>> president obama warns his afghan counterparts sign a security pack otherwise all u.s. troops may be pulled out by the end of the year. >> this is al jazeera from doha. ahead - ukraine's capital is abuzz with political intrigue. near the border with russia we find people living without hope. >> set on fire as they slept. 59 schoolchildren killed in nig , in what is called a deranged

attack. >> dirty tricks in duby it where gold painted silver to try to full customs. >> u.s. president barack obama is running out of patients with afghanistan's leader. after waiting months for president hamid karzai to sign a security agreement president obama made it clear ta all troops may be withdrawn if there's no deal. patty culhane reports on the high stakes. future of the u.s.-led war. >> u.s. president obama left the negotiating with afghanistan's hamid karzai to his staff. after nine months of silence he picked up the phone to send him a personal warning. he was told that if he wants u.s. to stay behind 2014, they must sign an agreement. 12 years after the invasion the u.s. started planning for the

so-called zero option, a complete withdrawal. warning there'll be consequences the longer he delays. >> the further we go without a signed bsa, a mission would be necessarily limited in scale and ambitious because of the requirement of planning about the troop presence. >> that could mean 3,000 u.s. troops stay, largely holed up in kabul and bagram, to conduct drone operations. >> that's a counterterrorism mission. it will enable you to operate drones. it will enable some semblance of working with afghan special forces as well. that's about it. >> that is hamid karzai's trump card. if the u.s. is going to continue the strikes, u.s. troops have to be in afghanistan. >> if the president was to decide on the zero option, he will get pushback from the

military, from some members of congress who fear what will happen in afghanistan. >> the american public will be more forgiving. >> those people would be happy to see the aid kept in the u.s. it is the american trump card. it's not a question of if the u.s. forces take on the taliban and win. >> bernard smith has more from kabul. >> the u.s. wanted to leave about 8,000 troops in afghanistan from the beginning of 2015 to train, advise and assist afghan forces and continue the fight against al qaeda remnants. if they pull out, 13 years, and

the loss lives, the u.s. could risk losing gains in afghanistan in the fight against terrorism. there's a risk for the afghan government if the u.s. pulls out. foreign powers contribute up to $8 billion a year to maintaining afghan forces and providing aid to afghanistan. it's unlikely they'll want to continue to provide the money if they are going to be kicked out by the afghan government. all the contenders in the election on april the 5th, or the main contenders say they'll sign the bilateral agreement. it's problem thable that there'll be no outright winner from the elections, meaning a run-off and the campaign running into the summer and we may not note who the afghan leader will be until the end of the summer, and the clock will tick down on

the appearance of american troops in afghanistan. >> now to the crisis in ukraine, where interim leaders are struggling to hold the country together. acting president is warning that there's growing signs of separatism. on the diplomatic frond, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is rejecting suggestions of cold war rivalries in the way moscow reacted to the crisis. they are being told to watch for attempts by viktor yanukovych to move funds. his whereabouts is unclear. >> the situation in kiev has not had much of an impact on farmers and villages in the east until now. people feel ukrainian and are worried their way of life could be under threat, from the ukrainian border near the city. >> ukraine's border with russia

stretches 2,000km. in this town, the decaying symbols of the soviet union are everywhere. in the cemetery a proud gravestone of a hero. planted in the middle, there's nothing here to mark the followers forced collectivization. this breadbasket suffered a famine killing 6 million people. >> in the center of the town, the only monument is to those that died in the war against the nazis. the opposing of the president in kiev has divided opinions even here. >> you call this life? >> it's not, it's a funny farm. if i had a chance i would have fled to russia. >> translation: europe is important. we cannot cut ties with russia, a lot depends on the ties.

>> we should fix the country, we need a legal system serving the people, not 460 members. parliament. >> employment is vanishing, along with families. every promise of investment by the old government was broken. the money never came, and it shows. >> this town supported a population of 16,000 people. since independence it's been in decline. it's as frozen as the river that gives it its name. >> the river lopam flows in from russia. by the time the ice thaws, relationships with moscow might be facing a deep freeze. as the light fades we were forced out of up to. a taxi driver removed threats of violence. they called it a law. it exists here.

>> for more from the u.s. secretary of state, they want the world to you night and support ukraine. >> this is not a zero some game, it is not a west versus east - it should not be. it's not the united states or other choices. this is about people of ukraine, and ukrainians making their choice about their future. we want to work with russia, with other countries, with everybody available to make sure this is peaceful. from this day forward, because obviously the terrible violence that took place in the maydan was a shock to everybody. >> at least 59 nigerian students have been kill. it happened in the northern

town. the school was set on fire. it's believed to have been carried out by boko haram. soldiers guarding a checkpoint were withdrawn hours before it was targeted, according to a spokesman of the governor of the state. some students who tried to escape were slaughtered with machetes or shot. >> it was unfortunate that after the 4-hour period, or five hours of killing, there was no one around to contain the swags. >> this is not an isolated incident. in january '83 were skilled in the state of borno. two weeks ago 50 were murdered in the same region, that attack was blamed on boko haram. a state of emergency has been in place in the state of borno, yobe and another since may of

last year. president goodluck jonathan called the attack callous and senseless: >> strikes by unmanned aircraft in pakistan have been hailed as a success by some, including november's deadly hit on the pakistani taliban leader. in the past drone strikes killed many civilians. we met the family of a drone attack victim in peshawar. >> this woman lost her husband in a drone strike in 2009. he was a mechanic. now she has no means to provide for her children. she spent 40 years of her life here, but has now moved from her home. >> translation: it was not safe to keep my children in that

area. they were afraid to live in our home after their father was killed in a drone strike. i'm worried about their education. the human rights campaigners called drone strikes a form of death penalty without trial. they have asked the united states to respect its sovereignty by stopping drone attacks. it appears to have worked. there has been no u.s. drone strikes in the pakistani tribal areas. >> for hundreds of civilians that lost loved one, it doesn't mean much. >> my eldest one was 15. i stopped sending him to school. he works as a labourer. i wish his father was alive so he could educate himself like his father wanted. i'm a poor woman and can't find

work. >> the victims do not agree with the intelligence report. some believe drone attacks may resume if talks fail. >> in is al jazeera. more ahead. when we come back, hazardous smog hides the skyline. it doesn't stop there. a stink about clean water in the yate. why is bottled water favourite, when tap water has been declared safe.

[ ♪ music ]

>> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera. the pentagon has been ordered to start preparations for a possible withdrawal of all u.s. troops in afghanistan by the end of the year. that's because afghan president hamid karzai refused to sign a security agreement covering thousands of u.s. support troops remaining after the pull out. at least 59 nigeria students have been killed after fighters set a school dormitory on fire. it happened in the northern towns, and is believed to have been carried out by armed groups. >> ukraine's interim president is warning there are growing signs of separatism. parliament has given fz until thursday to form a new government the the u.s. secretary of state called on all countries to assist in supporting ukrainian aspirations. >> john kerry is insisting that ukraine should not be a battle ground between the east and

west. it's the east-west divide that is fuelling fears that parts of ukraine will break away. it's the autonomous renaling of crimia that is causing concern. we have this report. >> anger. here directed towards the policemen. the crowd thinks he's taking orders from kiev and refuse to recognise the new government. the council rebelled. it appointed a russian businessman as mayor. since the opposition took control of the parliament, what has been happening has alarmed pro-russian towns. other cities may have seen lenin topple. he's not in danger. long home to navy personnel and

russia's black sea fleet, viktor yanukovych is thought to have sought refuge here. few have anything good to say. >> translation: there's nothing to him. he was a thief. people knew it. >> as russian flag sellers do a brisk trade, pro-moscow parties sense an opportunity. they speak of threats and the need for russian military intervention. >> i am sure that if the militants kapture the city. the sailors will stand side by side to defend the city. >> everyone seems to be expecting something to happen. >> there are a lot of different groups, interests, but everyone largely speaks russian, identifying with russia in some way. whether it's spontaneous or organised there's an assistance of anxiety ever since. the new government in the

capital is worried. tuesday saw the interim president calling for a meeting on separatism. some may feel reassured that moscow has, itself, questioned the new government's legitimacy. the kremlin said ethic rights were being infringed. russian involvement may plunge them back into fresh crisis. >> both sides of syria's war are under mounting pressure to comply with demands to allow more humanitarian aid into the country. u.n. chief bangui moonsingled out bureaucratic delays. >> i call on the syrian government to authorise more humanitarian staff to work in syria. it is not credible to site bureaucratic procedures as reasons for delay, when the

government controls those procedures. >> the u.n.'s been talking about the extent of the damage to a palestinian refugee camp in the syrian capital. people living in the amood camp received food rations after a gap of several days. the head of the u.n. relief and development agency visited the area on monday. >> the checkpoint we were allowed to reach, you can't see much behind, there are barricades. people coming from within yarmouk appear near the distribution point. it's like the appearance of ghosts, people that have not been out of there, that have been trapped in a situation, without food, medicine and clean water. they are probably completely

subjected to fear because there was fierce fighting, noisy fighting all along. >> al jazeera is demanding the ley leaf of staff in egypt. mohamed fadel fahmy, birthday mohammed badr, and peter greste spent 60 days in gaol. another journalist, abdullah al-shami has been held since august. >> he is a dual citizens of canada and egypt. the canadian government is providing him with consular assistance and help and said: >> now, the water supply in the u.s. state of west virginia has been given the all clear after a chemical spill last month.

some have their doubts. >> when keeley learns the drinking water in charleston was contaminated she acted quickly. with customers coming back, she knew she could no longer rely on tap water. >> we have commercial water pumps so the coffee makers could run on bottled worker. >> they are spending $5,000 extra so her customers have bottled water. she's paying the price of mismanagement. a chemical company's failure to maintain tanks. on 9 january, a tank sprung a leak and 38,000 litres of a cold-cleaning chemical poured into the river and into the

water supply of 300,000 residents. >> the owners filed for bankruptcy protection. now almost impossible for the residents to sue for compensation. the damage to the brand is something that will be carried on for years, for the rest of our life. charleston spent $50 million, revitalizing the economy. news of the leak and water will drive away a hope of future investment in tourism dollars. >> west virginia's economic fate has long been tied to the coal industry. it's a poor state and needs jobs. they expect little will happen for those responsible for the spill. state politicians turn a blind eye.

>> all we have the special interest. i feel like to some extent they must have the idea that they fought a certain amount. i'm naive use to know if that is the ace. thousands are left to reflect on the relationship with big business. >> in bolivia, there has been mass evacuations. worse hit is the town here, where much has been emerged. crews have joined rescue efforts. . >> china is maintaining an orange alert for smog in beijing. pollution is at a critical

level. the most vulnerable have been advised to stay indoors. rob mcbride has been advised to stay indoors. >> it's been a long hard week of smog, the worse this winter, there's hope that the end may be in sight, with a change in the wind direction which will below the smog away. there's a disquiet, anger that the capital of the second largest economy has to wait for a change in the winds to breath properly. it's been the topic of conversation for everyone here. there has been anger expressed in social media. it's been widely reported in the mainstream media, even that that might playdown domestic stories. the government and the authorities tried to reassure

people they are trying to do something about it. >> the smog is creeping into south korea, and affecting the air quality. harry fawcett has more from seoul. >> i'm standing 800km away. we are breathing pretty well the same stuff. currently the levels on wednesday are said to be about 78 micrograps per cubic metre. the government here says 30 to 50% of the air quaghty problems in sole come from outside south korea's borders. the meteorological agency saying 80% is down to chinese pollution. the media is having a field day. some of them calling on the south korean government to

protest. the sole government wants to ask a memorandum of understanding. the government here wants to set up a forum where regional authorities will get together discussing whiches to talk about the air quality. they are setting up cctv cameras to get forewarning when bad air comes from china. >> gold has been painted silver to try to fool customs in dubai. it's alleged to have broken international guidelines. >> dubai is the biggest marketplace for gold training. it had to work hard, against ongoing concerns that the precious metal had been going

through checks, to make sure it hadn't come through war zones in africa. this man was in charge of app audit team for ernst&young. >> my team was given the job of auditing the dubai based regulators. again, to ensure that they do not process or trade incorrectly. >> they were told large quantities of gold were traded in cash, setting off one alarm bells. >> one matter was dealing with cash transactions g over 5.2 bill yon. >> it's odd. >> the world is saying we need

traceability. once you use cash, you cut traceability. in a city like dubai where there's a lot of banks and it's known for the banking system, there's no justification for coming in with big amounts of gold and walking out with suitcases full of cash. >> he says his team discovered large amounts of gold had been shipped in, paint silver to get around regulations. my team is where there was an outlet, and the owner showing them how to receive gold. he was challenging my team. he said, "silver." there were about 75 kilograms of bars coated silver. the team look the and said, "no, it's silver", he smiled and

said, "no." >> silver paint. >> it was very silver. >> it was all written up. it was deemed noncompliant. the refiners report wasn't pun lished. the watchdog group global witness said it should have happiness. >> this is about checks that should have been carried out making sure that gold from sudan and democratic republic of congo were not getting into the international market. it was hugely important. that the checks saw the light of day. it didn't in this instance. >> global witness says it has evidence of trade through democratic republic of congo and dubai. the evidence of conflict gold sold is inconclusive.

the regulator and companies deny claims. trading practices at best were described as peculiar. >> there's more on the website. >> the ukraine grabs the headlines but it's the violent up rising in venezuela that could really have an impact on americans. i'll tell you why. we're taking the pulse of the housing market recovery with the home builder in houston. and then to the streets of philadelphia where the middle class is fading fast. i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." [♪ music ] >> this is "real money with ali velshi."