National geographics pictures of the year, and well have them. Targets tag line is expect more, pay less. What is missing is a warning like, watch out, after criminals made out with debit and credit card informations of millions of customers. The Security Breach comes at the height of a shopping season and may have mean americans worried. Targets says if you shop at its stores in the u. S. Between december 27th and september 15th and used a debit, credit or store card, your personal information may have been stolen. 40 million customers might have been effected. Its concerning. Makes me want to check my accounts. The stolen information includes names, credit card numbers and expiration dates. I might be done shopping at target for a while. Target hasnt revealed how it happened. But said it fixed the problem. The companys ceo says the First Priority is preserving the trust of our guest and paula said she last used her credit card at a target in new york. This week she noticed a charge she never made. I thought i will not do that any more. I dont think the banks have it secure enough, or the stores. Its not a matter of a bank robber taking a tissue paper and getting it out of the waste paper basket. The minniapolis based company says it has reached out to banks. The secret service is also now involved. 100 million, 130 million credit card breaches happen in the past. This will not be the last one. It is important to make clear this does not affect online shoppers. Only those that flash cards in the u. S. If that was you target would say check your statement and look for those large and small. Call a Credit Card Company and bank. The most important point replace your card and pin number. Lets take a closer look at how hackers will get so many credit card numbers, and if anything can be done to stop them. Joining us is a former Software Engineer for google and microsoft and a contributing writer for a magazine. Good to see you. How easy is this . To steal . Something on this level is not trivial, but when you think of it as sort of only needing to find a single hole in this entire security eddy fizz to get 40 million credit card numbers. Thats right. They havent revealed how the hack was done. But my guess is someone got into the Corporate Headquarters where the credit card information flowed to and got access to the systems, and one single Security Breach can give you total control. Is it there a problem with security at Companies Like target and others. These holes are easy to find. Most companies have these problems. Its a question of its just a question of how often successful and sophisticated attacks are made. How do you prevent it . You need good security. If you look at what snowden was able to do that should tell you what the average security is like. How do you find the holes . Well, theres no shortage of possible ones. It could be as easy as having someone working at target headquarters, clicking on the wrong link on a spam site that gives them a total exploit into a single computer it gives them a ride into a computer, giving them access to the system, that can be done. You would think there are more roadblocks. Sometimes there are, but its a matter of finding a single door. You can have a fort res and if you leave a single back door open you can get in. Talk about the mindset of hackers. These are criminals, this is a criminal syndicate. Are they people sitting around trying to do something fun . I would say its more than fun. This is they are after money. Credit card numbers can be used and sold before they are shut down. How much money can they make . I found an estimate saying 5 of numbers can be used to purchase. You are talking in the order of millions, that could be used, depending how fast the mastercard, amex acts to shut down the numbers. Should people be looking at the statements now . If you stopped in target, a physical store, as far as anyone knows, it did not affect online, but if you shopped at a physical target store you should keep a close eye on your statement and as an added measure, you can contact one of three credit b bureaus and tell them to but a watch on it. Its talked about healthcare. Gov, but other places need to put some money into this. Doing good foolproof security is difficult to do. One mistake is all you need. Thank you, great to talk to you. Now to a developing story, one that we are watching closely and the white house. Its unfolding in south sudan, a country torn apart by ethnic violence. Hundreds have been killed. The United Nations says three peacekeepers were killed when opposition fighters stormed a u. N. Base. President obama is stepping in, ordering 45 u. S. Military personnel to support the security of u. S. Citizens and the american embassy. Hundreds of americans are being airlifted out. In a letter the president informed congressional leaders of his decision to send troops to the country. We have this report from south sudan. Officials checking passports. Those that want to leave south sudan must be on the evacuation list. Foreigners and locals are being flown out of the country. They are told its for security. They gave us permission to travel home and are advising people to go back. U. S. Soldiers are in juba making sure its safe for planes to take off and land. They are monitoring the situation, together with u. N. Troops. Many people cant leave. They find safety in u. N. Compounds. During the day they go out to find food but return before sunset. This is the area where most of the fighting took place. Families are coming into the compound for safety. They dont feel safe sleeping at home at night. Human rights watch says civilians are targeted along ethnic lines. The man blamed for the violence is riek machar, from the nuer tribe. If you go outside, they can kill you. The violence is said to be because of a coup. Juba is quiet enough. Government troops have lost control. U. N. Officials say the base has been attacked. Government officials can send in reinforcements. Theres government offices, they had to vacate the fight. And relocated. So they are still fighting on and on. Of course, the government has been displaced from the offices. Thats why we say they have lost control. We wouldnt say its completely captured. Back in the capital the day is ending. People look for cover ahead of what they fear is a night of violence ahead. Political tensions and rivalries plant the country into another civil war. I want to bring in from washington a policy analyst on sudan and south sudan for enough, an organisation that nights against genocide and crimes against humanity. Lets talk about the u. S. Troops that are sent in there. Other troops there has been a significant increase in violence and fighting has now spread to five of the countrys 10 states. These concerns are completely warranted. Its incredibly encouraging to hear that president obama dispatched 45 troops to ensure that essential personnel, including the ambassador canthe is civfact, theres 2. 5 years old after gaining independence. Civil war is not inevitable. The south sudanese people had a vision for a pluralistic society. Its not two tribes. They have dozens of groups who have found a way to live together. We really strongly believe that they should and will find a way to do so again. The International Community needs to stand behind them as they find a way to come together and reconcile differences. Neighbouring countries sent their Foreign Ministers from ethiopia and kenya to begin that mediation and negotiation. Through those discusend. This is a complex problem here, and we are talking about an ethnic divide that has created this. Tick, the root of the violent is at a struggling between the president and his former Vice President , salva kiir and riek machar. Salva kiir is of the dinka tribe and riek machar is of the nuer tribe, there has been a political struggle over the ruling party. When violence broke out there has been a mobilisation of troops. In some cases violence moved along ethnic lines. We hear about Security Services going door to president needs t make it clear that that is unacceptable. Given what happened a peace civil war. Well continue to follow the story. Good to have you on the program. Now to london, and that theatre collapse. Hundreds were inside when a part of the ceiling gave way. The ceiling was one of chaos, several seriously. It happened at the apollo. Theatre goers say they heard creeking noises before the collapse. Some thought it was part of the show. The cause of the collapse is unknown. In california two separate tour bus crasheses leave one dead, dozens injured. A Police Spokesman said it was raining hard at the time that a bus was overturned. Its not clear if that caused a clash. Minutes later a second tour bus overturned, 50 miles south. One person was killed, more than 20 others injured. The driver lost control, causing the bus to flip on to its side. Next, president ial pardons. Fleeing drug offenders and raising questions about prison sentences for similar convictions. Sanctuary for Edward Snowden. Will he end up in brazil. I ask the journalist who shared Edward Snowdens secrets with the world. It is a tradition this time of year for president s to pardon prisoners or grant clemency. President obama did that, reducing long sentences for eight people convicted for crack cocaine charges which have more severe punishments than powder cocane. Some believe race is a reason. Until 2010 a person convicted of possessing crack cocane faced a longer sentence than someone convicted of possessing the same amount of powder cocane. Civil liberties called the focus on crack discriminatory since most convicted were poor. In 2010 Congress Passed the pair sentencing act, removing some of the disparities, but it only applied to new convictions, people who have been convicted under the old rule were in prison. A concern addressed last summer. Too Many Americans go to too many prisons for too long and no truly good Law Enforcement reason. Among them clarence, sentenced to line at the age of 23. He was one of eight people whose sentence was commuted. In a statement the white house pointed out that each served more than 15 years in prison in addition to the eight computation, president obama pardoned 13 people who completed their sentences on a variety of charges, including embezzlement and robbery. According to Human Rights Watch africanamericans are 10 times more likely than whites to be send to prison. More than 1 million African Americans are in prison or gaols. Joining us to talk about this is a professor of law at sara cues. Why do you think theres a disparity, especially in drug cases, when it comes to whites and blacks . Theres a perception that blags are criminals. So the Racial Disparity in there is looking at it as inherent to black people so each of these people creating crimes individually. Are you saying the judges do that . And public opinion. If we look at why are there differences racially in sentencing, we can say that people think that crack is more addictive or black yuths are likely to sell it. The biggest problem is the fear that therell be an attack on the large ecommunity. The better that we can deal with this, politicians come after the kids and say well be tough on crimes. Its a way for them to say youre going a good job. Blacks and whites the studies show used drugs at the same right. Are they not caught committing the crimes. Do they have better lawyers. We have to rethink what is the face of crack america. Is it a person that we see on tv all the time smoking in a ghetto place. Is it the mayor of toronto. I think that is the way we need to think of it. The majority of crack cocane people are white people. 51 of those people are white. The others are black and brown. So many people are in prison today. Its billions of dollars. It was over 68 billion spent on imprisonment when we could have used the money for other programs like rehabilitation, prevention. Instead it was seen if we imprison all of these people, send them to prison, we are taking them out of society. Thats a way to deal with the problem. Its creating more problems because the families that the people are taken away from, they are being broken down, kids are not having fathers. These are additional costs. Absolutely. We dont send them to prison and the families break down and theres additional costs. One in 28 kids has a father or mother in prison. All of this can deal with how the kids are brought up. The kids, who have parents in prison are likely to be in prison themselves. It becomes a generational problem. How can we deal with this. There are other ways of dealing with the drug problem. No one is saying we want to let these people out of prison. All they are saying is we want to have equality in how people are sentenced according to what kind of drug fingerprints they have. Crack cocane was 100 times more likely to be prosecuted. It was seen as, well, crack cocane is dangerous. Because it is addictive is what we heard, and that was more dangerous. Thats the belief. All crack is is powder cocane with water and baking soda and its cooked. Its not that its less dangerous, but its the same, in a different form. Great to see you, thanks very much. Theres a debate over where the leaker over the spy revelations may go next. Edward snowden has been granted political asylum in russia until august. Hes been on the run. Glenn greenwalds partner is trying to help Edward Snowden find a safe haven. In my second part of my interview with Glenn Greenwald and his partner i found out more about their efforts. I think Edward Snowden is a hero. What hes been doing, is he went to china, to give the documents. Its amazing the debate that he created for the world. He helped my country to understand everything that happens here, how the u. S. Has spoilt the president and the population. I wanted to help him get out in a place. I think its a good democracy, and he can be have his human rights defend. You want Edward Snowden to come to brazil. Is it a real possibility . I want Edward Snowden to be in any country with the willingness and ability to protect its human rights and ensure that he is not persecuted by the United States for decades in prison for going the acts of the United States. Whether its brazil or russia or any other countries. That would be a good outcome. Theres a possibility that brazil, for the reasons said. A lot of the reporting that came from the documents, that he showed very largescale violations of brazilian citizens and this country has been appreciative of that reporting, and understands how much of a sacrifice that Edward Snowden made to allow them to be aware of their violations. Its ultimately up to the german people, the russians, as far as how they protected the government. The public reaction is encouraging. Although no country wants to stand up to the United States, its a possibility. Coming up outrage in india. A nationwide backlash over the strip search of an indian diplomat in the u. S. Plus the year in pictures. The spellbinding images from National Geographic. Welcome back to al jazeera america. Im John Siegenthaler in new york. President obama commuted prison terms for eight people. Some sentenced to life in prison for crack cocane offenses. Until recently it was more severe than other forms of the drug. South suedan on the brink. Three United Nations peacekeepers have been killed on an attack on a u. N. Base. Rebels have taken control of a major city. Panic in london. In a theatre tonight part of a ceiling collapsed on to a crowd. It happened at a century old apollo theatre. 76 people were hurt. Seven sent to the hospital with serious injuries. An update on a story we have been follow, the arrest of a highlevel diplomat in new york. She was strip searched by the police and accused of paying her nanny 3 per hour. Her treatment sparked protests in india and strained relations between the two country. Now the Justice Department says it will not drop the case against her. Protesters in the indian city vent their anger at the United States. The arrest and detention of an indian diplomat by american authorities in new york city on december 12th sparked a nationwide backlash against an indian ally. New delhi is unhappy about how devyani khobragade, indian consule general was treated. We have seen the Statement Issued by the americans on december 18th. We need to keep in mind that there is only one victim in that case. That is devyani khobragade, a serving diplomat on mission in the United States. The story has captured the indian medias attention. News outlets pitch the arrest and detention, including strip searches as humiliation of the nation. New delhi is determined to set an international example. Translation it is not a matter of india alone. All developed nations should learn a lesson and raise their voice when such incidents take place. Protesters shut antiamerican slowingans in the north indian state of rojas tan. Their angry chants feed a chorus of discontent. Some say the way to diffuse the stalemate is simple. Apology is not good enough. Regret is not good enough. The case has to be withdrawn. India and the United States shared a strong relationship. This now represents one of the biggest diplomat break downs between the two nations in recent years. With both sides standing firm, its hard to see a quick end to this crisis. We are learning new details about why the general in charge of the air force Nuclear Missiles was fired in october. The air force released its report today and said Major General michael cary enga