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tv   News  Al Jazeera  January 4, 2015 6:00pm-7:01pm EST

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ive that media outlets behaviour around the world. see you then at the "listening post". >> this is al jazeera america, life from new york city i'm thomas drayton. here are the top stories at this hour. >> he was my hero. you could always count on him a widow's grief, thousands gather in new york to pay their last respects to slain officer wenjian liu more bodies discovered from the sea near the flight are airasia 8501 crashed. investigators believe they know why the plane went down jury selection starts tomorrow for the man accused of
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the boston marathon bombing. we look at the people whose lives changed forever when the ball drops in times square it begins more than a new year - a whole range of laws kick in - some you won't believe thanks for being with us. it was a solemn sombre service on a grey and gloomy day, thousands gathered in new york city to say a final goodbye to wenjian liu. officers families friends and many that never knew him came together to pay trig ute. the second of -- tribute. the second of two officers fatally shot as they sat in a patrol core. >> reporter: officer wenjian liu's widow spoke about her husbands's respect for the law and devotion to his parents as app only child.
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>> one of his many passions is to be a police officer. he took pride in the fact that he is n.y.p.d. >> reporter: wenjian liu's father spoke in a cantonese dialect, choking back tears as he spoke of his son's traits - obediens respect and loyalty. he said his son want to be a police officer since a child, and after 9/11 he wanted to serve the new york community with the n.y.p.d. top officials attended the funeral. president obama sent the director of fbi james comby to represent the white house. several groups of detectives police officers and some members of the new york fire department turned their backs on the mayor as he delivered a eulogy tensions between city hall and the n.y.p.d. has rich with many officers feeling the mayor chose the side of protesters who accused police of racial bias. >> his greatest meaning and joy came in sharing and caring for
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others helping, supporting devoting himself to something greater than himself. new york police commissioner bill bratton urged members of the n.y.p.d. to refrain from signs of disrespect. >> officer wenjian liu believes in the possibility of making a safer world. >> we take comfort in the buddhist words that when death comes the lesson of goodness do not perish. we celebrate his life and that of detective rafael ramos in honour that what they accomplished for then. >> reporter: that were public moments and private moments for officer wenjian liu's family and friends. buddhist monks oversaw a ceremony and chanted and prayed over the casket of officer wenjian liu. later his casket was closed to prayers and public as the family members grieved in private. the sermon yea adhered to
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buddhist and traditions of the new york city police department. police officers spilled the streets in dress blue stood by offering a salute as helicopters flew in formation overhead. the n.y.p.d. flag was lifted or officer li's casket and folded. a solemn professional proceeded towards the cyprus hills sermony, ending two weeks of mourning. we'll have more on officer wenjian liu in the our it's bad weather in the search for airasia in the java sea. four more bodies were found, bringing the number to 34 found. 162 were on board. the jakarta post reported that the pilots did not receive a weather report before flying according to leaked documents. officials say weather was likely the major factor believing the plane flu into storm clouds.
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ross shimabuku has the latest on ests to locate the bodies and the black boxes. >> reporter: divers successfully reached the fuselage of airasia 8501. they did not stay lornings the bottom -- stay long the bottom of the sea is covered in mud. underwater cameras are not working. >> translation: because the velocity of the current is 2 nautical miles per hour the underwater device cannot take votes. >> reporter: the jet crashed from surabaya to indonesia. 162 were on board. most of their bodies have not been recovered. officials believe when they find the fuselage it will lead them to more bodies. a road wide contingent of ships and planes are helping. u.s.s. "fort worth" arrived on saturday and its electronic censors are combing the waters
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to see beneath the waves. >> we reline on radar, sonar, helicopter and personnel using their eyes looking out for debris or a recognisable aircraft part. >> reporter: it is a desperate race against time to find the plane, the black boxes and more victims. with each passing day it's more difficult to identify the bodies bodies. that is something the families of victims are grappling with. more than 1,000 workers prayed for a church that lost 36 members for 14 families. ross shimabuku reporting. at home investigators want to talk with a 7-year-old girl who survived a piper plane crash. she walked away from the crash friday night, killing her parent sister and cousin. he made her way through dense dark woods in a home nearly miles away. the n.t.s.b. is calling her one
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remarkable young lady. she's been united with relatives asking for privacy tony abbott made an un unannounced stop in rick meeting with the prime minister to discuss how australia can hep in the fight against i.s.i.l. among the issues discussed - more equipment and training. australia is assisting with air tryings against i.s.i.l. -- strikes against i.s.i.l. targets peshmerga forces are hoping to capture more villages after overtaking the village sultan abdullah. we have this report from the stronghold which is not far from mosul. >> reporter: this is a strong hold for the kurdish peshmerga fighters. one dotting the countryside. the village of sultan abdullah is a few hundred meters away. two days ago it was the scene of heavy stating between the islamic state of iraq and levant and kurdish peshmerga forces.
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peshmerga controls the village, but it's within the range of i.s.i.l. fire. we were advised against going into the village. >> the mortars, almost daily, every day there's a mortar between us and then. >> reporter: unexploded bombs littered the area. i.s.i.l. killed some of the men. a few kilometres behind the sultan abdullah front lines is the village. destroyed military vehicles and walls riddled with bullet holes are reminders of the battles fought here. in some villages retaken by the peshmerga, life is returning to normal as more people feel courageous enough to return to their homes. they are facing many problems. >> this man and his family remained behind when the rest of the villagers fled.
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he said they needed help. >> translation: we have no food fuel electricity clean water. we appeal to the authorities to bring us water and food. it's cold. children are suffering. >> he feels relieved that i.s.i.l. is no longer in control of the village. >> translation: we are punished for small action if someone mistakes cigarettes they say "you are not a muslim", if you are member of family is a soldier, you are punished some of the sunni arab residents were accused of supporting i.s.i.l., and arrested them. >> translation: my cousin is one of 16 people taken away by the peshmerga, we don't know where they are. they are accused of being i.s.i.l. members. they are not.
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>> reporter: at the front line peshmerga fighters take advantage of a lull in fighting to prepare their weapons. others clean their guns. they are outgunned by i.s.i.l. and unless this changes, the lines will not hold. a shaky ceasefire in kashmir has resident on edge. situated next to pakistan in india, we have this report that violent outbreaks are making life difficult for the people there. in an almost 70 year dispute, life is divided into periods of violence and peace. for the people in the disputed border region of kashmir. during the area of the fighting four people were killed and hundreds forced to leave their homes, as people returned to see bullet homes, there was
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bitterness. >> translation: people have to run from here to there. if it's decided there'll be fighting, it should continue for a month. pakistan should learn a lesson. >> reporter: india and pakistan accused the other of violating a ceasefire. this has become a constant since both countries gained independence leaving the region of kashmir in dispute. get the presence of military observers, the attention between the sides gets worse. when it does it puts more than 50 million people in the renaling in danger. >> though there is peace today there's still an air of ill will. >> narendra modi was elected last year. with violence increase of course people say their hope
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for peace is gone. at least for now boko haram attacked a base in nigeria, happening in a town. witnesses report the base was home is it home to a force. nigeria, cameroon and the latest attack where the group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls. pro-russian separatists in ukraine confirmed into a rebel commander has been killed. it happened in luhansk on thursday. security officials say the battalion was killed when forces tried to arrest him, and he was wanted on murder and abduction charms. -- charges. >> witnesses saw rebels shooting first and ukranian forces returning fire. older residents say they want
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peaks even if the town has to be controlled by the government. palestinian resident mahmoud abbas may be planning another push for stake hood. he is in talks about resubmitting a draft for the security council, calling for israel to withdraw from occupied territories in 2017. >> jordan remains a member and other countries were replaced over the new year. the u.s. would likely veto the proposal. sunni muslims in pakistan are celebrating the birthday of the prophet mohammed. people took part in a series of gatherings. several merged into one large gathering. >> religious leaders highlighted the teachings of mohammed delivering messages of peace and harmony. >> peshawar is still recovering
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from the deadly school attack. the area struggled for violence as reported many are hoping for a better future. >> it hasn't rained so far this winter in most of pakistan. the sting of a harsh season is felt in the north. especially among the poor of peshawar. as a new year arrives, hopes are mixed with concerns. >> i hope 2015 will be a peaceful year. if there are bomb blasts and killings there's no economic activity affecting our lily hood. >> this man's product is in high demand. he sells a home made cake from raw sugar. he makes a modest income the price per cake is less than a dollar. for years peshawar suffered
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shortages of the electricity and gas. some are optimistic. >> definitely in 2015 well achieve all our targets. in the '70s the electricity and the gas. if we make it good for the atmosphere of the industrial and business community, the economy will increase within six months. the killing of dozens of children drew the attention of the world to the area. after the last year and a half pakistan received 3.2 billion from the i.m.f. critics say the bulk will go to defense and security for the government it's a top priority. security is crucial, say the critiques, but too much prioritising of it diverts funds and hurts the economy. the two are intricately linked
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in the eyes of many. >> i think this year will bring more prosperity to the country because for the first time the government and the military are on the same front fighting the menace. once we have peace, there'll be investment and job opportunities for the people and everyone will benefit. >> for now life is tough. with high unemployment rates, trusty crisis the closing of hundreds of businesses and renewed security the most these people aspire to at the moment is to be able to keep their heads above water president obama is back in washington after an extended winter break. he will not be there for long. the first family returns to the white house after a 2-week vacation. the president will hit the road this week for a series of speeches on domestic issues. he'll visit detroit to talk about manufacturing and the
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bailout. on thursday it's to phoenix, where he'll showcase the gains in the housing sector following the real estate collapse and on friday he'll join joe biden in knocksville tennessee. beyond, the president has a plate of foreign policy issues phasing him in 2015 the focus of our sunday night segment -- the week ahead. coming up at 8:30 eastern. north korea is one of the issues at the top of the white house agenda. the government denied any involved in the cyber attack on sony pictures. it was responding to the latest round of actions imposed by the u.s. in a message broadcast on television. pyongyang said the move by the white house towards north korea was hostile. sony is trying to apiece angry users, hackers with no connection took the network off
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line. it took several days to fix. sony is offering subscribers five free days of membership and a discount on purchases. microsoft was affected but it came back online faster in france a mayor's refusal to allow a roma woman to bury her child in a town of her choice led to towns of racism. harry smith reports that the case is plaguing questions about the instrument of france's 20,000 roma. >> reporter: on monday a baby girl will be buried in the palace suburb. she died of southern infant death syndrome. her family wanted to lay her to rest in the nearby town where she was born and lived with her parents and two siblings. they go to school in the town. the local mayor refused them prime ministers, because they said there were few spots available. priority in the semestry is
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given to those that pay their local taxes. the implications being that the dead baby's family do not because they are roma. campaigners say the decision is racism. >> translation: it's clear they don't want any roma dead or alive. >> translation: the family is suffering just as much pain as any family that losses a baby it's the same thing. how can they do this. >> it's unjust inhuman. >> the mayor is a doctor who treated the family. if he never met them. he would have offered them a burial place. >> translation: you just have to put yourself in the place of this mother the parents, to understand they have lost a piece of their world. not allowed to have the child rest in piece is not acceptable or human, i'm not trying to judge or express a point of
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view. the rehabilitation was immediate - we will accept her in our village. the mayor apologised saying the remarks-misinterpreted, offering condolences to the family that was not raised. it raised the treatment of roma who suffered discrimination poverty and access to public services italian investigators are searching the---age of a ferry that -- wreckage of a ferry that caught fire. a team of divers continued to search under water. there may be more bodies inside. italian officials said they rescued 470 passengers and crew. the cause is not known a massive cargo ship tipped over at a 45 degree angle off of englands aisle of wight.
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it was heading to germany. 25 crew members were rescued. it is still grounded and no measure on how it got into trouble. >> coming up next - jury selection for the man charged with the boston marathon bombing remembering the loved ones. we look at the number of open cases of women killed south of the border.
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tomorrow jury selection begins in the case of dzhokhar tsarnaev, the 21-year-old accused of carrying out the boston marathon bombing. three were killed, 260 injured. he is facing the death penalty. al jazeera's john terrett walks
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us through the tragic day in boston. >> no one watching or another the finish line of the boston marathon in 2013 understood what had happened. a gas explosion, a fault - a second explosion 12 seconds after the first, and everyone knew. boston's iconic sporting event was under attack. the youngest victim an 8-year-old was cheering on runners. crystal campbell also died. more than 262 were injured. heather abbott among them - catapulted into a restaurant injuring her left leg it had to be amputated. >> i was in excruciating pain. my foot felt like it was on fire. i was afraid to look at it. people were just running by me. >> reporter: pieceing together
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what happened took law enforcement a week. bombs were made in pressure cookers, packed with metal shards and stowed in backpacks found in tatters at the bomb sites. the the fbi released surveillance showing two suspects near the scene of each blast. they were identified as tamerlan tsarnaev and dzhokhar tsarnaev. brother living in boston but raised in dagestan. that evening m.i.t. policeman shaun collier was shot and killed allegedly when the brothers tried to hi jack his gun. they hijacked an s.u.v. and forced the owner to stay with them. who escaped at a gas station and called police. by tracking the stolen vehicle
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police cornered the brothers in the boston suburb of watertown. a firefight ensued and both brothers were injure the police grabbed 28-year-old tamerlan tsarnaev but 19-year-old dzhokhar tsarnaev made his escape it was reported he ran over his brother, tamerlan tsarnaev died. by friday morning waterup to boston and the surrounding neighbourhoods were in lock down. people were told to stay home and only answer the door to a policeman. at sunset law enforcement with the help of a home owner found him in this boat in the backyard of a house in waterdown. dzhokhar tsarnaev bleeding badly, was arrested. a note was found saying the bombings were revenge for u.s. action in iraq and afghanistan. we muslims are one body. you hurt one of us you hurt us all. >> in the 20 months since the
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bombings. dzhokhar tsarnaev remained in custody, and pled not guilty sad news for the broadcast world, sports anchor stuart scott died. the 49-year-old was a fixture at e.s.p.n. he passed away after a year's long battle with cancer. he was known for injecting catch phrases into his broadcast. he is survived by two teenage daughters. next on al jazeera america, they are the worst wildfires australia has seen. firefighters are battling the flames getting little help from mother nature. >> a paradise is a health hazard. why people living near this people in senegal have been sickened by industrial waste.
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welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm thomas drayton, here are the top stories we are following now.
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thousands lined the streets of brooklyn for the funeral of officer wenjian liu, one of two officers gunned down in the line of duty on december 20th. wenjian liu's wife and father paid tribute saying he lived his life to help others. several city officials paid respects. four bodies have been found at the scene where airasia crashed a week ago in the java sea. 34 bodies have been sound. bad weather is interfering with the search. black boxes have not been found. >> president obama and the rest of the first family are in washington after an extended winter break in hawaii. they arrived in the white house earlier today. the president will hit the road this week for a series of speeches on domestic issues. recapping the top story. police officer wenjian liu was laid to rest. he and fellow officer were killed execution style in
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brooklyn. joining us and robert ghangi the police director of the organising project. what do you maining about the officers -- make about the officers turning their backs, once again, on the mayor. >> it is disturbing. the officers are - they are, in effect challenging foundational principles in the united states the civilian leadership of military and paramilitary organizations which the police department is. they are challenging the mayor and the commissioner who asked them not to turn their back on the mayor. the other concern is the reform movement has been criticized because at the beginning of the first couple of days after the deaths of the officers it continued to protest. they were criticised for engaging in politics.
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here police officers are engaging in a political statement at the funeral. not only were they disrespecting the mayor, and the police commissioner but they are disreporting the memory of their fallen comrade and disrespecting the family. >> it's not the time to do so. i want to talk about the public beyond the force. how do we get to this point - animosity from the public to officers. the refocus is bad police practices, because of bad policing and the targetting systems. the communities that are antagonistic of police focuses are black and brown communities and marginalized groups. the n.y.p.d. engages in harassing and bullying tactics
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that target communities, homeless people mentally ill, street vendors, people of colour sex workers, l.g.b.t. homeless use. most of them people of colour. the communities, and it's black and brown communities have a deep seated distrust how do you reach a goal the the only way to do it is not with eloquent words we heard, and some of the speeches were eloquent. really this may sound cold it is to challenge police practice. you can't do it through the clergy or calls for traits between the police officers as long as the n.y.p.d. targets and harasses communities of colour. it's the things that... >> how do you do that. some say how do you write a rule book when you are a police
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officer, every situation is different when you interaccount why someone. it's two sided. if you interact with me how do you get past that, that hatred. >> what we are talking about is aggressive action initiated by police officers because of the broken windows. the eric garner incident is classic. it would have been the nipted time they arrested him for selling loose cigarettes. at the beginning of the video he plagueds his hands saying this stops today. what he meant was the impact of broken window on him. we don't object to police officers fighting crime and interfering as they should when there is a felony going on. >> focussing their attention in the right place. exactly. because broken windows is low level ipp fractions that many
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consider innocuous. it creates animosity. police reformers are comfortable pressing for reforms that we are calling for, because we completely believe it will make police officer said jobs ezier and safer. >> looking at the headlines, what will be the headline for police practices, or police in america? >> what we'll work towards in the movement is that significant changes have taken place, they have been directed by the mayor, and the police commissioner and that you have more collaboration and trust between the community and police officers because of the change in those practices. we are looking for a shift to practices where the police and other government agencies partner with the community to solve the problems that everybody recognises plagued the communities. even with this two week period
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of collective mourning and grief that we joined in. those deaths were samples and tragic. no one waved a magic wand making the problems disappear. in the movement now, we'll get back to promoting our agenda for reforms making for a better city for the police officers. >> it's an issue that needs to be addressed. everyone agrees there's a time. >> a time to step back and reflect. >> executive director of the police reform organising project. >> thank you. turning our answerings to south australia. -- attention to south australia. firefighters are fighting the worse fire? decades. nicole johnson reports. south australia is fighting the fires with everything that it has got. >> from the air, dropping tonnes of water. from the ground. dousing the flames.
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it's risky. 22 firefighters have been injured so far. now the weather has turned cooler it's dropped 10 degrees. this may not last. >> we are expecting more hot weather, which will create conditions for the fire to escape. and we would like to contain it within its general perimeter a dozen homes have been destroyed in the adelaide hills. alex's place is one of them. >> all my possessions and documents documents, paper works, i lost documents, paperwork, yes. >> i want to go home and defend it. >> people are returning to their homes to see if they are standing. 11,000 hectares of bushland has been destroyed. farming property as well. fears are a regular feature of the summer.
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six years ago more than 170 were killed in one of the worse bushfires history. this is being brought under control. it's unlikely to be the last one this season mother nature not cooperating. >> let's get to rebecca stephenson. let's look at the forecast. >> all the rain they are getting, it's too much. it's further to the north, as we look at the forecast. across the northern portion of the australia. it's well north of the fires. they'll be watching for flooding in the next couple of days. as we look at what else is going on fog is a big story, anywhere from turkey where you can see windmills sticking up out of the fog, over to india, where we had about 29 trains that were completely rescheduled and there was a lot of cancellations. radar and clouds for the united states shows us where the storms
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were yesterday, dumping the rain that continues to the east across the carolinas, georgia moving out of the picture and it was a mild and wet day in the north-east. and a storm system coming into the north-west. it will dump heavy snow into the next several hours, in fact all the way through tuesday, we are expecting to continue to have snow. that band of snow will stretch all the way across the upper plains. now, add in the fact that they have wind chills here that are well below zero, this will be a tough go in the next 24 hours here for the upper midwest. in fact chicago, you'll get about 3-6 inches of snow along the western side of lake michigan. as you get to the eastern banks, that's where the snow will
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approach. we have a cold blast coming in across the great lakes and the north-east bringing snow into parts of new york and not quite down to philadelphia d.c. however, this is relatively light hit of snow. it is the siberian express that we are watching - cold air that develops over liberia, pulls up over the polls, drags down the cold air across the eastern part of the state. this will stick with us through the weekend. we'll get little round of snow and everyone will feel a big chill. >> in new york. '50s '60s. >> yes, low '60s now down to 30 tomorrow. >> all good things must come to on end the bay of han in senegal was a popular holiday destination, as nicholas haque reports years of toxic waste dumped into the ocean
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transformed it into an environmental disaster. >> reporter: this beach was famous for its beauty. it was called the copacabana. it is where the people came to escape sun bake swim and enjoy clean air. look at it now. some in the neighbourhood are trying to clear the shore line they can't stop this. what started as a slow trickle of sewage is now a trickle of toxic waste poured into the ocean. chemical factories and tanneries use it as a dumping site. the stench is unbearable. this woman started to clean the beach when she realised the waste was making the children sick. >> they suffer diarrhoea and respiratory problems. we have to take them to the doctor. i am sure it's due to pollution. >> i took a sample of water, taking it to a government lab for testing. results are astounding.
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>> the level of organic matter in the water is 10 times above international standards, containing high levels of mercury and cadmium. these are the chemicals that damage the nervous system. toss not just polluted it's point use. billions of litres are released into the ocean. this level of pollution is illegal, but none of the factory owners have been fined or prosecuted. >> translation: they employ thousands of people and are an important contributor to the government. france and the e.u. are founding the construction of 15km floating water filter. it will increase the quality of the water and not stop the pollution, it will take years to build. too late. too many are comfortable living with the pollution.
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>> reporter: an american exposed to ebola in west africa is back in the u.s. the health care provider arrived in nebraska's biocontainable unit. the perp exposed whilst working in sierra leone, is not ill or contagious but will be under observation. three patients were treated at the same facility one died. two survived. >> ebola exact a terrible toll on the people of west africa. in the u.s. experts say the influenza virus poses a bigger threat. the centers for diseases declared a flue epidemic the agency saying 22 states are seeing high flu activity. the peak flu season beginning, dozens of deaths have been reported across the country. 15 children are among the victims. today al jazeera's morgan radford discussed the flu with
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infectious disease specialist. children and the elderly at risk. what can parent do returning off the the break. >> the number one advice is get the flu shot for yourselves and mig. it does protect against the major di trains. one of the trains is flu shots do not protect against it. many are not getting the shots because they say what is the point. it protects against throw of four strains. wash your hands, secondsly, with soap and water. >> and the third thing is if you are sick don't go to work. employers are offering
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telecommuting. working from home. if you are sick stay home. >> is the vaccine weaker or are people building up resistance over time. >> it's important to understand how to design and manufacture the flue vaccine. what happens is we look to see what strains are circulating throughout the world in advance of the flu season. scientists make predictions of what hits the shores. ahead of time they design the vaccine, they make the prediction and scale up manufacturing. that takes time. you can't do it as soon as the flu epidemic hits. in that time where you are scaling up production the flu can mutate and that is what happened this year. >> so how much worse can it get. when is the peak of the flu season. the peak in general - in the average year will be february. and it tails off in the spring. so we really do expect to see a
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lot more flu cases in the next couple of months. so why are we seeing a spike in the cases this year. what is happening differently this year that was not happening years prior? >> there's the mismatch with the vaccine. there are four common strains, one the vaccine does not protect against. people start getting the flu shots. >> but everywhere was also really worried about ebola, which i think we asked you that question when we came on the show. was there too much focus on that. when we should have been focus the on the flu which has taken more lives in the states. >> it's not that we should focus on one versus the other. but in terms of what we should be worried about affecting ourselves and our families it's the flu, and america is more likely to get and die of the flu than ebola. >> infectious disease specialist speaking with morgan radford.
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>> next - you could get fined when you get rid of your old cell phone. why birth certificates will look new. i'll tell you about new loves going in effect including some that are bizarre. >> sunday night.
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welcome back. when the ball dropped in times square it meant more than a new year it meant new laws. al jazeera's tony harris covers a range of regulations with some that will surprise you. >> reporter: a rule in california aims to alleviate overcrowding on farms, mandating bigger cages and pence for egg-laying chickens calves and calfs. another addresses the modern family. birth certificate include a parent category if mother and father don't fit. new laws concern teenagers the. in louisiana, 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to rester to vote. they can't do it until they turn
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18. a nevada law gives meaning to the term student driver. sv269 ties driving privileges to schools. teen that skip classes see licences suspended and revoked. >> the retide bledisloe turned winemaker successfully lobbied the state legislature to end a ban on win being shipped to people's homes. in new york it's illegal to toss electronic devices into the garbage, no matter how hold or obsolete it may be. the new law covers cell phones televisions and anything that connects to a computer. you risk $100 if you don't get rid of them properly. another law hasn't taken effect yet, but anyone who wants to pose for a photo with a lion. tiger or leopard may have to
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hurry. come february posing for a selfie with a big cat will be against the law. oh, my tony harris joining us to discuss new laws. it's austin peterson. the editor-in-chief of the libertarian republic. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> some of the laws mentioned include relating school attend answers to obtaining a driver's licence seems fair enough or is it taking away certain rites. >> i'm not certain. liberty is the opposite of licence. you are not at liberty to drive a vehicle, you have to have a government licence, engage in a dangerous activity nothing is as dangerous as the act of voting. when someone votes they say i'll take power to put this politician in power over you. what is more dangerous. driving or voting. >> it's hard to tell.
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some of the laws - i want to know some that you question whether on a commonsense level or regarding civil rights. >> i'm a civil libertarian, when you talk about economics most do not understand economics. a minimum wage is going up in 20 states including the district of columbia and i i understand the sentiment. people thing they'll get a higher wage. the employers, what they do is they have to plagued the cost of goods and services. you get an inflationary effect. you don't get a higher wage because you'll have to pay the extra dollar in higher milk prices and it will be more difficult for poor people who don't have skills to get jobs. the minimum wage is one of things for politicians to say you'll get the higher wage but you'll pay $1 more at the gas station or the supermarket. at the gas stations oil prices are down but politicians
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plaguing taxes to correspond with the drop. seems like the taxpayers were not going to get a release. >> i want to look at extreme laws. we mentioned don't take a selfie with a big kalt. how are the laws passed? >> well the selfie law was because they didn't want people to put themselves into dangerous situations and knowing the big cats - a lot of people have been harmed by doing that. i can understand the sentiment. this is really a throw out to say this is for the animal rights activists. what i don't under is where in california, this is supposed to be a happy state, but they passed the massage therapy reform act. that they are trying to shut down the massage parlours where you get the happy endings. you pass another law, the affirmative consent law, yes means yes. they want you to make sure before you have sex both have to comit to saying yes, i commit to
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this. they are saying if you concept though this act, it's okay. if you consent and there's payment, what does it mean yes means yes or yes doesn't mean yes. >> looking at the laws and the birth certificates involving both parents whether it's a male or female are we seeing a shift in the laws as we evolve as a society. >> i think to. there's a lot of double standards that women put up with. as the feminist novt there's a second, third way of feminism. i think that you know when it came to parental right there was an idea that women need to - they are the providers, the ones who are the caretakers. it's understood as more men are taking the roles of being single fathers, or being the stay at home dads that shared custody is a more equal tative way to handle family court proceedings, and men and women are
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caretakers. >> in a short answer do you think silly laws will be upheld. >> i think they will. they'll be in plastic bags in california. >> we'll be talking about this once again. >> we have laws in lots of places across the country. >> we'll have to leave it there. austin petersen. editor-in-chief. >> coming up on al jazeera - he's considered the face of extinction, why lonesome form is a tort toys that is gone but not forgotten. pass par
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the museum of natural history is taking down the lonesome george exhibit. he is a tortoise the last of a subspecies studied by charles darwin. kristen saloomey reports. >> he's known as lonesome george, the last-known pinta island tortoise on earth. >> interesting species of giant tortoise. >> he was discovered on the galapagos island in 1971 at a time when scientists believed the subspecies was already extinct. >> if the tortoises hadn't been exploited and collected for oil and meet we may have it here. there's already a message about being good students of our planet. >> it took a taxidermist a year to preserve skin and shell, replacing internal organs with
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poem. he will be back home in ecuador. he has become a symbol of what the world has lost from extinction. his fate is unique. dozens of species go extinct every day. >> this is lonesome george during his final years in the galapagos. attempts to find him a mate and produce offspring filed. his legacy lives on. >> we read the story and talked about who extinction means, what it means if there's no more. i think she understands that they all died. >> yes. >> just to have the opportunity to see it is wonderful. >> there's a lot of talk about things being extinct. >> teaching a new generalition about the fragility of life on earth lonesome george was believed to be more than 100 years old
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when he died. goodbye george. >> that will do it for this hour. "america tonight" is next. i'll be back with you in about an hour. before we go we'd like to show you some moments at the funeral service of n.y.p.d. officer which. -- officer wenjian liu. . >> one of his many passions was to be a police officer. the fact that he is n.y.p.d. - he took pride. officer wenjian liu believes in the possibility of making a safer world. all cops do. his greatest meaning and joy came in caring for others - helping, supporting devoting himself to something greater than himself.
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>> wenjian liu is an incredible husband, son, co-worker and friend. my best friend. >> on "america tonight," the weekend edition question about police excessive force. >> thoom the officer must have been frustrated, unloaded his weapon 14 times. >> why would the officer shoot 14 times. >> did the man go too far? also having the talk, the blunt talk about race and justice in america. >> probably think i come from a low income family, they probably think that i