he's a media and public relations officer with the international christian embassy jerusalem and in haifa we go to daphne simponi she's a professor of modern middle east history at technion israel's institute of technology and another member of our cross talk team yell on the hunger or a cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want alex i'd like to go to you over the last sixty years or so we've seen the christian population of what is the legal borders of israel and the the west bank and gaza drop significantly there are different estimates there from one in twenty where their population was christian. at the advent of the israeli state and first some estimates now it's around two percent to take your numbers it's still going down dramatically what is the single most important reason why krista christian population has diminished so much in palestine. you would say. political and income think i'm sure it would be like to the shows found themselves in go ahead alex. yes the economic and the political situation that the palestinian christians find them selves in i

three-day blaze continues to range. 42 people have died, 7,000 acres of the carmel forest outside haifa has burned, and 17,000 people have been displaced. >> this is a tragedy. we have people struggling for their lives in hospitals. we have missing persons. >> glor: thousands of others have been evacuated to shelters. officials initially suspected arson, but authority today say the blaze was caused by negligence and the police are reportedly arrested two people. a russian jetliner broke apart after making an emergency landing on a snow-covered runway in moscow today. at least two were killed and dozens more hurt. police say the plane, operated by dagestan airlines, suffered engine failure. just ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, how one man transformed his life from heroine addict to attorney at law. gloaf the idea that every defend deserves a lawyer is a principle of american law, that a former defend could some day become a lawyer himself is something else. that is tonight's "weekend journal." a former her win addict's remarkable reversal of fortune. 58-year-old rick dyer hasn't alw

this broke out in the north of the country near haifa. the dead or prison guards who died when their bus was trapped by the flames. they had been brought in to evacuate 500 prisoners from a nearby jail. it is a difficult day on the roads here in the german capital. there have been freezing temperatures around the country going right down to - to allow any degrees celsius. -- to 20 degrees celsius. 18 people have died in the past two days in poland. >> berlin is covered in a blanket of the white stuff with a 10-18 centimeters in places. this is a joy for tourists. for commuters, thiss a challenge to say the least with dozens of accidents across the capitol. treacherous conditions were the order of the day across much of central europe like here in the czech republic. dozens of trucks have been stuck in the snow for hours. >> this is a crazy situation with some much of snow and semitrucks stock and no one to clear the roads. they are still sleeping or they don't know what is going on. i have been waiting for hours. >> western europe has not

is helping israel to fight a deadly forest fire, the worst in israeli history near the port of haifa. one big problem, israel doesn't have fire fighting planes. john ray of our british partner, itn, has an update on the effort to get the fire under control. >> reporter: they're fighting a running battle with the flames and often losing. the village of reinhardt, was a haven for artists and now a picture of destruction. 17,000 people have fled their homes. this fire has been too big for israel's emergency teams to combat alone. they have lacked numbers, but not courage. among the dead, 16-year-old alyad rivan, a trainee fire fighter shown here last year. on thursday, he skipped school to join his crew and lost his life in a doomed attempt to save a bus carrying prison guards. most of the victims in the fire perished. as for the cause, police have made two arrests. >> the initial results that we have at the moment is that it was -- it took place as a result of negligence. our units are continuing that investigation which is obviously going to be a thorough investigation. >> the burning

fires continue to rage, almost out of control, near the northern israeli town of haifa, we're on thatures come to us, here at "america's newsroom." in the meantime, here at home, a guy flaunting drugs and booze and weapons, on his facebook page, from inside his prison cell, we'll talk to the mother of the man he's convicted of murdering, next. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free i

: israel is battling a huge fire spreading through the carmel forest and reportedly heading toward haifaere there's a large oil refinery. at least 40 prison guards were killed while racing to rescue inmates from the fire zone. their bus caught fire and they burned to death. israel has appealed for international help and at least 20 fire-dousing planes are on their way from other countries in the area. in this country, 200 drivers were stranded by a snowstorm overnight along a stretch of i- 90 near buffalo. tonight, they're still working to free snow-bound drivers. elaine quijano is in west seneca which got almost three feet of snow. >> reporter: police say the last of the motorists trapped on this stretch of highway behind me here will be evacuated by tonight, but dozens of other motorists in cars and trucks are still stuck at this hour. authorities worked all night trying to keep snow-bound motorists warm and hydrated. they brought food and fuel. no injuries were reported. many of the motorists, including this college basketball team, are still trapped tonight. this mess started when a

greece, and cyprus have tried to put out the flames, which are now less than a mile from the city of haifa. thousands of people have been evacuated, and at least 41 have been killed-- most of them prison guards caught in the fire while rushing to evacuate inmates. back to this country and one of its most notorious criminals, serial killer charles manson. manson, who's now in his 70s, has been caught using a smuggled cell phone in his california prison cell. he's called people in california new jersey, and florida. it's unclear who he called or what was said. guards found the phone under manson's mattress. the penalty? 30 days added to his life sentence. in china, they're celebrating a record run on the fast track. during a test today, a new high- speed train reached 302 miles an hour, a world record for an unmodified passenger train. it's due to go into service in 2012 and should cut the travel time between beijing and shanghai in half, to just five hours. coming up next, a company in trouble. someone has to be laid off. how the boss decided who it would be. did you know a problem in your

abc's simon mcgregor-wood is near haifa where dozens were killed in a rescue attempt. >> reporter: all day long, hundreds and hundreds of people from across this region have been evacuated from their homes, including 500 inmates from a nearby jail. and it was during that operation tragedy struck. a bus carrying prison guards ran into a wall of flame. they simply had no time to turn around and get away. 40 people on that bus were burnt alive. >> and simon tells us israel is asking other countries for help, including firefighting helicopters. >>> and nasa scientists announced a kind of cosmic headline today, a discovery that could rewrite our ideas about what it takes to sustain life and what else might be living out there in the universe. john berman on what nasa found. >> reporter: life out there. we've imagined aliens. visitors. >> we mean no harm. >> reporter: but the world's newest science celebrity doesn't look like that but rather this. >> i'd like to introduce to you the bacterium gfaj-1. >> reporter: it redefines life as we know it. until now, we believed all life on earth neede

wildfire raging near the northern israeli city of haifa.by strong winds has devoured 3700 acres and moving close to a neighborhood in haifa. nearly 15,000 people have been evacuated. benjamin netanyahu calls it one of the worst fires in israel's history. >>> in japan, there are joint military exercises alongside japanese troops. the drill's name key sword. >>> let's move on now to hong kong where business execs strut their stuff. ♪ hong kong's hottest new attraction is a night spot designed for ceos to let loose and destress. i think we could use one here in the cnn newsroom. one night a month, they tap into their inner rock gods and forgetting about balance sheets and what happens at the office. one event raised thousands of dollars for medical work in china. >>> lots of developments in the cnn newsroom this hour. let's check in first with christine romans. hi. >> do not call me at supper time with your offer and do not track my action on the internet because i want to browse without my information being sold to advertisers. it's like a do

it's burning near haifa, a popular tourist spot on the mediterranean. there are reports 40 people have been died. leland vitter is live in jerusalem. how did this start and what's happening on it right now legalland? >> reporter: here in jerusalem, jon, we are already hearing the sounds of fire trucks heading up to the north to fight this fire, they're bringing in resources from all over the country. in addition, they have called up the military with those big bulldozers to try to cut fire lines. the 40 people who died were traveling in a bus, they were prison guards on their way to try and evacuate a prison in the fire zone. what we're told from local sources is the bus drove into the wall of fire, tried to make a u turn, got caught in the fire and that's when the 40 prison guards burned to death. there were a number of other people caught in their cars who were also injured in the fire. the fire started earlier today. there are reports with the israeli media this was an arson fire because it was touched off in three places. those are unconfirmed. we d

this broke out in the north of the country near haifa. the dead or prison guards who died when their bus was trapped by the flames. they had been brought in to evacuate 500rom a nearby jail. it is a difficult day on the roads here in the german capital. there have been freezing temperatures around the country going right down to - to allow any degrees celsius. -- to 20 degrees celsius. 18 people have died in the past two days in poland. >> berlin is covered in a blanket of the white stuff with a 10-18 centimeters in places. this is a joy for tourists. for commuters, this is a challenge to say the least with dozens of accidents across the capitol. treacherous conditions were the order of the day across much of central europe like here in the czech republic. dozens of trucks have been stuck in the snow for hours. >> this is a crazy situation with some much of snow and semitrucks stock and no one to clear the roads. they are still sleeping or they don't know what is going on. i have been waiting for hours. >> western europe has not been scar

. >> another kind of tree has gone up in the center of haifa that's sure to put smiles on people's facesg more than 5,000 plastic bottles. >> the bottle tops are holding the whole thing together. it took the artist about a month to build the tree. she thanks her family for all the help. i wonder if she drank all that water by herself. >> she's in the bathroom right now. we'll be right back. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww if your racing thoughts keep you awake... sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. a

is joining an international effort to help fight a huge wildfire that's burning near haifa, israel.the fire has burnt 4,000 acres. u.s. is sending military planes to help out. >>> also, investigators not quite sure what caused a tour bus driver to lose control before crashing in vermont on friday. 16 people injured here. the bus was taking students from the university of massachusetts at amherst to canada for a skiing trip. and police say it crossed the median, rolled over. doctors say all the student injuries appear to be minor. don't know yet the driver's condition. >>> also, minnesota may finally have a new governor. finally, i say that, democrat mark dayton beat republican tom emmer. dayton has a lead of more than 8,000 votes with 99.9% of all the ballots being recounted. still, his opponent could be taking this issue to court, however. he's questioning the recount, saying it looks as if more ballots were cast than there are voters in the state of minnesota. >>. >>> now to that picture a moment ago with the president. really dark, but if you look real closely, if you squint, squ

flames spread to the outskirts of the country's third-largest city, haifa. >>> now, diane sawyer is hereat's on tonight's "world news." >> good morning. new job numbers are out. and we'll tell everyone who is hiring. also, you'll meet an incredibly inspiring 19-year-old who may change the way everyone looks at their own life. we promise that. he's our "person of the week." it's tonight on "world news." see you then. >> can't wait to see that. >>> finally, what's warm, fuzzy and black and white all over? a giant panda, born at the atlanta zoo. just got his one-month checkup. he's over two pounds and about a foot long. that attributes to his good health to an experienced mom, lun lun, who has two, older cubs. >>> now, we're going on to sam champion. sam, i think you and i got the gray memo this morning. >> bianna, as soon as you showed the pandas -- go ahead. give the panda response. [ cheers ] everybody loves those things. and i swear. from the zoo in washington, where we see them, they just lay there. they're like, love me. i'm a panda bear, love me. let's get to the boards. can we pan t

it's happening mere haifa, israel's third largest city. more than 40 people are dead.hearing more from kevin flower about the possible cause of the deadly blaze. >> reporter: as firefighters battle one of the worst blazes in israeli history disturbing news this fire may have been caused as a result of arson. the israeli police spokesman telling us a short time ago they found suspicious objects at the location where this fire was started, leading them to believe that it was the result of arson and it was intentionally started. there are aircraft from greece, cyprus, the united kingdom helping to put water on the fire trying to put it out. even turkey provided two planes to help fight this fire. of course israel and turkey recently having a falling-out over a nurm mber of diplomatic issues, this at least for the time being bringing the two together. >>> now to south korea where they are taking the glove off so to speak with respect to their northern neighbor. the man nominated to take over as defense minister is promising air strikes if north korea attacks again. check o