on our twitter or facebook page. thanks for watching, have a great night. night. >> this is al jazeera america, i'm thomas drayton, in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. thousands come to pay their city officer gunned down in the line of duty. bad weather is hampering erts to recover bodies from the airasia crash in the java sea. we have a preview fighting i.s.i.l. one of

several key foreign policy issues facing the u.s. this year the subject of tonight's segment "the week ahead". great to have you with us. 10,000 came to honour new york city officer wenjian liu, killed as he sat in a patrol car two weeks ago. there were fellow officers and many that came from police departments across the country and dignitaries and the heart-broken family. courtney kealy reports on the emotional funeral for a man recently married. >> he is my soul mate. >> reporter: officer wenjian liu's widow spoke about his respect for the law and devotion to his parents as an only child. >> one of his many passions is being 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 sons traits - obedience, respect and loyalty. he said his son wanted to be a police officer since he was 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 the federal bureau of investigation, james cumey to represent the white house. several turned their backs on the mayor as he delivered one of the ooul onlyies, tension -- eulogy many officers felt the mayor chose the side of police officers choosing the side of public in racial violence. >> his greatest joy was helping, supporting devoting himself to something greater than himself.

>> reporter: new york police commissioner bill bratton urged members of the n.y.p.d. to restrain from signs of disrespect. >> officer wenjian liu believed in the possibility of making a better world. we take comfort in the buddhist words when death comes, the lessons of goodness do not perish. we celebrate his life and that of detective rafael ramos, and honour what they accomplished for many. >> there were also many private moments for wenjian liu's family and friends. buddhist monks oversaw a ceremony. they stood and prayed over the casket of wenjian liu. later the church was closed to family members as it was closed to the public so they could grave na private. >> reporter: police officers filled the streets, stood solemnly by in dress blues,

offered a salute as helicopter flew overhead. the n.y.p.d. flag lifted off the casket and folded. >> a solemn processional that proceeded towards cyprus hills territory, ending two weeks of mourning. >> courtney kealy, al jazeera. earlier i spoke with the executive director of the police reform organising project. i asked about an officer's choice to turn the back on bill de blasio at wenjian liu's funeral. >> they are challenging the mayor and their commissioner who asked them explicitly not to turn their back on the mayor. the other concern is the reform movement has been criticized because at least at the beginning of the first couple of days after the deaths of the officers. the reform move continued to protest. here we have police officers

engaging in a political statement at the funeral. a year from now, two years from now when looking at the headlines, what is the headlines for police practices. what we'll work towards 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. >> she says that broken windows policies that focussed on demeanour crimes are behind many of the troubles between police and the black community rough seas and muddy conditions are preventing searches getting to the fuselage in the java sea, as well as the flights black boxes. >> reporter: four more bodies arrived at the identification center bringing bodies recovered to 34. 162 were on board airasia 85.01.

differs met the views ladies and gentlemen, but bad continues did not allow them to stay long. the bottom of the sea is covered with mud, making for poor visibility. underwater cameras are not working. >> translation: because the velocity of the current is 2 nautical miles per hour the under water camera cannot take photos. >> reporter: ships and planes are helping with the search. on board is high tech censors used to comb the bottom of the sea. >> we rely on radar, son areas, helicopters, and -- sonar, and personnel with using the eyes looking out for debris or recognisable aircraft. >> it is a race against time to find all the victims, the airasia jet crash last sunday on its way from syracuse to indonesia to singapore.

with each passing day it's more difficult to identify the bodies. crucial to the investigation is finding the plane's black boxes. the black box and the victims are our priority. we go all out to do everything to find it. >> reporter: that is something the families of victims are praying for. more than 1,000 worshippers gathered on sunday at a church that lost 46 members from 14 families in the crash. >> officials say weather was likely the main factor in the area of the crash. the jakarta post reported to leaked documents indicated that the pilots never received a report alerting them to stormy weather. n.t.s.b. investigators in the u.s. say they hope a 7-year-old girl that survived a plane crash will be able to offer clues as to what went wrong. the girl walked away from a crash that killed her parents,

sister and cousin. with only cuts she made her way through a dark wooded area. she has been called a remarkable young lady. she has been reunited with relatives asking for privacy jury selection will begin in boston in relation to the dzhokhar tsarnaev case the man accused of carrying out the boston marathon bombing. three were killed, 260 injured, san francisco san francisco san francisco -- dzhokhar tsarnaev is facing the death penalty. >> reporter: no one watching or near the finish line of the boston marathon in 2013 understood what had just happened - a gas explosion and electrical fault. a second explosion 12 seconds after the first, and everyone knew - boston's iconic sporting event was under attack. the youngest victim 8-year-old martin richard had been cheering on runners inches from the second bomb. crystal campbell 29, and

lindsay lu died that day. more than 362 were injured much among them heather ab o. catapulted into a restaurant injuring her left leg so severely that this had to be amputated. >> i was in pain. my foot felt like it was on fire. i was afraid to look at it. people were trampling, running by me. >> piecing together what happened took law enforcement the better part of a week. the authorities revealed both bombs were made inside commercially brought metal cookers. each stowed in backpacks found in tatters at the bomb site. the federal bureau of investigation released surveillance video showing two suspects with backpacks. police identified them as jill sorenson and tamerlan tsarnaev brothers living in -- dzhokhar tsarnaev and tamerlan tsarnaev living in boston but raised in

dainges stan a country beseeinged by independence after the collapse of the soviet union. that evening shane collier was shot and killed. allegedly when the brothers tried to take his gun. later they hijacked an s.u.v. forcing the opener to stay with them for 90 minutes. the car's open escaped at a gas station. by dragging the g.p.s. the brothers were cornered in the boston suburb of watertown. a firefight ensued and both brothers were injured. the police grabbed 28-year-old tamerlan tsarnaev but his 19-year-old dzhokhar tsarnaev made his escape in the stolen s.u.v. it was reported he ran over his brother. tamerlan tsarnaev died. by friday morning, watertown, boston and surrounding neighbourhoods were in lockdown. people were told to stay home and only answer to a policeman.

at sunset law enforcement found dzhokhar tsarnaev in this winterized boat in the backyard of a house in watertown. dzhokhar tsarnaev, bleeding badly, was arrested. a note was found in the boat saying that 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 you will." in the 20 months since the bombings dzhokhar tsarnaev has remained in custody. he has pleaded not guilty president obama is back in washington after an extended winter break. he will not be there for long. the first family returned to the white house after a 2-week vacation in hawaii. the president will hit the road for a series of speeches on domestic issues. he'll visit detroit to talk about manufacturing and the bailout of the auto industry. thursday fienphoenix where he'll

showcase gapes in the housing sector following the collapse and then he joins joe biden in knoxville to talk about job training scalise, after speaking to a white supremist group is getting support. he admitted to speaking to a convention to an american unity and rights organization a group led by k.k.k. leader david duke. scalise has shown remorse and should be able to remain in leadership. >> as far as i'm concerned, he has been wonderful to work with he's been helpful for me and he has had the support of his colleagues. >> several democrats called on house speaker john boehner to remove scalise as majority whip. scalise has his full confidence.

an american exposed to ebola is back in the u.s. the heath care provider arrived in nebraska's bio-containment unit. the person exposed whilst working in sierra leone is not ill or contagious but will be under observation for the 21 day period. three were treated in this facility. one died, two survived mahmoud abbas may be planning a push for statehood, in talks with jordan about resitting a draft to the u.n. security council, it would call for israel to withdraw from occupied territories and independence by 2017. a similar resolution failed to win enough votes in a bid to join the international criminal court has israel up in arms. stephanie dekker is in ramallah for more. >> the men are at risk of losing their salaries. israel says it will not transfer over a million in response to

the palestinians joining the international criminal court. binyamin netanyahu had this to say. >> the palestinian decided to launch an application, and we will not sit idly by we will not allow the dragging of soldiers at the hague. the ones that should face justice is the head of the palestinian authority, entering an alliance with hamas war criminals. >> reporter: he's referring to a unity government between fatah and hamas - which israel conversations a terror of the organization. palestinians have more to fear in their decision to join the i.c.c. it's a statement dismissed by the palestinian leadership. >> it will be an amazing historical case where the victim is the murderer. for them to claim that we are the ones who are the criminals

and that we should be - i don't think anyone will take it seriously. everybody nose that all these sort of acts of aggression that has been committed are done by the israelis against our people. >> mohammed resigned as netter during the last round -- negotiator during the last round of talks. he said the last round of talks, where they tried to set a time frame, taking the legal option at the i.c.c. is the next step. >> for all the political back and forth, many palestinians say they have lost confidence that a solution will be found. there seems to be no end to the israeli occupation. people believe going to the international court is the only way to put pressure on israel. >> this is a step we should have taken before. we are wabeak and have no other option much israel is trying to pressure us and others to not join the i.c.c.

>> reporter: joining the i.c.c. was a move for maximum impact. it's been a concern for israel. it's not clear where it leaves a political solution on the ground. >> in ukraine pro-russian separatists confirm that a prominent rebel commander has been killed. it happens in luhansk on thursday. ukranian security officials say alexander bednov was killed as separatist forces tried to arrest him. he was wanted on murder and abduction charges. as a battle rages on locals say they are tired of rebels breaking the ceasefire. rebels were seen shooting first and ukranian forces returning fire. many older residents want peace even if the town is controlled by the ukraine government it is one of many foreign policy issues facing the u.s. we'll discuss that in "the week

ahead". it's coming up in a few moments 8:30 eastern, 5:30 pacific. ahead on al jazeera america new numbers in the fight to keep meth off the streets in the u.s. and pope francis names more than a dozen new cardinals from around the world.

australian prime minister tony abbott made an unannounced stop in iraq. he met with the iraqi prime minister to discuss how australia can further help in the fight against i.s.i.l. among the issues the need for equipment and training for iraqi soldiers. australia is assisting with air strikes against i.s.i.l. targets in northern iraq. peshmerga fighters are hoping to recapture more villages from yil report, after overtaking the village. mohammed adow reports from the village, not far from mosul. >> this is the front line for

kurdish peshmerga fighters. a few hundred meters away is the village of sultan abdullah. two days ago it was the scene of heavy fighting between the islamic state of iraq and levant and kurdish peshmerga forces. peshmerga control the village, but it's within the range of i.s.i.l. fire. we were advised against going into the village. >> it's a front line. the mortars almost daily. every day there's a mortar between us and them. we are on the front line. >> unexploded bombs lit up the area around the camp. they say i.s.i.l. killed some of their men. a few kilometres behind the frond lines is the village -- front lines is the village of sultan abdullah, walls and buildings riddled with bullet holes, reminders of the wars fought here.

in some of the villages life is returning to normal as more 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 villages fled. he says they need urgent help. >> translation: we have no food fuel cooking gas, electricity and even more essentially, no clean water. we appeal to the authorities to bring us water and food. it's cold and the children are suffering. >> he feels relieved that i.s.i.l. is no longer in control of their village. >> we are punished for the smallest actions. if someone smokes cigarettes they say "you are not a muslim", if a member of your family is a government soldier, you'll be punished. so it was for anyone with links to the kurds. >> the peshmerga took him with

their own problems. they accused some of its sunni arab residents of supporting i.s.i.l. and arrested them. >> translation: my cousin is one of 16 taken away by the peshmerga. we don't know where they are. they accused them of being i.s.i.l. members - but they are not. >> at the front line peshmerga workers take advantage of a lull in fighting. others clean their gun, they say they are outgunned by i.s.i.l. and unless the changes, their lines would not continue to halt. >> pope francis named 15 bishops and arch bishops to be cardinals, the move demonstrates the push for diversity in the catholic church. many selected are from the farthest reaches from the world. among them representatives, tongo, ethiopia and others. >> translation: as it has been

announced on february the 14th i'll name 15 new cardinals coming from 14 nations from every continent. they show the tie with the church of roam to churches in the world. >> none of those selected were from the u.s. many say the mood fits with the pope's vision of the church. he has sited corruption and others. >> prince andrew is fending off allegations of sexual misconduct. buckingham palace issued a statement denying the prince had any form of sexual conduct or relationship with a woman who claimed she was forced to have sex when under age. the allegations were made in a case against jeffrey ensteam the mayor who failed to

allow a roma baby to be buried in his town has raised the issue of racism towards the roma. >> reporter: on monday a baby girl will be buried here. see died of southern infant breath syndrome. her family wanted to lay her to rest. the local mayor refused them permission because he said there were few plots available. he told a palace newspaper that priority in the cemetery is given to those that pay their local taxes. the implication being that the dead baby's family do not, because they are roma. campaigners for the roma community in francaise the decision is racism. it's clear they don't want any roma dead or alive. >> the families suffer as much pain as french families that

lose a baby. it's the same thing. how can they refuse this. it is disgusting unjust inhuman. >> the mayor is a doctor who treated the family. he says that even 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 parents, to understand they have lost a piece of their world. not allowed to have their child rest in piece is not acceptable or human. when i heard, i'm not trying to judge. our reaction is immediate. we will accept her in our village. the mayor apologised saying remarks were misinterpreted and offered condolences to the family who have not been named. the case raised the treatment of france's 20,000 roma who long suffered discrimination poverty and unequal access to public services seizures of methamphetamine

at the border soared in 2013. the production of the drug has been pushed south of the border. met seizures were up by 300% last year compared to 2009. drug enforcement agents say car tells are finding it cheaper and easier to smuggle sad news - iconic broadcaster stuart scott died. he has 49 and battled cancer for seven years. he was a fixture at e.s.p.n. since 1993 and was known by colleagues for work ethics and by viewers for his commentary. injecting phrases. president obama released a statement about his legacy saying:

president obama is getting ready to take on the soon to be republican controlled congress in the senate. coming up, we examine what that means for u.s. foreign policy.

welcome back to al jazeera america, here are the top stories we are following. thousands line the streets of brooklyn to pay the last respects to n.y.p.d. detective wenjian liu. he was one of two officers gunned down in the line of duty. his wife and father gave tribe ute saying he lived his life to help others. four bodies were recovered from the java sea, near the site where airasia crashed. 31 bodies have been found in total. bad weather has been interfering with the recovery of bodies and

the black boxes. president obama and the rest of the first family are back in washington after an extended break in hawaii. they arrived at the white house earlier today. later this week the president will hit the road for a series of speeches on domestic issues it is sunday night and time for "the week ahead". tonight we are discussing u.s. foreign policy. first courtney kealy looks back at 2014. >> reporter: at year's end nator formally ended the mission, handing control to the afghan government. >> a 13 year list of achievements. >> reporter: the u.s. will retain a force of 10,000 troops to combat the remnants of al qaeda. >> insurgency is not beaten on the battlefield. an insurgency can only be overcome by reconciliation. >> sentiments echoed when the u.s. withdrew troops from iraq.

in 2014 an insurgency that shape-shifted from previous extremist groups in iraq and syria into a virulent movement called islamic state of iraq and levant known as i.s.i.l. proved a shocking and deadly enemy. >> we'll engage in the campaign for as long as it takes to prevail. >> reporter: with the redeployment of several thousands troops. >> the coalition and iraqi security forces will expand. air strikes will continue as necessary. >> reporter: for the first time since the conflict in syria, the u.s.-led air strikes against i.s.i.l. meanwhile iran a backer of syrian bashar al-assad opened nuclear talks with the u.s. which were extended into 2015. the u.s. already had its policy plate full with russian president vladimir putin. after the ukranian protest movement toppled the pro-russian

government last winter russian militias moved into the country's eastern half. when crimea voted to secede russia annexed it. u.s. targeted top officials as well as key parts of the economy with sanctions. in july the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17 over ukraine by pro-russian militias complicated the crisis. >> russia and vladimir putin has responsibility to compel them to cooperate. that is the least they can do. vladimir putin denied involvement. >> nobody has a right to use the tragedy to achieve their own selfish objectives. >> a rush of military presence remains parked. like russia china is an ally for the syrian regime. according to the international

monetary fund, china knocked the u.s. off the top spot to become the world's largest economy. the u.s. will have to dread lightly, which is the biggest holder of debt. while the u.s. responded to airlines tragedy in ukraine on the same day in july they launched a ground invasion and the u.s. stood by as an ally. >> no country would tolerate rockets launched into their cities. >> translation: israel will not negotiate under fire. israel will continue to act in every way to change the current reality and bring quiet to all the citizens. >> reporter: a ceasefire was agreed to almost six weeks later. 2,100 palestinians were killed in the gaza strip, along with 66 israeli soldiers and seven civilians in israel. the vast majority were civilians, and 500 casualties

were children. 2014 had a last wig shocker. this time it held hope not horror. >> we'll normalize relations between the two countries. u.s. and cuba announced they'd restore ties. after months of negotiations mediated by pope francis, the announcement was welcomed by much of the international community, a relief from the policies in 2014 thank you courtney kealy the obama administration will require congressional approval for some of its cuba policy with republicans weeks away from controlling both chambers. standoffs between the president and lawmakers are common on all foreign policy issues. the white house can begin high-level diplomatic relations in cuba. lawmakers will need to approve an ambassador. prominent republicans came out against the change.

supporters say getting a foot in the door in cuba is the first check in squeezing out russia and chinnees influence. dealing with russian aggression is a policy for this year. bob corker criticized what he thinks is a week response to the annexation of crimea which vladimir putin said was a landmark. sanctions and oil prices sen the economy spiralling to recession. moscow warned u.s. sanctions would halt cooperation on issues like syria and iran. the middle east poses a series of foreign policy issues in 2015. the secretary of state john kerry wants to work out a nuclear deal in iran. the u.s. needs to figure out how to eliminate i.s.i.l. strongholds while protecting syrians from their own president bashar al-assad. there are roughly 3.3 million

syrian refugees and millions displaced in the country. it's unlikely the u.s. will get russia on board, they may have a better chance with china, building a relation with a world superpour is a top priority despite differences on human rights violations. in asia we'll have to contend with north korea. it lashed out at the white house for sanctions that came in response to the hack against sony pictures. a spokesman for the north called the move hostile. >> joining me to discuss issues facing the international community is the dean of the school of policy and international relations for seaton hall university we have an analyst and a washington base research firm and specialist in middle eastern affairs. great to have you with us. >> nice to be here.

>> thank you. >> we have a lot to talk about. a shift in policy in cuba. a major policy that is an indication of dip plom assy. it counts in a way that is surprising. andernally for the u.s. >> the president in relation to to congress in relation to the electorate. it is clearly a political move. it's a move that releases president obama in relation to 60 years before him. >> that's an interesting point. what on tackles do you see flaring up. >> congress some members, will regard it as in some way sanctioning the regime in havana or sort of putting the

human rights abuses in havana brushing them under the rug. i think for president obama, and supporters of his overture towards cuba he'll have to make the argument that no policy is perfect, and the overture will have complications but it is better poised to influence the before if we engage and have open links economically and diplomatically. >> i'm curious, does the policy towards cuba change the president's pivot in asia. we'll talk about asia in a moment. does it change the pivot? >> it changes the way in which the president in may ways is perceived internationally, and how diplomacy, and the presidential diplomacy is perceived. the greatest change obviously in latin america - we think of columbia and venezuela and others but the message sending is that the president is playing and relevant.

>> what does this say about u.s. policy moving forward with latin american. >> it sends an important message. it's interesting about the overyour in cuba. a criticism of the policy towards america, latin america, is that we didn't have a policy for much of the past decade that we were absent and there was a growing sense or concern that the united states was conceding the americas to chinese or indian influence. with the overture towards cuba and a focus on integrating the americas and economic policy the administration is saying "we are back latin america is our neighbour, it's in our back quart and we need to be engaged. i think it is part of a policy of integration and openness

posing a welcome counterbalance to chinese influence in the region. >> i want to shift to the middle east. what needs to transpire in the new year to see a solid agreement with iran. >> thank you. i'm speaking personally for the purposes of the show rather than in connection with my position with the congressional research service. the parties on the nuclear deal are not far party. the parties themselves are holding it up. they have serious reservations about trusting the united states enough that it will lift sanctions and implement the deal. he seems unable to overcome a mistrust of the united states

enough to give his negotiators the final authority to help. >> certainly a lack of trust. what needs to tappen to build the relations with iran and the west. do you see it improving at all? >> there has been some movement. i would say the way i describe it in talks around down is the u.s. and iran see the middle east region less differently than they used to. the united states and iran were diametrically opposed. now there is commonality on some issues. particularly on the islamic state. the united states and iran are tacitly - not directly but tacitly cooperating against the islamic state. they are both militarily assisting the iraqi government of prime minister haider al-abadi. and so - and there is nungs indirectly through the iraqis, there's some commonality on syria. the two are opposed.

the iranians want to see president bashar al-assad continue in power. the u.s. believes na ousting bashar al-assad is ultimately the way to deprive the islamic state of support in syria. remains to be seen. with the new congress could we see tougher new sanctions? >> it's possible. it's interesting that sanctions are - they are an interesting instrument of diplomacy. sanctions are a mixed record. they have a mixed record in the way that the united states implemented them. they are an instrument that you tend to employ. it's an intermediate solution between reverting to military force and doing nothing. sanctions have a dubious track record, it makes policy makers feel like they are doing something. i think the track record of sanctions shows that we can target officials, certain institutions. whether the sanctions will make a deal more likely with the

iranians it's unlikely. it's a stalling mechanism, a way to continue to impose incremental pressure but it is not clear based on track records, the iranians that a new round of actions will necessarily cause change in before. >> back to you at this time. how does the u.s. move forward in dealing with i.s.i.l. >> i would say the iran issue sanctions have been effective. >> they have a mixed record. but they have been effective. farce i.s.i.l. again, the u.s. has a clear strategy on the iraq peace, work with the iraqi forces train the iraqi force, arm them and the kurdish force, the peshmerga, who are, in your last piece,

doing well against the islamic state in the north. on syria, it's a mixed complicated situation. and the u.s. does not have any anyone on the ground that it is supporting. there are indirect supplies but they are small. there are not advisors or trainers on the ground. there are air strikes. there no ground organised. >> do you see groups on the ground or are they needed. >> there's boots on the ground. the issue - not in front line combat but the trainers. there's 300 trainers at the air base that are surrounded by the islamic state, and are getting shelled. there are boots on the ground.

there has been a lot of confusion about boots on the ground issue. >> i want to move on to climate change. president obama made climate change a top priority in 2015. it looks to be busy on that front. nick was taking a look at where we start the year. >> reporter: climate change is a story that will not go away. it was high on the agenda and not least president obama, and the man leading the climate push and that is john kerry. all roads lead to paris at the end of the year. if not, all bets are off on a universal approach to tackling global warming. the president wants the u.s. to lead the way. in 2014 he took the biggest step to limit emissions from cole fire power plants. then there was an important historic you could say, joint

emissions reducing the agreement with xi jinping in november. so a promised injection of 3 billion to help poor countries deal with climate change. in the year ahead the president tapped the growing street. sparked by the hundreds of thousands who marched in new york last year. there'll be calls for actions from the pope. and he is expected to issue a major encyclical calling on the world's billion and a half tactics. this issue could prove to be president obama's most lasting foreign policy legacy. dollar enormous obstacles, and there'll be a comeback running key committees. president obama has a big decision to make on the keystone xl pipeline. some say if he approved the

project all other moves will be negated. whichever way you look at it 2016 is fundamental in the way the world shapes up in the effects of global warming. >> nick clark reporting. do you agree this will be the president's lasting foreign policy legacy. >> it's an important one. it says that the world in which we live you have many people making many additions, and it's not the question of government alone, or the americans alone. president obama is taking an interesting leadership change upon itself in taking this as an important element. it has internal national domestic issues that internationally clearly it has huge support in many nations that are very important for the overall possibility of agreement to emerge. two more issues i want to

get to. russia - what need to happen in russia? do you see vladimir putin getting more aggressive. >> no. i see vladimir putin becoming more and more capable of the flexibility he demonstrated many times in the past. of being very adaptable. i think that the economic situation requires a different response from the russians point of view. i think that vladimir putin is perfectly capable of being creative enough to respond, and we'll see more of the map on the back of a napkin as in the past. vladimir putin, i think, will be interesting this year. i don't think that will be more aggressive. on the contrary your. >> senator john mccain made it clear that this president doesn't understand the russian president. your thoughts. does the u.s. fully understand vladimir putin's ambitions.

no one can fully proeb vladimir putin's. if you look at the cumulative threat western strategy generally against russia. this was in early last year when russia hived off the crimea there was a strain suggesting that vladimir putin was a strategic grandmaster. that he outfoxed the administration. if you look at the effects of sanctions, if you look at the response that russia's behaviour induced in neighbours russia has inflicted a lot of damage. i think that the consequences whether you look at the exit of investment the decline in the value of the currency or the incremental or cumulative effect of sanction i think they started to take their toll and a serious toll on russia if russia doesn't reverse course

some say it may double down now that it's gone this far, that vladimir putin may look weak if he doesn't double down. >> i want to talk about asia thank you to my guests. appreciate your time. a final question and that is with asia. chinese-u.s. relations important, critical. >> i think it's important. that's where the future is going to be. it cannot only be economics, it can only be something that has to do with money. it has to do with mean. on the chinese side it's an interesting challenge about defining the policy. it's a major effort. i think president obama would be well pressed in reinforcing, strategiesing more in the personal relationship with the president. i think that the key to chinese

u.s. relationship must take income tax the leadership structure, that will be the way ahead. >> finally, what do you see happening with north korea. >> it's a great interesting. the opening to the south is interesting. it's important diplomacy. it is back. the fact that the south korean can respond to that opening is important to everybody. remains to be seen in "the week ahead", and the year ahead. thank you for being with us as well as our other guests before we go let's look at other event coming up in the week ahead. on monday as we reported boston bomber joins me again. three were killed and over 260 injured. mexican president will meet with president obama at the white house. they'll discuss growing cooperation between the u.s. and mexico on economic security and social issues. thursday - north korea celebrates kim jong un's 32nd

birthday. he has ruled since the death of his father in december 2011 next on al jazeera america - the worst wildfires australia has seen in 30 years. firefighters are battling the flames getting little help from mother nature. for years, it's been a winter sport. now why cities around the country are banning sledding. stay with us.

a 600-year-old chinese tower has been destroyed. a fire saturday morning broke out next door to the tower and spread. in 2 hours flames gutted the ancient city gate tour built during the ming dynasty trves a key cultural site look at this - a massive cargo ship tipped over to a 45 degree angle. this is off englands isle of wight. the singapore registeredship was

headed to germany. 25 crew members were rescued. no word on how the ship got in trouble in south australia firefighters are expecting a fourth day of wildfires, as they fight to control the worst brush fires. several downs in the adelaide hills are threatened by the flames. strong winds are fanning the fires. the fires are burning in all direction, burping through 27 acres. 12 homes have been destroyed. 20 more are at risk. 22 firefighters have been injured. no serious injuries are reported. what can we expect weather wise. rebecca stevenson joins us with a look at the forecast. >> well we are looking at things changing changing quickly. get ready for incredibly cold weather. it's moving in now. you can see snow is developing to the northern tier of the u.s. we'll have heavy snow for idaho,

and montana. it developed in a ban over dakota and we'll get anywhere from 3-6 inches of snowfall. the cold air is blasting in from the north. as this blasts in arctic air moves in. a combination of the cold temperatures, and the wind. making wind chills feel like 28 below zero. it feels like eight degrees below zero for omaha. this is dangerous weather to be out in for any stretch of the time. the air and wind can freeze the skin so quickly. what we have got in a band of snow is what is called a siberian express. the origin of the storm goes from liberia way up towards the north pole. grabs the cold air, pulls it down and this is going to be a pattern that stays with us all the way through friday. that means the arctic air will filter down gusty is the times,

even in new york city. the wind chills will be below zero. get ready with everything. tomorrow lucky to hit single digits. as we get into the low the, this is where we see dramatic cool down, especially wednesday/thursday. it will feel so cold anywhere from chicago to new york city. we are getting back to single digits in a few places. do be aware, we'll get monday - a clipper system bringing in snow to the north central plains and as we get into tuesday, light snow as we get over to new york city. we have to prepare, starting now. children love the snow but they will not like the next story. snow means a lot of things but maybe not sledding. >> sledding in two parks will be

banned. joining a list of municipalities to ban sledding in order to avoid liability costs. 21,000 children are injured in accidents. lawsuits cost u.s. cities millions. looks like fun. that will do it for this hour. thanks for joining us, i'm thomas drayton in new york. i'll be back with another hour of news - 11:00pm eastern, 8:00 p.m. pacific. next al jazeera america presents lockerbie, but next more on the funeral for fallen officer wenjian liu. >> one of his many passions is being a police officer. he took pride in the fact that he is n.y.p.d. officer wenjian liu believes in the possibility of making a safer world.

all cops do. his greatest meaning and joy came in sharing with others came in caring for others. helping supporting devoting himself to something greater than himself. wenjian liu is an incredible husband, son, co-worker and friend. my best friend.

>> three years ago al jazeera began investigating the conviction of abdelbaset al megrahi, the only man found guilty of the bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie in scotland. in the run up to last december's twenty-fifth anniversary of the bombing, we repeated two films that cast grave doubts on megrahi's conviction. now, we can reveal the results of our third, most disturbing investigation.