>> this is al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz. >> gunfights in fallujah, car bombs in baghdad as iraq tries to push al qaeda militants out of key cities. >> a deep freeze - the midwest and north-east are bracing for dangerously cold temperatures. >> as peace talks begin, more violence forcing out thousands in south sudan. >> and the deadly health risk for beauty queens. [ ♪ music ] >> top in the newshour secretary

of state john kerry says the u.s. will not send american soldiers back to iraq even in this country reels from al qaeda-linked violence. militants have taken over two key cities, fallujah and ramadi in anbar province. government forces are fighting for control. more from imran khan. >> after a standoff lasting day, the iraqi army is ready to go into the fallujah city and fight the i.s.i.l. the agreement to do so was hard fought. local sunni tribes insisted they be part of any attack. others disagreed. the standoff is an indication of the tension between sunni tribes in anbar and the shi'a-led government. the prime minister nouri al-maliki has his agreement and is poised to act. >> translation: there's increased coordination with the army and tribesman. the army provides the tribes

with weapons and everything they need in the battle against the terrorists. i think the issue will be resolved within one for two days. >> that may be optimistic. the iraqi army sent out a video of surgical airtricks, but they are limited to the cities. other strong holds are in the desert, on the boarder with syria, and getting rid of the fighters there is challenging. adding to the iraqry government are vocal critics of the prime minister >> translation: we call on the government to meet demonstrates of the people, demands not related to terrorism by any means. if there's an escalation of violence in iraq, worse things may happen, especially because of what is happening in the region. >> the reason is simply. general elections are scheduled for late april. political parties will be looking to get themselves into the best position and force prime minister nouri al-maliki to take the blame for the worst security situation in iraq since

2008. a fact underscored by a number of car bombs ripping through the capital. >> some republicans are blaming president obama for the renewed violence in iraq. senator john mccain has about there and faulted the government for pulling out troops, but today we were told there was no choice. >> i don't think, in my view, that's correct. i don't think the american public would have tolerated more american deaths in iraq. there are two other points to make. first of all, i think al qaeda has been successful in using the american presence as a recruiting tool to get members. >> how so? >> saying, "we are being invaded by outsiders, in is our country, why should these foreigners take over our resources and steal our wealth." >> having a nationalist feel. >> that's right. the second point is that you can't kill these people, you

can't arrest these people, you have to undermine the support and it's not for the american troops, american army or the united states and its allies to undermine popular support. that is a job for the iraqi government. >> barrett is confident the iraqi government can contain al qaeda without u.s. troops on the ground. >> a third day of fighting in northern syria, where some rebels are clashing with al qaeda-linked fighters. zeina khodr explains why that group is no longer welcome by many in syria's opposition. >> syria's armed opposition is pushing forward with what seems to be a coordinated offensive against the islamic state in iraq and the levant i.s.i.l. the al qaeda-brinked group is being pushed out of its bases. a war has been declared as some believe i.s.i.l. has not been working for their revolution.

the foreign fighters have created many states, imposing their own laws, which many believe are brutal. i.s.i.l., for its part, threatened to withdraw fighters from the front lines if attacks against it continue, warning that regime forces would be able to retake aleppo. in an audio recording the i.s.i.l. said it was being stabbed in the back by some groups involved in a conspiracy that seeks to get rid of al qaeda before planned peace talks in geneva. rebel commanders deny they are waging this war on behalf of the international community, but some people believe it has to do with geneva. >> what we are seeing now is fighting over who is going to be the negotiator with the regime. and so far there is no unified opposition. actually, there is a lot of

infighting, in order to produce a negotiator. >> the syrian national coalition in exile threw its support behind the about thele and asked the -- battle and asked the international community to recognise them as a force in the fight against al qaeda. the fighting spread throughout the region, and so has al qaeda's infiltration. the vacuum caused by the war in syria allowed it to set up base. now it has a presence in neighbouring lebanon. it claimed responsibility for the latest attack targetting shia supporters. lebanese armed political group hezbollah. the war against i.s.i.l. may not havers only been declared -- have only been declared inferior. authorities may be trying to wipe out the group.

it may not be an easy battle, a reminder that syria's war does not have borders the. >> today's secretary of state john kerry said peace talks between israel and palestinians have been promising. talks brokered by the u.s. resumed in july. there has been progress towards solving the toughest issues. they acknowledge that there are hard choices ahead. >> the path is becoming clearer. the puzzle is becoming more defined and it is becoming more important to everybody -- apparent to everybody what the remaining tough choices are, and what the options are with respect to those choices. >> meanwhile in tel aviv thousands of migrants have begun a 3-day process to demand better rights for refugees. more than 30,000 attended, making it one of the largest rallies in the country's history. tom ackerman has the story.

>> several thousands people gathered peacefully outside tel aviv's city hall. they have come from ara trayous, sudan and other sub-saharan countries. they escaped war and hardship much this man arrived from the darfur region of sudan. >> we have war, genocide, many different problems. we come to protect this country. the israeli government called the 50,000 migrants that crossed the country into egypt infiltrators. the government refuses to grant them refugee status. >> most life in a legal limbo, subject to one year's detention or working under conditional release. few of them entitled to any social services. >> they are prisoners. the biggest thing is to check the asylum records in a fair and transapparent way and give basic

human rights. >> many israelis think the government is treating the migrants fairly >> translation: i have nothing against them. we have so many problems of our own. poverty in israel is great. >> a knew generation of migrant children is growing up and educated in israel. the hope to be granted a secure place in a country built by refugees. >> pope pope francis is said to make an historic trip to the middle east. he told thousands he'll visit jordan, jerusalem and bethlehem. it will be his first tripe to the hoelly land at the head of the catholic church. it will be a pilgrimage of prayer and announced for an interfaith meeting with the head of the christian orthodox church. >> al jazeera is still demanding the release of mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed and correspondent peter greste, our collection, in egypt.

mohamed fadel fahmy and peter greste face questioning. they are held on suspicious of joins a terrorist group and spreading lies harmful to state security. al jazeera says the allegationing are fabricated nonsenls. >> it is winter. cold weather and snow is expected. forecasters warn this arctic blast from the polar vortex is making the weather life threatening. al jazeera's juan carlos molina has more. >> across the mid section, north, south and east, cold and wind are bringing cities to a standstill. weather ex-parties say the cold is part of a -- experts say the scold is part of a vortex. this winter it is different. as a result, plummeting temperatures and winds causing wind chill factors leading to frostbite and hypothermia in a matter of minutes. >> i don't think most people

appreciate the fact that five minutes of exposed skin can have an impact. >> all public schools are being closed on monday. nashville is taking no chances with its students, cancelling classes through tuesday. >> it's rare for us to cancel school because of cold. the last time we did it was five years. >> the mayor of indianapolis is closing city offices and urging people to stay indoors. >> the weather combination that we are seeing is unlike anything we have seen in decades in this area. >> in new york city it's warm enough where some snow started to melt. there's plenty of accumulation and over the next couple of days, it will be warm enough when the snow will melt. >> come tuesday there'll be another deep freeze. >> it could mean additional air travel headaches, there were delays and the closure of j.f.k. when a plane slid off a slick

run way. many are making the most of the winter wonderland, officials are warning people to take the weather system seriously. >> all righty, kevin is here with more on this. a lot of people across the country are trying to get some place else and they can't because of the weather. >> that's right. it's not the temperatures. planes go up in the air, you can be at minus 60 or minus 70 at altitude. it's not the cold air, it's the snow showers. what we are looking at for chicago and detroit are three hour delays because of the snow. we had some delays on the east coast. tore this area, those -- for this area, those are two major airports - detroit and chicago. the band of snow will make its way to the east. we are almost seeing it come through chicago. with the next two or three hours things will improve. we have a backlog in that area

in terms of flights coming in. temperatures now look like chicago at 11. winds gusting up to 30-35 miles per hour. notice on the hazard charts, windchills warnings extending - we have a dozen states where it's very dangerous to be outside. under this blue we have windchill warnings in effect. let's take a look at what we expect to see in terms of windchills. fargo feels more like minus 61. let's put this into motion. every hour - you notice we'll hit minus 70 as we go towards tomorrow morning. you do not want to be in the roads and have possibly your car stall out and then you have to get out of your car. if it happens, stay in your car, use your cell phone, do not go out on the open roads.

as you can see by tomorrow, 11am. cincinnati is all the way down to minus 37, in terms of windchill. let's look at what we'll see in terms of lows. this is the ambient temperature, on your thermometer. >> chicago minus 18, cincinnati minus 12. we told you about the snow situation. that will continue tonight in that area of snow we'll see about 12-18 inches of snow in some locations, especially towards michigan, could see up to maybe 2 feet of snow with the lake effect in effect. so, minneapolis good news - not today. it will happen as we move towards wednesday. temperatures on the way up. >> a little bit of good news. not much of a way up. thank you, kevin. >> now to a developing story, a business jet crashed at the aspen colorado airport. one person has been killed. three people were on board.

one seriously hurt. bombardier challenger 600 was arriving from tuscon when it crashed and burst into flames upon landing. >> in missouri a plane landed after a bomb threat. crews were called out at 1:30 to j.f.k. airport. a flash drive was taped to a bathroom wall. passengers and crew were evacuated. >> a computer of hundreds of thousands who visited a website may be affected by malfair. it's been happening since december 30th. it's unclear who is behind the attack. yahoo! is aware of the issues and is removing the harmful ads. >> south sudan peace talks ahead. we look at the efforts underway to end the civil war there. the dangerous quest for beauty in venezuela.

>> south sudan peace talks scheduled to start today have been pushed to monday. both sides have sent represent advertises neighbouring ethiopia. discussions stalled after talks about releasing prisoners. the fighting continues as the sides talk. thousands are fleeing from bor. heading north. that's where most of the displaced are now located. we have more on the talks and the prospects for peace. >> by the thousands they arrived at the u.n. bases in juba, it's the only refuge they can find. more than 1,000 people have died. 200,000 others are on the move because of fierce fighting between the rebels and the army.

the hopes of piece lie many miles away. >> we are looking for rapid agreement to create a conducive atmosphere for addressing outstanding issues. our people have struggled a lot. and should not suffer again. into the rebel delegation is striking a cautious tone, making a list of demand, including the release of leaders. >> with the mass killings going on in the country there can be no conducive atmosphere for peace talks. >> in july the president salva kiir, and a dinka, dismissed his it deputy, riek machar, who is from the nuer community. three weeks ago rebels

supporting the sacked deputy president began to fight for control of the capitals. the violence spread across the country. >> we need a cessation of hospital ilties. it -- hostilities, it must happen now. we cannot afford to tolerate people suffering in that way while toll pirns haggle. >> -- politicians haggle. >> after several days of delay, politicians meet at the table. history is not on their side. for generations the two groups battled for dominance and resources. now they have to decide how to bring peace to the world's youngest nation. that will not be easy. >> earlier i spoke with omar ishmael with the center for american progress about whether there's hope the talks about lead to peace in south sudan. >> there is no way out of this onflict through -- conflict through war. they have to come to terms with

the political and refugee situation that is happening, and the displacement in the country, according to the u.n. figures, are reaching over 200,000. they have to come to terms with each other and resolve this amicably and bring stability to the south. >> secretary of state john kerry says he worries talks can be used as a gimmick and to keep fighting. do you think that is what is at work. >> it could be true, they are jockeying for position on the ground to have a better position in the negotiation table. however, i think with the international pressure mounting on both sides, i think they are coming to the table reaching on agreement. what we need to see now is the pressure of the international committee continuing until we reach settlement on this issue. >> what gives you the indication that the international community pressure is actually making a difference to the leaders,

because the gun fights continue, the violence is continuing. what makes you think that the two sides are willing to even consider peace? >> this is a fast-moving conflict. the fact that they managed to come to the table is good. it's an indication that both sides want to reach a settlement. we need to encourage them to get there and to have the business of the people above their own interests. >> let's talk about the hundreds of thousands who are suffering now because of this conflict. close to 200,000, latest numbers from the u.n., have we seen improvements in the conditions. do you feel like enough aid and help is getting to the country. >> let us remember south sudan is a landlocked country and they need to bring humanitarian assistance via other countries.

it will not be easy, it is expensive and more than costly. the facilities are not there for airlift or anything of that kind. so it will take some time for the u.n. troops that are almost doubling in size to come to the country and the police over-400 more international police that were supposed to be sent to the south as well as the humanitarian assistance. it will take time. that is why we don't see improvement now, but within the next few weeks we'll be able to reach some of these people at least. >> the hope from a lot of people tonight. thank you to omar ishmael for his insight. >> venezuela brought home five miss un verse titles. the cost for a young woman to enhance their look is high, and in some cases fatal. last year a dozen women died

from fatal injections. >> these are some of the most beautiful women in the world. they come to compete for the tight miss venezuela. winning the ground is a dream for many in this beauty-obsessed country, where people send $2.5 billion a year to look good. after oil, the beauty trade is the second most profitable industry. it comes at a high price. ask leonardo, whose 29-year-old daughter died while getting liquid silicon butt ox injections. she went to an unlicensed clinic, without telling her personalities, and died within 24 hours. >> translation: it's shameless. people kill for 75 to $125 to inject someone. my daughter died for $125. >> now leonardo and their wife are raising their twin

grandsons. he believes peer pressure pushed his daughter to risk her life >> translation: the government is not informing venezuelan women about the risks. they kill within 24 hours. >> venezuela is a world destination for plastic surgery. the silicon used for butt ox injections is illegal here. most women buy it online or go to uplicensed clinics. >> the patient is lucky enough to survive. he or she could have chronic pain in chest, buttocks and face. the discolourition of the skin, abscesses throughout the body. >> despite the health risks venezuelans are ipp jecting themselves. 2,000 people per month, according to the association of cosmetic surgeons.

>> a clear sign that many here are willing to pay the ultimate price for beauty. >> this week on "talk to al jazeera" we are highlighting some of our favourite interviews from 2013. among them n.b.a. legend charles barkley, known for speaking his mind. he weighed in on income and equality. >> every day people. >> america is the greatest place in the world, but there is a huge disconnect between the haves and the have notes. you are asking me about president obama. he is the first president since bill clinton, a democratic government, he tried to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. the gap between the rich and poor has gotten wider and wider and wider. as a guy on the - in the 1%, i don't want to forget about the

99%. they are working hard too. the one thing i hate about rich people, they think they work harder than poor people. they don't. >> you can watch the interview with religious scholar and congressman ron paul. ahead on al jazeera america - violent in a political boycott in bangladesh, where 19 died during a tense election day. >> it's not only the cold air that people are dealing with. in the north-east we are looking at freezing rain falling across pennsylvania and new york. details after this.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at the top stories this half hour: secretary of state john kerry says do not expect the u.s. to send troops back to iraq despite the increase in al qaeda-linked violence. militants have taken over two key cities in anbar province.

millions of americans are in the midst of cold weather. half the nation will see temperatures of zero degrees or less. a deep freeze after a snow storm that blanketed much of the country. >> south sudan peace talks have been pushed back to monday. the hold-up to do with negotiations releasing prisoners of the government and opposition. >> the voting is over in bangladesh, but the violence linked to elections is not. 19 people have been killed, and 300 precincts damaged, burned and closed. more than al jazeera's jonah hall. >> there are indications that there'll be no let up in the pressure applied to the government by the opposition, even as it walks away with victory from the one-sided election, even as it prepares to set up a new government, a new cabinet and try to carry on, the opposition announced another nation-wide strike to commence

monday morning, carrying on from the current 48 hour nationwide strike that has been held over the election period. the election period if precedent is anything to go by, the violence will continue at similar levels, and, of course, the economy will continue to hurt as it has done over the recent months of violence in the build-up to the election - an economy that has been growing well in recent years, but which has taken enormous damage, with millions of people risking falling back into poverty because they can't taken the political turmoil. that is the pressure center that will hurt the government most. because as much as the government will want to continue, as much as the government will want to claim some form of legitimacy from this election it will not be able to sustain a failing economy. that, it appears, is what the opposition will be aiming to achieve. at some point they'll have to reach an accommodation.

the government has indicated that it might be willing to go to early elections, but only on its terms and so far there is no sign of the opposition backing off. >> a deadlock is where the country is headed, with more of the same in the days to come. >> jonah hall reporting from bangladesh. >> now to india where 14 workers at least have been killed and many trapped when a half-built apartment building collapsed. it's the latest disaster to draw attention to safety standards amid a country-wide construction boom. >> the harrowing sound of concrete and metal ripped apart. the residential building that was under construction when it collapsed on saturday is hardly recognisable. rescue workers have little choice but to wait for a path to be cleared. while they wait authorities in charge are trying to figure out

how to move forward. >> after 5 o'clock we have been sitting. [ inaudible ] >> workers who escaped came back to find those who are still missing. mohammed naseem ran as fast as he could to get out of harm's way. he may be alive but he's lost his livelihood. >> translation: none of us will be able to work here any more. i don't know what will happen now. there's nothing left here for us. >> people who have invested their life savings in these properties are hoping that this is the wake-up call the government needs. sebleen bought this apartment in 2008. it was constructed by the same builder responsible for the structure that collapsed. >> i am not sure surprised it

happened at this magnitude, because it happened in the past. we invested so much in this flat, pent house is a dream for everyone to have, but i'm afraid to live here. my walls are hollow, it can collapse any moment. >> at the site of the accident sniffer dogs wait to be called in. a worker looks through gaps in the rubble for signs of life. >> this is the latest in a strij of building collapses in india. it will raise more questions about the state of the country's booming construction industry and place more pressure on the authorities to not only assess the safety of countless old and crumb bling structures, but new ones. >> russian oil tycoon is in switzerland, to take his sons to school. mikhail khordorkovsky will also

campaign for release of prisoners. he spent 10 years in gaol and said the charges from politically motivated. >> the u.k. continues to be hit by heavy storms with large areas of the country flooded. two people have been killed. the storms were the worst this that that country and predicted to continue for two days. emma hayward has more. >> there are still dozens of flood warnings in place for britain. not the type which mean there is a risk to life, but they say that flooding is expected in several areas. there is still a lot of water around, like this place here. and a lot of land we have seen is saturated. when we came here into tewkesbury we saw some people had to be rescued. they had gone out in a truck to recover a car and ended up becoming stuck and being rescued by the fire service. people should still be vigilant,

say the emergency services. a woman was telling me that she was watching how quickly the river was rising, because she had been flooded before. the rain has stopped. more is predicted. a lot of people will think about the coastal areas that took a battering and how well they can defend themselves if there's more bad weather. >> bad weather in ooup -- in europe in the u.s. >> you can't keep them away. due to the elements they are considered tough, games are played in the wind, rain, cold, snow, they always go on. that's the case today. green bay hosting the san francisco 49ers in a wildcard round of the playoffs in single-digit temperatures at lambeau field. it's nothing new for the nf l.

one of the sports famous games is memorable for the conditions and the outcome. the 1967 n.f.l. championship game, known as the icebowl. the field frozen due to temperatures of negative 13, and a windchill of minus 31, making it the coldest in n.f.l. history. >> some packer fans grabbed shovels to clean up the snoi after several inches fell in the area. it's a ritual of sorts going on for decades. packer fans will always be there to support the team. >> i love going to the game. i'm up for it. >> i'll have pockets full of hand warmers and many layers. >> layers and layers and layers and maybe coffee. >> looking forward to it. i hope it will be colder than 13 below so i can talk about it forever. >> that hope was not realised.

as a rule the n.f.l. does not have a weather policy relating to textures, hot or coal. the only time games have been delayed or rescheduled is due to severe weather, out of safety concerns. it doesn't mean that cold conditions can be dangerous. if you are below freezing a couple of hours can do you. you can get frost bite and then there's chill blinds. people don't realise what that is, but that is when you get cold and heat your body up quickly. when you do that the blood vessels contract, expand and it causes pain. it takes a couple of weeks for that to go away. thinking about the muscles and all these things that work. thing about it like putting a rubber band in the freezer. it gets stiff. think about the joints you have to deal with after you have a freezing weather. you have the thickness of the

fluid in the sin obviousium, which is the -- synoium, that can be thick. you can have asthma, your lungs get supercold and constrict and that causes problems. the blood vessels and the heart increases. there's increased risk of cardiac arrest. that's a problem with the players on the field, hopefully not the people in the stands. >> cold weather, nothing new for the n.f.l., dating back to the 1956 icebowl. kansas city had the third coldest, negative 6 with the chiefs, hotelling the af all right divisional fan. all the fans attending the came in green bay will receive free hand warmers, hot coffee and chocolate.

>> it wasn't a heatwave for the being else. philip rivers made good use of gloves connecting 12 of 15 passes. the defence took advantage of cincinnati's four turnovers. san diego win it extending the wind streak to five games. the win sends them to denver. denver broncos 13-3. the other game features the new england patriots hosting the colts at 8 o'clock. >> the university of texas hired a new head coach, charlie strong, former coach of a university team. he made is to fall ball games. >> a new head coach in texas. today marks the beginning of a car rally, a well-known off-road

race. it's been met with controversy as environmentalists and others say it causes too much pollution. it hits more than 400 cars, motorcycles and trucks. it ran from paris and now it runs from argentina to chile. >> another quick look at the weather because as we mentioned it's very, very cold out there. what is the latest? >> well, we told you about the airport delays we are seeing in detroit and chicago. we are dealing with delays across new york. that is j.f.k. as well as newark. look at the roof cam and you'll know why we are having delays. that is a shot at 34th street. i don't know what way that is looking. either way, we are looking at some significant low ceilings across the region. come on back to the wall. i'll show you in philadelphia, an hour and a half delay. if you come to the east coast,

there are problems. we are dealing with the colder temperature that will kick in. until then temperatures here have been coming up two hours ago. here in new york 34 degrees. now 35. the big problem is the ice storm warning. we are specking to get an i think to a quarter of an inch of ice on the roads. pennsylvania, new york, extending to parts of upper new england. here in new york watch what happens on a 5-day forecast. monday the high of 45. dropping down overnight low of seven with a high of 12 degrees. enjoy the warm rain. it will get worse. as we go for the rest of the week things will get better. here in the south, you are not exempt from the cold air. you'll see atlanta at 46 degrees. we have hard freeze warnings in

effect across most of the golf coast. anywhere from texas, across the panhandle of florida. these are the overnight lows we expect to see. birmingham, we'll see 23 for you - not wake up, as your high in the morning. atlanta at 27. orlando 68. overnight lows will be in the 50s. if you want nice weather, jonathan, i would say miami, 82. >> let's buy the tickets tonight. ahead - huge amount of solar power is hannesed in hawaii. sounds like a good thing, right. it's creating problems.

>> welcome back. in hawaii 10% of households have roof top solar panels to generate electricity. solar is good for the environment and in hawaii it's good for the pocket book. the solar surge is causing problems. jennifer london is in honolulu for us. what is going on there? >> they call it growing pains, too much of a good thing. there has been a solar stampede in hawaii with, as you said, 10% of all homes having roof-top solar systems installed to generate electricity. that is high when you compare it to 2-3% in california. no one is arguing whether it's a good thing, but here it's too much too fast. drive down any street in and around honolulu, you'll see solar panels on almost every roof top.

with an average of 270 sunny days and the most expensive thrifty rates, 3-times the national average, it's easy to guess why. the sun is an inexhaustible resource. hawaii answered the call leading the nation to go green. >> we paid $350,000 panels. >> the panels were supposed to reduce the $250 per month bill to $50. but they are in limbo, sitting doing nothing. >> the rate of installations was so large and fast. william walker's system cannot be hooked up to the grid and he's angry at hawaiian electric. >> their response is you are on a saturated circuit.

if we have an upgrade tore conduct studies, that'll be at a cost to you. >> the utility says the state solar boom is overloading the utility grid. i. >> you can't sacrifice reliability so a customer can get a roof top solar and not pay their bill. >> solar installations have doubled every year, leaving the utility unprepared for the shift. many see the policy of not connecting new systems as a dark cloud over hawaii's move towards green energy. >> it's not just about my house and panels this is a bigger issue. >> this leading distributor agrees. he's not just worried about business dropping off, but

hawaii's leadership in alternative power. we have more solar water heaters per cap ita. and the same with photovol quayics. here is an example of heading to sustainability, where we need to most, and if it doesn't work in hawaii, it ain't going to work anywhere. >> henry curtis is an energy expert and says hawaii electric is facing bigger problems if home owners decide to hook up unauthorised systems on their own, as this can be dangerous for an already over-loaded grid. >> the problem that the utility is facing is that if they refuse to connect the systems, some of the home owners will do it anyway. they are called rogue systems. it's a national problem but is big here. it will be increasing. >> with a state mandate that 70% of hawaii's energy comes from

renewable sources, it will heed up as home owners wait for the utility company to catch up. >> hawaiian electric says it is working hard to catch up and come up with a solution, a fix and hopes to have something in place in the spring, but they have to do studies and upgrades. >> other parts of company saw an uptake in solar, none to the extent that is happening in hawaii. >> a majestic bird is getting attention in chicago. ashar quraishi explains why an owl usually heading south is staying here for the winter. >> it's a bone-chillingly cold morning on chicago's lake shore. nature photographer here, is trying to snap a photo of the

snowy owl. >> they are the largest owl in north america. they are amazing. beautiful to watch. beautiful to spend time with. >> with its bright yellow eyes, black beak and puffy white plumage it has a distinct appearance. >> it gained not rity as hedwig in the horry potter's series, seen here in "the sorcerer's stone." fascination is owls have been seen as a spiritual creature, a wise owl. everyone wants to experience that. >> as the arctic nomad appears in harbours around chicago. birdwatchers braved the elements to catch a glimpse. >> the predator feeds on lemings, rodents and birds. they can hone in on pray under heavy vegetation and snow. food may explain why the owls

migrate this far south. >> sometimes there are boom and bust cycles. we think they have a lot of chicks because food sources are available. after that the adults may push the juveniles out of the breathing territory and they move south, looking for food and moving outside of the territory. >> one resource that helps to track the sightings is e-bird. developed at kornel university, it provide real-time information on where the owls are and where they are going. >> the first ones arrived in mid-november. because of the internet and how bird get reported online now, we knew to expect them. people were out looking for snowy owls before they showed up because they were seep in other areas nearby. >> experts say snowy owl numbers will increase, giving birders n opportunity to see them from

february until march. >> if electronic tacking in the bitter cold is not appealing - there's always the zoo. >> still ahead on al jazeera america - they are requesting asylum in italy whilst waiting. migrants living out a dream. >> plus, it may send a chill down the spine. people are braving the cold to see a glimpse of this icy wonder land.

>> the italian nv yea said it res -- navy said it rescued more than 1,000 migrants trying to reach europe. while the asylum seekers await their fate. few bridge the divide by soccer. >> it's a day of celebration in an asylum seeker center. the first sunday of the year is like new year's day. to the other group of migrants every sunday is special. they were the first-ever professional team made of asylum seekers, to play in an italian

junior football league. hailed as an example of integration, they say it's a way of winning freedom. >> i'm happy when i play here. i am so happy and proud of myself. >> it's my dream, i wanted it to come true. when i'm in nigeria, i play. >> they are 22 of the 4,000 migrants waiting to learn their fate in this former american military residence in sicily turned into asylum seeking center. >> conditions are seemingly better than other overcrowded centres around italy. discontent is rife. they are supposed to send a maximum 35 places, but some told us they've been here for as long as one year and don't know when they'll leave or where they'll

go next. >> the director of the center says real integration is impossible if migrants cannot move on. >> translation: they should speed up the asylum seeking programs so the migrants can leave the the longer they stay, the harder it's on all of us. >> the football team is a winner. refugees know being granted asylum is a different ball game. >> each year millions brave subzero textures to gawk at china's frosty wonderland. as rob mcbride reports the visit juniors increase. >> putting the finishing touches to the collection. for local sculptures the fame of the festival in the northern chinese city means competition from overseas is getting

tougher. >> the standard has been improving a lot. people have been using more sophisticated tools. >> growing steadily since it began at the turn of the century, the last few years have seen the festival boom with 25% growth. as the economy grows, people have more money to travel. >> after dark the festival comes to life and the agrees in visitor numbers is apparent. despite night of time temperatures of minus 25 and below. >> having planned and saved, civil servant and his wife are bringing their 5-year-old daughter here for the first time. it's their only holiday this year from their province in northern china, but they are planning next year. >> we want to go to tibet. >> after that we want to go abroad.

>> with high expectations of growing wealth and other social reforms like suspiciously relaxation of the one-child policy, from the middle income perspective china in 2014 is looking rosy. >> cool to look at. across the world in madrid, an annual parade to celebrate the three wise men who are said to have visited the newborn jesus. this year there were strict rules for participants, madrid forbidding them to throw candy to the onlookers. a 6-year-old was killed while chasing candy thrown on to the streets. >> sea food can be expensive. imagine spending tens of thousands on the fish. that happened at the first tuna auction. 507 pound blue pin tuna went for a whopping $70,000.

that better be quite a fish male. that's our show. i'll be back with more later. >> you're watching al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the top stories. secretary of state john kerry says do not expect the u.s. to send more troops to iraq despite the increase in al qaeda-linked violence. they have taken over two key cities in anbar province. >> millions of americans are in the midst of the coldest weather in temperatures. half the nation will see zero degrees or west. a snow storm blanketed much of the country. >> in aspen colorado a business jet crashed. one killed, another seriously hurt. the jet was arriving from tuscon when it