the conversation continues on aljazeera.com/considerthis on our our facebook or google+ pages. see you next time. >> >> arizona's governor shoots down a controversial bill surrounding religious freedoms and gay rights. >> major misconduct. the results of a sexual assault probe were bigger than anticipated. the steps it's taking to correct the problem. >> a look at the refugee crisis in syria. a photo that's bringing renewed attention for the need for help in the war-torn country. >> the citrus industry facing a

blow from an overseas parasite. steps some farmers are taking to save their livelihoods. bash >> hi there, welcome to al jazeera america. good to have you with us. i'm thomas drayton. arizona governor jan brewer vetoed a bill that set up a national debate over gay rights and religious freedom. sp 1062 would have allowed business owners to refuse service to same sex couples. the bill received harsh criticism, including law makers who vetoed or voted for the bill. >> after weighing all the arguments, i have vetoed the senate bill 1062 moments ago. to the supporters of this legislation i want you to know that i understand that wrong-held norms about the family are being challenged as

never before. our society is undergoing many dramatic changes. i believe that senate bill 1062 has the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve. in ways that we cannot imagine and no one would want. religious liberty is a core american and arizona value. so is nondiscrimination. going forward. let's turn the ugliness over the debate into a renewed search for respect and understanding among all arzans and americans. >> the veto followed mounting opposition including apple american airlines and the n.f.l. jan brewer said her office received 40,000 calls.

the debate continues across the country. a federal judge in texas struck down a ban, saying if deprives same sex couples equal protection. the judge stayed the motion pending an appeal. rick perry was quick to criticise the ruling saying: governor is considering a similar bill. state senate could vote on the bill as early as monday. >> the sweeping charges. misconduct within the army is - is greater than first anticipated. hundreds of soldiers were removed from sensitive positions

as a result of an obstensive sexual assault probe. it prompted change in how the cases are prosecuted in the military. >> last summer the army said it was suspending 55 sexuality counsellors for offenses such as sexual assault, drunk driving and child abuse. the army went further than chuck hagel's orders and disqualified 588 in total. in a statement the army says:

kimberley hank said she assaulted by kill kerr son in italy. >> will kerr son's boss dismissed the verdict as military rules allowed and set him free. the figures on sexual assault in the military make for grim reading. there are 19,000 sexual assaults a year, of which 3,000 are reported and 1500 considered accessible. a panel on capitol hill explored the relationship between sexual assaults in the military, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. hearing that many victims are afraid to ask for help for fear of being ashamed and ridiculed.

>> i ask for us to stand together and take proactive steps. >> i had to google what to do. >> advocates want reforms that end the rights of commanders to overturn court-martial verdict. >> the military system is based on the discretion of a single commander over the rule of law. until you remove the bias and conflict of interest outside the chain of command, you'll never have justice. >> john terrett reporting. a new report says sexual assaults in the u.s. military jumped 60% last year, officials say the surge showed victims have confidence their cases will be taken seriously. >> workers in new mexico were

exposed to radiation. 13 employees have tested positive to radiation. they were notified of the results and will undergo further testing. elevated levels have been detected in the air at the plant. officials say they are too low to be considered a threat. >> the future of the government and ukraine is unclear. there are reports that pro-russian gunmen stormed a building in the ukrainian state of crimea. >> fights broke out between pro-russia, russian demonstrators and supporters of the government. adding to the tensions, russia is conducting military drills. moscow says the exercises are not related to what is happening in kiev. the u.s. told russia any military action would be a grave mistake. ukraine's parliament will decide

whether to approve the new interim government. they were announced that the main protest camp - that they are civic activists rather than veteran politicians. >> in a freezing independence square politicians have been forced to consult the people who believed they achieved the resolution. for those pitching to be part of the administration, this is more than symbolic. top of the least, the p.m. some cheers for oleksandr turchynov's father land party. >> translation: people are united, together. the important thing is that they feel they are engaged in the process of decision making. >> we believe that maydan fulfilled its role. peel have to defend its

interests. maydan is not going home. we have to stand for what we want and demand from power that they act. that's how we'll get the future we want. >> if anyone thought following the political demise of the president, they could avoid the views of people in the square, they'd play a dangerous game. the public needs to be aware that things really are changing. >> one graphic example - the fence removed outside parliament. for the demonstrators it represented the gulf between a core up leadership and citizens. >> there's a lot of evil on the offense. people now can have ction everywhere and to the deputies, and they will no longer be like ice. >> a former president has been

advising politicians here. >> every week they should be able to tell people we did this for you. one week we stopped police abusing businesses, and stopped corrupt former officials. they have to deliver stuff. these people are desperate, fed up with talk. >> the mourning for the dead goes on, more than 100 during three months of protest pt the riot police are disbanded and the attorney-general has ordered an international search for viktor yanukovych. but judicial delays means he made good his escape. >> once again presidential elections will take place in

may. >> as we start to go towards the end of the week we'll see cold temperatures towards the northern plains. they are some of the coldest we have seen. this winter we'll see windchills, a problem. for thursday morning, we'll see minus 16 in minneapolis, and the windchill taking it down to minus 30 there. as you see friday, saturday and sunday, it will be a slow warm up as we go towards the weekend, and it's about 12. showers to the south, pushing towards the north. that's because we have an area of low pressure spinning and pushing the moisture from the south to the north. a few showers for seattle. they'll be mild. we'll see heavy i don't remember snow across montana. anywhere from between 20 and 24

inches of snow. thursday, 54 degrees. things will be cloudy. as we go towards the rest of the week, temperatures taking a dip. it will be blow freezing. here across california, we looking at a lot of rain. one to three inches of rain as we go towards thursday and friday. expect a major surge of rain, 3-5 inches will be the norm. for many places the possibility of flash flooding as we go towards saturday, sunday, monday. that's when things clear up. temperatures into the mid '60s. showers to the south, and for san antonio 59 degrees. dallas - looking at temperatures rising to the weekend. >> thank you. president obama laying out his vision to overhaul the country's infrastructure system. the price tag. president will be pitching to congress to get the job done.

>> a fresh look at the refugee crisis in syria, a photo setting light on how hard the situation is. >> a global call for action for three al jazeera journalists detained in egypt. people around the world showing their support to cole agos. -- colleagues. cl

>> president obama is making a push to fix the nation's infrastructure. in minnesota he asked congress to approve a $3 million plan creating roads and railway, and jobs. >> president obama made similar requests in the past, congress rejected them. >> if a picture is worth a thousand words, this photo speaks volumes, showing a see of people waiting for aid. in the search for food, many have been forced to eat grass and anything else they could

found. the photo was released by a u.n. agency which only recently gained access to the camp. >> as you can see from the iconic image, there are gaunt, pallid figures who have been living, deprived from the basic commodities of life - food, water, electricity, heat and warmth in a cruel winter. what they describe is a portrait of intense and profound tragic civilian suffering. we have reports of women dying in child birth. widespread reports of children and infants with malnutrition, and people in the 21st century of a capital city reduced to eating app mall feet. that says as much as needs to be

said.nimal feet. that says as much as needs to be said. things need to prove radically. >> baby halid - he came to us with his mother. he was 14- months-old. he looked like a 5-month-old baby. the doctor that treated him said he was going to die. after a month or so of proper food, vitamins and supplements, the little boy is about the right size, about the size of a 14-month-old baby. there are camps that are inactionable. what we saw beggars belief. we can only hope and pray that things are not as bad in other places. that would be hoping against rational thought. >> that is why we at the international community and the humanitarian workers on the ground, are calling for secure substantial and sustained

humanitarian access. we must be able to evacuate the women, children, the dying, sick, elderly and the needy. the security council spoke with one voice. it was rare. let's hope the parties on the ground were listening. >> 18,000 refugees at the yarmouk camp van at risk of starvation. >> al jazeera is calling for a global day of action on thursday, to put pressure on e-shan -- egyptian authorities to release our colleagues. mohamed fadel fahmy, mohammed badr, and peter greste were detained by egyptian authorities on december 29th, accused of spreading false news, belonging to a strorist group. al jazeera denied all charges. australian journalist hugh riminton says the arrest brings

egypt's legitimacy into question. >> that international legitimacy cannot be enhanced when you lock up respected international journalists doing their job in a well understood way, reporting both sides of a complex story. it is just not proper to put them in gaol on charges that wouldn't be sustained outside egypt. this is not going to do anything for the legitimacy that those powerful figures in egypt must have >> we'll have coverage of the global day of action, and you can go to the website for updates. >> still to come - citrus trees coming under attack. the new threat to an multibillion industry. >> bitcoin - actions one person

wants to take. >> how one man is using soccer balls to provide an outlet for children in third world countries.

>> it's no secret that children and teens can benefit from playing sport. in some parts of the world sporting equipment does not hold up to the harsh environment, which can represent the challenge. as john henry smith, one man is trying to eliminate one part of the challenge. >> i was watching a heartbreaking news story about children in war zones and it explained the six left therapy to bring them back to humanity was just to play. simple, unstructured play. >> that was all the inspiration tim janeghan needed. he knew there were programs sending soccer balls to communities, but he knew they didn't last long in the harsh playing field found in those communities. that's when he imagined a

solution. >> to make a ball for the children that would not go flat. they could play and get the therapy. >> tim janeghan is a lyricist, who worked with a number of famous musicians, including siting. when he mentioned the idea to sting, he not only liked the idea, he offered to fund the research and design phase of developing the ball. >> let this be so successful that i can do for someone else what he did for me some day. it was, you know, i still get emotional when i think about it. >> 11 months, two tries lair, the one world football project created a nearly indesproductible ball, a ball that didn't need to be ipp flated. >> when did you know you had something that would work?

>> the first thing they said a total failure. i took it out of the box, it bounc bounced. i said, "that bounces better than a rock", which is what hundreds of millions have nothing more than a rock to playway. >> we have bamboo. we make it like a ball. it hurts your feet, because we have no shoes. >> it's so simply. it's a ball so kids could play, but it is incredibly powerful. >> we have a short amount of balls. most of the balls pop or we lose them. the majority of the time we don't have enough ball to run normal practice with. the reason the ball is useful to us is because it is indesproductible. >> there's no such thing as an indestructible anything. if you use it for what it was

designed for which is to be kicked and played with. people in harsh circumstances, it will never wear out. the one world football project reached a goal of creating a ball as strong as the child's spirit. it is a fundamental nutrient. >> the one world football project distributed 766 one-world footballs to 165 countries worldwide, helping to build communities, offering children the chance to play. >> it's a great program. for each football purchased another is donated to the community or region in need. the organization continues its outreach as it opens a

distribution center in europe. >> virtural currency bitcoin is taking heat. joe manchin has asked that it be banned. the one currency trader says joe manchin was going too far. >> in the early days of banking there were bang runs. we came up with government regulation, ftic insurance and the federal reserve. now you trust putting your money into a bank. in the early days, it's expected there's hiccups. >> federal prosecutors in new york and authorities in japan are looking at what caused the bitcoin exchange to shut bun. more than $300 million worth may have been stolen from a tokyo exchange. >> in part two of our look at the citrus problem, farmers get

help to overcome the crisis. jennifer london has the story from redland. >> i can see the tree has a broken branch. >> citrus farming runs through bob's blood, passed down from his father, grandfather, and great grandfather. >> we have been farming oranges and citrus in this area since the 1900s. >> the citrus groves have survived snaps, cold snaps. >> it is it the asian citrus psyllid. it's fatal. we'll lose all the trees. it's like losing someone in the family or a major tragedy. >> the californian department of the food and agriculture called it the most devastating disease in the world. one that science has been unable to combat. in the u.s. the pest made its way into florida, georgia, south

alabama. arizona, hawaii and california. the asserted disease hit six states. it threatened the citrus industry. >> bob night and others are interesting to get treeative and adapt. like making the switch from selling citrus to growing vegetables. >> when you are a fourth generation citrus karmer, who will buy your vegetables. >> the second largest school district pledged to by all the vegetables that dob night and others could grow. we are really focused on the products, close to los angeles. >> over the last few years the district has been making drastic changes. processed foods are out, fruit

and vegetables in. we found a number of students we talked to like second grader michael mendoza liked the healthier foods. >> i'm happy that they are serving vegetables, i like vegetables in fruit a lot. >> we get all the way back to the planting of the products and having a connection with bob and other farmers. it takes a huge amount of stress and risk out of making the transition from being a fruit grower to a vegetable grower. >> it means that it not only can save the farm, but the fruits of its labour. it will be serving a new generation. >> the citrus parasite was spotted in the u.s. before that the disease wiped out industries in china, india,

saudi arabia, and egypt. >> that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera. remember, news at the top of every hour, and as always you can get the latest headlines at aljazeera.com. thanks for watching. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." with dialogue rejected, how will things go in venezuela? everything from dialogue on gas prices here at home. our digital producer, wajahat ali is bringing in all of the