>> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america presents lockerbie part one: the pan am bomber this is al jazerra america live from new york city. i am richelle carey, here are today's top stories. cuban leader raul castro speaks out about the change in the relationship with the united states. four more detainees have been released from guantanmo bay and returned to afghanistan. north korea demands responsibility and demands a joint investigation in in to the soup air tack that hit sony pictures hard. and. >> reporter: i am rob reynolds in san jose, , on the site of what was formerly one of the largest e encampments of homeles

people in the united states. ♪ ♪ it is a sign of the times, a cuban leading praising his u.s. counter apartment. cuban president raul castro applauded u.s. president obama policy change towards the con ubist country. he emphasized the significance of this move. >> translator: he welcome the approach president obama by opening a new chapter in the ties between our countries and for introducing the most significant changes in u.s. policy in the last 50 years. >> earlier i asked al jazerra's gabriel elizondo who is in havana, about castro's speech. >> reporter: this is a very high will be-anticipated speech by the cuban president because this is the only the second time we have actually heard from him since the big announcement on

wednesday, what he said about that is he said while this will be a relationship between two equals, between cuba and the united states now with this new diplomatic ties and what have you, he said that any change here in cuba would happen on cuba's terms and nobody else's terms. that sort of was indicating that he planned to keep the respect for the cuban people and for decision make on the ground how cuba decides to carry on economic diplomatic change in the future in a cuban way. he was reaching out and looking for respect. it was a speech for an international audience but also for a domestic audience here in cuba as well. sort of throwing a little bit of cold water on a lot of h expectations here that there might be a rapid change here on the island which probably won't happen. it will take sometime. let's listen to a little bit more of what the cuban president had to say.

>> translator: we can't pretend that by improving ties with the united states cuba will renounce the ideas for which it has fought for more than a century, for which its people have shed a lot of blood. >> reporter: also the cuban president as well was also brought up the issue you of cuban american community in the united states, especially the hard line anti-cuba folks, primarily in florida. he said that they potentially might try to sabotage this process going forward. and clearly there is certainly a lot of no love lost between that group and a lot of cuban leadership here. and we know that there will be a lot of opposition in the u.s. congress to this moving forward as well. here say little bit more of what raul castro had to say about that today. >> translator: we do not ignore the criticisms that president obama has had to endure because

of the said announcements by forces that are opposed to the normalization of relations with cuba. including legislators of cuban origin. >> reporter: now, here on the streets in havana and all over cuba, i can tell that you there is still a lot of anticipation of what this change really is going to mean. but after a few days now, people on the streets are starting to think about where does this actually go from here. and i think raul castro's address to the nation was mostly meant to remind cubans that this very much is a country where change comes very slowly. nevertheless, though, there certainly is an air of optimism here and real excitement that's really building and about how this new relationship between the u.s. and cuba could really have real benefits for many of the cuban people here on the ground in this island nation. >> gabriel elizondo. latin american leidner argentina for an economic summit are also reacting to the new course the u.s. is talking with cuba.

al jazerra's latin america editor lucia newman explains the move may help the u.s. improve relations with its closest neighbors. >> reporter: a photo op that sums it up. raul castro welcomed with open arms to a new regional organization of every country in latin america and the care bee an except the united states and canada. more than 50 years after washington called for the expulsion of communist cuba for the organization of american states. it is the united states that has become isolated from its neighbors. the highly unpopular u.s. economic embargo against cuba, a thorn that has diminished washington's leadership in the americas. that's why renewing ties with havana known just a gesture to cuba. south american leaders gathered here for an economic summit in argentina applauded the announcement and in what some described as the audacious move by president obama. and while it will not iron out all of the differences between

washington and its southern neighbors it could as one analyst put it, signal a new beginning. >> translator: i want to recognize president obama for his brave gesture. one that is necessary. he has taken what may be the most important step of his presidency. >> reporter: for ordinary cubans renewing diplomatic ties signals the beginning of the end of a cold war that has marked their lives for generations. and while the economic embargo against cuba won't be lifted just yet, the easing of restrictions will have a major impact on a country struggling to survive. >> translator: it will be an economic shock treatment in the positive sense. it will mean more trade, more tourism, and more investments from the united states, which will help the people of cuba who have suffered an embargo for more than 52 years. the. >> reporter: the next summit of the americas will be held in april. and thanks for the significant

announcement for the first time in more than half a century, leaders from every nation in the americas without exception, will be able to sit at the same table. lucia newman, al jazerra. no afghans held in the u.s. military prison at guantanmo bay were sent home overnight. it's the latest in a series of releases, they were leased last night after 10 years in captivity. all four were considered low-level detainees by the pentagon, they were flown to kabul aboard a u.s. military plane. president obama vowed to close the prison when i took office six years, a but obstacles in congress have prevented that for happening. there are now 132 prisoners left in guantanmo bay, down from 750 since 9/11. north korea has struck a defiant tone denying involvement on the psych air tack on zone i president obama and the fbi says evidence points to pyongyang. but today the north korean

minister says the allegations was groundless and offered to conduct a joint investigation with the united states in to the hacking. courtney keel kealy has more. >> reporter: according to a statement by an unidentified north korean foreign ministry spokesman in pee an yang, north korea knows how to prove it's not responsibility for the hacking. it also warned washington of serious consequences if the offer of the joint investigation is rejected. the fbi consulted with several u.s. government agencie agencied departments and concluded what pee an yang is responsible. it cited several factors, links to other pal wear nort malware s dropped there. investigators also traced several internet protocol addresses associated with northern north korean infrastructure and fin found similarity to his a cyber attacked launch by north korea against south korean banks and media out lets. president obama put north korea

on notice that the u.s. will strike back for the cyber atta attack. >> they caused a lot of damage and we will responsibility. we will respond proportionately and it will respond in a place and time and manner we a choose. >> reporter: at tack was motivated apparently by the movie the interview. pour take interview. prompting the movie giants to suspends the releasts movie. major theater chains across the u.s. chose not to screen the film. north korean lead verse made it no for mons they city nothing funny about the movie. in a letter to ban ki-moon they called the film an undisskissed scan oring of terrorism. north korea has sophisticated cyber warfare cap capabilities.

it is posed of handpicked computer experts that serve as part of north korea's military-run spy agency. but back in washington. the national security council said north korea has a long history of denying responsibility for destructive and provocative ass. if the north korean government wants to help they can admit their culpability and competent sony for the damages this attack caused. courtney kealy, al jazerra. the white has yet to respond to the demand for a joint investigation. an expert on north kia told us earlier he believes the u.s. should accept the offer, with one condition attached. >> i would say to north korea, yes, let's make this a joint investigation united states, north korea and china. china has helping north korea on these attacks and knew about them beforehand, they were come police it's. >> you say china knew. the president didn't name chin d he didn't and the fbi's report didn't name it.

but china's involvement is inescapable. they were route tried chinese i.p. addresses and because of china's great fire wall they know everything that's going on. most people suspect unit 121. >> unit 121. >> those guys are mostly in china, not north korea, they are in china, about three hours drive from the north korean porter and so yo -- north korear and they are hacking zone and i the chinese had to know that they were there because they are held up in a luxury hotel and there are probably hundreds of them in china, so this is not a good story for beijing he. so if i remember president obama i would say sure, bring it on. >> if china is involved, then what about russia? >> russia is involved only tangentially. the best northern korea cyber people are chained in russia and

china. so they know what is going on in a general way, flos there is no indication that they were involved in the attack. but you have a trio of countries attacking the world through a cyber means. that was gordon change speaking today with morgan radford. the parents of a man accused of a shooting rampage as a colorado movie theater are pleading for these life. james holmes faces the death pent at this for the 2012 shootings that left 12 people dead and 70 others injured. his parents say he is not a monster, but is mentally ill. and they are asking that he be institutionalized instead. the pentagon says it's making gains again isil but as a heavy cost. cost of coalition air strikes against the group in iraq and syria have already topped $1 billion. meanwhile, new video up load to the internet friday appears to show isil forces targeting sites in syria's northern region of aleppo.

it also shows them parading a man taped to a cross who was reportedly executed afterwards. in iraq, kurdish mesh perking a fighters are trying to secure gains against isil in the sin gar mountains, further south the iraqi military is battling in romadi. we have the latest on these two front on the offensive against isil. >> reporter: kurdish forces on the offens offensive. trying to secure the significance gains they say they have mind against isil in the sinjar mountains, their latest victory they say has been the retaking of a town at the foot of the sinjar mountains. it's where at least 1,000 families from the yazidi community are taking refuge, they have been under siege for more than two months. the retaking of their dow town bite the kurdish fighters means that they can now return to their homes, but isil fighters dispute the peshmerga's claim, they insist they are still in sinjar. kurdish forces claim they have

gained nearly 700 square kilometers of what was isil held territory along the route to mt. sun gar. >> this is an operation that happened under the hospices of the president barzani himself to move all wait to mt. sinjar to liberate a fast area and also to be able to rescue those yazidi people that are trapped on mt. sinjar. >> reporter: kurdish forces say that they have gained nearly 700 square clock territory of what was isil held territory along the route to mt. sinjar. this opened the way for standsed family to his leave. but they have to navigate through land mines planted by isil fighters. this is the village about 50-kilometers from sinjar. burned outhouses and bullet-riddled walls are everywhere. evidence of the fierce fighting that took place here. during dish forces say they are now marching towards isil's main

military base in the city there. but they say there is a limb toyota what they can achieve on their own. >> we do not want peshmerges to be the only one goes in to the areas to have some political ramifications. liberation of mosul will require our forces the iraqi government military. >> reporter: forces here in erbil say more than 8,000 peshmerga forces were involved in the operation to break the siege of the sinjar mountains. but knowing how fast isil could change its tactics in the battlefield their commanders say that the fight for sinjar could still be far from over. on the other frontline of romadi, the battle for the strategic city is getting more intense. parts of the city lie in ruins. the result of frequent shelling for most of the last year. air strikes by coalition forces have also caused damage here.

like the rest of anbar province there are regular battles on the city as deserted streets between militias loyal to isil and the iraqi government forces. troops from the army's golden battalion are leading the onslaught from the government side. many people displaced by the fighting accuse the battalion of using excessive force and destroying their homes. the forces argue that most houses are either being used by isil or are laden with explosives. those who own those houses know it will take a long time for the fight to go stop. and even longer before they return to their homes. mohamed adow al jazerra, erbil, northern iraq. pakistan says the man behind this week's deadly attack on the school may have been killed in an air strike. he had taken responsibility for the attack in a video, and said more tacks would target military families. al jazerra's caroline malone reports. >> reporter: the pakistani

military says it's killed a number of taliban fighters on the outskirts of the town including a local commander. the operation took place as anger grows in pakistan days after an attack on children by the taliban. thousands of supporters of a political party called. [ inaudible ] protests in scratch protests karachiagainst. >> we want to unite all the pakistanis against the taliban. because we know that as long astill ban is here in pakistan can't go further. and we need to deal with the terrorism and extremeism. >> reporter: security is tight outside the army-run school that taliban forces stormed on tuesday. they killed more than 130 children and injured many others. people now fear more attacks. >> translator: the children and me whether they are safe in school and my kids and me the same thing, the same thing could happen to them. the government should have a permanent solution for this.

>> reporter: the taliban has pockets of public support across the country. but christy critics gathered od red mosque who they say are sympathetic to the taliban a case has been registered against the head cleric who tried to justify the attack. one of the things the government has done is to list a six-year moratorium on the death penalty. two men found guilt foy separate attacks were executed on friday. >> it's a great national tragedy because in the past the extremists have destroyed schools but never targeted children like this. just like 9/11 changed the united states forever, in fact the world forever, this is this kind of our mini 9/11. >> reporter: from anger against the taliban to grief for the young victims. it seems clear tuesday's attack has affected thousands of other people across pakistan. caroline malone, al jazerra. israeli forces carried a out

an air strike on the gas strip. they say it was in response to a rocket fired from gaza early friday. it's the first such action since both israel and hamas have agreed to a truce back in august. the truce ended seven weeks of fighting that killed more than two thousand 200 people, most of them pantsil vinnies. the united nation says the number of afghan civilians being killed o on is on the rise most killings being carried out by the taliban. the u.s. has asked taliban to reduce the strikes that affect civilians but that hasn't work, this video there is a warn this is could be disturbing. >> reporter: the worst single attack on afghan civilians took place last month in eastern afghan thaafghanistan. childrens were among the dozens killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself at a volleyball march. the united nations says is vills

civilians are creasingly you were fire. this is one of the latest victims, he's fighting for his life after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a kabul auditorium, killing one, november was a bad month in the capital. >> we have never seen so many explosion and attack the city. so practically since one man, there is almost not one single day where we are not waking up or coming to work hearing explosion or gun fight. >> reporter: in the children's ward, all of the injuries are a result of shrapnel. seven-year-old was injured. eight-year-old in the bed next to him was also injured. nearly 10,000 civilians have been killed or wounded in afghanistan this year. child casualties alone are up 33%. the numbers are so high because of increased fighting between afghan government forces and the taliban and other groupings. car bombs and buried explosives are another reason for the

increase, they may even kill civilians in large numbers. the united nations has appealed to the taliban but the attacks continues. >> they have improved their so-called code of conduct. the reality is on the ground the situation has not measurably improved because they still cause the majority of civilian casualties. the taliban rejects there. >> rerejects the report and say it's far from reality that 75% of the casualties is attributed to us. most of these people are killed or wounded by american bombing or afghan soldiers are police. >> reporter: civilian casualties have never been higher in this fine-year war. this time of year the fighting usually slows down, but there is no sign of that. and the number of dead and wounded continues to rise. jennifer glasse, al jazerra,

kabul. coming up on al jazerra america, families have struggled to come together fight now to stay together. and sanctions taking a bite out of the russian economy, luxury cars become a hot commodity. >> al jazeera america presents >> somebody's telling lies... >> it looks nothing like him... >> pan am flight 103 explodes december 21st, 1988 was the right man convicted? >> so many people, at such a high level, had the stake in al-megrahi's guilt >> the most definitive look at this shocking crime >> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america presents lockerbie part one: the pan am bomber

the president and his family including the two dogs landed in hawaii early in morning to begin their annual holiday vacation. the visit to the president's childhood home has become a tradition for the obamas, they are expected to stay through knew year's. a warning from the state department today if you are travel ago broad. americans are urged to be extra cautious over the holidays, a worldwide travel alert was issued friday saying u.s. citizens should be mindful that

terrorist groups pose unpredictable threats in public vines sega tacks occur it hotels, shopping areas, places of worship and even schools, the russian government said today expect retaliation for new tougher western sanctions announced this week, moscow called it a collective punishment on crimea residents that voted last march to join russia. both the european union and united states adopted sanctions targetintargeting tourism and g. moscow has been forced to dip for nba to its vast financial reserves but those rainy day funds are rapidly running out. >> reporter: $414 billion. the reserve fund that's kept russia's painful ruble route from becoming a 1998 style debt default. after a dramatic interest rate hike failed to beat back speculators.

and with russian president vladimir putin thursday assuring his economically ravished nation that a rebound is at most two years away, it begs the question, how long can russia's rainy day fund hold out? >> you can run the math with any number of assumptions and with all of them it doesn't last forever. >> reporter: russia has taken a $100 billion bite out of its reserves in the last year. blowing the lion's share of that, some $80 billion, on defending the ruble. and not all of the $414 billion that's left is easily tapped. $45 billion of russia's reserves are held in gold. while another $12 billion is tied up with the imf, mostly in noncash instruments. russia also count $172 billion in its sovereign wealth funds as reserves including the national wealth funds which is meant to cover an expected shortfall in state pensions. >> it's not absolutely clear how

liquid the assets in that funds are. so probably they should be discounted a bit. >> reporter: deduct these potentially nonliquid items and russia's cushion doesn't look nearly at plump. sobering given the price of its main export, oil, could fall further. and firms targeted by sanctions can't refinance 10s of billions of dollars worth the debt coming due next year. hiking interest rates and buying up rubles with foreign reserves isn't the only way to prop up the currency. russia could take steps to limit the flow of foreign capital in and out of the country. a drastic measure that would spare its rainy day fund but expose just how little control it has over its exchange rate. patricia sobga, al jazerra. another fallout from the decline of the russian economy mirk the rapid sale of luxury cars in moscow, the weakening value of the ruble has sparked a round high-end car sales, luxury dealers carrying lamborghinis,

bmws, her sailed is are almost empty. the russian currency has lost about 50% of its value against the dollar and euro since march that's the sharpest fall in more than 15 years. the troubles in ukraine didn't appear to dampen the country's st. nicholas day celebrations. [cheering and applause] >> thousands gathered outside st. sophia's cathedral for the annual vents. they come at the end of a difficult year for that country. coming up on al jazerra, how the sudden shift in diplomatic relations with cuba is affect being every day residents of the island nation. >> reporter: i am phil lavelle in london where we are days away from christmas and one industry is set to do incredibly well. can you guess what it is? find out shortly.

ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

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cuban president raul castro is applauded u.s. president obama policy change but warns cuba will not give up it's communist ideology and change will not come easy. north korea said it had nothing to do with the cyber attack on sony. today a statement from its foreign ministry was read on state television. in it offered to help the u.s. the cyber attacking and warned of serious consequences if the offer is refused. four afghans were sent home overnight from guantanmo bay. it's a string of releases from the jail in cuba. they were released after 10 years in captivity. all four were considered low-level detainees by the pentagon, they were flown to kabul aboard a u.s. military plain, there werplane. there are now 130 prisoners left. cuba americans divided over support -- of the new policy

towards cuba. 60% of cuban-americans oppose are removing cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror. 50% support establishing a consul in miami where two-thirds of the cuban americans live. overall 55% have an unfavorable opinion opinion of president obama. it has comma mid a strain. and they were about to get less aid from tear allies, the ease on travel and trade comes just in the nick of time. >> reporter: this is the engine of commune ab economy, cuban americans sending home money represent a $6 billion economy. an increasing as oil prices go down, it's not just cash that these people are sending home. those like alan and leanne, are bringing back tvs, clothes,

and even car tires. >> they are for our family in cuba. all are these packets are gifts. >> reporter: so this is a daily scene mere at miami international airport, cuban american families heading back to havana bringing basic items, car tires, potted plants, toys for children things you can normally get in united states but are not available in havana. now the h expectation is this wl happen more often. under the new policy, those with relative on his the island can send $8,000 home a year, a that's a four fold increase from what it used to be. companies that process remittances will no longer need a special license to do their business. u.s. companies will also be able to export a list of ideas including things like building materials and even infrastructure for telecommunications. and with a largely untapped market of 11 million people just mind miles from the coast of lore. of florida.

scenes like these will get bigger al jazerra, in miami on, florida. changing cuba policy had been on president obama's radar for some time. he told al jazerra earlier once this change is made there is no going back. >> obama's failure or the democratic party's failure in the i lexes in november. liberated obama to do things he had been postponing on immigration and now cuba. >> i want to come back to that point i was in cuba in 2007 living there for a while there was hope and energy about obama coming in hopefully the next year. if you remember, back in the '50s when fidel used to come to america, he would come frequently, meet with nixon but he would come and stay in harlem and he would meet with malcolm "x" and so there was a feeling among the people there if it was going to happen any under president it would happen under a president who they say in some ways as one of them as an underdog having come from a racially limited political

contexts. do you think thi this will chann another president, pipes republican comes in to office? >> that's two years from now. that would happen or if it happens. i think that too much water will go under the bridge in the next two years and we'll see i expect positive results, slow, steady, but positive results from this engagement. american companies are going start slowly investing, people are going to start traveling there. and the cuban people will benefit from this. and any new president will be hard press today roll this back. also renewed pressure on congress to actually lift the embargo and not just do everything exec pitch branch can do. i don't expects that it will be rolled back just like the changes in cuba they are not sufficient but not going back. >> prefoes or of black and latino studies earlier speaking

to al jazerra's morgan radford. the dramatic shift in policy is our focus, looking at the long road ahead of u.s. cuba reconciliation, that is tonight at 8:00 eastern 5:00 p.m. pacific. families living in the united states illegally are struggling with the possibility of being split up. president obama's new immigration plan will help some of them, but not all of them. al jazerra's kalin ford went to trenton, new jersey to talk with one family who has struggled for years to come together and now fighting to stay together for the holidays. >> reporter: birthdays, new babies, weddings, vacations. >> translator: that's he me with the pin yacht 56789 memories that franklin and sandra have always shared with their children through photos. but for more than a decade, there were no photos of all five of them together. franklin came to the u.s. first in 2002. two years later, sondra followed. this was the last photo of her taken with her sons before she immigrated. the decision to bring the boys,

who lived with their grandparents to the u.s. illegally was a difficult one. >> translator: it's a country full of crime where my oldest son, who is 15 years old, already had people looking at him to be a good body guard. or a gang member. so it was a decision whether to leave my sons to live there to have them live in danger for their entire lives or have them risk their lives for two weeks and be able to be with us here. >> reporter: franklin and sondra say they sold many of their possession to his raise the $12,000 needs today pay a smuggler to help them cross the boarder. emanuel was only 10 when he made his way from mexico to texas. >> translator: they told us that we had to memorize a password because they work with the narcos if we didn't tell them the number he gave us, they would kill us right there in that place. we wrote them down on our hands. our arms, our shoes. >> reporter: they were caught at the boarder and detained. they were eventually lease today a social worker who brought them here to new jersey. it was the first time that manuel had ever met his father,

eight-year-old melissa is the family's only u.s. citizen. >> translator: when i saw my parents i didn't cry because i came here with so much anger. and when my sister hugged me i hit her. now i feel bad because i had this anger. but she was the one who sacrificed to bring us here. >> reporter: now the family is fight to go stay together again this fall agents from immigration customs and enforcement came to their door witwith a deportation order for sandra. >> translator: one of the agents wanted to handcuff me and the other saw that my daughter was crying and saying don't go. the other agent told her to handcuff me outside because it would tram tram ties my daughter. she was fink printed and released now under the executive action taken president obama. the couple bring there's no longer a deportation priority. they were not sure that their sons who came after the january 1st 2010 cut off will be so lucky. san from and franklin say they wore that i president obama's action doesn't go far enough in protecting the dream that they have had for so long.

to raise their children here together. >> translator: for the first we were making plans and excited. we'll see what happens this christmas, because for so many years i waited for all of us to be here together. >> reporter: but living together as a family around the same table, is still an uphill battle. and one they know is far from over. kalin ford, al jazerra, trenton, new jersey. that family and many others have been through so much. joining me to talk more about the immigration policy is monica, she's a professor at city university of new york and and we appreciate you coming in. how would you characterize the obama administration's approach to immigration. >> what he has been doing for the last six years really has been using listen sourcement hours as the head of the bureaucracy to both reward those considered good immigrants and punish those who are considered bad immigrants. or the worst of the worst. so, on the one hand he has

passed about, brought in to practice a number of policies very effective in protecting certain people from did he did e deportation. >> how effect that is been, it's been in effect since 2012. how effective would you say it's been. >> i think there is approximately 1.1 million people give or take eligible for that program and 600,000 people have actually applied for it and now have protection under that program. and the administrative program that he announced a couple of weeks ago is potentially going to be protecting 5 million people from did he pour participation. >> what are the object tickings though? >> a lot of obstacles in terms of getting signed up for it and so forth. relying a lot of local serve price describedders to get people signed up, completed, and do all of that. but nonetheless -- >> are what are the most significant changes? >> in that program? >> yes. >> it provides protection from deportation for that many people. up to 5 million people can potentially be, you know, in a safer space than they were before. >> let's talk about you said that deportation was based on

separating -- it's such a bad term term but no other way to put it. the good immigrants from the worst of the worst. but even the worst of the worst changes overtime what is considered criminal acts that get you departed has continued to change. can you talk about that in. >> sure. yes. that is a big part of what's been going on. in 1996 congress passed a number of laws which expanded the body of people that would be considered criminal for deportation purposes. so all of a sudden there is this term called aggravated felons, if you become an aggravated felon that's actually an immigration term that makes you potentially subject to did he for take. >> that implies that you did something violent but that's not necessarily what it means. >> right. if you and anybody they wouldn't necessarily say that some of the crimes that make you deportable are aggravated or felonies. the lesion like dis, riding a fraudulent check, filing fraudulent action turns, these are all things that are considered aggravatessed felonies and can get you deported and split up from your family for the rest of your life.

>> what are the most glaring omissions in the immigration policy going forward? >> we don't have any recently. that's probably the biggest one. >> fair enough. hence the president's action. >> exactly. exactly. so, you know, at some point i and many others are hoping that congress moves forward because no matter what part of spectrum you are on, everyone thinks the immigration system is broken. >> prefoes or city of university new york, professor thank you very much. >> is you for inviting me. california silicon value is a famous for its technology and wealth. there is a darker side this to community, homelessness. recently the city of san jose tour down one of the largest outdoor homeless campsites in the country nicknamed the juggle. rob reynolds has this report. >> reporter: when we first visited the jungle in september this patch of woods and brush was a refuge for 250 homeless people smack in the middle of silicon valley. some stayed for a night or a week. some like her had lived here for

years. the. >> we live in tents. it smells a little bit. >> reporter: but earlier this month the city of san jose as parts of a long-term plan to help homeless people find permanent places to live, required the camp's residents to leave. and tour down their make-shift dwellings. officials say the camp had grown too filthy and violent. >> we were facing health and safety issues. unsanitary, unstable and unsafe environment. and the threat of a wet winter coming up we needed to get home out. >> reporter: now the junk is nothing but churned up mud and piles of garbage being steadily carried off by city workers. former jungle residents joseph torres says the place lived up to its name. >> if you had a girlfriend, they would either take them, drag them away, or rape them. >> reporter: san jose's plan to move people out of the jungle was devised more than a year ago. and cost the city four and a

half million dollars. >> able to house 150 people in their own apartments. now there are 60 people with vouchers in hands looking for housing in the process of becoming stably housed. for everyone else we had shelter beds available the day of the clean up. >> reporter: the biggest problem is finding low cost places to rents in a region where well paid technology workers can afford high housing prices. jennifer loving runs a nonprofit organization fighting homelessness. >> the places don't exist. we have a very small vacancy rate. very small supply of affordable housing. we just don't have the places for people to go even if they have rental subsidies in their hands. we are one of the richest regions in the country if we wanted to solve homelessness we could we need to create thousands of units of housing and we wouldn't have homeless problems anymore. >> reporter: most of the people who had been camping out here are now living in subsidized apartments paid for by the city

of sa san jose but there are stl thousands of homeless people in silicon valley. we met gare smith i in a downton san jose park, he says he doesn't like homeless shelters and refuses to take government assistance, he collects cans and bottles for money. all do i is wake up and recycle and go back to bed and wake up and recycle, it's a resolving circle. you know. >> reporter: a stubborn social problem even in the wealthiest american cities. rob reynolds, al jazerra, san jose, california. the number of homeless families is rising in romania, it's in part the result of a government policy. but as paul brennan shows us, one group in the cap al bucharest is taking a stand. >> reporter: winter is almost here. and the only heat available is a small campfire. for five years these families paid rent and lived inside the two handsome town houses which they now camp outside of.

on september 15th despite having nowhere else to go they were thrown out. >> translator: i agree with giving back the house to the owner but what are we supposed to do, stay in the a street where the children? is that reasonable? >> translator: we are at the end of our strength. we are cold, we can't endure the cold and the snow and the rain. what are the authorities doing? >> reporter: these roma have become the unintend victims of romania's restitution laws which return private property snatched by the state during the communist years. although in theory, no homes can be reclaimed until the authorities or the new owners provide alternative housing the existing tenants in practice as many as 50,000 people have been made homeless. the roma here are living on vulture street have found themselves at the center of basically a perfect storm. the gentrification of certain areas of the city, the property boom which is taking place here in bucharest at the moment. and the apparent inability of the city authorities to find

alternative social housing for them. for the first time these people are fighting back and it seems with effect. instead of disberging they stayed and demanded their rights tkphaepdzing they tackle the issue. >> you the authorities have to admit there is a problem and they have to started organizing and meet to go discuss this problem in exact details and this started to happen. >> reporter: bucharest city council declined to be interviewed but in a statement said the committee which evaluates the social circumstances of bucharest citizens is analyzing lots of files. among these files are the requests of the citizens evicted from vulture street. in other words, the families of vulture street are just some among many. the balance between the rights of the property owners and the rights of the evicted tenants seems tilted in favor of the owners burr as winter arrives,

the pressure goes for the balance to be shifted. paul brennan, al jazerra, bucharest. many religious and political figures across europe are calling on the romanian government to end the forced eviction of roma people. still ahead on al jazerra america, look at what nasa calls an astronaut's view of coming home from space. and we'll show you what happens when a star wars fanatic strings up the holiday lights. ♪ ♪

nasa has lease aid new view of the return and splash down of the ey orion capsule earlier ths month. as it hurls itself in to earth's atmosphere at 20,000 miles per hour. the entire sequence lasts less than 10 minutes and end with the capsule landing in the pacific ocean. the use of electronic cigarettes is on the rice especially among teenage aers, according to a new government study. they have surpassed traditional

smoking among teams, the findings are sparking a debate about public health. victoria randolph picked up her first cigarettes at the age of sometimes, today this teenager prefers puff on the ground this. randolph is smoking an electrotonic cigarette. >> they have instagram pages and facebook pages and youtube channels that teach you how to build them. all this stuff. it's a culture. >> reporter: it's a battery-powered nicotine infused available riser that is growing in popularity among u.s. teenagers. before the e cigarette randolph says she was smoking a pack offing a residence a day. do you feel any different? like you saw -- >> i feel healthier. >> reporter: you do? >> i don't have a cough. i don't have the cough and like the hacking that i had when i was speaking cigarettes. >> reporter: although teen tobacco use is down a report released this week by the national institute of health found that e-cigarette use among

teens has surpassed the use of traditional cigarettes. more than 40,000 students across the country were surveyed. 17% of high school seniors reported using e-cigarettes in the past month. compared to 7% who reported smoking cigarettes. dr. nora says parents should be alarmed. >> the message we really do not know very much about the cigarettes, we do not know the extent as they can act as a gateway drug for kids to then transition in to tobacco cigarettes or other drugs that such as cocaine or marijuana. >> reporter: e-cigarettes of not regulated by the food & drug administration and also still unclear if there are any short or long-term healthing effects from using these devices the uncertainty has ignited nationwide debate. with flavors such as chocolate

and double gum, there are also concerns that electronic devices are marketed towards children. 10 states, including the district of columbia, do not have laws barring children from buying e-cigarettes. michigan is one of them. state lawmakers here are looking to ban sales to minors. randolph, meantime, is ready to kick the habit. >> i was using it to try to quick and i still am. >> reporter: e-cigarettes are estimated to be a nearly $2 billion industry, clouded in controversy, the fda is expected to ban sales to anyone under 18. so far, nothing has been finalized. al jazerra, detroit. united nations second general ban ki-moon is visiting the west african countries hit hardest by the ebola outbreak, he praised health workers for their an going efforts, especially in sierra leone and liberia. accord to this latest estimates

by the centers for disease control and prevention liberia has the most death with 3300. guinea and sierra leone combined have just over 4,000. that brings the numbers of deaths to almost 7400. coming up, can you name the three most popular board games of all time? we'll have the answer for you as we report on the rising popularity of old-fashioned games.

move over ipad and ex-box, there is a shift back to old-fashioned entertainment. phil lavelle reports from london on the booming business of boards games. >> reporter: talk about coming back full circle the board game is back the fun, the friction, a christmas tradition it had appeared to be under threat. but you can't cheat the numbers. sales are up.

40% year on year. board games were once a staple presents but lost their way thanks to alternative from electric is. it's those that appear to be helping. fact is video games are the big sellers. there is no getting away if that. lots of titles were brought to the big screens then to tablets and smart phones, very ports label. it's these that are bringing the curious, the nostalgic and even a new breed of gamer back to the board. they have had to fill the shelves up at this shop where it is the busiest week of the year and all kind of people are coming in. >> years ago it was mainly people who were sort of hoppy games players that came in. but now we are getting far more families and people like to go come in and ask us questions about games get recommendations, make try some out. >> reporter: on the other side of london, how about this, a board game bar. coffee, and beer, from "a" to

"z," 1980s to 1770s, there are hundreds of games to play and the place is packed. the boss thinks it's a winner. >> a lot of games now are completely twisting how they work or taking kind of inspiration from video gaming and from other board games and creating games that are much more complicated. and much more deep. and where you do things that you wouldn't have considered everybody part of a board game 20 years ago. >> reporter: but sometimes it's the simple ideas that endure, lesley invented jenga and it's been driving people crazy for more than 30 years, this is one woman who knows thousand build a game that lasts. >> it's just a very simple concept. it's a social gathering where there is a lot of laughter and fun and, jenga just provides a focus for. >> reporter: they say the old ones are the best. so to end this a little game of our own. can you guess which are the most popular board game of all time?

all right, we won't leave you guessing here are the answers, in third place, scrabble. second place, monopoly. and in the lead, one of the oldest, some woo wow say the best. the king of them all and, this one needs no introduction. phil lavelle. al jazerra, in london. i would have thought clue would have been on the list. downtown have to visits a galaxy far, far away to see what one star war' wars fan's holiday lit show looks like. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> nice display that is. a california man used more than 100,000 lights to build his star wars christmas light display. you would think if you are his neighbor you would not be happy. but believe if it or not they are supporting him since he's useth display to raise money for his local church.

i am richelle carey the best of talk to al jazerra is next form updates around the world check out our website aljazerra.com. ♪ ♪ today ray like back at 2014. >> i was not a ham. i am ham and cheese serve odds a platter. i was ridiculous. in the last year, you have heard from icons pool is a makers and people creating national debat debates. the war on drugs has done more than anything we can think of. those at the frontlines for the battle of marriage