particular plot airline or time. this is the second time of two weeks that the government is warning of such a threat. those are the headlines, "america tonight" with joang is ujoiejoie chenis up next. you can always get the latest at aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight": can it hold? amid the chaos, promises of a cease fire raise hopes in ukraine. but it's tempered by fears of yet another step back. also tonight: tapped out. in a california community that counts on a steady flow of vintages and visitors. how the drought emergency is drying up hope. >> agriculture obviously is the business of hope. you're planting. you have your crops. and more than anything else, they require water. >> and is there a way to grow a

future? >> palestinian people, he is in search for that land. >> the jordan valley, and why this rough patch may be the best path for peace. >> and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. the question this hour: is it really over? amid signs of spiraling violence and steadfast opposition ukraine's president viktor yanukovych announced just a few hours ago, he and the protesters agreed to a truce. the capital city called kiev by

ukrainans, aimed at forcing change remain vivid and raise questions about this important former soviet satellite nation, and independence square. in the heart of kiev, the fires still smoldering, extreme tension as protesters and police alike, wait to see if the cease fire takes hold. ukrainian american george savec found himself in the middle of a war. >> there was a gate with just a small entrance, and everybody tried to push into there. and that didn't work. and i just got clubbed. >> at least 25 died, including police officers.

>> translator: there are injuries caused by shrapnel, bullets an and rubber bullets. >> condemnation came quickly including president obama. >> we hold the ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure it's dealing with protesters in an appropriate way, and that includes making sure that a creupian military doesn't step into a. >> opposition leader many vitall klutchko. >> this is not a addres across r

the will of the people. jennifer glasse. >> getting ready for the next round of battle they say is coming. >> but in a series of rapid fire, announced a truce. calling it: the beginning of negotiations aimed at a cessation of bloodshed and stabilization of the situation in the country for the sake of civil peace. >> andre, we appreciate you being with us. is there an indication that the government is going to negotiate an end to the standoff? >> there appears to be a cease fire at the moment but everyone

is prepared to see another attack by the government troops at any moment. there is not much trust by the government. >> you don't believe there's much trust but even though there's a cease fire at the moment you think that might last? >> absolutely. >> why are you so suspicious? >> because many times about before this has happened, they did quite the opposite. >> tell me what you are seeing, what you hear in the square now. what are people saying? >> well, people are very committed to what they do. there is no -- i would say that if someone expected to scare people away from matam they got a very different result. we have thousands of thousands of very imcommitted people ready

to stay here if necessary to get the victory. >> do you think that the will of the people is in any way weakened because of how difficult these last few days have been? >> not really. i think many people feel quite exhausted and quite tired. on the other hand, most of the people in madan believe the stakes are much higher. many of us feel it is a unique chance to start major changes in the country. because for a couple of th deca, this country has been the postcommunist soviet legacy period. now we believe it is a chance to reestablish the country in a very noble and very promising way. >> what will end the conflict, what will end the clashes in madan now? >> people would like the justice, would like owl the

police officers responsible for the violence punished, they would like the protesters released and they would like to see constitutional changes and parliamentary elections as a way out of crisis. >> does it require the president step down before the protesters leave madan? >> there are many ways where we can get presidential election but basically we're talking about yanukovych stepping down. what we have seen in the recent days and weeks, we saw yanukovych losing the last days of legitimacy, i can't believe he could be a legitimate president after what has happened. >> do you think at this point he is ready to step down? >> i think it is. and i think with this enormous pressure from the side of ukraine from the western

community, i think sooner or later, yanukovych should realize, this is probably the best way for the nation and the best way personally for him. andre cecenko, from kiev, we appreciate you giving us the scene there. >> thank you so much, joie. >> this one much closer to us in al jazeera america. the trial in egypt of three of our staff, baher mohamed, mohamed fahmy and peter greste have been in prison for over two months, and meantime, a global campaign for their release has been growing. loinclori jane gliha has

more. >> supporting terrorism by doing their jobs. journalist mohamed fahmy, producer baher mohamed, and correspondent peter greste are among 20 journalists facing charges. for greste, on christmas day, the government declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. a culmination of a six month government standoff against the military leaders who deposed him. peter and his team went looking for the impact. >> with this charity work done there is no alternative here, no state run social security net, no other make it down here. so the government decision is only likely to increase receptment not take it away. >> security officers raided the hotel and arrested them. they were taken to torah prison

where former president morsi and his staff are held. a global campaign calling for their release and press freedom in egypt picked up system. last month, the committee for protecting joirnltprotecting jod this the most dangerous place to work. across the globe leading journalists are helping to send the message through egyptian thrortsauthorities, even memberr staff participated in the campaign. wednesday, staff of international broadcasters, gathered outside london's

embassy. >> abuse of human rights so it's really important that journalists are allowed to do their job freely in egypt. >> and it's the implications for the reporting in egypt that has international players concerned. >> these figures regardless of affiliation should be protected and permitted to do their jobs freely in egypt. now we have expressed these concerns directly to the government of egypt in answer to your question and we have strongly urged the government to drop these charges and release these journalists and academics who have been detained. >> indeed, arrest detention and harassment of journalists has been increasingly common in recent months. accused qatar, which bankrolls al jazeera, of supporting the muslim brotherhood. dozens of staffers in egypt have been arrested detained beatenned and harassed, their offices raided and shut down.

in an interview with german television earlier this month, egypt's foreign minister insists, journalists are treated fairly. >> our government protects the rights of journalists. just a few days ago, our government issued a declaration welcoming the presence of foreign journalists and ensuring their rights to work. as long as they are accredited and observe egyptian law. >> ahead of the trial's start the detained journalists relatives are naturally concerned and hoping for a quick resolution. >> our first hope is as unrealistic as this might sound, that they are acquitted on the first day. the next best thing would be that there isn't a long adjournment. >> lori jane gliha, al jazeera. >> the three men on al jazeera's team on cairo aren't the only ones on trial.

17 other journalists are being tried in absentia. here is sue's story in her own words. >> in one of the letters that peter greste smuggled out of cairo, was unremarkable. i was live at the arab league in cairo throughout the day when we first heard that the bureau, our bureau in cairo had been raided. so we all moved out of the bureau. we didn't go back and we moved into a hotel. the hotel being the marriott that's now accused of being the marriott terrorist cell. what we went dark for a while, what you call dark becoming the special correspondent not naming for security reasons. i reported for al jazeera america and english during that time. we would put a news story, i

wouldn't put my face or name to it because we were concerned that maybe the authorities wanted to close us down completely. a few weeks later i leave, come back in and we decided to start broadcasting again, we started doing all sorts of stories from the political solution to pollution, tv is a tire, the cotton industry in egypt, the whole gamut of stories. when i left in the early part of november there didn't seem to be an immediate threat on our journalists. there was a crack down on all journalists in cairo, not just the foreign journalists who were many very careful who they talked to at that point but the domestic media, they started to only broadcast what the military backed government wanted to be said, wanted to be aired, saying with the print, nobody was really contradicting what the government had to say. there i was on christmas day, 25th of december, anchoring

for al jazeera when peter greste popped up on a live link, telling us that the muslim brotherhood had been named a terrorist body by the government of egypt. impactful across the whole of egypt. small areas people protesting. that a coup had removed mohamed morsi and completely against the constitution of the country. i was thinking how peter was balanced in reporting despite the fact he has only been in cairo for couple of weeks. peter had been an east and africa correspondent for quite a long time, he is extremely experienced, he has awards for documentary in somalia, he is very much well respected. it is now 53 days since they've been in prison. 53 days certainly from the

beginning of that time they were in pretty dreadful circumstanc circumstances. mohamed fahmy and baher mohamed were kept in the scorpion prison, most effective i suppose maximum security prison this egypt and from what i understand their sort of situation there was dreadful. they were turning the lights off 24 hours a day. they were getting very little food, possessions taken from them, mohamed fahmy had a dislocated shoulder from before, it was now broken and didn't get attention. they had all been put in the same cell and things have slightly improved and we hope and we pray that that's because there has been such an uproar by the international press against their incarceration. not just on social media with a twitter campaign and on facebook, demonstrations out on the street like the one that's happened in london. but also the diplomatic pressure that's been going on across the

world. a lot of the time behind closed doors. sometimes maybe the white house has come out and said we absolutely abhor what is happening in egypt and we call for the al jazeera journalists to be released. same with william haig in the u.c. and many other senior figures around the world and in government saying to the egyptian governments this is you locking up boang -- bona fide journalists. journalists are not terrorists. that is when the court opens on thursday, we are hoping that the where where authorities are recognizing that these are proarp journalists that they are just doing their -- proper journalists that the charges are politically motivated an they will throw these charges out against our guys and clear myself and other journalists. recognizing that they are journalists doing their job.

>> al jazeera's sue turtin on the outcry to free our colleagues. when we return, tightening the taps. >> we don't serve water automatically. and we also make sure when people do ask for water, we don't stick it in a big cup. we stick it in a smaller cup. >> northern california's desperate measures and how close this community is to its last drop. also ahead on the program. florida's latest stand your ground controversy, a view inside the jury room, the angry fight over the verdict, why no one was convictof killing young jordan davis.

>> the. >> the drought emergency is becoming more dire with every drop. cute emergency, ten municipalities in risk of running out of water in ten days. residents who depend on well water. willits, the gateway to the redwoods. as chris bury reports, desperate times are calling for desperate measures. >> the small city of willits in northern california has a big

problem: it is dangerously close to running out of water. the supply is down to only about 100 days. the reservoirs that willits depends on are nearly empty. residents such as nicole flamer are approaching the point of desperation. >> we have x number of days of water left. and then what, i don't have a well at my house. >> water is so scarce, the city has ordered mandatory restrictions. 150 gallons per household per day. that's not much for a family of four. considering that flushing the toilet takes seven gallons. 10ist long is among those turning -- dennis long is among those turning down the pap. >> if you cut down to five minutes in a hot shower, turning off the tap and that helps. i know of sell people who are sponge-bathing. >> 150 miles north of san francisco, the city normally gets about 50 inches of rain a

year. last year less than 17 inches fell, the dryest year since the state started keeping records. willits are among 17 towns to impose water restrictions. no sprinkling of lawns, washing cars is allowed only with recycled water. businesses must cut water usage by 50%, businesses are closing for house at a time. >> we don't serve water automatically and we also make sure when people ask for water we don't stick it in a big cup. we stick it in a smaller cup. >> at buster's burgers, on maintain street where water is the talk of the town, melody seaton and others are making a

point of not wasting water. >> we have to be cautious. >> and when melody leaves home, the rationing continues. >> i have three kids. i've asked them don't leave the water running when you're brushing your teeth, use your towel twice. >> in the area south of the city, vineyards flourish. going into some of california's finest wines. here in sonoma county, in the thick of wine country, wine makers are worried about the worst drought i in histories, depending on the tourists that this county depends on. california has been so warm and dry that buds are appearing weeks ahead of schedule. more rain is needed for

irrigating to keep them growing. john jordan whose family owns a winery and 1200 acres in sonoma county, tells us rainfall is only 1/10 of normal. >> the rainy season comes in november and december. here when normally those months when reservoirs are filling and there's no demand for water in the vineyards, instead we are actually having to draw water from reservoirs that are not filling to protect against frost and to irrigate during a time of year when rain should be abundant and the grapes should be receiving water from rain rather than from reservoirs. >> jordan says it's too early to know how the drought will protect this year's vintage. growers are keeping their fingers crossed. >> agriculture hope. significant quantities of water is what they require. >> much of that water comes from the russian river, a vital

supply for an area from sonoma to san francisco. the tony town of healdsburg. >> the life blood, it really is, a huge source of water for drink being water for irrigation for vineyards. it's a source of water for salt salmon and steelhead. nobody has seen the river this low in -- that they can remember. it just hasn't happened. >> the kayak and canoe business depends directly on the russian river and the tourists who flock to wine country. but now much of the river is barely navigable. 20 feet below normal for this time of the year. >> it's pretty sobering, you can

literally walk across the river. and you shouldn't be able to do that. you shouldn't be able to do that in the summertime. it's lower than i've ever seen it. it's scary, very scary. >> scary and very sobering for the mayor of healdsburg and many others. the worst drought on record has led to a new appreciation for a far more vital resource: water. chris bury al jazeera, sonoma county, california. >> following up on the emergency, california governor jerry brown is proposing $687 million in relief and water conservation aimed at the environment and health impacts. joining us is linda rudolph, co-director for the center for climate change and health. appreciates you being with us linda. outline for us, it's hard for us to unthat more path owe -- to

understand that more path owe ps exposed. >> in ground award basins, what are contaminants or pathogens are going to be concentrate concentrated. just as you take salt out of a salty area you'll have more salinity. we are concerned that there are groundwater basins in california that are already contaminated from nitrates or nitrogen fertilizers or industrial chemicals or chemicals from industrial processes and as the water levels drop they can become more concentrated and makes it harder to treat the water. >> you're also looking at disease risk right? >> there are a couple of source he of disease risk that may be -- sources of disease risk that may be increased because of

the drought. surface levels that become low may have more pathogens in them, because the water temperature rises because of e. coli or salmonella, you can get more stagnant water that provides breeding grounds for modificatiomosquitoet cetera tht nile virus. creating more dust, the dust carries pollen, particulate matter which again irritates the respiratory system. and in california's central valley may carry the spores of diseases like valley fever that is a fungal disease. >> sounds like a dust bowl

period of the '30s right? >> in the '30s people had actually so much dust exposure that they died from dust pneumonia. and hopefully we won't experience that in california. >> okay quick thought here. we've heard in chris bury's report the idea of people taking shorter showers, mopping every other day, restaurants, people not getting water, in what sense, do we need to come to california to make a real difference here? >> we really need to look overall at how we can use our water more efficiently in agricultural and industries and in our residences, so that we are conserving what is a very, very precious resource. we need to take steps to make sure that we don't further contaminate our precious groundwater aquifers, how we can reuse or recycle water, there

are many ways to do that. we need to look at capturing rainwater so we can conserve water that otherwise would run off and flood our streets so there's many, many strategies. >> gotcha. linda rudolph, thank you. thanks very much. >> when we return, breaking the silence. a juror tells what really happened behind closed doors. a gunman that fired to stand his ground.

>> now, a snapshot of stories

making headlines on "america tonight." the tsa will be extra-vigilant at airports after the possibility of a shoe bomb threat. the alert did not specify a plot, nor the tooth paste bomb possibility in sochi. more than a dozen soldiers were seen posing in front of an empty flag draped casket, with a caption that read, "we put the fun in funeral." a u.s. border agent, shot and killed an undocumented immigrant, can use force if they believe their lives are threatened. current is pulled back a bit on the latest stand your ground controversy. we watched as the jury debated

the fate of michael dufner, accused of gunning down jond jon davis for loud rap music. it found dunn guilty of attempted murder but couldn't agree on the most serious charge. first degree murder for davis's killing. a juror has broken her silence. what the panel really thought happened. saturday the jury of seven women and tief men convicted -- 5 men convicted dunn on counts of attempted murder but deadlocked on the murder of jordan davis. the juror number 4 identified as valerie, the reason why. i shot. >> life was taken. i mean, there is no longer a jordan davis. and there's only one reason why

that is. we pretty much knew after about two days, with the whole self defense things that we were going to be hung. >> the judge declared a mistrial on that count. the juror who spoke said the panel split 9-3. most believing the 47-year-old dunn was guilty of murder. dunn never denied shooting days of. of -- davis. three of the 9 bullets that struck davis, who was in the rear passenger seat. race was not a factor in their verdict and never came up during deliberations. meantime, davis's parents told news, they believed the jury acted in good faith and hope to have justice for their son. >> ken padowitz joins us from davey, florida. we couldn't get to, couldn't

understand what the jury was thinking. if you thought that this individual was guilty of attempted murder how can there be no decision when it involved an actual death of the individual? mr. davis? was there an answer from what the juror said? >> well, this juror gave everybody a lot of insight into what went on in that jury room. you had 12 people that had to deliberate and listen to the evidence and then apply the law to the case. and what we hear from this juror is that two and then eventually three jurors were convinced that they had a reasonable doubt about self defense. in other words they bought this self-defense argument which includes the stand your ground instruction. that was what was preventing them from coming back with a guilty verdict. so you ended up having a hung jury. so the insight from this juror is very helpful to the defense and the prosecution, the next time that this case gets retried in front of a new 12-member jury. >> which we do anticipate will

happen. i want to read something that juror number 4 said. she said, "we looked at a lot of evidence and myself, it was where the gun slots were, the timing. could he have had other options? to me, the shooting was unnecessary." now she did say that she felt that he mr. dunn was guilty of the murder. but also, what she's referring to here has to do with the shots. that is to say, the jury convicted to him of the attempted murder because the vehicle was moving away when he continued to fire, right? >> well, it's interesting. there could be a lot of interpretations to that. clearly she's saying that the sequence, the time that it took to fire all those shots, entered into the deliberations and that is one reason why they were able to come back with a guilty of attempted second degree murder. not attempted first degree murder as charged in the indictment but guilty of the lesser-included crimes on counts 2, 3 and 4 of attempted second

degree murder but left with the main charge of first degree murder. the juries felt because of the timing of how the shots were over a period of time on a time line that they, three of them, had a not guilty verdict in their minds because of self defense. so i think again our attention needs to be drawn back after this case is concludes, a concly the stand your ground law causes confusion or causes a problem with juries being able to come back with unanimous verdicts in the self defense verdicts when stand your ground is applied. >> you throughout the discussions throughout the deliberations you have repeate repeatedly said that you were concerned about how hard it was to get a conviction on this first degree murder, maybe if the prosecutor had gone for something else, things would be different.

how hard is that when the prosecutor says she is going to go again? >> i think now that the prosecutors know that three jurors in the last trial were hung up on the fact or wanted a not guilty verdict for self defense i think the prosecution needs to focus or redouble their efforts in making sure that they get the message across to the next jury that they have the power the jury to give great weight, some wealth or no weight at all to the testimony of mr. dunn if he takes the stand again. and we expect him to take the stand because self defense is an affirmative defense. so if the prosecution can show the next jury that they have the power to disbelieve, not give credibility, not give weight to the testimonial evidence of mr. dunn you may be able to close that gap and convince all 12 jurors in the next trial that he is in fact guilty beyond and to the conclude -- seclusion e y

reasonable doubt. >> have they handled this the right way when they know there is going to be additional prosecution going forward? >> i think so. i think they've handled this with grace and like any family under the circumstances with a son that has been killed. i think they've handled it very well. they've given credibility to the process of having a trial of mr. dunn. they have given credit to the jury trying as hard as they could to do the right thing and to do justice and that they made statements that the jury acted in good faith. so i think the family has been very well composed and has done everything appropriate under these circumstances. >> criminal prosecuting attorney ken padowitz. thank you for being leer. >> thank you for having -- being

here. >> thank you for having me. >> by bringing people back we're bringing salt back to the land and we are bringing it to life again. >> why the jordan river valley may be fertile hopes of middle east peace. and later on in our program, silicon alley? >> what you've done, matters less than how ambitious you are, where you can take it. >> if they can make it there, they can make it anywhere, new york, new york.

>> with a new deadline looming for the israeli palestinian

peace talks, secretary of state john kerry met. latest round hinges on one region in particular. that is the jordan river valley. it is an israeli occupied strip of the west bank that runs along the jordan river and for both groups it could be the key to a peaceful resolution. al jazeera's nick shifrin was there. >> all his life, he has lived in the jordan valley and all his life he has been a farmer. with the help of his son, 11-year-old mohamed, he harvests egg plants. until he was six, he lived just a few miles away along the jordan river. in the 1967 war, israel conquered this valley from jond. my home is down by the river, i consider it the place i was born

our land where we used to be free. today, israeli yako has the keys to his home. he too is a farmer, beyond this security gate where he tucks a gun into his pants, beyond this mile wide security zone he harvests these 6,000 date palms. this is one of the region's most prize plots. just a few hundred feet from the border with jordan. >> this is the only land available to cultivate. >> jordan valley is a flash point. the u.s. is trying to create a special security plan to ease concerns. part of a two-state solution. >> before we enter. >> for israel, the valley provides security. israel floods this area for farms and military to create a

buffer. mines are planted throughout the entire valley and that sound of jets: the air force uses this as a training space which means yakob's dates may be the most secure. palestinians aren't even allowed here. >> if you have a palestinian phoning the army and asking to go to the border. it sounds a bit silly. >> why? this land is some of it is palestinian. >> it is my land. >> just down the road, he is trying to take back the village one day at a time. >> i have been studying what martin luther king did, what gandhi did what mandela did. >> they need a valley to create

a contiguous state. >> the jordan valley has the borders, without the jordan valley we can have no free import or export of the comeb e. >> he fights not with weapons but with hammers and nails. he advocates nonviolence. today he's trying to repopulate, a village depopulated by israel since 1947. >> the village was dead for 47 years. by people the people back we are bringing salt back, bringing it to light of again. >> slept in tents, ate cold breakfasts. and they chant that the occupation needs to end. just a few feet from armed israeli soldiers. a few hours later, at about 1:00 a.m., those soldiers moved in. they used stun grenades, rounded

up hundreds of activists. but the protesters refused to be intimidated. nearby in one of his organization's ambulances, bargudi patched up one of the activists. other activists picked up where he left off, they create a new village, called josul. we will sleep here with no fear. it is proof we are the rightful owners of the land. for a few years they left the palestinians alone? but as soon as they opened a tent the soldiers shut them down. calmly the soldiers arrested the activists. and the caiflght activists did t resist. >> we want the israeli establishment to understand there is a cost and price of

occupation and apartheid. >> yakob's dates can no longer be sold in london's supermarkets. lost $30 million in sales. but yakob and israel are willing to give up profits. israel is discussing permanently annexing jordan valley. the mayor showed me an abandoned military outpost. for this tan point represents strategic debt. the u.s. is resisting the plan to move israeli troops out and international troops in. israel insists on keeping security in its own hands. >> i don't believe that any prime minister would give up the

jordan valley. for any agreement. because this is the security of the land. >> i hope we'll have peace. i don't see it happening in my life. until then, we can make a living with all we still have to bring bread tod table. >> haza and his family will continue to live on land they don't consider home. john kerry is more concerning about the liberty than the land. give rights to the palestinian people. until the u.s. can find a solution acceptable to both sides, the dispute over the jordan valley will prevents israelis and palestinians from finderring peace. nick shifrin, the jordan valley.

the taliban, and ambush and questions about the strength of the taliban today, a special fault lines investigation. on the front lines with the taliban. and ahead in our final thoughts this hour, new york city getting in tune with technology. workforce in silicon alley.

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal...

>> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> finally from us this hour, technology is of course a staple in all our lives. it is also changing where jobs are today and who's filling them. the high tech center was once centered in the silicon valley. but new york city's silicon alley is not only now creating more jobs but more job equality as well. >> for many years, people thought new york was a one horse town, thriving on a financial sector. but there's a new horse in town. since 2007 the tech industry has grown 11%, adding 2600 jobs and nearly $6 billion in wages. >> new york has been able to grab on to the rise of the new wave of technology, advertising financial services, publishing all the things that new york is good at, are things that are --

that the technology has been sort of driving off of. >> that makes tech the second largest contributor to the private sector behind finance as and real estate. but the tech boom has another benefit, it's bringing jobs to the boroughs and also to another kind of workers. >> what new york has is these outlying boroughs that are still partly of the city, that are cheaper, and where you can set up at a relatively low expense. that's kind of what's happened here, a spreading out of the jobs to other parts of new york. this is fantastic in terms of creating opportunity for minorities in new york. >> for example, queens has 2.2 million residents half of whom were born outside of the u.s. making convenes one of the most diverse communities in the entire country. queens native ju kai su started a tech company.

>> you don't necessarily have to go to an elite institution to break into the industry. so i think that presents an amazing opportunity, if we can teach people and provide the skills to students and people from kind of diverse communities here in queens and also from low to moderate income backgrounds it's a tremendous opportunity for mobility, increasing people's income. >> the numbers back him up. there's 25% more african americans, and for hispanic hiss also. william atundi, his company connects artistsen online. he says new york's tech boom is the great social equalizer. >> not a cloi cloistered thing,s a universal phenomenon. who you are and what you've done

matters less than your ideas and how ambitious you are and where you can take it. >> that will level the playing field greatly. morgan radford, al jazeera new york. >> that does it for us tonight. if you want to comment on any of our stories log on to our website, aljazeera.com/americatonight. we will have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. >> welcome to al jazeera america i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here are the tonight's top stories.

ukraine's leader has agreed to a cease fire. president obama welcomed the news of a truce but earlier, he warned of consequences if the violence does not stop. in caracas, venezuela, protesters gathered outside a courthouse where opposition leader leopoldo lopez faces charges. six people died including a local beauty queen and activist genesis carmen. department of homeland security is warning of possible shoe bombs. the warning made no mention of a specific plot, particularly airline, country or time. the world's largest social media network is buying one of the world's largest messaging apps. kerry mark zuckerberg is spending at least $16 billion on

a messaging app called, what's app? consider this is up next. we'll see you at 11:00. >> a truce late wednesday in ukraine hasn't stopped the chaos. we'll go to kiev. also pussy riot's shocking beating in public in sochi. also the focus on sexuality of female athletes, the double standard and its consequences. and a satirical book shines a light on north korea's horrible atrocities. here more on what's ahead.

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