>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. there are new federal guide lines concerning lung cancer screenings. a panel of doctors now recommending ct scans for those at risk. they say it would save thousands of lives. stephanie sy has the story. >> reporter: this man lit up his first cigarette in a fox hole during world war ii. >> one of the guys said it will help settle you down. >> reporter: decades later he was diagnosed with lung cancer after a ct scan. he is one of the lucky ones, lung cancer the leading cause of all cancer deaths in the us. a panel of experts recommends that adults who are heavy smokers, be given a low dose annual ct scan in an effort to detect early signs of cancer. the group also recommends screenings for those who have quit until the last 15 years. the decision was praised by some such as this expert. she estimates the new guidelines could save more than 30,000 lives a year. >> we're thrilled with this result. we think that

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyal jazeera america >>> well we still have several hours to go before we enter 2014, but in much of asia it is already the new year. 2014 beginning with a bang in shanghai. ♪ shanghai marking the beginning of the new year with this laser light show and fireworks display. there were similar events in cities across china, including a big one in hong kong. some people in colorado are going to ring in the new year by waiting in line to buy marijuana. the state expects nearly $600 million in sales this year, and $67 million in tax revenue. residents 21 and older can buy an ounce of marijuana, out of state residents can only purchase a quarter of an ounce. ♪ >>> and investors apparently looking for one last hurrah before this very big year for wall street comes to an end. stocks are up now. and the blue chips are on pace for their best gain since 1995. housing prices continue to score, but may not last for long. home prices are almost up 14% from last year. but that monthly gain is just .2 of

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america >> welcome back. we're talking about the federal reserve, and it's role in the economic recovery. still with us, mark, director of financial regulations studies at the cato constitution. pedro who covers knicks in the central bank for the wall street journal, and nela richardson with bloomberg government. nela, janet yellen, i had to hedge my bets in the last segment there. she hasn't been confirmed, voted on, sworn yet, but by all accounts she's on her way in. said to be much more hawkish on getting the unemployment rate down than worrying about inflation. what does that mean in practical terms while the bank is also unwinding this long-term stimulus project? >> i think for the near term futureish it means that she has the freedom to really target unemployment as aggressively if she chooses as bernanke has in the past. she really can be data driven, deliberate, but look at a certain set of indicators, motivated by those as opposed to worrying about the specker of

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america (vo) al jazeera america we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. (vo) we pursue that story beyond the headline, past the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capitol. (vo) we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. (vo) and follow it no matter where it leads, all the way to you. al jazeera america. take a new look at news. >> one million down, six more to go. that's if the obama administration intends to meet its goal, before the open enrollment period ends in march. it's a tough couple of months for president obama's landmark legislation. more than 975,000 people signed up through healthcare.gov. that's seven times more than the number that signed up in october and november combined. but even though there is people signing up, there's plenty of confusion that happens on january 1st. even if y

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america >> well, 2013 is winding downwha little reflection. the trends you might not have noticed this year, make no mistake about it, even though you might not have taken notice, these trends had a big impact on our lives. azmat khan, what are the trenders that people don't -- trends that people don't even realize are happening? >> many people when the expwrnt launched thought that media organizations had to scale back on their deeper reporting, that's definitely true, smaller articles, a lot of curated blogs. but we have seen a proliferation of long form journalism. explanatory, expository, deeper narrative, that brings to light a subject that you don't necessary-they are very expensive -- >> is there a craving to get more information beyond the headline? >> yeah, there's a desire for greater -- there's a disiert for deeper and yawlt reporting. longform.org and longreads.com, which curate, the long reads hashtag that is used often to describe those, you see more people o

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america >> the retailer target is dealing with more holiday shopping trouble. the company confirmed some of its customers are having trouble using some of its gift cards. >> target won't say how many gift cards have been affected. a spokesperson said that the cards were not fully activated when purchased, so when go to redeem them they didn't have any value on them. target said this didn't have anything to do with the data breach when 40 million customers' credit and debit card information was compromised. you can go to the customer service desk at the store. target has been overwhelmed with phone calls. we called an and an automateed service said call back later. they tweeted this, we continue to listen and work hard to address feedback. call centers are home this week including new year's day. >> maria, thank you. the dow jones closed the year at a high. the best one-year performance since 1995. the s&p also closed up 29% of year, and nasdaq closed out the year jumping 3

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima only jazeera america >> this sunday... >> scholars and writers, policy makers and cultural icons >> don't miss the best of "talk to al jazeera" revealing... >> he said he was gonna fight for the public option, he didn't do it... >> personal.... >> from the time i was about nine, i knew i was different in ways other than just my face... >> shocking... >> being babtist...they always talk about don't judge other people.. but they judge everybody... >> the conversations people are talking about >> forget the democrat party and forget the reublican party, they're all one party... >> talk to al jazeea on al jazeera america >>> welcome back, a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. rebel forces in south sudan have recaptured the town of bor. bor is seen as strategically important by both sides. >>> three al jazeera journalists are still being detained in egypt. the producer seen on the left, and another producer have both been moved outside to cairo. all are due to be questioned in the c

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima onlyn al jazeera america consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete? >> one million down, six more to go. that's if the obama administration intends to meet its goal, before the open enrollment period ends in march. it's a tough couple of months for president obama's landmark legislation. more than 975,000 people signed up through healthcare.gov. that's seven times more than the number that signed up in october and november combined. but even though there is people signing up, there's plenty of confusion that happens on january 1st. even if you don't have insurance you are going to have a thre

"america tonight's" michael okwu reports from los angeles. >> it was the culmination of an fbi probe that began two years ago into the los angeles county sheriff's department and the jail system it runs. prosecutors say they found a wide scope of illegal conduct, including assaults on inmates and on those visiting prisoners. andre is the u.s. attorney for the central district of california. >> the federal investigation found these incidents did not take place in a vacuum. in fact, examples of illegal conduct alleged in these indictments demonstrated that certain of the individuals and certain of that behavior had become institutionalized. >> reporter: two sheriff's deputies, one in charge of training new officers were indicted for allegedly beating an inmate at the twin towers correctional facility, strike, kicking and pepper spraying the man. five other deputies were charged with falsely arresting visitors at the men's central jail including a diplomat from austria trying to visit an austrian inmate. among the most serious allegations, that two ranking prison officials were part an

>> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima only jazeera america statute honors womennze forced into prostitution, but as brian rooney explains the presence isn't lucked by all. >> it is a simple statute of a teenager girl sitting in a chair. next to her is an empty chair although it's never really empty. the statute is always covered with flowers, testament to the continuing emotion this memorial evokes. on a recent day a korean family came to see it. >> i learned about it in the history class when i was back in korea. and recently, i became more aware about it. >> during world war ii, japanese army concurred korea and other countries they pressed as many as 200,000 young women into service as sex slaves. some of them just girls and most of them korean. they were called the comfort women. >> a lot of them died, a lot of them were left at the front line when the japanese withdrew. >> the statute represents the girls, the empty chair the women who are gone. the bid on her shoulder a symbolic connection between the living and dead. th