check s >> small signs of hope at the syrian peace talks in geneva. both sides agree to allow women and children to leave the hard-hit city of homs. >> unrest is spreading in ukraine. despite concessions from the president, protesters are taking to the streets in a growing number of cities. >> police have identified the gunman in a maryland shooting. what is unclear is why he shot and killed two young people. >> out of work american suffering without long-term employment. why republicans and democrats are not getting together to fix

the problem. >> hi there. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton. good to have you with us. >> there are small signs of progress coming out of syrian peace talks. both sides have agreed to allow women and children to leave the city of homs. it's a relief for hundreds of families starved in the third-largest city. the brutal civil war has taken a steep toll. >> most of homs no longer exists. >> for two years it's been pounded by bombs. morta mortars, art ill ris. the assad regime tried to crush this city that was the center of the revolt against his rule - from the ground and from the

air. almost every day the terrifying sound of jets. and the horrifying inevitable plume of smoke rising above a neighbourhood. the city's population was a million. more than half the houses today have been destroyed. residents forced to eat greens picked off the side of the road. >> those greens are the only sus tinnens for 22-year-old resident and activist. he spoke to us via skype from the homs country side. >> this is what we eat. it's been 11 months, a year. >> he says he has no fresh food, electricity, no water. and just 20 minutes into a conversation, the first distant rumble of war. and then less than a mile away on the hill above him...

it ..we stay with him as he shows us rocket strikes on a neighbourhood controlled by the opposition. these strikes happened so often he barely sleeps. >> in geneva, 200,000 miles away saving homs was the main subject of peace talks. >> homs has suffered a lot from a long siege >> the syrian opposition pressured the government to stop its homs blockade. the government responded by blaming the rebels. >> they are the ones who are kidnapping, would are shooting at the humanitarian assistance. >> after shuttle diplomacy the u.n. convinced the regime to relieve some of the homs' suffering. >> what we have been told by the government side is that women and children in these besieged area in the old city welcome to

leave immediately. men, for now, are stuck. we asked this man whether he still loved syria. "i love everything about syria, but the war and the tools of injustice from the army and the leadership have destroyed syria", he said. he wants to stay in homs. 20 minutes after the first attack the bombings started again. >> and the u.n. says it hopes to have food, water and medicine in homs as soon as possible. when and how it gets there depends on the government lifting its blockade around the city. >> the u.s. military says it carried out an air strike against a militant leader in somalia. the target was a senior leader affiliated with al qaeda and al-shabab. officials have not confirmed whether the target was killed. the strike involved missiles, no

american troops were on the ground. they have launched several strikes against al-shabab in recent months. they were behind the mall attack last year. >> the egyptian country will announce elections before the vote for parliament. 49 were killed in clashes between supporters of the interim government and those loyal to the ousted president mohamed morsi. this marks the third anniversary of the arab spring uprising. >> protests in ukraine after rejection of suggestions by the president. protesters took time to remember one of their own. >> there wasn't enough space in kiev's st. michael's cathedral for the funeral of a man called a hero. he was killed in clashes with police on wednesday. one of the first fatalities.

anti-government protesters cleaned up a government building. this used to be a museum to communist leader vladimir lenin. in independence square the game has changed much the president is listening. opposition related his offer to share power. they think they can get more. >> there has been a lot of process in twoing weeks. after protests spread around the country, he was ready to come to the bargaining table. they have people on their side. >> including ukrainian mothers, who came to the capital to show their support for change. >> translation: we want him to resign so we can live towards europe and have decent salaries and live happy like the rest of the world. >> the people heeded opposition calls to come out.

they did even in the country's east, a presidential strong hold. they are facing resistance from government supporters. in independence square there is a shrine. ukrainians stopped to reflect on the cost paid and pray for a peaceful outcome. >> late sunday night opposition supporters took control of an important government building, the justice ministerry headquarters in kiev. back at home police found the journal of the maryland shopping mall gunman. it shows that he was unhappy, but not why darion marcus aguilar killed two people or if he knew them. investigators are trying to figure out his motive for murder. >> police say 19-year-old darion marcus aguilar took a cab to this shopping mall, was dropped off at 10:15am and was heavily armed with a shotgun, ammunition and backpack filled with home

made ex-cleasives. an hour later he entered a skateboard shop and opened fire on two people, killing both before turning the gun on himself. police are trying to understand why darion marcus aguilar took the lives of brianna benlolo and taylor johnson. both worked at zumiez, the state shop. >> we have not been able to verify a relationship at this point between him and either of our victims, we can't establish there is one or there's not one. it is an open question. >> not much is known about the victims or the shooters on what appears to be the facebook page. one of the victims brianna benlolo says she's a mum and assistant manager at the store. five others were insured at the mall. only one was shot. they have all been released from hospital while police were searching for answers. a memorial page has been posted for both victims. >> investigators say darion

marcus aguilar had no previous run-ins with the law and the shotgun used in the attack was bought legally. >> we have a cold monday ahead. it will get closer furtherer south and east as we get into the week. we started with the arctic air blasting into the mid west, overnight on or monday we are getting temperatures dropping to quickly. windchill factors are down to 50 degrees below zero. the actual low temperatures for you will be 25 degrees below zero. you can imagine what the wind chills will be light. it will take the heat out of your skin. it brings frost bite and hypothermia. we expect denver to start at 10

degrees. to the west upper 40s to the upper 30s, and rain on the way. the beginning of the work week we see a system move op shore in the way of rainfall to the west side. >> as we get into the mid west we'll take about the cold. that will advance further to the south, south-east. temperatures today - 53, because that cold air is going to sag south. it's been bringing blasts of snow around the great lakes this morning. it looks like the know will be an the east side of the rockies. >> only about one to four inches overall for the snow totals. but as we get to tuesday wednesday our big concern is the south-east. it is always warm. we don't get freezes, and getting t

getting the temperatures in addition to when we get rain fall. it will be icy. further north looks like snow in southern states. it's tuesday and went. >> still ahead tonight the battle over a pregnant brain dead woman comes to an end. an agonising fight to take her off life support. the trial of new orleans's former mayor during hurricane katrina is set to begin. what residents in the big easy have to say. the pope's call for peace is marred by an unusual act of violence.

>> welcome ball. a 2-month battle in texas over the life of a pregnant brain dead mother came to an end this weekend. it concludes an emotional debate over whether mothers should be

kept alive to save her unborn child. >> gone are the cameras and the lawyers fighting to keep marlise munoz on life support. after doctors declared her brain dead. this morning john peter smith hospital took marlise munoz off life support and released her body to her husband erick munoz. erick munoz didn't wish to speak to the media. his attorneys issued a statement saying the munoz family will lay marlise munoz to death and grieve over the lose. on friday a judge ruled jps hospital in fort worth texas had until tomorrow to remove marlise munoz from life support, which the family said she would have wanted. the family wanted the machines turned off the by texas law the hospital couldn't do ta because

she was pregnant. it gendered a great deal of attention on both sides of the debate. activists were outside the hospital much. >> we are disheartened that the hospital pulled the plug on a 22-week old baby. >> jps issued a statement saying the hospital's role was not to make or contest the law. erick munoz is focussing on the new changes of being alone as he raises their young son, who is a little over a year old. >> i walk in the door, and he's waiting for mum to show up somewhere. that's the hardest. >> people close to the family say they must find the strength to complete a long and arduous journey. >> the fort worth hospital had until 5:00 pm monday to remove life support. officials announced sunday morning they would comply with the order.

thousands of people are living in cold homes after a natural gas pipeline explosion cut off the heating source the the fireball shot hundreds of feet into the air, and was caught on camera. it happened early saturday morning. 40 miles south of winnepeg. officials shut off the gas. despite below-zero temperatures they could feel the heat from the fire. >> health officials are trying to determine what sickened hundreds of passengers. the ship set sail from new jersey on tuesday. >> it was a terrible experience. i have been on the boat before, and we had an amazing time. this time it's been awful. >> about 300 passengers and crew have been suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms. the ship is said to return home

early from its 10-day cruise and will be back in new jersey on wednesday. >> former new orleans mayor ray nagin became a familiar face during hurricane katrina. now he's facing bribery charges in exchange for taking money. his trial gets underway on monday in new orleans. ben has a bre view. >> within a few days after hurricane katrina it seemed the world new of new orleans mayor, ray nagin. >> he had a shining moment. he said mr president. get your arse downhill. he was criticised for the decision. >> on trial for corruption the mayor was ready to put his fate in the hands of a jury. >> a lot of people did not feel that the rebuilding was going as ex-bed issuesly or as smoothly

has they liked. it was a difficult process. >> with the city in shambles, ray nagin shifted his reelection approach, making a speech calling to new orleans to return to a chocolate city. >> what he did in 2006 was play the race card. the issue was about the right to return. that resonated with african-americans who had been displaced. >> the people liked the direction we were going in. by 2011 six people with city contracts had been convicted or plead guilty to corruption charges involving the former mayor. the corruption took hold. it might have had its roots in the first four years, but took hold in the second four years when the money came in and shady contractors came around and sleazed up to him. >> you have the ability to let contracts for the city, and for

a certain fee i'll give you this contract. >> a federal grand jury indicted ray nagin on 21 corruption charges. he was charged with taking money from contractors. >> what ray nagin will have to do during the trial is convince 12 jurors that roughly half-a-dozen of his former friends are lying to help themselves. >> it may be tough in a town where wounds have not heeled. >> you are tired of looking at ray nagin. people are tired of him, and don't want him to fade away, but pay for what he did. >> if they don't fade away it won't be in dollars, it will be in years and months of prison. >> the trial gets underway monday. he is accused of taking cash

bribes. the list includes trips to new york, chicago, los angeles, hawaii, and jamaica. >> an eruption at italy's mt etna slowed. streams of hot lava pureed from mt etna. officials closed of the airport in the surrounding airspace was a precaution. the earth was shaking, but etna was no longer spewing lava. pope francis gave a speech at the vatican calling for change. two doves that were released above the crowd were attacked by a seagull and a crow. one broke free, but the crow pecked at the other dove before it escaped. the fate of the doves was not clear after they flew away. >> how congressional inaccess is impacting millions of out of

work americans. >> the cost of mailing a letter is set to increase. how much more you'll pay for the next stamp. >> the bronxos and the seahawks touch down in new jersey. the players staying ahead of the super bowl.

>> they are here. the denver broncos and seattle seahawks landed in new jersey as they prem for super bowl 48. the seahawks landed, but their 12th man flag that represented the fans was stuck on the plane and ripped a hole in the flag. the seahawks franchise making a second appearance in the super bowl. none of the current players had experience. denver got in before seattle. all eyes on peyton manning looking to capture the second

super bowl title. both teams practice in new jersey, and new york city. coincidence, i think not. because let's face it, a championship is on the line. >> we are focused on winning the football game, we'll do everything we can to play a great football team and denver broncos. so we had a great deal of practice, we are looking forward to being here in new jersey and new york. >> i still enjoyed the preparation part of it. the work part of it. everybody enjoys the games and are excited to play the super bowl. we can still enjoy the preparation and the work part of it. i think you probably still ought to be doing that. >> surf's up in hawaii, a high of 80 degrees in the state. they tried to spice things up. dion sanders and jerry rice picked the teams.

team-mates were going against each other. check out jj watt getting into the spirit. he comes up with the best celebration. standing up to catch the big wave. in the fourth the game tied. team rice rallies back to win 22-21. now, the weather was a bit cooler in new york. with the super bowl a week away the n.h.l. was taking advantage of the spotlight by kicking off the stadium series. the kings hit the ice saturday and on sunday the new york rangers and new jersey devils iced it up. the game delayed for 90 minutes because of the glare on the ice caused by the sun. once the glare went away the rang rangersi rangersion. 50,000 fans braved the

conditions. it will be chilly on wednesday. they'll have another stadium game at yankee stadium between rangers and islanders. >> i'm ross shimabuku, that's a look at your sport for the hour. >> not the news you want to hear, but it will cost you more to mail a letter. the price of a stamp is going up $0.03 starting monday. you are paying $0.46 and it will go up to $0.49. it's the highest increase in a decade. the postal service that loft $5 billion is considering ending saturday delivers as well. >> all indications are the president and republicans are set to clash over the debt ceiling. the next deadline is the first week of february, when the trillion debt would hit the limit and the government would essentially be unable to pay its bills. >> mitch mcconnell said there

would be no deal unless something major was given up. president obama said that is not likely to happen. remember when the government shutdown for 17 days because the two sides could not agree. >> an estimated $1.6 million out of work americans have been going out benefits. there has been calls for congress to do something, anything. as reported, republicans say fixing the problem is not a priority. >> when this woman lost her job six months ago she had to move in with her sister whilst she searched for work. it was manageable because the u.s. government paid her an allowance to cover some expenses. in december her unemployment insurance check stopped. congress couldn't - went on vacation, on a recess and while they are enjoying their lives the american people are suffering. despite some of the worst long-term unemployment numbers in a half century the u.s.

congress let benefits for the long-term unemployed run out. for years they were automatically renewed until december. mckinley took her frustration to u.s. lawmakers to let them know millions of unemployed americans believe congress's failure to extend the benefits was morally wrong. shame on them. shame on them. >> on this day only the democrats seemed to be listening to the message. >> in a way i'm sad. we should not be at a press conference. we should be on the floor of the house voting to extend unemployment compensation. >> republicans in the house of representatives say they have no plans to draft legislation to extend unemployment insurance. they can support the benefits, but it needs to be accompanied by a plan to pay for it.

mckinley and over supporters delivered half a million signatures to the top republicans in congress to press them to work with the opposition democrats towards a solution. >> we are here on behalf of voters and here to deliver petitions that the leaders of congress need to see. >> on that day none of the republican leaders was willing to speak with her. 4 million americans have been out of work for more than six months and mckinley is convinced the politicians have no idea of their suffering. we'll see turmoil on our own streets. when we send troops to keep peace, we better bring them back. they'll be needed here. that's the desperation level. >> it's a level of desperation she expects will get worse and congressional politicians bickered over whether the

country employed a program that americans could count on. >> once again an estimated 1.6 million americans affected. that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ hello, i am richard and you are at the listening post. this week turkey's prime minister accuses the media inspiring against his democratic elected. but they say he is just blowing spoke. a number of reporters have signed up with the obama administration. three more journalists are murdered in pakistan and the taliban sa