she made seven campaign appearances with mcalister. what happened in lower saxony is said to be a dress rehearsal for the general election in september because the free democrats are doing dismally on the national stage. voters here care about regional issues first and foremost. >> social issues are important. we have families with nurseries, infrastructure, education, jobs. we don't want the jobs to leave the region. >> the main opposition party, the social democrats, is led by a potential coalition with the green party, in a dead heat with mcalister's coalition. there will be a cliffhanger of an election in lower saxony, for david mcalister and angela merkel. >>> and the united kingdom, heavy snow has caused widespread power disruption with more than 4000 flights grounded at heathrow. there were similar disruptions in france. winter conditions have prompted severe weather warnings. opel road accidents have happened, including a bus crash. >>> the u.s. president has begun three days of celebrations for his inauguration. barack obama w

ahead of crucial elections, chancellor merkel puts her full weight behind david mcalister and head-to-head in a nine-goal thriller. reports are coming in that algerian special forces have found 15 burned bodies in the gas plant at the southeast of the country that came under attack by muslim militants. a launch raid was held to free them and they said it prevented a massacre but 30 are still unaccounted for and 12 are unaccounted for and those who escaped have been traumatized. >> hostages celebrating their release. one described the moment the drama began. >> their goal was foreign hostages. they met a bus at the entrance of the base's living quarters. they released a few of us and killed foreigners and algerian forces on the spot then returned to the base and took hostages. >> many died or were hurt when algerian military stormed the area. it's kept officials on edge. >> i spoke with the algerian prime minister again to get an update on this very difficult situation and to underscore, again, that the utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life. >> the situation remains tense. an