i'm in the old city of damascus.bc takes a look at syria's long war, a conflict a tearing this country apart. as part of special coverage, i've been to aleppo, once the powerhouse of this country. now large suedes of the iconic city lie in ruin. syrians are desperate for war to end. >> i pay everything here to make my family live. i can't. i am tired. >> i'm yolande knell at the camp in jordan. it's one of the mass camps set up to help people exiting syria. >>> i'm here with the rest of today's news. edging towards one of the great space moment moments, the roset spaceship sends a probe to land on the comet. >>> another fine for another big banking scandal. >> here we go. five global banks are fined $3 billion for their role in rigging rates in the foreign exchange market. let me tell you, it's a massive market with $5.3 trillion of currency traded every single day. yes, a massive fine by regulators. here's the question. will it change banker's behavior? it's midday here in london, 7:00 a.m. washington, 2:00 p.m. acr

. >> at times, shellfire used to shake damascus.rmy has pushed the rebels further from the city center. its fourth year has changed everything, but damascus functions. president assad is stronger than any of his enemies expected. his forces are still stretched. front lines and foxholes across syria, enough soldiers believe the president shares their reasons to fight and perhaps die for their homes, families, and country. i have got to keep my voice down because the rebel positions are only about 10 meters away and i don't want to provoke anything. early on in the war, there were plenty of predictions that the syrian army would collapse. that hasn't happened. the soldiers' morale seems pretty strong, and they are still fighting. splitsont line [indiscernible] and damascus in two. through the gun sights, you can see what is left. there,fore we arrived and attack hit the rebel side. army commanders said they knew nothing about it. killed whens were their playground was shelled. parents had helped start the school, the only chance their

i want to begin by reading to you a brief conversation i had with a friend in the old city of damascus and we were discussing the election of president barack obama in summer of 2009, a mere 50 few months after his election and we will discuss in historical significance of having an african-american in the white house. to give you some background, a sunni muslim, well educated, curious about american culture and extremely serious. on the topic of diversity in the middle east. as an american you like diversity, you have all these raises and ethnicities, even a black president. what if diversity in my society is not the same as diversity in yours? what if diversity here is a source of weakness? he asked me. wasn't it diversity that created the violence in iraq, he pressed on, the existence of all those different groups, sunni, shiite, christian, kurdish? i would rather live in a place that did not have diversity and was stable than live in a diverse place that was at constant risk of falling into civil war. let that pregnant conversation hang in the air for a minute and i will return to

today more allegations are coming to light from the damascus school. >> reporter: i'm debra alfarone in damascus where parents at a middle school and high school are learning troubling facts about a contractor who worked at the school. this is the man who police say groped a tween at john t. baker middle school last month, 44- year-old john edward epps, jr. the contractor was hired by a temp agency for a company called net com worked on security cameras, the same ones police say caught him touching a 12-year-old girl's buttocks as she walked past him, an act that ended in both assault and sex assault charges. the school waited nearly a month before informing parents and held a meeting today. >> they said it was an isolated indent. how do you know? >> reporter: wusa9 is learning it may not be. today the principal of damascus high school sent a letter out saying one of her students may have been touched inappropriately by epps during a visit to baker. we did a quick search and found epps was arrested for sex offenses and other charges in 2001 and 2010. he pled guilty to a second degree

. >>> syrian rebels are warning they could lose their main strong hold year the capitol of damascus.ernment forces are making gains and cut off supply roads. it is affecting hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside. >> reporter: these people are appealing for help from the international community, the syrian government has closed the last supply road into rebel-controlled eastern area. the syrian regime is starving our children, they say. like some other suburbs around the capitol damascus it has been under siege for more than a year. >> translator: it's a disaster zone. we are calling on the syrian government who are supposed to rep -- represent the people to save us. >> reporter: they have also been under constant fire. in recent weeks the government has stepped up its bombing campaign. people here say they no longer have the medical supplies to treat the wounded or those who are sick. residents have been finding what wood they can to keep warm. shops are closed because they have nothing to sell. >> translator: you can notice the children that are mall nourishes. we surviv

. >> on the road to damascus, one group of fighters is making gains in syria's war. >> plus: >> i'm in a mexican town now nearly deserted after residents fled in terror from a violent drug gang. >> we begin in jerusalem where four people have been killed in an attack on a synagog. two palestinian men believed to be behind the attack have been shot dead by israeli police. >> israeli police have entered a predominantly arab neighborhood in jerusalem to make arrests. some threw stones at the police who responded with tear gas. israeli raised the security threat across the country. there are fears the situation could escalate. the son going attack is the latest in a string of incidents between israelis and palestinians. the u.s. secretary of state condemned the violent, john kerry calling it an act of pure terror. let's take you now to west jerusalem where we've got these live pictures coming to you from west jerusalem, where funerals for the victims of the attacks are taking place currently. our correspondent told us that thousands expected to attend the if you know release. security acro

the principal at damascus high school says that contractor may have actually touched one of the damascus high school students when that student was visiting baker. a letter was sent out today. we wanted to know what we could find out about this contractor. this is the man police say groped a tween at john t. baker middle school last month, 44- year-old john edward epps jr., a contractor hired by a temp agency by a company called net com worked on security cameras, police say also the same one that touched a 12-year-old girl's buttocks that ended in charges. today the school held a meeting. >> they said it was an isolated incident. how do you know? >> reporter: wusa9 is learning it may not be. today the principal of damascus high school sent out a letter saying one of her students may have been touched inappropriately by epps during a visit to baker. we did a quick search and found epps was arrested for sex offenses and other charges in 2001 and 2010. he pled guilty to a second degree assault charge in 2010. he is not listed on maryland's sex offender registry which would have prohibited

withis the time lapse damascus elementary school with a high of 68 degrees. a beautiful and sunny day for a while but we have had these bands of clouds over the entire area back and forth all day long. a nice breeze and it continues to be a delightful election day. temperatures at the moment in the 50's and 60's, hanging with 64 degrees at reagan national. temperatures this evening will slowly fall, but only to a range of 47 to 54. it wille cloud cover, be even milder temperatures in the overnight hours. this is all developing ahead of a cold front and that's pushing up the warm air. bands of clouds to deal with, but they are not reducing rain. is producing rain and will continue to do so. by early on thursday morning, the front will be having a direct effect with rain throughout the day and area of pressure developing to enhance the rainfall. just not a pretty outdoor weather day on thursday. temperatures up and down the east coast in the 60's. still a cold pattern hanging on through northern maine and eastern canada. the source region for an air mass that w

let's take you straight over to damascus now. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is there. lyse? >> reporter: yes. you join us again in the old city of damascus. it's early afternoon and the place is full of shoppers. people coming to offer prayers at the spectacular mosque, which is just beside us. but across the city in various areas, including the suburbans, the syrian army continues its fight against the rebels who are still trying to push towards the center of damascus. and the rest of the country, the ground keeps shifting between the positions of the syrian army, the various opposition groups, and of course the islamic state, which continues to advance across north eastern syria, despite what have been months of air strikes by arab and western forces. over the past three years, my colleague ian panel has been visiting northern syria, visiting areas controlled by the rebel forces. and reports today on what he sees as a declining morale and the possible collapse of the opposition in some areas. >> reporter: th

and now the rebels are advances towards the southern countryside of damascus.tivists believe the international community wants to use the southern front to pressure the government in to talks. the state lost strategically important battles here but the bar is far from over. for the so called moderate rebels the fight is about preserve getting their struggle. this is their last stands. and it happens to be where the up rising began. seen, a al jazerra, beirut. >>> officials in france say there was at least one french citizen in an isil video released over the weekend. he has been identified as 22-year-old muslim convert maxine. the video shows the execution of several mean believed to be sear general soldiers, they are trying to find if a second frenchman is in the video. >> as well as maxim, another frenchman may be involved. it's too early to be sured. we were currently work to go decide whether this hypothesis stands up and can be confirmed. >> meanwhile, the obama administration is reviewing how the government tries to win the release of u.s. hostages held o

anti-government fighters attacked the groups off the capitol of damascus. one of the engineers was iranian. >>> hundreds of family members and friends have gathered in amsterdam to honor the victory of the passenger jet shot down over ukraine in july. the dutch king and prime minister are among the dignita dignitaries who attended the memorial services. >> reporter: they have choreographyed and highly produced the ceremony was, and for all that it was an extremely emotional ceremony. touched by this tragedy were all that were in attendance but this a was really for the relatives of the 196 dutch victories. it was extremely emotional. the center peace was the reading out of the 298 names of all those passengers and crew who lost their lives on mh 17 in the center of the auditorium, you will be able to see white candles for each of the 29 victims. i think this is all about grieving, about the nation sharing in the grief of the relatives who lost loved ones, reassuring them that they're not alone, and pledging to do more to close the circle if you like and to

. >> reporter: this is happening in a suburb of damascus. opposition accuses the government of setting up checkpoints to block food and supplies from reaching the area. pitting it under siege. >> translator: we came here on foot, we have no winter clothes, we have nothing. my son suffered from dehydration. >> reporter: this is one of the last areas of damascus still controlled by opposition fighters. elsewhere in the city's south. is the refugees camp which is home to palestinians living in syria. it has been under siege by government forces for almost two years. bakeries are closed. there isn't enough grain. no electricity. the. >> translator: the children wake up but there is no bread to receipt. they rarely have breakfast and lunch. >> reporter: before the war there were around 160 palestinians living here. now 18,000. including some syrians. the rest have fled and those left behind are trapped in the camp. it was cut off by government forces in 2012. after armed opposition groups moved in. now the infrastructure has been so badly damaged

epps is also accused of inappropriately touching a damascus high student. his contracting job maintaining school security cameras took him to 58 different schools in six movepts. they are -- months. they are all over schools in montgomery county. some schools he was at for multiple days. >> it is terrifying. >> she had two daughters when epps was there two days in june. >> you to just pray and cross your fingers whenever you accepted your kids away from you, but i would hope that the school system would be just a ttle more responsible. >> as we said, at this point, the only accusations of inappropriate touching at damascus. there are no indications anything happened at any of the other schools toven list. if any parents have accusations to bring, police certainly want to hear from them. we have every school he worked at since may on our website, wjla.com. >> thank you, tom. staying in montgomery county but in another school, a former students is arrested charged with bringing a gun inside of a school. police say aaron anderson brought a school inside montgo

i am scott broom in damascus. why charges have been dropped against a family and >>> a vigorous debate about parents who allow underage drinking at home has been sparked by the outcome of a case in montgomery county. this week more than 30 charges have been charged against a damascus family after a judge ruled that police miss handled the bust of a party at a home earlier this year. scott broom is in montgomery county with more. >> reporter: in this case, police acting on a tip of a suspected underage drinking party sneaked into the private backyard of a big suburban home, peered into windows and looked into a back door before going in without a warrant. judge steven salon ruled it an unlawful invasion' trampling the fourth amendment rights of george and kathy maggots. all charges drops against the family this week, including allegations that a police officer was hit and someone tried to grab for an officer's gun while arrests were being made. they were accused much putting on a holiday season party in their house

. >> this is happening in eastern damascus. checcheckpoint to block food and supplies from the area. putting it under siege. >> we came here on foot. we have no winter clothes. we have nothing. my son suffered from dehydration. >> this is one of the last areas of damascus still controlled by opposition fighters. elsewhere in the city's south is the yamuk refugee camp which is home for palestinians living in syria. it has been under siege for almost two years. bakeries are closed, there isn't enough grain. no electricity. >> the children in yamuk wake up, there is racial breakfast and lunch. >> there were more than 160,000 palestinians living here now less than 1800. cut off by the government forces in 2012. after armed opposition groups moved in. now, the is infrastructure has been so badly damaged that the united nations says there's a severe water shortage as well. nicole johnston, al jazeera. >> the top military leader has made a surprise visit to iraq. martin dempsey's first trip to iraq since the united states sent over 1,

temperature wise we are still above freezing at 39 and even damascus sitting at 37. and generally in the lower 40s inside that beltway, even 45 still downtown. we'll come back and talk about when this would roll out and we'll take you all the way through your weekend. >> thank you, top. >>> the uva student's murder reminded all of us just how vulnerable the young women could be as they go off to college. student, they are racing to meet an end of the year deadline to develop some new policies to protect the students from sex assaults. >> the state attorney general would offer guidelines, but bruce leshan reports that there will be one controversy at college park. and a warning now as this will be an adult conversation. >>> and new rules to protect the students. some of them are irate as they find penetration. >> when they say that things that might be twice a year on the campus, that it will be an issue. >> if i'm touched a certain way, i feel like it will be the sexual assault. >> the attorney general, they are just out with a new report. and offering them a kind of

today the principal of damascus high school sent out a letter saying one of her students may have been touched inappropriately by epps during a visit to baker. we did a quick search and found epps was arrested for sex offenses and other charges in 2001 and 2010. he pled guilty to a second degree assault charge in 2010. he is not listed on maryland's sex offender registry which would have prohibited him from working in the school according to maryland law. net com says they will do those background checks on all their employees, including those that come to think by a temporary agency. montgomery county police have not tied epps to the latest allegation. they say they're investigating and the principal of john t. booker middle school says she apologizes for waiting so long to send that letter. in damascus, maryland, debra alfarone, wusa9. >>> the breaking news we first told you at the top of this newscast, philadelphia police are speaking right now about the woman abducted off a sidewalk found alive in maryland. >> they are here. so let me ask the special agent in charge of the philadel

temperature wise we are still above freezing at 39 and even damascus sitting at 37.ly in the lower s

envoy in damascus. we have the details. >> the new u.n. envoy is pressing for peace in syria. he has a new initiative. one that involves reaching local cease-fire deals. he discussed this with the leadership in damascus and president bashar al-assad said he's ready to study the plan, which is supposed to start in the city of aleppo. the u.n. hopes that by stopping conflicts in certain areas it will deliver much needed aid supplies by those trapped by the fighting. it is another attempt to reduce the fighting in syria, and it is what people want. a civil society activist from homs who has mediated local cease fires in the past. >> this is the only thing that works. this is the only thing that gives hope to the people. 30,000 civilians are back after the deal. they're having much better life now than they had when there were idps. nothing else in gee me have a, london, new york, has delivered difference on the ground. >> reporter: she has been proposing a bottom-up approach for some time now. >> but facilitating this, and accepting money to peace keeps keepser, if they're not pr

christian women left there went to damascus and now look at damascus. i just had a report from a person we are in touch with in syria, they are worried that isil is coming and that is not good. >> our time is going to run quickly but to count that vote on authorizing the war is among the most significant you have taken in your career? >> anytime your vote risks men and women going to war, yes that is. in afghanistan, the same way. i have great respect for the men in the military the give their lives and their families, because i bumped into a fellow for my district who had eight deployments. eight deployments in a period of nine or 10 years. so the family is paying. tough stuff. >> across those 34 years, the votes to go to war were most significant. are there any votes you regret having taken? >> i published my entire voting record online so people can see. i do not think that i have always cast the right vote, but for the time, at the time, it seemed like -- but i cast votes for -- i voted to ban smoking on airplanes in the state of virginia got mad at

live in damascus, pat collins, news4. >> thank you, pat. >>> we're trying to find out how many prince george's county students were forced to stay home from school today because they weren't up to date on their immunizations. as of last friday about 400 students missed the deadline to get vaccinated. kids will not be allowed back in school and they'll be given five excused absences. after that, truancy proceedings will begin and their parents could be penalized. >>> doug with a check on our weather forecast. a little gray and drizzly. tomorrow is the day we're worried about, right? >> tomorrow is the day, for your. even though we had clouds, temperatures were on the mild side, about 5 degrees above average. doesn't make you think about christmas, does it? >> not at all. >> does this? the rockefeller spruce, one they had looked at for years, this is in pennsylvania that made the 155 mile journey up to "30 rock." that's what it's going to be looking like on dez 3rd. they will do that december 3rd. i still am waiting for my invitation to host something up there december 3rd. wouldn't tha

i'm in the old city of damascus.es a look at syria's long war, a conflict a tearing this country apart. as part of special coverage, i've been to aleppo, once the powerhouse of this country. now large suedes of the iconic city lie in ruin. syrians are desperate for war to end. >> i pay everything here to

the crime scene, baker middle school in damascus. the victim, a 12-year-old girl. they say she was walking down the hallway when she was touched inappropriately. charged in the case, 44-year-old john edward epps. epps is described as a contractor who was doing work in the school. >> it's conceivable the cameras he was working on were the same cameras that took the picture of this alleged assault? >> that possible. >> reporter: according to court documents the school security footage clearly shows epps reaching beyond his normal arm motion to couch -- touch the juvenile. in a sent out by the school they say there's allegati allegations epps may have inappropriately touched a 17-year-old high school student when she was here for a school activity. no charges yet but police are investigating. parents of students of baker middle, they're most upset. do you have confidence in the principal at that school? >> no. no. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: do you think the principal should be removed? >> absolutely. >> reporter: the parents say they didn't learn about the sex as

a temperature of 32 in damascus. it's accumulating on the roads a little bit. slushy, yes. just outside the weather terrace, the heavy band howard has been talking about has moved away and now starting to melt as we're still 33, 34 degrees. it's a very critical temperature at the surface. upstairs it's cold enough to support snow for most everybody around i-95 and points west. 37 at national. 34 gaithersburg. 34 leesburg and even 34 winchester and martinsburg. our snowfall potential, final call. trace to an inch for you folks into southern maryland, waldorf. 1 to 2 inches southern montgomery county, wheaton, places like silver spring. maybe touching northwest d.c. back into manassas and culpeper. a band of 2 to 4 inches possible leesburg, poolesville, gaithersburg. north of that where you've had more snow and less rain and temps were a little colder frederick north, hagerstown, winchester. cumberland 4 to 8. a little band right around south of romney through petersburg 8 to 12. some folks already have 10 inches on the ground at this hour. we're not done with the storm. i do

syrian forces continue to be siege rebel held areas around capitol damascus and for those trapped insideanitarian situation is getting increasingly desperate and we report. >> reporter: in the neighborhood of haja the water has been cutoff for more than a year, and he gets water from a well near his house, the system is simple but effective. >> translator: we had no choice but to act. we have for water, no generator and no electricity so we do it all manually. >> reporter: and this is a poor suburb four kilometers south of damascus and regularly controlled by rebels and regularly targeted by shells and bombs and ba sieges and people loyal to al-shabab cutoff supplies so he uses a bike to charge batteries and tens of thousands of syrians and palestini palestinians used to live here and forced to leave their homes but those still here the situation is desperate. >> translator: we have nothing here any more. we have no water. no jobs. barely any food. and no one is helping us. >> reporter: anti-government fighters have so far defeated attempts by government forces to enter here, for now the

we are just outside damascus gate the entrance to the old city here in occupied east jerusalem.ple have been coming, trickleing in freely as i said to you, it's the least i have seen certainly in covering this area over a couple of years in terms of police presence. so i think it is a message that the israelis are trying to give that they are trying to calm the tensions here. we know that access to the mosque has been restricted over the past two months. they closed the mask for the first time since 1967, a huge deal. and of course that pressure from the israeli right wing groups trying to get access to pray. this is a red line for palestinians and indeed for muslims around the world. we have heard those words at that ti-lateral moving saying that they are giving guarantees the status quo will not change that this will not happen. but it's a very complicated situation on the ground. it's about the mosque but also about people that are frustrated. people telling you that they are living under occupied. everybody here they don't get the same services, education, settlement constru

there is much more ahead on the al jazeera news hour, on the road to damascus, how one group of fightersng gains in syria, war plus the u.s. state of missouri set to decide if a police officer should be charged with shooting dead an unarmed black teenager, who is the host with the most and barcelona and eugene find out who has won the right to host the championship. ♪ we want to take you to iraq now where government forces are fighting a crucial battle with isil fighter and let's go live to khan who is following the story from baghdad and why is this such an important battle? >> reporter: well, the town itself is on the border with anbar and if it falls it will expose the baghdad airport and the outskirts of baghdad and it has come under pressure from isil fighters and mounted attacks from the west to the city and in recent weeks they begun to attack from the south. the iraqi army has control of another town slightly further south from anmaria which they took control of isil fighters and they are moving toward anmaria from the south and taking on isil fighters and active and putting pres

he discussed this with the leadership in damascus and the presidential bashar al-assad says he is ready to -- president bashar al-assad says he is ready to study the plan. scheduled to start in aleppo. it will be able to deliver much needed aid supplies to those trapped by the fighting. turkmani says it is what the society wants. she is from homs who has being mediated ceasefire in the past. >> they are having much better life now than when they had when they were idps someps, so nothig else have delivered difference to people on the ground. >> she has been lobbying the international community for a bottom up approach for some time now. >> by facilitating, they often fail. >> to personally intervene in mediation efforts to bring peace to their district. war is the only area in homs city controlled by the rebels. some 750,000 people live in this neighborhood. besieged for months. it could be a first step to ease the suffering until a top level political deal is reached. zena hoder, al jazeera, beirut. >> live with us from portland in oregon. thank you very much for being with us on al ja

get away from the waters and the heat eislands, it's way colder this morning. 28 in damascus, maryland winchester. front royal and the rays at 30 degrees. you're going to need your coast first thing this morning, maybe a hat, as well. but we also need the sunglasses. plenty of sunshine coming our way for later on today. hour by hour, chilly. temperatures 30s and 40s out the door this morning. into the low and mid 50s by lunchtime and most of the afternoon today will be spent in that low to mid 50s range. by 5:00, temperature back down to 53. sunset at 5:00 this afternoon and 4:59 tomorrow. highs today again, mid 50s out to the north and west. maybe a touch warmer towards fredericksburg, stafford, quantico. temperatures up closer to the 60 degree mark. that won't be too bad. a lot of college football going on your saturday. making the drive down to williamsburg. david culver is doing this, for sure. william & mary hosting elon today. if you want to see your game featured on our 9:00 show, send me a note on twitter. @chuckbell4. i need all the information, who they're playing, when they'

in fact, a report out of damascus of sleet and snow at the moment and 38 degrees. not unexpected. it will snow. in fact, on our doppler radar you see on indication when you get farther north, some steady snow and snow-sleet mix. otherwise, it's rain. with temperatures turning colder overhead, the next few of snow justflakes in the areare possible. but this is a progressive system, meaning it's going to move from west to east, be in, be out, and skies will clear later on tonight. 44 in charlottesville. elkins, 31. 28 in detroit. the cold air is marching east word. map to sharete with temperatures. now, remember yesterday we saw haderatures out in the west these numbers. they were running 23, 24 degrees below what system, meaning it's going to move from west to east, be in, be out, and skies will clear later on tonight. they were they before. here we're running 13 degrees colder than this time. in washington, even colder. and more of this fun stuff coming. areasmputer model shows of rain and snow moving through the region, but it will clear overnight. tomorrow, we'll have sunshine,

. >>> syrian government forces continue to bombard rebel held areas around damascus and for the peopledrapped inside the situation is -- trapped inside the situation is growing more desperate. >> the water has been cut off for more than a year. so abu ahmed gets water from a well near his house. the system is simple but effective. >> we had no choice but to act. we have no water, no generator and no electricity, so we do it all manually. >> this is a poor suburb four kilometers south of the capital damascus. it is regularly targeted by syrian army shells and bombs. it's also be besieged. regime soldiers surround the area and have cut off water and electricity supplies. so abu ah immediate uses a bike to charge batteries. tens of thousands of israelis and palestinians used to live here. for those still here the situation is desperate. >> we have nothing here anymore. we have no water. no jobs. barrebarely any food and no ones helping us. >> now the neighborhood remains under siege, so people living here make the most of what little they have. >> victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> the infl

. >> the colors are that the government led by bashar al assad in damascus in the south rules over thisurplish color in the south. the isis, this new big state that has formed, dominates the east and the north -- >> a lot of that is just desert, right? >> much of that is desert, it's not the big populated areas. you have the blue which also has rebel activity. there are over 1,000 militias in syria according to the cia. >> so let's understand why you think that the solution that so many people keep pushing, which is that the united states supports those rebels in the blue areas and that they will, therefore, win, they will establish control, create perhaps a democratic syria, why is that not going to work? >> it's not going to work because most of the blue area are dominated by the big rebel groups which are al qaeda and the islamic front which are jihadist, very anti-american groups. the pro-american militias just got wiped out in the northern blue spot. they just got pushed aside by al qaeda, and so they're very small. they may own perhaps 1% or 2% of syria today, the rebels that are

. >> the stronghold of damascus do be lost. government forces have cut off supply roads, effecting hundreds of thousands of civilians, dropped inside. zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: these people are appealing for help. the syrian government closed the last supply road. the syrian regime is starving our children. duma is in the east. and like damascus, and others, it has been under siege for more than a year. >> it's a disaster zone. according to the syrian government, it represents the people, and other international organizations to save us. hundreds of thousands are under siege. >> reporter: they've been under constant fire. the government stepped up its bombing campaign. many civilians have been killed in the near daily attacks. people no longer have the medical supplies to treat the wounded. residents find what they can to stay warm as winter steps in. shops are closed. they have nothing to sell. >> you notice the children that are malnourished. people don't have bread. we survived the seeping for a long time. sometimes

the pineda allegations follow an incident at baker middle school in damascus in upper montgomery county in which a contractor allegedly groped a child and it took the school nearly a no to let -- a month to let parents know. >> this is how the administration is dealing with it? be quiet and don't say anything? >> reporter: montgomery county school officials are saying in a statement pineda has worked at 20 of their schoolsen and it says the principals at those schools have been directed to write a letter home to let parents know that pineda worked there. over the last week students at ridge view middle school where pineda worked for a month and at gaithersburg elementary where he worked for three days allege they had uncomfortable or inappropriate interactions with pineda. >> yeah. it would freak out anybody as a parent. >> reporter: school leaders say the montgomery school superintendent has been calling in principals for mandatory review. j germantown, bruce she -- in germantown, bruce leshan, wusa9. >>> three people are recovering from minor injuries tonight after a fire at forest oa

four attacks in northeast damascus. meanwhile, rebels are set to carry out an offensive. >>> a teenager who travelled to syria to marry an ices gee has haddist fighter is in a dutch court. her mother reportedly went to syria to bring her home. she left her home city back in february and traveled to the isil strong hold city of racca. the director of the center for terrorism and counterterrorism says that there's a rise in the number of young girls from the west heading towards areas including syria. >> it used to be rare until a year ago but especially this year more and more girls have joined fighters in syria or went on their own or accompanied by some people to syria and that number has grown dramatically. currently it's about 20% in the netherlands. same figures for, for instance, france. we're talking not about one or two examples but probably dozens of girls and many of them are very young. two weeks ago, there was a girl, age 16, arrested in hungry on her way to syria. so we have more and more of these examples a

in damascus, brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> brand-new developments on that abduction caught on camera in philadelphia. a desperate search for the woman intensifies. the abduction was captured on the surveillance video. the 22-year-old moved to philadelphia two months ago from maryland. overnight, police released this video of his person of interest, right there, buying a drink at a convenience store. of himre also photos withdrawing cash from her account. officials do not believe she knows the kidnapper who is believed to be driving a gray ford taurus. >> ray rice is in court, of peeling his indefinite suspension that was handed down of -- appealing his indefinite suspension that was handed down after that video surfaced of him punching his wife. -- the same woman whose unconscious body he dragged out of an elevator -- he was initially suspended for two days, and after a public outcry and release of a second video, the nfl suspended him indefinitely. punishedeves he was already. >> the second video was inconsistent with the information we had. >> expected to testify, nfl commissioner

>>reporter: the crossing is a gateway from the west into damascus which lies 60 kilometers to the north. an alliance of rebel fighters control most of the area but the regime isn't giving up. refugees are forced into the countryside where nothing is easy. >> we need to buy everything. we need to buy water, bread, clothing, and everything. we need to buy it, but we don't have money. >>reporter: many here don't take sides and are angry both at the regime for the bombardment and the opposition for failing to keep its word. neither able to help those caught in the middle where the struggle for survival continues. >>> in bah rain, parliamentary elections have been going on without the party boycotting the vote. >> unless we agree on a system that represents the people and make officials accountable and serve the people and protect their rights, we cannot participate. >>> in bah rain, a sunni muslim monar monarch monarchky -- monarchy. more than 2607 candidates are competing for 40 seats in the election. however, the real power lies within unelected political leadership. the al halifa royal f

live at baker middle school in damascus. >> the first thing officials here at the school and administratorsze. they said they were sorry and have made mistakes. >> talk is cheap. what are you going to do to earn our trust back? >> bottom line -- >> what montgomery county school leaders heard tuesday night was anger. >> it is shameful. >> they say it took officials weeks to inform them that john epps junior, a contractor at baker middle school, was accused of touching a female student inappropriately. it turned out epps works in nearly 60 county schools. >> when are you actually going to answer the question, why it took you a month to let us know what happened? >> school officials said they did not send out a letter to parents to prevent further embarrassment to the victim. they do not by that logic. >> this should not have been covered up. >> the alleged incident happened october 6th. parents heard about it november story.an abc 7 the principal claims herself for communicating poorly. of theuse [indiscernible] >> they are concerned that the school system is more concerned about face-saving

a meeting is set for tonight at baker middle school in damascus at 7:00 in the cap chariot. noon, the anne arundel chief of police is stepping down. kevin davis took on the position only a year and a half ago. he says the new county executive the left wants to go in a new direction. davis says he is offering his support in the transition. his last day will be december 1. county, the william three men suspected in the shooting death of a 16-year-old high school student are still on the loose. police say the shooting happened on oakwood drive, very close to woodbridge senior high school. the victim is 16-year-old student brenden wilson. police are looking for three male suspect seen leaving the scene of a pickup truck. anyone with information is asked to call prince william county police. up, a new york doctor diagnosed with ebola is now virus-free. what he says about his recovery. thanlatives of the more 300 people killed when a south korean ferry sank said the cap and did not receive a fair punishment. today the captain was sentenced to 36 years in prison and they say that i

3 to 6 to the west. 1 to 3 around leesburg and damascus.an an inch from the i-95 area to the west. so again, not a huge storm, but because it's happening tomorrow, this will have a big impact on your day. 40 degrees tomorrow, a high of 39 on thanksgiving. thursday and friday looking very, very chilly. and we are going to see a warming trend as we head into the weekend. >>> we like warming trends. thank you, doug. we also like football teams that win. but we don't have one, do we, dianna? >> we don't. so we're still trying to figure out, will rg3 get the start this sunday? and if he does, is it a good idea? we're going to discuss it. >>> and the wizards with a big game at home and without their big guy, find out who steps in. stay here. >>> this is the xfinity sports desk, brought to you by xfinity. your home for the most live sports. >> we've got the wizards. >> yes. >> this is an exciting season already. remember last year, how pumped we are were? the wizards are back at home tonight, taking on the atlanta hawks looking for their third str

some areas north of the elevations could be -- damascus might get a wet flake before late clearing tonight is we have some wet streets. temperatures will crop below freezing during the -- drop below freezing during the overnight and we could have some slick spots. tomorrow 44. it will be windy with gusts over 20. 46 on saturday. a chilly day. sunday morning clouds and dry. upper 40's and a wet monday before a colder tuesday. good morning, bev. >> good morning. it's been a rough morning virginia northbound 95, long- standing crash ear in woodbridge. northbound -- crash here in woodbridge. northbound 95, blocking the right lanes. sky 9 has been keeping us posted on that crash cleanup. northbound 95 delays north of dumfries to get to the scene of this accident. still in the right lane and those lineups both on 95 and on route 1 now out of woodbridge with the bailout. new crash beltway just south of st. barnabas road. it's going to be on the outer loop leaving alexandria just north of 210 and north of st. barnabas on the right side. traffic on the inner loop st. barnabas down toward the wilson

and syrian government forces continue to be siege rebel held areas in the capitol damascus and peopleide the humanitarian situation is getting desperate and we report. >> reporter: in the neighborhood of haja the water has been cutoff for more than a year. and he gets water from a well near his house and the system is simple but effective. >> translator: we had no choice but to act. we have no water, no generator and no electricity so we do it all manually. >> reporter: this is a poor suburb four kilometers south of damascus and largely controlled by rebels so it is regularly targeted by syrian army shells and bombs and also besieged and soldiers lowell to al-assad has cutoff water and electricity supplies so he uses a bike to charge batteries. tens of thousands of syrians and palestinians used to live here, most have been forced to leave their homes but for those still here the situation is desperate. >> translator: we have nothing here any more. we have no water, no jobs, barely any food and no one is helping us. >> reporter: anti-government fighters have so far defeated attempts by

. >> the cross something a gate away from the west into damascus, which lies just 65 kilometers to the north. an alliance of rebel fighters including al-qaeda-linked al nusra front are not giving up. they are forced to the countryside, where nothing is easy. >> we need to buy everything. we need to buy water, bread, everything. we need to buy it, but we don't have money. >> many here don't take sides, and are angry for the bomb batterment and the opposition for failing to keep its word. neither are able to help those caught in the middle where the struggle for survival continues. >> the new interim president of burkina faso begins his first term. they are warning that the army cannot be part of the government next year. >> no one in active service may seek position in political position. this means that those who take on elective positions must severe ties with the military. >> former police director in machines has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of 43 students. here's the latest in a string of arrests that including a former mayor and police officials. all suspecte

the syrian government fights to take back a key damascus suburb. and art sales continue to make records in york. but what's driving up the prices? >> we start in kenya. al-shabab fighters have ambushed a bus and killed 28 passengers close to the border to somalia. the bus was traveling to nairo nairobi. the gunmen ordered the passengers off the pus, an bus, and talked to them to find out who was muslim. the police say 19 men and 9 women were killed. if you want to find out more about that story here at al jazeera you can always go to the website www.aljazeera.com to get the very latest. >> born as one gender and living another. >> we're going ebbs floo explore. i'm phil torres. tonight sharks. both people avoid sharks. we're out to meet them. tag them. learn all about this pep. >> sharks don't eat people. >> five days and nights at sea on our especially rigged shark laboratory. exhort research is next. lindsay moran is an ex-c.i.a. operative, and dr. shay is an engineer, and dr. crystal dilworth is a scientist. that's our team. >> hello, welcome to

. >>> a contractor accused of groping a baker middle school student in damascus, maryland a month ago may have had inappropriate contact with a second student. john epps is accused of groping a 12-year-old girl in hallway of the school. police say the alleged groping was caught on a security camera. he is charged with fourth degree assault. police have not released many details on a second case. they say it involves a damascus high school student volunteering at the middle school. >>> eric hoppedder has referred to loretta lynch as a top prosecutor. she started her career back in 1990. in 1999 she helped prosecute the police brutality case and helped investigate citigroup over mortgage securities frauds. if chosen she would be the first black woman to headed justice department. >>> a new report says a number of safety seats meet the mark when it comes to keeping your child safe. >> getting into your hotel room will soon be as easy as point and click from your mobile device. wusa9 is back right after this. >>> 6:008 this thursday morning a. yellow alert day -- 6:08 this thursday mornin