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where the country issues statements about human rights but continues to do business with china as that is the concern for people looking at the u.s.-cuba relations and what it will look like in the country americans travelling to cuba may still be able to stay at a family place. today's hotels became the first u.s. hotel company to sign a deal to operate in cue back

under the multi million dollar deal they were renovate and manage three properties. one to be an sheraton point. normally an embargo will prohibit a venture. the u.s. treasury granted annex else last week a prosecutor says salah abdeslam was planning to be one of the suicide bombers but backed out at the last minute francois hollande said he wants his extradited to france. salah abdeslam's lawyer says his client will oppose it a police convoy carrying salah abdeslam arrives at the prison after he was formally charged with participation in terrorist murders. the main suspect in the attacks

was captured on friday and was likely injured during his arres arrest. >> translation: he is cooperating with the authorities. we refuse extradition. >> reporter: the french authorities have issued a new european arrest warrant against salah abdeslam. the french prosecutor warned it could take up to three months to extradite him to france. >> translation: in our investigation it has become even more true that he is the key player in the paris and st denis attacks. at this stage investigations tell us he played a key role in the make up of the attacks and being present in paris on 13 november. >> reporter: there is still tension in the neighborhood. four other people were arrested

at the same time as salah abdeslam. three of them are members of a family that is spus expected of sheltering him during his time as a fugitive. >> he's from this neighborhood so it is not surprising he has supporters who are willing to shelter him. >> translation: we are very, very relieved and happen that we finally stopped this, not only for brussels but also for europe and the rest of the world. >> reporter: it was this raid earlier in the week on a different part of brussels that gave police vital clues on the whereabouts of europe's most wanted man. shortly after the raid a call was made from a mobile phone linked to salah abdeslam and then police found his fingerprint in the flat. >> reporter: he had been on the run for more than four months. friends of his had driven through the night after the paris attacks to pick him up and bring him to brussels. since then it appears his

movements was limited to an area of a few kilometers as he ran out of options and hiding places. 130 people were killed and 340r7b 0 injured in coordinated attacks on cafés, a concert haul and a football stadium. the main sur vooiing suspect linked to those attacks is now under arrest. the investigation is far from over. more arrests can be expected a suicide bomber killed himself and four others in istanbul. today's blast is the latest in a string of attacks in turkey this year. it comes on the heels of a bombing in the capital. our correspondent reports another bomb goes off in the heart of turkey in the middle of

the busiest shopping district. the streets are also a major tourist designation. this street would have been packed with shoppers and visits. people ran when they heard a loud explosion. >> translation: a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the district governship building. three died and many injured. one just died in hospital. >> reporter: paramedics were quick to arrive and took people to the nearby hospitals. although no-one has claimed responsibilities. two officials have implicated separatists linked with the the p.k.k. >> several months ago p.k.k.

announced that the fighting will be spread over turkey if the south-east violence is not stopped. turkish official should be vigilant much against the possible terrorist attacks in turkey all over the country. >> reporter: since talks between the government and the p.k.k. broke down in july, there have been several attacks across the country. they killed almost 300 people. the most recent was less than a week ago. a group claimed responsibility for that attack which targeted the shopping street. days later germany announced it was closing two consulates in istanbul upon information that an act of violence was imminent. the consulate is a few minute's walk away from the scene of the

obama blast. 35 million foreigners visit turkey every year. the increased number of attacks could threaten its economy. for now the government insists turkey is safe, but will have to do a lot more to ensure the safety of its citizens and tourists medical experts say the country is in the midst of the worst drug crisis in decades >> in the erm 200/20001 we started seeing 21-year-olds aaddictiaaed to-- addicted to drugs and more coming up.

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the center for disease control and prevention are taking aim at what has been called the country's worst drug crisis in decades. they're not seeing it in streets but in doctors' offices all over america. we take a deeper look at this epidemic. patients suffer from chronic pain want treatment that works

quickly. opioids can ease their pain and get back to work, but new cdc guidelines ask doctors to prescribe fewer pills for shorter periods of time arguing that long-term use of pain-killers is not as effective as once believed. instead, they are apparently a gateway to addiction. it is a prescription that calls for reversing decades old practices. >> reporter: after months of debate with doctors and drug companies, the centers for disease control and presence has put its foot down to kerb drug abuse >> the goal of the new guideline is to help providers helping their drugs and to remove the possibility of overdose. >> reporter: the guidelines call for doctors to give patients over the counter drugs like ibufrof neshgs before resort to

go prescriptions and give them enough pills for a few days. the cdc hopes the new standards will save lives. its director briefed reporters on a conference call >> the guideline provides the best available research today and will refine it as new science becomes available. the ongoing impact of prescription overdoses and effect on american lives, families and communities means that we have to act now. 2014 set a record for deaths related to opioid abuse with more than 28,000 people dying of overdoses. the medical community has also been distressed by the limping between opioid pain-killers and heroin. many patients who develop addictions to pain medication later turned to the drug which offers a similar but less expensive high. the national institute on drug abuse finds that more than 75% of heroin abusers in the 2000s

started out by using prescription pain-killers. in 2014 we spoke to an addiction specialist in vermont where the problem is severe. >> in early 2000 and 20001 i saw 21-year-olds coming to me with an addiction. it started out with pills >> reporter: opioids are prescribed for back pain and arthritis. 30 years ago these types of drugs were generally reserved for short-term use by patients recovering from surgery or terminally ill patients. in the 1990s drug companies began marketing opioids for long-term pain management. >> there's no need for anyone to suffer in pain any more. >> this pill, time-release pill solves all the problems >> see what it's like when

you're not in pain. take these medications. >> reporter: many were happy to offer their patients to pop a pill to alleviate suffering. there were criminal charges of misbranding the pill and incorrectly leading doctors and patients to believe that oxycontin was not habit forming. this week the cdc questioned the assessment that the pain-killers are the best solution for chronic conditions >> we don't have evidence to show that opioid can control over the injury's life. there are other treatments and month datas that can be effective for chronic pain with far lower risks. >> reporter: the new guidelines are not legally binding, but state regulators and insurance companies may use them. the standards represent the biggest step the government has taken to stop the prescription

drug epidemic in its tracks joining me now in the studio is the chief medical officer at phoenix how and also a doctor, chief of addiction medicine at stanford university medical center. excluding cancer patients and palliative care, who should receive opioids and for how long? >> they're essential for end-of-life care and used after major surgery. the reason the cdc is issuing the strong recommendation is because they're concerned that doctors in the u.s. are over prescribing opioids for common conditions. the practice of treating low back pain or chronic headache, fibro myalgia, with long-term

opioids becoming far spread. we're fuelling an epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths opioids have been around for years. what triggered the explosion in use and the resultant addiction? >> starting in about 1980 there was a huge push to use opioids more liberally in the treatment of pain and it really came out of a well-intentioned place. there was a lot of people struggling with severe pain and end of life pain. they were really not getting the kind of compassionate care that they needed. there was a big push to help patients in pain and the idea was if we use opioids more liberally, we can help individuals suffer less. unfortunately, that slowly morphed into using opioids for very common conditions, self-limiting conditions, until it got to the point where

doctors began prescribing opioids like tylenol why? were they encouraged or getting paid extra by the pharmaceutical companies, for example? >> yes. that's a great question. i really do believe that most doctors are very well intentioned and want to help people. what essentially happened was that doctors were convinced that opioids were safe. they were told the science, and it turned out to be pseudo-science, and those scientists were supported by the industry, if you prescribe an opioid for a pain condition, that has less than 1% chance of getting addicted. that turns out not to be true. it was if they were told it had a magic halo effect.

doctors believe it because they went to academic meetings very formal kind of academic settings and they were told that this is science you're nodding >> yes. beginning in the 1980s doctors began to get encouraged to use opioids more frequently and we were told that this is the compassion ate way ateway to treat this. objection owe contin which is an extended release of objection co done. when they launched that drug they began a campaign with millions of dollars invested in changing the way doctors think about opioids. that's when we started to hear the risk of addiction was much less than 1%.

the risk of opioids were minimised and benefits exaggerated. it wasn't directly from the drug company. there were doctors in the field of pain and medicine who were giving these lectures where was the food and drug administration? >> if they had been doing its job when that drug was released, they would have told them you can market it for cancer pain. you can send yourselves to the hospices and onkolgs. if they told it can't be marked to them, if he had we wouldn't have the epidemic today they had the authority? >> they did. if they were enforcing law they would have. i think there are two reasons. in part they were swayed by the same campaign that was swaying the rest of the medical community, but also there has

been a very cosy relationship between the regulators at fda and the pharmaceutical companies they're supposed to be regulating. the same officials proved objection kon kon-- oxycontin worked for the same companies one of the most affected groups in the area is veterans. patients can be addicted to medications. some have begun pushing for a new tool to start overdose deaths. jacob ward reports >> reporter: this veteran says he has been addicted to heroin and prescription opiates for his life >> shooting her honour hirn is like brushing my teeth >> reporter: hirn and prescription opiates offering a risk of addiction and death.

that's where the health administration has a problem. 50% of the patients seek help for chronic pain. that is the largest prescriber of opiate pain kill letters. this group is developing a program that would give any veterans another drug as well. it can temporarily reverse the effects of drugs >> there is a lot of pain care you need to provide >> reporter: opioid pain-killers are effective. they're not likely to be stopped being prescribed. because overdoses cannot be cut, narcaine is an effective tool

>> it wouldn't hurt to have in case of emergency. sdwroo the drug that comes from the vv leads people into hirn >> that doesn't reduce our need to protect people >> reporter: for boston, a nationwide narcan program can't arrive fast enough >> i have lost friends to overdoses. some of them were the biggest addicts i had met. they were also fathers and brothers and there were sons and best friends. to lose something like that because the government hasn't come around yet, it is ridiculous a complicated strain to answer this story. let me focus on one with you. what do you say to patients who say, look, opioids help me to

live a better life. is there an alternative for them? >> yes. what i say to them is, first of all, i validate that they have pain and that we would not want to ignore treating their pain, but what i let them know is that new information has come to light such that we know there are now risks with chronic opioid use, that we hadn't reldz before. obviously, one of the risks that we've talked about is the risk of death, but the other risk is that the body adaptss to the presence of the own yoed such that it stops working and, in fact, people can develop a fact where they're super sensitive to pain. you think this opioid may help with your pain but it may be harming you more. that's a very important message for people to hear while you were talking about that, we were showing people

shooting up with hirn. in your professional opinion, would a reduction in opioid prescriptions necessarily lead to more heroin addiction? >> no. they're both opioid addiction. i think what you're asking would more people switch to heroin yes. if they can't get the prescription drug >> that's a really good question. i think the answer to the millions of americans who have been put on opioids and they're not working well for them, i don't know that we can immediately strip their opioids away from them. that could lead some to turn to heroin. the answer for the millions of americans were are addicted who might be switching from pain-killers to heroin already, is seeing that we have access to effective treatment. there's one medicine tore treating it called buprenorphine

and we don't have access to that medicine. the answer is to see that more people who are addicted can access effective treatment going back to the opioid issue, is there an alternative that is as cost effective and that will be covered by insurance? for example, pain management. >> opioids are certainly not cost effective. i suppose it's less expensive initially for an insurance company for a doctor to write a prescription than for a patient to receive other therapies for their treatment but it is penny wise and pound foolish because they often are unable to go back to work, they have higher and higher fupgs doses, their function declines and they can develop aparticulars. many patients become addicted to them and that's a very expensive

problem to treat the guidelines from the cdc are suggestions. they are not regulatory requirements. to what extent do you think doctors will follow this recommendation and to what extent do you think states should move from the guideline to making it a law some terms of how doctors prescribed opioids. >> i think the cdc guidelines, because it is the cdc and it's a federal organization that carryings so much influence. i think these guidelines issued from the cdc will have a huge impact on the culture and that doctors will, in fact, change the standard of care. i feel like it's already happening. the implementation, though, of the guidelines in real life have several important obstacles. a lot of the patients that primary care doctors gets are inherited patients. they come to them already on high dozes. it is not a matter of telling

them don't start the patient on opioids. it is a matter of supporting those primary care doctors to help their parents to get off opioids. another object stack emis about the insurance companies. it is easy to say use some nonopioid alternative, but in a lot of rural areas patients don't have access to things like physical therapy and mindfulness meditation. a lot of insurance companies won't pay for it thank you for that. up next, a major development in the war in syria. an opposition group sets up a new federal government system. the kurds declare autonomy in the north. later texas steel reals from some of the worst flooding in decades.

dozens of people are dead in raqqa after air strikes hit there today. the initial reports point to syrian or russian planes being behind the strikes. the attacks come right after russia announced a pull back of its military personnel weeks after most parties to the syrian conflict agreed to a ceasefire. syrian kurds have declared a federal region in the northern part of the country. the kurds are split between iraq, syria and turkey, but have never had their own recognised country. the declaration was met with immediate opposition. >> translation: for us we totally oppose it because syrian people with free will are the future of this country. the only constructors of government

other groups have come out strongly against the move including turkey and the syrian regime. i spoke with the ambassador who was the former adviser to the kurdistan government >> the syrian kurds had set up three self-governing region. why did they announce a single federal rae john enclose those areas? i think part of it is they have been excluded from the peace talks. even though they control more territory than the government or the rebels who are at the peace talks. one things you do is you create faction on the ground that's going to make people have to pay attention to you, and by declaring a federal region, they're making the world pay attention just as we're having this discussion right now the kurds are not interested in the break up of syria and are

hoping current peace talks will lead to a new constitution that allows for a federal system. investigators are looking into whether a gust of wind is to blame for a plane in russian that killed everyone on board. 62 passengers and crew are dead including four children. the flydubai jet crashed in russia. the latest from our correspondent >> reporter: it was making a second attempt to land in bad whether when it crashed and burst into flames. the plane took off from dubai on friday evening bound for southern russia. it made one failed attempt to land. then the plane circled the airport for more than two hours. russian investigators say there was strong gusting winds at the time at 90 kilometers her second.

while in a mid-air holding pattern, another airliner attempted to land three times before diverting to the nearby airport, about 300 kilometers away. it is not clear why the fly dubai pilot did not also choose to change course, but went into fatal descent. the aircraft crashed off the runway. cctv footage shows a large explosion with flames and sparks leading into the air. it's not sure whether the tail was clipped during the second attempt or whether the nose dive was at high speed into the ground. the force of the impact caused the plane to break into small pieces scattered across a large area. it is among this debris that russian investigators discovered the two black boxes intact. as relatives and friend gathered at the airport, they learned that all 55 passengers and crew on board were killed.

it is a low cost carrier. it has a strong safety record. the airline says its staff are in shock. >> translation: we do not yet know all of the details of the incident, but we are working closely with the authorities to establish precisely what happened. we are making every effort to care for those effected and will provide assistance to the families and fraendz of those who were on board. friends. >> reporter: the investigative committee says it is looking into two possibilities. terrorism has been ruled out. >> translation: the investigation is currently looking into two main versions for the plane crash. a mismistake by the pilot or a malfunction in the plane. >> reporter: investigators will try to find out what happened during those last moments. they will try to know why the

pilot took that final decision and what was the advice given by the air traffic controllers. it will take a month, if not more, for the full picture to emerge, but it is one that families and friends of the victims would want to know sooner rather than later. sfla an economic decline in greenland is creating a mass exodus. about 500 leave there every year seeking a new life. the total population is 56,000 and so the future of the island remains in doubt. >> reporter: growing up in greenland has changed. children here would once have been destined to be hunters, fisherman or rment eindeer herders. that has died out. there has been severe social problem like alcoholism and unemployment. every year hundreds leave to

seek a better life in denmark. others give up altogether. this woman has attempted suicide twice and escaped problems at home by moving to copenhagen. she runs a suicide prevention company back in greenland capital. >> of course, who wants to live in a place where everything is difficult, where it is hard to get a home. i've been living and renting an apartment on the black market for the past 16 months. deciding to come back here in 2012 was one of my biggest mistakes with 10% unemployment and the world's highest suicide rate, many people believe there's little reason to stay. life in green land can be bihar and not just because of the climate. the hundreds of young people who are leaving take their skills away from the economy which has to support an ageing population. in the short-term at least hand outs from denmark could be the

only solution. it can look like a beacon of hope for people. >> we have to do better jobs that denmark dunt maen a great live or it's going to solve your problems. you're going to have to solve your problems here. >> reporter: small time giants are a big bands but fear their careers could be damaged by moving back. >> there is prejudice in denmark towards green lands. you have to go to denmark to try to achieve something that you can't achieve here in greenland. there is a low ceiling for what you can chief here >> reporter: it may be only so high you can climb in greenlan .

up next, it's nominated for best picture in hong kong's film honors. some theaters are afraid to show it. a movie that paints a bleak picture of the country's picture. >> reporter: spring is just about to hail in and just in time for that not only a snow storm we will be dealing with for the first day of spripg, but some tremps that could go-- temperatures that could go into below freezing even into the south. i will have that forecast.

the worst of the flooding is far from over. it is nearly unrecognizable

after being flooded by more than five feet of water in week >> reporter: rescue workers gather here. there is a community entirely submerged after days of rains. most of this water came from an over flowing river. this is the most severe flooding in more than a hundred years. >> i've lived through droughts here, fires, two hurricanes, but this is worse than anything that we've been through the only way into the community now is by boat, but the extent of the damage and the depth of the waters is all too obvious. homes, cars and businesses lay partially submerged in deep brown flood waters. >> it has been more than a week since the flood began, the they're slowing beginning to recede.

to give you an idea of how extensive the damage is, and how long it will be before families can get back to their homes, in this is a quiet residential street. now it looks more like a river. >> we will be here for a little while so we might as well have fun: >> reporter: hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters across the state. there have been no reported deaths on or casualties. >> there has a lot of cleaning to be done. it's going to be a mess. i don't know what expect. i'm praying for the best. >> reporter: it may be days before these waters succeed and weeks before the full extent of the damage is known. it will be a long and arduous process that same storm system that is causing problems elsewhere,

more from our weather lady. >> reporter: the same system that added to some of our flooding through the safe is continuing to pull some of that moisture off the coast. just in time for spring, a snow storm has been developing. as we put all of this into motion, we have gotten all that snow mixture in but we will see more tomorrow. we could see some snow. you get to a lot of places, we're only talking an issue or two of snow. we have a couple of places that could see significant accumulation. for money most of this clears out of the region and an improving forecast. very warm by the end of the week after the snow to start the week, but here's that forecast. places like the coastline here, that's where we could see up to six inches. the rest of this snow corridor, anything from trace amounts to one or two inches.

most of this is it nuisance snow but it's greeting us for the first week of spring. we already have different winter weather advisories. behind all of this, those tremps are plummeting. the highs for sunday for a lot of the country, the eastern half, running below average. in fact, if we look at that forecast for sunday night and to monday morning, all the way into portions of the stouth and the central plains, freeze warnings because temperatures will be so cold to start the week finally tonight, a new film dpibting a grim not so distant future in hong kong is a run away hit there and abroad. 10 years it's up for best picture. china's communist party is not applauding the film's success. >> reporter: the film is called 10 years. it's actually a feature length

pack appling of five short films by different directors that predicts what life will be like in hong kong in 2025. it is a bleak picture of a city firmly in the grip of chinese communist party control. that's in spite of the so-called one country two system's form of government that is supposed to guarantee hong kong a high level of autonomy. >> the two system is not work. oich believe freedom of speech >> reporter: production started before the umbrella movement street occupations of 2014 demanding greater political freedom. those events became would have been in parts of the film helping connect with a hong kong audience. >> some of the moment during the umbrella movement that as hong kong people we can never imagine. so i think the tone and the mood become a little bit pessimistic.

>> it was a riot. >> reporter: events since then seem to confirm that pessimism. the street violence that happened at chinese new year which many believed was fumed by discontented youth. the case of the hong kong book sellers who produced works critical of china's leaders, detained and paraded on mainland television. the early screenings of the film have sold out in hong kong, made on a budget of less than 100,000 it has taken nearly a million at the box office. but some cinemas are afraid of showing it. >> even with that smashing record, suddenly the cinema will tell the viewers. >> reporter: the awards weent be shown in mainland china because of the movie's nomination for best picture. campaign that with the apparent

reluctant of some cinemas for showing it, they could be excused for thinking that their totarialism view is coming true thank you for that. more news from doha straight aahead. goodnight. goodnight. >> at 9:30 - "america tonight" - top investigative reporting, uncovering new perspectives. >> everything that's happening here is illegal. >> then at 10:00 - it's "reports from around the world". >> let's take a closer look. >> antonio mora gives you a global view. >> this is a human rights crisis. >> and at 11:00 - "news wrap-up". clear... concise... complete.

worldwide condemnation after a suicide bomb attack in the heart of istanbul kills five people. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also on the program, preparations begin to put in place the controversial e.u.-turkey deal on refugees. french prosecutors say paris attack suspect salah abdeslam wanted to blow himself up but later changed his mind. historic