night live" >> hello from the aljazeera news cr endo has. this is the news hour with today's top stories. >> syrian refugees grow as russia and u.s. search for a solution in geneva. >> egypt's military head meets russian leadiers as putin talks about the presidential elections. >> severe weather continues to hit large parts of britain with

hurricane force winds bringing chaos to the northwest of the country. >> plus. >> if parents come and ask do you want to live or die, what kind of question crosses the child's mind. >> an emotional debate in belgium as parliament gets ready to vote on whether sick children should have the right to die. >> in the next half hour, the united states and russia will attempt to break the stalemate in the syria peace talks in geneva. russian and u.s. delegates are due to sit down with the u.n. arab league and attempt to get an agreement on the way forward for both sides. inside sir yes, there's no end that the violence. in aleppo, government helicopters reportedly dropped several barrel bombs on thursday and the lebanese border is a ghost town, according to

activists. that's after heavy fighting on wednesday. the violence forced more people to flee, many to the lebanese town on the border with syria. stephanie is there and james bays following diplomat i can events in geneva. the refugees have been heading to the town, tell us what it is that you've seen. i suppose it's very emotional for them. >> it's incredibly emotional. the people we've been speaking to today are still arriving. they started arriving through the morning, throughout the day. there's been a steady increase because of what seems to be the government trying to choke this town. people desperate, we speak to them and they, many people actually broke into tears and said we've had to move three, four times inside syria. they arrive with their trucks with what they have left or come

can cans of olives, blankets. i mean, and i think it's very difficult for them to try to hold on to their dignity, certainly that's what they've been conveying to us. it really is difficult to see. they have nowhere left to go. they're reliant on handouts. you see people from all walks of life here. a family arrived looks like a mid class family, a man in a blazer and he just looked at us and said we've got a bit angry because we're trying to film. he said i don't want to shout to you, but i've had to do this four times and it gives you a sense of desperation, helplessness. these people have absolutely nothing left. >> i'm sure those there are desperate for those in geneva to try to end this fighting. let's talk to james bays. i should imagine all eyes now on that meeting with the russians and the u.s. expected to start in a half hour. >> the meeting will be start

about now. i've just come back from one of the entrances to this building and there, just before the top of the hour, we saw wendy sherman, the assistant secretary of state and deputy foreign minister arrive here. sitting around the table with the man with the task of chairing these talks in the second session, talks making no progress and talks where the two sides seem further apart than they have at any stage during this process. during all this process, as you heard from stephanie on the ground, the violence is just intense filing. they may be talking piece but actually on the ground, the fighting is getting worse. very hard task. i think what they're hoping might come from this is the russians have some sway over the government, some sway, the opposition have in some way, the u.s. have some sway over them. they're hoping that those two big players coming here will

bang some heads together and force people who actually engage in negotiations, because that's not happened yet. >> james, what about the u.n., quite a few sessions happening there, closed door sessions, as well, what's the plan for that today? >> well, with regard to the united nations here and in geneva and new york, a lot of people talking about the possibility of a security council resolution. we've had all sorts of figures from western nations, including president obama say that there needs to be a humanitarian resolution to try to get access to places like the old city of homs, other besieged communities, try to get aid, medical supply to say parts of syria that are effectively cut off. the problem is this, western nations have come up with a number of drafts of the resolution, russia has said we're not voting for that. how to, we've got the russians. they've come up with their own rival draft. that sounds like a really bad state of affairs but i'm told at least russia is coming up with

texts, and maybe it's possible that the western text and a bit of the russian text in a compromise meeting they could come up with a resolution including a bit of something. i don't think they hope for any resolution this week. it will be next week at the very earliest if they come up with a deal and it's not clear whether they will be able to do that. >> james bays, thank you. >> afghanistan has released 65 prisoners despite condemnation from the united states. the u.s. says the men are suspected of being responsible for the deaths of civilians and coalition troops, but the afghan authorities insist they don't have enough evidence against them. james ferguson reports. >> the karzai government has insisted for weeks it will release dozenles of prisoners from bag ram guys. >> we could not find evidence to prove the 65 people are

criminals. according to afghan law, there was no reason to keep them in the prison. >> the prison on the base was set up and run by the u.s. military but handed over to the afghan government last year. president ham arizona has called it a taliban taking factory. >> the u.s. says the men of dangerous tag ban fighters responsible for civilian and military casualties. >> the individuals are dangerous. they pose threat to safety and security of the afghan people and the afghan state, which is what i would say in terms of the stress they pose, there is information linking each of them to terror related crimes

including the use of improvised explosive devices which again to turn it around for the u.s. are the largest killer of afghan civilians. >> none were tried in court. a review board set up by hamid karzai said there was not enough evidence to hold them. this is the latest spat between the president and karzai who refused to sign a security pact allowing the u.s. military to stay in the country after 2014. once allies, relations between washington and kabul stumble from one argument to another. jane ferguson, aljazeera. >> afghanistan's president hamid karzai has just commented on the prisoner release, saying he wants the u.s. to allow afghanistan to act without interference. >> afghanistan is a sovereign country. if the afghan judicial authorities decide to release a

prisoner, it is of no concern to the u.s. and should be of no concern to the u.s. i hope that the united states will stop harassing afghanistan's procedures and judicial authority and i hope that the united states will now begin to respect afghan sovereignty. >> our state democratic correspondent joins us now from washington, d.c. the u.s. are not taking this too well, are they? >> there hasn't been an official reaction to this, but there's been a lot of what we call in washington prereaction, a lot of concern and a lot of condemnation both from the u.s. state democratic and pentagon saying the release of these 65 men would pose a security threat to coalition and to afghan security forces, as well as to afghan citizens. now, this is a situation where we just heard the president

hamid karzai talking about the respect for afghan sovereignty. u.s. officials have been insisting in recent days that the memorandum of understanding between coalition forces and the afghan government said that people picked up on the battle field and accused of crimes needed to be tried in the afghan judiciary system. the u.s. is in particular insisting that it didn't pick up people just for the sake of picking them up. they say that there is evidence that should have put these men before some sort of afghan court in order to be prosecuted and then convicted, and not just held in detention as they had been for sometime. >> so what do you think karzai is trying to achieve here? >> well, i'm not amind-reader, jane, but i think there is a lot of domestic political considerations behind karzai's decision to move ahead with this release. he is very interested, according

to people on the ground in trying to enhance his political legacy in having a, and it certainly does not hurt his political standing in the final month of his presidency to be seen at standing up to washington, to not just doing what the americans want him to do. in essence, trying to shake off this image of being washington's puppet. >> all right, rosalyn, jordan, thank you. >> the armed grube al shabab claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in somalia, targets a u.n. convoy in mogadishu, exploding at the entrance of the international airport. six were killed. >> in an interview earlier this month, a spokesman for ago shabab told us the group was plan to go target the government. >> regardless of where they are,

or what they do for them, we will target them, fight them and kill them wherever we meet them. >> there's more ahead on the news hour, including: >> today the government leaders assembled here will sign the declaration. >> a global promise to save the world's most endangered wildlife. >> day six of competition at the winter olympic and big air equals big scores in the men's slopestyle. we'll have the latest on medals coming up in sports. severe weather conditions continue to cause chaos across large parts of britain. for more, let's join our london broadcast center. >> that's right, jane. one man has died, and more than 100,000 people are without power after storms and high winds battered britain. the severe weather brought more

misery to already flooded areas and caused widespread traffic chaos. simon mcgregor wood has more. >> another day dawns over the river thames. here in the town of steimes the live is swollen to bursting point, the speed of the water boosted by rainfall. a few hundred meters down river, businesses face ruin from flooding. the streets have been underwater for days, impassable to most vehicles. this family is the first time out of their home in days. >> no one could have predicted it was going to be like this and with the weather coming in waves, the storms keep coming, it's just one of those things you can't do anything about. obviously, we were saying yesterday when we were walking out, it's like being in a disaster movie of your observe. >> we just have to ride it out, unfortunately, it could take weeks. >> even areas of town further away from the river are flooding. this is caused by ground water, bubbling up from below the

streets. in the center of town, the sheer volume of water is overwhelming the drainage system. >> as you can see, so far, these houses have escaped the worst of this flooding. on thursday, there is a brief respite in the weather and not for long. forecasters say in the next few days, stormy weather will come through, bringing with it a month's worth of rain. >> other parts of england are recovering from yet another storm, wednesday night, hurricane force winds were recorded, battering the coast of wales in towns and industries across the north of the country. back in steimes they're bracing for the next band of rain, trying to keep everyone as dry as possible. the floodwater has brought new visitors to the neighborhood in some places. even earlier than forecast, the taste of things to come, yet more rain starts to fall. simon mcgregor with aljazeera in the town of steimes.

>> we are joined in southern england. we've seen huge parts of the u.k. transformed by these floods. how are people dealing with it? >> well, here they are just trying to deal with it. we've seen a man go up the street probably to check on his property. now the sun is shining here. the rain hasn't been falling for the last couple of hours and that has brought respite for the emergency services, who are trying to operate here, but this is just an ordinary residential street here in and there is still a case of water, water everywhere that. the water levels have dropped in the last few hours. we've seen them actually go down, but a few hours ago, we met a couple to go back to their house further first time since the floods forced them out early they are week. the ground in their house is actually relatively dry considering when they left there was probably about that much water in it, but they were very

relieved when they were able to turn the lights on. this is just a few streets away, but tens of thousands of homes in britain are still without power after that huge storm which caused such a lot of damage on wednesday night. winds of around 170 kilometers an hour battering parts of the north coast of wales and up north really, really terrible storms, which have really caused a lot of damage to things like the realm, trains canceled, power lines down. this storm, the sun may be out, but it's still cause ago lot of problems here. >> it is absolutely unprecedented. how long is this likely to go on for? what's expected in the coming days? >> well, the sun is shining, but there is more bad weather forecast, and that will have a big impact on places where the ground water has come up because there is really nowhere for this water to go, and in places like summer set which have been

underwater, parts underwater for weeks, if there's more rain, the rain literally has nowhere to go. again, in a few days time, we may see further and further impact of this bad weather system when the water starts to come down the mountains, so the misery isn't over yet. >> from southern england, thank you. >> belgium will vote on whether to allow assisted suicide to children. it is limited now to people at least 18 years old. we report from brussels. >> a small but vocal minority has been fight ago losing battle against the plans to extend euthanasia to children. they say belgium is leaping over a moral cliff. must not probability testers, we found a father who has paid a harrowing price for standing by

his convictions. he still has pictures on his phone of the son he watched dying from a brain tumor. tristan loved playing the piano, loved the sound of waves on the sesea shore. the cancer took his ability to see, walk and then he died. he died at home with his family. his father's last words to him, tristan, it's time to go. >> i would never have tolerate add doctor coming to ask if we wanted euthanasia for our child. i would never have accepted. if parents ask if you want to live or die what kind of question crosses the child's mind? would it please my parents if i die, would it be for their good or mine? >> there's no doubt the lower house of parliament will has the legislation, polls reveal 80% of

the population support it. >> a child's request would have to be approved by the medical team and child's parents. the child must understand what it means. the supporting legislation describe it as the ultimate gesture of humanity, those opposed say it's insanity. >> the university hospital in brussels is one of the world's leading centers for childhood cancer. it's here the first case may be carried out on a child. under the present law, patients have to be 18 before they can ask to die. >> as a doctor, you prefer not to be asked the question. even if it's legal, it's still difficult to carry out. certainly minors are in institutions all the time with other minors that have the same condition and they've seen several minors with their condition die in a horrifying way. they get scared and they ask you

doctor, don't let me go this way. >> to be or not to be. is that a question that can ever be asked of a child? it seems it will be in belgium. aljazeera, brussels. >> euthanasia is already legal in some countries, but under riggedly fixed terms. for example, a doctor ending someone's life with their consent is legal in belgium, the netherlands and luxembourg. what's known as assisted suicide, helping somebody end their life is legal in switzerland and assisted dying helping somebody to end their own life is legal in three u.s. states, oregon, washington and vermont. david chase joins us from brussels where that debate is taking place. david. >> yes, the m.p.'s in the lower chamber of parliament are due to make the vote in about two hours' time, fit passes, it will

be signed by the king of belgium in april. to get opinions here in the parliament we have i've got with me a senator from the upper house who already passed this legislation handed back down to the lower house. senator, we've heard a lot about this, it's a very controversial issue, mostly outside of belgium rather than inside it. do you think you can ever ask a child, knowing what it means to end its life, will a child ever know what that means? >> talking about minors who are completely capable of make that go choice, there's a psychiatrist who has a make an analysis if the minor is truly capable of making that choice and he or she understands the situation, he or she is in, and really has discernment if what's the difference between life and death, knows his medical situation. the parents have to agree, the medical team has to agree.

there are also two doctors who have to agree. it's not that. it's a very hard question, but it's a question that i think is very important, because it's about the most difficult part of life, the end of life. we're talking about minors who were mentally much more grown up than their physical age. >> many people say this legislation is actually coming as a cover for doctors here who are frankly already practicing euthanasia. what do you say to that? >> well, it's certainly that there is a medical practice not only in belgium, but outside of belgium, how doctors cope with the fact that there are patients who have incurable diseases and there is a medical practice today of euthanasia and of ending of life of minors who are confronted with terminal diseases. it's very important that we do

have a legal framework for those doctors who are confronted with that question today. >> senator, thank you very much for talking to aljazeera and now we expect that vote in the next two hours and belgium will become the first country in europe to abolish the age limit for euthanasia. >> thank you so much. that's all from london for now. more coming up later. let's get back to jane in doha. >> the head of egyptian's military is in moscow to strengthen ties are russia, seen as part of his campaign for the egyptian presidency, although he hasn't declared himself as a candidate yet. the high profile visit takes place amid reports of a $2 billion arms deal with russia. during the visit, president putin appeared to support him running in upcoming elections. >>

we are joined live from chicago, thank you very much for joining us. how important is this trip, do you think? >> i think it's very important, because it denotes the changing strategic, a lot of regimes in the middle east i think are worried about united states failed involvement in libya and syria. the two countries have imploded because of the arab spring. the egyptians are quite worried about not receiving enough backing from the united states, which they accuse of having been too cozy with the muslim brotherhood government. >> excuse me, jumping in here. can we assume saudi arabia is behind this move?

>> i don't think we can. i think saudi arabia doesn't have this intention. i believe they are only interested in being friendly with egyptian military, which of course has historic reasons and that is if push comes to shove and there's any kind of military confrontation with iran, saudi arabia can rely on the egyptian military, the largest army in the middle east. >> we all see the changing course of egypt. what do you think this says about sisi and his aspirations and do you think he's molding himself on the former president? >> in a way yes and no. i think he understands the egyptian acceptability of military leadership, which of course goes back to the record of mr. masor. the egyptian public have clung

on to sisi. the world has changed. it's not the cold war, it's not playing russia against the u.s. anymore. i think this candidate, mr. sisi, who of course will be a candidate is showing his independence from the united states, from the western powers, because he hasn't received much support. he hasn't really received much support from western powers so far. >> if this is reshaping russias releases with the rest of the arab world, how do you think those in the u.s. will be viewing this? >> i'm sure they'll be alarmed because of course of russia's role in syria, but also you have to recognize that perhaps the united states understands russia isn't that adventurous like the soviet union. this is not the cold war. by the way, as long as egypt adheres to the camp david agreement, i think united states will be quiet and will accept it.

>> all right, good to get your views on this. >> the trial of three aljazeera english journalists detained in egypt is due to begin february 20. they are part of a group of 20 people charged in this case, accused of having links to say a terrorist organization. it's now been 47 days since our staff were detained. the authorities took them on december 29, among the accusations against them is having ties to the muslim brotherhood which egypt declared a terrorist organization. another from our sister channel has been in custody since july. aljazeera rejects all charges and continues to demand the unconditional release of its staff. >> still to come, taking back their towns, the mexican

vigilantes taking back their towns. >> the hockey town that produces more medalists than any other. al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al

al jazeera america. we open up your world. >> here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. >> our shows explore the issues that shape our lives. >> new questions are raised about the american intervention. >> from unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it. >> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt

only on al jazeera america >> you're watching aljazeera, here's a reminder of the top stories. heavy fighting in the western syrian town has forced hundreds of families to flee. the united states and russia restart negotiations at the peace talks in geneva. >>ed head of egypt's military sisi is in talks with russia. president putin appeared to support sisi running in upcoming elections. afghanistan released 75 prisoners despite condemnation from the united states. president karzai said the u.s. should stop interfering in afghanistan's affairs. >> police used water cannons against protestors, thousands

demonstrating against a bill tightening the internet in turkey. there were protests last summer. turkey has passed a law giving more power to the military. some say it is covering up a major scandal. >> members of parliament approved legislation that gives the government more power over the military. it now only needs the president's approval to come into effect. under the new law, the prime minister will have the power to order the prosecution of any military commander and with the consent of the president and government, he will be able to extend the term of officers or commanders in the army, navy and air force until retirement age. >> the turkish republic will not allow illegal structure. the state gets it power by laws.

turkey has become stronger. the motive behind the ruling justice and development party is being questioned. the opposition it is the government wants to control the military and prevent it from taking role in politics. it accuses the government of trying to curb the military influence and bring the powerful institution under civilian rule. some analysts say the decisions strengthens the grip of the prime minister. >> the fact that it gives authority to the prime minister to decide about the persecution and the indictment of those army generals who get involved in extra military activities, as you know, turkey has a long history of military coup d'etat.

by doing so, it increases the power of the prime minister. >> the timing of this could now also raise suspicion. some say it will divert public attention from a corruption scandal that has embarrassed the government. parliament's latest decision will also likely fuel the speculation among those critics who accuse the government of becoming increasingly totalitarian. in response, the ruling party led by prime minister says it will be up to the turkish people to decide what they want at the ballot box. aljazeera. >> the u.s. secretary of state stressed the growing importance of the government. talks with the south korean foreign minister focused on ways to expand cooperation and regional and global is including north korea. >> i want to confirm that the

united states rebalance to the asia pacific remains a top priority for the obama administration. every day at the president's direction we are directing more diplomatic, economic and military resource to say help advance the goals we share with our partners throughout this region. >> a big meeting underway in london to discuss ways of eradicating the illegal wildlife trade. for more, let's go back to our london studio. >> the u.k. government is hosting a conference to end the multi-billion dollar industry, thousands of endangered animals are killed for ivory, horns and fur. what's at stake here? >> no less than the survival of a number of key iconic animal species is at stake here because

of poaching for body parts, which are then illicitly trafficked across the world, rhinos and elephants, wild tigers, leopard, furtherles, guerillas and others. 46 countries affected and involved in the illegal wildlife trade have come together to try and find a solution. in the words of william hague, the british foreign secretary, we all know that we are at the 11th hour. it would be an utter tragedy if these species were lost because of human ignorance and greed. >> with some of the world's most iconic species threatened for the wildlife trade, 46 countries joined royalty and international organizationses in london to agree on a global response. >> today, the government leaders assembled here will sign the london declaration, commit to go several bold new steps forward, including new pledge to guess address what is the most

significant problem in my view, that of demand for and can assumption of specific products from critically endangered wildlife. >> in parts of africa, animal poaching that doubled since 2007 so animal dice in the tens of thousands each year for their ivory tusks carved into ornaments or hoarded as white gold. rhinos are dying for horn worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the black markets of asia where it's believed to have miracle medical properties, but in truth has none. tigers, gorillas, 30les and leopard are all under threat. >> the illegal wildlife trade is a vast international criminal enterprise that ranks alongside drugs, weapons and humans. here, the nations affected and involved would agree among other things to step up law enforcement so poaching and the

illegal trade in body parts are treated as serious organized crimes so that the criminals involved can no longer act with impunity. >> as the head of the program explained, there is no one size fits all solution. >> it's very, very tough, because you have to deal with both the supply and the demand in and in other areas of illicit trade like drugs, for example, that the demand is the hardest to deal with and it will be the hardest here. >> campaigners have long waited for concerted action targeting the illegal wildlife trade. the london conference is only a start. >> it's just to remind that there are ordinary people out there who really, really do care and remind them why they're here. >> time is running out. it's estimated that rhino numbers, for instance will reach a dangerous tipping point by the end of this year. no less than the survival of a number of species depends on a solution.

>> well, britain is of course making a big show of its commitment here, the conference hosted by foreign secretary william hague alongside princes charles, with my and harry. earlier on, i spoke to the africa minister mark simmons asking whether it was possible to come up with a comprehensive single solution for a problem with such diverse different dimensions. >> it's quite clear from the session that i've just chaired here in london that there is a -- this is a real turning point. it demonstrates the power of diplomacy as the illegal wildlife trade comes to the fores of the main political agenda of the african continent and elsewhere. there's a real commonnalty of purpose to coordinate efforts and save the elephant and rhino in africa and reduce demand from those asian economies. >> particularly in terms of coordinating everyone's efforts, one of the long standing

problems traditionally has been reconciling the interests of the so-called range states with those of the so-called destination states, particularly with corruption going up to the highest levels of both fronts with so much money involved. are they seeing eye to eye those ranges of states across the spectrum? >> it's clear we're moving from talk to action and both the range states and those that have demands of these products are working together collectively to try and ensure that we find solutions to those problems. there's been significant progress made at this conference. governments have committed to continue to commercial prohibition on elephant exports, but also going further has been the case in the past by making sure that that will continue until the elephants are no longer under threat from poaching, also to put in place an elephant protection initiative, led by the african

state, so represented by the presidents here which will enable both private and public sect tore funding both in terms of addressing alternative lively who said, as well as increasing security and cooperation, as well as enforcing the law to make sure that this serious crimes are put on par with drugs, arms and people trafficking, which it hasn't been in the past. >> back to you. >> thanks so much. >> now leading figures from britain's three biggest political parties joined forces to say an independent scotland will not share the u.k.'s currency the pound. that amounts to say bullying, just over six months before a referendum, according to some. we report from london. >> it seems the debate over the future of scotland might have come down to the pound or more specifically what currency an independent scotland might or might not be able to rely on. >> in a coordinated attack in

london, all three major political parties put up their key financial spokesman to say there's an independent scotland would not be able to join a currency union with the rest of the u.k. >> i could not as chancellor recommend that we could share the pound with an independent scotland. the evidence shows it wouldn't work. if scotland walks away from the u.k., it walks away from the pound. >> the arguments runs like this, that currency unions only work if different countries have similar economies and can there are set interest rates which suit them all. the arguments in london is of the experience of thure reproves that this doesn't work. if scotland goes its own way, the rest of the u.k. shouldn't have to profit up. >> this represents the most significant intervention by the entire political class in westminster on the scottish pressure, not to mention the

appeal of the scott to stay in the union, but a direct threat if they decided to break away. the very large number of undecided scottish voters, this appears to make people's minds up for them. >> so would a currency union end up with scots begging on says streets like greeks in athens. the scottish nationals are impressed with the idea that they're like greece. >> it has nothing to do with the fact scott lands productivity now that the u.k. has been identical. this has been the state of many people in the currency area. >> the line remain that is even if you discount north sea oil, scotland's economy is big enough to stand up by itself and there would be no impediment to the rest of the u.k. as a fear tactic, questioning exactly what scotland would do in the years to come has to be a

powerful weapon. lawrence lee, aljazeera, london. >> that's all from london. back to jane in doha. >> thanks for that. mexican police seized rocket launchers and guns in western state made in the city that vigilantes recently liberated from the powerful nights templar drug cartel. hundreds joined a rural police force as part of a government initiative to drive out gangs across the state. >> one of mexico's top vigilante leaders claiming victory. he and his men say they with the security forces liberated the area from the cartel. over a vehicle are a atory lunch, he tells me. >> the government should worry about doing its job. if not, there's going to be an

uprise that go they won't be able to control. >> the this is the only area the father-in-laws cancel their crops and cartel has controlled it. there are signs business is picking up. this man says things were slow when the gainings extorted shop keepers. >> things are looking up, but just. >> things ever changed in this market town. all the shops here last month were closed under threats from the cartel, but what's not clear is if the army, the police and the vigilantes have actually taken this town back for good. >> with that push, have come rising claims of human rights

abuses. >> there have been reports of detentions, people beaten add mistreated, detainees held and intimidated and of course say they're being tortured. >> the next plans, work projects and social development. this bridge collapsed, cutting off a shorter road to apatzingan. >> we rid ourselves of the knights templar and now need projects and businesses so the people can get good jobs. we're done with the knights templar and moving on. what we need now is public works projects. >> promises of a brighter future, perhaps that's what vigilantes are selling more than anything else. that's a strong message in this poor corner of mexico. aljazeera, mexico. >> still to come on the news hour, why the issue of censorship is a hot topic at the

berlin film festival. we'll have a report after the break. >> there's been plenty of rough and tumble at the short track speed skating. we will have the details in sport. stay with us.

al jazeera america. >> it is right now just after 7:30 in the evening in sochi, russia, home of this year's winter olympics, getting you caught up on the latest events, team u.s.a. sweeping the slopestyle competition, the united states now has 12 medals. it is day six of the 2014 winter games. one of the marquee events, men's

ice hockey, russia seeking redemption for the historic win at the 1980 winter games, but a small town in northeastern minnesota might stop that from happening. we have the story. >> they call this hockey town u.s.a. since 1956, it has produced eight olympic hockey stars, seven medalists. as you soon learn all over town, two of them. t.v. and gigi are in sochi right now. that's a big thing for a small town. >> everybody talks about t.j. and gigi and look where they are now. you know what they've done. >> hockey is everything here, for decades, people have loved a game not nearly as popular in their country as baseball or basketball. longer winters a proud tradition and a relatively isolated location play their part. >> it's a quiet place to live,

not too much traffic, and just that's all there was to do back when i started. >> plenty of excitement at the local arena with high school bands firing up the crowd for a junior tournament. the high school girls are defend ago five year winning streak tonight. their coach says it helps to live in a hockey-mad town. >> do you have the backing? do you have the coaching? do you have the available ice time? do you have the practice addition? i mean, is it possible? can you believe in it? i think they have the right environment. >> henry would certainly agree. he won silver with team u.s.a. in japan in 1972. during that opening ceremony, he got a message from his hometown, half a world away. >> i remember getting a telegram from everybody in the world. they were six feet long and all the names of the people that i

knew from the small town. talk about having a lump in your throat. >> in an age of email, skype and social media, it's a lot easier to support players who are far away, and that's what the people of hockey town will be doing for the next few weeks. >> two towns, two teams, naturally enough, divided loyalties at the arena tonight, but not when team u.s.a. takes to the ice in sochi. that's when every player, men and women is a hometown hero. >> the crew at the international space station enjoying sochi from a different perspective. this year, the winter olympics games they are watching from space. you can easily see the stadium where the olympic ceremonies were held friday. crew members taking that picture on monday and lucky for them they took it monday. if they tried to take a picture of anything on the east coast today, ain't happening.

>> all you can see is snow, clouds, although we're trying to see a little break in those clouds. we have dry air coming into this storm across north carolina and virginia, but heavy snow continue to go push up the coast. the warm air's coming in, so we're seeing a change. here's what's happening. at that moisture coming in, the dry air is coming in, leading a to a lull. a break from the snow, but more on the way. you're getting the cold air wrapping around the storm and there's the snow that will come back across the northeast and new england states. additional snow amounts, three to six inches expected as the storm continues to track up the east coast through new england over the next 24 hours. you can see the weather computer clearly showing that mix but the snow coming back. this is the time between 5:00 and midnight where you get another three to six inches of snow along i-95 and up through new york. it will clear out by monday morning, the cold air is here,

so the know will stick around. >> comcast will buy time warner cable, the combined company will have 30 million subscribers, the biggest cable system in the u.s. comcast say the two companies do not serve the same market but the merger will face questions. >> another mixed day on wall street, the dow in negative territory, down five points. the nasdaq is a bit higher, a surprise jump in jobless benefits and disappointing retail sales affecting stocks. >> oil prices are back over $100 a barrel. that means consumers are going to have to dig a little deeper. we explain what is driving the price hike. >> united states oil production is racing toward volumes not seen since the 1970's, yet the price of benchmark crude is creeping up and that could spell pain for consumers. one factor at play, cold weather

driving up demand for heating oil, but frigid temperatures around the only thing squeezing supplies. >> we're seeing it down four percentage points from a year ago and a big jump in exports. these factors are really driving the price upward. >> the opening of the southern half of the key stone pipeline last month is drawing down the glut of oil in the middle of the country, sending it to the gulf cost to be exported to other countries. >> oil is a global commodity regardless of where it's produced. that means u.s. consumers have to compete for u.s. oil and refined products like gasoline with consumers from other countries. >> in november, the u.s. exported 4 million-barrels of oil per day, almost all of it in the form of refined products, it's twice as high as the level recorded in 2009. >> venezuela is a major oil producer, but it's crumbling energy infrastructure can't keep

pace with regional demand, leaving u.s. refineries to pick up the stack. with toughing refining standards kicking up in the spring and less oil to the northeast united states, u.s. oil inventories may look slim as the key summer driving season approaches. >> all are conspiring to likely cause the gasoline market to be tight in the united states this summer. i strongly suspect that prices will exceed $4 a gallon at some point at the pump this year. >> aljazeera, new york. >> this should come as no surprise, there are 80 million dogs living in homes across america, some trained to do all sorts of things, but are our dogs more intelligent that that other animals. we have more in part two of deciphering dogs. >> humans rely on dogs for protection, work, for guidance, for detecting danger, but scientists are just beginning to understand their abilities. arizona state professor clyde is

one such researcher. he said it's important not to confuse their skills and sensitivity with intelligence. >> they bring to our households an exceptional emotional engagement. that gets them in the door. once in the door, we notice other things we can do with them. although i love dogs, i think i'm clear eyed about dog intelligence, so i don't believe that dogs are exceptionally intelligent. >> that sort of straight talk can make for awkward conversations at the dog run. >> nobody wants to be told that their child is stupid, but if you tell somebody their dog is stupid. they don't mind so much. they want to be told their dog is sweet. >> humans project intelligence on dogs, he says, because the emotional connection is to strong. >> when my dog sits at my feet and gazes into my eyes, i see a lot of complexity there, but it

sounds like you do not. >> right. i think the dog is studying you because you are everything to your dog. there is nothing your dog can get that it needs without progressing through you. it has to negotiate access to everything with you. so, sure, it's staring at you, because it really needs to know what is he planning to do, what's he thinking, what's going on here. you are everything. >> what you're saying is the dog that this very small brain, but a very big heart. >> that's a great way of putting it. i like that. >> by demissifying the relationship between dogs and humans, science might seem to be damaging it, but perhaps pairing the bond down to its essential elements, our love for dogs, one refind over thousands of years can grow even stronger. >> i missed you, too. >> jacob ward, tempe, arizona. >> you're watching aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york.

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america.era >> parts of britain inundated with flood waters. >> and some prisoners in afghanistan have been released, and that brings choice words from the afghan president himself.