. >>> russia requests an international arrest warrant for the kremlin critic. >>> and a remarkable tailf survival from china. the 19 year old found after more than 60 hours trapped under landslide rubble. ♪ >>> hello, a gas attack is reported to have taken place in syria. five people are said to have been killed southwest of damascus. witnesses say government helicopters fired missiles containing this nerve agent sarin. this despite an international weapons watchdog saying the last of syria's chemical weapons had been shipped out of the country for destruction last year. zana hoda reports. >> reporter: this is not the first time there have been reports of gas used as a weapon in syria. opposition sources say these people were exposed to gas when government helicopters fired missiles in the residential area. the rebel held neighborhood has been a battle ground for sometime now. >> translator: these rockets were carrying sarin gas, and five people were killed, and more than 30 injured. mostly civilians. the sarin gas was used in the western neighborhood of the city. the victims showed sym

the kremlin has gone mad, he says. the move comes a day after armed police raided the moscow offices of the business founded by the businessman. reporter: ramping up the pressure on the kremlin's most outspoken exiled critic. the arrest warrant for me, quarter koski comes two -- for mikhail khodorkovsky comes two weeks after he was charged in absentia for a murder. >> we have found out he was involved in a murder and two other suspected homicides. it does not matter where the the accused is hiding. it is our duty to take every legal action to bring them to justice. reporter: the 52-year-old oligarch spent a decade in prison on charges of tax evasion, fraud, and embezzlement, which is supporters say work trumped up return for his political ambitions. 10 years later, he was unexpectedly pardoned by vladimir putin and flown out of the country. the exiled opponent continues to be a thorn in the kremlin's side. for one, because of a dispute between shareholders and the government. following his arrest, moscow began offering

. ♪ >>> an international arrest warrant has been issued by russia for the kremlin critic. ities accuse him of ordering the killing of the mayor of a siberian town back in 1998. >> reporter: this man may be in self imposed exile. >> translator: no matter what the kremlin propaganda and pr wanted to show us, putin is no superman. and he will not go down in history as a hero. >> reporter: on tuesday russian police raided the offices of a organization funded by the man. >> translator: it is not an unexpected event for us, especiallyic taking into consideration the fact that activists were searched and jailed before. >> reporter: on wednesday came the international arrest war rent accusing him of organizing a contract killing in the '90s. >> translator: the presence of evidence of the accused involvement in homicide and attempted homicide, the investigation has decided to request his arrest in absentia. >> reporter: the kremlin's most outspoken critic, and once russia's richest man has already spent ten years in jail for charges that were widely seen as punishment for questionin

i think the planning of putin's comments probably imitated a kremlin version of the west wing episodehere the emperors sit around and throw out phrases like, let the media do the spinning for you or let's get ahead of any negative media stories. he gives this three hour news conference with 1390 journalists attending and at the very end, he slips in an innocuous endorsement of donald trump. he calls him colorful and taenlted. >> a little endorsement. i think what you just said was pretty extraordinary. this is all about the kremlin and vladmir putin. it is being misconstrued, do you see? being misconstrued by donald trump? >> i don't think it is being misconstrued. it is a tactical story the kremlin is letting the western media pick up on, sitting back and watching it happen. there is a holiday weekend. there is this phrase, the putin/trump bromance. they are talking about putin and trump like they are talking about ben affleck and matt damon. they are not talking about poulin like at dolladolf hitler joseph stalin. i think you have to give the communications people in the kremlin a r

. >> international arrest warrant has been issued by russia for the kremlin critic khodorkovsky. has been accused of ordering the murder of a mayor of a sigh bear sigh bear i siberian town. >> no matter what the kremlin propaganda and pr wanted to show us, putin is no superman, and he'll surely not go down in history as a hero. >> on tuesday russian police raided the offices of a pro democracy movement founded and funded by mikhail khodorkovsky. >> when we all made a decision to work with this organization and khodorkovsky, we did understand our risks. that's why it has not become an unexpected event for us, especially taking into consideration the fact that activists have have been jailed before. >> on wednesday came the international arrest warrant accusing khodorkovsky of organizing a contract killing in the '90s. >> cord could have can i success involvement in homicide and attempted homicide, the government has requested his arrest in absentia and the court granted the question. >> once russia's richest man had already spent ten years in jail convicted of tax evasion and embe

he told a crowd at the kremlin, he is prepared to use additional military force in syria if it is deemed necessary. he commended the efforts of russian pilots and intelligence officers in the country. but added that they haven't used the extent of their military might yet. mr. putin's comments come just a day after the u.n. security council unanimously endorsed a peace plan for syria, a plan that includes a cease-fire. russia has been a firm ally of the syrian president, bashar al assad. some diplomats say that moscow has made it clear privately that it has no objection to assad eventually stepping down as part of a peace process. then that begs the question. what is russia hoping to accomplish with its military campaign? our senior international correspondent math you jants went to a russian military base in russia for some answers. >> you know, the kremlin keeps saying there can't be any military solution to the conflict in syria, has to be a political one. at the same time, russia has poured its power military into the country bolstering its syrian governmental eye and making sure tha

russia's media system is largely controlled by the government, the kremlin and vladimir putin itself. >> reporter: the majority of russian people get information from all tv channels controlled by the government. russia has the upper hand, it has a history of financing a strong and sophisticated propaganda machine. russia is inundating with its message. turkey does not have that. >> the first wave of coverage focused on technical questions - was it in turkish air space or not, were the pilots warned or weren't they. the next day the russian media were making it about president recep tayyip erdogan family. moscow-based channels, including the russian language and english language zeroed in on allegations that recep tayyip erdogan, through his son bilal was profiting from oil deals with i.s.i.l. >>> to back up the stories, they ran with this image, alleges it showed bilal erdo wan with two i.s.i.l. leaders. turned out the two were not war lords, they were waiters. >> there was a ukranian website dedicating work to dismantling artist propaganda. the website published a story rebutting ev

the big story in europe is a possible shakeup in the kremlin. ssian finance minister is in talks to return to a senior post to help deal with the country's worsening economic crisis. will be thes now bloomberg russian editor c. can give us ayou sense of why this is significant that vladimir putin is reaching out to a former finance minister. >> he was the finance minister for 11 years, amana vast withience credited by many establishing russia's reputation for economic validity. he was responsible for setting up the stabilization fund, the reserve fund, and the national welfare fund which helped russia get through the 2008-2009 crisis easier than many expected and now russia relies on this as a tries to battle the oil slump. what a be sensible for us to assume they are trying to use previous expertise now because they are confronting quite a crisis in the economy? they have a contraction of 4%. >> yes, it's a contradictory message because vladimir putin told russians all caps of weeks ago that the give the crisis had passed. now it seems he is rea

the kremlin is calling the report fake information. aljazeera interviewed people on the ground who support the findings. >> reporter: the russian airstrikes have increased recently. they pretend that they're starting the terrorists, but most of the people killed are women and children. >> be russia said that they're targeting isil only and according to the amnesty report, there were no military targets in the areas hit by the airstrikes. the of effort to retake ramadi is in it's finally stables. -- may be out of the city by the end of the year. >> progress is slow, but it's progress nonetheless. iraqi security forces closed in on fighters in the center of ramadi city. and the government is portraying it as a final push to recapture anbar province, and the spirits are high. >> even though it's very slow, and it's very welling organized and very well coordinated between the iraqi army and the airstrike from the international coalition. >> there are just a few hundred rebels left in remove adi. ramadi. the iraqi forces have been trying to

the government has issued an international arrest warm from kremlin critic.ent 10 years in prison after falling out with president putin. he now spends a lot of time in london says that he is considering applying for political asylum in britain. emma hayward reports. >> reporter: he may be in self impressed exile but seldom misses an opportunity to criticize president putin. >> translator: no matter what the kremlin propaganda and p.r. wanted to show us, putin is no superman and he will surely not go down in history as a hero. >> reporter: on tuesday, russian police raided the offices of a pro-democracy movement founded and funded by mikhail. >> translator: when we all made a decision to work with organization and him we did understand our risks and that's why it's not become an unexpected event for us. especially taking in to consideration the fact that activists have opened russia were jailed and searched before. >> reporter: on wednesday came the international arrest warrant accusing mikhail of organizing a contract killing in the '90s. >> translator: due

but western union was not strong enough to do her the men of the kremlin. cided to cut off the allied sectors of lynn from the west. trains, barges and transports were stopped. states, britain, and france were responsible for 2.5 million people in berlin. now the food and fuel for their factories could no longer be brought to them over land unless with armed protection and at the risk of war. theeemed they must be at mercy of the russians, but the governments of the west did not give way. the life of western berlin was maintained by air on a scale never contemplated. each day, the prestige of the west rose. after nine anxious months, the russians lifted the blockade. the policy of standing firm had been vindicated. the russians cynical blockade of berlin had brought europe to the brink of war. it was clear only a strong alliance could deter them from further adventures. in 1949, north atlantic treaty was signed by norway, luxembourg, france, italy, portugal, the united kingdom, iceland, canada come and the united states. this union of 12 nations became known

it was interesting, wasn't it, because in the run-up to this address the kremlin was asked specifically by journalists whether the city would make the main topic of this discussion and the kremlin spokesperson said, "i don't think that's going to be the case". it absolutely was. this was the first thing that he discussed. he came into the hall, he stood up there and he has first of all said, squaw eti would like all-- "i would like all the members of this hall to rise up and have a moment of silence to honor the servicemen who have died in syria". he framed what russia is doing in syria as a fight against terrorism. he said that russia has been combatting terrorism ever since the 1990s. he mentioned beslam, the moscow theatre siege, the airport. what he says is going to now is essentially a continuation of this and it is not possible for one country to defeat what he called terrorism by itself. so that was why heepeated something that he has been saying for quite some time, that he calls for an international coalition to take this on. he said we need an iron fist, we don't want declarat

and as you know the court had granted the petition. >> the kremlin's most outspoken critic, and once the country's richest plan, convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement. pardoned and released in 2013 and left russia to live in switzerland where he reinfluenced his condemnation of putin's russia. in the last week he has been increasingly outspoken in his attacks ton government. president putin he says has driven russia in a position where revolution is necessary and i'll help bring it about, remarks that insensed the kremlin. they've gone mad he said. emma hayward, al jazeera. >> the new route to cuba and the united states is no longer through florida straits. now cubans are making their way through central america and mexico, but certain central americans are making that more difficult. many meticulous are stuck in costa rica when nicaragua closed the border. >> cuban migrants have found shelter in this house in the border town in costa rica. >> helped us so much taking us in, trusting us without nolg who we were. we are just trying to give back. we are like family now. >> reporter:

and it's all firsthand how moscow is aggressively intervening in that civil war. >> this is how the kremlinits syrian allies and battles its enemies. we gained rare access to the syrian base. now the military hub of russia's air war. >> well, this really does feel like the center of a massive russian military operation. the air is filled with the smell of jet fuel. and the ground shudders with the war planes returning from their bombing missions. russia's defense ministry says more than 200 targets have been struck in just 24 hours. 320 militants killed, it says from isis and other rebel groups fighting the syrian government and its president bashar al assad. >> reporter: i'm joined by the chief military spokesman for the russian defense ministry. thank you for the trip. he's escorting us on the trip to the military base. let me ask you that question. that question about who you are targeting. is it isis? or are you supporting assad? >> i can answer the question with our actions. every day we show you how russian aviation is fighting international terrorism destroying their infrastructure i

the islamic state group has territory over 78,000 square kilometers. russia has issued an international arrest warrant for former oil tycoon and kremlin critic mikhail khodorkovsky. accusedafter the police him of killing the mayor of a border town, a charge he denies. thomas, what more can you tell us? thomas: the russian investigative committee has said that mikhail khodorkovsky has been arrested in absentia. that is the phrase, a rather strange one. and that an international warrant is being put out for his arrest. a spokesman for the committee says that he is accused of ordering the murder of a man -- the murder of the mayor of a small siberian city in 1998. in that city, in siberia, is mikhail khodorkovsky's former oil company had its headquarters at that point. the committee also said that the motive for the murder, for ordering that murder, is that the mayor had called for this oil company to pay more taxes, and khodorkovsky was against that. the committee said that is why -- that is the motivation for the murder to be carried out. khodorkovsky has responded critically very harshly in the last 40 minutes, saying that the kremlin has gone mad. he says this

the kremlin says an amnesty international report published this morning on russian action in the countrys a provocation. that report accuses moscow of directly targeting and killing at least 200 civilians. >> translator: the russian and syria air strikes on eastern [ inaudible ] and especially on duma and [ inaudible ] have increased recently. most of the people killed are women and children. >> amnesty documentation showed that the location and timing of moscow's attacks match russian defense ministries report of air strikes. >>> we're getting a new sense of how much the fight against isil is costing the united states. the pentagon says it has so far cost upwards of $5 billion. the military says more than 8900 air strikes have been conducted since the coalition began in september of 2014. >>> oil prices are inching up this morning after global benchmark crude hit an 11-year low this week. investment bank goldman sachs says oil could fetch as little as $20 a barrel next year. opec predicted it will eventually recover. one major factor, the saudi-lead oil cartel is pumping crude with aban

wanted man, russia issues an international arrest warrant for the former oil tycoon and critic of the kremlin. >>> more than 60 hours after a landslide in southern china, a survivor is pulled from the rubble. >>> zimbabwe's government takes white farmers off their land but neither beneficiaries of that policy are feeling the squeeze. >>> we start this half hour of world news with those reports that a gas attack in syria killed five civilians southwest of damascus. medical sources think that sarin gas, one of the world's most lethal chemical weapons was used in the attack. more than 30 people are reported to have suffered acute health problems. we have the story. >> this is not the first time there have been reports of goose used as a weapon in syria. opposition sources say these people were exposed to gas when government helicopters fired missiles in the residential area. that rebel held neighborhood on the outskirts of damascus has been a battleground for sometime now. it's also under siege by government forces. >> these rockets were carrying sarin gas and as a result, five people were kille

western union, as it was called, was not strong enough to deter the men of the kremlin from their policyf aggression. in august, russia decided on a trumped up excuse to cut off the allied sectors of berlin from the west. ains, barges, and road transports were stuck. the united states, britain, and france were responsible for 2.5 million people in berlin. now their food and fuel for their homes and factories could no longer be brought to emthis over land except with armed protection and the risk of war. it seemed that they, too, must be the at the mercy of the russians but the governments of the west did not give way. >> the life of western berlin was maintained by air on a scale never before contemplated in history. each day the prestige of the west rose. after nine anxious months, the russians lifted the block aid. the policy of standing firm had been vindicated. >> the russian cynical blockade had brought russia to the brink of war and it was clear a strong alliance could deter them from further adventures. in 1949, the north atlantic treat by was signed by belgium, france, italy, por

putin in the kremlin has had a problem with people from the caucuses. would he use that to justify his continued involvement in what's going on in the skies and on the ground in sir yes? >> he will and in fact, he has said at much as one of the reasons they are there besides supporting the assad regime is to confront the for the purpose fighters from russia, prime arm the caucuses there in syria so they don't have to fight them in russia. when you look at the north africa region and caucuses, that's where you get your most experience fighters, the already experience fighters. not so much in north america, but the caucuses in north africa, they are experienced fighters some going back to the 1980's in afghanistan fighting the satisfactory yet. >> the u.n.'s refugee agency appealed to jordan to allow syrian refugees to cross the border. there are currently 12,000 trying to flee the war. stranded between the borders between two countries, the lives of refugees will be at risk in the coming months. >> a meeting between syrian opposition groups is in riyadh,

on russia, the kremlin released a photo of a brief putin -obama meeting here... while today the president said russia remains slow to target isis in syria... "i don't expect you're gonna see a 180 degree turn on their strategy in the next several weeks." reacting on camera for the time after the colorado shooting, at a planned parenthood clinic, the president defended the organization's mission then focused on american gun violence. "i say this every time we have a mass shooting -- this just doesn't happen in other countries." asked about the future viability of any climate change deal reached here in paris with a new president, obama let his inner pundit come out. "i'm anticipating a democrat succeeding me. i'm confident of the wisdom of the american people on "and the president says he understands the difference between rhetoric on the campaign trail and once in office. he said he believes the future president will support climate change because so many of the other countries do as well. and he said us leadership is not measured by boots on the ground. back to y

the taliban smacking down a claim by the kremlin about a working relationship. t ahead. get beautyrest, posturepedic,a: even tempur-pedic mattress sets at low clearance prices! save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory! the year end clearance sale is on now at sleep train! ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> queen elizabeth has just released her annual christmas day address. in it she quotes from the bible and talks about finding hope after a year that's seen a number of terror attacks. >> it is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the gospel of john contains a verse of great hope often read at christmas carol services. the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. >> the queen's christmas message, one of the rare occasions when she voices her own views. >>> in vatican city a holiday tradition as pope tran francis delivers his annual krls message. part of the message included a prayer for syria and his desire that a recent u.n. peace deal would end the suffering

the kremlin spun it differently saying mr. obama expressed regret that the incident took place which is a slight difference. the u.s. and russians talking about this instance outlining the russian of the syrian conflict. >> any sign of vladimir putin meeting with erdogan? >> reporter: it didn't take place. vladimir putin said he would not meet the president of turkey and he didn't. in the press conference he gave after the summit speech as well, he again made the allegation that the reason the russian plane was shot out of the sky was because it was trying to protect the illicit oil routes between isis and turkey. he says that was why the russian plane which was attacking the oil routes had been shot down. it is something the russian president categorically denies. >> all right. matthew chance, thank you. >>> chilling details emerging on the paris terrorist attacks. sources telling cnn the terrorists may have been planning more attacks than previously known. this as we learned the attacker who survived, salah abdeslam, may have

putin returned to the kremlin, the gdp growth rates are falling down from around 4.9% in the first quarterof 2012 when medvedev was president to turning red now. and we have i think around 4% of gdp slumped this year. so mr. putin needs to turn attention from the economic issues to political issues and to military one. but this is also an element of this strategy. the third one is of course to take, to turn attention of russian citizens to new ones, because everything which happens not in ukraine is not so encouraging. and mr. putin aside any strategy to go out from eastern ukraine. so, therefore, it needs another hot point in the world to present himself as a hero there. and two related issues is first of all, during several years the military in the russian where not intricate shape because first of all they were humiliated during -- and then they were involved in ukraine and major operations. not publicly announced was involved in ukraine. it was in all, some kind of hidden operation and, therefore, now past the possibly for the first time in many years to be openly, to test military ca

the kremlin has made it clear that it has no objection to the syrian president stepping down as part moscow that the u.s. is indicating that it is no longer focused on regime change. that what we're seeing? a thawing of these very what seem to be very solidified positions? >> i think you can say that there certainly is kind of a narrowing of differences, if you want to put it that way, between russia and the united states, trying to find common ground. and you pointed out the two key issue, the fate of president assad. where does he -- does he move aside? when does he move aside to allow this political transition to go through. because one of the sticking points is not only what russia and the united states think about it, it's what people on the ground think about it. and many of the opposition fighters who have been fighting president assad do not want to sit down at the table with him. that's one of the complications. so what you're going to find in the afternoon in new york is that they're going to be discussing these opposition groups, the armed opposition groups who could be pa

reporting the country began delivering air defense systems on thursday, the kremlin suspended the supply of advance systems in 2010, siting u.n. sanctions but has decided to lift the measures after the iranian nuclear deal that was reached in july. u.s. police say a couple behind a mass shooting amassed a huge arsenal and carefully planned the attack. were killed by officers after wednesday's rampage at a christmas party. they shot dead 14 people and left more nan a dozen others injuries. we know what happened, investigators now trying to answer the bigger question why, was it workplace violence, terrorism, or a little of both, that caws scened like this. >> we intend to provide any and all assistant necessary to local authorities and most importantly to the people of san bernadini who have been profoundly effected by this crime. >> but authorities say 28-year-old and his 27-year-old wife were heavily armed. in a home linked to them, police found pipe bombs and thousands of rounds of ammunition, insinuating it could have been a preplanned attack. we believed they fires between 65 and 75

he has been very, very outspoken against the kremlin and putin in the last few days. he said that putin has placed russia in a position where revolution is both inevitable and necessary and he said he will do everything he can to bring it about. he also says that citizens being tried in corrupt courts and putin is suicidal >>> he has been a thorn in putin's side for a very long time, hasn't he. >> reporter: he certainly has. he was jailed in 2003 for faction eau invitation and-- evasion and embezzlement. a price to be paid for challenging putin's authority and his critics say it was another example of how putin is using the courts to extract revenge on people who are criticizing his government. that's what the critics say. he was released in 2013. that was timed for the winter olympics. he fled to germany and is now in exile in switzerland and spending a lot of time in london as you said >>> thank you for that, peter sharp. lots nor more to come-- lots more to come on al jazeera. cape town is recognised in efforts for combatting climate change. we find out why. zimbab

. >> no matter what the kremlin propaganda and pr want to show us, putin is no superman, and he'll surely go down in history as a hero. >> on tuesday russian police raided the offices of a company founded by khodorkovsky. >> we did understand our risks, and that's why it has not become an unexpected event for us. especially taking into consideration the fact that activists have russians were jailed and searched before. >> on wednesday came the international arrest aren't accusing khodorkovsky of organizing a contract killing in the '90s. >> the evidence of 9 accused khodorkovsky's involvement. the investigation has decided to request his arrest in absentia. as you know the court had granted the possession. >> the most outspoken critic had already spent 10 years in jail convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement charges widely seen as punishment for challenging presidential power. he was pardoned and released in 2013 and left russia to live in switzerland where he renewed his condemnation of putin and russia. president muten, he said, has driven russia into a position where revolution is in

and that is not would be very popular on the street or in the kremlin. manus: ryan, thank you very much. we will see what they do later in the day. for more, we are joined by allen higgins. welcome to the show, good to have you in here. ryan was just filling us in on terms of the conundrum for the russian central bank, which is rather idiosyncratic really but they are so closely linked to oil. but the swiss had a hawkish cut them a i'm sorry, new zealand went with a hawkish cut. the currency is overvalued. and there was no shift the bank of england. central banks are all really waiting for the fed. is that a fair assessment? alan: when it comes to russia, i think a couple of points. a big consensus on the short position, that we invest in bond managers and equity managers in general. russianthe short equities and bonds. so there is an element of short covering. the other currencies in the spotlight, other emerging market currencies -- the brazilian. manus: i had a couple of people come through this week and said this quarter has been a bit of a reprieve,

future of syria should be left to the people of syria and although i think it is accepted here in the kremlin that there is no long-term future for president bashar al-assad, they still would like to see him in place at the start of the transitional talks, but unlikely to play a role after that >>> also another issue that lavrov touched on was dealing with the iran nuclear, and i'm not sure if you heard this, i'm not sure if he said iran nuclear program or iran nuclear problem. did you get any clarification on that peter? >> reporter: i really didn't. i was having a lot of trouble with lavrov's translation, i'm sorry there >>> all right. in wrapping this up going forward, it seems these two countries really have top of mind, but it seems many countries do, to some sort of resolution to the five-year conflict, in particular, the qatar minister made a point about talking about the humanitarian toll this has taken on the health of syrian people. peter sharp, thank you so much. we will be calling on you again as i'm sure you're going over you're notes because they talked for quite a pit of time.

secretary of state john kerry is headed to moscow on tuesday to hold talks with the kremlin over the syrian peace process. our washington core ponce dent roslind jordan has this update. >> the purpose of the meeting between u.s. secretary of state john kerry and his russian counterpart sergei lavrov next week is to hash out the two countries' concerns about the war in syria and the proposals on the table. they're trying to get to some sort of peace talks between the government of bashar al-assad and the political and military opposition. it is not, however, going to be expected to be a meeting that reveals or leads to anything in the way of a significant break through because that is still to come. however, there is a meeting next from where those involved in the international effort try to broker peace talks might have something more concrete to discuss. however, there is some concern that there might be a rushing, as it were, of the peace process because even though the political and military opposition had just formed what they say is an umbrella group to try to broker some sort o

kerry held talks with vladimir putin in the kremlin on tuesday. the u.s. secretary of state called the meeting a strong beginning. earlier, kerry met with his russian counterparts. russia backs bashar al-assad, while the u.s. and european states support antigovernment rebels in syria. so, what we heard today was a strong beginning, but major differences remain over russia and syria. here is our correspondent to flush things out for us. reporter: vladimir putin met with john kerry and said together we re working on a way out of this most urgent crisis. the two countries are trying to bridge differences over the syrian conflict and broker a cease-fire agreement for the country. for his part, john kerry said the piece process started last month with key players and was a strong beginning. he went on to say that russia and the u.s. have the ability to make a significant difference in syria. despite those words, there is a wide divide, and that is the role bashar al-assad will play in the syrian future. in order to effect a cease-fire in syria and potentially a

video from moscow where dazzling fire works display lit up the night's sky over the kremlin. e crowd standing on the river there cheered as that wonderful sight. >> one of the first places to welcome in the new year was new zealand as clock struck midnight fire works emanated from the sky tower there, the the tallest building in new seal land. >>> thanks so much for watching "eyewitness news" at 6:00. "eyewitness news" returns at ten on our sister station wpsg on the cw philly and we will be right back here on cbs-3 at the 11:00. >>> up next, "cbs evening news". tonight no business for snow business, seasons have unusually warm weather has frozen sales number at ski resorts on the east coast. we will explain. elaine keyano in for scott pelley. but before we go to new york here's a lot fire works on penns landing. health and happiness to you family. happy 2016. >> quijano: new year's fears, fire in a high-rise hotel, then fireworks and plenty of firearms in the tightest security ever. also tonight, rivers are cresting at record levels in missouri. homes are being swept away. th

a wanted man russia issues an international arrest warrant for former oil tycoon and critic of the kremlin. hauled from the rubble more than 60 hours after land slide in southern china, rescuers find a survivor. an e.u. court upholds the block's tough new laws on tobacco products. reports that a gas attack in syria has killed at least five civilians south-west of the capital damascus. medical sources think that gas, one of the world's most lethal chemical weapons, was used in the city. more than 30 people are reported to have suffered acute health problems. >> reporter: this is not the first time there have been reports of gas used as a weapon in syria. opposition sources say these people were exposed to gas when government helicopters fired missiles in the residential area. that rebel held neighborhood on the outskirts of damascus has been a battleground for some time now. it is also under siege by government forces. >> translation: these rockets were carrying the gas and as a result five people were killed, including a 12-year-old boy. more than 30 injured. mostly civilians. the gas was

the conflict in syria.earlier today, kerry met with russia's foreign minister.washington wants the kremlin to help push for peace negotiations between syria's president and his opposition. jury deliberations have picked back up, up,in the trial of a baltimore police officer charged with freddie gray's death. death.closing arguments in officer william porter's case wrapped up yesterday.porter is one of six officers accused of ignoring gray's cries for medical attention during his arrest in april.porter is charged with man-slaughter. there is outrage today over a police shooting in california. california.prosecutors announced they won't charge an officer for shooting a man the crash happened last month, and killed andrew thomas' wife. thomas was trying to climb out of one of the windows of the s-u-v when he was shot in the neck by officer patrick feaster.thomas was drunk and feaster claims he was not cooperating.hundred of protestors are calling for feaster to be fired from the force, and are angry prosecutors are calling the shooting an accident.an internal investigation is still going on.f

this process comes at a sensitive time for the kremlin, as the economy is suffering from a low oil price and western sanctions. many of these drivers haulthingg materials thousands of miles across the country roads, and they are warning of the price of these things could go up as the cost of the charge is passed on to consumers. perhaps because of that in ordinary russians are supporting them in the freezing weather, bringing things like medicine. >> the people support them. their living badly that they are living badly. --they are living badly. emma: protests like this are not political, they say, but they are questioning the leadership of the very top. >> there is no internal policy in this country. we think of everyone else like in syria but we for some reason cannot help our own people. emma: the worry for the government is that that few could spread with the driver's saying it will not move from their camp until the charge is canceled. here, nadia says, fighting for the families is falling onto the bread line. brent: we will take a break, but still ahead, the force is strong this we

remarks that have incensed the kremlin. >> more to come for you on al jazeera. slow progress. 'll have the latest on the battle to retake ramadi from isil. also coming up, praying for peace, why christmas for oh some in the west bank will be marred by violence. >> welcome back. you're watching al jazeera. we'll take you to the top stories. an u.n. backs the libyan unity government. >>> five people have been killed and dozens other injured in a chemical weapons attack. >>> and a report that suggests that airstrikes in syria could institute war crimes. to other scores we're following. >> progress is slow, but it's progress no one the less. closing in on isil fighters and "n" the center of ramadi city. the government is portraying the battle as a final push to recapture the capital of anbar province. spirits are high. >> it is very well organized, iraqi army, and the airstrike from the airstrike international coalition. >> according to iraqi intelligence there are just a few hundred rebels left in ramadi a sharp drop from when isil stormed the city striking its biggest plow to the

on russia, the kremlin released a photo of a brief putin -obama meeting herere. while today the president said russia remains slow to target isis in syria... (sot/ president obama) "i don't expect youe gonna see a 180 degree turn on their strategy in the next several weeks." reacting on camera for the time after the colorado shooting, at a planned parenthood clinic, the president defended the organization's mission then focused on american gun violence. (sot/ president obama) "i say this every time we have a mass shooting -- this just doesn't happen in other countrtrs." asked about the future viability of any climate change deal reached here in paris with a new president, obama let his inner pundit come out. (sot/ president obama) "i'm anticipating a democrat succeeding me. i'm confident of the wisdom of the american people on that front." (on cam) s/ kelly o'donnell/ nbc news/ "the president headed back to washington right after that news conference where he also said intelligence needs to improve to better identify isis targets. taking a shot at washington, the

another one can be called the towers of the kremlin. these towers, the third mode of a solar system, putin is our sun and everybody radiates around him, so, you're influence is defined by the distance and when repeating, they can form different conciliations. the fourth mode of the board where putin is becoming chair of the board and ceo. until recently, we were seeing that putin is not czar. he is chair of the board and should do what the board decides. unfortunately now, he is more like a czar and he's much less dependent from this board. perhaps it's not deciding a lot now and there is a new mode according to wage, there are some experts, those who are trusted by putin in different spears and there are a few strategies, the problem i see is connected with the fact that these political geometry does not let anybody else except for putin and results of that move and that's the problem because different parts of this power machine do act in its own interest, not in the interest of the whole system and nobody can do this in the interest o

the kremlin has said it will slap punitive charges on imports. we have more details. reporter: it was the free-trade agreement with the eu that for ukraine a part -- that tore ukra ine apart. awayr yanukovych backed from it, sparking widespread protests that led to his ouster. the free-trade deal goes into effect friday and seeks to enhance trade relations between ukraine and the eu. that you remove customs tariffs will remove- the eu customs tariffs and quotas. ,ussia is angered by the deal saying it could reduce the attractiveness of its own exports in ukraine. moscow suspended its free-trade week,ent with kiev this but the ukrainian prime minister says his government is prepared for russian sanctions. regime, as we expected, will implement sanctions against ukraine, particularly for our free trade agreement with the eu. ukraine has already prepared counter sanctions to the trade embargo that will be implemented by russia. reporter: these include -- counter sanctions include blacklisting russian airlines. following the annexation of crimea last year, russia said it w

. >> for the kremlin, it is one of the biggest press shows of the year and a chance for vladimir putinto present himself to the world as he wants to be seen, as a popular and independent leader. a full 1400 vetted journalists were in attendance, a new record. many journalists but -- brought signs and scarves and even brightly colored construction vests in hopes they would be called on to ask a question. in the marathon press conference, putin found harsh words for leaders, lambasting them for reaching out -- for turkish forces, lambasting them for reaching out to nato. if someone in the turkish government decided to -- >> well, i don't know. was that the right decision or not? i don't even know if the americans wanted this. reporter: putin's popularity remains high in russia, with critical voices -- where critical voices in the public media remain rare. for many muscovites, it is well-deserved. >> he is fighting for our state. he doesn't want to follow anyone's ideas. everyone has to have their own opinion. i'm proud of having such a president. >> i think it is completely deserved. he

. >> the french defense minister will be meeting with his russian counterpart at the kremlin where france will formerly ask for an extension and increase in the airstrikes being carried out by russia in syria. they also will be consulting on how to share intelligence between the two countries. the french defense minister said that he knows there are many russian speak necessary isil, and he would be asking for information on them and be prepared to supply information on french speakers in the jihadist group. russia now has about 60 aircraft, fighters and bombers in the latakia air base, and is carrying out continued strikes against isil and other what it deems terrorist targets. final they have moved their aircraft into the gulf and it has 26 bombers on board. >> that is beater sharp reporting from moscow. this is only the second bilateral meeting. relations there suspended after the annexation of crimea by russia last year. >>> more syrian refugees on its way to canada. canada's minister meeting in jordan's capital before their flight took off last night. they'll be resettled in differen

. >> the french defence minister will meet with his russian counterpart at the kremlin, where france k for an extension and increase in the air strikes carried out by russia in syria, and will consult on how to share intelligence between the two countries, the french defense minister knowing that there'll be russian speakers, and asking for information on them, and be prepared to supply information on french speakers in the jihadist group. russia has 60 aircraft and bombers in the latakia airbase, and carried out strikes against i.s.i.l. and other what it deems terrorist targets. carrying out 4,000 sortees since it started at the end of september. meanwhile the french moved their aircraft carrier into the golf, and has 26 bombers on board. >> the pilot is debating the african union plan. worrying about increasing violence. more than 400 have been killed since april, when the president pierre nkurunziza decided to run for a third term. the governme >>> nigeria's fisherize provide an income. they are drying fast. we have a report in our third edition. >> reporter: this man has been a fi

the kremlin suspended it's supply of advance missile systems in 2010 citing sanctions, but it decided to lift the sanctions. they have expressed concern of air missiles to iran. >>> now, u.s. police have been giving an update about their investigation noose a mass shooting in california during which 14 people were killed. the police chief of san bernardino, where it happened on wednesday, said that the two suspects sprayed the room with bullets when they attacked the social service center where one of the suspects worked. in the last hour the fbi los angeles director has spoken about the attk. he said that the mail suspect visited pakistan before returning to the united states in july 2014. he added it would be premature to call the situation terrorism. >> if you look at the amount of office pre-planning that went into it, the amount of armaments, the weapons and the ammunition, there was obviously omission here. we don't know why. we don't know if this was the intended target, or if there was something that trigger him to do this immediately. >> u.s. president barack obama has made a

coast, a rare glimpse of the naval power behind the kremlin's air war. ed offshore by the russian military. this really is extraordinary access that we're getting to russia's military operations in and around syria. you can see we've been brought off the coast of syria. now we're in the east of the mediterranean. we're about to go aboard that ship there, a missile cruiser and one of the most important russian vessels in this entire region. on board we're shown why it's such a formidable symbol of russian power. after the shootdown of a russian warplane, the kremlin vowed to destroy anything that threatens its aircraft in syria. the captain told me his ship, bristling with anti-aircraft missiles, was sent as a warning on the direct orders of a furious russian president, vladimir putin. >> translator: it is in itself a threatening weapon. with its rival in the region, we've noticed a significant decrease in the activity over the skies in syria. >> reporter: other countries bombing syria, in other words, have taken notice. well, this is an extremely impressi

. >> the french defense minister will be meeting with his russian counterpart at the kremlin where france will formally ask for an extension and an increase in the airstrikes being carried out by russia in syria. they also will be consulting on how to share intelligence between the two countries, the french defense minister said that he knows there are many russian speakers in isil, and he'll be asking for of course on them and will be ready to supply information on french speak necessary the jihadist group. russia has 60 aircraft bombers in the lataki air base and is continuing strikes. mental, the french have moved their aircraft carrier into the gulf, and it has 26 bombers on board. >> that is peter sharp reporting for us from moscow. this is the second bilateral meeting between the two. >>> some incredible images coming out of syria. while the world focuses on solving the crisis millions are still stuck in syria, struggling just to survive. the red cross is warning that winter is fast approaching. as we're told, more than 12 million lives are at risk. >> her name is ooh ahmed. she beg

the kremlin is appearing to roll back on remarks on syria. he said russia was providing their support and weapons to the free syrian army. it seemed to be the first time moscow has said it is backing president assad's opponents. supportingsia was what he called the legitimate authorities. the sunday france will go to the polls and a second round of elections. the front national is battling for control in many regions. what is -- one of the most fiercely contested seats is in northern france. marine le pen want -- 141% of the vote sunday. the c williamson's looks at what is on voters' minds there. lucy: habits you not easily change here. at the fifth market they still shook scallops by hand, fresh belowhe sea that morning. the surface, there are fast flowing changes taking place. moste's far right one on 50% of the voting in last weekend. it used to be the socialist party that won elections here. it is because of the lack of jobs, i am told. i think it is very dangerous. longer dropboats no their catch here, the river is to silt to do. a bit li

the kremlin is fighting with ankara over the downing of that russian war plane last month. >>> theres a new report out this morning that outlines controversial details about u.s. spending in afghanistan. according to the report, the pentagon is spending almost $150 million renting private villas for security staff and visitors. the report also says the defense department wasted tens of millions of dollars on items like flat-screen tvs and fancy dinners. >>> just a reminder, the san bernardino police department scheduled to hold a press briefing. as we wait, we'll go to alan schauffler live in san bernardino. and there are so many questions still on the table, among them any possible motive. what are you hearing? >> reporter: nothing new on that front at all, del. nothing new on motive at all. we did hear even the president just within the last hour talking about that, and saying it is just maybe too early to nail down anything for certain, is this workplace violence, a jihadist thing or terrorism, or inspired terrorism at this point? we just don't know. the fbi has said that is somet

. >>> the french defense minister will be meeting with his russian counterpart at the kremlin where france will formally ask for an extension and an increase in the airstrikes being carried out by russia in syria. they also will be consulting on how to share intelligence between the two countries. the french defense minister said he knows that there are many russian speakers in isil and he would be asking for information on them and be prepared to supply information on french speakers in the jihadist group. russia now has about 60 aircraft, fighters and bombers in the latakia air base and is carrying out continued strikes against isil and other what it deems terrorist targets. it's carried out 4,000 sortes since it started at the end of september. meanwhile, the french have moved their aircraft carrier charles de gaulle into the gulf and it has 26 bombers onboard. >> peter sharp reporting. this is only the sect bilateral meeting between the french and russian ministers. >>> it is going to be a warmer day in central and western new york state after the region got a taste of winter over the