xt week we look forward at trends predictions of what you can expect to see from the global news media in 2015. see you next year here at "listening post". breaking news overnight. another passenger plane disappears in south-east asia. and the airasia jetliner possibly going down in bad weather. that same weather system leaving south-east asia with some of the worst flooding in decades. a changing of the guard - the u.s. and n.a.t.o. ends combat missions in afghanistan talk about a hard nut to

crack. the painstaking work of women in morocco and why they don't want technology to make it any easier welcome to al jazeera america. thanks so much for joining us this sunday morning. i'm morgan radford. breaking news - airasia disappeared over the java sea between indonesia and malacia, on its way from diego laxalt suarez when it lost -- from diego laxalt suarez, when it from surabaya. rescue crews are focussing efforts mere belitung island. airasia said in respect 162 passengers and crew members on board, most indonesian. gerald tan has more. . >> the airport crisis at srabaya in indonesia, people waiting for

news. 162 passengers and crew on board qz8501surabaya in indonesia, people waiting for news. 162 passengers and crew on board qz8501 the plane an airbus 320 lost communications with air traffic control 42 minutes after taking off. bev bev bantayan island tcks bel. >> tung . >> >> translation: we will provide updates of developments on an hourly basis. >> reporter: at singapore's changi airport those waiting for the flight are given the same scant information. the plane lost contact as it flew obvious the java sea. the area was crowdy. the pilot requested to change course due to weather. this is the first major incident for the malaysian low-cost carrier which has significant presence across south-east asia it trails two of the malaysian

tragedies this year both involving the national carrier. in march, mh370 disappeared on a flight from kuala lumpur to beijing. it's still missing. then in july mh17 was shot down over ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. airasia has never lost the plane before, and a search and rescue operation going in full swing, many hope that remains so the search for the plane has been suspended now due to darkness. joining us on the phone directly from singapore is veronica pedrosa, who is at the same airport where relatives are waiting to hear any word about their loved ones on the flight. good morning to you. this must be a very challenging time - first with the floods, now the plane missing. have you been able to talk to

any of relatives there? >> we haven't actually been able to talk directly at any length with any of the relatives. there are about 100 members of the media waiting outside in what they call the relatives' holding area at changi area where the flight, the ill-faith flight was due to come in. what we did see was a couple of people coming in and one of them told us that they were the fiancee. they were engaged to someone who was on the plane, and due to arrive. she was very quickly hustled into the relative's holding area away from the media. so dribs of information are being given to us through official channels and we are getting information by that means. if i can bring you up to date on the latest that's come in from the civil aviation group. what they are saying is that

people are assisting in the search, and locating effort for the missing plane. they are saying that the searchers will set off tomorrow and continue with the search once the sun is up once again. there are various officials from various departments, of the singaporean government. it has been confirmed tragically that the singaporean - on the passenger manifest on the flights, dramatically there was a young girl travelling with her father, a british national. the singaporean government have been in contact with the girl's mother and grandparents who are at the airport. and they are org necessary support. the minister -- or organising all support. it is a difficult time for the

relatives of those on board. they are providing travel for relatives. we understand that there are counsellors here for the relatives and friends who have come in to say that they are related to these people on board, and a tragic time. it looks like the authorities are doing everything that they can to give support to the earn and rescuers mission, and to the next of kin, friend and relatives. >> veronica pedrosa, i want to recap something you said. you mentioned the children for our viewers, there's 17, including one infant. i know you said you were waiting to hear about the services for those grieving much veronica pedrosa in singapore, thank you

for being was. malaysia's government is pledging $142 million to help those displaced by flooding. towns under water after days of rain. thailand has eight provinces disaster zones. officials warning people to prepare for more rain. 180,000 have been forced from their home 30,000 killed this malaysia and thailand. we turn to meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> not uncommon to have a lot of water in this time of the year. the end of the peninsula, that is where the flight was headed and all the way through the area. this time of year is where we have the ipp ter tropical zone. it's coming together. and as they converge lift into the atmosphere. it looks like the plane would lift into the atmosphere to ground them.

common as they travel through the area. back to you. >> we thank you. as you mentioned the atmosphere in sri lanka, the threat of mudslide continues after a week of rain. more than 20 have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to leave their homes. >> reporter: here on the north-western area of sri lanka the picture echoed throughout many parts of the country. there are many feet of water which have inundated this area. now on the north we were coast there's an outlet very much a stretch, an outlet with a huge amount of water falling throughout many parts of the country in the central and we were areas, oil coming down and basically falling to the sees over here. as you can see behind me many waiting along a central highway, stretching up the north-western coast. many stranded. there's a huge amount. the tail back as you can see

over my shoulder stretching back. people waiting to brave the water at this crossing point. we have traffic police on standby. essentially trolling what has become a one-way stream to ensure they don't get stuck. there has been a number that need to be ed through. very much that the -- to be pushed through. in the central parts of the country, it's not just the floods but the threat of landslide, and the landslides that we have seen claiming the most amount of lives during this weather disaster that we are seeing. authorities, disaster management center of the country issuing further landslides essentially warning people of the risk of further landslides as well as rising floodwaters. now, there's over a million people affected here in sri lanka. a majority have been displaced along the east. however, in terms of the overall picture of the country, more

than 80% of the districts in this country have been affected and the intense weather warnings reports of torrential rain further gives them no hope of insight. >> officials say 10% of people have been displaced and given temporary accommodations at government shelters. a rescue operation is under way in greek waters where more than 400 passengers are on board a ferry that caught fire while travelling from greece to italy. 150 of them have been rescued. strong winds are still hampering that effort. >> the longest running war this history coming to a close in a few short days. a ceremony marking the end of time in afghanistan wrapped up in kabul a few hours ago. the u.s. and n.a.t.o. announced an end to combat missions. some 11,000 u.s. forces will stay behind to focus on training

and advising. this has been the deadliest yet, with more afghan civilians and troops dying in 2014 than any other year since the war began. >> syria is ready for peace talks. bashar al-assad's regime is willing to take part in the russian initiative for dialogue. opposition forces are dismissing the plan saying there's no clear details on a framework for the talks. 200,000 have died since the syrian conflict began four years ago. >> 20,000 police officers will be in new york city to give a salute to a fallen officer. officer rafael ramos was laid to rest in an emotional goodbye in queens, new york. police officers lined up shoulder to shoulder by the thousands outside the church. politicians, including the vice president were present. >> i am sure i speak for the whole nation when i say to you

that our hearts ache for you. >> a final tribute, the empire state building was lit up blue in honour of the fallen officers. the mayor bill de blasio took his tournamentuala guising rammar. a big group of officers turned their backs. union leaders said that gesture was not organised. afterwards a mayoral spokesman said his honour's focus was unifying the city and honouring the lives of two fallen officers. >> gamer's relief. they can finally bet the playstations back on the network. after christmas was ruined for gamers across the country as russia's economy struggle some in the far east look to china for opportunity. we look at two cities in the two countries and what ties them together. >> press freedom under attack as we mark a year since three al

jazeera journalists were gaoled in egypt. we look at the year that found many becoming part of the stories they were trying to cover. stay tuned. tomorrow 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america.

>> sunday night. >> 140 world leaders will take the podium. >> get the full story. >> there is real disunity in the security council. >> about issues that impact your world. >> infectious diseases are a major threat to health. >> "the week ahead". sunday 8:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. ukraine welcomed home more prisoners in a swap with pro-russian separatists. tensions are high. the state rail company suspended trains blaming security firms, leaving many passengers stranded and frustrated. >> reporter: it is very bad and will affect many people. people should not be affected by such decisions, and should not suffer because of politics. >> peace talks were expected to resume on friday but have been

postponed indefinitely meanwhile tensions between the u.s. and russia is pushing russia closer to china. the european asian giants will have to put years of mistrust behind to make the most of new commercial opportunities. rory challands reports from russia's far east. >> reporter: the first restaurant this woman set up in russia is getting a renovation. these days the chinese business woman commands a local empire of seven eateries and several construction projects. >> translation: now i feel russia and china have good relations. in the last six months many people wanted to invest money in russia they are being cautious. they've seen the market. i have always told my colleagues there are many opportunities and it's very profitable to invest in russia now. >> this is one of the more

successful members of a chinese community that decided it's a place where money can be made. they have not had to come far, just across the river, which has the chinese city. it has formed a long stretch of the russian china border and apart from a hiatus the two nation alties have been ming lipping, trading and competing for generations. as you might expect relations between the two empires have not always been cordial. in 1900, chinese forces shelled the area and in retaliation the russians forced 4,000 chinese relatives into the require drown. long-held fears of an invasion of chinese immigrants across the far eastern borders for the moment seem more myth than reality.

the two cities are part of a special zone allowing temporary visa free travel. crossing the border for business is as oozy as taking a -- easy as taking a hovercraft across the ice. there are also russians making a lie in hay-hay. >> if you look at every day stuff, rejecting an apartment is cheaper and food is less. if you want opportunities, there's more here than in russia. china is a fast-growing economy. it can give you what you want. you need to know what to wish for. >> russia's cosy alliance with china is a recent phase of an old complex relationship. sometimes friends, sometimes rivals looking for fresh opportunities. typical neighbours. china is russia's second biggest trading partner after

the e.u. trade between the two countries is expected to hit $100 billion sony's playstation is up and running. it was hit by a cyber attack. the system had been down since christmas when hackers hacked in. microsoft restored the xbox system on friday. a group of hackers called the lizard squad claimed responsibility for the attacks tomorrow marks a year since three of our colleagues were detained in egypt. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed were arrested while covering the military coup in cairo last december, and were charged with aiding the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera denies the charges and demands their immediate release. al jazeera's mike hanna reports the decision to sentence them to prison is seen as an attack on press freedom. >> reporter: there are things an objective journalists take

personally. the unjust of colleagues in egypt is the case in point. some argue they were casualties in seismic change but no rational analysis discounts the fact that they sit in gaol. the men, peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are the first to acknowledge that they are among thousands around the globe who fell victim in an undeclared war to silence the messengers. >> we no longer report from the front line we are the front line. >> nowhere in the past year has the front line been more bloody than in syria, where 10 journalists were killed doing their jobs. >> the most recent victim was an al jazeera correspondent. as many as nine reporters were killed in iraq. seven dead in ukraine.

heightening the changes. journalists have to be where others are not. in reporting what had become a war in gaza two lost their lives, along with the expert attempting to make safe an unexploded bomb. there's no comfort for children whose father went to work that day and did not come back. in many zones of conflict governments are involved. governments that appear to regard journalists as collateral damage in a pursuit of political ends. thousands of reporters that have been imprisoned, they are testament that in many cases suppression is the matter of law. we have been troubled by some of the laws that have been passed around the world that seem to

restrict the ability of journalists to pursue or right stories. if there is regression and nations that take pride in media freedoms. not only is the whistleblower hunted, but those report on his or her words. >> i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. >> and whereas four decades ago journalist were regarded as heroes for bringing down a corrupt u.s. president. they are imprisoned for refusing to reveal their sources. over the past year the rise of non-nation actors the unelected militant groups that will use any means to secure an ideological and religious end and in which reporters are chips to barter or be dispod of. the power of those shining light

on event remains undiminished. luke somers images of the yemeni people going through transition glitter brightly after he was gone. in the photographs lies a basic truth, no matter how brutal the change. there'll be nose brave and honest enough to record it. on monday we'll air an hour-long special devoted to our colleagues' incarceration and a larger issue of freedom of the fence. join us for: . >> straight ahead - it's a difficult and tedious job. we'll tell you why women in morocco don't want anything to do with the modern technology that could make cracking the nuts easier. at the top of the hour the latest on the breaking news. the missing airasia jetliner in indonesia. stay tuned.

good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america. live from new york i'm morgan radford. first a look at the forecast with meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> good morning. for the east coast one last day of the warm air. this is rain versus snow for most of the region look how widespread it is tapping into the gulf area spreading through

the region. we have had more on the way today. flooding from louisiana to portions of georgia. at least that participation is in effect so be aware of that. you can see the moisture spread to the north, it will be fighting moisture for points of the north-east. most of this is today and gone into tomorrow. the rest of the front pushing through, as it clears out in the mid west looking at the next snow, it's a couple of days out. that is this system that we are watching to the north-west. starting to see some of the snow piled up in the higher elevation, and this system while there is a front that is pushing through the east coast now, this is the one that will bring in the cold air after the next few days. one last day of warm stuff up the east coast. you can see already behind it, a lot of 20s billings minneapolis, let me fast-forward two days - this is tuesday, the highest single digits in

billings, with high winds behind the system. windchills below zero. >> back to you. a cold start to the new year. >> president george h.w. bush could be heading home. his doctors are discussing discharge dates. the 41st president was admitted to a houston hospital on tuesday tore shortness of breath. he'll remain in the hospital through the weekend as a precaution. >> it's known as moroccan gold. argon oil is produced by hand. some workers are concerned that new technology could threaten their livelihood. >> reporter: it's a tedious process, labouring and time-consuming. everything hurts. every part of our bodies. we are grateful. if there's no argon, there is nothing. sitting at home doing nothing.

it's a hard nut to crack. once grinded they produce argon oil. for centuries it's been used by women in the south-west morocco. it comes from this small thorny tree. there was a time this was covered by a thick argon forest. world wide demand nor the plant and wood increased to the point that put it at risk of extinction. the government stepped in planting thousands of new trees every year and the argon-growing region was designated by u.n.e.s.c.o. as a bios fear reserve. it is now something of a cult product sold for the multiflavour at high end food stores. popularity comes from its youth as a product. a market that international companies are tapping into. they repackage it abroad and

sell it at a higher price. the means are greater. we have to control the raw material, it protects us. to match global demand local cooperatives are mechanizing the process. many fear that it will mean an end to the main source of income. more than 2 million people in the region live on argon production. >> if they bring the machine, we'll stop working, there'll be nothing for us all the rest of the process is done by machine, even pressing. no machine so far has been able to crack the nut like this. meaning this ancient skill passed on from generation to generation will continue to provide steady work - at least for now coming up in the next hour north america's bird population

is at risk partly because of glass high-rises. we tell you how scientists are working to keep feathered friends safe. the new heart of classical music is in berlin. we'll be right back. thank you for joining us on al jazeera america. care that they need >> this is a crime against humanity >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> what do we want? justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> they are running towards base... >>...explosions going off we're not quite sure... >> fault lines al jazeera america's emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series...

breaking news this morning - the search for yet another missing jetliner suspended for the night as families await word on the fate of their loved ones. >> we are dreaming to have democracy system and see our people like any other nation in the world dreams of democracy. al jazeera sits with an iraqi family that suffered unimaginable loss.

their struggle with life in a war zone and their hope for the future a raging inferno bringing part of a major city to a standstill and a show of defines at a funeral. the n.y.p.d. turns its back on new york's mayor as a fallen officer is laid to rest good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. thank you for spending your sunday morning hear what us. we are following -- sunday morning hear with us. >> we are following the missing airline that went missing over java sea. it lost contact near the indonesian island of belitung island. which is where the search and rescue operation is focused. the flight crew which is similar to this one asked to go off course because of the weather. airasia said there was 162 passengers and crew members on board. many families are gathering at the airport awaiting any word

whatsoever on the loved ones. al jazeera's gerald tan has more. >> reporter: at the airport in surabaya, people await news of their loved ones. 162 passengers and crew were on board the night to singapore, qz8501. it lost communications 42 minutes after takeoff. >> translation: i hope for a miracle, may god save them all. i should have been with them. i cancelled. i have two friends on board with five family members. the disaster management authorities set up a crisis center at the airport to update developments. >> translation: we are widening the search radius. the indonesian military search and rescue as well as singapore

search and rescue. they have moved, so have the navigation ships. we have called for relays of information on the missing plane. >> at chappingy airport -- changi airport those waiting for the flight to arrive have been given the same scanned information. the area was cloudy the pilot requested to change course. this is the first major incident for the low-cost carrier, which has significance presence across south-east asia. it trails two other malaysian tragedies this year. both involving the national carrier malaysian airlines. in march mh370 disappeared from kuala lumpur to beijing, with 239 people. it is still missing. then in july the plane from amsterdam to kuala lumpur was

shot down over ukraine, killing 298 people on board. airasia has never lost the plane before. a search and rescue operations going in full swing - many hope that remains so al jazeera's veronica pedrosa joins us on the phone from singapore, and she is at the same airport where relatives have been waiting for news about their loved ones. >> good morning to you. authorities just called off the search since it's night time. what are the family members doing in the meantime. will they spend the night at the airport? >> what we understand is there are 47 relatives in friends of 67 passengers on board the qz8501 indonesia airasia flight that went missing. they were registered at the relatives holding area at terminal 2.

i awere, because in the last few minutes we had word from changi airport authorities saying that the relatives, next of kin have left the relatives' holding area for the night, and hasn't clarified whether they are picking up the offer of local accomodation or transport and what the conditions there are. >> i want to show viewers a picture, a live picture of the singapore airlines in the holding area that you described. continue to bring us up to speed. >> well, what we understand is that in the relatives holding area that you can see on the screens, there was 36 care officers and four counsellors provided by cat, airasia, and they were all there as well as well as people from the embassy, the republic of singapore. we had a tragic update in that

we heard that the singaporean national - there was one on board, with a 2-year-old child. she was travelling with her father, a british national - again, the only u.k. national on board the flight. the vast majority were of course indonesian nationals. and there are relatives, and the relatives were contacted here and are being looked after by the changi airport group, and the civil aviation authority. >> i just want to clarify for our viewers, we are talking about the airasia missing plain, and that picture was from singapore airport and the waiting area that you mentioned. i want to ask you about the family members, have you had access. how have airasia staff been handling them and the services they are offering the family

members? >> well, it is separate from the relatives holding area. the plane was supposed to arrive a full 12 hours ago. most of them arrived sum time ago and they have been taken away by the authorities to a private area away from the media. one woman approached to enter the holding area and she mentioned that she was the fiancee of somebody who was on board, saying that he was on a last family holiday before they were getting married. but we from not able to talk to anyone at length. their privacy is guarded closely by the authorities here. >> all right. veronica pedrosa live for us at that airport in singapore. thank you so much for being with us this morning and keeping us updated. meanwhile, this has been a

difficult time for south-east asia malaysia's government is pledging 142 million to help those displaced by flooding. up to s are under water after days of rain. thailand declaredate provinces disaster zones and officials are warping people to prepare for more rain fall. 180,000 people have been forced from their home and 30 killed in malaysia and thailand. as mentioned weather may have played a significant role in the disappearance. meteorologist nicole mitchell who plies into hurricanes is here to give us more light on this. >> in is tropical weather. you can see the moisture through the area. the tip of sing for - this time of year the intertropical convergens zone lifting into

the atmosphere we have seen areas of rain and any flight nose it may be dealing with the weather. it's predominant as we get into january. then you look at the plans. they fly na different types of weather, they are meant to withstand a certain amount of lightening or tush u lens. you look at was there so much that there was a structural problem or how the human reacts to the weather. this is what they look at. back to you. syria's government is willing to talk peace with the opposition. a government official says bashar al-assad's regime will participate in a russian initiative for dialogue. opposition forces are dismissing moscow's plan saying there's no clear details on frameworks for talks. 200,000 died since the syrian conflict began. >> in neighbouring iraq life under i.s.i.l. continues to be

dangerous, many experience a similar fear and uncertainty. a little over 10 years ago iraqi civilians were caught in cross fire between saddam hussein's government and u.s. forces. those that survived had to rebuild not just their homes, but broken families. we talk it one iraqi who is trying to do that after losing almost everything this man has a family of chess players. one of his two sons was an iraqi chess champion. his children from a second marriage are eager to learn. in baghdad he has rebuilt his lie, trying to move forward from almost unimaginable tragedy. 10 years ago his wife five daughters, a son and his nephew were killed when an american tank opened fire on him at a checkpoint. the soldiers felt they were insurgents. his youngest child was nine, the

eldest 23. in between, a girl writing of dreaming of a peaceful world. >> translation: that day i lost my family. >> reporter: now he fears he's losing his country. he is from dailia province where iraqi and kurdish forces and shia militias pushed back i.s.i.l. residents paid a high price. his sister was a shop owner. here in baghdad she's another of the displaced . >> i lost my house, it was fully furnished. i had two shops. all the property was burnt. some bombed others looted. >> reporter: for 50 years she and her neighbours lived in peace. he still believes in identical

and proposes music incorporating music for mosul all the way to the south. he has built a small house with his own hands. he says he's forgiven the soldiers that forgave his family. he believes it's part of the price for a better iraq. >> we want to see our people like any other nation in the world. they deserve to have this still, because they already pay the heavy price, but this is the life. >> he has paid the heaviest price. he says he tried to teach his children that all men are brothers and that while tragedy comes and goes love endures. with part of his family gone he hopes his country will survive the u.s. spent over $845 billion over the course of eight years in the iraq war.

in the latest fight against i.s.i.l., the american military spent more than one billion. the leader of al-shabab, wanted by the united states has finally surrendered. somali police stormed a house and found the senior commander during the raid on the house. the u.s. issued a $3 million reward for capture and had been on the run for a year after a disagreed with another leader. that top official was killed in a u.s. drone strike the longest running war in america's history will come to a close in a few short days. a ceremony marking the end of military action wrapped up in kabul. this has been the deadliest year. al jazeera's jennifer glasse reports the fighting has been the fiercest in the country's south. >> reporter: helmand is the deadliest province in afghanistan.

in the provincial capital where security is tighter, people are nervous. sayeed came her. fighting is raging around his home in the north. he said thousands have fled. >> fighting meant we lost the first harvest and now the second. farmers lost their cattle. people their homes, people have been targeted by roadside bombs and have faced many threats from insecurity. >> this man's wife is a victim. fighting kept her getting to a doctor. she died of her illness. the lucky ones end up here at emergency hospitals in lashkar gar. they have only one name this perp has lost a -- person has lost a leg, doctors are fighting to save the other. a painstaking search for shrapnel in this victim. the moment accepts anyone no

questions asked. this is a policeman. he has been serving and the fighting in helmand has never been this bag. this is a dangerous area. there's thousands of taliban. they are all with taliban, the government controls the roads, none of the villages this is a member of the intelligence forces from a district with heavy fighting. >> i'm worried about the future. i have four brothers with the government. >> proof that the fight is hard the rorted number of wounded -- record number of wounded. wards are full even though the fighting slows at this time of year. there's about so many casualties, the hospital turned the pharmacy mosque and children's play room into wards when it's really busy they use tend for triage. >> a rare attack in lashkar gar killed seven.

the fire fight lasted hours. . those from the villages and the countryside say civilians are caught in the middle between taliban fighters and government forces ta don't care who they hurt. casualties are at a record high fighting continues at the height of the afghan war there were 100,000 u.s. troops on the ground. starting next year 11,000 forces remain focussing on training and advising. >> the turkish man who tried to assassinate pop john paul ii paid a visit to the late pope who is a saint. he laid flowers at the tomb in st. peter's basilica. it lasted a few minutes. and spend nearly two decades in the italian prison for the 1981 shooting. the pope visited the gunman in prison.

one new york city police officer has been laid to rest. the city waits to bury another. services were held for n.y.p.d. officer rafael ramos. the emotional service included a helicopter flyover. 20,000 police officers surrounded the family as they realised the flag that draped the officer's coffin. the mayor was among numerous politicians that ooulo guised the officer. >> new york city lost a hero a remarkable man because of the depth of his commitment to all around him. the empire state building was lit up in blue last night in a tribe ute to the officers. during the eulogy, a group of officers outside the church turned their backs to a screen showing his address. they said that that gesture was not planned. a mayoral spokesmaned the sole

focus was unifying the city and honouring the lives of two fallen officers. >> more internet issues where a country experienced an internet and 3 g outage. it lasted for five hours. north korea issued a statement blaming the united states and reiterating that it had nothing to do with the sony pictures hack. in is north korea's third internet outage in the past week. the sony playstation is up and running. they admitted that it was hit by a cyber attack and the system down since christmas day when hackers crippled the network. microsoft restored the xbox live system on friday and a group of hackers called the lizard squad claimed responsibility for the attacks. >> stay tuned - coming up a small step in the right direction for the ongoing crisis in the ukraine.

rebels loyal to moscow exchanging prisoners. kiev just took action against crimea which could harmer effort to reconcile speaking of crimea they failed to bring down this building on friday despite a cache of dynamite. look at it yesterday. they finished the job. climate change could cost north america 60%. apparently there's a bigger threat to our feathered friend. stay tuned.

that is the way it was done. the second time the charm in crimea locals clapping and cheering the second explosion did in fact work. friday it was a different thing. the first attempt failed to

lower the structure. ukraine is suspending train and bus services to the area. the move creating a transportation blockade to and from the region annexed by moscow. the inspections are meant to prevent sabotage groups from entering. no word on how long it will last ukraine's problems with russia partly led to the free fall of currency. it lost half of its value, and the ruble is one of the worst performing currencies this year. thousands of ukrainians are finding it tough to find dollar dominated mortgages. amid the crisis there is a swap on pro-russian separatists. ukraine is handling over 225 prisoners and the rebels 250. this is the largest. it considered to be a major step in easing the tensions.

>> a massive fire in pakistan extinguished, 10 hours after looking at the flames. a timber market was engulfed in flames. a slow response by the fire department and a lack of water allowed the flames to continue spreading. climate change sees more than half of them die off in the next 50 years. something we all take for granted is a bird's biggest enemy. most of them clean sparkly windows. scientists hope to improve how birds life here in the big city. >> after down naturalist luke dedeproot is out catching birds, trapping them in nets dozens at a time. >> their identified banded and soon therefore released. here in the woods needn't fill class pains.

every year they die crashing into windows. >> the majority of the birds are migrating song birds. once they have migrated and come out of the sky they have to find food frequently near glass windows. the birds come from the labs. they are testing out new methods of treating windows so the birds can detect them. with birds down this end of the tunnel do they go to the clear pane or the one with treatment. >> the bigger a building the more reflective they are likely to contain. this stadium lies along a big

migration fly wave. the city of jard mccann adopted standards for new buildings. adjustments to existing homes can protect birds. these are simply and effective ways of minimising bird collisions. window strips and hanging chords. there's no need to have transparent glass. you could have a narrow horizontal strike which is effective to swap birds. giving them better prospects of survival than relying on a wing or a prayer. >> the wars time of year is in the spring. >> the prejudiceals are famous. 50,000 vehicles are stuck on the roads leading up to the popular

resorts. a man died after sliding in oo ravine and more snow is expected to fall. there's similar scenes playing out. nicole mitchell has been tracking the system. this is a system we have been watching. a couple of inches. heavy payments of snow they feel heavy. this is a concern. this is the move moving interior over the next couple of days. through the rockies and in the midwest more as we get into tomorrow and monday. that is not what people will remember the most. maybe the fact that the know is blowing. what about the temperature changes. we have temperatures after the last front. you see where we don't have the property. warm for the east coast, as we continue, the high net, high pressure settling in it's a

clockwise flow that means on east side of that that funnels air in from the cannatian border. the combination of the two. look at the temperatures. with the wind and cold temperatures this is tuesday and wednesday morning. 20 to 30 below wind chills the cold air that will be notable a couple of days away. starting to clear out on the east coast. more on that coming up. back to you. >> right now crews are scouring the indian ocean for signs that the missing asia air flight. could a commercial jet vanish in the skies over the united states. air traffic controllers using strips of paper to keep track of airliners, we look at a major laps in technology, plus a look

back at a busy year of bickering and the impact on the president's approval rating. all that and more coming up in weekend politics next.

welcome back and happy sunday morning to you. i'm morgan radford, and these are the top stories we are following. a huge turn out in new york city for a fallen officer. he is one of two officers killed last weekend. about 20,000 officers from all over the country came to say goodbye to officer rafael ramos, and plans have been made for officer wenjian liu have not been announced. u.s.-led forces end their combat mission in afghanistan, where officials mark the change in missions. the new international mission began in 2015.

it will be smaller with a focus on training and advising on afghan forces. search and rescue efforts have been suspended for the night in the missing air asian jet. the many was travelling from indonesia to singapore when it went off the radar. 162 passengers and crew members were on board. the disappearance is the third involving a malaysian based airline this year. >> airplane incidents like this are rare in a safe transportation system. as jacob ward explains the air traffic control system in the u.s. is falling behind the times and is in major need of an overhaul. as the plane pushes back. it's entering a sprawling system. it's safe with 0.2 accident, but the national air space is very inefficient. >> it's manual it starts at the

gate with a ramp controller. he or she will hand it off to a tower controller for the airport surface. and be handed to i don't remember controller to departure areas, and be handed off to another controller and likely en route controllers. >> since no system coordinates all the people the faa works on one that will. the new system is a next generation transportation system and n.a.s.a. has been commissioned to build tracking software for it. the system replaces the radar based control with g.p.s. technology capable of tracking every plane. the system relies on humans handing planes to one another. it makes it impossible to coordinate in advance. there's a lot of variability. these are limitations of the human mind they can't plan far enough ahead. here in the united states the most sofist quated society in

the world, we use strips of paper, n.a.s.a.'s system will replace that with a software base system that issues recommendations to ramp operations that decide when you leave the gate. they have to integrate all of that with the air traffic control tower. you have to add in the en route process and rival process. we are looking at an incredible oil complicated system. two important costs to the airline have fuel burning, and the amount of money they are paying their crew to operate the aircraft. >> most planes have several pieces of the necessary equipment. such as a.d.s. b. the g.p.s. system allowing next gen to do away with radar. we don't have the coordinating software. if next gen comes together by 2020 it will be impossible to lose track of commercial flights

in the united states. >> on any driven day there are 2 million passengers. president george h.w. bush could be heading home. doctors are discussing discharge dates. the 41st president was admitted to houston hospital. doctors say he'll remain in the hospital throughout the weekend as a precaution. there has been no shorting of issues facing president obama from 2014, from immigration to rolling out health care to the fight against i.s.i.l. the white house correspondent takes a look at the highs and the lows of the six years in office. >> as a rocky year came to a close, president obama was accentuating the positive. >> 2014 would be a year of action and a breakthrough year for america. it has been. >> reporter: there are reasons for optimism the economy is heading up. the jobless rate dips down.

along with another encouraging sign. the price at the pump plummeting. i'm glad to be able to pull together the cabinet. president obama began 2014 with a vow to go around congress. >> i have a pen, and i have a phone. and i can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions. and administrative actions that move the ball forward. >> so he did. on the minimum wage. ordering the federal government to raise it to $10.10 for outside contractors. and on administration. he reversed force. giving a reprieve to deportation to the parents in the u.s. legally. critics called him an emperor and worse. >> it's the height of arrogance. for them to go around the laws. >> reporter: there has been setbacks and issues where he struggles to find the right

response. riots shook the streets. the president appears in a split screen paradox. going for a measured response as the community burnt. when president obama changed his footing he made the following vow. >> the president of the united states is deeply invested in making sure in this time is different. it was overseas. in places that challenged american presidents in years. where president obama struggled most. in february the crimean parliament is seized by armed men behind the move. defined and resurgent russia behind the move. this as the bashar al-assad killed thousands, forcing millions to leave the homes. hit with criticisms that he was shying from action the president reacted angrily. >> why is it that everyone is eager to use military force, after we had gone through a

decade of war at enormous costs. >> reporter: but the stunning advance of i.s.i.l. changed that. three years after keeping his promise to keep american troops out of iraq. president obama sent them back in. some 3,000 advisors. there to train and assist the iraqi army in a shambles as they try to turn back i.s.i.l. by the end of the summer the president changed his tune on military force. >> last night america's armed forces began strikes against the i.s.i.l. targets in syria. president obama saw his biggest political set back in november. when his party suffered an election white out. giving the g.o.p. control of congress for the last two years of the president say. the president and his family are on vacation in hawaii a rest before turning to washington and a new political realitiy. or

joining me now is political strategist. thank you for being up so early. let's start with you jeannie, the president's approve rating. a gallop poll showed him at 43% compared to 33% of george w. bush. how much of this is reel? >> i think it's real and it's a reflection that president barack obama felt like he had the ability to put aside the politics and move forward on the agenda. it's interesting to listen to the night's peace, and what got in his way was the election, and the democrats saying you can't do immigration reform or controversial things, once the election was over and the republicans did well. he felt that he had the power and energy to move forward. in the last five or six weeks he

did a lot of things that the american public wanted to do. >> where has this obama been. >> that's the big question. my personal - you know my personal feeling is he felt that the democrats - he had to be the leader of the party, he felt he didn't have the ability because of politics. he's free of that. there's no other elections, and you see it the reinvigorated president obama. >> what say you? >> he's in legacy building mode. he has a couple of years left to get things done that will be in the history books. that's what he is focused on. he's a realist, in that he has a republican congress that he needs to deal with. i think you'll need to see both sides willing to work together in the year-on press conference. he signalled a huge willingness to do tax reform a top priority, i think you'll see a willingness to cooperate and get compromises in the last two years. >> what about in the next three

weeks, can the president say that the state of our union is in fact, strong. we have seen the private sector grow over 300,000 jobs and the unemployment rate drop from 7% to 5.8%. is this the sign of a strengthening union. somewhat, you see the economy improving. the stock market is reaching highs. there are huge concerns the. there's a huge his tensy for americans to feel great about where things are going, but they are making progress. do you feel great. jessica mentioned the stock market. it was under 8,000. is this something that average americans can hang their hats on. really, it should be. look at six years ago, where the economy was when president obama took over. jessica is right.

it's astounding when you look at the unemployment going down. gas prices at historic lows you look at the stock market as strong as it is now, the biggest problem i think the obama administration has had in terms of this is talking about the good news and getting it out there. they need someone like jessica on the team to share the good news. they had a struggle with that. they have been inundated by the crisis the world crisis which are enormous and splats and security -- threats and security challenge. there's a lot of good news that americans need to embrace and celebrate the successes on. we see none of that. it's been a struggle for them. that's an historic struggle the notion of messaging, something the republican have done well on. jessica - what does obama need to say to make people say this is going to affect them. >> i would argue that a lot of

good news has happened in spite of what this has done. he needs to get out there and talk to the american people and when they focus on the issues they care about, ramming it through, when everyone cared about the economy. chuck schumer coming out saying it was a huge mistake. you need to talk about what they are talking about. >> the economy is moving. >> obama care had a huge impact on small businesses that affected the economy. >> i'm saying millions of americans individually. >> when they have one of the leaders of the democratic party come out and say that this was the wrong policy to do at the time when people were focussed on jobs and taxes. and the government spending that politically that is not the naturest move. me needs to get out there and be communicating, and talking about - i thought he did well in the year on press commence. whether it was north korea, being strong on that talking

about tax reform, he needed to see a fair simpler system. this is stuff that people want to here. it's a popular decision. he needs to talk about issues that they care about. >> do you agree with what his message could be. >> i disagree on the health care. if you look at obama care there are parts that i don't embrace and many democrats don't embrace, if you look it succeeded better with the disastrous roll out and health care costs are going down. i disagree on that point. what i think the president needs to go in the last two years is do what he promised to do. every time he does what he said he would do whether it's cuba or immigration and he doesn't let the politician of the democratic party, he succeeds. he has to stick with what he promised to do. look at the issue with russia. look at the sanctions. they are working. no one is talking about that.

their economy is in sham bilitys. why, because president obama did what he said he'd do they put in the sanctions and they are succeeding. the initial promises move forward. legacy is what he should be focussing on and the american public. >> a vocal critic has been mitch mcconnell, and i want to read you something that the "new york times" quoted him as saying saying all of us from time to time make a point but it's time to make a dips. why now. why now does he want to make a difference when there's everything in his power to deny the president's move. >> that was their role as a minority party. you don't have the ability to control the agenda. every level of government is like that. now they are in the majority and are responsible for creating policy for the manner public. they expect it of them. they want a successful - they

had a successful election cycle being a loyal opposition. that's what the american public wanted. they do have to get things down. there'll be a willingness for compromise and areas of compromise. >> will democrats be in opposition, and will that be as vitriolic as we saw it? >> unlike the republicans, the democrats have one of their own in the white house. being a loyal opposition it will be tougher. we have seen signs of that we saw nancy pelosi and others come out and when the president and, you know john boehner, and mitch mcconnell are working together. she came out saying we are not going to accept this. it will be some of that it will not be as vitriolic. the republicans are going to try as best they can to get achievement under their belt whether it's infrastructure and tax reform they have to do that. 2016 is going to be a tough year for republicans running for

congress. unlike 2015. this will be tough. if they don't get the atom plishments it will be hard to hold the senate. >> thank you both for joining us on sunday morning. our pleasure to have you with us. heat on the hardware last night. we are not talking about miami. >> david west shows a little throw. >> check it out, how the nets kevin garnett got a technical foul without touch in fact anyone. and a look back at at highs and lows for the pros this year. >> i'm nick spicer in berlin more than ever the go-to place for young classical musicians.

. >> garnet in the second back to

back. david west throws a shove to go to the face. only pulled on stevenson let's just say he was not a whispering sweet nothings. brooklyn superstar kevin garnett getting a foul after blowing in the ear of pacer's david west. you heard the announcer say he pulled a stooerch son, a reference to this -- stevenson, a guard to this. >> when the ear episode happened, and lebron james took it in stride. clearly he was not as amused. needless to say it's been a tumultuous jeer. domestic violence. that brought down the clippers. >> thanks so much for being with us. the a.p. said the domestic abuse

scandal of 2014. true or false. >> true. it brought one of the n.f.l.'s dirty secrets out. >> what is that. domestic violence. >> the. >> when you encounter issues you need to bring out it into the opener. what happened with ray rice. it threatened the n.f.l.'s leadership. there's a question as to whether the n.f.l. commissioner - whether he was aware of the evidence at the time of suspending ray rice for two games. a lot of people saw as being

light. if they there an incident they are suspended for six games. >> when you mentioned the dirty secret, is it that it is happening or people were not talking about it. >> it's a good question. the dirty secret was happening, but the n.f.l. was protecting players, not being proactive or getting ahead of the issue, when what the n.f.l. needs to do is show leadership. if ray rice is on video, would we have the conversation. >> no. we have had many incidents previous to this when the same thing happens. when we didn't have video evidence, and the issue went away. >> one issue that didn't go away and speaking of league ownership, donald stirl and the l.a. clippers. what surprised you. it is been recorded.

what surprised you about the incident and how it played out. the most surprising thing when you take a step back when you look at it is here is a guy that holds views and is an an owner in the n.b.a. which is not the place for this. >> that is surprising. >> and fans. >> definitely. you are seeing more of this happen because there's more access to inside information. he has taken over and this fell into the commissioner's lap. he addressed it aggressively and immediately. it was plus one for stirling minus one and 100 for don ald. that's right yes. >> 2014 was undoubtedly a year for gay rights and sports players.

we saw jason collins and michael pham in the n.f.l. will this be a pattern of acceptance for gay athletes. >> undoubtedly. a lot of people stood that professional sports - the make-up of the players - it's no different from the rest of society. there has been gay players. >> sam has pushback from other players. >> he did. whenever you are the first to do something, you'll encounter that. honestly, if you look at it broadly. the general reaction was one of big deal it's not a big deal. he was drafted. he did get a shake, a chance at the n.f.l. the thing that people forget about michael sam is when you look at the football on-field performance, he was a little - maybe a little too small to play defensive end which was his position in college, and a little slow to play linebacker. he was drafted in the 7th round,

at the end of the draft. did he have the skills to make it. >> i think ultimately that is what people are going to be judged on in the future. >> he'll judge more stories as 2015 rolls around. thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> our pleasure. >> berlin is famous for the electronic music of the techknow scope. it is drawing in young classical musicians from around the world. day to day life is relatively cheap and the city's special history means there's big opportunities if there's the talent and you work hard enough. nick spicer has more. >> she says she has this some success back home but moved to berlin, it's where you go now to make it big in opera.

there's a choice of 10 different classical concerts to see. as a performer, the education side of that the learning that i get from seeing these amazing performances is huge. this is the symphony orchestra, one of seven in the german capital, there are three full-time operas. if they have caught up to new york and london largely because of money. public subsidies is doing the music scene in berlin when many countries in europe slashed spending in the name of austerity. >> there's lass a quirk of history. berlin was a decided city east

and west. general academy outspending the others. >> when germany was unified and all of a sudden there was two or three if you look at the opera houses. it's the ideal place to grow as musicians. you have the study. higher education, and the possibility of finding it comparatively cheap space to live if you compare to london. paris or new york. >> rachel is hoping for a break through at auditions.

for opera and classingal musicians. if you make it here. you can make it anywhere. >> three german cities are on the united nations list of creative spots. tomorrow on al jazeera america the disappearance of the missing airasia - we'll have reports from the region and talk to aviation experts. tomorrow on al jazeera, beginning at 7am. this is a live look at the airport in singapore, where families of the passengers have left for the night. remember to stay with us. in two minutes the team in doha have the latest on that search. thank you for spending sunday morning with us at al jazeera. i'm morgan radford. you can tune in for the latest on aljazeera.com. or follow us on twitter. thank you, we hope you have a

wonderful morning, i look forward to seeing you on new year's day. >> 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 two: case closed

>> sunday night. >> 140 world leaders will take the podium. >> get the full story. >> there is real disunity in the security council. >> about issues that impact your world. >> infectious diseases are a

major threat to health. >> "the week ahead". sunday 8:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. night. wonderful morning, i look wonderful morning, i look o indonesia calls off on overnight plane for an airasia with 152 people on board. you're watching al jazeera. efforts continue to rescue more than 400 people trapped on a burning ferry in the adriatic sea. 13 years on n.a.t.o.'s mission in afghanistan comes to an end. we look at what has changed on the ground.