thank you phil lavelle, live from the netherlands. we appreciate it. >> that will do it for this decision of al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey, thank you for joining us. ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> here are the headlines at this hour. >> only on al jazeera america.

phil lavelle has the story from amsterdam. >> they go through the festive period in a big way - santa, angels, christmas trees, but racism? that is what this is. meet black pete the face of sinterklas. every year children across the country paint their faces black. they have done since the 1820, and race campaigners say that is where he firmly belongs. >> at the heart of this is a simply question, is black pete honest fun, something for the children. dutch tradition that should be left alone or is he a symbol of racism, slavery, something that should not be around in the year 2013. what started as a discussion evolved into a debate, and a fierce one. the man leading the campaign says as an as a result he's received death threats. >> you have kids running home after school scrubbing the black off their bodies, called dirty black thesieves, and elder by afraid to leave their house. >> is that happening? >> it is. >> black pete may live in the fairy books but his face is fought out in the digital world. this is a tale of two facebook campaigns, 13 million wanting it to change, and 2 mill

it's why al jazeera's phil lavelle is live with more. how do we know these are the bones of st. peter? >> well, that is the thing. we don't. this is up there with authenticity when it comes to issues dividing catholics. the bones were found in 1941. an expert from the university of rome came to the conclusion that the bones were genuine, found in a tomb where they were rapped in a gown. suggesting they were of someone of huge importance. the words of peter were scrawleded on the time. in 1968 an announcement was alluded to saying as far as the catholic church is convinced it's highly likely. scientists say it is too ambiguous, nothing an categorically say the bones belonged to st. peter. there was a purple gown, but it could be a bishop. the time was shared with many, so it could belong to anybody. >> thanks for joining us. >>> the count down for the olympics is on. the olympic torch has already headed to space. we'll tell you where the flame's latest adventure was this weekend. stay with us. . >>> the state of florida saw the largest drop in its homeless population, it's been o

phil lavelle has more from rome. >> crowds in the vatican for sunday mass. that's not unusual. this is. the bones of the first ever pope. blessed here by the man who took the roll on more than 2,000 years later. this urn contains what are believed to be the remains of st. peter, said to have been crewsified in the year 64 ad. found in a time with peter's name on the wall, they've been wrapped in purple and gold cloth, a sign of somebody important. there is no dna evidence and the feet were missing, which is why there is some skepticism. >> we can be nearly sure that the tomb is under the basilica, but we can say nothing about the bones, because the archeological data is not there. >> translation: if the science can't confirm it, it's a matter of faith. >> >> translation: what matters is we give the relevant importance. >> translation: all the evidence says it's st. peter's, if you don't want to believe, don't. >> with that the bones were taken back. the church got its awed yearnings the bones their message. the crowds got a chance to see it. >> this is about faith. there may be

phil lavell has more for us from amsterdam. >> black pete is a crowd pleersf pleaser if this is anything to go by. bigger than christmas leer. black pete, st. nicholas's naughty little helper. keeps the youngsters happy but not the campaigners who claim this is the symbol of racism, a throw-back to the slave trade. very much divided. the number of protesters was relatively small, compared that to the 2 million who want him to stay. you can see there's little chance black pete will be going anywhere. >> we want to keep it. >> ask somebody who is not from this country. do you think that this is racist? >> absolutely, no question. it seems to me obvious that it is racist. >> you don't find it offensive at all? >> no, i like it, my children like it, they do it at school. >> center class and black pete have been part of the area since the 1820s. look at this year, look at the crowd there is a notable reduction in the number of face that have been painted black. people here want to keep the tradition but they don't want to be accused of racism. >> compared last year much less children are pain

phil lavelle has the story. >> they go through the festive period in a big way in the netherlands - santa's, angels, christmas trees, but racism. meet black peat the says of sinterklass, a dutch holiday preceding christmas. more of a hindrance some say. children across the country paint their faces black to look like him and have down so since the 1820s. campaigners say that's where he belongs. at the heart of this is a question - is black peat harmless fund. dutch tradition that should be left alone. or is he - as the campaigners tell you a symbol of racism, slavery, something that should not be around in the 2013. what started out as a discussion is a debate, and a fierce one. the man leading the campaign says as a result he has received death threats. >> if you have kids running home after school, scrubbing skin off their bodies, we have a problem. if we have grandparents elderly who won't leave the house, we have a problem. if we have... >> is that happening? >> it's happening at the moment. >> black peat may live in the story books, his face is fought out in the digital world. this is

phil lavelle has more. >> black pete is controversial but is a crowd pleaser. thousands of families lined the streets for the sinterklaas para parade, a dutch festival that comes before. black pete is a naughty helper. children paint their faces to look like him. it keeps youngsters happy, but not the campaigners, claiming this is a symbol of racism, a throw back to slave trade. this season of unity is decided. the number of protesters out on friday was small, swallowed up by the crowds. online 30,000 backed a call for black pete to be abolished. compare it to the 2 million who want him to stay. there's little chance that black pete will go anywhere. >> we are from holland. we want to keep it. >> ask someone not from the country - do you think this is racist? >> absolutely, no question. it seems obvious it's race. >>. >> you don't find it offensive? >> no. >> no. >> i like it. i have children, i do it. i have children. they like it. they do it at school. >> sinterklaas and black pete have been part of dutch life. generations paint their faces black so they can

phil lavelle reporting live from vatic vatican city. thank you for being with us. >> fewer americans are homeless according to the latest figures from the department of housing and urban development. 610,000 were considered homeless, down 10% from 2007 and the third year in a row that homelessness has fallen. shelters are still full. an estimated 65% relied on homeless shelters, a third were found living in cars, abandoned buildings or under bridges. almost a quarter of homeless in america were under 18. >> a draw down in afghanistan will send thousands of troops home. many will be looking for work. skills on the battlefield don't always translate to the economy. that's why some veterans i taking advance of low-interest loans. >> with days before the start of the season, employees in chocolate works are in high gear, melting, decorating and packing goodies to send to customers. >> i worked since i was four, my entire life and have chocolate in my vince. >> jo took over the business from his father. a person who studied cocoa. both are v