>> election day in thailand turned violent as people are rocked from polling stations across the country. air strikes on aleppo as serious forces drop barrel bombs, days after trying to bring peace to the war torn country.

california facing the driest winter on record. the state's government asking people to do their part. >> h1n1 is one of the strains that doesn't take much contact for it to be transmitted from one person to the other. >> why more young people will be hit hard this season. >> good morning to you and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford coming to you live from new york city. voting in thailand's election has ended. it could take weeks before results come out. anti-government protesters making good on their promise to disrupt the voting. many polling centres have reported problems. so far it seems the election has little to resolve some of that viaed spread anger over the prime minister's government.

scott heidler reports from bangkok. >> in her north bangkok neighbourhood prime minister vin arrived as the -- yin arrived -- yingluck shinawatra arrived as the polls opened. setting an example. >> translation: as thais it's our duty to exercise a vote. doesn't matter who you vote for. in other parts of the capital election day troubles were brewing. this is a position in bangkok. the leader of the protesters vowed not to prevent voters coming in, his followers stationed themselves outside the polls. the polls were open at 8am, but closed at 9am because they were worried about voter safety. >> more than 400 polling centres were closed in bangkok, more in

the southern part of the country. some were blocked. some never got the ballot and some had workers. my right is to stand here and wait for the reform, before voting. >> in the district of the capital the two sides scared officials shut down voting. later they pulled back. a group of people marched to the municipal building. >> i'm disappointed that i can't exercise my right. our country is a democracy. they can't show that they support the election. >> they broke through the front gate, demanding that they be allowed to vote. they'll have to wait until the elections are for the thais that can't vote. with no clear definitive results, there's little chance that the election will soften the elections between the people. nor will there be progress in mending the divide that

paralyzed the government. >> joining us now on the phone to discuss the national election is amy, a reporter with reuters in thailand. she joins us from bangkok. thank you for being with us. we understand that voting in nine provinces have been shut down. that's more than 10% of the entire population. at this point is it possible to call a winner? >> it's - thanks for having me. it's not possible to call a winner mostly because the elections in this country said that we can't until by-elections, advance voting takes place. they were discussed last weekend. so as you saw on the video more than 10,000 polling stations.

90,000 were closed due to pressure from protesters. >> it's widely expected that the prime minister's party will win easily. if that happens. do you think the violence will escalate. >> yes, many people in the capital are opposed to the prime minister paying power. there are chances that violence will escalate. many analysts say they are around one of violence. there is also confront kags yesterday in the capital between pro and anti-government groups. that violence doesn't look like it's going to go away soon. both sides are refusing to back down, both sticking to their guns. >> to give us a bigger picture,

this whole thing started because thailand's government tried to pass a controversial amnesty bill that could have allowed the prime minister's brother to return to the country without serving gaol time for corruption. at this point have the protests morphed into something more? >> these protests at the moment are what they were three months ago when they started. they are very much still putting a lot of pressure on the government. prime minister yingluck shinawatra is firmly in the spotlight and has shown that she's determined to stay in her position, push ahead with elections, and she's been under immense pressure, as i said. the pressure is big for her and her party. the family has been in politics for decades and it looks unlikely she'll go down without

a fight. >> thank you. reuters reporter in thailand joining us from ban cog. >> in germany secretary of state john kerry met with iran's foreign minister. in november the u.s. and other world powers struck a deal with iran to curb its nuclear activities, in change for easing sanctions that have crippled iran's economy. secretary of state john kerry reiterated that both sides need to negotiate in goods faith. >> more than 100 people have been killed in government raids in aleppo. milita military dropped barrel bombs, most kills were civilians. government troops fought their way into rebel held downs.

many have died since the war began three years ago. the syrian conflict is spreading. a suicide bomber killed four saturday. a group named after a syrian al qaeda group said it's behind the bombing. they explain why the neighbouring country is seeing an increase in attacks. >> another car bomb hits near the border of syria in lebanon. a suicide blew himmed up in a car -- himself up in a car. it hands near a petrol -- happened near a petrol station, a school. this is a route used by hezbollah to send fighters and advisors to aid president bashar al-assad, a member of syria's alawite minority in his battle with sunni rebels. >> this is affecting all the lebanese citizens.

today the citizens are affected by hezbollah and syria. they have a direct effect on the security of the citizens. that's why they are asking to have hezbollah withdrawing from the fire. al qaeda-affiliated rebel groups - since the beginning of the year hezbollah strong holds have come under attacks. they have killed and injured dozens. the time between each bombing is shrinking. it appears that they won't stop assisting the government, despite attacks on the areas and the fighters it's losing in the war next door. they continue to be in syria. this has taken place new. it has to do with the region. it doesn't stop at the border.

this is a regional war that has taken place. i think it will be more of the same. >> the lebanese army and police have taken additional measures by setting up checkpoints in an attempt to curb further attacks. these measures are not enough to stop them. >> in a sign that syria's war is spilling over to lebanon. strong health have been targeted four times in january alone. libya is vulnerable: >> the united nations is condemning the attack saying they are concerned about the rise in violence in lebanon. a court in cairo cleared al jazeera's cameraman mohammed badr of all charges. he was arrested in august, accused of taking part in riots in ramsay square. 60 other defendants have been

acquitted. a court is yet to order his release. >> secretary of state john kerry met with opposition leaders in germany, saying the u.s. will stand for protesters. russia is urging the ukrainian government to end the protest. jennifer is live in kiev. she voiced strong support of the opposition. has it reached the point where he is considering intervention. you know, the u.s. has done something when the violence broke out two weeks ago. they did halt the visas of officials, we don't know who. they said they stopped, anybody connected with the violence in the united states. it's a few officials. we haven't seen concrete action. it's a frustration to the opposition supporters.

they'd like to see economic sanctions. they'd like to see the banks accounts of anybody connected with corruption. much of the bank accounts have been frozen. that's the real unhappiness with the west, of the opposition. they want to see concrete action. i get stopped on the streets. they say we like the moral support, but they want to see real support. >> you mentioned the un happiness with the rest. where is russia. >> it began when president viktor yanukovych made the deal. where is russia now. how are they reacting. >> russia has a lot of leverage, not only the carr rot of a $15 billion loan offered to ukraine, $3 billion of that has been reversed much the budget is dependent on the money.

$11 billion in deficit. >> vladimir putin says he'll wait and see what the new government looks like. he made a deal with the new prime minister. they are exerting other pressure. they reimposed custom. 70% of ukraine's products go to russia. they are in a standstill. we saw russia do this, that's how they got the leverage to get the deal with ukraine to turn viktor yanukovych away from the trade deal. russia has a lot of leverage and it's exerting as much. they advised yage to quash the rebellion. serious words at a tense time. you mentioned how tense the time the. there's tonnes of crowds of people. it has been doing on for more than two months. look at all the people.

how much longer can they keep it up. it looks cold. >> it's very cold here. it's eight degrees below. it's in the teeps in farren highlight. it's sunday. the opposition leaders have called for a mass rally, waiting for them to come out on the square. the protesters are willing to stay until they see real change. >> there's ukraine houses used as a dormitory and a cafeteria. there's a treat. it's happening where the stand off is happening. people have been out here 24 hours a day, senn days a week on the stage, singing, doing poetry, for more than two months. they say they'll stay here until

they get what you want. it's not here in kiev. now mainly in the west is where they are still demonstrating that they have taken over a couple of local administrators. this could go on for not long. people want to see change and will keep the pressure up until they get it. >> staying until they see change. >> thank you for following the story. >> in afghanistan the first official day of campaigning. they have been overshadowed by violence. >> two aids of abdullah, abdullah have been shot and killed. several suspects have been detained by police. 11 candidates are vying to run. they'll campaign in the the april 5th election. >> the flu season taking a toll.

>> plus, it's super bowl sunday. and millions have been watching the big game. a look at who is cashing in. information that makes it into your child's textbook where church and state may cross pass. and a live look at pennsylvania, everyone waiting to see if the ground hog will shatter today. >> okay, we have another guest...

>> good morning to you. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. next, why young people are being struck down by the flu. first a look at what temperatures will see across the nation. we are heading forward a cool down. from the north-east back to the southern plains and into the southern plains. it is cold enough where we are seeing snow and freezing rain to the northern texas. it will be a messy go.

we do have the darker shades of blue. that's where the snow is coming down heavily. watch out there. even around the dallas four areas. we are under a winter weather advisory. we are seeing conditions deteriorating. we have an area of low pressure riding along the frontal boundary. that's where the cold area is coming in. along the east coast it's noose and warm. we'll have mild temperatures in place. at least through the early part of the afternoon. once the cold front moves through, that's where we see a little rain and snow mix. that will not occur through the late night hours. we are in good shape. here is a look at the radar. it's a lot of cloud cover. a few showers working in, but around the new york city area in east rutherford where the events

are taking place, we are expecting an isolated shower. heading into monday that's when we'll see the transition. colder air moves in, from the 50s to 30s. >> speaking of staying warm, authorities in florida are investigating whether a chemist who worked for the state stole drug evidence. they are conducting a state-wide review of the crime laboratory after discovering prescription pain pills went missing. it can affect thousands of cases. >> cases that worked represent 1% of all drug cases worked during the time period. the impact will be significant. >> they are accused of stealing prescription pain pills. the flu hits the young and the old. this year the virus is taking a toll on an unexpected group and

that is healthy adults. >> mary got her flu shot. when she found a relative in her early 40s is in hospital with the flu, she went one step further and got a num openia shop. >> he looked healthy when i saw him a year ago. >> how bad is it? >> dr alexander of the rush university med sal center says the -- medical center says the hops as seen double the -- hospital has seen double the number of cases. it's not just the higher number of case, the h1n1 is hitting young people hard. wisconsin's health department says the number of flu patients in hospitals that needed to go on a ventilator is twice the number as last year.

older people may have built up a better tolerance after outbreaks in "77 or 2009. >> no one knows why it is so severe. >> that is the number one question. they haven't seen or noted dramatic changes to the virus itself. >> the good news is before the flu season started researchers developed a flu vaccine that tackles the h1n1 virus. pharmacists say the vaccine is 60% successful in preventing the flu. the c.b.c. updated the flu update to widespread in new jersey, host to the sooup bowl. meaning a lot of people in close quarters and vulnerable to the flu. >> h1n1 is one of the strains that doesn't take much contact. >> there's no way to predict whether the virus will be worse this year or any years.

>> a concern we fear is the mutating virus that changes to become viralent. >> they were so concerned about the flu, that they made flue shots mandatory tore all employees. there are things we can do to prevent the flu, handwashing and the flu shot, which the cashier got this week. >> i have little ones at home. a son who is six and a daughter who is four. money is dirty. i don't want to take anything home. >> in some cases the flu progresses to pneumonia. while they are not recommended for younger, healthier people, they don't want to leave things up to fate. >> a recent study found a drug like ibe u pro fen and aspirin alleviate symptoms well it makes

people feel well enough to leave their homes. >> in new orleans. the mayor run re-election. he had 50% of the vote. his opponents say he has not done enough to stop crimes. supporters prays his effort to rebuild following hurricane katrina. tourism in the big easy bounced back with numbers approaching a 9-year high. >> a policy on what textans can have in textbooks, and the roll that changes could affect texans across the country. >> a former president and an anti-abortion pregnancy center. a republican lobbyist, a sunday school teacher and a church camp. they are among 15 people who decide who goes on by virtue of state's publishing powers. the information that goes into textbooks around the count rip. the texas board of education has

a history of educating politics in religion. i believe historical practices have not been the best. the board flagged a biology textbook. it was shown as fact and not theory. >> the objection came from a volunteer review pan 'em. they argued against climate change as a certainty. if a citizen holds values or beliefs that are extreme on either philosophical spectrum, does that conclude them from being on a pan 'em. >> absolutely not. >> a sign of moderate policies. on-friday the board took steps

to increase oversight and transparency of the citizen review panel. after the vote. a statement was issued saying: >> board member lawyers alan says he approvals 95% of what is in texas textbooks. the remaining 5%. >> i think what you have is the opportunity to have a conversation about the strengths and the weaknesses of those, the theory of those ideas. i believe that is healthy. while the debate is healthy. those what backed the changes see the texas board of education see a step towards putting academics over ideology. >> a volcanic eruption in

indonesia sends thousands running for trouble. we talk about the volcano spewing hot lava. a teenage athlete was almost kept from playing the game that he loves so much. >> financially it's off the charts. we'll never do business like this ai having the super bowl in their town. we look at the economic impact of the big game. >> i'm mark morgan, super bowl 48. denver quarterback peyton manning will have to make room for another reward. a live report is on the way.

>> welcome back. good morning. i'm morgan radford.

these are the top stories in this hour. the syrian government dropping barrel bombs in aleppo. more than 100 kill. that includes 10 children. the political crisis in ukraine becomes a global tug of war with the secretary of state john kerry saying the u.s. stands by the protesters, and russia tries to stop them. voting in the election in the last knew hours end the. polling in the south and the capital reported disruptions after anti-government protesters blocked voters and ballots getting to the polling stags. >> let's bring in wayne hay who is standing in bangkok. tell us about the polling problems. what does that mean for the election? >> well, the polling problems occurred in some districts, four districts to be exact in the capital si, in bangkok, in the south of the city. they had to have the election

cancelled. not overly surprising. that is an area that had traditionally supporting the main opposition party, which is boycotted. and the four districts in the thai capital had to have the election cancelled because the protesters were blocking people getting to the polling station. they couldn't come out of the centres, or get out to the polling booths. it moons the election couldn't happen and now we have to have a bielection. the election commission said those bielections take place. until then the commission will not realise any more ballots. do we know how soon we will have

a definitive result. >> that is a big question. we are heading into an unknown period. anti-government protesters have been on the treats of bangkok. they haven't achieved that. they certainly didn't achieve in stopping the election. they didn't want to election to take place. they fail in the bid even though they did disrupt it. now their leaders are saying to their supporters who have been on the streets for so long to stick around because the campaign to get rid of the government goes on. we are going to see more instability between now and those by-elections on 23 february. there is also a strong chance that someone, perhaps the opposition democrat party could launch a legal challenge to what we saw unfold and perhaps they could say it was

unconstitutional and they could intervene in what has happened today and looking forward to those by elections. wayne hay reporting from bangkok. thank you for being with us >> meanwhile 16 people are dead after a major volcanic eruption in indonesia. mount sinabung has been spewing ash. 14,000 evacuation were allowed home saturday after volcanic activity decreased >> clouds of thick ash and smoke dark ep the skies over indonesia's sumatra province. the pictures from shot by a fv crew shortly after an eruption. 30,000 people had been evacuated from surrounding areas. a day earlier authorities allowed half of them back to look after their homes and tend

their fields. >> among the dead four high school students, their teacher and a local tv journalist. >> the victims were in the path of the hot cloud. >> that village was 5km from the peak. >> through the day the deprav itty of the -- gravity of the situation was apparent. hundreds gathered at this hospital looking for loved ones. many victims would have suffocated because of rapidly advancing clouds of hot ash, smoke and rocks. indonesia sits in one of the most seismically active parts of the world. in 2010, 324 diet when mt merapi erupted. researchers keep an eye on 30 active volcanos, but predicting when one will erupt is nowhere

near an exact science. >> for some 400 years mount sinabung had minimal volcanic activity. eruptions are more common and it has been omitting gas since september. >> on saturday chuck hagel made a rare phone call to officers stationed at maelstrom air force base, where service menders were caught cheating. for that reason everyone has to retake the tests, hoping to boost the moral of those that weren't caught. secretary hagel thanked the officers. he made the call from a plane ferrying him home from germany. >> chris christie filed back at a former political ally who accused him of lying about the

george washington bridge. it was in response to what happened on friday when a lawyer for david wildstein released a letter claiming he had evidence that chris christie was aware of lane clornals. david wildstein was appointed by chris christie and resigned in the wake of the controversy. the governor sent an email saying: >> it goes on to paint him as a loose canon and lists five incidents tended to discredit him. it's believe the lane closures were done to a mayor who did not support chris christie for reelection. >> the state of california is suffering through the worst drought in its recorded history. state officials are taking draftics measures to deal with it. for the first time in its 54

year history the state water project has decided to turn off the taps that it supplies with water. zero water supplies, leaving millions of urban residents in california, and farmers to find another way to get their water. many of those districts have reservoirs. farmers are looking for their own way to deal with it. the metropolitan water district has enough to deal with it. they are not looking at mandatory restrictions. this is serious. no one knows when the drought will end. the governor asked all citizens. they are asked to cut their water by 20%. hard to say. there are many ways that you can conserve water. he has put up on the website ways that you can cut back.

you saved many gallons by: >> these are simply things that everyone can do. the question is whether anyone is listening. if there's no mandatory water restriction, will people sense the urnal si of this. on a nice day in california, it's hard to imagine dire predictions coming up. the truth is this is the worst drought we have seen. and the worst could be yet to come. this is the first time the state water project turned off its dpiing ot. street parates are in full effect in rio de janeiro as brazil kicks off a series of carnival. hundreds turned out to dance in the street.

this year's carnival is an important test of the infrastructure. it's kicking off in june. last year they drew hundreds of thousands of visitors. >> progress nosty katers picked the winner of the super bowl. this panda bear is putting her money on a tennessee favourite. peyton manning and the denver broncos. they hung of team flags and the bear pulled down the denver broncos ban are. manning played in the '90s. tonight is the big night. the super bowl is being held. that's where mark morgan is standing. it's cold and dark. what is going on? >> it's not too bad. the n.f.l. lucked out. colder as we know in the new york new jersey area.

the panda picks the broncos. >> there you have it. we begin the discussion. we'll begin the discussion with the broncos, because peyton manning has been a high profile player all season long leading up to the super bowl. he grabbed headlines because the n.f.l. handed out awards and peyton manning wins the mpv award. no player won the award more than three times, peyton manning helped the denver broncos offense put up numbers this season. he drew for 54 yards. peyton manning received 49 of the 51st place votes. the other to tom brady. manning won the mvp award in 2003, "08 and "09. >> panicking is looking for a second super bowl ripping.

and a team-mate tried for his first. balery is 35, in his fifth seen. he has been a head coach on the field for john fox. >> he's been a tremendous resource for me. when i came to the denver broncos, it was one of the first guys i sought out. you know, just about denver, the broncos, about the football team. he's been a great course for me. i have great respect. it's been a frustrating year for him. he was injured for a big part of it. it's been awesome that he got back in time. i enjoyed the game and watched the gaum. i feel good. i'm excited. i'm ready to go. i think things will work out. here we go. we have to go out and win the

game. >> now, obviously champ bailey will be a sure fire hall of famer. the inductees for the hall of fame were announced. i'll show you the list. derek brooks, remember him. he was a tackling machine. strayh ark n will get in. he was a sack machine, and this is big news. oakland raiders is the first puncher to be inducted into the pro football hall of fame. for all of the players will take place august 1st. we have a lot of good things in the next couple of hours. we'll focus on the seattle sea hawks. we'll have a fore about place, helping the current players.

my question to you, was in science behind the panda. >> i was going to ask you is the panteda right to pick peyton manning. >> i said a couple of days ago that i would take the broncos by little. it will be hard, despite how strong they are. it will be hard for the seahawks defense over the span of a game to slow down. i think it will be a terrific game in the last four or five minutes to keep it. >> the way the panda was waving around in the bronco slide. >> get that panda a microphone and make it happen. >> thank you. it was great seeing you. we look forward to having you. with the kick off to america's most-watched sporting event,

preparationers are underway for next year's super bowl. >> they'll host the big event. jan breuer was in new york. >> the super bowl is believed to bring big money and business. it doesn't go the full nine yards. >> super bowl 48 in february 2014 will be played in new york new jersey. >> the super bowl host committee claimed it would cost 70 million to set up, secure and clean-up after the big game. according to the report, security in new jersey will be on par with presidential ipp august rations, mean $4,000 on the ground. new jersey transit is expecting to spend $70.7 million. it's a fashion of the

$1.94 billion. depending on who you talk to, the game is a great thing or greatly overrated. >> somewhere between nine and 10 came to the region. >> they are always overinflated. >> reporters say promises of a $600 million windfall are exaggerated. >> the money maid doesn't necessarily stay in the community. >> the money is coming in to the hotel. the money doesn't go to the desk clerk or the staff or the economy. a 2011 study from holy cross found that super bowls have a tenth. financial impact that local boosters advertise. >> doug owns a restaurant near the stadium. it's a once in a life-time

opportunity. >> we are thrilled about it. >> he's hosting the supertail gate with tickets costing $425. reds are expecting $1,000. we'll never do business like this again unless the super bowl comes back. >> from an economic standpoint it was a huge win for the city and the state. we had $240 million of the outside spending. in terms of visitor spending obvious the cores of the 10 days of the event when we opened the village in doup town indiana. the spend was $176 million. >> according to a report by the city's host committee indiana saw $26 million, and indianapolis $22 million. 4700 jobs were added and

$278 million to the city's gd perform. >> the super bowl is hosted by a larger city that doesn't need the publicity. what is the value of hosting the big game. the answer may be it depends. >> it's hard to estimate how much new yorkers who are staying home to avoid the crowds will be spending. it may be months before we know how big the game's impact was. the fans are here, teams ready and the weather cooperating. >> and speaking of cashing in, in business news technology giant microsoft is close to naming the third ceo in the company's history. they are likely to replace steve balmer who replaced steve gates in 2000. the change comes as microsoft tries to move and focus on tablets, phones, cloud and other

services. a reduction in food stamp benefits and competition from dollar store franchises made a dent in wal-mart's profit. >> a president and ceo of taking the rains. doug mcmillan rose through the ranks. starting in a distribution center in 1984. coming up, a teenager inspiring a community, taking to the basketball court on two prosthetics legs. >> an ice fisherman will have to pack their botches with beer after a drone has to stop. >> and to pennsylvania, where everyone is waiting to see if the silver ground hog will show his shadow today.

>> good morning to you and welcome back to al jazeera america. ahead - ice fishermen in minnesota will have to carry their beer with them. first a look at the forecast today with the meteorologist. mark morgan, it's going to be a bit cooler for some locations. it's mile. let's take you to the country, hoping to see if we'll see the shadow. if we do, it's six more years of winter, if he doesn't. it may be a cloudy day. it means they see spring. we have time before they come out. lots of people out there to

celebrate. it is a big event. we are doing a pass-over. it's wet. people are having a lot of fun. the boundary from the north-east, lots of deep moisture. that's what is hoping to trigger the rain showers. down across the south it is cold. then we can go down there. into the west mainly dry. watch the area of low pressure. at least for coastal areas there'll be rainfall. at least we are specking a quarter inch of rain. we'll keep it dry. temperatures in the mid '60s. the rain comes in. take a look at the rest of the week. not much in the way of the wet weather. >> it relies on punk sales.

that's who we are waiting on to tell us our forecast. >> not a meteorologist. >> between mark morgan, and the panda. appreciate it. hollywood is mourning the loss of maxa million shell. he won an academy award for the 1961 film. he won a golden globe in 1993 for his supporting role in stallin. his agent said he died of a sudden illness. >> a high school basketball player in colorado is on the court after being told me couldn't compete. the 18-year-old was banned because he was a double amputee. >> whenever bailey takes the coward, it's ex-illerating. his fellow students at mountain

vista high do not hide their supportism. >> he's is a true inspiration. he has a disability, he's doing what he loves. >> this 18-year-old is playing the game he loves, despite having both his legs amup tated below the knee. >> i was born with three toes on both feet. i was plated seven, eight month the >> bailey ran and jumped using specially designed prosthetic legs. >> bailey's challenge is much the same faced by a former olympic athlete on the track, oscar pretorius. he lost his legs when he was an infant. >> he competed, the first amputee runner to do so. they are like same legs. >> in mid jan. colorado high school activity

told bailey they would not play out of concern for his safety. >> they associated a rule. the referee shall not permit any team member to wear equipment or apparel which is dangerous or confuse to other players or not appropriate. >> bailey and his supporters were heartbroken. >> it was disappointing to know that he was not going to be eligible. >> on thursday the school association reversed its decision, allowing bailey to play on a game by game basis, relying on a different part of the rule organising exceptions to provide reasonable accommodations to participants with disabilities or special needs. the ruling put bailey on the court. everyone loves bailey, he's done a great job of working, overcoming the handicaps. >> bailey is the first to admit

he's not a starter, but he played friday night and the crowd was back, going wild. >> it feels good. all ut students were here. we have the best crowd. it makes be feel good. >> his team-mate feels good as well. they got a win last night, upping the record to 16 and 1. >> bailey saw a lot of support on twitter. hundreds of supporters tweeting with the hash bag let bailey hoop. >> tack lipping, fishing, bait and beer, that's all you need for ice fishing. but a drone program has been grounded. 12 packing were supplied to fishermen on the froze n lakes. the faa found out about it and stopped the program.

the agency say rules don't allow drone to be used. >> at the end of the first hour, here is what we follow, election day in thailand. and there were problems with the polls. anti-government groups stopping ballots. >> president bashar al-assad dropped barrel bombs on the rebel held city. secretary of state secretary of state john kerry holds an unannounced meeting with the prime minister of iran. his effort to heel the relationship between the u.s. and long-time rival. >> i'm mark morgan. we are live at metlife stadium, the site of super bowl 48. coming up what do most n.f.l. players do when the cheering stops. that story ahead. >> i'm tracking a pull-down. a change over to snow. the start of a new week.

>> and al jazeera continues and i'm back with you in 2.5 minutes.

>> election day in thailand turns violent as people are blocked from polling stations across the country. >> taking sides secretary of state john kerry meets with opposition leaders in germany saying the u.s. will support the ukraine's demonstrators' fight for democracy. >> a deadly eruption.

more than a dozen killed in indonesia after volcanic ash blankets a local village. >> hello, welcome to al jazeera america. live from new york city, i'm morgan radford. voting in thailand's national election has ended. an anti-government protesters has followed through on a promise to disrupt the vote. a third of constituencies reported problems. despite very heavy security, protesters blocked voters from getting to polling centres and prevented ballot stations from reaching the stations . areas that were blocked were

areas of pro-government polls. wayne hay has this report. >> the leaders of the anti-government protest movement that has been on the streets of the thai capital bangkok for so long said that would not stop people casting their vote. there was plenty of disruption. four districts in the capital city, elections had to be cancelled for the day. big problems in the south of thailand, with nine provinces having the election day cancelled. no great surprise. it's a strong hold. largest opposition democrat party, which has decided to boycott this election, and it's a party that supports the protest movement, which has been trying to force the government out. no surprises also to hear that there were very little problems in other parts of the country, large parts of the country, in the north and the north-east. most people in those parts of thailand support the government

and the prime minister led by yingluck shinawatra. but we are heading into an unknown period and for the time being it will be an interim government and an interim prime minister. >> more than 100 people have been killed in government raids in the syrian town of aleppo. military helicopters dropped explosives on a rebel held down and human rights groups say most of those killed were civilians, including 10 children. over the past few weeks government troops fought their way into rebel-held towns. more than 30,000 have died since the syrian war began. >> a suicide bomber killed at least 10 on saturday. a group named after a syrian al qaeda group says it's behind the

bombin bombing. hezbollah-held areas have been attacked because they are support the government in saria. >> campaigning for elections in bangkok have been overshadowed by -- in afghanistan coming for elections have been overshadowed bay violence. two aides to abdullah abdullah have been killed. >> candidates kick off two months of campaigning until the april 5th election. >> the secretary of state john kerry met with iran's foreign minister because the two discussed upcoming associations. this is all in exchange for easing sanctions that crippled iran's economy. secretary of state john kerry reiterated that both side needed to negotiate in good faith and the u.s. will enforce the

existing sanctions. >> the gesture of good measure from defense secretary chuck hagel, on saturday he made a rare call to officers based in montana, where more than 90 service members were caught cheating. >> for that reason everyone has to retake the tests. secretary hagel called to thank the officers. he made a call from a security plane ferrying him from a conference in germany. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry met with opposition leaders in germany. the u.s. will stand with the protesters and support their fight for democracy. russia will end the protests. >> john kerry voiced strong support support of the opposition in ukraine.

has it reached the point where he's considering an intervention? >> you know, i think the opposition leaders are a little disappointed about concrete steps. the u.s. exerted pressure. they revoged a couple of visas that they said have been connected with violence. they will not tell us their names. the opposition boo like to see economic sanctions. personal economic sanctions against leaders that are corrupt. they would like to see western ofrnals freeze funds. we see no indication of that happening. it was a show of support for the ukrainian opposition. >> you mentioned the pressure on the government. president viktor yanukovych dropped the e.u. and made a deal with russia.

how are they reacting. >> russia is a big player. they exerting what pressure they can. they are aftering a $15 billion aid package. $2 billion were supposed to be dispersed. the deal was made with the previous prime minister who resigned. they want to see the new prime minister. he is protecting russia's financial interest. russia has imposed customs, sanction, rules, 70% of ukraine's, most of those are sitting at the borer. if it goes on for too much longer fact lis will have to -- factories will have to halt productions, and lay off worker. >> we are hearing a lot of

fighting in the background. let's take a live picture. we saw thousands of people the the stand off has been going on for two months. >> well, the opposition say they'll stay for as long as it takes. there are thousands of people at independence square. they are waiting on the opposition leaders. briefing them on what happened. this is a key day. two weeks ago is the last time we saw a big rally, and a small group of protesters broke off the rally, starting the violence that got negotiations going here. we saw that the crowds booed them saying we want leadership. they have seen a concrete change. there has been cold weather. the protesters have been out in the streets. it's been 20 below zero.

they'll stay until they see change, they are dug in, they invested two months in this. if it takes two months, six months or a year, they want to pressure their government to change. >> jennifer, thank you so much for calling the story from the beginning. >> a court in cairo killed al jazeera mohammed badr of all charges. he was arrested in august. they have taken part in riots. 60 other defendants. a court is yet to order mohammed badr's release. meanwhile 16 people are dead after a major volcanic eruption in indonesia. >> mount sinabung is spewing ash and gas. more than 30,000 people have fled. on saturday 14,000 evacuees were allowed home. hundreds gathered in hospitals

looking for the loved ones. many victims were suffocated because of rapidly advancing clouds of hot ash and rock. >> from fire to ash scores of people were rescued. thousands were trapped. several hun tread are trapped this their cars. the problem is not snow as much as it is wind. gusts of 100 miles per hour. >> they are begging people not to travel. >> speaking of travel and snow. for all the latest let's bring in the meteorologist. >> we are going to see our temperatures taking a dive. as a result of cold air we'll switch from rain to snow. here is a broad view of the radar. you can see the precipitation stretches from the southern

plains all the way in to parts of new england. it's associated with the cold front. all the rain and snow sliding to the south and east. we are seeing a little light rain showers around the dallas fort worth area. temperatures dropping and we'll see rain. it all swips over to snow. snow flakes coming over oklahoma. we are in a break. we are seeing the snow filling in here. there are a number of advisories and warnings that are out. here in the small areas, southern oklahoma. around oddmor, the areas will be slick. at least not as of yet. we are watching an area of low pressure. it will work up the cold front, in advance of it, temperatures

will stay warm, warmer than what we are used to. once the front slides to the east, with the precipitation. this will be an overnight event into the north-east. not expecting to see a wash out of the afternoon plans. that's the good news. in new jersey, we should keep it on the cloudy side. could see a spotty rain shower. that's about it, not expecting to see the snow. here is a look at the 5-day forecast. est lated showers at best. 51 today, dropping to freezing. >> temperatures above average to below. >> voters in el salvador go to the polls hoping to make their country safer. a controversial truth by the president - why it's a

paragraph. >> a tiny bug in the south-east is being blamed for a food allergy.

>> good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america. ahead - a controversial gang truce in el salvador has an impact on the presidential race. first the temperatures across the country with meteorologist eboni deon. >> we are off to a mild start of the colder air is moving in, dropping temperatures below zero across the northern plain and upper mid west. we are sitting at 5 degrees, a cold start to the day. bismark 5. four in denver. 27 degrees in tulsa. feeling a little better there. we have the chill in the air. as we go through the day to day. temperatures above average. by 10 degrees, new york city climbing to 51. 55 in washington d.c.

29 - that will be the high in cleveland, filling the colder air mass, settling in overnight. >> meanwhile down south doctors are worried about a new food allergy, they are seeing a spike in the number of patients that are allergic to red meet. jonathan martin explains. >> for september norman it came on fast and could have killed her. the allergic reaction startled her awake at three in the morning. >> i could feel my lips and dong swelling. i told my husband that something was wrong. >> what september didn't realise was she was having an allergic reaction to red meat. brought on by a tick bite. >> it's among food allergies in the soost. it led her to develop an alpha gal meat allergy.

it caused her to develop life-threatening reactions to it. this doctor has seen many walk in every week. it can happen hours. >> when i ate meet i will go into anaphylactic shock. i will die. i walk around with an epipen. >> researchers just made the connection. in a 2011 study they emerged in tennessee, north carolina and arkansas. 2,000 people were diagnosed. researchers blamed the rise on the tick. that man is living with thealernaly. an avid red-meat lover. he found a way to satisfy hits craving in emu.

he says it tests like grass-fed beef. he quit his job to start an emu farm. >> when i found emu as a tasty red meat. i was hooked on it. i couldn't find enough of it to buy. kind of one thing led to another and we may as as well jump into it. >> there is no treatment for the allergy. if you were diagnosed, the only way to avoid an afac is to avoid products which contain meat by-product. it contains many things are aren't meat. thealernaly could take off there. jonathan martin, al jazeera. >> authorities in florida are investigating whether a chemist who worked for the state stole drug evidence. the florida department of law enforcement is conducting a

state-rid review after discovering pription of pain pills went missing. it could lead to the release of prisoners. >> his cases that represent one per cent of all drug cases that were worked during that time period. however, the impact will be significant. >> that chemist is accused of stealing prescription pain pills and replacing them with drugs. a roman catholic diocese in canada is filing for bankruptcy. clergy members abused more than 300 children. they have to settle abuse claims adding up to $15,000. >> as a controversial gang truce is orchestrated by the outgoing

president. as al jazeera reports, gang members say the truce is nothing more than a stage campaign to draw votes for the ruling party. >>? el salvador the missing is being unearth. san salvador's labs, where remains are reconstructed haven't been this busy in years. he discovered 31 bodies in 21 different sites. that is one neighbourhood. a truce was declared here. despite that the list of salvadorians continues to grow. >> it's a politically sensitive issue. investigations have, for now, been stopped. it's a matter of resources diverted in the upcoming election. the forensic lab's director says

it's not true. >> we people frustrated because we are scientists that said he solve crimes. we have had to stop. we were disgusted that all of this is for statistical reasons. the aim is to throw fewer deaths and missing than there are. >> the truce between the 18th street gang and their rivals has been credited with drastically releasing their murder rate. there has been accusations of col uses between politicians and gapping members to keep the rates down. >> they talk about us, and say things about a truce. it's a lie. listen to the president and you know he's lying. he's making things up. >> there are people trying to make a difference, and antonio rodriguez is a priest who worked

with san salvador's youth, who are in danger are the of working with gangs. >> i want children and young people to have diagrams. in this country there are no diagrams. i wish to live. but all they want is to die. to live or to kill. >> efforts have not gone unnoticed by el salvador's gang members. he's a marked man. his father is leaving until the election is over, a sign of how unpowerful the gappings are. >> both gangs started out in latino migrant communities in southern california. deportations by the u.s. is what pushed them into central america. >> thousands of australians have called for an end to the new law, allowing sharks to be captured and kill. several deadly attacks prompted

the law. officials say the attacks hurt tourism and beach goers must be protected. there's growing opposition against the shark cull. ism the latest cull is happening off a few beaches in south-west australia. only a single shark has been killed. right across australia. protesters say if people enter the sharks' territory, they should be prepared for the consequences. the chance of anyone being attacked or killed by a shark is vanishing or small. >> if you go into the water there's not a big risk. if people learn that, they are less scared of sharks. >> they are between one or 2,000 people, more expected at the protest. not everyone is on the same page. there is considerable support for the cull.

the number of people using perth, swimmers and surfers is down. those that came into the see, there's fear about the sharks out there. there's also, some day, a degree of hypocrisy. those are said to kill wildlife. up in queensland be had baited drum lines. why then the protest about the latest cull in western australia. >> people don't know the reality of the nets or in queensland. this issue is happening now. we can get in on the ground, shortly after it starts. hopefully educate the people who weren't aware of all the issues. it's been successful conservation efforts. there's sharks in australia. at the same time more people than ever were using the o.

conservationists say it's inevitable that a few trag dis occur. a cull of sharks is a massive overreaction. >> that was andrew thomas reporting from sydney, australia. >> amy is a reporter with roiters in thailand. >> you are in bangkok where protesters disrupted the voting. what is the situation like there on the ground right now? >> well, we are now at the end of a long day. even though there were disruptions as you've seep in various clips that you have shown, bangkok and the south, there were disruptions there. it's relatively peacefully. what happened today doesn't bring thailand any closer to solving a long eight-year crisis. and the street protesters look set to continue. also after today it looks set to

go on. >> do the people in thailand have faith in this election. >> the protestors, the anti-government protesters don't have faith. they never wanted it to happen. they are fighting for sweeping reforms, they want political, national reforms and the government out. they want to rid the country of the prime minister and her family's nupes, and want her brother's influence out of the country, thaksin kicked out in 2006. they feel the election should not have taken place. have you to remember the protests are confined. a lot of people around the rest of the country wanted the vote to go on. they believe in the election. >> very quickly, what is the

opposition's next step here. >> by opposition you mean anti-government protesters, thl continue, i believe tomorrow, much as they have down for the last three weeks. they'll march on the streets. they are backing down or negotiating with the government. it's unlikely that there will be a resolution to the chris size soon. >> thank you very much. thank you for joining us from bangkok this morning. >> it's officially the year of the horse. we'll look at the traditions for the chinese new year and what they symbolize. >> we'll see more of in in the coming years. we are looking at the latest technology and the potential impact on all of us, coming up.

>> i'm mark morgan, we are live at metlife stadium. super bowl 48 is less than 12 hours way way. coming out we'll talk about a program that helps number of fl players when -- n.f.l. players when their playing days are over.

>> good morning, welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. the syrian government is dropping barrel bombs over aleppo with more than 100 killed in one day. a political crisis in ukraine is becoming a global tug of war much secretary of state john kerry says the u.s. stands by the protesters. russia tries to get them to stop. >> polling in bangkok have ended.

there has been reports of obstruction to the ballots. >> chris christie fired back the a political ally that accused him of lies about the gig controversy. it happened when a lawyer from david wildstein released an alert claiming he had evidence that chris christie was aware of the lane closures. david wildstein was appointed by christy, and resigned the an email to friend and supporters, saying david wildstein will do and say anything. the email goes on to paint him as a loose canon. >> it is believed it was retribution for the mayor who did not support chris christie in his re-election bid. >> a proposed law would allow

abortioning in the cases of rape or if a woman's life was in danger. even those would have restrictions. 80% of the population doesn't like it. >> this is a 30-year-old single mother of one child living in spain. she found out she was pregnant. her reaction... >> when i discovered i was pregnant i knew what i wanted or rather what i didn't want. >> she spoke to us after having a procedure to terminate her pregnancy, something she was able to do under spanish law. that rite is under threat. >> it's not right that the government takes the decisions for us. this is something that affects your life. >> spain adds association of gynecologists fear it would be a

background step for women. ism it doesn't mean abortions are going down. what changes is if it's legal or illegal, is if you have safe abortions or not. >> the draft law restricts abortion. if the laws are passed only women in danger would qualify for a termination. even then they need permission from two frgs. >> a woman's right to choose whether she can have an abortion is at stakes. he's arguing that the current law is anti-constitutional. changes may appease the religious right wing. even members of the people party are voicing their own opinions on it.

>> proactivists are campaigning for the law to go ahead. >> we'll keep on demonstrating, rallying, writing letters to the prime minister, being in the media, social networks making sure that prime minister understands there is a majority of spaniards voting for him and who want him to fulfil his commitment. >> spain is a secular country the roman catholic church casts a shadow. polls show span yas are against a change to the law. the majority of parliament condemned the move. it will support a woman's right to choose. this will not be an easy issue to convince the country of orz. >> other european cities held demonstrations in solidarity. protests were held in london,

rome and over in brussels. many people in north korea may dream of leaving. one man that directed to the south want to go back. we have this report from seoul. >> lunar new year in seoul, and families flock to a village. this family holiday brings painful thoughts of a mother and sisters left behind in north korea. >> there isn't one moment over the last 12 years that i felt any happiness during the holiday season. >> they've taken the unprecedented step of declaring an intention to go back to the north. both governments intera to the return. >> if i go silently south koreans will see me as being an illegal regectors. and i want to express my

thoughts to the media first. >> he says his stance is political, designed to draw attention to the antagonism. to keep their nations divided. he admits to financial struggles. north korean defectors are among the most marginalised. life here can be give and lonely. there has been a surge in numbers going home. there has been reports of coercion. >> sun has spoken out about the internal workings. he knows his own brother was xt cuted for helping him gettize son to north korea. what about the risk. >> he could maximise a risk for

prpa canneda. the ran i made the decision is someone had to pay the price in blood, ending the antagonism. the chances of being given prnls to return are slim at best. the willingness to make the journey, to make the point and be reunited to the loved ones is testament to personal costs born by so many. >> currently there are 25,000 north korean defectors in south korea. the year of the water snake has ended. >> now people all over the world are celebrating the year of the horse. with us now is jeff, a director of the education. he is a native of shanghai. thank you for being with us this morning. explain to me i understand the

year of the wood horse is a big deal. what is the symbolism behind that. >> every year in the zodiac year has a social meaning. the horse has a special meaning, they are a sign of success, strength, but in modern times people instill new meanings to it. a sign of australia punishes -- auspici ourks awes punishes open things. >> what are the traditions that go along with it. i hear you are supposed to decorate your house or clean it to get the bad luck out. >> there are many of those, china and across the world is very diverse. different customs go into

representing themselves in different places. one is - several of them very stringily. this is about - traditionally it's about getting rid of a certain monster who would destroy tops. people use the colour red. >> is it for a spirit. >> it's more real than that. he would eat the crops. they, but it's the colour -- it's afraid of the colour red. i put a red tie on. people wear red. the celebration lasts from two weeks to 20 days or 19 days. wear red and get rid of - clean your house because cleaning afterwards has some bad associations related to it. those are the customs.

gather with family, people who are far, travel home, and gather. those are probably very important too. >> you mentioned the diaspera. to traditional families celebrate this differently. >> it's complicated. it depends on where the families in the u.s. come from. most of them come from rural areas. they may redane that because it needed, i think, as you move to a new place, you need the sense of community, you need the sense of bonding more strongly, so i feel in larger cities in china today the traditions are susceptible to modern commercial influences. a lot of friends my age are travelling. they are not home, they are away from home in the us. in china towns, places where a lot of chinese live in other

countries, it becomes more important and a sign for the community. >> super bowl sunday is here. mark morgan is in metlife stadium. >> good morning. less than 12 hours from now the seahawks and broncos will battle in metlife stadium. earlier this weekend in new york city current and former players held a seminar focussing on what n.f.l. players do when the cheering stops, with their life after the n.f.l. ross shimabuku with more. >> two n.f.l. players, when they walk off the field, there's not a chair in the broadcast booth or a path to endorsement.

sports illustrated reported that within two years after leaving the name, 70% of players have gone bankrupt or are under financial distress. even players that have saved their money, the business world is a different ball game that requires a new play book. >> there's a lot of research about transferrable skills. place have a phenomenal skills set given a chance, and if they respect the person coaching them. if i want to become an executive at ibm, it starts as a coach, training me as an intern, or managing trainee outside of sport. >> we have the 14th annual player networking event, a career fair for particulars. >> the player networking event is another way the n.f.l. and pro football retired players are

investing in the future for men sought out and recruited. the important message appears to be don't wait until you need a playcheck. >> i represent 75 to 80% players who have not made enough money to go into a business or start their own thing. they have to go back into the workforce, making high 20s, low 30s, which is a culture shock for them. they have to start from the bottom. understanding what it is they want to do and therefore the skills into corporate north america setting. one of those that got that message is david gerard. the former jet is about to open franchises. >> you have to think about it. you don't know when the last year would come. i want to be a businessman, an

owner of something. i joined up with retrofitness. >> with elevated incomes and college educations one would expect n.f.l. players to have the tools needed to build productive careers. >> many times it gives you an opportunity to participate. for us the career fair is the combine. those looking for an intern opportunity or an opportunity different to what they are doing now. is this the only place for players, for their career transition. >> the problem is they oocially are deal with the end game. miening is to give them the totality of success. >> we'll build a path to success. sooner or later the dream ends. it's a place to prepare for a change they know is coming.

♪ change ♪ change ♪ i'm not the man that i used to be ♪ >> that was ross shimabuku reporting. thank you. obviously ntl players don't have health concerns, but are looking ahead, for their financial situation as well. >> mark morgan live from metlife stadium. thank you for being with us. coming up today is world wetlands day. we'll tell you what that means coming up next. >> i'm tracking the cold front, including temperatures and a change over from rain to snow.

>> welcome back to jam al jazeera america. now to meteorologist eboni deon. >> icy spots on the roadways. plenty of moisture around, fog in place in and around new york city and newark. that is bridging down visibility. it's along the cold front, from the north-east. down to the southern plains. that front has made its move through the midwest, so many areas are behind it and the air is turning older. we haveling aring snow showers. we'll see another round as we get into the work week ahead. today it looks like the problem

spot will be here. notice we have anything from rain, freezing rain. pink to show. we are expecting to see the snow. in the western u.s. we'll keep it on the dry side. an area of low pressure will work its way down the coastline, bringing in rain. most of the rain today concentrated across the south. not seeing the rain now, working east ward as it goes through the day. stereo today marks world wetlands day, a day dedicated to a type of land that filters, cleans and stores much of the water. in places like uganda environmentalists are struggling to save the vital swamps and marshes. >> people in uganda's capital kampala said it was built on

seven hills. now it covers more than 20. between the hills are wetland. they host fragile ecosystems and drain water into nearby lake victoria. it's the second-largest lake in the world. as the city gross the wetlands of disappearing fast. they campaign to save them. they have been protected by laws in 1995. he says it's not in force. >> if you look at the policies in uganda, they are the best. when you look at what we are doing, it's a wide range of people, ranging from the capital investors. >> people build ohms on wetlands. it blocks the drainage. rains are heavy.

it's arnold's job to stop the building. he said someone built a fuel station on at wetland, ignored the court orders to stop. >> in some instances you fined there are people doing so. there's a government in. we have to follow. they have given permission. corruption plays a part. >> corruption is a challenge. on this side there's so much concrete on the ground. pollution is a problem too. the channel is the main train running through the city center. the same tunnel runs into the middle of a wetland. before reaching it passes through an industrial area, continuing into the lake. at this point the water smells of sewerage and chemicals, it's black in colour paying.

environmentalists say this pollution is destroying the wetlands. >> some action is being taken. authorities started to mark the edge of wetland areas there's many buildings beyond the boundaries. city officials plan to reclaim what wetlands they can, and turn them into nature parks. >> right here in the u.s. we have lost more than half of our wetlands due to farming construction and pollution. congress is asking the federal aviation administration to integrate the use of drones by 2015. research is conducted in six different states. we visited one site near dallas. >> reminiscent of a kid's remote controlled toy, it's anything but. this airborne contraption can

change direction based on hand movements. scientists at the arlington research institute can order it to follow things. >> this one has been trained to recognise the logo. where goes, the drone goes. at some point it will learn to, faces. >> programmed drones may be able to track a person with dimmen show who has a tendency to wander off. >> following a high-speed vehicle you could have it automatically following app autoio mobile around, transmitting information to the police. >> the development and implementation raises new questions about privacy. >> as any technology is utilised more and more there'll be opportunity yits for people to misuse the technology.

they need to be held accountable. >> it's a matter of regulation. >> unmanned programmed ground vehicles are tested her. this carries a gps system, a laser and a camera. the laser tracks the white line of the course, so the vehicle doesn't veer off it. they are trying to develop a relationship between drones in the air and vehicles on the drowned so they can talk to each other, adopt to changing situations and problem solve. give first responders a heads up as to what is happening from above. >> it's a good thing. you can find the health of crops and apply the right fertilisation or technology needed. >> with already crowded skies much of the research focuses on air safety. you want to make sure the drones don't crash into each other or

us. >> and the counterdown to the super bowl sunday is officially here and mark morgan is at met life stadium at east rutherford. kick off is about 11 hours away. after so much talk about the weather, how is it out there today? >> well, i tell you what, the super bowl committee and fans are lucked out. i remember a week, 10 days ago it was frigid cold, single digits. not the case. 30 degrees. crisp in the air. you can tell that as you see my breath, it's supposed to rasp a high of 50. in a game of this magnitude wind is an issue and precipitation. wind is not expected to be that high. the other thing i mentioned is

precipitation, it's an issue. peyton manning, seven years ago when he won his first super bowl ring he played in the rain. it was an issue then, but not tonight. it should be right on for a great game. >> i understand that peyton manning received another mvp award. will he win another vince lomba rrk di trophy. >> that's a school of talk. he flew for over 5400 yards. seattle on the other hand has the number one defense, so it's the irresistible force meets the imovable object. a lot of people hung peyton manning's legacy on the game. he has the one super bowl ring and a tonne of records. a lot of people think if he comes through and wins, he'll

elvait himself as a lock. >> there's more pressure on the denver broncos and panning as opposed to the sea hawks. you asked denver. two or three points. i look for a close game. >> the pressure is mounting. mark morgan, thank you so much. we'll have all eyes on the big game. >> and at the end of our second hour, here is what we are following, election day in thailand. there were problems at the polls. anti-government groups keeping people from casting ballots. >> airstreaks on aleppo in syria's 3-year civil war. bashar al-assad dropping barrel bombs on the city. more than 100 people have been kill. >> secretary of state john kerry holds an unanoun nounsed

meeting it the president of iran. >> mild temperatures will be replaced with snow and wet weather returning. >> more news in 2.5 minutes.

>> election day this thailand turns violent as people are blocked from polling straightses across the country. >> air strikes on aleppo. barrel bombs dropped on the city. days after the meeting in geneva tried to bring peace to the country. >> in california, they are facing the driest winter on

record. the state government is asking people to do their part. >> financially it's off the charts. we'll never do business like this again. >> who really benefits from having the super bowl in their town? we'll look at the economic impacts of the big game today. >> good morning to you. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, live from new york city. >> voting in thailand's election has ended. it could be weeks before results come out. anti-government protesters making good on their promise to disrupt the protests. many have reported problems. the election has done little to resolve widespread anger. scott heidler has the report. >> in her north bank

neighbourhood prime minister yingluck shinawatra arrived as the polls opened. setting an example she hoped millions of thais would follow on sunday. >> translation: has thais it's our duty to exercise a right to votement doesn't matter who you vote for. >> in other parts of the capital anticipated trouble was brewing. >> even though the leader of the protesters vowed not to prevent voters coming in, these followers stationed themselves outside the polling position organizers opened the polls at 8am and closed them at 9am because they are worried about voter safety. >> that was not an isolated case. 400 centres were closed and more in the southern part of the country. some were blocked.

some never got the paper ball odds, and some had no workers. >> my right is to stand here and make sure there is reform. >> in this district, the two sides scared off. official shut down voting. protesters pulled back. people marched to the municipal building. >> i'm disappoint that i can't exercise my right to vote. my country is a demack rahs ci. people can't show that they support the election. >> they broke through the gate, demanding that they be allowed to vote. they'll have to wait until elections are scheduled. >> there's little chaps that the election will -- chance that the election will soft everyone the stance of the people, nor will there be progress.

>> al jazeera's veronica pedrosa is at the district office in bangkok where ballots are being collected and she tells you what will happen with voters not able to cast their vote. >> that is how the ballot boxes arrived. district officers across thailand, from voting sayings cross the district. this is the district where the ballot becomes are gathered keeping safely inside. it looks like a properly functioning democracy, an election that has gone smoothly. the system is in crisis. the problems we are talking about is the anti-government protesters. >> the election commission says 13,000 complaints have been

filed. they were not able to exercise the right to vote. the government has announced that 90% of polling stations were act open. >> what happened to those that weren't able to vote, is that new elections will be run. as the whole thing is ironed out, the point of the elections is a matter of scrutiny. prime minister yingluck shinawatra wanted to resolve the political crisis by calling the snap elections. they seem to be prolonging it. >> that was veronica pedrosa reporting from bangkok. >> more than 100 have been killed in government raids. they dropped explosives on the rebel-held towns. >> most killed were civilians. over the past few weeks government troops fought their way into rebel-held towns.

413,000 people have decide since the civil war began. the conflict is spreading beyond its borders and a suicide bomber killed four people. a group named after a syrian al qaeda group is behind the bombing. that's why the country is seeing an increase in attacks. >> another car bomb hits the town near the border of syria. a suicide bomber blew himself up in a car on the main street. it happened near a petrol station, a school. >> it is a predominantly shi'a town and a route used by hezbollah to send fighters and advisor to aid president bashar al-assad, a member of the alawite minor city. >> this is affecting the

lebanese citizens affected by hezbollah and syria. we have a direct effect on the security of every citizens. that's why we are acting to have hezbollah withdraw from the syrian fire. >> al qaeda-affiliated rebel groups intensified their attacks on hezbollah for its role on syria. since the beginning of the year hezbollah strongholds came under attacks. killing and injuring dozens. the time between each bombing is shrinking. hezbollah will not stop assisting. >> they'll continue to be in syria. that is taking place now.

>> it has to do with the rhymon, a regional war that is taking place. it will be more of the same. >> the lebanese army and place took measures by setting up checkpoints across lebanon to kerb attacks. in the latest sign that the war is spilling into lebanon, hezbollah strong points have been targeted. lebanon is vulnerable to the attacks. >> the united nations is condemning the attacks saying they are concerned about violence. >> secretary of state john kerry john kerry met with opposition leaders in germany saying the u.s. will stand with protesters and support their fight for dem abbing resisty. russia is urging the ukrainian

government to end the protest. >> jennifer glasse has been following the situation. john kerry voiced strong support of the potential. has it reached the point where he's considering intervention. >> united states exerted some pressures, halting and having some sanctions. here on independence square a few minutes ago we saw the three opposition leaders speak to the crowds here after the meetings with john kerry and other officials in munich over the weekend. they say they welcomed concrete steps, and are looking forward to in centrals burg is an -- centrals burg is an investigation into violation of hulan rights.

people have been abducted, to tortured. a spate of cars have been torched. they'll be investigated and the opposition leaders say they want those responsible brought to justice. they say it is members of president viktor yanukovych's security forces or paid for by his security forces. we have heard from the president, that he will come back from sick leave tomorrow. he went on sick leave last week. he raised oncertain that they may escalate the situation. president viktor yanukovych back in his office tomorrow. >> the president is back from sick leave. i want to go back to something you said. you mentioned that people said there were abductions happening. a man came out beaten and bruised after being missing for a week.

is in any message about the investigation and what is the government response? >> there's a standoff at the hospital. a billionaire said he is going free him now. at the hospital, the foreign minister in munich dismissed his claims of being beaten up. he was abducted, held for eight days. he as covered with blood. he had serious bruising and has been in hospital for three days. the foreign minister claimed he had a scratch on his check. police are at the hospital. there is an arrest warrant out in connection with the opposition. the organization thinks he's organised for the opposition. the police are at the hospital. the interior minister is frustrated. they haven't been able to speak to him. the opposition would like him to

leave the country. >> it sounds like there is a lot of action happening in the streets of kiev. we look forward to having you keep us posted. >> 16 are death after an eruption. the volcano has been erupting for four months straight. 30,000 have fled. on saturday 40,000 evacuees were allowed home. al jazeera's correspondent reports. >> clouds of thick ash and smoke darkened skies over indonesia's sumatra province. the pictures shot by a tv crews hours after the eruption of mount sinabung. it had been rumbling for months. 30,000 were evacuated from surrounding arse. authorities allowed merely half of them back to look after their

homes and tend their fields. four high school students among the dead, their teacher and a local fv journalists. >> the victims were in the path of the hot cloud. >> the village was 5km from the peak. >> flow the day the gravity of the situation was aapparent. hundreds gathered at this hospital. many of the victims would have suffocated or burnt. indonesia sits in one of the most seismically active parts of the world. in 2010, 324 died over two months when mt merapi erupted. researchers keep a close eye on 30 active volcanos. predicting when any one will

erupt is nowhere near an exact signs. >> for some 400 nears, mount sinabung had minimal volcanic activity. it's been emitting gas assistance september. for the first time in history drought is forcing water to not be delivered to houses and farms. they'll have to rely on local reservoirs and find other sources >>. the state of california is suffering the worst drought in recorded history. state officials are taking measures to deal with it. for the first time in its 54 years history it's decided to turp off the taps to districts it supplies with water. that means zero water supplies, meaning millions of urban residents and farmers to find another way to get their water. many of those districts have reservoirs.

farmers are looking for their own way of deal with the water situation. in los angeles, the metropolitan water district has enough in reserve to deal with it. they are not looking at restrictions yet. this is serious. no one knows when the drought will end. the governor asked all citizens of california to cut their water usage by 20%. what does that mean? hard to say. there are many ways that you can conserve water. he has put up on the westbound site various ways you can cut back. you save many gallons by: >> these are simple things that anyone can do. the question is whether anyone is listening. if there's no mandatory water

restriction will people sense the urgency of this. on a nice day in california, it's hard to imagine dire predictions, this is the worst drought we have seen in decades, if not all recorded history and the worst is yet to come. >> it's the first time the state water project turned off the spig ot in its 54 year history. >> the flu season taking its toll on an unlikely group. why the young and healthy are turning up at hospitals. >> the olympic dream that can't be stopped. one athlete's hopes of bringing home the gold even though his entire countries has been banned from the game.

>> good morning. welcome back to al jazeera

america, i'm morgan radford live from new york city. >> let's get a look at the forecast. we'll see across the count are with meteorologist eboni deon. >> we have mild temperatures in place. there are chance on the way thag thanks to a cold front. we are dealing with a fair share of a mixed bag of precip station. this morning it's mainly been light rain showers starting to see more of a rain snow mix along the board are. >> into oklahoma and around the panhandle it is snow. we have advisories out for all the areas. a winter weather advisory. mainly as we head to the

afternoon we'll see the freezing rain. we are watching the area of low pressure as it heads north. in advance we are on the mild side. we are in great shape. the only exception is the interior. once the front moves through, that is when we expect to see a little in the way of rain. today we are in great state. we are 10 degrees above average. it will bridge the snow and temperatures to the mid 30s. >> a gesture of good measure. chuck hagel made a call to service members at montana.

that's where they were caught in a cheating scandal. hoping to boost the moral of those not caught in the cheating, chuck hagel called the officers to thank them for their service. he made the call from a plane ferrying him home. >> authorities are investigating whether a chemist who worked for the state stole drug evidence. they discovered prescription pain pills went missing. the probe could affect thousands of cases and lead to the release of prisoners. >> cases that worked represent 1% of all the drug cases that were worked during that time period. however, the impact is going to be significant. >> the chemist is accused of stealing prescription pain pills, replacing them with offer the counter ones. the virus is taking a toll on an

unexpected group this year - healthy young adults. >> mary got her flu shot for the i can't remember. when she found a relative in his early 40s is in hospital with the flu, on a respirator, she decided to get a pneumonia shot. >> he looked healthy when you saw him a year ago. >> how bad has it been? >> worse than in years past. >> this doctor from the rush university medical center said the hospital has seen double the number of flue cases. >> the flu outbreak has been labelled widespread. it's not just the higher number of case, the h1n1 is hitting young people hard. wisconsin's health department says the number of patients in hospitals that needed to go on a

ventilator is twice that of last year. older people may have built up a better tolerance after outbreaks in "77 and 2009. no one knows why the flu is severe. that's the million dollar sentence that the center for diseases control. they haven't noticed a chapping to the virus. >> br the season starred -- before the season started, researchers developed a vaccine to tackle the h1n1 virus. >> it's been 60% effective. >> with the super bowl, it means a lot of people in close quarters. h1n1 is one of the strains that doesn't take much contact for it to be transmitted. there's no way to predict whether the flu virus will be

worse this year. >> one of the things i fear is the mutating virus, this it chance to become viralent. >> they were so concerned here that for the first time ever they made flu shots mandatory. >> there are things we can do. handwashing. the cashier just had the flu shot this week. >> i have a daughter and son. we deal with customers, money is dirty. i don't want to take anything home. >> in some cases the flu can progress to pneumonia. mary doesn't want to leave things up to fate. >> i intend to be around for a long while. >> drugs like ibe u profen and

it aspirin may contribute because they make people feel well enough to leave the home. >> tens of thousands protest abortion laws in spain. >> a proposed law allows abortions in the cases of rape or if the woman's life was in danger. approved by the spanish cabinet. but we have this report, 80%. opulation does -- population does not like it. >> this is a mother of one child, living in spain. she found out she was pregnant. >> translation: when i found i was pregnant i knew what i wanted or didn't want. >> she spoke to us after having a procedure to terminate the pregnancy. that right is under throat.

it's not rite that the government teaks the decisions for us. we are not talking about a car or a short-term job. it affects your life. >> spain's asogs of gynaecologists fear it would be a back ward step for women. >> abortions are going down, but we still have the same cases of abortions. what changes is if it's lookingal or illegal, is if you have safe abortions or in the. it would radically restrict abortions. if it's passed only women who are raped would qualify for a termination. they would need permission from two doctors. whether or not a woman can have an abortion is what is at stake. it is about the rule of awe. he's arguing that ut current law

is anti-constitutional. it's proving so cav yol members of the ruling conservative people's party is voicing opposition. they are quivoting on the issuo. >> we'll do as much as we can. we'll demonstrate, rally, writing letters to the prime minister, being in media, social networks to make sure that prime minister understands that there is a majority of spaniards who voted for him and want him to fulfil his commitment. >> spain is a secular country. the roman catholic church casts a shadow. >> recent polls showed most spaniards to be against changes to the law. the major city of the european parliament condemned the move. after years supporting the right

to choose, this will not be easy to convince the country orz. >> other cities held demonstrations. thousands rallied near the evil tower in paris, similar protests in london, rome and brussels. >> a mexican man returned to his homeland tog be caught up in drug wars. why he decided to stand his ground and fight. financially it's off the chart. we'll never do business like this again. >> plus, who benefits from having the super bowl come to tare town. we look at the economic impacts. >> super bowl 48 - russell wilson of the seahawks. peyton manning of the bronco the tale of two quarterbacks coming up.

ss

>> good morning to you. welcome back so al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are the top stories. >> the syrian government dropping barrel bombs. at least 10 children have been kill. >> voting in thailand's attention after anti-government protesters blocked voters getting to the poll. >> the demonstrations in ukraine is a tug of war. the u.s. stands by the protesters, russia tries to stop them. >> he lived in america for two decades. his house was south of the border. now he's home in the fight of his life. >> he wraps about life in his down. the knights templar, and how

their fight is not in vain. after living in the united states for the past 20 years, he returned, but soon found himself in the middle of a war. instead of fleeing he and his brother brought back. >> it's our town, our place, our home. what will we do. why leave, man. >> his mother fears every time her sons are called, it may be the last time she sees them. >> translation: i give them my pressing and say to god take them, but bring them home. don't let them be captured because the knights templar will not just kill them, they are cowards and would torture them, like they did to my brother. >> along with his father and brother, they are part of a 20-strong vigilante movement that sprung up to combat the knights templar. for years heavily armed cartel

members controlled hundreds of towns - extorting, kidnapping and killing. >> this family had a success of the sawmill business. the knights templar demanded $10,000 a month in application. everything changed. now their sawmill looks like this. after years of building up the business piece by piece, they were forced to abandon it. his brother says it's hard to look back. >> there was a lot of work. we did good. we had more than 15 people working, giving jobs to people that need it. >> this past week vigilante groups agreed it a government plan to incorporated them into a rural defense force. they are happy they no longer have to stand alone and hope this is the beginning of the end

of a war that has gone on too long. >> last week mexico legalized vigilante groups. >> chris christie is on the defense, firing back at a political ally who accused him of lying about the george washington bridge. that was in response to what happened an friday, when a lawyer for david wildstein released an alert claiming he has evidence that chris christie was, in fact, aware of lain closures leading to the george washington bridge. david wildstein was appointed by chris christie, and resigned in the wake of the controversy. chris christie released a quote saying: it paints him as a loose canon and lists five incidents to discredit him. it's believed the lain closures from done against the mayor of

fort lee who didn't support chris christie for reelection. >> we have cory joining us centre washington d.c. we know chris christie is at the front and center of everything. getting booed at the pre-super bowl events. if it comes out that he did, in fact, know his staff were shutting down traffic, are his hops for a presidential run demolished. >> they are completely gone. they'll be dashed completely, if they are not already. at this point the chris christie administration is fighting back. they are in crisis communication mode, trying to discredit anybody who will incriminate chris christie or members of his administration. you saw that with david wildstein. when you look at the bullet points of the reason why david wildstein can't be trusted.

they are citing behaviour from high school. it doesn't carry weight in the adult world. >> they are saying they're not sure they knew each other. he said "i was popular, i did football, i was class president, and i didn't know the guy." he is distancing himself. whether this were buddies in high school is irrelevant. it means david wildstein didn't have the role in bridge-gate. >> who is the next front runner for the republican party. they are struggling to find themselves. they are going through splintering. if you look at the polls, several of them from rand paul to ted cruz to chris christie, and others, even mike hucker

bee, each hafs a separate and distinct support base. none of them have overlap. it will take time for the leadership to sort out who is the best candidates to go after the nominations. it will take a while. let's talk about president obama. his advisors looking to make 2014 an executive year, one with obama looks left to approval from congress and one where he'll make decisions on his own. is that possible. >> sure it is. every president has executive authority. it's been expanded in the pat. it's totally politically opportunityist that republicans criticise obama for saying it. he's taking a leaf out of bill

clinton's book. he was using the authority to get things down. by the time he left office he had strong job approval ritings. obama is endeavouring to do the same thing. the idea is to get things going so that his democratic base can be energised for the 2014 midterms. the goal is to help the hold on the senate. that is job number one. >> let's look downsouth. her in the hot seat. it could seem a little brickly. he was seen was a reezing

political star, almost a cory brocker of the south is it enough to damage his career. >> not at all. i know mayor reid. he owned up to his roll in this. the thing that people need to realise is the images of cars on the interstate, having the gridlock, they are roads controlled and maintained bit the state of georgia, not the city of atlanta. the city of atlanta's roads were salted and cleared within 24 hours of the snow passing. that does not include the interstate where we see the gridlock. that is where the state comes in. >> he could have told them to go home. he did say "i messed up." he did have that capacity. >> it's not true. he owned up to the fact that he is part of a number of officials

that make the decisions. the buggest lever was when the school districts who are not schedule by the governor or the mayor let their kids out and a million people, parents, left work at the salt to pick up their kids. that's why this that 30 minutes span, a place with the third-worst traffic was gridlocked. in is beyond mayor reid. >> with the kk off to america's -- kick off to america's most watched sporting event, sell rations are under way for next year. arizona will host the event. her governor was in new york where she was handed organising responsibility. the super bowl is believed to bring in big money.

it doesn't always go the fall nine yards. >> super bowl 2014 will be placed in new york-new jersey. >> the super bowl host committee claimed it would cost $70 million to set up sh secure and clean up. according to a report security will be an par with president ipp august rations meaning four on the grounds that could cost millions. new jers new jersey transit is expected to spend $17 million. but that is part of their budget. >> some feel it is overrated. they are over-ipp plated. >> a reporter for "the daily beast" says promises of a

$600 million windfall is exaggerated. and the money raised is not necessarily saying in the community. >> the money comes in to the marriott hotel to corporations, not to the deck clerk or the housekeeping staff or the local economy. >> so 2011 study from the clem of holy close found super bowls had a tenth of the financial impact that local boosters advertise. doug owns a restaurant near the stadium. >> it's a once in a lifetime opportunitiy nor small business. >> he's hosting the supertail gate. he is expecting 1,000 people for the pregame party. >> it's off the charts. we'll never do business like this again unless the super bowl

comes back. >> from an economic disand point the super bowl is a huge win. we had $342 million of outside spending in terms of everything tide to the event. in terms of visitor spending, that direct visitor spend was 176 million. >> according to a report indiana saw $24 million in tax revenue, and indianapolis $22 million. it added 4700 jobs, and 278,000 to the city's gdp. this city doesn't need to draw tourists, so what is the big answer. >> it's hard to estimate how much new yorkers who are staying home would be spending if there was no event.

it may be months before we know how big the economic impact was. >> in the meantime fans are here, and even the weather is cooperating. >> in the memphis zoo they are picking the winner. this panda bear is putting her money n the tennessee favourite, peyton manning and the denver broncos. the team hung up the blah, and pulled down the denver broncos banner. peyton manning played football in the "90 for tennessee. kick off at 6:30. we head to metlife stadium in east rutherford where mark morgan is. it looks like lee lee the panda is not the only one that believes in peyton manning, isn't that right? >> that's true. i can't shake the panda thing. modern science. not very sign stisk, but you mentioned peyton manning a lot

of attention on him. he's the mvp for a fifth time. no other player won the award more than three times, he led the offense to video game numbers. thee threw for a record 55 touchdowns. manning 49 votes. tom brady received the one other vote. manning received the previous mvw in the 2003, "04, "08 and "09 evens. his counterpart, russell wilson a mobile scrambling quarterback as opposed to the pocket pass are that panning is. russell wilson has been waiting sips last year. >> last year i went to the super

bowl to obvious and watch and do broadcasting. my main thing was to prepare for this if this is the case. you never now what would happen. the big thing for the team is noticing the surfings are different. it doesn't change. we are looking forward to the kick-off and you play one player at a time and be in the moment and innocently the moment. >> russell wilson looking nor his first super bowl ring. this is chan's 15th season, the 35-year-old has been like a head coach on the fooled for john fox. >> he's been a tremed resource.

he tremendous resource. he was one of the first guys i sought out about denver, the broncos, the football team. i have treat report. i know it's been a frustrated year for him. it's awesome that he got back in time. irkts i enjoy the game. i watch it, i've never been to one. i'm an opt most. i think thing will work out. here we are. >> mark morgan, i'm guessing that chant bailey, peyton manning, tom brady and the whole organization are happy that the panda picked them. >> can't go wrong. look at the cute die. thank you to metlife stadium. >> i know.

>> the olympic dreams that can't be stopped. coming up next, an athlete's hopes of bringing home the gold even though his countries has been banned. >> icefishermen in the west have their bears delivered by drone. we'll tell you why they have to pack their own coolers next.

>> welcome back, an athlete heading to sochi even though his country has been banned from the games. first to meteorologist. eboni deon. >> we are talking rain, sleet

and snow from the southern plans to the cold front. a lot of available moisture, we are watching an increase in moisture along the coast line. we feed it. an area of low pressure tracking south and east as we get through the next 24 hours. it will bring much-needed rain fall. we are talking about a quarter of an number of. in most locations isolated areas. for the end of your weekend. dry, sunny, clouds, 64 degrees. rain, and then rain agree weather. the focus here, the friezes rain. rain working eastwards. the north-east - expecting to see rain overnight. looking good for the big game.

we'll be in great shape. we are sumping into tuesday, we'll see another system. it will bring wide proceed wintry weather. we'll see a number of areas getting hit. that includes chick and ind appo lis. >> we know that this week it's the super bowl. next week the winter olympics kick off in sochiry. winning a record has a special meaning. he's the only push cop peating. >> it's fast, dangerous and addictive. it's the speed and fear that keeps this man on the luge track. he trains on the alps, his fifth

olympics. >> in india, this is the on way to train. raising through the himma layias, doujing cars, lorries. >> we had to modify the luge. >> during a training run he can reach seeds of 150km an hour. trying to negotiate this track is not the only chngle the indian olympic committee has been suspended because of corruption. he don't compete for india. >> there's no better feeling than getting the country's flag. at the same time we had a lot of support from the people back home, telling us that the flags, whether it's there, they are supporting us. i feel the same way. i'll be representing india. >> indian cann return to the ioc

until new members. he must therefore compete as an independent athlete. hutled in a garage in a small french town with one-time coach. they work on the home-made sled. they have gone from work against each other to working toot. >> i was a coach. when i coach of shiba and friend. it's very interesting. you can be more close, understand more each other. it's great experience. >> the u.s. luge team offered to help train him in the days leading to the olympics. despite the hurdles, he hopes to race to the top 20, if not for his country, for himself perform >> the sochi games kick off

february the 11th. >> brazil kicks off another season of carn varl. hundreds of people dance in the street saying this year's carnival is a test of the infrastructure. this ahead of the world cup. last year celebrations drew hundreds of thousands. >> ice fibring - beer delivered by drone. it has been grounded. lakehead beer was 12 pack delivering to fisher many by drown. the faa found out about it and stopped the program a week after it began, saying it doesn't allow drones to be used for commercial deliver. >> six weeks of rain. this man saw his shadow.

>> a super bowl winner i will not predict, but my weather forecast you can't cronn tree dict. why, that's not a football, but my shadow i see. it's six more weeks of winter it must be. >> the famed ground hog emerged from the hole, greeted by mans at day black. according to folklore, if the ground hog sees his snado, we'll have more winter. >> that's is for this edition of the news, more in 2.5 minutes. stay tuned.

>> welcome to jamat-e-islami. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. here are the stories we are following. >> voting in thailand has ended.

there were disruptions. ballots and voters were blocked from getting to some polling stations. >> a global tug of war in ukraine. the u.s. stands by the protesters, russia is trying to stop them. >> plus the syrian government dropping barrel bombs over aleppo, more than 100 have been killed in a day, including 10 children. in afghanistan the first official day of campaigning for presidential elections has been overshadowed by violence. two aids to abdullah abdullah were shot and killed on saturday. several suspects have been detained. 11 candidates are vying to replace hamid karzai. they kick off two months campaigning until the april 5th elections, >> a court in cairo cleared al

jazeera cameraman mohammed badr of all charges. he was accused of taking place in anti-coup protests. >> toes are the headlines. i'm morgan radford in new york. hoed to our website on aljazeera.com. >> hard work! >> hard work! >> dedication! >> dedication! >> hard work! >> hard work! >> dedication! >> dedication! >> i didn't ever tell y'all this little story guys, about david and goliath. the big ol' giant and the little ol' david. that big ol' giant it was the hurricanes, the ones that was