beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. capital hill reset. we are not settling scores, we are wiping the slate clean. >> paul ryan - wisconsin congressman and former vice presidential candidate become house speaker amid chaos in congress and deep divisions in the party search for peace. diplomats gather in vienna, seeking solutions to end the war in syria. and for the first time iran is at the negotiating table

disaster averted. fire breaks out on a plane as it prepares for take off. passengers and crew escape with minutes to spare. and troubling trend. for the first time in 25 years, american students doing worse in maths, and they are not doing better in reading. what may be behind the latest decline i'm randall pinkston, and antonio mora has the night off. this is al jazeera. we begin in washington and the changing of the guard on capitol hill. >> wisconsin governor paul ryan was elected the 54th speaker of the helpedive. he is now second in line to the presidency. ryan's success depends on how well he navigates the internal politics of his divided party. >> good evening, he's new, young, and says he wants reform. many are looking to paul ryan as the last best hope to bring

unity to republicans and congress. any way you look at it, it's an uphill climb. >> the speaker elect, paul d ryan of the state of wisconsin. paul ryan, the reluctant speaker, accept ght the gavel he resisted for weeks in psychiatric the moment he realized there was no turning back. >> i felt like the moon, stars and planet had fallen on me. we you should all feel that way. a lot is on our shoulders. if you ever pray, let's pray for each other. republicans, for democrats, and democrats for republicans. >> young of iowa. >> ryan's victory was never in doubt. the band of hard-core conservatives that forced out one speaker and blocked the rise is air apparent, backed ryan

with nine defections, addressing what he called a broken institution. rye jobb an -- ryan vowed to restore public trust. >> reporter: the house is divided, not just along the party lines, but within the republican party itself. renegade conservatives demand spending cuts, repeal of the affordable care act. and a roll back of rules designed to protect the environment. >> and as political outsiders topped the polls, house conservatives top the lead, making compromise with the democrats or the speaker less likely. how ryan deals with that will define his tenure over the next year. for one day in the house, there was ryan's hope.

the man he succeeds, john boehner, was armed for his farewell with a box of tissues. >> i leave with no regreets. if anything, i leave the way i started. >> and as ryan's family looked on, along with the man that chose him as running mate. mitt romney. he became the youngest speaker since the 18 '60s, and issued his call for reform. >> only a fully functioning house can representatives the people. and if there was a time for us to step up, this would be that time. >> certainly paul ryan has his work cut out for him. the approval rating, an average of 13", with 79% disapproving. when john boehner passed the deal on the budget, raising the

debt ceiling, something he will not have to worry about for more than a year the biggest diplomatic effort to end the war in syria begins in vienna in a few hours. foreign ministers from rt u.s. and a dozen nations will try to find a political solution to the 4-year crisis. syria's opposition are not invited, friends and foes of bashar al-assad have drawn up ideas on how a transition should play out. mohammed jamjoom has more from vienna. >> reporter: in vienna, the talks may be about syria, but on thursday, talks turned to another country. >> the government and the country has been a positive force in the region, and you cannot put conditions on iran's presence, no conditions were placed on our attendance, and if there had been, we would not have accepted that. >> in the latest round of diplomacy.

they take a seat at the negotiating table for the first time. the importance was that it was made clearer from u.s. secretary of state, when he walked from his hotel to hold a bilateral meeting. with a diplomatic push to find a solution in overdrive. the talks offer a just tea possession. >> there is a feeling that the military is leading nowhere. given the intervention. the acceleration of a political diplomatic story. it's realising without a parallel. substandards, governance in syria, we will not be able to end it, and not be able to

fight. >> bombs continue to drop and displaced citizens continue to fully. bridging the quite will be more difficult than ever. in these discussions, the u.s., saudi arabia and turkey stand firmly behind the syrian opposition. while russia and iran continue to support the regime of syria's president bashar al-assad. in the past four years, every attempt to forge a political solution has ended in relative failure, raising the stakes at a time when it seems expectations are low. >> i believe it is a relevant compromise, a relevant commitment for all the sides to be here tonight and tomorrow. to come together, accept a seat together. this is already a starting point. a week ago it was difficult to anticipate. >> the mood one of guarded

optimism. >> the fact the regional arch-rival will be sitting across a negotiating table on friday is a big development. >> what results that may yield is, for now, anyone's guess. authorities are searching for survivors from four boats that sank in the agean sea, killing 10 refugees, they capsized near the greek island of lesbos. refugees arriving by the thousands each day, after crossing the sea from turkey. >> smugglers have been packing boats with thousands of people making accidents more likely. the people, those 2.5 that game yesterday are criminals. they just get money to put those people on boats, to get - to be there.

survivors say the smugglers left when the upper weight collapse said causing the boat to sink. >> 21 were injured when a boeing caught fire on a run way. >> the engine of a dynamic charter plane was leaking fuel before it ignited. more than 100 were on board, they managed to escape. >> i heard a loud bang sought the lights. ran to the front of the aircraft. since the plane stopped. he opened the door, let the shooter out. the shoot opens to the side where the flames were. >> passengers say the evacuation was relatively calm. lisa stark has more on what may have gone wrong. >> randell, the jept, a wide bodied 767 operated by dynamic

airways was scheduled to fly from fort lauderdale. the pilot on a plane behind noticed there appeared to be fuel leaking from that left jet engine, and then the engine caught fire. smoke billowed into the sir as passengers and crew, 101 in all scrambled to get off the jet and came down the emergency chutes. fire crews responded within minutes. they sprayed foam on the plane. 15 were injured. including one who suffered burns. >> one person sustained serious injuries, they are burn injuries. i don't know if it's a crew or passenger. the remaining are what we call walking wounded. bumps, bruises, contusions, that nature. >> the airport shut for a number of hours, and when flights resumed it was on a limited

basis on one run way. >> dynamic airways is a 5-year-old company. and if operates flights out of fort lauderdale and new york to venezuela, and guyana. the plane that caught fire was used by other carriers in the past. it was 30 years old. the national transportation safety board is sending a team to florida to negotiate the accident. >> after more than three decades of imposing a one-child policy, china is abandoning the programme. soon they will be permitted to have two children. the obama administration said it was a positive set, but looks forward to the day when birth limits were abandoned altogether. rob mcbride looks at the trove si. >> the announcement came at the end of a 4-day gathering of the leadership. mapping out the next 5-year

plan. the centraled any sets broad -- strategy sets broad controls for the settle: and is the one that has been eagerly anticipated. it had been partially relaxed. allowing families where one parent is from a one-child family themselves to have two children. now that is extended to all couples. >> the importance of this measure is not so much demographic in terms of encouraging new numbers of children to be born, but it's the lifting of a highly restrictive at time coercive policy, as we have heard. >> the one child policy was brought in to control the burgeoning population. the cancellation will be popular. a number of couples like sam and jew, have not decided to have another trial. for them, careers and living costs are the priority.

>> my wife and i don't have a plan for the second child. >> their 7-year-old son henry is in no doubt he wants a sibling. >> i want a sister. >> as well as the problems associate with one-time families, there's a growing number of elderly people that need to be supported by a shrinking working population, a policy put in place more than 30 years ago to avoid one population crisis, has to be abandoned to avoid another in the future. >> for the first time in 25 years, test scores show american students doing worse in maths, and reading scores are almost as bad. what the numbers mean next. and the hacking group anonymous says it's gearing up to expose hundreds of members of the ku

klux klan. klux klan.

america's students are doing worse in maths. according to the national assessment of educational process picture. it's known as a report card, and randomly tests fourth and i think grade students. from 1996 to 2016. assessments showed that scores increased. in 2016 those decreased slightly at both grade levels. 44% are considered prodifferent. a third reached that level. reading scores not that much better. i think agreeders slightly. a third of students managed a proficient and better rating. the secretary of education says the report card is not great, but added it's not a surprise. >> joining us now, returning to al jazeera america for more

insight into what the scores might indicate, we have with us robert, senior fellow and vice president of external affairs at thomas ford am institute. thank you for join us. what do the scores many? >> you refer to them as the nation's report card. it should probably be called the nation's test. there's a lot of people, and you tend to see what you see in the data. a lot of people may try to determine is common core a factor here. my best guess is yet. we are making major changes across the country in terms of asking teachers to know a lot about the practice. it just stands to reason. >> how long have the changes been in place? >> common core hit in a biggy 3-5 years ago. it's an intuitive guess.

you need to drill deep on the data. my hunch is we are seeing a common core test. >> is the test the same in the entire country. >> it is. >> what is important to know, this is not a test one studies for, it's not like a test all the kids take. it's a random test. you are not studying for it, preparing for it, you drop it down on a representative sample of kids. are school districts engaged in common core because i read, heard, some are, some aren't. >> most are. there are four or survive states, some are doing the maths, the reading. some are doing common core in some form or another. >> is this as heart-breaking? >> i would say not. you have to look at the long-term trends since 1996 were up. there was an interesting piece

of data. he said something clever. he looked at the demographically adjusted. some states have high concentrations of high income earners, special income earners, when you adjust those or factor it in. all 50 states are making progress from 2003. no one will be satisfied with the rate of progress. we want more for the kids. i'm more interested in those demographically adjusted rates. is it good news they have gone down? of course not. if they continue to go down, two years from now, four years from now, then i'm worried. >> are student being asked to do more. >> so the courses are more difficult, and the test reflects that, correct. >> no, it's its own test. the question is does nate

reflect common core standards? >> not really. it's an open question. let's put it that way. there's good reason to suggest that common court may not be perfectly aligned with nate. you taught school for five years, fifth grade. based on your experience. what do you think is the path to take going forward to increase the scores across the board? >> well, i mean, i'm a common core advocate. i'm not a common core cheerleader. the thing that we have never had much of in an american education is patience. i say it all the time, it's easy to set standards, it's hard to meet them. regardless whether you love the common core or dislike it, it's a good idea to pick the standards and give the teachers and schools time to digest that and get it right. it's easy to say, hard to do. it takes time. >> what time frame do you think would be appropriate.

>> grate question. people who are common core opponents will say see, it's not working. guys say give it time. how much time is an open question. if they don't show good results. >> thank you for joining you. >> the parliament demands that all charges be dropped. calling him a human rights offender. members of parliament arrived the e.u. to offer snowed your protection. the justice department maintains that he faces criminal prosecution if he returns to the u.s. the hacking group anonymous says it's ready to pull the hoods off ku klux klan, revealing their true identities. anonymous says they are not just a hate group, it's more like a terrorist organization. john seigenthaler reports. >> anonymous calls it hackers versus haters round 2. the international cyber group

setting a date for the unveiling of up to 1,000 members of the ku klux klan, a social media movement under the banner hashtag, hoods off. part of the branding. operation k.k.k. in a letter posted this week, the group said: members of the hacking collaborative became in famous, a tribute to the man behind an attempt to overthrow the british government in 1605. anonymous says the k.k.k. unveiling will take place on november 24th, designed to

coincide with the first anniversary of protests and rioting that broke out in ferguson, missouri after the grand jury did not indict the officer that shot michael brown. they are well-known for attacking groups they disagree with. they released dispatch audio from the shooting of michael brown, targetting k.k.k. members, that threatened to use lethal force. back in january, anonymous took down a website believed to have ties to i.s.i.l., and has taken down twitter and facebook account linked to the group. >> the u.s. expects to spend $60 billion on a new generation of long-range bombers. critics say pentagon may not need them. that is next. next.

this week the pentagon awarded a contract. the winner will build the air forces new fleet of long range strike bombers, as jamie mcintyre shows us, critics say the plane may not be needed. >> the long range strike bomber at the moment is a concept shrouded in mystery. as this north broke television add suggests. >> building aircraft the likes of which the world has never seen. >> this is what we do. >> north broke drum onward that made the stealth bomber in the 1990s won the contract, beating

out a team of boeing and lockheed. now all three have multibillion deals. boeing is building a new fleet of tanker aircraft. and lockheed makes the joint strike fighter, the most expensive programme history. the air forces top certainly says the bomber is essential if the u.s. want to hold any art at risk anywhere in the world. >> no chief wants to be in a situation where they combat the president against addressing a threat to the united states either because we lack the appropriate capability or we would incur unacceptable levels of risk in doing so. the bomber will minimise the possibility that my successor is put in that position. >> for now, the bomber is so stealthy, no plans or concept has been made. the contract is worth 60 to 80

billion, and will by between 80 and 100 planes at a cost estimated at $564 million each. if all goes well, the first could be serviced 10 years from now. as pentagon officials are quick to note. few complex high-tech weapons contracts go well. at least not alt first. they'll say they'll get it for five or six million a copy. it doesn't include development costs or overruns that happen in the programs. >> the bigger argument is need. the bomber would replace 50-year-old b-52s, and 25-year-old b 1s, assist one leg of america's nuclear triad, the u.s. strategy relying on bombers, land based i.c.b. ms. and submarine launch missiles to

deter adversaries from starting a war with the u.s. since the stealthy f-35 will be we quipped to deliver bombs and submarines can send their nuclear war heads in the world, how many bombers does the u.s. require. >> do you need $100 of them, do you need $5,000 nuclear weapons in this day and age. >> the b2 bomber will be flying until 2050. the air force bought 20 of them. they decided that's all it needed given most missions don't require planes to fly halfway around the world to strike their targets disaster prevention officials in mexico are keeping an eye on new eruptions at the second tallest volcano. it shot ash and gas plumes almost 2 miles high. in the last 24 hours, it measure

121 low endensity escalations and eight explosions, and are warning people to stay out of the area. i'm randall pinkston, thanks for joining us. head to aljazeera.com. luis suarez is next with "inside story". issues. but once you threaded your way past the mean media asking terrible questions, what candidates biggest weakness was or whether or not fantasy football was a fit subject for debate there actually was some economics in there, show me the money. it's the "inside story." ♪ "ilcome to