check check check >> the east coast is the latest part of the country hit by a storm. snow, ice and rain fell from philly. after weeks of huge anti-government protests across thailand the prime minister dissolves parliament and calls for new elections. protesters topple a statue of former leader lennon in ukraine. they are calling on the government to break ties with russia and norm new ones with the e.u. >> and a day of prayer for

nelson mandela. president obama and two former presidents expected to attend the memorial service for the late former president. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. as a power struggle grips thailand the prime minister calls for fresh elections. the thousands of protesters in the capital say it's not enough. wayne hay has the latest from bangkok. >> there's no indication from the anti-government protesters that the announcement from the prime minister yingluck shinawatra, that she will dissolve parliament. the goals have changed. they said they would accept the solution and the resignation of the prime minister. that changed into the goal being the removal of the thaksin

shinawatra regime - referring to the former prime minister ousted in a coup in 2006 and lives in self-impressed exile. his cysister, yingluck shinawat is the prime minister at the moment. >> at the moment they are continuing a push towards of the office of the prime minister, government house, where they say this will be their final attempt to remove this go. . >> wayne hay reporting from bangkok. as he alluded to the tensions between thailand's political party goes back more fan a decade. since 2001 the pugh party has won all the elections. the democrat party has not won since 1992.

the ruling party survived even though the military ousted its leader. then prime minister thaksin shinawatra was convicted of corruption two years later and he lived in exile since. his sister yingluck shinawatra became prime minister in 2007. she won by a landside. she's been accused of buying the election. last year she tried to grant amnesty to her brother and that's when the demonstrations began. they are calling for the parliament to be dissolved and new elections. >> violence broke out in an indian district after a national was struck and killed which a bus. 27 people were arrested. it was singapore's first major riot in more than four decades. protesters bring down to symbol.

now demonstrators want to oust the president. hundreds of thousands took to the treastreets. the protests went on into the night. toppling a statue, shouting, "viktor yanukovych, you're next." >> here outside the cabinet office, protesters have been placing flowers on the barrier between themselves and the police. this relatively peaceful standoff turned ugly. earlier they were building up the barricades. the fear is that the police will move in before a deadline on tuesday to end the street protests and occupations of buildings. >> people gathered in their

thousands calling for the resignation of president viktor yanukovych. >> translation: you are taking a stand for your future, not me or representatives of the opposition. the future depends on each of you. we must group together to win. >> all day riot police stood by facing pro-european demonstrators who are fewerous about the failure to sign a trade deal with the e.u., and turned towards moscow to save the economy. >> i want a new government that listens to the people and doesn't treat us like animals. we are here to fight for our right so our kids are brought up without corruption. the crisis is reaching a crucial moment. president viktor yanukovych believes he can survive without moscow's help. the protesters are ready for a

long fight to achieve their always. >> the opposition leaders lack constitutional power to axe the government. the powerful storm that surged across the country made a mess in the north-east and mid-atlantic statements. in philadelphia white-out conditions were not enough to keep football fans from batching the eagles beat the loings - look at the snow. and a pile-up of 30 wars in wisconsin. rebecca stevenson has more. >> philadelphia international

airport reported 8.6 inches of snow. it looked like more in the game against philadelphia and destroyed. a lot of snow heads to the north. it will continue to get snow off and on around the lakes. slowly and surely the snow is coming overnight and will switch over to rain. it first it has to be freezing rain and sleet. there'll be slushy slippery roadways outside. friday through sunday we've had impressive ice accumulations. we had them all the way down to louisiana. north carolina you had many inches. if you hear cracking in the trees - if you've had an ice storm or had accumulations, you very likely have a tree or limb. we've had power outages being a large problem. here is the good news, today we'll see the icy conditions wrapping up.

there's warmer air coming in, so it will shift to rain which will taper off through the day for the coastline. snow will push up into canada. low textures cold for the west and we'll warm close to freezing. i think we'll be around 30 after the midnight hour, classified as the low temperatures. through the morning we'll warm up. highs closer to the mid upper 40s and 50 for new york. we'll stay chilly and below normal to the west. we have hard freeze warnings and freeze warnings for a lot of california, and wind chill advisories. temperatures will feel like they are below zero, from montana and nevada, and freezing fog concerns in texas. low temperatures to start the day below zero.

21 is the start out for a bally seattle. >> venezuela president nicolas maduro passed his first test, his party taking control in the local council elections. they hold two favourites in the oil city and caracas. >> 18 different elections in 14 years. a new call to go out and vote again. eight months after electing a new president venezuelans went to the polls to elect 300 new mayors, more than 2500 council members. this is the evidence this i'm contributing with a grain of sand to change my country. if you don't vote, you can't complain. >> his tenure has been marked with one of the highest inflation rates in the world.

it's rampant crime is the third-most highest. this woman hoped her vote would challenge the government. >> translation: i love the country and respected. a country like many others. polls taken before the vote predict 50,000 venezuelans there remain loyal to the government. many fear that they'll vote for governmental candidates. many have benefitted from the social programs. >> water is scarce here, and crime is rampant. people say they don't want to lose food subsidies or health care. >> my daughter studied at the university. i have a passengers.

-- i have a pension, when i go to the doctor i met medication for free. >> there'll be no more elections since 2015. the opposition can contest the government's power. >> there'll be a devaluation. venezuela's inflation is likely to increase. with unpopular moves there is a challenge to keep venezuelans and factions supporting him until the end of his first term in government, but that is four years away. >> stemming the violence in the central african republic. the challenges foreign troops are facing in trying to stop the bloodshed. a knew player, how another neighbour is getting into the fray. and president obama sounds off on the deal to reduce iran's capabilities, why he is cautiously optimistic about the agreement.

>> the week of tributes to nelson mandela began with a national day of prayer in south africa. [ singing ] >> churches of all faiths honoured the former president. the official memorial service will be held tuesday in johannesburg. nick schifrin has this report from south africa where people remember how nelson mandela helped to unify a once-torn nation. >> nelson mandela talked about a rainbow nation. his struggle wasn't just on behalf of black south africans, but all south africans. >> nelson mandela wanted to build a nation united in diversity. citizens young and old, of all races and religions, say he created that union.

at an interfaith service south africans celebrated opportunities and respect. >> we need to tolerate diversities. it's an important model. >> this allows us to be united and proud of our differences. >> down the road at an indian rally this woman thank nelson mandela on behalf of her children. >> madeba made the change. >> she used to be a second-class citizen. >> we were part of the deprived lot. we had to use the back for indian people. >> her husband suffered the same. he remembers being humiliated for eating dinner. >> we used to buy something to eat, and we had to say, "sorry, do you serve nonwhites." he would say, "no, we don't serve nonwhites, but you can buy take

aways." >> this woman shows achievements she was not allowed to dream. her kids graduated from intergrative colleges. >> one is a doctor. >> it's an awesome feel to bring up children in a multiracial society. >> did you have that opportunity. >> new the family is raising a black child and the community is at least a little more diverse. today was a national day of prayer and reconciliation. that man knew nelson mandela for 67 years, including two decades in prison. >> he said with freedom comes responsibility. >> today they said goodbye to the man who gave them that

freedom and gave children the diverse freedom. >> they thanked nelson mandela for creating a special county for their children to grow up. >> more than 70 world leaders are expected to attend a memorial service for mapped -- nelson mandela. >> fighting has subsided in the central african republic. more than 400 have been killed during clashes between christians and muslims. nazanine moshiri has more on the challenges that the country faces. >> people find refuge in a church at bangui. it is better to sleep here than at home. the church bells are silent - they only ring to warn of danger. this man had no warning when

seleka killed their family. his wife asked him to leave, thinking seleka wouldn't kill wives and family. >> i left, i hesitated and i came back. when i came back my wife and two children were dead. they put the 2-month-old on the bed and covered him with a lot of clothes. >> this is the first time we've seen french troops out in large numbers. they are here to reassure people and protect them. they'll be disarming the large groups. that is not happening. rules of engagement mean the french can only shoot when they come under attack. >> translation: there are lots of people calling us on the phone telling us that seleka forces are attacking. when we arrive, no one is there.

we have to play cat and mouse. muslims are killed too. these men are mourning the deaths of a community leader. they want the french to stay, but not interfere in the process. >> translation: they have to stay and france has to help us hold elections so we can choose a president deserving of the name. they have to stay for the transition >> some compare this to rwanda in 1994. the genocide killed hundreds of thousands of people. there are differences. that was ethnic violence. here is sectarian. and religious leaders are preaching peace, not hate. >> translation: there's a growing atmosphere of vengeance, you can't call it genocide yet,

but you can call it score settling. central african republic will never be the same again. >> there are many examples in history where international forces intervened too late. the world is finally taking notice of what is happening here. >> the country has been plagued by conflict and instability since gaining independence from france in 1960. there's a new player in the battle for air space over the china sea. >> the new boundaries will overlap a zone by china. harry fawcett explains how the move is raising tensions in the region. >> south korea's announcement may be about invisible lines, bet they extend over land and see. this is what is home to a

scientific research station and under de facto control. these waters and rocks are claimed by budget and seoul as part of the exclusive zones. now south korea is experting its rites. >> translation: the new korean air space defense zone is modified to be in line, including air space over the waters. >> seoul's move comes two weeks after china's extension of its zone encroaching on those of south korea and japan. it extends deeper and overlaps that of japan. the government in sole won't impose of new rules, requiring foreign aircraft, allowing for consultation with neighbours. >> we believe it will not

significantly impact the relationship with china and japan, as we try to work for peace and cooperation in north-east asia. >> south korea's president discussed the plans with u.s. vice president joe biden. the u.s. state department declared itself on the same page as seoul. an extended zone will have nothing to do with maritime jurisdiction. >> south korea no longer wanted to extent the zone. one part of the east china sea has three overlapping zones. the coming days could allow for talks on how to managing a complex state of affairs and could set the stage for what no one wants, an accidental conflict in increasingly contested skies. >> this is the first time south

korea adjusted the air defense zone since the u.s. set it up during the korean war in 1951. >> defense secretary chuck hagel is due to meet pakistan's prime minister. the first visit in nearly four years to pakistan. he'll meet the newly appointed army chief. >> a team of u.n. inspectors has arrived in iran, the first time they've had access to an iranian nuclear facilities in two years. they agreed to roll back their enrichment of uranium that could be used to build a bomb. president obama said the pursuit of a longstanding deal with iran is as likely to fail as it is to succeed. >> we have to not constantly assume. that it's not possible for iran, like any country to change over

time. it may not be likely. if you ask what is the likelihood to arrive at the end state i described earlier. i wouldn't say that it's more than 50/50. we have to try. >> iran, the u.s. and five other powers will meet to discuss a 6-month deal to slow tehran's nuclear program. bernie madoff speaking out. the man behind the largest ponsy scheme. what he says about his time in prison. mars - giving doctors an inside look at his patient's brain. the technology making indepth probes

>> bernie madoff says prison is like summer camp. the master mind. largest ponsy scheme in history was

interviewed by "the wall street journal" and says they should have known better. madoff says: >> you're about to enter a computer imaging simulator that can take you in the brain, deep into the ocean or fly you over the surface of mars. it may look like an unemployment video game, but it's anything but. >> in this stunning 320 degree cabin of pixels data coles to life. numbers transform into a flight, skipping the surface of farmars known as the cave-2, this environmental was dreamt up by computer scientists at the electronic visualisation lab. >> think of a project room or a war room where you hang up pieces of paper or photographs,

and you tape them to the wall and see lots of data at the same time. today it is all stored in computers. rather than print them out, we wanted electronic walls where you can explain information. >> the cave-2 can transform data in the brain. the visualsisations can show critical understandings of how it manifests in the mind. >> you get a different perceptive like alice in wonder land, where you can be big or shrink down a rabbit hole. you get different information depending how you look at it. >> zeros and ones are brought to life through three-dimensional representations.

>> nasa funded a project on extreme underwater environments. the team sank a probe into lake bonney. >> the rob other sent out pings through a thick salt layer making it tricky. what we got back was over 50 million points. >> university of illinois professor peter doyle headed it upment >> it's a dataset uplike any other. >> the data processed inside cave-2 provides insight as to what sort of life can be takened. >> that will do it for the news on al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. you can catch the latest news online at aljazeera.com. news at the top of every hour, have a good evening.