland it's coming down and visibility is less than two miles and be careful. the snow will pile up northern ohio around cleveland and lake eerie and ontario and 24 hours it's going down hill and lots of snow accumulating around the lake. americans don't see eye to eye on how we were created a poll found a third of americans do not believe in the theory of evolution and think humans and other lives things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. the number of people who believe in evolution versus those who

reject evolution has remained about the same since americans last polled in 2009. you may not know his name but you probably have seen his work. john dominous photographed the 20th century for life magazine and died yesterday at the age of 92 and he was a fly on the wall, freezing moments of time with celebrities, presidents and ordinary people. he worked at life magazine for over 20 years. and finally a medical miracle that can restore vision, an artificial retina will be available for medical use in the u.s. and a blind man took a chance on the technology. >> dean lloyd an attorney in palo alto, california lost his sight and in 2007 he got it back at least in part. >> a part of life i have not seen in a long time and had some exciting effect but how useful

it was for me was a different issue and different concern. >> reporter: he volunteered for a clinical trial and one of the first recipients of an artificial retina, the argus two and approved this year and it went on sale in 12 u.s. cities. the implant receives a signal from a camera on a pair of glasses and electrically stimulates the back of the eye producing a low resolution sketch of the world. it's not true sight in the way seeing people experience it, but it highlights points of contrast and makes it possible to broadly identify obstacles and objects. >> so i'm getting looks like right about there where dirt or grass or whatever is in there, some kind of folage. >> reporter: one surface and another that way. >> you have to really think about that to make it useful. >> reporter: the device is approved for treating retinitis, affecting 100,000 americans and

they helped develop the argus two and helps the company who sells it and moving it from the eye to the back of the head and can work for 8 million blind people in the western world. >> if they have diseases where the optic nerve is damaged if we go to the next step and the visual system we should be able to restore some level of vision in those patients as well. >> reporter: the tiny implant requires manual assembly under a microscope which helps to drive the price to $145,000. only a few insurance companies agreed to cover that expense so far. >> the fda required the company to build this test which simulates the warm, wet salty conditions of the eye and the company intends the implants to be permanent but they are really rated for five years so it's a real question of how long this remotely powered titanium will

last. >> 60 pixels of information and you have to take the low resolution image in a small field and scan around to get the entire picture. >> reporter: the doctor who helped develop the device already developed a prototype to be mounted in the eye and could deliver a high-resolution image. >> we don't fully have the technology in hand so i went to the artist who was like a train and we are talking more about a plane. >> reporter: in the meantime the artist who may not have changed lloyd's world but it has given him a since of it. >> i would say you probably are 6'or 2, 3, 4. >> 6'7". >> you are tall. >> reporter: a blurry 60 pixel view of things is primitive with the eye but restoring sight is by directly replacing the retina is a milestone in efforts to understand and improve the human

body. jacob ward al jazeera palo alto, california. we have a look at what we are following this morning with thomas. >> a judge granted an extension to keep 13-year-old on life support for another week and declared brain dead weeks ago after complications from having her tonsils removed. two victims of bombings in vowel grad and no one claimed responsibility for the attacks. a panel of medical experts recommended that heavy smokers should be scanned with a ct scan that uses a low-dose radiation and stephanie and i are back with you in 2 1/2 minutes. we will see you then.

many worry that the gains made in education will not stick in the future. aljazeera's jane ferguson takes us to a school in kandahar city that was long considered a success and is now facing closure. >> it's a place offering more than these girls know, a quality education in real tangible skills, a path away from positivity and early marriage and towards university and a career.

since 2002, the modern stud has been teaching women languages, like management and computer skills. that they are skills that speak of ambition which in the heart of tallle ban country is remarkable. >> we are a unique school, preparing women to go to jobs. our school is preparing women to go to universities.

>> a family's fight to keep hope alive in the case of a brain dead teenager. a judge orders a hospital to keep the girl on a breathing machine for another week. >> anxiety and evacuations after a fiery train crash in north dakota. 20 cars went up in flames after the train carrying crude oil derailed. >> stepping up security, what russian officials are doing to increase safety following two terror attacks that left dozens dead. >> trying to snuff out deadliest kind of cancer. new guidelines that account impact millions of current and former smokers.

>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm thomas drayton. >> a judge granted a family an extension that will keep their daughter on life support for another week. >> we report on the ongoing legal battle over the fate of the teenager. >> according to the hospital, she was dead weeks ago when she went into cardiac arrest shortly after her operation. her family disagrees and has taken the battle to court. >> i have to do what's right for me and my daughter. i have to fight for her until i don't have no fight left in me. >> a judge agreed to one week of extended life support. >> we filed a new support requesting a temporary restraining order and injunction preventing pulling the plug. we have requested that judge brillo continue his restraining

order during our appeal. >> a court appointed independent neurologist confirmed the conclusion. >> unfortunately the medical condition by the statute you mentioned, she meets all the criteria for brain death. >> medically brain death is different than a coma. in a coma, there is still brain activity, but with brain death, there are no neurological signals. the family has said they've seen movement, signs of life from the girl. the hospital maintains its position. >> in similar cases, where there are patients who are deceased, brain dead, there is such an affect known as the lazarus effect and it is quite common in the diseased for their muffles to move. that is not something that is either unusual nor shocking nor is it a sign of any life in her

body. >> the attorney said this isn't about whether she is dead or alive, but about civil liberties. >> this is about choices. it's about empowerment, choices and the rights of people. >> the fundamental conflict circles around different notions of death. by the medical definition, she is dead after three rounds of medical compassions both in and out of the hospital, but the court fight cribs. the family has now one last chance to make their case. aljazeera, oakland, california. >> the family said an unidentified hospital in new york had agreed to admit the teen. the family is trying to arrange an air ambulance to transfer her across the count arery. >> we are following a fiery freight train collision has forced the evacuation of a small north carolina dakota town. the accident happened outside castleton, 25 miles west of fargo. a freight train derailed monday afternoon and another carrying

crude oil ran into it. the collision set off explosions that burned 21 rail cars. >> it was the third explosion that rattled the house and the doors and the windows were all shaking and scott and i came out. the garage door and the flames were so high and it was like it was right happening behind us. >> the sheriffs office recommended nearby residents evacuate because of thick smoke pouring from the crash site. caking the fire has been a challenge because of extreme temperatures near negative 20 degrees. >> two deadly bombings in russia are raising safety concerns ahead of the sochi winter olympics. russia is now stepping up security after the suicide bombings in the city of volgograd. the attacks happened less than 24 hours apart. a train station and trolley bus were bombed, leaving throw three people dead. we have the story. >> there wasn't much left of the trolley car on line 15 when the

ambulances arrived but survivors were hanging on and volgograd hospital was less than 10 minutes away. olga was one of more than 20 badly injured brought here. >> it felt like a huge electric shock. i don't see anyone with a bomb. i was looking out the window and i can't remember anything after that. >> for the second time in less than 24 hours, the wards of hospital number 25 were filled with the victims of another bombing, some with terrible burns. >> dr. popov said the blast wasn't as powerful as the train station blast. those were brought in by ambulance and being treated. the relatives of the injured scarcely able to believe this was happening all over again. trauma specialist part of a

disaster emergency team have been flown in from moscow to help family and friends cope with their loss. those too badly injured to be treed here were loaded aboard special flights to moscow. for many, it was the difference between life and death. taken to specialist burns unit in the capitol, two hours away. >> this city used to be known as stalingrad, the buildings the reminder of a pivotal battle in the second world war, the defeat of the german army changed the whole course of the conflict. today, the people here have a different fight on their hands with a far more elusive enemy. >> at the scene of the bombing, a sense of fear, frustration and anger among the people of the city, a feeling they've been let down by those who should have protected them. a local businessman said: >> people are afraid to use public transport. i'm frightened and afraid for my

family, for my friends. >> they are stepping up court in volgograd and across southern russia. more than 30,000 troops will be deployed across the region in the buildup to the winter olympics. >> inis your generalities in chechnya previously threatened to disrupt the olympics. >> a former russian tycoon will be heading to switzerland. he will granted a three months visa allowing him to see his wife and children. he was parted by russian president vladimir putin last week. once russia's richest man, he was imprisoned 10 years ago on fraud and tax evasion charges, he insists his conviction was politically motivated. >> 70 journalists were killed on the job this year. two thirds of those died covering stories in the middle east, syria, egypt and iraq have been the deadliest countries for

reporters. 29 died in syria including journalists documenting the war in their home cities. ten were killed in iraq and six died reporting in egypt this year. for the first time in a decade, no journalists were killed in mexico. >> aljazeera is demanding the release of journalists arrested in egypt. correspondents producers and cameraman are in custody in cairo, accused of broadcasting news that harms domestic security and interviewing members of the muslim brotherhood. all of experienced journalists who have worked for a number of international media organizations for decades. >> israel released two dozen palestinian prisoners today. it's part of a confidence building deal to help resume talks between the two sides. as aljazeera reports, the release led to mixed emotions on both sides.

>> waiting for this moment for 21 years, nobody could stand between her and him, just released from an israeli prison. the first person he hugged was his mother. after, asked how she felt, my heart, she says, is trembling. >> 10 miles away in jerusalem, she remembers the day her life changed forever. she was wearing this dress. >> when i give him the life for the terrorists. >> in 1992, she was walking in a jerusalem market when a 21-year-old palestinian approached her. he had just stand this israeli boy. an angry mob called for revenge, and she shielded him. the crowd turned on her. >> i feel energy of me, i feel the crowd killing me. they asked me if you not go on the side, we kill you. >> for 27 minutes, she was the

shield. fellow israeli's spit on her, burned cigarettes on her, but she kept protecting hill. >> i chose to sanctify life, both mine and the terrorists. >> as part of the on going peace talks, israeli has released prisoners. as a welcome home gift, the family is building him a house. they know that bell la did and they thank her. >> she showed humanity. we would have did you the same thing if we'd seen an israeli attacked by people here. >> some labeled bella a hero. because of her, it became a crime to yell. she was pressured to renounce what she did and today is no longer the defender. she stands with israelis and protests his release.

>> while his family calls him a hero. >> i'm very proud of him, she says, happy for what he did. that shocks bella. she said she'll only wear the dress again if he reannounces violence, only if there's peace, or she'll be buried in it. she said she doesn't know which will happen first. >> bye-bye. >> with this reception, he says it's as if i never was in prison. bella helped give him this chance but feels he doesn't need anyone to save him anymore. >> israeli plans to release a total of 104 prisoners in four stages. all of the palestinians released monday were serving 19-28 years for the deaths of israeli civilians or soldiers. >> the united nations has missed today's deadline for removing the most critical chemical weapons material out of syria. the u.n. and the group blaming

security conditions, logistical challenges and poor weather. bashar al assad agreed to abandon the stockpile by the end of june. it approved transporting chemicals out of the country by today to be safely destroyed away from the war zone. >> china says a new terrorist group was behind a police station attack. men armed with knives and explosionives attacked the police station, police killing eight of the attackers monday. earlier this month, another attack in the region left 14 dead. >> turning now to the on going conflict in south sudan, ethiopian officials say a team is being september to the capitol for peace talks. it comes after uganda demanded that a ceasefire be accepted. it is the latest push from the international community to stop the violence that has killed a thousand people in the last month. we are in the town whiff is back

in government hands after four days of fierce fighting. we do have a warning this morning, some of the images in this report may be disturbing. >> recent fighting has turned the once bustling town into a ghost town. that apart from government soldiers on patrol, the down is almost deserted. this is the man in charge for now. he's the commander of the government forces who control it. >> the fighting was a continuation of the third in juba. we with drew from the town when they talked, but returned when they kept looting and recaptured the town from them. >> bodies lie in the streets,er rereminders of the battles that took place here. in the town, dozens of bodies are buried in a mass grave. it's hard to tell how many died here. certainly hundreds lost their loves. some of the town's residents told us the rebels had set up a

base just outside the town, a claim the military commander denies. >> we have full control. we will defend it and we are pursuing the rebels. >> the town center was a hit. >> this is the main market or what remains of it. it is here some of the worst fighting happened. the market was looted during the fighting and after it ended. most of the shops of the market were burned. days later, some still smolder. with the poor infrastructure and network, it will be a while before food and medicine arrive in this plundered town. >> we are hungry. there is no food in town. even those with money have nowhere to buy food. >> most of the residents here have sought shelter at the u.n. peace keepers base. it is unlikely they will return home soon, at least as long as

the rebels are nearby. aljazeera, south sudan. >> rebel leader says while he will enter peace talks, he has not agreed to a ceasefire. >> 2013 will be going out on a very cold and in some cases a very snowy note approximate for more on this morning's national forecast, let's bring in our meteorologist ebony dionne. >> we are seeing snow coming down around the great lakes and really over the next couple of days throughout the rest of our work week, we'll continue to have a series of disturbances rotating through, bring that go snow in back across the dakotas into chicago and a little further east into parts of the northeast, as well. today, we're really expecting to see snow from the montanas across northern areas of chicago, but it's going to pile up here into western areas of new york and upstate new york as well. that's where we're going to see the bulk of the wintery precipitation. new year's day, snow flips a little further south, chicago,

we're still in line to get more of that, so could end up with three to five inches of know. while we're not seeing a lot of rain across the deep south, today, it's mostly just cloud cover, that rain will shift a little further inland, so coastal areas will be in for a wet new year. keep that in mind. to time it out for you, i am watching a developing stole system in the gulf of mexico. that will start to lift northward as we get into late wednesday, early thursday. notice all the moisture. well, we already have the cold air in place, watching our next disturbance move in. these two will move together, bringing decision snow into bigger areas of the northeast as we head thursday into friday, it finally moves out. we are expected to see snowier conditions setting up. snow again, the great lakes will mainly be the area where we see the low area of pressure moving through and we see the snowflakes fly and temperatures staying cold. we'll have more on the temperature side of the atory coming up. >> you want to layer up, ebony.

can you bring we're about a ring in a new year. >> parts of the world already celebrating 2014. >> we're going to find out what sort of party officials here in new york city have planned, always a big one, and how they plan to keep revelers safe. >> our big number of the day, and it's also a number that hasn't been seen in more than 70 years. can you guess the role it's playing in the u.s. population?

>> today's big number, 2,218,622, that number represents the census bureau's population growth for the u.s. ending july 1, 2013. those projections represent the slowest growth rate in more than 70 years. by new year's day, the u.s.

population will be just over 317 million. recent fertility data show the number of u.s. births are on the decline, a result of people delaying having children and of an aging population. >> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. another year. >> i cannot believe it is new year's eve. i'm in denial. >> here on the east coast, we are 16 hours away from 2014. some parts of the world, including new zealand have ushered in the new year. we're going to times square for a preview of one of the biggest parties in the world. >> first lets look at temperatures we can expect to ring in the new year. >> chilly ones, temperatures below zero in minneapolis. we've seen the cold air sticking around, so no big changes here. south, cold in memphis, 24 degrees, only three in chicago. we do have temperatures in the 60's and closer to 70 down across south florida.

contrast that with a bitter cold air mass that's been in place throughout the dakotas, right now minus 16 in fargo. winds make it feel even colder, minus 23 in fargo, 14 in st. louis. the cold air will stick around into the northeast, so later tonight, temperatures are going to drop into the teens around new york city, making it feel more like 10 to 15 degrees, so keep in mind that you'll need to bundle up if you're celebrating the new year around the big apple. >> in business news this morning, investors are ready to raise champagne glasses as wall street's best year in more than 15 years gets ready to come to a close. schock futures are flat this hour, do you futures up three points. the dow kicks off the day with a fresh record high, the index up 26% in 2013, on track for its biggest annual gain since 1996. the s and p.500 is up 29% for

the year, heading for its best year since 1997. the nasdaq is the 154. europe markets higher, closed for the new year's eve holiday. asia markets finished the year on a high note. >> the housing market will be back in focus this morning. the s and p. home price in definitely for ok is expected to show the very brisk year on year growth is finally coming to a halt. one market watcher said expect the housing recovery to slow in 2014. >> you're seeing things like mortgage applications kind of recede a little bit, higher interest rates might bite there. we saw some other news about in some markets, home prices are back near the levels of the peak of a few years ago. >> economists say the right home

prices will increase in the new year depends on how the fed will be able to control interest rates as it trims back its band-buying program. >> facebook remains the dominant social media platform for adults. a to do finds 73% of adults in internet users were members of facebook this year, up nine percentage points from 2012. twitter not as popular among adults. women preferred point rest while the affluent and educated prefer linkd in. >> they are celebrating the new year already in new zealand. >> that's how they do it. kiwis across the country have been celebrating for more than an hour now. neighboring australia's countdown to the new year is 45 minutes away. >> new york city is preparing for a big new year's eve celebration tonight. minor a million people are expected to pack into times

square to ring in 2014. we are at the crossroads of the world where the large crowd will watch the famed ball drop. people are already showing up. >> people wearing hats are making their way down here, a million people expected to show up by midnight. also, a huge security force and all eyes on that times square ball. >> one of the world's big bigget and most well known party. >> love the atmosphere. >> times square counting down the last minutes of 2013. those who will brave the crowds will brave the cold, temperatures expected to be in the 20's. earlier, a dress rehearsal. it's a sparkling centerpiece featuring more than 2600 chris stalls with updated designs for this year's celebration.

and the test drop. >> this is an experience for me. i've never been in the new year's in new york city. this is great. i'm so excited. >> resolutions for the more than 1 million people expected to pack times square and those watching on t.v. >> we are getting older, closer to retirement, trying to figure out what we want to do when we grow up. >> a fresh start for 2014. >> u.s. supreme court justice and bronx native sonia sotomayor will press the button that drops the ball. >> it's going to be a lively night. thanks. >> something you'll see more of in the new year, drones, the f.a.a. said six states will begin testing drones for commercial use. it is welcome news for some, raising concerns for ears. we have the details.

>> >> from the battlefield to the skies across america, drones are on the move. supporters say their uses are evolving from military to more down to earth tasks, like farming, law enforcement and emergency services. >> what we designed this particular one more is unhand search and rescue. if you have a hiker lost in the woods, you can send this plane up and he will go up, fly aren't in a search pattern that you've preprogrammed. >> it's that evolution that has prompted six states to get the green line to begin researching and testing the commercial us of drones. washing to be also made a push for more domestic drones. in 2012, congress passed a law requiring the f.a.a. to provide military, commercial and privately owned drones with expanded access to sufficient air space by the end of september, 2015. that expansion could also mean thousands of new jobs. states including new york, nevada, texas, and even alaska

will now work with the f.a.a. to help develop safety and operational rules. the sites include governmental agencies, an international airport and universities, working on technical areas for risks for drones. >> the research we do here is for the betterment of man kind, not to spy in people's backwards. >> but it's exactly those concerns that has the american civil liberties union keeping a close eye on the privacy standards these sites are required to establish for the testing. >> ultimately drones are going to be common place across the country, and that's why we think it's important the that congress itself should pass legislation putting some privacy guidelines in place. if drones are going to be throughout the united states, it's important there be a strong national uniform standard put in place to protect privacy. >> these six sites are just the

beginning, as america looks toward the future of sharing the skies with drones. >> aljazeera. >> some other companies are also taking advantage of the government's drone proposals. amazon and ups are exploring delivering packages using drone technology. >> releasing palestinian prisoners. >> the latest moves by the trials met with mixed emotions. >> we'll talk about whether it can move the peace process forward. >> the long road ahead for afghanistan, what the new year could mean for the country. >> important new guidelines for heavy smokers, even if you have kicked the habit. what doctors say you can do to catch lung cancer early. >> it was a wild year in sports. most of the drama came off the field. we will have your year end review coming up later on in sports.

return to fukushima only on al jazeera america

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america.

i'm thomas drayton. >> i'm stephanie sy. >> this 13-year-old will get another week on life support, declared brain dead after complications in surgery. her family filed an emergency injunction to stop the hospital from taking her off a ventilator. >> the first if you know release will be held for victims of the russia terror attacks. two sides bombs exploded over the weekend on a bus and at a train station, leave in 33 people dead. no one's claimed responsibility. chechen separatists have vowed violence leading up to the sochi olympics. >> a deal to restart peace talks released prisoners. while palestinians were celebrating, there was anger in israel among families.

we are joined from jerusalem to talk about the situation. as you know, this is a region at odds for quite some time now. will the latest wave of releases help move both sides forward? >> i think first of all, we should mention that this is a very frustrating and sad day for almost all israelis. what you call prisoners for most israelis is a group of terrorists who have been released much too early, and it is mocking our justice system. we are very sorry that palestinians are not reciprocating and actually, we see great legitimacy to acts of terror in the west bank as well as in gaza. what is probably most

frustrating that we do not see any sign on the part of the palestinians that they are ready to make the necessary compromises in order to reach an agreement with israeli. >> this was certainly a heavy price to pay, but should not this be seen as israeli seriousness to reach a peace deal? >> definitely, it is seen as israeli paying a heavy price, maybe too heavy price, and israel is serious about making peace, making territorial concessions, but what we see from the other side is very sad, and as i mentioned, very frustrating, because there is no education for peace, in sitement against jews is continuing. this is true even in the palestinian authority, which is considered by much of the western world as moderate. >> as part of this prisoner

release, you may call it terrorist murder release, prime minister netanyahu has plans for 40,000 new settlelements in the west bank. palestinians are talking about how can you be talked about as legitimate partners building this in the west bank. does it undermine negotiations? >> i think the settlement issue is terribly overblown. after all, the settlements taking maybe only 5% of the west bank. jews after all have the right to settle in though homeland. i think it is also very bad situation in which future palestinian state will not allow any jews to live there. after all, israel has over a million arabs. why can't the future palestinian

state have minority of jews if settlement will be staying? it has demonstrated in the past it's capability to remove settlements if a peace treaty is in sight as we did with eit, all for other reasons when we literally have removed our military and civilian presence from gaza in 2005. >> how much faith do you place in secretary of state john kerry to help broker the peace between the israelis and palestinians? >> well, i think senator kerry is very serious about it. i'm no the sure that he is going to be successful. i think his approach is somewhat naive, trying to get a deal within the nine months, and unfortunately, past american attempts to broker a deal were

not successful. >> a very difficult situation with certainly no easy solution. professor, thank you. >> more than 40 members of iraq's parliament have resigned in protest, upset police cleared a june knee sit in which resulted in the deaths of 13 peel. they say the protestors had already agreed to end their months-long protest against the shy right led government. they were accused of sheltering fighters linked to al-qaeda. the united nations say more than 16,000 iraqi civilians have been killed. >> 2014 could mark a turning point in afghanistan's future, not just changing u.s. troop levels could affect how the country moves forward. there's a presidential election that will change the nation's leadership for the first time in a decade. arguably, the biggest concern is the economy and unemployment. we are in kabul with the story. >> uncertainty and poverty on

their minds, every day in kabul, thousands of men leave hungry families at home to stand on the street looking for daily work, hoping someone will drive by. >> if these people cannot find jobs, they will become thieves or join the taliban and al-qaeda. >> afghans living in taliban-controlled areas say they to have join either side of the fighting to be guaranteed a reliable paycheck. as the country braces for foreign troops to withdraw next year, its heavily aid depend economy is already shrinking. >> it's people like this most at risk of any economic downturn. they're just trying to find any daily work to support their families here in kabul. some have lost jobs that they previously had with the international community. others are simply trying to survive what could be one of their toughest years yet. >> he arrived early hoping to

beat the competition, but ends up standing side by side with dozens of others. many have come from rural city areas, joining this growing crowd of desperate men. he took us to his home, where his wife and two small children wait for him every day, hoping he returns with food. >> i haven't been able to pay rent here for two months. every day, i go to the square, stand there all day. sometimes i can make $2, sometimes four. >> most afghans live by the islamic calendar. the phrase 2014 has become a frightening event everyone that talks about, but few understand. >> at the place where we stand for work, everyone talks about 2014, but i don't know when this 2014 is. is it in a month, 10 days time? i don't have a clue. the businessman hide their money, the investors stopped

investing. the shopkeepers are collecting their money, all because of this. >> while the international community has promised to continue aiding afghanistan's economy, fear that they won't is causing it to falter. these men are typical of millions across the country. with little control over the events of 2014, but the most to lose. jane ferguson, aljazeera, kabul, afghanistan. >> the world thinks as afghanistan's declines to 13% from 14% laster. >> a historic flight between the u.s. and cuba. a commercial passenger plane from key west landed in havana. before the 1959 cuban revolution, key west was a regular departure spot. monday flight called a test carried just nine people. it comes two years after federal officials gave the green light to resume flights and the passengers will remain in cuba

until january 3. >> there are no federal guidelines rewarding lung cancer screenings. a panel of medical experts for the first time ever is recommending annual c.t. scans for the those with the highest risks. doctors say it could save the lives of thousands suffering the deadly cancer. >> leslie lit up his first cigarette in a foxhole during world war ii. >> i think i was nervous and upset, and one of the guys said here, light up, it will it will you down, so i did. >> after decades of smoking, he was diagnosed with lung cancer picked up during a c.t. scan in 2007 that eventually saved his life. >> they showed me the pictures and said you better see your doctor. >> he's one of the lucky ones. lung cancer claims 160,000 lives a year, the leading cause of all cancer deaths in the u.s. new government guidelines hope to cut that number by detecting cancer early for those at high risk. in a move that could affect

millions, a panel recommends healthy adults between 55-80 who are heavy smokers, meaning those smoking one pack a day for 30 years be given a low dose annual c.t. scan in an effort to detect alley signs of cancer. the group also recommends screening for those smokers who have quit within the last 15 years. the findings were praised by doctors like those in new york, a lung cancer expert and long time proponent of annual screening estimates the new guidelines could save 30,000 lives a year. >> we're thrilled with this result. we think this will make a big difference, many people had been able to enjoy a very productive life once they get screened and find their lung cancer early. >> leslie agrees, and credits it with saving his life. >> without the lung detection program, the early screening program, i would not be here right now. no question about it.

>> the findings could affect 10 million people, but not everyone should be screened, including those too unhealthy to withstand cancer treatment and people with health problems that limb life expectancy. the panel expressed the importance of proper c.t. testing as screening is not harm-free. radiation exposure from low dose c.t. cans can raise the risk of cancer. >> under the affordable care act, cancer screenings that are backed by this task force are supposed to be custody. insurance companies have a year to adopt the recommendation. >> another year over, another active year in sports. jessica taft is joining us now for a look back at the year in sports. >> it's amazing the year in sports, but might change the land scape of sports as we know with all the headlines. one is including that groundbreaking moment when n.b.a. player publicly announced he was gay, becoming the first male in a major sport to do so in this country. here are other moments we won't likely forget.

>> from lance armstrong coming clean about cheating to manti te'o discovering his girlfriend neve existed, sports moved from the back page to the front page and story lines turned serious with an incident at oscar pretoria's house. >> he he has been arrested. >> the man who overcame his handicap to rocket to fame shot and killed his girlfriend in the dead of night. he claimed he thought she was a burglar. he will stand trial in march. >> boston's big evidence event were shaken by explosions that killed three and injured 180. after the alleged bombers were hunted down, boston's pro sports team led the way in really aing a shaken city. soon, it would be another boston athlete dominating the headlines. >> aaron hernandez because in court today for his indictment.

he pleaded not guilty to six charges, including first degree murder. >> in june, star new england tight end went to the jailhouse. the patriots released hernandez that same day. he remains locked up after being indicted for murder. >> what we saw today was disgusting. the fact that the man from milwaukee that put the suspension on me with not one bit of evidence, something i didn't do. i shouldn't serve one inning. >> alex rodriguez declared war on major league baseball and commissioner bud selig for singling him out in july for a record 211 game suspension. this after the injured yankee slugger's name and 13 other major leaguers were discovered on the client list of a south florida clinic that dispensed performance enhancing drugs. only a-rod chose to fight his suspension. he returned to the field

august 5. just as performance enhancing drugs returned to the forefront of baseball, the affects of concussions reared their ugly heads in football. in august, a group of retired players settled their law with the nfl over the long term effects of concussions. >> instead of facing several more years of litigation, the nfl and 4500 retired players decided on a settlement with the league prepared to shell out $765 million. >> four months after the settlement, the explayers have yet to get paid, but the conversation about concussions has not ceased. >> reigning heisman trophy winner johnny man zell was accused of cashing in by signing footballs and other memorabilia. the texas a and m. quarterback denied wrongdoing, but the aggies suspended him. jonathan martins departure in october and allegations of harassment kindled a fire storm

in a miami dolphins locker room that stood by cognito despite his racially charged bashes. >> i don't think it was anything out of the ordinary. i don't feel anything was being bullied, hazed, we were playing like football teams do. >> neither has played since october. >> florida state quarterback winston finished his season that brilliantly, but his heisman campaign was nearly sunk by sexual assault allegation. >> i think florida state was surprised this came out. i think win to know's lawyer was surprised. they all thought this was done. >> despite vocal protests about the allegations by tallahassee police, prosecutors could not find enough evidence to charge winston, leaving him free to succeed man zell as the most celebrate the college football player in the land. >> i trusted in the process that truth would deliver positive outcomes. >> next up is the national title game where he will open 2014 in

the headlines again. >> that was our producer putting that piece together, as well, too. you can see they had plenty of material to work with, just a busy, busy year. >> yeah and not a lot of it positive. >> we're going to hope for negative stuff. >> positive stuff. >> a change to the new year. >> the evolution debate raging unamerica. >> many don't agree on how human life originated. >> why this figure has passions running high and people around the world calling for its removal. >> gettng a second chance to see, groundbreaking technology giving some blind people their vision back.

(vo) al jazeera america we

at-bat. >> good morning. welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm receive sigh. >> i'm thomas drayton, good to have you with us. we're going to talk about a groundbreaking technology giving back vision to some. in a molt, a closer look at the device making it happen. >> first let's look at potential precipitation we're looking at across the u.s. today. >> it's cold enough for more snow to come down across the northern plains and the great lakes. it's justify on the lee side of the great lakes that we're going to see accumulating. we have a stream of moisture along the gulf coast. a lot of what we're seeing that looks like rain actually just cloud cover, and most of the activity making its way on the ground. south texas, we are seeing wet

weather. it's all snow across the dakotas, especially south dakota. eastern areas seeing the snow coming down at the time. chicago is quiet for now, but snow on the way later today. we expect to see the snow into parts of northeastern pennsylvania, and that's where at least northwestern pennsylvania could see up wards to about a foot or more over the next couple of days. >> three members of the japanese parliament travel to california urging a statue to be removed. it marks a little known episode during world war ii that some japanese citizens and their government would prefer to forget. we have the story of the small statue that has sparked a big controversy it's a simple statue of a teenage girl sitting in her chair. next to her is an empty chair. the statue is always covered with flowers, testament to the continuing emotion this memorial

evokes. a korean family came to see it. >> i learned about it in the history class when i was back in korea, and recently, i became more aware about it, because of the installation of the statue. >> during world war ii, as the japanese army conquered korea and other asian countries, they pressed as many as 200,000 young women into service as sex slaves, most korean. they were called the comfort women. >> a lot of them died, a lot of them were left at the front line when the japanese where drew. >> the statue retches the girls, the empty chair the women who are gone, the bird on her soldier, a connection between the living and dead. the statue is here because los angeles and surrounding towns have the largest korean population in the world outside of korea itself. phyllis kim was involved with the private evident to get the $30,000 memorial installed you

last august. >> what happened has happened. it is the truth, and we want to remember the victims' suffering in order to prevent the same thing hams again. >> japanese american activists say the statue's important. that they met the japanese members of parliament who want it removed. >> it was like a slap in the face that this monument was bringing shame upon the country. >> the japanese consul general in los angeles said the position of his government is that it is sorry about the installation of the statue. >> we are not happy about the installation of the monument. we have said we are very sorry for the installation of the statue. >> a fourth generation american who was interned in a camp for japanese americans during world war ii said these events in history should be remembered. >> we need to have memorials for

things that happened like hiroshima auschwitz. >> even glendale's mayor says he regrets allowing the statue to be installed. the more the controversy, the more supporters of the statue say the comfort woman should say where she is, looking everyone in the eye. bribe rooney, aljazeera, glendale, california. >> in addition to calling for the removal, the three japanese politicians who visited the monument want their colleagues in parliament retract an apology made to comfort women made by

officials in the 1990's. >> a new pew poll found a third of americans do not believe in the theory of evolution. instead, they think humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. the number of people who believe in evolution versus those who reject it has remained about the same since americans were last polled in 2009. >> finally, a medical miracle that can restore vision. an artificial retina will soon be available for medical use in the u.s. we spoke with a blind man who took a chance on the technology. >> dean lloyd, an attorney in palo alto, california lost his sight 30 years, abthen in 2007, he got it back, at least in part. >> it was a point of light that i hadn't seen in a long time, so it had some exciting effect, but how useful it was going to be for me was a different issue, a different concern. >> he volunteered for a clinical trial and was one of the first

recipients of an artificial retina, the argus2. the device just went on sale in 12 u.s. cities. it receives a signal from a camera mounded on a pair of glasses, stimulating the back of the eye, producing a low resolution sketch of the world. it's not true sight but highlights points of contrast and makes it possible to broadly identify cob tackles and objects. >> i'm getting right about there, where it's dirt or grass, whatever is in there, some kind of foliage. >> you can determine the difference between one surface or another. >> that's correct. it's a different contrast point you. have to think about that to make it useful. >> the device is for treating a hereditary condition affecting roughly 100,000 americans. dr. robert greenburg helped develop it and now runs the company that sells it. he said the next 10 is to move

the i am plant into the back of the head where it could work for any of the 8 million blind people. >> if there are patients with glaucoma or diseases where that optic nerve is damaged, if we go to the next 10 in the visual system, we should be ail to restore some level of vision in those patients, as well. >> the tiny implant requires manual assembly you should a microscope, which helps to drive the price to $145,000. only a few insurance companies have agreed to cover that expense so far. >> the f.d.a. required the company to build this test, which assimilates the warm, wet, salty conditions of the eye. the company intends the implants to be permanent, but they are only railed for five years, so it's a real question of just how long this remotely powered combination of titanium, platinum and silicone is going to last inside the body before needing replacing. >> using the device requires practice. >> there are only 60 pixels of

information. you to have scan around in order to get the entire picture. >> the doctor who helped develop the device developed a prototype that could be in the eye delivering a high resolution image. >> we don't fully have the technology in hand, so the argus2 is more like a train and what we're talking about is more like a plane. >> it may not have changed lloyd's world, but given him a sense of it. >> i would say maybe two, three, four, i don't know. >> six, seven, yeah. >> you're a tall person, you're definitely tall. >> a blurry 60 pixel view of things is primitive compared to the eye, but restoring anything like site is specially by directly replacing the retina is a milestone in he was to understand and improve the human body. aljazeera, pa palo alto califor.

>> good morning, del. >> a judge granting an extension to keep a 13-year-old on life support for another week. she was declared brain dead weeks ago after complications from having her tonsils removed. >> the first if you know release for the victims of the russian bombings. >> a panel of medical experts recommending that many should be c.t. scanned for lung cancer using low dose radiation. >> del walters is back with you in just two and a half minutes.

>> this is australia, fireworks going off at this hour. people across australia ringing in the new year, onerring in 2014 down under. several countries already doing so, 2014 not arriving here in in the morning for another 16 hours, more than a million people expected to pack into times square tonight to watch the famous ball drop.

that plus: >> anxious sites and evacuations after a tirey train crash in north dakota, 20 cars going up in flames after the train carrying crude oil derails. >> a family's fight to keep hope alive in the case of a brain dead teenage w teenager, a judgg her kept on vent later for another week. >> increasing safety following two terror attacks that left dozens of people dead in russia. >> trying to snuff out it deadliest kind of cancer, new died lines that could affect millions of current and former smokers. >> good morning and welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. a temporary reprieve for the family of that 13-year-old california girl who has been declared brain dead, a judge granting them an extension that

will keep the eighth grader on life support for yet another week. aljazeera's melissa chan reports on the on going legal battle over the fate of a keep. >> according to the hospital, she was dead weeks ago when she went into cardiac arrest shortly after her operation. her family has taken the battle to court. >> i have to do what's right for me and her. i'm going to fight for her until i don't have no fight left in me. >> a judge granted and extension of a week of life support. >> we are filing a new complaint in federal court requesting a temporary restraining order from pulling the plug. we request that the temporary restraining order be extended and are filing appeals. >> just last week, a court appoint neurologist confirmed the conclusion. >> unfortunately, the medical condition by the statute you mentioned, she meets all the criteria for brain death.

>> medically, brain death is different than a coma, a patient in a coma still has neural activity in the brain, but with brain death, there are no neurological signals. the family has said they see movement, signs of life from the girl. the hospital maintains its position. >> in similar cases, where there are patients who are deceased, brain dead, there are such an affect known as the lazarus effect and it is common in the deceased for their muffles to move. that is not something that is unusual, shock energy a sign of any life in the body. >> the attorney representing the family says this isn't as i am plea about whether she is dead or alive, it's about basic civil liberties. >> this is about choices, no matter how they try to characterize it, it's about empowerment, choices and the rights of people. >> the fundamental conflict

circles around different notions of death. by the medical definition, she is dead after three rounds of medical examinations by doctors both in and out of the hospital, but the court for it continues. the family now has one last chance to make their case. aljazeera, oakland, california. >> the family says an uni unidentified hospital in new york has agreed to admit the teen and they are looking for transport across the country. >> an accident outside the town of castle town, 25 miles west of far go, a train derailed monday afternoon and another train ran into it. the collision setting off a series of explosions that burned 21 rail cars. >> it was the third explosion that rattled the house and the doors and the windows were all shaking and scott and i came out the garage door and the flames

were so high and it was like it was right happening behind us. >> the sheriff's office strongly recommending nearby residents evacuate because of thick smoke pouring from the crash site. containing the fire was challenging because of extreme temperatures, minus 20 degrees. >> the u.s. is sending three detainees from guantanamo bay to slovakia. it is part of an agreement between the u.s. and the european union aimed at helping the obama administration shut down the prison. the three men are from the largest ethnic group in northwestern china. there are 155 detainees housed at gitmo. more than 80 have been approved for release, but so far the white house says it's been unable to find countries willing to take them in. >> those two deadly bombings in russia are raising safe concerns ahead of the sochi winter olympics. russia now saying it is stepping up security after those suicide bombings in the city of

volgograd, the attacks happening less that that 24 hours apart. a train station and trollly bus being bombed, leaving 33 people dead. we have the story. >> there wasn't much left of the trollly car on line 15 when the ambulances arrived. a ruptured tin can surrounded by bodies, but survivors were hanging on, and volgograd hospital was less than 10 minutes away. one of more than 20 badly injured were brought the here. >> it felt like a huge electronic shock. i didn't see anyone with a bomb. i was looking out the window and i can't really anything after that. >> for the second time in less than 24 hours, the wards of hospital 25 were filled with the victims of another bombing, some with term burns the doctor said his team were carrying out 10 operations at the same time, but thankfully, he said the trolley bomb wasn't as powerful as

sunday's blast at the train station. outside, they posted casualty lists of those brat by ambulance and where they were being treated. >> the relatives of the injured scarcely able to believe this was happening all over again. trauma specialists, part of the disaster emergency team have been flown in from moscow to help family and friends cope with their shock and loss. at volgograd airport, those too badly injured to be treated here were loaded above special flights to moscow. for many, it was the difference between life and death, taken to specialist burn units in the capitol, two hours away. >> the city used to be known as stalingrad, and the shattered buildings a reminder of a pivotal battle in the second world war, the defeat of the german army changed the course of the conflict. today, people have a different fight on their hands with a far more elusive enemy. at the scene of the bombing, a sense of fear, frustration and

anger among the people of the city, a feeling they've been let down by those who should have protected them. dennis is a local businessman. >> people are afraid. people are afraid to use public transport. i'm frightened and afraid for my family, for my friends. >> they are stepping up secure not just in volgograd, but across southern russia. over five weeks, more than 30,000 troops will be deployed in the build up to the winter olympics. >> in just a few minutes, we'll take a closer look at growing concerns about the safety and security at the winter olympic gales in sochi, which are now set to kick off about six weeks from now. >> a former russian oil tycoon and kremlin critic is headed to switzerland, officials granting him a sympathy month visa allowing him to see his wife and children. he was pardon by vladimir putin

last week. he was once one of russia's richest man and insist's his conviction was politically motivated. >> it has been a deadly year for journalists, 70 killed on the job around the world. a new report saying two thirds of those died covering stories in the middle east. syria, egypt and iraq have been the deadliest coupes for reporters, 29 of them dying in syria, including self citizen journalists covering the war in home cities, 10 journalists dying in iraq and six more reporting on the ongoing tries in egypt this year. for the first time in a decade, no turningists were killed in mexico. >> aljazeera is do demanding the release of its journallives, now in custody in cairo. egyptian authorities accused them of broadcasting false news. they say this for interviewing members of the muslim brotherhood. all of experienced journalists

who have worked for international media organizations for decades. >> the united nations now missing the deadline for removing chemical weapons from syria, blaming security conditions, logical challenges and poor weather. the regime of bashar al assad agreeing to get rid of its stockpiles by the end of june, it also agreed to pans porting chemicals by today out of the war zone. >> china say a group behind an attack of a police station there, attacking the station in the province. police say they killed eight attackers during the clash on monday. earlier this month, another attack in that same region left 14 people dead. >> we have some time to go before the ball drops here in new york, but as we saw at the top of the hour, they are already doing so in some places,

new zealand helping kick off the global celebration. >> happy new year. kiwis across the country have been partying for more than two hours now. here in the sufficient, it's going to be a rather cold ending to 2013, and in some cases, snowy. for more on our national forecast this morning, we turn to ebony dionne. >> we are going to see those snow showers off and on especially around the great lakes where the snow is already coming down in cleveland. we have moisture across the deep south, but most of that cloud cover, most of the rain reaching the ground, the only exception very southern areas of texas. as far as the snow, the wintery side of the story, we're keeping it cold. with that cold air in place and low pressure moving across the great lakes, on the lee side, we see the snow piling up. we could end up with at least several inches, maybe up to a foot or more. we do have winter weather

advisories around chicago where it's quiet for now, but three to five inches expected to develop later today. into the northeast, many of the larger cities will stay on the quiet side, could see a flake or two flying by, but that will be it. it's our interior sections where we could end up with up wards of two feet of show, so it's really going to come down. as you head around new york city to celebrate, we'll keep a mix of sun and clouds around, temperatures making i did into the mid 30's to highs. it's going to feel even colder than that, bundle up. we're watching a storm system develop, bringing us snow. as far as timing, it's late wednesday, going into early thursday where we'll see two storm systems coming together and we'll see rain along the coast, know across the interior. that will continue to move across northern new england for the latter part of the work week. >> thank you very much. >> a former neighbor of cleveland kidnapper aerial

castro will be spending the rest of his life in prison, convicted sex offender confessing on monday to the murders of two women nearly 20 years ago. he also pleaded guilty to raping his three daughters when they were minors. he was sentenced prison with no chance of parole. >> an arizona mother is in custody accused of attacking her own family on christmas. police say she forced her own children to take predescription drugs. her 13-year-old daughter was found dead from an apparent overdose. she i also accused of stopping her husband and herself in an attempt to cover the crime. she faces a number of charges. >> a catholic priest serving time for his connection to a child sex abuse scandal will soon be a free man. william lynn was never accused of directly abusing children. he was convicted last year of vitalling child welfare laws and sentenced three to six years, monday an appellate court

overturning the conviction. he is set to be released later this week. he was charged with investigating sexual abuse claims for the diocese. >> prosecutors say they have no intention of dropping the case against india's deputy consul general. they have until january 12 to bring an indictment. she was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of series have a fraud and lying about how much she paid a domestic worker. she faces 15 years in jail if convicted, her arrest sparking international outrage with officials in india demanding an polling. >> security in the winter olympics, the steps russia is taking to crack down on terrorism. >> plus the long road ahead for afghanistan, what the new year could mean for that country. and there are important new guidelines for heavy smokers, even if you kick the habit. what doctors say you can do to catch lung cancer early.

>> we are following breaking news coming out of south sudan. the united nations now saying rebels have taken control over the city. that sudanese officials say they are still fighting for control of that region. ethiopian officials saying a team will be sent to the capitol for peace talks after uganda demanded that a ceasefire be accepted. it is the latest push to stop the violence there that has killed at least 1,000 people in the last month. good morning, and costa concordia to aljazeera america. straight ahead, we'll be talking about two bomb attacks in russia now raising new security concerns for the olympic games. we're going to look closer as what russia is doing to make sure athletes and spectators are safe, but first let's find out how cold it's going to be across the country today. >> we are tarting off very cold across the upper midwest and northern plains where we're at

minus 17 right now. in the weekend, we had a record high of 47 in minneapolis. wean with wind, it makes a big difference, feels like we are sitting at minus 28 in fargo. don't spend too much time outdoors. we're chilly here, as well. twenty's around philadelphia and new york city. the cold air made its way into texas, 21 in lubbock, 28 in dallas. temperatures will rebound nicely. we are expecting to see sunshine. >> those terror attacks in volgograd, russia coming weeks before thousands of athletes and tourists gather in sochi for the 2014 winter olympics. we have details on just who may be responsible for the attacks and what it means for security at the games. >> limb. i winter gales in 2014 are

awarded to the city of sochi. with blasts in the last two days, suspicion is falling. sochi is 400 miles from the volgograd blasts, the olympic site near the border with russian is that's troubled region and within that, the so-called chechnyaen conflict. the hallmark of the struggle so far has been two wars with moscow in the 1990s and numerous separatist attacks on people in buildings. one of the most notorious, the school hostage taking carried

out, but airports have been bombed too. the leader has called for attacks to increase including on the sochi games. the latest bombings are a looming p.r. disaster for president putin who has a huge stake in making the games a display of just how far russia has come since the fall of the soviet empire. >> they have a huge concentration of security forces in sochi. people have to go through inconvenient metal detectors. they are only going to allow people into the area who have official government passes and are prehe approved. it will be impossible for anybody who is not on that list to get in. that's about the best they can do. >> the russians have established a security zone around the game site. tens of thousands of security personnel will be deployed, thousands of surveillance cameras are being installed and there will be extensive internet

and phone monitoring. kimberly martin said while the games are likely to be safe, ordinary russians and you said the secure areas are right to be scared. >> russia is a huge geographical space in the midst of an ongoing insurgency coming up from the north caucuses. there is just no way that all of russia can be completely protected and it's especially problematic for russia because the security forces are corrupt. >> raising fears security forces could be bought off to allow the bombers through, unlikely in sochi itself as the security presence there is so vast, but a worry for president putin as he tries to keep the rest of his country safe. aljazeera. >> a researcher at harvard university joins us this morning. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> this has been a huge headache for russian secure, now other

countries pledging support, the national security council saying: given the cold history between the united states and russia, do you recall think that vladimir putin is going to take up the u.s. on its offer? >> i do think so. as far as what i am aware, there have been fairly intense consultations between russian and u.s. governments on this issue. russia has also consulted over governments that have experience in managing such events, and in counter terrorism, so i think at this stage, it would be unwise not to take any sincere offers from those with experience in counter terrorism and in managing such events and i think putin is doing this. >> does this represent, though, a sign of weakness for value pool to have to rely on the

international community when he has also been the tough guy? >> there are different ways you can describe this. you can describe this as reliance or acceptance of assistance from people who have best practices and best knowledge of how to manage these events. i don't think it's humiliating at all. it's a normal practice, let's face it, for any government of any country to solicit and accept assistance from those experienced in managing such events. >> this particular terrorist group believed to be behind these ballings are not new, so what if anything can be done to crack down on this threat from the north caucus region? >> we don't know for sure which group is behind either attack, but if you are referring to the umbrella group, the so-called caucuses emrhett, then the

obvious time left would be so leave the senior leaders on the run in these north caucuses. of course, it might be too late, but it's never too late to try to behinder their efforts to plan and execute attacks in time for the sochi olympics. >> the timing seems to be obvious, but what about the location? why volgograd? >> volgograd is a landmark in russia. it bears fairly significant symbolism given its history of fierce battles during world war ii. i would say this my be a sign of the terrorist groups diminished capabilities. let's face it, if a terrorist group wanted to have impact on

the russian decision makers, they would have chosen moscow or sochi. volgograd has important history, but it's a provincial city which is fairly far away from decision makers in moscow, even though it's fairly close to sochi. >> one fingerprint of this organization, using female bombers, so-called black widows. what can you tell us about them? >> well, i would say this generalization is a bit -- does not reflect reality. not all of them are widows, but indeed many of them are widows of rebels, fighting federal and local law enforcers in the north caucuses. the suicide attacks by female suicide bombers started only during the second chechnyaen

war. since then, with exception of lull around 2008, this has been ongoing campaign. there were 49 femalele suicide bombers who killed over 800 people in 25 attacks. not all of these attacks were merely suicide bombings. hostage taking was not a suicide bombing act, but they participated in 25 attacks that killed over 800 people. >> exactly. >> so it's a significant number and it's something that russian authorities have been trying to resolve for years, unfortunately with only limited degree of success. >> thank you so much for being with us this morning, from harvard university. >> thank you. >> here is what is making news in the business world this morning. wall street's about to say goodbye to a record setting year, stock futures higher, the dow futures up 20 points and here is where we stand this morning, the dow kicking off at a new record high, the index up

nearly 26% in 2013. that means it is on track for its largest annual gain since 1996. >> the s and p.500 up 29% for the year heading for its best year since 1997. the nasdaq at four thus 154, it is up, as well, 37% in 2013. >> in europe, the markets are higher, germany closing for the new year's eve holiday. shanghai rising .8 of a%. >> tarts facing yet another problem with gift cards. minnesota t.v. station reporting the thousands of gift cards sold over the holidays weren't properly activated, saying the issue is separate from the retailers credit and debit card security breach, that one

affecting 40,000 gift cards, target telling the station that it is aware some customers were affected, it says you can go to a store service desk or call the number on the card for help that credit card breach affecting 40 mill of its customers. >> the housing market will be back in focus this morning. the home price index for october is do out in less than an hour. the index is expected to show a very brisk year growth for home prices finally coming to a halt. one market watcher saying housing prices won't hurt consumers just yet. >> you have reasonable affordability with house prices where they are now with the exception of the obvious markets like san francisco, where being in the middle class is being priced out. i do think at some point, it becomes release of a bargain. right now the rent versus own question still in many areas favors buying. >> economists say the rate home prices go up over the next year depend on how well the fed is able to control interest rates as it begins to trim back on

that bond buying program. >> facebook remains the dominant social media platform for adults. a research to do finds 70% of adults using facebook this year, that is up from 67% in 2012, twitter, though, not as popular as just 18% and women it seems prefer pinterest over men by a margin of four oh one. >> stuck in frozen waters off antarctica, a ship trapped in the ice. >> and crime in new york city hitting an all time low. how former gang members are working to keep it that way. >> the nfl's getting set to take another look at a play that could cost peyton manning his nfl passing record. we'll have that story and more later in sports.

return to fukushima only on al jazeera america many worry that the gains made in education will not stick in the future. aljazeera's jane ferguson takes us to a school in kandahar city that was long considered a success and is now facing closure. >> it's a place offering more than these girls know, a quality education in real tangible skills, a path away from positivity and early marriage and towards university and a career. since 2002, the modern stud has been teaching women languages, like management and computer skills. that they are skills that speak of ambition which in the heart of tallle ban country is

remarkable. >> we are a unique school, preparing women to go to jobs. our school is preparing women to go to universities. consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete? >> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. these are our top stories this

hour. a 13-year-old will get another week on life support after being declared brain dead weeks ago after complications during surgery. her family filed an emergency injunction to stop the hospital from taking her off a vent later. >> there were cell braces in gaza as more palian inmates were reds from israeli prisons, part of a brokered deal to restart peace negotiations between the two sides. while palestinians were celebrating, there was anger in israel. >> the first if you know release will be held for the victims of russian terror attacks. two suicide bombs exploding over the weekend on a bus and at a train station, leaving 33 people there dead. while no one has claimed responsibility. >> dozens of passengers onboard a ship stuck in the ice have

been there for more than a week. we have details of yet another plan. >> they arrived by sea, though will likely leave at air apparentlies. that may be the only way to rescue dozens trapped on this stranded russian ship embed the in the ice in antarctica. several totals to reach them by ice breaker failed. now authorities say a chinese helicopter will bring the 74 passengers and crews to safety. onboard, all they can do is wait. >> it sounds a lot worse than it is. everyone else, i reassure you is safe and sound and very comfortable below decks where they are said to be having a cup of tea or coffee. >> this is full of scientists hoping to recreate a century old exploration of the south pole. they left port last month but blizzard conditions stopped them in their tracks. >> we assume you have enough food and water, everyone's is very warm. we have plenty of fuel onboard.

we have two weeks worth of fresh food. >> for now, they are sending out messages that they are doing well. while they neve intended to ring in the new year at the bottom of the earth, there's a good chance they will be doing just that tomorrow. >> before that ship got stuck, it was on a month long voyage to study the environment at east antarctica. >> more than 40 members of ires parliament resigned, upset about a raid on a soon any sit in. they say protestors agreed to end their protest. iraq's prime minister accused the protestors of sheltering the fighters linked to al-qaeda, the united nations saying more than 60,000 iraqi civilians have been killed in the last year. >> 2014 could be a turning point in afghanistan. u.s. troops could be leaving and there will be a new president for the first time in a decade. the biggest change could involve afghanistan's economy. we have the story from kabul.

>> uncertainty the and poverty on their minds, every day in kabul, thousands of men leave hungry families at home to stand on the street looking for daily work, hoping someone will drive by needing laborers. >> if they cannot find jobs, they will become thieves or join the taliban or al-qaeda. >> they have to join either side of the fighting to be guaranteed a reliable paycheck. as the country braces for foreign troops to withdraw next year, its heavily aid dependent economy is shrinking. it's people like this most at risk of any economic downturn. they are just lying to find any daily work to support their families here. others are simply trying to survive what could be one of their toughest years yes.

>> this man arrived early objec, hoping to beat the competition. many have come from rural areas joining this crowd of desperate men. he took us to his home where his wife and two small children wait for him every day, hoping he returns with food. >> i haven't been able to pay the rent here for two months. every day, i go there to the square, stand there all day. sometimes i can make $2, sometimes four. >> most afghans live by the islamic calendar. for those like this man, the phrase 2014 has become a frightening event everyone talks about but few understand. >> at the place where we stand that around for work, everyone talks about 2014, but i don't know when this 2014 is. is it in a month, 10 days time? i don't have a clue.

the businessmen hide their money, the investors stopped investing. the shopkeepers are collecting their money, all because of this. >> while the international community has promised to continue aiding afghanistan's economy, fear they won't is causing it to falter. these men of typical of millions across the country. with little control over the events of 2014, they have the most to lose. aljazeera, kabul, afghanistan. >> and afghanistan's living standards by the way are among some of the poorest anywhere in the world. >> we are following breaking news out of syria. there are reports that a missile hitting a bus in the rebel held area of aleppo killing at least 10 people, this is video of the attack that was posted on you tube. we should point out aljazeera cannot independently confirm that this video is authentic, the human rights organization saying the missile was fired from a plane and some victims are children. syrian government forces have

killed 500 people in aleppo over the last five weeks. talks about ending the civil war will be held in geneva three weeks from now. >> this flu season may not be as bad as last year. so far, 10 states are reporting outbreaks, fewer than last year. a year ago, 31 states were saying that they had multiple flu outbreaks, doctors saying flu cases have been declining now for five straight years. >> there are new guidelines coming out of the government concerning lung cancer screenings, a panel recommending c.t. scans for those at risks, doctors saying it could save thousands of lives. we have a atory about a man who's life was saved by a scan. >> leslie lit up his first cigarette in a foxhole in world war ii. >> i think i was nervous and upset and one of the guys said

here, light up, it will it will you town, so i did. >> after decades of smoking, he was diagnosed with lung cancer picked up during a c.t. scan in 2000 february that eventually saved his life. >> they showed me the pictures answered said you better see your doctor. >> he's one of the lucky ones. lung cancer claims over 160,000 lives a year. it's the leading cause of all cancer deaths in the sufficient. the newest guidelines hope to cut that number down. a panel of medical experts now recommend healthy adults between the ages of 55 and 80 who are heavy smokers meaning those who smoked one pack a day for 30 years be given a low dose annual c.t. scan in an effort to detect early signs of cancer. the group also recommends screening for those smokers who have quit during the last 15 years. the findings were praised by doctor. a lung cancer expert is a long

time proponent of annual screening. she estimates the guidelines could save more than 30,000 lives a year. >> we're thrilled at this result. we think that this will make a big difference, many people will be able to enjoy a very productive life once they get screened as they find though lung cancer early. >> leslie agrees and credits it with saving his life. >> without the lung detection program, the early screening program, i would not be here right now, be no question about it. >> the findings could affect roughly 10 million people, but not everyone should be screened, including those too unhealthy to withstand cancer treatment and people with significant health problems that limit life expectancy. the panel also expressed proper c.t. testings as screaming is not harm-free. radiation expose u. can actually raise the risk of cancer.

>> under the affordable care act, cancer screenings backed by the task force are supposed to be covered. insurance companies have a year to adopt these new recommendations. >> they say football is a game of inches and for peyton manning, that may not be a good thing. we explain. >> the nfl has a system of checks and balances so there's no asterisks next to that record. nobody wants one of those. just ask barry bonds about that. let's talk about the 37-year-old peyton manning possibly having one of the best seasons we've ever seen, captured the nfl single season touchdown record and penciled in for the league's single season passing record, as well after the pass to thomas. that record now pending when records are in play, because the league also reviewing them and say a seven-yard pass fly to decker from the broncos win over the raiders over on sunday night got a second look. two different camera angles are in question. one makes the pass look like a

lateral, which makes it a run play, the other makes it a forward pass. manning's's 5,470 yards would still mark a career best for the broncos q.b. >> in the wake of the regular season, we saw five nfl coaches all fired within 12 hours of the season's end. there is a reason they call it black monday. the mike shanahan area is over in work stan while schwartz is out in detroit. schiano's tenure in tampa lasted two years, while the browns showed a quicker trigger letting their coach go after one season with cleveland. the last place vikings also have given fraser the pink slip, as well. add that to gary kubiak, who was fired from houston three weeks ago, making six nfl head coaching vacancies right now. two sets of numbers essentially summarize why. all had a combined record of

74-21-1 and each coach had problems at quarterback. each team finished in the bottom half of the league. don't cry for the now excoachs. four of them are still owed a combined $35.6 million by their respective teams. >> job security isn't easy in the college ranks either especially in the football happy state of texas. the mack brown managed to spend 15 years guiding the longhorns, however the last five not up to standards. brown coached his final game in the alamo bowl. a pick six, patterson taking it the distance through traffic the other way for an early lead. oregon kept the foot on the gas, josh huff putting the ducks ahead 16-7 in this one with this score, and mack brown goes out in his final game as the head

coach with a 30-7 loss. afterwards, the old ball coach was still thinking about his texas team. >> it is what it is, and you do what you got to do, so i've gone to work every day and done the same things i would have done regardless of the circumstances. i really haven't thought much about to really, and i'll probably get up at 6:00 and be watching the video and worried about somebody. i told them to stay out of trouble tonight, i didn't need a call. >> we look at the bowl lineup today for arizona, taking on that first game with boston college. that's going to be at 12:30 p.m. the sun bowl at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. it is the chick-fil-a bowl. of course, we don't know if this could be johnny man zell's last game. >> it is what it is, and you do what you got to do.

that's sports talk for you. new york city looking at an all time low in murders this year, place say the outgoing mayor calling it a victory for the sometimes controversial poses includessing stop and frisk. residents say police aren't alone in trying to stop that violence, though. ♪ >> new york's finest and newest, these 1171 graduating police officers are ready for the streets, and they are safer than ever. up until last sunday, there were 333 homicides in 2013, down nearly 50% from 2001. 1,100 shootings, down 32% during the same period. >> mayor bloomberg and his police commissioner say because of their zero tolerance and stop and frisk policies and operation

crew cut, which targets specific people. >> focusing police attention on those hot people and hot groups, gangs, drug crews and such turns out to be very effective. >> in brownsville, this is one of new york's most violent neighborhoods, home to several gangs on the streets and on line. he used to run with the bloods. >> i loved violence at that time. i was actually looking forward to it. every day, i got up, and, you know, found any way of being violent i could. i got into it. >> he served 15 years in prison for several crimes, then he got out, got clean and got married. now he works with community leaders, trying to stop that boys from getting into gang violence. >> who's doing the work? people in the community, people going out daily with slim to no finances and talking to these mothers, children, going up in

these schools. >> when a 1-year-old boy was shot dead a month ago, the nypd had no leads. within a few hours, locals led them to the shooter. >> this intersection is known as the belly of the beast, surrounded by at least seven different housing definiteliments and a lot of street crews that move in and around the area. the animosity between them is so strong that if you wind up on the wrong side of the street, you are walking into trouble. the relentless violence here inspired a concept called occupy the corners. >> community leaders standing on the streets until 2:00 a.m. and breaking up confrontations before they escalate. in their eyes, the nypd are the only ones to be congratulated over the city's impressive crime statistics. >> the city's incoming mayor promising to do away with the stop and frisk policy. >> new statistics about how quickly the u.s. population is growing and the warm weather state that and more people are

calling home. >> growing demand for adderall, the young duties turning to this drug and what's fueling their needs.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. the drug adderall has been used to treat hyperactivity disorder or adhd, but a growing number of adults are using the drug to crank out their school work under tight deadlines. we're going to talk about that in a moment but first with he want to find out about that know that could be falling across the country today. >> we are tarting with quite a bit of snow around the great lakes, getting the wind flow pulling up that moisture jut in off the lakes. we're seeing it come down heavy at times along buffalo, moderate snowfall. once he get into niagara falls, heavy snow and reduced visibility down to a quarter mile, so watch out there. around the midwest, light snowfall around iowa. we expect more to develop around

chicago and new year's day in st. louis. surge of moisture along the gulf coast mostly cloud cover, but south texas getting wet, moving in as we get into wednesday. for now, moisture on the increase, staying dry for most of the day in the southeast. >> the economy has been gaining momentum, but the population seems to be growing at a snail's pace. the census bureau on monday predicted the u.s. population growth will be over 2.2 million from july of 2012 to july of 2013. according to the brookings institute, that would be the slowest growth rate in more than 70. by new year's day, the population will be just over 317 million and the number of births also going down, they say because people are putting off having children or getting older. california, texas and new york, but florida closing the gap and soon to replace new york in

third. >> living in the miami area, they are still a plane ride close enough to easily visit their new york family, but far south enough to leave winters behind. >> i hated the cold and at first, it was kind of just a fantasy, but then after going back and forth for a while we finally just decided to go for it. >> that was six years ago. the 30 something's found jobs and moved. soon after, they started a family. they now live blocks away from the beach. >> i would joke around i retired 30 years early down to florida, but apparently a lot of other people have, also. it's not just all strip malls and retirees anymore. >> they are emblematic of the vast majority of people moving to the sunshine state, hundreds of people away from surpassing new york and becoming the third large evident state in the country. most of the new arrivals are in their 20's and 30's, and my

greating from other states. >> this is part of a long pattern of growth. the population has doubled since 1970. >> florida is a nice combination of obviously weather and the cultural amenities that go along with a tourist based economy, a very friendly tax position in that we don't have a state income tax and we do not have a state estate tax. >> but the primary reason people move to florida is for jobs. in tourism, the health care industry, finance, i.t. and construction, they still have their new york mobile numbers and adore their sunday times but will never return to that lifestyle. >> the whole rat racing of being in new york city especially with your children, it's rough when i do it for a day. i cannot imagine doing it all the times, the subways, the bus us, people are ruder, so here, it's just a lot easier. >> experts say there's no indication florida's population will recede anytime soon and

that will bring challenges, but for now, many people of all ages areuning for the life that has long kept retirees flocking to florida. aljazeera, miami dade county. >> those beach shots look great on a day like today. >> the nine most populist states in the u.s. contain slightly more than half the the countries totalle population. >> you might not know his name but probably have seen his work, some of the most iconic moments of the 20th century photographed for life magazine. he died yesterday at the age of 92. he described himself as a fly on the wall, freezing moments in time with celebrities, presidents and stills ordinary people. he worked for life mag dean for more than 20 years. who can forget those images? >> sales of the drugs to treat adhd are going up, increasingly popular with high school and college students, many taking them illegally.

aljazeera's tom ackermann looks at their growing use as study aids. >> it's a common complaint on american college campuses. >> i find it very difficult to study with all the friends and stuff. >> social media. >> social media makes it rough. >> there's a pill for that, in fact several, all amphetamine based compounds legally prescribed for people diagnosed with adh defendant. people like brett. >> when i don't take it, my brain is cluttered with thoughts. it's constantly shifting, hard to focus on one thing. >> many use it without prescription. >> finals time, everyone is asking for it, everyone, it's everywhere, actually. >> u.s. sales jumped 40% over the last four years that have been reported by the government. >> while much that have demand

stems from wilder diagnosis of the disorder, especially among duties, the drug has won a reputation for improving the academic performance of students, a reputation that may be a myth. >> it makes you focus, just not on school. >> no, we don't think that it really gives an academic boost to students. >> ruth, head of the advocacy group points to studies showing that the drugs produce no significant effect on the classroom results of people who don't have adhd. >> it's a as i am lap, so you may be able to stay awake longer, but when we look at academic performance, that those who take the stimulants don't do any better than they would without the stimulants. >> the market has seen an up surge in ineffective fake adhd stimulants often sold on line. as with all prescription drugs, abuse is always a risk, but the newest versions are rarely detective and according to new clinical trial results, one

shows success in treating another form of abuse, being eating. >> in 2009, just four years ago, more than 5% of high school seen years were using adderall without a prescription, spiking three years later in 2012. >> that's going to do it for this edition of aljazeera news. more headlines straight head in two minutes. before we go, happy new year. this is a look at the celebrations in australia earlier this hour.