>> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. tomorrow 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. > thanks for being with us this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour as day dawns in asia the search resumes for the missing airasia, that disappeared 24 hours ago over the java sea, carrying 162 passengers. >> the combat mission ... the end of an era, the u.s. and n.a.t.o.-led combat mission in afghanistan comes to a formal

close. thousands of troops will remain in the country. hundreds remain stranded on a ferry in the adriatic sea after it caught fire. rough seas and heavily rain are hampering rescue efforts. in "the week ahead", we'll look at some of the most compelling stories of the year at this hour the search resumed for another missing plane that took off from south-east asia. here is what we know. airasia flight 8501 disappeared more than 24 hours ago. the airbus a320 left surabaya in indonesia, encounter severe weather 40 minutes into the tripe near the island of belitung island. the pilots asked air traffic

controllers to change the flight path, but lost contact. 162 were on board. veronica pedrosa has more. >> reporter: from air and sea a search for airasia qz8501. the airbus a320 was carrying 162 from surabaya to sink -- singapore. 42 minutes after take off it loft contact. >> translation: i hope for a miracle. i should have been with them i cancelled two weeks ago. i had two friends on board with five family members. >> reporter: those with relatives on board have been demanding answers. indonesia's crisis management set up a crisis center at the singapore airport. >> translation: the national search and rescue agency navy

and air force have orders. we have extended the full extent of our air force to find information. >> reporter: there's little information. the plane last contact after the java sea. the area was cloudy. the pilot requested a change of course because of bad weather. this is where they were supposed to arrive. air transport authorities at changi airport say 47 next of kin approached them. they were provided with counsellors and officials from government departments, and the indonesian embassy. singaporean authorities say they'll send two additional aircraft as well as the c130 they spent on sunday morning, as soon as the plane went missing. this is a massive international search operation. this is the first major incident for the low-cost carrier, whose parent company in malaysia has significant presence across south-east asia. but it trails to other malaysian

aviation tragedies this year both involving the national carrier malaysia airlines. in march mh370 disappeared on a flight from kuala lumpur to beijing, with 239 people on board. that was never found. then in july mh17 from amsterdam to kuala lumpur was shot down over ukraine, killing 298 people on board. airasia never lost a plane before a lot of questions remain at this hour. joining us via skype from burkina faso -- albuquerque, author and member of the national transport safety board. we are learning about the final moments of this flight. we understand that there was no

distress call made. what does that tell us, if anything, about the final moments? >> that doesn't necessarily tell us anything because many times the pilots get extremely busy. if they are penetrating a thunderstorm, they are focussing on the radar and trying to navigate the safest path. maybe it got away interest them maybe the stomp closed in on them. we know that there are many hazards in the thunder storms - wind rain hail lightening. it just goes on and on. >> you mentioned thunder storms. the weather was severe here and, in fact, weather may have played a factor. the pilot we know requested a higher altitude. what are the proper protocols when dealing with severe weather and maintaining communication? >> communication is one thing, but the main thing is you have to avoid the worst part of the weather, and he must have felt using his on board radar that

the storm looked worse below him. he was requesting higher. i happen to be an airport pilot licensed, sounds like he was trying to climb over weather beneath him. we know you can get in severe down drafts and updrafts and lightening can take out communication facilities. thomas, there's one thing about the airbus that it has going for it and that is that it has a ditching subsystem. with a few key strokes you can configure the fuselage to be watertight. if you lose power and communications, it's threor eticily possible that you could glide down like the captain did in new york city. >> it's possible the a320 is a much lighter plane compared to the triple 7. does that factor in when flying through severe weather? >> each aircraft has a

turbulence penetration speed and the pilots know what that is and it's the speed at which - depending on the weight of the aircraft in which fuel load et cetera varies slightly. it makes a difference. aircraft are designed to withstand a certain level of turbulence. it's not to say they can't be pulled apart or destroyed by lightening. we have seen hail bring down the aircraft and the storment can have hail. the -- storms can have hail. the other scenario is what i call the air algiers scenario. in north africa last july - same song, second verse. the captain or the crew said they were deviating around a thunderstorm, and they never came out of it. unfortunately everyone perished in that accident over a northern africa. >> in this case the search is on. what about tracking devices are

the air crafts equipped with tracking devices, real-time diagnostics? >> i don't know what this particular a320 had. there are several tracking systems. the first piece of equipment is the so-called transporter. that's what controllers see, and that's what disappeared in the malaysia 370 before making the turn. that - that is under control - controllers say it lost contact, radar contact, and that's probably what they are referring to. there are other tracking devices, i'm not sure what this particular airbus had, but there's a type of communication system called a.c.a.r. ds - aircraft communication and reporting system. that may be helpful. i have been told that this particular aircraft did not have the mr sat engine monitoring system that the malaysia 370 did have. >> perhaps because it was a short-haul flight.

as i mentioned at the top a lot of questions remain we'll have to leave it there. alan former nationals transportation safety board investigator. appreciate your insight elsewhere in south-east asia massive flooding displaced 200,000 people. in malaysia 118,000 have been forced to flee their homes in what is the worst flooding in decades. five people have been killed as flood levels rose to 6 feet and without food and medicine there are fears the death toll could grow. the malaysian government is being criticized for not declaring a state of emergency. in sri lanka, 24 people have been killed and eight others reported missing. hardest hit is the south-eastern part of the island where dozens were culled by mudslides in october. >> turning to other new, n.a.t.o. ended its mission in afghanistan 13 years after troops entered the country. officials held the ceremony in kabul to mark the end of the

war. a training and support mission will begin on january 1st. over 12,000 troops will remain in afghanistan to assist the afghan military in its fight against the taliban. n.a.t.o. forces will not be involved in combat. >> president obama offered a few words recording the end of the mission saying: so what comes next. jennifer glasse is in kabul, afghanistan, with more. >> reporter: an end of an era and the beginning of a new one in afghanistan. n.a.t.o.'s i.s.e.f. force completes its 14-year mission. a smaller force will take its place on january 1st. the i.s.e.f. commander says

n.a.t.o. and afghanistan work together to protect the afghan people and the international community from extremism. from 2001 they have created an atmosphere that fostered progress. >>..number of females in schools. number of people in schools... >> reporter: he cautioned there are significant challenges ahead. afghanistan has been the longest war for both the united states and n.a.t.o. and even though the ceremony works the end of n.a.t.o.'s combat mission, the fighting is not over. it is in the hands of the afghan security forces. for them it is the worst year ever. more than 4,600 soldiers and police have been killed and soldiers wounded. casualties are high. the afghan troops don't have the nato support they used to. >> we are limited. we have a lot of challenges, and the biggest is the air force,

i.s.i.l. intelligence. we have enough to work on it. >> the n.a.t.o. withdrawal allowed al qaeda to re-establish training spaces in kuna province, and large parts of the countryside. >> insurgency is not beaten on the battlefield. it can only be overcome by reconciliation, and that is the process that president ashraf ghani laid out as the path in the future. >> any reconciliation seems a long way off. the country relies on foreign aid and there's no cabinet, three months after the new president took office. n.a.t.o. says the mission is a success, but there are concerns the gains of the past months could be reversed.

>> kurdish fighters have been trying to drive away i.s.i.l. fighters from kobane. the kurds have been advancing in recent weeks. coalition forces hit i.s.i.l. targets and iraq near sinjar and mosul. the iraqi army is making gains against i.s.i.l. retaking strategic downs and heavy fighting. some areas of i.s.i.l. fighters are cleared. we have this report. >> reporter: these shia militia fighters are celebrating after taking over the iraqi towns. they are supporting the iraqi military's advance against fighters belonging to the islamic state of iraq and levant. dozens were reportedly killed and injured on both sides. the pro-government militia say they are in control of both towns. >> this is a town of abu

hishmamenthishma. it used to be invested with snipers. we have taken it back. >> translation: in front of us, all praise to god. we have managed to liberate it. we are the vic terse, we are the brigade. >> battles are continuing around the towns. they are important because they are less than 100km from the northern i.s.i.l. stronghold. these towns were controlled by i.s.i.l., and the group launched attacks on samarra city. we are pushing i.s.i.l. out. security forces considering it a gain in the battle to retake other parts of the province the u.s. led coalition fighting i.s.i.l. carried out more than a dozen air strikes in recent days. the military launched the offensive, backed by the shia forces and under air cover

provided by iraqi and international forces. the anti-aircraft have forced coalition jets to leave. up north the situation is tense, kurdish forces advance deeper. fighting intensified south-west of kirkuk. >> iraqi forces managed to cut supply lines, and they want to retake more areas. as the fighting continues, more iraqi civilians become victims and houses vacant. >> back at home the new york city police commissioner is giving support to bill de blasio. he criticized cops for turning his backs on the mayor when he spoke at officer rafael ramos's funeral service. rafael ramos and his partner were killed in a shooting last week. the police commissioner spoke

out on "meet the nation." . >> i don't support that action that funeral was held to honour officer rafael ramos, it is reflective of the feelings of some of our officers that at this juncture. not just about the mayor, but the issues that are afflicting the city at this time. the commissioner noted that despite the shooting of officer rafael ramos and his partner, crime is at a low, adding that his department's 2015 budget will allow for training officer's safety and advances in technology. we are learning the spokesman for the ferguson, missouri is on unpaid leave after calling the memorial for michael brown as trash. the city wants to emphasis that the negative remarks do not reflect the feelings of ferguson police department. on friday someone drove a car over the collection of candles

and flowers, that marked the spot where the black teenager died. supporters have since rebuilt the memorial. ahead - the latest on efforts to save passengers on a ferry burning in the adriatic sea also sony's film "the interview" is wrapping up its first week al jazeera - three journalists are wrapping up a year - the latest on the fight for their release.

a complicated rescue operation is under way to reach passengers and crew on board a stranded burning ferry in the adriatic sea. it was on the way from greece to italy when a fire started on the car deck the lowest deck.

173 people have been rescued. simon mcgregor-wood has more. >> reporter: in stormy seas and bitter colds, the atlantic burns. over 150 passengers have been lifted to safety by nightfall on sunday. 300 remained on board. gathered on the top deck to escape the heat and smoke. a passenger died during the sunday rescue efforts, and the number of passengers were airlifted to this hospital in southern italy. helicopters and firefighting ships were sent to help. sunday several large vessels circled the ferry trying to shelter it from the wind. >> translation: it will be a difficult night, a night we hope everything will go well and we rescue the passengers and crew members, a night we hope not to batting the extreme conditions we've had to battle through the day. >> reporter: the ferry left

patras bound for ancona. the fire started on the car deck. there are almost 200 people on board, including 20 tanker trucks. there are women and children and elderly. many passengers used their mobile phones to call for help. some with fires so intense, their shoes started to help. >> we are outside, we are very cold. the ship is full of smoke, the boat burning, floors burning. underneath the cabins it must be burning. the boats that came to rescue us are gone. we are here they cannot take u the weather is too bad, they cannot fit us. >> reporter: the coast guard says there's no danger of the ferry sinking. the conditions are so difficult it's almost impossible to get everyone off. the plan is to toe the "northern atlantic" to a near italian port - an operation that could

take hours. it has been one full year since three al jazeera journalists were detained in egypt. peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy from sentenced in june to seven years in toura prison. baher mohamed was given a 10 year sentence. earlier this seasoning peter's brother read a statement from the family. >> we are just a small cog in a massive fight for justice. we will not give up seeking his freedom until he's released. the 1st of january marks the next milestone in the process and we see it as the next available opportunity for the egyptian authorities to correct the injustice that occurred. >> stephanie dekker has more on the journalists' years in captivity. >> reporter: the detaining of three al jazeera staff in cairo on december the 29th was initially thought to be a mix up. but under the new government of abdul fatah al-sisi - they

seemed to have other intentions. peter greste is a veteran correspondent based in kenya at the time of his arrest. bys his admission knew little about egypt. he was shocked to be linked to what the government in cairo described as terrorists. the same could be said for the rest of the team and award winning journal mist mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed. much of the international media was demanding their release. the # free al jazeera journalists went viral. respected journalists elsewhere came out in support. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three men which could vaguely have been said to incriminate them. footage from a different channel were shown as evidence. adjournment after adjournment followed. in june, to the fury of the world, the men were convicted

and gaoled. for the men's families it was the lowest point of a desperate year. peter greste spent four months in and out of cairo. speaking from his farm in australia he describes what it is like for peter. >> he's determine the experience will not break him. he doesn't want to come out a bitter and twisted man. it has taken a lot of effort and self discipline and determination and focus to - for him to remain mentally together and look after himself physically. >> world leaders, including president obama denounced the court conviction. >> the issue of the al jazeera journalists in egypt. we have been clear publicly and privately, that they should be released. the egyptian government defended the ruling arguing that it was not a political decision and it was up to the appeals process as to what happened next. al jazeera denies it staff has links to political groups.

>> we work in so many different places and should be taken as a professional media execution, not as part of a political or ideological or any other establishment. >> al jazeera's maintained public campaign on behalf of journalists, and what has been going on behind the scenes is less clear. the president insisted that he would have preferred to have the journalist deported a sign that he was aware of the damage the case would do to the reputation. a year on and for all the campaigning, the three men are in gaol. >> on monday al jazeera presents an hour-long special devoted to our colleagues' incarceration and the larger issue of freedom of the press. we invite you to join us form for "journalism is not a crime." apple itunes is offering the controversial film "the interview," the movie, which

pokes fun at north korean leader has been available on other download services for several days. "the interview" had a shakery release following a major hack on stoney and threats to show the comedy. it had earnt 15 million in sales. at the box office the movie brought in 2.8 million. industry insiders says it's good because it only opened in 331 theatres coming up we look back on some of the controversial issues that happened during the year. that's ahead in the "the week ahead" segment.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton here are the top stories we are following. it's coming up on 8:30am and the search for another missing plane has resumed. airasia qz8501 vanished flying

from indonesia to singapore. 162 people are on board. n.a.t.o. ended its mission in afghanistan, 13 years after troops entered the country. officials held the ceremony in kabul. a training and support mission will begin on january the 1st. u.s. led forces launch an air strike in the town of kobane on monday. smoke rose above the town where kurdish fighters have been trying to drive away fighters for more than three months. time for the sunday segment, the week ahead. tonight we are looking back at 2014 and updating you on mini topics we covered. let's begin on march the 9th. weeks of protests led to the departure of pro-russian president viktor yanukovych. the e.u. and kiev wanted closer ties with europe. in response russia started to

back pro-russian separatists. we talk to sieve ward, harvard professor. and robert kaplan a chief political strategist from springfield massachusetts - about what was at stake and why russia was responding the way it was. >> russia comprises half the long attitudes of the earth, yet it has less people than bangladesh. land powers are perennially insecure and rush say is the ultimate land power. vladimir putin nose that russia has been invaded not just by the germans and french but swedes lithuanians and polls. foreign policies are looking for targets of opportunity not to recreate the soviet union. vladimir putin is smart enough to know that the soviet union collapse because of the financial burden of ruling places like ukraine and warsaw

packed places. he wants to recreate the soviet sphere of influence. that's right. if you look at russia's history and geographic situation, you have to worry about what might happen down the road even if they don't face dangers now, they have to wonder about what will happen in the future. in the past 20 years russia has seen n.a.t.o. moving eastwards and building missile defenses and other things that might pose a threat to the nuclear deterrent. given the history and geographic location, it would be about right. >> why is n.a.t.o. a concern. some of the threats posed assumes that it invades russia. we don't have intentions of doing such a thing. if you are russia you can't assume that, or assume that it

would be true for the next 20, 30 40 years. if you are looking at russian history, you would be worried if the world's most powerful country, the united states, was aligned with a group of countries on your borders, countries from which you have been invaded many times in the past. if you were a prudent leader you'd worry about that. that's what vladimir putin did in the war with georgia, trying to draw a line and say "you have incorporated some former parts of the soviet empire i'll live with that but you are not taking it further." >> i want to get your thoughts as we move forward and come to an end in the conflict in crimea. what should the united states do - bow out. >> it should continue to push for a diplomatic solution. it should try to convince european-n.a.t.o. allies to

increase defense budgets. the american people basically supported the u.s. bearing the brunt of the burden throughout the cold car, because the u.s. fought world war ii in europe in the pacific. it had - we had lost 600,000 lives, i believe, in world war ii. you can check that. there was public support for the u.s. dominating defense in europe throughout the cold war. >> here we are, 10 months later, the conflict continues. as our guests talked about russia's view of n.a.t.o. is playing a crucial role. this week vladimir putin signed a new military doctrine in relation to the expansion of n.a.t.o., they she it has a threat to its border a ceasefire in ukraine has been fileated by both -- violated by both sides. a key round of peace talks that were supposed to take place on friday were supposed to be

called off. this week saw the largest prisoner exchange since the conflict began. let's look at march 31st. it was a deadline under the affordable care act. on the eve of the deadline we looked at how the process was going and who was signing up. jonathan betz talked with a senior fellow at the manhattan institute, and zach cooper a professor at the yale school. >> it's been an impressive discovery. it's important to keep in context that people are confusing the data points. in the aca exchanges because people have signed up and selected a plan have not necessarily paid and people that have paid and actually have coverage are not necessarily people that were uninsured. most of the survey data we have indicates that it's a minority of people who signed up and

enrolled were previously uninsured. >> that's a critical point. the complaint is that obama care is not necessarily sweeping up people that were previously uninsured. >> we don't know. i don't think we'll know until the fall. >> there are studies indicating that the numbers are not what they were hoping for. >> it's too soon to tell. the best exit was 6 million. what we saw was before the deadline. i think we'll get to 7 million signed up versus how many we'll pay. it's not 80% putting us in the 5-7 million sign ups. that's about what the administration predicted. it's a remarkable recovery. this is a remarkable turn around. are we getting too focussed an the numbers, worrying whether it's six or 7 million sign up. it's still so early. i think the reason we care about the number it's what we observe. one of the things that i care

about is the numbers of premium makers. if they are in the 5-7, 5-8 raping it means it's stable. we have newer young people in the market. if we are in the 10 to 15%, we don't have the people we need. one of the big pushes. you weren't going to get young people signed up. they were going to say wait a second, if i can't log on why should ien roll. >> let's talk about the young people. we have an indication that a quarter of people are people between the ages of 18 and 34. they would likely be closer to 40%. if the numbers don't inch up what does it mean? >> there's two or three points to make. the first is it's not merely whether it's the young versus old, but healthy versus sick.

you sign up the young people but they are the high utilizers of the health system. the point that zach made is the key one, what are the prices going to be next year. they'll improve on the 25%, the proportion of young people over time. are they the right young people or the older people. is the mix appropriate. they expect to see double digit increases. some indicate higher than that. >> the enrolment period that ended march 31st, 2014, saw 5.4 million sign up. the second enrolment period saw about 2 million new members. republicans oppose the act. in 2015 the supreme court will rule on a key provision of the

act. it will allow the government to subsidise individual costs in the states that have not set up their own health care exchanges. if the courts rule against the subsidies, millions of americans will find the cost of health insurance out of reach. >> now to a polarizing case. the august 9th shooting death of black teen michael brown by white officer darren wilson. the incident sparked national outrage. we talked to mark furnish, a criminal defense attorney. and the president of the st. louis chapter of the n.a.a.c.p. mr pruitt talked about the feeling that many blacks are unfairly tarted by police and not treated equally by the justice system. >> if they look at the evidence

the numbers tracking the disparities, with african-american and policeman, are higher than for anyone else. it wouldn't surprise me if those folks would feel that way mr furnish, we see so many say this is a wake up call. are you surprised to hear that many african-americans don't trust the legal system? >> it's a well-known fact that there are massive disparities in the federal system in the way offenders, particularly drug offenders are treated, and there's tremendous momentum in congress to cut the mandatory sentence, and congress has taken action to remedy the disparties and the changes will go in effect. it's a well recognised fact that there are discrepancies, and part of the problem with stop and frisk is the supreme court upheld some stops. if you have a busted taillight,

it's used as a pretext to pull you over to search the vehicle and the person for drugs. blame our high court for that problem mr pruitt is it a civil rights case? >> absolutely it is. at the end of the day we had an individual, one race who was stopped by a white police officer. subsequently was killed unarmed, and killed. whatever the cause may be at the end of the day, there's no need to use that deadly force. it's not called for or necessary were any federal fill lights violated? >> i think it's a make to rush to judgment and conclude it was a civil rights case or that it was or was not justified. we don't know what happened there, and the grand jury will presumably sort this out. if it were a civil rights case

it's by no means a slam dunk case. the federal civil rights statute requires a showing of racial anna must. that has to be the motivating cause of the shooting. it's a difficult burden to establish, particularly in a he said he said case where we know the defense will be self-defence. what he said justified the original question. do the white people have a problem with the justice system. that's why. it is the fact that we have any number of witnesses who said that the gentleman was facing the officer, hands up and he was not doing anything to the officer. he's dead. if you look at the civil rights cases before the courts in the past rarely do a police officer ever is convicted for using excessive force against anybody, especially anybody of colour. >> mr furnish? >> from what the fellow panellist said he was in and

observed the shooting when none of us were there and nose what happened. that's the purpose, and the reason why grand jury proceedings are held in secret is a champ down the passions. it's understandable that people would be outraged. justice system of course the wheels grind slowly and fine. we don't rush to judgment. we hear the evidence and figure out who is telling the truth and who didn't. >> the case did go in front of the grewy. the prosecutor announced officer darren wilson would not be indicted. since the shooting of michael brown several federal investigations into police tactics have been launched. officer darren wilson resigned and the ferguson announced that it is working to diversify its force. >> looking back on november 2, '37, the clock was -- nef 23rd

the -- november 23rd the clock was ticking down. secretary of state john kerry was in trilateral talks with iran's prime minister and the u.n.'s chief negotiator katherine ashton. we looked at the u.s. with a scientist from princeton, and a senior fellow at the balfour center for science and international affairs at the harvard kennedy school. >> there are two issues at happened one is technical, and one political. on the technical aspect two sides bridged differences, and while there is remaining issues since it is technical, we have solutions to those. unfortunately, as you mentioned in the piece, there needs to be a political will for us to push this nuclear deal forward. and where it lacks our hopes in washington and tehran both want the deal not to happen. on a technical aspect there's a lot of movement.

on the political one it requires political will capital and a lot of wrangling between the two parties to see how does a final comprehensive deal look like between the p5+1 and iran. >> i'll phrase to this way - how far have we come in the iran nuclear talks? >> i think that there has been growth in a year. we still have the problems and i thick that the biggest problem is not only the number of centrifuges, but to define which are the practical iranian enrichment. as in the previous segment, president obama said how to verify this agreement. this agreement needs to be verifiable. those are two most important technical questions that remain to be answered. >> if we don't get a deal what does it mean for the stability of the middle east?

>> well it's certainly not stability, but there's a day - whether it's tomorrow there are doubts. it's hard to believe that people walked away and dropped the case. we will see if there's a political will to solve this simple technical problem in front of us. >> when all is said and done do you see relations between iran and the west improving through the process? >> definitely. it's the first time in 35 years, that these two governments iran and u.s. sat bilaterally. i believe the secret of state and his counterparts have built up a relationship in the past year, where i was at the u.n. general assembly. as if they have known each other for longer than expected. this has never happened in 35 years of relations. i believe if relations between

u.s. and iran improves dramatically by its nature. u.s. will open up the economy and relations with the west will improve. >> a final deal was not reached by the dead line. talks will continue until july. it's unclear how the republican shifts how it could complicate the stance. members are anxious to impose tanks in addition to the sanctions. the drop in oil prices is putting a toll on the economy. the iranian media published a letter from the foreign minister saying an agreement is within reach, and gave assurances that ryan's nuclear programme will be peaceful. but warned the west not to impose humiliating demands. let's look at other events in "the week ahead". monday - the greek parliament votes for a third time on the

president. wednesday - a deadline in afghanistan for the withdrawal of combat forces. key security responsibilities will be transferred to the afghan government. thursday january 1st the affordable care act mandate goes in effect requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to provide them with affordable health care coverage. when al jazeera returns... >> fighting against ebola in west africa is challenging. heath systems are weak. >> looking back at the devastating effects of ebola this year.

welcome back. a european ship is bringing much-needed supplies to ebola stricken countries in wav sca. a dutch naval vessel brought in supplies off-road vehicles and 800 tonnes of grain.

it will make stops in sierra leone and liberia. the supplies come from the e.u. with the support of partners u.n.i.c.e.f. and the world foods programme. according to latest estimates, liberia has the most deaths from ebola, 3400. guinea and sierra leone has 4,000. 7600 is the number of deaths. it took months before the deadly disease made its way to the u.s. when it did c.d.c. and authorities scrambled to protect the public. we take a look back at ebola 2014. >> reporter: described as dreadful and merciless, ebola. a deadly disease infecting almost 20,000, killing nearly 8,000. >> this morning i'm declaring

the current outbreak of ebola a public health emergency of international concern. >> reporter: in march 2014 west africans and sierra leone, guinea and liberia were put on high alert. >> protect yourself. listen to workers. believe it is real. go out and carry the message to wherever you are. >> researchers believe the origin of this outbreak came from an infected fruit bat which some consumed. according to the world health organisation there is no specific treatment or vaccine, and the fatality rate can be up to 90%. >> it varies from patient to patient, but can be severe. the virus itself attacks the cells of immune systems and disrupts the ability for work

as well as creating inflammation that the immune system breaks down. >> the world's response was slow. >> as frustrations grew calls for funding and medical staff increased. >> ebola is actually a difficult disease to catch. president obama called the epidemic a threat to global security. >> a fight against ebola is challenging. health systems are week. because the outbreak is increasing, the quicker we surge in a response the quicker we blunt the number of cases, and the risk to other parts of the world, including the u.s. decreases. in early august 2nd american aid workers stricken with the virus were flown from west africa to emory hospital, one of four hospitals in america with a specialised quarantine unit. >> we had approximately 72 hours when we were notified that the patient would be coming to us

and to the patient's arrival at the hospital. both patients were covered. in the coming months two more aid workers were treated at emory. down the road from the hospital at the centers for disease control and prevention. it was on high alert, monitoring and advising of the situation in africa. there is reports of citizens not going into hospitals, because they feel like it's safe. some feel like they were being lied to. how do you guys check that. one of the challenges is this health communication, education comment. whether it's a village elder, religious leader someone that can deliver the message in a form where people will believe and accept it. meanwhile, 42-year-old liberian thomas duncan arrived to visit family and friends in dallas. he told officials that they had

not had any close contact with an ebola-infected person. that is not true. five days after arriving in the u.s. duncan had a high fever and went to a dallas room. he was released and given a prescription. but not tested. two days later he returned testing positive becoming the first person to be diagnose with ebola in the u.s. days later duncan passed away. the city of dallas went on high alert, and two became infected. the c.d.c. cautioned against rehabilitation. people realised the outbreak it's exceedingly unlikely and rare in part because of the infrastructure. while the c.d.c. tried to calm the public, the two dallas workers recovered. hospitals began training so no

other health care workers would become infected. >> it's diff. you have to have a certain amount of balance, dexterity and patience. there's no time and place. >> no. >> we are operating under the know errors mentality. with the number of cases going up in west africa aid workers were pleading for support, infrastructure and continued education to stop the spread in sierra leone guinea and liberia. the greater risk is west africa spiralling out of control. that poses the greatest risk to the world. the us military sent 3,000 servicemen to west africa who are building the wars and facilities. the panic in the u.s. subsided and the medical community was learning and reflecting.

without modern science and teams that you have where would the disease have been now, how far spread. >> it's an internet question it's difficult to speculate. the out breaks happened and have grown and have been stopped by nature over time. we think that there's something unique about the outbreak and the situations where it occurred. our ability to provide care had a significant impact and will continue to impact the outbreak to bring it to a close. last week the c.d.c. called for an effort on the ground in west africa, saying more international help and aid is needed. the world health organisation agrees. president obama and congress supply over $5 billion to fight ebola worldwide. >> vaccines are tested in several trials around the globe.

even though the epidemic is flowing, it's still too early to call it under control. the president of belarus fire the prime minister and other top cabinet officials, it's the biggest government reshuffle since 2010 hinged on a struggling economy. the president told his cabinet that it provided a danger. the belarus cabinet runs along old soviet signs and is likely to suffer in croatia candidates in the presidential elections are headed for a run off. neither the incum bant nor the conservative challenger won a majority. the election was seen as a referendum on economic policy. croatia has one of the weakest economies in the european union, with 20% unemployment in a

6-year recession. that'll do it for this hour. i'm thomas drayton in new york. i'll be back with an hour of news at 11:00pm eastern and 8:00 p.m. pacific. stay downed al jazeera presents lockerbie is next. 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

three years ago al jazeera began investigating the conviction of abdel baset al-megrahi the only man found guilty of the bombing of pan-am flight 103 over lockerbie scotland. the result of the investiagtion was two films which cast grave doubt on the way the case against megrahi had been handled. as the 25th anniversary of the bombing approches, we're now shoing those two films on al jazeera america before revealing the resulsts of a third and final investigation.