u.s. markets. the new u.s. y you can buy $100 worth of liquor and bring it back to the united states and for havana q, there is not a commercially viable amount of alcohol the concern that if bacardi has if they bring this back to the united states it's possible that havana q can start showing up. ownership, in 1997 bacardi bought the rights to the name. nationalized under fidel castro. that sparked a nearly two decade long trademark battle between bacardi and the country that had been selling in other countries. bacardi eventually won after spending nearly $3 million to lobby congress to essentially rewrite u.s. trademark law in its favor. but now as the cold war with cuba thaws those old rum wars may be heating up as cuban spirits sneak into american bars. >> the bacardi folks justifiably says, this is an end run around restrictions. >> the u.s. rum market accounts for roughly 40% of global sales. and cuba wants in. its french partner recently registered a new brand of cuban rum with the u.s. patent office, kn

qe worked best in the u.s. cause it worked to a capital market channel and a large part of lending in europe takes place the rate banking channel as anna explained, clogged by regulatory processes. there is every reason to expect that to qe will be less impactful in the present than it was in the u.s. i think the story in the u.s. is a more complex one that is sometimes told. everyone at davos a year ago was not in doubt that the keeper coming in the u.s. expansion accelerating that the 10 year treasury was going to rise sharply from its level of 3%. a small minority, which included ray, thought that the deeper issues went to the emergence of deflation. they have proved to be correct. i want to remind everyone in the u.s., why i think policy has a bias of expansion, if you look at the postwar period. here are some facts --nobody has predicted the recessions a year in advance. never. and yet recessions do sometimes come. fact one. fact two. when it happens, the fed has to cut interest rates by 3-4% by more to com

if you look at what the u.s. going, we had a cheap energy, we had low interest rates, and a very competitive currency. we used that to create jobs. the question is if europe can create jobs. i will go to business. business needs to create jobs, but you need the structural reform to create jobs. look what we did in silicon valley in the technology world. how many thousands of jobs are created in the last five to 10 years. >> christine? >> all. i think they all need to pull their weight. 2015 is a critical year for all the reasons we have discussed, but also there are big trade deals on the table. they need to be wrapped up. there is a big climate deal that is coming up that will fuel anxiety and also develop opportunities. those are three key agenda items in a world of central bankers, regulators, policymakers business. all of them really have to rally around those jobs and growth objectives in the context of those big deals. all of them, and hopefully cooperatively as well. i think it is absolutely necessary. we h

the u.s. condemned the killing, >> reporter: grief and anger after i.s.i.l. reportedly released a killing of moaz al-kasasbeh. the 26-year-old's father was attending a tribal meeting in jordan's capital amman. state television confirmed the death saying he was killed a month ago. king abdullah called short a visit to the u.s. where he met secretary of state john kerry on tuesday. >> we have received with sorrow and anger the news of the killing of the hero the martyr. at the hands of the organization. >> meanwhile president obama was one of the first world leaders to react. >> it's one more indication of the viciousness and. barbarity of this organization. i think it will redouble the children lanes and determination on the -- vigilance and determination on the part of the coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated. >> reporter: many on the streets of amman are in shock. >> we are so sad for him, and honestly i consider him a hero martyr. we are proud that he was defe

the u.s. and arrested in tokyo. >>> and people in sporting circles are hoping the 2019 rugby world cup in japan will give the game a big boost in the country. >>> representatives of more than 60 nations have agreed to work closer together to counter violent extremism. they wrapped up a conference in washington, and they noted combat aimed groups such as islamic state requires a strategy encompassing security social media, and help for people on the sidelines of society. nhk world's craig dale has the details. >> reporter: they came together from all corners of the planet. part of the global effort to confront a common enemy. >> we must remain unwavering in our fight against terrorist organizations. >> reporter: the delegates to this three-day white house summit on countering violent extremism know the state of play all too well. this threat has no precedent, says french foreign minister bernard kozeneuve. they've seen fighters with the islamic state groups swallow up territory in syria and iraq

lavrov accuses the u.s. methods in regime change in supporting an illegal coup in ukraine a year ago. >> meanwhile kiev accused russia of violating the cease-fire in place. they say they refuse to pull troops from the front lines as long as they are under attack. >> the disagreements between the two sides did not stop donetsk from reviveing an old tradition. >> here's our diana magnay. >> reporter: rebel soldiers listen out for their names, a roll call of men honored for their service in battle. today in donetsk, it's a holiday, defender of the father land day. light entertainment for the troops even a wedding ceremony. i asked one woman, beaming in the winter sunshine why she has a flag of stalin. stalin was also fighting against fascism, and he won, she says. we also want to have a victory like he did. stalin also brought catastrophic hunger to eastern ukraine. but that's forgotten now, in a city where russia can do no wrong. this is all about meeting the people's needs. their most basic needs food, putting

in the war on terror, the u.s. ys intelligence has not been able to determine how or when american died while in islamic state captivity. her death was confirmed today. on friday, islamic state claimed the 26-year-old aid worker was killed in nature dini and airstrike. united arab emirates has launched airstrikes on the islamic state route from air in jordan. it marks a return to combat after flights were halted last year. the united states is reportedly closing its embassy in yemen. security has deteriorated after takeover by shiite rebels. diplomats were being evacuated and the them is he will suspend operations until conditions improve. newsweek's magazine -- newsweek magazine's twitter account was hacked with messages threatening president obama's family. the background photo was changed to a picture of a person whose face is covered with a scarf and the words "cyber caliphate." in ukraine, government troops have broken the rebel strongholds near an eastern city. the ukrainian president and president obama spoke

and even if the u.s. were to provide anti-aircraft missiles with the ukrainian military still would not be able to do much against an invading russian military force. >> i think there is also a view and correct me if i'm wrong that putin is amenable to negotiation right now. the sanctions are hurting. another round of sanctions would tank the russian economy and that's seen as a point of leverage. >> well there is talk of the oil price going up. but the other story i heard about putin while i was in kiev was peter the great. that she sees himself as restoring russia's power and empire and that's hard to deter. >> we're going closer to the start of the news conference. you're seeing the delegations walking into the east room of the white house. the german delegation there. there were reserved seats in the front row. the top national security advisers foreign affairs adviser to the president they'll be walking in. let's bring in mike rogers, the former chair of the house intelligence committee. this seems li

the company wanting to match u.s. uples with surrogacy in new mexico. >> this is a clinic you use. >> yes, one of three. >> inside the doctor shows us where she harvests eggs from donors, and transfers embryos into surrogates. surrogates like torres and others. they have been selected by surrogacy beyond borders to live in a villa in a gated community in cannes coup. it's the next stop for carr mine and jody. having met egg donors, the country is introducing them to surrogates. these two are single mothers. living here for nine months. neither has a genetic connection to the trial. both will receive $13,000 for renting their wombs. >> why have you decided that you want to be a surrogate for an american couple? >> i really didn't know that there were so many couples that couldn't have a babies. >> the 27-year-old says she needs money to pay off her student loans and raise her own child, carmela. >> translation: i'm in charge of raising her and concerned about her future and education. >> beautiful, nice apartment. >> ca

the u.s. is basically out of there. >> that's right. also just taking advantage of the instability in that country, you have the collapse of that government in sanaa, the capital, a key partner for the u.s. in the fight against aqap. so in the last 24 hours here in the province where al qaeda has a very strong base of support, they took over a yemeni what was a yemeni military base with heavy weapons there, taking them not just from the yemenis, the former partner, but even the houthi rebels who have taken over the capital. it shows as this country becomes more unstable not only does it become more difficult for the u.s. to fight the aqap threat there, which pentagon officials have acknowledged but also gives them more of a chance aqap to take more territory, take more weapons. >> jim sciutto with the latest. stand by. president obama's efforts meanwhile to get congress to authorize the war against isis running into some serious problems up on capitol hill. both democratic and republican lawmak

adam: i focus on the u.s. rguments about deflation and where it is being exported. i think europe, there is a general sense that the economy is improving. that is a big area for u.s. stocks. it is an opportunity as we had through the middle of the year. betty:we have about 7% operating earnings growth and more than 82% net by that. if you are sure the s&p, you are saying the numbers are coming down and i do not think that is the right thing at this point. betty: stay with me. adam parker. thank you to joe and to alix steel. staples and office depot deal underway. it has been a big year for them and a -- for m&a. stay "in the loop." ♪ betty: i want to head back to scarlet fu. you have a look at what is moving. scarlet: we are going to start off with alcoa. falling from a two-month high by almost 3%. the analyst saying north american premiums may follow suit. this is deteriorating aluminum fundamentals. american airlines placing its 10th decline after it cut its first-quarter profit forecast. the reason is becaus

how has the u.s. government looked at saudi arabia. >> reporter: president obama and michelle obama arrived on the tarmac, greeted by the new king. paying respects to the late king and speaking with the kingdom's new king. the 4-hour trip after president obama cut short a trip to india. the u.s. has a long history with saudi arabia, but changes lay ahead: the official u.s. delegation ipp cruded james baker and condoleezza rice and john mcgain. president obama's stop over was brief, underscoring the saudi arabia relation-to the united states as the u.s. confronts i.s.i.l., iraq and syria, and deals with rivalries, conflicts and instability in the region, including in yemen. >>> this time on "inside story", the death of a king and the succession of another, a look at u.s. ties. let's start with senior washington correspondent mike viqueira, welcome back to "inside story". you know, the president and presidential face time is a very coveted resource. there's a new power on the scene, narendra modi - why d

i think the u.s. is growing. what i am concerned about is the actual ability of the u.s. to raise rates with what is going on with the rest of the world. when you look at the policy measures going on in europe and what is going to go on in europe and you look at what is going on in japan and other parts of the world and the interest rate differentials that already exist, there is an enormous spread between the u.s. positive rates and the rest of the world. you look at the strength of the dollar today it will only get stronger if we raise rates in the united states. double have a chilling effect on the u.s. economy. the good news is we are getting back some of that tightening in lower oil prices. madame lagarde talked about the unemployment picture. whatever news you want is in the unemployment picture in the united states. if you look at the headline unemployment rate, yes, we have very good news. if you start peeling back the unemployment rate, you can find some less good news. if you look at the wages we are not getting wage inflation. last month, we had negative wages.

the u.s. t heading to kiev. clearly the u.s. is contemplating a much more active involvement in this conflict. >> reporter: yeah, i think martin this conflict is now reaching a very significant turning point. it's in a position now where the u.s. as you say is considering arming the ukrainian army. this moment was really generated by the separatist offensive that began at the beginning of the month which effectively -- sorry, the beginning of january which effectively ended any hopes that the minsk ceasefire sign in september of last year had any future to it. so now we have a position where the u.s. is considering giving specific lethal assistance to the ukrainian army. something that poroshenko has been arguing for quite sometime. he's been requested it. he went in the aftermath of that minsk meeting in september to the u.s. and effectively begged the u.s. government, you know, thank you for the blankets that you have been providing for us, but we can't win a war with blankets. we need much m

gwen: does this change the u.s. policy about hostage taking, they won't deal with it, or does it change jordan's role in the regional conflict against isis? >> it doesn't change either of those policies and, ok, in a sense that's kind of a bittersweet victory out of this. isis was clearly trying to change jordanian policy. the whole point of what they're doing, and i would not recommend anyone watch the videotape. but if you watch the whole videotape after the execution, they issue a call to their supporters to kill other jordanian pilots and actually post purportedly the pictures, names and home addresses of jordanian pilots. so this was supposed to do two things. it was supposed to shake jordanians' faith in the war in their regime. it was supposed to shake faith particularly in the air force and jshedian armed forces. that didn't happen. jordanians reacted in a sense normally. asked, demanded revenge. the king ordered the execution of two prisoners who were already on death row, al qaeda prisoners, and then carrie

not just the u.s. and qatar. the other partners. there are about 11 of us actively involved, working together. >> the burning to death in the cage of a jordanian pilot, was that a turning point? >> it was a horrific and barbaric act. isil has committed a number of outrageous atrocities. >> it was said, in the region, people said it was a step too far. >> everything is a step too far. beheading american journalist. killing coptic christians in libya. the killing of the jordanian pilot had a shocking effect in jordan and perhaps through the region. it certainly galvanized, even renewed and invigorated, commitment on the part of our partners to do all we can together. they have been a leading card-carrying member of the coalition. clearly, the killing of the pilot in such a brutal way horrified the world. >> especially the arab neighbors. it is sometimes said, recently by ambassador robert ford, to give up believing you can build a viable military force from the moderate syrian rebels we have considered supporting. >> ambassador ford h

they said that the u.s. oil production, based on fracking and shale, is going to grind to a halt in the second half of 2015, and by the way halliburton said that it's getting rid of about 6,000 workers. let me tell you about america. the energy department has a similar forecast. $55 a barrel this year, but $71 next year, and $9 higher than the paris-based organization. so bottom line, everybody thinks it's going up, but not all that much over the course of the next two years. >> woah, woah, i have a couple of questions if my mind. fracking could grind to a halt. and what does this mean for gas prices? >> they will remain proportionately quite low. and that's the great partly. if you are russia or iran or venezuela, this is terrible for your economy and it's pretty hard for canceled canned's economy too. but in the united states, the net gain to consumers who have all of this extra money that they're not spending on gasoline, outweighs the loss of jobs that we're going to see. but we're going to see big losses

qe worked best in the u.s. cause it worked through a capital market channel, and a large part of lending in europe takes place the rate banking channel that as was explained, clogged by regulatory processes. there is every reason to expect that to qe will be less impactful in a context like the present than it was in the context of the united states. i think the story in the u.s. is a more complex one that is sometimes told. everyone at davos a year ago was not in doubt with the taper coming in the u.s. expansion accelerating that the 10 year treasury was going to rise sharply from its level of 3%. a small minority, which included ray, that thought that the deeper issues went to the emergence of deflation. they have proved to be correct. i would just remind everybody in the united states, and it is why i think policy has a bias of expansion, if you look at the postwar period. here are some facts. first of all, nobody has predicted any of the recessions a year in advance. never. and yet recessions do sometimes co

the u.s. through third parties. >> through third party more than one party, iraq and other country, sometime they convey message, general message, but there's nothing tactical. >> there has been no coordination as it relates to our military operations in syria. >> the white house said publicly today there is at least one more american hostage being held in the middle east. that's an indication that americans may be held by groups other than isis but that they could be transferred to that terrorist organization. as for that authorization of force, wolf the president's request for three years could conceivably tied hands of his successor. wolf? >> jim acosta thank you. we're also learning about more about how the united states confirmed the death of kayla mueller. let's bring in pamela brown, our justice correspondent. pamela/. >> just a few minutes ago a very emotional press conference with family and friends of kayla mueller wrapped you. they talked about the 26 26-year-old dedicating her life

down in the u.s. demand is healthy. carriers in europe are building out, but there was some upbeat story from the cfo saying that the submarine business was up for sale. the stock is down 3.6%. the sugar and sweetness business to open higher. full year profits will be below the guidance they gave us in late 2014. a lot of this is to do with the sweetener business in the united states of america. they have seen pressure there. preessure in europe. i cannot talk long enough to get that to open. keep and eye on the euro-dollar. merkel, hollande and putin. going to putin. it says a lot. which is that it is europe going to putin as opposed to putin coming to europe. >> fantastic work. a little bit of a lower open in london. breaking news from the swiss national bank. swiss january foreign currency reserves rise to 498.4 billion swiss francs. the russian and ukrainian currency rising as well. you see a little bit of a move in euro-swiss down. angela merkel and french president franÇoise hollande are heading to moscow to press

the u.s. is supportive of the peace efforts on the part of francoise -- france while -- and they will find out more in munich. he has left and will meet with his russian counterpart. vice president biden will also be attending the conference. >> do we have any idea if the united states is prepared to start providing weapons to ukraine? >> that has been a big focus of the debate. john kerry says the president is considering all of his options and a decision will be made soon. the white house has been hesitant to expand u.s. aid to include lethal defensive weapons. other europeans have been opposed to that action. that position is clearly now being reassessed by this white house and the white house is facing pressure from capitol hill. a bipartisan group of senators calling on the president to provide lethal weaponry. >> not one person is suggesting we send american soldiers into ukraine. we are saying we have a struggling democracy and they need our help and we are not going to let tell us what

the u.s. uld wage against the islamic state there. the president rights to congress, i can think of no better way to support our nations security than by enacting this legislation, which would show the world we are united in our resolve to counter the threat posed by isil. again, it will not be a slamdunk. there are democrats and republicans likely trying to make some changes to this resolution to this draft here and the president is trying to sell it, not just to congress, but to the country at 3:30 eastern time. mark: at the end of the day, will president obama, as you put it, be able to thread the needle? peter: this is very challenging, and i was just on the hill. every time he makes a change on one hand, it might affect republicans on one side, democrats on the other. at the end of the day, i spoke to senator tim kaine, a democrat from virginia, and he pushed the president to put this forward in the first place, and he thinks the president will prevail. senator kaine: isil is a threat and

if you look at what the u.s. we had a cheap energy, we had low interest rates, and a very competitive currency. we used that to create jobs. the question is can europe create jobs. i will go to business. business needs to create jobs, but you need the structural reform to create jobs. look what we did in silicon valley in the technology world. how many hundreds of thousands if not millions, of jobs are created in the last five to 10 years. >> christine? >> all. i think they all need to pull their weight. 2015 is a critical year for all the reasons we have discussed, but also there are big trade deals on the table that need to be wrapped up. there is a big climate deal that is coming up that will fuel anxiety and also develop opportunities. there are development objectives. those are three key agenda items in a world of central bankers, regulators, policymakers business. all of them really have to rally around those jobs and growth objectives in the context of those big deals. so, all of them, and hopefully cooper

host: doesn't the u.s. have an obligation to help these ukrainian fighters who wants to keep the country intact? guest: the u.s. made certain promises in 1994 in terms of the bud budapest memorandum. ukraine is not a member of nato. and there are no immediate military requirements that the u.s. support ukraine in this current conflict but there is obviously growing political pressure in the united states that we owe something to ukraine to to its territoryial integrity and that we should support ukraine in this crisis. there are no kind of specific treaty requirements to come to the aid of ukraine but there are obviously growing political pressures to support the ukrainians in their struggles with russia. host: in the just a moment, we will hear from defense secretary ashton carter who was asked about ukraine this past week, but how has the administration's views on this evolved over the last couple of years sne guest: i think additional the u.s. was with europe and it specifically said that the administrati

the u.s. government acknowledged that every penny that he sent was intended only for purely humanitarian assistance for these 14 families. intended forit those purposes, even the government acknowledging the money never went everywhere -- anywhere but those recipients to buy food, by shelter, medicine. nobody contends that a single tony went to saddam's regime buy weapons, to terrorist groups, anything else. yet the u.s. government indicted him for what i think he called, aptly, a crime of compassion. two months ago, he stood in a federal court in missouri expecting to receive probation because what he was accused of the wing has not been a crime now for nine years. yet he was sentenced to three in federal prison, which he began serving two weeks ago at fort leavenworth. i was able to speak to his son and son-in-law on the devastation this has wreaked on dr. moody also his family. he has several college-age students. has another son who is 16 years old and is a junior in high school, and his br

last september the u.s. centers for disease control warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of cre and other types of drug resistant bacteria. saying that more than 20,000 people died from exposure to them in the u.s. every year >>> one of women is telling her side of the story, asking us to conceal her identity. she was an employee. she told her that it will be difficult to go forward. >> whether it's good or bad, if it happiness. there's a stigma that they won't get married. there's a stain - stay away from that world. >> four women, including lana filed a civil suit. they have been criminally charged with sexual abuse and aggravated battery. criminal charges are falls but have not responded to the civil suit. you can see more of the interview on the website aljazeera.com >>> the largest employer in the u.s. is trying to shake its image as a place for dead end jobs. wal-mart announced it would give raises to half of its workers. >> reporter: the global retail giant earning for than $16 billion i

the only u.s. mall al shabab named. >> if anyone is planning to go to the mall of america today, they've got to be particularly careful. >> reporter: u.s. law enforcement officials tell cnn it's unlikely the somali based terrorist group has the ability to launch a coordinated attack in the u.s. the real danger they say is someone in the u.s. seeing this latest propaganda and being inspired to launch an attack. >> we have a large somali community in minneapolis. they are not assimilated well. lot of disaffected unemployed young men. a lot of young men turning to islam and they are just hoping that someone will pick up the flag and attack the mall of america. >> reporter: as security is beefed up in malls listed as potential targets by al shabab the fbi and dhs send out a joint warning asking law enforcement across the country to stay vigilant although there are no known credible threats to any american malls right now. the fbi has long conducted mock attacks at u.s. shopping centers to test their rea

the thinking is the u.s. government kicked themselves in the foot. >> always a pleasure listening to you. >>> i'll talk to the man in charge of anti-castro news broadcasts and find tout what america is getting. tell me what's on your mind: keep it here. >>> america's cold war strategy gald to end the castro -- failed to end the castro regime. president obama is making challenges. part of the this involves u.s. programming on radio marte or tv martes. critics say they outlived their purpose, and then there's the cost. $26 million. explaining why u.s. taxpayers should fund the marte is carlos from the office of broadcasting. it's hard to see what the value in this is. it's not given us a return. now we have taken a road. how we are looking at cuba. thank you for having me. i don't know why we don't have a return. this is not an anti-castro strategy. this is something the american government does through voice of rba. and others. it's not unique to cuba. it's monopolized by the government. the martees have an imp

the u.s. economy and the u.s. markets in particular? are you worried about that? >> i think that's a tail risk something we're watching but it's not something we think is likely. and i think if there were to be a greek default, i think its effect on the u.s. expansion this year would be pretty limited. the u.s. economy actually looks like we may have our best euro growth in 2015 since 2004. >> what if greece left the eurozone? >> i think if greece left the eurozone it would be very painful for the greek economy in the short run, and i think it would cause a lot of soul-searching in europe why their system hasn't worked as promised. it might cause more prolonged period of high unemployment and weak economic growth in europe. maybe a double-dip recession. but i don't think it would be the trigger of a global recession. >> very quickly, what do you want to see from the g-20 meeting that's looming ahead? you have lower energy prices even though we've had a bit of a bounce recently. but that can be

that's the yield on the u.s. 10 year. the risk averse move weighed on the u.s. dollar on friday dropping to a two-week low. we've seen a move in the -- which has been selling off this morning given the weaker than expected pmi data out of china. oil continues to be a point for investors. oil spiked on friday. some traders debating about whether or not the bottom is finally in. it doesn't seem to be the case given weak global data. the lackluster gdp print of 6.2%. and the china data and that is weighing on the oil trade. the wti crude down about 2.5%. brent crude trading at $51.75 down about 2.3%s. asia has been one of the reasons we've seen lower oil prices. let's get out live to singapore. >>> thank you so much. as you can see behind me we're looking at -- you're talking about the china pmi. official are showing manufacturing pmi at 48.8. both of these twin reports telling us the same story. china's factory sies jobs being shared for 15 straight months. now index coming through at 30-month low. you're looking at shanghai comp. you also had a weaker dollar facto

what should the u.s. role be? >> the u.s. has lately been playing an interesting role enforcing sanctions of military leaders of the government who have been found guilty of violating human rights gross violations or enriching themselves. president obama has not authorized the implementation of financial sanctions to these people. two senators are asking him to do that immediately. >> human rights groups as well. good to have you with us >> thank you >>> markets soared today after greece reach a deal to keep bailout money flowing to athens. global investors were concerned about a possible collapse of the greek economy. the deal gives athens another four months of cash. >>reporter: this was the greek and european night mary a devalued dravma raised from the dead making greece poorer. if a preliminary agreement holds, those bank notes are likely to remain the product of a graphic artist's imagination. still, leaders are careful not to oversell the deal. >> the first step in this process is that we have agree

the u.s. r standoff ends. ♪ goods and parts that cross the pacific are slowly returning to normal after a bitter nine-month labor dispute at the ports along the west coast of the united states. a reporter has been taking a look at the issues involved and the impact on asian companies thomas who certainly felt a ripple effect. atships have been anchored sea because sports are trying to work through this backlog. this labor dispute protracted, -finallyers there's - coming to an agreement after the u.s. labor secretary intervened. president obama sending the clinch a deal here. he set a friday deadline. that is when both sides came to this agreement. they averaged a tentative five-year contract. it still must be ratified by the union members. this will open up hopefully ports all the way from san diego to bellingham, washington and washington state. it is a huge backlog that is impacted the u.s. economy, and he could have had an impact of $2 billion a day. >> huge numbers, ripple effect is huge. a

at this point, the u.s. is really on the scene as potential heavy disruptive force threatening to arm ukrainians. >> who is really controlling the rebels at this point? is it russia? >> we have an image that putin has this long screwdriver, and he can calibrate and change policy at whim. he has basically created a massive mess, opened up pandora's box, and all manner of crazies, people with their own agenda some of whom are ultra-national, some of whom are some criminal gangs, are now owing to -- to them, they are going to take advantage of the situation. >> are they going to listen to any peace plan which might come out of this? >> we don't know. it has been the case in the past with a have basically -- where they have basically blown off requests, and a think that represents that they themselves are a force in eastern ukraine. >> how about falling oil prices and sanctions? >> there is no doubt russia is in bad shape, no doubt this is squeezing them very hard. the problem is ukraine is so much more fragile,

the u.s. a time frame for iraqi and peshmerga force to his recapture the city from isil. tense bail out talks on the cards after germany rejects greece's plea for more time. >>> plus find out how one of the world's oldest psychiatric institutions is using art as a method of healing. ♪ ♪ >>> rival political factions in generally have agreed on a people's transitional council of the u.n. mediator says it will help good yemen out of its political crisis. the agreement follows a coup earlier this month by shia houthi fighters. the editor editor-in-chief the yemen post says it's only an initial deal and it does not have all of the details -- rather all of the details have not been agreed on by the rival factions in yemen. >> the deal has only been announced by the u.n. envoy which is very awkward. political parties have not talked about this aura nounsed about the deal. the details of the deal is that the current parliament will remain and a new entity will be formed called the transitional parliam

the u.s. measles outbreak and the vaccine controversy. politicians weighing in on both sides. >>> another major storm slams the united states. we'll look a those areas feeling the impact. >>> but we begin this hour with breaking news out of cuba. the country's state-run media has just posted more than 20 images of former leader fidel castro on its website. the government-run newspaper claims these photos are about two weeks old. there hasn't been an official photo of castro in about six months. we are joined on the line with more on this. patrick, the big question, why now? >> caller: you know, according to this author who released the pictures and he's a university leader part of the cuban university system. and he says that because cuba was anxious to know about fidel castro. that's certainly true because not only has it been more than five months since we've seen any photos of fidel castro but we haven't seen any photos of him, really hadn't had any word of him until recently since that hist

. >>> the five decade long u.s. trade embargo against cuba is one that has failed to achieve its goal of toppling the castro regime. it come at a cost to america of billions in loft economic opportunity. the pro business estimates that the u.s. embargo cost 1.2 million. and a study by the peterson institute found that u.s. exports from cuba could reach 4.3 billion if the embargo was lifted. i know the numbers were not huge. it's not the point. the point it it doesn't take sense to deny countries or entrepreneurs access to an apart: here is something else that doesn't make sense, in light of president obama's policy shift to cuba, hundreds of millions the u.s. spend supporting groups and efforts to bring democracy to coupa. critics say a -- cuba. critics say a glaring example of waste is ongoing support for broadcasts by radio marte and tv marte. congress spent 660 million to fund what many consider ineffective propaganda aimed at students that can't hear or watch it. it's not huge, but symbolic of a broader policy th

the u.s. military. >> last week top military officials told congress that if congress does nothing to stop sequestration, there could be serious consequences for our national security. at a time when our military is stretched on a whole range of issues. and that is why want to work with congress to replace mindless austerity with smart investments to strengthen america. and we can do so in a way that is fiscally responsible. >> the united states and coalition forces have continued their bombardment of islamic state militants in iraq and syria. on monday, u.s. central command reported 27 airstrikes in the past 24 hours, including nine near kobani, syria, and 17 across iraq. meanwhile, the britain-based syrian observatory for human rights said airstrikes by the syrian government targeting rebel-held areas killed over 40 people. a u.s. drone strike has reportedly killed four people traveling in a car in southeastern yemen. unnamed local sources identified the victims as al-qaeda suspects. it was t