the tragedy of the balkans war is that they'll mean yeah is the exception. the war left 100,000 dead. massacre inorious -- the singlerimp ani iconic tragedy in many ways of skiers the violence that was sowing hatred across the land. enia like those in valvi were lucky. because they live in a village miles away -- just a few kilometers away. >> there was a massacre where i come from. they rounded everyone up and killed them. they went to high school together. she took my brother to the mass grave -- they took my brother to the mass grave and killed him. >> the scars run deep across the balkans. 20 years after the turmoil that ripped the country apart, he knows he and his village were fortunate. for the next generation, many of the divisions of two decades ago remain the same. valvenia today resides in the entity that makes up bosnia. it also means different ethnic groups rarely mix. the peacewÑ:Ñ:Ñ.ññjñgñgó

to strengthen the security of the balkans.he end of a summit overshadowed by tensions between russia and turkey, not happy at the accession of montenegro. whiches has just joined n.a.t.o. that's right. two reasons for russia to respond negatively. we knew there would be noises from moscow of disapproval. the list of countries is long, which moved away from the sphere of influence of the former soviet union, and already in the balkans, we have several countries, croatia, slovenia, already members of n.a.t.o., we have bosnia and macedonia. i don't think anyone was expecting anything else from moscow. they threatened to join it. it wasn't really a problem. she was sure na in the future they'd work it out. and russia would see that montreal was acting in its own mutual interest on turkey. and the fight against i.s.i.l. is more of a problem. that needs to happen before pavel jenys calls a grand collision against i.s.i.l. despite the commitments. there are many other operations, ways in which countries are being invites to check up

the balkan country had been a gateway. the macedonian government began blocking passage last month to l but syrians, afghan and iraqis. >>> hungarian prime minister announced that he will file a lawsuit with the european courts of justice against an eu decision to redistribute thousands of migrants among member countri. hungary's action follows a similar move by slovakia. >>> japanese archaeologists are doing what they can to preserve syria's ancient ruins and other cultural properties. they've organized an international conference following the destruction of a unesco world heritage site. more than 100 experts from 13 nations gathered in beirut. they heard the latest information about threatened properties. researchers reported that archaeologists in syria cannot conduct field research because of the civil war. >> translator: it's really nice. it's the first time to have this kind of meeting since the civil war started. i want to get advice from foreign archaeologists. >> this is one of the organizers. he spent 20 years e

montenegro's possible membership, but the fact that there are other countries in the balance cans-- balkans who wish to join nato >>> russia, apparently, is not happy? >> reporter: certainly not. one person who is very happy is the nato secretary general who has called this a sign of nato's continued commitment to the western balkans where croatia, albania and slovenia are already members, but moscow sees this in a very different way. foreign minister lavrov in september called the expansion of nato in general a mistake even . the u.s. trying to spin this, trying to say that this was a natural flow of events. it's not to do with russia or any of the tensions over ukraine, for example. even in montenegro, though, not everybody is happy. there are some groups who have asked the government for a referendum on this issue. it's certainly not a country where everybody is happy with being aligned with the west, as it were. there are still strong trade ties with moscow if not political ties for everybody >>> thanks very much. talks have begun in myanmar to transf transfer power. aung san suu kyi ha

but the greeks' hands were forced by the balkan countries, which had decided that they would only acceptugees from the conflicts in iraq, syria and afghanistan. ( chanting ) >> open the borders. >> no going back. >> reporter: these were the poignant poster boys of the last demonstration about the double anguish of thwarted journeys and reluctance to retrace steps. osman zihra was an airport worker in morocco. weary of what he called bad democracy and insecure employment prospects, he joined the migrant trail. but the thousands he spent to get here so far count for nothing. >> europe needs much more people to work for them, because european people aren't going to work like us. we can work saturday, we can work sunday. we can work after hours, we can work more hours. and we can be cheap, you understand me? >> reporter: two decades into europe's open-border project, razor wire now separates some countries in central europe and the balkans. the macedonian government claims it erected the fence to improve control of the migrant flow. this gate was the only entry point for syrians, iraqis and

one of the things that has struck me as hell balkanized public education -- is how balkanized public education has become. when we looked at the statistics we saw that breaking down -- we still have public and we still have private. generally speaking, whatever that means, public is much more ambiguous than it used to be. on the parental choice side, we have private schools, we have vouchers and charter's, which are kind of a hybrid but facilitate private choice. you have homeschooling, sometimes i think every kid who is being homeschooled is in my neighborhood at home. why are you out walking the dog if you are homeschooled? students who of are doing online education. that is all well and good and i assume we talking about people who have parental support. we have to be concerned about the system, who serves the kids who don't have parental resources to get them out to do but theredifferent, are only so many spaces in nonresidential districts to accommodate concentrations of kids who are locked into areas that are characterized by underperforming, poorly financed schools. so it's wo

that's greece and the balkans. they face a challenge that's somewhat different than that faced by northern europe. perhaps not lesser or greater but different. and they have future dashed a few indigenous resources to meet it, so that we need to watch, who is worried about what? who can do what? somebody needs to do what we did at the last global refugee crisis, at the end of world war ii, which is step forward. you can calculate the odds of that happening in the last year of the presidential administration as well as i can. but without that in this country, for europe, for the world, the legacy for the next american president is going to be a very grim one indeed. so we are without a concerted effort that i think requires u.s. leadership, we are not going to get anywhere good because what we are seeing, at least from my perspective, i'm glad you here because you can present a european viewpoint, are the divisions with the newer members of the european union, taking often dramatically different positions on how to

most refugees take the west balkans route., several balkan countries, including macedonia have built boarder fences to block the passage of refugees, turning greece into a bottleneck. >> reporter: tired but determined to carry on. heading into the unknown to start a new life. the border here has been tightened with new restrictions, only iraqis, syrians, and afghans are allowed in. macedonia is next, but reaching northern europe is not easy. many here have escaped wars, rape, and the islamic state of iraq and the levant. this iraqi family fled sinjar, a town that until recently was under isil's control in northern iraq. >> translator: sinjar was cleared from isil, but everyone there wants to establish their own authority. we decided either we live in peace, or die together trying. >>> the journey remains long and hard. their next goal is to cross through macedonia, through serbia and beyond. the flow of refugees crossing the border to macedonia is constant. so far over 2,000 people have crossed. and on wednesday over 3,400 peo

one of those is the largest in the balkans. >> it is a place where people and beome and socialize productivefertile ground for making business connections. just getting to know older brothers. here,etting married extending family ties. c teacher also helped him find a job as a real estate agent. bosnia has become a popular destination for wealthy gulf arabs, attracted by its lush countryside. the scale of their ambition is unprecedented in bosnia. this tourist village is said to cost 4 1/2 billion euros, about 1/3 of bosnia's annual gdp. >> have this key connecting factor to religion -- we have this key connecting factor to religion and religious practice. we are all connected to islam. >> the mosque is a symbol of islam's group on the muslim community in bosnia. it attracts hundreds of faithful each day. inside, it's facilities go far beyond simple prayer, -- its facilities go far beyond simple prayer. the mosque does not answer to local authorities. imam received authorization to film. the saudi kingdom pays for 50 bosnians to take the mecca. >> the selection process is very demanding. we

she did say that germany is lamenting some policies, working to reduce the number of rivals from balkan countries and others that germany considers to be a safe country of origin. those people are not entitled to asylum in germany. she emphasized those strategies are already making progress, and she emphasized the need for immigration. those are all things that they like to hear. minor concessions but nothing policy driven here. genie: sarah harmon reporting from berlin. next to the central african republic been . heavy gunfire interrupted in the -- heavy gunfire erupted in the capital city. latest -- our correspondent tells us more. >> the crucial votes end here the sectarian strife. the central african republic constitutional -- the referendum was seen as a fight, a step. >> the people of the central african republic took a historic democracy forre their country. smooth palatef a forinds -- were soon dashed the neighborhood has been a flashpoint of violence and christian anti-the lockout militia. those whocalls by remain loyal to the rebellion to boycott the vote. securitye lives with

that's greece and the balkans.they face a challenge that is somewhat different than that face by northern europe. perhaps not lesser or greater but different. and they have fewer indigenous resources to meet it. so who needs what? who is worried about what? who can do what? somebody needs to do what we did at the last global refugee crisis, at the end of world word war ii, which is step forward. and you can calculate the odds of that happening in the last year of the presidential administration as well as i can. but without that, in this country, for europe, for the world, the legacy for the next american president is going to be a very grim one indeed. so, we are without a concerted effort that i think requires u.s. leadership, we're not going to get anywhere good because what we're seeing, at least from my perspective -- i'm glad you're here because you can present a european viewpoint -- are the divisions with the newer members of the european union, taking off in dramatically different positions on how to deal

liberating the balkans, the museums in the -- muslims in the balkans.rries this undergrad idea as america imperial power. he was going to be a new american leader who would first confess our sins, try to redress them and he has this underlying idea which is part of this anti-imperialist mind set that we are the cause of a lot of the blow-back. that we are the ones-i what does he say guatemala is a a -- guantanamo is recruiting agent a. you dare say radical islam. that's a recruiting element to bring in more terrorists. whereas, in fact, whatever we do, it makes no difference whatsoever. the terrorism began along before iraq. long before abu ghraib. long before guantanamo. it began in the 1990s. >> look at afghanistan and what we supplied to the mujahideen to get them out of there. lock, there are two schools of thought. there is my school which says mr. obama's incompetent. he is james buchanan. we have mentioned that president before who botched everything and then the civil war broke out. he is incompetent. can't do the job. but then there are the peo

it has joint international missions in the past in places such as the balkans and afghanistan. >>> the alert level has been raised. they say they're hunting for suspects as part of a europe-wide investigation into last month's paris attacks. swiss authorities say they're acting on information that several suspects are thought to be in the city or the area, but they have not revealed if the people they're looking for would directly be involved in the attacks. local yeedz report the suspects are believed to be sympathizers of the islamic state group. they say that u.s. investigators provided a photograph of them and they say a suspicious truck with belgium plates had been spotted in geneva. police are ramping up security at airports, train stations, and sensitive sites, including jewish community centers. armed police officers are patrolling u.n. buildings. >>> after weeks of waiting this year's nobel laureates finally have their prizes. among the winners are two japanese scientists. the winners met for a special awards ceremony in stockholm. ♪ >> awards were handed out for medicine, phy

-lead alliance into the balkans is, quote, irresponsible. >>> the government releasing documents on tuesdaywing that this man was the victim of mistaken identity. the pentagon thought he was a trainer for al-qaeda. they now believe he was just a low-level fighter, he is still being held at guantanamo. >>> staying in guantanamo, human rights watch demanding an invest into allegations of torture. lisa stark has our story. >> this is too serious of a crime to ignore. >> reporter: laura pitter is the chief author of the human rights report. >> a state-sanctioned global program whereby men were abducted from all over the world, put in secret detention and tortured. >> reporter: the practiced detailed in a heavily ed itted report including water boarding, and other extreme measures. california senator diane feinstein fought to make the report public. >> it shows that the cia's actions a decade ago are a stain on our value and on our history. >> reporter: human rights watch wants a criminal investigation into nearly two dozen former bush administration officials, including president bush, vice pre

lead alliance into the balkans is, quote, irresponsible. >>> u.s.icials admitting they i don't thinkly imprisoned a yemeni men for years. he was the victim of mistaken identity. he is still being held at guantanamo. >>> and staying in guantanamo, human rights watch demanding a criminal probe into the cia's policy of torture there. al jazeera's lisa stark has our report. >> this is too serious a crime to ignore. it's too grave to ignore. >> reporter: laura is the chief author of the human rights watch report, and it is clear where she stands on the cia inthing gags techniques that the bush administration sanctioned and put in place after the 9/11 attacks. >> state-sanctioned global program whereby men were abducted from all over the world, put in secret detention and tortured. >> reporter: the practices detailed in a congressional report released by think senate a year ago included water boarding, sleep deprivation, isolation, exposure to extreme temperatures. >> the cia program was far more brutal than people were lead to believe. >> reporter: calif

shehabi, for instance, a young syrian refugee we accompanied five months ago, as he took the dangerous balkan route all the way to germany. we caught up with him again this week, and found out that immigration is first and foremost, a waiting game. >> ahmad shehabi is in safety, in germany. since he fled syria five months ago, he's lived in a small asylum-seekers hostel in the town of greiz in central germany. he had hoped to study and work in germany, but he doesn't have the necessary papers to do that. >> this is the most important place for all of us, this is the postbox. every day we look for it, if we have a post or not. our post here is for acceptance about residence or something like this. >> ahmad is waiting for the recognition of his refugee status. at the moment, he only has a temporary residence permit, and can't bring his wife to germany. the two fled from syria to turkey. ahmad left his wife there, and set off alone on the dangerous journey across the mediterranean. his wife was afraid she'd never see him again. >> i send her a message, that i am alive. she said, no, you are lyin

images like these would soon be a thing of the past, as with these, showing people on route to the balkans. uncontrolled entry into the european union would be curbed. chancellor merkel: it begins with us that decisions already made the properly implement it. this applies especially to the hotspots of italy and greece so the eu's external borders can return to orderly conditions. reporter: apart from that, the european border agency would have to begin in more authority against the will of individual states if need be. she also promised not to ease up on getting the european union to distribute refugees more fairly. chancellor merkel: i know this is a monumental task and will not be finished by tomorrow. but patience and tenacity have always paid off at the end of a long journey. reporter: the opposition complained hotspots and distribution quotas are the wrong means to solve the crisis. >> ladies engine one, user influence so refugee policy does not turn into a policy of isolation and marginalization, but rather of human rights. reporter: at the moment, it looks as though you europe is st

montenegro's accession to nato will be another important step in the integration of the entire western balkansn, and it makes clear that nato keeps its door open to complete our vision of a europe whole, free, and at peace. >> reporter: the defense minister told al jazeera her country of 650,000 people has already made great efforts to meet nato's joining criteria. >> we already did a huge amount of work. we did implementation of reforms deeply in the sector of defense and security. we are dealing with the rule of law, and we are deep into negotiations with the european union as well. >> reporter: montenegro has certainly come a long way in the last two decades. in 1999 it was hit hard by nato air strikes aimed at stopping the crackdown against ethnic albanians in kosovo. if it is a full member it leaves only serbia looking not westwards but towards russia. sergei lavrov has called nato's expansi expansion a problem. >> this is not focused on them specifically, it is focused on the potential of defense against anybody or anything that is a threat including isil. >> reporter: the flag could soo

the end of world war ii, but it has joined international missions in the past in places such as the balkansnd afghanistan. >>> syrian opposition parties and insurgent groups have gathered in saudi arabia's capital riyadh. they agreed to set up a framework to pursue peace talks with the government of president bashar al assad. more than 100 people took part in a closed two-day meeting. they included the western-backed syrian national coalition and the free syrian army. the plan is to form a team of more than 30 members to hold peace negotiations with the assad administration. participants also decided to seek the resignations of assad and his close aides before any possible transition of power. last month the united nations along with western and middle eastern countries renewed their push for peace talks. they have set a target date of january 1st to get syrian opposition groups and the assad government to the table. the united states called the latest agreement a critical first step. >> we welcome the positive outcome of the gathering of the syrian opposition in riyadh today including reac

shehabi, for instance, a young syrian refugee we accompanied five months ago, as he took the dangerous balkan route all the way to germany. we caught up with him again this week, and found out that immigration is first and foremost, a waiting game. >> ahmad shehabi is in safety, in germany. since he fled syria five months ago, he's lived in a small asylum-seekers hostel in the town of greiz in central germany. he had hoped to study and work in germany, but he doesn't have the necessary papers to do that. >> this is the most important place for all of us, this is the postbox. every day we look for it, if we have a post or not. our post here is for acceptance about residence or something like this. >> ahmad is waiting for the recognition of his refugee status. at the moment, he only has a temporary residence permit, and can't bring his wife to germany. the two fled from syria to turkey. ahmad left his wife there, and set off alone on the dangerous journey across the mediterranean. his wife was afraid she'd never see him again. >> i send her a message, that i am alive. she said, no, you are lyin

last month balkan states stopped refugees crossing through their countries except those classified as fleeing convicts. the southern indian state is facing its worst rainfall in a hundred years, causing heavy flooding. the military is struggling to evacuate thousands of civilians in the city of chenai. conditions may worsen as dams and rivers continue to over flow. the prime minister has stepped up help. thailand is hosting a conference on the region a.m. human trafficking crisis. it has also created a special court to tackle the issue, but some feel this only addresses part of the problem. >> reporter: the grim evidence of years of human trafficking gone unchecked and unhindered. a mass grave found last may in an abandoned camp in the dense jungle. the outcry prompted a swift crackdown by the thai government. that only pushed the problem offshore. thousands of rohinga refugees from myanmar and migrants from bangladesh were left adrift in the sea by their traffickers. just weeks after the crack down thailand hosted a high level regional meeting to deal with the issue and created a new

officials say hundreds of military weapons used during the balkans war end up on the black market andy linked recently to attacks including paris. >>> tomorrow marks three years a gunman opened fire on sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut, killing 20 young students and six of their teachers. the anniversary marked this weekend with marches against gun violence in places like san francisco, denver, boston, amongst many others, in the snow, in the rain, in all that weather. in 2012 only days after the sandy hook shooting president obama traveled to newtown and promised to seek gun reform legislation. >> we can't tolerate this anymo anymore. these trang gedies must end, ano end them, we must change. we will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. but that can't be an excuse for inaction. surely we can do better than this. >> a handful of states including connecticut have been able to strengthen their gun safety laws in

the secretary says this is a sign of the commitment to the western balkans which already croatia, ail bane i can't and slovenia-- albania and slovenia are members of nato and montenegro and mass don't i can't have expressed their wish to join. somebody who is not happy about this at all will be the russian foreign mistery sten lavrov who called the expansion of nato a mistake even a provocation. that's not surprising. although there are not such strong political ties between montenegro and russia these days there are strong trade links. many people inside montenegro still feel a connection with russia and there have been a call for a referendum to be hold before the government goes ahead and does what it needs to do to make accession to nato a possibility >>> talkss have begun in myanmar to transfer power to full civilian rule. aung san suu kyi has met the president for the first time since the election win for her national league for democracy party last month. following decades of military rule, the government is due to be sworn in early next year. the director of the institute of s

political divisions continue in the balkans 20 years after the signing of an agreement that ended the bosnian war. more than 100,000 people were killed in the conflict. many of the bodies have not been recovered still. a report from sarajevo. >> reporter: one thousand muslim men and boys were massacred by the serbs at this site. investigators thought they had emptied the mass graves years ago but there are more victims being revealed now. this man has been through this before. >> translation: in 203 when i came to - 2003 when i came to another gray i approached it and said this is my father. a short time later i found my two procedures and four uncles. >> reporter: his search is not over. he is still looking for 14 of his cousins to give them their own graves just like he did for the rest of his extended family. >> translation: at that moment i was happy that i found them so i could bury them with dignity and perform our religious rights >> reporter: no-one knows how many bodies will be hidden here or who they might be. they will be digging 4 metres down. the prosecutors are already s

the balkan country had been a gateway for people traveling through greece to northern eu member nationsthe macedonian government began blocking passage last month to all but syrians, afghans and iraqis. >>> the hungarian prime minister victor orban announced he will file a lawsuit with the european court of justice against an eu decision to redistribute thousands of migrants among member countries. hungary's action follows a similar move by slovakia. >>> six men stormed into a restaurant in central cairo early friday and threw molotov cocktails. egyptian officials say the attack killed 16 people and wounded two others. the restaurant doubles as a nightclub and is in a district where many foreign residents live. officials say the attackers threw more than ten fire bombs. they say there had been a dispute between restaurant staff and customers shortly before. one eyewitness said the men came to the restaurant by motorcycle, but the staff wouldn't let them in. the men then came back with molotov cocktails. the witness said almost everyone inside was killed. >>> there's more to come on "new

most take the west balkans route traveling through greece and macedonia on to syria.ngary was the preferred route but when they built a razor wire fence, refugees were diverted through croatia and slovenia. the slovenian government said it was temporary and designed to steer refugees toward controlled entry points. since the refugee crisis began many have tried to help them rebuild their lives. one group of refugees is doing it for themselves. they are musicians, busy recording a c.d. to help others. we dropped in on a recording session in brussels. ♪ >> a few days ago, they hadn't met, yet now these men from singing and playing traditional playing traditional songs from their home lands in far away belgium. on the boreder with macedonia, he told us he had to leave his lute behind. some kind europeans raised the money for a new one and now he awaits his asylum hearing, he uses his music to help forget the journey he has had to make. >> when i touch the instrument, there's a lot of things go away. music means everything for me. ♪ >> he was a t.v. star in his native pak

our trough dips down and the chance of severe weather in the balkan peninsula. you're going to see thundershowers, athens, clearing up in the afternoon hours. snow in the east, moscow a high of minus 2 on friday. here's the extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. thanks for watching. stacey thunder (voiceover): on this edition of "native report," we watch master quilt maker gwen westerman construct a beautiful star quilt, we learn about "mni sota makoce, the land of the dakota." -with the beautiful people of the red lakes celebration. and we take a look back at our very first story from season one of "native report." we also learn something new about indian country and hear from our elders, on this "native report." narrator: production of "native report" is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community and the blandin foundation.

many take the west balkans europe travelling from greece and macedonia.y built a razor bent, they were diverted. the slovenian government said a gate was temporary and designed to steer refugees towards controls entry points. since the refugee crisis began, many europeans have tried to help new arrivals rebuild their lives, but one group of refugees are doing it for themselves. they're all musicians and they've opinion busy record-- been busy recording a cd. lawrence lee reports from brussels. >> reporter: [ ♪ ] >> reporter: a few days ago they hadn't even met, yet now these men from syria and iraq are singing and playing traditional songs from their home lands in far away belgium. this man told us he had to leave his lute behind when he fled iraq. some kind europeans raised the money for him to get a new one. ais he abaits his asylum hearing he uses his music to help him forget the journey he has had to make. >> when i touch the instrument, there is a lot of things just go away, just forget a lot of things. even when you play and remember things, but at

hungary has closed its borders and macedonia and other balkan countries have imposed restrictions on who can enter. only syrians iraquis and afghans are allowed in. the rest are seen as economic migrants. at another refugee camp in athens allocated to families and youth desperately seek help. >> we sleep on the roads. >> these pakistanis are tired and hungry. >> this is not paradise. last night we sleep on the road. we have no blanket, no clothes, no food, no water. we are humans. we are humans. >> the mayor of athens is worried the refugees are trapped with no means to live and work. >> i'm expressing my concern because we see so many people going here and there without an organized structure to receive and guide them. it's a problem that concerns first of all every city in greece, but at the same time, every country in europe. >> this is the biggest refugee crisis in europe since world war ii. there are no indications it will be over anytime soon. al jazeera, athens. >> an air france plane made an emergency landing after the discovery of a derice that turned out to be a hoax, diver

hundreds of people in montenegro have held a progress march against joining nato after the balkan country was invited to be part of the alliance. the rally was led by pro-russia parties who want a referendum. those against the membership is because they bombed kosovo. zimbabwe's ruling party has ended its two day conference which highlighted divisions about who will take over from the president. the 91-year-old has led the country for 35 years and insists he will continue in office. that hasn't stopped two factions within the party discussion is who will succeed him. the president said there is no debate to be had. >> reporter: the president says he is the center of power and people shouldn't be talking about taking over from him one day because he is still in charge. he has this message to rival factions within the parties wanting to take over from him one day. >> this is the people's party. it is not your party. you will make things worse. >> reporter: factions and divisions within the ruling party dominated this conference. some people are saying nothing has come with more pressing iss

countires in central and eastern europe the balkans and hundreds traveling across the sea from turkey into greece and macedonia, a lot of those countries have only the most rudimentary facilities on offer for these people, mostly down to the ngo's on the ground, themselves working with rudimentary means and resources and temperatures absolutely plummeting on a lot of occasions, a lot of people will spend nights out in the open and will simply have no or very, very little access to sanitation. we are talking about families, children, we are talking about the elderly. i think the picture in europe as the weather closes in and winter gets worse is extremely bad and i wouldn't at all be surprised if there were people out there wondering why on earth they ever decided to leave. >> you'll recall the picture of the toddler found dead on the turkish coast. how much changed after that picture went viral the world over? >> an enormous amount, i think. that picture really brought home to the viewing public, the news consuming public in europe just what was going on, because up until that point,

hungary has closed its borders and macedonia and other balkan countries have imposed restrictions on who can enter. this is not paradise. last night we sleep on the road with no blanket or food or water. we're humans. the mayor is concerned they're trapped with no place to live and work. >> we see so many people going here and there without an organized structure to receive them. it's a problem that concerns first of all greece and at the same time, every country in europe. >> this is the biggest refugee crisis in europe since world war two. there are no indications it will be over any time soon. >> still to come this news hour, the latest on the monumentous night in the spanish election where most votes have now been counted. counted. >> a reminder of our top stories. the antiausterity party has made big gains in the spanish election. these are live pictures at the moment. the ruling conservatives have won the most votes but are just short of a majority. there have been angry protests in india after the release of a man convicted of a brutal gang rape three years ago. >> yemen's for

hungary has closed its borders and massachusetts and other balkan countries have imposed restrictions on who can enter. for only syrians and afghans are allowed in. the rest of seen as economic migrants. at another camp in athens allocated to families and youth desperately seek help. >> we sleep on the roads. >> these pakistanis are tired and hungry. >> this is no paradise. last night we sleep on the road. we have no blanket, no clothes, no food, no water. we are humans. we are humans. >> the mayor of athens is worried the refugees are trapped with no means to live and work. >> i express my concern because we see so many people going here and there without an organized structure to receive and guide them. it's a problem that concerns first of all every city in greece, but at the same time, every country in europe. >> this is the biggest refugee crisis in europe since world war ii. there are no indications it will be over anytime soon. al jazeera, athens. >>> a gas pipeline inflated after a landslide in southern china. 27 people are missing after dirt and mud buried two dozen buildings

russia opposes the inclusion of the small balkan nation. kerry says: "..nato is not a russian foreign minister sergey lavrov said today he's ready to meet with his turkish counterpart... he says he'll be disappointed if he hears nothing new during the meeting. after a debate that lasted more than 10 hours, today british lawmakers voted in favor of airstrikes on isis positions in syria. british prime minister david cameron says the u-k faces a fundamental threat to its security and needs to act now. "i have here, quote after quote, from leader after leader in the gulf world, begging and pleading with britain to take part so we can take the fight to this death cult that threatens us all so much." cameron faced resistances from britain's left-leaning opposition... labour party leader jeremy corbyn refused to support airstrikes, calling also demanded an apology from the prime minister for suggesting those opposed were ..quote..."a bunch of terrorist sympathizers." "to brand those who plan to vote against the government as terrorist sympathizers

root -- the balkan route. she is making concessions. with putin it may be more difficult. the biggest mistake from the european missed that the european perspective is to assume that syria is a bargaining chip. russia is following strategic gain in both conflicts. they are separate from each other. it is clear that when it comes to engagement between the west -- this is important times for her. anna: are others trying to mix to two together -- mix the two together? a part inussia plays both conflicts. it will be too easy to assume that russia will simply give egg's.s strategic looking at both conflicts in their own right, it is something the west needs to continue doing. guy: what is the russian economy looking like? it has been quite volatile. what everybody's talking about is that russia has introduced a ban from -- a food food from turkey. sayings has a report out that december 11 when the central bank of russia meets. even though these are medium estimates, they are going to cut interest rates to 10.5%. to

attending to its obligations, contributed to personnel in nato operations in afghanistan, libya and the balkans. its foreign minister serves as second general to nato. it is participating in nato submarine exercises. i'm pleased to note these nominees for these critical positions have incredible background. neither were controversial during the consideration by the senate foreign relations committee. azita raji is an accomplished businesswoman with an impressive international credentials. she was the vice president of j.p. morgan securities in tokyo, japan, speaks five languages and is published in the journal of the american medication situation. samuel heins has over 40 years of legal experience. he is a distinguished human rights invoke cloture. he founded -- minnesota advocate for human rights. he has won human rights awards. samuel heins has been waiting for 200 days. this is not a recent matter. 200 days. azita raji has been waiting almost a year. almost a year for confirmation. these are people who are ready to serve our country, critical allies. therefore, mr. president, i ask unanimous

i have been working overseas in occupied countries in the balkans for 18 months. in october '44, i was the first ally officer to drop into austria. i was captured december 1st by the gestapo, severely beaten. even though i was in uniform, severely beaten and considered as a non-prisoner of war. i was taken to a prison where i was held for four months. when the russians neared vienna, i was taken to this concentration logger. and extermination camp. the worst in germany. where we have been starving and beaten and killed, fortunately my turn hadn't come. two american officers at least have been executed here. here's the insignia of one, a u.s. naval officer. and here's his dogtag. here's the army officer. executed by gas in this lagger. there were -- >> how many ways do they execute them? >> five or six ways. gi gas, by shooting, by beating, that is beating with clubs. by exposure. that is standing out in the snow naked for 48 hours and having cold water thrown on them in the middle of water. starvati starvation. dogs. and pushing over 100-foot cliff. this, this is

you would not see women veiled or some other forms of conservative clothing in the balkans 20 years agonow you do see that. so there is a struggle taking place. very difficult for the west to intervene in that for a variety of reasons. very difficult for the west to be part of what has to be inevitably an internal muslim debate. >> a little bit from the christian science monitor, they said the task is to travel lightly. they've gone to 200 countries, including the united states, but in the past four years, no region has seen faster growth than the arab world. they insist, though, the people, the supporters that it's a peaceful movement, non-violent and harbors no hatred for other peoples. john, in pennsylvania. go ahead. >> caller: it's somewhat confusing, but i was wondering if you could explain -- i can't pronounce it right. and that that was in 1932 saudi arabia the house of saud accepted the state-sanctioned, and maybe we should boycott saudi arabia and kind of force them into allowing a more progressive viewpoint, i guess, where freedom of religion -- >> all right. let's take your

occupied paris when the play was written to siri a bowen 1984 where they did the play in the mist of the balkanre so many people were suffering the violence and desolation of that where we saw the ugliest part and we always see the ugliest part of human nature when we see war and violence. to san quentin where was prohibited from being performed because it moved the inmates to a place where they can actually see vision and purpose to their life outside of what they saw as their hopelessness as they were incarcerated. then we went to new orleans and saw the lower ninth ward and realize that in this vast emptiness for miles around we saw what the flood did and how many lives were destroyed and hundreds of people had destroyed. on that hollowed ground, we said let's do the play here. let's respond to what has happened to our city and our community here. that's where i decided to do the play. it was a prophetic moment because in the play i realized and awakening, and up if any. i knew something had happened and it was the most cathartic moment of my life when i stood there on this hollow ground wer

and to make this journey threw greece threw the balkans to germany where the majority of refugees would like to go. the countries are feeling economic pressures of their own and are not set up to cope with this conflict. >> what about policies, how well are they working? >> well, they're not working at all. we have a very controversial decision to settle or i should say relocate 160,000 refugees already in europe mainly from italy and greece to other member states. but it's the unwillingness on the part of other member states to make it happen. solve them sign up willingly, and others are outvoted and forced to accept it. but a lot of refugees themselves don't want to go to the baltic states, poland, or czech republic. some countries there is a shortage of refugees willing to go there. many have their heart set on going to germany, sweden and those kinds of countries. that's not sustainable. >> thank you very much. >>> human rights groups say there are processes in place to trace diamonds in the off market but gold is hard for trace. >> every day at 7:00 a.m. these men come to dig for g

. >> montenegro's going to nato is another step for the integration of the balkan nations.t is important that nato keeps its door open to keep our ambition of an europe whole and free and at peace. >> ththey have already done huge amounts of work. we did implementation of reforms deeply in the sector of defense, in the sector of security. we're dealing with a rule of l law. so this is th complimentary. >> still, the reaction on the streets of montenegro's capital is mixed. >> it means a lot to me. i'm so happy that we received an invitation. >> i think that nothing new will happen. nothing will be better here in another 50 years, with or without nato because our people are bad. they have to change first. >> i would say it's great. for old people and young ones. i hope it will an little bit better. better than it used to be. >> montenegro formerly a part of yugoslavia has certainly come a long way in the last two decades. in 1999, montenegro was hit hard by nato airstrikes aimed as stopping the crackdown against ethnic albanians in kosovo. the regions are very different now.

. >> voters in the balkan country of slovenia rejected a same sex marriage referred. >> over 63% voted against a bill that would have defined marriages as a union of two adults. parliament approved the marriage in march >>> a controversial pharmaceutical company c.e.o. has been back in the spotlight. martin became notorious this year after raising the price of a life-saving drug from 1350 to 750 per pill. he resigned after being arrested on unrelated federal fraud charges. his price for gouging may be extreme, but the farmsput call industry is criticized for raising prices higher than most can afford. mary snow has more. >> he's a c.e.o. so dispiffed he's been labelled the most hated man in america. martin's arrest had nothing to do with the drug-pricing controversy thrusting him into the spotlight. the 32-year-old is alleged to have used money from a b biopharmaceutical piggy bank to pay off clients. >> he ran his company like a ponzi scheme. he used the subsequent company to pay off defrauded investors from the prior company. >> reporter: martin shkreli pleaded not guilty and expect

who spent barely two decades as a correspondent in central america the middle east, africa and the balkans. he's reported for more than 50 countries and has worked for the christian science monitor and the national public radio at the dallas morning news and "new york times." he was part of the team of reporters at the times and awarded a pulitzer prize for coverage about global terrorism. he's also the author of several best-selling books including ward gives us meaning and his new book which is a rebellion to moreland. if of revolt to reappear here to celebrate the release of the newest book without any further ado please welcome ted and chris hedges. [applause] thanks for coming. i'm going to talk a little bit about my book and then chris will talk about whatever he's going to talk about and then we will have a little discussion and throw it out to the audience for q-and-a. if you have any questions, comments, insults, keep them and like the government legally barred your insults. can anyone hear me? okay so i will talk a little bit about the buck. we don't have the ability to do a slid

refugee from bosnia who explained how the brutal civil war between religious communities began in the balkans in the 1990s. i know how these things work when you start whipping up mistrust between your neighbors and friends. i've seen them turn on each other. i remain an optimist. trump has taken the country by surprise. people don't know how to respond to the vague unworkable proposals. we have to do something, he he has. the phony statistics, the dark insinuations of conspiracies. there's something he don't know about president obama and the naked appeals to people's prejudices. people from all side aren't condemning trump. the country will not stay terrified even after san bernardino, the number of americans killed by islamic terrorists on u.s. soil in the 14 years since 9/11 is 45. that's an average of three people a year. number killed in gun homicides this year alone will be around 11,000. in the end, america will reject this fear mongering as it has in the past. we're going through an important test of political and moral character. i hope decades from now people will look back and ask