levels. bill thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> the show may be over, but the conversation continues on our website, on facebook and our google plus pages. you can also fine us on twitter. we'll see you next time. ♪ plario >> good evening, everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. breaking news out of west virginia on a new chemical identified from the toxic leak, raising new questions about the safety of the water. >> white out - the polar vortex returns, grounding flights, blanketing roads and bringing winter misery to millions >> battle lines - makeshift shields on one side, high-tech drones on the other. a closer look at the fighting in ukraine >> raised in california, and

fighting the cartels in mexico. the astonishing story of an unlikely vigilante. [ ♪ music ] >> we begin with breaking news about the west virginia leak that had hundreds of thousands told not to drink the water. since the spill authorities have been testing for a chemical. tonight investigators reportedly learnt of a second previously undetected material that may have seeped from the chemical storage tanks into the water supply. let's start with jonathan martin who is in charleston. >> we are learning about all of this. this is coming to light in the last hour. we talked to the governor's office in west virginia. they confirmed with officials with freedom industries, the cop at the center of the still, pa pph, a second chemical, was

mixed in with the chemical that was reported mch. remember, this is all what leaked from a storage tank at freedom industries, two weeks ago along the elk river. it came to light. state authorities received a document from the company indicating the presence of this second chemical. they believe 300 gallons of the chemical from in the tank. they don't know why it took the company two weeks, why it took them so long to notify the state. we know the department of environmental application, the national guard and other groups are out testing the water, testing the the system and some of the original samples that were used two weeks ago to see how much of this chemical may be in the water. state officials say they are working with the c d.c. to learn more. to be clear, there's no new state of emergency put in place, people are told at this point they can use their water.

we, a few minutes ago, heard from west virginia american water, the water company, and they believe the procedures in place likely would have removed the chemical, the current treatment process. you can imagine a lot of people tonight, people who already are skeptical about the water are probably more cautious tonight. >> jonathan martin, west virginia. thank you very much. let's bring in our science and technology correspondent jacob ward to talk about pph, the chemical found. >> this is an industrial solvent on the freedom industries literature which they handed to officials this morning, they warned of it being a skin irritant and it was used for mineral flotation. it has less oral toxicity than the chemical released. it is bad for the skin, and to have it in one's bathing water would be bad.

>> what about the dilution of this over time. how does it happen, how long does it take? >> they said there was 5.6% of this chemical in the tank. it's probably a diluted amount. that said, it's unlikely the tests they would have done on the drinking water for m.c.h.m. would have caught this. unless you were looking for this you wouldn't have caught it. reassurances that the water was safe up to this point may not be correct. the normal water treatment process probably caught it say the water people. >> there's no warning, no new warning from the state, no new warning from the governor's office much the c d.c. is investigating. we'll continue to follow this through. now to the weather - the message from mayors and governor in the north-east is simply - stay home. images like this, the weather outside is dangerous.

tens of millions are caught in the grip of this latest wave of extreme weather. it's wreaking havoc on the roads, rail and airports. john terrett is braving the elements in new york with more on the story. >> actually, we caught a break at the moment, there's a break in the storm. the forecast is not good. it's a 1,000 mile snow storm all the way from kentucky to newington. it's driving up the i95 corridor and dumping snow on the way. the worst bits are between washington d.c. and boston. that's where the worst will be, a foot of snow, if not more snow than that. i think i better hand back to you. here is a man being embarrassing. >> thank you, things happen like that from time to time, unfortunately. >> let's go to kevin corriveau in midtown manhattan on what is happening and why things may only get worse. >> that's right.

as john said, we are in a break. if you look behind me, as opposed to if you were looking behind me two hours ago. things have cleaned up. we have another band of showers coming in. i want to show you the radar now, and show you that we are in the break. if we take the radar real quick. as it goes into motion, we are looking at rain. let's push it forward for you. you can see about here. there is the break we are looking at. if you look to the south-west, we have more snow coming. take a look at the snow totals we have seen over the last couple of hours. in new jersey 15 inch of snow. >> we can probably add 2-3 more inches on to that before the morning is over. here in new york we expect to see the snow ending by the time of 6am. this break will help.

temperatures wise, we are cold. temperatures dropping 12 degrees right now. this has gone down about 2 degrees since the last couple of hours. when you factor the wind chill we are talking about minus 5, minus 10 degrees now. that is a big thing. from yesterday, look at the texture change chart. this is how it changed in the last 24 hours. we are about - 24 hours colder than we are yesterday. it feels like outside, right here, minus 12 degrees. >> thank you. and we want to give john terrett a chance to continue his report, the guy giving him a hard time has gone. >> thank you. >> john. >> he has. >> give us an idea of what it looks like out there. how tough is it to get around? >> yes, the guy has gone. my producer emily wrestled him to the ground in a half-nelson away from the camera so we are

safe. transportation will be affected. it will be affected tonight and tomorrow. tuesday, 3,000 flights have been cancelled and the docket for tomorrow's cancellation is big. if you thought you were flying in or out of the north-east, probably you are not. there are likely to be long delays at the airport. the roads and the rails are other things. this is penn station in new york, the new jersey transit entrance. as far as we can tell a few amtrak trains appear to be cancelled or delayed at the moment. they were this evening. they probably will be tomorrow. the trains come in from so far away, they arrive late and go back. we saw one of 2 hours and 45 minutes earlier. when we checked they appeared to be on time, and they are talking about a 30-40 minute delay. as for the other commuter route. they have been ramping down their service as it got fast

8 o'clock. we'll have to see where we are tomorrow morning. the bigger issue in a sense is that washington d.c. is closed, the federal government has been sent home. as you come up the states, there's a couple of emergency statuses in place, delaware and here in new jersey. that's the situation at the moment as the snow conditions to have held off for the time being, but the forecasters say not great. >> john terrett, truly braving the elements of the night, whatever they might be. thanks, appreciate it. >> now to the security threat at the 2014 winter games , a story we brought to you last night. thousands of officers searching for suicide bombers known as black widows. russian officials say the women may be ipp fill traiting to interrupt the games. one woman is believed in sochi,

heightening concerns. peter krause, the isn't professor of political science at boston college joins us. >> thank you for joining us. it's clear that they have three suspects in mind, or three people they want to talk to. is it like looking for a needle in a haystack. >> to some degree it is. the russians said they are throwing a ring of steel around sochi. they are deploying tens of thousands of officers at transport hub themselves, but the head of the caucus made it clear they wanted to strike the games for a year ago. they recognised that it would be difficult to infill freight the area. it is possible they'd preplan to have operatives in the area >> if there's three in sochi, could there be more. >> to be clear as well. it will be difficult to carry out an attack, the closer that i get to the games and the date

and location. >> why? >> well, as we saw at the end of december, if you launch at volgograd, a transportation hub without the same degree of security, it is easy to launch an attack. you can't drive a car there in the weeks leading up to the games. it is more difficult to launch the attack the closer you get to the games themselves. >> how secure, in your opinion, is sochi now. >> i think the area around sochi is secure, in that this is probably the largest security launched. but that being said, no games have been more threatened than this. you have ongoing insurgent and terrorist groups hitting the russians, making it clear they want to attack the games. in that sense it's a threat. it's more likely you'll see attacks around the area in the reege jog, not the games itself.

if an attack is playing out, these are tragic things. i'm not necessarily sure that something like that will stop the games. >> before we have even started the games, how badly does this impact russia's olympic games. >> in one sense it doesn't, particularly if an attack doesn't come off. from putin and russia's perspective. it tried to show the power internally and internationally. again, the whole point of the olympics is to try to, you know, inspire comraderie. if there's an attack like this, it's a risky proposition for some of these groups. up to this point they struck outside of chechnya and outside of russia, but not international targets. in many way it is would drive potential supporters into an alliance with the russians against these groups. there's some motivation for note

rity. i'm not sure sure if strategically it's the best idea. >> now to ukraine and the new warning for russia's foreign minister, the demonstrations are getting out of control. in kiev clashes continue with riot police cracking down. the gas bombs were thrown and the police fought back with tear gas, both sides reporting injuries. >> in switzerland delegates from around the world gather for a lopping-awaited peace conference. it's the first time the sides meet. they go to geneva friday, and nick schifrin tells us what to expect. >> inside syria the violence is continuing unabated. we saw more than 100 people killed yesterday and the two sides are as violent as ever. there's multiple opposition fighters fighting each other. here the hope is to create some kind of localized peace deal or

a humanitarian corridor to reach the people locked away by the syrian government or opposition or caught in the middle of the firing. the official goal is to create a transitional government, a government with the ability to go into syria and remove bashar al-assad, and by all parties agreeing would begin and create a new country, a new government. the syrian government refused it to happen. the opposition barely made it here. what the u.s. is hoping is very, very small baby steps. they said they have succeeded by getting the syrian opposition and government to sit side by side at the table. it's the first time it happened in more than three years of fighting. the refugee problem is large.

it's 9 million people inside and outside the country. what the syrian government is expected to say is "we are fighting terrorism, we don't buy into the notion that we have to step down or let anyone into the country to see the refugee camps or see the alleged abuses. we are fighting terrorism", the opposition says, "we are not terrorists, we are trying to get the as art regime out of government." for all the horrific images, that all can end. there's no sign that either side is ready to end this violent war. >> nick schifrin reporting for us. there was another sign that the syrian civil war spilled into lebanon. four people were killed in a car bombing in a hezbollah strong hold in beirut. an al qaeda group claimed responsibility. the group said it was retaliating for hezbollah's for

for syria's government. bernard smith has more. >> the second suicide car bombing this month in southern beirut, a strong hold of hezbollah. al nusra front in lebanon claimed responsibility for this blast. it's believed to be linked to al qaeda and is one of the many forces fighting government troops in syria. >> it is very destructive to the stability of lebanon when you see fantastic people dying, being killed and the women and children are targeted at the civilian area. this does not sound same or stable. the level of tension has risen to the extreme. >> iranian-backed hezbollah has been sending forces to help. as well as bringing the conflict

to the beirut suburb, the impact of syria's war is felt over more and more of lebanon. >> yesterday tripoli is being attacked. many have been attacked because of this week. when we talk about this, we talk about targetting lebanon. and i believe this is an episode of the series. >> in tripoli, in the north, there was more voirns on tuesday as a result of the bombing. seven people, including a three-year-old boy has died in saturday. sunnis generally support the syrian uprising, alawites usually back bashar al-assad. the bombings persuaded a politician to change his mind k saying he's willing to join a lebanese government with hezbollah. it may reduce tensions and end a 9-month political impasse that

left the country without an administration. >> coming up, a new day in court for an executed teenager. he was put to death 70 years ago. tonight the fight to clear his name. >> some are relatively well armed. these people, essentially vigilantes. >> surrounded by machetes and militias, our reporters fascinating ride through the central african republic.

>> tonight a crime that began at world war ii much george stinney junior was 22 when executed by the state of south carolina. his case is making headlines. juan carlos molina tells us why. >> george stinney junior was the youngest person executed in the united states in the past 100 years. was he guilty? he was convicted of killing 7-year-old mary emma

thames and 11-year-old betty june binnicker. george stinney junior was reportedly the last person to see them alive. the teen, held for hours, before officers say he confessed. at the trial no physical evidence was presented, and the all-white jury found him guilty in minutes. advocates for george stinney junior hope to convince a judge to grant a new trial, looking to clear his name. >> there was no cross-examination. that case was handled poorly. his family treated poorly in the circumstances of march to june 1944, that his rights from snuffed out then. >> at a hearing today lawyers for the stinney family presented sworn statements and testimony from relatives and a pathologist what disputes the original autopsy findings. the state prosecutor says there's no way a new trial can go forward. >> the state of south carolina cannot proceed to a new trial based on the fact that 70 years

passed by. >> the families of the victims believe justice was served years ago. >> he committed the crime and confessed to it. he was sentenced and put to death according to the laws in 1944. i think they need to leave it alone. >> the case is in the hands of judge carmen mullen, who said she is not deciding whether george stinney junior is guilty or innocent, but whether he got a fair trial. the hearing today finished with no decision. if a motion for a new trial fails, the family will ask the state for a pardon. >> former vijia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife were indicted on corruption charges, for accepting gifts, money and other items. the couple said they were innocent. mcdonnell left office after a

4-year term. >> new jersey governor chris christie sworn into his second term in the middle of scandals plaguing his administration. the governor made no mention. he focused on issues new jersey faced during his first term, like hurricane sandy. >> in san francisco, it's a battle of the buses. corporate shuttle buses are allowed to sues public bus stops without permits. it's the latest single of the google facebook tech, pushing working and middle class families out of jobs. melissa chan reports. >> setting the tone for 2014. the first protest of the new year by a coalition of san francisco residents fight, they say, against the corporate greed going hand in hand with silicon valley's latest boom. luxe buses shuttle people from

the city to out of town. they are the symbol of the halves versus half not, perks for the private industries, blamed for pushing up prices. and the campaigns to stop the buses became more frequent and more disruptive. >> it wasn't until we blocked the buses that people turned their eye this way. we wanted to funnel the tapes to government and real estate -- the attention to government and real estate. >> we are looking at 100 protesters, it's not a lot. they captured attention with their activities, targetting tech companies, such as google, facebook and apple. >> you look at the polls that the politicians at city hall are taking, and you'll find seven out of 10 people are worried about the future in san francisco, and the feeling they are being squeezed out. these people may be the most active, the anxiety is there. >> some of those who turned out

include residents feeling the heat. the tech boom is taking a toll on lower-cost housing. >> my landlord has been issuing 3-day notices for me to leave and requested for me to self self-evi self-evict. this is one example of friends and neighbours evicted throughout the hearing. >> at the bus hearing google employees showed up to defends themselves and company. >> i wanted to say, like many people, 10 years after the fact i'm paying off student loans. >> some wonder why anyone would complain. they do, challenging the mayor and city officials to take actions. >> we go to the ballot box and get the voters to vote to make the changes that need to happen.

>> until then, however, the buses will continue rolling through the city, and the protesters will continuing taking teching to task. ? >> in philadelphia officials are working to remove a series of train cars that derailed. the cars carried crude oil, the same type of fuel that exploded and levelled a small canadian town last summer. the oil train accidents are raising safety concerns. paul beban has the story. >> until recently trains were not carrying that much oil around the country. since 2008 u.s. domestic oil production soared 25% thanks in large part to the boom in oil shale production in north dakota. that means tanger trains of 80 to 100 cars are common and potentially more dangerous. >> last year $1.15 million gallons were spilled in train

accidents, according to a new government report. that's more oil spilt in train accidents in one year than the previous 40 years combined. that does not include a disaster in canada when a run away oil train derailed and exploded. that accident killed 47 people and spilled 1.5 billion gallons of oil. the problem, some experts say is the alternative is not better. last year, for example, in arkansas river, there was a million gallon release from a six-inch pipeline. many go undetected. neither rail nor pipelines are risk free. oil train accidents can be kata trophic. they are rare. 11.5 billion gallons of oil travelled by rail. 99.99% of it arrived safely. >> rare or not, these accidents

can be deadly, cost billions to clean up and cause massive environmental damages. government and industry experts are looking at a slate of changes, everything from re-routiing cars, changing the speed of trains. some will be announced in 30 days, but the rules on tougher tank cars are not expected until 2015. >> coming up, storm front. the latest on this brutal winter weather covering a third of the country now. plus, fighting the cartel. an american tells us why he's in mexico waging the war against the drug gangment -- drug gang.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. here are the top stories - new

information about the west virginia chemical leak. investigators have reportedly learnt of a second previously undetected material that may have seeped from the chemical storage tanks into the water supply nearly two weeks ago. thousands have been told not to drink the water. >> security at risk - threats continue for the sochi winter games which start next month. russian officials are hunting for suspected suicide bombers, so-called black widows and identified three people and are passing out fliers saying the three women might be trying to daepingzly dis -- dangerously disrupt the games. a snow storm slamming the middle east. thousands of flights were cancelled. five major airports were hit with the weather. a state of emergencies has been declared in new jersey, delaware and parts of new york state. >> let's go to our meteorologist, kevin corriveau, who has been out in the weather.

what will happen, kevin? >> we are in a bit of a break for the weather. there's not a lot of snow. they are cleaning the streets. unfortunately this is a break. we'll get more snow in a few hours, i think, or less than that. i want to show you the current radar. new york is not the only city infected by this. if you look at the radar it goes up the eastern sea board. this is an 18 hour loop. parts of north carolina, all the way up through massachusetts. we have more snow that will inch up. the forecast looks like this. we are going to - see the snow starts to slip away as it goes through the evening hours. new york will be clear. by 12:00 pm boston will clear out. by tomorrow afternoon most of new england will see a better situation. the next map, as we look at the

warnings in effect, it's windy. that's why we have the blizzard warnings. 30 miles per hour, or higher, affecting the south part of boston. the low smog is low. we are feeling the wind chill. an average low over 700 degrees. the boston at 6. we are looking at, for the next four days, cold weather. you can see lows down at eight and seven degrees. down towards florida, a same cold blast is causing a problem. look at the temperatures. we are going to get down to 22 degrees for lows, for alabama, georgia, florida, they have hard freeze advisories. it's not just us, it's all the way down to the gulf of mexico.

>> it has been called you crane's 1984 moment. the government using cell phones to track protesters. demonstrators fighting back. jake ward has more. >> the protests in the ukraine have been a cross current of new technologies. it's difficult for an outside observer to get a sense of the scope on the ground. drone footage made it possible for organizations like us to take a look from the air. what is the vibe, how violent or peaceful is it. that has filled the internet. there's a dark side to the new technology. protests began to receive text messages saying "you have been registered as a participant", echo that shows the law. it angulates a position as a protestor and send them a message. there are medieval technology.

many are donning garb drawn from the middle ages and built kata faults with which to throw fire at the authorities. the midst, and mix of technologies are part of the flavour of protests that we'll see for years to come. >> thank you. former fbi agent bob levinson disappeared seven years ago, working for the c.i.a. off the coast of iran, according to his family. his wife and son say there's new information about what happened to him. allen schauffler reports. >> family photos of much happier times. a smiling levinson clan when dad was in the picture. christine has not seen her husband. she has evidence that can help to locating him. >> these documents are documents

showing that bob was arrested, and that several months later he had medical issues in the prison that they held him in. the family can't prove the documents authenticity but they appear to be real with the proper language. al jazeera's experts on the iranian law agree. the ex-fbi employee was working under contract for the c.i.a. at the time of his disappearance, something the u.s. government never admitted and the family and news organizations new but kept secret. >> there's a positive development for us. we are hopeful that the hassan rouhani administration will follow up on this. the family wants to pressure the u.s. government to step up efforts to save one of their own. >> they sent him, left him. that was a moral wrong. they need to fix that.

>> i need the help of the united states government. >> the last images the family saw of levinson came three years ago. >> i have no years to doubt it. i believe he's working hard to come home to his family. >> christine and dan hope to talk to iran about these documents, or get more information on the whereabouts of rachel levin. >> it's been nearly one month since al jazeera correspondent peter greste and two producers from gaoled in egypt the the journalists were accused of harming state security and joining a terrorist group which al jazeera denies. >> today peter greste's parents join more than 30 news organizations calling for their son's relief. >> to most peter greste is an award-winning correspondence. to juris and lois it's secondary. he's their son. >> what keeps peter doing his

job is his strong sense of social justice, the need to seek the truth and to always do whatever can be done to help those in need. >> as well as to let the world know, to get it out there so things can change. >> though peter worked internationally sips the early 1990s, winning awards for his reports, he was raised in brisbane, where his parents live. >> lois and juris were in front of the media calling for the egyptian authorities to release their son and his colleagues. >> it's shattering to the whole family. it's a living nightmare at the moment. until he gets out, the nightmare will continue. >> full sections of the media were at the press conference, with further radio and tv

interviews afterwards. in australia peter's plight is big news. >> it's prepos perrous. we live in a democracy where you have to be charged if held. some of the allegations levelled at him is unimaginable. lois has spoken to peter three times since her arrest. >> they are proud of her son. mixed is profound concern. >> lois and juris echo the calls of the australian government. peter and his colleagues were doing a legitimate job in a legitimate way. they should be released now. >> the central african republic has the new president catherine samba-panza. the capital is calmer, but there are reported widespread violence in other parts of the country. our correspond went on a

roadtrip to find out more. here is barnaby phillips. >> a road tri through bangui. our first stop is a road block by men who say they are the national army, defending the country against a muslim-led seleka rebels. >> we have no problems with muslims, they are our brothers, be lived with them for a long time. we only have a problem with others. next we come to another village, where we are surrounded by an agitated crowd. >> we are meeting a great variety of armed groups. some are well armed. these people are essentially vigilantes, village protection groups, guarding their community against seleka soldiers who are 15km along the road.

>> we notice that many houses in the village are destroyed. it seems that the muslim population has been driven out. then the vielages are demolishing the mosque. it's one shocking moment in one small village. all over this country in recent weeks mobs of people have destroyed mosques and churns. we drive on, crossing what passes on the front line. confusingly they claim to be the national army. commanders tell us they want peace. >> shooting someone with a weapon is not the solution. we are here to construct, not to destroy. >> nearby we find muslims loading their possessions and moving out. they no longer feel safe. across the central african

republic communities are unravelling. it seems that only help from the outside world can stop things becoming worse here. >> still ahead - photo finish, our picture of the day. plus, the science of bees. we may now know what is killing them.

resister sh tor sh >> we are learning about the band of armed civilians fighting

a drug cartel in mexico. they are battling for control of a city. that is part of the story. there's the news that people in america are crossing the border to join the vigilantes. rachel levin reports. >> called in to do a job the local police could or wouldn't handle. 10,000 troops deployed to michoacan. to drive out the cartel and bring peace to the state. some worry about what may happen if the military pushes aside the widely trusted community police. >> translation: the government strategy is flawed because the troops don't know the area. the community police do. they know what the gang members look like. what cars they drive and where they are hiding. >> despite the security presence, top leadership. knights templar so far has not been captured.

the only ones ability claim success in drying out the cartel is this army of farmers, teachers and other members of the community, ignoring orders to lay down their weapons, and fewed by some as vigilantes, they continue efforts to liberate towns in the grips of the cartel. this former member says it's no secret why the government failed to do its job. >> the police have been bought off. politicians are involved with the teme particulars, and that is why people are scared to turn them in. >> it's a sentiment held by many in the mountain communities, where the law has been absent for decades. >> we are squared now more than ever. if they disband the community police and disarm us, we'll all be in danger, even children. >> there are signs that a semblance of formal life is

returning to areas where government troops patrol. locals say a resolution to the crisis depend on forces and gunmen joining forces to fight a common foe. the knights templar cartel. >> we spoke to one of those vigilantes. he used to live in the united states, but was arrested and deported back to mexico. he explains why he decided to stay and pick up arms to fight the cartels that are terrorizing his homeland. >> my name is henesse. i'm 04, my code name for the organization. we are fighting for freedom. i grew up in org -- oregon. i moved to california. that's where my wife is. she can't be here, it's too

dangerous. a bunch of guys pulled me over asking why i carried one of these. they were rude saying that this is their territory, they run the place. they started charging every person 40% of the wages, kidnappings, rape, nobody can do anything about it because the law was bought by them. everybody is afraid. i'm afraid. there are so many of us willing to give up their life so others can be free. people in the other counties come to us and ask us for help. you work all day to win, to earn 200 peso, that's $20. you have to give 40% to them. why. people can't live like that. we have people that are against us because they are corrupted. they have family members or brothers. people will come out from their

houses. ladies will come tout bring us sandwiches, why, because we are on a 24-hour schedule, seven days a book. in a town with no wages, just for our freedom. whenever they want to come in turn and extort and charging people, i mean, we are not going to let them. we'll give up our lives to do what we have to do. we have been 10 months in war. we started with a handgun. we have plenty of guns. we are not putting away our guns until we are safe. since may 15th, there hasn't been a single person to disappear. now nobody know where they went. before people would disappear, you never know where they went. we are making a difference, a big difference, a big difference. we are not involved with no

cartel. we don't want cartels, if another cartel comes here, we'll fight them. the government comes trying to take us out instead of the bad guy, who is the corrupted one then. who is the one receiving orders from the cartel. the difference we made in two months, the government was not able to make in 10 years. they are not bad people, they are people whose wages are 200 pesos a day. they are poor people with a rifle in the chest, trying to making is out of this world. it doesn't work for them. there's no words for that. >> the images that usually emerge from the palestine territories depict violence and suffering. a photographer dedicated herself to showing another side, a humorous and absurd side of life in the territories. >> tom ackerman has the story.

>> photo journalist tania has plenty of experience capturing palestine struggle. her latest work is how they cope with reality. >> you never know if something absurd, ridiculous or amusing or ominous is going to happen. >> her pictures include young female athletes practicing javelin throwing besides the israeli separation wall. a woman with a buick attacking a walk in a tunnel from gaza to egypt. a boy catching a swim in the park. and these furniture makers beside the wall waiting hopefully for a customer. >> they'd sit on the side of the road, having tea, smoking, and i would think there's something here, there's something there. >> tania belongs to a collective of photographers from iraq, yemeni and jordan.

>> we shake up stereotypes pressed upon the region. >> to do that tania looks for unusual melts reflecting the resilience of her subjects, like this man, accompanied by the sheep to break the ramadi fast. >> people are finding ways of releasing stress through humour. she says her work is never meant to trivialize. there is a political complex prevalent, but it's subtle and sarcastic. >> she's sensitive to the expectations of viewers. >> i'm not successful in any stories unless i capture a western audience and an audience in the place that i film. >> it's a challenge that keeps tania and her sister photographers looking for the next special moment to record. >> check your password. millions of people make theirs

too easy for hacker to crack. the most common is 123456. others are "password", "i love you", and trust 1" >> now, bees are necessary for our fruit and some of our herbs and our cotton. a recently discovered virus is leading a decline. they may be a nuisance in every day life. the contribution is vital to the food we eat. the drop in bees is putting a strap on farming and agriculture. joining us to talk about had is reese halter, biologist. great to have you. thank you very much. >> good evening. from bone dry los angeles. >> you haven't had much rain or snow out there. let me talk about this whole question about bees and this

virus. what does it mean. >> well, you know, this is one of a series of diseases that have come on the radar screen. this virus is from the tobacco - called the tobacco ring-spot virus and expects the soy of plant. it's pollen. the bees take the pollen, use it for protein. they become infected, and then actually not only are they infected, they infect the mites, and then they move on and infect more bees. >> what are other reasons? >> one is, get this, the way bee keeping works, is we are not allowing the bees to eat their own honey. we are feeding bees corn sir up.

that is terrible. they are run down and ananalogous to this - if you are aflicted with a terrible disease. h.i.v., for instance, and you get a common cold, you are done. and that's what's happening to the bees, as well as there's a terrible mixture of new poisons, n neo-nikkei tin i said and they are obviously. >> what should be done to save the bees. >> there's a lot of things that can be done. one is we have to back off on the poisons. the e.u. has taken three or four of the him off the plate. when the bees are exposed to the chemicals that are going on the fields, they are shaking to death and lose their memories. park and alzheimer's. the viruss in nature's hands,

out of our hands. but we have to remove terrible insecticide. >> how vital are bees to the food supply. >> every third bite on the plate comes courtesy all the honey in ingredients and sauces. if the bees die, we die. there's 7.1 million people on the planet. it the bees go, how will we ate. we have no fruit. >> reese halter is a conservation biologist and the author of "honey bee", great to have you on the program. we should talk about this next. >> your basketball knowledge and a lot of luck could win you $1 billion from billionaire warren buffet. all you have to do is pick a

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>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler and here is a look at the top story. >> tonight, a powerful winter storm 1,000 miles wide is making life miserable for millions of americans. this is the white house.

three states declared a state of emergency, new york, delaware and new jersey. kevin corriveau is in the middle of it in manhattan. >> it looks better behind me. we are still deal with the storm, look at what the empire state building looks like. earlier we could not see it. the visibility was so low. there's better visibility now. it will not last long. there's more snow coming. i'll show you the radar real quick. more snow up the east coast involving parts of connecticut and boston, and the upper west side there was 10 inches of snow. 7.6 inches of snow. we can probably add another couple to that. new jersey saw the most . by the time the morning comes, it will go up 15 inches.

>> they'll deal with that storm for a while with the cold weather. thank you. those are the headlines. "america tonight" is next. and you can get the latest news on aljazeera.com. i'll see you back here tomorrow night.