♪ relatives despair as the search for the mission air asia plane is called off due to darkness. ♪ you are wavingays live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead, after 13 years and tens of thousands of deaths nato formally ends its war in afghanistan. one person dies as rescuers rush to save more than 400 passengers from a blazing it ferry in gale-force winds off the greek coast. travel chaos in the french alps as thousands of motorists are

stranded by a massive snowfall. ♪ the search for the missing air asia passenger plane has been called off for the night. the airbus a 320 was carrying 162 people when it went missing on sunday morning. it left indonesia's airport at 5:20 a.m. local time en route to sing apore singapore. it lost contact with air traffic controllers 42 minutes after takeoff after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather. veronica reports. >> reporter: from the air and at sea, an intense search for missing flight air asia 8501. the airbus a 320 was carrying 162 people on the way to singapore.

42 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft lost communication with air traffic control. >> i hope for a miracle. may god save them all. i should have been with them as i cancelled two weeks ago. i had two friends on board with five family members. >> those with relatives on board have been demanding answers. indonesia's disaster management authorities quickly set up a crisis center at suribaya airport as help from foreign countries pour in. >> the national search and rescue agency the air force and navy had their orders. they deployed the fullest extent of our resources and equipment to find the missing aircraft. >> there issing little information. the plane lost contact as it flew over the java sea. the area was cloudy. airasia said the pilot requested to change course because of bad weather. this is where they were supposed to arrive, air transport authorities at singapor's

airport say 47 next of kin approached them. they were provided with counselors and officials from various government departments as well as the embassy. singaporean authorities say they are going to send two additional aircraft as well as a c-130 they sent on sunday morning as soon as that plane went missing. this is now become a massive international search operation. this is the first major incident the low-cost carrier who's parent company in malaysia has significant presence across southeast asia. but it trails two other malaysian aviation tragedies this year both involving the national carrier, malaysia airline. in march mh-370 accident happened on a flight with 239 people on board. >> plane was never found. then, in july mh-17 from amster dan to kuala lumpur was shut down killing all 298 people on

board. airasia has never lost a plane before. veronica pedrosa, singapore. an aviation consultant joins us now live from hamburg in germany. thank you very much for being with us. so the pilots are said to have requested a deviation due to the bad weather before communication with the aircraft was lost. but wouldn't they have taken in all of the weather information for their route before takeoff and choose an appropriate route? >> i am pretty sure that they have chosen the appropriate route and that they had the information prior to departure. however, during the flight the weather obviously changed and the weather is very likely also a factor for this incident. >> is the airbus built to navigate through severe weather conditions such as the ones we

are seeing in southeast asia? >> oh, yes. definitely. it's a state-of-the-art aircraft very well equipped for severe weather conditions. it's very likely that the response of the pilots might have caused the situation in which they have lost control over the aircraft. >> you talk about the response of the pilots. but officials say that no distress call came from the plane. is that normal? is that something common? >> well, that can happen. if pilots come into a very difficult situation, it's not making sense to make a mayday call because they want to solve the situation first. i think everything is speculation at the moment because its way too early, and as far as i know they don't have found any debris or the black boxes, so it can happen, yes, the pilots do not take a course.

>> what will they be trying to find now in the search and rescue operation resuming when day life breaks? will they look for the trans ponders of the aircraft? >> i think that it's the first thing, what they are doing because the trans ponders an especially the black box gives very valuable data and will definitely help to find out what happened. >> okay thank you very much for speaking to us aviation consultant joining us from live from hamburg. thank you 4 your time. in other news a ferry in the adegree attic sea caught fire with hundreds on board. when it got in trouble. the details. >> reporter: in stormy seize and cold conditions the atlantic ferry continues to burn. some of the passengers have been lifted from the safety with winds up to 100 kilometers an hour

hour. greek fire fighting ships are on their way. several large vessels have circled the ferry trying to shelter it from the winds. >> in the area the weather conditions are very bad, with high winds hail and rain. we can say the passenger ship "europa" larged a life boat. the passengers are various nationalities. 234 are freak, another 34 make up the crew. >> they left patras at around 5:30 in the morning local time. it was heading to the italian port of ankona. it's not clear what caused the fire but it's thought it started in the car deck. in his weekly address at the vatican, pope francis prayed for the victims of the ferry fire. >> i am close to their family members and those who are living through these difficult situations with apprehension and

suffering as well as those involved in the rescue operations. >> reporter: there are women children and elderly on board. many calling for help from their mobile phones. heat from the fire is so intention some passengers say their shoes started to melt. the ship is in no immediate danger of sinking, but it's drifting towards the al banalbanian coastline. revenge ewing those on board will be a complicated and dangerous task. al jazeera. iran says one of the most senior commanders has been killed in iraq killed in samara. the iranian revolutionary guard said he was there to advice iraqi troops fighting isil. iran says forces are not involved in active military duty in iraq. 13 and a half thousand nato

soldiers will remain in afghanistan to support afghan forces. jennifer glasse attended the handover ceremony in kabul. >> reporter: the ends of an era and the beginning of a new one. nato's force completes the 13-year mission. a much smaller force will take its place on january 1st the commander said nato and afghanistan worked together to protect the international community from extremism. since 2001, he says they have created an atmosphere that foster's progress. >> no more cell phones no more people in cool. on and on. >> he also cautioned there are significant challenges ahead. >> afghanistan has been the longest war for the united states and nato and even though the ceremony marks the end of nato's combat mission here, the fighting isn't over. >> it is in the hands of the

afghan security forces. for them, it's been the worst year ever. more than 4,600 soldiers and police have been killed and thousands wounded. casualties are so high because the afghan troops don't have the nato support they used to. >> everything. we are limited. we have a lot of challenges and the biggest challenge is the air force, intelligence but we have enough to work on it. it has allowed al-qaeda to establish training basis and the taliban has taken control of large parts of the country side in many provinces. >> insurgency is not beaten on the battlefield. an insurgency can only be overcome by reconciliation. >> that's the processs that president ghani has laid out as the path of the future. >> any reconciliation seems a long way off. in addition to the security concerns, the country relies heavily on foreign aid.

there is still no cabinet three months after the new president took. nato says its mission is a success but afghans are concerned the gains of the past 13 years could be reversed. jennifer glasse al jazeera, kabul. >> still to come on the program, hundreds of thousands of families are affected by flooding in sri lanka as heavy monsoon rains continue to sweep parts of southeast asia. as our journalist in an egyptian jail reports, a global decline in press freedom.

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand.

>> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy let the journalists live. >> 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

welcome back. a reminder of our top stories on al jazeera, the search for the missing airasia passenger plane has been called off for the night. the airbus a 320 was carrying 162 people when it lost contact with air traffic controllers on sunday morning. over 300 people remain stranded on a burning ferry in the adriatic sea. the ship was loaded with passengers and vehicles as it headed for an italian port. 161 people have been rescued. and nato has ended its 13 year combat mission in afghanistan. more than 13,000 soldiers will remain in the country to support afghan fors now to malaysian where monsoon floods have forced evacuation of 160,000 people. relief workers are struggling to help them with limited air transport and fuel supplies. karesh reports from one of the

worst affected areas. >> reporter: we flew in to kota bharu, one of the worst affected regions in malaysia. this is the city center. as you can see behind me, it's completely under water. from the air, i had a chance to survey the areas outside of the city and as far as the eye could see, the land was completely submerged in water. all you could see was the tops of trees as well as the roofs of many houses that are completely stranded now. very few roads were visible from the air. the roads that were visible were completely cut off from either side by flood waters. this is, of course making it very difficult for rescue relief operations to take place. they cannot reach the worst-affected areas byroad. poor weather conditions are making it very difficult for even helicopter did to go in and drop supplies and evacuate people.

sri lanka has not been spared from the heavy monsoon rains. 24 people have been killed. more than a million have been affected by the bad weather. thousands have been forced from their homes. rannel fernandes is in the sri lankan town of chilaw. >> reporter: a sea of waters hundreds of thousands of families are struggle to go cope with widespread flooding. >> we are afraid of staying inside the house with our children in case the waters rise quickly and the roads are impossible. >> she and her family spent their last -- last night in their tecs parked outside. rains hit sri lanka causing irrigation tanks to spill over and transferring streams into torrents. many flocked to church on xhaings day. this was not for christmas

service. police came and told us to leave. we only had time to get ahold of our children. >> almost 400 people are housed in the church. there is a regular supply of food. we even found mid wives responsible for cooking kids' meals. >> the floods have forced thousands of people to flee their home and seek shelter in centers set up to house the displaced. but many others like those behind me have chosen to stay not wanting to leave their properties. >> many of those who stayed behind crowded the only dry land available a sense of community spirit very obvious as they made the best of the situation. the reluctance of some to leave their homes, however, doesn't make things easy for local authorities. any person, their home is their heaven. >> that's the situation. they don't want to give up their property. >> the disaster management center says flood levels are

rising in certain areas which further landslides being a possibility. it says more ranges are predicted overnight, offering little hope to those yearning for home 40s. al jazeera, northwest sri lanka. >> thousands of vehicles have been stranded in the french alps by snow and ice. the country has raced the danger level to orange the second highest level. anna hayward has more. >> just over a week ago, there were worries about a lack of snow ahead of the ski season but now france has been hit by a deluge making the journey for those heading to the country's many ski resorts in the alps tresh russ. these are just some of the thousands of cars stranded in the snow. >> we have had a jam of people in both directions since about 10 this morning. around here, we have steep slopes of 6 or 7 degrees. >> many decided to abandoned their cars and continue on foot.

other came better prepared with snow chains for their tires. >> it was expected but i wish it had come a day later. i can't wait to get home and jump on to my couch. >> lesswe left an hour ago, we had 15 kilometers to go. we have around 10 left now. we are trying to put on our snow chains and get back home. there is too much snow. >> in france's region local authorities have been setting up emergency shelters in at least 12 towns. we need to be patient now. it's pointless to get angry. what can we do? in other parts of the country, it's wind not snow that's causing problems. gusts of 160 kilometers an hour in callet built down a fence built to keep my grants out 69 port. there are more than 2000 migrants living in the area trying. winds also destroyed some of their shelters.

many are being given help for the night by a local charity. france is preparing itself for more badwealth. >> means more snow and freezing slippery roads. drivers are being told to delay their journeys if possible. emma hayward, al jazeera. croatia is voting for its next president, incountry bevel ivil some it's largely ceremony but

influential. >> they fear they will come across at any time. >> only 20 students remain here now from a register of more than 300. in the wider community, there is fear. >> we are really frightened of boka haram. people are scared because we have our children at school. someone might come to kill them. we really don't agree with them but now, we are very worried. >> the water is protecting this community from boka haram, it is

also helping the armed group to hide from the local army. the small island thick bush and reeds all around provide perfect camouflage camouflage. some believe boka haram is hiding hundreds of school girls it kidnapped from nigeria here the population was once more than 50,000, which is why the government has promised to deploy soldiers to protect its schools. >> that promise explains why some educational facilities are still open. the problem is most of the schools here are close to the water, and boka haram operatives are there. our school is relatively far from the water. we have the government close to us. >> that's why we are able to attend school and teach our students. this is the difference we have here. >> the threat from boka haram is growing. endangering these children like never before. dominic kane al jazeera. >> former world football player

george w. aya has won a landslide victory. he got 78% of the vote for the county seat which includes the capital, mon rove i can't. he beat robert sister list the son of the president. the polls were sdrupd by the ebola outbreak. strict health controls were imposed to prevent the spread of the virus. it's been one year since the first victim of the west african ebola outbreak dined in guinean. by march this year the virus has spread to linebiera and sierra leone. in july, nigeria confirmed the first patient. a missionary was flown to atlanta in the united states in august. cases were also confirmed in spain and senegal. nigeria, spain and senegal are now free of ebola and the number of indications in liberia is going down. the disease is still spreading in western sierra leone. the ebola outbreak has been the

worst ever killing 7,500 people worldwide. carla malone has the story of some of those left behind. >> reporter: over the past year as the ebola outbreak continued to spread in three west african nations, it's left three,000 without parents. at this new or fannage in the capital, they perform drills to protect themselves against ebola. >> these children have become orphans. you can see how poor they are. what i can do now is to help to the best of my ability. >> reporter: part of the problem is a stigma attached to ebola. some children have relatives who could look after them but fear the disease even though the kids are healthy. this outbreak has been traced to a two-year-old in the village of miliandru. the began in fruit bats which some people eat here. >> what i found in this village was a people who were bereft people hungry. they are angry.

they are suspicious. how did it become this will cruise crucible for the most deadly incarnation of the ebola virus. when somebody dies in a home with ebola, people come and they disinfect the home. you lose everything. you lose your mattress your clothing, the blacket that keeps you warm. >> a major ebola outbreak was reported in march. medical aid groups set up emergency teamed and warped of the devastating potential of the decease. the international response was slow. it quickly spread to see array leone and linebiera. it wasn't until august that the world health organization declared ebola a global emergency. >> i am declaring the current outbreak of ebola virus disease a public health emergency of international concern. >> about half of the people who caught ebola have died from it. there is no specific treatment but vaccines and drugs are being tested. ebola spreads through direct contact with an infected person

through bodily fluids or broken skin. symptoms include high temperature, aches and diarrhea which may take 2 to 21 days to appear. the world has responded with aid shipments like this from the eu. a billion dollars has been donated from the world bank african union, the u.s. and the u.k. but a recent world bank study suggested the economic cost of ebola could be as much as $33,000,000,000 over the next two years if it continues to spread. >> back at the or fannage, children are surviving with the limited support they get from the private sector. >> we get rice and tea here, but it's not enough. and i have a hard time sleeping. i don't think i will become somebody in the future. i lost my mother and father. i won't be much of anything in life. >> she is just one of the many children and adults who are victims of the worst ebola outbreak. kir line malone al jazeera. >> now we are approaching a grim anniversary. in just a few hours, three

al jazeera journalists will have been imprisoned in egypt for a full year. they were arrested on december 29th, 2013. they were falsely accused and accused of aiding the outlawed muslim brother hood. they have maintained they were doing their jobs as journalists and are appealing against their convictions. press freedom groups say more than 200 journalists have been jailed around the world. the committee to protect journalists warns of a growing clampdown on media freedom. china jails more journalists than ner other country. next is iran egypt and turkey are also in the top 10 worse offending countries. one in 5 journalists have been charged with any offense. mike hannah reports. >> journalists take personally the unjust i am prisonment in

egypt is a case in point. some say they were casualties but no rachelle analyst. these men are the first to acknowledge that they are among thousands around the globe who have fallen victim in an undeclared war to silence the men. >> as peter so eloquently put it from his prison cell. we no longer report from the front days. now days we are the front line. >> nowhere in the past year has this front line been more bloody than in syria where 10 journalists were killed doing their jobs. the most recent victim was al jazeera correspond event baron alderi. as many as 9 reporters were killed in iraq. at least seven dead in ukraine where a new conflict erupted. in many zones of conflict.

governments are directly involved governments that appear to regard journalists as necessary collateral damage in a pursuit of political ends. thousands of reporters who have been imprisonedn around the world barear testament suppression of the media is a matter of law, not mere chance. over the past year the rise of non-nation actors the unelected militant groups that will use any means to secure an ideological or religious end and in which reporters become chips to barter or to be bar barically disposed of. yet the power of those who seek to shine light on events remains undiminished. luke somers images of the yemeni people going through traumatic transition glitter brightly even after he has gone. in these photographs lie a basic truth: no matter how brutal the

nature of change, there will always be those brave and honest enough to record it. mike hannah al jazeera. >> a reminder that there is more news on our website, aljazeera.com. >> that's aljazeera.com. >> today on "talk to al jazeera" jazeera," norman lear , political activist and war veteran. >> who knows, god could be a woman, a president who would help us look in the mirror and see ourselves honestly. >> he is the man behind the iconic is it sit-coms