this resolution reflects our core objective to destroy i.s.i.l. >> president obama asks for authorization after the fact. sending a request to congress to go after i.s.i.l. but some lawmakers are concerned fearing it opens the door to another ground war in the middle east. and fighting overshadshadows diplomacy. war crimes leveled at the sudanese army. >> after the men had been removed or arrested, the soldiers proceeded to rape

almost all the women left in the houses. >> more than 200 rapes recorded by human rights watch. and a new sort of space race. the european space agency launches a recyclable rocket. >> and liftoff. >> and nasa follows with the liftoff of spacex but is unable to test a key part of it. good evening and welcome to al jazeera america i'm stephanie sy. >> and i'm antonio mora. for the first time in 13 years a u.s. president is asking congress for the power to wage war. this time, to authorize a more extensive military campaign to destroy i.s.i.l. >> the proposal calls for congress to approve a three year military campaign. it would allow continued air strikes against i.s.i.l. in iraq and syria and would authorize special forces to deploy under

limited circumstances. >> the president said the campaign would give him the flexibility to wipe out i.s.i.l. but insisted it would not involve full fledge war. allen fisher reports. >> for six months the u.s. has carried out more than 2,000 bombing raids against i.s.i.l. those attacks will continue. >> we're disrupting their command and control and supply lines making it harder for them to move. we're destroying their fighting position he their tanks their vehicles their barracks their training camps and the oil and gas facilities and infrastructure that fund their operations. >> reporter: what this will do is set new parameters essentially giving fresh legal approval to those lethal operations. obama has been working under legislation approved in 2002 ahead of the invasion of iraq. some say that was a stretch legally. there's no geographic restrictions in the permission

being sought. america will strike i.s.i.l. wherever it appears but there is a time scale. in three years the law will either lapse or have to be renewed. there is a window to allow ground troops to be deployed. obama says this gives america flebles. flexibility. >> if our partners the didn't have the capacity to get them i would be prepared to order our special forces to take action because i will not allow these terrorists to have a safe haven. >> that interpretation of the law may be different at another time or under another president. president obama says he wants congress to act quickly on this but some committees say they want to hold hearings, call senior members of the administration to give evidence, so it may be some being months before this is passed. there are areas of opposition, even within the president's own

party, saying there's still work to be done. >> i'm not sure the strategy younted will accomplish the mission he says he wants to accomplish. >> the situation ton ground isen -- on the ground is constantly changing. the longer the debate could significantly change the wording and therefore the mission. allen fisher al jazeera at the white house. >> jamie mcintire joining us from the whowb white white house. the president says u.s. security could be at risk if i.s.i.l. is left unchecked. how does he draw that conclusion? >> reporter: that's right stephanie. as congress is debating whether this war power resolution gives the u.s. too much or too little leeway it has fashioned a strategy to try to go after that the extremists.

that won't change anything that's happening on the ground in iraq. have the proposed authorization of military force would do nothing to change the current strategy. which is to keep i.s.i.l. pinned down by allied air strikes whittling away at its leaders fighters and equipment until iraqi troops or other forces on the ground are strong enough to liberate areas under the group's control. but the authorization would not just apply to iraq and syria and capitol hill. a house hearing featured testimony warning war zones are often breeding grounds for people who seek to harm the united states. >> events in australia canada and most recently in france and belgium underscore the foreign fighter problem is not just in northern syria and iraq. training in weapons and explosives access to terror

networks that ultimately target the west. >> it has tracked more than 20,000 foreign fighters that have traveled to syria from over 90 different countries including at least 3400 from western countries of which 150 are americans who are either in your considers orsyria or tried to get to syria. threats from al qaeda and i.s.i.l. are far away they present a real and present danger. >> extremists do not need to travel overseas in order to become a threat to our home lands. though hollywood like propaganda videos through that means islamist terror groups are inciting their followers to begin war at home. >> unlike hitler in world war two i.s.i.l. really doesn't

threaten the american home land. >> i.s.i.s. is not the german army, it is just not an exenls existential war. we are making hell for those under their control. but you can't bomb extremism out of existence. you can bomb people but then you get more people taking up their cause. >> but in sending the proposed language for the authorization of military force up to capitol hill, president obama essentially argued the opposite. he said i.s.i.l. is not just a threat in iraq and syria but also in the broader middle east and to americans in the region. he cited the murders of american hostages and said if i.s.i.l. was left unchecked it would ultimately threaten the u.s. home land. stephanie. >> jamie mcintire at the white house for us, thank you. >> an elite military unit in

iraq trained by american forces claims to be making strides in a key battle against i.s.i.l. golden bringingade once charged with protecting adam protecting saddam hussein. victoria gatenby looks at the story. >> these members of elite golden golden brigade. ramadi i.s.i.l.'s ordinancive is being pushed back by a brigade of special forces. >> the golden brigade are now in the district of al andalus.

you know explosives and ieds are everywhere in houses and streets. there are rumors that this area will fall to i.s.i.l. but these are false rumors. >> witnesses say most of the neighborhoods in ramadi, some troops have been battling i.s.i.l. for more than a year but despite the current standoff they are determined they can win. >> we have been like this for a year now. we have suffered huge losses. >> it has been eight months since i.s.i.l. swept through in ramadi the government has sent in reenforcements but in other cities progovernment forces say they are not getting the support they need to defeat i.s.i.l.

victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> ultimate traultraconservative salafi movement, financing and recruiting for outside groups. a similar case in belgium. the leader of a muslim group has been found guilty and sent to prison for recruiting people for i.s.i.l. dozens are on trial. the largest of its kind in belgium. simon mcgregor wood has the story. >> 46 accused only nine were ever in court. the rest are still in syria or have died there. the judge declared the group sharia for belgium citizensed

to ten years in jail for recruiting belgians to fight for i.s.i.l. this verdict is designed to send a very clear signal to those thinking of going to syria that regardless of what they do while they are there they will face prosecution if they ever return to belgium. >> if you want to be a member of a terrorist organization and if you also go for the same activities it doesn't have to be criminal activities, cooking cleaning bringing other substantial things to people who are going to fight, that is enough in belgium for getting a very severe sentence. that's the signal that the court was giving today. >> reporter: across europe there is now an urgent debate about how to stop young muslims from becoming radicalized. >> we're not focusing on suppression, we think building on je suis charlie movement and

promoting tolerance values in society is equally as important. in europe also outside europe. so we really want to help the balance right now. >> reporter: today police and soldiers are a fixture on belgian streets. tensions between the muslim community here and the authorities are high. wednesday's verdict may set a harsh example and it may discourage some but it won't do anything to rebuild trust. simon mcgregor wood, al jazeera, in antwerp. >> we are joined from watertown massachusetts. jim, good to see you. the white house has insisted it already has all the authority it needs to wage war against i.s.i.s, is this an important step or one that will best phi the fight against i.s.i.l?

>> every president always says they have all the authority they need, they don't have to go to congress because they don't want to -- they want to reserve the presidential prerogative they don't want to constrict it for future presidents but the reality is and the president said this, america is more effective at fighting wars when there's a unified country. if your public doesn't support you it's hard to fight a war. that's one reason for him to go. >> this is causing an interesting split in washington with some democrats thinking the request goes too far. the request calls, this is the language. it calls for authority for enduring offensive ground combat operations and as the white house spokesperson said the language is intentionally fuzzy. it sure seems you could argue that that language authorizes a large deployment. >> i looked at the 2001 authorization for al qaeda and

the 2002 authorization for the war in iraq. let me put my cards on the table here. i'm skeptical getting deeply involved in syria. that said, when i compare these war resolutions the one the president offered today is much more structured much more limited. the others were no limit whatsoever. the phrase you referred to, it prohibits enduring offensive ground operations. that allows a lot of room for other stuff counterterrorism, advising people who are not engaged in offensive operations, there's wiggle room there. it's certainly more limited than authorization for military force that we've seen in more than a decade. >> those authorizations are causing a split on the other cied side.

side. republicans have complained often, that he is exceeding his authority but now they want him to have more power especially in syria. are we going to need combat troops at least some to win this war? >> well there are a lot of questions here. i think we need to divide this up. we talk about i.s.i.l. but we are talking about two different theaters. ground forces, in iraq are called the iraqis, the kurds whom we can support with ground training. that's not to say it's a cake walk or easy. that sort of thing makes sense when you are helping people defend their own territory. i think syria is a greater challenge. i think we will have special operations in there to snatch a hostage or try assassinate the leader of a cell or something like that but i don't see the

president putting big numbers of troops to carry out big operations. >> jim walsh good to see you. >> thank you. >> a vigil was held in north carolina members of the unc community to honor the students killed at their apartment on tuesday. the suspected gunman craig hicks is charged with all three murders. evidence points to a dispute to neighbors over parking and not religious bias but family members say the shooting is a late crime. >> this incident had nothing to do with religion or victims faith but was in fact related to the long standing parking disputes that my husband had with the neighbors. >> we ask that the authorities investigate these senseless and heinous murders as a hate crime.

>> and hicks will be back in court for a hearing on march fours. >> in our global view segment we look at how the global media coverage of those north carolina killings is being carried chapel hill shooting, the media ignores it because of their religion. >> middle east monitor it has the hashtag chapel hill shooting. three young muslims killed by a lone gunner. >> and translates, three muslims killed in the u.s. media silence was condemned. this broke last night way too late for most of the evening newscasts to really cover it.

>> at the time it seemed like it might be a local news story and clearly it is being covered on all the major news networks. it gets to the tension in that community, the feelings that they have been profiled, discriminated, riseing islam islamo phobia. coming up rape, used as a terrorism campaign in sudan. >> the ripple effect of unrest in yemen forcing u.s. and others to close their embassies as houthi rebels seize the government creating chaos. chaos.

>> in our context segment

tonight, rape has been used as a weapon of war against more than 200 women and girls in darfur, that's the latest finding on rights watch. >> attack by sudanese airm sudanese army forces in november. thomas drayton reports. >> reporter: these are the women of tabad for 36 hours last october this small town was the front line. one victim described the terror in an interview with the darfur radio station days after the attack. >> the soldiers beat up my husband very badly in front of our three girls. they dragged him out of the house bleeding. then four others came in and started raping my daughters. they were screaming their father's name to save them.

the rapes lasted four hours. they did that to everyone, everyone. >> in the new group the group said october 2014, sudanese forces systematically raped 220 women and girls. sudan's violence has claimed some 200,000 lives. at the time local officials denied soldiers had raped the women. >> translator: we have nothing to hide. we are open for a free an independent investigation. what happened there did not deserve an investigation because everyone knows they denied their accusations. if there is an international investigation we will go with it because we have nothing to hide. >> reporter: united nations investigations were louded into town that has made a meaningful investigation impossible. human rights watch was also

barred from entering the town. >> so all the interviews were conduct he -- >> reporter: after interviewing 15 survivors one steen age witness and one by phone, the u.n. can now determine that the rapes happened. >> as you heard in our report, the sudanese army has denied the report a ploy to keep the u.n. human rights watch in their area forever. mr. loeb thank you for your time. human rights watch was not actually allowed into the town but you yourself interviewed more than a dozen women who say they were raped. what did they describe to you? >> yes we interviewed 15 women who reported to me they were raped. they all described a very consistent story and a very horrible story. essentially most of them were at

their homes in the night when sudanese soldiers barged into their house. they accused them of killing or abducting a missing soldier from their house. they proceeded to search and loot and drove men from the house, and then they proceeded to rape the majority of the women and young girls left in these houses. >> we are talking about over 200 women and girls? >> yes we credible information that over 200 women and girls were raped over a 24 hour period. >> soldiers who defected, what did they tell you? why did they loot this town? >> they believed they were being collectively punished for two of whom stated that they were

giving orders to rape. they believe they were given orders to rape because they had received intelligence information that a rebel commander was going to come through the area and attack the military base that's located just outside the town. so from their perspective this was in a sense a preemptive attack on civilians in the town who allegedly support these rebel groups. >> how high up did this go? are you saying this was government-sanctioned rape? >> we're definitely saying that this was government-sanctioned rape. rapes. one was given orders by his superior officer who is based outside of the town. another was given orders from a superior officer just a day before the attack. >> the u.n. and the africa union have a pretty big peace keeping force in the area, 16,000 strong i believe.

where were they when this was happening? >> the u.n. has several bases near to the town of tabad most notably in fashir just 50 kilometers away. the u.n. made attempts to enter the town, but were denied, they were ultimately granted access -- >> the investigation was completely compromised both both intelligence and military officers were following the investigators at all times. >> what now? is the u.n. doing enough first of all to address the ongoing conflict going on in darfur? >> no, the u.n. is not doing enough. they have failed to fulfill their mandate to protect civilians. that's why we're calling on them to establish a permanent presence this tabad and that the government of sudan give them access to enable them to

fulfill their mandate. >> it is a scathing report, jonathan loeb thank you for your insights this evening. antonio. >> sadly the situation in darfur is not unique. in 2008 the united nations security council unanimously passed a resolution. in darfur both government soldiers as we just heard about and darfur rebels have been accused of mass rapes. in the democratic republic of congo, tens of thousands of women were reported as being victims of rape. in most cases it is used as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing. violence in eastern ukraine has marred the start of negotiations among world leaders who have gathered in minsk hoping for a ceasefire between pro-russian separatists and the kiev government.

we'll speak to an individual in that regard. and jewish center in argentina more than two decades ago, now they're speaking out seekingseeking answers and seeking justice.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm instead stephanie sy. >> and i'm antonio mora. up next, the captain of the costa concordia is sentenced. first, high level talks to end the fighting in ukraine continue in belarus. brought france, germany and the

ukrainian separatists together. many european union leaders hope a deal will end fighting and prayed president obamafightingpersuade president obama not to send additional military aid to ukraine. charles stratford has the story. >> just hours before the attempt at negotiating an end to this conflict. thousands have individuals have been killed in indiscriminate shelling. the attacks came a day after soldiers and civilians were killed when shells hit an area of ukrainian history of

krematorsk. the separatists denied the attack but it prompted ukrainian troops to bolster their positions close to the front line. the attack on the shopping center behind me happened yesterday but the violence has dramatically increased over recent weeks and the shelling as you can hear continued up until the beginning of the peace talks. we went to a village where countless homes have been destroyed. >> i want peace i don't want them to keep shooting to kill. >> almost 13,000 wounded since this conflict began. the political divisions run deep and have huge international implications. evidence so far shows just how difficult it is to get both sides to lay down their arms. charles stratford, al jazeera donetsk, eastern ukraine. >> joining us is retired general

chuck wald, a team of military officers that put together an extensive report on how to preserve ukrainian independence calling on president obama to arm ukrainian forces. general good to have you with us. i've lost track as how many ceasefires and other agreements have been violated. some have only lasted hours. is there any reason to feel optimistic here? >> you always want to be optimistic and hope things can turn in a peaceful way. but i think we have to be pretty skeptical about whether the russians or the separatists are going to negotiate in good faith. >> talking about that crimea which russia took over seems to be off the table. russia is demanding full autonomy for the regions includingincluding allowing them to set their own economic policy. how can the ukrainians accept that?

>> well, i don't think they want to accept that. i think they'd like to keep the integrity of their territory in shape. it's interesting that you mention crimea. that's hardly even talked about anymore. it's almost a given that that's going to stay in russian control. and the fighting you've just mentioned earlier that's escalated here just prior to the talks is a cynical way to grab as much land as they can get before they, if there is a ceasefire, or an agreement so -- >> when talking about -- >> there hasn't been good performance in the past, go ahead. >> talk about grabbing land the last ceasefire established seasonal demarcation lands. now the rebels want to keep the land they have gained. what is preventing them from repeating the process and gaining more territory? >> i think you've just mentioned it the report suggests it's in our best interest and ukrainians

best interest to be at least able to defend themselves and protect the land they do have and prevent creeping into ukrainian territory by the separatists which are supported by the russians. whether we should send weapons to the ukraine you have to have a multiprong solution to the problem, diplomatic of course that's ongoing and ukrainians have every right in the world to defend themselves in a real positive way. so i think we need to seriously give them the opportunity to defend themselves against separatists. totally supported by the russians and you'll have a better chance for a positive conclusion. i do worry that russia will look at this part of the territory as only a first step. >> in fact you in your report say that, argue that russian success would undermine ukraine stability and embolden the

kremlin to further challenge the security of europe. professor of emeritus studies at nyu in princeton says this, what he had to say. >> if we give weapons to kiev they will use them against the cities of the east as you said. the numbers you say about the dead -- >> tbean --5300. >> that's way low. >> what do you say providing weapons to the ukrainians just will provide more death? >> i think if we don't provide more weapons to the ukrainians there will be more deaths. until the separatists and russia know there's a consequence to what they're doing and have some kind of resistance on them we'll continue to see more and more deaths. i think it's cynical to think that all of a sudden, the

russians are going to stop doing what they're doing or the separatists, and so the argument could be made the other way. by virtue of the fact that there's something resistance it might just make russia in this case putin think twice. i think the russian people would be very, very skeptical about the fact that if they started having casualties, if casualties mounted against them, i think popularity of putin would probably be pushed. and so i think the fact that russia is getting a free ride, putin is getting a free ride, that he hasn't shown any intention whatsoever of stopping needs to be addressed and our report suggests that. >> and in the meantime dozens of people are dying every week, sometimes every day. general chuck wald, good to have you with us, thank you. >> houthi rebels have reportedly seized u.s. embassy vehicles, in sanaa, just hours after the u.s.

has ordered the embassy closed. thousands are rallying against the group that orchestrated the coup last week. >> they came by the thousands chanting freedom freedom as they marched through ta'izz, the birth place of the revolution. meant to mark the fourth anniversary of the uprising what happened in sanaa. >> translator: we, the yemeni people cannot be ruled by this houthi coup. >> there were several 18th-coup protests across the country. a sign that even though the houthis are increasing their grip on power, there is widespread opposition to them. but protests may not be enough to stop the power grab by the

heuts. on tuesday the fighters took control, security personnel are on high alert in the remaining cities that have knot yet fallen into their hands. meanwhile there is an increased fear of people here. they believe that the houthis have taken control of most of the cities in the north they could very well attempt to capture ta'izz. >> the united nations envoy said al jazeera that the situation was indeed deteriorating, that unless a solution was found quickly, the country could very well find itself in a civil war. >> translator: the collapse of the state and the breadth of violence, the militias and militant groups in addition to the situation in the south which are all negative signs and indications. we stress the need for all parties concerned to live up to

their responsibilities. >> reporter: the situation is so bad that the united states announced that it was closing its embassy until further notice. the u.k. and france have followed suit. all of them citing the deteriorating security situation. a sign many say that things could be about to get even worse. four years on, instead of celebrating the achievements of their revolution, many yemenis are watching as their country falls into conflict and revolution. jamal el shayal, ta'izz, yemen. forced the cia to dramatically scale back counterterrorism in the country. mystery involving the highest divisions of argentine

society. dna of an unidentified person has been found in his apartment. nisman accused the president. >> sophia gutman lost her only daughter andra 1994. she has been waiting for answers. >> at first the pain was unbearable and it continues to be unbearable but one learns to live with it. we believed everything they promised us, that within a year all would be resolved. >> reporter: but more than 20 years later sophia and the families of the other 84 victims

mostly jewish are still waiting. still marking the anniversary. their pain highlighted by the death last month of investigator alberto nisman. >> translator: i hope there will be justice for nisman. he died for us. he dedicated himself exclusively to the amea cause so i hope his death won't be in vein. we call him the 86th victim. but i hope we won't see the same impunity for other 85. >> while the victims families all wants justice they don't agree how that should be achieved. they are all divided. some support the government others do not others take a different cause. one of the victims' wives. >> we tell the truth and if that upsets people that's their problem. >> this is election year in argentina. which further complicates the

issue. while everyone says they want justice for both the army of victims and alberto nisman both the government and the opposition have been accused of playing politics with the case. >> translator: we don't want anyone using the army of dead or nisman as political pawns not at the cost of the dead. >> argentina has the largest jewish community in latin america. the bombing and the attack on the israeli embassy two years earlier in which 29 were killed, remains unsolved. so far the community lives under tight security. while many questions remain unanswered and justice still has not been done, after the bomb exploded on this site nearly 21 years ago the wounds remain

unheeled. with the newest scandal the death of alberto nisman, the mystery remains unsofd. alunsolved. al jazeera, buenos aires. a senate vote is expected tomorrow. >> a desperate journey turns deadly on the high assess on the mediterranean. >> up next, a better life turning into tragedy on the mediterranean. >> now the captain of the costa concordia. charting a new life. life.

>> more than 300 migrants are feared to have drown while trying to cross the mediterranean sea this week. >> the u.n. says the victims were traveling from libya to italy on a convoy of overcrowded dinghies. as neave barker reports the incident came as scaling back on

rescue efforts. >> they were rescued along with seven others in another vessel, many more people are missing the agencies says 300 people are feared dead. are they're demanding the eu does more to help. >> it's quite surprising to us that the eu cannot respond with a stronger solidarity with the stronger humanity and with a stronger strategy othat. >> at least four vessels are bleeft to have left the coast of libya over the weekend 29 migrants died of hypothermia. they were among 500 people picked up trying to arrive in a small fishing vessel. the italian ienld italian ienld island of lampedusa.

the latest deaths are likely to reignite the debate over italy's system to end its mare no mare mare nostrum campaign. >> more victims have died because of extreme cold during their long journey across the immediate train yum. i again encourage solidarity so that those in need are rescued. >> reporter: the italian coast guard is now continuing its hunt for survivors but italy's new rescue program that only operates a few miles off the italian coast has put thousands of lives at risk. neave barker, al jazeera. >> the migrants were likely to use the central european routes.

most of them coming from syria eritrea and subsaharan africa. the second most traveled, the eastern mediterranean and eastern border routes. most of the 52,000 traveling had way came from syria and afghanistan. the western immediate trainan and west africa west african roots most of them from cameroon algeria and mali and finally the west balkan route, most from kosovo, afghanistan and syria .1. >> an italian court has sentenced the captain from the wrecked costa concordia to 10 years in prison. but as claudio levanga reports he may not go to prison for

months even years. >> it's been a verdict that many were waiting for since 2012. on wednesday night captain francesco schettino was sentenced for his part of the wreck of the costa concordia. schettino was given a five year sentence for causing a maritime disaster after he sailed the cruise liner into rocks near the island of gilio. banned for five years from the helm of commercial vessels. concordia survivor is he she says she has

been waiting for this day for three years. >> six months for the death of each. and the family of the dead people it is not six months or 17 years for them, it's forever. >> schettino was not in cord to hear the verdict but did plead his innocence one more time wednesday morning. >> translator: in the end i'm forced to share very intimate and painful moments that i shared with the survivors in my home saying that that is all that's enough. >> the judge was not moved. but his lawyers said the sentence was not all negative. >> the sentence was too harsh for an unintentional felony but at least they didn't arrest him as the prosecution had asked. >> while many of the passengers affected by the con concordia ship

shipwreck will know that he will not spend a day in prison, until after the appeals court but they'll have to wait many more months. >> critical for the court for not charging the owners of the costa concordia but the company had already paid a $1.5 million fine and cut plea deals for other employees. >> sure it will be cold comfort for victims' families. cleanup project. >> people living along a canal in vietnam timely able to breathe after living along one of the dirtiest canals in the world. >> and rocket technology. nd rocket technology.

>> by the time u.s. troops pulled out of vietnam in 1975, the city of saigon, now ho chi

min city, became a location of squatters. >> scott heidler reports. >> enjoying the air and the view was unthinkable when luan noti was growing up in this house. her family had lived along the banks of the canal for 50 years. >> translator: the water was black. there were mosquitoes all over the place. when they removed the mud and garbage from the canal it cleaned the air. >> but the project took more than dredging the canal. the ambitious project the goal, reconstruct the canal that had become an open sewer for 1.2 million people. it took a decade to complete and

some were resettled by the government. the improvement is obviously along the eight mile canal that snakes through center of the city. but the 56 miles of sewer lines are key to making it all work. and the price tag shows the depth of the government's ambition. this phase cost $316 million most from world bank loans. >> solutions and technologies being built we constructed several layers of sewage and drainage lines. >> reporter: and there are more areas of the canal to be cleaned up. more approved last year, $450 million. he saw promise and a good investment. >> the houses in the alley now connect to the road. so their value has increased. so the cleanup improved

environment of the area but it has also given the economy a new chance. >> reporter: but for those who lived through the canal's dark past the cleanup gives them something to pass on to later generations. even if it's simply fresh air at sunset. scott heidler, al jazeera ho chi min city. >> phase 2 is expected to start this year, expected to complete in 2020. >> a few hours ago spacex lifted off from cape canaveral but to recover the rocket for reuse spacex team did manage to can achieve a vertical landing on the ocean,en and that's raising hopes for a successful platform landing in the future. a victory also today for reusable rocket technology.

>> reporter: a successful launch from vega rocket. on board european union space agency $169 million media intermediate vehicle. >> we have more than 300 sensors and infrared cameras. we are going to muster all the critical reentry phenomenon. >> the two ton vehicle climbed to a height of about 400 kilometers. unlike nasa's space shuttle which was always piloted this fin shaped automated craft reached reentry. its surface heated up to around 1700 degrees sells celsius. >> what we're doing today is to muster the technology for next

step eventually being able to look at these type technologies, bringing back people from space and reusable launch vehicles as well as to top way to the possibility to bring back samples from asteroids from other planets. >> hour and a half after launch, the craft plashed down in -- splashed down in the ocean where it was recovered. european space agency develops a reusable spacecraft. >> nasa and spacex haven't given up on their own version of the reusable rocket. a lon musk says they have. >> that is it for this hour.

>> long time 60 minutes correspondent bob simon has died in a car crash in new york city. "america tonight" is up next. >> on "america tonight": >> like so many children with autism 13-year-old gus snowdon has trouble communicationing withcommunicating withothers. except for one. >> for the first time he asked for a play