you can see us at @ajconsiderthis. we'll see you next time. >> hello, welcome to the aljazeeras hour. from doha and london, these are the top stories. another day of violence in ukraine, 20 people die as a truce between the government and protestors breaks down. [ gunfire ] >> evidence is emerging that police have been firing live ammunition, but the government says protestors have also been armed. >> aljazeera's detained journalists appear in court in

cairo and deny all charges against them. >> we have the news from europe, including winning a court battle in london, face ago corruption trial in germany, which could put him in jail. >> what's not to like, why facebook is paying $19 billion for a rival social media service. >> at least 20 people have died in ukraine after renewed fighting between protestors and police. there was a brief truce overnight, that soon broke down. this is a scene live in central kiev right now. the mayor of the capitol resigned in protest to the violence and the interior police said it's equipped police with combat weapons. >> confrontation again, this is

where the hope of a truce disintegrated. the police are retreating from the square they took on tuesday. they accuse the protestors are attack, guns, after setting fire to a bus. >> intensive fighting followed. n gunfire ] >> within minutes, independence square had turned into a war zone. the police were picking their targets, and using snipers. even under fire, the protestors seemed determined not to lose ground no matter how many casualties they took, and there were many. here, a hotel inundated with injured people, medics doing what they could under these conditions. in a square outside, the protest movement seemed more like a war machine with people marching with bags full of rocks. >> once again, the square is a

battle zone. the truce seemed tenuous from the outset here, now the front line has moved. everywhere you look, there are casualties. the protestors had quickly organized evacuation of the injured. convoys of am ambulances, a steady stream of stretcher parties moving through the square. many were treated on the spot, as they tried to get their wounded to hospital, the protestors were also reaching out men, mixing amongst them who they accused were working for security services. both sides accused each other of using firearms. this man clutch ago bullet it is i don't know who exactly was doing the shooting, but the gunfire wasn't coming from our territory. they've reclaimed the square, but at what human cost? they're preparing for more clashes as a fear here that this could only be the start of a much bigger conflict.

aljazeera in independence square, kiev. >> we can give the very latest now from kiev and another respondentent in ukraine. the situation is developing rapidly. we're hearing with a hostage situation. >> some 60 police officers were taken captive this morning when the violence was at its height. that is entire consistent with some of the pitches i've seen on television of the police captives being led through the crowds. in one case, a policeman looked rather bloodied. it's also consistent with what we were hearing from the stage when the violence was at its worst, the man who was on the sides of the protestors talking to his fellow protestors was telling them please don't hurt the captainives that we've

taken. now, whether there are 50 or 60 or 70, i really couldn't tell you, but we do understand that there are some policemen who are missing, if i can put it like that. >> do we know who the hostage takers are? >> well, they would be people within the crowd. the crowd is a fairly disparate group, some very hard lined people who have been there for weeks and weeks now, allegiances to different political parties and in some cases, perhaps no allegiance to any political leader at all. there are people within the protest movement who consistently say that there are also provocateurs, government agents within their midst who try to stir trouble, commit acts of violence to provoke a greater action from police. there's plenty of allegations of

dirty tricks on both sides. >> we've seen the scenes of horror in independence square. tell us where you are and why you're talking to us from there. >> i'm in a room in a ukraine hotel. i wish i could show you a backdrop of the scene behind me. we moved indoors, because there was a fair amount of gunfire around our hotel. i know three television crews who were trying to broadcast looking through the windows and they were shot at. fortunately, not hurt, but i've seen where the bullets have come through the windows, so we've taken precautions. the worst of the fighting was just around here, and at that time, we saw a fair number of armed men run into the hotel. now, they said that they were looking for government snipers who they had heard were using the hotel to fire on the protestors, a very confused scene. we've seen those pictures of the police evidently using live

ammunition today and that has been confirmed by the interior ministry who have come out with a statement i think within the last couple hours saying they are using weapons within the law to protect civilian, to protect themselves. one other aspect of what's been happening today in kiev is that the diplomacy is rumbling on. president yanukovych has been in talks with the german, french and poland foreign ministers who are all here for many hours now and obviously the outcome of those talks is potentially very important. i understand that one polish newspaper has said that president yanukovych broke off from those talks to take a phone call from vladimir putin of russia. that's a report we can't confirm at this point. >> that's really interesting. we're going to have much more on the diplomatic situation rewarding ukraine later on. thanks for now. we're going to move from kiev to

the major city of laviv, the location of armed rest. david chase joins us live on the line. tell us about what's been going on in this major western city in ukraine. >> since i've been here during the day, it's clear that the government security forces here in stark contrast to kiev have been effectively routed by brought testers. they've ransacked six police stations and eyewitnesses report that had they managed to get hold of the police arsenal of weapons. we don't know who was responsible for taking those weapons, but they have been taken. that is confirmed. we don't know whether they're extremists, provocateurs. the situation is as unclear as kiev. all those police stations have been ransacked, interior

occupied, scorch marks, molotov cocktails just about everywhere here. the police simply refused to go out on patrol at the moment, so a police-free zone. they've effectively surrendered the city to protestors. security forces are trying to work out their strategy, but essentially, the situation here is very volatile. they are reacting very emotionally to the scenes they're seeing in kiev and we don't know where the situation will lead to tonight, but the police are simply absent, no sign of them at all, no science have sign of riot police. no interior ministry troops. it is empty and the protestors are in control here. >> do you get a sense that the scenes of unrest that we're looking at are coordinated, that they're orchestrated perhaps from the protestors in kiev?

>> i don't think they're being coordinated, but i think they are reacting. their obviously talking to each other because of the tell rigs live feeds into the protest here. everyone knows what's going on. they're seeing the shots fired. they're seeing exactly what's taking place in kiev and they are appalled like any viewer would be at the violence that is going on there. at the moment, no response at all from the security services here. they are licking their wounds, back in their ba barracks and nt on the streets. no sign of coordination here with kiev. >> barnaby mentioned earlier the diplomatic efforts underway to try to stop the violence in ukraine. lauren taylor in our european news center has more on that. >> both the european union and

the united states have expressed alarm at the bloodshed in kiev, holding special meeting in brussels where sanctions against ukraine are discussed. they are sharply opposed by russia. within brussels, simon, just before we came to you just on the wires coming in the last few minutes, we've heard that the german, french and polish ministers have restrained ukraine for more talks. how much progress in their absence has been made and what will it mean that they haven't yet? >> we were warned earlier today in brussels that the three foreign ministers will stay in kiev for as long as the talks are necessary. that clearly is the case. as they continue to run into the evening, there may be some occasion to contribute to this emergency.

foreign ministers, there's been talk of a draft letter that's all right been proposed by ambassadors to the european union in brussels. it will include targeted sanctions against officials involved in what the european union pretty much to a man, woman are referring to as the repression. they're holding the ukrainian government very much responsible for that. we're talking apparently of travel restrictions, the removal of visas, those officials responsible will be unable to travel in europe. we're talking about the targeted freezing of their assets and there's also been some talk of a possible embargo on arms to ukraine, which would include things needed to fight, protest things like tear gas, rubber bullets, things that have

nature. that is all discussed in the meeting here which got underway. a lot of the foreign ministers have stopped to speak to the press including william hague who summed up what appeared to be the unanimous view that sanctions are needed. >> there have to be an international response to what has happened over the last few days. what is why we'll be discussing sanctions, and measures against those responsible for the rye lens. it is time on all sides for people to turn away from violence, but the ukrainian government, of course, bears the greatest responsibility and the particular responsibility to take the lead in making sure that happens. >> what are the russians saying? >> well, they're very angry about this whole issue of sanctions. they accuse the european union and united states of meddling in the situation, a statement from

the foreign ministry issued earlier on thursday indicated their view, the putin kremlin view that sanctions will only exaggerate and exacerbate the situation. this from a foreign ministry spokesman earlier. >> as tort individual sanctions by the u.s. or european union, which they try to operate at the moment, from our point of view and international law, they are absolutely illegitimate and unrelated. >> that very much echoed the sentiments expressed by the foreign minister, that man's boss who said earlier that the talk of sanctions was akin to blackmail. i think if we see a tough stance emerging from e.u. foreign ministers here later, we'll only get a heightening and intensifying from the rhetoric from moscow later. >> thank you for the live update from brussels.

>> the crisis in ukraine is being felt in sochi, a ukrainian athlete pulling out in protest over the political situation back home. the skier said it would be wrong to compete on her fellow citizens are dying at home. no other athletes have pulled out of the competition, but the international olympic committee have been told more are plan to go leave sochi. it's a difficult decision for her, clearly. >> it must have been, obviously this is a difficult time for ukrainians, wherever they are in the world and there's very deep soul searching going on in the ukrainian camp here, the camp of athletes, because the tide of blood from the streets of kiev is now flowing over the walls and into the supposedly apolitical realm of olympic endeavor. the ukrainian olympic committee asked the i.o.c. yesterday whether it's members here,

athletes could wear black arm bands essentially in memorial for those who died and were told they couldn't, because as the i.o.c. always says, the olympics is supposed to be a politics-free zone, but that athlete, that skier has now pulled out with her father. who's also her coach. she said that she wants to stand in solidarity with the fighters on the barricades in kiev, and we can hear in her own words exactly how she justifies this. >> i've decided not to take part in the slalom, my favorite discipline because of the homer events happening in ukraine. people i know, close friends of mine are in the square. to go to the start line when people are dying when the olympics is supposed to be about peace, i just can't do it. >> the head of the ukrainian

olympic committee says that he would like the team here to stay united and for everyone to remain in sochi, but he has also said that it is essentially down to the individual consciences of each individual athlete whether they stay or whether they go, and we'll have to wait and see whether any other athletes follow her lead and leach the olympic games. >> thanks very much indeed, live from sochi. >> more coming up later, including winning a court case which could have cost him more than $100 million, but his legal headaches aren't over. >> still to come on the news hour, is nigeria missing billions of dollars in oil revenue. suspended for speaking out. >> the moment they've waited decades for, careens from the north and south are briefly

reunited after years of separation. >> taxing times at barcelona, the spanish club charged with fraud after the signing of this star from brazil. we will have the details in sport. >> three aljazeera english journalist have appeared in court in cairo. they have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them. they've been imprisoned now for 54 days accused of aiding and abet ago terrorist organization. their next court appearance has now been set for the fifth of march. aljazeera continues to reject the charges and demands the immediate release of its staff. >> the associate director or research at the atlantic councils center, assisting political and income joins us

now live from washington, d.c. in the united states. thank you very much for joining us. what's your assessment of the situation with reward in particular to the aljazeera journalists, but also to human rights more generally in egypt today? >> well, there's a number of things happening in egypt today, and quite clearly, we're seeing the military-backed government, if not ordering, then at least condoning the state security's attack on journalists today, which is having a serious effect on free expression in egypt. i mean, if this is what is happening to international journalists, one can only imagine what's happening to local journalists who counter the state narrative that they're promoting, but what's also interesting is that we're seeing egyptian authorities have also convinced the general public have manipulated fears amongst

the egyptians that these international journalists are in fact supporting the muslim brotherhood, terrorist criminals against the state and so fort. this of course is an extremely dangerous trend and will have a severe effect on free press going forward. >> now many people at the unveiling of the new constitution in egypt welcomed it and were convinced that it would be the start of some very good things to come in the country. however would you say is the egyptian government now contravening, if not the letter of the constitution, but at least the spirit of it? >> well, it's absolutely contra veins the spirit of it. the constitution guarantees free press and its abiding by international treaties and conventions to which it signed on. of course, that being the

international convention for civil rights being one, guaranteeing the freedom of expression. this is undoubtedly contradictory to what egyptians have signed up for and even we're seeing to some extent some media figures who have traditionally been siding with the military-backed government have voiced some reservations about what's happening against journalists in egypt today, so the cracks are starting to show. >> all right thank you for joining us live from washington, d.c. >> thank you for having me. >> iran and six world powers agreed to a framework for talks on limiting tehran's nuclear program, meeting to reach an interim deal in november. james bays reports from the austrian capitol. >> three days of talks led by

the iranian foreign minister and the european union's chief foreign policy official were positive and constructive. the international community and iran came up with an interim agreement on the country's nuclear program in november. for now, negotiations on a permanent deal are on track. their next meeting will be held in a month. they read a statement to the press. >> there is a lot to do. it won't be easy, but we've made good start. in addition to our political discussions, we started the technical work and we've set a time table of meetings initially over the next four months with a framework to continue our deliberations. >> the positive atmosphere was evidence as the iranian fortune minute officer read the same words in farsi.

it takes a bit longer to make the statement in person. don't worry, i'm not saying anything that she didn't say. [ laughter ] >> a positive start, the first round of talks that will go on for months. when you have tough negotiations like this, you tend to leave the most difficult items, the sticking points until the very end. james bays, aljazeera at the united nations in vietnam. >> let's go to nigeria where the president has suspended the government of the central bank for what he calls financial recklessness and misconduct. now he earlier made an allegation to $20 billion in revenue had gone missing from state coffers. the allegations threaten to expose fraud in nigeria's corrupt oil sector.

nigeria is the largest oil producer in africa, more than 2 million-barrels produced every day, accounting for 80% of state revenue and 90% of exports, but as little as 1% of the population benefits from the oil wealth. more than half of the population live below the poverty line. >> we can talk a little bit more about this now with clement, an executive director at the policy and legal advocacy center in the nigerian capitol. thank you very much for talking to us here. what's wrong with the president suspending the governor of the central bank. he's well within his rights, isn't he? >> the president has the means by which he can move any of the deputies in the bank.

it requires the senate to cast by two thirds majority a resolution dismissing such an official. the president has not done this and clearly his actions are illegal. >> by suspending or dismissing the central bank governor, he's not really doing much to scotch the allegation, is he, because the allegation is out there, $20 billion worth of revenue gone missing. >> well, this is a surprise since a lot of us in civil society, $20 billion is a lot of money that could mean so much for this country. it could deal so much with the poverty cries that we're faced with and whether any steps to investigate these allegations, what we have seen him do is in fact the whistle blower, the central bank governor. we haven't seen actions taken in respect to the organization accused of misuse and miss

allocation of this money. we haven't seen investigation rewarding the stab substantive income, so clearly the president has raised even more questions about his willingness to tack the corruption in the country. there is an impunity of corruption. he hasn't taken action with toronto these and several other allegations of corruption against may be officials of government. clearly it's a very surprising action for issues of misuse of public funds by the bank governor. the president knows what to do, to go to the senate and get the senate to investigate and dismiss a governor if that is the action needed. the president has given a sense in which nigerians feel he is condoning corruption and refusing to investigate his

officials, refusing to take actions against several instances and allegations of corruption against officials in his government. >> however is the politics feeding into this? you've got an election next year and the ruling party is in a shambles, isn't it? >> well, the p.d.p. has its own cries and a lot of nigerians say there is as bigger worry about whether removing the governor is to provide for avenues for government coffers in preparations for elections. a lot of nigerians are worrying, the crisis of insecurity across the country, not just in the northeast with kidnappings, killings, robbery, all of serious problems, the infrastructure collapse, lack of

electricity, serious problems and the people are very concerned bit and we worry the president is not tackling these problems the way he should. >> thank you for joining us live from the nigerian capitol. >> lots more to come, including an historic election in libya, voters go to the polls to choose who and draft a new constitution. plus, food shortages, inflation and now lawlessness, pure rye on the streets in venezuela and it's not just in the capitol. >> sport, find out what caused this reaction from rory mcilroy. we'll have the details later.

anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com. follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. 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. >> you're with the aljazeera news hour, reminder of our top stories. ukraines interior ministry said 67 policeman have been taken hostage by anti-government protestors in the capitol kiev.

fighting has in teensified. demonstrators demand president yanukovych resign. three aljazeera journalists have appeared in court in cairo. they have pleaded not guilty to aiding a terrorist organization. their next court appearance is the fifth of march. >> iran and six world powers agreed for a framework for talks on iran's nuclear program, trying to make progress on an interim deal reached back in november. >> the unrest in ukraine, we go back to our correspondent live in kiev. bring us right up to date with developments today and explain why you're talking to us from your hotel room. >> i'm talking from my hotel room, overlooking independence square.

it has been shot at a number of times through the day, including on television crews trying to broadcast through the windows. that's the unfortunate circumstances. it was taken over by the protestors when they pushed the police back out of the square this morning, and its lobby has been turned into a make-shift hospital, but not only a make-shift hospital, also i'm afraid to say a morgue. there were 12 bodies i saw a short time ago. >> we've had indication that there may have been an initiative produced as a result of the intense negotiations taking place in kiev today. >> i've been reading tweets in the last half hour since i last spoke to you from the polish foreign minister and his french counter part and german foreign ministry. all three of saying that after

their five hour talks with president yanukovych here today are deeply alarmed by the violence, the foreign minister said they were. they are going back to meet the three main opposition leaders here. the polish foreign minister said it is to test an agreement or test a proposal he may have said, the implication being obviously it's some kind of shuttle diplomacy. they think perhaps they might have got some sort of agreement with the president. they now have to sell it to the opposition leaders. of course, as we know, the opposition leaders, even if they were to agree to it have to sell it to the protestors in the square behind me, so nothing concrete at all, but certainly diplomacy is moving behind the scenes. >> ok, that you can very much for updating us on the very latest from kiev, the ukrainian capitol, barnaby phillips there.

>> supporters have called for mo protests in caracas. lopez gave himself up in venezuela in front of thousands of supporters and the t.v. cameras, accused of inciting violence related to protests. the death toll has now risen to six. >> the protest started in the western city before spread to go other parts of venezuela. there have been anti-government protests in nearly two weeks now. demonstrators are angry at the high rate of crime, food and fuel shortages. we managed to get inside the city and have this report. >> we arrived just a couple of hours ago, managed to make our way into the city, which is no easy task. basically this entire plays is closed down.

when we found the first group of protestors, we approached them to talk about the problems they are having here and were basically attacked. they were deeply unhappy that we were taking their pictures. they tried to snatch the camera away from us. only by turning the camera off and pointing it to the ground did we manage to make it away from those people. there is a police presence now. we're going to try to talk to people that live here to find out their issues. >> i am afraid that the government are attacking us. it's the government and they are breaking the rules of the constitution. >> you go to the supermarket and you don't find almost anything and it's very, you know, the situation is very bad for the people. >> we've now come to a different part of the city and like many streets here, it's been blocked off by the residents. this is a distinctly middle class neighborhood but like

every else, they're angry at food shortages, angry as midoro in particular, saying he does not represent the people. we're going with one of the residents here to see the living conditions. >> when she does go to the supermarket to buy goods like flour, pasta and rice, she has to line up for hours, go to several different super markets. when she does see when she needs, she stocks up on it. that is typical of life here. >> we're trying to make our way back to the hotel, because it's getting dark, but we are stopped by a road block so i can show you how differ it is to get back. we were attacked by gas. my eyes are pretty stinging right at the moment. that is the situation here. it's basically lawless, and caused by this hatred for the government as is the shortage of

food, people can't get things like fuel. column beans are coming across the bored tore buy up all the fuel, all of which ferments into anger and this situation which seems to have no end. aljazeera, venezuela. >> back to lauren for more news from europe. >> the former head of murdoch media emspire has been acquitted at trial of one charge. she was acquitted of authorizing an illegal payment of $6,700 for a picture of the bridge royal prince william wearing a bikini. she is still accused of four other charges. >> legal trouble are far from over in a case in germany. we have more.

>> he has not got a good record with court appearances. last time he was here, he couldn't even get the hang of the revolving door, straight in and straight out again. which is what happened with the case against him in court on thursday. f1's father stood to lose $140 million, but the judge dismissed it in seconds. bernie's journey began in 2006 when the bank decided to sell its controlling stake in f1. that eventually went to an equity company. he gave money, around $45 million to an employee of the bank. he says it was totally unrelated, but this man was black mailing him over his tax affairs. the authorities in germany claim the payment was corrupt and aimed at steering the sale toward cvc rather than another

buyer. cvc would have allowed him to stay in the job even though the claim is that the sale went through at a much reduced price. the case was brought by another company, which said it lost out on the chance to buy the f1 stake, so was suing for the cash it could have made out of the purchase. a much bigger case in germany is being brought against h him by e bank. it said it could have made more money out of the sale with a fair are and more transparent procedure. >> he may have won the battle here but faces a bigger fight in germany. he'll appear in court there in april. this was a civil matter, the case in germany criminal. if convicted there, he could face 10 years in prison or settlement of $500 million. aljazeera at the high court in london. >> russian protest punk band

pussy riot have ended their stay in sochi with a video criticizing president vladimir putin. the band has hat violent run-ins with authorities. they tried to perform under an olympic sign. >> for more news, let's go back to doha. >> five polling stations have been hit in libya. there are no reports of injury, but people are voting for a 16 member committee which will draft a new constitution for the country. a third of the countries 3.4 million eligible voters have registered to vote. people have been increasingly frustrated over the government's failure to restore order since the occupy rising in 2011.

we have more from the capitol of tripoli. >> this is a historic election, voters coming out to pick the 16 men and women who will write the constitution for the country. that is important, because it will determine whether this country has a strong president or weak leader appointed by the congress. that is what is currently the case and it's important, because the congress tends to lean conservative in religious where people tend to be more secular. voters remind us that they paid a high price to be here today. one man told us his son died in the resolution. he lost him fighting to make this happen. >> we have freedom now. >> when the current congress was elected, there was a line out that door. now turnout so far has been fairly low in this country of 6 million people. we expect fewer than 1 million to actually vote. there's a reason for that. libyans are by and large disappointed with their brief

experience in democracy, the congress not able to improve security and worse in the eyes of many, the congress extended its term when it expired february 7. that upset people so much that some militia's threatened to overthrow the parliament. we talked to a number of voters who said this is an important day to determine the future structure of the libyan government. >> 100 tons of radioactive waters leaked from one of the tanks at japans nuclear fukushima plant, a similar incident prompted the agency to raise the plant's alert level. the power company said water is unlikely to have reached the ocean. >> the site of the latest leak, a hole near the power plant 200 kilometers north of toke i can't. the plant's operators as i the seepage was found when a worker

noticed water discharging from the upper part of the tank. a involve had been left open by mistake, sending an floor flow of contaminated water into a separate holding area. >> rewarding the amount of water that has leaked at this point, we think that the amount that leaked out of the barrier is 100 tons. we are currently proceeding with recovery efforts. also, the leakage itself has stopped. >> from initial measurements, the water appears to be very radioactive. radioactivity in liquids is measured per liter. thirty per liter is the accepted, it is almost 8 million times this. tepco said the radioactive water is being held 700-meters from the ocean and not discharged in the sea.

>> rewarding the extent and position of the leakage, as far as we have confirmed at this point, there is no drain nearby and we have ascertained the position of the leakage. the position is for from the ocean and we think there has been no leakage into the ocean. >> it has been harshly criticized for the meltdowns. there have been a series of leaks from the facility, one of the most serious in august when 300 tons of contaminated water was released. just last week, the company is accused of delaying the release of data showing the poisoning in the ground water. this raises new international alarm and questions whether the company is doing enough to deal with the problem. >> to india now where the upper house of parliament pass add new bill create ago new state.

the bill which carves out the new state had a rather difficult passage in the lower house of parliament. campaigners have been fighting for the new state for the last 53 years. much more to come here including disaster before the new season. >> franz with silver and bronze for the first time in their history.

>> i'm del walters in new york. the department of homeland

security issuing a new alert over the potential use of shoe bombs on flights into the united states. it was a threat that was almost carried out following 9/11. we have the story. >> just two weeks after one warning in the skies, there is now another. the alert issued by the department of homeland security concerns a new potential threat from bombs concealed in shoes. while no airline, airport or date has been specified, homeland security urges carriers to pay particular attention to flights entering the u.s. and that means beefing up security over seas. >> travelers in the united were used to taking their shoes off. at many airports overseas, that is not required and this will require more screening of shoes. >> just days before the opening of the olympic games in sochi, another warning of a blot involving explosives hidden in

toothpaste tubes to sochi was revealed. some states it's determination like groups like al-qaeda to strike at u.s. >> certainly tells you that al-qaeda is still fascinated with taking down planes. we recently had a tooth paste scare, now back to shoes. >> the latest concerns come 12 years after shoe bomber richard reid tried to bring down an airliner, not long after the 9/11 attacks. that's the kind of damage that could have been caused if his attempt had been successful. reid is search ago life sentence, having changed the course of how americans travel in airports across the country. >> the national security agency maybe forced to hold on to its massive collection of phone records. the wall street journal reporting the agency is facing lawsuits rewarding those records so legally would have to retain

the data to return the evidence. no decision has been made yet as to what to do with those records. >> tears of joy on the korean peninsula today. family members waiting 60 years to see loved ones today got a chance to hold them. we were there for the emotional reunions. >> the last few shuffling steps before he ends a wait that's lasted most of his lifetime. he's off to meet his sister. she was 13 when he last saw her. now he says she'll be an old lady. >> i will thank her for having survived. i'm 87. the only reason i'm still alive is that i was waiting for this chance. >> a third of those heading north are in their 90s. the frailty of bodies evident, determined to make the first of what will be the first and almost certainly last chance for a brief reunion. >> the family members are going through the last checks inside

the immigration building at the moment. these buses are going through the border gate to pick them up on the other side and take them into notary yes and to loved ones. a few hours later, decades of stored up love and grief find release. [ sobbing ] >> embracing family, embracing strangers in a country cut in two by war and ideology, they're one and the same. these reunions almost didn't happen, a threat to pull out in protest against south korea and u.s. military exercises, before ditch that go objection last week. the only question, whether this heralds the start of trust building or will be written off as also false down. the people will have three days of structured meetings to have their requested family members

brought here from the south, a total of six days and it will be over. in the past, the final goodbyes have been at least as emotionally charged as the first encounters. >> it is now just after 7:30 in the evening in sochi, russia, closer to 8:00, home of this year's winter olympics. today is women's ice hockey. the violence of kiev being felt in russia, many asking to wear black arm bands. olympic officials say no, political protests are banned at the games. the i.o.c. president offered condolences to the victims and their families. we're hearing that an alpine skier have left in protest over the deaths in her home land. >> the first u.s. team to strike gold at the winter olympics wore a special pair of ice skates

handmaid by a california family that has been doing so for decades. we report. >> in the heart of silicon valley, an old fashioned preindustrial craft endures, skating boots. each pair constructed and assembled by hand. world and olympic champions have taken their prizes with these special skates, produced by the company since 1933. some of the machines here in use since the workshop's earliest days produce 1,000-1500 boots each year. the family's fourth generation maker spoke to us. >> it feels pretty good knowing that i had a small part in their journey to success. >> this week's ice dancing gold medalists won in their boots. >> her boots are softer. she likes a soft, flexible boot, and so we make hers so that she

can bend at the ankles and knees and get her edges really well. >> they consider everything. >> you'll notice a higher heel, because it puts ice dancers more on the ball of their foot, causes them to have to bend their knees and put their shoulders back, putting them in the nice beautiful dance posture. >> these hold the mold for some of the most well known skaters in the world, brian boitano, nancy kerrigan, michelle can. christy yamaguchi has tiny boots, just a size four. >> what's really been fun about this is so much of my grandparents are here. there are patterns of their

writings, my grandmother's writing. >> from skates from the depression era to modern stars, the family knows there aren't that many businesses like theirs left. >> it feels great to know that i'm carrying on the tradition and legacy that have been left for me by my dad and my grandpa and my great grandpa, all those that came before me. >> the secret to their survival, their edge is the collected wisdom and feedback from their olympic customers. aljazeera, san carlos, california. >> an wall street, stocks are edging higher in early trading, the dow up 70 points, a better than expected report on america manufacturing offsetting concerns about the economy. the dow is in positive territory again today. >> the bad winter weather giving wal-mart a chill, sales declined over the last quarter. the world's largest retailer forecasting four year profits will be well below analyst

estimates. wal-mart warned that january a cut in food stamps is hurting their bottom line. >> all eyes are on the midwest today, a storm developing while the big impact on the weather is severe storms, warmer temperatures or blizzard conditions, all within the warnings here and the advisories that are in effect, there's blizzard warnings along with winter weather advisory for iowa. farther east, temperatures are warm. severe thunderstorm warnings will be issued later today. there's the blizzard conditions, here's this front pushing east, south and east of approximate, you have the severe weather, to the western side of the storm, the cold air and blizzard conditions. temperatures are into the 30's there and just about the freezing mark in lincoln, nebraska. close to 60 or 70 just a little farther south and east. in this warm air is where we see

strong severe storms with the potential today. the temperature climbs and mets the snow, you get heavy rain on top of that. the storm developing to the west of chicago now, but we'll continue to track to the northeast, pug the arm air up, bringing the cold irin behind it. we have blizzard conditions on the western side of the storm, south and east, severe weather potential exists late today especially overnight tonight. you can see the future weather computers showing we have a line of strong storms right through kentucky and tennessee by 9:00 tonight. that will continue to move east. here you have the warm air with the strong storms, behind it, the cold air with the chance of snow, pushing east over the next hours. >> thank you very much. you are watching aljazeera america. more news as always at the top of the hour. i'm del walters live in new york. check us out 24 hours a day just by going to aljazeera.com where

the news never stops, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. >> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news.

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. russia saying it willing second a mediator to ukraine after the truce is broken and the violent clashes resumed. new jersey governor face-to-face with his constituents talking about his bridge gate scandal. al jazeera journalists now