good evening, i'm jonathan betz in for antonio mora, and this is al jazeera america. china's slowdown. the world's second largest economy could be losing steam homecoming - americans freed by iran reunite with their families, and there will be close eye kept on iran and the nuclear deal

and not enough to stop the finger pointing of politicians china's commim growth has fallen to a 25-year low. just a couple of hours ago the country reported its growth fell to 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015. overall china had a 6.9% economic growth last year. florence louie has more from beijing well, the annual growth of 6.9%, really, has been something widely predicted. many analytic analysts predicted it would be in the region of 9.72%. it comes as no big surprise, and would be considered an enviable figure for many countries in the world, for china, it isn't. it's a country used to high single digit growth and single

digit growth. it is really the lowest figure in 25 years. now, there's a lot riding on the numbers. it's not just about the chinese economy. it's so big that many countries are dependent on the chinese economy. it's the world's second largest. china is a huge trading partner for many countries, we have seen commodity export prices driven up because of demand and prices drop, affecting commodity of forces. there's a lot riding on the figures. many economists and analysts say the slowdown is inevitable. china has been the driver of world economy. the slowdown is not a huge surprise. >> florence, thank you. here at home oil prices fell again today. crude oil prices fell to $29 a

barrel - the lowest in 13 years. the drop after iran announced plans to increase production by half a million after the nuclear sanctions were lifted. it's good news for consumers, bad for the oil industry which shed tens of thousands of jobs. tom ackerman has more on that. >> pleasant in texas likes to call itself the birth place of cattle. but it's oil that has done well. >> it's given the community and country a chance to advance a lot of programme in things they were wanting to do. >> the prairie landscape is dotted with oil wells, thanks to dramatic advances in hydraulic fracturing. that development made the u.s. the biggest producer of crude. but in some ways it's proven too much of a good thing. the more america, the o.p.e.c.

countries and others add to the global surplus, the less each barrel is worth. >> collectively it makes sense for all the producers to ratchet back production. individually, and that's the calculus. the country or energy companies making, it makes sense individually for them to continue to produce. that's what we are seeing. >> as a result. some drillers depending on the high oil prices are driven into bankruptcy, and texas is pricing for the downside of a cycle. oil boom to bust. >> it is a consistent bright spot and forecast to be a third of what it was. if oil prices stay at counter levels, economists see a loss of jobs. >> the crew working at this drilling services company is half the size it was this time a year ago.

jobie is too discouraged to pay attention. >> it's not the money, it's the uncertainty of the fact you don't know what you have day to day. it's the fact that any day it could get worse. some find hope of newmarket since the u.s. dropped a ban on crude oil exports. the first tanker leaving texas laden with cargo bound for europe. no one is looking for the day that crude sells for $100 a barrel economics and global affairs correspondent patricia sabga joins us now. how much oil do we expect iran to start pumping? >> iran says it will pump half a million barrels a day on top of what it does. and within seven months it would be back up to presanction level of 3.4 million barrels of oil a

day. keep in mind some say it's vicious, but the point is iran is back, it's pumping, and it's pumping into a market that is awash in cheap oil already. this will increase supply more, much to the chagrin of saudi arabia, which is iran's fellow okay member, but -- fellow oak member, but bitter rival. saudi arabia has the policy of keeping the pipes open, watching oil plunge from $140 to about $28. that is a 75% drop. >> it's a huge drop. how long do we expect saudi arabia to keep the taps on, do you say. >> saudi arabia can't sustain this forever, the break even oil price is $100. we have seen belt tightening from saudi arabia. they are cutting energy subsidies to their people, welfare benefits, it's not just saudi arabia, other oil

producers are under pressure, most don't enjoy the cushion of large oil rerefers, saudi arabia has $615 billion. others don't, they have spent their windfall. cou countries like venezuela, russia has something but not as much as saudi arabia. they have people on side with generous welfare benefits and subsidies, and a lot of these oil-producing nations can no longer afford to do that. that is tantamount to break a social contract. when you do that with the people it can lead to political unrest and geopolitical instability. >> there are big effects we can see. one a lot of americans are enjoying is how low do we expect the prices to get. >> some analysts, in fact many are calling for oil to reach $20 a barrel. now that oil is below $30, it

sets the stage, if you will, for oil to drop to $20 a barrel. the stage is set for lower oil prices ahead. what it takes in order to get oil prices up, it's not just the logic of the market. that should tell o.p.e.c. to turn off the taps and not pump so much supply. market forces are not enforcing discipline. >> why is it happening? >> you need a grievance from oil producers. within o.p.e.c., you have bitter rivals. they'd are to agree to production cuts together. it's not just within o.p.e.c., you need non-o.p.e.c. producers like russia to step up and agree to cuts. >> no one will do that yet. >> take a look at syria, of countries involved in the war in syria. it gives you an idea how far you would have to go to come to agreement. >> we have the shell oil

producers, what does it mean for them? >> shale oil producers are hit hard. their cost of production is higher than saudi arabia and others. in 2015 we saw a lot of shale oil producers in this country go bust. a lot of these operations borrowed money, issued debt, and issued debt to finance the expansion of the operations and future operations. they did that when oil traded higher. now it is low, and they can't afford to pay back the debt. some - there is some forecasts ta see as many as a third going bankrupt before the end of this year. >> it's a sobering number there. >> thank you for the insight. >> iran and the international atomic energy agency pledged to cooperate on inspections to ensure that iran is complying with a landmark nuclear deal. iran's president met with the head of the agency in tehran, two days after it was implemented. some of five americans released

from the iranian prison are back with their families. lisa stark has more from washington jamie rizzuto's wide smile -- jason rezaian's smile said it all. free after 141 days in prison. "the washington post" journalist, wife, mother and brother together at the u.s. military facility in germany. doctors are evaluating rezaian's health, and also two others, a former marine, held for four years. seen with his family. and a christian pastor, whose wife touted his release on twitter. rezaian and the others were let go after more than a year of secret negotiations. rezaian told "the washington post", he was feeling good physically. his brother has been a tireless advocate for rezaian's release. >> he was held in solidary

confinement. one person in the room a fourth iranian american opted to stay in iran, and a fifth, student matthew, was released separately on saturday of. >> he's looking forward to coming home and having serious hamburgers, things like that. >> reporter: in iran on monday head of the atomic agency met with president hassan rouhani. israeli president binyamin netanyahu, who has been sharply critical of the deal, said his government will keep a close watch on iran's compliance. >> the u.s., too, is keeping a watch. it imposed new sanctions on companies and individuals involved with the ballistic program. >> on the campaign trail, republicans applauded the release of americans, but

blasted president obama for cutting a deal including dropping charges for some iranian americans for violating sanctions against iran. >> you look at the deal which took forever to get done. you look at how bad and one-sided it is. >> the families of those released say they are hope to have their loved ones free. as ali rezaian put it, congress told the plt to use everything at their disposal to bring the americans home more details are emerging about the 10 u.s. sailors. they were held at gunpoint, there was no exchange of fire. questions about why the sailors left the planned routes remain unanswered. >> the diesel engine on the boat had a mechanical problem. the sailors were detained and released 15 hours later.

>> iraqi security forces are going door to door searching in baghdad for three americans missing since friday. they were taken from an apartment in the south-eastern part of the city. if erp kidnapped -- if they were kidnapped, they'll be the first americans abducted in iraq since u.s. troops withdrew since 2011. coast guard sent a fourth day searching for rescuers off hawaii. there were life rafts found, but no sign of the marines. they went missing when two helicopters crashed. rescuers say it is possible to find the crew alive still ahead - water crisis. the blame game continues in michigan as more national guard soldiers are called out to help hand out water to flint's residents. >> british lawmakers debate a petition to keep donald trump out of the u.k.

>> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. the michigan national guard send more troops to flint to help with the water crisis there. president obama declared a state of emergency for the city, but

it fell short of the declaration that governor rick schneider wanted. we have this report from flint. >> the red cross and the national guard dolled out 26 cases of water in flint last week alone. the mission continues. >> reporter: the red cross is in full-fledged crisis mode, going block by block, knocking on doors, seeing who needs bottled water. just about everyone does. >> thank you again. >> the mood is as bitterly cold as the weather. >> i'm not sure what to make of it. i'm pretty sure i can't say on tv what i really think of it. we are afraid. we are va afraid. we don't know what guage has been done to us. >> governor rick schneider apologised. the governor took aim at the presidential candidates and others for what were attempts at politicizing the crisis, and

pointed out remarks clinton made on sunday. >> we said it was outrageous that the government took the action that it has. >> we don't know what to do. the governor has given us this and that, whatever else. we are still here. we are hurting, and we need more help as people scrambled monday to get cases of water from the national guard, they are feeling the effects. >> you keep it or nothing like that. the national guard set up in fire stations around the city. they can't track a number of cases of water it tolled out. >> i was surprised out at the amount of bottled water. the filters, how fast they are getting here, how fast they are going out. >> this is a flint resident. so moved by the crisis, he joined the volunteers on monday.

>> looking in homes, and some of them don't know where to go, some don't watch the news. >> the residents are wondering how long the crisis will go on. >> we live in america. >> one of the short-term goals is to get every home in the city of flint one clean water filter so one spigot in every home is dolling out clean water. >> thank you. republican presidential candidate donald trump took his campaign to the heart of evangelical america. he went to liberty, to a christian college. vop front-runner told the crowd he'd end the fight against christianity. >> if you look at what is going on throughout the world. if you are christian, they are chopping off heads. you look at the different places, i'm under siege.

>> i'm proud of it, very, very proud of it. we have to protect. bad things are happening. >> trump bashed president obama and said that hillary clinton would be a continuation of his presidency well, trump may be popular amongst some republican voters, he has fewer fans in britain, members of parliament began to debate whether to ban trump from entering the u.k. dana lewis has more from iraned. >> a lot of people here, especially members of parliament, said they shouldn't bother with a debate, a ban an donald trump, because he thrives on scandal and publicity. the best thing he could do is ignore him. m.p.s were forced to hold the discussion because of the size of the public petition. >> british parliament airians couldn't agree on whether to ban trump are from the u.k.

one by one they thrashed him. >> i heard of a number of cases where people are excluded for insight: hatred. not for stupidity. >> several muslim m.p.s said trump should be banned like extremists, not treated differently because he's rich. you. >> this is a man, high profile, involved in the american show business industry. for years and years, a man interviewing for the most important job in the world. his words are not comical. his words are not funny. his words are poisonous. >> the petition to ban was signed by more than 570,000 people, the largest to spark a debate in parliament. anger driven by a suggestion that there are no go zones in the u.k., where police fear muslim areas. they'd be delighted to show us where the no-go areas for police

are. we've never been able to find one. you'll be interested, there are more killed by shotguns every day than killed every year in this country. >> reporter: trump threatened to pull out of a pledge in scotland. that's where they got the start. trump's treatment of the environment here, and what she called the bullying of neighbours contributed to her anger. which reached a boiling points over comments concerning immigrants in america. >> if i win and lose. paints have been made. people are thinking about the implications. there's a difference between free speech and hate speech. >> anticipating the idea that the british government probably will not proceed with a ban against donald trump, one minister said the best way to handle him is with ridicule. there was a lot of that today

when it came to donald trump oxfam reports that by the end of this year, the wealthiest 1% will own more than the other 99% combined. >> 62 people held as much wealth as the bottom half of the world's poorest. the wath of 62 people rose 44%. up to 1.76 trillion. the wealth of the poorest half fell. just over a trillion dollars. that's 41% drop. >> blocking traffic. still to come. protesters in california shut a bridge on martin luther king. sending a message to leaders. >> and actors say they'll boycott the oscars after no actors of colour were nominated.

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the university of cincinnati reached a settlement with the family of a man shot and killed by campus police in july. the university agreed to pay $4 moi 8 million for the family and provide undergraduate education

for his 12 children. the shooting was captured on bodycam warn by the officer. activists in the san francisco area marked the martin luther king junior holiday with a protest in the middle of the bay bridge. the californian highway patrol said protesters blocked the traffic. backing up traffic for miles. among the demands, protesters call for the resignation of the mayors, and the police chief of oakland and the police chief of san francisco. 25 people were arrested the federal bureau of investigation director spoke about law enforce. during a speech at the martin luther king junior memorial. >> if doctor king was with us, he would be a tremendous help in helping us have a difficult conversation in this country, between law enforcement and the communities we serve and protect. especially communities of colour. i imagine two lines, one that is law enforcement and one that is

communities we serve and protect. they are never together given the nature of the work. i feel them arcing apart in american lives. >> james comey later told the crowd all new fbi agents are encouraged to visit the memorial the academy of arts and science issued a statement after two prominent african american members of the film community said they will not attend the oscars after the academy failed to nominate any black actors. for the second year in a row all the nominations went to white performers. actress jada pinkett smith posted a tweet saying it's time for people of colour to ignore the oscars. director spike lee also will not visit the oscars a study bit the centers for disease control and prevent show half the u.s. counties are

susceptible to lime disease. a varietiry of tick that can carry the back tear ya are present in 45% of counties, up from 30% in 1998. c.b.c. warns the public should take precautions to avoid exposure. the number of cases has tripled since the 1990s tonight music fans are mourning the death of eagles cofounder glenn fry. he died in new york of complications from pneumonia and other conditions. he was 67 years old. the eagles formed in 1971 and wam one of the most successful bans in the history of rock music. when they broke up in the 1980s, he launched a solo career. eagles got back together in 1994 and have been touring since. the ban was abducted into the rock'n'roll hall of fame in

1938. that does it for us at this hour. i'm jonathan betz, thank you for joining us, for the news at any time. go to aljazeera.com. leave it here because ray suarez is up next with "inside story". have a good night. justices of the supreme court include one justice in her 80s and seven in their 70s. the next president may get to a point two, three, even four justices shaping the nation's highest court for a generation. is black robes, gray hair, it's tonight tonight's "inside story."