school. >> welcome to the news hour. we have the top international stories. loyalty on the line in crimea. ukraine under lee against to pro-russian forces. >> with more on the ukraine crisis, more western leaders are calling for the call for russia to back off crimea. we'll be live at that meeting in brussels where sanctions are being discussed. [ gunfire ] >> also ahead an exclusive with

syrian opposition, fighters trying to hold up a new government assault in aleppo. words and not weapons, how rwandaen soldiers are bringing peace to the central african return. >> the west is pounding pressure on russia as pro kremlin forces tighten it's grip on ukraine's crimea. warnings to russia, and russia's foreign minister said his country's presence is needed to protect ukraine. soldier in military base in crimea are refusing to leave despite to being surrounded by

men who are thought to be russian forces. could you just give us an update as to where you are right now, what's happening on the ground? >> reporter: well, i'm just in front of the base, and about a a half hour ago the commander came out and spoke to the media, and he said basically that he is not surrendering to the russians at this stage. he said it had gone to meet with his commanders for technical reasons, but at the moment he remains under the command of kiev. his soldiers will remain inside the base. he said he was offered a hand by the russian cossacks who told him, can we come in and help protect the weapons? he refused that and said he can protect the weapons inside the base. he also promised that those weapons will remain inside the

base. they will not be given to anyone else. we also know of another development. the commanders around the base of this area in crimea who have not surrendered so far have also had a meeting, a separate meeting, and they met with the admiral who is the man actually pledged' lee against to the crimeaen just yesterday. well, they refused him as a commander. instead they said that they will follow the orders of a new general, who has just arrived from kiev. certainly you do get a sense despite the russians being visible around the key installations, being visible around this base and another base that we have actually visited, the ukrainian commanders are not giving up so easily. >> that's the situation as you said. what about the other bases? what's happening there?

>> reporter: well, we're hearing a lot of reports. some of them turn out to be true, others no. for example, the eastern tip of the peninsula, while the russian soldiers are outside of the port that cross into southern russia, they have stayed outside and the ukrainians are in control of that area and functioning as usual. we were heard earlier in the morning russians have taken command of that, that is not true. another example in the south, the ukrainian soldiers "r" have surrendered to the russians. but the russians for the past few days have been quietly spreading throughout the peninsula. sometimes as we've been saying they have met some resistence. in other areas they have went unopposed and reached really the

border between the peninsula and ukraine mainland. >> reporter: they arrived at the naval base in eastern crimea. inside the ukrainian service men so far have refused to surrender. residents have lent their support to the russians. and they have left it up to the people inside crimea to switch sides. >> the soldiers pledge to be loyal to the ukraine and the government of ukrainian. if they put their guns down and join the crimeaen people we will protect them and be grateful to them. i hope they make the right choice. >> reporter: people are angry and feel betrayed by the new government in kiev. america, we will not let you through, they shout. while kiev accuses the russians of invading crimea, for many

among the ethnic russian majority, they have taken over ththe installations. the oil field is now under russian control. the soldiers don't talk me, but one tells me that he has been deployed by russia, and he doesn't know how long he will be there. the soldiers are building an encampment. we were prevented to film, but a commander agreed to talk to us. he wouldn't give his name but identified himself as a cossack to russia. >> russians didn't come here to invade. we'll come here and then go home. and the crimeaen people will make their decision that will be legitimate in front of all the countries of the world.

>> the referendum is set for march 30th. this is a chance of distancing themselves from a country they never felt they belonged to. >> we will never become one nation with the western part of ukraine because we have different mentalities. their heroes are our enemies. our heroes are the soviet soldiers who saved us from the nazis. >> reporter: while the international community fears further escalation, many here feel the russian soldier presence is necessary while they continue their quest for greater autonomy from ukraine. >> reporter: well, they are not the only people on the streets, these russian soldiers. you have a defense unit, men dressed as civilians around bases. you also see them around cities. they say they're there to protect key installations and

government institutions as they see from the fascists from kiev who might want to come here to cause trouble and to change the regional government here. now talking about the regional government it seems to be going ahead, tries to muzzle voices from what we're hearing. a crimeaen tv channel was shut down. the regional government wants to control the message at least until the referendum. >> thank you for getting us up-to-date. >> russia's black sea fleet including an attack submarine are based at the port. three russian brigades are

station there is in agreement with ukraine allow the maximum of 25,000 russian soldiers to be in the city. but last weekend president putin send in 6,000 more soldiers, getting a lot of diplomatic support, from kiev, we have reports. >> reporter: ththe new leaders f ukraine call on their allies for help. the question facing ukraine and the west, how to get russia to pull its troops out of crimea. for now they're counting on political and economic pressure.

>> russia should be in no doubt about this. this is something that we have to take very seriously, that we have to take very seriously. if this becomes the normal way of behaving in the world, intruding on and violating the sovereignty of neighbors, well and clearly that would be even a bigger crisis. >> a quick question for the prime minister. you described a military invasion. are you satisfied you're getting enough support? >> we try to resolve these crisis using diplomatic tools. >> have you given up to crimea. >> crimea is part of ukraine. despite russian, we will tackle

in problem. >> reporter: the u.s. secretary of state. he, too, will be looking for a way out of the most serious confrontation between russia and the west since the end of the cold war. al jazeera, kiev. >> well, the russian foreign minister reportedly has not been taking calls from the ukrainian ministers, but he did tell journalists on monday that russia was not the agreeser. >> this is a question of defending compatriots and the right to life. those who are trying to interpret the situation as an aggression, these are the same partners who constantly have encouraged their political forces to refuse dialogue and polarized ukrainian society. >> well, crimea is part of ukraine, but it hasn't always been that way. situated as a natural crossroads, crimea was traded

for centuries. but it became part of russia and remained so for 138 years. in 1991 crimea because autonomous republic. and game part of ukraine. >> russia want to protect russian speakers in ukraine. they are under the pressure of terrorist groups connected with so-called government in kiev.

russia's suggested political solution. the government should include all ukrainian parliament. demo graphical presence. of course, russia don't want to have conflict with international community, but at the same time russia can see that no one will accept political solution. all responsibility for violence is on those people who don't want political compromise, but only want to use violence. russian invasion, they have

asked russia to protect them from terror. >> we speak to the survivors of a stabbing rampage in china. plus block cases ar block cases. and in sports we'll have all the action from on and off the pitch from the back tempered madrid derby. >> 11 people from called in an assault in the heart of as lamb bad. and pakistan taliban as

officially denied any involvement. we have more from islamabad. >> islamabad has not seen violence like this in years before according to police, a group of men, two wearing explosive vests storm the complex using hand grenades and started shooting. they then blew themselves up. this man was caught in the cross fire. >> they told us all to stand up. i hid under a bench. when they stood up he was shot in the neck. i'm pretty sure he did not survive. >> it's through that door that the attackers stormed this courthouse kill to go many people and injuring many more. but this is the heart of the capitol, and these groups, these armed groups which are determined to continue to fight the state, their message is clear, they can attack at any time anywhere.

the pakistani taliban immediately distanced itself from the attack and said it was not responsible for a blast that killed two soldiers. they want the cease-fire to hold, but the violence worries the government for other reasons. the attack on this court complex may show that the taliban is so fractured. >> the opposition insists that it's over, and they are now looking to the courts for help to remove the prime minister for office. we have reports now from bangkok.

>> reporter: bangkok is no longer shut down. protest sites have been opened but not opening the way to political reconciliation. they decided it dismantlally sites and ease the hardship in thailand's capitol. weeks of protest against the prime minister shinawatra hurt the economy. >> it's not over. protesters have moved to the center of bangkok. people here feel they are >> people want thailand's political system reformed. that's why they're demanding that a council temporarily runs the country. opposition leaders are now relying on intervention by the courts to do just that. >> the government has created a

lot of other problems, facing an investigation on their involvement in the corruption. >> reporter: shinawatra does not face just legal challenges. protesters have prevented her from working from her office. she spent the last week in her political stronghold in the north of the county to rally her supporters. but thailand's political institutions are not on her side. >> they are not alone. they have a group of advisers, and those. >> there is still no winner before political battles. any confrontation o on the stres would invite military

intervention. that could bring more bloodshed and end shinawatra's rule. >> more western leaders are joining the call for russia to back over crimea. >> now the session was called by the e.u. chief catherine ashton. they say it's important to condemn russia's intervention in crimea and push for dialogue. for more about that meeting, what can we expect to hear? >> we're expecting the e.u. position, all 28 states hopefu hopefully coordinating one final

statement presented quite soon, probably in the next hour o or . this is the second emergency summit in two weeks. what we'll certainly see is a strongly worded condemnation of russian actions in crimea. we'll of course see an e.u. continuing future support for the new government in kiev. we may even see some references to the promise of financial aid as this new ukrainian government so desperately needs. we understand that the primary

message from this statement is going to be the need for dialogue, the need of fact finding mission. but strong rhetoric condemning russian action, rhetoric used on his way into the meeting used by the swede irprime minister carl bildt. >> our condemnation of russia's occupation of crimea. of course, we also seek a political solution, but that would have to be based on the withdraw of russian forces, and taking back the threat of invasion of ukraine as a whole that was issued by the federation council.

>> countries wanted to do more than strong words, what other action could they take? >> reporter: well, it's not clear, really, what the e.u. has at its disposal. what tools and weapons it has that would make the russians sit up and take notice at this moment. there is no talk of military on the table, and that would not be the e.u.'s business any way. that leaves this whole business of what secretary of state john kerry referred to in his meeting over the weekend. but in some way away being mentioned in specific terms. the final statement may make an illusion to sanctions following unless the russians dehe is ask late, but no specifics yet. one of the reasons for that is

that the e.u. has a very profitable trade relation with russia, and it's not one to jeopardize particularly as some e.u. economies now are emerging from such a terrible recession. it's worth $400 billion a year. that's something that the e.u. foreign minister very mindful of not jeopardize going to they have to. the other critical part of the e.u. russian relation is energy supplies many european states are dependent on gas imports. germany leading this idea of toning down the rhetoric. it relies on russian gas supply for a third of its total supply. you could understand there is a reluctance to push forward, and i don't think we'll see that in the final statement. >> thank you. we'll have more on the unfolding crisis later in the news hour,

including a look at why the crimeaen peninsula is so crucial, and why russia and ukraine are at logger heads. >> we're just getting breaking news. this is the developing story out of ukraine. we're being told this is news coming out of the headquarters of the ukrainian navy, and moscow has reportedly asked ukrainukrainian forces to lay dn their arms. we will be bringing you the latest on that story as it develops, and as we get the information. in the middle east let's move on to other stories now, and the united nations says fighting has started again in the palestinian refugee camp in damascus. there had been a truce between thathe al nusr front both sides blaming the other for breaking the cease-fire.

bashar al-assad gaining ground in rebel-held areas close to aleppo. >> reporter: aleppo, the old city itself and the province has been long, bitter and bloody. it's raged for three years now but over most of that time there has been little real change in the balance of power. syrian government forces entrenched in the west. rebels controlling the old city and the east. that now appears to be changing. in the last week government forces have been taking the area between the country side and the industrial city. a distance of less than a kilometer. aleppo is an economic hub and the industrial zone it's beating heart. rebel fighters are on the back foot, but they say they're not

giving up. >> our fighters are there. we're trying to stop the army were moving into the industrial city. we are still resisting despite everything. >> it's mainly between the al n usr front and isil both linked with al-qaeda. but when isil were accused of invading last week, there was an ultimatum. they had to join mediating talks or be forced out. by friday the isil fight percent leaving. but the real game changer is the syrian army's indiscriminate use of barrel bombs, loaded with

fuel, metal and explosives they have been dropped for many weeks on rebel-held areas outside of the old city of aleppo. the damage from the crude bombs is clear. the killing indiscriminate and massive. but it's a fear that the barrel bombs now generate that now holds the powers. areas empty of people are easier to take over. their advantage is becoming clear in theory government advances on the rebel line. >> still to come on this news hour. >> "12 years a slave." >> a first at the academy award. a film by a black director wins best picture. and in sports it's a painful day by one vancouver player in the heritage. been

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to surrender on tuesday or face a military assault. the ultimatum was issued by the fleet commander. a splinter group of the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in islamabad. 11 people were killed, including a judge. and troops loyal to syrian president bashar al-assad are gaining crowd in areas in aleppo. they're fighting for control of the important industrial district. the chinese government has tightened security on the streets of beijing. two days after a stabbing rampage in a southwestern city that left 33 people dead and hundreds injured. we have the latest now. >> reporter: being treated at hospital number one, a man part of the group of retirees who

were attacked. he tried to defend another member of the group, the friends tell us, suffering stab pounds s to the head and arm in the process. many in th in the hospital witht one but several stab wounds. one man stabbed in the heart and needing blood. >> drawn from the minority of the community some who oppose chinese rule. authorities are promising to hunt down any attackers still on the run. >> if we let one attacker go free this person could be a time bomb. >> reporter: if separatists were

to blame, why an attack 15 kilometers from the troubled region. the only apparent connection is the small weaker community. many here are shocked. >> i feel heartbroken for those dead and injured. this is so wrong and we are very different from them. >> reporter: if straightest were involved if is th, this is the t major event since the car attack last october. this comes as delegates prepare for the annual gathering of the national people's congress by authorities like to insure happens against a stable backdrop. by controlling how this event is being reported in china they are still hoping to create that harmonious picture.

>> well, let's get more on our stop story, and that is the crisis in ukraine. from felicity in our broadcast center. >> reporter: well, as we know russia is effectively is in operation and control of crimea and ukraine is asking for help in taking it back. up until 1991 crimea was part of russia and the sovietdown and many identify themselves as ethnic russian. in 2010 presidential election people voted heavily for the pro russian prime minister viktor yanukovych. the government in kiev have responded by pointing at past crimeaen in the east.

thanks so much for coming. let's talk about the breaking news that we heard from news agencies. russia has used this ultimatum. having to surrender by tomorrow morning. what do you make by that ultimatum, to be expected? >> well, the russian expectation was that after the defection of the naval commander, who never should have been apointed by authorities in kiev, but everyone else would follow suit. what they don't understand is that both the ukrainian navy and border guards take very safely the responsibility of protecting ukraine. they're vastly outnumbered, but i think its erroneous to think that they would just roll over in this way. >> so you're expecting violence of some sort. but as you say, the ukrainians are outnumbered completely.

>> they have given an ultimatum. now we will see what happens. >> huge concern right around the world about what is happening in what is a small area in europe. just explain to us why crimea is so important for russia. crimea is no more important to russia than it has been at any time in the last 20 years when ukraine has been independent. what has changed, and changed dramatically is a dramatic collapse of the government in kiev that put itself into position of subordination to russia, and russia's absolute determination to restore its influence. and as far as possible ukraine subordination. they realize they have no influence over the new authorities in kiev at all.

and they have no tools that they can use at this point that would restore it apart were these extremely dramatic tools that no one in the west expected to employ. >> play not have expected it, but a huge concern, of course, particularly among the e.u. meetings in brussels today. part of that concern is into the the integrity of the ukraine. it's about what ukraine gives to the rest of the world. but in terms of global grain production. >> the grain is exported to crimea. >> the issue for the west as a whole is preserving what we took for granted to be the foundations of the post cold war order, which were agreed by russia in very significant documents in the early 1990's. making all of this inconceivable

the problem for the e.u. is balancing effective action and utilityalation of strengths that we have that are greater than those that russia has at the moment. particularly in the economic area against the business interests that we have. the stakes that the e.u. has. for the u.s. it's less of an agony because their economic and business exposure in russia is far less than many e.u. countries. difficult to predict how this plays itself out, but it's not going to be a neat and tidy outcome. >> thank you very much. >> thats it from me for the moment.

>> let's go straight to crimea, and in front of a ukrainian base in the town. what more can you tell bus this ultimatum that has been issued by the commander of the black sea fleet? >> well, we spoke to the headquarters of the ukrainian navy. they have confirmed the ultimatum and that it confirms two navy bases and two navy ships, but they could not tell us about the rest of the armed forces. the commander of the base just behind me has come out and spoken to reporters, and he said he would not surrender to the russians. he said he will continue taking his orders from kiev, and he also said that other commanders

in crimea have refused to fall under the leadership of the man who actually defected or was sacked, depending on whose story to listen to, and pledged allegiance to the crimea regional government. he said the commanders here are still going to come under the command of kiev. it seems that it's not going to be an easy situation. now there was a guest earlier who was saying that maybe the russians had hoped there would be a series of defection following the defection of the admiral yet. that so far has not happened. as we've seen here and at another base not far from here that the soldiers inside the holder ground have no intention to bow to the pressure. >> we have fast develops coming out of ukraine. thank you. well, the crisis in ukraine

has just been one of the many topics at the meeting, but general secretary ban ki-moon has been trying to turn the discussion over to syria. aid groups like unicef say there is another tragic sign that syria's neighbors are struggling to cope with the refugee crisis. we have reports from lebanon. >> a healthy newborn has been diagnosed with acute malnutrition and is on a supplementary feeding program. her mother was unable to breast-feed her for months while mourning the death of her brother in syria. >> i want her to heal and be like the rest of her siblings.

all of my children walked at her age. it's because of the tough times that we've been through. >> describing malnutrition as a silent an threat. diagnosed with mod raid malnutrition and is being treated. his father had been sick ever since they arrived in lebanon a month ago. >> he was okay in syria, but when we came here the cold and the rain made him sick because we didn't have a booeden frame to hold our tent. >> most of the children suffering from malnutrition are living in makeshift camps in the valley where safe drinking water is scarce, and hygiene can be fopoor. malnutrition can be caused by an inadequate or imbalanced diet

but it's also linked to the squalor living conditions. children play in filthy waste water all day. pore sanitation and improper practices like this one make the children vulnerable to serious hygiene-related illnesses. several families in this part of the camp are suffering from scabies. others say their children have chronic diarrhea from drinking unsafe water. humanitarian agencies are trying to scene as many syrian children as possible before it's too late. >> it did not reach yet the serious situation, however because we are in lebanon and lebanon is not equipped and ready to respond to acute malnutrition, that's why we are currently putting and it's active already a plan for activating healthcare centers. >> it will take millions of dollars to improve the environment that these children are living in and contain millions nutrition. that becomes more difficult as new syrian refugees arrive in

lebanon every day. >> still to come in this news our we'll have all the sports news. could there be trouble for world number one tiger woods. details a little later.

>> i wasn't in control of my golf ball coming down the stretch. an awkward distance and then a couple of awkward lies, and couldn't make birdie. it's been a decent week. >> australia remain in control of the third and deciding test against south african declaring overnight on 494-7. australian bowlers have been doing the damage.

held south africa at 287. the aussies are now back at their second inning. sri lanka in the final for the asia cup. sri lanka post 253-6 for their 50 over. and had beaten host benly--two days ago, and they're bowled all out at 124 runs. just after a month after stepping down as england coach and given a new role with the country elite coaching. it comes a day after england leveled their one day series against west indies. they bowled ow all out, and engd

reached the target with three wickets and 31 bowls to spare. hitting the winning force. the match takes place on wednesday. the ottawa senators came down to beat the vancouver canucks 4-2. they lost daniel sedin after he crashed into the boards. they have the goal for the senators and the first win in three games. >> we thought it was a great atmosphere. the venue was very well put together. i thought the ice held up very

well. so great job for putting on a great--we're proud to be part of it. >> having won his second race in a row the american dominates the sprint cup race and led 224 of the 312 lapse on his way to the win. a crash a week ago involved in a multi car pile up again. that's all the sports we have, and robin will have more in the next hour. >> well, the world cup kicks off in brazil in just over three months. but over in rio de janeiro the party is already under way. we have reports on the atmosphere of this year's event. >> the an overload of sounds where the beats reverberate through the air and tug at the

soul. the only thing competing for attention are the colors. welcome to the rio de janeiro parade. >> there the floats larger than life monstrosities. some of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. then there are the elaborate costumes, most of which take months to make. but it's the people who provide the energy to fuel the party that goes all night long. >> all of my family are here, we're playing and having fun. >> i like everything about carnival. it is good. it is pure happiness. >> some say it ha has been takeo new places in life. >> i am super happy.

this is the first time i have participated in the parade, and it has stopped my depression. >> taking people at least for one night into another world fantasy. >> they haven't even entered the stadium yet. the parade in front of 75,000 people but already the passion is incredible. they completely lost themselves in the song and dance. >> this is rio's night. problems don't expect, at least not foleast--problems don't exi, least not for this night.

>> that is it. thank you for joining us. we'll have more at the top of the hour. >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we're following for you. russia telling ukrainian naval forces in crimea to surrender. >> this cannot be the way in the 21st century to conduct international affairs. >> this as the international community scrambles to respond to the russian occup