soldiers in afghan afghanistan afghanistan. marquez and farook once lived next door r each o oer in this neighborhood and were close friends and they say farook's brother is married to a ukrainian woman whose sister is married to marquez. they're looking at whether that marriage was a sham, a favor he did for farookok marqrqz's mother has told nbc news, she didn't know her son was married either. and all she wants to say is >>> for more than six years, it's been a mystery, why did sergeant joe bergdahl leave his post in 2009 and wind up the longest held pow since the second world war.wa and he made a surprise return featuring bergdahl himself. here's n nional correspondent, peter alexander. >> reporter: sergeant bo bo bergdahl breaking his silence. for years he was america's only prison of war after walking off his out post in afghanistan overnight.n bergdahl's compelling first person account is featured in a new season of the wildly popular pod cast, cerealsearalcerealserial. soldier. but critics argue bergdahl, held hostage f

afghan patrol afghanistan. it happened in the largest facility in afghanistan, two afghans were wounded in the attack. the largest attack on foreign troops in afghanistan since august. the man authorities say but the assault rifles used in the san bernardino shooting is expected a judge will also determine whether to hold him on bond pending trial. he is facing numerous charges and could go to prison for up to 35 years. jeff: not many people can repair something while going 17,000 miles per hour, but that is exactly what astronauts did today. they were able to secure a rail car into place. the mobile transporter got stuck a few days ago. the mobile transporter holds the 50 foot robotic arm and other equipment. the private space company spacex will try to get back to flying today. it had been on hold since one of his rockets exploded in june. spacex tried for the fourth time >> back on earth, we are talking about the weather. christmas, four days away and counting. i think it will feel like christmas based on what you're telling us. >> it is. you are lucky. it will definitely feel like it outside. quite

afghanistan's security capabilities. president obama announced in october that we'll maintain 9,800 troops in afghanistan through the end of 2016 to train, advise, and assist afghan forces. i believe we are pursuing the right course in afghanistan be candid that great challenges remain. while the security in afghanistan remains volatile, we must give credit to the afghan national defense and security forces for demonstrating tenacity, ability, and 0vrjujut in countering attacks. while much work on development remains, over the past decade u.s. assistance has made a significant and tangible difference in the lives of the afghan people and has been critical to maintaining stability. per capita gdp has more than tripled and afghans have access to reliable electricity, health care and independent media and are connected to each other and the world through communications technology. according to the u.n., we and other donors have helped afghanistan achieve a greater increase in its standard of living over the last decade than almost any other country on earth. the last decade's progress also is contingent upon continued support forol:fj afghanistan. next year at the warsaw nato summit in july and the brussels ministerial on afghan d

afghanistan's security capabilities. president obama announced in october that we will maintain 9,800 troops in afghanistan through the end of 2016 to train, advise, and assist afghan forces. american forces, together with -- i believe that we are pursuing the right course in afghanistan, but i want to be candid about the great challenges that remain. the security environment in afghanistan remains volatile. we must, however, give credit to the afghan national defense and security forces for demonstrating tenacity, ability, and resolve in countering these attacks. per capita gdp has quadrupled. for the first time coming accesss of afghans have to reliable electricity come independent media and are connected to each other and the world through communications technology. we have helped afghanistan achieve a greater increase in its standard of living over the last decade than almost any country on earth. next year, at the warsaw nato summit in july and the brussels ministerial on afghan development in october we will have an opportunity to work with our international partners to lay out a plan for future security and economic assistance. our assistance does, however, come with clear conditions, and the concept of mutual accountability remains firmly in place. advancing t

afghan interpreter. it was the deadliest attack on u.s. forces in afghanistan in more than two years. and in his christmas the president declared the u.s. war in afghanistan was over. >> our longest war will come to a responsible end. >> reporter: but today without direct u.s. combat support, afghan forces are engaged in a losing battle with the taliban throughout large parts of afghanistan. this month the pentagon issued a dire report on the afghanistan war saying security has deteriorated. the taliban is now launching 1,000 successful attacks per month and for the first time isis has started mounting attacks in afghanistan. still the president intends to reduce the number of american troops in afghanistan before he leaves office which critics claim could put u.s. troops at greater risk. >> the smaller the american contingent, the more dangerous it is going to be for those who remain. >> reporter: but officials here say it is impossible to predict what the afghanistan battlefield will look like a year from now. or just what kind of will inherit. lester. >> jim miklaszewski, thanks. >>> the only person charged so far in the san bernardino terror attacks w

afghanistan security capability. president obama announced they will maintain 9,800 troops in afghanistan through the end of 2016 to train, advise, and assist afghan forces. i believe we are pursuing the right course in afghanistan but i want to be candid that great challenges remain. while the security in afghanistan remain volatile must give credit to the afghan national defense and security forces have demonstrated tenacity, ability, resolving countering attacks. while much work on development remains over the past decade us assistance made a significant intangible difference in the lives of the afghan people and has been critical to maintaining stability. per capita gdp has more than quadrupled for the 1st time millions of afghans have access to reliable electricity healthcare, and independent media. according to the un we and other donors have achieved a greater increase in the standard of living continued support for afghanistan. next year at the warsaw nato summit in the brussels ministerial an afghan development of october we will have an opportunity to work with our international partners to lay out a plan for future security and economic assistance. of course our assistant comes with clear conditions i

afghanistan as the situation there gets more and more difficult every day. fighting with afghan forces and still going on in southern afghanistan. u.s. troops are not out in the field, but they are advising the afghans in helmand province and southern afghanistan as they battle the taliban there. boris, alison. >> barbara, thanks for that. my heart goes out to the families of the troops. >> tragic six families had to lose heroes so close to christmas. >>> dozens people injured and killed with the damage down of severe weather in the south and midwest. the damage done and what is still on the way. >>> deadly storms barrelling through the country. seven people killed, dozens more injured. we are tracking the damage and what you can expect today. >>> donald trump warning hillary clinton be careful. a war of words escalating in the race for president. >>> and tourists warned in china about a popular area. welcome back to "early start." i'm alison kosik. >> i'm happy to be here, alison. i'm boris sanchez. we are talking about seven people killed and dozens injured as a line of christmas storms from the gulf coast to the midwest. spawning rain and wind and hail and tornadoes. look at this tornado in northern mississippi. >> look at that. oh, man. i

afghanistan, but isis is in 30 different provinces in afghanistan. and the afghan army in many ways is sort of a state of disarray. so conditions are not good on the ground in afghanistan. the american forces are strong enough to help with the counter offensive. in helmand province the taliban is on the rise. the final thing that's so interesting is they are not taking a time out for the winter season. over the last 14 years, the taliban has only fought between april and october. now all of a sudden the attacks in december and january, this is a dangerous precedent for the years ahead. lea: nice to see you general scales. gregg: donald trump and nick the latest druft-up over sex -- the latest dust-up over sexism. stocks ending the year with a whimper. can the problems that may 2015 a slack luster year persist into 2016? [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they pick up some of what

afghanistan. i mean afghans killed in afghanistan. the taliban are gaining the upper hands. >> we had boots on ought ground and have been fat war 14 years. is me boots on the ground answer after 14 years of having them there? is this what we need to rely on nato? >> i speak for all parents out there whose sons or daughters have served in iraq or afghanistan. my son is on his 6th combat tour to the region. i think while i would like to see us win over there, particularly being a vietnam veteran who watched that war get lost due to politics, i don't want to see us commit more troops. but i wanted to see more air support available when it's needed. but when the afghans night as much as they do in helmand province. we have fairs capable of calling in that air support. air support won't win the battle but it will turn the tide for you. it will show our afghan and iraqial lights that we are still there. abby: we have so until the military including my own two brothers and it hits home for me as well. gregg: the colonel's son's 6th combat tour. in. president obama once called the deporter-in-chief, but the numbers tell a different story. why the deportations have fall on their lowest number in nine years. and report collapse of the frunt frontrunners. donald trump is telling hillary clinton she better be careful. a fair and balanced debate is c

afghanistan that spilled afghan blood. he also said that the pakistan shelters enemies of afghanistan, president ghani said he did not want to change his head of intelligence service but accepted his resignation. of course the taliban attack, the highest pro feel attack that went on while penalty ghani was in pakistan was on the biggest military complex. it killed 70 people, including afghan security forces, civilians, women, and children. it was an attack that went on for more than 24 hours as taliban fighters battled with afghan security forces. a lot of weapons, question being asked today, the government has launched investigation about how the taliban got into that highly fortified complex and of course the resignation of the chief of the intelligence service show the difficulties about how to deal with the taliban while the president says he would like to make peace with those who would like a lay down arms, the tall bonn clearly continuing they're fighting here. >> stay with you also here on al jazeera. still to come, a world first, a new vaccine against dengue fever gets approved in mexico. >>> i'm in south africa,

afghanistan as well. this means that there will be another contestant there. i think it means afghanistan will be worse off than when it was just the taliban. >> that provides yet more insecurity for afghans themselves. las vegas prosecutors say the woman accused of deliberately driving her car into a crowd of pedestrians will be charged with murder. one person was killed and 35 were injured in the incident on sunday. authorities believe the crash was intentional but they did not discuss the motive. the driver had her three-year-old daughter in the car at the time. russian military officials say they have not yet been able to extract any information from the flight recorder of the russian fighter plane brought down by turkey on the syrian border last month. they say the memory chip from the bomber was destroyed or badly damaged. the russians had hoped to prove the plane never entered turkish airspace as claimed by ankara. part ins the tricky spain, governing the country. the conservative prime minister, mariana rajoy, said he will try to keep his popular party in power even though he felt short of a majority. 100 seats,ties one making them a force to be reckoned with as well. >> the econo

afghanistan. some american officials have mentioned that with alarm, that we are seeing a rise of isis forces in the country. >> afghans i talked to in afghanistan were very concerned about that. >> these are foreign fighters coming back again? >> they are mainly disaffected taliban and but there is a certain percentage of young, afghans from universities who have responded to the same kind of isis propaganda that others have around the world. afghanistan is an important battlefield for isis, not just because it's a muslim state but because they see themselves as successors to and still rivals to al qaeda. katty: how would be taliban welcome a rival in terms of isis? >> not only do they not welcome it, they are fighting it. there has been some severe fighting in the south and more recently even in the north of afghanistan as well. this means that there will be another contestant there. i think it means afghanistan will be worse off than when it was just the taliban. >> that provides yet more insecurity for afghans themselves. las vegas prosecutors say the woman accused of deliberately driving her car into a crowd of pedestrians will be charged with murder. one person was killed and 35 were injured in the incident on sunday. authorities believe the crash was intentional but they did not discuss the motive. the driver had her three-year-old daughter in the car at the time. russian military officials say they have not yet been able to ext

and, of course, afghanistan, afghan military there in afghanistan. thomas?iklaszewski at the pentagon, thank you, sir. i appreciate it. >>> the pentagon confirming today the u.s. coalition task force with 12 air strikes against isis in iraq, four near ramadi. msnbc has exclusive new video into the glimpse of the fight to take ramadi back. anti-isis tribal fighter in iraq provided them to us. we don't know the circumstances surrounding or leading up to the events depicted. i want to bring in senior editor for video content, cal perry. explain what these videos are demonstrating. >> thomas, we are getting ourselves a greound view of the fighting in ramadi. we do know that the iraqi government is urging people to leave that city. they have done so in the past 24 hours by dropping leaflets. you take a look here at the first bit of video on a highway or a busy road that runs east to west east of the city of ramadi and that's an iraqi army helicopter, an iraqi armored personnel carrier and a week ago the prime minister turning down the offer to supply apache helic

the goal remains to prevent and to help afghans prevent afghanistan from becoming again a platform for those who ima have tended to dismiss the presence in afghanistans rebranded taliban as if that made it less dangerous. we have seen in libya that such affiliates eventually control ground and connect with the center in syria. in afghanistan, we have a strategy that can work with[]z5 willing islamic partner in the fight against terror. with the clarity of international commitment, afghanistan can increasingly become a contributor to security. we must not now lose sight of afghanistan as we did before. after the expulsion but not the defeat of the taliban. our efforts there must be long-term and in concert with the need for the united states to help develop and implement a generational strategy to defend our people and values while draining the life from the distorted version of islam that animations al qaeda and others. experience teaches that ideology cannot be defeated militarily. military force must be an instrume instrument. the deveet feat can come from t islamic world which must play a leading role as part of a multi-faceted effort. this sht c

a different story in afghanistan, where britain advisers to try and help afghans who are engaged in raging battles against the taliban in southern afghanistan. the development came a day after a taliban suicide bomber killed six u.s. troops near a kabul base, the deadliest attack on americans since august. rescuers in southern china continue to search for bodies from the rubble of a collapsed mountain of construction waste. more than 70 people are missing. questions are now being asked about why nothing was done regarding the safety of the site. state media reported that the district government which covers the area had identified problems with the construction dump months earlier. coming up, celebrating the coming of more sunshine. we'll take you to stonehenge where thousands showed up to celebrate the winter solstice. and making dreams come true is what the christmas season is all about. coming up, see what it took it give one critically ill "star latest blockbuster. >> this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news at noon. mollie: it's official. the winter solstice has arrived. today marks the shortest day of the year in the northern h

afghanistan six u.s. nato soldiers were killed, three americans and one afghan wounded in the attack near the biggest u.s. military facility in afghanistan. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> here at home, the storm before the christmas calm. the 2016 white house contenders are looking to grain traction before americans settle down for the holidays. and another republican candidate is calling it quits. >> reporter: donald trump is still on top according to the most recent poll, maintaining his lead in new hampshire and south carolina. but ted cruz leads in iowa with 41%. pollsters are quick to point out many of cruz's supporters are not firmly decided, unlike trumps. their republican rivals warned what could happen if the real estate mogul remains the frontrunner. >> donald trump is a big christmas gift wrapped up for hillary clinton. she hopes she runs against donald trump. i however, am the lump of coal in the stocking and she desperately hopes she does not run against me. >> the democratic candidate opted for taking jabs at trump during saturday's final presidential debate of 2015. >> he is becoming isis's best rec

afghanistan that housed just a few government employees. these are the luxury villas in kabul, afghanistan. task force helping the afghan economy. the incredible cost of $150 million over four years was spent to house just a handful of people at any given time. included in the expenses, large flatscreen tvs and dvd players in each room and around-the-clock private security. contractors were paid to provide food that rated at least three stars with two entree e choices and three sides for each meal. the special inspector general for afghanistan wants to know why weren't the worker simply housed at a u.s. military base or the u.s. embassies, where the taxpayers would have saved tens of millions of dollars? the shots were called by former defense undersecretary paul brinkley, who reportedly is not cooperating with a spending as for why the workers did not save millions by living on base, brinkley said the economic task force was attempting to devoid -- avoid depending on military. companies that they could set up operation in afghanistan themselves without needing military support. the task force is the same one thuiat building natural gas station in afghanistan with 43 million tax dollars. the ig found that may be $42.5 million more than it should have cost. still ahead, things are getting ugly on the campaign trail. we will explain in our "caaign sharyl: if you're a political junkie and keeping track, we are two weeks away from the next round of residential debate -- presidential debates in two months away from the iowa cauc

afghan army to fail. >> british and other nations blood.ntributed in their that is always appreciated by the people afghanistan -- by the people of afghanistan one year we took over the responsibility. we were trying our best to hold all of those areas. correspondent: the latest fighting in helmand has exposed weaknesses in the afghan army and government in maintaining a solid grip on security after the withdrawal of nato forces. in that, the taliban regrouped. each loss of a strategic position means loss of afghan lives and families being caught in a violence. >> we fled home with the clothing on our backs. ,esterday, i returned to sangin to the market. i'd saw -- i saw taliban militants. the market was closed. people are stuck in their homes. statement,nt: in a the taller than condemned british troops returning to support afghan forces. they say they have broken a tomise to their people, not return to the afghan war. 100 troops were killed in sangin alone. as the taliban tightens their grip on the helmand province, many will ask why are those lives were lost. bbc news, kabul. katty: for more, i spoke with the former state department spokes

afghan security forces denied civilian casualties. i knew i needed to go back to afghanistan if i'd any chance of finding out the truth. in 2009, eight years into the war in afghanistan, the united nations started trying to systematically document civilian casualties. 2014 marked the deadliest year on record. i was back in afghanistan to piece together what i could about the fifteen civilians who were killed on august 3rd 2014. i'd been given photographs of some of the people who died. one of those is farid mohammad, a driver with four children. his mother had been with him on the morning of the operation. it was still too dangerous for me to go to charkh, so she came to meet me on the outskirts of kabul. it is extremely rare for a rural pashtun woman to meet with a man she's not related to. she told me that on the morning of august 3rd, she and her son were driving to visit her sister in a village in charkh district for the eid holiday. she saw some soldiers on the roads, but says it was peaceful out. >> amana spent a month in hospital recovering from the loss of her finger and wounds to her abdomen. her son farid mohammad died leaving behind his widow and four chil

afghan peace process. -- renewing. how concerned are these two governments about the current situation, security situation, inside afghanistan? >> reporter: the situation inside of afghanistan is of huge concern because as as the prime minister arrived here, he touched upon that issue saying that there were economic considerations, that afghanistan and pakistan were going to cooperate in bringing the pipeline into fruition. there were other plans as well. it was about connectivity and issues that can only be if there is peace between these two countries >>> afghanistan struggles with a taliban resurgence, how successful has pakistan's military been in cam batting the taliban in pakistan? >> reporter: you have to first remember that the pakistani taliban is different to the other taliban. they have been attacking the pakistani. they have sanctuarys there. the major military operation that pakistan has basically pushed these fighters across the border. many of them filtering across a polish border. the other president talked about the fact that thousands of fighters, foreign fighters, including arabs, have crossed into afghanistan because of the military offensive. now, impor

afghanistan to enhance the capacity of the afghan national army and the afghan national security forces. >>> earlier modi was this afghanistan capitol where he held talks with the president ghani and inaugurateed the new parliament building and build by india at an estimated cost of $90 million and also a gesture of cooperation. qatar's foreign minister has been meeting russian counterpart with moscow with syria on top of agenda and no agreement over the president bashar al-assad and sergei fedorov helped a press conference with his counterpart a day after china and syria agree to framework for up coming peace talks in geneva and hopes for increased cooperation with qatar in the situation in the middle east. >> translator: we discussed in detail what is necessary to be done, to implement the agreements on the syrian settlement reached within the framework of the international support group of syria and the u.n. security council. >> translator: we agree with russian party the worsening of this crisis does benefit the interests of neither party. we are aware that the delays in the solution of this crisis is harmful to all the parties and first of all to the syrian people. >> reporter: al jazeera's peter sharp is live from moscow and as you see it what was the take away, the headline from this meeting? >> well, i think it's fair to say that russia and qatar have agreed to disagree over the future of president assad. the qatar foreign minister said that the assad regime had no legitimacy whatsoever and, in fact, said that assad was one of the main sponsors of terrorism in the region but they did agree on the main point which was a political settlement is the only way to bring peace to the region, peace to syria and the qatar foreign minister said without the political settlement they would be locked in a vicious cycle. sergei fedorov briefed the qatar foreign minister on the road ahead. now, at the moment russia is actively engaged in trying to draw up a credible list of opposition parties and opposition spokesmen who are prepared to sit down at the table with the syrians and at the same time russia is weeding out what it regards as terrorist organizations and this is something that ka -- qatar is opposed to and both say they are engaged with trying to encourage the syrian opposition to come to the table just as quickly as possible. >> ahead of more talks that are coming up, in the coming weeks, peter sharp live from moscow and peter thank you so much. afghan security officials say 20 people have been killed in overnight clashes with the taliban in helman providence, for days the army has been trying to push the armed group out of the district, fighting has spread to other parts of helman and the u.s. is helping them with air strikes and we are there in the providence close to the fighting and told us afghan forces are struggling because of lack of support from their own government. >> afghan army and afghan police always complain about lack of airforce and for the fight in afghanistanrce in the very important support for the troops here, for the afghan troops because taliban are before they were not able to attack any location with a big number because when nato forces were involved in fighting especially in helman province they always had the support and it was very effective against taliban and now that afghan forces are suffering from lack of airforce they are complaining and they are saying the reason they are losing so many lives because they don't have air support and also it's so difficult for them to logistic supply with checkpoints and have bases because afghan forces don't have a proper airforce. >>> still ahead on al jazeera low-tech in a high-tech world, we explain why you can still send a telegram in china. and artisans not the stuffing out of machine made pinatas a mexican christmas tradition under threat. ♪ americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking. >> i'm the enemy. >> i'm really pissed off. >> all of these p

afghan politics during the karzai presidency. having served twice as the presence chief of staff, an ambassador to two of afghanistan's most important and most problematic neighbors, iran and pakistan, and finally as afghanistan's minister of the interior during the 2014 which is a very important year in afghans politics. are focused today on afghanistan could not be more timely. president obama's recently made important decisions with respect to the continued u.s. troop presence in the country. these decisions serve as a continuing reminder of the high sacrifice in blood and treasure that the united states and its nato allies have made to rebuild post-9/11 afghanistan. unfortunately, for all of us, and especially for the afghan people, this task is by no means complete.

afghanistan's capital kabul. three more soldiers were injured in the attack near bagram air base. that's the largest u.s. military facility in afghanistan. afghan officials say a suicide bomber on a motor bike targeted a joint u.s.-afghan foot parole outside the base. >>> well the taliban has been staging an offensive that has seen it take control of a district in afghanistan's southern helmand province. that came a day after a senior local official was on the brink of falling. in the recent months, the taliban has gained territory in the north, west and south. al jazeera's imoku molu reports. >> fixed target when it's the taliban afghan soldiers and police are outgunned. >> we are fighting to remove the taliban from this area. therefore, we need support from our own army to help us. right now area is controlled by taliban. >> this is helmand province, once controlled by the taliban. it's also the place where most of the world's opium is produced. on sunday the province's deputy mayor used facebook to plead with the afghan president. posting your excellency, helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come. since last night, sangen district sensor is almost completely under taliban control. >> hundreds of billions was used to develop an army and that was misused and you see taliban taking advantage of that. >> would months ago its

the main headquarter for afghan forces and for foreign forces that are operating in southern afghanistan. and it's supposed to be one of the safest areas in southern afghanistan are seeing now, the taliban can manage to enter that location too. >> very symbolic location. you'll be monitoring all of the developments for us at the moment. thank you. >>> still lots more to come here on al jazeera. ♪ >>> the eagles of death metal performance in paris just weeks after the massacre at the theater. >>> and the tiny caribbean island that is making giant leaps towards becoming completely energy sufficient. sure, tv has evolved over the years. it's gotten squarer. brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. >>> time now for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the united states has announced plans for all of the countries involved in the syrian peace process to meet next friday in new york. >>> meanwhile turkey is to stop deploying troops to northern iraq, but is refusing to withdrawal forces that are already there. >>> and the u.

afghanistan's most important and most problematic neighbors, iran and pakistan, and finally as afghanistan's minister of the interior during the 2014 which is a very important year in afghans politics. are focused today on afghanistan could not be more timely. president obama's recently made important decisions with respect to the continued u.s. troop presence in the country. these decisions serve as a continuing reminder of the high sacrifice in blood and treasure that the united states and its nato allies have made to rebuild post-9/11 afghanistan. unfortunately, for all of us, and especially for the afghan people, this task is by no means complete. and the recent crises in konduz and the following efforts at reconciliation raise unsettling questions about the prospects of success of the years ahead. it is in this context that mr. daudzai's remarks about afghanistan demand a careful and critical hearing. understanding the political terrain in this embattled state and the admissions of its powerful neighbors is essential if the united states and its allies our to consolidate their achievements thus far. achievements for which they have worked so long and hard, as have the afghan people. so without further ado then

afghan interpreter, wounded. the taliban immediately claimed twitter. it was the deadliest day in combat for u.s. forces in afghanistan since august 2012. across afghanistan, the taliban are on the march again, and making gains in areas once secured by nato and american forces. last week, defense secretary carter, visiting troops in afghanistan, admitted things are not going well. >> the taliban's advances in some parts of the country, even if only temporary, underscore that this is a tough fight, and it's far from over. >> reporter: there are 9,800 american troops in afghanistan right now. 5,500 by the end of next year. and president obama, who last christmas declared an end to the american combat mission there, will leave this war to his successor. david? >> our chief foreign correspondent terry moran tonight. terry, thank you. >>> now, to the race for 2016, and the showdown between hillary clinton and donald trump tonight, on the heels of the democratic debate in new hillary clinton, calling trump, quote, isis' best recruiter, claiming isis uses videos of trump to recruit more radical jihadists. trump calling that a lie, demanding an apology tonight. a

afghan army displays weapons used by the attackers. their bodies lay on the ground. security is supposed to be tight at the largest military base in southern afghanistan. >> translator: there were 14 taliban fighters engaged with afghanistans. we have killed all of them. four of the attackers with explosive vests blew themselves up, the rest were shot dead by the afghan army. one soldier who was my bodyguard, was murdered. >> reporter: the taliban says these are the attackers in afghan government uniforms. in september, taliban fighters commanded by their leader took control of kunduz city in northern afghanistan and held it for about two weeks. although his leadership has been challenged, the attacks suggest his forces are coordinated. this came as the president was at a regional conference in pakistan, aimed at restarting peace talks with the taliban. but the head has now resigned. he says as they were meeting to talk about peace, the taliban was launching attacks in afghanistan. >>> well, now, strong winds have helped clear the air in beijing, and a red alert has been lifted for the chinese capitol. schools have reopened and limits eased on car use. our correspondent adrian brown has more from beijing. >> reporter: thi

afghan development. this is the fifth meeting on afghanistan and their future, what help are regional powers providi providing afghanistan, in terms of fighting the taliban. >> pakistan needs to support particularly bringing taliban to the negotiating table. that may be a main thing that ashraf ghani may be going with. there's a conference on economic development. i think they are looking for security than bigger development projects. unless we don't have security in the country. it may be difficult to have development projects. so security is something, i think, afghans take seriously, and that is something they'll be expecting from taliban, particularly to bring taliban to the table. >> that is going to be one of the main messages the president is going to take there, and economic development might come second than the security. >> it's great having your invite. thank you so much. managing director. peace training and research organization, speaking to us in kabul. >> a third gunman that took part in a paris concert hall has been identified. men of the 130 people killed in the attack in the french capitals died at the

afghan forces have regained some outposts, but the main city remains under taliban control. nato ended combat operations in afghanistan nearly a year ago now. our political analyst and commentator on afghanistanhis to sway about the situation. >> i think the taliban want to capitalize more on the fact that the government is busy sharing power with its partner in afghanistan, and as the winter is approaching, they want to gain more territories, and put pressure on the government in the coming peace negotiations. it is possible the taliban will withdrawal. the current leader of the taliban, who was questioned by different factions whether he is capable of managing the taliban or not, he wants to prove to the taliban that he is the man to be followed. that he is a leader, and he can take territory in afghanistan, and he has command of the taliban. the afghan army is a well-trained army. it has the manpower. they back air power. but they can take on the taliban if there was political will on the side of the government. >>> india's parliament has approved amendments to the juvenile justice law which allows 18 to 16 year olds to be tried as adults for serious crimes. this follows public outcry over

afghanistan is, again, a very important country. we share a border with afghanistan. porus in the sense that every day 70,000 afghans earn their livelihood, and in the morning either they go back at night or sometimes they stay in pakistan to earn their livelihood. many of them also stay back. we are hosting 3 million afghan refugees in pakistan the last almost 35 years. we have also made every effort to bring piece and stability to afghanistan. because we are doing this because no other country besides afghanistan has suffered as much is pakistan due to the more than three decades of turmoil. and an early settlement for peace and tranquility in afghanistan is something that will clearly be beneficial for our country. we had carried out in the border areas which had become a safe haven for many of the dreaded terrorist organizations and operations initiated in june last year. again, it is a matter of announcing that we have been able to clear these enemies across every shade of color. this was operations in the sense that it is a case study in the sense that we developed. we regulated millions. we do this not only to bring piece and stability unfortunately some of these elements have crossed over from afghanistan and now are not only in afghanistan. there are two parts. one is a military victory over the insurgents, and the 2nd is the negotiated piece through a process of national desegregation. over the last 14 years the mi

afghan forces have regained some outposts, but the main city remains under taliban control. nato ended operations in afghanistan nearly a year ago. al jazeera's political analyst and commentator on afghanistanhis analysis a little earlier. >> i think the taliban want to capitalize more on the fact that the government is busy sharing power with their -- with its partner in afghanistan, and as the winter is approaching, they want to gain more territories and put more pressure on the government. it is possible that the taliban will withdrawal, at the moment there's no information to hold off this war that is going on; that the current lead er of the taliban, whether he is capable of managing the taliban or not, he wants to prove to the taliban that he is the man to be followed; that he is a leader and that he can take territory in afghanistan and has control of the taliban. the afghan army is a well-trained army, yes, they lack air support, but the taliban do not have any power either. but afghan army is much better and well equipped compared to the taliban. >>> india's parliament has approved amendments to the juvenile justice law. the bill was sitting in the upper house for more than a year.

afghan interpreter, wounded. the taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on twitter. it was the deadliest day in combat for u.s. forces in afghanistan since august 2012. across afghanistan, the taliban are on the march again, and making gains in areas once secured by nato and american forces. last week, defense secretary carter, visiting troops in afghanistan, admitted things are not going well. >> the taliban's advances in some parts of the country, even if only temporary, underscore that this is a tough fight, and it's far from over. >> reporter: there are 9,800 american troops in afghanistan right now. that number is going down to 5500 by the end of next year. but president obama who last christmas declared an end to the american combat mission there, will leave this war to his successor. terry moran, abc news london. >>> and back here in the states the political showdown between donald trump and hillary clinton shows no signs of a christmas truce. last night at a rally in michigan trump seemed to up the ante a little bit using what some might consider a vulgar reference when describing her 2008 loss to president obama. their current heated rhetoric began with clinto

afghanistan and people in afghanistan don't eat soybeans. $34 million wasted. and half a million dollars for afghan facility for domestic police force that literally melted because the construction products that were used. they didn't take into account it's hot in the desert in afghanistanroup revealed that the national endowment for arts spends your money on lots of film festivals. what do your dollars help fund? here's a sample. ♪. john: this film was called what up? shows a rapper pretending to decapitate himself and having sex with his own severed head in the bathtub. we won't show you that part. another film you paid to exhibit shows a man urinating blood and then yelling at his dog. finally you paid for showings of sarah goes bang, a young woman's attempt to lose her virginity while working for john kerry. >> i'm psyched, guys, campaigning for john kerry? john: were they ashameed? >> they don't have a response, they don't have a justification, and frankly, i love all sorts of art. i think there should be this ridiculous crap, i think there should be little orphan annie plays. i think there should be nudity but paid for by the people who consume it. nigh my 90-year-old grandmother goes to sleep in tennessee, doesn't want to pay for this stuff. if i want to pay for

afghanistan. six americans killed bombing happened near air base in afghanistan. three others were injured including three americans and afghanvice members. officials are saying a motorcycle packed with explosives blew up near the bagram field. bragged about this attack. stationed at that air base. well, she did it. i'm talking about secretary of state hillary clinton. she just ventured into that danger zone. she went after donald trump at saturday's democratic debate. >> we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. he is becoming isis's best recruiter. they are going to people, showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadis. >> oh, you know donald trump, you pinch him, he will nuke you. for starters though, he wants an apology from secretary clinton. >> i will demand an apology from hillary, okay? you can be the messenger. i will demand an apology from hillary. she should apologize. she lies about emails. she lies about white water, she lies about everything. she will be a disaster as