>> this is al jazeera live there london. also coming up. amnesty international condemns rich nations for what it calls taking in a pitiful number of syrian refugees. barack obama nominates ashton carter as his fourth

defense secretary. and fighters are arrested over a notorious train massacre in bosnia. three, two, one. >> and nasa completes its first test flight of orion capsule, which is designed to take humans to mars and the moon. hello, the case against kenyan's president has collapsed. prosecutors failed to collect enough evidence to take the case to trial. kenyatta was accused of orchestrating post-election violence in which more than 1200 people died in 2007. erica wood reports from nairobi. >> today at the hague, the prosecutor, has dismissed the charg

charges. >> reporter: announcing the news to a group of kenyan business people. for more than four years the international criminal court in the hague has struggled to make his charges against kenyatta stick. it was a trial plagued by allegations of witness bribery and intimidation. several people withdrew their testimony. and others are aledged to have been killed or gone missing. and the icc itself was accused of not having carried out a proper investigation. >> this is a huge blow to the prosecution of the icc. clearly it seems it didn't do as much as it should have, to ensure that it has a trial -- or a case that is ready to go to trial. in terms of the largest story of the post election violence and justice for the victims of that violence, this is yet another disappointment. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: more than 1,200 people were killed in the riots

and violence that followed the elections at the end of 2007 and spilled over into 2008. kenyatta was accused of organizing some of the attacks, and raising tensions between ethnic tribes. he has always maintained his innocence and said he felt syringed indicated. kenyanses themselves are divided on whether this case should have been dropped. >> we want him to be given a chance so we can rule with peace without the case behind his back, and kenya can move forward. >> it's good. we're happy. >> i'm happy our president is doing back, but sad for the -- of the victims who want justice. >> reporter: regardless of what decision has been made at an international court, inside

kenya there are those who still want answers and justice. >> i think the questions will continue to be asked. >> reporter: and while this case at the icc has been dropped, kenyatta has not been acquitted. if other evidence is brought before the court, he could be charged again. >> reporter: we're told that already there are celebrations in the street especially in kenyatta's strong hold. the prosecution has said many times that they don't have enough evidence to prove kenyatta's guilt beyond reasonable doubt. she cited frustration in the case, including government's refusal to cooperate. witnesses being harassed and intimidated, a negative media complain from kenya as well. the president has issued a statement, and he is saying that he is excited and relieved. he accuses the prosecution of [ inaudible ] investigations and

accuses human rights groups of conspiring with the prosecute to prosecute the innocent like himself. it seems the biggest losers are the victims. they are running out of options for justice. it seems there is no political will to try perpetrators of the violence. these victims have been waiting for any justice for close to seven years now. it's also worth mentioning that another case against the deputy president is still going on. the icc is the last resort for international crimes of genocide, and war crimes, but it hasn't been without controversy. it has cost more than $1 billion since it began. so far 21 cases have been brought before the court. but it has only convicted two people. both over the conflict in the democratic republic of the

congo. it has also been accused of being a pool of western imperialism. international criminal court's prosecutor says the dropping of the case doesn't necessarily mean it's all over. >> the withdrawal of the charges does not mean that the case has been permanently terminated. mr. kenyatta has not been acquitted, and the case can be reopened or brought in a different form if new evidence establishing the crimes and his responsibility for them is discovered. ♪ amnesty international says rich countries are failing syrians forced from their country by war. in a new report it says 380,000 syrians are in need of resettlement, but no one will

take them in. nearly 4 million have settled in turkey, iraq, lebanon, jordan, and egypt. the gulf states which include some of the world's wealthiest countries have not offered to take single refugee so far. within the e.u. germany has taken in the largest number. the rest of the e.u. has offered to take 1.7% of the total number of refugees. inside syria where the battle is still going on for kobani it has now been 82 days since fighting erupted. bernard smith reports. >> reporter: there doesn't seem to be much of kobani left to fight for. nearly three months of air strikes, mortar fires, suicide bombs, and street fighting have reduced large parts of this town to rubble. most civilians are long gone. many would have trouble finding their homes if they came back.

but despite the destruction, these kurdish fighters are dodging isil snipers along the front lines. >> translator: it's true we volunteer made a major advance. our fighters make progress every day, but it's slow because the situation is difficult. but the slow advance is deliberate, as we prepare for a major advance. >> reporter: there are air strikes every day, at least 16 around kobani in the first four days of december compared to 11 across all of the parts of iraq and isil control. kobani was never really strategically important, but it became symbolically important as syrian kurds put up a fierce resistance to isil's advance. now both sides are locked in a battle that has a lot to do with trying to preserve or enhance reputations. isil has poured fighters into kobani. this was a recent suicide car

bombing at a border crossing. victory for isil in kobani would be trumpeted as victory over the u.s. but isil lost 50 fighters in this one failed assault, and the kurds and the iraqi peshmerga are also struggling. >> translator: we have enough weapons to eliminate isil, but it will take a long time to copleatly clear them from here. street fighting is really tough, because you can only advance by clearing one house at a time. the u.s. and its coalition partners are unwilling to involve their troops. they prefer to train moderate fighters in neighboring countries, but that has yet to get going. but now the kurds must fight their own battles. bernard smith, al jazeera, on the turkey/syria border. u.s.-lead air strikes around mosul have killed a number of

fighters from islamic state of iraq and the levant. at least nine gunmen died. and a further four fighters were killed in a secondary strike. many minorities used to live in the area before isil took over. this is an offensive to retake iraq's largest oil refinery after gaining some ground in the city. the iraqi army denies that isil fighters are in control of the city. the refinery was taken back by government forces just a few weeks ago. hundreds of protesters have been taking part in demonstrations in egypt. people came out into the streets in several towns and districts after friday prayers to protest against the coup which ousted president morsi. and tensions are particularly high after the acquittal of former president mubarak.

al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists who were jailed over false allegations that they helped the out lawed muslim brotherhood. they are appealing against their convictions. mohammed fahmy and peter greste were sentenced to seven years. baher mohamed received an extra three because he had a spent bullet casing in his possession which he picked up at a protest. president obama has nominated ashton carter to become his new defense secretary, replacing chuck hagel who resigned 11 days ago. he made the announcement at a white house news conference. carter still needs approval from the senate. patty culhane joins us now from washington, d.c. does this signal a change in policy, do you think? >> reporter: i have talked to a lot of people, and they say they

don't this signals a more muscular position on president obama's part. and ashton carter is known as a bit of a hawk, because in 2006 he advised president bush to launch a presumptive strike against a missile pad in north korea. but many say he is more of a pragmatist. and when it comes to north korea, one of his specialties is on nuclear weapons, and his focus is on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. so they say don't use that as an indication of a more muscular position. he said he is going to give the president candid advice. but there have been previous secretaries who said they were micromanaged by the administration, so it is not

expected that ashton carter is going to signal a shift in policy in the obama administration. >> what else do we know about carter? >> reporter: well he has degrees from yale in medieval history and physics. he has a doctorate from oxford in theoretical physics. people say this is a harvard professor who is able to succeed in three stints in the pentagon. in that is pretty unusual. a lot of people say he is respected within the military brass, and that's an important thing. it is likely he was picked because he can maneuver the bureaucracy that can be maddeningly slow at the pentagon. he has been known to be fierce to try to get what he wants. it's likely he'll be able to navigate in the pentagon even if he has a tougher time here at the white house. still to come this half hour, italian coast guard rescue

278 migrants at sea, but 17 die of dehydration and hypothermia. and big brother is watching you, but the u.k. security watchdog say mass surveillance revealed by edward snowden did not break the law. ♪ >> it's obvious that egypt was being ripped off. it's basically saying to the israelis, "look if you want to screw us, here's a tool you can use to screw us". >> al jazeera exposes those who made a fortune betraying an entire nation. >> you don't feel that you owe an explanation to the egyptian people? >> no... no... >> al jazeera investigates. egypt's lost power. december 17th.

primetime news. >> welcome to al jazeera america. >> stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america. ♪ a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. charges against kenya's president at the international criminal court have been dropped. prosecutors were unable to collect enough evidence to take the case to trial.

amnesty international has accused rich countries of failing syrians displayed by war. 380,000 syrians are seeking a new home, but few countries are willing to take them. and president barack obama has nominated ashton carter to become his new secretary of defense. obama made the announcement alongside carter at the white house news conference. he still needs approval from that senate. investigations are underway in india after 15 patients say they were blinded after what should have been routine cataract surgery. at least 15 patients say they now cannot see at all. india's medical infrastructure is under scrutiny after 50 women died last night. >> they took us inside for the operation after midnight.

i don't know what the doctor did. he is picked my eye in such a way that i knew i immediately lost any eyesight. tens of thousands of people in the philippines are leaving their home for fore stable shelter ahead of a powerful typhoon that will it is the area on saturday. there are concerns it could graze the capitol manila. tens of thousands of people in the philippines are being shifted away from the path of that powerful typhoon. it is forecast to hit the east and northern parts of the island nation. it has been traveling at speeds of up 230 kilometers an hour. serbian and bosnian

investigators have arrested 15 suspects over the most notorious war crimes. people were forced off of a train and then tortured and killed. >> reporter: the 20 victims of the massacre were tortured and robbed in this former school. they were then shot and their bodies thrown into a river. in 2009 this man, was jailed for life by the international war crimes tribunal in the hague for leading the gang. but those who ordered and carried out the killings have remained another large. this woman remembers the last time she saw her son. he took the train, but never returned. his body has never been found.

>> translator: as a mother, i never asked for help, but i just want to find his bones. i can't hold on much longer. i just want his bones and then i can die. that's what hurts the most. >> reporter: friday's police operation is a rare display of cooperation between investigators in bosnia and serbia. suspects were picked up in both countries. >> translator: we think that we need to work this way in the future, the message is very important that criminals have nowhere to hide, and would not be able to escape justice. >> reporter: the suspects haven't been named but they include senior former military officials as well as those suspected of doing the killing. 17 migrants have died of hypothermia and dee hydration. the italian navy found an inflatable dingy adrift off of the coast of lampedusa with the

bodies and 76 migrants aboard. two other boats crammed with migrants were discovered nearby. well [ inaudible ] in rome who is the united nations special representative on human rights. >> the main problem with the way europe handles the migrant issue is that -- i think that europe hasn't yet adopted a long-term strategy for migration. there are short-term goals, often dictated by short-term political incentives, such as elections, which are essentially based on migration control, but what is missing in the picture -- and that is important to have migration control. i don't want to get that out of the picture, but what is missing are long-term goals in terms of

resettlement of refugees and in materials of opening channels for regular migration, for all sorts of migrants that europe needs. the italian navy said on friday it has recovered 16 bodies on board a boat trying to cross the mediterranean. do you think the deaths we're seeing are a direct result of the end of the [ inaudible ] operation, and being replaced with the [ inaudible ] operation? >> in this case not, because there were 16 bodies, but there were also 76 persons that were saved. and they were saved by a ship of the italian navy, and the italian navy is what made the operation. it is continuing on a low scale it seems at the moment, being phased out, but continuing, and it is an italian navy ship that rescued these people. >> the politics is leaning more

towards keeping people out. >> what is happening at the doors of europe, when we are talking about six for the syrians. 3 million syrians in turkey, lebanon, and jordan. these people are educated. they have money. they are professionals. they have children. if you think they are going to wait for a decade that someone takes care of them, it's not going to happen. they are going to come anyway. it would be much better for europe to put in place a resettlement program that could take place over a number of years, five, six, eight years, decide on a number like a million or a million and a half syrians who would come to europe, but also to canada and north america, this should be done in partnership with other countries of the global north and announce this, and invest in the resources necessary to carry it out quickly, and we do this and we offer a door in front of which people can line up.

>> but the critics will say you will encourage more people to come because you will end up with a bigger number trying to get in. >> well, the issue is that more people will try to come anyway. and we have to get used to this idea that humanity is mobile. if we think we can stop people at the border, we are clearly mistaken. the u.k. security watchdog has ruled that british spies didn't break laws by using mass monstering techniques as revealed by edward snowden. the general come communications headquarters was accused of bypassing british laws by gaining access to communications without proper authority. britain's investigator power also said that while the snowden revelati revelation gave the impression they were cart blanche to do

what they want, that's not the case. so what is your reaction to this? >> amnesty brought this case to challenge the legal basis on which the government has been carrying out mass surveillance programs revealed by snowden. and today it doesn't say the entire system is okay. what it says is that the current legal regime which governs the actions of the secret services is clear, but we think that's not enough. >> why? >> we take issue with the fact that the tribunal has ruled that it's okay to have policies that are secret as like as we know they are there. so it's all right that the public doesn't know it is happening. >> an argument released during the court case, they gave the example of [ inaudible ] needing to on [ inaudible ] suspects in syria, and they said that the only way to intercept those messages to [ inaudible ] a

substantially greater vol a couple of -- i'm paraphrasing and then [ inaudible ] communications in question, so they are saying [ inaudible ] groups submit [ inaudible ] should not be able to obtain external communications that are needed for perhaps [ inaudible ] accept some form [ inaudible ]. if you are going to catch people who do bad things you going to intercept communications? >> we don't think that's an argument for intercepting everybody in the u.k. -- >> can you prof that is being done? >> no, because the government are refusing to confirm or deny any of this happened -- >> certainly they are not going to be strolling through the whole of the u.k.'s emails -- >> you would think that, but that's exactly what snowden has said is happening. mass surveillance without targeting which amnesty is challenging.

>> it seems you have hit the end of your process in the u.k. what is next. >> there is a slight other stage in that the tribunal has to look at whether we have had our communications intercepted, and also consider whether the regime is necessary in propersian. but this is the end in terms of the [ inaudible ] so we now will have to go to the european court of hue moon rights and see if agree. >> thank you for coming to talk to us. >> thank you. the greek prime minister has criticized the decision to loan one of the [ inaudible ] marbling. they were taken to briton almost 200 years ago, but greece has long campaigned for their return. one of the marbles a sculpture of the greek river god will be displayed until january to celebrate the museum's 250th anniversary. police in london are hunting

a pick pocket who alleged i will hypnotized his victims. he took cash from a shopkeeper while the victim apparently remained motionless. and unable to resist the robbery. you can see the alleged thief touching the shopkeeper before making off with the cash. the brand new orion's space mission is now complete. a first step towards what nasa hopes will be a manned mission to mars. it blasted off from florida 24 hours behind schedule. it successfully completed its unmanned mission slashing down in the pacific ocean. it hopes the oh -- capsule can take men to mars. >> reporter: this mission is

being described as flawless. things really couldn't have gone much better. it went out at 6,000 kilometers. that's 14 times higher than the international space station. and this was basically a stress test for this capsule. it was tested for radiation and for its heat shields. as it came down towards the pacific ocean, the parachutes deployed and everything basically went perfectly. nasa says this is the start of a new era. there is one more test flight in a couple of year's from now. and eventually they hope to reach the red planet itself, mars. plenty more on that story and all of the rest of the news on our website, the address for that is aljazeera.com.

you can also watch us by clicking on the watch live icon. it says 380,000 syrians are seeking new homes. can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> this is a show about science, by scientists. let's check out our team of hard core nerds. marita davison is a biologist specializing in evolution. tonight, fracking. >> i looked out my front door